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Friday,
October 4, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Big 3 oppose use of force against Iraq Palaces: the bone of discord
Nawaz rejects Pervez’s secret deal Pak madarsas ‘still
produce’ ultras Pak membership linked with poll Britons asked not to travel to J&K |
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Nepal Cabinet for deferring
poll
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Big 3 oppose use of force against Iraq Paris, October 3 The leaders, whose relations have been stormy since an EU summit in France two years ago, met late yesterday and found some common ground against a new UN resolution, demanded by the USA, that would threaten Iraq with war. “We are totally hostile to a resolution now which is based on making military intervention automatic,” Chirac said with Schroeder at his side after dinner at the French presidential palace. “The French and German approach is the same,” he added. Trailing in the polls, Schroeder salvaged his re-election campaign last month by announcing that Berlin would not back any attack on Iraq, even with the support of the UN Security Council. The move alienated Washington and also further frayed relations with Paris, which said it would support military action backed by the UN Council. MOSCOW: A senior Russian foreign ministry official on Thursday attacked a U.S. and British draft for a tough resolution on Iraq, saying Russia could not accept mention of automatic use of force. Russia is one of the five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council which will debate the U.S.-proposed resolution backed by Britain. “Attempts to make the U.N. Security Council subscribe to automatic use of force against Iraq are unacceptable for us,” Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov told Interfax news agency. Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov said Russia had its own draft of the UN resolution on Iraq. The draft envisages returning of international inspectors to Iraq and gradual lifting of sanctions against the country. However, the Minister stressed, “we have not submitted the draft for consideration yet.” Mr Saltanov said at present, consultations between five permanent members of the Security Council “on every possible draft” are going on as part of its activities. In the meantime, Kuwait, which was once attacked by Iraq, has opposed any unilateral attack on Iraq that is not sanctioned by the UN Security Council, Kuwait Defence Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak al-Sabah said. “Kuwait supports the resolutions of the world community on Iraq and does not support actions against Baghdad if they are taken by a single country,” he said during talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Ivanov. “We share Russia’s position on this issue,” he added. WASHINGTON: Allied planes launched an airstrike in the southern no-fly zone over Iraq today, targeting an air defence headquarters and operations centre, US defence officials said. It brought to 46 the number of “strike days” reported this year by the USA and the United Kingdom to patrol zones set up to protect Iraqi minorities following the 1991 Gulf war.
AFP, Reuters
Washington, October 3 Deputy State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said: “We’re talking about massive structures, gigantic facilities, extremely well-guarded. What’s he hiding?” The inspectors ability to work at eight presidential sites is restricted by a 1999 agreement between the UN and Iraq which Washington is now pressing hard to scrap in a new Security Council resolution. The eight sites total 31.5 sq km, a third of which is taken up by artificial lakes and contain about 1,000 buildings. Among those sites is the 17.8-sq km Radwaniya presidential site that Reeker said was 40 times larger than the White House grounds in Washington.
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Nawaz rejects Pervez’s secret deal Islamabad, October 3 Mr Sharif gave a three-hour interview to a BBC (Urdu) correspondent in Jeddah where he lived in exile along with his family. A summary of this interview was broadcast by the BBC last night as Mr Sharif did not want it to be given in his own voice — perhaps in deference to the wishes of his Saudi hosts who did not want him to indulge in politics while in Saudi Arabia. The former Prime Minister said Musharraf had sent chief editor of The Nation Majid Nizami to him to strike a deal but he refused as he did not want to have any deal with generals. He said frequent military intervention in Pakistan’s political affairs was a curse. The elections Musharraf was holding on October 10 were a fraud, he said, questioning the general’s power to disqualify former prime ministers from taking part in elections. When asked by the BBC last night, Mr Mujid Nizami admitted that he had a two-hour meeting with Musharraf before leaving for Jeddah. The general, he said, was unhappy at the split of the Muslim League. Mr Nizami claimed the decision to appoint Mr Shahbaz Sharif as the president of the Nawaz Muslim League followed a meeting with Mr Sharif. Musharraf said Mr Sharif could return to Pakistan after the October 10 elections “otherwise it will cause a big tamasha’’, Mr Nizami said. Although Mr Nizami did not reveal much, the deal apparently was that Mr Sharif could return if he gave up the presidentship of the Muslim League in favour of somebody in the pro-Musharraf faction of the league like Mian Azhar, who leads the king Muslim league.
UNI |
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Pak madarsas ‘still produce’ ultras Washington, October 3 Despite the proposed law to reform madarsas, “too many of Pakistan’s Islamic religious schools continue to provide ideological training and motivation to persons who go on to fight in Afghanistan and Kashmir, and who take part in violence targeting religious minorities in Pakistan,” the commission said. Once a country is so designated, the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) requires that the USA “opposes these egregious and systematic violations, whether the government itself commits these or tolerates these.” The other countries recommended by the commission for being listed as CPCs include India, Myanmar, North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Laos, China, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan and Vietnam. This is the first time that the inclusion of India, Pakistan and Vietnam in the list has been recommended. Members of the commission told Congress at a hearing that “Pakistan has failed adequately to protect religious minorities (Hindus, Ahmadias and Christians) from sectarian violence. Discriminatory religious legislations, including the blasphemy and anti-Ahmadia laws, help create an atmosphere of religious intolerance.”
PTI |
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Pak membership linked with poll Islamabad, October 3 The restoration of Pakistan’s membership, which was suspended following the military coup in 1999, will be on the agenda when the foreign ministers of the Commonwealth meet in London on November 1, the Frontier Post, quoting the official said.
UNI |
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Britons asked not to travel to J&K London, October 3 “In view of the heightened tension and increased troop movements along the India-Pakistan border, we advise against all travel in those areas of Gujarat, Rajasthan and Punjab in the imminent vicinity of the border and areas of Ladakh close to the Line of Control,” the revised advisory said. It advised against travel to Jammu and Kashmir, apart from travel to Ladakh via Manali or by air to Leh. The advisory said British travellers should be extra vigilant after the recent terrorist attack in Swaminarain temple in Gujarat but added “We do not advise against travel to Amritsar, Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner or Jaisalmer.”
PTI |
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Nepal Cabinet for deferring poll Kathmandu, October 3 He said Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba was expected to meet the King today and convey the cabinet decision. The King’s approval is seen as a formality under the country’s constitutional monarchy. Key parties urged Mr Deuba on Sunday to defer the poll, saying that the security situation was risky because the rebels had vowed to disrupt the elections. The elections to the 205-member assembly had been announced in six rounds beginning November 13, 2002. Gyanendra dissolved parliament on Mr Deuba’s advice on May 2, two years ahead of schedule, as the House looked set to end emergency rule imposed to counter the Maoists. The government will hold the election for the local bodies within six months, the minister said. The term of the local level bodies expired in mid-July and despite the request and the protest of the opposition parties, the government has not extended their term. Reuters,
PTI |
FERRY DISASTER TOLL 1,000 15 RUSSIANS FEARED DROWNED NO PARDON FOR FORMER COMMUNIST RULER |
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