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Wednesday,
August 22, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Sindh bans ‘jehadi’ fund collections India ‘seeks’ missiles from Russia |
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Indo-Pak
trade talks ruled out US missile-defence test site in Alaska Diplomats leave empty-handed
SA leaders form task force on Zimbabwe 3 Lanka ministers
offer to quit LTTE storms police station, 23 killed Britain not to recruit
Third World doctor Iranian court
jails woman MP
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Arafat ready for talks with Peres Ramallah (West Bank), August 21 Speaking after meeting German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer in the Palestinian-controlled West Bank city of Ramallah, Arafat called for the immediate implementation of an internationally backed truce-to-peacemaking plan. Fischer, who was meeting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon later today, has been thrust into the role of mediator as Peres tries to jumpstart ceasefire negotiations. “I welcome your (Fischer’s) good ideas and I welcome meeting...Shimon Peres in your office in Berlin,’’ Arafat told reporters, with Fischer at his side. Asked when the meeting could take place, Arafat said: “at any moment.’’ No time was announced for a meeting, and Israel declined immediate comment on Arafat’s remarks. Arafat was due to go to Cairo later and to China on Thursday, and Peres was already out of the country on a trip to Hungary. They last met on June 29 in Lisbon, but failed to make a breakthrough. Sharon has ruled out peace negotiations until there is a complete halt to bloodshed. But Sharon has said Peres can discuss ways of ending the violence that has raged since a Palestinian uprising erupted against Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip last September. BUDAPEST: Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said he was ready to meet President Arafat and that details of a meeting would be worked out shortly. “I intend to see him (Arafat) in the near future,” Peres told a news conference after meeting his Hungarian counterpart, Janos Martonyi. “Europe can and should play an important role,” he said. UNITED NATIONS: Squarely blaming Israel for the ongoing violence in the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinians and Arabs sharply attacked the UN Security Council and the US for failing to check it and demanded posting of international monitors in the region to help calm the situation. In a day-long debate, the USA firmly backed Israel and described the proposed Palestinian resolution calling for posting of monitors as “unworkable”. Blaming the Palestinian Authority for instigating and perpetuating violence, Israel also rejected the resolution as “one-sided which does not require any action on the part of Palestinians”. Forcefully presenting his case, Palestinians’ UN observer Nasser al-Kidwa said they are consulting other Islamic and developing nations to finalise the draft resolution for introduction in the council. The debate was held at the request of Mali and Qatar on behalf of a group of 52 Islamic countries. Diplomats point out that no observers could be sent without Israeli consent but a resolution calling for their posting would be a morale booster for the Palestinians and would enable them to claim victory in the council. In the face of the strong opposition from Washington, which has veto power, Arabs are not in a hurry to try to press for the resolution and some diplomats say it might never come up in its present form. The debate, however, gave a chance to the Arabs to give vent to their grievances forcefully.
Reuters, PTI |
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Sindh bans ‘jehadi’ fund collections Karachi, August 21 A Sindh order, seen by Reuters, said the ban was effective from August 21. “Any deviation from this order will be seriously viewed by the government and appropriate action shall be initiated against the offenders,’’ the order said. The order covers all jehadi groups, including outfits operating in Kashmir. Pakistani militants are also known to operate in support of Muslim fighters in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya and the Philippines. Pakistan’s military regime last week banned two rival militant groups that are often blamed for violence between members of the majority Sunni and minority Shia sects. More than 100,000 unlicensed weapons have been recovered since the disarmament campaign was launched in June, but the government says that represents the tip of the iceberg. Meanwhile, Pakistan-based militant groups reacted sharply to the military regime’s ban on collection of funds by them in the southern Sindh province, saying that jehad (holy war) was not launched on the directive of the government nor could it be abandoned on its order. “Jehad will continue till the day of judgement,” the provincial leaders of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, Hizbul Mujahideen, Jaiesh-e-Muhammad and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen said while reacting to the ban on the collection of funds by them in the name of jehad and displaying signboards on their offices. The order for the ban, which also applies to militant groups operating in the Kashmir valley, was issued last night by the Sindh provincial government in Karachi. It warned the groups that they would face legal action if they violate the order. A spokesman of the Jaiesh-e-Mohammad, an outfit floated by Masood Azhar who was among the three
militants released by India to end the Indian Airlines hijacking in 1999, said: “We have not started jehad on the order of the government nor can any ruler ask us to stop it”. The jehad groups have alleged that the government was ignoring the mujahideens’ sacrifices for the sake of Islam and national security. They said the military regime had issued a circular banning the collection of jehad fund and displaying of signboards by the jehadi organisations, but it had never bothered to ban obscene signboards and collection of funds for musical programmes.
Reuters, PTI |
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India ‘seeks’ missiles from Russia Islamabad, August 21 In an interview to Russian magazine ‘Kommersant’, he said Pakistan was “seriously” concerned about it. “We remain seriously concerned at consequences of the introduction of ballistic missile defences in our region which our neighbour is in the process of acquiring.” “We also stress that the major powers should help prompt a policy of restraint in South Asia and refrain from any actions which could induce an arms race in the region,” APP news agency quoted him as saying in the interview. Expressing keen interest in defence cooperation with Moscow on mutually beneficial basis, President Musharraf said “I believe that Pakistan-Russia relations have their own intrinsic value and importance. These have nothing to do with any third country.” This is the first instance in recent times that Pakistan is trying to woo Russia, especially to enhance defence co-operation.
PTI |
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Indo-Pak
trade talks ruled out Islamabad, August 21 Mr Razak said he had no plans to meet Mr Maran separately to discuss promotion of trade between India and Pakistan which figured lowest among the SAARC countries. “Official
trade with India is very negligible, most of trade is being transacted
through Dubai and other channels,” he said, adding that no talks
were scheduled to be held with his Indian counterpart. The SAARC
Ministers would discuss a common stance to be forged by the
seven-member regional bloc at the forthcoming WTO meeting at Doha in
November, along with issues relating to promotion of regional trade. PTI |
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US missile-defence test site in Alaska Washington, August 21 The newspaper quoted a spokeswoman for the Pentagon’s Ballistic Missile Defence Organisation as saying that a $9 million contract was awarded to an Alaskan firm on Friday for clearing trees, building roads and utilities at the site in central Alaska. “The site preparation will be limited to clearing and grading of the site and installing preliminary utilities and road structures”, the spokeswoman, Ms Pam Bain, said. Land clearing will begin “within a week or so,’’ she said. The official construction announcement for the testing facility at Fort Greely, Alaska, about 100 miles southeast of Fairbanks, was published in the Federal Register on Wednesday.
Reuters |
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Diplomats leave empty-handed Kabul, August 21 “We received written confirmation that the comfort packages were received and we feel very good about that,” said Mr Alastar Adams, First Secretary at the Australian High Commission in Pakistan. The foreign aid workers have been in jail for more than two weeks accused by the Taliban of preaching Christianity in this staunch Muslim nation. “We got a list in the form of an inventory signed by all the aid workers,” said David Donahue, Consul-General of the US Embassy in Pakistan. The three diplomats from the USA, Germany and Australia left the beleaguered capital vowing to press their demand for access to the imprisoned aid workers from Pakistan, one of the three countries where the Taliban have a diplomatic presence. The aid workers — two American women, four Germans and two Australians — have not been seen since their arrest more than two weeks ago. They were arrested along with 16 employees of Shelter Now International, run by the German-based Christian group Vision for Asia.
AP |
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SA leaders form task force on Zimbabwe Kampala, August 21 “A task force comprising leaders from Malwai, Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique met to help form an understanding of the nature of the land issue,” President Benjamin Mkapa told a news conference. The leaders met yesterday on the sidelines of a meeting of Malaysian, African and Caribbean government and business leaders held near the Ugandan capital, Kampala. Zimbabwe has been plunged into crisis since February last year when black militants invaded white-owned farms in what they say is a show of support for President Robert Mugabe’s controversial campaign to seize white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks. “We pledged to mobilise international opinion and see if resources can be mobilised to see how that reform can be carried out as smoothly as possible,” Mkapa said. Nine white farmers have been killed and scores of farm workers injured in violence accompanying the land invasions. A Zimbabwean court granted bail on Monday to 21 white farmers charged with inciting public violence after clashes earlier this month with pro-government militias occupying their properties. Reuters |
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3 Lanka ministers offer to quit Colombo, August 21 Ministers Alavi Moulana, Jeevan Kumaratunga and Reggie Ranatunga tendered their “undated” letters of resignation to the President last evening, days after 28 of her deputy ministers had made a similar move. The opposition United National Party has said these ministers who have handed over their “undated” resignation letters to the President now could not use ministry facilities, including vehicles. The Kumaratunga government was reduced to a minority on June 20 after the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) crossed over to the Opposition.
UNI |
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LTTE storms police station, 23 killed Colombo, August 21 Nearly 24 policemen and several guerrillas were also injured in the two-hour long gunfight in Ampara district, prompting aerial attacks by the Sri Lankan Air Force on rebel targets. The women cadres of the LTTE were believed to have participated in the attack. Defence Ministry spokesman Sanath Karunarathne said the rebels also launched simultaneous attack on a nearby base of the elite Special Task Force (STF) commandos to prevent rushing of the aid to the police station, 350 km from Colombo. However, STF patrols stationed outside the base managed to rush to the police station and forced the rebels to retreat to the neighbouring Batticaloa district. The fleeing rebels took with them 29 T-56 assault rifles and four bodies of slain policemen from the station precincts, he said, adding that the armoury was intact. Unofficial reports from the LTTE-controlled areas in Batticaloa district spoke of more than 25 policemen being killed in the attack.
PTI |
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Britain not to recruit Third World doctor London, August 21 A worldwide advertising campaign would be launched in September, after the government realised it would be unable to train enough to meet its pledge of providing 10,000 new doctors by 2005, The Times said yesterday. The campaign will aim at both general practitioners (GPs) and hospital specialists. Health Secretary Alan Milburn will appeal to doctors in Europe, Australia, Canada, the USA and Asia to fill the gaps. Spain, Germany and Italy will be particularly targeted as they have a surplus of
doctors. DPA |
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Iranian court
jails woman MP Teheran, August 21 Fatemeh Haqiqatju was sentenced to a 22-month jail term on charges that she spread propaganda against the Islamic system and its foundations, insulted members of the senate-like Guardian Council and head of the Teheran Revolutionary Court.
DPA
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