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| Friday,
January 12, 2001, Chandigarh, India    |
‘Kanishka’
blast suspects refused bail Winds of
change sweep Germany Bosnia’s
‘Iron Lady’ gives up to war crime body |
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USA
hopeful of Indo-Pak talks India, Pak
to discuss Samjhauta pact Musharraf
set deadline on sharia Killer
virus created by accident |
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5 killed
in Indonesia clashes
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‘Kanishka’ blast suspects refused bail VANCOUVER, Jan 11 (Reuters) — A Canadian judge has refused to grant bail to two Sikhs charged with the 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182, which killed 329 persons in a deadly act of civil aviation sabotage. Mr Justice Patrick Dohm of the British Columbia Supreme Court yesterday ordered Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri to remain in custody pending trial. Mr Justice Dohm said Bagri and Malik were presumed innocent until proven guilty, but warned that given the nature of the charges, the public would lose confidence in the judicial system if they were released from custody. Bagri and Malik are accused of the bomb that destroyed the ‘Kanishka’ jetliner 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. “It is difficult to think of a more planned and deliberate act. The gravity of the offence in this case is beyond any question. The circumstances surrounding the murders are unspeakable,” he wrote in his ruling. Mr Justice Dohm said in his 17-page ruling that Bagri and Malik posed “only a slight risk of flight,” despite prosecution contentions that the men were likely to avoid trial by fleeing to Pakistan. Bagri came to Canada from Punjab in 1968. Malik moved to Canada in 1972. Both are Canadian citizens. A publication ban prohibits the media from publishing evidence presented during the bail hearing, but Mr Justice Dohm said in his ruling that Bagri was a member and Malik was “at least sympathetic to” the Babbar Khalsa. The Babbar Khalsa has been linked by western intelligence agencies to violent attacks on India in the fight for an independent Sikh homeland in Punjab. Mr Justice Dohm said that while the defence argued that the case against Bagri and Malik was weak, he was not in a position to make that judgment in a bail proceeding. He expressed concern over attorneys’ statements that the trial itself might not begin until the fall of 2002, and said he would have monthly meetings to monitor the progress of the case and avoid unnecessary delays. The police had predicted when Malik and Bagri were arrested that others would be charged in the case, but that has not yet happened. At least five persons are believed to have been directly involved in the bombings. 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. |
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Winds of change sweep Germany IT was snow all over when I landed at Berlin’s Tegal Airport from Mumbai via Milan by an Alitalia flight. The scene that unfolded was a feast for the eyes — with snow-clad mountains, frozen ponds, canals and silvery clouds. I could not rest despite spending a tiresome, sleepless night. It was the last evening of the year 2000 and I was excitedly looking forward to celebrate the New Year’s eve in downtown Berlin — the two-year-old capital city of united Germany, which had itself shed its ultra-nationalist clothes of the 20th century and become a humble part of the European Union, the most powerful regional, political and commercial organisation of the post-cold war world. Lars
Barthel, the well-known German film cameraman and my son-in-law, received me with warmth and took me to his home in downtown Kurfersten
Strasse. Passing through those cold and barren streets at 5 p.m. — illuminated with coloured lights — it seemed to me to be some ghost town. Lars explained that it was due to the pre-festivity rest of the people. Berlin was not new to me in a way. The first time I visited Germany was in 1968 as a correspondent of the CPI’s New Age weekly. I was taken around East Germany’s town and cities —
Halle, Leipzig, Rostock and some rural areas too. The then Brezhnev-led Soviet Union had invaded Czechoslovakia right at that time, and the CPI had not yet passed its infamous resolution supporting the invasion. But some members like me had expressed strong resentment within the party over the invasion. Incidentally, I had expressed my reservations against such an attack by a socialist country on another country to the GDR party’s politburo member Zimmermann during a dinner discussion. He was taken aback by my open criticism, and insisted that power was the primary element in making such decisions. I argued that people’s wishes should be the primary concern, and not power. Later, when I desired to cross the Berlin Wall as an Indian citizen and see the western part as well, they did not respond to my request. I understood. I must, however, admit they showed warm hospitality wherever they took me around for a whole month. I paid visits to my daughter as her guest in East Berlin in 1981, 1983 and 1984. Later, she moved to West Berlin as a film-maker with her eastern husband, defying the ideology of the GDR bosses. She began to hate their regime and their rigid sectarian standards. I too left the movement in 1976. Once again I visited Berlin in 1989 after the wall was pulled down by the people. I witnessed the turmoil in both parts of Germany. It was after a decade that I was visiting Berlin now for participating in a documentary film made by Lars for a Germany TV channel on the life and work of my late daughter Chetna. What I saw this time was radically different from anything I saw before. Neelesha and Lars took me to a place called Kurvenstar (corner or curve star) Club that night before the fireworks began. We had a glass of Havana Club rum imported from Cuba, an extremely popular drink these days in this country of beer drinkers. Lars also told me that the reports of skinheaded neo-Nazi youth gangs spreading racist terror in Germany were exaggerated. “You may have to look for them with a candle in your hand,” he said. People here no more love their past or believe in anything smacking of fanaticism. Even a huge caravan of trucks, vans and jeeps organised by the old daughter of the famous playwright, late Bertolt
Brecht, did not attract much enthusiasm, as it was decorated with satiric slogans and statements on the dark part of German history. Some of these vans carried busts of Hitler and Kaiser’s war bird symbol and a giant bell. They wanted to make the new generation aware of the dark historical legacy and beware of it. But it seemed not many really cared for such a show of “propaganda”. Perhaps they wanted to forget the past. We walked through the once eastern central street — Unter den Linden — leading to the historic Brandendurger Gate where people expected a huge fireworks display. This street too has changed. It has become a show-piece of the new united nation. We joined at least half a million Germans on the street to usher in the new year, as the festivities began amidst poisonous clouds of sulphur dioxide released by thousands of China-made musical rockets and fire crackers ignited by the people themselves. My impression about the Germans of being very much environment-conscious was washed out for a few minutes. It was impossible to reach the gate due to clouds and heavy rush of cheering people. Finally, the new year dawned — global warming or not, much like our own Divali! Gone forever is the time of war, violent differences, conflicts and racist dispositions. People are more worried about the problems of protecting their unemployment relief, welfare schemes, high-tech future and
achieving a high standard of living. — IPA |
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Bosnia’s ‘Iron Lady’ gives up to war crime body BILJANA Plavsic, once known as the “Iron Lady” of the Bosnian Serb republic, turned herself over to the war crimes tribunal in the Hague yesterday (Wednesday) and will answer charges of genocide and crimes against humanity for her role in the Bosnian war. One of the most fervent advocates of ethnic cleansing, she was briefly courted by western governments in the mid-1990s when she broke with her colleagues, Radovan Karadzic and Gen Ratko Mladic. She became the first woman publicly indicted by the tribunal and the second key figure from the former Bosnian Serb leadership to come to the Hague. Her surrender is a major coup for prosecutors as they close the net on more powerful figures up the Bosnian Serb chain of command. During the 1992-95 Bosnian war Plavsic was deputy to Bosnian Serb leader, Karadzic. She took over from him when he was forced from office in 1996. The 70-year-old former biology professor learned she was wanted and began negotiations with United Nations prosecutors a month ago. Her indictment was approved by the court last April, but was kept secret until yesterday. Plavsic, who often spoke in more virulently nationalistic terms than her colleagues, faces charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, violations of the laws and customs of war and grave breaches of the Geneva Convention in Bosnia between 1991 and 1992. The chief prosecutor stressed that her office had not agreed any compromise as part of Plavsic’s surrender. Prosecutors say plea-bargaining, such as offering immunity from prosecution in exchange for testimony, is not an option open to them. “Mrs Plavsic was faced with the indictment, but the decision to surrender was her own. She is aware that this is the only place she can legally prove her innocence or her guilt and that’s something she deeply believes in,” he said. But she was one of Karadzic’s staunchest wartime supporters and defended the siege of Sarajevo as “the defence of Serb homes”. She publicly snubbed the Yugoslav strongman, Slobodan Milosevic, when he introduced sanctions in 1994 to press the Bosnian Serbs into making peace. She strongly opposed the 1995 Dayton peace treaty that ended the Bosnian war. She replaced Karadzic as president when he bowed to western pressure in 1996 and quit public life. However, by 1997, she had broken ranks with hardline nationalists and started an anti-corruption drive, winning some western support and perhaps hoping that she would escape indictment. Mr Karadzic and Mladic are still at large, though there is speculation in Sarajevo and Belgrade that the Clinton administration, in its last days, might press for their arrest — The Guardian, London |
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THE HAGUE, Jan 11 (Reuters) — Former Bosnian Serb President Biljana Plavsic pleaded "not guilty" to war crimes including genocide at the United Nations tribunal on Thursday. Plavsic, the first woman publicly indicted by the tribunal and the second key figure from the former Bosnian Serb leadership to come voluntarily to The Hague, faces nine counts of war crimes. "I have received the indictment yesterday. I have understood it fully and I plead not guilty to all counts on that indictment," the silver-haired biology professor said in her first appearance before the court. Dressed in a lavender suit and sweater and flanked by two female guards, the 70-year-old Plavsic then answered "not guilty" to each count as Judge Richard May read them out. The indictment says Plavsic, together with other members of the Serbian Democratic Party, served on the war presidency of the Bosnian Serb republic and from July 1991 to December 1992 planned or ordered the ethnic cleansing of Bosnian Muslims and Croats. The indictment details a huge catalogue of events in which non-Serbs were executed, tortured and detained in inhuman conditions as the brutal purge gathered pace. "Having knowledge of such crimes, Plavsic instead condoned and publicly congratulated the forces that had taken part," the indictment says. Prosecutors plan to try Plavsic alongside wartime Bosnian Serb parliament speaker Momcilo Krajisnik, arrested last April and to date the leading figure held by the tribunal. |
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WASHINGTON, Jan 11 (UNI) — The USA today said it had no hand in the ongoing peace efforts in the Kashmir valley saying that the process unfolding there "is homegrown and coming from within the region." It, however, expressed confidence that the positive steps being taken by parties concerned during the past few months would lead to a direct dialogue between India and Pakistan on fundamental issues. Addressing a news conference here, Mr Karl Inderfurth, Assistant Secretary dealing with South Asian affairs, said he believed that the proposed dialogue between Kashmiri groups on both sides of the border and India would be positive and productive and could pave the way for resumption of direct talks between India and Pakistan. Rejecting reports that the USA was actively involved in the track two diplomacy leading to ceasefire in the valley and withdrawal of troops by Pakistan along the Line of Control, Mr Inderfurth said his government had been expressing support for actions and statements made by leaders of both countries leading to reduction in tension. "I am leaving on a hopeful note that things have improved in the region," he said and expressed confidence that the Bush administration would continue to extend support to the steps taken by both countries to address fundamental issues. The South Asia bureau of the State Department will have a fresh set up after the Bush administration takes over on January 20. Mr Thomas Pickering, Under Secretary and a career diplomat, has already retired from service while Deputy Secretary Strobe Talbott and Assistant Secretary Karl Inderfurth, political appointees of the Democratic Party regime, are in the process of quitting. Speculations are rife that a Pakistani American, Shirin Kalili, is likely to take over as the Assistant Secretary though expectations are that it would take at least a month for a decision to be taken. The Lashkar-e-Toiba issue was still very much under review of the State Department, he said. It had also been decided that the Bush administration should decide on the extradition treaty with Bangladesh on a priority basis. Mr Inderfurth described the slow pace of normalisation of relations between India and Pakistan as one of his major disappointments of his tenure, despite the promising summits between then Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral and deposed Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif in Maldives and in Lahore.
India, Pak to discuss
Samjhauta pact ISLAMABAD, Jan 11 (UNI) — Indian and Pakistani officials will meet in New Delhi on January 16 to discuss the revival of the Samjhauta Express agreement. The meeting, besides discussing other relevant issues about the running of the express trains, will also consider a hike in the fares of the train. The recovery of dues will also be discussed at the meeting. |
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Musharraf set deadline on sharia ISLAMABAD, Jan 11 — An Islamic group warned military ruler, Gen Pervez Musharraf, to impose Islamic sharia law in Pakistan by March 7 or it would set up its own Islamic government. Tanzeem-ul-Akhwan leader, Maulana
Karam Aswan, told a gathering of Muslim clerics today the government was cooperating with it since the group had put off its plans last month to storm Islamabad to press its demand for enforcing sharia law. “But if by March 7 the government has not made up its mind on the full imposition of sharia, we would announce an Islamic government,” he said. Tanzeem-ul-Akhwan is one of the more radical Muslim groups in Pakistan and is based in the northern Punjab province. It is far less powerful than the main Islamic Jamaat-i-Islami party but says its followers are in the hundreds of thousands, among them retired army officers. “If the government tries to dodge us, we will establish an Islamic government of Pakistan, whether it is in a village, a seminary or a 10 mile (16 km) area. It will have its own Islamic laws and its own forces,” he said. Aswan
threatened last month to march with thousands of his followers to the capital Islamabad and force the government to announce sharia law. He said he postponed the march and gave a new deadline of March 7 after getting assurances from the government it would fully cooperate in enforcing Islamic law. Allama Zahidur Rashidi, another Islamic cleric from the Punjab town of Faisalabad, said the government must make up its mind whether it wanted Pakistan to be a member of the “new world order” visualised by the West or a total Islamic state. A meeting of Pakistani Islamic groups held yesterday in the northwestern town of Akora Khattak voiced opposition to the sanctions and urged all Muslim countries to support the Taleban. Rashidi said Pakistan had openly criticised the curbs against the Taleban so it should not hesitate to defy them. “I ask Musharraf to make up his mind,” he added. |
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Killer virus created by accident AUSTRALIAN scientists who made a killer virus by accident have raised the
specter of biological weapons in the hands of terrorists or rogue states. The virus kills mice, not humans. The researchers were actually working on a mouse contraceptive vaccine for pest control, according to New Scientist today (Thursday). But they started with a mousepox virus that normally made laboratory mice feel mildly ill. They inserted an extra gene, and ended up with a virus that wiped out all animals in nine days. The news comes after years of increasing alarm about the potential of microbes — including modified forms of anthrax and smallpox — as weapons of war or terrorism. The USA last year set aside $ 1.4bn for protection against chemical or biological attacks. Ron Jackson of CSIRO, the Australian research organisation, and Ian Ramshaw of the Australian National University in Canberra, chose the mousepox virus only because it was a standard way of transporting proteins into an animal to trigger antibodies. They inserted a gene from a natural molecule called interleukin-4 (Il-4) into the virus because this would boost antibody production. The result astonished them: the Il-4 killed the mice by shutting down a vital part of their immune system. It also made the engineered virus unnaturally resistant to normal vaccines. “It would be safe to assume that if some idiot did put human Il-4 into human smallpox, they'd increase the lethality quite dramatically,” Dr Jackson said. Smallpox was systematically eradicated worldwide during the 1970s. But there have been no vaccinations for decades, and one of the scientists who conducted the eradication warned in 1999 that a genetically-engineered version of the virus, in terrorist hands, would have a catastrophic effect on population. The speed of modern communications would spread the infection all over the world in days. Biological weapon research accelerated during the 20th century. There are treaties against the use of such weapons but a number of governments are known to have developed them. Britain and the USA have backed research into protection against biological weapons, which inevitably involves handling potentially lethal microbes. Campaigners have repeatedly warned that such knowledge is easily available to terrorist groups.
— The Guardian, London |
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5 killed in indonesia
clashes jakarta, jan 11 (Reuters)— five persons have been killed in
Indonesia’s restive aceh province in clashes that bode ill for a ceasefire extension agreed between the government and rebels. The official
Antara news agency said today that two soldiers, two rebels and one suspected separatist were killed in several incidents across
Aceh yesterday, the same day the unexpected one-month truce extension was announced. Government representatives and rebels of the free
Aceh movement (gam), who had held two days of talks near
Geneva, also agreed to meet in February to try to find a political solution to decades of violence in which thousands of people have died. The current six-month ceasefire expires on
January 15, but has been virtually ignored by both sides since it took effect, reinforcing widespread despair among
Aceh’s four million people. Antara said two soldiers died and four were wounded when suspected rebels attacked troops with grenades and mortars in eastern
Aceh. In northern Aceh, the police killed two rebels in a raid on a gam
stronghold. One suspected rebel was also shot near the provincial capital banda
Aceh, 1,700 km north-west of
Jakarta. 50 die in train crash BRAZZAVILLE, Jan 11 (Reuters) — Around 50 persons were killed when two trains collided in the Congo Republic on the recently reopened rail line between here and the port of Pointe-Noire, state radio reported today. The accident, in which about 100 persons were also injured, happened yesterday at
Myougounti, 75 km east of Pointe-Noire. Both were freight trains but were carrying
passengers. |
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