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| Thursday, January 4, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Shadow of war looms over peace talks Ruling reserved in ‘Kanishka’ case Estrada won’t reply to prosecution queries Asian American Democrat named US Transport Secy China grudgingly accepts Taiwan links |
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| Singapore mosques go hi-tech Weapon inspection talks to be delayed Russia to free 3,50,000 prisoners Syrian President marries Nepal strike ends, 230 detained
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| Shadow of war looms over peace talks JERUSALEM, Jan 3 (Reuters) — An Israeli-Palestinian framework peace deal looked as distant as ever today after inconclusive talks in Washington between outgoing US President Bill Clinton and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. As Arafat prepared to return empty handed, one of his cabinet ministers told Israel it had to choose between peace and war. Israeli-Palestinian gunbattles raged overnight in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and violence erupted today along the Israel-Lebanon frontier. After three hours of talks yesterday, a White House spokesman said Arafat had promised Clinton he would try to end the bloodshed in which at least 355 people, mainly palestinians, have been killed. But there was no reported breakthrough on sticking points such as sovereignty over the Jerusalem shrine or the return of Palestinian refugees to their homeland. Clinton’s hopes of crowning his eight-year presidency by brokering a framework final peace deal before he leaves office on January 20 appeared remote. “The ball is now in the American and Israeli court,” Palestinian Cabinet Minister Hassan Asfour told newsmen. “Israel now has to decide whether it wants peace based on international laws, which give the Palestinians their minimum rights, or wants to pursue its aggression and war against the Palestinian people,” Mr Asfour said. Mr Arafat was due to fly to Egypt to attend a meeting of Arab League Foreign Ministers on Thursday to discuss the crisis. Meanwhile, several mortar bombs fired from Lebanon landed near an Israeli army frontier post in the disputed Shebaa Farms area today, causing no casualties or damage, Israeli security sources said. Israeli forces returned artillery fire in the first such incident in the area in weeks, the sources added. It was not immediately clear who fired the mortar bombs. Lebanese Hizbullah guerrillas are still fighting to oust Israeli troops from Shebaa Farms, at the foot of the Golan Heights which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 war. The United Nations, however, has declared the withdrawal complete and said the fate of Shebaa Farms would be a matter of future discussion between Syria and Israel over the Golan. Initial Israeli reaction to news that Arafat had promised another effort to curb violence was cautious. “The question is the degree of seriousness and to what extent (the Palestinians) intend to approach the task with clean hands,” Cabinet Minister Amnon Lipkin Shahak told Army Radio. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said before the Clinton-Arafat talks he did not expect a peace deal before President-elect George W. Bush takes office. The White House said Mr Clinton would decide his next step after talking by telephone to Barak and Arafat, later. Cairo, (AFP) Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will meet Arab Foreign Ministers in Cairo tomorrow to discuss President Clinton’s proposals for peace with Israel following his meeting with the US President. The Arab League’s Assistant Secretary General Ahmed Ben Helli, said Arafat was to meet the ministers here early tomorrow after he held talks with Clinton at the White House today without achieving apparent breakthrough. Ministers from Egypt, Jordan, the Palestinian territories Lebanon, Syria, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Tunisia form a committee set up at a summit in October to support the Palestinians in their current uprising against Israel. |
| Ruling reserved in ‘Kanishka’ case VANCOUVER, Jan 3 (Reuters) — A judge has reserved his ruling on a bail request for the two men charged with the 1985 bombing of Air India jet Kaniska that killed 329 persons. Mr Justice Patrick Dohm of the British Columbia Supreme Court will review evidence from four and a half days of hearings on the request by Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri to be released, pending what is expected to be a long trial. There was no indication on when Mr Justice Dohm would give his ruling. Bagri, 51, and Malik, 53, have been in jail since their arrest on October 27 for their alleged involvement in the bombing that destroyed India-bound Flight 182 over the Atlantic and a related bombing hours earlier at Tokyo’s Narita Airport. Bagri is also charged with the attempted murder in 1988 of the former publisher of the Indo-Canadian Times newspaper, Tara Singh Hayer, who is believed to have uncovered key evidence about the bombing plot. A court-ordered publication ban prohibited the media from reporting details of evidence and arguments at the bail hearing, although the public was allowed to attend. The court was crowded yesterday — many people in attendance were supporters of Malik and Bagri. The ban is also expected to bar the media from reporting the reasons given Mr Justice Dohm when he makes his ruling. Canada is leading the criminal probe because Flight 182 originated in Canada and the bombs were believed to have been built in the Vancouver area, which has the largest Sikh community outside of India. Hayer’s son David Hayer, who now publishes his father’s newspaper, said he remained confident that the police had collected the evidence needed to convict those responsible for the bombings and the 1988 attempt on his father’s life. “Without saying too much about what was discussed at the hearings, all victims’ families are relieved that this is going through the courts,’’ Mr Hayer said. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said when Malik and Bagri were arrested that they expected more persons to be charged, but that has not yet happened. The police has said over the years that at least five persons were directly involved in the bombing plot. All are suspected to be from Canada, but one is now dead and another has apparently fled to Pakistan, India or the UK. |
| Estrada won’t reply to prosecution queries MANILA, Jan 3 (Reuters) —Philippine President Joseph Estrada refused today to answer prosecution questions about his links with a top banker allegedly involved in an attempt to cover up his alleged multi-million-dollar secret bank account. Lawyers of Estrada in his Senate impeachment trial on corruption and bribery charges said prosecutors could not compel the former movie actor to make statements “which may be used to convict him.’’ The prosecution had asked Estrada in writing to answer a series of questions dealing with payoffs he allegedly took from illegal gambling syndicates and with bank accounts opened by a supposed presidential friend. In a written answer submitted to the court today, Estrada’s defence panel invoked the right of a person under investigation to remain silent so as not to incriminate himself. “If an ordinary suspect say an alleged pickpocket, who is undergoing a mere custodial investigation in a police precinct has the right to remain silent, how much more can it be so for the President of the Philippines undergoing an impeachment trial, which may result not only in his removal from office but subsequent prosecution in a criminal court,’’ the defence lawyers said. They said any accused had “the right to refuse to answer any questions which might have a tendency to incriminate him for a crime.’’ Estrada, who is charged with bribery and corruption, has said he is innocent and is confident he will be acquitted in his trial. He said he is willing to personally testify in court but a final decision will be up to his lawyers. In its request for answers from Estrada, the prosecution listed dozens of questions including if he knew George Go, who resigned last month as chairman of (Equitable-PCI Bank. The bank’s Vice-President Clarissa Ocampo dropped a bombshell on Tuesday when she testified to supposed attempts to cover up a secret account reportedly held by the president in a false name). Today, Mrs Ocampo said attempts were made to assign the account to Jaime Dichaves, a businessman-friend of Estrada, and that it was Mr Go who ordered her to prepare the substitute documents which Mr Dichaves later signed. Mrs Ocampo said the transfer of the 500 million peso investment account was not completed because a letter of authority from Estrada, allegedly using the name Jose Velarde for the account, was not given to her. The prosecution has said the existence of the account would prove charges of corruption against Estrada. Earlier, Provincial Governor Luis Singson, a former drinking and gambling buddy of Estrada, has accused the President of collecting more than $ 8 million in illegal gambling payoffs and pocketing $ 2.6 million in tobacco tax kickbacks. The expose in October 2000 formed a substantial basis for Estrada’s impeachment by the House of Representatives for charges of bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust and violations of the constitution. |
| Asian American Democrat named US Transport Secy WASHINGTON, Jan 3 (PTI) — The us president-Elect, Mr George w. bush, has completed his 14-member Cabinet by naming three more persons to the key posts, including a Japanese-American Democrat Norman Mineta as his Transportation Secretary. Mr Bush has named Latin-American Linda Chavez, who served as Director of the Civil Rights Commission under President Ronald Reagan, as Secretary of Labour and outgoing Michigan Senator Spencer Abraham as Energy Secretary. By appointing Mineta, he has carried out his promise to reach out to Democrats. “This is an administration that recognises talent when we see it regardless of political party,” Mr Bush told reporters here yesterday. Mineta, who is serving as Mr Clinton’s Commerce Secretary, said, “Now that the election is over, it is time to move from campaigning to governance. The challenge before all of us as Americans regardless of party affiliation is to find where we can build bipartisan consensus.” Mr Bush called his team of nominees “one of the strongest that I think any President has ever been able to assemble.” Ms Chavez said that as Secretary of Labour, she would “keep faith on men and women who still work in jobs like those her working class parents held.” She also called for vigorously enforcing regulations against discrimination. |
| China grudgingly accepts Taiwan links BEIJING, Jan 3 (Reuters) — Chinese state media gave sparse coverage today to the first legal voyage by Taiwanese ships to the Chinese mainland in 51 years, but one newspaper said Beijing would support the new transport links. Taiwan permitted three vessels from its frontline islands of Quemoy and Matsu to sail directly to the Chinese mainland yesterday, marking a small but symbolic step towards establishing full trade, transport and postal links between the rivals. China has avoided expressing enthusiasm for the limited links, trying instead to achieve much broader transport links it hopes will help lead to Taiwan reunifying with China. The People’s Daily, the flagship newspaper of the ruling Communist Party, published two brief articles about the voyages on the back page which said passengers from Matsu and Quemoy were greeted warmly after making direct voyages to Fujian province. Similar articles appeared in other newspapers. All failed to mention it was the first such trip permitted by the Taiwan government. |
| Singapore mosques go hi-tech SINGAPORE, Jan 3 (Reuters) — Every Friday, tens of thousands of Muslim men crowd into Singapore’s 70 mosques to hear an identical sermon that had been distributed over the Internet earlier in the week. The unorthodox way the sermon is delivered reflects how the city state’s central Islamic body has adapted to technology and a new style of mosque management. “We’re moving in tandem with what the community wants. They’re more vocal, more educated, more demanding. They want better services — fast,” Mr Zakaria Buang, a spokesman for the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS), said. “If we don’t do something about it, we will be irrelevant.” The MUIS, the state body responsible for Muslim affairs and mosques in Singapore, stands at the helm of a 372,000-strong Muslim community made up of mainly ethnic Malays representing about 15 per cent of the population. While there is no government requirement for Singapore mosques to preach identical sermons, the MUIS is tasked with crafting the weekly message. Created in 1968 as a government statutory body, the MUIS computerised its operations in 1996. E-mail became the channel of choice as more mosques installed computers and hooked up to the MUIS wide area network. It is now working on setting up local computer networks within each mosque. The Friday sermon is also available on the MUIS website at http://www.muis.gov.sg. Since 1996, the organisation has spent about 2 million Singapore dollars (1.16 million US dollars) a year on computerisation — a figure that accounted for almost a third of its budget in 1999. |
| Weapon inspection talks to be delayed UNITED NATIONS, Jan 3 (PTI) — The talks between the United Nations and Iraq to end the impasse over weapons inspections are likely to be delayed till at least early February, a UN spokesman said. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is expected to participate in the talks to break the stalemate, had earlier said he expected the discussion to be held between January 8 and January 14 before he leaves for his trip to Asia and Europe on January 15. But his spokesman said no reply about the agenda had so far been received from Iraq which makes the talks “uncertain”. The discussions were follow up of the talks Mr Annan had with the Vice-Chairman of Iraq’s Revolutionary Council, Mr Issat Ibrahim during the Islamic summit in Qatar in November. |
| Russia to free 3,50,000 prisoners MOSCOW, Jan 3 (Reuters) — Russia is preparing to release around a third of its prisoners in 2001 under an amnesty Bill aimed at improving conditions in jails, Interfax news agency quoted the Justice Minister as saying. Russia has one of the biggest prison populations in the world at more than one million inmates. International human rights campaigners have condemned the squalid, disease-ridden conditions in which most prisoners live. Justice Minister Yuri Chaika said if the amnesty Bill was passed by parliament, up to 350,000 people could be set free. Mr Chaika said the Bill had been submitted to the state Duma, the lower House of parliament, last year and had passed its first two readings. He said he expected it to be adopted sometime in the first half of 2001. Russia traditionally announces amnesties on major national holidays. The government also views amnesties as a way to free space in the overcrowded prisons. |
| Syrian President marries DUBAI, Jan 3 (UNI) Syrian President Bashar Al Assad, one of the most eligible bachelors in the Arab world, has finally tied the nuptial knot. Kuna quoted the Syrian official daily Tishreen as saying that the 35-year-old President has married Asmaa Alakhras, a British-born Syrian computer science graduate. The newspaper said Dr Al Assad’s marriage took place in Damascus but did not mention when. It also did not give the age of the bride. |
| Nepal strike ends, 230 detained KATHMANDU, Jan 3 (Reuters) — Authorities in Nepal said today they had detained 230 persons as a general strike triggered by an Indian star’s alleged slur against the Himalayan kingdom ended. The protesters had been taken into “preventive custody” to avert trouble and would be freed later on Tuesday, they said. The situation was quiet, they added. Nepal was paralysed for two days by the strike which had been called to protest against the police killing of five demonstrators during violent street protests. The protests were sparked by local media reports that Indian film star Hrithik Roshan had said he did not like Nepal or its people. The star has denied making such comments. Transport was halted and businesses and schools were shut by the strike called by nine leftist Opposition parties. Last week, Nepal was hit by a similar strike. |
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