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| Monday,
August 28, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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5 foreign hostages freed by rebels Contaminated
blood shipped to India LTTE acquires SAMs Russian group to sue govt Expulsions mar chances
of Indo-Pak contact |
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Gusmao forced
to stay on as CNRT chief 3 Israeli troops
die in shootout India ‘vulnerable’
to Chinese missiles 4 TV newsmen released Bush for democracy in Cuba Pak spurns Indian
peace-walker
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5 foreign hostages freed by rebels JOLO (Philippines), (Aug 27 (Reuters) — Muslim rebels today freed five of the dozen foreign hostages they have held for months in the southern Philippines but those released said their joy was overshadowed by worry for their loved ones left behind. Reporters saw the released hostages that included four women and a man Werner Wallert, led down from the rebel lair on the island of Jolo by an intermediary. French woman Sonia Wendling was in tears as she was welcomed by Philippines’ chief hostage negotiator Robert Aventajado at a military camp at the edge of rebel-held territory in the rugged island’s steamy tropical jungle. “It’s wonderful,’’ she said, wiping away tears and sweat. But she later wept again, saying “I don’t know, I don’t know’’. Wallert, a German geography teacher who had grown a beard in his 18 weeks in captivity, said: “You don’t expect me to be happy, my son is still there”. The others freed were French television reporter Maryse Burgot, Lebanese-born French woman Marie Moarbes and South African Monique Strydom. The Abu Sayyaf rebels still hold Wallert’s son Marc, Strydom’s husband Carel, Wendling’s boyfriend Stephane Loisy, two Finns and two other members of the French television crew. A Filipino resort worker is also being held. Those left behind were likely to be freed late next week, negotiators said. Except for the French journalists, all the hostages were kidnapped shortly after they finished dinner on Easter April 23, at a Malaysian diving resort. The French television crew was abducted on July 9 while they were covering the crisis. Wallert’s wife Renate, nine Malaysians and a Filipino had been previously released. The released hostages were taken to the main town on Jolo in a convoy guarded by an armoured car and jeep-loads of soldiers armed with assault rifles. From there they will be taken to the nearby city of Zamboanga, where they will be handed over to their respective ambassadors and relatives. The hostages, along with Mr Aventajado, are then to be flown by a chartered jet to Tripoli, Libya. Libya has mounted a major initiative for the freedom of the hostages in exchange, diplomats say, for a better international profile after years of isolation following the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. Sources close to the
negotiators have said the Libyans have arranged ransom of 1 million for each of the hostages and agreed to fund some development projects in the impoverished southern Philippines. But both Tripoli and Manila have denied any money will change hands. The Philippine military has said that the rebels have received 5.5 million for the 11 hostages released previously. A plan to release all the hostages eight days ago fell through at the last minute after the rebels refused to free them citing fears of a military attack. That was the reason why they were releasing only some of them, negotiators said. Another obstacle in the release was cleared yesterday after a court bailed out two men arrested in Zamboanga on Thursday while trying to convert some 240,000, believed to be part of the ransom, into local currency. Sources close to the
negotiators had said rebel leaders had refused to release anyone until the two were freed and had threatened to behead some of the hostages. PARIS
(DPA): French President Jacques Chirac welcomed the release of three French hostages “with relief and joy’’, according to his spokeswoman today. Reacting to the freeing of five Westerners held by Muslim separatist rebels for up to four months, Mr Chirac said that everything would be done so that the two remaining French citizens still in rebel hands “would also be freed, as soon as possible”. |
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Contaminated
blood shipped to India LONDON, Aug 27 (DPA) — Blood contaminated with the HIV virus and Hepatitis has been shipped to India, China and other countries via Britain from South Africa for 20 years, an investigation by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed. Britain’s Sunday Times said a multi-million-dollar racket had been exposed in a WHO report, which said the blood, coming from one of the nations most seriously affected by AIDS, was often labelled as “animal plasma” to avoid the strict checks designed to ensure that only healthy blood gets through. Investigations so far show that the blood has mainly been moved on to China and India, where thousands faced contamination from it. There was no evidence that any of it found its way into British hospitals. The British police is now consulting other European forces over the investigation. At least two British companies, one based in Guernsey and the other in Berkshire, have been investigated by Austrian detectives. They say unscrupulous processing companies based in several countries relabelled the contaminated blood as fit for therapeutic use, then sold it to India and China. Several blood brokers are due to appear in court in Austria, facing charges of fraudulent trading and endangering the public health. The newspaper said a British AIDS expert, Alan Smith, initiated the investigation when he alerted the police after he uncovered what he described as the “highly unethical” trafficking while he worked in the Virology Department of Natal University in South Africa. His complaints led the South African Department of Health to commission a WHO blood expert, Wilbert Bannenberg, to investigate. His report estimates that in the past decade the brokers made more than $ 10 million from processing and relabelling of blood that is given free in South Africa as “a gift of life”. |
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LTTE acquires SAMs COLOMBO, Aug 27 (UNI) — Hundreds of LTTE Tigers have poured into Wanni through the Elephant Pass to enable the outfit plan its electoral strategy, The Island newspaper reported today. The daily reports that while the motive of the outfit remains unclear, Wanni enjoys a strategic importance and these rebels could be deployed to carry out target-oriented operations in any war-zone as and when needed, the daily pointed out. The daily reported that LTTE camps had become a hive of activity for the October 10 poll. Meanwhile, civilians in Wanni have heard rumours that several squads of “black Tigers were in the process of being despatched to Colombo, to join their outfit members already there. It can be recalled that LTTE supremo V. Prabhakaran has ruled out any serious talk with the present Peoples’ Alliance Government, or in simple words wants the present government led by Mrs Chandrika Kumaratunga to quit. It also means that the LTTE boss won’t be unhappy if the opposition United National Party were to win the elections. Neither would the outfit be happy if smaller Tamil parties or the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress gain more seats in Parliament and widen their influence. Mrs Kumaratunga had been keen on turning the October 10 poll into a referendum on her political plan which she believes will end decades of ethnic bloodshed that has claimed over 60,000 lives, but her party appears divided on the issue. Meanwhile, Tamil Tigers have reportedly enhanced their firepower by acquiring surface-to-air missiles (SAM), lethal artillery along with hi-tech communication equipment to boost their fighting capabilities against Sri Lankan troops, local media reported. Advancing columns of Sri Lankan troops, who have been scrutinising the LTTE’s fighting techniques were baffled when they found a 130 mm artillery shell when Tamil Sea Tigers, in a three-pronged attack, raided a naval base Kankesanthurai, security headquarters and the adjoining Palaly airbase. A Sri Lankan MiG 27 narrowly missed being hit by a surface-to-air missile while it was on a sortie in the north-east. What astonished military experts was the fact that the missile was fired from a sea Tiger boat. |
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Russian group to sue govt MOSCOW, Aug 27 (Reuters) — A Russian human rights group said it would sue President Vladimir Putin and the government for a cover-up and inefficient action after the sinking of the Kursk submarine with 118 crew on board. “We want them to tell the truth about what happened to the Kursk,” Ms Veronika Marchenko, Head of the Mothers’ Right Group, said in an interview. “People are not fools. They know if you are lying to them or not.” “Let a court judge them as guilty, so they must apologise before the court.” The Mothers’ Right Group, which represents mothers of servicemen killed on duty, cannot sue the government by itself, but must team up with family members of the deceased. Ms Marchenko, whose group has existed for 11 years, said the relatives had a good case against the government for “moral damages.” “There were violations of international conventions, such as between Russia and Norway on the Barents Sea, on making information public, on the President’s activities in coordinating action and on many other points,” she said. Ms Valentina Melnikova, an official at the Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers, another lobbying group, said it was too early to evaluate the chances of legal success against the government. “As Long as it is not clear under what circumstances they died, it is impossible to evaluate the chances of winning a court case,” she said. Ms Marchenko said her group had filed 350 cases against the Russian Government on behalf of families whose song died during the first was against rebel Chechnya from 1994—96. One court has awarded damages of 100,000 roubles ($ 3,610) and the other cases are all pending appeals in higher courts, she said. TROMSOE (Norway): A team of civilian divers who tried to rescue the crew of a sunken Russian submarine returned to Norway on Saturday and said they were ready to return to the Barents Sea to help recover the bodies. The Norwegian company whose divers opened the Kursk last Monday, only to find it completely flooded and all 118 crew dead, has been asked by the Russian military to return to the chilly Barents Sea to help recover the bodies or raise the 17,000-tonne submarine from the seabed. The six divers used in the operation emerged early on Friday from a five-day stay in a decompression chamber aboard the private diving support ship the Seaway Eagle. The vessel returned to the northern city of Tromsoe on Saturday morning. |
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Expulsions mar chances
of Indo-Pak contact ISLAMABAD, Aug 27 — The latest “tit-for-tat” expulsions, though not unusual, have further reduced the chances of any contact between Pakistan and India during next month’s UN millennium summit in New York, officials here say. A senior Pakistan Foreign Office official told IANS that no meeting is scheduled between the two sides at any level on the sidelines of the event. The official, however, reaffirmed that Pakistan was “open to talks with Indians at any level and at any place.” He noted that Pakistan’s Chief Executive, Gen Pervez Musharraf, had expressed this stand on several occasions. “We are for dialogue...we believe in discussions,” he said. The official, who requested anonymity, also described the recent expulsions of Pakistani and Indian diplomats as regrettable and “should not happen... we should learn to respect each other’s nationals.” Some diplomatic sources here said talks at a “junior level” in New York may pave the way for a meeting between Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. They also expressed concern over the expulsions, saying it may vitiate the atmosphere even on the sidelines of the UN session. India has shown no inclination for any contact with Pakistan. It has steadfastly held that Islamabad should first cease support to terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and respect the Line of Control (LoC) dividing Kashmir before any talks are held. India’s Deputy High
Commissioner to Pakistan Sudhir Vyas was called to the Pakistan Foreign Office yesterday and informed about the decision to expel Visa Section Officer P.C. Dey by September 2. Mr Dey’s expulsion followed a similar decision taken by the Indian Government last week to expel Mr Malik Muhammad Rafiq, an official of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. The charges against Mr Rafiq and Mr Dey were identical. They were accused by their respective host governments of indulging in spying and in activities incompatible with their official status. Pakistan said India expelled 16 of its High Commission officials from New Delhi in the last five years and said there have been over 80 incidents of harassment, beating and trespassing of its officials. Reacting to the Pakistan statement, a senior Indian diplomat reportedly said that if “we tabulate the number of cases of expulsion and harassment in the Islamabad High Commission they would far exceed the number claimed by Pakistan.” The expulsion exercise has been repeated by both countries several times. The last expulsions took place in February this year, when India and Pakistan both expelled three High Commission staff members each. — India Abroad News Service |
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Gusmao forced
to stay on as CNRT chief JAKARTA, Aug 27 (Reuters) — Charismatic East Timorese leader Xanana Gusmao today withdrew his resignation as head of the top pro-independence group, adding to confusion about whether he will become the territory’s first President. A spokeswoman for Mr Gusmao told newsmen that delegates at a congress of his National Council of Timorese Resistance
(CNRT) unanimously refused to accept his resignation, saying he was the only person who could lead the territory to independence. Mr Gusmao and his deputy, Mr Jose Ramos-Horta, earlier told the congress they were quitting their leadership posts to make way for new blood. The move had been seen as a strong indication
Gusmao would refuse the Presidency. He has said he does not want the job, but had been expected to be drafted into the position as the only acceptable candidate. “The delegates said: ‘If you don’t lead us, how can we go back to the people in the streets and tell them...We would be hanged”, the spokeswoman said. “It was an overwhelming outburst”. East Timor is under UN control after voting last year to end Indonesia’s often brutal more than 23 year rule. The United Nations said last month that elections in East Timor and possibly final independence could take place by the end of 2001. |
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3 Israeli troops
die in shootout NABLUS (West Bank), Aug 27 (Reuters) — Three Israeli soldiers were killed in a late night West Bank shootout with Palestinian militants of the Islamic resistance movement Hamas, the Israeli army said today. It said they died in a gunfight yesterday in the village of Assira al-Shamaliyeh near Nablus. The army sealed off the village while helicopters circled overhead and the exchange of heavy fire was heard, witnesses said. The army said a leading Hamas militant, Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, was wounded and fled the fighting. Voice of Palestine Radio said he turned himself in to Palestinian security in an area under Palestinian control. Abu Hanoud is wanted in connection with two Jerusalem suicide attacks in 1997 that killed 21 Israelis. Hamas, opposed to peace accords with Israel, has carried out suicide bombings that have killed scores of Israelis. Israel and the Palestinians are trying to forge a peace deal by a mid-September deadline that will resolve outstanding thorny issues, including the fate of Jerusalem, refugees, settlements and borders. ALEXANDRIA
Egypt: Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on Saturday held talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on peace negotiations with Israel and the future of Jerusalem. Mr Mubarak said earlier, while touring a new complex of law courts in Alexandria, that Jerusalem was the most serious issue and “there has to be a fair solution”. |
India ‘vulnerable’
to Chinese missiles WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (PTI) — China can target India, Japan and South Korea with its sophisticated DF-3A medium range ballistic missiles (MRBMs), a report of the US Congressional Research Service (CRS) has said. The report presented to the US Congress also says that the DF-11/M-11 short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs), considered to be both nuclear and conventional capable, have been delivered to Pakistan. “In 1991 and 1993, the USA twice imposed sanctions on China and Pakistan for M-11-related missile technology tansfers but sanctions were not imposed for the transfer of complete M-11 SRBMs” to Pakistan.
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4 TV newsmen released FOUR television journalists charged with espionage in Liberia were released from prison on Friday after a week of international protests and a personal apology from the men and the chairman of the television company to Liberian President Charles Taylor. The four men, who were making a three-part documentary, were detained last Friday and charged on Monday with helping British and US intelligence to support allegations that Liberia was assisting rebels in neighbouring Sierra Leone by diamond smuggling and gun running. Interviewed on CNN, Mr Taylor said their release was the result of “plea bargaining” between government lawyers and defence counsel. “We are not expelling the journalists but they are free to leave whenever they want,” he said. The journalists — British director David Barrie, Zimbabwe-born cameraman Tim Lambon, who has dual South African and British nationality, Sorious Samura from Sierra Leone, and South African soundman Gugulakhe Radebe were expected to fly out of the capital Monrovia to Abidjan on the Ivory Coast. Under the Liberian penal code they could have faced 10 years in prison or, according to the indictment, the death penalty. — The Guardian, London |
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Bush for democracy in Cuba WASHINGTON, Aug 27 (PTI) — Republican candidate for US Presidential elections and Texas Governor George Bush has said that if he wins he will maintain the bipartisan US goal of restoring democracy in Cuba and ruled out any border sharing with Mexico. “I challenge the Castro regime to surprise the world and adopt the ways of democracy. Until it frees political prisoners and holds free elections and allows free speech, I will keep the sanctions in place,” Mr Bush said in a foreign policy speech in Miami yesterday. |
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Pak spurns Indian
peace-walker KABUL, Aug 27 (AFP) — An Indian walking the globe for “peace and friendship” has braved the hazards of the Afghan civil war to find himself stranded in Kabul after the Pakistani Embassy refused him a visa. Vikas Singh, 35, hailing from Lucknow, entered Afghanistan from Turkmenistan on July 6. “We cannot issue a visa for this man,” said Amer Aftab, second secretary at the Pakistani Embassy in Kabul, without elaborating. |
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