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| Tuesday, February 6, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Surrender power, Rais tells Wahid JAKARTA, Feb 5 — Head of Indonesia’s top legislature today urged floundering President Abdurrahman Wahid to surrender power peacefully to avoid months of instability and confusion over possible impeachment. Minister sacked over fuel crisis Put Suharto under medicare: SC Restore democracy in Pak: Benazir Powell reverses Albright decision |
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| Taliban offer
on Laden LONDON, Feb 5 — Taliban may consider exiling Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden provided the West recognised the militia as Afghanistan’s legitimate government 80 ultras held in B’desh Libya grounds to a halt 3 held for Saudi blasts
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Surrender power, Rais tells Wahid JAKARTA, Feb 5 (Reuters) — Head of Indonesia’s top legislature today urged floundering President Abdurrahman Wahid to surrender power peacefully to avoid months of instability and confusion over possible impeachment. People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR) chief Amien Rais, a key Wahid ally and now one of his most vocal enemies, told Reuters Television that Wahid had lost public support because of his stumbling leadership, capped by a parliamentary censure over two graft scandals. “It is too late for president Wahid to ask forgiveness of the people,’’ Rais said. “I think people, won’t forgive him any longer. “It seems to me that most of the parties are ready to accept the Vice- President...Megawati Sukarnoputri to be...President.’’ Rais urged Wahid to voluntarily step aside pending legal investigations into the two multi-million dollar scandals, a move that would effectively amount to resignation. “If Wahid is willing to be non-active (step aside), people would be thankful to him. It is a very, very remote possibility. “The other choice of course is to force him to resign.’’ The parliamentary censure is the first step towards possible impeachment, but that process is long and complicated and many fear will lead to months of unrest and uncertainty. “The problem is that we cannot guarantee that the people are patient enough to wait,’’ Rais said. Wahid has adamantly refused to quit, saying that he has done nothing wrong and still has enough support in Parliament. The censure and rising tensions cap mounting frustration over Wahid’s erratic rule which has failed to pull Indonesia out of years of political and economic chaos or end communal bloodshed. But he still has strong support in some areas. Thousands of Wahid’s supporters rallied for the third straight day in heavily-populated East Java, chanting and waving banners reading: “We are ready to die for Gus Dur! (Wahid).’’ The protests turned violent yesterday, with minor clashes between Wahid supporters and opponents in East Java. Jakarta was quiet early today, but the police is bracing for protests by pro and anti-Wahid groups as tensions continue. Megawati, who automatically serves out Wahid’s five year term to 2004 if he goes, has remained typically silent. Her Indonesian Democratic Party-Struggle (PDI-P), Indonesia’s largest, backed the censure. But senior party officials said Megawati did so to avoid tougher action — such as a special MPR impeachment session — against Wahid, once a close friend. Cornelis Lay, who heads the political bureau in Megawati’s official secretariat, said she would not join any “political conspiracy’’ to topple Wahid, despite strong pressure from within the party. “Mega doesn’t want to see the President unseated before his or her term ends (in 2004),’’ Cornelis said. “If she joins the political drive to topple Gus Dur from the presidency, a similar thing can occur to her if she becomes President.’’ Rais, who spearheaded the unlikely political alliance that engineered Wahid’s surprise rise to power 15 months ago, said he would back Megawati as President to the end of the term. But most analysts expect Wahid to survive for now because of the length and complexity of impeachment and the fear of violence in the streets and an unwillingness by Megawati and other Wahid enemies to be seen pushing the country’s first democratically elected President. |
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Minister
sacked over fuel crisis MOSCOW, Feb 5 — Russian President Vladimir Putin today sacked Energy Minister Alexander Gavrin in an apparent response to a fuel crisis in the far eastern region that has left thousands of people freezing in the grip of winter. RIA news agency quoted Putin as saying he had asked Gavrin to submit his resignation. Gavrin, a minister since last May, obliged, thus becoming the first minister to be dumped by Putin since he took over the presidency just over a year ago. A Kremlin spokeswoman confirmed Putin had signed a decree dismissing Gavrin. RIA quoted government sources as saying he had been sacked for “chronic inability to solve the sector’s problems”. Mr Putin also announced the possible resignation of Yevgeny Nazdratenko, Governor of the far eastern Primorye region. RIA said later that Nazdratenko had tendered his resignation. The President then attacked national electricity utility, RAOUES, headed by former privatisation chief Anatoly Chubais, and called for a shake-up in its senior
management. Shortages of fuel, poor distribution and industrial mishaps have left tens of thousands of people in sprawling apartment blocks in Siberia, the Arctic and Pacific regions struggling with no light and no heating. Television stations have for weeks shown families wrapped in winter coats, shivering in homes with burst pipes and ice lining the walls. Reports showed schools closed in the Siberian town of Ulan-Ude after an explosion disabled a heating plant and temperatures dropping to
-48° Fahrenheit. The Authorities sent men and equipment to a village in Arctic Yakutia where a heating plant had been knocked out. Some residents told reporters they had had no heat for three years. In Primorye, public anger has boiled over. Protesters have blocked roads for weeks and delegations led by Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu have flown to the region to apportion blame. Primorye Governor Nazdratenko, whom most residents blame for their hardships, has long been a thorn in the Kremlin’s side. Putin’s predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, considered having him removed on more than one occasion. Itar-Tass news agency said Putin had also ordered the deputy head of his administration, Alexander Voloshin, to “reinforce the personnel” of national utility, Raoues, because of heating problems in Primorye. Gavrin (48) before becoming minister was Mayor of the Western Siberian town of Kogalym, the Siberian capital of Russia’s largest oil producer, Lukoil. Before 1993, he was trade union boss at Kogalymneftegaz, a Lukoil subsidiary. The ministry under Gavrin defended regulation of crude and products’ exports by administrative methods, while other government bodies argued that exports should be regulated by market methods. As a result the government raised export tariffs on crude and products, but kept export quotas for fuel exports. —
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Put Suharto under medicare: SC JAKARTA, Feb 5 (DPA) — Indonesia’s Supreme Court has ordered ailing ex-dictator Suharto to be put under state medical care and ruled that a dismissed corruption trial against him could resume once he was medically fit, a court official said today. The court also revoked a 10-month-old government order banning Suharto from leaving Jakarta, meaning the former President can freely travel, said Mugihardjo, Director for criminal cases at the Supreme Court. However, it was doubtful that Suharto, 79, whose attorneys claim he has irreversible brain damage from two strokes in recent years, would leave his posh central Jakarta mansion, where a team of private doctors attends to him. A Jakarta district court last September halted a multi-million dollar corruption trial against Suharto after an independent medical team ruled he was too ill, sparking violent street protests. The state accused Suharto of skimming $ 570 million from five charitable organisations he controlled as President and putting the money into the businesses of his family and friends. However, the former President and his children are alleged to have amassed a personal fortune between $ 15 and 45 billion, much of which is believed to be hidden in overseas bank accounts. The Suharto family attorneys could not be contacted to comment about the court order, which was issued on Friday but only became public today. |
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Restore democracy in Pak: Benazir WASHINGTON, Feb 5 (UNI) — Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has warned military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf of a Philippines-type people’s movement if he failed to initiate a dialogue with the Opposition and restore democracy in the country. Ms Bhutto, who is here to lobby with the Bush administration for restoration of democracy in her country, told WNVC TV that Pakistanis would be left with no other option if the military government declined to hold a dialogue with political parties. Saying that she was encouraged by the recent developments in the Philippines where the government headed by Joseph Estrada was thrown out by the people, Mr Bhutto recalled a similar incident in Pakistan in 1988 when democracy was restored. George Bush (Senior) was then the US President. People in Pakistan staged movements even in the post-independence era to oust the military regimes of Gen Ayub Khan and Gen Yahya Khan, she pointed out. Acknowledging that General Musharraf came to power under trying circumstances, Ms Bhutto said it was now time for him to restore democracy. Unfortunately, the General was speaking in terms of the whole country being pitted against one leader or the other in case democracy was restored. This was the language previous Generals like Zia-ul-Haq and Yahya Khan used when they were in power, and it ended up harming the country, she cautioned. “I have been persuading the government to enter into negotiations with the joint Opposition, but if we fail in our efforts, political parties have to stand by the people and raise their voices,” she opined. Asked whether she was in Washington to seek the support of the Bush administration for restoration of democracy in Pakistan, Ms Bhutto said she did not see anything wrong in urging the international community to take steps to restore democracy in her country. Both General Musharraf and exiled Premier Nawaz Sharif have sought the support of the USA in the past, she pointed out. Defending her decision to live in self-imposed exile in London, she said politicians in South Asia had similar problems and most of them were forced to stay abroad. Ms Bhutto said she would soon return to Pakistan. Restoration of democracy in Pakistan would lead to stability in the South Asian region, she felt. Suggesting a soft border between India and Pakistan to create a congenial atmosphere for resolving the Kashmir issue, she said any other step would create more problems. She also opposed the proposal to convert the Line of Control into the international border, saying that any solution should be in tune with the UN resolution adopted in 1948. |
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Powell reverses Albright decision WASHINGTON, Feb 5 (PTI) — US Secretary of State Colin Powell has reversed a decision by his predecessor to nominate Mr David J. Scheffer as judge to the UN War Crimes Tribunal for former Yugoslavia and instead nominated Mr Theodor Meron for the post. Mr Powell has decided to nominate Mr Meron, an expert on International Law at New York University, in place of Ms Madeleine Albright nominee Scheffer, former US President Bill Clinton’s ambassador for War Crimes, The Washington Post said. Mr Powell’s decision was “really a kind of a slap at Albright,” it quoted an official as saying. Ms Albright had criticised Mr Powell for his reluctance to use military force in the Balkans when he was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Commenting on the decision, Mr Scheffer said: “I can confirm that the decision (to replace him) was made, but it was not made at my request. Beyond that I have no
further comment.” Meanwhile, after wooing lawmakers for two weeks, US President George W. Bush is looking to persuade the general public that his enormous tax cut is both fair and prudent. With Democrats growing more vocal in their criticism, Mr Bush mapped out a tightly scripted public relations plan for his third week in office, highlighting various groups of Americans that would benefit from the 10-year, $ 1.6 trillion tax reduction. “The President intends to highlight that under his tax-relief plan, the typical American family will get to keep 1,600 dollars more of their hard-earned money,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. |
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Taliban offer
on Laden
LONDON, Feb 5 (PTI) — Taliban may consider exiling Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden provided the West recognised the militia as Afghanistan’s legitimate government, a leading British daily reported today. ‘The Times’ quoted senior Taliban leaders as saying their main fear was that the USA and other Western countries would continue to ostracise their administration even after Laden was made to leave Afghanistan. |
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80 ultras held in B’desh DHAKA, Feb 5 (DPA) — At least 80 Muslim militants have been arrested in a crackdown on religious extremists following violence in a general strike over the weekend which left three persons dead and scores injured, the police said. Among those arrested was Mufti Fazlul Huq Amini, a leading cleric and secretary-general of the radical Islamic Unity Alliance. The detainees were held under a recently passed law for inciting street riots during the shutdown on Saturday in the capital Dhaka. Amini has been accused of issuing death threats against two high court judges who had outlawed “fatwas” or religious edicts pronounced by clerics. Amini, his son and 11 other militants were arrested by the police yesterday from his residence on the campus of a privately-run Islamic university in old Dhaka. The authorities have also issued an arrest warrant against another prominent cleric, Shaikul Hadith Azizul Huq, chief of the Ulema Mashaek organisation, which called the strike. Amini and Huq were held jointly responsible for threatening Justices Golam Rabbani and Nazmun Ara Sultana for banning all fatwas in a ruling in January. The most internationally known fatwa by Bangladeshi clerics is the death sentence given to 38-year-old feminist writer Taslima Nasreen in 1994 for allegedly blaspheming Islam. Nasreen was forced to go into exile after the clerics announced a price on her head. |
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Libya grounds to a halt TRIPOLI, Feb 5 (Reuters) — Libyans flocked to mass meetings on ahead of an expected statement by leader Muammar Gaddafi in which he has said he will produce evidence that a Libyan convicted of the Lockerbie airliner bombing is innocent. The North African country ground to a virtual standstill as people crammed conference rooms for the start of three days of popular meetings overshadowed by last week’s Lockerbie verdict. |
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3 held for Saudi blasts RIYADH, Feb 5 (AP) — Three Westerners — a Briton, a Canadian and a Belgian — have been arrested in connection with two explosions that killed one and injured four other Britons in Saudi Arabia last fall, the Interior Minister, Prince Nayef, said. “The source of the explosives and many other relevant facts are known to us, but in the interests of the investigation we will not disclose them now,” Prince Nayef said yesterday in a statement on state-run Saudi TV. |
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Vaz victim of "Euro-sceptics’ hounding" LONDON, Feb 5 (PTI) — Coming out openly in support of Minister for Foreign Office and Europe Keith Vaz, under attack by the media for alleged involvement in the Hinduja passport affair, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook has accused the “Euro-sceptic press” of conducting an “unedifying hounding campaign” against the Indian-origin minister. “Let’s deal with facts, not innuendo. Not a single fact has been produced which suggests Vaz has behaved improperly as a minister or broken the ministerial code,” Cook said in an interview with The Times. In another interview with BBC Radio, Cook said Vaz had done an excellent job as Minister for Europe and that is why some newspapers “are out to get him”. He said it was time for the media to “bring the curtain down on this incessant hounding” and to allow
Sir Anthony Hammond’s inquiry into the affair to establish the facts relating to the passport application. The Mirror daily today quoted sources close to
Vaz as saying that he was the target of a plot by Euro-sceptics to wreck his political career. The minister believed that his success in prompting closer links with the continent has earned him the enmity of attackers not afraid to play the race card, the report said. The source said “there is a feeling that the attacks on him are part of a conspiracy that has racist undertones. Vaz feels his accusers are involved in a witch-hunt that is anti-European because he has played such a prominent role in the pro-Europe campaign.” Vaz’s agent in his Leicester East constituency, Keith Bennett, refuted the claims of “missing” election donations. He had found records confirming that the payments were “properly recorded” despite reports to the contrary. The Labour Party also dismissed reports that Vaz wanted to quit his post after the next election. A businessman whose $ 5,000 donation to Vaz is reported to have gone missing has expressed fears that the minister is the victim of a smear campaign. Charles Riachy, a Lebanese entrepreneur and philanthropist, said the personal cheque he signed was made out to the Leicester East unit of the Labour party, rather than the politician himself. Riachy said he had seen nothing like the anti-Vaz campaign in 40 years in Britain. “Somebody is playing dirty tricks on each other, aren’t they? Riachy told The Times. “Keith Vaz is a talented young man, of middle eastern origin. He is very charming and very honourable.” |
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