 |
| Monday, May 8, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
|
Return
to Lahore spirit, USA asks Pak Kasyanov
named acting PM UN
retracts report Filipino
rebels kill 13 troops
Cloned-pig
organs for humans in sight Oppn,
police clash in Zimbabwe Flour
crisis in Pak province |
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| Lankan media bears brunt of
censorship COLOMBO, May 7 — Newspapers, radio and television stations in Sri Lanka are battling through strict censorship imposed by the government, and editors and publishers have urged that the decision be reconsidered, local media reported today. Reformists win Iran poll Love
virus creator identified China
targets zero population growth Prince Philip branded a racist
|
Return to Lahore spirit, USA asks Pak WASHINGTON, May 7 (PTI) — The USA has asked Pakistan to take “concrete steps” for resumption of a “productive dialogue” with India and a return to the Lahore spirit with the proviso that there would be “no more Kargils.” Stressing that a solution to the problems in Kashmir would have to be “home grown” and not exported from outside, Assistant Secretary of State Karl F. Inderfurth said efforts being undertaken by the Indian Government to address Kashmiri concerns were a positive development that would produce beneficial results. In this context, Mr Inderfurth, who is in charge of South Asia at the State Department, welcomed the release of Hurriyat leaders. During an interview to PTI here, Mr Inderfurth spoke of a new relationship with India, emphasising that Pakistan was not a factor in this. “The differences between India and Pakistan are obvious. Right now we have more opportunities to pursue with India, and frankly, right now we have many more concerns about the direction Pakistan is heading. But we are not making a choice between either and we are not attempting to tilt in this relationship. We would like to see the word ‘tilt’ consigned to a historical period that we have gone beyond,” he said. Mr Inderfurth expressed the hope that Pakistan would take “concrete steps that would allow a productive and serious dialogue” to be resumed between Pakistan and India. What assurances Pakistan should give India for the talks to take place was to be determined by the parties, he said, recalling that President Clinton had made it clear that “we are concerned and we see ourselves playing a supporting and encouraging role.” The President, said Mr Inderfurth, had made it clear where the USA stood on the cross-border terrorism issue. “We should keep our fingers crossed and our guard up that things will happen and unfold in a positive way. It is that season in Kashmir where it is springtime and there is normally an increase in the level of activity. We hope we won’t see that this year but we will watch it carefully,” he added. Mr Inderfurth said the USA had expressed the view on many public occasions that the issue of Kashmir must be resolved by India and Pakistan taking into account the wishes of the Kashmiri people. On India-US relations, Mr Inderfurth said what President Clinton did during his visit to India was to change the terms of the Relationship. between the two countries. “Even though it is now over a month since the President was in India, that trip continues to resonate. But we are not stopping there,” said Mr Inderfurth. “We are building on that new relationship even as we speak.” He said he was reviewing the agenda for the meetings Under Secretary of State Thomas Pickering would have with Foreign Secretary Lalit Mansingh at the end of this month. About the forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Mr Inderfurth said work on the agenda had not started. The administration had a number of things in mind and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright would be meeting External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh in June. At that time “we will be further along in our thinking about both the timing for the meeting with the Prime Minister here in Washington as well as the agenda.” On Washington’s ties with New Delhi and Islamabad, Mr Inderfurth said: “We think it is possible and desirable to have good relations with both because we want to see Pakistan move away from its present difficulties in a way that it can become not only a stable, prosperous, democratic state but also a force for stability in the region and a respected member of the international community. That, we believe, will also be in India’s interest as well.” Mr Clinton, he said,
went to Pakistan to make it clear that the USA Considered
itself a longstanding friend of Pakistan, but a concerned
friend about the direction it was heading, and that the
USA had a number of very important concerns to discuss
with General Musharraf and also directly with the
Pakistani people. |
Kasyanov named acting PM MOSCOW, May 7 (Reuters) — President Vladimir Putin, in one of his first moves after being sworn in today, signed a decree making Mikhail Kasyanov acting head of the government. He is almost certain to nominate Mr Kasyanov for approval as Premier by the state Duma, the lower House of Parliament. The Duma then has seven days to vote on Mr Putin’s candidate. Mr Kasyanov, who is 42, moved rapidly up the ranks of the Finance Ministry from Deputy Minister to First Deputy, then Minister, before being appointed First Deputy Prime Minister in January when Mr Putin took over from President Boris Yeltsin. Mr Putin, who retained his title as Prime Minister until he was inaugurated, left much of the day-to-day running of the government to Mr Kasyanov. Few doubted that he was grooming the urbane Mr Kasyanov to succeed him as head of the government. He was trusted with the task of coordinating government activity, dealing with bread-and-butter issues while Mr Putin concentrated on handling the military campaign in Chechnya. Mr Putin showered praise on him in February after he negotiated a favourable debt restructuring deal with the London club of private creditors, cutting debt by about 36.5 per cent and rescheduling payments on the rest over 30 years. A liberal economist with a good reputation in the West, Mr Kasyanov has been steering Russia’s economy through an upbeat phase with output rising, inflation low and the rouble stable. Western investors in Russia said they welcomed the prospect of Mr Kasyanov leading the government. “I think it is positive. It could certainly be a lot worse,” one foreign business representative said. Another Western businessman described Mr Kasyanov as “a man who has great energy, who does not take ‘no’ for an answer”. “he is incredibly intelligent, he presents himself very well. He is very accomplished, well-educated and polished.” Mr Kasyanov’s most immediate test, requiring all of his renowned negotiating prowess, will be in securing a resumption of lending to Russia by the IMF, ending a freeze that followed the 1998 financial crisis. He also has strong ties in Russia’s business elite, but he denies being beholden to any of the “oligarchs” — a group of well-connected businessmen alleged to have wielded strong influence over Yeltsin’s administration. “I know a lot of businessmen and well-known entrepreneurs, but I don’t have any concrete ties to any particular financial-industrial group,” he told a news conference in early April. Those who have worked with Mr Kasyanov over the years have a high opinion of him, although he has yet to prove his mettle in tackling such problems as crime, corruption and capital flight. “Kasyanov has been
building up his career for a very long time,” Mr
Alexander Livshits, Russia’s envoy to the Group of
Eight, and Kasyanov’s boss of several years ago, has
said. “I have a very high opinion of his
professional qualities.” |
UN retracts report FREETOWN, May 7 (DPA) — The UN spokesman in Sierra Leone, Philip Winslow, today retracted his earlier claim that rebels were advancing on the capital Freetown. He said the report of up to 1,000 fighters using human shields in an advance on the city was “not right” and blamed the generally chaotic situation in the West African country for the error. Residents of the capital, who have anticipated an offensive for days, were terrified by the report, which revived memories of battles there last year that claimed some 5,000 lives. “We, the peacekeeping mission here, made a rather serious error in our earlier statement to you when we stated that the RUF rebels were on the outskirts of a part of Freetown,’’ he told CNN. Later today, the UN was scheduled to join rebels on a one-day trip to the jungle to negotiate the release of some 500 UN Troops and staff believed to be held hostage there. The fighters — loyal to veteran rebel leader Foday Sankoh and officially part of a power-sharing government — deny having have taken prisoner some 300 UN Peacekeepers from Zambia, Kenya, India and Nigeria. The UN has also lost contact with a second Zambian contingent of some 200 troops, who are also believed to be held by the RUF. The prisoners were being held near the towns of Makeni and Kailahun, close to the country’s rich diamond fields, which are the source of the rebels’ wealth. Sankoh, the former RUF
leader who has been made Sierra Leone vice president
under a peace agreement meant to be supervised by the UN,
has denied responsibility for taking the troops hostage. |
Filipino rebels kill 13 troops ZAMBONGA, Philippines, May 7 (AFP) — Islamic extremists today killed 13 soldiers and mutilated some of the corpses during an ambush on the southern island of Basilan, military officials, survivors and doctors said here. The army special forces unit came under attack near the town of Lantawan as it pursued Abu Sayyaf gunmen holding at least eight Filipino hostages, said military commander Brig-Gen Narciso Abaya. A soldier and a government militiaman who were both wounded in the attack told AFP they were informed at least two soldiers were beheaded by their attackers. Doctors at a nearby hospital said the eyes of some of the dead soldiers had also been gouged out. The 1,000-member Abu Sayyaf is the smaller of two Muslim separatist rebel groups in the southern third of the largely Roman Catholic Philippine archipelago. Philippine troops have also ringed the jungle hideout of a second Abu Sayyaf unit holding 21 mostly foreign hostages in the nearby southern island of Jolo. Reuters adds: Muslim rebels holding hostages are split by factions and have not yet come up with common demands, a Philippine regional leader said today. “I would like to think the hostage takers may not have organised themselves yet,” Abdusakur Tan, Governor of Sulu province, told Reuters in an interview. The rebels seized the 21 from a Malaysian island resort on April 23 and took them by boat to Jolo. Authorities said the guerrillas, fighting for an independent Muslim state, had made no formal demands although they were reported to be seeking ransom. “The group is constituted by so many small groups put together. They have so many sub-commanders. They are all sub-commanders put together,” Tan said. “I don’t think they have sat down to come up with a common demand.” Talks between government emissaries and rebel representatives broke down last week when troops clashed with guerrillas. “The hostages
remain intact in one place,” armed forces spokesman
Col Rafael Romero said today. |
Cloned-pig organs for humans in sight MELBOURNE, May 7 (AFP) — Organs from cloned pigs would be transplanted into humans within five to 10 years, a leading transplant researcher said today. Prof Ian McKenzie, Director of Melbourne’s Austin Research Institute, said advances in cloning techniques coupled with the ability to stop organ rejection put pig transplants within reach. “The major obstacle is getting rid of antibodies which cause rejection within minutes to hours and Australia is a leader in this,” he said. Austin researchers hold the patent for a gene involved in the process, and recently worked out how to move enzymes around inside cells to genetically remove the one sugar -galactose - which triggers rejection. “The work going on with cloning of pigs helps enormously in this and I think it could be happening within five years,” Professor McKenzie said. He was to tell Royal Australasian College of Surgeons conference in Melbourne tomorrow that the first pig-to-human transplants were likely to be in pancreatic islet cells which produce insulin. This may be followed by heart and kidney transplants which have already been performed in baboons. Professor McKenzie said patients on transplant waiting lists were likely to embrace the advances. “It’s easy for
you and I who are healthy to make rules for other people
but if you’re being dialised or you’re in a
hospital awaiting a heart transplant and can’t move,
the situation changes a bit,” he said. |
Oppn, police clash in Zimbabwe HARARE, May 7 (Reuters) — Thousands of Opposition supporters gathered for a rally in a key stronghold of Zimbabwe’s ruling Zanu-PF party today after overnight clashes with the police, Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said. Mr Tsvangirai said a police vehicle was burnt during an overnight clash between his supporters and police, whom he accused of trying to intimidate people into not attending the rally in the southern town of Masvingo, the home turf of a senior minister in President Robert Mugabe’s Cabinet. “They (police) had pitched battles with our youth. A police vehicle was burnt and another stoned. The police came back this morning with guns, but they were chased away,’’ Mr Tsvangirai told newsmen ahead of the rally. “It is an incessant attempt to intimidate our people in all places, but people are determined’’ to vote out Mr Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party, he told newsmen before the rally. The rally is a major test of support for Mr Tsvangirai’s eight-month-old Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). By midday some 3,000 singing and chanting people had gathered in a sports stadium in Masvingo, 300 km south of Harare, as dozens of police with small armoured cars kept watch. Organisers had considered cancelling the event due to security concerns. At least 11 MDC supporters have died in political violence coinciding with the seizure of hundreds of farms by black liberation war veterans since February. With parliamentary
elections due by August but expected in June, Zanu-PF
supporters have stepped up their intimidation campaign
against black rural voters, threatening violence if they
vote the MDC into power. |
Flour crisis in Pak province ISLAMABAD, May 7 (PTI) — The flour crisis in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP) has taken a serious turn with only two days’ stock left in government wheat godowns, media reports said today. Sources said the situation worsened after Punjab put an unannounced ban on the wheat and flour supply to the NWFP which had no other source to replenish its stocks, the daily Dawn reported. As a consequence, the government would be unable to release wheat to the flour mills from today, unless immediate remedial measures are taken. The situation in the drought-hit districts were worse and people could resort to street protests any time, reports said. The NWFP Government has asked its Punjab counterpart to resume the supply of wheat immediately. But, so far there had been a lukewarm response from the Punjab Food Department, officials complained. Flour has always been in
short supply in the province since March, 1997, and even
the military government — with all powers at its
disposal — has failed to improve the situation. |
Lankan media bears brunt of censorship COLOMBO, May 7 (DPA) — Newspapers, radio and television stations in Sri Lanka are battling through strict censorship imposed by the government, and editors and publishers have urged that the decision be reconsidered, local media reported today. All articles related to defence matters and comments about diplomatic and international reactions about the current situation in Sri Lanka have come under...(censored)... Censorship which has been effective in the country since Thursday. The government imposed the censorship in what it called a measure in the interests of preserving national security...(censored).... The military withdrew from a strategic military base in northern Sri Lanka...(censored).... The Editors Guild in a statement has called on the government to lift “the blanket censorship” and suggested that regulations be imposed only where it is necessary to safeguard the national interests. All Sunday newspapers were seriously affected, with some popular columns censored and all papers having blank spaces with the words “censored” printed across the pages. TV and radio stations were compelled to cut down on their live phone-in programmes, fearing they would violate the regulations on censorship. The government has imposed a series of other regulations which prohibit strikes, protests, putting up banners and posters and other trade union action, describing the measures as necessary for protection national security. Some sections of the public have welcomed the regulations on the grounds that they would help the government to fight the Tamil rebels of the LTTE, but...(censored).... Meanwhile, a large number of foreign journalists have arrived in Colombo to report on the current situation. The censorship is also being applied to journalists operating from Colombo for foreign news organisations. But foreign journalists,
who have arrived in Colombo during the past few days,
said they would make use of material in their own
countries in order to escape the censorship. |
Reformists win Iran poll DUBAI, May 7 (UNI) — Reformists in Iran yesterday won a majority of the seats announced in the run-off elections to tighten their grip on the sixth Parliament in the Islamic republic. With hardliners suffering humiliating defeats, the reformist Islamic Iran Pariticipation Front (IIPF) the main pro-reform faction supporting President Mohammed Khatami, had captured 34 of the 55 seats declared in the second round of voting held on Friday, regional news agencies said. The front, which is pushing for more openness, accountability and individual freedom, had won more than 70 per cent of the 215 seats decided in the first round of elections held on February 18. In the capital city of Teheran, which has 30 seats, 29 were reportedly captured by the reformists. But the conservative Council of Guardians, which oversees all elections, has still not accepted the results. A third recount of votes in Teheran was still under way and the council was expected to make a final announcement of the seats by Wednesday. The results announced
yesterday were seen as bad news for the hardliners, who
have yet to reconcile to the defeat they suffered at the
hands of the reformists in the first round of voting. |
Love virus creator identified ZAMBOANGA (Philippines), May 7 (AFP) — The Philippine authorities are preparing to arrest the creator of the “Iloveyou” computer virus which attacked systems around the world, police chief Panfilo Lacson said today. “We have already identified the perpetrator of this virus and the operation is a joint operation between the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) and the police,” said Mr Lacson, who was accompanying President Joseph Estrada in a visit here. “However, we cannot reveal his name because it might preempt the arrest which we are planning to do.” The virus, which originated in a Philippine Internet service provider, appeared on Thursday and spread around the world in a matter of hours via an e-mail with the message “Iloveyou.” The original bug was allegedly planted last month by a hacker who identified himself as “mailme”, “spyder” and “ispyder,” and left a message saying “I hate to go to school.” According to some reports, a comparison of notes made by Philippine Internet service providers narrowed down the suspect to a 23-year-old man from Manila’s district. The virus acts like a
worm and arrives as an e-mail message. |
China targets zero population growth BEIJING, May 7 (PTI) — China today announced its revamped long-term population policy to achieve zero population growth while stipulating punishment for violators of the strict family planning norms in a bid to control its population at 1.4 billion mark by the end of 2010. China will keep the average population birth rate under 1.5 per cent a year to control its population, according to a decision jointly made by the ruling Communist party and the state council. China will realise a low birth rate and shift from slow population growth to zero growth in the next few decades. China’s population was 1.259 billion by the end of 1999. China will continue to encourage marriage and child-bearing at later ages and call for “one child per couple,” while some couples will be allowed to have a second child in accordance with the law, a document released by an official news agency Xinhua said. People from ethnic
minority groups should also follow the family planning
policy, the population policy document said. However,
specific regulations for them would be issued by the
governments of provinces, autonomous regions and
municipalities, the decision said. Prince Philip branded a racist LONDON, May 7 (DPA) — One of two race relations advisers to newly-elected London Mayor Ken Livingstone has branded Britain’s Prince Philip ‘’an unreconstructed racist’’, a press report said today. The comments by Mr Kumar Murshid, who will advise Livingstone on race issues along with veteran black activist Lee Jasper, signalled his intention to take an outspoken approach. Buckingham Palace
declined to comment on Murshid’s observations. |
|
JAKARTA, May 7 (AP) — The death toll in a powerful earthquake that caused extensive damage in a province in eastern Indonesia grew to 35 today, an army spokesman said. The quake measuring 6.5
on the Richter scale, that struck before noon on
Thursday, damaged hundreds of homes and buildings along a
broad stretch of eastern Sulawesi and the offshore
islands of Peleng and Banggai. |
 |
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