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Sunday,
April 28, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Palestinian attack leaves 5 Israelis dead
Saudi peace plan constructive: Bush Fighting erupts in Afghan town
UK report blames Modi |
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17 Maoists die in encounters MOSCOW DIARY
US, Pak troops on Al-Qaida trail Two MQM
leaders shot in Pak Sukhoi to build
super-fighters for India
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Palestinian attack leaves 5 Israelis dead Hebron (West Bank), April 27
Some children were reportedly among the wounded in the morning attack, apparently carried out by two gunmen in the settlement of Adora, northwest of the city of Hebron. One of the injured was said to be in serious condition. It was the the first deadly Palestinian attack on Israelis since a suicide bomber killed six persons near a Jerusalem market on April 12 as US Secretary of State Colin Powell began a peace mission. Today’s shootings were also the first successful attack on a Jewish settlement since March 28, when three Israelis were killed in the community of Elon Moreh in the northern West Bank. Several other Palestinian attempts have been made to infiltrate Jewish settlements since but the gunmen were intercepted and shot dead by Israeli troops. Ruth Bar Yossef, a resident at the Adora settlement, said she saw two gunmen enter one of the houses as the Jews were celebrating the Sabbath holiday and heard gunfire within. Israeli forces rushed to the scene and heavy gunfire was heard for about half an hour before troops conducted a house-to-house search. JERUSALEM: The Israeli army pulled its troops out from the northern West Bank city of Qalqilya on Friday night, Israeli military sources said. Israeli troops backed by 15 armoured vehicles and two helicopters had entered the town at pre-dawn on Friday, killing a local leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Raed Nazel, accused by Israel of multiple attacks on Jewish settlers in the West Bank, was gunned down in the exchange of gunfire, Israeli officials said. Up to 20 militants were picked up in Qalqilya and three villages between the towns of Nablus and Jenin, Israeli officials said. The army previously withdrew from Qalqilya on April 9 after occupying it as part of its blitz across the West Bank launched on March 29. UNITED NATIONS: Acceding to an Israeli request, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has delayed till Sunday the arrival of a fact-finding mission at the Jenin refugee camp where Palestinians allege hundreds were killed.
AFP, PTI |
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Saudi peace plan constructive: Bush Washington, April 27 The plan appears to be largely an amalgam of existing US and Saudi proposals for ending the Israel-Palestinian conflict, The Washington Times said, adding that the two sides had agreed to discuss it further. Mr Bush considered the Saudi paper “helpful” and “constructive,” White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said yesterday, adding there was a “lot of overlap” in the Saudi plan with Mr Bush’s own ideas, including calls for the renunciation of violence and the reconstruction of Palestinian property destroyed or damaged during Israel’s military incursions. “And so we will continue to talk to the Saudis and continue to make progress around those eight,” he said. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Faisal revealed in an interview that the eight-point plan Mr Abdullah presented to Mr Bush was intended to be a comprehensive outline of how to move quickly towards a long-term resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. “It indicates all the areas...from the Israeli withdrawal to reconstituting the Palestinian Authority, to start discussions on the basis of peace all sides agree to.” Mr Faisal said the Saudi Crown Prince also brought to Mr Bush a proposal “from the Palestinians themselves” on resolving the standoff in Ramallah and in Bethlehem.
PTI |
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Fighting erupts in Afghan town Kabul, April 27 The attack was staged on the day US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld visited Kabul and several hours after the Afghan capital’s airport was hit by several rockets. There were no casualties in the airport attack. Amanullah Zadran, Minister for Frontiers and Tribal Affairs, said local warlord Padshah Kan Zadran, a brother of the minister, fought off the early morning attack and captured several tanks and armoured personnel carrier. “His (Padshah Khan Zadran) posts came under the attack of the Taliban and the Al-Qaida. The attack was launched from south of Gardez town,” Amanullah Zadran said. He did not have more details of the fighting, but said it had subsided by late morning. Quoting unspecified sources, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) said artillery and rockets were used in the fighting that broke out hours before US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived in Kabul. “Several rockets hit the city’s jail and other areas,” the report quoted witnesses from Gardez as saying. AIP said four persons were killed and nine wounded in the fighting. In the two-week-long battle of Shah-i-Kot, the US military said hundreds of Taliban and Al-Qaida rebels were killed in high-altitude mountain fighting in caves and bunkers. However, some Afghan officials said, despite US claims to the contrary, many rebels escaped to adjacent areas of Pakistan.
Reuters, AFP |
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Afghan pilot dies
Kabul, April 27 “An Afghan MiG-21 crashed this morning to the southeast of the city,” said Capt Steve Abbott, commander of the International Security Assistance Force at Kabul’s airport.
AFP |
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UK report blames Modi London, April 27 According to BBC, which has obtained a copy of the report, the British officials claimed that the violence had all “hallmarks of ethnic cleansing” and “reconciliation between Hindus and Muslims is impossible while the Chief Minister Narendra Modi remains in power.” The report said “Far from being spontaneous, was planned, possibly months in advance, carried out by an extremist Hindu organisation with the support of the state government.” It said “The aim was to purge Muslims from Hindu areas and at least 2,000 persons have died in the violence.” Meanwhile, Indian Muslims in the UK are planning to file cases against Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Home Minister L.K. Advani for their “failure” to sack the Gujarat Chief Minister in the wake of communal violence in the state. “It is not only Modi, we are now thinking of filing cases against Prime Minister Vajpayee and Home Minister Advani as well because by not removing Modi, the Central Government has become an abetting and partonising party in the continuation of his anti-Muslim pogroms”, the Council of Indian Muslims (UK) said today.
PTI |
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Pak denies hand in Godhra carnage Islamabad, April 27 A statement by the Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman here termed the reported allegation made by the Delhi-based Council for International Affairs, about Pakistan’s involvement in the Godhra Carnage, as ludicrous. PTI |
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Pallone flays new US visa rules US Congressman Frank Pallone has expressed opposition to the new proposal of the US Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) limiting the period of stay for visiting tourists to 30 days, saying it will in no way fight terrorism, and “only serves to trample” on the legitimate visits from relatives to legitimate residents of the USA. The Democrat lawmaker told the House of Representatives that he was convinced that limiting visitor visas to 30 days (instead of the current six months) would “do nothing to protect us from terrorists, and will in fact only place severe, undue burdens on the lawful and decent individuals abroad who come to visit the USA.” Mr Pallone noted that over 70,000 persons in the USA had signed a petition against the INS proposal in the past 10 days or so. He felt that the new visa rules would also severely jeopardise an important segment of the US economy that depended on foreign tourists. The airline and tourism industries would be drastically affected by the decrease in visits to the USA as a result of visitors finding that 30 days were not worth the great effort required to visit the USA. The Congressman urged the INS to reconsider the “arbitrary” change in the law that had been effected in response to September 11 terrorist attacks. |
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17 Maoists die in encounters Kathmandu, April 27 The rebels also bombed four other buildings across the country even as life slowly limped back to normalcy on the final day of the nationwide strike called by the Maoists, with a number of shops opening and buses plying in the capital. The Defence Ministry said three rebels were killed in crossfire in Kathmandu’s Chovar area today while one each was killed in Babiachaur of Surkhet and Dhuwakot of Dhading districts. Three terrorists were shot dead during a search operation in Bhalukhan forest of Palpa district yesterday while five were killed in three separate encounters in various parts of Dang district and three in Mahmudar of Bardia district during an encounter yesterday, the ministry said. In a separate incident, a security personnel was killed and five others were injured when their vehicle ran over an underground bomb planted by rebels in Turture area of Sindhupal Chowk district today, a Home Ministry source said. The incident took place when the security personnel were patrolling the area. Meanwhile, the rebels early today exploded a powerful bomb at the house of chief whip of the ruling Nepali Congress Party, Mr Tek Bahadur Chokhyal, in Kailali district in far-west Nepal, bordering Uttar Pradesh. Nobody was in the house during the incident. However, the house was completely destroyed in the incident. The Maoists also exploded a bomb at the regional office of the Nepal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, injuring one person. The rebels bombed and destroyed the Modikhola power project in Parvat district and the Galdyang powerhouse of Butawal Power Company in Syangja.
PTI |
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MOSCOW DIARY Neo-Nazis, fascists or racists are continuously on the rise in Russia, becoming more and more bold and aggressive. Such tendencies and evil trends started showing their ugly face a number of years ago and most of the foreigners living, working or studying in Moscow and other Russian cities believed and hoped that the authorities of this country would take necessary, timely and stern action against such groups and the situation would change for the better. However, unfortunately, things have changed in the opposite direction. More and more incidents of fascist atrocities are coming to light and many Afro-Asians, especially students, constantly live in atmosphere of fear. They feel that they can become an easy target of some neo-Nazi group attack. In the past, they were more active in April only, near the birth anniversary of Adolf Hitler, which falls on April 20, but in the past few years, their activities continued almost regularly, sometimes more and sometimes less noticeable. For instance, last year on October 1, a big gang of several hundred young fascists skinheads attacked a shopping centre near Tsaritsino Metro station, not far from the Moscow centre, broke show-windows, looted shops and beat up, mercilessly all people of dark, yellow and brown colour. One of our Indian national, a young man of about 30 was beaten to death with iron rods and a few other Indians were also injured. Such incidents of harassment have also been reported recently near the Indian school, “Kendriya Vidalaya”, and at a Pizza restaurant on the Leninsky Prospect, generally considered a prestigious and safe area. Such incidents have been reported by some Russian language dailies, particularly by the respected “Izvestia” which has condemned such activities and impressed upon the authorities to take action to root out this evil. An English daily “Moscow Times” in its April 11 issue has published a detailed report of the conference held a day earlier to discuss the dangers which are faced by 70,000 foreign students studying in various educational institutions in different parts of Russia. This conference, the first of its kind, was organised on the initiative of the Russian Education Ministry and was attended by officials from various universities, institutions, law enforcement agencies and representatives of several other ministries. The facts and details presented by the representatives of different educational institutions and ministries clearly indicated that it was a serious problem and if urgent and effective steps were not taken, the consequences could be quite damaging and highly unpleasant, not only for the foreign students, but also for Russia itself. However, at the conference, most of the participants including the student leaders, complained that the police or militia generally remained quite passive and indifferent in dealing with such young fascist gangs. The police or militia in its defence pointed out that most of these skinheads were teenagers and the law did not provide solid basis to take stern action against them. There is some truth in this, the ring-leader of such fascist groups knowingly and purposely mobilise or enrol frustrated or criminal-minded teenagers who easily escape legal procedures and punishment. President Putin has condemned a number of times such racial and fascist tendencies and some other liberal and democratic leaders like Boris Nemtsov have raised their voice against such extremist groups. But, without positive results, a lot remains to be done to meet such a challenge which creates big cracks in the social structure of the country and endangers the lives of peaceful, law abiding and innocent people. Embassies of all Afro-Asian countries, including the Indian Embassy in Moscow, have brought this problem to the notice of the Russian Foreign and Interior Ministries time and again, but without any result. When this article was being dispatched, the Russian electronic media flashed the news of the tragic death of a young Afghani national aged 35. He was working at the Emigration Department of the Russian Interior Ministry and was attacked, by the skinheads on April 15 in Moscow. Two days later he died in a hospital. It may be added that a few days ago, a ring-leader of skinheads sent e-mails to all foreign embassies in Moscow, declaring that they would kill many foreigners on the occasion of Hitler’s birthday. |
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US, Pak troops on Al-Qaida trail Islamabad, April 27 At least 10 American soldiers and 200 Pakistani paramilitary troops last night raided an Islamic seminary of Maulvi Jalaluddin
Haqqani, a guerilla commander and minister in Afghanistan’s former ruling Taliban regime, the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press
(AIP) new agency reported. The seminary is located in the Drapakhel region near
Miranshah. The seminary was empty and nobody was apprehended in the hour-long operation, AIP said. US troops were reportedly bivouacked near Miranshah village. Witnesses said soldiers wearing US uniforms ransacked the seminary, breaking cupboards and windows before leaving with documents. The religious school was established by Haqqani during the 1980s, when Afghanistan was embroiled in a war that pitted US — backed Muslim rebels against the Soviet Union. Quoting sources, the news agency said the operation goal was to arrest Haqqani. Haqqani fought against the Soviets and was believed to have set up terrorist training camps in Afghanistan’s eastern Khost province. On Thursday Pakistani officials arrested an Islamic teacher, Qari Noor Zaman, from a different seminary, on suspicion he belonged to the al-Qaida organisation. Zaman was freed after several hours of questioning. Zaman’s detention sparked protests. Around 1,500 persons rallied in
Miranshah, arms in hands, chanting slogans against Americans and the Pakistani Government, according to reports from the remote, lawless tribal region.
DPA |
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Two MQM leaders shot in Pak Karachi, April 27 Ex-National Assembly member Nishat Mallick and former senator Mustafa Kamal were driving from the Karachi offices of their Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) when they were ambushed, city police chief Asad Jehangir said. “Kamal was on the driving seat when they were attacked and both received multiple bullet injuries,” he said. The MQM, which represents an Urdu-speaking community which migrated from India after the Partition, condemned the incident and demanded the arrest of the killers. General Musharraf, who counts the MQM among his supporters, is due to address a public meeting here tomorrow ahead of a referendum due on April 30 on extending his presidency. The volatile southern port city of the Karachi has a history of political, ethnic and sectarian violence that has claimed 4,000 lives in the past four years.
AFP |
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Sukhoi to build
super-fighters for India Moscow, April 27 Sukhoi bagged the tender by beating its two key rivals — MiG and Yakovlev Corporations. Russian Minister of Industry, Science and Technology Ilya Klebanov yesterday announced that the Yakovlev Design Bureau and MiG Corporation would also take part in the project, Russian Interfax news agency has reported. The new aircraft is expected to take off in 2006 and is likely to be operational from 2008.
UNI |
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Clinton eyes slot of TV show co-host Washington, April 27 ABC-TV’s gossip show “Extra” reported that Mr Clinton was a candidate to succeed retiring television host Bryant Gumbel as the co-anchor of “The Early Show” — a breakfast news programme on rival network CBS-TV.
AFP |
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OLDEST CUBAN WOMAN DIES AT 117 SERIAL KILLER
APOLOGY TO HINDUS
SINGER LISA DIES
ART LOVERS AWARD
BOOKER PRIZE RECHRISTENED |
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