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| Sunday, August 20, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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SLFP for changes in house to pass Bill Masood group captures key areas Judge apologises for leak about jury
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Wife nearly shot Churchill Musharraf not to retire Pak ex-CJ was
detained: Asma India, France to
set up JWG on terrorism N. Korea upset over exercise Sixth time
unlucky!
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News analysis WASHINGTON, Aug 19 — It was exactly 40 years ago that at the Los Angeles Democratic national convention that John F. Kennedy won his nomination for the presidency, and promising a “new frontier”, went on to beat Richard Nixon and occupied the White House. Forty years later, at the same venue, on Thursday night, Vice-President Al Gore pledged to fellow Americans that, if elected president, “I will work for you every day and I will never let you down.” The question that must have been uppermost in the minds of millions of Americans who were watching Mr Gore’s “debut” as “my own man” away from the shadow of President Clinton was: will history repeat itself? It was too early for a definitive answer, but cautious optimism seemed to prevail among Democrats that Mr Gore had a fighting chance to win the November 7 presidential election. Though Mr Gore trailed behind Texas Governor and Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush half way through the convention, his 45-minute speech offering the people a list of specific issues and actions that would assure better times for the working families appeared to trigger a strongly positive reaction as evidenced by an online poll at a political website. A “healthy bounce” is what Democrats were expecting after Mr Gore’s speech. Now that the glitzy Republican and Democratic conventions are over, the battlelines are clearly drawn and both the candidates and their running mates will be traversing the country for the next two months, offering the voters their respective brands of solutions for the many problems facing the ordinary Americans. Mr Gore, who carries the odd label of “being well-known but not known well”, sought to respond to critics who are not too happy with his wooden image, saying: “I know my own imperfections. I know I won’t always be the most exciting politician...but the presidency is more than a popularity contest. It is a day-by-day fight for the people.” By coincidence or design, the news that independent counsel Robert Ray has convened a new federal grand jury to consider evidence that President Clinton should be indicted on criminal charges arising out of the Monica Lewinsky investigation after he leaves office, hit television news headlines around the same time Mr Gore was to deliver his nomination acceptance speech. White House spokesman promptly denounced the move, saying “the timing of it absolutely reeks, but given the past conduct and record of that office (independent counsel), is not surprising.” But most observers were agreed that Mr Gore will not be affected by this new development. It was even suggested by some that the backlash could only be in favour of Mr Gore. The running theme of Mr Gore’s speech was the welfare of working families in contrast to the “powerful forces and powerful interests” represented by the Republicans. “This election”, he told the cheering delegates, “is about whether forces standing in your way will keep you from having a better life.” He also underlined the importance of moral and family values and declared: “We must change a culture with too much meanness and without enough meaning, especially violence and indecency in the entertainment industry.” The only reference to Bill Clinton was a tribute to the President for leading the nation “out of the valley of depression” into its longest period of prosperity. Mr Gore also promised that the first legislation of his administration would be on campaign finance reform. Deliberately, Mr Gore chose “substance” in preference to “style”, and Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales certified that the Vice-President “came across as determined, forceful and may be even unstoppable.” Republicans denounced Mr Gore’s speech as “divisive and class warfare.” Mr George Bush at a campaign rally in Tennessee on Friday attacked Mr Gore’s address as “a long list of promises and priorities without purpose or vision.” His deputy communications director, Ann Fleisher, commented: “You can’t bring people together if you run a campaign that drives people apart.” These are early days of election campaign, and it is difficult to predict who will win, but what seems clear is that it will be a close race. The presidential and vice-presidential debates that will take place in October will likely influence the voter’s choice. The Bush-Cheney team is offering to provide new leadership to the nation and a fresh start restoring honour and dignity to the White House, while the Gore-Lieberman team is cautioning the voters that the good times and the prevailing prosperity should not tempt them into taking a chance for change. Both sides agree that the campaign will not be an easy one, and as the Americans are fond of saying, it isn’t over until it is over. |
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SLFP for changes in house to pass Bill COLOMBO, Aug 19 (PTI) — A day after Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga dissolved Parliament and announced fresh elections in October, ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) today said it would convert the next Parliament into a constituent assembly to pass the new Constitution Bill even without opposition support. The government could convert the next Parliament into a constituent assembly and pass the new Constitution with a simple majority followed by a national referendum to get the direct approval by the people, new
SLPF General Secretary and Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs SB
Dissanayake told the state-run newspaper, the Daily News today. Dissanayake’s re-assertion of the government stand comes after Chandrika yesterday dissolved the Parliament a week ahead of its scheduled dissolution and called for fresh general elections to be held on October 10. Dissanayake, who won a keenly contested general secretary post of
SLPF two days ago, defeating a fellow minister representing party’s old guard, said the government believed that a new constitution granting broad autonomy to the Tamil provinces would internationally weaken the
LTTE. The implementation of new constitution would bring international pressure on the
LTTE to give up arms. “The European nations in which the LTTE is active will bring pressure on it to stop the war”, he said. Consequently, there will be drain on the
LTTE's funding sources and there would be a drastic change in the international opinion. The
LTTE's call for sympathy would be lost with changes in the international opinion, he said. Referring to the fears expressed by the Buddhist monks and Right wing sections of the majority Sinhalese that the devolved provinces under the new Constitution would break away from the country, he said such an eventuality would never arise as the new Constitution empowered the Centre to dissolve the erring provincial government. “The offender could even be arrested”, he said. The new Constitution Bill proposes to change the present presidential system of governance to parliamentary democracy and offers a broad package of autonomy to the provinces, including the Tamil-dominated North and East. Dissanayake maintained that the government postponed the debate on the Bill in Parliament early this month, not because of agitation by monks but because it did not have enough time to mobilise two-thirds majority. “We expected the
UNP to act with wisdom at a crucial time. We expected the moderate Tamil United Liberation Front
(TULF) to act with honour, without being the cat’s paw of the LTTE”, he said. The government would go ahead with the implementation of the Constitution by establishing a Constitutional Council after the general elections, he added. (AFP) Meanwhile Sri Lanka’s political parties have begun choosing candidates to contest the October parliamentary elections which are almost certain to be held under emergency laws, officials said on Saturday. Officials said there were 42 registered political parties and most of them were now preparing lists of candidates for the October 10 poll. The election is likely to be held under tough emergency laws operating throughout the country, but Kumaratunga may ease some of the regulations which ban public gatherings and meetings, officials said. The state of emergency operating since May, 1983, with brief breaks in between must be approved by Parliament once a month or else it automatically lapses. Parliamentary officials said although the Parliament had been dissolved, it could be summoned in the first week of September to ratify the state of emergency, which seeks to deal with Tamil Tiger insurgency in the island’s northeast. Kumaratunga has said she will seek a mandate from the 12 million electorate to press ahead with her controversial plan to turn Sri Lanka into a de facto federal state in exchange for ethnic peace. Meanwhile, as news of dissolution of Parliament spread like wild-fire, there was a virtual scramble among mps to cash in on their duty-free vehicle permits and other perks. Parliament was a bee-hive of activity with almost every member trying to cash in on their acquired privileges. An employee in the Parliament quipped that even on a normal parliamentary sitting day one could not witness such activity. As a parting gift, the government had decided to provide permits to mps, who had completed five years, to buy duty-free luxury vehicles. MPs entitled for these permits could now import luxury vehicles which includes Toyota and Mitsubishi types without having to pay any duty, since the permit given to them is 100 per cent tax free. Anyone importing a luxury vehicle, without a duty free permit, in some instances, has to pay more than Rs 2 million in taxes to the government. |
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Masood group captures key areas KABUL, Aug 19 (Reuters) — Afghan opposition forces led by Commander Ahmad Shah Masood said they captured some strategic areas from the ruling Taliban movement in the east of the country after heavy fighting. “Daray-i-Noor district in Jalalabad was completely cleaned this morning from the Taliban,” Abdullah, a spokesman for Masood told Reuters. “We also took most parts of Khiva district. The main road linking Jalalabad with Kunar province through Khiva has been cut off by our advances,” he said. There was no immediate comment from the Taliban on the Opposition reports but independent sources confirmed the Opposition’s gains, its first in nearly two years. Abdullah said opposition forces were poised some 15 km from Jalalabad city close to the border with Pakistan. He said Masood’s loyalists in the area, led by Commander Hazarat Ali, staged an offensive earlier today and heavy fighting was still underway. Abdullah said the Opposition took dozens of light and heavy machine guns from the Taliban in the fighting. He said the main aim of the opposition assault in the east was to reduce the Taliban pressure on Taloqan, a main bastion of commander Masood in the north. The Taliban have stepped up an offensive against Taloqan in recent weeks and has cut off a supply line that was being used for bringing military supplies from neighbouring Tajikistan to Masood’s stronghold in the Panjsher valley. The spokesman said repeated Taliban efforts to drive out opposition fighters from the outskirts of Samangan province in the north had failed. The Opposition says its forces infiltrated Samangan, which lies on a main highway connecting it with key Taliban controlled cities on the border with Central Asia, on Wednesday. |
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Judge apologises for
leak about jury
WASHINGTON, Aug 19 (Reuters) — A U.S. Appeals Court judge has said that he was the accidental source of word that a new federal grand jury was investigating President Bill Clinton over his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. In a statement expressing “apologies to all concerned,” Judge Richard Cudahy said he had accidentally disclosed the empanelment of the grand jury during an interview about the work of independent counsel Richard Ray. Cudahy is one of three judges who oversee independent counsels. Reports of the new grand jury came hours before Vice President Al Gore formally became the Democratic nominee for President on Thursday. The White House and prominent Democrats said they suspected political machinations were behind the timing. Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives in December 1998, on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice stemming from his affair with Lewinsky. He was acquitted by the Senate in February 1999, allowing him to serve out his term, which ends in January. Cudahy said the unintentional disclosure “resulted solely” from a press query about Ray’s being given another year for his investigation. The three-judge panel also released two letters from Ray. In one of them, he said a new grand jury had been empaneled on July 11, but there would be no “prosecutorial decision ... Until after the President leaves office in January 2001.’’ there have been reports Ray would consider seeking Clinton’s indictment after he left office. Ray said in a statement that the disclosure of the new grand jury “undermines our ability to complete this matter in a prompt, responsible and cost-effective manner.’’ |
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Wife nearly shot Churchill LONDON Aug 19 (DPA) — Winston Churchill’s wife Clementine came within a split second of shooting the wartime leader in the back with a machinegun mounted on a fighter aircraft, a pilot said at a celebration commemorating the 60th anniversary of the battle of Britain. Mr Churchill was inspecting Spitfires on the runway of a Royal Air Force base at Croydon, South of here in 1939. As the future Prime Minister was bending down in front of one of the machineguns with which the aircraft was equipped, Ms Clementine was being shown over the cockpit of a fully armed gladiator fighter plane by pilot James “Sandy” Sanders. “Churchill was bending down in front of one of my guns and his wife went to press the firing button,” the former Wing Commander said. “I knocked her hand away to stop her.” |
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Musharraf not to retire ISLAMABAD, Aug 19 (UNI) — Pakistan Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf, who also serves as the Chief of Army Staff, has said he will not retire from the post of the army chief in October, 2001, when his tenure expires. In an interview with the Japanese news network, General Musharraf dispelled the notion that he might continue in office even after the conclusion of the deadline given by the Supreme Court for the restoration of democracy in the country. The order meant holding elections and transferring power to the peoples’ representatives before
October 12, 2002. He also denied that he had any idea of joining politics. Mr Musharraf believed that his country’s nuclear capability had a role to play in easing tensions in the subcontinent, and the time was not yet ripe for Islamabad to sign the comprehensive test ban treaty (CTBT). He rejected the apprehension that the danger of a nuclear war between India and Pakistan was mounting, and stressed the role of his country’s nuclear capability in regional detente “Basically, Kargil was a limited conflict between the Indian forces and freedom fighters. It did not escalate beyond that, and I think one of the reasons may be because of the deterrence that Pakistan has...In the conventional field and also in the unconventional field”, Mr Musharraf claimed. The interview came a day before Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori arrives here on an official visit, that will also take him to India and Bangladesh. Japan has linked revival of badly-needed economic aid to Pakistan to its willingness to sign the global nuclear test ban treaty. “Give us some time so that we stabilise. Making a hasty decision to sign the CTBT would be counterproductive and against our national interest. If India resumed nuclear testing, there would be pressure on Pakistan”, he added. The chief executive hoped the International Monetary Fund would provide badly-needed additional aid to
Pakistan whose economy is tottering on the brink under a $ 30 billion foreign debt. Pakistan will have to pay $ 5 billion to international lenders and donors if a debt relief agreement fails to come through. He rejected a US intelligence report that Beijing had stepped up assistance to Islamabad’s missile technology programme, saying Pakistan was now manufacturing missiles on its own. |
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Pak ex-CJ was
detained: Asma
ISLAMABAD, Aug 19 (UNI) — Former Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Siddiqui was held in captivity for five hours by an Army Captain during the October 12 take-over by Gen Pervez Musharraff. Disclosing this at a seminar here yesterday, Ms Asma Jehangir of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said, “Yes I am on record when I say that the Chief Justice of Pakistan was illegally detained for five hours,” quoting her conversation with the former Chief Justice on October 12 when he had refused to take the oath of office under the “Provisional Constitutional Order” (PCO). This was followed by the removal of five judges of the Supreme Court who declined to be inducted under the oath of the PCO. Ms Jehangir said: “When the Chief Justice was in the rest house he talked to me on the telephone and said an army Captain had called him and requested him not to go to the Supreme Court for the time being”. Referring to the oath taken by the superior court judges under the PCO, she said: “The judiciary has lost its respect, it cannot be called independent”. Ms Jehangir has also requested the government for making the report on Kargil public”. It is the fundamental right of the citizens to know and assess information about the Kargil conflict. |
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India, France to
set up JWG on terrorism PARIS, Aug 19 (PTI) — France has agreed to the Indian proposal for setting up a joint working group to counter cross-border terrorism, saying that the initiative would boost multifaceted cooperation between the two countries, diplomatic sources have said. “During the recently concluded strategic dialogue between the two countries, France in principle agreed to the Indian idea and the relevant ministerial clearance has been received recently,’’ the sources said yesterday. Home Minister L.K. Advani, during his visit to France in May, had suggested to his French counterpart, Mr Jean Pierre Chevenement, to set up a joint working group to counter the menace of international terrorism. India already has such an arrangement with the USA. The French minister had said that the proposal could be put through the normal bureaucratic procedure and recently the Interior and the Foreign Affairs Ministries gave a go-ahead for the working group. “Once Mr Chevenement accepted Mr Advani’s invitation to visit India, the proposal would be signed and formalised. Only the mechanics and procedures of the group had to be worked out. Both sides would take up the issue once the holiday season was over,’’ the sources said. |
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N. Korea upset over
exercise
SEOUL, Aug 19 (AP) — North Korea accused the US and South Korean militaries today of plotting to ruin thawing relations on the divided Korean peninsula by launching a joint military exercise. The angry reaction from the isolated Communist state came two days before US and South Korean troops were to begin a 12-day joint military exercise. |
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Sixth time
unlucky! ISLAMABAD, Aug 19 (DPA) — Allah Dino (82) died of a heart attack just as he was about to marry for the sixth time, reports said today. Allah Dino and his marriage party had reached the bride’s village near Sanghar in southern Sindh province when his heart failed him in the oppressive heat, the Urdu newspaper Mashriq (East) reported. Dino’s previous five wives all died, without leaving him a male heir. |
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