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| Monday, July 31, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Sharif’s son denied re-entry into UK LONDON, July 30 — Mr Hasan Sharif, son of deposed Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has been refused re-entry into Britain even though he faces threats of imprisonment if he returns to Islamabad, the Sunday Telegraph reported today. Musharraf for pact
to prevent war
Koreas close to pact on liaison offices UK scraps visa bond plan |
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UK to allow human embryo cloning UNP leader’s contact admits LTTE links Gore to announce
mate on Aug 8 Kazakh nuclear test site destroyed Brad Pitt weds Jennifer Aniston Laden link provides
security of UK house
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Sharif’s son denied re-entry into UK LONDON, July 30 (PTI) — Mr Hasan Sharif, son of deposed Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, has been refused re-entry into Britain even though he faces threats of imprisonment if he returns to Islamabad, the Sunday Telegraph reported today. Twenty-four-year-old Hasan, who has lived in Britain for the past seven years, was graduating from City University in October, 1999, when his father was ousted by Gen Pervez Musharraf in a military coup. “My brother, uncles and cousins are all in jail even though most have had no involvement in politics and no charges have been issued against them,’’ Mr Hasan, currently in Abu Dhabi, told the Sunday Telegraph. “If I go back I will be arrested the moment I arrive at the airport. There cannot be a clearer case for asylum,’’ he said. Mr Hasan believes the refusal to grant him a new visa for the past three months is political. “The British Government, which claims to be a champion of democracy and human rights, has made it virtually impossible for me to fight against the coup plotters,’’ he said. “By refusing me entry back into Britain, the Blair government appears to be supporting General Musharraf’s regime,’’ he said. Mr Hasan is the only male member of his immediate family not to be in jail. His mother and sisters have spent several periods under house arrest over the past few months. In early May, when Mr Hasan was on a visit to Doha, his visa expired and a new one was denied by the British Embassy. Subsequent letters to Home Secretary Jack Straw and appeals to the Foreign Office had yielded no results. |
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Musharraf for pact to prevent war ISLAMABAD, July 30 (PTI) — Pakistan’s military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf has suggested the signing of an agreement with India for preventing war between the two countries and said he would hand over the power to the civilians by 2002, the deadline set by the Supreme Court. In an interview to the London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat at the army headquarters in Rawalpindi, he called on India to sign an agreement for preventing wars between the two countries instead of New Delhi’s insistence on signing a pact on no first use of nuclear weapons. “I will not remain in power after 2002. I will certainly hand over the power to the civilians and I do not intend to get involved in politics at all,” he told the newspaper. While definite dates for elections have not been decided yet: “These will certainly be held in 2002,” he said. |
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Koreas close to pact on liaison offices SEOUL, July 30 (Reuters) — Landmark talks today saw senior officials from the two Koreas come close to an agreement to reopen liaison offices in the truce village of Panmunjom, a move that would reduce tensions on the long-divided peninsula. South Korea’s Vice-Minister for Culture and Tourism Kim Soon-kyu told reporters at the close of the meeting that the two sides plan to announce a joint agreement tomorrow morning. “We have decided to announce what we have agreed upon tomorrow morning after fine-tuning some practical points,’’ he stated. “At the meeting, we realised our positions were not much different,’’ he said without elaborating. Mr Kim said the 40-minute session which ended at 7 p.m. (10 a.m. GMT) had been “sincere, hopeful and productive’’. The two Koreas took another step toward reconciliation, agreeing to hold regular high-level talks on bringing peace to their divided peninsula. “The ministerial talks will keep continuing,” said Mr Kim Sun-kyu, a South Korean delegate. “Both sides have found that their positions have many things in common but some working details need adjustment in their language before an announcement,” said
Kim. Earlier, Mr Kim said the two sides were nearing a pact on reopening liaison offices at Panmunjom. Panmunjom is the only crossing point along the heavily fortified demilitarised zone that sealed the division of the Korean peninsula after the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in an armed truce. North and South Korea first set up liaison offices in 1992 during a rare blossoming of goodwill after the Prime Ministers of the two sides signed a treaty that included a non-aggression agreement. But Pyongyang abandoned its office as relations worsened once more after a North Korean submarine landed 26 agents on a South Korean beach. DPA:
The two sides also agreed to mark a week of reconciliation in August, Kim said. The plan was discussed in a “most friendly and productive atmosphere”. In addition, it was agreed that in future the two sides would hold more regular high-level meetings. The five-member delegation led by North Korean Cabinet Councillor Jon Kum Jin arrived in Seoul yesterday for the high-level meeting, which is scheduled to continue until tomorrow. The North Koreans are also scheduled to meet with South Korean President Kim Dae Jung before leaving Seoul Monday afternoon. Before talks got under way today, both sides pledged to continue in the spirit of the inter-Korea summit in June and to strive to implement what had been agreed at the historic meeting. “We will make efforts to produce results,” South Korean Reunification Minister Park Jae Kyu said just ahead of the morning session. |
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UK scraps visa bond plan LONDON, July 30 (AP) — The British Government has scrapped a scheme criticised by the Indian Government that would have made some visitors pay thousands of pounds (dollars) to enter the country. Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Keith Vaz told the House of Commons that Britain would not go ahead with the immigration bond, first proposed in January. The pilot scheme would have made prospective visitors from some Asian and African countries whose applications were considered borderline pay a deposit before entering Britain. The sum — named at various times as £ 3,000 ($ 4,500) and £ 5,000 to 10,000 ($ 7,500 to 15,000) — would be forfeited if a visitor overstayed the visa. The proposal was criticised by the Indian Government, which feared it would affect many Indians visiting relatives in Britain. In February, Mr Vaz called that notion “absolute rubbish and nonsense.” The plan was also opposed by anti-racism groups and trade unions, who said it was unfair and could encourage racists. Mr Simon Hughes, immigration spokesman for the opposition Liberal Democratic Party, called the idea “clearly discriminatory.” “I am delighted that people coming to the UK will be judged on the merits of their application rather than the size of their wallets,” said Mr Bill Morris, general secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union. |
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Israel,
Palestine keep talks
going JERUSALEM, July 30 (Reuters) — Palestinians and Israelis kept peace talks going today after their Camp David summit ended without any agreement and a top Palestinian negotiator said the two sides had a long way to go to close a final deal. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and his Israeli counterpart Oded Eran held talks in the West Bank town of Jericho on the long-overdue redeployment of Israeli troops and release of prisoners — issues left over from interim deals. In an interview published in the Palestinian
Al-Ayyam newspaper today, Mr Ahmed Korei, chief negotiator at the Camp David summit which ended last week, said: “I don’t see this summit as having brought the positions closer...There was no mutual understanding. I didn’t find anything new at all in the Israeli position.’’ The Camp David talks which collapsed last week were aimed at clinching a final status deal by September 13. |
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Taliban score another win KABUL, July 30 (Reuters) — Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban scored another victory against opposition forces today as fighting raged for the third day in the north of the country, an opposition official said. A top aide for Opposition Commander Ahmad Shah Masood said the Taliban had seized the strategic Burqa district that lies on a vital supply line in Baghlan province and was advancing on one of Masood’s key heartlands in northern Takhar province. Yonus Qanoni told Reuters there was no let-up in the fighting, the third round of battles this month between the Taliban and Masood forces. Yesterday the Taliban cut a vital opposition supply line when they captured the old and new towns of Nahrin. Masood had used the route to bring military supplies from Tajikistan, his last land access with the outside world. The Opposition said the loss of Nahrin and Burqa was a major military victory for the Taliban. It accuses the Taliban of launching a “massive summer offensive,” a charge the Taliban deny. The fighting for Nahrin erupted early on Friday morning, a day after the UN said it wanted to boost efforts to seek peace and end two decades of conflict that has wrecked Afghanistan. |
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UK to allow human embryo cloning SCIENTISTS are to get the go-ahead to clone human embryos, raising the prospect of them growing “spare parts” for ill or disabled people. To the fury of religious groups, permission for the use of so-called ‘Frankenstein technology’, to be announced by ministers in September, may ultimately mean that cells from embryos can be cloned and used to grow new tissue for medical use. Initially, however, scientists will be allowed to clone embryos only for research. The decision will allow British scientists to take a world lead in cloning research. By taking cells from embryos, scientists will not only be able to grow new brain tissue to replace damaged material, but also new skin for grafts for burns’ victims and ultimately new organs such as hearts, kidneys and livers. Cloning would also allow people to have a ‘tissue bank’ to deal with any illness from lung disease to diabetes. Eventually whole limbs could be grown in laboratories. It will mean an end to waiting for donor organs, a situation that often ends in the death of patients. Although the news will be greeted with delight by the scientific community, it will plunge the government into a new battle with ‘pro-family’ groups and religious organisations who argue that using embryos is tantamount to sacrificing one human being’s welfare for another. “We are fundamentally opposed to any such development”, said Mr Tom Horwood, a spokesman for the Catholic Church. “A human embryo is a human life. It is creating a human life for the purposes of cloning”. Lord Alton, the pro-life peer, has described the technique as “technological cannibalism”. But Richard Dawkins, a leading Oxford University biologist, said any ethical attack on the research should be dismissed. “The moral implications of using human embryos are rather less than those connected with using mammals and other species for scientific experiment”, he said.
— Observer News Service DPA adds: The British Government is to publish a controversial report next month which could give the go-ahead to growing ‘spare body parts’, reports said today. A report on the issue was handed to the government in May this year, produced by the Chief Medical Officer, Prof Liam Donaldson, who was asked to investigate the ethical and scientific implications. Prof Donaldson and his team were asked to look into proposals to carry out research on cells which have been removed from a young embryo. These could then be developed into tissue or part of an organ which could replace damaged body parts. “The government will be publishing the report and its response in two weeks’ time. Obviously that is when we will make the government’s view known,” a Health Department spokesman said. Cloning embryos is one of the most controversial scientific procedures. It was banned two years ago because ministers feared a public backlash against scientists who were accused of ‘playing god’ with people’s lives. The technique involves taking cells from adults, creating an embryo and injecting it into a human egg donated by a woman. |
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UNP leader’s contact admits LTTE links COLOMBO, July 30 (PTI) — Leader of Sri Lanka’s opposition United National Party (UNP) Ranil Wickramasinghe today suffered a major embarrassment as a close relative of a Tamil businessman, whom he met in Singapore recently, admitted that her family was a prominent overseas supporter of the LTTE. In an interview to Sunday Times newspaper, Sharmalee Gnanakone, sister-in-law of Tamil shipping magnate Charles Gnanakone settled in Singapore, said her husband Jayantha Gnanakone was indirectly in contact with the LTTE and supplied medicines and essential food supplies to the Tamils living in rebel-controlled areas. Sharmalee, a Sinhalese by birth and married to a Tamil settled abroad, was picked up by the police on July 7, to ascertain Charles Gnankone’s link with the LTTE. On the same day, Wickramasinghe, who was taking part in the final round of talks with President Chandrika Kumaratunga to formulate a new constitution, walked out of the meeting alleging that Sharmalee was detained by the police to ascertain his suspected links with the LTTE. She was released after three hours of interrogation. The police later said she was mistakenly picked up, presumed as wife of Charles Gnankone, whom Wickramasinghe reportedly met in Singapore on June 18. The media described Charles as LTTE agent in charge of supply of arms and other materials to LTTE. |
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Gore to announce mate on Aug 8 WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH (N.C.), July 30 (Reuters) — Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore will announce his vice presidential running mate on August 8 in Tennessee. “This selection process will be in sharp contrast to the carnival-like atmosphere,’’ of the Republican candidate George W. Bush, spokesman Chris Lehane told reporters on a conference call yesterday. He said the Vice-President had not yet settled on a choice. The date would be six days before the start of the democratic national convention in Los Angeles. Lehane’s announcement came two days before the Republican national convention began in Philadelphia and seemed calculated to grab the headlines. Gore aides previously said they would not allow Republicans to totally dominate the air waves for an entire week. Those considered among his possible choices as vice presidential candidates include Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, Senator Bob Graham of Florida, Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, North Carolina Governor Jim Hunt and former senate majority leader George Mitchell of Maine. |
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Kazakh nuclear test site destroyed KURCHATOV (Kazakhstan), July 30 (Reuters) — US and Kazakh officials completed destruction yesterday of what was once the world’s largest atomic test ground. Over 500 nuclear explosions were carried out at the Semipalatinsk complex in northeastern Kazakhstan during the cold war between 1949 and 1989. But more than a decade later, Kazakhs living around Semipalatinsk say they are still living with the consequences of the tests, citing illnesses and contamination of the land. “On July 29 we closed the last nuclear weapons test tunnel at Semipalatinsk, using 100 tonnes of chemical explosives,” a US Pentagon official said. The blast, which sent a cloud of dust over the steppe and made the earth shake, was carried out by the US Defence Department and the Kazakh National Nuclear Centre under a scheme funded by the Defence Department’s threat reduction agency. Although the blast brought the curtain down on the test site, people living around Semipalatinsk are still being affected by the nuclear bomb test programme. Many babies born in the region have congenital deformities, while cancer and muscular dystrophy are common. The United Nations said in a report on Semipalatinsk that agriculture and land systems had been contaminated by radioactive elements and called for aid to clean up the damage. |
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Brad Pitt weds Jennifer Aniston MALIBU (California), July 30 (AP) — After months of rumours, Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were married at a ceremony on an ocean bluff. About 200 guests attended the lavish sunset ceremony at an estate owned by television executive Marcy Carsey yesterday. Guests seen going into the Malibu estate included actress Cameron Diaz and Aniston’s “friends” co-stars, including Matthew Perry Helicopters buzzed overhead for days before the event. A large white tent was set up at the location to ensure privacy, and airspace was restricted over the site during the actual ceremony for Pitt, 36, and Aniston, 31. The event cost $ 1 million, according to widespread media reports, including $ 1,00,000 for security, $ 75,000 for flowers and $ 20,000 for fireworks. A publicist did not immediately confirm those reports. Entertainment reporters and paparazzi had been staking out the wedding site for days but tight security kept them away from the reception site. Part of Pacific Coast highway was shut down to accommodate the guests and workers. Rumours the couple were engaged and planning a wedding have been swirling in Hollywood for months. It was the first marriage for both. Aniston and Pitt, whose movie credits include “Interview with the Vampire: the vampire chronicles,” “Legends of the fall,” “ 12 monkeys” and “fight club,” never confirmed they were engaged. |
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Laden link
provides security of UK house LONDON, July 30 (DPA) — A Sudanese businessman, whose chemical factory in Sudan was bombed by the USA on suspicion of links to Saudi extremist Osama bin Laden, provides security systems to the British Parliament, The Sunday Times reported. Salah Idris, 48, whose pharmaceutical factory near Khartoum was flattened by US Cruise missiles after it was linked to Osama bin Laden, owned 25 per cent of ies, a company specialising in high-technology surveillance and security management, the newspaper said. |
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