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| Friday, January 19, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Army, LTTE suffer heavy losses
Iraq, Kuwait heading for showdown? Darkness at noon in California Media publishes Estrada's
'bank records' |
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Jaswant’s S. Arabia visit a milestone Agni-II test-firing
worries USA, Pak Japan criticises Agni test-firing
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Army, LTTE suffer heavy losses COLOMBO, Jan 18 (AFP, UNI) — Sri Lankan troops and Tamil Tiger guerrillas suffered heavy casualties after the latest bout of fighting claimed at least 108 lives, including two civilians, officials said today. Government troops remained dug in at two places captured from the rebels in the Jaffna peninsula after intense fighting on Tuesday, defence officials said. “There is not much activity on the battle front today,” a defence official said. But added that there were sporadic exchanges of gunfire. Security forces killed at least 52
LTTE cadres, while two were captured alive, Defence Ministry spokesman Sanath Karunaratne said. The military yesterday returned the bodies of 20 Tiger rebels to the
LTTE. The transfer of bodies was carried out by the International Committee of the Red Cross
(ICRC), spokesman Harasha Funawardena said. Two officers and 52 soldiers were killed and another 147 injured as the Army battled with Tigers in the north of the island. The government yesterday said it had stepped up military action against the
LTTE and described as a farce the unilateral truce announced by the guerrillas. The
LTTE had violated their own one-month truce on 49 occasions since December 25, the government said in a statement issued last night. Meanwhile, reports from Jaffna said about 5000 students, academics, social representatives had gathered at the Jaffna University premises yesterday and demanded that the government respond positively to the ceasefire announced by the
LTTE. The reports said several people were prevented by the Army from joining the protest. Earlier, 13 students were taken into custody by the Army and the police for their involvement in propagating favourably for the
LTTE. Meanwhile, a senior military official said the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels had used Multi-Barrel Rocket Launchers
(MBRL) to counter the latest offensive of the Sri Lankan Army during the Kinihira-9 operation in northern Jaffna, according to a military official. The official said the
LTTE had obtained these hi-tech weapons in 1999 even before the Sri Lankan Army acquired the
MBRL last year. |
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Iraq, Kuwait heading for showdown? DUBAI, Jan 18 (UNI) — Iraq and Kuwait appear to be at loggerheads once again. The fresh row between the two hostile neighbours has erupted following recent reported remark of Saddam Hussain’s son Uday, asking the country’s Parliament to change the Iraqi map on the legislature’s emblem to show Kuwait as forming a part of a “greater Iraq”. A leading Iraqi daily owned by Uday quoted him as saying “Iraq’s map that represents the symbol of the assembly does not include the full borders of Iraq as known to the various segments of the Iraqi people, that is Kuwait city”. This is obviously being considered by Kuwait as a renewed claim by Iraq over its territory. Iraq had invaded and annexed Kuwait in August 1990.A USA.-led multinational force evicted Iraqi occupation forces in February 1991 after a six-week conflict. Three years later, Iraq officially recognised Kuwait and its UN-demarcated borders. Kuwait yesterday strongly condemned the statement from Iraq, saying it amounted to “blatant breach of the UN Security Council resolutions. “The state of Kuwait deeply regrets the recent Iraqi officials’ claims and false accusations...as well as calls by Mr Uday Saddam Hussain, member of the Iraqi National Council, that the state of Kuwait is part of Iraq”, Kuna quoted a Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry statement as saying. Kuwait also got in touch with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and discussed with them the situation arising from the “Iraqi threats”. Kuwaiti Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Suleyman Majid al-Shahin met the ambassadors of the USA, the UK, Russia, France and China and told them that the statement of Mr Uday Saddam Hussain “represents a clear violation of the Security Council resolution, reflects the aggressive intentions of the Iraqi regime against the state of Kuwait, and was a direct and flagrant threat to security and stability in the region”. Kuwait’s first Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed Al-Sabah spoke to his counterparts in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and briefed them on “the seriousness of the Iraqi statements”. Meanwhile, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz was quoted as saying at a press conference in Baghdad that Mr Uday was voicing a personal opinion while asking for the inclusion of Kuwait in the Iraqi map. Iraqi Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan stated that 99 per cent of the Iraqis believed that Kuwait belonged to their country. But, he said, this was not the state policy. The flare-up between the two countries coincided with the tenth anniversary of the Gulf war. Reports said it was business as usual in Kuwait on the tenth anniversary of the war while the Iraqi President delivered a 20-minute speech over the state television to mark the occasion. In his speech, the Iraqi leader said his country would unleash a six-month artillery barrage against Israel to liberate the Palestinian territories. A report by the Emirates news agency Wam said the United Arab Emirates condemned the call of Mr Uday to the Iraqi National Council to draw a full map of Iraq, including Kuwait in it as part of greater Iraq. |
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Darkness at noon in California NEW YORK, Jan 18 (PTI) — Shortage of electricity and rising power prices forced power companies to cut off power supply to lakhs of people in the first controlled blackouts imposed in California. Reports said this was the first time that such a large number of customers were involved and held out threats of more widespread loadshedding as the energy crisis worsens. The loadshedding, which began yesterday, continued as power of about 500,000 customers was cut at a time for an hour by rotation. The controlled turning off of power came after warnings were issued to customers to preserve electricity and officials said unless the consumers cooperated, it would be difficult to improve things. “I hate to say this, but if people don’t conserve and really make concerted effort not to use power, we’re right in the same situation tomorrow,” Chief Executive Officer of California’s Independent Systems Operator (ISO), which controls the power for most of the state, said. Downtown San Francisco also felt an immediate impact with two students getting stuck in an elevator at a local law school. “We need to make sure that we do not drop below unacceptable level and put the system at risk which could actually put the overall western USA at risk of a blackout,” Managing Director of the ISO was quoted as saying. |
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Media publishes Estrada's
'bank records' MANILA, Jan 18 (AFP)—Philippine newspapers today published bank records on President Joseph Estrada’s alleged $ 66 million fortune, two days after the Senate controversially voted to suppress the evidence at the leader’s graft trial. A satirical tabloid, The Pinoy Times, and two broadsheets published what they described as transactions relating to the bank account of one Jose Velarde, the name prosecutors said Estrada used to launder kickbacks. The trial adjourned indefinitely yesterday after the Senate tribunal voted 11-10 to set aside the sealed bank documents procured through subpeona. The prosecutors labelled the proceedings as a “charade” and stormed out of the court. Pinoy Times said in its lead story that its publisher Eugenia Apostol had obtained the bank statements from a “reliable source” it did not identify. Bank records are confidential documents and publishing them is against the law unless the act has the consent of the depositor, or is made under court order. |
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US peace envoy’s trip postponed WASHINGTON, Jan 18 (AFP) — The USA has said it had cancelled an already-delayed trip to the Middle East by special peace envoy Dennis Ross, conceding that there was not enough time left in President Bill Clinton’s term to forge a peace deal. “It’s not likely that Mr Dennis Ross will travel to the region this week, there’s not enough time left for such a trip to take place,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on Tuesday. “Dennis is not going to make the trip that we had thought he might make,” Mr Boucher told reporters, referring to the visit originally scheduled for last week. The visit had already been indefinitely postponed, pending the results of Israeli-Palestinian security talks aimed at ending months of violence. Mr Clinton had asked Mr Ross to meet with both sides in a last-ditch bid to secure a deal before the us president leaves office on January 20. But as violence flared anew and talks remained mired in recriminations, Mr Clinton ordered the trip postponed. “We don’t feel the security and policy talks have produced enough of a result to warrant a visit,” a senior State Department official said. |
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No change in stand on Kashmir: Pak ISLAMABAD, Jan 18 (PTI) —Pakistan has neither moved away from its “principled” position on Kashmir nor will it accept any solution to the problem which is contrary to the un Security Council resolutions and the right to “self-determination” of the Kashmiri people, Foreign Secretary Inamul Haq has told “The News” daily. Haq claimed that India had “moved away” from its decades-old position on Kashmir. Explaining his rationale, he said: “India’s three-point policy was of no talk with Pakistan on Kashmir, to isolate Pakistan and get Pakistan declared a terrorist state.” “By allowing the proposed visit of the Hurriyat delegation to Pakistan, India has not only recognised Pakistan a party to the Kashmir dispute, but also admitted that it needs to have a dialogue with Pakistan to resolve the issue,” he said. International community understands the reality. How India can ask the international community not to talk with Pakistan while New Delhi is in dialogue with Islamabad?” Haq asked. He also discounted reports that in the forthcoming negotiations, Pakistan had decided to endorse whatever stand the Hurriyat took on Kashmir rather than having its own. “Such reports have no credibility. There is no truth in it. Pakistan has its own stand on Kashmir, independent of all other parties to the dispute and we stand by it,” Haq said. Giving details of Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir, he denied that Pakistan is willing to move away from its principled position to conform to the realities on the ground. He said there was no change in Pakistan’s position nor would it compromise in terms of territory or right of self-determination of the Kashmiri people. All negotiations on Kashmir would be held on the basis and within the framework of the un Security Council resolutions on Kashmir. “There will be no compromise whatsoever. Pakistan cannot and will not negotiate anything outside the
UNSC resolutions,” Haq said. On military ruler General Pervez Musharraf’s offer to visit India, Haq disagreed that it was made from a point of weakness. Meanwhile, the Legislative Assembly of the occupied Kashmir has unanimously adopted a resolution that the Hurriyat leaders will be invited to address the joint sitting of the occupied Kashmir’s Legislative Assembly and Council.
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Third party mediation on Kashmir ruled out ISLAMABAD, Jan 18 (UNI) — Former Indian Foreign Secretary J.N. Dixit has said that India wanted to solve the Kashmir imbroglio through bilateral talks and would not accept any third party mediation including UN observers. Mr Dixit, who was heading a five-member delegation to Pakistan, was answering questions by Pakistani journalists and intellectuals on improving Indo-Pakistan relations at a discussion organised by the daily ‘News’ here. Mr Dixit said it was possible that process of talks might resume by the middle or end of the current year if positive results were achieved during the visit of the APHC leaders to Pakistan. In reply to another question, Mr Dixit said tripartite talks were not possible. “Talks can be held with the APHC and Pakistan separately. This is the Indian thinking. Indian policy can be more clear in this regard if Pakistan speeds up process of change in the situation’’. He said groups involved in armed activities in Kashmir were freely roaming about “This situation is worrisome for Indians.’’ In reply to another question, Mr Dixit said the selection of APHC delegation was the outfit’s own problem and denied that India was playing any game in this regard. He said India cannot accept every demand of the APHC leaders. There is a background of problems between us. It is our own problem whom to issue passport. Mr Dixit said there were people in India and Pakistan who were aware of the gravity of nuclear threat and they also wanted a solution. Mr Kanti Bajpai, Associate Professor of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) who was also accompanying the five-member Indian delegation. Stressed on building confidence between Pakistan and India to resolve bilateral disputes. He advocated concrete steps to achieve the objective. He said the Lahore Declaration was an achievement despite the Siachen and Kargil crises. “We should try to understand why the process of talks as a result of Lahore Declaration was disrupted. The importance which Lahore Declaration deserved was not given to it and it was also treated merely a piece of paper like other accords”. While replying to a question Mr Bajpai said India’s principled stand on Kashmir remained unchanged. India wanted to talk with Pakistan, but within the parameters of Indian Constitution. He said there was no doubt that the process of solution of disputes between the two countries will be very slow and lengthy, but its success was possible only when both countries tried to understand each other’s position and accept it. “We should continue to work for the solution of the issue,’’ he added. Retd Air Chief Marshal Mehra said “we want both India and Pakistan to reach some understanding on nuclear issues.” |
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Jaswant’s S. Arabia visit a milestone RIYADH (Saudi Arabia), Jan 18 (UNI) — The External Affairs Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh’s milestone visit to Saudi Arabia, the first high-level contact in two decades, beginning here tomorrow is expected to catalyse the much-needed bilateral process between the two nations for a forward-looking and long-term relationship. The first visit by an Indian External Affairs Minister is intended to give a jump start to economic and political ties that have remained by and large lukewarm for the past 50 years, and signal the beginning of high-level engagements between the two countries. The last high-level visit here was by Mrs Indira Gandhi in 1982. Saudi Arabia, which has been seen as having a pro-Islamabad leaning, has been pleading with India and Pakistan to exercise the maximum level of tolerance and self control and find a solution to the conflict through bilateral discussions. While the visit is in line with New Delhi’s efforts to strengthen ties with the major Islamic nations, India attaches great importance to a good political equation with Saudi Arabia which commands a big influence in the Islamic world. Riyadh’s perspective of its extended neighbourhood has also undergone a perceptible change following the rise and spread of religious, sectarian and political extremism in West Asia and the Gulf region, developments in Pakistan and export of fundamentalist doctrine from Afghanistan. The kingdom has also recently indicated that does not subscribe to irresponsible exercise which aims at terrorising peaceful people and has been consistently condemning terrorism at all international fora. |
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Agni-II test-firing
worries USA, Pak WASHINGTON, Jan 18 (UNI) — The USA today expressed concern over India’s test firing of Agni-II saying that this had the potential to encourage arms competition in the region and undercut global efforts to limit the spread of ballistic missiles. A State Department official, reacting to India test firing an enhanced version of the intermediate range Agni-II ballistic missile said the USA was looking forward to further serious discussions on these subjects in a constructive spirit of Indo-US relations. External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott had earlier several rounds of talks on security and proliferation issues. Stating that it was up to India to determine its security requirements and that the USA had made this clear during the dialogue it had with New Delhi during the past two years, the official said Washington was concerned over the development, testing and deployment of strategic weapons by any country. The USA, he said, had urged both India and Pakistan to exercise restraint in nuclear and missile areas during the course of the dialogue on security and non-proliferation since India went nuclear in 1998. ISLAMABAD (PTI): Pakistan’s military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf said India’s test-firing of Agni-II missile should not hamper the peace process on Kashmir. In an interview with Pakistan Television, General Musharraf said Pakistan had shown “all flexibility” for a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue and would not “like any hurdles which may jeopardize the process.” He expressed the hope that negotiations between Pakistan and India would take place. “There are indications from the other side which would pave the way for the negotiations,” he added. He said the Indian test should be a matter of concern for China and other countries of the region. |
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Japan criticises
Agni test-firing TOKYO, Jan 18 (PTI) — Japan today sharply criticised the test-firing of longer range Agni II missile by India, saying it might intensify nuclear arms and missile development race in the region while China and Australia were cautious in their reaction. A day after the missile was test-fired successfully, the Japanese
Government issued a statement saying it was “strongly concerned” about the launch of Agni II. Tokyo, a strong critic of India’s 1998 nuclear explosions, said the missile launch “might hamper the moves towards easing of tensions in South Asia and intensify the nuclear arms and missile development race in the region.” In Beijing, the Foreign Ministry said China hoped to see peace and stability and was unwilling to see any form of arms race in the region. Australia, which also reacted sharply against the Pokhran nuclear tests, said the missile test was unfortunate but made it clear it would not halt the restoration of military ties between the two countries. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said in Beijing that “China, together with the international community, hopes to see peace and stability in the region. We are unwilling to see any form of arms race in the region.” |
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