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| Wednesday,
March 14, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Fiji chiefs put off decision on
democracy 7 killed in
Pak mosque shooting Musharraf to extend term as army chief FMD spreads to
France, Italy |
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North cancels talks with S.
Korea Israel tightens noose around
Ramallah Benazir case tapes ‘concocted’ ULFA leader’s trial put
off LTTE asked to set
date for talks UN police called out in E. Timor
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Fiji chiefs put off decision on democracy Suva, March 13 Their failure to announce a decision extended the uncertainty over when and if constitutional government will be restored in the Pacific nation. Sources inside the meeting said the chiefs were deeply divided on whether to agree to return the country to democracy or to ignore the court ruling. The chiefs did agree to appoint Mr Josefa Iloilo as President, a largely ceremonial role. They also confirmed Mr Jope Seniloli as Vice-President. Mr Seniloli is a sympathiser of George Speight, the nationalist rebel who led a coup in May last year. Like the interim government, Mr Iloilo was installed by the military in the wake of the coup, in which Speight and a gang of sympathisers stormed parliament and took the government of ethnic Indian Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry hostage in the name of Fiji’s indigenous population. Earlier, Fiji’s influential traditional chiefs selected Mr Ratu Josefa Iloilo as the country’s President, state-run Fiji Radio reported, in a move that could take the Pacific republic closer to a return to democracy. Mr Lloilo, who was currently acting President, was chosen by more than 50 chiefs who gathered amid tight security at the Queen Elizabeth army barracks on the outskirts of the capital, Suva, Fiji Radio said, citing sources within the meeting. He was expected to be formally sworn in at a ceremony on Thursday, the report said. Mr Iloilo’s formal naming to the post was touted as the first step to restoring constitutional government in Fiji, with fresh elections signalled for August to replace the government ousted in a nationalist coup last May. Seen as a moderating influence committed to returning Fiji to democracy, Mr Iloilo had won strong support from Fiji’s powerful military. Moderates on both the indigenous Fijian and ethnic Indian sides of politics, and business leaders had also given him conditional support. In a ruling earlier this month, Fiji’s appeals court declared the interim administration illegal and gave the chiefs until March 15 to formally confirm Mr Iloilo’s appointment or replace him. The interim government responded to the ruling last week by tendering its resignation. But Mr Iloilo prevailed upon them to put their decision on hold until the chiefs had made a decision on what should happen next. AFP, AP |
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7 killed in Pak mosque shooting Lahore, March 13 They said the shooting took place at a mosque run by a militant group of the majority Sunni sect. Government sources said they believed the shooting was a reaction to the killing of 12 members of the minority Shia sect in a shooting in the nearby town of Sheikhupura on March 4. Yesterday’s shooting occurred while the military ruler, Gen Pervez Musharraf, and his Interior Minister, Moinuddin Haider, were in Lahore. Hospital sources said four of the wounded were in a critical condition. Witnesses said two gunmen riding on motorcycles opened fire while people were saying their night prayers. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. There have been a spate of sectarian killings involving Sunni and Shia militants in recent months. Eight people were killed on March 1 in gunbattles between the two sects in the North West Frontier Province. Differences between the Sunnis and Shia over their beliefs has often led to violence in recent years in which hundreds of Pakistanis have died.
Reuters |
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Musharraf to extend term as army chief Islamabad, March 13 It is expected that General Musharraf will announce the promotion of two senior Lieut Generals as full Generals and appoint them as the Chairman, Joint Chief of Staff Committee
(CJCSC) and Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS), “The News” daily reported today. General Musharraf at present holds charge of the Chief Executive, the CJCSC and the
COAS. The CJCSC is charged with integrating and coordinating the affairs of the three services. Experts say that in the final months of his term, the Chief Executive wants more time to strengthen the reforms process initiated by his regime and delay transfer of power to elected representatives.
UNI |
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FMD spreads to France, Italy Paris, March 13 The French Farm Ministry said tests on cattle at a farm in the Mayenne Department of northwest France had been positive for the highly contagious disease. “The first case of foot-and-mouth has just been confirmed in a herd of 114 cattle on a farm in the Mayenne, which is next to a farm which had imported British sheep in February,” the statement said. It added that the entire herd of cattle had been slaughtered and would be incinerated later in the day. It was the first confirmed case of foot-and-mouth in France since 1981. Foot-and-mouth disease has spread like wildfire in the UK since it emerged there last month, but until Tuesday there had been no confirmed cases in continental Europe as governments introduced draconian measures to keep the illness at bay. The infected cattle were discovered at a farm near La Baroche-Gondouin village, which lies on the border of the Loire and Normandy. The area had been put on high alert against the disease because of the imported British sheep. France earlier this month ordered the destruction of a total 20,000 sheep imported from the UK. The country also slapped a two-week ban on the export of all animals at risk from the disease along with a ban on most movements of livestock out of fear that foot-and-mouth may have spread from the UK. The disease afflicts cloven-hoofed animals like pigs, cattle and sheep, and the virus that causes it is easily transported, though it only rarely infects humans. It causes blisters in animals’ mouths and hooves and loss of appetite. ROME: Sheep from France have been quarantined in central Italy after preliminary blood tests showed antibodies for foot-and-mouth disease, a senior veterinary official said today. The sheep were the first animals in Italy found carrying antibodies since the start of the outbreak of the highly contagious viral infection in Britain last month. “Some 390 sheep were impounded this week at a slaughterhouse in Pianella, near Pescara,” Mr Raffaele Buccella, chief veterinary officer at Pescara’s veterinary health clinic, told newsmen. The sheep had come from farms in France, he said. “The animals are not showing symptoms of the disease,” he added. “The animals could have come into contact with foot-and-mouth or they may have been vaccinated against the disease.” Italy took tough measures against the threat of foot-and-mouth last week, imposing a global ban on imports of any livestock susceptible to the virus. Meanwhile, in Britain, the number of infected sites leapt by 19 to a total of 183, with an estimated 160,000 animals slaughtered or due to be killed because of the disease.
Reuters |
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North cancels talks with S. Korea Seoul, March 13 North Korean chief delegate Jon Kum Jin did not give a reason for the cancellation of the talks in Seoul, but South Korean analysts speculated that the Pyongyang Government was concerned by tougher talk from the new US Administration. South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung returned on Sunday from Washington, where President George W. Bush told him that he was skeptical of North Korea and would not immediately resume negotiations on the North’s missile programme. “North Korea may have delayed the meeting because it has not yet set its stance on how to cope with last week’s Kim-Bush summit,” said Mr Koh Yu-Hwan, a Professor of North Korean studies at Seoul’s Dongguk University. In recent weeks, North Korea has angrily threatened to pull out of missile and nuclear accords with Washington. “Considering various circumstances, we cannot participate in today’s meeting,” the South Korean Government quoted Mr Jon as saying in a telephone message relayed to his South Korean counterpart, Unification Minister Park Jae-Kyu. Mr Jon did not offer to reschedule the talks. Mr Park expressed strong regrets and urged that the meeting be held as soon as possible, his ministry said in a statement. At the talks, South Korea had planned to set an agenda for exchanges for the rest of 2001, including more reunions of separated family members. AP |
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Israel tightens noose around Ramallah Jerusalem, March 13 Frustrated Palestinians boarded a bulldozer flying two Palestinian flags yesterday and set off for an Israeli roadblock near Ramallah, planning to level it. Israeli soldiers opened fire, killing a protester. Ramallah, a commercial and political centre, was suffering the strictest closure yet in more than five months of conflict, after Israel said it had hard intelligence that a band of militants was planning to leave Ramallah for Jerusalem with a car bomb. The militant Hamas has threatened to greet the new Sharon government with 10 suicide bomb attacks and took responsibility for two blasts in Israel this month, killing four Israelis. Sharon said Israeli security caught militants who were about to carry out an attack, but “the entire cell was not caught.” That made the strict closure of Ramallah necessary, he said. During a protest march, Palestinians advanced on one of the Israeli roadblocks outside Ramallah. Several climbed on a bulldozer rumbling in the direction of the Israeli soldiers, who opened fire, killing Abdel Kader Abu Akroub, 28. In Washington, the US State Department said Israeli economic pressure on the Palestinians did not enhance security but caused hardships for Palestinian families. State Department Richard Boucher called on Israel to release tax revenues to the Palestinians, and said it was important for the Palestinians to stop shootings and incitement and “take steps to end the violence.” Meanwhile, meeting scheduled between Israeli Cooperation Minister Tzippi Livni and Palestinian Health Minister Riyad Zaanun was cancelled for “security reasons”, UN Middle East co-ordinator Terje Roed-Larsen said in a statement. Last night’s meeting was aimed at “studying the human impact of the recent tightening of the (Israeli) blockade,” the statement said. AP, AFP |
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Benazir case tapes ‘concocted’ Islamabad, March 13 Counsel for the government told the seven-Judge Bench of the apex court here yesterday that the audio tapes referred as evidence by Benazir and her husband Asif Zardari, were engineered “to malign the judiciary both inside and outside the country and obstruct the course of justice.” There was also no record to suggest the conversations between the minister and the judge were recorded by the Intelligence Bureau, counsel said. Both Benazir and Zardari were sentenced to five years and imposed a hefty fine in a corruption case. They were convicted during deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s regime. In her appeal to the Supreme Court, Benazir submitted tapes of alleged telephone conversations between the then Law Minister, Mr Khalid Anwar and Lahore High Court Judge M.M. Qayyum, which suggested that the judge had delivered a pre-written judgement. Both Anwar and Qayyum said the tapes were concocted to discredit them. The phone conversations were allegedly recorded by a former Deputy Director of the Intelligence Bureau.
PTI |
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ULFA leader’s trial put
off Dhaka, March 13 His lawyer, Ms Alina Khan, is preparing to file the second petition seeking political asylum in Bangladesh. Earlier attempt for asylum failed through. The Dhaka High Court has also rejected an earlier writ petition moved by the Bangladesh Society for Enforcement of Human Rights restricting his extradition responding to appeal by India. Ms Alina Khan is a human rights activist. Meanwhile, the judge has issued non-bailable warrant of arrest against Farid Ahmed, Assistant Sub Inspector of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), The complainant of the third case for his non-appearance for deposing in court. Anup Chetia (47) was arrested on December 21, 1997, from a flat at Adabar, Mohammadpur, a suburb of Dhaka, with his two associates Laxmi Prasad and Babul Sharma. Police had recovered from their possession forged passports which they used to travel abroad, illegally held currencies of 16 countries and illegally held satellite telephone. |
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LTTE asked to set
date for talks Colombo, March 13 “We are waiting for the LTTE to give us the date when peace talks can commence, to prepare the programme and move further in the peace initiative,” Agriculture Minister D.M. Jayaratne said in Parliament yesterday. He said the government was ready for talks but was wary of setting the timetable and added that it wanted the rebels to fix the date. Norwegian special envoy Erik Solheim, currently shuttling between Colombo and London, is expected to return to Sri Lanka soon with the LTTE’s response.
PTI |
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UN police called out in E. Timor Dili, March 13 United Nations staff and aid workers were ordered to stay in the UN Compound in the town for their own safety yesterday night, UN Civilian police spokesman Luis Carrilho said. Fighting erupted between two groups of youths on Monday after a local youth was murdered in the southeastern coastal town. “It is believed his murder preceded tensions between two youth groups of martial artists,” Carrilho said.
Reuters |
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