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| Monday, January 1, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Arafat faction vows to intensify attacks Hamoodur Rehman probe report Heavy snow cuts off New York A small number of people and a snow plough occupy New York's Times Square, on Saturday. City officials are working to keep Times Square open for the New Year's celebration as over one foot of snow fell on the city. — Reuters photo |
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Pak partyless council poll begins Musharraf haunted by fear of ‘Brutus’
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| Indian American made Under Secy Balwant Kaur, other Indians honoured
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| Arafat faction vows to intensify attacks JERUSALEM, Dec 31 (AP, AFP) — With Israel and the Palestinians appearing deadlocked over the terms of a US peace plan, Mr Yasser Arafat’s Fatah faction has called for the intensification of a 3-month-old outbreak of violence. Meanwhile, Binyamin Zeev Kahane, son of late Israeli extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane, and his wife were shot dead in a hail of automatic gunfire today near the West Bank settlement of Ofra, witnesses said. Binyamin Kahane was killed on the spot. His wife died later of her injuries. Their three children, who were also in the car, were injured, two of them critically. Their vehicle fell into a ditch after being hit. The injured were taken to hospital in Jerusalem. Also an official in Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement was killed today when the Israeli army fired five bullets to his chest, a source with the faction said. Thabet Thabet, a doctor, headed Fatah in the town of Tulkarem and was Director-General of the Palestinians’ Health Ministry. In a statement yesterday, Mr Arafat’s Fatah movement spoke of Palestinians’ “utter rejection” of peace proposals by US President Bill Clinton. It urged its followers and fighters “to make the next two weeks days of struggle against Israeli soldiers and settlers.” “The continuation of the Intefadeh is the only way, the only method, of achieving independence,” Fatah declared. The explosion of near-daily violence since September has killed nearly 350 persons, almost all of them Palestinians. While Mr Arafat is under international pressure to accept Mr Clinton’s proposals as the basis for a final peace deal, he faces broad demands at home to stay with the popular uprising. Mr Arafat travelled to Tunisia last night in what appeared his latest bid to gauge Arab support, although it was not immediately known whom he was meeting. A key test will come next week when Arab Foreign Ministers will weigh in on the peace plan. AMMAN: A top Palestinian negotiator today said he hoped the USA would clarify some points of a West Asia peace plan before Palestinians give their final response to the proposal. Mr Saeb Erekat said the Palestinian leadership was aware that there was not much time for a peace deal with Israel before President Bill Clinton leaves office on January 20 and Israel’s February 6 election for Prime Minister. “But we don’t want the time factor to be used as a sword over our necks,’’ he told reporters in Amman after briefing Jordan’s Foreign Minister Abdulilah al-Khatib on Clinton’s peace proposals. “We are still studying the ideas presented by President Clinton and we are consulting...with our Arab brothers and European and other friends worldwide and we hope to receive clarifications to the questions we posted to the American Administration,’’ Mr Erekat said. He said Washington wanted the Palestinians to accept the proposals before it gives any clarification but that the Palestinians could not respond before they receive the clarifications. |
| Hamoodur Rehman probe report ISLAMABAD, Dec 31 — Political myopia, bad planning, lack of morality in the Pakistani leadership and former president Ayub Khan’s “basic democracy system” led to the dismemberment of the country in 1971 after its war with India, according to the Hamoodur Rehman Inquiry Commission report. The two volume 452-page report prepared by the three-member commission headed by a former Supreme Court chief justice Hamoodur Rehman and declassified by the military government yesterday, says Ayub’s “system” created a negative impact on the people of East Pakistan and led to an acute sense of deprivation. East Pakistan feared the system would reduce it to a colony. Ayub Khan’s constitution created a gulf between East and West Pakistan and crushed any opposition ruthlessly. Political activities were banned and politicians were disqualified for six years, it adds. The report further goes on to say that no direct order was given to Lt. Gen A.A.K. Niazi, then General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Pakistan’s Eastern Army Command, to surrender. But in view of the desperate picture painted by Genereal Niazi, the higher authorities had given him permission to surrender if he, in his judgment, thought it necessary, it adds. General Niazi could have, in the commission’s view, disobeyed such an order — assuming it was an order — if he thought he had the capability of defending Dhaka. On his own estimates, he had 26,400 men at Dhaka in uniform and he could have held out for at least another two weeks because the enemy could have taken a week to build up forces in Dhaka and another week to reduce the fortress there, the report says. The army high command did not have any strategy and paid scant attention to the growing disparity between the war preparedness and the capability of the armed forces of Pakistan and India as a result of the Indo-Soviet treaty of August 1971. The commission which comprised former Justices Anwarul Haq and Tufail Ali Abdur Rehman, held 57 sittings and examined 213 people, including serving and retired personnel of the armed forces, political leaders, bureaucrats, journalists and members of the public. It submitted its main report to the President on July 12, 1972. The report, parts of which appeared in India Today magazine and its website in August, strongly criticises the performance of several Pakistan army Generals who were involved in the 1971 conflict, which led to the creation of Bangladesh from what was then East Pakistan. It recommended severe punishment, including court-martial, for most of the officers involved. It specifically recommended that Gen. Yahya Khan, Gen. Abdul Hameed Khan, Lt. Gen. S.G.M.M. Pirzada, Lt. Gen. Mitha and some others should be publicly tried for being party to a criminal conspiracy to illegally usurp power from Field Marshal Ayub Khan on March 25, 1969, and maintain Yahya Khan in power. The report says Yahya Khan did not know much about governance. Though he announced general polls, he did not foresee the extent of anger in East Pakistan. It also laments the role of Bhutto, saying he could not gauge the damage his actions caused to the unity of Pakistan. The 1971 elections gave the Awami League a clear majority and it had every right to form a government, the commission recommends in its report, adding that in future the moral conduct of senior army officers should be considered before they are confirmed in their positions. It also called for a complete ban on alcohol and immediate dismissal of army men involved in sexual assault and corruption. It also demanded inquiry into personal assets of army officers and a probe into the serious allegations against the personal character of former generals Yahya Khan, Khuda Dad Khan and Niazi. The report names a number of women who frequented President House during Yahya Khan’s tenure and often spent nights there. It notes an aide’s complaint that the military ruler hardly spent time on official work. — IANS |
| Heavy snow cuts off New York NEW YORK, Dec 31 (Reuters) — The season’s first major storm covered the New York region with a blanket of snow turning New York City into a winter wonderland but causing headaches for drivers and travellers in the US northeast. The snow, which began early yesterday morning, left accumulations of several inches (centimetres) in the area, including eight inches (20 cm) in New York City’s Central Park by midafternoon, officials said. The storm unexpectedly spared Washington D.C., hit Philadelphia a bit less than expected and slammed New York hard before heading north, forecasters said. "It developed with a vengeance,’’ said Mike Wyllie, a spokesman for the National Weather Service in Brookhaven, N.Y. "it’s a major storm.’’ He predicted New York City would get 10 to 16 inches (25 to 41 cm) of snow and that Connecticut and western Massachusetts would get more than a foot (30 cm) before the storm worked its way north into New England later in the day. All three major New York airports — Laguardia, Newark and Kennedy — were shut down. Plows were clearing New York City streets, but driving was dangerous, warned Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Bridges were slippery , while some 150 city buses were stuck in snow. The Mayor vowed the snow would have little affect on Sunday night’s planned New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square except to provide a pretty backdrop to the world-famous event. "All it’s going to do to the New Year’s Eve celebration is make it more special,’’ Giuliani said. ‘’The snow should end by the end of the day (Saturday) so we can clean it up, and New York City will look even more beautiful.’’ While many stores were closed, stalwarts like Kessler Liquors in Manhattan were open to take advantage of the New Year’s Eve thirst for beverages. "This is my busy day,’’ said owner Julie Kessler, who said the store has never closed due to bad weather in 50 years. "They’re saying that this weather will affect sales, but you never know. People want to have liquor for New Year’s Eve, and I think they’ll be out,’’ Kessler said. The snow transformed the normally busy city streets and sidewalks into a play land, and children of all ages were skiing and sledding in the city’s parks. Leanne Wood and James White, tourists from Melbourne, Australia, were out snapping photographs of a snow-covered church on Fifth Avenue. "I’ve never seen snow falling,’’ said White."It’s spectacular.’’ In Madison Square Park, dog owners huddled together stamping their feet as they watched their pets play. "The only reason I was looking forward to this storm is seeing him play,’’ said Nicole Beder as her terrier ran in joyful circles in the fluffy snow. "He’s never seen snow like this before.’’ As the storm moved north, snow began falling in Boston yesterday and New Englanders scrambled to shop for food, water, candles and batteries. North of Boston, more than 12 inches (30 cm) of snow was expected to fall during the first major snow storm of the season but the city itself was expecting about half that.Further south, about 300,000 persons were still without power in the US Heartland, five days after a Christmas storm coated Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma in ice and snow and killed at least 44 persons. |
| Pak partyless council poll begins BHALWAL (Pakistan), Dec 31 (Reuters) — Pakistan’s military government today launched the country on a cautious return to democracy with controversial party-less local council elections. The showpiece vote began under tight military supervision in 18 remote areas — one sixth of the country’s 106 administrative districts. The officials said the turnout was normal but voters appeared doubtful about the process. “This is useless. These are trivialities,’’ said Ms Nargis, a housewife at a polling station in a village in Bhalwal district, about 160 km south of Islamabad. She said the election was meaningless without the participation of political parties which were barred by the government from presenting candidates. The parties are demanding general elections. “These elections are utterly useless. We are not ready for experiments,’’ Mr Riaz Warriach, a farmer, told Reuters at the same polling station where a large number of villagers waited to vote. Mr Warriach said the local council elections, which would be completed across the country by mid-2001, were a futile attempt to exclude the parties of former Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto from the political process. “I don’t think this experiment will be successful,’’ he said as a few other villagers nodded their heads in agreement. “Politics has revolved around (Sharif’s) Muslim League and (Bhutto’s) People’s Party,’’ the farmer added. “Whenever there are new elections for the national or provincial assemblies, only those two parties will be there. You cannot destroy them, and if you try to destroy them, it will destroy the country.’’ The government officials said the turnout was normal. Some officials said they feared many votes would be invalidated because of the complex voting procedure. Most political parties want military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf to hold early general elections and leave local council elections for the future civilian government. |
| Musharraf haunted by fear of ‘Brutus’ WITH the Jamaat-e-Islami calling on the military high command to remove the self-appointed Chief Executive Officer Gen Pervez Musharraf, for allowing former Prime Minster Nawaz Sharif and his family to leave the country, the military dictator has begun to look over his shoulder to see if there is a Brutus lurking in the wings. Whether he is among the coterie of seven Generals currently considered close to him or among the many Army, Air Force and Navy officers he has superceded while handpicking his appointees to top posts is something that will worry him from now on. News quoted JEI chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed telling a rally in Lahore that “other army generals should decide among themselves about his replacement”. Asked whether he was provoking another coup the Qazi said: “Not a coup, but a decision by the generals among themselves.” “In General Pervez Musharraf’s 14 months of power, no other event more than former Primer Minister Nawaz Sharif’s sudden release from prison on December 9 highlights that the military government’s decision-making on crucial issues rests with a small group of generals who stay away from media glare and are rarely seen in public, several informed officials have confirmed,” reports Kamran Khan in News. “The fact that the National Security Council had not discussed the military government’s decision to allow safe passage to the entire Sharif family and that the Federal cabinet discussed the issue for the first time at least three days after the Sharif clan’s departure from Pakistan provided a strong clue that civilian members of the government are not involved in decision-making on sensitive issues. “News has learned that on all important issues relating to the internal affairs of the country, Gen Musharraf routinely turns to Lt-Gen Mahmoud Ahmed, Director General, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and to Maj-Gen Mohammad Akram, Gen Mahmoud’s deputy at the ISI on internal affairs. Almost essentially Gen Musharraf also speaks to Major-Gen Ehsanullah, Director General of Military Intelligence (MI). “While Gen Mahmoud concentrates more on external affairs, Maj-Gen Akram, assisted by at least six brigadiers posted at the ISI headquarters in Islamabad and in the four capitals of the country, is Gen Mushrraf’s principal aide on matters relating to politics and internal security.” After the October 12 coup most of the above-mentioned generals, particularly Lt-Gen Mahmoud Ahmed, Lt-Gen Aziz Khan, Lt-Gen Ghulam Ahmed, Maj-Gen Ehsanullah Khan, were actively involved in the appointments to the Federal Cabinet and the National Security Council. Almost all of the present Federal cabinet ministers and members of the NSC were first interviewed and cleared by these generals before they were introduced to the Chief Executive. “Conflicting opinions have been given on the legal position of President Rafiq Tarar’s decision to grant a pardon to Mr Nawaz Sharif,” reports Dawn from Karachi. — ADNI |
| Germans rescue Sikh family BERLIN, Dec 31 (PTI) — Hounded by neo-Nazis and uprooted from their home, an Indian along with his family got a new lease of life here with the help of several German well-wishers. Fortyfour-year-old Jarnail Singh, who owned a restaurant, ‘Gandhi’, his German wife Romona and their four children are slowly getting their bearings back in the German capital after they fled for safety from the small town of Meerane in the eastern German state of Saxony in early October, a few days after being beaten up mercilessly by some extremists. The couple have four children — three sons and a daughter. An official in the German Foreign Ministry led the attempt to rehabilitate the shaken family and allowed them to stay in her private flat till they were able to get a new accommodation. Though three months have passed since the assault on Singh’s family at the restaurant premises by skin-heads, the incident continues to haunt them after they were virtually driven away by the far-right extremists. The Singh couple and their eldest son Jan were thrashed in the presence of the other three children by about a dozen of far-right extremists who demanded food free of charge after barging into his restaurant. Skin-heads hurled expletives and abuses at the terrified family. They also shouted anti-foreigner slogans and forced Singh to close down the restaurant. While the children were bullied by right extremist youths on the way to school, Singh himself was abused in the restaurant. Though Indian nationals were not specifically targetted in the xenophobic violence that jolted Germany in 2000, the Singh incident was among the four reported cases of attack on Indians living in this country. Offers of help have poured in to support the terrified Singh family in Berlin. A charity dinner was organised by the local businessmen and apartment associations offered flats while private people offered furniture and money. The family received about Rs 2 lakh in donations from various persons and institutions. Singh is now looking to lease the restaurant. He sometimes yearns to go back to his home in Punjab but says he would like to see at least two of his sons Jan and Sem finish their high schooling in Germany. Thirtyfive-year-old Ramona said the attack has left a deep impact on the minds of her children. |
| Indian American made Under Secy WASHINGTON, Dec 31 (PTI) — Outgoing President Bill Clinton has announced the recess appointment of an Indian American, Islam ‘Isi’ A Siddiqui, as Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programmes at the US department of Agriculture. Recess appointments are made when Congress does not have the time to confirm or reject a presidential nomination. Siddiqui of Davis, California, received his BS in plant protection from Pantnagar Agricultural University (UP) and completed his MS and PhD in plant pathology from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. Prior to this appointment, he had served as Executive Assistant to the US agriculture Secretary focusing on coordinating and developing USDA’s agricultural trade policy since 1999. Siddiqui also served as Deputy Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programmes dealing with sanitary and phytosanitary issues in international trade and agricultural marketing from 1997 to 1999. Before joining USDA, siddiqui worked with the California Department of Food and Agriculture for 28 years. |
| Balwant Kaur, other Indians honoured LONDON, Dec 31 (PTI) — Dr Nand Krishna Srivastava and sculptor Dhruv Mistry are among the eminent Indians who were conferred royal honours by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II on Saturday. Mistry was bestowed an Honorary Commander of the British Empire (CBE) while Srivastava was honoured with Member of the British Empire (MBE) for his services to the terminally ill. Avtar Brah, Reader, Sociology in Birkbeck College, University of London is the other recipient of the MBE for her contribution to studies on race, gender and ethnic identity issues. The MBE was conferred on Balwant Kaur Soor, chairperson of the Bebe Nanaki Charitable Trust, for her active involvement in international charity. Manikam Susheela Lourie (MBE) has been recognised for her work for racial equality in North Wales. Premlata Pathak, a medical practitioner in Cheshire, was chosen for her services in the healthcare sector. Anil Kumar Ruia, Director of Wrengate, was picked for the honour for his service to business. |
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NEW YORK, Dec 31 — The season’s first major storm covered the New York region with a blanket of snow turning New York City into a winter wonderland but causing headaches for drivers and travellers in the US northeast. 
