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March 26, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Pak ‘ahead of’ India in N-capability Islamabad, March 25 The Pakistan Muslim League (PML) of deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif formally split today with the dissidents electing a “pro-government” party leader as their president. Macedonian forces pound Tetovo hills BJP policies weaken democracy: Amnesty |
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| Go slow on payoff probes,
NAB told Islamabad, March 25 Pakistan’s military regime has asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to slow down inquiries against some top army officials involved in the alleged questionable defence deals worth billion of dollars, a media report said here. China-Pak pact on cross-border crime FMD: UK ignored key advice for 3 years Putin, Mori stress on peace-making efforts
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Pak ‘ahead of’ India in N-capability Islamabad, March 25 India, which has grander national aspirations, moved at a slower pace in deciding and completing delivery systems, evolving procedures, tactics and doctrine for nuclear use as well as for ensuring effective control over nuclear forces. Pakistan on the other hand moved quickly to implement effective systems and procedures for its more modest nuclear arsenal, Pakistan daily The News quoted the weekly as saying. “In all these areas, New Delhi proceeded at a slower pace, insisting on creating an original Indian system. Pakistan has more fully implemented the lessons that it has learnt from already established nuclear powers,” it said. Indian nuclear policies and forces are controlled by its political leadership, scientists from the Atomic Energy Commission and the Defence Research and Development Organisation, it added. “India views nuclear weapons as necessary for its political utility; its ability to bring international prestige and provide deterrence vis-a-vis Pakistan and China.” But the political leadership had not fully thought through specifics of nuclear use or doctrine and did not view such weapons as possessing military utility and discounted the possibility of them being used on the battlefield, it said. Contrary to this, Pakistan’s nuclear forces were controlled by the army and had been more fully incorporated into the country’s overall military strategy, the weekly said. It said Pakistan officials believed Islamabad’s nuclear capability gave it the option of strongly supporting insurgency in Kashmir. The view was based on the belief that India would not dare hit back with strong conventional weapons for fear of escalation to nuclear exchange, it said. Official proclamations by India’s nuclear scientists notwithstanding, it had not proceeded to develop an effective missile-based nuclear deterrent as quickly as Pakistan and was yet to deploy a missile force in quantity, the weekly said. India’s nuclear delivery systems consisted of assault Aviation Mirage 2000H fighters, which would be supplemented by Sukhoi SU-30MK multi-role fighters along with a limited number of Prtihvi-1 and II short-range ballistic missiles and Agni medium range ballistic missiles, it said. While none of the nuclear delivery systems possessed by India were capable of providing deterrence against China, it developed long-range ICBM, Agni, to fill the
vacuum, it said. Pakistan on the other hand had nearly completed development of solid fuelled missile that could strike key Indian cities from deep within Pakistan territory. Islamabad would use its Ghauri series of liquid-fuelled missiles for offensive operations while the Shaheen series would be retained for defensive purposes, it said. As part of efforts to put in place a command and control system, Pakistan established the Nuclear Command Authority and the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority, the weekly said. Despite all these moves, Islamabad was yet to fully develop its nuclear force structure, it said and added that Pakistan steadfastly refused to quantify the nuclear weapons it required for minimum deterrence. Meanwhile, the Pakistan air force will test-fire several missiles, including those of American and French origin, and rockets tomorrow to improve its operational efficiency by enhancing the combat preparedness, the media reported today. “The test-firing of ground-to-air, surface-to-surface and air-to-air missiles will provide realistic practical training to air crew and weapon controllers,” the Dawn newspaper said quoting sources. “The Southern Air Command of the air force will monitor the exercise for drawing lessons to remove any shortcomings which are identified,” it said. Military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir would witness the exercise to be conducted at the army air defence range at Sonmiani on the concluding day of the week-long “PAF Missile Firing Camp 2001”, the sources said. They said the air-to-air and air-to-ground missiles would be fired from aircraft, including A-5, F-7, F-6, Mirages, MiGs and F-16s.
PTI |
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PML splits, rebels elect Azhar Islamabad, March 25 Mian Mohammad Azhar, Sharif’s close associate-turned-rebel, was declared elected as party president at a general council meeting convened by dissidents here today. Mr Azhar was previously Governor of the powerful Punjab province before he was removed by Sharif following differences. His election today followed a series of meetings between him and military ruler, Gen Pervez Musharraf, in the recent months. The meeting today took place against the backdrop of a spate of reports in the local media that General Musharraf, who was under orders from the Supreme Court to hand over power to an elected government by October 2002, planned to take over as the country’s President in the coming months with the support of elected PML members. Mr Azhar is speculated to take over as Prime Minister. A Sharif loyalist and PML chairman, Raja Zulfikar Haq charged the military regime with involvement in the split. He alleged that the military leadership, after foiling last Friday’s pro-democracy rally at Lahore, “coerced” several party members to attend the dissidents meeting.
PTI |
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Macedonian forces pound Tetovo hills Tetovo, Macedonia, March 25 The sustained attacks came as both sides were warning of a major action. In recent days, the military has acquired more firepower and the insurgents’ popularity and ranks are swelling. The early morning explosions were the heaviest in days. A convoy of armoured vehicles rumbled down the centre of downtown Tetovo just before dawn, turning toward the ethnic Albanian village of Gajre, 4 km outside the centre of Tetovo. Yesterday, rebels and Macedonian gunners had exchanged fire on several occasions in the early afternoon. As three tanks rumbled over cobblestone streets in the city’s Slavic neighbourhood, people gathered on street corners and cheered. Dust and smoke rose above the mountains just south of the city centre. The Macedonian army confirmed that the military began a “strong operation to clear out the terrain from the terrorists on the Sara mountain.” “We are using all available means,” Blagoja Markovski, the army spokesman, told AP. The barrage came just one day after helicopters thundered over Mount Sar Planina, the focus of attacks southwest of the city centre, firing several rockets that sent up a large plume of dirt and smoke. It was not immediately clear what they were targeting or whether anyone was wounded. The attacks, by MI-24 attack helicopters acquired just a day earlier from Ukraine, also came a few hours after two shells apparently fired from rebel positions slammed into a Slavic neighbourhood near a police checkpoint, spraying shrapnel through a cobblestone alley and injuring four persons. Meanwhile, Germany’s Defence Ministry said it planned to send about 100 paratroopers to Tetovo to shield its soldiers based there to perform supply duties for the NATO-led peacekeeping force in neighbouring Kosovo. Most of the 1,000 German soldiers were moved from their Tetovo barracks to a more fortified site last week after it was caught in crossfire. The UK said it would send troops to join in beefed-up controls along the border with Kosovo to help prevent arms from being smuggled to the rebels in Macedonia, Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said.
AP
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BJP policies weaken democracy: Amnesty Washington, March 25 Expressing concern over the “violence against Christians, Muslims and Dalits,’’ the report said it was the result of the policies pursued by the ruling coalition. A major campaign on Dalit rights gathered strength in India, but some human rights defenders were targets of state-sponsored backlash against their activism, the report said. “Areas of separatist violence in Kashmir and north-east India were marked by grave human right abuses on the part of Indian security forces and armed rebel groups.’’ Emboldened by the successful hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane in December 1999 that secured the release of three jailed associates, the militants in the region have stepped up their attacks on civilians and government forces, it said. Abuses by all parties to the conflict is a critical factor behind the fighting in Kashmir,’’ the report said. National and state Human Rights Commissions, however, were barred from investigating human rights violations in the Kashmir valley, the report said. The report recalled the killing of at least seven persons in Anantnag district stating that DNA tests were performed to confirm their identities but the government has not released the results. The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly adopted an autonomy plan that was subsequently rejected by the Cabinet in June last year. The Hizbul Mujahideen declared a unilateral cease-fire and announced its willingness to enter into negotiations with the Indian government. The report also blamed the militants for unleashing attacks against the Hindus, a minority in the state. Ten Hindus were killed in raids conducted by the Kashmiri militants in Udhampur district. Caste violence continued to divide the impoverished state of Bihar. The banned Ranvir Sena, a private militia of upper caste landlords, has been operating with impunity since 1994, waged war on various Maoist guerrilla factions such as the People’s War Group, the report added. These guerrilla groups advocated higher wages and more equitable land distribution for lower caste labourers.
UNI |
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Go slow on payoff probes, NAB told Islamabad, March 25 Weekly newspaper The Friday Times said quoting an NAB official that “those against whom inquiries have been shelved include three ex-Army chiefs, two Naval chiefs and an Air Chief.” The newspaper said barely a month after Lieut-Gen Khalid Maqbool took over as the new NAB chief, his brief was not to pursue any corruption allegations involving serving or retired military officials. Inquiries into at least six defence deals pertaining to the purchase of tanks, submarines, naval mine hunters, mirage fighter aircraft, army jeeps were subsequently shelved, the newspaper said. According to one estimate, the national exchequer has lost up to $1 billion in the form of alleged kickbacks and commissions obtained in these contracts. The newspaper said documents held by the NAB also provided extensive clues about corrupt practices in the Army welfare Trust, the Shaheen Foundation, the Bharia Foundation and the Defence Housing Authority. |
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China-Pak pact on cross-border crime Beijing, March 25 This was decided here this week at a high-level talks between Chinese Public Security Minister Jia Chunwang and the Pakistani Interior Minister, Lt-Gen Moinuddin Haider (retd). “The Chinese Public Security Ministry and Pakistan’s Internal Affairs Ministry have a good cooperative relationship,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said when asked to comment on Haider’s low-profile visit to Beijing. Both sides held talks on strengthening cooperation on bilateral public security, internal affairs and policing to jointly fight cross-border criminal activities, Mr Sun said. The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to institutionalise cooperation between the police forces of the two countries during Mr Haider’s five-day visit. It is reported that they also agreed to establish a joint working group to identify areas of cooperation to check smuggling, drug trafficking, forgery of passports and visas, frauds as well as exchange of information and data concerning criminals.
PTI |
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FMD: UK ignored key advice for 3 years London, March 25 But the UK Government rejected a ban on swill — the slops from airline food, restaurants and school dinners — because this would have hit farmers who would have had to buy expensive feed. The disclosure was seized on by opposition parties yesterday who pointed out that such a saving had cost the UK economy $ 13 billion, and called the revelation “devastating”, saying that it revealed how badly the UK Government was handling the epidemic, which spread to nine more farms yesterday. In 1998, the UK’s Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (SEAC) told UK agriculture ministers that they should outlaw the feeding of swill containing catering waste to pigs to prevent the transmission of the disease. The advice was ignored because the UK was concerned about the economic consequences of a ban. This week the UK Government is expected finally to announce a ban on swill. Prof Harriet Kimbell, a SEAC member, said: “One should never recycle pigs to pigs, sheep to sheep. Anything that is from the same species is a risk and should be stopped”. On a tour of affected areas in Devon yesterday, Mr Tony Blair said the situation had been “hellish” for the farming community. “We are doing everything we can, not only to get on top of the disease, to control and eradicate it, but to make sure that people here not just get the compensation they need but financial help they need for the future,” he said. The number of reported cases climbed yesterday to 524 as the UK Government authorised a policy of automatic slaughter on any farms which shared a boundary with any infected farm. There is no sign that the rate of infection was slowing. The policy will affect the whole of the UK and will involve the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of sheep, cattle and pigs. New plans to control sheep movements will also be announced this week. Sources in the UK Prime Minister’s office said the movement of sheep hundreds of miles across the country to market was one of the reasons the disease had spread so quickly. Mr Nick Brown, Agriculture Secretary, UK, who has been criticised for failing to bring the crisis under control, hinted strongly that the UK Agriculture ministry may start vaccinating livestock against the disease in the coming days to buy time to kill animals at
risk. The Observer News Service |
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Putin, Mori stress on peace-making efforts Moscow, March 25 Mr Putin told Mr Mori at their long-delayed meeting in the Siberian city of Irkutsk that Russia and Japan “must confirm their desire to continue work towards reaching a peace deal,” Interfax reported. “This is one of the main signals that must be sent to the Russian and Japanese people in the mutual agreement that we sign,” Mr Putin said. Mr Mori replied that he and Mr Putin had “energetically discussed all questions” that stood in the way of signing a peace treaty that would formally end hostile relations stretching from World War II, news agencies said. It appeared evident, however, that the two leaders had made little progress in solving their long-standing territorial dispute, or arranged any particular timeframe for a peace treaty dialogue. The closed-door meeting, which went ahead despite uncertainty hanging over the Japanese Premier’s future, was due to focus on Tokyo’s demands that Moscow hand back four tiny Pacific islands — known as the Kurils in Russia and the northern territories in Japan — claimed by the Red Army in 1945. A post-war truce was signed in 1956, in which Russia had pledged to return at least two of the islands after a peace treaty was signed. A final pact was due to have been signed by 2000, but the two sides failed to meet the deadline.
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