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Wednesday,
July 31, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Resume talks, ASEAN tells India, Pak
Pervez orders not
binding after poll: ACJ Mediator no, friend yes, USA tells India Hizbul rejects Powell plea on J&K poll Arrest
awaits Benazir |
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Canada lists terrorists Peace pact to end Africa’s biggest war S. Korea accepts talks offer Prince dies of thirst
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Resume talks, ASEAN tells India, Pak
Bandar Seri Begwan (Brunei), July 30 Declaring that peace and stability in South Asia was important to the whole region and beyond, the 10 ASEAN Foreign Ministers at the end of their 35th meeting here expressed the hope that New Delhi and Islamabad would take all necessary steps to defuse tensions. The ASEAN assessment of Indo-Pak stand-off was reflected in the joint communique issued at the meeting while reviewing regional and security issues. It came on the eve of the one-day meeting of Asia’s biggest security grouping. Mr Yashwant Sinha, who reached here this morning, is participating in the deliberations of the ASEAN Regional Forum which is also expected to voice its concern on the tensions between India and Pakistan. The nine-page communique while devoting one paragraph to Indo-Pak relations also welcomed the intention of India along with Russia and China to accede to the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in South-East Asia. The communique came down heavily on terrorism and pleaded for concrete initiatives and concerted efforts at all levels. “We recognise that terrorism is a global threat and that the disturbing acts of terrorism and transnational crimes, which continue to threaten world peace and stability, must be tackled by the international community,” the communique said. Brunei Foreign Minister Mohamed Bolkiah told a press conference after the meeting that “one of the things we specially concentrated on was the problem of terrorism and what to do about it.” He said ASEAN and the USA were working towards a declaration of cooperation to combat international terrorism during the ARF meeting tomorrow. ASEAN’s initiatives in deepening its ties with India was taken note of in the communique when it referred to the idea of ASEAN-India summit, the first such ASEAN plus one summits with other dialogue partners. India is among the 10 dialogue partners which includes USA and China. Welcoming the ongoing consultations between ASEAN and the Nuclear Weapon States on the protocol of South-East Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone Treaty and urged the NWS to sign the protocol of the treaty as soon as possible. The communique also welcomed the readiness of South Korea and North Korea to resume the inter-Korean dialogue and appreciated the role of other parties in bringing this to effect. The communique also expressed concern over the latest developments in the middle-east and condemned the recent Israeli attack in Gaza. PTI
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Talks to serve no purpose: Sinha India’s External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha has
said India does not shy away from holding dialogue with Pakistan but
it will not serve any purpose as long as Islamabad continued to foment
cross-border terrorism. “We are not against any dialogue (with
Pakistan) but if cross-border terrorism is there and killngs continue
it would not be fair to expect India to start a dialogue,” Mr Sinha
said here before he began his first bilateral meeting with his
Canadian counterpart on the eve of the ASEAN Regional Forum meeting.
Sinha made these comments when asked by newsmen about India’s
response to a call by the ASEAN Foreign Ministers to India and
Pakistan to resume immediate dialogue. Sinha said there could be a
possibility of his meeting the US Secretary of State Colin Powell
here. “Let us see,” he said when asked if he is meeting the
American official. He replied in the negative to a query if he and
Powell were in touch with each other after the latter’s talks with
Pakistani leaders on Sunday. |
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Pervez orders not binding after poll: ACJ
Islamabad, July 30 The order promulgated by Musharraf after he seized power in October 1999, would cease to exist after the polls and a host of ordinances brought in by the military regime under the PCO would have no binding on the new parliament, Justice Munir told reporters yesterday after he was sworn in as Acting Chief Justice. He said the laws enacted under the PCO by the military regime were not binding on the new parliament and could be scrapped by it if it wanted do so. Reacting to criticism that the country’s judiciary was not free he said “It is not true that the judiciary is not independent. We are independent but lawyers and other segments of society should keep it in mind that we are working under the PCO.” He also referred to the special oath taken by the judges of the higher courts under the PCO soon after the coup. He was reacting to questions on the agitation called by the country’s influential Bar associations opposing the recent referendum held by Musharraf to get himself elected for five years as well as the controversial constitutional amendments . The Supreme Court upheld the validity of the referendum under norms of PCO. Responding to a question, Munir said the country’s Supreme Court had allowed the military government to stay in power for three years, adding that the statement made by Information Minister Nisar A. Memon also said the military government will go back to the barracks after the polls. On the judges’ oath, taken under the PCO Justice Munir said though there was no clear-cut position on the issue, he was of the opinion that following the elections, the judges’ original oath taken under the constitution will automatically come into operation. However, the judges who did not originally take oath under the constitution may be asked to take a fresh one under the constitution after the civil government is installed. About upholding the Musharraf government’s graduation condition for parliamentarians, he said it was an ordinary case that the judiciary heard and decided in the larger interest of the parliament. Asked whether or not the elections could be postponed, he said the government officials were on record stating that elections would be held on time, media reports quoted him as saying. Reacting to questions on the proposed constitutional package released by the Musharraf government, he said the judiciary would look into the proposed amendments when they were brought before them. PTI
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Mediator
no, friend yes, USA tells India Washington, July 30 State Department Deputy Spokesman, Mr Phil Reeker, told reporters yesterday: “We don’t seek a mediator’s role, but we are prepared to provide facilitative assistance if the parties agree, and the Secretary outlined that in his talks in both capitals.” Mr Reeker was asked what Colin Powell meant when he said that the USA was involved in the India-Pakistan dispute over Kashmir over the long haul. Mr Reeker said as Secretary Powell indicated in his recent stops in New Delhi and Islamabad, the Kashmir dispute must be resolved through a healthy political process and a vibrant dialogue between India and Pakistan that took into account the wishes of the people of Kashmir. The deputy spokesman added: “As the Secretary said, Kashmir is on the international agenda, and the USA and other countries are going to take an active interest in encouraging a resolution. Our role is that of a friend, a friend to India, a friend to Pakistan, trying to help both countries address their differences, including the differences about Kashmir through a productive dialogue, and we have said for a long, long time that dialogue is the way to make progress on these issues.” Mr Reeker noted that secretary Powell had announced in New Delhi that Deputy Secretary Armitage would return to the region in August, and other senior U.S. officials would also continue engagement in coming months. Mr Armitage would not only continue the discussions on regional tensions in Kashmir, “but also strengthen our bilateral relations with both nations.” |
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Hizbul rejects Powell plea on J&K poll
Islamabad July 30 “We welcome Mr Powell’s announcement in New Delhi that Kashmir is an international issue... but as far as his stand on the forthcoming farcical exercise (elections) in Kashmir is concerned, we disagree with him,” said Hizbul’s spokesman, Salim Hashmi. Drawing attention to the 1957 UN Security Council resolution on Kashmir which calls for a plebiscite in the state, Hashmir said: “We are concerned about the provision of that opportunity to the Kashmiris to decide their future with free will and the very thing has been pledged to us by the world community long ago.” Pakistan media has hailed Powell’s assertion that Kashmir was on the international agenda, but exercised caution on elections in Jammu and Kashmir. In a lengthy editorial, local daily ‘Dawn’ said that “Contrary to India’s insistence that Kashmir is a bilateral problem, Powell said that the issue was ‘on the international agenda’ and that his country would remain engaged in ‘extending a helping hand to all sides’ for a solution.” It said Powell’s statement that the USA intends to remain engaged with the problem of peace and normalisation in South Asia “for months and years ahead” was significant. “Seen in the context of what the US Secretary of state said in New Delhi, his statement gives an indication of America’s long-term policy on South Asia”. PTI
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Arrest awaits Benazir Islamabad, July 30 ‘’Any of the politicians, including Ms Bhutto, who had been convicted by the courts, would be arrested on their return to Pakistan,’’ Pakistan Inspector-General Punjab, Malik Asif Hayat was quoted as saying by The News today. He, however, said the police would follow the orders of the courts. Ms Bhutto, facing sentence on corruption charges in Pakistan, has said she is determined to end her five-year exile and fly to Pakistan for the elections. ‘’There is a growing pressure on me from the workers to return at the earliest,’’ she said in an interview to The Times, published on July 26.
UNI |
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Canada lists terrorists Vancouver, July 30 The government has said that the assets of the groups would be seized and they would face severe penalties if found operating in the country. It cautioned that citizens having any link with the organisations would have to face imprisonment. “If you the Canadian people knowingly deal or facilitate these people in their work, you’ve broken the Criminal Code and we will come after you,” Solicitor General Lawrence MacAuley was quoted in the Vancouver Sun as having said. The groups identified so far include Al-Qaida, the Armed Islamic Group (GIA), an Algeria-based anti-western group, Salafist Group for Call and Combat, a breakaway GIA group, Al-Jihad, a group aiming to overthrow the Mubarak regime in Egypt, Vanguards of Conquest, closely allied with Al Jihad, al Gama’a al Islamiyya and al Ittihad al Islam, an international Islamist group active in Somalia and Ethiopia. UNI
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Peace pact to end Africa’s biggest war Pretoria, July 30 The signing here was witnessed by South African President Thabo Mbeki and a special representative of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan — the agreement’s guarantors, as well as Malawi President Bakili Muluzi, current chairman of the 14-member Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). Under the agreement, Congo pledged to help disarm and arrest Congo-based Rwandan Hutu militia blamed for the 1994 Rwandan genocide and who are now based in eastern Congo. In return, Rwanda, which invaded in 1998 to try to topple the government and protect Rwanda’s eastern borders against Hutu gunmen, promised to pull its troops out of Congo. Both sides pledged to cease support for rebel fighters.
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S. Korea accepts talks offer
Seoul, July 30 The South Korean Unification Ministry, which handles North Korea policy, agreed to the North’s suggestion that talks to revive stalled reconciliation efforts be held in early August. In line with the northern proposal, the ministry said it wanted to hold working-level talks August 2-4 at the North’s Diamond Mountain resort on the east coast of the Korean peninsula. Cabinet-level talks in Seoul would follow at an undetermined date, it said. The message from Unification Minister Jeong Se-Hyun was relayed to Kim Ryong Song, the chief North Korean negotiator, in a telephone call at the border village of Panmunjom. The North responded hours later, saying it would send five-member delegation to the talks this weekend, said Kim Jong-ro, a spokesman for the South Korean ministry. AP
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Prince dies of thirst
Riyadh, July 30 The report said the 25-year-old prince had been travelling in Rimah province, south of the town of al Ammaniya. Prince Fahd was the third member of the extensive Saudi royal family to die in a week. Prince Sultan bin Faisal bin Turki al-Saud, 41, died in a road accident on July 23 as he was driving from the coastal resort of Jeddah to the capital Riyadh for the funeral of his cousin Prince Ahmed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz, 43, who had died the day before of a heart attack. The two cousins were buried together. AFP
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Plot to kill Afghan leaders foiled
An Afghan man and another suspect believed to be foreign were pulled over in a Toyota Corolla containing semtex explosives in the centre of Kabul yesterday, said Gen Din Mohammad Jurat, Director of Public Security Interior Ministry.
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Kabul, July 30