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| Wednesday, September 20, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Israel turns down Palestinian plea Military ruler’s residence
attacked Probe rules out LTTE hand in air crash ‘Summon’ Musharraf as
witness Thief steals car along with baby |
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Chhota Rajan may still be
alive Mugabe backs off land seizure 25 hostages freed in Colombia Alpna found guilty of killing husband Genghis Khan’s ‘tomb’
found Indian beheaded for drug
trafficking 3 Indian UN troops hurt in accident Order to recover Kursk crew bodies
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Israel turns down Palestinian plea JERUSALEM, Sept 19 (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Ehud-Barak has ruled out Islamic sovereignty over a key Jerusalem shrine sacred to Muslims and Jews, formally rejecting a Palestinian compromise proposal. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, when told of Mr Barak’s response yesterday, said wagging his finger, “It’s not up to him to decide.” Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are deadlocked because of a sovereignty dispute over the compound known to Jews as Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram as-Sharif, or Noble Sanctuary. Mr Barak and Mr Arafat accused each other of intransigence yesterday. Still, mid-level negotiations resumed later in the day. Progress is deemed unlikely before the USA issues its own bridging proposals. Palestinian officials said it is not clear when the US ideas will be submitted to the negotiators. Mr Abdel Rahim Malouh, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, said he was given to understand the USA would first present its ideas verbally, and after gauging Israeli and Palestinian reaction, would put them in writing. The document would also summarise understanding reached at the West Asia summit at Camp David in July. Both sides have accused each other of backtracking on proposals made at Camp David. The main dispute is over who will be sovereign on the holy compound, once the site of the Jewish temple, the holiest shrine of Judaism, and today home to two major mosques that mark the spot where tradition says Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. NEW YORK: The US Secretary of State Ms Madeleine Albright pledged continued support to bring Israeli-Palestinian negotiations to a successful conclusion, saying that peace was the “only path” to a prosperous and safe Middle East. “As long as Israelis and Palestinians remain serious in pursuing an agreement, we will respond to their requests for help in overcoming the hardest issues,” Ms Albright said yesterday at a dinner honouring former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres in New York. Israeli and Palestinian
negotiators have been meeting US officials here in the
past few days to bridge differences, particularly over
the sensitive issue of holy sites in Jerusalem, which
held up a deal at the Camp David Summit in July. |
Military ruler’s residence attacked ABIDJAN, Sept 19 (AFP) — Soldiers attacked the residence of Ivory Coast military ruler Robert Guei before dawn yesterday, but they were repelled by troops loyal to the General. Sources close to the attackers said. The sources acknowledged that their bid against Guei had “failed” two hours after the attack with automatic weapons began around 3.30 a.m. (0330 GMT). Loyalist troops and residents of the neighbourhood said the fighting ended around 5.30 a.m. There was no immediate word on casualties and it was not known if Guei, who seized power in December in this country’s first military coup, was in the residence in Abidhan’s Indenie neighbourhood at the time. Tensions have been
rising in Ivory Coast ahead of a presidential election
scheduled for October 22, in which (Guei is a candidate
in defiance of strong criticism at home and from both
France, the former colonial power, and the USA. |
Probe rules out LTTE hand in air crash COLOMBO, Sept 19 (PTI) — Preliminary investigations into the recent helicopter crash, in which a senior Sri Lankan minister and 14 others were killed, while ruling out sabotage or an LTTE hand has raised suspicion about the involvement of a Tamil youth, media reports said today. Investigators were trying to ascertain the identity of a Tamil youth who boarded the chopper along with the minister, the state-run daily news said, adding suspicion over his involvement increased after the police recovered all bodies of those killed in the crash except his. According to Lanka Air Force officials, nine supporters and security personnel of the minister M.H.M. Ashraff, who was also the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader, were on board the chopper apart from five crew members. “The missing body is believed to be that of the youth. His body would have been completely destroyed in the crash on September 16”, the daily quoted a police official as saying. On the preliminary findings of the inquiry, The Island quoted the Air Force Chief of Staff, Air Vice-Marshal T.D. Perera, as saying that there was no evidence to suggest that the chopper had crashed due to a surface or air missile attack by the LTTE. He said the explosions occurred in the fuel tanks. The newspaper quoting the officials said there was no evidence to suggest that an onboard explosion had caused the crash, though nothing conclusive could be said as the helicopter’s black box had yet to be recovered. The inquiry panel said that the crash was caused by the helicopter hitting the mountain, the Daily Mirror reported, adding that while a senior cabinet minister A.H.M. Fowzie had said he suspected onboard explosion, SLMC said yesterday that it suspected an engine sabotage caused the crash. The Daily News said that the investigations revealed that the youth was the supporter of the ruling People’s Alliance (pa) candidate in the October 10 general election from eastern Digamadulla district, Kadirgamar Thambi, who was a close aide of Ashraff. Thambi, who was reportedly travelling with Ashraff to his home constituency Ampara, was also killed in the crash. The suspected youth slept in Ashraff’s drivers quarters the previous night and later travelled in the minister’s motorcade to reach the police headquarters in Central Colombo from where the MI-17 helicopter took off and crashed mid-way in the hilly terrain of Central Sri Lanka. “No one had been body-checked before boarding the helicopter nor their names and identities recorded,” the newspaper said. According to information gathered so far, the youth who arrived at the minister’s residence on September 15 was not checked by Ashraff’s security. Investigators also found
that Ashraff himself had inquired about the identity of
the boy before boarding the ill-fated helicopter, the
newspaper said. |
‘Summon’ Musharraf as witness KARACHI, Sept 19 (DPA) — A defence lawyer asked court officials today to summon Pakistan’s military ruler, Gen Pervez Musharraf, and other army generals to appear as witnesses at a hearing into the hijacking and terrorism conviction of deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The lawyer, Azizullah Sheikh, made the request to a three-judge panel that resumed its hearing of Sharif’s appeal of his conviction on hijacking and terrorism charges that resulted in a life imprisonment sentence. Sheikh argued that a speech by General Musharraf was the first report involving allegations of hijacking and terrorism against Sharif and, therefore, the military ruler should be summoned as a complainant and witness in the case. The charges stemmed from events of October 12 last when the then Prime Minister Sharif allegedly denied permission to land at Karachi airport to a Pakistan international airline passenger jet carrying Musharraf and 198 other passengers. The plane landed after the Army took over control of the airport. Hours later, Sharif was arrested and General Musharraf seized power to become Pakistan’s chief executive. Sheikh also asked the court to summon Generals Ziauddin Butt and Iftikhar Ali as witnesses in the case. The government’s attorney, Raja Anwar Qureshi, said he would seek instructions on the request and report back to the court. Meanwhile, special
public prosecutor, Zahoorul Haq, continued his arguments
against Sharif’s acquittal plea. The government is
pressing for raising the penalty for Sharif to capital
punishment and also is seeking the conviction and death
penalty for defendants who were acquitted by the
anti-terrorism court judge. |
Thief steals car along with baby JERUSALEM, Sept 19 (DPA) — A three-month-old baby was stolen along with his parents’ automobile in Israel, Israeli radio reported today. In radio broadcasts, the parents pleaded with the hijacker to return their child, and the thief eventually reported to the police and said he had left the car with the boy parked at a certain spot. The baby’s mother had just briefly gotten out of her car yesterday in Tel Aviv to get the baby carriage from the boot, the radio said. A man jumped into the driver’s seat and drove away with the child in the rear seat of the automobile. Desperate, the parents appealed to the thief via radio broadcasts. Several hours later, the unknown robber called the Jerusalem police and said the car with the baby was parked at the entrance of a refugee camp north of Jerusalem. The baby boy seemed in good condition, but was taken to a hospital for examination. The father later told
the radio, “I’m so relieved, now I could even
give (the thief) my car”. |
Chhota Rajan may still be alive BANGKOK, Sept 19 (DPA) — Chhota Rajan, believed to have been slain in an attack in the Thai capital last week, may still be alive, the police and embassy officials said today. Alleged Mumbai mafia boss Chhota Rajan might had jumped out of a window onto a balcony during the firing, the Thai police said. Last Friday, a gang of seven gunmen, believed to be Indian nationals, entered the Bangkok apartment of Rohit D’Souza, owner of a jewellery company, and started shooting. D’Souza was killed while his wife, Sikandi Hama, and a visiting friend, Vijay Daman, were wounded. The police found 48 bullet shells at the scene. At first, the police thought that D’Souza, believed to be an Indian national travelling on a fake passport, was Chhota Rajan. “We now know which group carried out the shooting and have been following it closely,’’ said Thailand’s Deputy Police Commission Police Gen Narongwich Thaithong. “We expect to have some good news very soon,’’ he told DPA. After consultations with the Mumbai Interpol, the Thai authorities believed that it was D’Souza’s friend Daman who was in fact Rajan, Indian Embassy sources in Bangkok said. Delhi and the Bangkok Embassy have not yet become involved with the case and it is unclear whether India will request Rajan’s extradition. “The investigation needs to be completed first,’’ said an Indian Diplomat. Thailand has no extradition treaty with India. Both Daman and
D’Souza’s wife were undergoing treatment at a
Bangkok hospital where their rooms had been kept under
tight security, said The Bangkok Post. |
Mugabe backs off land seizure HARARE Sept 19 (DPA)— President Robert Mugabe has backed away from the compulsory seizure of huge chunks of land owned in Zimbabwe by the powerful multinational Anglo American conglomerate, saying the move was a 'mistake', the company today said. Nicholas Oppenheimer, Deputy Chairman of the London-based gold, diamond and agriculture conglomerate, said on state television today that Mugabe had admitted that the formal listing for ‘compulsory acquisition’ of the company’s sugar estates in southern Zimbabwe was ‘a mistake’. Oppenheimer and his son Jonathan flew into Harare yesterday for a rapidly scheduled meeting with Mugabe, only three days after 70 per cent of the 54,200-hectare hippo valley estate, which produces about 2,50,000 tonnes of sugar annually, had been listed for seizure. ‘We were much reassured that the President told us a mistake had been made, and agro-industrial estates were not intended to be gazetted for resettlement,’ said Oppenheimer. ‘The government is going to rectify this matter, so this is very encouraging.’ Agriculture Minister Joseph made said: ‘We are already in the process of cleaning up that particular list.’ Observers say Mugabe’s swift agreement to reverse plans to seize the estate is an indication of the influence the Oppenheimer family has over the 76-year-old President. Agro-industrial estates are one of the government’s criteria for exemption from confiscation, but previous lists have also put down scores of other large and intensively farmed sugar, citrus, horticulture and timber estates for turning over to subsistence peasant farming. In April, Mugabe said
white farmers were ‘enemies of the state’. A
total of 2,157 farms have been listed for seizure since
June. Appeals to the government from the commercial
farmers union, which represents the country’s
estimated 4,500 white farming families, for negotiations
over the properties have been ignored. |
25 hostages freed in Colombia CALI, (Colombia), Sept 19 (AP) — Gunmen have released 25 captives from a group of 80 persons kidnapped this weekend from two restaurants and a family farm in southwest Colombia, officials said. About 400 troops have surrounded the area where the remaining hostages are thought to be held. But officials said yesterday that they had no immediate plans to attempt a military-style rescue. The authorities said the mass kidnapping on Sunday probably was the work of the National Liberation Army or ELN, Colombia’s second-largest guerrilla group. The mass kidnapping was carried out by at least 50 heavily-armed men, many of them wearing military-style uniforms and bulletproof vests. The gunmen, who initially claimed to be members of Colombia’s secret police, snatched several hostages from two restaurants along the highway on a popular weekend getaway spot and then headed to De Lima estate. Twentyfive have been
released but 55 others remained in captivity, the
army’s gaula anti-kidnapping squad told Associated
Press based on interviews with witnesses and freed
hostages. |
Alpna found guilty of killing husband WASHINGTON, Sept 19 (PTI) — Indian Canadian dentist Alpna Patel has been found guilty on charges of manslaughter for killing her 26-year-old husband. The maximum sentence for manslaughter is 10 years. A Baltimore jury yesterday found Alpna guilty of voluntary manslaughter of her husband, Viresh Patel in March 1999 after a 10-month arranged marriage. Voluntary manslaughter means that she killed her husband in an emotional rage, legal experts said. The sobbing woman was taken to the city jail handcuffed behind her back. Judge John Prevas said he would decide whether to grant her bail and set October 24 for sentencing. Her first trial had led to a verdict of not guilty of first and second degree murder. The first jury accepted
her plea that she did not intend to kill her husband and
that he got stabbed several times when she struggled with
him repeatedly as he tried to kill her. |
Genghis Khan’s ‘tomb’ found URUMQI, Sept 19 (PTI) — Chinese archaeologists have claimed to have discovered the “real” tomb of Genghis Khan, founder of the ancient Mongolia dynasty. The tomb is located in Qinghe county in China’s northwest Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, the state media reported today. “This is the real
tomb of Genghis Khan. The tomb at the Gandeli steppe in
south-western inner Mongolia was not the burial ground of
the Mongol ruler,” said Mr Zhang Hui, a research
fellow at the Xinjiang museum here. |
Indian beheaded for drug trafficking RIYADH Sept 19 (AP)
— An Indian man convicted of drug trafficking was
beheaded in Saudi Arabia today, the Interior Ministry
said.Tampi Raj Mandiram was found guilty of smuggling an
unspecified quantity of heroin into the kingdom and was
executed in the capital Riyadh, said the statement. It
did not provide further details.Today’s execution
brings to at least 102 the number of persons beheaded
this year. At least 99 persons were executed last year. |
3 Indian UN troops hurt in accident RASHAYA (Lebanon), Sept 19 (AFP) — Three Indian peacekeepers in the UN force in Lebanon were injured, two seriously, in a road accident last night at the country’s borders with Israel, a UN spokesman said. The soldiers were
injured when their military vehicle overturned on a
border road in Abbassiyeh, he said. |
Order to recover Kursk crew bodies MOSCOW, Sept 19 (DPA) — President Vladimir Putin has ordered the recovery of the remains of the 118 crew members who died on board the Kursk, the Russian submarine which sank last month in the Barents Sea, it was announced today. Deputy Prime Minister
Ilya Klebanov said after a meeting with Mr Putin that the
recovery operation would take place in October and
November. Mr Klebanov stressed that the two nuclear
reactors aboard the sub, which lies 100 metres below the
surface of the sea, would not pose a risk during the
recovery of the sub itself which is scheduled for next
year as previously announced. |
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