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Monday,
September 30, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Ban on
Benazir, Sharif illegal: EU observers US jets attack Basra again Poll ‘no guarantee’ of peace in J&K
Nepal poll may be put off |
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Anti-IMF march halted $ 112m terrorist funds frozen 2 Turks carrying uranium arrested
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Ban on Benazir, Sharif illegal: EU observers Islamabad, September 29 “The disqualification of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the new PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif seems to have no legal basis at all, either in the domestic legislation nor in the internationally accepted practice,” the EU poll observers mission said in its interim report. Referring to the disqualification of Ms Bhutto from contesting on the grounds that she had been convicted by a court for not appearing before it to answer charges of corruption against her, the EU report said it was “widely seen as a person-specific provision targeting the former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.” Rejection of Ms Bhutto’s nomination papers had turned Karachi into a “hot political potato” due to the “popularity of Benazir Bhutto,” excerpts of the report published by the Pakistani newspaper Daily Times said today. The “discontent towards the government due to the disqualification of Bhutto has seen recent clashes, some turning violent.... The potential that this can escalate at anytime into larger civil unrest cannot be ruled out,” it warned. The EU report also expressed serious concern over the constitutional amendments brought in by Musharraf ahead of the poll empowering himself with more powers and described them as “extra-constitutional incorporation of provisions”. On the formation of the military-dominated National Security Council, which was made a mandatory provision in the constitution by Musharraf, the EU report said it was seen as an attempt to institutionalise military rule. Expressing reservations about the graduation clause brought in by the Musharraf government, the report said Pakistan was the only country next to Chile to stipulate that only graduates were qualified to contest the poll. The observations of the EU mission would undermine Musharraf’s efforts to give international credibility to the elections. The EU mission also criticised the Pakistan government for according it a “cool” reception and its reluctance to extend an official invitation to it, saying that this prompted it to slash its observers from 164 to 70. “The mission received a very cool reception. At various occasions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Information and Chief Election Commissioner stated that the mission would not receive a formal invitation and no memorandum of understanding would be signed,” the 10-member EU poll team led by Irish parliamentarian John Cushnahan, said in its interim report. Meanwhile, Pakistan has alleged lack of reciprocity by India has resulted in continuing tensions between the two countries, a PTI report said. Musharraf told an EU delegation, also comprising scandinavian countries, that although the tension between the two countries was lower than before, it could be because of a change in Indian intent and not in its capability. Saying that tension would remain as long as the Indian forces remained mobilised at the borders, he recounted several steps taken by Pakistan to reduce tension and pointed out to the “lack of reciprocity” from the Indian side.
PTI |
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US jets attack Basra again Baghdad, September 29 “Planes of the American enemy targeted and destroyed for the second time the civilian radar system of Basra airport,” an Iraqi Transport Ministry spokesman told the official Iraqi News Agency. The spokesman said the attack on the airport in Basra, 480 km southeast of Baghdad, took place at 12:45 am local time. There was no immediate confirmation of the attack from the USA, whose aircraft along with British jets police two no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq set up after the 1991 Gulf war. US F-16 jets also attacked the airport in August. Today’s raids took place at a time when three US Congressmen were visiting Basra to assess the humanitarian situation in the southern Iraqi city. They used the reported airport to travel to and out of Basra. Representatives Jim McDermott of Washington, David Bonior of Michigan and Mike Thompson of California, all Democrats, returned to Baghdad aboard an Iraqi Airways plane only six hours after the reported attack. In interviews with reporters of Western media who accompanied them, they did not mention the attack but a Reuters cameraman said he heard sirens wailing in Basra at the same time given by the Iraqi spokesman of the attack. “What thing worries me and my colleagues is if we got a war again we would simply double and triple the (humanitarian) problems we created in 1991,” McDermott said. Meanwhile, Iraq on Saturday defiantly rejected a US-British plan for a new UN resolution to force President Saddam Hussein to disarm and open his palaces for weapons searches. Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz said his country would fight fiercely if attacked and warned that the USA would suffer losses “that have not been sustained for decades.’’ Ignoring the Iraqi threats, the USA and the UK lobbied for Russian and French support for a tough new UN resolution, which would call on Iraq to reveal all materials relating to weapons of mass destruction and to give UN weapons inspectors unfettered access to presidential sites. TEHERAN: Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri, in Teheran to lobby support from old enemy Iran against a threatened US-led attack, opened talks today with his Iranian counterpart Kamal Kharazi. Officials said after the talks between the two ministers, Mr Sabri was scheduled to meet Iranian President Mohammad Khatami. LONDON: British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein faced a clear choice — either to disarm or face further action against him. He refused to rule out joining a US led attack on Iraq if UN refused to sanction military action.
Agencies |
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Poll ‘no guarantee’ of peace in J&K New York, September 29 New Delhi will have to address the needs of the people who voted as well as those who did not even while dealing with Pakistan’s propaganda and keeping up its counter-insurgency operations. “For the elections to have true meaning, the Indian Government will have to recognise and develop a response to the fact that large parts of Kashmir, including the valley, did not vote,” Mahnaz Ispahani, senior fellow at the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations, told IANS. According to Ispahani, many people stayed indoors not only for fear of being targeted by guerrilla outfits that threatened to kill candidates and voters but also because they supported the All Party Hurriyat Conference. “The Indian government must recognise that the violence and anti-India sentiment in the region has local roots too — they are not simply the product of cross-border infiltrators. But Ainslee Embree, an India expert who was special adviser to former US Ambassador Frank Wisner, felt a reasonable turnout would give some indication of what people wanted. On the other hand Sumit Ganguly, professor of Asian Studies and Government at the University of Texas in Austin, asserted that despite high turnout, elections alone could not bring long-term peace and stability to Kashmir.
IANS |
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Election to UN emboldens Pak on Kashmir Islamabad, September 29 Pakistan’s permanent envoy to the United Nations Munir Akram said: “It is our top priority, and we have to handle it in a way that we do not damage its cause. We have to take it up at the right time, in a right way.”
PTI |
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Nepal poll may be put off Kathmandu, September 29 The Opposition is putting pressure on Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to form an all-party government and postpone the elections for about a year to hold peace talks with Maoist guerrillas who have vowed to disrupt the poll. The Election Commission announced yesterday that parliamentary elections would be held in six phases from November 13 to January 10. The same day, opposition parties united to demand a postponement of the poll. “All political parties decided to persuade Mr Deuba to postpone the elections and form an all-party interim government to find a peaceful way out of the current political crisis,” a source said, referring to a raging Maoist insurgency. The government would take a decision on the request before October 5, when the process of filing of nomination papers starts. The aides claimed that internal consensus had already been worked out between Mr Deuba and the political parties. “The Opposition has decided that the poll should be postponed for six months or a year and a dialogue initiated with the Maoists,” said a source in the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML). A source revealed that the centrist Nepali Congress, rightist National Democratic Party, the CPN-UML and the Terai-based Nepal Sadbhawana Party (NSP) had decided to join the government under Mr Deuba’s leadership. As per the election schedule, 15 districts, including Kathmandu, will go to the polls in the first phase on November 13. Fourteen districts will see polling on November 25 and 13 on December 7. The fourth, fifth and sixth phases will be held on December 18, December 29 and January 10. Meanwhile, Maoist rebels on Sunday bombed a school, where the guerrillas killed two activists of the country’s ruling party and set ablaze an airport tower, disrupting domestic flights. A group of 10-14 rebels, belonging to the Maoist student wing Akhil (Revolutionary), entered the compound of Galaxy Boarding School at Gyaneshwor in Kathmandu and manhandled the staff at gun point. They hurled a bomb at a class room and set afire a school bus.
IANS, PTI |
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Anti-IMF march halted Washington, September 29 Outside the lenders’ building, a few dozen protesters staged rotating sit-ins in front of police barricades rimming the buildings, trying to keep delegates inside from leaving. The police put up police tape and stood shoulder-to-shoulder to keep the activists from getting near the buildings of the lenders, holding annual meetings here. The protesters, pounding drums, waving tattered American flags and chanting, began marching toward the buildings but were stopped at Washington’s Farragut Square by the police because their permit was limited to that area. The demonstrators — advocating causes as diverse as debt cancellation, peace and the fight against AIDS — remained peaceful and orderly throughout the day. Four anti-globlisation protesters were arrested on weapons charges after the police said they were found to be in possession of homemade bombs, according to news reports here. “They were putting together weapons and other things that they could throw and when we approached them they took off running,” Commander Cathy Lanier, told a MBC television
station here. Reuters, AFP |
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$ 112m terrorist funds frozen Washington, September 29 The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have also increased their efforts to stop money laundering and terrorist financing. The document by the G-7, released during the World Bank-IMF annual meetings here, outlines the progress made to halt terrorist financing around the world since the G-7 adopted an anti-terrorist funding action plan in October 2001. The G-7 countries — the USA, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Britain — met before the World Bank-IMF annual meetings here. IANS |
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2 Turks carrying uranium arrested Sanliurfa, Turkey September 29 The two men, who were Turkish and posing as salesmen, were arrested in a taxi in which the uranium was hidden in a lead cylinder under one of the seats. The radioactive material probably came from one of the countries of the former Soviet Union, according to officials. Its value on the black market was estimated at about five million dollar (5.5 million euro), the report said.
DPA |
PHOENIX AWARD FOR INDIAN AMERICAN BANGLADESH BLASTS: 6 DETAINED 5 HANGED FOR RAPE, EXTORTION CRACKS IN BUILDING NEAR WTC |
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THOUSANDS ATTEND FUNERAL
OPPOSITION STIR AGAINST RIGGING THREATENED |
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