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| Saturday, August 12, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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USA flays Srinagar bomb attack India, Pak N-plans not linked to NMD No extra power to Megawati |
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Westminster Jottings Special UN court to try war criminals
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| Kremlin offers olive
branch to rebels MOSCOW, Aug 11 — The idea of giving Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov a chance to surrender honourably has been strongly supported by an aide to President Vladimir Putin. 
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Speight, advisers charged with treason SUVA, Aug 11 (Reuters, DPA) — Fiji’s rebel leader George Speight was today charged with two counts of treason against former President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara. One felony charge of treason and another of conspiracy to commit treason were read in a Suva magistrate’s court. It was alleged Speight “intended to levy war against the President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara”. Speight’s security adviser Ilisoni Ligaira, media adviser Joe Nata, political adviser Tomoci Silatolu and Speight’s younger brother, Jim were also charged with treason. The charge carries the death penalty, but it has not been carried out since Fiji’s independence from Britain in 1970. The charges were referred for a hearing in Fiji’s High Court in four weeks, after which a date for a trial would be set. Speight is in jail on minor charges. Speight plunged Fiji into crisis on May 19 when he stormed Parliament, taking former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry hostage in the name of indigenous Fijian rights. Mara stepped aside when martial law was declared on May 29. Speight earlier appeared for a bail hearing on five minor charges relating to the raid on Parliament but the hearing was deferred for a week. Chief Magistrate Salesi Temo ordered that Speight and 12 key aides be returned to the prison island of Nukulau off Suva until August 18 for the bail hearing. Speight has pleaded not guilty to five charges of firearm offences, illegal assembly and the illegal burial of a supporter inside Parliament. A trial on the charges will begin on September 1. Speight, who says he was injured while in military custody, appeared in court with a small bandage on the back of his head. Speight was arrested on July 26 at the start of a military crackdown which saw the arrest of about 450 of his supporters. About 300 Speight supporters gathered outside the courthouse in Central Suva before today’s hearing. The online news agency Fijilive said the Director of Public Prosecutions had formally asked the Chief Magistrate to disqualify himself from hearing the charges against Speight and his supporters because he is related to one of the accused, Jioji Bakoso. Fijilive also said the public service commission would investigate Police Commissioner, Col Isikia Savua, over his alleged role in the coup. His brother, Major Jovesa Savua, is one of those arrested with Speight. |
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USA flays Srinagar bomb attack WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (UNI) — The Clinton Administration has condemned yesterday’s car bomb attack in Srinagar in which at least 11 persons, including nine policemen and a photo journalist, were killed and 27 others were injured. It’s a brutal attack. Does nothing to advance a settlement in the Kashmir dispute. It adds to our disappointment over the ending of the ceasefire, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. We continue to believe that all sides should resume this dialogue in the interest of pursuing peace in Kashmir and between India and Pakistan. We believe the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen-Indian dialogue was simply not given enough time,” he added. . He, however, said: “We don’t have full information yet about the incident. We understand that several policemen and at least one journalist were killed. We’ve seen reports that the Hizb-ul- Mujahideen, the group that just ended its ceasefire in Kashmir, has claimed responsibility for the attack. When his attention was drawn to India’s charge that Pakistan was behind it, Mr Boucher said, I don’t have anything on responsibility, other than we’ve seen the report that the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen have claimed the responsibility. Meanwhile Pakistan condemning the attack has called for an impartial investigation to uncover those responsible for the criminal act a report from Islamabad said. The statement said there had been no serious and impartial inquiry in the incidents. “Instead, the Indian authorities appear to be indulging in propaganda and allegations against Pakistan.” Pakistan yesterday deflected us criticism of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen’s truce withdrawal in Kashmir, saying unacceptable Indian “conditions” on dialogue had ruined the fledgling peace initiative. A foreign office spokesman said hopes were high for a genuine three-way dialogue when Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee last week said talks should be governed only by “insaniyat” (humanity). But he claimed Mr Vajpayee changed his stance on Monday and insisted the outcome of the proposed talks would be limited by the Indian Constitution. “Even the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen said their hopes were dashed by this. It’s just not possible for these people (the separatists) to accept conditions like this,” spokesman Riaz Mohammad told
AFP.
India, Pak N-plans not linked to NMD WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (PTI) — India, China and Pakistan will decide the level of their nuclear arsenals uninfluenced by any decision of the US to deploy a National Missile Defence (NMD) system, state department spokesman Richard Boucher has said. Stating that us plans to install an NMD sheild did not have any bearing on nuclear programmes of India and Pakistan, he said “they may do that (increase nuclear levels) anyway. I don’t see how our missile defence would affect what they decide to do in that situation.” |
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No extra power to Megawati JAKARTA, Aug 11 (AP) — After seemingly handing over the day-to-day running of the crisis-ridden nation to his deputy earlier this week, Indonesia’s President Abdurrahman Wahid said today she would have no extra authority to do her new job. Late on Wednesday, Mr Wahid capitulated to disgruntled lawmakers and told the country’s top legislative body that he would surrender his domestic administrative duties to his popular but untested Vice-President, Megawati Sukarnoputri. “There’s been some misunderstanding about what I said in the assembly,” Mr Wahid said. “What I delegate to Megawati is not authority but only duties.” He also said he plans to appoint a coordinating minister for the cabinet, to work under Megawati, in an expected reshuffle before August 21. The move is expected to upset legislators from Megawati’s popular Indonesian Democratic Party of struggle who are opposed to the idea of a coordinating minister, believing it would reduce her power. Aides close to Megawati have said she wants extra powers, including the authority to veto who would serve in the new cabinet. In a speech to the People’s Consultative Assembly, the nearly blind Head of State said he would soon streamline his unwieldy 35-member Cabinet. Enfeebled by two strokes and apparently little interested in the details of government, Mr Wahid is admired for his intellect and vision but seen as an inept administrator. It is administrative skills that most people hope Ms Megawati will bring to the new government, which Mr Wahid has pledged would be stacked with technocrats instead of bickering politicians. Ms Megawati carries the political weight of heading Indonesia’s largest party and is wildly popular among the nation’s have-nots, who have been hardest hit by the prolonged economic recession. But since she took over as Vice-President, she has failed to make her mark, remaining a shadowy figure on the fringe of the cut and thrust of attempts to resolve Indonesia’s woes. |
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Westminster Jottings Women MPs and their counterparts in the state assemblies in India, fighting for 33 per cent reservation of seats, may draw comfort from the fact that their peers in the mother of Parliaments are fairing no better in their quest for greater representation. A survey by the London Times has shown that on current standing the number of women in the next Parliament is expected to fall by around a sixth, from the current 122 to little more than 100. According to the Times, Prime Minister Tony Blair is concerned enough to be looking for high quality women candidates to fill many of the expected rush of safe Labour seats to become available between now and the election. The party has also agreed to look at changing the law after the next election to allow party shortlists of female, ethnic minority candidates in winnable seats. Political parties in India which seemingly support reservation of seats for women but are reluctant to take the easier course of fielding more women candidates, share the distinguished company of Britain’s Labour and Conservative parties. The Times reports that in the 23 Labour-held seats in which the sitting MP is standing down, only two women have been selected. Where women are standing down, they are being replaced by men. Both parties are, of course, trying to rectify the situation. The Labour’s policy forum has resolved to “take action, including legislation, if necessary, to ensure that all political parties can introduce measures to guarantee the selection of women and ethnic minority candidates for winnable seats.” The Conservative Party is also actively considering a change in the selection process so that women candidates are not side-lined. In the last week of July, Miss Betty Boothroyd bid farewell after a stint of eight years as the first ever woman Speaker of the House of Commons, and her farewell speech contained elements that could well apply to the Indian Parliament. She told the MPs that it was their dutyto rebuild the confidence of their electors. As Lok Sabha Speaker Balayogi grapples with the almost daily pandemonium in the House, Miss Boothroyd’s counsel to British MPs cannot be lost on Indian parliamentarians. “I know from my postbag how much disillusion about the political process exists among the general public,” she said, adding “the level of cynicism about Parliament and accompanying alienation of many of the young from the democratic process is troubling. Highlighting the importance and supremacy of Parliament, Miss Boothroyd told the House: “This is the chief forum for the nation today, tomorrow, and I hope, for ever.” Indian ministers often draw the ire of MPs for making policy statements outside Parliament. The latter may feel gratified that the legitimacy of their complaint has been endorsed by no less than the Commons Speaker. Miss Boothroyd reminded the MPs that “the function of Parliament is to hold the Executive to account. It is in Parliament, in the first instance, that ministers must explain and justify their policies.” Speaker Balayogi may adopt that knack for long-winded members. But there is no knowing if Miss Boothroyd, who has visited Indian Parliament, had a remedy which he could try for bringing rowdy MPs to heel. The 70-year old Miss Boothroyd will stand down as Speaker before the Commons resumes on October 24. The job had never given a “boring” day. “I have enjoyed the job,” she told the cheering members. One would wish Speaker Balayogi could say the same thing when he ends his tenure. |
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Special UN court to try war criminals UNITED NATIONS, Aug 11 (AP) — In a first step towards the prosecution of rebel leaders in Sierra Leone, the Security Council has agreed to create a special court to try those responsible for the most heinous crimes during the country’s nine-year civil war. The US-sponsored resolution is expected to be adopted by the 15-member council today. “This is a good, firm step to set up a court,” Britain’s UN Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock said after the council agreed on the text of the resolution yesterday afternoon. “We’ve set the framework.” The resolution will authorise Secretary-General Kofi Annan to negotiate an agreement with the Sierra Leone government to create an independent special court to prosecute crimes against humanity, war crimes and other serious violations of both international humanitarian and Sierra Leonean laws. Under its provisions, the Secretary-General will be given 30 days to make recommendations to the council on the type of tribunal and the type of appeals court — whether it will be part of the new special court or that of the appeals chamber of the UN war crimes tribunals for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The draft resolution also asks the Secretary-General to suggest a possible alternative country for the special court should circumstances require that it should not be located in Sierra Leone. |
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Post-Lewinsky
phase beneficial, says Clinton WASHINGTON, Aug 11 (PTI) —US President Bill Clinton has said that what he went through in the wake of the Lewinsky affair has made him a better person spiritually. Without mentioning Monica Lewinsky by name when asked by a minister yesterday how much spiritually involved he was, Mr Clinton said he felt much more at peace now. “I am now in my second year of the process of trying to rebuild my life from a terrible mistake I made. It (spiritual life) is a dynamic, ongoing effort and you just have to hope you get better everyday” he said. Mr Clinton described the post-Lewinsky phase as an “an amazing experience” during which he tried to rebuild his family life which he termed the “the most important thing of all,” the President
said. |
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Kremlin offers olive
branch to rebels MOSCOW, Aug 11 (UNI) — The idea of giving Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov a chance to surrender honourably has been strongly supported by an aide to President Vladimir
Putin. In an interview to state-owned ‘Voice of Russia’, aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky supported the suggestion for a honourable surrender put forward by General
Borovikov, the Kremlin’s plenipotentiary representative in southern Caucasus district, and pointed out that Maskhadov had at one point of time served as a colonel in the Russian Army under Mr
Borovikov. “They still have relations and possibly a certain level of confidence. That is why General Borovikov wants Maskhadov to use the opportunity to surrender arms. This will be an honest capitulation,” the aide remarked. He however said that two other warlords, Shamil Basayev and Wahabi leader
Khattab, will not be pardoned and must be eliminated. |
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