Friday, August 4, 2000,
Chandigarh, India






THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
W O R L D
The first crew of the International Space Station, Cosmonauts, Sergei Krikalev, left, Yuri Gidzenko, center, and Astronaut William Shepherd, answer questions during a press conference at Johnson Space Center on Wednesday. This is their last U.S. press conference before leaving for Kazakhstan for further training and then launch later this year
The first crew of the International Space Station, Cosmonauts, Sergei Krikalev, left, Yuri Gidzenko, centre, and Astronaut William Shepherd, answer questions during a press conference at Johnson Space Center on Wednesday. This is their last US press conference before leaving for Kazakhstan for further training and then launch later this year. — PTI photo

Pinochet stripped of immunity
F
ORMER military dictator Augusto Pinochet has been stripped of parliamentary immunity by the Chilean supreme court, according to reports in the Chilean media last night.

Suharto indicted on graft charge
JAKARTA, Aug 3 — Indonesia’s Attorney-General’s office today formally charged disgraced ex-President Suharto with corruption, bringing the one-time despot closer to court.

Pak may export N-material
T
HE military regime in Pakistan is to allow the export of radioactive material and equipment for nuclear reactors, in apparent breach of the recently drafted guidelines.

Troops kill Speight supporter
SUVA, Aug 3  — Fijian troops today killed a supporter of nationalist rebel leader George Speight and arrested 37 in a fresh sweep of trouble-spots two days before he is due make his first appearance in court.

UNP to boycott statute Bill
COLOMBO, Aug 3 — The Opposition United National Party  today decided not to support the Constitution Bill when it comes up for voting on August 9.

Chandrika tables draft statute bill
COLOMBO, Aug 3 — Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga said today that she would discuss the controversial new Draft Constitution with the LTTE, but vowed to continue the war if the rebel group rejected her proposals.


 

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Actress Bo Derek touches the hand of former President George Bush at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia on Wednesday
 
Actress Bo Derek touches the hand of former President George Bush at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia on Wednesday. — PTI photo

 
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Pinochet stripped of immunity
from Jonathan Franklin in Santiago

FORMER military dictator Augusto Pinochet has been stripped of parliamentary immunity by the Chilean supreme court, according to reports in the Chilean media last night.

But Chilean newspapers and websites provided conflicting versions of the vote by 20 judges. One claimed that General Pinochet had lost by 14-6, while the other said the margin was 11-9.

Inside the courtroom, lawyers awaited the official announcement which could expose General Pinochet to prosecution for alleged human rights abuses.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court had argued for four hours in an attempt to resolve whether he should face trial for thousands of murders committed in the wake of the 1973 US-backed military coup that ousted President Salvador Allende.

The Chilean news site, www.elmostrador.cl, usually a source of reliable insider information, reported that the judges voted 14-6 to strip the former dictator of his immunity. The Spanish newspaper El Pais also reported that the court had removed General Pinochet’s immunity. "I think it was a very close vote," said Hugo Gutierrez, a leading lawyer for the prosecution. "They will take their time (in announcing the verdict)." The Supreme Court President, Mr Hernan Alvarez, insisted that the decision would not be made public until the end of this week at the earliest.

However, the rising consternation at the court’s secrecy and press leaks may force it to act sooner. One of the most credible explanations for the delays was that the judges were wary of being second-guessed by legal experts and were writing their opinions very carefully.

General Pinochet faces 153 criminal complaints and judge Juan Guzman is seeking his trial in one of them — a military squad allegedly carrying handwritten notes from the general that summarily executed at least 72 political prisoners in several remote cities shortly after the coup.

Even the most ardent human rights lawyers doubt that General Pinochet, now 84, would ever be imprisoned, even if he was stripped of immunity. His health was suspect; he suffered two mild strokes during his 16-month confinement in England; he had been fitted with a pacemaker and he suffers from diabetes.

— The Guardian, London
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Suharto indicted on graft charge

JAKARTA, Aug 3 (Reuters) — Indonesia’s Attorney-General’s office today formally charged disgraced ex-President Suharto with corruption, bringing the one-time despot closer to court.

Asked by reporters whether Mr Suharto had been charged with graft, Mr Yushar Yahya, spokesman for the Attorney-General’s office, said: "Yes, it is related to corruption."

"Mr Suharto’s status, as of today, is as an accused,’’ he added.

"There will be a team of prosecutors, and they will make the indictment, which will be read in the court."

A trial is expected to start this month.

The Attorney-General’s spokesman said last week that Mr Suharto (79) would be charged with corruption for the misuse of funds from seven charities he controlled during his army-backed rule. Officials have given differing figures for the misused funds.

Mr Suharto was forced out of office in 1998 after 32 years of iron rule.
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Pak may export N-material
from Rory McCarthy in Islamabad and Julian Borger in Philadelphia

THE military regime in Pakistan is to allow the export of radioactive material and equipment for nuclear reactors, in apparent breach of the recently drafted guidelines.

The news surprised and confused US officials, who said it appeared to undermine much of the recent progress made in talks on introducing greater controls on nuclear materials.

In a full-page newspaper advertisement the Pakistani commerce ministry has published an application form for the export of 11 radioactive substances, including depleted uranium, enriched uranium, plutonium and tritium, and 17 types of equipment, including nuclear power reactors, nuclear research reactors and reactor-control systems.

It is the first time Pakistan has openly authorised the sale of nuclear materials since it became the world’s newest acknowledged nuclear power in May 1998, when it conducted six tests in direct response to that of India’s.

Exporters, will have to pay up to $ 2,100 as application fees, will have to declare that the sale is for peaceful purposes only and the material will not be re-exported.

They must reveal the source of the material or equipment, supply an end-user certificate, and obtain a "no-objection certificate" from the government. Although almost all nuclear material is held by the government, there are some private contractors.

He said Pakistan had exported no nuclear material in the past and had no immediate plans for exports now.

Mr Ishfaq Ahmed, head of the Pakistani atomic energy commission, said the export of fissionable material, including enriched uranium and plutonium, was banned but other nuclear material exports would be considered. His statement contradicted the advertisment’s suggestion that enriched uranium and plutonium could be exported.

"We made a commitment to the international community that we would put in a place a system to exercise controls on nuclear exports and that is what this is," he said.

A US State Department official said: "This is not exactly what the USA had in mind when we talked to them about nuclear controls."

Pakistan’s newest nuclear reactor went operational last month. The 300MW plant at Chasma, in Punjab, was built with the Chinese help.

It has at least two uranium-enrichment plants and two plutonium reprocessing plants.

The decision to invite nuclear exports comes as the government struggles to revive the economy. With $ 38 b in foreign debt still to be paid, it must raise revenue quickly.

"The purpose of this is very clear: it is to earn much-needed money," a former army chief, Gen Mirza Aslam Beg, said. "It shows we have enough material to maintain our low-level nuclear deterrence and so much in surplus that we can sell it in the open market. It is a respectable way of earning money."

— The Guardian, London
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Speight to appear in court on Aug 5
Troops kill Speight supporter

SUVA, Aug 3 (Reuters, AP) — Fijian troops today killed a supporter of nationalist rebel leader George Speight and arrested 37 in a fresh sweep of trouble-spots two days before he is due make his first appearance in court.

At least 100 fresh troops were sent to the second largest island, Vanua Levu, where ethnic Indians in the farming community of Dreketi have been the target of random attacks by ethnic Fijian nationalists, a military official said.

Military spokesman Major Howard Politini said there were two shootings in Dreketi, one when a rebel was injured fatally and the second where rebels in a vehicle shot a cane labourer in the leg.

"When they (troops) approached the village, the chap had a weapon and he fired it towards the military," he told FM96 Radio. "The soldiers returned the fire."

The injured rebel was rushed to hospital, but died on the way, he said. Among the 37 arrested were five in the vehicle who shot the cane labourer.

Australian Broadcasting Corporation said 20 shots were fired at the start of the operation at Dreketi.

The military arrested 30 more supporters of rebel leader George Speight today in a new sweep of trouble spots two days before he is due to make his first appearance in court.

"The military has arrested 30 males in Dreketi," Politini said.

"A lot of the rebels who were responsible for (the attacks) have fled into the bush and that of course is going to be something that the military will continue to seek out," he said.

Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Joe Naigulevu said Speight must appear in court before 10 p.m. (a.m. IST) on Saturday, when a court order allowing for his detention under military decree expires.

Meanwhile, the military sent troops to Fiji’s second largest island today in a bid to end civil unrest which has persisted since a coup in May.

Also, the country’s Director of Public Prosecutions, Josaia Naigolevu, announced coup leader George Speight would appear in court on Saturday to be arraigned on minor charges, including unlawful assembly.

Speight is under investigation for treason but has not yet been charged with that offence, which carries a maximum sentence of death.

A company of soldiers was deployed to the northern island of Vanua Levu to strengthen troop numbers there and end a spate of attacks on ethnic Indians, said military spokesman Maj Howard Politini.

At least one house was razed overnight, and armed gangs have for weeks been terrorising ethnic Indian families in towns on the island, a stronghold of Speight support.

The new deployment comes two days after the military retook control of a small barracks on the island which had earlier been overrun by rebel supporters.

"We have moved into Vanua Levu in force and that should put an end to the disturbances and enhance our search for weapons," Politini said.

Raids, hostage-taking, theft, beatings and burnings have become commonplace in small ethnic Indian-dominated rural communities since a nationalist uprising in May which toppled Fiji’s elected government and bred more than 11 weeks of civil unrest.
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UNP to boycott statute Bill

COLOMBO, Aug 3 (UNI) — The Opposition United National Party (UNP) today decided not to support the Constitution Bill when it comes up for voting on August 9.

The UNP parliamentary group, which met here this evening, took a decision that all party members would boycott the voting process.

As per rules, a two-thirds majority of the total strength of the House is needed for the Bill to be passed. The Parliament has a strength of 225, of which 150 is required for a two-thirds majority. The support of the UNP is very crucial in getting the Bill passed.

The ruling Peoples’ Alliance (PA) has strength of only 111 members while the UNP has a strength of 91. Since six UNP members have gone to the PA side, the ruling party can expect a total of 117. The Tamil parties together (TULF, EPDP, PLOTE, TELO and CWC) have a combined strength of 23 but they have not decided whether to support or oppose the Bill. It is certain that several of the Tamil party MPs would support the Bill, but still the ruling party is short of required 150.

In a related development, hundreds of Buddhist monks today held a demonstration against the new constitution while thousands of JVP members held a rally leading to Parliament, but police prevented them marching to the Parliament complex.
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Chandrika tables draft statute bill

COLOMBO, Aug 3 (PTI) — Sri Lankan President, Chandrika Kumaratunga said today that she would discuss the controversial new Draft Constitution with the LTTE, but vowed to continue the war if the rebel group rejected her proposals.

Earlier today, Chandrika presented the controversial Draft Constitution Bill in Parliament after the Supreme Court ordered the government to hold a national referendum if it wanted to go ahead with the move to turn the country into a de facto federal state.
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WORLD BRIEFS

Serial rapist gets 155 yrs in jail
NEW YORK: The serial rapist the police was looking for the night an unarmed immigrant from Guinea was shot in the Bronx has been sentenced to 155 years to life in prison. Issac Jones, 39, denied being the rapist who terrorised women in Bronx, Manhattan and Mount Vernon during a crime spree that started in 1994. The police arrested Jones in April after DNA evidence linked him to 17 attacks on women. — AP

Taliban capture key town
ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban movement on Thursday captured a key opposition town in the war-torn country’s north, after heavy fighting with forces loyal to Commander Ahmed Shah Masood, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported. The Pakistan-based news service said the Taliban entered Ishkamish town in Takhar province on Thursday morning after heavy overnight fighting in which dozens of Masood’s men were killed. — Reuters

Man kills wife for meat
KATHMANDU: A man in Nepal beat his wife to death because she gave him fewer pieces of meat than she gave herself, media reports said on Thursday. The man, Sitaram Achami of the Hatiya village in Makwanpur district, about 80 km south of the capital, beat his wife to death on Monday after he discovered that she had more pieces of meat on her plate than he did. The man, who is now in custody, said it was not his intention to kill his wife but merely to beat her up. — DPA

Drug reduces risk of stroke
BOSTON: Taking anti-cholesterol drug pravastatin may do more than ward off a heart attack, according to a study in today’s New England journal of medicine. For people known to have heart disease, it may also help cut the risk of stroke by 19 per cent, according to the study financed by the drug’s maker. — Reuters

Clinton postpones execution
WASHINGTON: President Bill Clinton has granted a death row inmate a four-month reprieve to allow the prisoner to benefit from new rules on requesting presidential clemency, the US Department of Justice announced. Juan Raul Garza was to have been executed August 5 in Texas. He was sentenced to death in August, 1993, for three murders in connection with a drug-trafficking operation. The Mexican national is now scheduled to die on December 12. — AFP

Fired for foiling robbery!
MARTINSBURG (US): Heroes need not apply. Antonio Feliciano, an employee at a 7-eleven convenience store who foiled a robbery by wrestling a sawed-off rifle from a would-be assailant, was fired for breaking the store’s rule on robberies that says: just hand over the cash. Feliciano said the company rule wasn’t his primary concern when he grabbed the armed assailant. "I just wanted to be sure that I was coming home that night," he said. — AP

‘Tallest man’ to undergo surgery
BEIJING: A Chinese worker described as "the world’s tallest man" will undergo brain surgery next week in an attempt to halt his growth, hospital officials have said. Doctors will attempt surgery on Wang Fengjun, 22, who is 2.45 metres tall, to remove a gland producing hormones responsible for regulating height, officials at Sanjlu Hospital in southern Guangzhou province said on Thursday. — AFP

Glacier loses 5,00,000 cubic m of ice
SAAS ALMAGELL (Switzerland): A glacier in the canton of Wallis in Switzerland has lost 5,00,000 cubic metres of ice, experts said. This was the largest amount of ice to be separated from a glacier in the entire mountain range in the past 35 years, Martin Luethi, glaciologist at the Swiss Technical University said in Zurich on Wednesday. This happens only "once or twice every century", Luethi said. — DPA

10 Muslim rebels, soldier killed
MANILA: Ten members of The Philippines’ largest Muslim separatist guerrilla group and a soldier have been killed in fighting on the southern island of Mindanao, the military said on Thursday. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels clashed with an infantry unit at a village near the town of Kauswagan on Monday last, military spokesmen here said. —AFP

14 die in China truck mishap
BEIJING: A poorly maintained dumper truck ran out of control on a mountain road in southwest China, killing 14 persons and injuring 14, state media reported on Thursday. The truck crashed on Tuesday after faulty brakes caused the driver to lose control on a downhill stretch of road near Guilin in the mountainous Guangxi autonomous region, the official Beijing Youth Daily reported. Such accidents are common in mountainous areas of rural China, but often go unreported. — DPATop

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