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Thursday,
May 17, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Pervez Musharraf set to stay in power Beijing, May 16 A senior US envoy said today Washington still had clear differences of opinion with Beijing over US plans to develop a National Missile Defence (NMD). The US Assistant Secretary of State Mr James Kelly, said in a statement that he had tried to explain that the anti-missile shield would not be a threat to China but did not say how the Chinese officials reacted. Israeli soldiers kill
4,wound 200 India moots umbrella defence plan |
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| Pak Army ‘aiding’ Taliban operations Moscow, May 16 Pakistan army officers seem to be behind all major military operations conducted by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, according to a leading Russian daily. Indo-Pak tension ‘threat to peace’ Pak all set to Islamise society
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Pervez Musharraf set to stay in power Rawalpindi, May 16 In an interview with the Guardian, he made it clear that Ms Bhutto, who lived in exile, would face immediate arrest: “Legal action will be taken against her, certainly. She is accountable to this nation for her misdeeds,’’ he declared. Speaking at his colonial bungalow at the army’s luxurious Rawalpindi headquarters, the original residence of the country’s first prime ministers after independence in 1947, General Musharraf accused Ms Bhutto of “mismanaging” and “corrupting” the country. “She has been Prime Minister twice. I would like to ask her, has this nation ever given so much opportunity to anybody and that person failed twice and yet tries to come a third time?” The uncompromising comments suggest that the General, 57, is not prepared to strike a deal with Ms Bhutto — the only politician who might pose a serious challenge to his military regime at present. Instead, he has set the stage for a dramatic confrontation if Ms Bhutto - as she has suggested — returns to Pakistan after local elections in August. General Musharraf last night insisted that an outstanding corruption case against Ms Bhutto, 47, would be sent for retrial; it was set aside the first time round after it emerged that the judge had been instructed to issue a guilty verdict. “She has not been acquitted at all. She is trying to create this misunderstanding that she has been acquitted. She is to be retried, absolutely.” General Musharraf made no effort yesterday to disavow strong signs that he is manoeuvring to make himself President and give the army a lead role in running future civilian governments. He has pledged to hold a general election by October, 2002, when a three-year mandate given to him by Pakistan’s supreme court expires. The new Prime Minister would be elected not appointed, he said. But asked if he would then carry on as President, and in effect still run the country, he replied: “We have not taken any decisions.” He added: “If there is a role for me in achieving (the reform of Pakistan) I will have to take it on. If it is in the national interest, I certainly won’t hesitate in playing my role.’’ It is the clearest indication so far that he has no plan to stand down. The General, Pakistan’s fourth military ruler since independence, described the years of civilian rule before his coup as the “decade of disaster”. He said his intention as military ruler was to build democracy anew, adding: “There has never been any true democracy in Pakistan.” Pakistan’s first elected Prime Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto — Ms Bhutto’s father, who was hanged by the military in 1979 - was the “biggest dictator” of all, he said. He defended his sweeping arrests of 4,000 pro-democracy demonstrators in Karachi and Lahore during the past two months, insisting they enjoyed little popular support. He described them as “irritants” guilty of “hooliganism”. “We have decided there will be no outdoor political activity. We need to learn to be more disciplined,” he said. “I will not allow anything to happen in Pakistan which disturbs us from our main aim of reviving the economy and bringing good governance.” The coup was widely welcomed in Pakistan, but General Musharraf’s regime has begun to face discontent. His anti-corruption drive has been slow and the economy, burdened by $37 billion in foreign debt, continues to weaken. In the local elections that are a key component of the General’s reforms, women are getting a rare access to power in the villages but, as in previous military dictatorships, politicians have been silenced. The General, who wore a pinstripe suit for yesterday’s interview in a reception room decorated with gilt mirrors and fin-de-siecle furniture, was scathing about two big critics of his regime — the Commonwealth and Britain’s Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook.
"I don’t know what Robin Cook has against us. He gives statements against Pakistan and makes pro-India statements." He added: “I think he is one-sided, biased. One expects the Foreign Minister of Britain to have unbiased views, especially over the Kashmir dispute which I think was created by Britain originally.” General Musharraf said he was grateful to Westminster for finally providing something like “nine to 11 crates” of documents detailing Ms Bhutto’s bank accounts and assets in Britain. They would be used in her retrial on corruption charges. But he criticised the Home Secretary, Jack Straw, for granting a British passport to Mr Altaf Hussain, the leader of the hardline MQM party in the Sind province. He faces murder charges in Pakistan. When it came to Kashmir, claimed by Pakistan and India but controlled by the latter, General Musharraf accused Delhi of wasting two recent “windows of opportunity” for peace. His only contact with India’s Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, was an “extremely cordial” and “very friendly” phone call in January after the Gujarat earthquake. “I would be prepared to go (to Delhi). But if India thinks I’m dying to go there let me clarify through you I’m not at all dying to go there to meet them unless they are very keen ... You can’t clap with one hand.’’ An urbane liberal who has been criticised for giving in to the religious right, the General said religious extremists represented only 1 per cent of the population. “Unfortunately it is this 1 per cent that holds the 99 per cent hostage,” he admitted. Asked if he thought the Bush administration’s contentious missile defence programme was a good idea, he replied: “I don’t. I think it will lead to resumption of (the) nuclear and missile race.” He was alarmed by India’s enthusiasm for the plan. “It would cause anxiety if the strategic balance was to tilt in favour of India. I hope the US Administration understands the implications of this strategy,” he said. Pakistan maintained a deterrent nuclear force, he said, but he declined to reveal what it consisted of. ISLAMABAD: In an attempt to perpetuate his rule, General Musharraf has adopted a two-pronged strategy, that of patronising Jehadi and fundamentalist groups on one hand and unleashing a ‘reign of terror’ against political parties on the other. The military government had promised leading Jehadi groups — the Lashkar-e-Toiba, the Jaish-e-Mohammad and the Hizbul Mujahideen — not to raid their offices or use force against them, media reports said. At the same time, the military regime was making every effort to “crush political parties” by banning rallies and demonstrations. Leading politicians are being harassed,
victimised and arrested, while two former Prime Ministers are in exile facing charges of corruption. On their part, the mainstream religious and fundamentalist groups, which are actively involved in an armed struggle in the troubled Jammu and Kashmir, have agreed to be discreet in collecting donations for their activities and in recruitment of volunteers for militant activities. The government’s soft approach towards Jehadi organisations became known when Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin claimed that the Pakistan authorities had no intention to ban the militant outfits. The military government was only against fake Jehadi groups, which had nothing to do with Jehad, reported the Nawai Waqt, the Jang and other papers. The report said that Pakistan Interior Minister Lt-Gen Moinuddin Haider held several rounds of discussions with the militant groups and assured them that their camps would not be closed.
Guardian News Service, UNI |
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China refuses to soften stand on NMD Beijing, May 16 The US Assistant Secretary of State Mr James Kelly, said in a statement that he had tried to explain that the anti-missile shield would not be a threat to China but did not say how the Chinese officials reacted. “Although we clearly still have differences of opinion, our consultations on this subject were constructive and constitute a good beginning to what both sides agreed would be a continuing dialogue on these important security issues,” Mr Kelly said in the statement. Mr Kelly, one of the highest officials of the new US administration to visit China so far, held meetings at the Chinese Foreign Ministry yesterday. Among the officials he met included Mr Sha Zukang, China’s top arms control official, and vice-foreign ministers Mr Wang Yi and Li Zhaoxing. Mr Kelly said in his statement that one of his key points in the talks was that the NMD would be aimed at defence against attack from “rogue” states and “accidental and unauthorised launches.” He today left China after a fruitless bid to calm opposition to President George W. Bush’s missile defence plans and with scathing accusations of anti-China “provocations” ringing in his ears. Meanwhile, the Chinese Foreign Ministry made it clear that nothing Mr Kelly said to the Chinese team would budge Beijing. “China’s constant position is unchanged,’’ Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi told a news conference yesterday before Mr Kelly’s talks were over. Mr Sun made it clear that China was not prepared to soften its opposition to the NMD scheme and a Theatre Missile Defence (TMD) proposed to protect allies such as Japan or US troops in north-east Asia. We are opposed to the National Missile Defence because it destroys the global strategic balance and upsets international stability,’’ Mr Sun said. He said China was “more opposed to the TMD” because it would strengthen the US military alliances in Asia beyond legitimate defence needs — a reference to USA-Japan security ties and joint studies of missile defences by Washington and Tokyo. “We more strongly oppose calls by some people to involve Taiwan in TMD, which would violate China’s sovereignty,” he said of the now democratic island Beijing regards as a province that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary. Mr Kelly said his talks also covered bilateral irritants such as Taiwan, human rights and the Hainan spy plane dispute. OTTAWA: A US delegation briefed Canada of the merits of its controversial missile defence scheme but senior Canadian Government ministers said it would take them many months to decide whether to support the idea. The US team, led by the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Mr Marc Grossman, held two hours of talks yesterday with senior Canadian officials. The visit is part of an attempt by Washington to persuade its allies and partners to drop reservations about the NMD. Canada is a particularly important player in the NMD because if Washington does press ahead with the scheme, it looks set to be run from the joint US-Canadian NORAD air defence command in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
AFP, Reuters |
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Israeli soldiers kill 4,wound 200 Jerusalem, May 16 An Israeli was also killed. Late yesterday, Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank riddled a passing car with bullets, killing a 21-year-old Jewish settler woman and lightly wounding her father near the settlement of Maale Michmash, the army said. At midday, Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip stood in silence for a three-minute siren tribute to the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who became refugees in the displacement that followed Israel’s creation on May 15, 1948. President Yasser Arafat said in a defiant address on Palestinian television that Israeli military might would never make them surrender their dream of independence. Wearing his traditional military uniform, Mr Arafat called for the “full and comprehensive withdrawal of the occupation army and settlers” from all Arab lands seized by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. “Victory is just an hour away,” he said. Responding to Mr Arafat, his partner to the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said: “We must continue to build bridges and not walls of fire and blood.” Israel celebrated its 53rd year of independence on April 26 this year, in accordance with the Jewish calendar. Celebrations were overshadowed by the bloodiest violence for decades. Yesterday, Palestinians took to the streets, fanning a more than seven-month-old uprising for statehood. At least 424 Palestinians, 80 Israelis and 13 Israeli Arabs have been killed since the revolt erupted after peace talks stalled. Gunfire echoed throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip long into the night. Security sources said a mortar bomb smashed a Jewish settlement house in Gaza while others slammed into Israel. Israeli tanks fired shells at Palestinian towns. The Palestinian Ministry of Health said troops wounded more than 200 Palestinians across the West Bank and Gaza. From Jordan to Lebanon, thousands of Palestinians joined the protests while Mr Arafat met President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt. The two leaders discussed a report of an international fact-finding committee led by former US Senator George Mitchell as well as an Egyptian-Jordanian plan for reviving peace moves.
Reuters, AFP |
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India moots
umbrella defence plan Washington, May 16 The blueprint, prepared by the Directorate of Defence Policy and Planning under the Army, the Air Force and the Navy, proposes establishment of the defence in tandem with countries including Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius and Vietnam, it said. The 120-page plan, which assesses India’s current rapid deployment capabilities as “poor,” proposes rapid mobility in future procurement of weapons and equipment which could be incorporated into India’s overall military strategy, the Defence News quoted the official as saying. It also addresses quick deployment of troops, armoured personnel carriers, tanks, light armament and surveillance platforms. To boost its rapid mobility requirements, the country has to acquire at least 35 long-range fast aircraft with mid-air refuelling capabilities, three air-borne Early Warning and Command System aircraft, 200 attack helicopters and two aircraft carriers in addition to the INS Virat, it said.
PTI |
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Pak Army ‘aiding’ Taliban operations Moscow, May 16 The daily Nezavisimaya Gazetta alleged that around 3,000 Pakistanis were fighting along with the Taliban against the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. It claimed that a majority of them were career officers from the Pakistan army. These Pakistani officers, the paper said, planned all major military operations for the Taliban, coordinated intelligence activities and organised arms supplies to Afghanistan. They constituted the backbone of the Taliban military and provided training to Islamic extremists, it added. All this proved that Pakistan, while proclaiming that it was observing the UN Security Council resolution on Afghanistan, was in reality providing all assistance to the Taliban, the paper alleged. Russia recently submitted detailed information about the alleged violation of the Security Council resolution on sanctions against the Taliban, including on Pakistan territory, to the UN Sanctions Committee and expects stern action against those violating the resolution. Explaining the reasons behind Pakistan’s strong involvement in the Afghan conflict, the paper alleged that Islamabad had close links with drug traffickers, a strong source for financing its vested interests. The paper claimed heroin was being produced in Pakistan under strict control of the top brass of the Pakistan army and intelligence till Soviet troops withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989. It alleged that the income from drug trafficking was mainly used to finance insurgents in Kashmir and fighters in Afghanistan, with the rest going into the pockets of Pakistan’s top bureaucrats. The end of Cold War coupled with Soviet disintegration could not vindicate further American encouragement of heroin production in Pakistan, it said. Pakistan, in its bid to avoid imminent international isolation, spurred on its territory the Taliban movement, which depended on income from the drug trade, it added. Pakistan played an important role in installing the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and had a serious stake in its continuation as it ensured huge finances from the drug trade, the paper alleged. Almost all of 200 heroin producing laboratories functioning on Pakistani territory had been shifted to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, it added. By holding up the Taliban regime in Kabul through massive financial and military aid, Pakistan managed to protect a viable source of its income, badly required for its survival and to maintain its diplomatic relevance in the post-Cold War era, the paper claimed.
IANS |
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Indo-Pak tension ‘threat to peace’ Washington, May 16 Cautioning the USA against isolating Pakistan in the process of improving its relations with India, the Rand Corporation think-tank said, “the USA should do whatever it can ... to prevent Pakistan from drifting into an embittered fundamentalism”. “Pakistan should be encouraged to cease its support to terrorists operating in South Asia and beyond... it should be urged to peacefully resolve its differences with India over Kashmir, to stop supporting militants operating there and to cease its politico-military support to the Taliban in Afghanistan,” it said in a project prepared for the US Air Force. Low-level harassment of India, like the Kargil conflict, represents “Pakistan’s best chance — albeit not a very good one — of gaining control of Kashmir. As long as the indigenous insurgency is not fully suppressed, Pakistan can support it at a low cost to itself while imposing a larger cost on India,” it said. In the past, India had adopted a defensive stance towards this sort of harassment. A repetition of Kargil incident could, however, lead New Delhi to consider a more forceful response to solve the problem, said the report. The report said Kashmir provided a “rare point of unity” for Pakistan, and it employed “Islam-inspired guerrilla warriors” who might otherwise cause trouble in Pakistan itself where Islamic fundamentalism is gaining political influence.” In the context of India and Pakistan acquiring nuclear capability, the report suggested it might be desirable for the USA to increase reconnaissance activities by sending additional surveillance assets to the region. It said an outbreak of war between them would create high level of concern with respect to the safety of their nuclear arsenal and the possibility of their use in the conflict.
PTI |
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Pak all set to Islamise society Lahore, May 16 The ordinances titled “Iqamat-i-Salah”, “Amr bil Maruf” and “Nahy anil-Munkar” aim to ensure the lifestyle of the country’s Muslim population in accordance with the teachings and requirements of Islam. Iqamat-i-Salah stands for offering prayers with regularity by a Muslim, Amr bil M’aruf means furtherance of good in the society and Nahy anil-Munkar means purging of evil. In order to harmonise society in accordance with the teachings of Islam, the government would appoint Hisbah authorities from federal level to the tehsil or local level to ensure that all Muslims in Pakistan regularly and properly offer their five-time prayers according to the standards laid down in the Shariah. The provisions of this ordinance shall have effect, notwithstanding anything contained to be contrary in any other law in force for the time being. Both the federal and provincial Hisbah authorities will have powers to make rules for effectively carrying out the purposes of this ordinance. The Federal Hisbah Authority and Provincial Hisbah Boards will have the powers to take cognisance of matters coming under their jurisdiction either on the complaint of a citizen or of a public functionary or on his own as soon as a question comes to his knowledge where a violation of the injunctions of Islam has taken place. Broadly, the function of the Hisbah include organisation of five-time prayers, motivation of Muslims in coordination with Islamic philanthropic organisations and Dawah and Tabligh bodies so that they are regular in their prayers, observance of Islamic decorum.
ANI |
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