 |
| Saturday, February
10, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
|
Resolving Kashmir issue
is Musharraf’s dream Russia to lease bombers to India
Bush’s phone diplomacy with Arafat Bush favours cut in N-arsenal |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pay penalty and get off the hook, Kohl told Taliban for trial
of Laden in Islamic country
|
|
Resolving Kashmir issue is Musharraf’s dream DUBAI, Feb 9 — Pakistan military ruler Pervez Musharraf has confessed that he dreamt of going down in history as one who resolved the Kashmir issue and for the first time, stated that the Taliban regime in Afghanistan might be willing to hand over Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden for trial by Islamic judges in a Muslim country for allegedly masterminding the bombings of US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. Launching a blistering attack on India on the Kashmir issue, he said, “One sees a deliberate attempt by them (India) to avoid resolution of Kashmir. They will talk of peace and harmony and confidence-building measures, reducing tension but they take a lot of pain in avoiding saying—through the resolution of the Kashmir issue”. Asked if he would like to be remembered as the leader who resolved the Kashmir issue, General Musharraf said: “I certainly would like to go down in history and it will be a dream to solve this long-standing dispute.’’ In separate interviews to two UAE-based dailies, the Pakistani leader defended the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and said it would never hand over Bin Laden to Washington but trial in a country other than the USA and Afghanistan was not an impossible option. In the interview to the Dubai-based English daily Gulf News, General Musharraf said he was encouraged by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s recent statement in which the latter spoke about taking bold initiatives on the Kashmir issue. He said he was ready to invite Mr Vajpayee to Islamabad just as he was himself prepared to go to New Delhi for talks to resolve the Kashmir issue. General Musharraf spoke on the Afghanistan issue in detail in the interview to the Arabic daily “Al Khaleej,” the excerpts of which were printed by its sister publication “Gulf Today.” He was of the view that the only way towards striking at the root cause of religious extremism, militancy and terrorism was to resolve the Kashmir and Afghanistan issues. “Once there is peace in these two areas, there would not be any requirement for anybody from all around the world to concentrate here and to help in the freedom struggle that is going on. From that point of view also, it is important that Kashmir is resolved’’. The military leader said if the public opinion in India changed, the Indian Government might have a free hand and show more flexibility towards initiating a meaningful dialogue. A solution of the Kashmir issue will be discussed after the initiation of dialogue. In the wide-ranging interview, General Musharraf also spoke about various other important issues, like Pakistan’s isolation in the world because of its support to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, his country’s ties with Islamic states, consequences of exiling deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to Saudi Arabia and many other domestic issues. Asked if he was concerned about the recent visit of External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh to Riyadh, General Musharraf said: “Not really, we know that Saudi Arabia is a very close ally of Pakistan and we know that they will always keep our interests in the forefront in whatever they want to deal with India. There is no doubt in my mind that our interests will not be compromised’’. General Musharraf was hopeful that Hurriyat leaders would eventually be able to come to Pakistan. “Not necessarily all seven of them Hurriyat leader's but a delegation of All-Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) ought to be coming.’’ he said the Hurriyat leaders represented the unified voice of the Kashmiris. He claimed that the Mujahideen were operating in Kashmir on their own. “They are indigenous. They are fighting for their freedom. They represent the will of the people of Kashmir and have their own agenda.’’ General Musharraf did not agree with a suggestion that there was any difference of opinion between the Mujahideen and the APHC. “These are rumours being spread by the Indians themselves who are trying to create a wedge between the Mujahideen and the APHC, within the Kashmiris and also creating a wedge between Pakistan and the Kashmiris. One issue on which all Kashmiris are unanimous is to get rid of India.’’ Coming to domestic matters, General Musharraf said the country would have elections in 2002. He did not think there would be any factor that might delay the electoral process. On former premiers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, he said, “The whole of Pakistan should realise that they are finished. They have ruined this country twice. Now I really can’t imagine Pakistanis giving them a third chance to ruin them further.’’ General Musharraf denied that he had reached any deal with Ms Bhutto, adding there were charges against her and the law would take its own course as far as she was concerned. The military leader, who has come under attack at home for exiling Mr Sharif, asserted that the country had achieved “stabilisation in the political environment’’ due to this step. Admitting that his government had failed to stamp out sectarian violence, he said the task required good law enforcement agencies, judiciary and investigative agencies. “Unfortuna-tely, that is not the case”.
— UNI |
|
Russia to lease bombers to India MOSCOW, Feb 9 — Russia is preparing to sign the lease of four TU-22M3 (backfire) long-range bombers armed with the deadly ‘KH-22’ cruise missiles to India next week despite US objections, media quoted the Air Chief, Gen Anatoly Kornukov, as saying. The deal, under negotiations between India and Russia since 1998, was put on the backburner by Mr Boris Yeltsin’s government fearing “unwanted political consequences”, the Vremya Novostyei daily reported. Despite Moscow’s claim that TU-22M3 bombers are sub-strategic weapons and India will get ‘KH-22’ cruise missiles with conventional, non-nuclear warheads, Washington considers them a strategic weapon, automatically banning their export or lease, the daily said. “Judging from the statement of Kornukov, the Kremlin seems to have permitted Russian arms exporters not to pay attention to these ‘petty differences’ with the Americans,” defence analyst Yuri Golotyuk wrote in an article on Russia will help India become a great military power. Moscow’s mentioning of the ‘non-nuclear’ character of the deal is no more than a tribute to the traditional custom of ‘decent conduct’ on the arms market, especially in view of the Indian declarations about possessing nuclear warheads of various capacity which can be fitted on any type of delivery vehicles, the daily said. The supersonic ‘TU-22M3’ bomber has a maximum range of 2,410 km if flying at subsonic speeds and carrying a 12-tonne payload of bombs and missiles. It can carry five KH-22MA air-to-ground missiles, which have a range of up to 500 km. The aircraft can also carry up to 10 short-range air-to-ground missiles as well as both nuclear and conventional bombs with a total weight of 24 tonnes. Under the US-Soviet START-1 arms control treaty, its mid-air refuelling system was dismantled. Though the START-1 treaty bars Russia from extending the range of these bombers, the Indian military could also upgrade the bombers to extend their range to 5,000 km, with mid-air refuelling sufficient to allow India to reach targets in the USA or Europe, should it so desire, Russian experts say. Moscow could be forthcoming to help India in this if the USA walks out of 1972 ABM treaty and deploys national missile defence, seen by Russia as Washington’s attempt to ensure impunity for itself, they say.
— UNI |
|
Singapore’s generous
gesture to quake-hit SINGAPORE, Feb 9 — As thousands of people in India are contributing generously for the quake-hit victims of Gujarat, philanthrophic Singaporeans have lived up to their reputation of spontaneity by readily contributing huge amounts of relief material. Commoners in the prosperous island state came in droves last Sunday to contribute relief and rehabilitation material for transporting them to the traumatised people in Gujarat. The day-long drive on February 4, called “Operation Gujarat”, attracted ordinary Sigaporeans cutting across all ethnic communities, who converged at four MRT stations with commodities which they thought would be beneficial for the quake-hit people. There were bags of old and new clothes, blankets (mostly
brand new and just purchased), woollen clothings, shoes, rice, flour, noodles, tea, sugar, cooking oil, soaps, and even detergents. The quantity, too was enormous. One Chinese woman contributed 1,000 kg of rice, and a mini-truck had to be specially arranged for the purpose. Several hundreds came in their cars, carrying at times 100 or 200 kg of rice, heavy bags of clothes and blankets, and the like. An elderly Chinese woman, who was passing by and stopped, was almost angry when she came to know that the collection drive would not continue the next day. One Chinese couple came with 100 kg of rice, contacted their friends on phone asking them to chip money to buy more rice. Not satisfied, the couple offered the use of their van to transport the goods to a polytechnic institute where the goods were being accumulated in the west of the island. One young Indian girl offered her entire savings in the piggy bank, but unfortunately, money was not accepted and her offer had to be turned down. Importantly, people who thronged the metro stations for contributing to the humanitarian cause, were not the least concerned about publicity. At the end of the day, “Operation Gujarat”, which had initially hoped to collect at most 30 tonnes of material, ended up colleting a staggering 150 tonnes — all within a span of 14 hours — from 8 am to 10 pm. Just as in the case of the Gujarat earthquake, Singaporeans had pulled out all stops in reaching out to those affected by the earthquake in Turkey. There are lessons to be learnt for Indians from such spontaneous acts of generosity — more so because such drives are purely voluntarily and outside the ambit of the state apparatus. |
|
Thaksin elected Thai PM BANGKOK, Feb 9 — Telecom tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra was today formally elected as Thailand’s 23rd Prime Minister more than a month after national elections handed him a parliamentary majority. Mr Thaksin was elected by the House of Representatives by a majority of 340 votes to 127. “The responsibility has been passed on to me. We have to solve the economic problem first,” the 51-year-old billionaire businessman, who began his career as a police official, told reporters. But dark clouds loom over Mr Thaksin’s own political future. He could be forced to quit his job and any political office for five years if the country’s Constitution court upholds an indictment by the National Counter-Corruption Commission that he failed to make a mandatory asset declaration while serving in a previous government. After serving in previous governments, twice as Deputy Premier and once as Foreign Minister, Mr Thaksin floated his own party “Thai Rak Thai” or “Thais love Thais” in 1998. In the January 6 elections, his party won 248 seats while his two coalition partners hold 77 seats, giving him a majority of 325 in the 500-member Lower House. — PTI |
|
Bush’s phone diplomacy with Arafat WASHINGTON, Feb 9 — In a burst of telephone diplomacy, US President George W. Bush telephoned Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for the first time to discuss the West Asia peace process, his press secretary Ari Fleischer said. They talked yesterday about the need to promote peace and stability in the region and bring an end to the violence there, Mr Fleischer told reporters here. Referring to the car bomb attack in a Jewish locality for which a Palestinian organisation took credit, he said, “This is another reminder of the need to create a just and lasting peace” in West Asia. The Bush administration, while moving cautiously on a peacemaking role, has opened a dialogue with Arab and Israeli leaders. The immediate aim is to head off any outbreak of violence over Mr Ariel Sharon’s election as Israel’s Prime Minister. The US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, talked on Tuesday to Mr Sharon, as Mr Bush did. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the US efforts at this point were primarily directed to all parties in the region doing what they could to restrain violence. “We take this period calmly, to make sure that we all look at what is going to be done and judge by what is done, rather than by assumptions” he added. “I think ... the regional parties and people interested appreciate the need to pursue a regional approach, appreciate the fact that we want to work with them to achieve peace in this region,” Mr Boucher said. Mr Boucher, when pointed out that the Palestinians say that they could not go back to square one and the Israelis maintain that anything that outgoing premier Ehud Barak discussed was no longer valid, said, “It is not necessarily up to us to prescribe the starting point. “It is up to the parties to agree, and obviously the Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon first needs to form a government. As he prepares to take office, we will consult with him, we will consult with the Palestinians, we will consult with our Arab friends.” He said once the USA had a chance to consult both sides regarding their view of the negotiations, it will have a better idea to assist the parties to achieve peace. — PTI |
|
Bush favours cut in N-arsenal WASHINGTON, Feb 9 — The Pentagon is preparing to review how deeply to reduce the nuclear arsenal as part of a strategy to win allied approval for a US national defence against ballistic missiles, officials have said. President George W. Bush has said repeatedly that he sees room for unilateral reductions in the number of offensive nuclear weapons in the US arsenal, although the military has balked at further cuts. Cuts in the nuclear arsenal could help the administration gain support abroad for Mr Bush’s plan to build a national missile defence, a project the Europeans question and Russia and China oppose. The USA now has about 7,000 warheads for deployed nuclear weapons, compared with about 6,000 for Russia. The most recent nuclear arms reduction treaty between Russia and the USA calls for cutting both sides’ arsenals to 3,500 warheads. Further reductions — to between 2,000 and 2,500 warheads on each side — were proposed during the
Clinton administration as a goal for the next round of arms talks. Mr Bush has indicated an interest in cutting below that level, and Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said last weekend that he had been told by the President to consider how much the Pentagon could cut. A Pentagon spokesman, Rear Adm Craig Quigley, said yesterday that Mr Rumsfeld had not yet received formal orders to begin the review, which is part of a comprehensive assessment of the nation’s military requirements. Talking to reporters on his way to Germany last week, Mr Rumsfeld disclosed his intention to conduct a series of reviews. — AP
|
|
Pay penalty and get off the hook, Kohl told BERLIN, FEB 9 — The year-long criminal investigations into former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s involvement in the slush funds scandal took a new twist with prosecutors offering a deal to virtually let him off the hook if he paid $ 150,000 in fine. The deal still needs the approval of a local court in Bonn that could help Kohl come out almost unscathed from the $ 1 million campaign fund scandal and escape a criminal record that could have even landed him in jail. German prosecutors said yesterday that they could drop the charges against tainted Kohl in return for the penalty. This is common judicial practice in Germany to avoid the burden of a trial. Mr Kohl’s political opponents in the ruling Social Democrats-Greens coalition claim the former Chancellor of 16 years is simply trying to buy his way out of trouble. Analysts say even the parliamentary investigations into the murky affairs surrounding Kohl’s role in the slush funds scandal looks like running into the sand. Kohl has admitted breaking the law after confessing that he received $ 1 million in secret donations that he reportedly used to buy support from the erstwhile East German unit of the then ruling Christian Democrats. Kohl, who is dubbed as the German unity Chancellor and the architect of the pan-European Euro currency, besides an elder European statesman, has steadfastly refused to name the secret donors and end speculations that he had sought favours. He has defended this strategy on the ground that he had given the mysterious donors his word of honour. Senior Greens leader Claudia Roth said Kohl had "broken the law and ignored the law" and that the law should take its own course to bring to book the former Chancellor. The charges of breach of trust against Kohl’s Christian Democrats after the scandal surfaced in November 1999, threatened to destory his party, reeling under the impact of financial misdemeanours amid charges in Parliament that Kohl’s government between 1983 and 1998 was "up for sale." — PTI
|
|
Taliban for trial
of Laden in Islamic country ISLAMABAD, Feb 9 — Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban militia has reiterated its willingness to discuss sending indicted terrorist Osama bin Laden for trial by Muslim clerics in an Islamic country, a Pakistani official said today. An Interior Ministry spokesman said the Islamic militia voiced its preparedness to consider such a proposal in talks with visiting Pakistani Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider in Afghanistan this week. “They are prepared to talk about handing over Osama to a third country ...if they are convinced that he will be given a fair trial,” spokesman Tahir Khushnood said. —UNI |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 121 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
