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| Saturday, May 20, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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Cleric-led strike hits life in Pak Coup bid in Paraguay
Move on N-arms elimination Taliban assisting Chechens: Russia |
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UN troops rise to 16,500 Japanese poll on June 25 South Korean PM quits
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Cleric-led strike hits life in Pak KARACHI, May 19 (AP) — A strike call by Islamic clerics shut down all major cities in Pakistan today, including Karachi tormented by a second straight day of protests by Islamic students. Hundreds of rock-throwing students burned tyres, cars and buildings in southern Karachi to protest against yesterday’s brazen daylight ambush that killed two Islamic clerics, including the principal of a prominent religious school. Maulana Mohammed Yusuf Ludhianvi, Principal of Banuri Town religious school, was shot at and killed by men on motorcycles. No one took responsibility for the killing, which was the latest in a series of attacks on religious leaders in Pakistan. The religion motivated violence has involved rival Sunni and Shiite Muslim militants. Abdur Rehman, a teacher at the religious school, was also killed. Mohammed Yahya Ludhianvi, the principal’s son and Mohammed Naeem were injured, the police said. After a night of demonstrations that gutted several banks and a newspaper office, protesters returned to the streets of Karachi today setting tyres on fire. Giant plumes of black smoke wafted skyward as students wailed and beat their chests. The police, paramilitary Rangers and the army were out to curb the violence. Elsewhere in Pakistan most cities were shut down, shops were closed and traffic was light. The shut-down was in response to a strike call by religious leaders to press the army-led government to guarantee Islamic laws in the Constitution, make Friday a holiday and end interest charges at banks. Pakistani merchants also joined in on the strike call. Currently it requires only an accusation for charges under the blasphemy law to be laid. General Musharraf had proposed an investigation prior to laying charges. There have been several reports of the blasphemy law being used to intimidate or exact revenge. Members of minority religious groups in Pakistan are most often targeted. The government had asked the clerics to call off their strike. They refused, but promised that it would be peaceful. In Karachi, Shiite
Muslims say they have asked the government for additional
protection fearful of retaliatory attacks. |
Coup bid in Paraguay ASUNCION (Paraguay), May 19 (Reuters) — Forces loyal to a fugitive coup leader tried to topple the Paraguayan Government, driving tanks through the centre of the capital and blasting a hole in the Congress building before being persuaded to lay down their arms and be arrested early today, the government said. "The situation is totally under control. We are going to be relentless in applying the law to all those who have violated the law and the Constitution," President Luis Gonzalez Macchi told a local television channel before dawn. Last night, a group of light tanks filed past Congress in the centre of the capital Asuncion and blew a hole in the building’s facade. A Reuters correspondent then heard a burst of light arms fire before the tanks withdrew after an air force threat to attack the rebels. Retired colonels and low-ranking officers who support fugitive former coup-plotter Gen Lino Oviedo seized control of the army’s biggest armoured unit, helped by guards at the base on the city outskirts, Defence Minister Nelson Argana said. The head of the Congress said the rebels planned mass murders of political opponents. A police unit also joined the revolt aimed at toppling the government in this notoriously corrupt country. Paraguay’s economy is bolstered by an enormous smuggling industry. Rebels took control of the barracks at 7 p.m. (2300 GMT) yesterday but the revolt was all over by 2:30 a.m. (0630 GMT) today, the government said. It was the third time in four years that Paraguay’s weak democracy has seemed threatened with a relapse into military rule. Each time General Oviedo, a former army chief, has been near the centre of events and each time the USA, Brazil and Argentina have exerted pressure to ensure democracy survives. "This is just the
beginning. We have the constitutional right to rebel
against tyranny," retired Col Vladimiro Woroniecki,
a known General Oviedo supporter, told reporters as he
was led away under arrest at the end of the revolt. |
Window on Pakistan NEITHER Pakistan’s Chief Executive nor jailed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif can claim credit for it, but it has happened because of them. If their fight for political supremacy has resulted in the suspension of the democratic process in Pakistan, it has gifted that country a politician who seems to be endowed with the qualities required to rise to great heights. She is Kulsoom, today known as the wife of Mr Nawaz Sharif. She shows great promise to grow as an independent leader. Those watching her handling of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) affairs are sure that the process that has begun—-her emergence as a national leader of consequence—- cannot be reversed or stopped even if Mr Nawaz Sharif is back into the political arena as a result of some miraculous development. As reports and commentaries in Pakistani newspapers say, Mrs Kulsoom Nawaz’s leadership of the PML has led to factionalism within the organisation, with one group openly opposing the "takeover" of the party by the Sharif family—-which means the "ambitious" wife of the deposed Prime Minister. This is not something unexpected. Nobody could think when Mr Sharif was at the helm of affairs that one day the party would be anchored by his wife. The reason: Mrs Kulsoom Nawaz avoided giving company to her husband at public gatherings or other such functions. She was a family woman and confined her role to the four walls of her house. She never gave the impression that she had the nerves of steel and could make even a ruling General fear her. If there is any political activity visible in Pakistan, it is mainly because of her courageous handling of the party affairs. Even her most vocal detractor within her party, Mrs Abida Hussain, admits that there is a determined fighter in Mrs Kulsoom Nawaz, who did not take much time "to rise to the occasion and find her feet". She has a dictatorial streak in her personality, as Mrs Abida Hussain rightly points out, but this trait is visible in almost everybody heading a political organisation in Pakistan. This is because of the feudal character of society. Anyway, Mrs Kulsoom Nawaz appears to have no plan to throw her critics out of her party. Rather she is trying to take along both her critics and supporters in the fight against the military regime. Before the May 17 meeting of her party’s Central Coordination Committee to discuss the situation arising out of the Supreme Court judgement, legalising the military takeover of the government and giving the Pervez Musharraf regime three years to restore the democratic process in Pakistan, she visited the residence of Mr Ejazul Haq, a dissident leader, not only to take his viewpoint into consideration before finalising any strategy under the changed circumstances but also to impress upon him the necessity of carrying on a sustained struggle against the usurpers of power. That Mr Haq was not in his house is a different matter. He must have got the message she intended to convey personally. She denies having any political ambitions. But she has emerged as the biggest crowd-puller for her party in the absence of her husband from the scene. This means that her party will never leave her alone because of her usefulness. Whatever she may claim, now that she has accepted the stewardship of the PML, it may not be possible for her to abandon the responsibility. She is fast learning the language a well-versed politician uses to put across his/her point of view. Mark her words quoted by The Nation of Lahore: "My calling is from God. I am a very simple person, and I only want to speak the truth. I have had many sleepless nights and new gray hair, but I am not afraid of the Generals. It is their turn to be afraid of and to be made accountable." The Generals definitely appear to be scared of her as they are not preventing her to continue the drive against the military regime led by General Musharraf. They have charged her with making "seditious" speeches, but have avoided putting her behind bars. She keeps shuttling between Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi, giving political speeches openly when such activities remain officially banned. Her public role has helped keep the Pakistan Muslim League not only alive but also acquire greater strength. This is no small achievement for a person of her background. — Syed Nooruzzaman |
Move on N-arms elimination UNITED NATION, May 19 (AP) — The five nuclear powers have agreed to "an unequivocal undertaking" to totally eliminate their nuclear arsenals, a decision hailed by several countries without nuclear weapons as an important step towards nuclear disarmament. The agreement yesterday specified no timetable and delegates said it would take many years to achieve a nuclear-free world. It will hopefully become part of a final document approved by the 187 nations attending a conference to review the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. But negotiations on other issues were continuing yesterday night and as UN Undersecretary-General for Disarmament Affairs Jayantha Dhanapala said: "I don’t count my chickens until they’re hatched." A US official had no comment on the agreement, explaining that the conference documents were not final yet. Nonetheless, the agreement on key disarmament issues, which Dhanapala called "an important development," lifted the gloomy atmosphere at the four-week conference and sparked hope among delegates that a final document could be adopted by a consensus. For two years, a group of seven moderate countries without nuclear weapons known as the New Agenda Coalition has been campaigning to get the nuclear powers to make an unequivocal commitment to total nuclear disarmament — as called for in the treaty. When the conference started, the five original nuclear powers — the USA, Russia, Britain, France and China — reiterated their "unequivocal commitment to the ultimate goals of a complete elimination of nuclear weapons and a treaty on general and complete disarmament." But the seven coalition members — Mexico, Ireland, South Africa, Egypt, Sweden, New Zealand and Brazil — rejected their statement saying "the total elimination of nuclear weapons is an obligation and a priority and not an ultimate goal." After lengthy negotiations, the nuclear powers and coalition members reached agreement yesterday on "an unequivocal undertaking by the nuclear-weapon states to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals leading to nuclear disarmament to which all state parties are committed under Article VI" of the NPT. Darach Mac Fhionnbhairr, the top disarmament expert in Ireland’s Foreign Ministry, said the agreement culminated "a long, hard struggle" with the nuclear weapon states. The undertaking "creates a new accountability because there is a political commitment which is new," he said and "the implementation of that commitment will require a more accelerated process of negotiations" on early elimination of the nuclear arsenals of the nuclear powers. The agreement is
included in a document outlining "practical
steps" to implement Article VI which is expected to
be considered by all 187 signatories to the NPT today. |
Taliban assisting Chechens: Russia MOSCOW, May 19 (DPA) — The Russian security services today warned of plans by the Taliban militia in Afghanistan to send fighters to help Muslim rebels in Chechnya, and claimed that Saudi backers were funding Chechen resistance. A well-armed Taliban group of about 300 men has been formed into smaller units waiting to travel to the north Caucasus republic, security sources in Moscow told the Interfax news agency. Its armaments reportedly include about 20 US made portable anti-aircraft missile systems. The Russian FSB domestic intelligence service also claimed in a statement that the Saudi-based Al-Haram Islamic Foundation was financing Chechen guerrilla forces under the shield of its charitable and cultural activities, the Itar-Tass news agency said. Al-Haram, from the Arabic Al-Haramain meaning two shrines, referring to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, was set up in the 1980s to back Afghanistan’s Mujahedin as they fought Soviet troops. Today it describes itself as a "private charitable and educational organisation tasked with conveying the true Islamic teachings throughout the world". The FSB claimed the organisation also assisted extremist groups in the Balkans, Pakistan, Kenya, Somalia and the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Azerbaijan. According to the FSB, Al-Haram in 1997 actively backed religious extremist groups in the southern Russian region of Dagestan which adjoins Chechnya. Some of the Chechen-led groups later proclaimed an independent Islamic state and rose up against federal forces in summer 1999. Fighting spread into Chechnya eight weeks later. Chechen rebel forces, Russian intelligence reports say, have been receiving funding and reinforcements of men and supplies from Afghanistan and other Arabic countries throughout the conflict. One of the leading rebel commanders, a Jordanian known as Khattab is believed to have fought earlier in Afghanistan and to maintain contacts with the renegade Saudi millionaire and reputed terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. The former President of Chechnya, Mr Zelimkhan Yandarbiev, who is regarded as the funding coordinator of the rebel forces, was recently in Pakistan and possibly also in Afghanistan trying to raise money from sympathisers. The Russian Caucasus command meanwhile said some 40 rebels had been killed in
clashes in Chechnya in the past 24 hours. Three rebel
groups were also encircled. |
UN troops rise to 16,500 FREETOWN, May 19 (Reuters) — The United Nations and west African states could pour 7,000 more peacekeepers into war-ravaged Sierra Leone where rebels were still holding more than 330 UN Hostages. The reinforcements, if approved in the next days, would raise the number of foreign troops in the west African country to 16,500 — double the number who were caught badly off-guard when fighting erupted in early May. US Presidential envoy Jesse Jackson began a regional peace shuttle yesterday and joined efforts to win the release of the remaining hostages. Foday Sankoh’s Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels seized or trapped 500 UN peacekeepers and military observers more than two weeks ago. Some made their own way to safety and the RUF released others — a further 13 were flown to Freetown yesterday — but there were signs the flow was abating because of rebel anger at Sankoh’s dramatic arrest in the capital Freetown on Wednesday. The Sierra Leone Army
(SLA) and its militia allies pressed on with their
offensive against the RUF, ignoring warnings by the
United Nations that the hostages could be at risk. |
Japanese poll on June 25 TOKYO, May 19 (Reuters) — Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori told his ruling coalition partners today that he would call a general election for June 25 — the birthday of his late predecessor. The Prime Minister ignored Opposition calls for his resignation after he stirred cross-party anger this week with remarks that revived Japan’s militaristic past. Mr Mori made the long-expected announcement during a meeting with the heads of the other two parties that make up his coalition government. An election must be held before October. Mr Mori’s dominant
Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is expected to retain its
hold on power in the elections for the powerful Lower
House of Parliament, although his own future is in doubt
after his latest in a series of political gaffes. |
South Korean PM quits SEOUL, May 19 (AP) — Prime Minister Park Tae-Joon resigned today after a court ruled that he had concealed his ownership of properties to avoid large tax payments. President Kim Dae-Jung accepted Park’s resignation and appointed Finance Minister Lee Hun-Jai to serve as acting Prime Minister, the President’s office said. Mr Park’s successor will be named next week. Opposition parties and civic groups had called on Mr Park to quit and issue a public apology after a court said this week that he put property valued at $ 5.3 million under another person’s name to avoid paying taxes. Mr Park hid his
properties under the name of his private treasurer from
1988 to 1993, when he served as the chairman of the
now-defunct ruling Democratic Liberal Party. He was also
head of the state-run Pohang Iron and Steel Co. |
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