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Saturday,
June 15, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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WINDOW ON PAKISTAN Pervez accepts Sattar’s resignation Now Pakistan withdraws warships
Karzai to pull Afghanistan out of ‘quagmire’ |
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Peres revives
peace efforts Lankan minister
to vie for UN Secy-Gen post
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WINDOW ON PAKISTAN Pakistani ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf's much-acclaimed promise to the world community to immobilise the terrorist outfits based in his country is going to be watched with a lot of curiosity. The super power is there to help him in accomplishing the difficult task. Yet doubts are being raised about his capacity to deliver in accordance with his pledge. Militant leaders and their supporters in religious organisations are openly declaring that they will defy his orders not to cross over to this side of the border for subversive activities. Those in the army who sympathise with the militants' "cause" may try to overthrow the Musharraf regime at an opportune time. That is why the morale of the jehadis remains unaffected by the anti-terrorism drive of the government. One gathers this impression after scanning the reports and opinion pieces carried in the mainline newspapers. A Muzaffarabad-datelined report in The News quoted Muttahida Jehad Council chairman Syed Salahuddin as saying that "we are not bound to accept all the obligations which the Government of Pakistan has under international pressure." He wants to be dispelled the impression that "the freedom movement (terrorism for the rest of the world) is pro-Pakistan and Pakistan supports it." His strange logic is that "the LoC is not a permanent border, and crossing over the border is the basic right of the Kashmiris..." This amounts to saying that jehadis, lying low for the time being, will continue to try to sneak into this side of the border as and when they can. The strongly motivated terrorists feel that Pakistani soldiers are incapable of preventing their infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir. Dawn of June 10 carried a startling report from its correspondent in New York in this connection. The report says that Kashmiri militants will defy any order by the Pakistan Government to prevent them from crossing over to the "Indian side of the valley", and if the regime in Islamabad persists with its new policy "many fundamentalist parties have sworn to oust President Pervez Musharraf". In one of its recent issues Newsweek quoted certain militant leaders as saying that "our men manage to sneak past the Indians, so how can the Pakistanis stop us?...We will continue to fight." Even political leaders are speaking in a language never expected of them under the circumstances. In an article in The Friday Times of June 7, Khaled Ahmed says that General Musharraf is faced with great difficulties as a result of his anti-terrorism policy. "The politicians know this and are exploiting it. As reported in Nawa-e-Waqt (May 25), Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan , chairman of an opposition alliance ( the ARD), said that General Musharraf's pledge to the world and India about not allowing Pakistan's soil to be used for terrorism was not acceptable. He said these decisions went against the popular will and would be undone." Fortunately, however, there seems to be no dearth of thinking men and women who believe that both Pakistan and India should do everything possible to prevent the subcontinent from falling into the trap of extremists, who will be the happiest people if there is a war between the two neighbours with unpredictable consequences. Husain Haqqani in his brilliant piece in The Nation of June 13 sheds ample light on this aspect of the Indo-Pak imbroglio while pleading for a dialogue after the present crisis is over. In his own words, "Withdrawal of the Indian threat of war would help General Musharraf fulfil his promise of clamping down on militants operating from Pakistan. To overcome Indian mistrust, the USA could provide the mechanism for verifying Pakistan's compliance with its commitments. Proposals for multinational or joint India-Pakistan monitoring of the Line of Control to stop the infiltration of militants ostensibly acting on their own must also be seriously considered. "If they refuse to transcend their rhetoric, Vajpayee and Musharraf would run the risk of inadvertently becoming hostages to the agenda of the extremists. A war between India and Pakistan will only result in the realisation of the extremist jehadi groups' vision of extensive violence, leading to the fulfilment of their version of apocalypse." This shows that the future of the subcontinent is linked to the survival of General Musharraf with the unchallengeable position that he enjoys today. A very unnerving scenario, indeed! |
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Pervez accepts Sattar’s resignation Islamabad, June 14 Quoting credible sources, “The News” reported that the appointment of the new Foreign Minister was expected next week. Foreign Secretary Inamul Haq, former Foreign Secretaries Najmuddin Sheikh, Shehryar Khan and Pakistan’s Ambassador to the USA Maleeha Lodhi, Information Minister Nisar A. Memon and Javed Ashraf Kazi were the frontrunners for the post, the sources said. Mr Sattar had on last Friday put in his papers citing health reasons. The Foreign Minister had said that his health did not permit him to fulfil the responsibilities. Considered a hard-liner in the Pakistani establishment, he had been facing a difficult time after he underwent a surgery in the last week of May for chronic nasal complication. Though doctors successfully removed nasal polyps, it is said to have left the Foreign Minister too weak after the three-hour long anaesthesia and the strong medication he is being administered for recovery and recuperation.
UNI |
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Now Pakistan withdraws warships Islamabad June 14 “The Pakistan navy had moved its assets to forward positions because of the Indian posture and now they are returning to their peace-time locations,” he said. The move comes after India today announced it had returned around 20 ships to base from near Pakistani waters following easing of tensions between the nuclear-armed powers.
AFP |
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Karzai to pull Afghanistan out of ‘quagmire’ Kabul, June 14 “The objective is to take Afghanistan to a better life.... out of this quagmire in which it was,” he told a press conference a day after being elected Head of State. “We should do everything to bring the Afghan people to dignity and the good life that they deserve,” said Mr Karzai, who referred to himself as President. The international community has pledged some $ 5 billion to help reconstruct Afghanistan over the next five years. But Mr Karzai, who was elected by the traditional assembly or Loya Jirga, said the amount of money received so far was “minimal in comparison to the aid promised”. Mr Karzai said while he wanted to thank the international community for their support so far he would now be pushing for “stronger, more effective, speedy delivery of help to Afghanistan”. He also emphasised that the reconstruction of the nation’s highways, which have been shattered over the past 23 years of conflict, would be one of the main beneficiaries of the hoped-for flow of aid. He pledged that “the war against warlordism will go on”. Meanwhile, Afghan Islamic scholars and religious leaders called on the Loya Jirga grand assembly today to include the name ‘’Islam’’ in the new government’s title. ‘’I ask the assembly to call the new government ‘the transitional Islamic administration of Afghanistan’,’’ he said. ‘’I fully support Mr Karzai...but I suggest that during his rule he does not step outside the boundary set by Islam and Prophet Mohammad. Religion and God must rule,’’ Sayyaf said to a mixed reaction from delegates. The Loya Jirga has brought together more than 1,500 delegates from across the country’s ethnic and political divides. It includes Western-educated Afghans, who seek a Western-style government after the Taliban excesses in the name of Islam, and the Islamic Mujahideens, like Sayyaf, who fought against Soviet ‘’infidels’’ in the 1980s only to establish a divided Islamic government. The only thing delegates share is a revulsion for the fundamentalist Taliban, who named the country the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan before they were swept from power last year by the Northern Alliance backed by US air power.
AFP, Reuters |
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Peres revives peace efforts Jerusalem, June 14 “It was only preliminary contacts to sound out the possibilities of moving forward,” Mr Peres told Israeli public radio, adding that the effort was complicated by “the climate of mistrust” that has set in. “What is missing at this point is reciprocal goodwill,” said Mr Peres, who is pushing his own plan to end 20 months of bloodshed that has left more than 2,000 persons dead. The Labour Foreign Minister would not name the Palestinian officials he met. But Israeli television identified them as Ahmed Qorei, speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, and chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat. Ramallah: Under pressure to reform his corruption-ridden Palestinian Authority, Mr Yasser Arafat swore in five new ministers at the first meeting of his downsized Cabinet, delayed until Israeli forces left Ramallah. Addressing the Cabinet, Mr Arafat said the Palestinian Authority must work toward three goals: administrative restructure and reform, repair of infrastructure damaged in Israeli incursions.
AP/AFP |
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Lankan minister
to vie for UN Secy-Gen post United Nations, June 14 “I would be available if everyone agrees. Let others available say so and we will make a decision,” Fernando yesterday told reporters here. An early declaration of candidacy probably means that he plans to start lobbying for the top UN post well ahead of time. The Secretary-General’s post normally rotates among various regions and each gets two terms. Annan is from Ghana, Africa, and his second term is due to expire in 2006.
PTI |
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