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| Sunday, July 2, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Taliban, Masood men exchange heavy fire KABUL, July 1 — Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban clashed with opposition forces north of Kabul today despite threats of further sanctions by the United Nations, witnesses said. Speight involved in
shady timber deals? ‘Invite Vajpayee to
address Congress’ UN fails to agree
on diamond ban Talks on in Pak for
power devolution |
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| Basu in Israel to
invite investments JERUSALEM, July 1 — West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu arrived here on Thursday night on a week-long tour to Israel to seek investment opportunities in the state and collaboration in agriculture development and other high-tech areas, particularly information technology and electronics. China starts
drills near Taiwan areas US satellite
launched
New global court soon
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Taliban, Masood men exchange heavy fire KABUL, July 1 (Reuters) — Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban clashed with opposition forces north of Kabul today despite threats of further sanctions by the United Nations, witnesses said. They said the Taliban and forces loyal to commander Ahmad Shah Masood exchanged heavy barrages of artillery and mortar rounds on two main roads that stretch to the Shomali plains to the north of Taliban-held Kabul. “We can’t figure out who started the fighting, but it is very serious,’’ said a witness. Taliban fighters at Khair Khana Pass that leads to Shomali prevented journalists from going to the front. The clashes come amid reports of troop build-ups by the two sides and a UN warning to avoid large-scale fighting or face further sanctions. Both sides accused each other of starting the fighting. The Taliban said Masood’s fighters attacked its positions in the northern province of Baghlan yesterday, while the opposition blamed the Taliban for launching a “massive’’ offensive in the north of Kabul. |
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Speight involved in shady timber deals? SUVA, July 1 (AP) — Mr George Speight, the insurance man turned rebel who says he toppled the government to resurrect Fijians’ trampled rights, was booted out of a government job last year after receiving payments that have led to claims of influence peddling. Mr Speight, while still chief of the agency that oversees Fiji’s timber plantations, accepted payments from a US business group that was seeking a lucrative mahogany deal. The payments raised questions of conflict of interest in published reports and, according to two former officials in the deposed government, contributed to the rejection of the US bid just weeks before Mr Speight and his armed men stormed Parliament and took several hostage. Neither Mr Speight nor the US business group, Timber Resource Management, denies he received money from TRM. Both say a $ 5,000 payment from TRM to Mr Speight, confirmed in a letter to Mr Speight from his bank in Australia, was a consulting fee for work Mr Speight did before he took the timber job. In a paid newspaper statement three days before the May 19 raid, Mr Speight said he’d acted “in a responsible manner and with absolute integrity.” Mr Todd Campbell, TRM’s chief in Fiji, called any accusations of impropriety “a lot of garbage.” TRM Chairman Marshall W. Pettit, reached at his office in Washington, said: “Two payments of $ 5,000 were made ... for a year’s worth of consulting.” SYDNEY: Meanwhile, Fijians of “Indian descent keen to flee racism in their troubled South Pacific country cannot count on preferential treatment at Australia’s borders, a DPA report quoting immigration officials from Sydney said today. More than 10,000 Indo-Fijians have signed a petition calling on Australia and the UK to relax visa requirements and take them in. Indo-Fijians, the descendants of cane workers first brought to the former British colony in 1870, make up 44 per cent of the population of 820,000, pay 90 per cent of the taxes and drive the region’s most successful economy. But they look set to be effectively disenfranchised under a new Constitution that Fiji’s military rulers have promised rebel leader George Speight he can help write. Speight hijacked Parliament six weeks ago in what seems a successful bid to roll back equal rights for Indo-Fijians. “There is a great possibility that the whole community will be disenfranchised”, said Dilda Shah, Secretary Indian Movement for Justice and Freedom in Fiji. Mr Shah, who said signatures to the petition were coming in at the rate of a thousand a day, said Australia and the UK have a moral obligation to help them. “I think about 90 per cent of Fijian Indians would like to emigrate”, he told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper. |
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‘Invite Vajpayee to address Congress’ WASHINGTON, July 1 (UNI) — Some 40 Congressmen have urged US House of Representatives’ Speaker Dennis Hastert to invite Prime Minister Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee to address a joint session of the US Congress during his September state visit to the USA. Democratic lawmaker Jim McDermott, who is a founding member of the India caucus, last night sent a letter co-signed by 40 House members to the Speaker containing the demand. Earlier, he had a conversation with the Speaker regarding Mr Vajpayee’s planned visit. In 1994, Mr McDermott was instrumental in persuading the then-speaker Tom Foley to invite then-Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao to speak before a joint session. “When I heard that the Prime Minister had decided to visit the USA in September, I made getting him invited to address the Congress one of my top priorities,” he remarked. The letter made it a point to highlight India’s growing importance in the American foreign policy, drawing attention to the country’s massive consumer markets, enormous middle class, aptitude in high technology, and judicial and political stability, all of which have begun to attract greater attention from American companies. “We have a great deal in common with India - our commitment to democracy and law, our economic prosperity, our tradition of religious freedom. But perhaps the most important thing that ties us to India are the Indian-American citizens who have enriched this country beyond measure,” he added. He said: “There are over 1.5 million Indian-Americans, and their impact on engineering and technology, art and literature, and education and culture can be felt all across the nation. Indian-Americans are one of the most successful immigrant groups in the history of the country, and so embody and exemplify the ideals of the American dream.” Signatories to the letter included “Jim McDermott, Carolyn Maloney, Albert Wynn, Rick Boucher, Frank Pallone, Robert Wexler, Zoe Lofgren, Darlene Hooley, John Tierney, David Minge, Gene Green, Bob Filner, Lloyd Doggett, Tom Campbell, Sherrod Brown, Adam Smith, Michael McNulty, Howard Berman, Eliot Engel, Robert Borski, David Price, James McGovern, Nick Rahall, Cliff Stearns, Jan Schakowsky, Rush Holt, Brian Baird, Pete Stark, Barbara Lee, Marty Meehan, Jay Inslee, Tom Lantos, Connie Morella, Frank Mascara, Nilta Lowey, Nancy Pelosi, Joe Knollenberg, Robert Menendez, Julia Carson, Johnny Isakson, and Jim
Ramstad. |
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UN fails to agree on diamond ban UNITED NATIONS, July 1 (PTI) — The Security Council has failed to agree on a resolution to impose a ban on Sierra Leone diamonds with members divided over whether to set a time limit on the ban and to name Liberia as a transit point for the illicit trade. The Council also postponed a vote on the resolution until Wednesday. The major stumbling block was differences over whether there should be a time limit for the ban or should it be indefinite. While the USA and Britain would like the ban to be indefinite, some members have proposed a time limit of 12-18 months. Diplomats say there was also pressure to delay the vote at least till Monday to ensure the release of 222 Indian peacekeepers and 11 observers who were surrounded by Revolutionary United Front (RUF) fighters in the Kailahun area since May. The resolution, drafted by Britain, seeks to impose a ban on the sale of rough diamonds from Sierra Leone as also the sale of arms to the rebels. The ban, it says, will remain in force until the Sierra Leone Government can set up a proper certification system and takes control of the mines. The rebels at present control these mines and diplomats say despite the embargo, it would be impossible to stop the sale of diamonds completely. The Council is also split over whether to name Liberia as one of the countries currently trading diamonds with the rebels. The dispute revolves around whether President Charles Taylor of Liberia should be specifically mentioned as a conduit for the illegal sale of diamonds by the RUF as he had been the main contact with the rebels. Secretary General Kofi Annan’s special envoy in Sierra Leone Oluyemi Adeniji too, during the briefing to the Council members yesterday, opposed specific mention of Taylor saying it could complicate matters. British Ambassador Sir Jeremy Greenstock, the author of the resolution asserted that the ban on diamond trade would be imposed but conceded that there were differences on the time limit. The British draft has asked the Secretary General to name a panel of experts for initial period of four months to report to the Council’s sanctions committee. It also wants hearing within a year on the role of diamonds in the Sierra Leone conflict. |
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Talks on in Pak for power devolution ISLAMABAD, July 1 (PTI) — In the light of Pakistan’s military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf’s directives, the National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) has started contacting politicians to discuss the devolution of power and establishment of district governments. The Chief of the NRB, Lieut-Gen, Syed Tanvir Hussain Naqvi (retd) held meetings with deposed Premier Nawaz Sharif’s Muslim League Party leader Ijazul Haq and the People’s Party’s Makhdoom Amin Fahim. He is likely to contact more politicians in the next few days, reports said. The consultation process would be completed by August 2001, and General Musharraf had plans to meet “clean politicians” in July. Meanwhile, Mr Naqvi said the government would contact only “clean politicians” and not the political parties. “Our doors are open to all loyal and patriotic politicians, and we will definitely talk to individuals who feel for the country. However, there is no room for plunderers, looters and corrupt mafia,” Mr Naqvi said in a meeting with journalists here yesterday. “There are a lot of opportunities for clean politicians, but we won’t even talk to politicians who have damaged the country,” the NRB chief said when asked about the assignment ordained upon him by the Chief Executive. He said the government was determined to restore “real democracy” by ensuring changes in the system and by devolving powers up to the grassroots level. |
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Basu in Israel to invite investments JERUSALEM, July 1 (PTI) — West Bengal Chief Minister Jyoti Basu arrived here on Thursday night on a week-long tour to Israel to seek investment opportunities in the state and collaboration in agriculture development and other high-tech areas, particularly information technology and electronics. Mr Basu, who is heading a 25-member business delegation from the state, is expected to meet Prime Minister Ehud Barak, former premier Shimon Peres and other political leaders during his stay in Israel. West Bengal Chief Minister’s maiden trip here, first by a senior communist leader, assumes added significance as left parties had been opposed to establishment of diplomatic ties with the Jewish state in the past. India and Israel established full fledged diplomatic ties in 1992. Official sources said a number of companies from West Bengal had expressed interest in collaboration with their Israeli counterparts in high-tech areas like information technology and electronics, apart from agriculture where Israel has gained famed expertise. Some agreements are expected in be signed in this regard. Mr Basu’s trip is a follow up move to an exploratory visit by CPM MP and West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation Chairman Somnath Chatterjee, who had led a similar delegation to Israel in 1998. |
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China starts
drills near Taiwan areas
TAIPEI, July 1 (AFP) — China began a new round of military exercises in an area close to several Taiwan-controlled islands today but the Taiwanese authorities shrugged off the threat posed by the drills calling them “routine”. The two-day live-fire manoeuvre is the fifth of its kind in the same area since May 25 when the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) began a series of artillery exercises in waters stretching from Quanzhou Bay to Shenhu Bay in the southeast Chinese province of Fujian. “It is merely part of the PLA’s many routine drills,” said a Taiwanese defence ministry official. “The
exercises are not directed at Taiwan or its frontline islands.” The Taiwanese authorities had warned ships and airplanes to avoid the drill area, which is close to Kinmen a fortified island manned by the Taiwanese troops just 2 km off the mainland’s southeast coast. Taiwan itself is expected to hold the annual joint forces wargame “Han Kuang (Chinese Light) in August. Taiwan holds some 500 artillery drills every year, including 12 large-scale manoeuvres. China, which considers Taiwan as part of its
territory awaiting reunification, has threatened to use force against the island if it should declare independence or indefinitely prolong reunification talks. |
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US satellite
launched
MOSCOW, July 1 (AP) — A Russian Proton-K rocket carrying an American digital radio satellite successfully blasted off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan today, space officials said. The satellite, a CD-Radio-1 communicator, is designed to transmit television, radio and vehicular communications in a digital format over the USA, space officials said. Today’s launch followed last week’s agreement of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev to continue cooperation at the Baikonur cosmodrome, Russia’s main commercial rocket launching site. |
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New global court soon UNITED NATIONS, July 1 (Reuters) — More than 100 countries approved two key
documents for the world’s first permanent criminal court, including a provision the USA called a step towards exempting Americans from prosecution. “It is a gateway to the discussion that we need to hold in November on the protection we need for our armed forces,” said David Scheffer, the U.S. Ambassador at large for war crimes. “We’ve taken another step and we’ll take some more steps as the month go by.” At issue are complex rules and definitions for a new international criminal court that would prosecute individuals for the world’s most heinous atrocities — war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. But many delegates, including Portugal, representing 15 European Union countries, New Zealand, Nigeria and the Ivory coast, yesterday criticised Scheffer’s reading of a procedural rule he helped draft, saying it could not change statutes agreed at a 1998 Rome conference. “The Rome statute is here to stay and it cannot and will not be changed,” said Canada’s Philippe Kirsch, chairman of the commission preparing for the court’s operation, before closing a three-week meeting yesterday. Some 120 countries approved a treaty establishing the court at the Rome conference under pressure from the Pentagon. The USA was among seven nations that voted “no”. Since Rome, 97 countries have signed the treaty and 14 states have ratified it. A total of 60 ratifications are needed for the treaty to go into force, which most experts believe will happen within three years. |
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