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Sunday,
June 16, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Bush vows
justice for Pak blast victims
ARD not to
meet Musharraf |
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Resume
talks, EP counsels India, Pak Russia, UK
for Indo-Pak talks
100
killed in Congo fighting
Agenda
for Lankan peace talks finalised 5
executed in Beijing 2
Indians held for trafficking in girls
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Bush vows justice for Pak blast victims Washington, June 15 A terrorist reportedly slammed his explosive-packed vehicle into a concrete barrier in front of the US Consulate, setting off an explosion that killed 11 persons and injured around 45. No Americans died in the attack. Mr Bush also telephoned British Prime Minister Tony Blair from Air Force One to discuss efforts to ease tension between India and Pakistan and help both countries work toward lowering the military threat along their border in Jammu and Kashmir, White House Deputy Press Secretary Scott McClellan said. The leaders talked about West Asia and the upcoming G-8 summit of world economic leaders in Canada. Mr Bush also expressed condolences to the families of the Karachi attack victims. “Our hearts go out to those affected by the bombings that took place. Our prayers are with their families,” he said yesterday as he began a speech in Houston, Texas, at a summer enrichment camp for Hispanics. “If these terrorists “think they’re going to intimidate the USA, they do not understand our country. The nation will continue to hunt them down, and seek justice”, he said. Mr Bush said: “We fight an enemy that are radical killers, that’s what they are. You know they claim they’re religious people, and they blow up Muslims. They have no regard for individual life.” The State Department has also deplored the strike. Department deputy spokesman Philip T. Reeker said: “We condemn this heinous attack on our Consulate General in Karachi. We are outraged by the fact that at least 11 Pakistanis, some of whom were there to protect the Consulate, died and many others were injured. “We extend our deepest sympathies to the victims and their families. In murdering these Pakistanis, terrorists have once again shown their utter disregard for life and underlined the grave threat from terrorism faced by us all.” Reeker said: “It reminds us once again of the risks faced every day by our diplomats and local employees in their work overseas. It only strengthens our determination, and that of the international coalition, to defeat terrorism around the world.” “Since September 11, we have worked shoulder to shoulder with President (Pervez) Musharraf and Pakistan in the global war against extremism and terrorism. We will continue this close cooperation. “We are working with the Pakistani Government in its efforts to establish the identity of the perpetrators and bring them to justice swiftly,” he added.
IANS |
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ARD not to meet Musharraf Islamabad, June 15 The ARD had demanded that both Mr Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto should be allowed into the country and participate in October general elections but the government insisted that the meeting would only discuss India-Pakistan crisis, leading to the cancellation of discussions, The Nation reported. The ARD and Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal leaders, along with the representatives of pro-government parties, were scheduled to meet Gen Pervez Musharraf on June 18. While another separate meeting was promised for June 19 on the ARD agenda to discuss domestic issues. However, Information Minister Nisar Memon yesterday informed ARD chief by telephone that the June 18 meeting would only discuss tension with India and the June 19 meeting stands cancelled. ‘’We are not ready to talk only on one-point agenda,’’ the ARD chief said. Mr Khan also raised the issue of crackdown on political leaders. ‘’It is difficult for us to meet Gen Musharraf after arrest of PML (N) Chairman, Raja Zafarul Haq and ARD Information Secretary Zafar Ali Shah during the Kashmir rally in Rawalpindi and blockade of Akbar Bugti at his Dera Bugti residence,’’ Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan said.
UNI |
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Resume talks, EP counsels India, Pak Brussels, June 15 In a resolution adopted last Thursday, Members of the European Parliament said the two sides should resume “bilateral talks on the Kashmir question”. The call by the MPs comes a week after EU foreign ministers called on both sides “to end cross-border shelling to implement a ceasefire and to resolve their differences through peaceful means.” The tone for the debate in the European Parliament was set by the Conservative MEP from the UK, Charles Tannock, who said Musharraf should “arrest and hand over those committing atrocities to India for trial and justice.” He, however, added there were “encouraging signs that President Musharraf has finally heeded calls to rein in Islamic terrorists.” The resolution is a part of a much longer draft on preparations for the two-day EU summit to be held in the Spanish city of Seville from June 21. EU Presidents and Prime Ministers are expected to discuss the Indo-Pak situation during the Summit.
PTI |
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Russia, UK for Indo-Pak talks Moscow, June 15 The current dispute “May be solved only by direct dialogue between the two countries,” the joint group on cooperation against international terrorism said in a statement yesterday, quoted by the ITAR-TASS news agency. The group’s chiefs, Russia’s Vyacheslav Trubnikov and Britain’s Steven Wright, also hailed “the progress made at Almaty meetings” last week between Mr Vajpayee, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. Mr Vajpayee and Mr Musharraf refused to meet face to face but even so Mr Putin hailed the unsuccessful mediation effort as a “very positive sign” that Islamabad and New Delhi were prepared to resolve their dispute peacefully.
AFP |
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Israeli troops end Jenin raid Jenin (West Bank), June 15 Several tanks, armoured personnel carriers and jeeps entered Jenin around dawn in what Israeli military officials described as a patrol sent into the city following warnings that militants were about to stage an attack in Israel. They pulled out five hours later, maintaining a tight chokehold around the northern West Bank city, from which Israel says dozens of suicide bombings have been staged against Israel since the Palestinian revolt began in September 2000. The raid was the latest in a series of almost daily Israeli incursions into Palestinian-ruled territory. These have maintained pressure on Palestinian militants as US President George W. Bush works on a peace initiative after 20 months of conflict. The US Administration held more consultations with Middle East leaders on Friday as Mr Bush prepared to unveil his vision, based on a two-state solution, probably next week. The army said a “patrol” entered Jenin because of intelligence reports that militants were planning an attack. “There is a curfew. We received information that someone planned a terror attack from Jenin,” an army spokeswoman said. She said she knew of no arrests. Militants groups have killed scores of Israelis in suicide attacks since an uprising against Israeli occupation began after negotiations for a final peace treaty deadlocked.
Reuters |
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100 killed in Congo fighting Brazzaville, June 15 People in Brazzaville began to drift away from homes after the worst fighting in the riverside city for many years revived memories of bloody civil war in the 1990s. “The death toll looks to be around 100 persons,’’ UN spokeswoman Olivia Vamvacas told Reuters. The count was based partly on figures from the government, which says its troops killed 60 Ninjas. The Ninjas, whose heartland is the southern region around Brazzaville, have launched a series of attacks outside the city since President Denis Sassou Nguessou, from the north of the oil-rich African state, won elections in March from which his main rivals were excluded. The Ninjas take their name from a band of ancient Japanese warriors made famous in Hollywood movies. They are led by a renegade priest but their original loyalty was to exiled former Prime Minister Bernard Kolelas. The night was quiet but for a volley of gunshots around dawn, which the army said was to warn any rebels against attempting a repeat of yesterday’s attack on the Maya Maya airport, on the western outskirts of the city. “The Ninjas, who had several women among them, have been exterminated,’’ army spokesman Colonel Jean-Robert Obargui told Reuters. Mr Sassou returned from the world food summit in Rome yesterday.
Reuters |
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Agenda for Lankan peace talks finalised Colombo, June 15 The radio, quoting the diplomatic sources of the Norwegian Embassy in Colombo, said the agenda was prepared on the basis of the answers given by both government and the Tamil Tiger rebels to the ‘questionnaire’, issued to them by the Norwegian facilitators in the latter part of May. According to the radio, although the government’s Peace Secretariat has confirmed that the agenda had been finalised, it has refused to divulge any details of the contents of the agenda. Norwegian Deputy Foreign Minister, Vidar Helgesen, during his last visit to Sri Lanka in the latter part of May, emphasised the importance of a clear agenda for talks, scheduled to be held in Thailand before the end of June or early July. Mr Helgesen is due to arrive in Sri Lanka next week. There had been occasional hiccups in preparing the agenda for talks, especially after President Chandrika Kumaratunga insisted that the government, led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, should include in the agenda for preliminary talks with the LTTE the ‘core political issues’, to lead the ongoing process towards finding a lasting solution. But, both the government and the LTTE prefer an interim set up before discussing the core issues, since both feel that addressing the core issues at the first step in the absence of a ‘proper devolution package’ would lead to the breakdown of the entire peace process.
UNI |
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5 executed in Beijing Beijing, June 15 Sun Yetao, originally from the north-eastern province of Liaoning, had been condemned to death for the rape and murder of a 22-year-old student. Two peasants from the northwestern province of Sichuan, Zhang Changtai and Li Detie, were reportedly executed after an armed robbery resulted in the death of their victim. Zhang Mingyin from northern Henan province was also killed yesterday after being found guilty of murdering his 18-year-old girlfriend. Finally, Piao Longtian, originally from Shandong in eastern China, was executed for killing another person from his native village.
AFP |
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2 Indians
held for trafficking in girls Kathmandu, June 15 Shekhar Barma, 22, and Madan Lal Joshi, 32, from India and currently living in Kathmandu were arrested by the police on the charge of trafficking two Nepali girls to India, the English language daily The Himalayan Times reported. The two accused were taking 23-year-old Lila Khawas and 16-year -old Sushma Tamang from Kavre district in eastern Nepal. Barma and Joshi were arrested near Thankot, the entry point to Kathmandu, while they were leaving the valley in a cab with the girls. They were arrested with the help of volunteers of Maiti Nepal, a non-governmental organisation working for the welfare of the women. The girls were handed over to the NGO. The police has started the necessary investigation.
UNI |
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