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Saturday,
January 12, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Norway hopeful of solving Lanka crisis Of religio-political realignments Syed Nooruzzaman Three significant developments on Pakistan's religio-political firmament have gone almost unnoticed by the international media. The first is that the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) has suffered a major setback as its highly respected chief, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, has resigned. He took the step in protest against the back-channel efforts by the ARD's principal constituent, the PPP of Ms Benazir Bhutto, to strike a deal with the military regime, leaving the movement in the lurch. Plot to bomb US targets, 13 held
Rafah (Gaza Strip), January 11 Israeli army bulldozers guarded by more than six tanks moved into Gaza International Airport today and bulldozed the runway, witnesses and officials said. Dual citizenship may create 3 classes |
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Norway hopeful of solving Lanka crisis Colombo, January 11 A delegation from Norway, acting as a go-between, held two days of talks with the government after similar discussions with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) last week. “After meetings with the Sri Lanka Government and last week’s discussion with the LTTE, Norwegian Foreign Deputy Minister Vidar Helgesen is cautiously optimistic about the process of finding a political solution to the conflict,” a statement from the Norwegian Embassy said. Mr Helgesen met Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and President Chandrika Kumaratunga as well as Muslim and Tamil parties, the statement said. Hopes for early peace talks have been raised since Wickremesinghe’s United National Party won a parliamentary election last month after campaigning on a pro-peace platform. “We are convinced that there are opportunities to move further, step by step towards negotiations,” the statement quoted Helgesen as saying. It said the talks in Colombo, and in London with Dr Anton Balasingham, the spokesman and chief negotiator for the LTTE, focused on the plight of civilians living in war-torn areas and on ways to formalise a one-month ceasefire. “There seems to be a willingness and commitment from both Wickremesinghe’s new government and the LTTE to find common ground on these matters,” the statement said. Developments have moved quickly since the December 5 vote, with the government already meeting two pre-conditions the LTTE had set before it would start talks — a truce and an easing of an economic blockade on rebel-held areas that begins next week. The ceasefire that started on December 24 is the first to be observed simultaneously by both sides in seven years, further raising hopes of talks to end a conflict which has claimed some 64,000 lives. Helgesen also said he was encouraged by Kumaratunga’s support for Wickremesinghe’s peace initiative. The two are bitter rivals and Kumaratunga’s People’s Alliance (PA) party, which had taken an increasingly hardline stance on the Tigers, was defeated in the election, although she remains President until 2005. A similar plan last year to strike a pre-talks accord was almost signed but the collapsed amid haggling between the LTTE and PA over conditions for talks.
Reuters |
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WINDOW ON PAKISTAN Three significant developments on Pakistan's religio-political firmament have gone almost unnoticed by the international media. The first is that the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) has suffered a major setback as its highly respected chief, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, has resigned. He took the step in protest against the back-channel efforts by the ARD's principal constituent, the PPP of Ms Benazir Bhutto, to strike a deal with the military regime, leaving the movement in the lurch. The MQM, the Awami National Party and the Labour Party had deserted the alliance last year. But their absence from the ARD could not affect the movement-----which got its present name on December 3, 2000, with the expansion of the then GDA or the Grand Democratic Alliance----as much as it could happen with the expected parting of company by the PPP. The Nawabzada saw it before time and decided to say "alvida" to save himself from humiliation at the hands of the PPP leadership. Serious differences between the Nawabzada, the moving spirit behind the ARD, and the PPP leadership were first noticed after an all-party conference convened by the Jamaat-e-Islami, a religio-political organisation, on September 16 last year. The ARD chief and the PPP continued to suspect each other, and their relationship worsened when Ms Bhutto's party stayed away from the December 27 all-party meeting held under the auspices of the grand alliance. One factor that is believed to have brought the ARD to such a pass is the U-turn in Pakistan's Afghan policy, opposed by the Nawabzada but approved by the PPP and the three political groups which last year dissociated themselves from the ARD. With the departure of the Nawabzada from the formidable movement for democracy, there is a strong possibility of its disappearing from the scene. Only he could bring the PPP and the PML (Nawaz) together. There is, perhaps, no need for the ARD to remain intact. The second major development may render it lifeless. This relates to President Musharraf evincing interest again in striking a deal with former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. According to The Friday Times, the General sent an emissary to Dubai the other day to discuss with the PPP leader her 12-point charter of demands afresh. She had submitted it to the military regime some time ago but could not achieve her aim of "national reconciliation". The General was not agreeable to Ms Bhutto becoming Prime Minister as a result of the deal, though she had accepted the condition of allowing the present ruler to remain President of Pakistan after the October elections. The General, it seems, has revised his calculations. Now he sees little danger from Ms Bhutto capturing power again. However, things will be more clear with the expected release of the PPP leader's jailed husband, Mr Asif Ali Zardari. An analytical report in The Friday Times says: "A central leader of the PPP told the TFT (the weekly) that General Musharraf, by sending Mr Larik (his emissary) to Ms Bhutto, has conveyed an indirect message that the regime is prepared to accept Ms Bhutto's legitimate role. But others are less sure, arguing that the game has just begun." There is nothing to prevent the game from delivering results. "The only thing they (the military regime) now want is that after coming to power the party should not take action against any General. We have no problem with that," the paper quotes an unnamed top PPP source to give credence to its revelation. The third development is no less important. It might have forced General Musharraf to prefer the company of the PPP to fight his political battle. His drive against religious and jehadi organisations has led to the birth of a new religious conglomeration with the sole objective of "defeating the
designs" of the General. The religious leaders believe that the imminent demise of the ARD may lead to the availability of valuable political space. It may be used to defeat General Musharraf in his political game, as he is suspected by a large section of Pakistanis to be working for the protection of American interests instead of those of the country. Commenting on the emergence of the new grouping called the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal or the MMA, comprising the Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan, the Jamaat-e-Islami, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (S), the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F), the Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Fiqh Jafaria and the Jamiat Ahle Hadith, The Nation of January 4 said: "If it does fight an election in its present shape, the MMA is the broadest such forum cobbled together so far to counter a common perceived challenge, as electoral alliances between religious parties in the past have been narrow-based and short-lived." Actually, this is for the first time that six major religious parties have come together with the specific objective of fighting elections. They are also looking for like-minded political groups to join hands with them. For General Musharraf to counter their threat there is no better way than the one he has found. But a deal with the PPP, if it finally materialises, will expose him as an out-and-out power-hungry General. All his talk of safeguarding the interests of his country will become meaningless. |
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Plot to bomb US targets, 13 held Singapore, January 11 “The plan was apparently developed and ready for activation,” the government said in a statement. The 13 men, all arrested between December 9 and 24 under the Internal Security Act, were members of the Jemaah Islamiyah — a clandestine Islamic Group. Two other suspects also arrested have been released. One plan was to blow up a shuttle bus carrying US personnel between a naval base on the island state and a local subway station. Another plan was to bomb US naval vessels in a special “kill zone” along the north-eastern shores of Singapore. The government said it had also found a list of over 200 US companies in Singapore. “Three of them were highlighted as potential targets apparently because the office-bearers were regarded as fairly prominent members of the American community in Singapore.” Singapore revealed on January 5 that it had arrested 15 persons between December 9 and December 24 for alleged involvement in terrorism-related activities, including several who had trained in Al-Qaida terrorist camps in Afghanistan. The arrests were made under the Internal Security Act, which allows for detention with trial. Of those arrested, 14 were Singaporeans and one a Malaysian citizen. “Eight of those detained are confirmed at this point, to have gone to Afghanistan for training in Al-Qaida training camps,” the government statement said. PARIS: The French authorities have arrested and imprisoned an Algerian-born man believed to be a high-level member of the Al-Qaida terrorist network, judicial officials said on Friday. Said Laidouni was arrested on December 24 and put in jail by an investigating judge for allegedly violating a French judicial order to regularly appear before authorities.
Reuters, AP |
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Israel destroys Gaza runway Rafah (Gaza Strip), January 11 A Reuters cameraman in the southern Gaza Strip witnessed the army operation. An Israeli army spokeswoman had no comment on the action, which took place after two Palestinians killed four Israeli soldiers on Wednesday at a border post in an attack claimed by the Muslim militant group
Hamas. “The information I have is that there are 10 military tanks and bulldozers and they are excavating the runway,’’ said Fayez Zaidan, Palestinian official in charge of civil aviation. “The excavation is very severe,’’ he told Reuters, adding he did not have information on whether the runway was completely destroyed because Palestinian officials could not enter. Israel has closed the airport many times in the past after attacks or for what it calls security measures. JERUSALEM: Israel froze contacts with the Palestinian Authority, pledging they would not be resumed until the Authority arrested those involved in an alleged arms smuggling attempt, Israeli sources said. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon made the announcement to political supporters outside Tel Aviv last night but said security contacts with the Palestinians would not be affected by the measure, the sources said.
Reuters |
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Dual citizenship may create 3 classes London, January 11 One, those living in the USA or Britain with American or British nationality who could also claim Indian citizenship. Two, Indians living in the Gulf, for example, who have only Indian nationality. And three, Indians with the nationality of countries of residence that do not allow dual citizenship. They feel that the selection of countries whose residents can claim dual citizenship is not discriminatory in itself. In most cases it is the country of residence that will not allow dual citizenship even if the Indian government does. Mr L.M. Singhvi, chairman of the high-level committee that made the recommendations, made it clear at the launch of the report that the “strongest demand came only from those countries that have provided the framework for dual citizenship.” Indians in other countries will be offered persons of Indian origin (PIO) cards with 20 years validity. But priced at $1,000 a card, it has found few takers. The differences dual citizenship will create are causing some heartburn already. “Does the Indian government mean to say that I am less an Indian just because I live in South Africa and not in Britain or the USA,” Mr Hitesh Parmar, a motor mechanic in Durban, told IANS. Mr Parmar is currently visiting relatives in London. NRIs fear that the proposal on dual citizenship may lead to a property boom in India. “The benefit of buying property in India without going through the present red tape will be a major advantage,” solicitor Shantoo Ruparell told IANS. Many Gujarati families have already bought houses in Gujarat, Mumbai and Goa, he said. “But these have needed clearance from the Reserve Bank of India and local authorities, and this has been a drag on more buying.” Many Indians in Britain are looking to buy holiday homes in India, said Mark Kotecha, a pharmacist. “A flat in Goa is the best place for a vacation because the climate is good, and we get our own food and our own culture.” Shopping in Mumbai on holidays to Goa and the south is a popular attraction among Gujaratis holidaying back home and shopping for weddings. A paediatrician who bought a plot of land in Kerala said he would use it as a retirement home. “Many doctors plan to go back and retire in India,” he said.
IANS |
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