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| Saturday,
December 30, 2000, Chandigarh, India    |
No more talks till accord on peace plan: Clinton
Bail hearing for bomb suspects
resumes |
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60 killed in ferry
mishap Clinton’s best meal
was in Delhi EU asks India,
Pak to start dialogue Initiative on J&K positive step: Benazir Rumsfeld to be US
Defence Secy |
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Emergency in two
snow-hit US states Bid to commandeer
jet foiled 5 Indians held in
Singapore Russia, Iran closer to arms
deals
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No more talks till accord on peace plan: Clinton PRESIDENT Clinton last night (Thursday) ruled out further talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders until both sides accepted his plan for the foundation of a peace deal. The US President’s move came as a fresh wave of violence engulfed Israel in the wake of its decision to cancel a summit with the Palestinians. Mr Clinton’s hope of securing a peace as a legacy of his presidency diminished fast on a day on which two bombs went off and Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, ordered his army to seal off the Palestinian Authority’s West Bank and Gaza Strip. As Palestinian and Israeli opposition to Mr Clinton’s proposal for a deal hardened on the ground, the US President refused to admit that his peace initiative was dead. Mr Clinton said both sides had legitimate questions “but there is no point in our talking further unless both sides accepted the parameters I have laid out”. In a comment aimed at Mr Yasser Arafat, who ignored the Wednesday deadline for a response to the plan, an exasperated Mr Clinton said: “It’s obvious we are all operating under a deadline. It’s just that some of us know what our deadline is.” Mr Clinton leaves office on January 20. The Israeli Government believes the summit is on hold and that Mr Arafat, seeing the deadline as artificial, may simply be delaying until next week in the hope of winning concessions. But one Israeli Cabinet Minister predicted that any settlement is now unlikely until after Mr Clinton leaves office. With a peace settlement slipping out of his grasp, Mr Clinton said: “The thing is in gestation. It is either going to go forward or not, and the less I say about it the better.” After four days of relative calm a bomb went off in Gaza yesterday killing two Israelis and injuring three others. Another went off on a bus in the heart of Tel Aviv, a shock to Israelis who have become accustomed to violence being restricted to border areas. The bombing in Tel Aviv was only the third inside Israel since the latest Palestinian uprising began in September. Thirteen were injured, including a woman soldier who was said to be badly burned. The injuries were caused by two pipe bombs which failed to go off with full force. The driver was able to take his bus back to the central station. One person is being held in connection with the blast. The extremist Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the Gaza ambush while another group, Hamas, appeared to be behind the Tel Aviv blast. “Prime Minister and Defence Minister Ehud Barak ordered the Israeli army and security forces to immediately implement a number of steps after the serious attacks today. From tonight there will be a complete closure on Judea, Samaria (the West Bank) and Gaza,” a statement from Mr Barak’s office said. Although Israel has taken such action before, it will enrage the Palestinians who see it as inflicting a collective punishment. This will do little to prod the Palestinians towards peace talks. Mr Barak’s office said the army would continue to “initiate activities in order to prevent attacks that are being planned and executed” and would “continue steps to thwart the enemy’s terrorist attacks”. Mr Arafat went to Sharm el-Sheik yesterday for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Afterwards Palestinian officials pointed out that they had not rejected Mr Clinton’s plan on Wednesday, but sought clarifications. Mr Arafat said on his return to Gaza that the meeting with Mr Mubarak had been “useful and constructive” and that the Palestinian leadership was reviewing the US plan. He is under huge internal pressure to walk away from the proposals. Mr Clinton has offered a compromise that would give Palestinians control over the top half of the holy site in Jerusalem known to Arabs as Haram al-Sharif and to Jews as Temple Mount. The Palestinians would also have control over Arab Jerusalem and most of Gaza and the West Bank. But the seemingly insurmountable problem is that Mr Arafat would have to give up the right of return to Israel by Palestinians refugees who fled or were driven out in 1948. There are an estimated 3.5m Palestinians spread between Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and other West Asian countries. Echoing Mr Arafat, Mr Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said the door had not been closed: “The Palestinian leadership is still studying in depth the American ideas presented to us by President Bill Clinton last Saturday.” “We are consulting Arab countries, we are consulting with our European friends and others.”
— (The Guardian) PTI adds: Permits allowing entry to 16,000 Palestinians workers into Israel have also been cancelled, military said. The bomb attacks in Israel and Gaza came as peace talks appeared faltering following the cancellation of a planned summit meeting yesterday among Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian leaders to discuss the Clinton peace plan. Palestinians have already accused the Israeli army of sealing their towns since violence broke out in September following a controversial visit of the Right-wing Israeli leader Ariel Sharon to Jerusalem holy site known as Temple Mount and Al Aqsa mosque. Meanwhile, Palestinian officials said the us proposals were too vague and they needed more details. Mr Arafat said he would look closely to the views of “our Arab brothers.” Egypt and Saudi Arabia have lent guarded support to the peace plans. The us blueprint is widely seen as the last chance for a settlement before Mr Clinton leaves office in January and Mr Barak faces a crucial election in February. There are still wide gaps between Israeli and Palestinian position over the contentious issues. Israel wants partial sovereignty or some sort of rights over the underground reaches of Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site. The Palestinians have objected to the idea. |
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Bail hearing for bomb suspects resumes VANCOUVER, Dec 29 (Reuters) — A bail hearing for the two men charged with the 1985 Air-India airline bombing that killed 329 persons resumed two days after supporters held a fund-raising dinner to pay for the men’s defence. The hearing, which continued yesterday after a recess for the Christmas and Boxing Day holidays, is giving a first courtroom glimpse into the case against Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri but the media are banned from reporting details. Court-ordered publication bans are common in Canadian bail hearings and designed to protect the defendants and potential jurors from pre-trial publicity. The hearing is in its third day and expected to continue for at least one more. The ban does not prohibit the public from attending the hearing and the courtroom of the British Columbia Supreme Court was crowded on Thursday, mostly with friends and relatives of Malik, 53, of Vancouver, and Bagri, 51, of Kamloops, British Columbia. Malik and Bagri have been in jail since their arrest on October 27 for their alleged roles in the bombing that destroyed India-bound flight 182 over the Atlantic off Ireland on June 23, 1985, and a related bombing an hour earlier that killed two workers at Tokyo’s Narita airport. They have denied wrongdoing. The police has long believed the bombings were the work of Sikh religious extremists seeking revenge for the Indian Army’s bloody 1984 storming of the Golden Temple — Sikhs holiest shrine — and part of a broader effort to achieve an independent Sikh homeland in India’s Punjab state. Supporters of Malik and Bagri raised more than $70,000 (C) for the legal defence at a fund-raising dinner on Tuesday in Toronto, which was attended by an estimated 300 persons — nearly all members of Toronto’s Sikh community. Legal observers have predicted the men’s criminal trial will be one of the most complicated in Canadian legal history. Canada is heading the criminal probe because the flight originated there and the bomb was believed to have been built in the Vancouver area. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police has said it expects to charge additional people in connection with the bombings but has yet to do so. One man was arrested several days after Malik and Bagri but was released without charges. |
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DHAKA, Dec 29 (Reuters) — At least 60 persons were killed and many were missing after a river ferry carrying 400 passengers sank on colliding with another vessel in southeast Bangladesh today, the police said. “The collision occurred when two vessels were coming from the opposite direction in dense fog in the morning,” said a police officer at Chandpur, about 100 km from Dhaka. The police said 60 bodies had been recovered and 100 rescued. Many were still missing. The ferry, which sank in the river Meghna, has been raised. No more bodies were found inside, the police said. |
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Clinton’s best meal
was in Delhi
NEW YORK, Dec 29 (UNI) — President Clinton has said the food he had at the Bukhara restaurant in Maurya Sheraton in New Delhi March this year was probably one of the best meals he had during his eight years in office. In one of the last series of interviews, he is giving to the media before he lays down office in the next 25 days, President Clinton told New York Times: “I loved the Bukhara meal we had in Delhi.” In the “one of the best” food category, the US President also listed a Mexican Restaurant in Phoneix but could not name it. When asked about his favourite trips, Mr Clinton said, “I loved India, I liked China but my favourite I suppose was Ireland. That is because my mother’s family hailed from that country. My oldest known homestead is in Roslea right on the border of northern Ireland and the republic.” EU asks India,
Pak to start dialogue PARIS, Dec 29 (AFP) — The European Union (EU) has called for India and Pakistan to “rapidly resume dialogue” to build on a recent easing in tensions and negotiate a solution over the Kashmir issue. “The European Union welcomes the recent decision by Indian authorities to prolong by a month a ceasefire in Kashmir,” said a statement from France, the current holder of the rotating EU presidency, yesterday. Welcoming a Pakistani promise to reduce troop numbers along its border with India as a “gesture that moves in the direction of reducing tensions,” the statement said the two South Asian rivals should “rapidly resume dialogue in search of a peaceful solution.” |
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Initiative on J&K positive step: Benazir islamabad, dec 29
(PTI) — Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has described the current peace initiative in the subcontinent as a positive development and said: “The chance for peace is here”. “It’s a positive development. The chance for peace is here and we should take it as long as it is an honourable peace. Keeping in mind the aspirations of the Kashmiri people led by the All-Party Hurriyat Conference,” she said answering questions on e-mail asked by “The News”. Asked how she would answer concerns of the international community on terrorism and Pakistan’s relations with India, she said her the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was opposed to the use of force to settle issues. “It is also opposed to private armies fighting non-state wars which is what is happening today. A
PPP-led Pakistan could work with international communities in dealing with private armies”. To a question what quid pro quo she would offer if the military government approaches her, she said she would consult allies and liberal elements before her party took a final decision. Rumsfeld to be US
Defence Secy WASHINGTON, Dec 29 (PTI) — President-elect George W. Bush has nominated Donald Rumsfeld to be his Secretary of Defence as the incoming President worked on filling his cabinet posts. His appointment for the coveted position comes as a surprise announcement as he had been tipped for the post of the Director of the CIA by the news media. “There is no question in my mind that his record of service to the country is extraordinary,” Mr Bush told a press conference here yesterday. Mr Rumsfeld (68) is a veteran of four administrations. He served as Defence Secretary to President Gerald Ford from 1975 to 1977 in the closing phase of the Vietnam war. He headed the Office of Economic Opportunity and wage-price control programme and as Ambassador to NATO under President Nixon; and as President Reagan’s Middle East envoy. |
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Emergency in two
snow-hit US states WASHINGTON, Dec 29
(DPA) — Heavy snow and icefall in the southern USA prompted President Clinton today to declare an emergency in the worst-hit states of Arkansas and Oklahoma. Mr Clinton’s declaration will send federal funds to his home state of Arkansas and its neighbour to supplement state and local money for clearing roads and opening shelters for those stranded or without electricity. As of Thursday, the bad weather, through auto accidents and falling limbs, had claimed 19 lives and left 500,000 homes without power. Also hard hit was Texas, where more than a 1,000 drivers were stranded the night before on the icy Interstate 20. The line of stock-still vehicles stretched 20 km as hundreds of flights out of the Dallas-Fort Worth airport were cancelled.
Bid to commandeer
jet foiled LONDON, Dec 29 (Reuters) — A man broke into the cockpit and tried to grab the controls during a flight from Britain to Kenya today, pitching the jet into a series of violent dives. Passengers screamed in total panic as the jet lurched and dived, said Benjamin Goldsmith, a passenger on the flight. Once the intruder, whom Goldsmith described as African, had been subdued, the captain told passengers over the speakers that “a very nasty man just tried to kill us all”. |
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SINGAPORE, Dec 29 (DPA) — Five Indian nationals were found crouching inside a cylindrical tanker at a checkpoint from Malaysia to Singapore after forking over $ 1,764 (US) each to a human-trafficking syndicate, officials said today. Immigration officers became suspicious because one of the two hatches on top of the 30-ft tanker truck had been left open. The five men, aged 21 to 37, entered Malaysia legally about two weeks ago, officers said. The tanker driver, a 38-year-old Malaysian, picked them up yesterday. They climbed inside, and the hatch was left open to prevent them from suffocating. The men, who had worked as farmers and labourers in India, told officials they had pawned everything they owned and borrowed the rest to come up with the fee charged by syndicates to get them into Singapore and set them up with jobs. |
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Russia, Iran closer to arms deals DUBAI, Dec 29 (UNI) — Even as it signed its largest-ever arms deal with New Delhi for the licensed production of Sukhoi fighter planes in India, Russia wooed Iran, another key Asian country, for military cooperation, much to the chagrin of the USA. Russian Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev concluded, what is being described as a landmark visit to Iran, yesterday with the two countries announcing the opening of a new chapter in their military relations. This was the first-ever visit of a Russian Defence Minister to Tehran since the 1979 Islamic revolution. “The two countries will develop their military cooperation in all fields. We have just opened a new chapter in our relations, marked by the reopening of military cooperation between Moscow and Tehran”, Mr Sergeyev said at a joint press conference with his Iranian counterpart Ali Shamkhani after holding three-day of talks with Iranian leaders. The announcement about the prospects of long-term military cooperation between Iran and Russia coincided with Moscow signing one of its biggest-ever arms deals with New Delhi for the production of Sukhoi planes in its bid to grab a bigger share of the world’s arms market. In a serious move to woo Iran, Russia recently backed out of a 1995 agreement with the USA, which restricts the sale of conventional arms to Tehran. This has irked Washington, which says the step will hurt its trade ties with Russia. The Russian Defence Minister’s visit to Tehran has been closely monitored by the US Administration. A White House spokesman was quoted as saying in the media that: “We have made clear our views on arms sales to Iran and worked very hard with Russia to curb the transfer of advanced arms and sensitive technology to Iran which could have serious implications for US security interests and those of our friends and allies in the Middle East.” To dispel American concerns, the Russian Defence Minister yesterday said Moscow and Tehran had agreed to curtail outside interference in regional affairs and focus their energies on establishing peace and stability in the Gulf and Central Asia. Mr Sergeyev said some Iranian officers would in future be trained at Russian military academies and that the two countries would also expand political, scientific and technical cooperation. On the possibility of Tehran buying Russian technology to upgrade its missile programme, the Iranian Defence Minister said his country had made significant progress in this area and was nearly self-sufficient. |
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