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Monday,
June 24, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Only
graduates can contest poll in Pak Ultras
plan to topple Pervez Al-Qaida
in Kashmir danger to Musharraf “Osama”
group destroys LTTE office |
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I’ve
not accepted any post: Qanooni
Iran
quake toll revised to 222 |
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Israeli
troops take over West Bank town 28
Maoists killed in Nepal
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Only graduates can contest poll in Pak
Islamabad, June 23 In his capacity as the Chief Executive, President Gen Pervez Musharraf yesterday issued an order which amended the Conduct of General Elections Order that had not made educational qualification mandatory since 1947. According to one estimate, nearly half of the former members of the national and provincial Assemblies, who have been winning successive elections since 1985, will stand disqualified because of the amendment. According to the new order, a person shall not be qualified to be elected or chosen a member of Parliament or a provincial Assembly unless he is at least a graduate in any discipline or possesses a degree recognised by the University Grants Commission. Several political parties have strongly protested the graduation clause since it was proposed a few months back and have demanded that it should not be introduced. Chairman of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz Sharif group) Raja Zafarul Haq, criticising the decision said, “We believe that any such decision should be made by a democratically elected parliament.” Winning candidates of the religious parties would hardly be affected by the order as they possess degrees (Dars-e-Nizami) which are recognised as equivalent to the bachelor’s certificate. The Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam) group, the main supporter of the Musharraf regime, will be the greatest sufferer and the majority of its top leaders will be out of the electoral race due to the new order. As many as 25 ex-Parliamentarians will not be able to contest the general elections. Prominent among those are Gohar Ayub Khan, Gen Majeed Malik, Abida Hussain, Sardar Mohammad Yousaf, Mian Gul Aurangzeb, Tariq Aziz, Nasir Ali Baluich, Chaudhury Abdul Sattar, Dilwar Khan Gilchi, Rao Qaisar Ali Khan, Sahibza Farooq Anwar Abbassi and Abdul Hamid Jatoi. Meanwhile the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) said it would not accept any decision by the government and that it would soon launch a nationwide protest against the order. Chairman of the ARD Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan told mediapersons in Karachi yesterday that the Constitution must be upheld and an interim national government should be appointed to conduct the general elections. Mr Khan said the ARD was against the political role of the ISI and the national security council. He also said the role of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif was needed at this critical juncture. Mr Khan said the ARD would not hold any meeting with the government, adding that if at all a meeting was held, it would be on a one-point agenda.
UNI |
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Ultras plan to topple Pervez
London, June 23 “The focus of the fighters is on hitting the Pakistani Government as hard as possible, because they feel this (Pervez Musharraf’s) government has betrayed jehad and driving the USA and UK presence from Muslim lands,” The Sunday Times said in a report quoting an unnamed British Muslim of Pakistani origin. The militants are getting finances from the Muslim community in the UK, the daily said in a report from Islamabad. “The cash arriving from the UK for militant groups is one of our big concerns,” a senior Pakistani intelligence official told the paper. “Imagine what we could do if we controlled the Pakistani army, an organised 600,000 soldiers and nuclear weapons. We could implement Islam without compromise,” the non-resident Pakistani was quoted by the daily as saying. He said he had delivered cash converted into dollars — to a “remote base” two weeks ago, to fund weapons training for scores of Muslims recruited in the UK, Germany, the USA and Bangladesh. The daily said he had made several trips bringing cash collected from wealthy businessmen of Pakistani-origin in the UK.
PTI |
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Al-Qaida in Kashmir danger to Musharraf New Al-Qaida training camps in Kashmir could ultimately destabilise Pakistan and via the
Al-Qaida “lead to replacement of Musharraf government with a fundamentalist Islamic regime, a global intelligence agency has warned. The agency,
Stratfor, in an analysis Strategic Forecasting published earlier this week, says Washington, New Delhi and the Musharraf regime will need to invent effective ways to deal with the
Al-Qaida in Kashmir. “The small abatement in India-Pakistan tensions has not disrupted
Al-Qaida’s plan to have both nations clash in Kashmir. Nor did it disrupt
Al-Qaida’s operations in Kashmir,” Stratfor Forecasting says, and adds: “For that, the Pakistan army should not just block the border but liquidate the joint the
Al-Qaida-Kashmiri militants training camps—something that may well prove deadly, more for Musharraf than for the
Al-Qaida.” According to the analysis, changing a regime from pro-USA, to fundamentalist in a major muslim country such as Pakistan, the second most populous Islamic nation, has been in
Al-Qaida’s strategic goal for many years. Such an event might also dramatically turn the tide in the global war between the
Al-Qaida and the United States of America. Stratfor sources indicate that
Al-Qaida forces in Kashmir may amount to only 20 and 30 fulltime persons, with some senior leaders and the rest being middle level operatives. There is no indication that Osama bin Laden is in Kashmir, but it cannot be ruled out. However, there are several hundred part-time militants associated with the
Al-Qaida operating in Kashmir, some acting behind frontlines in India held parts of the regime. Highly skilled and extensively trained, they lead incursions against India and continue running training camps for new recruits. According to the analysis,
Al-Qaida is working hard to facilitate a sharp rise in Islamic militant attacks on India to provoke some retaliation, It also knows that the Pakistani army would inevitably get involved, and New Delhi would have to switch its major efforts to defeat Pakistan rather than the
Al-Qaida and the militants. Whatever follows, the Pakistani military’s defeat or Musharraf’s retreat due to US pressure — the assured mess in Pakistan could lead to Musharraf’s fall and the installation of an Islamic fundamentalist regime. |
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“Osama” group destroys LTTE office Colombo, June 23 The office of the LTTE, set up in the Muslim-dominated government-held territory after the truce agreement, was destroyed on Friday night after it was closed for the day, reports said. Tension has built up in the area following the incident. The LTTE has complained about the incident to the Nordic truce monitors, locally known as Sri Lanka Monitorin Mission (SLMM). An SLMM official said they were conducting investigations in this regard. Leader of Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) Rauf Hakeem, who is also the Minister of Ports, has spoken to the defence authorities to discuss measures to curb the growing tension in the region. Mr Hakeem condemned the incident last night and said some ‘’sinister elements’’ were behind it.
UNI |
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I’ve not accepted any post: Qanooni
Kabul, June 23 Yunus Qanooni spoke to reporters after government television announced that he had been appointed Education Minister and presidential National Security Adviser. However, Qanooni told reporters that he had not met with Karzai since the announcement and had not decided whether to accept either appointments. He said he was considering instead forming a new opposition party. Qanooni lost the Interior Ministry job, one of the most powerful government posts, during last week’s meeting of the Afghan grand council, or Loya Jirga, which elected Karzai President and approved about half his Cabinet. Qanooni is an ethnic Tajik and the interior post went to Pashtun, Taj Mohammed Wardak, in an effort to bring ethnic balance to the new lineup.
AP |
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Iran quake toll revised to 222 Changoureh, Iran, June 23 “There was a mistake, the previous number was the number of dead and injured together,” state television reported Red Crescent official Majid Shalviri as saying. Emergency services tried to cope with hundreds of injured and other survivors of the quake which measured 6.3 on the Richter Scale, and took steps to prevent disease spreading. The quake, which struck early yesterday razing dozens of villages in north Iran’s Qazvin province, killed many women, children and elderly people at home while men were working in the fields and vineyards. US President George W. Bush, who said he was saddened by news of the earthquake, extended an offer of humanitarian aid to Iran, reaching out to a country his administration had branded part of an “axis of evil”. “Human suffering no political boundaries,” Mr Bush said in a statement. “We stand ready to assist the people of Iran as needed and as desired.” Red Crescent officials said 5,000 houses had been destroyed and 25,000 persons made homeless, with at least four strong aftershocks inflicting more damage. At least 1,500 people were injured, the heaviest casualties close to the epicentre at Avaj, a mountain town of 3,600 persons some 200 km west of the capital, Tehran.
Reuters |
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Israeli
troops take over West Bank town
Nablus, June 23 About 60 tanks moved into the city under the cover of darknesss, Palestinian officials said. Although a number of tanks later pulled out, at least 20 remained at several positions throughout the city at daybreak. Troops did not initially make any arrests of suspected militants and it was not clear if they intended to stay for long. The Israeli army began a new, extensive operation in the West Bank last week after the Israeli Cabinet — in reaction to a suicide bombing in Jerusalem that killed 19 Israelis — decided that troops would seize and hold Palestinian areas until the Palestinian attacks ceased. Israel had not indicated how long the troops would remain in the areas. The Israeli troops continued to occupy several parts of the West Bank today, including the cities of Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem, Bethlehem and areas around Ramallah. Several villages around the cities had also been occupied.
AP |
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28 Maoists killed in Nepal
Kathmandu, June 23 Eleven terrorists were gunned down in a forest near Mahadevpuri in Banke district yesterday as the joint team of the security forces intensified its anti-terror operations in the region, Defence Ministry spokesman Bhupendra Prasad Poudyal said. At least six armed rebels, including two women, were killed in the exchange of firing between the security forces and Maoists in Okhaldhunga district last night, the spokesman said adding no casualties were reported on the side of the security forces. While three rebels were killed in Nayabasti in Dang district, four ultras were killed in Namla in Lamjung district, and another four in Ramechhap district in separate encounters, the official said.
PTI |
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Bend it Like Beckham wins award
Sydney, June 23 In a harvest of sorts for Indian talent at the festival, Gurinder Chadda’s blockbuster ‘Bend it Like Beckham’ was voted most popular feature by the audience while Anand Patwardhan’s ‘War and Peace’ on India-Pak nuclear rivalry won the inaugural best documentary award. A short film on India by Sydney-based Sabina Uberoi won the prestigious Rouben Mamoulian Award for the Best Australian Short Film. Chadda’s comedy about cultural shock, featuring a number of Indian characters, also won the 15,000 Euros Prix United International Pictures (UIP) award for best European film in the contemporary world cinema section. The first International Critics Prize for Documentary went to Patwardhan’s ‘Jang aur Aman’(War and Peace) a compelling look at the hostile relationship between the traditional South Asian rivals. ‘My Mother India’ by India-born director Safina Uberoi, an hour-long personal documentary also won the Community Relations Commission Award (CRC). The films were competing with 150 short, documentary and feature films from across 34 countries at the Festival. “Bend it” will open in Indian cinemas on July 12.
PTI |
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Kabul, June 23
