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| Monday,
January 15, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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No breakthrough
in Peres-Arafat talks Falun Gong slams China on
rights |
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Sinha in Russia to discuss trade Ashcroft linked to ‘guns for pupil’
Ex-Secy deposes against Estrada,
leaves Taliban militia kill
25 Laden toppled my govt: Benazir Jerry Hall finds
new man
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El Salvador quake kills
234
SAN SALVADOR, Jan 14 (AFP, Reuters) — More than 234 persons were confirmed dead and hundreds more missing in El Salvador and Guatemala today, the day after an earthquake of 7.6 magnitude rocked Central America and southern Mexico, officials said. Rescue workers and members of the public toiled through the night
searching for survivors in the worst-hit areas of El Salvador, often
in darkness where the quake yesterday had cut power lines. The authorities said the death toll was likely to rise further,
with 1,200 people missing in a neighborhood near the capital,
according to Red Cross figures. The strength of the quake, which happened at midday yesterday, was
estimated at between 7.4 and 7.9 on the Richter scale. Salvadoran President Francisco Flores declared a nationwide state
of emergency and his government issued an urgent appeal for international
aid. In El Salvador, the Red Cross said that about 1,200 people were
missing in the residential neighborhood of Las Colinas, 12 km west of
here, where a massive landslide triggered by the quake left 330 homes
in ruins. In the low-income northern neighborhoods of the capital San Salvador
itself, thousands of people opted to sleep in parks and squares rather
than remain inside their houses, which are often built in a flimsy
manner. "There have been serious and painful human losses and a lot of
material damage," Flores said in a message to the nation
broadcast on radio and television after he had traveled to some of the
affected areas. Flores appealed for calm, and reassured the public that police had
been deployed in some of the worst-hit areas to prevent looting. They
were also called upon to help soldiers with rescue efforts. Early today, the first foreign team arrived — a group of Mexican
rescue workers flown into a military base to the east of San Salvador.
Later a group of firefighters sent by Guatemala arrived by road from
El Salvador's northern neighbour. El Salvador's Interior Minister Mario Acosta said the Mexicans
would join the rescue effort at Las Colinas immediately. |
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No breakthrough
in Peres-Arafat talks JERUSALEM, Jan 14 (Reuters) — Plagued by polls, politics and Shimon Peres, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak suffered another setback to his re-election hopes on Sunday with the resignation of a Cabinet Minister over the government’s peace moves. “I decided to submit my resignation and not to be a partner to a decision in which we cede sovereignty over the Temple Mount,” Health Minister Roni Milo, of the Centre Party told Israel Radio with 23 days to go before a February 6 prime ministerial election. A leading Barak campaigner said the Prime Minister was narrowing the lead of Israel’s leading hawk Ariel Sharon (72) in opinion polls, but was still plagued by a split in the peace camp on whether to back Barak or his dovish rival Peres (77). The polls show Sharon trouncing Barak. But they also depict Peres, Barak’s predecessor, as Labour Party chief, as having a chance at defeating Sharon were Barak to step aside for him — as he legally can, up to four days before the vote. Mr Peres has said repeatedly he backs Barak, but has made no secret of the fact that he would like the top job again, and even on Saturday stopped short of telling supporters to drop their campaign on his behalf. Mr Milo said he believed that in talks with the Palestinians, Israel must insist on sovereignty over Judaism’s holiest site — Temple Mount — revered by Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif. Barak has said Israel will not hand the site over to Palestinian sovereignty. “I am for the peace process but I am against any concession on the Temple Mount, our sovereignty there. I believe these are our historic roots here,” said Milo (51) who was popular as Mayor of Tel Aviv from 1993 to 1998. Milo did not disclose his plans but Israel Radio’s political correspondent Yaron Dekel forecast he would switch allegiance to Sharon, head of the rightist Likud Party where he began his political career. His departure dealt a blow to Barak’s hopes of winning over the centrist swing voters who decide elections. Newspaper opinion polls published on Friday gave Sharon a double-digit lead over Barak. A Barak campaign activist, lawmaker Elie Goldschmidt, said that he had managed to narrow the gap to 12 percentage points from 23 and would be neck-and-neck with Sharon if fence-sitting leftists knew Peres would not be a candidate. GAZA:
Israeli and Palestinian officials said last evening that peace talks in
GAZA had produced no breakthrough but the two sides agreed to continue negotiations. “we had in-depth discussions and very serious talks on all issues,” senior
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Reuters. “there were no results. The differences and obstacles are still there,” he said. “it was agreed to have more meetings at the level of negotiators and it will be decided today when these talks will take place,” he added. |
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Falun Gong slams China on rights HONG KONG, Jan 14 (Reuters) — Members of the Falun Gong Spiritual movement slammed China’s top leader at a conference in Hong Kong today for what they said was a campaign of evil persecution against their group. About 1,000 Falun Gong supporters from around the world attended the all-day gathering in City Hall, which is owned by the Hong Kong government. They met on Chinese soil in defiance of mainland leaders who have outlawed the movement. The Falun Gong is legal in Hong Kong, which has retained a high degree of autonomy since the former British colony reverted to Chinese rule in mid-1997. The Falun Gong believers accused Chinese President Jiang Zemin of having “undeniable responsibility” for what they said was the evil and brutal persecution of the movement in mainland China. Practitioners say China has tortured 120 followers to death while in custody. Chinese authorities have acknowledged several deaths in custody but say most were suicides or the result of illness. The Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, preaches a mixture of Taoism, Buddhism and traditional Chinese physical exercises. Beijing labels it as an “evil cult” and a tool of China’s foreign enemies aiming to topple the Communist government. But Falun Gong members insist they have no political agenda. Today’s meeting was part of a two-day gathering which started yesterday, when some 900 adherents performed a mass exercise routine and staged a march to condemn Beijing’s ban. Xinhua said four persons had killed themselves while 13 had died after refusing medical treatment because of their belief in the Falun Gong. The Hong Kong-based human rights group, the Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy, said Hong Kong immigration officials had barred the entry of 12 overseas Chinese adherents who wanted to attend the weekend events. Seven were from Japan, three from Australia and two from the United States of America. Most were detained on Friday. An Australian resident and a U.S. resident were put on flights home on Saturday morning, the centre said. AP adds: The Falun Gong meditation sect, outlawed in mainland China and subjected to an often-violent crackdown there, held a global conference here today with followers lashing out at Beijing’s suppression and demanding the right to practice freely. “There’s no human rights in China because you cannot even say a word about Falun Gong in Tiananmen Square,” practitioner Fiona China said as the group spread its message in one part of the nation where speech remains free — right inside Hong Kong City Hall. Falun Gong said the presence of 700 overseas followers from 23 countries shows that the movement born in mainland China has become a worldwide phenomenon with many millions of supporters.
MOSCOW, Jan 14 (PTI) — The Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, arrived here today on a two-day visit to discuss crucial Indo-Russian trade issues and plans to boost bilateral economic interaction. Mr Sinha told the Ria-Novosti agency that India and Russia were on the threshold of “radical historic changes” in their trade and economic ties and hoped to resolve pending issues, like cooperation in the banking sector, during talks with Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and Vice-Premier Iliya Klebanov. Mr Klebanov and Mr Sinha will co-chair the seventh session of the Indo-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission (IRIGC) on trade, economic, scientific, technological and cultural cooperation tomorrow comprising 12 working groups and 11 sub-groups representing different fields, including civil aviation and coal mining. He is leading a 20-member delegation, including Foreign Secretary Lalit
Man Singh and Commerce Secretary Prabir Sengupta as the current session of the IRIGC is expected to do spadework for the Indo-Russian summit next summer when Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is expected to visit Moscow. At tomorrow’s session, leaders of the Indo-Russian working group, which has been holding meetings last week in Moscow, will report to the co-chairmen on the progress and problems in their respective fields. |
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Ashcroft linked to ‘guns for pupil’ GEORGE W. Bush’s nominee to be the next US Attorney-General has been linked to an extremist pro-gun lobbying group which believes that the answer to America’s school shootings is to allow pupils to be armed in the classroom. The revelation that former Senator John Ashcroft has recent links with the militant Gun Owners of America (GOA) group is the latest twist in an increasingly impassioned partisan battle over a nomination which has become a major trial of political strength for Mr Bush. Even many conservatives consider the GOA to be extremist. After a shooting at an Oregon school in May, 1998, in which two pupils were killed by a fellow student, it issued a press release headed: “Lesson of school shootings: more guns needed at schools”. Its director, Larry Pratt, was forced to resign as co-chairman of Pat Buchanan’s 1996 presidential bid after news leaked of his links with the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nations and rightwing militia groups. Mr Pratt is also head of an anti-immigrant organisation called English First. It emerged yesterday that Mr Ashcroft wrote a friendly handwritten letter in March 1998 to Mr Pratt, thanking him for drawing his attention to provisions in a juvenile justice bill which imposed increased penalties for gun law offences. As a result of the GOA’s lobbying, Mr Ashcroft, who had originally been a sponsor of the bill, withdrew his support for the legislation. The letter was sent on Senate notepaper and was addressed “Dear Larry” and signed “Thanks! John”. This is not the only known link between Mr Ashcroft and Mr Pratt. The two men know each other from a secretive but highly influential rightwing religious group called the Council for National Policy, of which Mr Pratt is a member and whose meetings Mr Ashcroft has attended. The CNP’s membership is almost a who’s who of US conservatism and includes the Republican congressional leaders Senator Trent Lott and Congressman Tom DeLay. The revelation of the link with Mr Pratt came as two other allegations about Mr Ashcroft’s extreme rightwing links also surfaced. In the first, it was confirmed that Mr Ashcroft took time off from his bitter senatorial contest last September to meet Thomas Bugel, the president of the St Louis chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens, to discuss the case of a CCC member, Charles Sell, jailed by the federal authorities on charges of conspiring to murder an FBI agent. The CCC is the successor organisation of the Citizens Council, which led the fight against integration in the South in the 1950s and 60s. The CCC, whose supporters also include Senator Lott and Senator Jesse Helms, opposes inter-racial marriage and non-white immigration, and believes black people are genetically less intelligent than whites. It is currently mobilising to try to defeat a statewide referendum in Mississippi in April to remove the Confederate flag from the state flag. Meanwhile, the ultra-conservative Bob Jones University in South Carolina confirmed that it possessed a transcript of reportedly inflammatory remarks made by Mr Ashcroft in a May 1999 speech there. The Senate judiciary committee, where Mr Ashcroft faces confirmation hearings next week, had asked the university to supply a transcript, after rumours surfaced about the speech. Mr Ashcroft’s nomination has become the latest flashpoint of America’s political culture wars, with both sides preparing for a major confrontation next week. On Thursday, Mr Bush urged Mr Ashcroft’s opponents to “tone down their rhetoric”.
— The Guardian, London |
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27 Americans fly aid to Iraq BAGHDAD, Jan 14 (AP) — A group of American activists landed yesterday in Baghdad to deliver books and medicine and join the ranks of dozens of countries that have mounted symbolic challenges to sanctions on the Arab nation. The 27 Americans arrived on a Royal Jordanian plane from Amman, Jordan, the latest of dozens of flights to reach Iraq in recent months following 10 years of UN sanctions that had essentially banned air travel. “We’re probably the first Americans who have flown over Iraq for a long time who haven’t brought bombs,” said James Jennings, organiser of the trip, which includes religious and humanitarian groups from 10 American cities. “All these people have come together to show that there are many thousands of Americans who are concerned about the devastating effects of these sanctions,” Jennings said. The Americans did not request US authorization for their trip. However, they did not technically violate the sanctions placed on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. Jordan, which owns the airline, sent a passenger and cargo list to the UN sanctions committee for approval before the flight to Iraq, officials said. “Down USA” is painted in large black letters on the sidewalk at the entrance to the Saddam International Airport and similar handwritten signs are posted throughout the massive terminal building. However, a delegation of more than 100 Iraqis led by Health Minister Omed Medhat Mubarak warmly greeted the Americans on the tarmac on a cold, foggy day.
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Ex-Secy deposes against Estrada, leaves MANILA, Jan 14 (DPA) — A former Philippine Finance Secretary has left the country after giving damaging testimony against President Joseph Estrada, who is on trial for bribery and corruption charges, news reports said today. According to the reports, Edgardo Espiritu and his wife Lydia left for the USA on Saturday after receiving death threats. Former Congressman Hernando Perez, a private lawyer assisting the 11-member prosecution panel in the trial, said he advised Espiritu to leave temporarily the country due to the threats. “I actually advised him to do that because he has been getting death threats,’’ Perez said. “Some people want him dead because of the damaging testimony he gave in the Senate.’’ Espiritu told the Senate tribunal that Estrada had admitted earning huge sums in the country’s worst insider trading scandal that involved a gaming firm owned by a close friend, who has been indicted for stock manipulation charges. He also testified that Estrada influenced a state-run bank to grant the gaming company, BW Resources Corp., a $ 12-million unsecured loan. The BW Resources case falls under the third article of impeachment, which includes charges that Estrada pressured corporate regulators and stock market officials to exonerate his friend in investigations on the scandal. |
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Taliban militia kill 25 PESHAWAR, (Pakistan), Jan 14 (DPA) — Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban militia today made strategic gains and killed 25 fighters in renewed clashes in the country’s north, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported. As many as 80 fighters from the anti-Taliban faction led by warlord Ahmed Shah Masood were captured, the report said. The dominant militia seized control of Khawajaghar, in the northern Takhar province, and crossed the Kokcha river, AIP said. Taliban troops were now advancing northwards in Dasht-e-Qala plains, across Kokcha, towards A-e-Khanum port. The river port lies on the border with Tajikistan and serves as Masood’s supply point from the Central Asian republic, according to aip. Aip said Taliban’s grip on Dasht-e-Qala would place it in a position to launch attacks on the northern Badakhshan province, held by Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was ousted from Kabul as President by the Islamic militia. Masood and Rabbani are jointly resisting Taliban forces which control more than 90 per cent of Afghanistan. |
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Laden toppled my govt: Benazir ISLAMABAD, Jan 14 (UNI) — PPP chief Benazir Bhutto has charged that Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden, Mr Nawaz Sharif and a Corps Commander were responsible in overthrowing her government in the early nineties. ‘‘Osama paid $ 10 million to overthrow my government during my first term,’’ the exile PPP leader said in an interview to Herald. ‘‘Osama bin Laden was told that a woman in the Prime Minister’s position was against Islam and so he should give them money to overthrow her,’’ she said and added that Mr Nawaz Sharif told Laden he would bring Islam to Pakistan. |
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Jerry Hall finds
new man LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters)— Texan supermodel jerry hall revealed today that she had a new man in her life following the break-up of her marriage to Rolling Stone
Mick Jagger. She said he was far too young for her. The 44-year-old model, who is currently starring in the
London stage version of “The graduate’’, said she was dating
Hollywood film producer George Waud, 11 years younger to her. |
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