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Sunday,
September 22, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Halt attacks, Arafat urges ultras
NEWS ANALYSIS No talks with India on LTTE ban: Lanka ‘India can’t apply US doctrine in J&K’ J&K poll threatens ultras: Fernandes
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Halt attacks, Arafat urges ultras
Jerusalem, September 21 “I reiterate my call to our people and all our factions to halt any violent attacks inside Israel because (Israeli Prime Minister) Ariel Sharon exploits these operations as a cover to implement his plans to destroy the peace of the brave,’’ Mr Arafat said in a statement published on the website of the Palestinian news agency, Wafa. The Israeli troops, tanks and bulldozers began pulverizing the buildings in Arafat’s once-sprawling Ramallah headquarters on Thursday, hours after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed six persons in Tel Aviv. Today, his office building was the last main structure still standing. In his statement, Mr Arafat was defiant. “I say it frankly, we are ready for peace, not for capitulation and we will not give up Jerusalem or a grain of our soil from our homeland, Palestine,’’ the statement said. Meanwhile, Israeli cabinet secretary Gideon Saar declined to rule out the army storming Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s office on Friday as he made clear the Jewish state’s determination to capture some 20 security commanders holed up with him. “We don’t discuss operational options and the way in which our aims will be achieved,” Mr Saar told public radio when asked explicitly about the possibility of troops being sent in to seize the commanders accused by Israel of having links with militant groups. RAMALLAH: Explosions rocked Yasser Arafat’s besieged headquarters on Friday, including a blast that showered the frail Palestinian leader with debris, as Israeli troops flattened every main building around him with explosives, tanks and bulldozers. The White House and the European Union on Thursday urged Israel not to go too far in its reprisal for a Tel Aviv bus bombing that killed six persons. Israel’s Defence Minister said he wanted to isolate Mr Arafat, but not harm or expel him. He said the troops would stay until the surrender of the wanted men, including the West Bank intelligence chief. However, Israel TV’s Channel Two, citing defence officials, said the ultimate objective of the assault was to confine Arafat to a tiny area in difficult conditions and prompt him to seek exile. Mr Arafat has said he would never again leave the Palestinian lands. However, Mr Arafat’s advisers said they feared the office building might collapse and that he was in the line of fire. DOHA: Israel has promised not to harm Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat despite its siege of his West Bank headquarters, Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabr al-Thani said on Friday. “The Israelis have pledged that Yasser Arafat would not be harmed,” Sheikh Hamad told the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite television. He said the siege “should stop.” Sheikh Hamad, whose country is the current chair of the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference, added that he would pursue efforts with the UN Security Council and the USA for the resumption of negotiations. UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council will meet in an emergency session on Monday to discuss the crisis in the Middle East which was deepened following shelling of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s private offices by the Israeli forces. Agencies
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NEWS ANALYSIS Why has Iraqi President Saddam Hussein displaced Osama bin Laden as the No. 1 enemy of the USA? What is the Bush Administration’s gameplan and why is vanquishing Iraq a central part of that plan at this juncture? Several conjectures have been put forward by observers for the reason for the Bush Administration’s stated objective to capture President Saddam ‘dead or alive’ and also change the regime in Iraq. One plausible reason is oil. If one looks back, oil in the Middle-East has always been the main interest for the USA or for the British earlier. In recent years, Iraq has become the sixth-ranking exporter of oil to the USA, with US imports of crude oil from Iraq reaching around 1.247 million barrels every day. The West (particularly the USA) would like to have a puppet regime in a country that is oil rich. President Saddam certainly nobody’s puppet, has been defiant of the USA and has survived the Gulf war. A second reason is that President Saddam is amassing weapons of mass destruction which could be unleashed any time against the USA. Hence, the move to go for a pre-emptive strike. The US Administration is afraid that he could ally with Bin Laden and other disaffected groups who have vowed to take terror to the US soil. With the might of President Saddam’s alleged arsenal, it would be easy for the Al-Qaida to launch chemical terror within the USA or elsewhere. the council sent weapons inspectors to Iraq after the 1990-91 Gulf war to ensure than the Saddam regime destroyed any chemical or biological weapons it possessed, and any capacity to produce them or nuclear weapons. The inspectors left in 1998, ahead of U.S. airstrikes, amid Iraqi allegations that some were spying for the USA and counter charges that Baghdad wasn’t cooperating with the inspection teams. Another reason is that President Bush and his team want to settle old scores. In 1991, Bush senior and his team had stopped short of pursuing President Saddam to Baghdad and instituting a regime change. Bush senior subsequently lost the presidency to Mr Bill Clinton. Bush junior has been itching to get rid of President Saddam ever since. George Bush may now feel justified in getting his own back for outwitting his father as well as attempting to assassinate his father in 1993. Moreover, the Bush Administration is filled with his father’s top aides — Dick Cheney (the Vice-President), Colin Powell (Secretary of State) and James Baker (an adviser) — all of whom were deeply involved in the 1991 Gulf war. It is ironic that the son is following in the footsteps of his father, even down to the sequence of events. For instance, Mr George Bush’s rhetoric has shifted from unilateral attack on Iraq to multilateralism. Hence, the US attempts to co-opt the rest of the international community through the UN and then launch an attack reminiscent of the Gulf war. One can see the hand of old-timers in the new Administration such as Mr Powell, who have advised President Bush that it is better to portray a war with Iraq as one between Iraq and the UN rather than one with the USA. The arch manipulator that he is President Saddam has already seized the initiative by inviting the UN arms inspectors back to Baghdad. President Saddam has put the ball back in the US court as he can well-afford to show this gesture. He has had enough time to manage his affairs at home, hide his weapons and buy time. This move will give the Bush Administration less chance to press for an attack on Iraq. The rest of the world is already making noises about giving President Saddam a chance. Not only the Arab world, but also other European powers like Germany and France are opposed to any strike on Iraq. Only British Prime Minister Tony Blair is fully supportive of the US line. Indications are not very bright for peace. The American policymakers are clear that they want President Saddam to go. Moreover, they did not expect President Saddam to allow the weapons inspectors into Iraq. That is why the White House has pushed aside President Saddam’s response calling him a liar. President Bush, his deputy Cheney and Defence Secretary Rumsfeld have set an agenda and Iraq is the target. They are not going to be deterred. To divert attention, they are chanting this regime change mantra first in Iraq and then around the Middle-East, in an attempt to bolster President Bush’s popularity ratings. Remember the late Bill Hucks once wrote, “You want to know where Saddam keeps his weapons of mass destructions? Look at the delivery note.” Whatever, President Saddam has made a smart move and this will get him some support in the United Nations where countries are being bullied to toe the US line. How soon and what methods will be used to achieve the US goal is anybody’s guess. The Bush Administration will keep up the pressure on President Saddam. It is a million-dollar-question what the end game will be. Do the Americans have a proper strategy to deal with what would be a highly volatile situation that may increase the suffering of Iraqi people and cause massive bloodshed in the region? The Americans have not revealed their cards as yet.
IPA
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No talks with India on LTTE ban: Lanka
New York, September 21 It is for countries which have banned the LTTE to decide whether to lift the ban or not, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe told reporters here yesterday. He also said that he was not going to discuss this issue either with India or the Bush administration. Mr Wickremesinghe said politically sensitive issues, including those of homeland, self-determination and political autonomy, would be much down the agenda as preference was being given to humanitarian issues on both sides. He also declined to say what self-determination would entail. However, the Prime Minister said he expected that it would be possible to sort out the issues during discussions. An official accompanying him said these issues might come up for discussion in the final round if they were not resolved earlier. Expressing confidence that talks with the LTTE would lead to a permanent peace in the country, the Prime Minister, however, conceded that some vital issues on which differences could arise remained untouched in the first stage of negotiations. Stating emphatically that the LTTE had dropped its demand for a separate state, he said the key to success of the talks and maintaining harmony during the interim period was economic development, which in turn would help create the necessary confidence. To sustain the momentum of the peace talks, the Wickremesinghe said, Sri Lanka would need money for economic reconstruction and development, especially of areas devastated by the fighting. But he was not clear how much money would be needed. However, he said funds should start flowing in fast so that the tempo for peace could be maintained. Assistance to the needy, he opined, would create a congenial atmosphere for further talks, asserting that people on both sides were fed up with the conflict. The Prime Minister, along with officials accompanying him, declined to say what had driven the LTTE to start the peace talks but said there were several factors. Among them were war fatigue and the USA war against terrorism, they said. PTI
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‘India can’t apply US doctrine in J&K’
Washington, September 21 Even the USA would not use it except when there is no other method available, the senior Bush Administration official, who wished to remain anonymous, said. “Let’s take the case of India and Pakistan,” said the official. “There are major efforts under way with India and Pakistan, led by the USA and Great Britain, to find a diplomatic solution to the problem... of terrorism in and around Kashmir, then of getting the two sides to enter a dialogue. There are very grave — great diplomatic efforts under way there.” On the Russia-Chechnya conflict, the official said “there’s an underlying political situation there that can be resolved, and needs to be resolved. I don’t think anybody would argue that we (USA) have got an underlying political situation with the al-Qaida that can be resolved or needs to be resolved. And so you may be left with no other option if there are not other ways to deal with the problem, "he added. PTI
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J&K poll threatens ultras: Fernandes
Rome, September 21 Addressing a seminar on ‘The Security Scenario’ here, Defence Minister George Fernandes said: “The attempts by terrorists to disrupt the Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir illustrated the fear that democracy generated among them.’’ Mr Fernandes, who is on a five-day official visit to Italy, pointed out that international terrorism, though new to the rest of the world, was something that the Indians had been facing for the last several decades. UNI
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Maoist rebels release hostages
Kathmandu, September 21 Some 50 armed rebels attacked the helicopter on Thursday when it landed in Jubhu. AP
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PLEA
TO DISQUALIFY NAWAZ DISMISSED MAN
KILLS KIN OVER LINKS WITH CHRISTIANS
PAK
NOT ENCOURAGING INCURSIONS: HIZBUL 
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