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April 21, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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41 killed in Ethiopia riots
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| Iraq shoots down
Iranian spy plane Amman, April 20 Iraqi anti-aircraft batteries yesterday shot down an unmanned Iranian surveillance plane over the Mendali region, about 400 km northeast of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, the official Iraq News Agency (INA) quoted an air defence spokesman as saying. 4 LTTE boats destroyed in battle Pak flays India on Ocean Rim body Tokyo visa for Lee,
after China protest Rebuff for Estrada prosecutors UK faces fresh
problems on FMD
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Israeli cops enter Temple Mount Jerusalem, April 20 Responding to Palestinian stone-throwing after Friday prayers at al-Aqsa mosque on the site, the police in battle gear stormed the area. “A large police force entered the area of the Temple Mount. The stone throwing stopped,” a police spokesman said. The police did not enter al-Aqsa or the Dome of the Rock mosques on the esplanade. Jews revere the area as Temple Mount, site of the biblical Jewish temples. The push onto the complex marked the first time in weeks that such a large police force had entered the area, inside the walled Old City of Jerusalem. Earlier, the Israeli army today said it had eased restrictions in the Gaza Strip, shortly after Palestinians fired two mortar rounds into Israel. The army said it had lifted roadblocks put in place overnight Monday. The restrictions divided the Gaza Strip into three parts, severely hampering movement and preventing Palestinians from moving between northern and southern Gaza. Palestinians fired two mortar bombs from Gaza into an area of Israel late yesterday. The attack was of the kind which led Israel on Monday to launch a fierce missile strike, briefly reoccupy parts of Gaza and restrict Palestinian movement. Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told U.S. President George W. Bush by phone that Syria reserved a right to retaliate for Israel’s Monday attack on a radar base in Lebanon in which three Syrian soldiers were killed, Mr Assad’s spokesman said yesterday. Israel said its attack on the Syrian base was a reprisal for killing one of its soldiers on the Lebanese-Israeli border on Saturday by Syrian-backed Hizbollah guerrillas. In Washington, the White House said Mr Bush had appealed to Mr Assad for restraint. Syria is the main power in Lebanon. TEL AVIV: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had rejected an offer from Palestinian President Yasser Arafat for a joint television call against violence, the Israeli daily Ha’aretz reported today. Mr Sharon was quoted as saying: “The solution is not in making declarations. I do not need declarations from Arafat. ... The Chairman must order his forces and take practical steps to halt the violence, terror and incitement.” According to Israeli and Palestinian reports, Arafat had given orders to end mortar attacks on Israel and Israelis in the Gaza Strip, but several mortars fell on Israeli territory again yesterday with no damage reported. Reuters,
DPA |
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41 killed in Ethiopia riots Addis Ababa, April 20 The police opened fire on rioters on Wednesday after student protests degenerated into the worst violence in the capital Addis Ababa since the overthrow of the Marxist regime in 1991. Two persons wounded in Wednesday’s violence died overnight on Thursday, bringing the total death toll to 41, hospital sources said. Ethiopian Democratic Party (EDP) President Admasu Gebyheu told Reuters that he did not know why scores of members of his party had been arrested, but political analysts said EDP members were suspected of involvement in inciting the violence. “The government suspects them of being activists in the student movement,” said one source, who declined to be named. Mr Gebyheu said EDP Secretary General Lidetu Ayalew was arrested on Thursday, adding that he did not know where the officials had been detained. The government has repeatedly warned opposition parties not to exploit the violence that followed protests by students demanding political rights and an end to police brutality. The police entered St Mary’s Church where students had sought refuge from the violence and forced them into military trucks, according to witnesses quoted in the Daily Monitor newspaper. The authorities closed Addis Ababa University indefinitely after Wednesday’s clashes. The police stormed the campus last week after student protests, beating and injuring around 50 persons. Residents in the capital of three million persons said the violence was the worst there since the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front overthrew the Dergue Marxist military junta of Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991.
Reuters |
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Taiwan provokes China with war games Pingtung (Taiwan), April 20 Two F-5E fighters armed with Taiwan-made missiles and Cobra helicopters carrying U.S.-made Hellfire missiles attacked floating targets in the Taiwan Strait, kicking off the annual “Han Kuang” (Chinese glory) exercises involving 3,380 troops. “I believe the impressive effect of these exercises will increase the confidence of our people about the ability of our armed forces to defend the country,” drill Commander Chen Chin-sheng told reporters as all branches of the armed forces took part. A fast patrol boat followed up the air attacks by firing anti-ship missiles at floating targets. An armoured battalion then simulated an attack on enemies hitting the beach, opening fire in a deafening roar as residents of the south Taiwan onion-growing town of Chechen crowded at the side of a nearby road to watch. Taiwan also unveiled its newly developed Thunder 2000 multi-barrelled rocket launcher in a live-fire drill. The annual exercises come at a sensitive time as Taiwan awaits a US decision next week on its request for arms, including four destroyers with the missile-hunting Aegis radar system, submarines and an advanced Patriot missile defence system known as PAC-3. “But as the other side is flexing its muscles, we can’t afford to lag behind,” said the officer who spoke on condition of anonymity. “What do we need the military for if it can’t fight?” President Chen Shui-bian did not attend the anti-landing drills that launched the military exercise, which traditionally lasts several weeks. He is scheduled to attend the commissioning of a batch of about 20 French-made Mirage fighters on May 10. China has deployed an increasing number of missiles in coastal provinces facing Taiwan, and many of the anti-missile defences on the island’s shopping list reflect that threat. Taiwan analysts said Washington was unlikely to sell Taiwan the politically sensitive Aegis system as the USA shores up ties with China strained by the spy plane collision. “I will not be surprised if we don’t get the Aegis this year and it’s not necessarily bad news for us,” said National Chengchi University diplomacy professor Teng Chung-chian. Analysts say Kidd-class destroyers, which it might sell to Taiwan, could go into service immediately, but the military may need eight years to launch Arleigh Burke-Class destroyers equipped with the Aegis system.
Reuters |
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Iraq shoots down Iranian spy plane Amman, April 20 The incident came 24 hours after an Iranian rocket attack on positions of the Iraq-based Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mujahedeen, which killed at least three persons and wounded 19 others. Iran has acknowledged the scud missile attacks. In Washington, the Iranian opposition group, People’s Mujahedeen of Iran-Washington, identified the downed craft as a Pilatus reconnaissance drone belonging to the Iran Government’s Revolutionary Guards Corps. It said another aircraft disappeared over the Iraqi city of Khaneqin. In a separate incident, the Mujahedeen group said two Iranian warplanes came under heavy fire from Iraq anti-aircraft batteries near Jalawla and fled before taking action. The incidents were part of an ongoing conflict in which Iraq and Iran charge each other with giving refuge to dissident groups. Iran yesterday acknowledged firing 56 scud missiles at Iraq on Wednesday against six bases of the rebel opposition group People’s Mujaheddin (MKO) inside Iraq, the news network Khabar reported. In a letter to the United Nations Security Council, Iran’s UN envoy Hadi Nejad-Husseinian said Wednesday’s attacks were “in retaliation” for grenade attacks by the MKO in Teheran and other cities.
DPA |
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4 LTTE boats destroyed in battle Colombo, April 20 Four navymen were wounded, one of them seriously, in the gunfire that took place off Chalai, the scene of a similar confrontation a few days ago, Brig Sanath Karunaratne said. He said the damage to the navy craft was minor. Brigadier Karunaratne said air force jets carried out bombing attacks and hit one of the three boats of the
LTTE that escaped from the scene. One of the rebel boats was also seen landing at Putumathalan in the Mullaitivu coast, he said. “We detected another Tiger boat that landed at Putumathalan fishing village, but the pilots did not engage the target because they believed the Tigers had forced civilians to unload the craft,” he said. Brigadier Karunaratne said they suspected that the rebels were ferrying supplies to their Mullaitivu stronghold when the navy detected the craft. Earlier, the LTTE blaming the Sri Lankan troops for opening fire on the London-based American journalist Marie Colvin and injuring her in a rebel-held territory on April 16, the LTTE has asked the government to lift the ban on media personnel travelling to Vanni region. “It was an act of cowardice by nervous, trigger-happy soldiers,” the rebel group said in a statement from its headquarters in Vanni last night. Ms Colvin had crossed the front lines in Vavuniya under the impression that the security forces would not fire while their festival season ceasefire was in operation, it said. She suffered serious injuries, including one on her eye from a flying shrapnel, and flew out of the island yesterday. The government decided not to press charges even though it charged her with overstaying her visa and crossing over into “uncleared areas” without the military permission. The government, the LTTE alleged, had banned journalists from the battle ground with the motive of “covering up the atrocities and injustices committed on half a million people.” Meanwhile, President Chandrika Kumaratunga, who is abroad, wished the wounded journalist a speedy recovery, an official spokesman said.
PTI |
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Pak flays India on Ocean Rim body Dubai, April 20 “Pakistan has so far been denied entry into the association due to India’s machinations...It is unfortunate that India once again chose to play the regional policeman and opposed Pakistan’s membership of the association on totally baseless and flimsy grounds”, he said in interviews to English dailies of Oman ahead of Omani ruler Sultan Qaboos Bin Said’s three-day official visit to Pakistan. General Musharraf said “India’s action is a rebuff not only to the IOR-ARC’s mandate but also to the will of member-countries for whose support Pakistan remains so grateful”. This is the first comment that the Pakistani leader has made on the IOR-ARC ministerial meeting held in Muscat at which Pakistan’s application for its membership was debated at length. |
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Tokyo visa for Lee, after China protest Tokyo, April 20 The decision came after a meeting between Foreign Minister Yohei Kono and outgoing Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori late in the evening. “The Japanese Government has decided to proceed with issuing a visa for humanitarian reasons,” Kono told reporters. Some Japanese politicians had been against approving the visa request at a time when Sino-Japanese ties are already strained by disputes over trade and a history textbook, which critics say glosses over Japan’s wartime aggression. Lee (78), vilified by China for trying to break Taiwan out of diplomatic isolation during his rule, had said he hoped to visit Japan for a medical check-up after an operation in Taiwan last year to clear a clogged artery. He said his trip had no political motives. China, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province, had repeatedly urged Tokyo to reject the request, approval of which it said would deeply damage bilateral relations. China’s Ambassador Chen Jian lodged a formal request with Japan earlier in the day asking it to refrain from issuing the visa to Lee. Reports said earlier that in an effort to limit the damage to ties with Beijing, Lee’s visit would be limited to a trip to a southern Japanese hospital for medical treatment. Earlier, Lee refused to sign a pledge spelling out “humiliating” conditions for a visit to Japan, Taiwan media reported. Taiwan newspapers said Mr Lee had refused to sign a promise that would restrict his activities in Japan to seeking medical treatment and bar him from engaging in any political activity.
Reuters, DPA |
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Rebuff for Estrada prosecutors Manila, April 20 The ruling by the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court is the second rejection of attempts by prosecutors to withdraw five of the eight charges against Estrada to focus on more serious charge of economic plunder. The crime is punishable by death and bail is not allowed. Estrada was arrested earlier this week in relation to one of the charges, but released on bail, pending a hearing next month. At today’s session ombudsman Aniano Desierto told the court he wanted to withdraw the five lesser charges to prevent Estrada’s lawyers from using them as delaying tactics. Desierto said he believed Estrada’s lawyers would invoke the so-called “double jeopardy” strategy to delay all cases against the deposed leader.
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UK faces fresh
problems on FMD London, April 20 The two-month-old battle against the livestock disease has also been hit by a dispute between Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Labour government and farmers’ leaders over the use of vaccination. Britain has stated that the disease, which has also spread to the Netherlands, France and Ireland, can be fought by slaughtering infected or suspect animals and then disposing of the carcasses by burning them. Reuters |
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