 |
| Saturday,
April 7, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
|
China
allows one more meeting; firm on apology Shells hit
Arafat’s police HQ NTV
takeover talks break down Lanka
eases embargo, set for peace talks Islamic
militants clash with police, 30 hurt Strike
hits life in Nepal Go-ahead for Sydney
gurdwara |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Jaswant to meet Rice at White House Judges for
Estrada graft cases named Mori to
step down
|
|
China allows one more meeting; firm on apology Haikou, China, April 6 In a further sign of progress after a flurry of intense diplomatic activity six days into the crisis, it also told U.S. diplomats they might be able to see the 24 detained Americans for a third meeting on Saturday. A U.S. official confirmed a second meeting with the detainees had finally started on Hainan Island, where their damaged spy plane made an emergency landing on Sunday after the collision with a Chinese F-8 fighter. The official said U.S. defence attache Neal Sealock was now meeting the crew. “He has gone to meet the crew, he will make a statement at about 10.20 p.m. (1420 GMT), the official said. The first U.S. contact with the crew came on Tuesday night, but otherwise the group has been held incommunicado. Earlier, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said: “China’s position is clear: The USA must admit full responsibility and apologise to the Chinese people and it must take sincere and effective measures to prevent a similar incident from happening again.” Chinese President Jiang Zemin said both sides should make China-U.S. ties the top priority and find a solution. Bush, saying that it was time for the 21 men and three women to return home, also highlighted a need to preserve relations. “I want to emphasise that Chinese and U.S. leaders should manage this situation with maximum interest in bilateral relations in order to find an adequate solution,” Jiang said in Chile at the start of a 12-day tour of Latin America. His comments suggested that he and other Chinese leaders with political stakes in good relations with the USA were gaining the upper hand against military hawks and Communist Party hardliners keen to use the incident to humiliate Washington. It also suggested concern in Beijing over growing anger among the general public in the USA and members of Congress which threatens to spill over into trade and other areas. China says the U.S. plane veered towards its fighter. The Chinese airman bailed out of his F-8 fighter after the collision and is now missing and presumed dead. On Friday a colleague who was flying in a separate plane on the same mission told China’s official Xinhua news agency that the U.S. spy plane had made “a big move” towards Wang Wei’s jet before its propellers shredded the F-8’s tail fin. “The savage act of American planes colliding with Chinese planes while conducting spying activities at China’s door makes us indignant,” pilot Zhao Yu was quoted as saying. President Jiang still made clear he wanted an apology for the collision, but couched his demand in gentler language. “I have visited a lot of countries and seen that it is normal for people to ask forgiveness or say ‘excuse me’ when they collide in the street,” Jiang said. “But the American planes come to the border of our country and do not ask forgiveness. Is this behaviour acceptable?” he asked.
Reuters |
|
Shells hit Arafat’s police HQ Gaza, April 6 The latest violence and the killing of an Islamic militant in a phone booth explosion in the West Bank on Thursday followed U.S.-arranged Israeli-Palestinian security talks earlier in the week that brought no immediate break in a cycle of bloodshed. Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said the ultimate goal of Israeli military operations was to push Palestinian President Yasser Arafat back to the negotiating table. “I think Arafat is a partner (to peace) and I will continue to see him as a partner,” Ben-Eliezer told Israel’s largest daily newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth. Tanks fired shells at a Palestinian outpost near the Jewish settlement of Netzarim, where mortar bombs landed overnight, Israel Radio reported. A Palestinian military spokesman said Israeli forces shot at a position of the Force-17 security unit. Witnesses said the explosions could be heard nearly 5 km (three miles) away in Gaza City. The army said its forces had attacked targets in response to mortar fire on villages inside Israel and in Gaza. Though there were no casualties, the bombing drew a swift Israeli response. Palestinian Public Security chief Major-Gen Abdel Razek al-Majaydeh said four Palestinian security posts were hit in the second attack by helicopter gunships in Gaza in 48 hours. Five people were slightly wounded, hospital sources said. In the West Bank city of Qaqilya, Israeli soldiers fired rubber-coated metal bullets at rock-throwing Palestinians, wounding five people, witnesses said. “Since the end of September we have been trying to extinguish the Palestinian bonfire and you could say we have not succeeded,” said Brig-Gen Ron Kitrey, chief spokesman of the Israeli army. Meanwhile, the USA rebuked Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s new government over its latest plans to expand Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Using unprecedented harsh language, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher condemned Israel for a settlement policy that he called “provocative”. Sharon’s administration said it would auction off West Bank land for the building of 700 more Jewish homes. Under international law, settlements are illegal. In a statement on Friday, a spokesman for Sharon said the move did not change Israeli policy, under which no new settlements would be built but more homes would be constructed in existing ones to accommodate a “natural population increase”. PARIS: Israel is making mistakes in its dealings with the Palestinians and is provoking greater violence, the French Foreign Ministry said in unusually blunt criticism of the Israeli Government. Foreign Ministry spokesman Francois Rivasseau criticised Israeli policy under new Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, including a decision to expand a controversial Jewish settlement programme. “This downward spiral leads to more violence, more destruction and more suffering,” Mr Rivasseau told reporters. “The Israeli government has taken a wrong turning.” Among the areas where Israel had lost direction was “the provocative announcement of the resumption of settlements in the occupied territories, the continuation of so-called extrajudicial murders, the military clashes in Gaza and attacks on the safety of negotiators,” he said.
Reuters |
|
Moscow, April 6 Each side accused the other of torpedoing discussions over the future of Russia's sole country-wide independent station taken over last week by state-dominated gas giant Gazprom. Journalists proposed submitting the row over the takeover to President Vladimir Putin and Russia's top courts. NTV's new managers, whose authority is disputed by journalists, dismissed the proposal as an unacceptable ultimatum. Western governments, including the USA and Germany, have made clear to Mr Putin in recent days their disapproval of any move to stifle NTV's independence. Mr Putin has made no comment on the Gazprom takeover but says he upholds press freedom. He faces questions on the matter in talks next week with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Mr Yevgeny Kiselyov, NTV's Director-General and one of Russia's most prominent presenters, said the management had broken off the discussions. He said the proposed appeal to Mr Putin would have suspended all decisions on NTV's future. NTV's new chairman Alfred Kokh, representing Gazprom's media branch, said the journalists had caused the failure. “We were presented with an ultimatum, including a joint appeal to the president and refused a meeting with the editorial staff,” Mr Kokh said. Gazprom’s media arm dismissed the journalists’ proposal, saying that the President could not interfere in legal cases. CNN founder Ted Turner meanwhile issued a statement urging NTV staff to "remain patient and calm" after his advisers met Gazprom representatives to help clinch a deal. Mr Turner said on Wednesday he had agreed to buy shares from NTV founder Vladimir Gusinsky, but could only guarantee NTV's independence if a similar deal were struck with Gazprom. Friday's commission meeting opened a day after Kokh engaged in ill-tempered discussions with reporters in their studio. He said NTV under Gusinsky had run up large debts, guaranteed by Gazprom, but that the network now had to turn in a profit.
Reuters |
|
Lanka eases embargo, set for peace talks Colombo, April 6 Norwegian Ambassador Jon Westborg crossed frontlines and travelled to the Wanni area held by the LTTE amid stepped-up moves to arrange a meeting between the government and the rebels who have been fighting for a homeland in the north and northeast of the country. Official sources said the Ambassador was accompanied by another Norwegian diplomat, but details of their latest mission were not immediately available. However, the visit comes as the government partially lifts the economic embargo which was a key stumbling block for opening direct talks between the two antagonists to end decades of ethnic bloodshed. Norway has been trying to broker peace talks between the two sides for nearly two years, but a face-to-face meet is yet to take place. Military sources said under the easing of controls, they had begun allowing food and medical supplies, agricultural appliances, alcohol, cigarettes and tricycles into LTTE-held areas. Meanwhile, an alleged plot to assassinate opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was revealed after a woman LTTE cadre told the police that she had been asked to meet a certain “Ranil” at a public meeting in Central Anuradhapura. Media reports, quoting senior police officials, said the alleged plot was revealed by a 15-year-old girl who was arrested from Trincomalee and brought to Colombo for questioning. However, Deputy Defence Minister Anurudhha Ratwatte told Parliament yesterday that no evidence had been found of a plot against the life of the opposition leader.
AFP, UNI |
|
Islamic militants clash with police, 30 hurt Dhaka, April 6 They said the police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to quell attacks by hundreds of activists armed with home-made bombs or rocks and sticks. The witnesses said two press photographers were among those injured. Fighting erupted as the riot police moved to halt a march near Dhaka’s Baitul Mokarram mosque following Friday’s noon prayers. One witness said the area around the mosque had turned into a battlefield. Earlier on Friday the police said it had detained nearly 150 activists from the country’s largest Islamic party for allegedly plotting to cause violence during an opposition-led strike called for next week. The group, the Jamaat-e-Islami, is a member of a four-party opposition alliance led by former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, which has called for a 72-hour countrywide strike from Monday aimed at forcing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from power. The Jamaat-e-Islami said those detained included its secretary-general, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid, and several leaders of its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir. Mujahid was picked up at his home in Dhaka yesterday and the rest when the police stormed two party offices later that afternoon. The police said the detentions followed clashes with Jamaat and Shibir activists in which five police officers were injured. Jamaat said more than 100 of its supporters were hurt. The alliance has held more than 80 days of often-violent strikes in which at least 45 persons have been killed since Hasina took office in 1996. The alliance on Friday denounced the detention of its members and warned the action could fuel more unrest. The next parliamentary election is not due until after mid-July, but Khaleda, chief of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, is pressing for the vote to be held in May.
Reuters |
|
Kathmandu, April 6 The Maoists called for the general strike in protest against what they call the all-around failure of Prime Minister Koirala-led Nepali Congress Government. All forms of vehicles were off the roads today and most shops, schools and educational institutions were closed. Attendance at government offices was thin because many employees were unable to commute to work. There were no reports of major violence. The Maoists yesterday telephoned big companies and tour operators and told them not to run tourist buses on Friday and they also warned private airlines not to operate their scheduled flights. In view of the maoist massacre of 36 policemen in western and eastern Nepal on Sunday, the government had taken extra security precautions in the capital to prevent any violence during the general strike. The underground Maoists have been waging what they call a “people’s war” for the past five years in which almost 1,600 persons have lost their lives. The Maoists denounce the western-style multi-party democracy in Nepal as a failure and want to replace it with a republican Communist system.
DPA |
|
Go-ahead for Sydney gurdwara Sydney, April 6 Turramurra Gurdwara, situated in one of the most sought-after Sydney suburbs, has been at the centre of protracted legal feuds. The construction of the gurdwara was, like many other Indian religious shrines, opposed by people residing in the vicinity. “Even though Turramurra Gurdwara was among the first to be established in Australia, a larger shrine could not be constructed due to some intra-community problems,” said Mr Harmeet Pal Singh, president of the North Shore Sikh Association of Sydney. “Those differences were sorted out long back and so were some other issues. Now our design has been approved by Kur-ring-gai City Council and we plan to...finish the construction within a year,” he told IANS. The building that currently houses the gurdwara used to function as a church earlier. The problems obstructing the raising of a reasonably large gurdwara in Turramurra date back a few decades. The previous gurdwara management was allegedly running the shrine “as a private property which was opposed by the Sikh community”. The differences led to a series of legal suits and the cases dragged on for years. “The ongoing disharmony also had an adverse affect on the number of worshippers coming to the gurdwara. Most of them started going to Parklea Gurdwara, which was extended to accommodate a large number of devotees,” he said. Parklea Gurdwara is said to be the largest in the Australasia region. The Turramurra Gurdwara management had to keep its fund-raising campaign on low drive as the shrine was still under construction and needed all the resources at the disposal of the local Sikh community. “Eventually some influential Sikh families pooled in the money to pay off the family which was running the previous management as the value of gurdwara land and building,” he said. After taking care of the finances, the design to construct the gurdwara in the green, natural surroundings of Turramurra was submitted in November 1999.
IANS |
|
|
Jaswant to meet Rice at White House
Washington, April 6 The meeting is scheduled for about 30 minutes when both leaders pick up the thread from the bilateral relations attained during the Clinton regime. Ms Rice, unlike the hawks in the Republican administration who see India from a Cold War perspective, is keen on building relations with India as a counter to Asian regional power China. The current stand-off between Washington and Beijing over the release of the spy plane crew provides an ideal setting for talks between the two leaders exploring the possibility of strategic cooperation between the countries notwithstanding Washington’s nuclear proliferation concerns. Ms Rice, while addressing a think-tank institute in Philadelphia just before she assumed office, flayed previous administrations for viewing relations with India in the context of Kashmir and nuclear proliferation only. Ms Rice, along with Secretary of State Powell, is keen on building on the momentum in relations between the USA and India and is open to the idea of lifting sanctions against India. After the meeting with Ms Rice, Mr Singh drives down to the State Department Headquarters at Foggy Bottom for a luncheon meeting with General Powell.
UNI |
|
Judges for Estrada graft cases named Manila, April 6 Estrada and his co-accused may post bail in all but one case — that of plunder or massive corruption, said Mr Justice Melita Nazario, one of the five presiding justices of the special anti-graft court called Sandiganbayan. The plunder case, which is theoretically punishable by death, was drawn by lottery to a Division Bench headed by Mr Justice Anacleto Badoy, said court officials. Mr Justice Badoy is now on leave until next week. The presiding justices have yet to receive the documents, and will not be able to act on them this week because they still have to study them to determine if there is “probable cause” for the cases to go to trial, a source told AFP. Estrada was indicted on charges of plunder and seven other related corruption cases on Wednesday. The former movie star, who was toppled in a military-backed popular revolt after being embroiled in a massive corruption scandal, filed a second motion yesterday to ask the country’s highest tribunal to reverse itself. The deposed leader has challenged the Arroyo Government to arrest him, press reports said today. “Go ahead, arrest me,” Estrada reportedly told supporters in the Centreal Philippines. Immigration authorities have been put on alert to ensure Estrada doesn’t flee while the country’s anti-graft court, the Sandiganbayan, mulls evidence to decide whether to issue an arrest warrant. Presiding Judge Francis Garchitorena said his court will “double its effort.” No bail is permitted for the most serious of eight charges against Estrada, economic plunder.
AFP, AP |
|
Mori to step down Tokyo, April 6 “I have made up my mind to step down as we need to deal with mounting domestic and international tasks under a new government,” Fukada quoted Mori as saying at a press conference. The announcement followed his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)’s decision yesterday to call for the party leadership elections on April 24. Meanwhile, former Japanese Premier Ryutaro Hashimoto has gained enough support to replace Mr Mori in the ruling party’s leadership election, press reports said on Friday. The party’s biggest faction led by Mr Hashimoto yesterday agreed to back the 63-year-old former Premier, who currently serves as Mori’s Administrative Reform Minister, the Mainichi Shimbun and the Sankei Shimbun reported.
AFP |
 |
| 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 | |
