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Monday,
May 21, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Sharon threatens to use full military might London, May 20 Attacking the recent statement by the Pakistan military regime that the Benazir Bhutto will be arrested if she returned, the former premier alleged the leadership was trying to create a political “vacuum” which will be filled by extremists and said a nuclear Pakistan run by a General is a “grave threat” to global security.
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Missile issue likely to figure in talks Racket of smuggling Indians unearthed ‘Only talks can
resolve border row with B’desh’ Pak to screen
Afghan refugees
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Sharon threatens to use full military might Jerusalem, May 20 “We will do everything necessary and use everything we have to protect Israeli citizens,’’ Mr Sharon was quoted as saying in an interview with Israel’s largest daily, Yedioth Ahronoth. The Right-wing leader convened his security cabinet to discuss the latest escalation in violence in an eight-month-old Palestinian uprising for independence. Six persons, including a suicide bomber from the militant Hamas movement, were killed in the explosion at a shopping mall in the seaside Israeli city of Netanya on Friday. Hours later, Israeli F-16 warplanes struck Palestinian security compounds in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, killing at least 12 Palestinian policemen. The Palestinian authority called the Israeli attacks a “serious escalation’’ and urged the international community and the USA to intervene immediately. The air raid, along with helicopter strikes that wounded at least 50 Palestinians yesterday in the West Bank towns of Jenin and Tulkarm, moved Arab Foreign Ministers to recommend the suspension of political contacts with Israel. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called the suicide attack appalling, but branded Israel’s response “disproportionate’’. At least 441 Palestinians, 13 Israeli Arabs and 87 Israelis have been killed since the Palestinian uprising began. Meanwhile, Israel has appealed to the USA to intercede with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to halt spiralling violence, as Arab Foreign Ministers recommended freezing political contacts with the Jewish state. Israel’s Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer asked US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and the US Administration “to do all they could to persuade Mr Arafat to stop the violence’’, Mr Ben-Eliezer’s spokesman said. Mr Ben-Eliezer and Mr Rumsfeld spoke on the phone yesterday after 22 persons were killed in two days of Arab-Israeli bloodshed and gunfire echoed in West Bank and Gaza Strip flashpoints. Two rounds of Israeli air raids moved Arab Foreign Ministers meeting in Egypt on Saturday to recommend the suspension of political contacts with the Israeli Government until it halted its military assaults against the Palestinians. Mr Arafat said the ministers had expressed solidarity with their Palestinian brethren. “Arab brothers presented a strong and clear stand with the Palestinian brothers in this crisis,’’ he told reporters in his Gaza office after returning from Egypt. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, due to leave on Sunday for a two-day visit to Russia, said he regretted the conclusions of his Arab counterparts. EU
President Sweden said both sides bore responsibility for the violence and urged a rapid return to the negotiating table. DUBAI: Agitated over the escalation of Israeli violence against the Palestinians, the Arab Foreign Ministers have called upon Arab states to sever all ties with the Jewish state as fresh incidents in Palestinian areas claimed at least three more lives. At their extra-ordinary meeting in Cairo on Saturday night, the Arab Foreign Ministers recommended that all Arab contacts with Israel “should remain halted as long as the Israeli occupation forces continue their aggression against the Palestinian people and their national authority”. WASHINGTON: Meanwhile, the US State Department on Saturday said the USA had “no prior knowledge” of the airstrikes on Palestinian targets the previous day, and there was no comment here on the reported role of US-made planes in the raids.
Reuters, UNI, AFP |
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Army creating political vacuum: Benazir London, May 20 “By aiming to disqualify the mainstream leaders, the GHQ (military regime) plans a vacuum which can be filled by extremists linked to the Taliban,” the People’s party leader said. “The slogan ‘genuine democracy’ by the new regime (of Gen Pervez Musharraf) is a facade behind which an attempt is being made to create a new leadership of extremists who are beholden to the Generals and their vision of militancy, brinkmanship and nuclear blackmail,” she said. General Musharraf had recently told British daily The Guardian that Ms Bhutto would be arrested immediately if she returned to Pakistan. She said a nuclear Pakistan run by a General is a “grave threat” to global security. “Extremists’ mindset of the armed forces can trigger the unthinkable in the region — a nuclear holocaust.” “An isolated Pakistan is proof that Generals are defying global values and their world vision is at variance with the global values of democracy, freedom and respect for everyone irrespective of their race, religion, colour or creed.” She said while the regime was indicating flexibility overtly, covertly, it remained unchanged in its direction. “Islamabad wrongly sees its relevance in terms of hot borders creating fears in the international community and thereby buying it security. As such, it has a hot border with Afghanistan and in Kashmir,” Ms Bhutto said. She said “the Pakistani Army is infected by the extremists who fought in Afghanistan under the regime of Gen Zia-ul Haq”. The Pakistani Army had power in the last decade through the President and the Eighth Amendment. It used that power to subvert democracy, undermine liberal forces and promote extremism, she said. “It rigged elections, formed political parties, robbed banks and perverted the course of justice to destroy established political leaders. It systematically sought to undermine civil institutions to build a garrison state dedicated to the export of religious extremism through Afghanistan to the shores of Europe,” Ms Bhutto alleged. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was a “front organisation for the extremist forces” who used it to “eliminate” parties and politicians who can win elections over the clerics, she said. “The NAB lacks credibility. It is controlled by Brig committed genocide of 275 person in the 1983 democracy movement. One special prosecutor is a convict. The accountability judges lack power acting as proxies for the NAB,” she charged. “Even the Superior Court Judges reportedly receive instructions from the Generals in the NAB. Judges lack security of tenure and are forced to rubberstamp judgements written by Majors in the NAB or end up unemployed.
PTI |
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Missile issue likely to figure in talks Beijing, May 20 The week-long visit, the first-ever by an IAF chief in 51 years of diplomatic ties between India and China, would enhance defence ties and mutual understanding between the two neighbouring nations, official sources said. “The visit will also be yet another sign of normalcy in India-China defence exchanges,” a source said, pointing out that it would be the highest-level visit since military-to-military ties were normalised last year after the deep chill following India’s nuclear tests in May, 1998. Air Marshal Tipnis, who arrived here today accompanied by a four-member delegation, is scheduled to call on
Chinese Defence Minister Gen Chi Haotian and Chief of Staff of the PLA General Fu Quanyou. He will have official talks with his Chinese counterpart, PLA Air Force Commander, Gen Liu Shunyao. The IAF chief’s visit will present the first opportunity for senior defence officials of India and China to discuss the missile defence issue that will significantly alter the strategic balance in the 21st century. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) may also use the visit to seek details of the increased defence contacts between India and the USA, especially on the upcoming visit of the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen Henry Shelton to India later this month. The sources said frequent high-level exchange visits would enhance mutual understanding and confidence between the armed forces of the two Asian giants.
PTI |
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Racket of smuggling Indians unearthed Sydney, May 20 Sydney Morning Herald, a leading Australian newspaper, has revealed in a report that Haji Hafeez Ahmed born in Tamil Nadu, and who is believed to be living in Singapore, brought 10 Indians to Australia by getting temporary visitors’ visas on forged credentials. Most of his victims are stated to be Sikhs and each of them is reported to have paid him about Australian $20,000 to get an Australian visa. The modus operandi of 41-year-old Ahmed was to first get Malaysian working visas for those who are desperately trying to get into Australia. He is said to have a firm called Ziq International Garments in Malaysia for which he gets work permits for his victims. The firm is said to be a cover-up to get Malaysian visas for unsuspecting Indians and exists just on paper. After this the visa-seekers are invited to Sydney to discuss business with Haji’s non-existent firm N.H. Leathers Pty Limited. After making these false documents, Haji takes his victims to the Australian Immigration office in Singapore to get visas. Once they arrive in Australia, Sydney Morning Herald has in its Saturday edition said, the Indians are made to apply for refugee status straight away. The Sydney Morning Herald claims to have identified at least 20 Indians, most of them Sikhs, who were duped by Ahmed. He has managed, however, to smuggle 10 of these people into Australia on student or tourist visas. The newspaper has alleged in spite of getting full information about the illegal operations of Ahmed, who is stated to be the leader of a major international people smuggling gang, the federal police has done nothing. In one case last month at least 20 Sri Lankans were detected in western Australia two days after their landing. The country has been a favorite destination along with the USA, Canada and Britain for those Indians who dream about having a comfortable life in one of the industrialised countries. The large number of those seeking entry into Australia through any legal or illegal means has been that of Sikhs. There are a number of cases of Sikh asylum seekers that are waiting to be decided in Australian courts. One such case is that of a Sikh youth living in Hobart, Tasmania. Daljeet Singh’s request for the Australian Protection Visa was refused by the Immigration Department. He has now appealed to the Full Bench of the federal court to revoke the department order. It is believed to be the first time an appeal over an immigration matter has gone to the Full Bench in Tasmania. Daljeet, 32, has claimed that due to his religious beliefs he was tortured and persecuted by the Indian police. The Refugee Review Tribunal had refused to accept his plea and asked him to return to India. The Australian Federal Court had also upheld the Tribunal decision provoking an appeal to the Full Bench. Daljeet alleges that his life in India is not secure as he was tortured in 1993 after being accused of spying for a terrorist group. Daljeet has been granted a bridging visa by the immigration authorities until his case is decided by the Full Bench of Tasmania later this year. Meanwhile Daljeet can continue to work as a kitchen hand in a Hobart restaurant.
IANS |
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‘Only talks can resolve border row with B’desh’ Dhaka, May 20 He said border conflicts were always “undesired” and the border clashes that left 19 troops of the two countries dead in April “is really a matter of sorrow.” In an interview to the Dhaka-based Bengali language daily “Prothom Alo,” he said, “In view of the existing friendly relations between India and Bangladesh, this sort of incident is at all not desirable.” Mr Bhattacharya said there might have been some tension between the two border troops due to the illegal possession of land along the frontier, but Dhaka and New Delhi should take steps to keep the tensions at “a tolerable level.” He said problems like the border dispute could be resolved through talks, adding contacts should be increased between the two governments to create a situation for a dialogue.
IANS |
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Pak to screen
Afghan refugees Islamabad, May 20 Some 400,000 Afghan immigrants live in the Nasir Bagh, Jallozai and Shamshatoo camps designated for the screening. The Jallozai camp, with nearly 150,000 refugees, generated a controversy when Pakistan obstructed relief to the fresh arrivals there. Pakistan, already burdened with over two million Afghan refugees for the past 20 years, last November closed its borders to a new influx of Afghans.
DPA |
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Pair scales Everest KATHMANDU, May 20 The pair were Mike Otis, a 38-year-old marketing professional from Phoenix, Arizona and Terence LaFrance, a 39-year-old civil engineer from Albany, New York, he said.
Reuters |
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Sunni Tehrik Muslim group activist throws a stone at the police during a protest over the killing of their leader Saleem Qadri in
Lahore on Saturday. Qadri, along with six others, was gunned down in Karachi on Friday. Sectarian clashes between Sunni
and Shi'ite Muslim groups have claimed hundreds of lives in the past 10 years.
— Reuters photo
