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| Wednesday, May 24, 2000, Chandigarh, India  
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Governor’s bid to end
hostage crisis
Prosecutors
quiz Suharto Russia may strike
at ultras’ camps in Afghanistan Gurdev Khush gets Wolf Prize |
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Late homework affects studies
Tripp prosecution
suffers blow Viagra fails test to help women President Mbeki
faces prosecution
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Governor’s bid to end hostage crisis JOLO (Philippines) May 23 (DPA) — Philippine negotiators today moved to fix the latest snag in efforts to start formal talks with Islamic extremists holding 21 hostages from seven nations aimed at ending the month-long kidnapping crisis. Mr Abdusakur Tan, Governor of the province of Sulu, which covers Jolo Island, 1,000 km south of Manila, met with leaders of the Abu Sayyaf extremists after the guerrillas aborted yesterday’s meeting with chief negotiator Roberto Aventajado. Mr Tan, escorted by more than 100 policemen, met Abu Sayyaf commanders Mujib Susukan and Ghalib Andang at the municipal hall of Patikul town, some 8 km away from where the 21 hostages are being held in a jungle hideout. Susukan and Andang arrived with some 50 heavily armed and hooded Abu Sayyaf fighters. They were accompanied by the head of the group’s liquidation squad in Jolo, and two other commanders who organised the kidnapping on April 23 in a raid in the Malaysian diving Island of Sipadan. Abu Sayyaf rebels armed with AK-47s and grenade launchers guarded the closed-door meeting, also attended by Patikul town Mayor Hashier Hayudini. Asked what was being discussed in the meeting, one rebel said, “if there is an agreement, then we’ll see a release right away.” the guerrilla did not elaborate. A German television crew at the meeting site handed baskets of goods to the extremists for the hostages. The supplies included books, shirts, gameboards and cigarettes “for the boys”, the journalists said. Mr Tan, a member of the government’s five-man negotiating team, earlier sent an emissary to the Abu Sayyaf “to clear up all things” with the commanders after the setback on Monday. “We have to treat this very, very carefully because this involves other nationals,” he told reporters. Mr Tan expressed optimism that once the problems were ironed out, the crisis “would be over in two or three days”. “This will not last long,” he added. Philippine officials and negotiators earlier acknowledged the crisis could drag on for months. KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad, wading into a diplomatic row, on Tuesday said that Malaysia had not sidestepped the Philippine Government in meeting Islamic rebels holding 21 hostages. Mr Mahathir responded for the first time to criticism by Philippine officials of a meeting last week between Abu Sayyaf rebels and Malaysia’s Ambassador to Manila, Mr Mohamed Arshad Hussain. Mr Mahathir said his government was not acting unilaterally but had to be concerned over the fate of the hostages. “We are mainly concerned about those persons because they are hostages taken from Malaysian territory. They also included Malaysians, so we have a right to be concerned,” he told reporters in the Malaysian capital. |
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Prosecutors quiz Suharto JAKARTA, May 23 (DPA) — Indonesian state prosecutors
yesterday resumed questioning former President Suharto about
widespread corruption during his 32-year rule, but were once again
forced to stop early because of health concerns about the aging
ex-dictator. The questioning preceded a possible August trial for Mr Suharto, who is accused of amassing billions of dollars and hiding some of it in an Austrian bank shortly before his resignation two years ago. Investigators from the Attorney-General’s office grilled Mr Suharto for two hours at his posh Jakarta residence on 11 separate issues relating to his control of seven charitable foundations. One of Mr Suharto’s personal doctors then insisted that the questioning be halted because the former leader, 78, who suffered a stroke last year, showed signs of illness. “The questioning was stopped due to health reasons,” one of the prosecutors, Mr Suryansyah, told reporters. Mr Suharto is accused of abusing his power to enrich himself, his family and cronies through the charitable foundations, which took in hundreds of millions of dollars in state funds, and by issuing nepotistic presidential decrees. The former leader and his children, some of whom are also under investigation, have repeatedly attempted to stall prosecutors by claiming through their attornies and doctors that Mr Suharto was mentally unfit to answer questions. Attorney-General Marsuki Darusman threatened last week to stop providing security protection the former President if the Suharto clan was no more cooperative. Darusman, who is under increasing public pressure to prosecute Mr Suharto, said the case could be forwarded to the Jakarta courts by August 10, the day Mr Suharto’s travel ban expires. Mr Juan Felix Tampubolon, Mr Suharto’s lead defence attorney, asserted that the Attorney-General’s statement was premature. “It was a political statement,” Mr Tampubolon said. “Judicially, it was premature because the process of questioning has just started. It’s too early to make such a statement.” He said Mr Suharto answered questions today about the charitable foundations, but could not remember anything about the presidential decrees. |
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Russia may strike
at ultras’ camps in Afghanistan
MOSCOW, May 23 (UNI) — Moscow may soon strike at terrorist camps in Afghanistan where Chechen rebels and terrorists from all over are being openly trained, patronised and sheltered. Debate was on in Kremlin whether Moscow should make a pre-emptive strike at terrorist camps in neighbouring Taliban-controlled Afghanistan soon, said chief presidential aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky, adding, “such a step could be necessitated if the national interest of Russia and its allies are threatened”. Pointing to the latest addition of terrorist camps in Afghanistan at Mazar-e-Sharif, Voice of Russia quoting Mr Yastrzhembsky said armed band of terrorists were being given guerrilla training there to later proceed to Chechnya. The presidential aide informed that Chechen leader Aslan Mashkadov’s emissaries recently met Osama bin Laden, Uzbek separatist leader Namangani and Taliban envoy Khalili and requested them for fresh consignments of weapons, medicines and mercenaries. Bin Laden and other leaders pledged Mashkadov all possible help besides his requirements. “The possibility of hitting at terrorist camps in Afghanistan is quite real, as Afghanistan has been converted into an inflating hotbed of fundamentalist forces spreading terror all around,” Mr Yastrzhembsky said. The last strike on terrorist camps in Afghanistan was made by the USA about two years ago,
targeting Saudi billionaire Bin Laden’s camps. |
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Gurdev Khush gets Wolf Prize JERUSALEM, May 23 (PTI) — A leading Indian agricultural scientist has been awarded the Wolf Prize, Israel’s equivalent of the Nobel, for his pioneering work in agriculture research. Dr Gurdev Khush, a senior researcher at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines, is among six distinguished scientists and two outstanding musicians from world over who were bestowed the prestigious award by Israeli President Erez Weizman at a special ceremony at Knesset (Parliament) yesterday. Giving away the awards, carrying a citation and $ 100,000 each, Mr Weizman lauded their contribution to their respective fields. Dr Khush, 64, graduated from Panjab University in 1955 and received a doctoral degree in genetics from the University of California-Davis in 1960, has already bagged several international awards for his pioneering research. Prominent feathers in his illustrious cap include the US World Food Prize, the International Agronomy Award by the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of American Award, Japan Prize in Science and Technology, England’s Rank Prize and China’s Friendship Award. The Punjab-born agricultural scientist was selected for the Wolf Prize for his “extraordinary contribution to theoretical research in plant genetics, evolution and breeding, especially of rice, with regard to food production and alleviation of hunger,” the foundation said in a statement. Dr Khush is also credited with producing rice varieties that are resistant to several major pests, and is working on developing a new plant type, dubbed “super rice” with a much better quality and a higher yield. Other
awardees include Prof Albert Cotton of Texas University for Chemistry, Prof Raoul Bott of Harvard and Prof Jean-Pierre Serre of College de France who share the prize in mathematics. Prof Raymond Davis of the University of Pennsylvania and the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York and Masatoshi Koshiba of the University of Tokyo share the prize in physics while Pierre Boulez and Riccardo Muto share the prize in music. “Indian agriculture scientists while working under difficult conditions have made great advancements, but funds for research are very limited and the resource crunch has a negative impact on the output,” Dr Khush said. Dr Khush has held various positions as a research scientist at the University of California from 1955-1967 and has been associated with the IRRI since then. He uses modern tools of cellular and molecular biology to develop rice varieties with a higher yield potential and yield stability. More than 300 breeding lines of rice, developed under his leadership at the IRRI have been released as varieties by national programmes in Asia, Africa and Latin America. |
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Late homework affects studies LONDON, May 23 (DPA) — Many children cannot concentrate in class because of a growing trend to let them stay up late to finish homework, surf the internet or watch television, The Times has reported. Many seven to 12-year-olds may not be getting sufficient sleep to meet their physical and mental needs, according to the research. The study, published yesterday by the American Psychological Association, suggests that many pre-teen children may be suffering cognitive, behavioural and emotional problems because they cannot fall asleep as soon as they go to bed. Avi Sadeh of Tel Aviv University, co-author of the research of the research said that although children were being allowed to stay up late, they still had to get up early for school. As a result their ability to absorb information and pay attention in class was suffering. “Increased school demands, the need of children to feel more like adults by having a more active nightlife and the incentives like late-evening television shows and internet surfing. All contribute,” Dr Sadeh said. “Also, as children grow older, their parents become more tolerant about letting them stay up late.” He warned parents to watch for signs of chronic sleep deprivation in their children, adding: “The key to judging if a child gets enough sleep is his or her daytime functioning.” The Times said Dr Sadeh and his colleagues, Amiram Raviv and Reut Gruber, monitored the sleep patterns of 72 boys and 68 girls in the second, fourth and sixth grades — aged seven to 12 — from mostly two-parent middle-class or upper middle-class families. |
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Fresh fighting in Sierra Leone ROGBERI JUNCTION (Sierra Leone), May 23 (Reuters) — Rebel forces attacked Sierra Leone Army (SLA) troops around the important crossroads town of Rogberi Junction early today, but were driven off, the SLA commander at the scene said. Lieutenant Colonel Edmund Fangura told Reuters he was confident of holding the line at the junction, which is 87 km northeast of the Capital, Freetown, with main roads running from there to the big towns of Port Loko and Lunsar. “We have about 300 men at the junction. There’s no way that the RUF will ever have this junction again,’’ Mr Fangura said. “I think they learned their lesson last night. My men were very well disciplined. Their morale is high,’’ he added. Rogberi Junction is just south of the area where government forces on Monday found about six badly decomposed bodies wearing the uniform of United Nations Peacekeepers and with Zambian identity tags and papers. The UN after seeing film footage of the bodies, said there was circumstantial evidence that these were UN peacekeepers, but that a more thorough investigation was needed to confirm this. Col Fangura said his men had buried the bodies late on Monday in two separate graves. It was unclear if any UN personnel had inspected the bodies, which had to be buried quickly for hygiene reasons. Col Fangura said Rogberi Junction was the SLA's front line. “This is our forward position. We do not hold Lunsar. I assume that it is in rebel hands,’’ he said. However, he said his men of the Fifth Sierra Leone battalion had travelled the road to Port Loko on Monday without meeting trouble. “There are rebel forces in the area. One has to assume they may attack any time, any place, but I think we have the forces to deal with them,’’ he said. Heavy artillery fire could be heard from the direction of Port Loko this
morning.  |
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Tripp prosecution suffers blow ELLICOTT CITY, MD, May 23 (Reuters) — The Maryland judge presiding over Mr Linda Tripp’s criminal wiretap case dealt a new blow to the prosecution yesterday by ruling that Ms Monica Lewinsky cannot provide key evidence against her ex-friend at trial. Howard County Circuit Judge Diane Leasure denied a request by prosecutors to allow the former White House intern to testify about the date of a telephone conversation that Ms Tripp allegedly recorded in December, 1997, and shared with “Newsweek” magazine. Political and legal analysts had predicted that an unfavourable ruling from the judge could lead prosecutors to drop the case against Mr Tripp 10 months after she was indicted by a state grand jury. A trial was expected to get under way later this year. Yesterday, a senior aide to Maryland state prosecutor Stephen Montanarelli admitted that the ruling posed a new obstacle for the case. “The judge has severely restricted Monica Lewinsky’s testimony,’’ said prosecutor Mike
McDonough. “Where that leaves us, we’re not ready to comment on yet. The task now is to look at the evidence we can’t use and see if there’s other evidence that could take its place.’’ Ms Tripp, the only major figure in the White House sex-and-perjury scandal to face criminal prosecution, recorded hours of conversations with Ms Lewinsky in late 1997 and handed the tapes over to independent counsel Kenneth Starr. |
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29 UN peacekeepers
released MONROVIA, May 23 (AFP) — Rebels from Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary United Front (RUF) have released another 29 UN peacekeepers into Liberia, official sources in Monrovia have said. The soldiers, all Zambians, were flown into Monrovia by helicopter from the town of Foya, on the border with Sierra Leone, said a statement yesterday from the presidential office. The released officers were airlifted from the Liberian border town of Foya yesterday to Roberts International Airport, the sources said. The rebels had taken about 500 peacekeepers hostage in May. Since then, the Economist Community of West African States has asked Liberian President Charles Taylor, who is said to have links with RUF, to help secure their release. The Liberian Government said of the 233 UN personnel released so far, 209 were Zambians, 22 Kenyans, one Malaysian and one Norweigian. |
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Viagra fails test to help women NEW YORK, May 23 (AP) — Hopes that Viagra would do for women what it does for men were doused in the first big study of the anti-impotence drug in females, according to a study by University of British Columbia researchers. The study findings, being presented yesterday at the American College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology meeting in San Francisco, confirmed smaller preliminary tests that also showed the little blue pill did not help women with sexual dysfunctions, such as difficulty in getting aroused. Viagra, the first ever pill to treat impotence, was an instant splash in 1998 when it was approved in the USA to help men. The pill had more than $ 1 billion in sales last year, and its manufacturer, Pfizer Inc., hoped to increase its profits by getting doctors to prescribe it for women. The latest study, marking the first significant study and paid for by Pfizer, tested Viagra in 583 women with various sexual disorders. But Viagra did about as well as a placebo, according to women who were asked to fill out a questionnaire in the study. About 30 per cent to 50 per cent of the women said they were helped by Viagra - the results varied by dosage. About 43 per cent who took the placebo, or sugar pill, also said they were helped. |
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President Mbeki
faces prosecution
DURBAN, May 23 (PTI) — With the rejection of their collective amnesty application, South African President Thabo Mbeki and 36 other top leaders of the ruling African National Congress face prosecution for their alleged actions in dismantling the apartheid regime. “Their amnesty applications have been rejected because they asked for blanket amnesty and not for amnesty for specific transgressions,” a spokesman for the committee said. |
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