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Tuesday,
April 16, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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EU refrains from sanctions on Israel, backs Powell trip
Scribes attacked at Pervez rally
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LeT chief may
be rearrested
4 US troops die in blast near Kandahar Zahir Shah may
return this week 26 Maoists gunned down
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EU refrains from sanctions on Israel, backs Powell trip Luxembourg, April 15 “No sanctions,’’ one EU diplomat said as the ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg began discussing West Asia. “We’re here to send a signal to all parties that there must be dialogue and to form a consensus on how to proceed. But we cannot decide on a peace plan while Powell is going back and forth between Sharon and Arafat.’’ Powell urged Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the weekend to order troops out of Palestinian areas reoccupied by Israel in a rolling campaign launched after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 28 people on March 27. A number of the 15 EU states backed the U.N. body’s resolution, but — underlining divisions within the bloc which have always undermined its voice in West Asia diplomacy — Britain and Germany voted against it and Italy abstained. Bethlehem: Gunfire erupted around Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity today, with Palestinians and Israelis accusing the other of opening fire and both sides suffering wounded. Bethlehem Governor Mohammed Al-Madani, trapped along with other civilians and some clergy with 200 gunmen in the church marking Jesus Christ’s birthplace, said Palestinian Raed Ubyat (25) was hit in the leg by Israeli sniper fire. Israeli military officials said two Israeli soldiers had been slightly wounded by firing from the church, adding that the army had not responded. The area has been declared a closed military zone by the army and forbidden to journalists. Palestinian negotiators yesterday rejected as "unacceptable" an offer by Israel to allow the gunmen to either go into permanent exile or face trial in Israel. Beirut: US Secretary of State Colin Powell began talks with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud in Beirut today on curbing Hizbollah attacks on Israel that have sparked fears of a widening Arab-Israeli conflict. Powell, who flew in from Israel this morning, was greeted with a massive demonstration called by Hizbollah to denounce the U S support of Israel in its onslaught on the Palestinians in the West Bank. Powell went into immediate talks with Lahoud at the Baabda presidential palace East of the capital Beirut. He was also due to meet Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, before visiting Syria, Lebanon’s political master and Hizbollah’s main backer. Yasser Arafat said he was prepared to accept an Israeli proposal for a regional peace conference if the USA supported the idea, but renewed his call for an immediate withdrawal of Israeli troops from the West Bank. Arafat said in a telephone interview with fox news channel yesterday that he was ready for an immediate West Asia peace conference as discussed by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and US Secretary of State Colin Powell in Tel Aviv yesterday. A summit on the Middle East crisis proposed by Mr Sharon could take place in the USA within six weeks, Israeli public radio said today, quoting senior officials.
Reuters, AFP |
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ICRC allowed
to enter Jenin Salem Checkpoint (Israel), April 15 She said three ICRC teams, including Palestinian members, were escorted by the Israeli army into the camp, where Palestinians have accused the army of a “massacre.” “We’ve had six days of difficult negotiations to get in. All our activities are being coordinated with the Israeli government,” Jessica Bary said.
AFP |
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Scribes attacked at Pervez rally Islamabad, April 15 At least 25 journalists were injured, three of them critically, when the police baton-charged mediapersons after they walked out of General Musharraf’s rally in Faisalabad. “This is terrorism and the President should hold an inquiry,” said Pervez Shaukat, general secretary of the Federal Union of Journalists (FUJ). He said the union was scheduled to meet on Wednesday in Karachi to discuss the issue. The action seems to have been taken at the behest of Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool, he said. The President’s rally turned into a nightmare for journalists after Governor Maqbool started criticising the poor press coverage of General Musharraf’s Lahore rally and the downplaying of other rallies. Addressing the gathering before General Musharraf’s speech, the Governor came down heavily on the press saying, “Some newspapers were not properly reporting huge public meetings and massive attendance and were distorting facts.” He said if newspapers misreported facts they would be courting danger. The Governor said “shame, shame” while stating that journalists undermined the significance of the public meeting by reporting a low turnout. The statements prompted journalists to stage a walkout. But as they began leaving the press gallery, a mob from within the crowd started hurling abuses and then slapped and pushed them. According to a report in Nawa-e-Waqt daily, the mob was made up of security agency men in plain clothes. When journalists tried to hold a demonstration outside the stadium, the police baton-charged them. Media reports said two were critically injured and shifted to a hospital in Lahore. Meanwhile, Information Minister Nisar Memon said the President had taken a serious notice of the “unfortunate incident” and ordered an immediate investigation.
IANS |
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LeT chief may be rearrested Islamabad, April 15 “The Federal Government has asked the Punjab Government to take legal action against Hafeez Muhammad Saeed as he has been found delivering speeches in some parts of the province against government’s policy on the issue of Jehad and Kashmir,” officials here were quoted as saying by Pakistani newspaper Daily Times. “The authorities at the Interior Ministry were already wary of him and his organisation,” the newspaper said.
PTI |
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4 US troops die in blast near Kandahar Kabul, April 15 “It was not an act of sabotage. It was an accident,” Khalid Pashtoon, a spokesman for the provincial government in Kandahar told reporters. He put the number of dead at four. “There are some dead and injured in an explosion that does not appear to be related to hostile fire,” said Lieut-Col Dave Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman. “Something exploded in the area near Kandahar. Pashtoon said a team of five American servicemen had been in the Mian Koh area, some 4 km northeast of Kandahar, where they had been dynamiting unexploded bombs and shells. “After placing the gunpowder on the ammunition for blowing it, an explosion took place and four of Americans got killed,” he said. “The fifth one was badly wounded.”
Reuters |
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Zahir Shah may
return this week London, April 15 The leader of the interim government in Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, will fly to Rome to escort the 87-year-old former ruler to Kabul, possibly by tomorrow, The Guardian reported, quoting a spokesman for the Prime Minister in Kabul. The report quoted King Zahir Shah saying that he was returning for good and was not afraid of threats.
PTI |
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26 Maoists gunned down Kathmandu, April 15 Seventeen terrorists, including some allegedly involved in an attack on Friday which left 164 dead in Dang district, were killed in an encounter in the Sukuti area of Dang district yesterday. The rebels were killed when the police tried to stop a bus they were driving, which was loaded with arms looted from a police base camp and training centre at Lamihi and Satbaria of Dang district. The security forces recovered sophisticated weapons, including a light machinegun (LMG), two self-loaded rifles (SLR), 11 rifles, 2 short guns, 6 guns, explosives, grenades, socket bombs from the hijacked bus. Five Maoists were killed in the Neulapur area of Bardia district and two in the Raralihi area of Jumla district, the Defence Ministry said.
PTI |
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Maoists bomb US plant again
Kathmandu, April 15 The attack took place last night at the company’s plant in
Bharatpur, south of Kathmandu. A group of five Maoists locked the night guards before hurling a bomb at the factory building, the local radio reported. No one was injured in the incident.
PTI |
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