 |
Friday,
May 24, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
|
Ask India for talks, Pak to UN
World powers urge Pak,
India to avoid war
Militants exploited US
immigration rules: report |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Israeli army enters
Hebron, Jenin ‘Al-Qaida converting funds into diamonds’ Ranil briefs Chandrika
on peace status
|
|
PM Deuba suspended from party
Kathmandu, May 23 “The party’s Disciplinary Committee has suspended Mr Deuba from ordinary membership for his decision to extend the emergency rule by six months and dissolving Parliament without consulting the party,” Nepali Congress spokesperson Arjun Narsingh K.C. told reporters at the Central Party Office. Hundreds of party cadres, who gathered at the office, hailed the decision. The party has sent a letter asking the Prime Minister to submit his clarification within three days. “If the Disciplinary Committee does not find the explanation given by the prime minister satisfactory, he can be suspended up to three years or expelled from the party’s ordinary membership,” the spokesperson said. NC spokesperson said the party was considering the idea of appealing to the Supreme Court against the prerogative exercised by Deuba to dissolve the House of Representatives. In 1995, when Manmohan Adhikari was the Prime Minister of the minority government of the Nepal Communist Party (UML), Deuba filed a case against his move to dissolve Parliament and the Supreme Court in a historic verdict had reinstated Parliament. The Supreme Court said the Prime Minister could not dissolve Parliament so long as there was the possibility of forming an alternative government from within Parliament. Nepali Congress party president Girija Prasad Koirala has in a statement asked all members of the Deuba Cabinet to tender resignations within three days saying that the recent actions of the Prime Minister were against the party’s decision. The dissolution of the House by the Prime Minister in the name of going for a fresh mandate was ill-intentioned and has brought serious crisis, he said. The Prime Minister’s decision was part of a series of conspiracies hatched against the country and democracy, the statement said. He has also called unity among all political parties dedicated to the country and democracy. Three Cabinet Ministers resign in Nepal Kathmandu, May 23 (UNI) Three Cabinet Ministers in Nepal resigned today stating differences with the Prime Minister over the dissolution of Parliament. Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat, Education and Sports Minister Amod Prasad Updhaya and Women, Children and Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Kharel said here that they had submitted their resignations to King Gyanendra through the Prime Minister. Mr Deuba has been appointed caretaker Prime Minister till the next government is elected. PTI, UNI
|
|
Ask India for talks, Pak to UN
Islamabad, May 23 A Foreign Ministry statement said the demand had been made in letters Pakistani Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar sent to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the Security Council President yesterday. The identical letters drew “their attention to the explosive situation resulting from the massive Indian deployment along the international border with Pakistan, the working boundary and the Line of Control in Kashmir”, it said. “He emphasised the need for the UN and the international community to advise India to choose the path of negotiation,” the statement said. Describing the situation on the Indo-Pak border grim, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has indicated that the time for crackdown against militants active in Kashmir has come as they can’t be allowed to play with the fate of the country. According to reports of the accounts of General Musharraf’s meeting with Editors of leading Pakistani newspapers yesterday, the President said India and Pakistan were close to war than they were in the immediate aftermath of the December 13 attack on Parliament. Meanwhile, faced with the opposition demand to step down to pave way for the formation of an interim government in the wake of threat of war with India, General Musharraf has said he wants to shed his powers which ought to rest entirely with an elected premier. “In fact, I now want to shed power. I wish there was an elected Prime Minister to take the crucial decisions that need to be taken at this juncture” he told the editors at the meeting. Meanwhile, officials in the Capital have been ordered to scrap plans for leave and to concentrate on emergency preparations in case of war with India, official media reported today. The paper said Pakistan had requested the Secretary General of the UN to allow the withdrawal of its troops committed for performing duties in Sierra Leone as part of the peace-keeping force. Meanwhile, European Union Commissioner for External Relations Christopher Patten has asked Pakistan to fulfill its commitment to implement the UN resolutions against terrorism as well as President Pervez Musharraf’s pledge to crackdown on militants. Meanwhile, President Pervez Musharraf today reviewed the prevailing situation along the borders at a special meeting of the high-powered joint Chiefs of Committee in which chiefs of the Army the Navy and Airforce besides the top officials from the defence establishment took part. Reuters, PTI, UNI
|
|
World powers urge Pak, India to avoid war
Islamabad, May 23 The USA is seriously concerned about the Indo-Pak tensions and working closely with both governments to avoid war but a solution has to be sought between India and Pakistan, Mr Chamberlin said addressing a press conference here yesterday. “Both Islamabad and New Delhi know what they have to do and both know war is not in the interest of their people,” she said adding that “We do not have a prescription”. LONDON: The Indo-Pak stand -off echoed in the British Parliament where Prime Minister Tony Blair said it was essential for Pakistan to stop supporting cross-border terrorism in Kashmir and for India to offer a mechanism for resumption of bilateral dialogue. Describing the situation on the border as “grave”, Mr Blair urged the two countries to “pause and reflect” before taking any action. BEIJING: Voicing concern over the tense diplomatic and military stand-off between India and Pakistan, China has urged both sides to work out a fair and reasonable solution to the vexed Kashmir dispute. Chinese President Jiang Zemin discussed the Indo-Pak tension with visting Australian Prime Minister John Howard, the state media reported. MOSCOW: Russia has said it “can’t be indifferent’’ to the tensions brewing up in the Indo-Pak border. “Russia stands for relations between India and Pakistan to be put on their usual course and the Kashmir problem be resolved’’, Deputy Head of the Working Group Andrei Kokoshin told a press conference here on Wednesday. “Alongside India and Pakistan, such big powers as China and the USA, are involved overtly or covertly”, said Mr Kokoshin, reports Ria Novosti. PTI, UNI
|
|
Militants
exploited US immigration rules: report Although the September 11 terrorist hijackers who attacked the World Trade Center entered the USA on temporary visas, legal immigrants and naturalised American citizens played “key roles” in terrorism on the US soil, according to a study roport released in Washington yesterday. The report by the Centre for Immigration Studies, a non-profit, non-partisan research organisation, says contrary to claims that foreign terrorists have come only as temporary visitors, research indicates that they have manipulated almost every possible means of admission to the USA. More Islamic terrorists in the USA since 1993 have been naturalised citizens and legal permanent residents. According to the study, some have indeed come as students, tourists and business travellers, but many have also sneaked across the border, arrived as stowaways on ships, used false passports, been granted amnesty, or been applicants for asylum. The CIS study focusses on 48 foreign-born Islamic militants convicted for or admitting in open court to terrorism. At the time they committed their crimes, 16 of the 48 terrorists were on temporary visas, 17 were lawful permanent residents or naturalised citizens and 12 were illegal aliens. Three of the 48 had applications for asylum pending. Almost all are now thought to be linked in some way to Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaida organisation. The study says several terrorists should probably have been denied temporary visas because they had characteristic that made it likely they would overstay and live illegally in the USA. Under Section 214(B) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, individuals who are young, unmarried, unemployed or lack strong attachment to a residence overseas are to be denied temporary visas. Several of the September 11 hijackers fit these criteria. The study has made several recommendations to address the problems, including reduction in the level of immigration to give the Immigration and Naturalisation Service the breathing space it needs to implement fundamental reforms. “Because every part of our immigration system has been exploited by terrorists,” says the CIS Director of Research, and author of the study, Steven A.Camarota, “we cannot reform just one area, but must address the problems throughout. The solution is not to single out middle easterns for exclusion or selective enforcement. Instead, we need to more carefully check the backgrounds of all visa applications, better police the borders, strictly enforce the law within the country, and most important, reduce the level of immigration.” |
|
Israeli army enters Hebron, Jenin
Jerusalem, May 23 Thirteen Palestinians were arrested in Hebron, in the southern West Bank, three of whom were wanted by Tel Aviv for alleged aggression against the Israeli state, the source said. The other three were detained in Jenin town, in the northern West Bank. The troops subsequently withdrew from the Palestinian-controlled part of Hebron, the source said. The army confirmed the operation and said its troops had withdrawn after carrying out searches. Meanwhile, Palestinian security and medical sources said four Palestinians were wounded, one seriously, in an Israeli incursion late last night into Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Eight tanks penetrated some 200 m into Palestinian territory, opening fire with heavy machine guns as bulldozers demolished four houses and about 12 shops in the town’s refugee camp near the border with Egypt. AFP
|
|
Israel Embassy
in Paris gutted Paris, May 23 Ambassador Elie Barnavi said the blaze, which broke out around 5.50 a.m. (IST) when no embassy personnel were in the building, was “apparently accidental, perhaps (caused by) a short-circuit”.
AFP |
|
‘Al-Qaida converting funds into diamonds’
United Nations, May 23 In order to overcome difficulties of transferring hard cash following the freeze in their finances, they are using the Internet to communicate and move their money, according to a report by an UN expert group. The new world body report warns that though freezing the resources of terrorists is having some effect, the diamond trade might be “abused” to provide a vehicle for money laundering and moving financial assets around by the Al-Qaida even after effective controls are in place. In a highly disturbing report, it finds that the Al-Qaida and Taliban, whose weapons were captured and destroyed during US-led action in Afghanistan, are apparently getting arms, despite an embargo being in place. The report expresses concern over a number of Scud missiles in Afghanistan whose whereabouts are not known and says a list of arms brokers is being compiled which will include names of those who are known to have violated the embargo. The expert group was established by the Security Council to monitor the implementation of sanctions against Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaida network, Taliban and their associates. PTI
|
|
Ranil briefs Chandrika
on peace status Colombo, May 23 “The President conveyed this view when the Prime Minister briefed her for about 90 minutes yesterday on the peace process,” they said. Mr Wickremesinghe called on her ahead of his planned tour of Europe and India, and the briefing also covered the issues to be taken up during these visits, the sources said. The LTTE has said repeatedly that an interim administration controlled by it will be the focus of the Thailand talks.
PTI |
|
“Devdas” screened at Cannes
Cannes, May 23 The lush production, a remake of a romantic tragedy well-known in India, stars a former Miss World, Aishwarya Rai, and Shahrukh Khan and is directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. “Devdas’ was a story that tirelessly lingered at the back of my mind,” said Bhansali. “I felt that this was a film that just had to be made again And with an opulence and grandeur that would do justice to its beautiful subject and characters.” AFP
|
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 122 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
In video (
