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May 25, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Offer vital diplomatic initiative: Pak Kiryat Shmona (Israel), May 24 An Israeli helicopter shot down a light civilian plane today when it flew into Israel from Lebanon on the anniversary of Israel’s army pullout from the neighbouring state, the army said. Talks with NSCN (IM) inconclusive |
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| Bush favours Sino-Dalai Lama talks Washington, May 24 The US President George W. Bush has called for dialogue between the Dalai Lama and China on the Tibet issue and expressed support for the Himalayan region’s “unique religious, cultural and linguistic identity and protection of the human rights of all Tibetans”. News
analysis
Senate okays $ 1.35 trillion tax cut Washington, May 24 The US Senate approved former Senate majority leader and White House Chief of Staff Howard Baker as the new US Ambassador to Japan. 
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Offer vital diplomatic initiative: Pak Islamabad, May 24 “This (the invitation by India) was bound to happen. No surprise at all,” Niaz A. Naik, a foreign policy expert, said. India announced yesterday it was going to invite General Musharraf for talks that could lead to a breakthrough in the 50-year Kashmir dispute. New Delhi said the invitation followed Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s peace initiative of 1999 when he went to Lahore by bus. But Naik added: “I think the invitation has come very late. It was expected in January,” adding that it was “never too late.” He, however, criticised India’s decision, not to extend the six-month cease-fire in Kashmir. “New Delhi should have given some more chance,” he said. India’s ceasefire announcement in Kashmir in November was followed by Pakistan’s pledge of “maximum restraint” along the Line of Control (LoC). If General Musharraf visits India, it will be a follow-up of the Lahore process under which Mr Vajpayee met the then Prime Minister, Mr Nawaz Sharif, in Lahore. Mushahid Hussain, a foreign affairs expert and Pakistan Muslim League leader, said the invitation was the most important diplomatic initiative after Mr Vajpayee’s visit to Lahore. He said Mr Vajpayee had taken a soft line towards Pakistan and, at the same time, a hard line on Kashmir. “It shows a carrot and stick approach.” He said the invitation also meant recognition of the military regime in Pakistan. A PTI report from Beijing said China today welcomed India’s decision to invite General Musharraf, saying that improvement in Indo-Pak relations would usher in regional peace and stability. “I have taken note of the relevant report. Regarding the efforts by the Indian and Pakistani side to improve their relations, we express our welcome and appreciation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao told
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Israel downs Lebanese plane Kiryat Shmona (Israel), May 24 Army spokesman Ron Kitrey told Israel Radio that Israeli helicopter pilots had tried to warn the pilot of the Cessna aircraft but the warning went unheeded. “The (Israeli) pilots signalled him in agreed international signals...and even fired a warning shot in front of him and at his side,” he said. “At a certain point, after he paid no attention to the warnings...it was decided to take it down and one of the helicopters hit it and it was taken down in the area of Mikhmoret beach. There was apparently one person inside.” he added. Israel pulled out of south Lebanon, ending a 22-year occupation, last year and army officials had warned that Hizbollah guerrillas who fought for Israel’s withdrawal could attack to mark the anniversary. JERUSALEM: Meanwhile, despite a unilateral ceasefire by Tel Aviv, bloody clashes rage on in West Asia killing an Israeli civilian and injuring 45 Palestinians, including 25 children, even as Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat urged US President George W. Bush to intervene personally to end the eight-month-old conflict. Reports from Gaza, quoting Palestinian officials, said 45 persons, 25 children among them, were injured in an Israeli shelling at the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza strip since yesterday. The officials also said Israeli forces intruded into the Palestinian controlled territory at three places. Israel has also hurled counter charges of its troops coming under relentless Palestinian fire and anti-tank grenade attack. Israeli tanks fired shells at a Palestinian residential area in the Gaza strip and blocked a main road to Palestinian traffic in retaliation to the firing of two mortar shells at a Jewish settlement of Netzarim today, eyewitnesses said. The tanks withdrew after about half an hour and the road was reopened. An Israeli civilian guard was killed in West Bank while two were injured in Palestinian firing. Mr Bush talked to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Arafat yesterday and urged both sides to put an end to the bloody clashes and implement Mitchell Commission recommendation to end the conflict. Both sides agreed to evolve a framework for implementing the recommendations.
Reuters,
PTI |
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Talks with NSCN (IM) inconclusive Bangkok, May 24 The two sides decided not to meet today. “The talks remain inconclusive.” Emissary K. Padmanabiah, told PTI adding he had to get back to the government and discuss the matter further with the joint group looking into this issue. “We gave them a draft, and they gave us a draft... We wanted to reconcile both drafts but there are substantive differences and the issue can’t be sorted out today,” Padmanabiah said. After two days of talks yesterday, both the sides had indicated that a short round of talks could be held this morning. NSCN General Secretary T. Muivah said they had given their views and they would not change. He said if their views were not accepted by the government then the “Consequences will be different.” He said that “things will go smooth” if the government decided to accept their demands. Padmanabiah said the differences centred around the extension of the coverage of ceasefire. He said the government had to take into account the concerns of other states and allay their fears, before taking a decision. Yesterday, the emissary noted that, in principle, the government agreed with the NSCN on the ceasefire issue but “there were operational issues involved in extending the ceasefire which were creating problems”. Muivah, who represented the NSCN faction at the talks, said unless the ceasefire coverage issue was not made clear, “it is meaningless to hold talks.” “The NSCN feels the government has not honoured its promise of extending the ceasefire to all Naga inhabited areas,” he said. Asked if the NSCN was going to honour the ceasefire agreement which expires in July, Muivah said “it is likely to be over, not necessarily immediately. He said that they could break away from the ceasefire agreement anytime. “If the government forces attack us, we will retaliate, there will be war”. “It is a war imposed on us,” he added. “There are major problems on the coverage issue... there are vast differences and we feel betrayed by India for not honouring its promises,” he had told reporters yesterday.
PTI |
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Bush favours Sino-Dalai Lama talks Washington, May 24 Mr Bush, after meeting the Dalai Lama yesterday, commended the Tibetan spiritual leader’s commitment to non-violence and declared strong support for his “tireless efforts to initiate a dialogue with the Chinese government,” the White House said in a statement. “The President said that he will seek ways to encourage dialogue and expressed his hope that the Chinese Government will respond favourably. Mr Bush said the USA was committed to supporting the preservation of Tibet’s “unique religious, cultural and linguistic identity” and protect the human rights of all Tibetans. The Dalai Lama told reporters he was “not for independence but for autonomy for Tibet” and described the situation in the Himalayan region as “very bad”. Asked what role India could play with regard to developments in Tibet, he said he had always been of the view that “Indo-Tibetan relations are something unique”.
PTI |
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News analysis During the 1950s, France was ruled by a series of rainbow coalition governments whose terms seldom exceeded 30-90 days. Prime Ministers came and went with astonishing rapidity and the nation became stable only after it turned to General De Gaulle, the most popular French war hero. If France was bad, Italy was worse. Such was the political chaos in the country that despite frequent elections and change of governments, no Prime Minister was able to complete a full five-year term since dictator Benito Mussolini in the 1930s. Perhaps, that may change. Last week Italians voted to power a former cruise ship singer whose right-wing political party, Forza Italia, captured nearly 30 per cent of the popular vote. An amazing 80 per cent voter turnout obviously helped the leader of the right wing coalition, Silvio Berlusconi to capture power and promise political stability in the nation. The recent Italians elections dealt a server blow to smaller political parties, which, traditionally had wielded undue power in national affairs. Their total rout helped to focus attention on the two major political blocs. Like Estrada in the Philippines and our own Jayalalitha Jayaram, Berlusconi was mired in controversy. During the Italian campaign, major European newspapers and TV stations had focused on the corruption charges linked with Berlusconi for the past 10 years. Commented the well-known British publication, The Economist, “The cloud of criminal allegations surrounding Berlusconi made him not fit to lead any country. “When the state-owned TV networks were considered alongside his own Mediaset empire, the new Prime Minister effectively controlled nearly 90 per cent of Italy’s broadcasting! Berlusconi had promised a solution to this anomaly within 100 days of his becoming the Prime Minister. Unimpressed, the defeated Opposition demanded that the issue be settled before July 8, when Italy would be hosting the G 8 summit in Genoa. The new Prime Minister’s shady past is likely to figure often in future course of events in Italy. When Rome hosted an international conference on organised crime in 1994 which was attended by all major world leaders, Berlusconi was served with papers putting him under formal investigation for charges of bribing tax inspectors. His conviction however, was overturned last year on appeal. But the incident will not be forgotten so easily. Yet, Berlusconi turned out to be persuasive campaigner and focused on issues dear to the voters. Flanked by TV camera, he promised to quit politics if he failed to fulfil at least four of his five promises — tax cuts, higher pensions, 1.5 million new jobs, major public works and a reduction in serious crime. Despite the impressive public show, the Prime Minister will have a tough job on hand, in view of his business links and the composition of his Cabinet. The last-mentioned issue had deeply agitated Italy’s neighbours in Europe and his partners in the European Union (EU). How much will their relations with Italy be affected if Berlusconi chose extreme right wingers for major cabinet posts? One of them, Gianfranco Fint, whose post-Fascist National Alliance Group won 12 per cent of the vote, was promised the post of a Deputy Prime Minister. Berlusconi convinced the people that Fint had severed his links with extreme right wing elements and called himself a moderate conservative. But can leopards change their spots so easily? Even more disturbing was the emergence of the anti-immigrant National League, whose leader Umberto Bossi had termed the EU, the ‘Soviet Union of the West’ and called the Brussels bureaucrats, “Nazi pedophiles”. Bossi had had a colourful career in Italian politics, having helped to topple Berlusconi’s last government in 1994. But like a true “aya ram, gaya ram” he once again joined the centre-right and campaigned vigorously. If Bossi was to be given a senior post in the Berlusconi government, it could lead to the EU planning some kind of sanctions which were imposed on Austria which, two years back, opted for a far-right coalition under Jorg Haider, a noted sympathiser of the Nazi party and Adolf Hitler. But Bossi’s bargaining powers were limited because his party won only 3.9 per cent of the votes and the coalition government could get along without his support. Like all mini-dictators, Bossi had been demanding major portfolios in the Berlusconi Cabinet but could be placated with some secondary posts. Though Bossi had been put down, the forces behind the new coalition in Italy drew only cautious welcome from the European neighbours. The EU particularly was guarded. Hubert Vedrine, the socialist Foreign Minister of France, said his government would be “attentive” and if needed, “vigilant” towards the course Italy took in European affairs. There were no welcome comments from Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder said he respected the choice of the Italian voters but British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who phoned his personal congratulations to Berlusconi, was noticeably warm. The Conservatives, of course, were happier. That champion of British conservatism, former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher firmly endorsed the triumph of Berlusconi though the current Tory leadership in Britain, did not go all the way with her. Spain greeted the Italian verdict with glee. But the warmest greetings came from Austria, under a tight, right-wing coalition government. Gloated Haider said: “The EU burnt its fingers on the issue of economic sanctions against Austria and doesn’t want the same to happen again with Italy.” That was also the sentiment with the EU. Though disappointed with the Italian verdict, EU officials hinted that no economic sanctions were in sight. This was because, unlike Austria, the Italian right wing had kept quiet on the issue of Nazism, Hitler and Mussolini. There had been no ecstatic outpourings or public displays of admiration of the former Nazi giants. Economic sanctions seldom achieved anything, they only helped to divide Europe, as it happened in the case of Austria. The right wing forces had come to power as per the wishes of the electorate. Though the Italian elections were fought mostly on domestic issues, there was intense speculation on the course of the foreign policy the new government was likely to follow Berlusconi had always supported a strong pro-US stand towards Nato. This would not please those who wanted Europe to have more say in Nato administration. Along with the Spanish and Austrian leader, Berlusconi could form a “troika” and demand a bigger say in farm policies for Italy. The EU had been urging restraint from its members which would not go well with Berlusconi who promises to cut taxes, hike pensions and fund big public sector projects. Over the years, the local turmoil in Italy has resulted in the country not playing its destined role in Europe. That may change now, Barring unexpected mishaps, Berlusconi is all set to rule for the next five years and be able to spare time to play a more active role in Europe. This may not be palatable to some of his neighbours, but they cannot help this from happening. The new Prime Minister must be concerned at his own image as a monopoly TV tycoon and a wheeler dealer. Much remains on how he would distance himself from his mighty TV empire and avoid charges of clashes of interest. His supporters, on the contrary, can find nothing wrong with their hero. According to them, he was a go-getter who had risen from the ranks of a cruise ship singer and who could get things done for himself and the nation. He was the type of man much admired by the British Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher. Italy had always been the poor cousin in Europe and if Berlusconi could extend his Midas touch to the masses, he would be hailed both as a saviour and a hero. |
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Senate okays
$ 1.35 trillion tax cut Washington, May 24 The vote was 62-38 to pass the Senate bill, with 12 Democrats joining all 50 Republicans in support. The final passage was delayed two days by several unsuccessful amendments that Democratic critics proposed to buttress their argument that it was too costly and favoured the wealthy. The tax cut, the largest since President Ronald Reagan’s in 1981, was hailed by Republicans as a necessary refund of surplus tax payments to deserving taxpayers and a boost to the shaky economy. Even before the Senate finished the bill, negotiators were discussing ways to bridge differences between the House and the Senate in the hope of getting the tax bill to President Bush by weekend.
AP |
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Baker US envoy
to Japan Washington, May 24 On a 99-0 vote, the Senate yesterday endorsed President George W.Bush’s nomination of Mr Baker (75) to be the envoy to Tokyo. The vote came a few hours after his confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Mr Baker, a Republican from Tennessee, was Senate minority and majority leader between 1977 and 1985. He later served as White House Chief of Staff under President Reagan from February 1987 to June 1988. Career diplomat Thomas Hubbard has been nominated US ambassador to South Korea.
Reuters |
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Islamabad, May 24
Abdul Sattar, Pakistan's Foreign Minister, at a news conference in Islamabad
on Thursday. He said Pakistan had made it clear that its military ruler General Pervez Musharraf would accept India's invitation for a visit and peace talks.
Reuters photo
