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Monday,
March 11, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Suicide-bomber strikes near Sharon’s home: 11 dead
Saud, Mubarak stand by plan |
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US assault on Al-Qaida base; bunker destroyed India-China border talks make 'progress'
China ‘bigger threat’ than Russia Coup bid in Myanmar MDC to move court for extension
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Suicide-bomber strikes near Sharon’s home: 11 dead
Jerusalem, March 10 At least 11 persons were killed and over 50 injured, some of them seriously, when a Palestinian suicide bomber walked into and blew himself up at downtown Jerusalem’s Moment cafe, close to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s official residence, in posh Rehavia neighbourhood. The bombing came two hours after a separate attack in the northern coastal city of Netanya in which three persons, including a woman and a nine-month-old baby girl, were killed and some 50 wounded — several of them seriously — when two Palestinian gunmen opened fire indiscriminately and hurled grenades into a hotel lobby and passersby. The Aksa Martyrs Brigades, linked to Fatah movement, and radical Palestinian outfit Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack. Jerusalem police chief Mickey Levy said there was no specific warning about the attack in Rehavia though there were
alerts. In Gaza, Israeli helicopters and gunboats fired at least 25 missiles at Arafat’s office, totally destroying the building. Witnesses in Jerusalem said the suicide bomber walked into the cafe, and detonated a powerful explosive device that caused bloodbath. Sharon was not at home at the time of the explosion, media reports said. Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert said after arriving at the scene: “This is a difficult night for Jerusalem, I have never tried to paint a rosy picture. It’s not ending, and I’m not sure there won’t be more incidents like this in the future.” “We are in a war, a very brutal war that has been waged against every Jewish person in the heart of Jerusalem. My city is bleeding,” Olmert said. In the Netanya attack, two gunmen, one of whom was reported to have been dressed as a policeman, were shot and killed by the police after they opened fire indiscriminately in all directions in an area of hotels and restaurants killing three persons. Witnesses said they saw the gunmen opening fire at people near the entrance to a hotel and then they hurled grenades inside. The Aksa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack in Netanya. The police sealed various areas and widespread searches were conducted amid reports that other terrorists were still at large. According to an Israeli official, the latest wave of terror attacks was intended to sabotage the peace initiative by US President George Bush and the visit later this week of US special envoy Anthony Zinni to the region. The Palestinian authority was quick to condemn the attack on civilians but blamed Israel for escalating the violence and incursions into West Bank and Gaza on Friday
PTI |
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Saud, Mubarak stand by plan Cairo, March 10 Delegates said the ministers were considering a draft agenda for the Arab summit to be held in Beirut on March 27-28, where Arab leaders are expected to discuss the Saudi proposal to end 17 months of Israeli-Palestinian fighting. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, who is attending the two-day ministerial meeting, said after talks with President Hosni Mubarak he hoped there would be “a unified and clear Arab stance” on the Saudi initiative. The prince was quoted by Egypt’s Middle East News Agency as saying Arabs were committed to peace with Israel if it withdrew from occupied Arab land and established a Palestinian state. “If Israel does that, it would receive full peace from Arab states,” Prince Saud said. Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara, whose country has been a staunch opponent of Israel and whose approval is crucial to any comprehensive peace settlement, said ministers had discussed the Saudi plan and would discuss it again in Beirut. “Syria does not have reservations on an initiative by the summit, as it would have a role in the next formulation,” he said, without saying what formula Syria would accept. The ministers’ talks have been held against a backdrop of escalating tit-for-tat violence. Israel retaliated on Sunday for a Palestinian suicide bombing that killed 11 Israelis by bombing the Gaza headquarters of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
Reuters |
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US assault on Al-Qaida base; bunker destroyed Gardez/Bagram Air Base, March 10 With the sky clear after several days of bad weather and Afghan troop reinforcements, including tanks, in place, local commanders said they just awaited the order to advance on what Afghan leader Hamid Karzai has called the last major Al-Qaida base in the country. Afghan commanders said they would prefer to give several hundred rebels a last chance to negotiate a surrender before advancing across the landmine-littered landscape leading up to bunkers and cave entrances 150 km south of Kabul. They said the issue was not raised with US military leaders who are adamant there can only be unconditional surrender or death for rebels who have held US-led forces at bay for eight days. In Kabul, Interior Minister Yunis Qanooni said the Afghan government backed the US policy of giving the rebels no quarters. "Based on the strategy of the interim Afghan administration, it has been decided to purge them," he told reporters. US military spokesman Major Bryan Hilferty told reporters an AC-130 gunship had destroyed at least one Al-Qaida bunker complex with rebels in it. He said while the battle zone 32 km from Gardez city in Paktia province was covered by snow, fighting had been "very light" with no sustained fire from rebels hunkered down in caves. The US military says eight U.S. troops and seven Afghan soldiers have died and there have been about 100 wounded in what has turned into the biggest battle of the five-month-old war. At Gardez, just-arrived Afghan commanders sped out of the town to the frontline in four-wheel-drive vehicles with bodyguards riding in the back, holding machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. "We are going to the battlefront to coordinate attack plans and how to deploy reinforcements," Mir Zaman said. "I can assure you we will not go back to our homes in other parts of Afghanistan until we have cleared up the mess here," he said. Karzai said the US-led forces were near victory in the Gardez battle and Al-Qaida would be wiped out in Afghanistan when the fight was over. "That (near Gardez) was the last main base. And the last main base is on its way out," he told a news conference.
Reuters |
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US troops being pulled out Bagram Air Base, March 10 “We are repositioning,” Major Brian Hilferty told reporters at Bagram air base, staging point for the offensive against Al-Qaida militants holed up in caves near the Pakistan border. “Operation Anaconda continues,” he said, referring to the codename for the offensive that has cost eight US and seven Afghan lives since it began just over a week ago. Another US military official said earlier that about 400 troops were being pulled back from the combat zone high in Afghanistan’s eastern mountains, and were unlikely to go back there.
Reuters |
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India-China border talks make 'progress' Beijing, March 10 "As far as the border issue is concerned, the first talks between expert groups this year have completed," Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan said. “As a result of dialogue, negotiation and consultation between the two countries, progress has been made on the question of border,” Tang told PTI here. Official sources said Jaswant Singh had accepted China’s invitation to use the inaugural direct flight between China and India which was scheduled to commence from March 28. The 11th round of the experts group (EG) meeting on the India-China boundary issue was held in New Delhi on March 5. During previous rounds, the two sides had made “good progress” in clarifying and confirming the Line of Actual Control (LAC) alignment and exchanged sample maps and transpositioned sample maps on the LAC in the “middle sector” of the India-China boundary.
PTI |
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China ‘bigger threat’ than Russia Washington, March 10 The Pentagon’s review sought to justify a change in traditional US targeting, away from a focus on the Russian threat, the officials said. It drew a distinction between more likely “immediate” contingencies and less likely “potential ones”, they added. Officials told The Washington Post that they placed a conflict with China over Taiwan, a war with North Korea and confrontations with Iraq, Iran, Libya or Syria in the “first category,” viewing these nations as more likely than in the past to require plans for nuclear weapons use.
PTI |
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Coup bid in Myanmar Yangon, March 10 Over a dozen more senior officers were also set to be sacked or arrested over the plot, they said. “As far as we know, Police chief Colonel Soe Win, Commander in Chief Air Major General Myint Swe, and Brigadier General Chit Than were relieved from their duty (on Friday),” Asian diplomat based in Yangon told Reuters. Chit Than was the Commander of the Triangle region in Kengtung, where Myanmar, Thai and Laotian borders meet. “We heard that more than a dozen, including some high-ranking ones and a senior naval officer, will also be sacked in connection with this case. But we don’t know yet how they are involved in it,” he said. The Myanmar military authorities declined to comment on the report. The military government said yesterday they had arrested the son-in-law and three grandsons of former president, Ne Win, for attempting to plot a coup against the military. Kyaw Win, Myanmar’s deputy chief of military intelligence, told a news conference that Aye Zaw Win, and his three sons — Aye Ne Win, Kyaw Ne Win and Zwe Ne Win in the mid-20s — were arrested at a restaurant on Thursday evening while waiting to discuss their coup plot with a senior commanding officer. During interrogation the suspects allegedly said their motive was dissatisfaction with the regime. “Aye Zaw Win and sons admitted they had suffered some losses in business due to the government’s economic policy and that they were unhappy at not enjoying privileges,” he said. It is not clear what has happened to the ailing ex-leader but it appears that his daughter, Sandar Win, is effectively under house arrest.
Reuters, The Observer |
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MDC to move court for extension
Harare, March 10 "As we speak right now there are no national circumstances warranting an extension of the voting," Information Minister Jonathan Moyo told state radio. Opposition MDC spokesman Percy Makombe said the party would later today petition the High Court for an extension. "We ary trying to compel the Registrar-General to extend the polling days because it will be impossible to finish today," he said. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, leading the most dangerous challenge to President Robert Mugabe's 22-year rule, accuses the veteran President of reducing the number of polling stations and introducing delays in Harare to disenfranchise thousands of opposition voters. Polls are scheduled to close at 7 p.m. (5 p.m. GMT) on Sunday. Earlier faced with growing anger from millions of voters, Robert Mugabe’s government was forced to extend the Presidential poll by another day to allow the people of Zimbabwe to cast their votes. After the riot police fired teargas and rubber bullets at voters furious about the slow pace of voting, government officials — fearful of growing unrest — agreed to extend the election timetable. “No one will be turned away without voting,” Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said yesterday. “We will extend voting hours tonight to satisfy those in the queues. We will extend voting hours on Sunday. If there are still registered voters who haven’t cast their ballots, we will extend voting until Monday. Every Zimbabwean has the right to vote.” The police fired teargas and rubber bullets at a rioting crowd of would-be voters in Kuwadzana township in Harare yesterday. Several people were injured. Officials reported equally incendiary crowds in Harare. The last-minute decision is a reversal to the Mugabe government’s strategy to minimise the urban vote, which overwhelmingly backs Morgan Tsvangirai. The urban population makes up nearly half the 5.6 million electorate, more than 80 per cent of which voted for the MDC in Parliamentary elections in June 2000. In an attempt to reduce the anti-Mugabe vote in cities, the government reduced the number of polling stations by as much as 50 per cent. But yesterday, the remaining polling stations were flooded with a huge turnout of defiant voters. Some Harare polling stations had to close because they were unequipped to deal with the surging thousands wanting to vote. MDC spokesman Learnmore Jongwe urged voters to be patient. “We fully understand the frustration of voters to exercise their hard-earned right. Election monitoring groups are still concerned about the ongoing state-sponsored violence against MDC supporters. Attacks on opposition officials have left 52 per cent of rural polling stations without any MDC agents present, raising fears that Mugabe’s officials will fix the vote.
The Observer, Reuters |
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