W O R L D

Clinton to visit Pak: aide
ISLAMABAD, Feb 22 — US President Bill Clinton will visit Pakistan after his five-day tour of India, a senior aide to Gen Pervez Musharraf has claimed. The Advisor to the Chief Executive on National Affairs and Media, Mr Javed Jabbar, said this last night after a meeting with the US Ambassador to the Pakistan, Mr William B. Milam.

• Chechen leader told to leave Pak

LOS ANGELES: Sir Elton John, left, shares a laugh with Sting after John received the MusiCares Person of the Year Award in Los Angeles on Monday. — AP/PTI

WORLD BRIEFS

TORREMOLINOS: A wedding dress measuring 4.25 meters (14 feet) in height is unvieled in the southern Spanish seaside resort of Torremolinos on Monday. The dress was unvieled to promote a dancing competition taking place in Torremolinos. — AP/PTI

2 French soldiers hurt in clashes
KOSOVSKA MITROVICA (Yugoslavia), Feb 22 — NATO-led peacekeepers clashed with Kosovo Albanians in Mitrovica after around 20,000 persons marched on the tense city in protest against its de facto division along the ethnic lines.

Man of Indian origin first Anglican Bishop
DURBAN, Feb 22 — A prominent former anti-apartheid religious leader whose great-grand-parents came to South Africa as indentured labourers from India has been enthroned as the first coloured Anglican Bishop of Kwazulu-Natal.

Suicide-bomber hid bomb in purse
COLOMBO, Feb 22 — The LTTE suicide bomber who blew herself up in an election rally of Chandrika Kumaratunga on December 18 injuring the Sri Lankan President, carried the explosives in her handbag and not strapped to her body as initially believed, detectives investigating the case have said.

Rafsanjani fails to avoid run-off
DUBAI, Feb 22 — Former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani’s bid to enter Majlis in the first round of parliamentary elections in Iran virtually ended in a failure as reformists appeared set for a majority in the 290-member House.

Resignations of 11 ministers accepted
KATHMANDU, Feb 22 — King Birendra today accepted the resignations of eleven ministers who have joined a group of disgruntled ruling Nepali Congress MPs seeking Prime Minister K.P. Bhattarai’s ouster, official sources said.

Clinton to visit Pak: aide

ISLAMABAD, Feb 22 (UNI) — US President Bill Clinton will visit Pakistan after his five-day tour of India, a senior aide to Gen Pervez Musharraf has claimed.

The Advisor to the Chief Executive on National Affairs and Media, Mr Javed Jabbar, said this last night after a meeting with the US Ambassador to the Pakistan, Mr William B. Milam.

Mr Javed Jabbar, told ‘The News’ that the issue of Clinton’s visit to the country was discussed when Mr Milam called on him yesterday, the paper reported today.

Mr Jabbar refused to comment when asked to give the response of the US envoy, and said, a “visit by a US President is always important, but relationship between the two countries transcends time and personalities.”

“Institutional and state to state relationship has to be seen on the basis that Pakistan, irrespective of which country it neighbours, in itself is a very important country,” Mr Jabbar added.

Mr Jabbar said Pakistan was a “very dynamic society and the visit (of Clinton) has to be seen in that context.”

Pakistan has “a demonstrated capacity in different fields ranging from excellence in nuclear energy” to a whole range of disciplines, he said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan appears to be going all out to persuade White House to include a stop-over in Islamabad during President Clinton’s visit to India and Bangladesh next month.

Its supporters in Congress, led by Democratic Senator Tim Johnson are busy securing signatures of fellow lawmakers, urging Mr Clinton to add Pakistan to his visit. Leaving Pakistan off the itinerary would be a snub to a “traditional ally’’ of the USA, he argues.

Mr Johnson, quoted in the Washington Times today, having said, he understood the administration’s reluctance to meet General Pervez Musharraf.

Mr Johnson, however, said he had a “very candid and positive discussion’’ with General Musharraf on a visit to Pakistan last month and received strong assurances that the military ruler would act positively regarding U.S. concerns about the restoration of democracy, the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the threat of terrorism in the region.’’

According to Pakistani sources, some lawmakers have either written to the President or personally talked to him urging against dropping Pakistan from his South Asia itinerary. They include Senate Minority Leader Tom Dashle, Democratic Chief Whip David Bonier, Republican Chief Whip Harry Reid, Chairman of Senate Foreign Relations Sub-committee on South Asia, Senator Sam Brownback and Sen, Robert Torricelli (both Republican).

Chechen leader told to leave Pak

ISLAMABAD, Feb 22 (UNI) — Pakistan has asked the visiting former Chechen President Zelim Khan Yandrabaye to cease his activities forthwith and leave the country immediately.

Mr Yandrabaye arrived in Pakistan a few weeks back and addressed a number of public meetings. Besides, he also addressed ‘jumma’ (Friday prayer) congregations along with the Jamaat-e-Islami leaders.

Mozambique on alert as cyclone nears

MAPUTO, Feb 22 (Reuters) — Screaming winds and torrential rain today began to batter parts of the coast of Mozambique, already hit by its worst floods in 30 years.

The South African Weather Bureau said cyclone Eline was expected to make landfall this afternoon, but reports from coastal regions north of the capital said winds in excess of 120 kph and heavy rain had already arrived.

South African Radio said South African air force helicopters had suspended aid flights because of the weather.

More than 200,000 Mozambicans have already had their homes washed away by flooding in two weeks of rain.

The rushing waters have also dislodged landmines, a legacy of a 16-year civil war that ended in 1992.

“It is an intensifying cyclone. We expect bad weather over Mozambique and wind gusts of 250 kph,” bureau spokesman Sam Thema said.

“There will be heavy rain over Mozambique. Some parts of South Africa’s Mpumalanga and northern provinces might be affected.”

Mr Thema said the cyclone, moving at 25 kph per hour, was expected to hit Beira, Mozambique’s second city, as well as other parts of the provinces of Inhambane and Gaza.

The state radio reported that Mozambican authorities had appealed to residents in the areas likely to be affected by the cyclone to stay indoors.

Mr Thema said the cyclone was gaining intensity as it moved towards the mainland, a phenomenon attributed to the warm waters in the Mozambique Channel.

Eline was already causing heavy rain on the Mozambican coast between Beira and Vilanculos.

The cyclone swept across the Indian Ocean island of Madagascar last weekend, killing five persons and leaving thousands homeless.

2 French soldiers hurt in clashes

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA (Yugoslavia), Feb 22 (Reuters) — NATO-led peacekeepers clashed with Kosovo Albanians in Mitrovica after around 20,000 persons marched on the tense city in protest against its de facto division along the ethnic lines.

In the latest eruption of violence, British, French and Canadian peacekeepers fought with hundreds of ethnic Albanians yesterday trying to storm the bridge over the river dividing the city into Serb and Albanian-dominated sides.

“The peacekeepers fired tear gas and used batons to disperse the crowd, and the situation calmed down as darkness fell.

“It would have been a disaster if they had broken through,’’ said the Commander of the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force, German General Klaus Reinhardt.

A KFOR spokesman, British Warrant Officer Mark Cox, told Reuters that two French soldiers were slightly injured. He had no information on any injuries to civilians.

Earlier yesterday thousands of ethnic Albanians ran into the city, a major flashpoint between the two hostile communities, and towards the bridge after walking for several hours from the provincial capital Pristina.

At least nine Albanians and Serbs have died and around 20 have been wounded in armed violence this month in Mitrovica. The wounded included two French soldiers in gunbattles on February 13.

Man of Indian origin first Anglican Bishop

DURBAN, Feb 22 (PTI) — A prominent former anti-apartheid religious leader whose great-grand-parents came to South Africa as indentured labourers from India has been enthroned as the first coloured Anglican Bishop of Kwazulu-Natal.

Bishop Rubin Philip, whose forefathers came from Andhra Pradesh to work on sugar plantations of the then Natal, was enthroned by the Anglican leader of Southern Africa Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane yesterday.

Bishop Philip (52) has come a long way from the dusty streets of the suburb of Calirwood in Durban where he grew up.

Although his father did not follow any religion, he did not object when his young son chose to follow the path of Christianity.

“Clairwood at that time in the 1950s was one of the most densely-populated Indian areas in the country and served as my training ground,” Bishop Philip told PTI.

Suicide-bomber hid bomb in purse

COLOMBO, Feb 22 (PTI) — The LTTE suicide bomber who blew herself up in an election rally of Chandrika Kumaratunga on December 18 injuring the Sri Lankan President, carried the explosives in her handbag and not strapped to her body as initially believed, detectives investigating the case have said.

CID official, S P Samasinghe told a Colombo court yesterday that forensic tests conducted at the site of the blast have established that the suicide bomber carried the explosive in a parcel which was concealed in her handbag.

Earlier police had believed that the bomber who managed to gain entry into the VIP enclosure of the rally, blew herself up when Chandrika was leaving the meeting.

Despite having placed a Rupees two million reward for any information on the suicide bomber, the police was able to only partially identify her as not many people came forward with credible clues to her past.

Twenty-five people were killed and over 112, including Kumaratunga and several of her Cabinet ministers injured in the blast. The blast inflicted serious damage to the right eye of the President.

Rafsanjani fails to avoid run-off

DUBAI, Feb 22 (UNI) — Former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani’s bid to enter Majlis in the first round of parliamentary elections in Iran virtually ended in a failure as reformists appeared set for a majority in the 290-member House.

The Interior Ministry headquarters in Tehran today announced that according to the latest tally, Mr Rafsanjani would have to fight it out in the second round of run-off elections, planned for some time in May.

Mr Rafsanjani’s name was in the list of eight other hopefuls who also could not garner the minimum 25 per cent of the votes needed to avoid a run-off, Kuna said.

Iranian television announced that some 8,00,000 votes from 992 Tehran polling stations had been counted. Mr Rafsanjani was on the 27th spot.

Mr Rafsanjani is the head of the powerful state expediency council which arbitrates disputes between the executive and legislative branches of the government.

Resignations of 11 ministers accepted

KATHMANDU, Feb 22 (AFP) — King Birendra today accepted the resignations of eleven ministers who have joined a group of disgruntled ruling Nepali Congress MPs seeking Prime Minister K.P. Bhattarai’s ouster, official sources said.

The eleven, including five senior Cabinet ministers, submitted their resignations to Bhattarai on Friday after a no-confidence motion registered by 58 MPs of the Nepali Congress parliamentary group.

They allege that Bhattarai has failed to control the extreme left Maoist insurgents, check administrative corruption or boost the economy.

The party parliamentary group will meet on Saturday when Bhattarai is expected to defend his record, an official close to him said.

Party president Girija Prasad Koirala is keen to take over as premier but Mr Bhattarai is unwilling to go before June, party sources said.

WORLD BRIEFS

NASA checks on spacesex
PARIS: NASA astronauts have practised space sex in a bid to check which lovemaking positions are feasible without the benefit of the Earth’s gravity, according to a new book by a Fench science journalist. The lightweight problem was tackled during one of NASA’s four space shuttle flights in 1996 which had women astronauts. With long duration space flights on NASA’s horizon, the experiments were aimed at determining the best positions for space frolicking in microgravity. — AFP

6 skiers killed in avalanches
VAL DI MAZIA (Italy): Avalanches have hit ski resorts in northern Italy and Switzerland killing six skiers and injuring three others, rescuers said. In Italy, a wall of snow swept away two groups of skiers at an altitude of about 3,000 metres here on Monday, near the Austrian border, killing three people and injuring two. — Reuters

61-yr-old guerrilla marries sweetheart
BEIRUT: Wedding bells rang out in Lebanon’s Roumieh prison as Japanese Red Army guerrilla Masao Adachi married the Lebanese woman who was arrested with him three years ago. Sixty-one-year-old Adachi, one of five Red Army guerrillas jailed since 1997 for forgery, was decked out for the highly-publicised ceremony in a blue suit with a red rose buttonhole. — Reuters

Blair’s son kisses, press tells
LONDON: The Press Complaints Commission of Britain has upheld a complaint against the daily ‘Sport’ for printing a photo of Prime Minister Tony Blair’s son Euan kissing a girl. The commission ruled that publication of photos of 15-year old Euan at a London club breached the editors’ code of practice, which requires parental permission to publish photos of children under 16. — PTI

Wild West town for sale
FORT WORTH (Texas): Question: What do you get a millionnaire Wild West buff who already has it all? Answer: The Texan small town of Lajitas, which has come up for grabs for between five and eight million dollars. Situated on a mountain by the Rio Grande, on the edge of the picturesque Big Bend Nature Reserve, the town was the dusty backdrop for cowboy dramas. — DPA

Kids take day off, hit the bar
JOHANNESBURG: South African governemnt officials have found 300 high school children consuming liquor at a Shebeen east of here, SAPA news agency said. Provincial education department head, Ignatius Jacobs “couldn’t believe what he saw. Hundreds of learners both male and female were drinking alcohol inside and outside the Shebeen and dancing as if it was a party,” a spokesman for his office said. — DPA

Belly dancer pinned down
ANKARA: A 19-year-old man was chained up in his house by his father for dressing up as a woman and belly dancing in Istanbul clubs, the Hurriyet newspaper has reported. Mahmut Dagyolu, a professional dancer, was chained to his bed for three days by his father, who objected to his son’s line of work. — DPA

Hitler’s speech to be auctioned
LONDON: Handwritten notes for a speech Adolf Hitler gave to Parliament shortly before the outbreak of World War II are to be sold at auction next month, organisers has said. — AFP