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| Thursday,
July 26, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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Hardline leader takes
power in PoK
Reclusive Kim to go to Russia by train |
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US House okays $ 10m disaster aid for S. Asia Sri Lanka airport reopens
Better US-India ties do not worry Pak China deports US academic Wahid decides to leave for USA
Rioters target embassies
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Hardline
leader takes power in PoK Muzaffarabad (Pakistan), July 25 Sardar Sikandar Hayat of the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference (AJKMC), led by former rebel Sardar Abdul Qayyum, was sworn in as “Prime Minister” to replace the previous Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) administration. His election comes at a time when the insurgency in Kashmir has worsened after the failure of summit talks between India and Pakistan to reach agreement on the 54-year dispute over the predominantly Muslim Himalayan region. Hayat said his government would work to help the “freedom struggle” in Kashmir. “Today, I remember our brothers in occupied Kashmir who are neither free nor can form their own government freely,” Hayat told thousands of party supporters and officials gathered on a lawn outside the state legislature in Muzaffarabad. “I pray to God that during the five years of our tenure we will be able to see the establishment of a freely elected government in Srinagar,” he added, referring to the summer capital of Kashmir. AJKMC leader Qayyum, former Prime Minister of the territory called Azad (Free) Kashmir by Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir by India, will be elected next week to become the new figurehead president, party sources said. The AJKMC has taken power just a week after the landmark Indo-Pakistan summit in Agra collapsed in deadlock. India holds about 45 per cent of Kashmir, Pakistan over a third and China the remainder. Gulzar Khan, a Pakistani analyst on Kashmir, wrote in an English-language daily after the July 5 election victory of the AJKMC that the group’s return to power in Kashmir augured well for the peace process between India and Pakistan. “Hopefully the victory of Muslim Conference in these elections will send a loud and clear message across the border as what the Kashmiris want,” he wrote. Pakistan-controlled Kashmir is the only part of the region to have its own constitution, flag, parliament and supreme court. The sole exception is the sparsely populated Northern Areas of Gilgit and Baltistan bordering China, which Islamabad rules directly. Taking the oath Hayat pledged to remain “faithful to the idea of the accession of Jammu and Kashmir state to Pakistan”. The AJKMC, which was formed in 1932 and is Kashmir’s oldest political grouping, regained the power it lost five years ago by winning the July election for the 48-seat Assembly, the lower house of a two-chamber legislature. The vote, in which 16 pro-Pakistan groups and more than 300 candidates took part, marked Pakistani military ruler General Pervez Musharraf’s first experiment in running a parliamentary election. But several pro-independence candidates were barred after they refused to profess faith in all of Kashmir joining Pakistan. While Musharraf has refused to return Pakistan to civilian rule before October 2002, the Kashmir vote was held on time, in line with the end of the assembly’s five-year term.
Reuters |
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Reclusive Kim to go to Russia by train Moscow, July 25 Details of Kim’s itinerary remained unclear, with sources in Russia’s far East Pacific region giving different accounts. Russian border guards, contacted by telephone from the Pacific port of Vladivostok, said Kim would cross the border into Khasan district at 8 a.m. on Thursday (9 p.m. GMT on Wednesday). He would then travel directly on to Moscow. But police sources in the port said Kim would arrive only at the weekend. Officials in the region’s administration also said they did not expect the North Korean leader for several days. Tass, quoting “highly placed sources”, said Kim would be in Moscow on August 4 and 5, returning Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Pyongyang last year. Tass said Kim, like his late father, veteran North Korean leader Kim Il-sung, would travel on the Trans-Siberian Railway, beginning his journey in Vladivostok on Sunday. Russia’s Pacific fleet marks its annual navy day in the port on Sunday, but Kim was not expected to stop in the city. Russia’s Railways Ministry said North Korean Rail Minister Kim Yong-sam, would be in Moscow this week to attend ceremonies marking the Trans-Siberian Railway’s centenary. Tass quoted the source as saying that missile defences would not play a “prominent role” in the talks. “(North Korean) missiles cannot be considered to be a serious threat to the USA,” the source said. North Korea, Iran and Iraq, are viewed by Washington as “rogue states” — possible sources of missile strikes capable of hitting US territory. Russia opposes the planned missile shield on grounds it would violate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, but has embarked on discussions with Washington. It says none of the “rogue states” has the capability to strike US territory. Kim, who became North Korean leader on the death of his father in 1994, has made only three known trips abroad, all to China. The present trip has been postponed several times. The Soviet Union is a staunch ally of North Korea and sent pilots and military advisers to help in the 1950-53 Korean War. Kim Il-sung made several journeys to Moscow, the last in 1984. Russian ties with Pyongyang became more distant in post-Soviet times as Moscow developed a healthy trading relationship with Seoul. Under Putin, Russia has improved ties with Soviet-era allies and taken an active role in coaxing the North out of isolation. “Kim’s visit will be a continuation of the dialogue launched in Pyongyang last year by Putin,” Yuri Vanin, a Korean expert at Moscow’s Institute of Oriental Studies, said by telephone. “It is certainly possible that the talks will make a contribution to efforts to improve relations between North and South Korea.” During his visit to Pyongyang last year, Putin obtained an offer from Kim to scrap his country’s missile programme if other countries helped North Korea launch rockets into space.
Reuters |
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US House okays $ 10m disaster aid for S. Asia Washington, July 25 The House voted yesterday on an amendment offered by Congressman Joseph Crowley to direct the amount towards efforts to prepare for natural disasters in South Asia. The amendment by Mr Crowley, New York Democrat who represents Jackson Heights in Queens, which has one of the largest concentration of South Asians, was co-sponsored by the chairpersons of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, Mr Jim McDermott, Washington Democrat, and Mr Ed Royce, California Republican. The Crowley amendment was the result of negotiations with the chairperson of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Mr James Kolbe, Arizona Republican. It adds $1 million to the International Disaster Assistance Fund for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA). The administration had originally requested $200 million for all OFDA
programmes. “I am pleased that the House approved this funding that will help the nations of South Asia prepare for natural disasters,” said Mr Crowley, a member of the House International Relations Committee. “India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Pakistan are particularly prone to earthquakes, cyclones, floods and drought. Efforts to further develop disaster management strategies will help save lives and reduce property losses in the region,” he said.
IANS |
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Sri Lanka airport reopens Colombo, July 25 Director-General of Civil Aviation Lal Liyanaarachchi gave clearance for operationalising Bandaranaike International Airport after a thorough review of restoration measures, his office said. “The BIA is now operational for international traffic,” a department spokesman said. All airlines have been informed of the development, and Sri Lankan Airlines has announced a schedule of flights for arrival and departure in the day. However, the flight timings were subject to change, a spokesperson for Sri Lankan Airlines said. Seven aircraft, including a serviceable one, would be used in Colombo for scheduled departures. The airline suffered a crippling blow to its services in the attack, losing three airbuses. Though three other aircraft were also damaged, one of them would be used as the damage was minimal, Sri Lankan Airlines sources said. The BIA reopened today with a flight from India. “We have a flight arriving from Chennai shortly,’’ said Sri Lankan Airlines chief executive officer Peter Hill. “All six planes we have out right now will be landing in the next three hours.’’ Meanwhile, two more Sri Lankan Air Force personnel succumbed to injuries, taking the death toll in yesterday’s attack by the LTTE on the Katunayake Air Base and international airport to 20. Military spokesman Brig Sanath Karunaratne said the toll among the security forces had gone up to seven — five Air Force men and two Army soldiers. Thirteen LTTE cadres were killed, most of them shot dead by security forces, after they had destroyed or damaged eight military and six civilian aircraft. Sri Lankan Airlines said in a statement that three of its Airbuses were completely destroyed, and three damaged. Its remaining six aircraft were in overseas destinations, thus escaping the LTTE rampage. The Sri Lankan police investigation has identified the vehicle in which the attackers came to the vicinity of the high security zone behind the military air base. Residents of Kurana, a small locality behind the installation, had seen a group of men in camouflage in a private bus parked near a junction on Monday night. They had seen them having food and then unloading a few sacks from the air-conditioned bus. They had been seen walking along a railway track, but how they got into the air base remains a mystery. According to a UNI report, the police has arrested three suspects in this connection.
PTI, Reuters |
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Better US-India ties do not worry Pak Islamabad, July 25 In an interview with CNN, Mr Sattar said, “India and the USA are welcome to have friendly relations. Our concern arises only if and when the USA seeks to improve relations with India at the expense of Pakistan’s interests.” In reply to a question, he said “We don’t need to worry. In fact, we ourselves, would like to have friendly relations with India. How can we object to the USA having friendly relations with India.” Asked how important it was for Pakistan to strengthen ties with China to counter US-India relationships, he said, “Events have shown that Pakistan-China relations were not directed against any third country”. Recalling the Agra Summit, he said President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had achieved a meeting of minds in the summit. They now understand each other better. General Musharraf had invited Premier Vajpayee to Pakistan which has been accepted by him, he added.
UNI |
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China deports
US academic Beijing, July 25 Shaomin, a US national, was put on a United Airlines flight bound for San Francisco, Chinese Foreign Ministry sources said. He was convicted of spying for Taiwan by a Beijing court on July 14. However, the court did not sentence him and ordered that he be expelled from China. He was detained on February 25 after he entered China to visit a friend. The deporting of Shaomin, a business professor at City University in Hong Kong, is an apparent attempt to improve Sino-US relations, ahead of the official visit by US Secretary of State Colin Powell from July 28.
PTI |
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Wahid decides to leave for USA Jakarta, July 25 “Tomorrow at 1400 IST Gus Dur will leave the palace and head off to America,” decommissioned Justice Minister Mohammad Mahfud told reporters. Mr Wahid’s trip to the USA was for medical treatment, a presidential doctor said. Muslim artist Emha Ainun Najib also confirmed his friend’s imminent departure. “Tomorrow (Thursday) at 4:00 pm (1400 IST) he will leave the palace and go to Monas (independence square) to meet his friends and then head straight for the airport,” Ainun Najib told reporters at the palace. Ainun Najib said Gus Dur would return to live at his private residence in Ciganjur, in southern part of Jakarta. A member of the presidential medical team, Yusuf Misbah, said Mr Wahid would travel to Baltimore for medical treatment at Johns Hopkins hospital, amid signs of a relapse in his ailments. Meanwhile, Indonesia’s vice-presidential race will go into a second round of voting after no candidate posted a majority in an election in the top Assembly today. The head of the Muslim-oriented United Development Party, Hamzah Haz, was leading the race, followed by Akbar Tandjung of the former ruling Golkar party and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a retired General and former Chief Security Minister. Earlier, around 500 Indonesian students protested at Parliament today over the nomination of House Speaker Akbar Tandjung to be the next Vice-President because of his links to disgraced former leader Suharto.
AFP, Reuters |
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Rioters target embassies Skopje, July 25 About 2,000, demonstrators, many of them young, hooded and armed with sticks set fire to several vehicles and buildings, smashing the windows of the British and German embassies and a McDonald’s restaurant. Most of the crowd massed in front of the US Embassy, where they chanted “Macedonia, Macedonia” while launching a shower of rocks at the building. The riots came after heavy fighting broke out again and continued late into the night in the northwestern town of Tetovo increasing fears that a ceasefire agreed on July 5 had all but broken down. Earlier, Macedonia closed its border with Kosovo, which it accuses of fuelling the insurrection. It also accused NATO of helping the rebels, who began their uprising for greater Albanian rights in February. In Tetovo, heavy explosions and bursts of gunfire could be heard just 200 metres from the town centre. Much of the area was deserted, with many residents having fled the fighting. An AFP journalist said a Macedonian army barracks, which was hit by mortar shells on Monday, came under fire again as did a nearby police checkpoint.
AFP |
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Aum cult told to pay compensation Tokyo, July 25 The Tokyo District Court ordered Shoko Asahara to compensate the families of four of the seven victims who died in the cult’s June 1994 attack in central Japan. The incident preceded the cult’s 1995 attack in a Tokyo subway that killed 12 morning commuters and sickened 6,000. Asahara, whose real name is Chizuo Matsumoto, faces charges of murder masterminding the subway attack. Kyodo news agency said the plaintiffs had filed the lawsuit seeking 545 million yen in damages in 1995, but proceedings were suspended for nearly four years after the court decided to watch developments in other charges filed against Asahara.
Reuters |
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