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Wednesday,
May 1, 2002, Chandigarh, India   |
Israel indicts 10 soldiers
Pallone opposes US-Pak military ties |
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Pearl trial shifted due to threat Suu Kyi may be freed
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Hindu priest killed in
Bangladesh Libya ready to pay Lockerbie
victims
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Israel indicts 10 soldiers Jerusalem, April 30 The spokesman, Brig — Gen Ron Kitrey, said the soldiers’ actions were “a blatant violation of orders”. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported today that soldiers had carried out widescale destruction in some Palestinian cities during the April military incursion that followed a series of deadly suicide bombings and attacks against Israel. Palestinians have also said personal possessions, including
jewellery, office equipment and shop wares, were stolen by troop during the incursion. “The things reported, unfortunately... are true, both the description and the facts and that really hurts because in the end it is the acts of a few that stain the general public and all Israeli army units,” General Kitrey told Israel’s Army Radio. General Kitrey said he had seen the cars being destructed in a parking lot in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, where there was a tense stand-off between the army and Palestinian gunmen holed up in the Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus. “It really looks bad,” he said. He said soldiers involved in such incidents would be dealt with “very seriously”. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Security Cabinet today decided against cooperating for now with the UN fact-finding team looking into the fighting at the Jenin refugee camp. Israel said its demands had not been met. Israel has been keeping the UN team from arriving, saying that it fears an anti-Israel bias that will produce a highly critical report on Israel’s military operation in the Jenin camp, in the West Bank. Palestinians have called on the United Nations to send the team immediately, claiming that Israel was trying to cover up the killings of large numbers of civilians, something Israel strongly denies. Israel says troops met with fierce resistance during the April 3-11 fighting, and that about 50 Palestinians were killed, nearly all of them militants. “Israel raised a number of issues with the United Nations that are vital for conducting a fair inquiry. As long as these conditions have not been met there is no possibility to start the inquiry,” a statement following today’s meeting said. The UN team was to have been in place in Jenin on Saturday. But Israel pressed for delays, saying that it would not cooperate unless demands concerning changes in the mandate and composition of the team had been met. Israel wants control over who can be called to testify before the panel, and what documents will be presented.
AP |
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Pallone opposes US-Pak military ties Washington, April 30 “(Pakistan President Pervez) Musharraf provides direct logistical and moral support to these groups and still to this day insists on calling them freedom fighters,” he said in a statement. Mr Pallone, who is the founder-member of the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, said: “This is alarming and I have brought this to the attention of President (George W.) Bush on several occasions.” “I appreciate Pakistan’s gestures of cooperation. However, I cannot help but remain cautious of the administration’s policy towards Pakistan,” said Mr Pallone, a Democratic lawmaker from New Jersey. Mr Pallone, who could not be present at a panel discussion on “Media Coverage of Terrorism in India and Pakistan,” sent his written statement, which was read out at the event, organised on April 27 by the Center for Indic Studies, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, at the National Press Club in Washington DC. Pakistan’s efforts to dissociate itself from groups such as Al-Qaida and the fundamentalist ideology they represent do not happen overnight, especially when their presence and influence has been growing and has been welcome in that country for over 50 years, he said. He said there was “very little evidence” to suggest that President Musharraf was actually willing to break ties with the Taliban as well as other Islamic militant groups operating in Kashmir. Mr Pallone said at least 53,000 families in India had suffered immeasurably due to terrorism in Kashmir. Many communities, including Muslims, Sikhs and Pandits, had been tormented by Pakistan-backed Islamic militants for decades, he added. “The terrorist acts in Jammu and Kashmir have resulted in overwhelming numbers of cold-blooded murders in an effort to eliminate non-Muslims from Kashmir.” He said although Pakistan had committed to the USA that it was willing to help fight global terrorism it still had not broken ties with terrorist guerrilla groups fighting the Indian security forces in Kashmir.
IANS |
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Pearl trial shifted due to threat Islamabad, April 30 The court also decided that Mr Justice Abdul Ghafoor Memon will be replaced by Mr Justice Ali Ashraf Shah, who will be the third judge to hear this case after the first two judges failed to stop the accused from making threats to the prosecution, The News reported today. Mr Justice Shah heads the anti-terrorism court in Hyderabad. Sindh Province’s Advocate-General Raja Qureshi moved an application yesterday seeking transfer of the case from the Karachi Jail to some other court and had also sought the removal of Mr Justice Memon. The court had reserved its order yesterday. The Sindh High Court today said the proceedings of the case were to be shifted to the Hyderabad Central Prison and that the case would be tried from May 3, 2002, the Pakistan daily reported. Mr Qureshi said the court shifted the venue of the trial because of fears of a terrorist attack on the Karachi Central Jail and because of “an imminent danger to a member of the prosecution team as well as the prosecution witness”. The four accused — Ahmed Omar Saeed Shaikh, Fahad Nasim, Salman Saquib and Adil Shaikh — have pleaded not guilty to the kidnapping and murder charges levelled against them.
UNI |
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Suu Kyi may be freed Yangon, April 30 The release of the 56-year-old Suu
Kyi, winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, is one of the top demands of the international community. She has been kept confined to her lakeside Yangon residence, with her telephone line cut, since September 2000. A source close to the ruling junta said the government was set to announce both the release of Suu Kyi and a deal under which she would cooperate with the military in administering humanitarian work in fields such as health and education. “It will be more than the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and some other political prisoners. It will be a breakthrough in Myanmar politics,” the source
said. Razali Ismail, United Nations special envoy to Myanmar, ended a four-day visit to the country on Friday, saying that he expected a breakthrough soon in the peace process. Myanmar Labour Minister Tin Win told a news conference at the weekend that the government would make a major announcement “in a few days”. Asked what progress had been achieved in the talks, he said: “Just wait and see.” Witnesses said a team of municipal workers were cleaning the road outside Suu Kyi’s residence this morning. Diplomats in Yangon confirmed speculation was rife that Suu Kyi would be freed, but pointed out that similar rumours had circulated
before. Suu Kyi, the charismatic daughter of assassinated independence hero Aung San, was held under house arrest from 1989 to 1995. Her National League for Democracy
(NLD) won Myanmar’s last elections in 1990 by a landslide, but the military government refused to have over power. Myanmar has faced international isolation and economic sanctions over its human rights record and its treatment of Suu Kyi and the
NLD. The release of Suu Kyi is widely regarded as the single most important step the junta could take to show the outside world that it is considering a political change. The government began secret talks with Suu Kyi in October 2000, a move hailed as a breakthrough. But since then no concrete progress had been announced.
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Hindu priest killed in Bangladesh Dhaka, April 30 The incident occurred on Sunday night even before any breakthrough had been achieved in the killing of monk Gyanojyoti Mohasthobir less than a fortnight ago. Modal Gopal (45), a priest of Radha Madan Ashram in Manikchhari Upazila under Khagrachari hill district, was allegedly stabbed to death by a gang of criminals at the temple, police sources were quoted as saying by The Daily Star today. The criminals looted taka 50,000 (around Rs 45,000) in cash and a gold statue from the temple. The Daily Star quoting the temple authorities said the murder of the priest was a sequel to a dispute over tolls demanded by some criminals.
PTI |
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Libya ready to pay Lockerbie victims New York, April 30 Time said in its latest issue that it had obtained a letter to relatives of the victims of the 1988 bombing from a lawyer negotiating with Libyan officials in Paris suggesting Gaddafi plans to make a deal, despite his previous refusal to admit liability for the attack. The April 23 letter to families of the 270 victims of Pan Am flight 103, blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland, was written by New York attorney James P. Kreindler, who had been negotiating with senior Libyans behind closed doors, Time said.
Reuters |
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UK Queen firm on continuing London, April 30 “I would like above all to declare my resolve to continue, with the support of my family, to serve the people of this great nation of ours to the best of my ability,’’ The turquoise-suited monarch told politicians and peers in Parliament’s cavernous Westminster Hall. Prince Charles, already 53, could still be many years from becoming King in a family noted for its longevity.
Reuters |
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Yangon, April 30
