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| Wednesday, August 16, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Summit on Congo ends in failure Free
Palestine date may be put off USA flays J&K
killings Deputy Mayor
flees Lanka Pakistan ‘aiding’
religious bigotry Probe ordered
into Fiji coup Heart attack
cure found?
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200 Korean families reunited after 50 yrs SEOUL, Aug 15 (AFP, Reuters) — Giving hope to millions of families torn apart by half a century of hostility, North and South Korea today took another step towards reconciliation with a poignant exchange of family visits. Many of the 100 North Koreans and 100 South Koreans taking part in the four-day reunions in Seoul and Pyongyang have not seen their wives, husbands, sons or daughters since the tragic events of the 1950-53 Korean war. In a highly symbolic move, an Air Koryo jet carrying the delegation from Pyongyang became the first North Korean plane to land in the South since the war when it touched down at Seoul’s Kimpo Airport. After the 151-strong delegation — 100 family members, 51 officials and journalists — was dispatched into the terminal building, the plane headed north with the South Koreans and later touched down in Pyongyang. Led by Ryu Mi-Yong, the wife of South Korean’s former Foreign Minister who defected, the North Koreans emerged smiling, clapping and waving. The relatives, mostly elderly men wearing badges of North Korean leader Kim Jong-II on their suit lapels, were greeted with rapturous applause from crowds jamming the terminal. “I am very happy,” beamed Hwaung Ui-bun (84) the oldest member of the delegation wearing a light orange flowing robe and leaning heavily on a wooden cane. The family visits, the first since a slightly troubled exchange of 50 relatives in 1985, were agreed at the mid-June summit between South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and his northern counterpart Kim Jong-II. The 100 South Koreans who are flying to Pyongyang were selected by computer. The Unification Ministry announced that 77,000 people applied to be among the first 100. They were accompanied by 51 officials on their flight to Pyongyang. At the same time as the South Koreans took off from Seoul 151 North Koreans left Pyongyang, heading for Seoul These will be the first direct flights between the two capitals carrying civilians since Korea was partitioned in 1953. South Korean President Kim Dae-jung today called for talks between the Defence Ministers of the two Koreas to bring about a permanent easing of military tension on the peninsula. In a speech reaching out to Stalinist northern neighbour mark the 55th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule, Kim also called for an end to half a century of cold war hostility. “Military hotlines and talks between the Defence Ministers will also be pushed to lessen tensions on the peninsula,” said Mr Kim, speaking as an historic exchange of family visits between North and South got under way. He proposed forming three joint committees during the ongoing rounds of ministerial level peace talks between the two cold war enemies, and to promote military, economic, and social cultural exchanges. He said a meeting between South and North Korean defence chiefs was needed to remove the threat of war on the heavily-militarised peninsula, which was divided in 1945 and suffered a terrible war between 1950-53 which cost an estimated three million lives. “I intend to see the removal of the threat of war on the Korean peninsula and the opening of an era of South-North co-existence with peaceful exchanges and cooperation,” he said. The S. Korean President, however, stressed inter-Korean military exchanges should proceed without affecting the future of the 37,000 US troops stationed in the South under a defence pact signed during the Korean war. |
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116 crew alive but saving difficult MOSCOW, Aug 15 (DPA) —Russian rescue teams prepared today to use special submersible craft to rescue the 116 crewmen of an 18,000-tonne nuclear submarine stranded for three days below the stormy Barents Sea. Naval units operating in five-metre waves and poor visibility had failed in earlier attempts to deliver oxygen and fuel to the sunken submarine and hopefully to ferry crewmen 100 metres to the surface. The next evacuation attempt was planned to start around 1 p.m. (GMT) during an anticipated lull in the storm, said Ilya Klebanov, Deputy Prime Minister for Defence, who heads a special commission coordinating the rescue. Navy Commander-in-Chief Vladimir Kuroyedov had said earlier that the chances of saving the Kursk submarine and crew were “fairly low’’, Interfax news agency reported. But he also stressed that since the submarine’s emergency exit hatches are not located in the flooded forward compartments it would still be possible to save the crew. Designers of the submarine said there was probably enough oxygen left aboard to last between two to three days. The navy says there was probably an explosion of a torpedo in the prow of the U-boat during military exercises on Sunday. Klebanov also said the sub may have run into a mine from the second World War II. Moscow newspaper Kommersant cited sources in the Northern Fleet as saying that dozens of sailors possibly died when the forward section of the “Kursk” was flooded, and that contact was first lost with the submarine on Saturday. CNN television quoted Pentagon officials as saying that a US submarine monitoring the exercises reported an explosion in the area on submarine. After water poured on board, the
submarine was unable to surface. It came to rest on the sea bed after its two nuclear reactors were shut down, cutting off light to the crew and leading to fears it would run out of oxygen. Both Britain and the USA have offered to help with the rescue by sending a specially equipped mini-submarine that might rescue the crew in as few as five or six trips. Mr Vladimir Navrosky, a spokesman of the Northern Fleet, said rescuers had failed in their initial efforts to reach the stricken vessel. The only contact rescuers had with the crew was through underwater acoustic signals. Sailors aboard the vessel were alive. The Russian Government reported that the 155-metre-long Antey Class submarine
(NATO classification Oscar-II) went down on Sunday during military manoeuvres about 180 km northeast of the Russian port of Murmansk in the Arctic Circle. It was not carrying nuclear weapons and that radiation levels in the area are normal, navy spokesmen said. The crew of the crippled nuclear submarine lying at the bottom of the Barents Sea is alive after Sunday’s accident, a spokesman for Russia’s Northern Fleet said. Rescue teams have managed to communicate with the Kursk submarine with more than 100 persons on board using coded signals tapped out on the body of the vessel, he said. “We have learnt through tapping that there are no dead among the Kursk crew, but it remains unknown whether there are casualties,” the spokesman said on the telephone from the fleet’s arctic base of Severomorsk. Russia’s Prime-Tass news agency today quoted an unnamed official in the US Administration as saying that two US submarines close to a crippled submarine in the Barents Sea heard an explosion before it grounded. It quoted the official as saying that the explosion would have happened early on Sunday Moscow time. OSLO: Russian and Norwegian military chiefs made unprecedented use of an emergency “hot-line’’ when Russia turned down an offer of help to rescue the 116 crew in a stricken submarine. Norwegian Rear Admiral Einar Skorgen, the head of the armed forces in northern Norway, used a red telephone in his office in the city of Bodoe to call Adm Vyacheslav Popov, the head of Russia’s North Fleet, yesterday after “Kursk” was forced to ground. |
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Summit on Congo ends in failure LUSAKA, Aug 15 (AFP) — African leaders made no progress today on reviving a ceasefire accord in the Democratic Republic of Congo, with talks breaking down over the deployment of a UN peacekeeping force in the war-battered nation. According to a UN negotiator who attended the marathon session, which started yesterday and carried on throughout the night, President laurent
Kabila would not agree to the deployment of a UN force in government-controlled areas. Mr
Kabila says the UN force — which is expected to comprise 500 military observers and 5,000 soldiers — should only be sent to rebel zones. The DRC conflict broke out two years ago, and pits Mr Kabila’s troops against rebels backed by Rwanda and Uganda. Mr Kabila’s army is in turn supported by troops from Zimbabwe, Namibia and Angola. Zambian mediator President Frederick Chiluba left the talks late yesterday along with presidents of some other southern African states including South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki, Tanzania’s Benjamin Mkapa and Malawi’s Bukuli Muluzi. “The length of the discussions shows how irreconcilable the positions are,” said one UN observer on Monday. Reuters adds: South African leaders threatened against Congo after the failure of a summit called to try to revive a peace pact in Africa’s third-largest country. Congolese President Laurent
Kabila refused to give ground on two key issues deployment of UN troops and his rejection of former Botswana leader Ketumile Masire as organiser of all-party internal talks on the political future of the former Zaire. “We have not been able to achieve what we hoped to achieve,” King Mswati iii of Swaziland told reporters after the talks. Mr
Kabila and his allies, Presidents Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Sam Nujoma of Namibia, emerged from closed talks after 13 hours, leaving other leaders in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to talk for a further six hours. Zambian President Frederick Chiluba, chief mediator in the Congo, said sanctions would be considered if Mr
Kabila did not fall into line with other SADC members. The UN Security Council holds talks later today and on August 24 on extending the world body’s mandate in Congo beyond the scheduled August 31. |
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Clinton bids adieu to delegates, gets ‘Oscar’ LOS ANGELES, Aug 15 (Reuters) — President Bill Clinton got the ultimate Hollywood honour — an Oscar — after his farewell performance at the Democratic national convention yesterday. “I want to give the Clinton family... The highest award Hollywood can give for an extraordinary performance — an Oscar for being the best President’’ California Governor Gray Davis said as he handed the golden statuette to the obviously delighted President. The Oscar appeared to be genuine, even though only the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has the right to give them out, and Mr Clinton gave every indication that he planned to keep it. “Let me say on behalf of my family, we’re honoured to have the Oscar,’’ he said at a party at the Paramount Studios after his valedictory address to the convention. Mr Clinton also joked about his recent foray into acting with a gag video he made in May that showed him moping around the White House, washing his Limousine, cutting grass and watching his clothes spin dry as his White House days wind down. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton joined Mr Clinton on stage, as did their daughter Chelsea, smiling and waving to about 3000 guests gathered on a set that incongruously blended facades of New York city with a line of palm trees. The President has reluctantly given up the spotlight to his Vice-President Gore, who is fighting Republican Texas Governor George W. Bush for the White House, and to his wife, who is running for the US Senate from New York. “We have had a wonderful time,’’ Mr Clinton said. “From the places where we started to the places where we ended, it’s been a great ride.’’ President Clinton, opening the 43rd Democratic national convention with a proud flourish, said the nation was “more confident, hopeful and just” than eight years ago, boosting Mr Al Gore as his successor to “keep this progress and prosperity going.” Mr Clinton, who twice led his party to the White House, said yesterday that Mr Gore was “always there” when the tough decisions were being made in the Oval Office. The Vice-President “will keep our prosperity going by paying down the debt, investing in education and healthcare and in family tax cuts we can afford,” he said in excerpts released in advance of his speech. Mr Gore campaigned in Missouri as the convention’s opening gavel fell half a continent away, stressing his commitment to social security and healthcare for the elderly. “The people on the other ticket are good men, I’ll never attack them personally,” Mr Gore said, referring to Mr George W. Bush and Mr Dick Cheney. He said, “The American people need to know the specifics of how the American people would be affected if the other side won.” The Democrats’ four-day political production was designed not only to promote Mr Gore and running mate Mr Joseph Lieberman, but also to stir memories of John F. Kennedy’s nomination in this city 40 years ago. Kennedy’s image appeared on the videoscreen screen behind the speaker’s podium as the convention opened; his voice echoed in the hall. His daughter, Mr Caroline, addressed the delegates last night. |
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Free Palestine date may be put off HANOI, Aug 15 (Reuters) — Palestinian President Yasser Arafat suggested today the possibility of renewed West Asia summit talks next month and reiterated that a final decision had still to be taken on a plan to declare statehood on September 13. A senior Palestinian official said in Gaza today that the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Central Council (PCC) may postpone the declaration of an independent Palestinian state, when it convenes to discuss the matter on September 8. President Arafat has said he will declare Palestinian statehood this year. The most likely date for the declaration is September 13, when interim peace agreements with Israel expire. Asked after a meeting in Hanoi with Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong whether he saw any prospect for the resumption of summit talks in September, Mr Arafat told Reuters: “We are waiting for the help of the European Union, the American administration, our brothers in Russia and in the Arab countries and in China and in Japan also, who are involved in the peace process.’’ Israel’s Acting Foreign Minister, Mr Shlomo Ben-Ami, said yesterday he could foresee a second West Asia peace summit with the Palestinians in September to resolve the toughest issues of their 52-year-old conflict. A senior Palestinian official said on Saturday the sides would resume lower-level talks at the end of August and that U.S. West Asia envoy Dennis Ross was due in the region next week to weigh the prospects for peace moves. Mr Arafat’s stop of a few hours to see his old allies in communist Vietnam was part of a marathon world tour to rally support for an independent state. He has vowed to declare an independent state on September 13, the deadline for a draft peace accord between the Palestinians and Israel, although other countries have advised him to delay it. PLO executive committee member Zakareya al Agha said in Gaza. “If the majority of the central council members decide to postpone the declaration of the Palestinian state, then there will be a postponement until November 15” he said. That date marks the 12th anniversary of the announcement of an independent Palestinian-state-in-exile, made at a meeting of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) in Algeria. Israeli officials have said the Jewish state will react harshly to any unilateral statehood declaration, and have not specifically ruled out annexing parts of the occupied West Bank and Gaza
strip. |
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USA flays J&K
killings
WASHINGTON, Aug 15 (PTI) — The USA said today that there must be renewal of trust and an end to violence for any dialogue to succeed between India and Pakistan. Condemning the continued militant killings in Jammu and Kashmir, the State Department called for a dialogue between both the Indian Government and militants operating in the Kashmir valley and between India and Pakistan. Last week’s attacks by suspected Hizbul Mujahideen militants in Srinagar, which killed 12 persons and injured 38, and attack on the BSF convoy on August 13, which killed four personnel and injured 47, had evoked a strong response from the USA. The USA had condemned the militant killings and expressed “disappointment” over the withdrawal of the ceasefire by the Hizbul Mujahideen. |
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Deputy Mayor
flees Lanka
COLOMBO, Aug 15 (PTI) — The Deputy Mayor of Colombo and senior functionary of the opposition United National Party (UNP), who has been accused of arranging a forged passport for a former police officer charged with human rights abuses to help him flee the country, has himself left the country, the state media reported today. Mahammod Maharoof, a close associate of UNP leader Ranil Wickramasingher has been accused of arranging a forged passport for a former SSP, Douglas Peris, who has been charged with human rights abuses during the previous UNP regime. Peiris, in a sworn affidavit before a local court last week had said that Maharoof and other UNP functionaries handed over a forged passport to his son so that he could travel to Dubai. |
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Pakistan ‘aiding’
religious bigotry WASHINGTON, Aug 15 (PTI) — Panun Kashmir, a representative body of Kashmiri Pandits, has launched an international campaign to “educate and inform” the world about the sufferings of the migrant Kashmiri Hindus and Sikhs. Announcing the launch of the campaign, Dr Agnishekhar, leader of the movement for Panun Kashmir, accused Pakistan of aiding religious bigotry in Kashmir. “The religious bigotry in Kashmir is being aided and abetted by Pakistan,” he said during a meeting attended by a cross-section of the Indo-American community where he also launched the Panun Kashmir-USA
(PK-USA). |
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Probe ordered
into Fiji coup
SUVA, Aug 15 (Reuters) — Fiji’s President Ratu Josefa Iloilo has ordered an inquiry into security and intelligence operations in the Pacific Island group and the motives behind a coup bid that toppled the elected government. The military spokesman, Lt-Col Filipo Tarakinikini, confirmed reports today of the inquiry and said it would address security issues. “The Board will establish the real motives behind the coup and ensure a strategy for better security and intelligence to avoid any such occurrence in future,” Colonel Tarakinikini said. Fiji’s new Prime Minister said Mr Laiesenia Qarase, also announced the establishment of a four-member ministerial committee to prepare the terms of reference for a commission to work on a new constitution. Mr Qarase said he would head the committee which would hold its first meeting tomorrow. The ministerial committee would move to replace the widely acclaimed 1997 Constitution, which had led to Mr Chaudhry’s election in 1999. |
Heart attack
cure found?
HONG KONG, Aug 15 (DPA) — A team of Hong Kong scientists believe they may have found an enzyme capable of preventing further seizures in heart-attack victims, a news report said today. The enzyme works by encouraging the growth of new blood vessels in the heart and has already proved effective in experiments with laboratory rats, said the South China Morning Post. The team at the University of Hong Kong said the enzyme called
L-arginine could be the key in developing a low cost and effective
drug. |
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