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| Saturday, December 23, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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West Asia peace talks stalled
Palestinan gunmen shoot from a sandbagged position at Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip during an exchange of fire with Israeli troops on Thursday. — Reuters photo Estrada had secret account: witness Accused seek bail in ‘Kanishka’ case |
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Germany slams it as ‘cannibalism’ Santa ditches sleigh for Internet Deal to cut US
dues to UN Lewinsky case
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West Asia peace talks stalled JERUSALEM, Dec 22 (Reuters) — US-mediated talks between Israel and the Palestinians are in crisis and negotiators at a secluded air base in Washington almost came to blows at one point, a senior Palestinian official said today. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the atmosphere was so bad on Thursday that US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright cancelled plans to attend the day’s sessions. A State Department spokesman said she would attend the session on Friday. “A crisis emerged between the negotiators when Israeli negotiator Shlomo Ben-Ami returned to talking about annexing 10 per cent of the Palestinian territories when they had earlier offered 5 p.c.,” the official told newsmen. “There was almost a fistfight between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators.” Asked about the Palestinian official’s account, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said: “The talks continue and we don’t go into detail about any particular issue”. Both sides are racing against the clock to try to forge a final peace deal as US President Bill Clinton prepares to leave office on January 20 and Israel heads towards a prime ministerial election on February 6. Palestinians, who began an uprising against Israeli occupation almost three months ago, want to establish a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and Israel hopes to keep parts of occupied territory where large Jewish settlements are located. US West Asia envoy Dennis Ross and his deputy, Aaron Miller, met the delegations both separately and together on Thursday at Bolling Air Force Base in south-eastern Washington. “We’re encouraged by this commitment they have shown, by the spirit of openness and their willingness to take advantage of the time we have left,” a State Department official said. Palestinian negotiator Yasser Abed Rabbo said Clinton had suggested reaching a framework for each of the key final issues — the fate of Jerusalem, borders, Jewish settlers and Palestinian refugees — but did not give specific solutions. “We are close to achieving recognition over Arab East Jerusalem, including the holy sites,” he added. The negotiators say they are now talking about the elusive ‘’final status’’ agreement which Mr Clinton tried to clinch when he spent 15 days with Barak and President Arafat at Camp David in July. Abed Rabbo said: “If we reach agreement on the basic details, we could have an agreement on Saturday. We can be very close to an agreement — or very far depending on those details.” But Mr Ben-Ami said: “We are asking to maintain our special link to the Temple Mount...we have left this matter open and gone on to other subjects.” The Temple Mount, known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif, was the site of the biblical Jewish temples. Two celebrated mosques now stand on the mount, including the Al-Aqsa mosque, the third most sacred Islamic shrine. Meanwhile, Israeli police, preparing for trouble after Muslim prayers on the last Friday of Ramadan at Al-Aqsa, limited male worshippers in al-Haram Al-Sharif to residents of East Jerusalem over the age of 35. A police spokesman said about 18,000 worshippers were allowed into the compound and dozens of Palestinian youths who were denied entry scuffled with police or threw stones at them. He said about 3,000 police deployed in Jerusalem’s Old City, subjecting Palestinians to identity checks at its gates. |
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Peres out of race for PM JERUSALEM, Dec 22 (Reuters) — Israel’s Meretz Party voted yesterday not to back Nobel Laureate Shimon Peres’s candidacy for Prime Minister in a February 6 election, dashing his hopes to challenge Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Israel Radio said. The Left-wing party voted 25 to 17 against supporting Mr Peres, the 77-year-old architect of Israel’s seven-year-old peace drive with the Palestinians, in a race for Prime Minister, the radio said. It said three party members abstained from the vote. “That is the result and that is that,” Mr Peres said in his office moments after the vote was announced. “I will continue to work towards peace.” Mr Peres, Regional Cooperation Minister in Mr Barak’s Cabinet, needed the support of Meretz’s 10-seat faction in Parliament to support his candidacy and turn the race into a three-way battle with Mr Barak and Rightist Likud Party Chairman Ariel Sharon.” Mr Barak and Mr Sharon are the only two contestants for the Prime Minister’s post. The Central Election Committee in Israel received only the two nominations by the filing deadline yesterday at midnight. |
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Estrada had secret account: witness MANILA Dec 22 (Reuters) — A senior bank official, described by the prosecution as an “explosive witness,’’ took the stand in the impeachment trial of Philippine President Joseph Estrada today amid fierce defence objections. Surprise witness Clarissa Ocampo, senior vice-president of Equitable-PCI Bank would prove Estrada used an alias in keeping a huge, secret account, prosecutor Mario Bautista told the Senate court. Lead prosecutor Joker Arroyo said the witness would prove that Estrada used the alias “Jose Velarde”. A man of that name has issued a cheque which funded the purchase of a mansion for a movie starlet who became a mistress of Estrada, the prosecution has previously said. “The witness will talk about explosive evidence,” Arroyo told the court. The amount would prove that the embattled former movie actor had amassed “ill-gotten, unexplained wealth’’ in violation of the country’s anti-graft and corrupt practices law, Bautista said. The trial, in which the country’s 22 senators are acting as judges, stems from allegations the Estrada took about 400 million pesos in bribes from illegal gambling syndicates and pocketed 130 million pesos of excise taxes. Estrada needs at least eight of the 22 Senate votes to be acquitted. A vote by a two-thirds majority is required to convict and remove him from office. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. AP adds: The prosecution alleges that Estrada, who has an official monthly wage of 50,000 pesos has become rich payoffs due to from lords of an illegal gambling game called Jueteng. |
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Accused seek bail in ‘Kanishka’ case VANCOUVER, Dec 22 (AFP) — Two Sikh men, accused of complicity in the 1985 bombing of Air-India jet “Kanishka” which killed 329 persons, asked a Canadian judge here to release them on bail. It was the first bail hearing for Ajaib Singh Bagri and Ripudaman Singh Malik who were arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police two months ago in connection with the bombing of the jumbo jet off the coast of Ireland and the killing of two baggage handlers in Japan on the same day. Prosecutors Joseph Bellows and Richard Cairns argued against the bail, but details of the proceedings could not be revealed after Malik’s lawyer asked for, and received, a publication ban from British Columbia Supreme Court Judge Patrick Dohm. Bagri, 51, and Malik, 53, both in custody, did not attend the hearing. The pair has made two previous court appearances and is scheduled to be back in court on January 31 for the scheduling of a trial date. |
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Kostunica set for landslide THE last bastions of parliamentary power held by farmer President Slobodan Milosevic’s Socialist party are expected to fall to reformist candidates in Serbia’s elections on Saturday. Supporters of President Vojislav Kostunica are forecast to win a landslide victory and secure control of Serbia’s government, the most important power centre in Yugoslavia. The election should give Serbia its first government for more than 50 years not led by the Socialists or their communist predecessors. It will be a fresh humiliation for Mr Milosevic who was removed from power following a popular uprising. He remains controversially protected by a special army unit and police guard in Beli Dvor (White Palace), which was once the home of Marshal Tito, in the Belgrade suburb of Dedinje. The man who ought to live in the palace, the new federal President Mr Kostunica, is busy travelling around the world re-establishing ties that Mr Milosevic severed. In just two months since the October 5 uprising, when Serbia overthrew Mr Milosevic, Mr Kostunica has brought Yugoslavia back into the world community, rejoining the United Nations and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and raising its long-term aim of joining the European Union. During this time his popularity has soared to an unprecedented 91 per cent approval rating. According to many opinion polls, members of the anti-Milosevic coalition, the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), will gain more than 70 per cent of the vote. The latest survey showed DOS with 63 per cent — which would translate into a larger majority in parliament, because some parties will not clear the 5 per cent threshold. The Socialists, with a projected 13 per cent of the vote, look set to win a few seats in Parliament, but not to have any serious power. Two splinter parties will further divide the Left-wing vote and the Yugoslav Left party of Mr Milosevic’s wife Mira Markovic is not expected to gain a single seat.
— The Guardian, London |
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India will ultimately talk to Pak: Musharraf ISLAMABAD, Dec 22 (PTI) — Military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf has said India would ultimately talk to Pakistan for a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue. “Ultimately, India will talk to Pakistan,” he told the editors of national newspapers at an Iftar dinner he hosted in their honour at the Chief Executive’s Office here last night. General Musharraf claimed that India’s unilateral ceasefire offer was a half-measure which failed to address the core issue. “India is not sincere as it is not talking of the settlement of the Kashmir issue. Rather, it wants to end tension,” he said, and reiterated Pakistan’s desire to “solve the long-running Kashmir issue through a meaningful dialogue”. He said Pakistan’s offer of tripartite talks — involving India, Pakistan and Kashmiri leaders — had “a very good impact” at the international level. “It has been described by the world as a bold step and now all the pressure is on their (Indian) side”, he claimed. The Chief Executive said his country wanted the Hurriyat Conference to participate as a third party in talks between the two countries. General Musharraf claimed that Pakistan had taken the initiative (to solve the Kashmir issue) by offering to hold a dialogue with India “any time, anywhere and at any level”, which followed its overture of tripartite talks. It had now taken the unilateral step of partially reducing its troops along the Line of Control (LoC), he said. Asked whether the withdrawal of troops along the LoC would have an impact on Pakistan’s security, he said it (the LoC) was well-guarded. “Anyone trying to cross the LoC would have to face Pakistani troops”, he added. General Musharraf claimed that it was the Kargil episode which had brought Kashmir into world focus. “Kashmir emerged as a nuclear flashpoint following Kargil, as the entire world began talking about it,” he said. The Chief Executive said large-scale corruption was introduced during the tenures of Mr Nawaz Sharif and Ms Benazir Bhutto, and their coming to power for the third time would be against the national interest. However, he said both the Bhutto’s PPP and Sharif’s PML happened to be major parties in the country and he would not like to “harm” them. Dismissing the chances of holding the general election before 2002, General Musharraf said: “The idea never came to my mind...The option is closed. I have never talked about it”. He also ruled out the possibility of holding a referendum or setting up an interim government in the country. To a question on Mr Sharif’s exile, he said the family was bound to remain in Saudi Arabia for 10 years, except Mian Sharif and his wife. Only the two of them would be allowed to return, he said, but after some time.
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Germany slams it as ‘cannibalism’ BERLIN, Dec 22 (Reuters) — German officials have ruled out any plans to follow a British move to permit research on human embryos with one calling the technology “cannibalism’’ and demanding European Union action. Germany, which covets Britain’s position as European leader in biotechnology, currently bans the production of human embryos and has urged its scientists to focus human cell research efforts on other less controversial technologies. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, in a newspaper article written before the vote approving the measure in the British Parliament on Tuesday, urged against “ideological taboos’’ but said the case for using human embryos in research was not proven. Mr Hubert Hueppe, Deputy Chairman of Parliament’s Ethics Committee on Wednesday, said the British move to allow stem cells from human embryos to be used in developing new medical treatments breached a European-wide consensus on fundamental human rights. “To breed a
human being, only to kill it, disembowel it and impregnate something with it — that’s basically cannibalism,’’ Mr Hueppe, an Opposition conservative, told the German Radio. “One should consider European Union sanctions against Britain,’’ he said. “If this isn’t good reason to intervene, then any talk of common European values is meaningless.’’ Rejecting arguments the research could pave the way to cure for degenerative diseases like leukaemia and heart disease, Mr Hueppe accused Prime Minister Tony Blair of being “more interested in its business possibilities’’. In a free vote on Tuesday, British parliamentarians backed proposals by a majority of more than two to one to permit research on embryo stem cells, the master cells that can develop into different cell types such as blood, brain and bones. |
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Santa ditches sleigh for Internet ARCTIC CIRCLE (Finland), Dec 21 (Reuters) — Santa Claus may be a great man of tradition. But these days even the symbol of Christmas for millions of children around the world is taking some unusual steps to keep up with the pace of modern life. To help him with what has become a year-round job, Santa has hooked up to cyberspace so fans who can’t travel to the Arctic Circle can see and talk to him live online and watch him receive guests in his office. This year some 500,000 people, many of them Japanese, are expected to flock to his Santa Village, tucked between snow-covered fells in Finland’s isolated Lapland region. Around 5,000 people, mostly but not all, children will sit on his lap each day during the busy December weeks. For the rest of us, the website www.santaclauslive.com launched last month may be just the ticket. Santa says his focus is still to bring joy and hear the wishes of people who travel to see him in person from as far away as Australia, Japan and Tahiti. In fact, Santa is worried that the rapid growth of the personal computer and the Internet — which each day reaches millions of more people — may limit children’s creativity. “I’m not saying the Internet and the computer are bad, but a computer is limiting and has boundaries, whereas a child with a pen, or a few pieces of wood, a hammer and some nails has no limits,’’ Santa told Reuters. One thing is for sure, he need not fear for his own popularity or even challenges from Santas in other north European countries trying to steal some of his limelight. The Santa I met during one of his brief coffee breaks — a tall and large man with a long white beard and equipped with a red mobile phone — still brought some visitors, both young and old, to a state of bewilderment. “We’re flown here for a quick two-hour trip, but I’m over the moon to see Santa. It was my dream to meet him in real life,’’ said 26-year-old Eriko from Tokyo. “It was worth the trip. He is very popular in Japan, people are crazy about him.’’ Santa says Asians, especially Japanese, are among his most devoted followers. Not only do they come in tens of thousands each year, they also send the largest number of letters to him compared to any other country in the world. Many Japanese even fly to Santa to get his blessings for their marriage. “Some Japanese get married here, others just want me to bless them. I sort of seal their marriage,’’ Santa says. “I don’t really know why. I think the Japanese have a strong respect for tradition and love the tradition of Christmas and Santa.” To the giggle of half a dozen friends, a Japanese woman queuing nervously to meet Santa said, she would ask for a husband for Christmas. Children are still asking for toys in most of the six million letters brought to Santa’s post office on the outskirts of the northern city of Rovaniemi over the past 10 years. Elf Taima Ollila, sales manager for Santa’s main post office, says top of children’s wish lists this year is Pokemon toys, mobile phones and Sony’s new game console PlayStation 2. She laments that many of the letters tell stories of a longing for more time with parents. This is especially the case in western Europe. “Most adult letters come from Japan,” she adds. “But some are from Finnish grannies asking Santa not to give their grandchildren any gifts because they haven’t behaved.” What started out as a shack on the Arctic Circle outside Rovianiemi to mark the visit by Eleanor Roosevelt in the 1950s, now lures tourists with Santa’s office and postal centre, a theme park, gold-panning and reindeer and dog-sledging. When it comes to his age, Santa says: “I was sitting in my rocking chair the other evening trying to count Christmases I could remember. By the time I got to 360, I had fallen asleep.’’ He recommends a healthy diet, he drinks lots of reindeer milk, and plenty of sleep, even a nap during the day. |
Deal to cut US
dues to UN UNITED NATIONS,
Dec 22 (Reuters) — United Nations members reached a tentative deal early today to cut substantially US dues to the world body, after media magnate Ted Turner offered $ 34 million to help Washington out of its political impasse. “We now have an informal agreement,” said British ambassador Sir Jeremy Greenstock, whose country’s payment will increase as a result of the agreement. “It is remarkable that we look like solving this with a formal agreement.” US ambassador James Cunningham said there still were some “final pieces to be put into place.” but he was confident this would happen later today when negotiations resumed. |
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| ‘Safe’ Japan not
safe any more TOKYO, Dec 22 (Reuters) — Japan, which prides itself on being one of the world’s safest and most crime-free nations, said the number of crimes reported this year had already hit a record 2.2 million by the end of November. This tops the previous post-war annual record of 2.17 million crimes reported in the whole of last year. Serious crimes jumped by one-fifth, the number of cases investigated fell by a similar amount, and a record low number of crimes were solved between January and November, the National Police Agency report said. Japan has recently been rocked by several violent crimes committed by teenagers, giving birth to a new term, “dangerous 17-year-olds”, and the law was recently toughened to lower the minimum age at which suspects can be held criminally responsible to 14 from 16.  |
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Lewinsky case WASHINGTON, 22 (PTI) — The US President, Mr Bill Clinton, has said that he would stand up and fight any fresh prosecution over the Monica Lewinsky case and would not pray for pardon with the new administration. “I am happy to stand and fight,” Mr Clinton told “CBS-60 Minutes” in an interview. He said “no” when asked whether he would like the new President to pardon him. Independent counsel Robert W.Ray has said that a decision on prosecuting Mr Clinton will come “very shortly” after the President leaves the White House. “I think the public would like me to wrap up this investigation,” Mr Ray said. |
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