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Sunday,
May 26, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Bush urged to prevail upon China
USA warns
against travel to India, Pakistan Canada condemns Pak missile test USA on high alert as Memorial
Day holidays start |
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Ranil assures LTTE on lifting of ban Nepal Cabinet to extend emergency Indians resent Zulu song
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Bush urged to prevail upon China Expressing concern over the illegal export of missile technology from China to Pakistan, a US Congressman has urged President Bush to use his authority to ensure that such transfers are stopped. The Congressman, Mr Frank Pallone, in a letter to President Bush this week, has emphasised that the transfer of missiles or missile technology to Pakistan is a matter of “not only security in the South Asia region, but is a national security concern as well.” The Democrat lawmaker has pointed out that the current political situation in Pakistan is extremely unstable given their military dictator Pervez Musharraf standing as President and the escalating conflict in Kashmir. “Further, there are reports that Osama bin Laden, members of al-Qaida and the Taliban may have shifted to Pakistan. But Laden has been known to have conferred with nuclear scientists in the past and it is imperative that no further missile or nuclear technology information be filtered into Pakistan for fear of the information getting into deadly hands.” Mr Pallone has reminded the President of the November, 2000, agreement which China had entered into with the Clinton administration that prohibited Beijing from transferring missiles or missile technology to Pakistan and said apparently, missile technology transfers continued even after this specific prohibition as a result of substantial waiver by the present administration of MTCR sanctions previously imposed against Pakistan. Mr Pallone also raised the issue in the House of Representatives and placed on the congressional record his letter to President Bush.
Indo-Pak conflict The UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, who has been in telephonic contacts with both India and Pakistan over the escalating tensions in the region, is doing what he can from his “bully pulpit”, but he is not in a position to engage as a mediator without the invitation of the two sides. That is the clear message the Secretary-General’s spokesman has given to Pakistan in response to questions from correspondents at the UN. Confirming that both the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council had received identical letters from the Pakistan Foreign Minister seeking UN intervention, the spokesman, Mr Fred Eckhard, said the Secretary-General “is always ready to extend his good offices to both sides. But as you know, only one of the two sides welcomed his offer. So that’s a no.” Asked if Mr Annan was ready to go to the region, the spokesman said, “that is a very active involvement that he would not undertake without an invitation from both sides.” The Secretary-General, in a statement expressing concern over the “alarming” rise in tensions between India and Pakistan, called on both sides to settle the Kashmir question and other outstanding issues without violence. “There can be no tolerance for such acts, especially across the Line of Control in Kashmir,” Mr Annan said, and urged President Musharraf to take vigorous action to ensure full implementation of the policy set out in his January 12 speech in which the Pakistani leader had emphasised the rule of law and the need to fight terrorism. |
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USA warns against travel to India, Pakistan
Washington, May 25 The USA has urged both sides to show restraint in deploying missiles and any other nuclear weapons, but Pakistan began a series of missile tests today. “Tensions between India and Pakistan have risen to serious levels, and the risk of intensified military hostilities cannot be ruled out,” the State Department said in a statement yesterday. “Virtually all land and air links with India are closed. Military movements continue along both the Line of Control in Kashmir and the border between India and Pakistan. Artillery firing along the Line of Control has caused death and injury in that area.” It noted that Americans could be targeted, especially with the war being waged in Afghanistan. “This was demonstrated by the March 17 attack on worshippers at a church service in Islamabad, where two Americans were killed and several more were injured, as well as the brutal kidnapping and murder of an American journalist in Karachi in early 2002,” the statement said, a reference to Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl. Clubs, restaurants, places of worship, schools and outdoor recreation events could all be dangerous places, the warning said. Non-essential US Embassy personnel were evacuated from Pakistan on March 22. A second warning urged US citizens to consider leaving India and asked any remaining to register with a US Embassy or consulate. Reuters
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Canada condemns Pak missile test
Ottawa, May 25 “Canada deeply regrets that Pakistan has chosen to test ballistic missiles, particularly at this sensitive time,” Foreign Minister Bill Graham said in a statement. “These tests will only heighten regional tensions and detract from constructive efforts to find a peaceful solution to the situation.” Earlier, Pakistan said it would conduct short and medium-range missile tests over the weekend, even as India took steps to tone down its war rhetoric amid simmering tensions over Kashmir. BEIJING: China has called on India to do more to ease tension with Pakistan, state media reported, as fear mounted of war between Beijing’s nuclear-armed neighbours. Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan told Indian counterpart Jaswant Singh that he hoped ‘’India would play a more positive role in easing tensions in South Asia’’, the Communist Party-run People’s Daily newspaper reported. Mr Tang, briefing Mr Jaswant Singh on his visit last week to Pakistan and Afghanistan, renewed China’s call for both New Delhi and Islamabad to show restraint and resolve their disputes through dialogue as quickly as possible, the newspaper said. Analysts say the stand-off has caused alarm here, which has spent the past few years trying to balance ties with traditional ally Pakistan and former adversary India. Mr Jaswant Singh told Mr Tang that he believed that poverty and starvation were the most urgent problems facing the South Asian rivals, and that peace was the only solution, the newspaper said. He emphasised that India was committed to peaceful means and dialogue to resolve disputes, it said. Reuters, AFP
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USA on high alert as Memorial Day holidays start
New York, May 25 Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to travel by car and air to meet relatives or for pleasure during the period, reports said. The latest FBI alert yesterday about the use of small planes came on top of earlier alerts which said the terrorists could strike apartment buildings and monuments. There were also warnings about possible attacks on scuba divers and underground train systems. Law enforcement and transportation officials across the country are on high alert for the Memorial Day weekend rush, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Marion Blakey said. She also said the public should be on alert for unattended packages and suspicious people when they travel. PTI
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Ranil assures LTTE on lifting of ban
Colombo, May 25 “The peace efforts are moving at the same speed with which they began. The government’s truce accord with the LTTE has successfully completed three months,” he told BBC’s Asia Today programme last night. Mr Wickremesinghe, who left for Europe today to firm up international support for his peace initiatives and economic development plans, also assured Tamil parliamentarians that he would respond positively to the demand for removal of the ban on the LTTE and for formation of an interim administration for the North-East at next month’s planned direct talks with the LTTE in Thailand. He will hold talks in London with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and then travel to Brussels to meet European Union President Romano Prodi and European Commission Chairman Chris Patten. The trip to Europe takes place just ahead of his visit to India next month and is aimed at strengthening the considerable support that his peace-friendly measures in recent months already enjoy. Officials working on his peace plans say his main objective will be to ensure that anti-terrorist measures like proscription and freeze of accounts and funds linked to the LTTE were not removed in Britain. He will also seek European backing on post-conflict development matters, they said. Meanwhile, Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister Vidar Helgesen arrived in the island early today to discuss further progress in the peace process. He is expected to hold a series of meetings with ministers and officials and brief them on his discussion with LTTE negotiator Anton Balasingham in London earlier this week. The peace initiative appeared to slow down earlier this month, especially after encounters off the eastern sea-board between the navy and boats allegedly carrying arms for the Tigers, followed by an exchange of charges by the security forces and the rebel group. The LTTE voiced fears that the Prime Minister was dithering on getting the security forces to vacate schools and places of worship as laid down in their truce agreement and wondered if he was out to placate Sinhala hardliners who became more vocal in their opposition to his peace plans. PTI
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Nepal Cabinet to extend emergency
Kathmandu, May 25 The caretaker Cabinet would ask King Gyanendra on Monday to continue the six-month-old state of emergency giving extra power to the police and the army which expired at midnight yesterday, junior Home Minister Devendra Raj Kandel said. The King is expected to rubber stamp the request, which comes after Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba dissolved Parliament’s lower House on Wednesday and called elections for November to quell an internal party revolt against extending the emergency. The state of emergency was imposed in November and the army ordered into the field for the first time in a bid to crush the six-year-old rebellion that has killed more than 4,000 people and crippled the impoverished nation’s economy. Deuba’s decision to dissolve the Parliament to allow him to continue the state of emergency has added to the turmoil in the Himalayan kingdom and his own Nepali Congress suspended him on Thursday for not consulting it before acting. Many Congress lawmakers had joined Opposition MPs in opposing the state of emergency because it suspends some civil liberties. Reuters
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Indians
resent Zulu song Durban, May 25 The song, released in February this year, came to light on Tuesday when it was played during a talk show programme on the Zulu language radio station, Ukhozi FM. The song by Mbongeni Ngema accuses people of Indian origin of oppressing black African people and taking over most of the business in Durban. It alleges that Indians were dominant everywhere. The song says Nelson Mandela, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, President Thabo Mbeki and other leaders have failed and calls for a “brave leader” to deal with Indians. The song caused consternation within members of the Indian community and they appealed to the state Human Rights Commission. Jody Kollapan, National Commissioner of the Human Rights, said although artistes have the right to say whatever they please, any hate speech or comment that sparks racism will not be tolerated. “We will investigate the matter and take action,” he said. The playwright, Ngema, denied he was promoting racial incitement against the Indians. “I’m only putting into words what thousands of Africans are talking,” he said. He said he was withdrawing the song.
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Expressing concern over the illegal export of missile technology from China to Pakistan, a US Congressman has urged President Bush to use his authority to ensure that such transfers are stopped.
