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Monday,
January 21, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Thousands
return to lava-hit town
NEWS ANALYSIS Pak flays
OIC for lack of support |
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Amnesty
for IRA fugitives Another
truce extension by LTTE Karzai’s
appeal for aid
Top journalism awards announced
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Thousands return to lava-hit town
Nairobi, January 20 “This will complicate things considerably. The aid agencies will have to reassess their operations,” said Paul Stromberg, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. “People are pouring back into Goma. From what I can see it is a massive level of returns,” Alison Preston of the World Vision Agency said by telephone from the eastern Congolese town. “If people are there (in Goma) it’s more difficult for us.” Relief agencies have been handing out food and water in the nearby Rwandan town of Gisenyi, the original destination of most of those who fled Goma when Mr Nyiragongo erupted on Thursday evening. But relief workers in Gisenyi said the sudden move back to Goma that started on Saturday night risked making current food distribution plans irrelevant. “The relief effort so far has been based in Gisenyi. Now it’s being reassessed,” Mr Preston said. “There is going to have to be a cross-border effort, there’s clearly no choice about that.” The rations on offer have comprised high energy biscuits and water. Later on Sunday, agencies plan to hand out maize, beans and oil. Mr Stromberg said displaced people were extremely reluctant to move even further away from Goma by settling in two camps 25 km east of Gisenyi allocated to them by relief agencies. Lake Kivu’s water has been tainted with poisonous volcanic ash as lava ploughed through the town and into the lake, prompting concerns about the threat of disease. “People are collecting water from the lake,” he said. “People are climbing across the lava which is still quite hot.” Congolese rebels appealed to the refugees not to return, after volcanic lava poured through the city last week, killing 45 persons while forcing the town’s inhabitants to evacuate. The rebel group, Congolese Rally for Democracy, warned refugees, who had fled to the Rwandan town of Gisenyi, that it was too dangerous to return. The UN relief organisation and other agencies also urged the refugees to stay put, but the refugees remained defiant. “We are Congolese,” said one refugee after spending a third night in Gisenyi. “We want to stay near Goma.” The lava and the ensuing fires had damaged up to 80 per cent of the buildings in Goma, according to the Red Cross. The port on Lake Kivu, the main electrical power generating stations, and two of the city’s water pumping stations were destroyed. The two main lava flows that cut through the heart of the city had slowed yesterday morning, but at other places lava was still flowing. Anywhere from 100,000 to 200,000 people were estimated to have fled Goma for the town of Gisenyi, across the Rwandan border. Most slept outside for the second consecutive night on Friday.
Reuters, DPA |
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NEWS ANALYSIS Lahore Much of the posturing for public consumption in the General’s January 12 address was expected. No Pakistani ruler will admit doing anything under external pressure, least of all under threat of Indian military mobilisation, nor should he be expected to give up what is now increasingly described as the Kashmir cause. The only substantive part of the speech was a message to the people of his country directly supporting a popular uprising, even a national liberation movement, beyond its frontiers are over and hence all activities by militant clerics in Pakistan must stop. General Musharraf may be given credit for fully appreciating the change in the political thinking of the global elite after September 11. The invasion of Afghanistan was only the first manifestation of the campaign launched by Mr Bush and the unprecedented military alliance forged by him to save the insulation of the state from non-statements equipped with lethal weapons. The war against loosely defined terrorism was going to demolish many of the sacred concepts about international community’s commitment to justice, democracy and human rights. General Musharraf, therefore, lost no time in not only breaking with the Taliban but also putting an end to the ISI manoeuvres across the
northern frontier. It was only a matter of time before the other part of these manoeuvres elsewhere also was given up. The pressure from India’s demonstration of military build-up, and more than that the pressure from the global anti-terrorism coalition, only expedited the process. Two domestic realities apparently influenced General Musharraf’s mind. First, the regime’s unbearable problems with the religious militants at home. Throughout 2001 it was engaged in an unsuccessful campaign against domestic terrorism. Forced with increased criminal violence and sectarian killings during the past year, the regime banned two organisations — Sipah-i-Sahaba and Tehrik-i-Jafaria—, stiffened the anti-terrorism Act to acquire powers to proscribe organisations and seize their funds, amended the Police Act to give more powers to the police to enforce order, rounded up hundreds of militants on several occasions, and launched a drive to recover illicit arms. It also pressurised the judiciary to expedite trial and sentencing of activists changed with terrorist acts. These measures were considered necessary not only to establish the regime’s writ as the sole authority in the land but also as a pre-requisite to the country’s recovery from a grave economic crisis. The second factor was the demonstration of public alienation from the ‘jihadi’ groups. The break with the Taliban caused no significant reaction in the population. The Pashtun elite and the ‘Mohajir’ leadership came out openly in Islamabad’s support, the Baloch remained quiet and the Punjab, the traditional stronghold of clerical reaction, was indifferent. During the period of military mobilisation the public refusal to be swayed by jingoism also confirmed the view that the people’s priorities had undergone a change and that they wanted most of all internal peace, efficient administration, economic revival and work opportunities. The time for burying the legacy of General Zia-ul-Haq had come. It was possible to openly denounce the threat posed by “half-baked” clerics, order closure of their training camps and offices, attack their sources of funding, regulate their summaries and restrict the exploitation of the pulpit for political purposes. All these steps will bear the desired results, at least in the short run, because the strength everybody was crediting the militant clerics with was derived essentially and decisively from state patronage. But the ditching of the religious militants also meant the loss to the military regime of an important constituency that Zia-ul-Haq had created. That the crackdown on the militants could not be complete without cutting down their allies in the political life was soon realised. Hence the election system changes and adoption of a new political constituency. The promise to abolish separate electorates has appeased the non-Muslim population. The tripling of women’s seats (over the last quota) will win over the feminists. The introduction of proportional representation will disarm the smaller parties, including the religious groups. The proposal to bring 25 technocrats in the lower house of parliament and to eliminate non-graduates from it will bring cheer to the middle class professionals and retired bureaucrats who have never concealed their distaste for rule by a rustic majority. Thus, it is hoped that the non-Muslims (and the liberal democrats who opposed separate electorates), women, proportionalists, and educated liberals in politics would be a strong and large enough body to provide a cushion against the traditional politicians and purist constitutionalists and democrats who quibble about legitimacy and the sanctity of the 1973 Constitution. Above all, these measures will satisfy the international power elite as the best prescription the people of Pakistan deserve and can in the circumstances hope for. The regime’s design is unlikely to go uncontested. But the challenge from the clerics and the traditional rural-based politicians alike will take time to develop. In the immediate future General Musharraf and his colleagues should be able to carry the day, with minor adjustments here and there. A possible gain for Pakistan and its people could be a kind of decantation of public discourse on politics and governance. |
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Pak flays OIC for lack of support
Islamabad, January 20 “The OIC is proving to be a totally redundant and toothless organisation. Can’t they at least get together and raise their concern?” Communications Minister Javed Ashraf Qazi was quoted as saying by Online news agency. Qazi returned here Sunday after touring four Gulf states as part of Pakistan’s diplomatic offensive against India. “If it (the OIC) wants to have some meaningful reason for its existence, then they must unite on all Muslim causes and raise their voice,” Qazi said. Qazi, however, said that Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates had supported the steps taken by President Pervez Musharraf to crack down on terrorism and urged a dialogue between India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir dispute.
IANS |
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Amnesty
for IRA fugitives Belfast,
January 20 But the British Government has
refused to link the plight of hundreds of people exiled from the
province by the IRA to the scheme granting terrorists on the run the
right to return home. Human rights campaigners have condemned the
government for failing to pressure the IRA into lifting “expulsion
orders” imposed last year. Mr David Trimble, the Northern Ireland
First Minister and Protestant Ulster Union leader, had asked Downing
Street to allow the fugitives to return only if the IRA lifted its
death threats against exiles. The government’s refusal to do so is
likely to rebound on Mr Trimble when his party reviews its
participation with Sinn Fein in the province’s power-sharing
government. The Observer London |
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Another truce extension by LTTE
Colombo, January 20 The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said in a statement that their move was aimed at giving Norwegian peace brokers more time to arrange a “mutually agreed structured ceasefire.” Government forces reciprocated the truce called by the LTTE last month and eased an economic embargo on rebel-held areas in the island’s north in an attempt to build confidence ahead of talks. The LTTE said the ceasefire, which was due to expire on Thursday, was being extended until February 24 as Oslo tried to bring the Tigers and the Sri Lankan Government to the table. “We have decided to extend the truce for another month as a gesture of peace and goodwill and also to provide further space and time for the norwegian facilitators to work out terms and conditions for a mutually agreed structured ceasefire,” the LTTE said. Norway, which has been trying to broker peace talks between the government and the rebels for nearly three years, announced nine days ago that it was “cautiously optimistic” over brokering peace talks. Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen, who met Sri Lankan leaders here and Tamil Tiger rebels in London earlier this month, said there was an “increased level of confidence between the parties.” Meanwhile, the Ranil Wickremesinghe regime is under fire from detractors for seeming to appease the rebels with a host of confidence-building measures. Political parties and commentators have warned the United National Front government against conceding the demand for lifting the ban on the Tigers and lowering security preparedness.
AFP, PTI |
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Karzai’s appeal for aid
Tokyo, January 20 Officials from more than 60 governments and international organisations will meet in Tokyo tomorrow and Tuesday to promise money for a reconstruction process that aid experts estimate will take $ 15 billion over a decade, much of it in the initial stage. “One thing I would like to say with certainty, with clarity, that is — we need your help,” Karzai, clad in his trademark green Afghan robe, said at a reception. “We need your help to bring a new life for those millions of children and women and wounded and disabled victimised by years of trauma and terrorism,” said the Pashtun tribal leader who took office last month. “Help us begin a new life, help us stand again on our feet to make a country that will pursue its own values and traditions and will also contribute to a world community in terms of providing a better peace and work against terrorism,” he said. Participants agree that a significant show of financial support for Afghanistan will be key to ensuring the country does not again breed radical movements such as the Taliban and Al-Qaida network. Meanwhile, the top UN official coordinating efforts to rebuild Afghanistan has urged international donors gathering in Tokyo to meet the needs of the war-shattered nation but conceded that some were leery about being unable to control their contributions. Mr Mark
Malloch-Brown, administrator of the UN Development Programme, was speaking today as world leaders converged on Tokyo for a two-day conference.
Reuters |
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Top journalism awards announced Washington, January 20 |
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