W O R L D

• Prabhakaran for unconditional talks

Commandos kill 4 Palestinians
JERUSALEM, Nov 27 — Four Palestinians belonging to Yasser Arafat’s Fatah military wing were killed in a West Bank ambush by Israeli commandos, an Israeli army spokesman said.

UK refuses asylum to Indians
LONDON, Nov 27 — A small number of Indians continue to seek political asylum in Britain despite a blanket refusal by the government here to grant it.

Hearing on Anwar’s plea put off
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 27 — Malaysia’s highest court today postponed hearing on Anwar Ibrahim’s appeal against his conviction for corruption after his lawyers said the jailed former minister needed at least two weeks to rest an ailing back.

Pak ‘should not help’ USA catch Osama
ISLAMABAD, Nov 27 — Most Pakistanis say “no” to helping the USA capture suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden from his hideout in neighboring Afghanistan, according to a weekend poll in an English-language newspaper.

• Pak writers

N. Zealand hardens stance against Fiji
WELLINGTON, Nov 27 — New Zealand today hardened its stance against Fiji with an extension to a sporting ban and support for its envoy who made a tough speech against the military-backed government.

Tun Tin to fight Suu Kyi’s case
YANGON, Nov 27 — Myanmar Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi today sent a veteran lawyer to represent her against a lawsuit filed by her elder brother for co-possession of her Yangon residence in a case that could leave her homeless, officials said.

Lanka PM rules out truce with LTTE

COLOMBO, Nov 27 (PTI) — Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake has ruled out a truce with the LTTE and ridiculed foreign peace envoys who had asked the country to adopt experiences of other peace processes.

Mr Wickremanayake was quoted in the press today as saying that he and President Chandrika Kumaratunga firmly believed that the LTTE must be “militarily defeated” to have peace in the island.

In his first public appearance after assuming duties as acting Defence Minister in absence of Ms Kumaratunga who went abroad on Friday, he said the Tigers wanted a truce because they were weak.

In direct reference to his meeting on Thursday with visiting British junior Foreign Minister Peter Hain, Mr Wickremanayake said the Northern Ireland experience could not be “planted” in Sri Lanka.

“Sri Lanka cannot compare its situation with that of (Northern) Ireland as (LTTE leader) Prabhakaran is the embodiment of brutality, killing even his own comrades,” Mr Wickremanayake was quoted as saying in the state-run “Daily News.”

He said there would be no let up in the military campaign against the LTTE despite the latest moves by Norway to bring the warring sides to negotiating table.

“We will carry on the military option until the enemy is eliminated,” he said adding that “the government is certainly not for ceasefire as previous experiences have shown that the enemy insists on ceasefire when it is weak.”

The Premier said he had been asked by unnamed “foreign delegates” if his thinking on Sri Lanka’s ethnic strife was the same as that of Ms Kumaratunga who was seen as keen on pressing ahead with peace talks.

British junior Foreign Minister Peter Hain left Colombo on Thursday after an overnight visit during which he asked Sri Lanka to use the Northern Ireland peace process as an example and move towards a settlement.

The Prime Minister’s outburst against foreign peace delegates came as the government and the diplomatic community here awaited a policy speech today by Prabhakaran.

Prabhakaran is due to make the speech as part of his “martyrs’ week” commemoration of some 16,000 of his cadres killed in fighting since 1982.

Prabhakaran for unconditional talks

COLOMBO, Nov 27 (UNI) — LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran today vowed to liberate Jaffna as “the Sinhala nation cannot impose sovereignty over the historically constituted lands of the Tamils by military aggression” and said he was willing to have “unconditional” talks with the Sri Lankan Government to resolve the conflict.

But before the talks, he insisted on a process of de-escalation of war and the creation of a conducive climate of goodwill and normalcy in the Tamil homeland to facilitate talks.

Commandos kill 4 Palestinians

JERUSALEM, Nov 27 (AFP) — Four Palestinians belonging to Yasser Arafat’s Fatah military wing were killed in a West Bank ambush by Israeli commandos, an Israeli army spokesman said.

The four were killed yesterday as they left the Palestinian area of Kalkylia, the town of Habla, in the northwest of the West Bank, he said.

“A military unit in operation intercepted four armed terrorists after they had fired on a car along the road of the Alfei Menashe colony,” he stated.

Residents in Habla confirmed that shooting had occurred and there had been casualties, but said Israeli soldiers had grabbed the bodies before they could count them or identify them.

UK refuses asylum to Indians

LONDON, Nov 27 (IANS) — A small number of Indians continue to seek political asylum in Britain despite a blanket refusal by the government here to grant it.

In September, the British Home Office considered the political asylum applications of 190 Indians and all of them were refused. Through this year an estimated 1,500 Indians, mostly from Punjab, would have sought asylum in Britain. All applicants face possible rejection, according to sources.

The rejection of applications is intended to discourage more people from applying for political asylum in Britain, though the number of Indian applicants is relatively small. In September, the latest month for which figures are available, a total of 6,435 applications for asylum in Britain were received.

Most asylum applications are now from Iraqis, Somalis, Sri Lankans and Afghanis, though there is a fair number also from Pakistan. In September, there were 985 applications from Iraqis, 515 from Somalis, 495 from Afghans, 440 from Sri Lankans and 180 from Pakistanis. Overall only five per cent of the applicants are granted asylum. The success rate among South Asian applicants is much lower.

In September again which saw all 190 Indian applications rejected, five Pakistanis succeeded while 260 failed. Fifteen Afghanis were given asylum, another 35 were given exceptional leave to remain, and 170 were refused permission to stay.

Sri Lankan Tamils who once succeeded in migrating to Britain in large numbers are finding it increasingly more difficult to do so now. The month of September saw 390 Sri Lankan applications for asylum refused, with only 20 successes, and 10 given exceptional leave to remain.

Hearing on Anwar’s plea put off

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 27 (Reuters) — Malaysia’s highest court today postponed hearing on Anwar Ibrahim’s appeal against his conviction for corruption after his lawyers said the jailed former minister needed at least two weeks to rest an ailing back.

The Federal Court, which was to hear the appeal today, then tentatively set December 11 to hear the case. But lawyers for Anwar, hospitalised since Saturday, told Reuters they doubted if he would be fit to appear in court by then.

The former Finance Minister is serving a six-year jail sentence after he was convicted of using his position to influence the police to cover up sexual charges against him.

If he loses the appeal his last chance to have his April 1999 conviction overturned would be to seek a pardon from Malaysia’s king.

Anwar was admitted to a government-run general hospital on Saturday he had been suffering back pains for over a month while in the Sungai Buloh prison, where he was being held.

His lawyers told the court today that doctors who examined him said he had an intervertebral disc prolapse, commonly known as a slipped disc.

“We have been notified that he has to be in hospital for at least two weeks,” Anwar’s lead lawyer for the appeal, Raja Aziz Raja Addruse, told a panel of three judges. Mr Christopher Fernando, another of his lawyers, said it was unlikely that Anwar would recover by December 11.

Anwar is being held under tight security at the hospital and doctors could not be reached for comment. Only his lawyers and close family members are allowed to visit him.

Mr Sankara Nair, another Anwar’s lawyer, said the ex-minister was undergoing “traction”, a therapy where one’s legs are raised and the waist strapped with weights to ease tension on the back. “If this doesn’t work, the doctors have said they will recommend surgery,” said Nair.

Sacked from the government in September 1998 and indicted with corruption and sex crimes, Anwar says he is a victim of a plot by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad's associates to destroy his political career. Mr Mahathir denies the charges, saying that Anwar was morally unfit to succeed him.

Pak ‘should not help’ USA catch Osama

ISLAMABAD, Nov 27 (AP) — Most Pakistanis say “no” to helping the USA capture suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden from his hideout in neighboring Afghanistan, according to a weekend poll in an English-language newspaper.

The Nation asked: “Should the Pakistan Government cooperate with the USA in getting Osama bin Laden?” Of those who replied, 62 per cent said no, 31 per cent said yes and seven per cent were uncertain.

The poll comes amid growing speculation in Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan of a US retaliatory attack should investigators find evidence of Bin Laden’s involvement in last month’s suicide bombing of a US Navy ship off the coast of Yemen. Seventeen US sailors died in that attack.

Bin Laden was earlier indicted by a US court on terrorism charges in connection with the 1998 twin bombings of the US embassies in East Africa that killed 224 persons.

Washington, which is offering a $ 5 million reward for Bin Laden’s arrest, believes that Saudi dissident is operating a global terrorist network from his hideout in Afghanistan.

On several occasions the US administration has asked Pakistan — one of only three countries to recognise the Taliban Government — to persuade the ruling Taliban to hand over Bin Laden.

But the Taliban say they have no proof of Bin Laden’s involvement in terrorism and deny accusations that military training camps are being operated on their soil. 

Pak writers

ISLAMABAD, Nov 27 (PTI) — In an apparent support to New Delhi’s peace initiative in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistani intelligentsia has warned that recourse to “war option” has only helped in the rise of intolerant fundamentalist, sectarian and militaristic ideologies in the country.

Disputes between Pakistan and India like any other world disputes, can never be resolved through “war” and the only alternative is peaceful negotiations, a three-day Pen for Peace Conference in Karachi attended by writers, poets, artists, academics and journalists from all over Pakistan, said.

French ex-minister confirms kickback

TAIPEI, Nov 27 (DPA) — A former French Foreign Minister has confirmed that officials in both Taiwan and mainland China received kickbacks over the sale of French warships to the island in 1991, local media reported today.

Mr Roland Dumas said French warship builder Thomson-CSF had paid commissions to persons on two lists to facilitate the $ 2.8 billion sale of the six Lafayette-class missile frigates to Taiwan.

The first was given to a go-between named Lily Liu, whose identity is still uncertain and who had passed on money to officials in the mainland. The other list contained the names of persons to be paid in Taiwan, Mr Dumas said in an interview with the China Times.

The former French minister, who had previously kept his silence over the scandal, said highly-placed individuals in the USA also profited from the deal.

The kickbacks might have been laundered through South Africa given the strong ties between Taiwan and the African country at that time, he added.

Mr Dumas is suspected of having used his influence to push through the sale of the six frigates and is one of several persons in France being charged with taking bribes in the scandal.

A similar investigation is underway in Taiwan involving high-ranking military officers who are suspected of having taken kickbacks in the arms deal. The probe is also looking into the death of Taiwan navy Captain Yin Ching-Feng in 1993, who is believed to have been murdered when he threatened to expose the corruption behind the arms deal.

The trial in France against Mr Dumas and several other persons is scheduled to open on January 22, 2001. It was originally slated for June this year but had to be postponed due to Mr Dumas’ ailing health. The former minister faces a possible jail sentence of five years and a fine of 2.5 million French francs. 

N. Zealand hardens stance against Fiji

WELLINGTON, Nov 27 (AFP) — New Zealand today hardened its stance against Fiji with an extension to a sporting ban and support for its envoy who made a tough speech against the military-backed government.

New Zealand is also opposing a Fiji national admitted in hospital here, who has been identified as a supporter of failed businessman George Speight who, on May 19 seized Fiji’s Parliament and took Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and his government hostage.

Tun Tin to fight Suu Kyi’s case

YANGON, Nov 27 (DPA) — Myanmar Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi today sent a veteran lawyer to represent her against a lawsuit filed by her elder brother for co-possession of her Yangon residence in a case that could leave her homeless, officials said.

Yangon Divisional Court accepted Mr Tun Tin, an elderly lawyer and pro-democracy activist who has served time in Myanmar prison for his role in the 1988 anti-military demonstrations, as Ms Suu Kyi’s advocate. The trial was set to resume on December 4.

WORLD BRIEFS

Thai tour bus crash kills 21
BANGKOK: A Thai tour bus drove off the road and flipped on its side, killing 20 passengers and the driver in an early morning crash on Monday in the northern province of Lamphang, the police said. The chartered bus drove off the road at 4 a.m. local time in Mae Prik district, Lamphang, about 410 km north of Bangkok, and skidded on its side down the embankment, said Mae Prik Police station Sgt Sukhit Kattiwong. — DPA

Rift Valley fever claims 100 lives
RIYADH: Rift Valley fever, a virus that has hit the Arabic peninsula for more than two months, has left over 100 dead in Saudi Arabia, the Health Ministry said. “One hundred and four persons have died from RVF,” the Health Ministry said on Sunday in a statement published by the official SPA news agency. It said 729 had contracted the illness, of whom 588 had left hospital after being cured. The previous toll from the ministry November 16 talked of 103 dead from 668 persons infected. — AFP

Mobile phones to carry health warnings
LONDON: All mobile phones in Britain will come with health warnings under new government guidelines to be rushed out ahead of Christmas, newspapers reported on Monday. The Department of Health is finalising the wording on a leaflet which will be distributed to shops selling mobile phones, the papers said. The leaflets were expected to specifically warn that children should not spend too long on their mobile phones, despite continuing debate among medical experts over the existence of any possible health risks to users. — Reuters

Teenagers more prone to depression
POTSDAM: When teenagers suffer depression and withdraw from their families and friends, adults often think they are just going through a phase caused by growing pains. But, experts say an increasing number of young people are falling victim to depression, and too few of them receive the treatment they need. One reason for this is that young people resist any help, says Guenter Esser, Professor of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy at Potsdam University in eastern Germany. — DPA

Greenpeace men raid oil plant
SYDNEY: Greenpeace activists raided an Australian shale oil plant on Monday, chaining themselves to a conveyor belt, in protest against the collapse of international talks on curbing greenhouse gases. Other environmental groups slammed the Australian Government for failing to cut greenhouse emissions and abetting the collapse of the climate talks in The Hague. The WWF called on Australia to stop looking for carbon credit “loopholes” and cut greenhouse gases to save its World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef. — Reuters

3 Indians killed in oil field mishap
DUBAI: Three Indian workers have been charred to death in an offshore oil field accident, media reports said here on Monday. The identity of the workers, who were carrying out maintenance work at a power generation barge at the Umm Shaif field close to Abu Dhabi on Saturday, is yet to be established, the Gulf News said. The three died on their way to the hospital, the Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (Adma-Opco) told the daily. The report said a fuel tank on the barge exploded while the workers were using welding equipment but it was not officially confirmed. Adma-Opco, which has launched an inquiry into the cause of the accident, has however, said the workers were employees of another subcontracting firm, National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC). NPCC officials were not available for comment. — PTI

50 killed in West Sumatra floods
JAKARTA: Rescue workers on Monday searched for more than 40 persons buried alive in the Indonesian province of West Sumatra as heavy flooding and landslides in the province killed at least 50 persons, officials and news reports said. Yudi, an official at the Natural Disaster office in the provincial capital of Padang, said as many as 42 persons were still missing from various districts following landslides and heavy flooding. — DPA

Tycoon’s wealth to be given to 2 wives
DUBAI: A Dubai court has ordered division of the multimillion dollar worth of estates of late Thakurdas Choithram Pagrani, an expatriate of Indian origin, among his two wives and children, a newspaper report said. Giving a ruling in the long-running inheritance case, the Dubai court on Sunday rejected an appeal by Choithram’s first wife, Lalibai, an Indian, who claimed she and her six children were the sole heir of the tycoon, the Khaleej Times reported. — PTI

Missing diver ‘taken’ by shark
SYDNEY: A diver missing off Australia’s west coast for more than a week was probably taken by a shark, officials said on Monday. Forensic tests on a shredded life vest and a mangled lunch box found washed up on a beach near Ceduna will determine whether Danny Thorpe fell victim to the great white sharks that roam the area. Because he was petrified of sharks Thorpe opted to stay with his capsized boat about 15 km out to sea rather than attempt to swim to shore with companion Howard Rodd. — DPA

Quake jolts China’s Kunlun mountains
BEIJING: An earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale hit a mountainous area of northwestern China’s Qinghai province, state media reported on Monday. The China Seismological Bureau said the quake struck in the Kunlun mountains at 2.01 GMT on Sunday, according to the Xinhua news agency. No information on casualties was available because the area is sparsely populated and difficult to reach. — AFP

Golden jubilee of Mt Everest’s conquest
KATHMANDU: The golden jubilee of the first conquest of the Mount Everest — the world’s tallest peak — is to be celebrated by Nepal in a one-year programme of events. Mountaineering history was made on May 29, 1953, when Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and the late Tenzing Norgay Sherpa of Nepal conquered the formidable peak, coinciding with Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in Britain. — AFP