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Friday,
April 27, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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700 held in Pak ahead of rally Koizumi selects 5 women in cabinet 10 more die in Philippine clashes China’s ire at Bush’s remarks |
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Lanka offensive toll 180 Estrada men take to streets UK eases FMD cull Russian anti-sub missiles for India |
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4 Palestinians die in blast UN extends Tharoor’s term
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700 held in Pak ahead of rally Karachi, April 26 According to PTI, two top leaders of the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) along with 700 of their supporters in a bid to prevent the planned Opposition pro-democracy May Day rally here even as the regime issued a blanket ban on political leaders travelling to Sindh province. The Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD), a collection of 15 political parties, has promised to defy the military government’s ban on public demonstrations to hold a pro-democracy rally on May 1. But the army earlier warned it would enforce its ban as it did on March 23, when the alliance threatened to demonstrate in Lahore. Hundreds of arrests were made then. “The government’s ban on the rallies shows its weakness,” said Shah Mohammad Shah, an alliance spokesman in Karachi. Several prominent political leaders have been banned from entering southern Sindh province. Tempers flared up this morning at Karachi airport when ARD Chairman Nawabzada Nasarullah Khan and leader of deposed premier Nawaz Shairf’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML) Javed Hashmi were arrested when they arrived here to make preparations for the rally. Khan and Hashmi were picked up by police as soon as they alighted from the aircraft and taken to the police headquarters in the city, party sources said. Prominent among the arrested last night was Asfandyar Wali, president of the Awami National Party (ANP). Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), which considers Sindh province as its stronghold said that the most of the arrested belonged to its party. The military took power from Pakistan’s civilian government of Mr Nawaz Sharif in October, 1999, promising a massive clean-up of the country’s deeply corrupt political system before restoring democratic rule. “The whole night there was an operation against political activists,” said an official of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) of exiled former Premier Benazir Bhutto. “Around 300 PPP members have been arrested and 150 are from other political parties,” he said. Military authorities earlier this week warned political leaders not to travel to Karachi for the May 1 rally, saying that if they did they would be arrested. The ARD, which includes Pakistan’s major political parties, including the PPP and the Pakistan Muslim League of Mr Sharif, was intending to rally as part of a campaign to ask the military to restore democracy.
PTI, Reuters |
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Koizumi selects 5 women in cabinet Tokyo, April 26 Parlaying his reputation as an eccentric into a powerful image as a popular reformer, Koizumi swept to the top post with resounding support from local members of his ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) afraid of losing a July election to the Upper House. Koizumi (59) shot to the top party post after the ruling party decided to ditch the hugely unpopular outgoing Prime Minister, Yoshiro Mori, to boost its chances in the Upper House poll. He becomes Japan’s 11th Prime Minister in 13 years, following a string of leaders, many of whose terms were cut short by scandals, political confusion — or sheer weariness. Koizumi, who had pledged to break the fetters of old-style party factionalism, appointed five women — a record for a Japanese Cabinet, two men in their 40s and three private sector people to fill his cabinet roster. “I don’t know if I am counted as a woman. But it is an epoch-making cabinet,” said Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka. Seven ministers retained their posts, including two from the LDP’s partners in the three-way ruling coalition. But the LDP’s biggest faction took only two of the 17 jobs. In a move welcome to financial markets, Koizumi reappointed reform-minded Financial Services Agency chief Hakuo Yanagisawa. But he surprised many by selecting former Transport and Education Minister Masajuro Shiokawa as Finance Minister. Ruling party iconoclast Tanaka (57) will become Japan’s first woman Foreign Minister. Tanaka repeatedly leads opinion polls as the most popular politician in Japan. Daughter of late LDP kingmaker Kakuei Tanaka, she takes over the post at a time of trade and diplomatic strains between Japan and its Asian neighbours, notably China. Countries in the region are keen to see how Koizumi’s domestic nationalist tilt plays out in the foreign policy arena. Mr Koizumi was elected Premier in votes in both Houses of Japan’s bicameral Parliament. In the more powerful Lower House, he won with 287 votes, easily above the 240 majority he needed. Opposition leader Yukio Hatoyama, who had 127, was next. He won 138 votes in the Upper House, to 59 for Hatoyama, head of the Democratic Party.
Reuters
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10 more die in Philippine clashes Zamboanga City (Philippines), April 26 Army Colonel Jovenal Narcise, a military spokesman, said four militiamen and six Abu Sayyaf rebels were killed yesterday in a firefight in Tapiantana island off Basilan province, 915 km south of Manila. The clashes erupted on Tuesday when government troops attacked a suspected lair of the Abu Sayyaf in Tapiantana. Fourteen militiamen were killed in the first round of fighting. “We have already deployed navy ships to prevent the Abu Sayyaf from slipping out of the island,” Colonel Narcise said. He said two helicopters flew over the island to determine the exact location of the more than 60 rebels still holed up in thickly forested areas of Tapiantana. The troops launched the assault on the Abu Sayyaf lair after receiving reports that the rebels smuggled captive Filipino dive instructor Roland Ullah into the island from nearby Sulu province. He said the soldiers had not yet determined whether Ullah was really with the rebels in the island, but stressed, “Our troops have been directed to put into consideration the safety of the captive.” At the start of the month, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had ordered the military to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf rebels and rescue Ullah, the guerrillas’ only remaining hostage from a kidnapping spree last year. |
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China’s ire at Bush’s remarks Beijing, April 26 “It shows that the US side has drifted further on a dangerous road,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue told mediapersons when asked to comment on Mr Bush’s remarks. “As to comments made by President Bush, we have expressed that the Chinese government and people are strongly indignant and opposed to them,” she added. Mr Bush said yesterday the USA was prepared to defend Taiwan if it was attacked by China, going further than any US leader since Washington established diplomatic relations with Beijing in 1979. However, the President later qualified his comments and insisted there was no change in the 22-year US policy of strategic ambiguity over how the USA would respond if China attacked Taiwan. The policy was not only aimed at keeping China guessing but also at ensuring Taiwan was not emboldened by unequivocal US support to declare independence. Ms Zhang reiterated China’s territorial claim over Taiwan and insisted no action by the USA would prevent Taiwan being reunited with the Chinese mainland, by force if necessary.
AFP |
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Lanka offensive toll 180 Colombo, April 26 The death toll in the offensive, which began early yesterday, has increased to 70 government soldiers and, according to the military officials, at least 110 rebels. On the first day of fighting 33 soldiers and 75 rebels were killed after the government troops launched their drive to regain areas held by rebels around Eluthumadduval, 370 km north of the capital Colombo. There was no independent confirmation of the figures given by the military. The Sri Lankan Government maintains censorship on military-related news. Military officials said more than 350 soldiers had been wounded and evacuated to hospitals in Colombo and the north. The officials also claimed that over 300 rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) had been wounded during the first two days of the offensive.
DPA |
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Estrada men take to streets Manila, April 26 Up to 8,000 Estrada loyalists began gathering at a historic shrine on EDSA, Manila’s main thoroughfare, late yesterday, just hours after Estrada and his son, Jose Ejercito, were arrested and jailed for economic plunder, a non-bailable offence. However, the police said the crowd had dwindled by today morning, although some supporters who left yesterday night were seen returning, swelling their ranks once more. The rallyists wanted to recreate a mass uprising at the same site where a popular uprising in January led to his replacement by Vice-President Gloria Arroyo, organisers said. They held placards saying “poor is power” and “defence of the masses,” referring to Estrada’s boast that the impoverished masses were still on his side even if the upper and middle-classes had turned against him. Meanwhile Estrada said he spent an uncomfortable first night in a tightly-guarded cell as his lawyers today sought to have him placed under house arrest instead. Known for his hedonistic lifestyle, Estrada complained in a television interview about poor air circulation in the cell as well as food, which he said was served to him on a plastic container. “It is very sad. I did not think that this would happen to me,” he said.
AFP |
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UK eases FMD cull London, April 26 Agriculture Minister Nick Brown said the government's policy to slaughter all livestock on farms surrounding infected sites would be eased, a move which spared the life of a new-born white calf called "Phoenix" which had captured the hearts of Britain. Mr Brown told Parliament that pigs and sheep on farms neighbouring infected sites would still be culled, but added, "Cattle may, however, be spared, if there is adequate biosecurity." Local vets inspecting farms would judge which cows would be excluded from the cull, Mr Brown said, and would continue to check them regularly for any signs of the disease. In a bid to head off charges that the government had made a policy U-turn after a public outcry over the symbolic new-born calf, Mr Brown insisted the new instructions were not a "relaxing" of rules, but constituted "refinements" to the previous policy. "These refinements can be expected to provide some relief from automatic slaughter of cattle," Mr Brown said. "They will not lead to changes in the policy of culling of pigs and sheep on contiguous premises." Figures on Thursday showed that 1,481 sites had been confirmed as infected with foot-and-mouth disease. Test results on three suspected human cases of the disease — including one slaughterman who developed symptoms after he was sprayed with entrails from a rotting carcass which exploded while he was moving it — are expected early next week. The government's previous culling policy had been designed to create "firebreaks" around infected farms to help prevent the spread of the virulent livestock disease. With Thursday's policy shift sparing the life of "Phoenix" the calf — named after she was found alive under a mound of dead carcasses — opposition Conservatives slammed the government for zigzagging on policy according to public emotion, rather than science. Reuters |
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Russian anti-sub missiles for India Washington, April 26 The system can fire 12 missiles, each weighing 112.5 kg and can fly up to 4.3 km before plunging into water. Once submerged, a projectile separates from the 90R to home in on submarines located as deep as 1,000m. The 90R can destroy torpedoes at a depth of 10 metres, Defense News reported quoting Russia’s state-owned export agency. A senior Indian Navy officer confirmed that the Indian Navy would buy 90R missiles for its Russian-designed Project 17 stealth warships, which would be built by India’s Mazagon Docks at a cost of about $170 million each. The first warship would be commissioned by December, 2007, the Defense News said.
PTI |
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4 Palestinians die in blast Gaza, April 26 It was not immediately clear what caused the blast yesterday on the edge of the town of Rafah which wounded six others, three critically. There were no reports of confrontations between Israelis and Palestinians at the time and the Israeli army said it was unaware of the incident. One Palestinian witness said the concrete border fence appeared to explode as the victims passed by.
Reuters |
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UN extends Tharoor’s term United Nations, April 26 Mr Tharoor, who was earlier communication adviser to Mr Annan, was appointed the interim head in January for a period of two to three months. Mr Tharoor is among the close confidants of Mr Annan and had in January replaced Kensaku Hogan of Japan. |
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