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Tuesday,
October 1, 2002,
Chandigarh, India  
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Russia, France slam
USA on Iraq draft
Pre-emption not prerogative of one country: Jaswant Pak temple desecrated Project to counter anti-Muslim tide
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Russia, France slam
USA on Iraq draft Vienna, September 30 Russia and France, both with veto powers in the United Nations Security Council which is to consider a US-drafted resolution on Iraq, separately rebuked Washington. Russia rapped Washington for sending its warplanes to strike a southern Iraq target yesterday, while France slammed the threat of military force contained in the US draft proposal at the United Nations. China, which also holds a veto given to the five permanent members in the 15-nation Security Council, also remained sceptical of the US proposal. An envoy from Britain, Washington’s closest ally in its campaign against Baghdad, handed the draft to officials in Beijing, and China — which has already expressed its misgivings — was reflecting on it. Amid the diplomatic war of words, chief UN Weapons Inspector Hans Blix today began talks with Iraqi officials in Vienna, saying he expected unlimited access to sites on any return by his team to Iraq after a nearly four-year gap. Speaking to reporters before the talks to work out details of the UN’s return to search for any chemical, biological or nuclear weapons in Iraq, Blix was asked if there would be any limitations on the sites open to inspectors. “No, not that I’m aware of,” he said. UN inspection teams left Iraq in December 1998 on the eve of US-British bombing raids. The talks were the first test of Iraq’s cooperation since Baghdad agreed on September 16 to the unconditional return of the inspectors under threat of a US military strike. “We do not want to give carte blanche to military action... That is why we cannot accept a resolution authorising as of now the recourse to force without (the issue) coming back to the UN Security Council,” Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told Le Monde newspaper. France has proposed two resolutions, with the second one paving the way for action if Baghdad hindered the inspectors allowed in under a first resolution.
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Pre-emption not prerogative of one country: Jaswant Washington, September 30 “Pre-emption is not the sole prerogative of any one country,” Mr Jaswant Singh told newspersons here last night after a meeting with Mr Powell during which they discussed the “evolving situation” in Iraq. Mr Jaswant Singh explained that inherent in deterrence was prevention. “What is the differences between pre-emption and deterrence?” He raised the question and then referred to Article 51 of the UN Charter which talks of the right to self-defence. “At one level, you have a situation in which nothing revolutionary or new is being cited. What is being asserted here is very inherent in the Article 51 which applies to all states that subscribe to the UN Charter. This was complex academic discussion”, he said. Mr Jaswant Singh was referring to the ongoing debate in the USA over the case being built by administration hawks for an attack on Iraq. Sections of the administration led by Vice-President Dick Cheney and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld favour a pre-emptive strike on Baghdad for its perceived refusal to open up its facilities to UN weapons inspectors. New York:
India and other countries, not only the USA, should have the right to take counter-terrorism measures in accordance with an emerging situation, a prominent member of the US Congress, who is a strong supporter of the causes of India and Indian-Americans, has said. Representative Shelley Berkley, a Democrat from the first congressional district in Nevada state, stated this here while addressing a fund-raiser organised by Indian-Americans over the weekend. The Congresswoman is seeking re-election from the same district next month and terrorism and other issues related to South Asia figured prominently in her speech and the subsequent question-and-answer session. “If India feels a pre-emptive strike is in their best interest, then I don’t think the USA would stop it,” she said. Ms Berkley — a member of the 170-strong Congressional Caucus on India and Indian-Americans — supported punitive strikes against Pakistan, particularly in occupied Kashmir. IANS, UNI
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Pak temple desecrated Quetta (Pakistan), September 30 The attack, the second on a minority target in less than a week, took place overnight at Khawasam village, some 50 km south of Quetta. "The attackers were trying to set fire to the temple but were foiled because the villagers woke up," a police officer said. Two gunmen burst into the offices of a Christian charity in the southern city of Karachi last Wednesday, tied up and gagged seven Christian workers before shooting them at point blank range. The attack on the Hindu temple came as tension mount between Pakistan and India, with the two governments accusing each other of sponsoring terrorist activities on the other's soil. India has accused Pakistan of links to men who attacked Akshardham and killed 30 persons. Islamabad, however, the attack that ended when commandos shot dead the assailants, and denied it had anything to do with it. The Pakistani police today paraded a man who confessed to have been trained by Indian intelligence and carrying out bomb attacks in the country.
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Project to counter anti-Muslim tide Concerned over the “rising tide” of anti-Muslim rhetoric in the American society, an Islamic civil rights and advocacy group in Washington has launched a major educational initiative designed to check anti-Muslim hate in the USA. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has urged Muslims and Muslim groups in the USA to sponsor an 18-item “library packages” of books, videos and audio-cassettes about Islam and Muslims, which will then be distributed to 16,000 public libraries nationwide. The anti-Islam campaign by a section of the American media in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks has given the impetus to Muslim organisations to educate the American public about the true meaning of Islam, which Muslim leaders say, is the fastest growing religion in the USA. There are about eight million Muslims in that country. A recent programme by American television channel, Fox News, in which evangelist Pat Robertson made denigrating and abusive statements against Islam and the Prophet, has angered Islamic communities around the world. The secretary-general of the Muslim World League, Dr Abdullah al-Turki, denounced the programme and said: “By carrying out this smear campaign, the American media is causing harm to the security and stability of the country and undermining peaceful co-existence among people of various faiths.” He urged the American Muslims to unify their ranks and cooperate with American organisations that promoted dialogue between cultures. CAIR executive director Nihad Awad said venomous remarks could poison the minds of ordinary viewers and incite acts of violence against the American Muslims. |
ISLAMABAD: Several groups representing the Christian minority have announced that they will support the breakaway faction of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) known as the Quaid-e-Azam group in the elections. United Holiness Church’s Bishop Wilson John said at a meeting the representatives of his church, the United Methodist Church and the Reformed Methodist Church had decided to support the PML-Quaid-e-Azam (PML-QA in the elections. IANS GOVT WARNING TO EU OBSERVERS PPP VOWS TO SCRAP AMENDMENTS CANDIDATE CHOPS OF MAN'S HANDS, HELD |
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