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Monday,
September 23, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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PPP joins hands
with PML (N) WINDOW ON PAKISTAN 10
Al-Qaida men held on Pak border Protests leave four
Palestinians dead
Saddam’s secret arms network |
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Lift curbs against
Iraq: India Maoists release students German minister to quit over remarks Final touches to Southall gurdwara
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PPP joins hands
with PML (N)
Islamabad, September 22 The PPP and its former rival the Pakistan Muslim League of Nawaz Sharif are members of the multi-party Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD) formed last year to end military rule. “The first thing on which we agreed in ARD was to end personal enmity and shun mutual differences,” said PPP Vice-Chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim. Fahim said talks were continuing between the PPP and the PML (N) on not standing against each other’s leaders. Fahim, who is leading the party in the absence of barred Bhutto, accused the government of resorting to “pre-poll rigging.” Meanwhile, leaders of minority Hindus, Christians and Hindus in formed a political alliance with one of the country’s largest parties today, hoping to boost their chances at the polls in upcoming legislative elections. Shehbaz Bhatti, a leader of the All Pakistan Minorities Alliance, said members of his coalition would throw their support behind candidates representing the PPP. In turn Bhutto’s party promises not to contest seats where a minority candidate has a good chance of winning. Bhutto’s party will throw its support behind the minority candidate thus improving its chance of winning seats, said Bhatti. Meanwhile, the PML (N) has pledged to block all constitutional amendments that would facilitate military takeovers in future and advocated the idea of having a caretaker government before every general election. In its manifesto released here yesterday, the party said It would make all efforts to rid the nation of recurrence of military coups. It would also work for the appointment of services chiefs by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister and limit the scope of military Intelligence to security and counter-terrorism measures. AFP, AP, PTI
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WINDOW ON PAKISTAN The much-awaited elections are not far away, but there is very little enthusiasm among voters. This is what one learns from the reports carried in Pakistani newspapers. Quite unusual, but why? Media analysts believe that this is mainly because of the absence of two prominent political players from the electoral arena: former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. Dawn, one of the leading dailies, says: “Both Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif may be controversial figures, and the two might have disappointed some of their most ardent supporters by their poor political and economic performance when they were in office. But the two still retain an enviable measure of charisma and are known crowd-pullers. Between them, they and their parties still command the loyalty of very large sections of the people. Their absence has robbed the electoral scene of much of the vibrancy, colour and life that have always been part of elections in Pakistan.” Ms Bhutto has made a mark as a leading politician because of certain undisputable qualities in her. But more than anything else, her family background has been her greatest asset. Most of her followers continue to support her because she is the daughter of hanged Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. During her two stints as Prime Minister she could not do much so far as the alleviation of people’s socio-economic difficulties is concerned. Yet she remains the darling of a section of the masses. The reason: she is the inheritor of the Bhutto legacy. Mr Sharif, living as an exile in Saudi Arabia, has had no such advantage. But with his own efforts as a shrewd player, he carved out a niche for himself after his emergence on the political firmament during the Zia era. Coming from a business family, the Ittefaq group, he captured the Pakistan Muslim League as a protege of General Zia. After the demise of the wily General, Mr Sharif established himself as an alternative to Ms Bhutto. For many years the two alternated as the elected rulers of Pakistan. In the process, they gave a new life to the fledgling democratic system in their country. With the coming to power of Gen Pervez Musharraf, however, the political career of both former Prime Ministers got seriously threatened. Ever since the General began to talk of elections it had been believed that he would not allow his adversaries of the PPP and the PML(N) to occupy an important public office again. This is going to prove true, as both are out of the picture today. The people are the least enthusiastic about the elections because of another factor. They know it well that the coming poll will be an exercise in futility. With General Musharraf as President, Pakistan will be basically run by the military. Even otherwise, rulers in that country have been busy more with protecting their own personal interests than finding solutions to the people’s problems. Army Generals and civilian politicians have been alternating among themselves as wielders of power but doing practically little for the welfare of the general public. “Why should people then take interest in a fruitless activity?” the common man argues. |
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Pervez won’t quit as army chief Islamabad, September 22 Putting to rest speculations about President Musharraf giving up the post of army chief, Information Minister Nisar Memon denied reports yesterday that he had given any such assurance during his recent meeting with US President Bush. “General Musharraf has only promised to transfer his executive powers to run the government to an elected Prime Minister after the poll,” Mr Memon was quoted by the local daily The News as saying. While there was no official explanation of what prompted General Musharraf to hint at quitting as army chief, which in practical terms provided him the necessary power base to continue at the helm, the comments took both official and political circles here by surprise, the paper said.
PTI |
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10 Al-Qaida men held on Pak border Peshawar, September 22 The men, whom Pakistani authorities suspect may be part of Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaida network, were found to be travelling on fake passports and were held at military installations in northwestern Pakistan, authorities said. “The suspects are being questioned by the Pakistani authorities,” a police official with knowledge of the case said. “None of them have been handed over to FBI agents for questioning yet.” He did not say what evidence the authorities have that the men are part of Bin Laden’s terror group. The detentions come amid a crackdown on Al-Qaida and other Islamic extremist groups in Pakistan. Pakistani and U.S. officials say hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Al-Qaida and Taliban members are believed to have crossed into Pakistan after fleeing U.S. forces in Afghanistan. In recent months, Pakistani and US security forces have conducted a number of joint raids on suspected Al-Qaida hideouts, particularly in remote provincial areas near the border, which US authorities describe as a staging area for many fugitives attempting to regroup in Pakistan. Among those arrested was one of Bin Laden’s top lieutenants, Abu Zubaydah, possibly the third-ranking figure in Al-Qaida. Another prominent Al-Qaida member, Ramzi Binalshibh, one of the suspected planners of the September 11 attacks, was arrested last week in Karachi. AP
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Pak denies report on infiltration
Islamabad, September 22
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Protests
leave four Palestinians dead
Ramallah, September 22 Despite Israeli assurances that Arafat would not be hurt, army bulldozers and excavators continued to raze everything in the compound, leaving the Palestinian leader’s living quarters the only building still intact. Two Palestinians, including a journalist, were killed during the protests in Ramallah, while another was shot dead by the army in a refugee camp and a fourth was killed in the northern West Bank town of Tulkarem. Israeli troops yesterday called on everyone inside Yasser Arafat’s besieged headquarters here to evacuate the building immediately as there was going to be a “huge explosion.” Speaking in Arabic over loudspeakers, soldiers called on everyone inside the building to “come out immediately one by one with your hands up because a huge explosion is going to happen.” Arafat appealed to militants to halt attacks on Israel, but refused to hand over members of his entourage wanted by Israel. He said he still wanted peace, but would not capitulate. AFP, AP
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Saddam’s secret arms network LONDON: Compelling details of how Saddam Hussein has created a massive secret weapons procurement network to rebuild his nuclear and ballistic missile programmes will form the heart of Tony Blair’s long-awaited dossier on the threat posed by Iraq. The dossier, to be released on Tuesday, is expected to show how Saddam has accelerated his efforts to acquire banned technologies, particularly nuclear and ballistic missiles, since UN inspectors left Iraq in 1998. It will claim that the Iraqi dictator is more dangerous than he was in 1998, when the last UN inspectors were forced to leave Iraq. It is also expected to show how he has masked his activities behind a series of front companies, smuggling networks and middlemen in neighbouring states, all paid for by illegal oil transactions. Although the dossier is not believed to contain a `smoking gun’—evidence that Saddam has already acquired the material to make a nuclear device — it will reveal his continuing vigorous efforts to do so. Another official said it would ‘confirm beyond any doubt’ that Iraq would be willing to launch a `first-use’ strike against neighbouring states. The 50-page dossier, which has been agreed with the White House, will become the centrepiece of what Downing Street aides have described as the `key week’ in the action against Saddam. Coordinated by the Ministry for Military Industrialisation, Iraqi officials have been trying to acquire high-specification machine tools, production lines, computer equipment and expertise for its long-range missile and nuclear weapons efforts.
The Guardian, London |
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Lift curbs against Iraq: India Dubai, September 22 “We believe that sanctions should certainly be lifted, if Iraq does comply with UN weapons inspections teams, and it has already shown a willingness to give them unrestricted access... we are waiting to see how the situation develops,” R.M. Abhyankar, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs, said. India had enjoyed good relations with Iraq which used to supply nearly 30 per cent of its crude oil requirements in the past, till sanctions were imposed against it, he said in his address at the Zayed Centre for Coordination and Follow-Up at Abu Dhabi yesterday on “India’s approach to developments in Afghanistan, Gulf and West Asia.’’ He said India looked forward to resuming good relations with Iraq, once the sanctions were lifted.
PTI, AFP
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Maoists release students
Kathmandu, September 22 The group of around 100 was released after a cremation ceremony of a slain rebel leader, a police spokesman said. A Home Ministry source had said about 100 masked Maoists had attacked Chandeswori School in the remote Ramechhap district on Thursday and had at gunpoint forced students, six teachers and some of their guardians to leave with them. The rebels had told the principal they were “in need of young boys and girls for the people’s war against the government”. After the funeral in a forest at Sadhutar village, all those who had been abducted were released. No one was harmed. Meanwhile, the Maoists have called for a three-day countrywide strike aimed at disrupting general election slated to begin on November 13. “The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has decided to launch a strong struggle against the election,’’ the group said. AFP/Reuters
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German minister to quit over remarks Berlin, September 22 Ms
Daeubler-Gmelin has faced opposition calls to resign after a newspaper reported she told a meeting of trade union members last week that Bush’s threats to attack Iraq were a way of diverting attention from domestic problems. “Hitler did that too,” she was quoting as saying.
Daeubler-Gmelin has denied drawing any parallels between Bush and Hitler and said her remarks had been
misinterpreted. Bild, citing government sources, said she would announce her resignation after polling ends to stave off criticism from within her party. However, a government spokesman dismissed the Bild report as “pure speculation”.
Reuters |
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Final touches to Southall gurdwara London, September 22 Built at a cost of over £17 million, the marble-floored gurdwara has a covered area of 100,000 square feet, Himmat Singh Sohi, president of the Gurdwara Management Committee, Singh Sabha, told reporters here last evening. Richard Adams, architect of the gurdwara visited the Golden temple in Amritsar and several other gurdwaras in India to incorporate the best designs and panelling. The entire funds for the project for the gurdwara was raised through donations. Manjit Singh Lit, a trader in Southall, donated £32,000 for the
project. PTI
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