W O R L D

Pervez sworn in President
Gives himself sweeping powers; Assembly meets
Islamabad, November 16
Pakistan’s Parliament met for the first time in three years today without agreement on a coalition and with its powers limited by military President General Pervez Musharraf, who was sworn in for five more years.

General Pervez Musharraf shakes hands with Chief Justice Sheikh Riaz Ahmed after taking oath as President for a new five-year term in Islamabad on Saturday. — Reuters

WINDOW ON PAKISTAN
General Musharraf and his party
GEN Pervez Musharraf has further consolidated his position by taking the oath of office as President of Pakistan. He sprang a surprise when he took the oath as Head of State for five years late on Friday evening, a few hours before the inaugural session of the newly elected National Assembly.

In video: Asif Ali Zardari today came down heavily on Pakistan's military regime saying it was making a facade of democracy in Pakistan. (28k, 56k)

US planes hit Iraqi site
Washington, November 16
Warplanes of the USA bombed an air defence communications facility in southern Iraq after coalition aircraft came under Iraqi fire in violation of last week’s UN Security Council resolution, the military said.

Iraq inspections from Nov 27

United Nations, November 16 Cautioning Iraq against playing “cat and mouse” games with weapons inspectors, chief inspector Hans Blix has said whether there will be war or peace depends on Iraq’s level of cooperation during the inspections, due to begin on November 27. Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix (L) and French Foreign Affairs Minister Dominique de Villepin attend a Press conference in Paris on Saturday. — Reuters photo

12 Israelis killed
Jerusalem, November 16
At least 12 Israelis were killed and more than 30 injured last night by Palestinian snipers in an attack on Jewish worshippers in the West Bank city of Hebron. The worshippers were on their way to the Grave of the Patriarch, a holy site in Hebron’s old town, to pray as the Sabbath began.

The Kiyomizu temple is illuminated at night amid autumn colours in Kyoto, the ancient former capital of Japan, on Friday, as a search light arcs across the sky. The temple, which historians believe was built in 798 A.D., commands a panoramic view of the culturally rich city of Kyoto. — Reuters

Pervez sworn in President
Gives himself sweeping powers; Assembly meets

Islamabad, November 16
Pakistan’s Parliament met for the first time in three years today without agreement on a coalition and with its powers limited by military President General Pervez Musharraf, who was sworn in for five more years.

The convening of the Assembly is meant to herald a return to civilian rule in a country ruled by generals for more than half its history since independence in 1947, but army chief Musharraf will still wield real power.

A 342-member Assembly elected on October 10 was convened shortly after Musharraf was sworn in and looked set for a stormy session, with rival parties split both over who should lead the government and Musharraf’s constitutional changes.

Right-wing Islamists holding the balance of power immediately set the tone, insisting in angry shouts from the floor on taking oath under the constitution as it stood before it was amended.

“We want to make it clear that we are taking the oath under the original 1973 constitution,’’ said Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, one of the leaders of the six-party Islamic alliance.

Former Speaker Illahi Baksh Soomro, who presided over the session, insisted not a single comma of the original oath in the 1973 law had been changed and the swearing in went ahead.

Mr Soomro said the election of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker would take place on Tuesday, but no date was set for the selection of the Prime Minister.

Ambassadors of the European Union stayed out of the oath-taking ceremony of President Musharraf.

The absence of the diplomats appeared conspicuous as it was attended by India’s Charge de Affaires Sudhir Vyas and US Ambassador Nancy Powell, as also diplomats of other countries.

There was no official word on why the EU diplomats stayed out of the ceremony, but their move appeared hardly surprising, considering the strong stand taken by the EU against General Musharraf’s referendum early this year and his subsequent constitutional amendments.

Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party questioned the legality of Pervez Musharraf getting himself sworn in for another five years as President and termed his decision to keep the country’s anti-defection laws in abeyance as a step to “encourage defections”.

“It was absolutely wrong on the part of Musharraf to assume fresh term when the legality of the referendum under which he was elected itself was in doubt,” PPP spokesman Faratullah Babar said.

Earlier in the day, President Musharraf gave himself sweeping powers to keep issuing laws and changing the constitution to ensure his amendments were enforced, hours before the Parliament was to be inaugurated.

The military ruler issued a decree called the “Removal of Difficulty Order” just after midnight, two hours after he switched on his controversially rewritten version of the 1973 Constitution. Agencies

WINDOW ON PAKISTAN
General Musharraf and his party
Syed Nooruzzaman

GEN Pervez Musharraf has further consolidated his position by taking the oath of office as President of Pakistan. He sprang a surprise when he took the oath as Head of State for five years late on Friday evening, a few hours before the inaugural session of the newly elected National Assembly. On April 30 this year he had secured 98 per cent “yes” votes in a controversial referendum to perpetuate his rule. He has tried all tricks he knows for getting a government of his liking. So far he has failed. How he goes about the business of government formation will now be watched with increased curiosity by the whole world.

The party he has patronised — the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) — could win only 118 of the 342 National Assembly seats in the October 12 elections. No political party with substantial strength ——-which means Ms Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians or the PPPP and the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal or the MMA comprising the major religious organisations — is prepared to finalise an agreement with the PML (Q), nicknamed the King’s Party, for government formation under the circumstances. General Musharraf’s Legal Framework Order and his position as the Chief of Army Staff are the main stumbling blocks. However, no democratic dispensation is possible without the PML (Q) being the leading player.

Now the question arises: who are the leading lights of the favoured political formation? What is its history? Is it an old faction of the Muslim League?

The Herald, a highly respected newsmagazine, in its October issue carried profiles of different political parties, giving interesting details about them. According to the periodical, there are over a dozen Muslim Leagues having come into being since the creation of Pakistan. Every military ruler has been the cause for the birth of a League faction. And each of them lays its claim to the legacy of the organisation founded by Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

The one enjoying the blessings of General Musharraf was formed when disgruntled elements in the PML led by former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif deserted their leader and set up their own outfit. It is headed by Mian Mohammad Azhar, a former Governor of Punjab and once close to Mr Sharif. Initially called PML (Like-Minded), the King’s Party got its birth following a personality clash between Mr Sharif and Mr Azhar. The politics of caste, kinship and biradari also contributed to the Azhar-led rebellion.

Mr Sharif too is to blame for the split in his party. His treatment of the PML (N) as his family’s business concern and his arbitrary decisions provided strength to dissidents. According to The Herald, “as soon he was deposed, the formation of the PML (LM) was announced with Chaudhry Shujaat, Mian Azhar, Sikandar Hayat Malhi, Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri. Colonel (retd) Ghulam Sarwar Cheema and Abdul Sattar Lalika as its leaders. As the relationship between the faction and the establishment ossified over subsequent months, several Nawaz Sharif loyalists, including Chaudhry Akhtar Rasool, Mian Munir and Tariq Aziz, among others, also joined hands with the Like-Minded group. In the run-up to the partyless local bodies elections, held in 2001, the faction was renamed PML (Quaid-e-Azam). The PML (Q) relied almost entirely on the incumbent establishment’s support for its survival during the polls.”

If Mian Azhar becomes the Prime Minister, there is the possibility of an ego clash between him and President Musharraf at a later stage. The reason: both suffer from an inflated ego problem. The General, in all probability, will have the last laugh as he has acquired unbridled powers to deal with any eventuality. Thus, there is no reason why he should be afraid of any political heavyweight. His position can be seriously threatened only by the Army. That is why he is reluctant to dissociate himself from the most powerful institution of Pakistan. And that is why the MMA insists on his resignation as Army Chief before agreeing to any power-sharing arrangement with the King’s Party.

US planes hit Iraqi site

Washington, November 16
Warplanes of the USA bombed an air defence communications facility in southern Iraq after coalition aircraft came under Iraqi fire in violation of last week’s UN Security Council resolution, the military said.

“If Iraq is serious about complying with UN resolutions, it should stop firing at our aircraft,” said Lieut- Colonel David Lapan.

A defence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said US warplanes had come under surface-to-air fire from Iraqi forces 11 times since UN Security Council resolution 1441 was passed on November 8.

The USA today said that it could declare Iraq in serious violation of the new U.N. Security Council resolution if Baghdad shot at American planes patrolling ‘no-fly’ zones, an interpretation not even close ally Britain shares.

Paris: The presidents of France and Mexico warned against any unilateral US military attack on Iraq . “France is absolutely hostile to any unilateralism,” French President Jacques Chirac said on Friday after meeting his Mexican counterpart Vicente Fox.

France and Mexico, which are both members of the 15-nation UN Security Council, voted in favour of a US-backed resolution, demanding that Iraq allowed the return of UN weapons inspectors or face “serious consequences.” Agencies

Iraq inspections from Nov 27

United Nations, November 16
Cautioning Iraq against playing “cat and mouse” games with weapons inspectors, chief inspector Hans Blix has said whether there will be war or peace depends on Iraq’s level of cooperation during the inspections, due to begin on November 27.

“We expect that the first inspections will take place on November 27,” Mr Blix, executive chairman of the UN Monitoring Verification and Inspection Commission, told reporters yesterday on the eve of his departure to Iraq via Cyprus to finalise arrangements for inspections.

The UN Security Council was giving a “last opportunity” to Iraq to search its archives, storage facilities and stocks before making a full declaration of its weapons of mass destruction and related materials by December 8, he added.

The inspectors are going in after four years following Iraq’s acceptance of a tough Security Council resolution amidst threats by the USA that it would have “zero tolerance” for any obstruction to inspectors or Baghdad making any false declaration about its weapons.

Asked what would constitute a serious violation of the Security Council resolution, he said “common sense” would still have to be used in judging whether or not the inspectors would be hindered in their work. PTI

12 Israelis killed

Jerusalem, November 16
At least 12 Israelis were killed and more than 30 injured last night by Palestinian snipers in an attack on Jewish worshippers in the West Bank city of Hebron.

The worshippers were on their way to the Grave of the Patriarch, a holy site in Hebron’s old town, to pray as the Sabbath began.

The snipers opened fire on them and threw grenades. Israeli soldiers responded and exchanged fire with the militants for 90 minutes.

The Islamic Jehad militant group claimed responsibility for the attack in a town where about 450 Jewish settlers have been living since 1997.

Two Israeli helicopter gunships carried out a raid on central Gaza City early today, destroying a metal workshop and injuring two Palestinians.

The Israeli military has often charged that such workshops are used by Palestinian militant groups to produce a variety of weapons, including crude missiles, used in attacks on Jewish settlements, troops or even Israel itself.

A Palestinian teenager, Ibrahim Saaadi, belonging to the radical Islamic Jehad group was shot dead when Israeli troops stormed into the West Bank city of Jenin and its neighbouring refugee camp early today, a spokesman for the group said. AFP

GLOBAL MONITOR

Washington area sniper suspect John Lee Malvo is escorted out of the Fairfax county juvenile court in Virginia on Friday. He was at a hearing to decide whether he be tried as an adult or a minor. — Reuters

Hollywood actor Richard Gere speaks to Indian journalist at a media reception in New York on Thursday. Ms Elizabeth Glaser (C) and Indian Counsel-General Pramathesh Rath are also seen in the photograph. — PTI photo

OSSUARY MAY HAVE BEEN USED BEFORE
MONTREAL: The 2,000-year-old limestone burial box that may have contained the bones of James, brother of Jesus of Nazareth, may have been used once before, officials of the Royal Ontario Museum said. The ossuary carries an inscription in Aramaic, reading: “James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus” and dates from around 63 AD, according to French paleographer Andre Lemaire, whose discovery made headlines worldwide last month. While repairing damage to the box incurred during shipment from Israel to Canada, the museum’s curator, Mr Edward Kealle said he found two faintly incised designs of circles and star points in the circles. AFP

MARCH AGAINST GENETIC ENGINEERING
WELLINGTON: About 8,000 people marched on Saturday through Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, to protest government plans to end a two-year embargo on the commercial release of genetically engineered (GE) crops by next year. Rally organiser Alannah Currie told Radio New Zealand that the march was a warning for the government that the anti-GE movement would keep up pressure until the policy was reversed and the new technology banned. The march was organised by 12 environmental groups campaigning for New Zealand, one of the world’s largest supporter of foodstuffs, to be kept GE-free. DPA

PILOTS DIE AS PLANES COLLIDE
FAIRFIELD (NEW JERSEY): Two single-engine planes collided near a small airport and plunged to the ground in a residential area, killing both pilots, officials said. It was not immediately clear how many people were aboard the four-seat Cessna and the four-seat Piper Lance and no one was injured on the ground on Friday night, said Mr Robert Grepz of the National Transportation Safety Board. He said police helicopters were searching the area for other victims of the mid-air crash. Both planes fell to the ground near homes located on main roads. Neither home appeared damaged. No fires were reported. AP

VIETNAM’S PM SACKS DEPUTY
HANOI: Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai has dismissed his deputy police minister for links to the country’s most notorious gangster, three months after another deputy was sacked, state media said on Saturday. Mr Khai signed the directive ousting Mr Hoang Ngoc Nhat from his government position and demoting him from Major General to Colonel on Friday. Two other senior party officials have also been disciplined for their involvement in Nam Cam’s gambling-cum-prostitution rackets. AFP

PARENTS WARNED ON HARRY POTTER MOVIE 
MANILA: Influential Roman Catholic bishops in the Philippines cautioned parents on Saturday about violent scenes in the new Harry Potter movie. “The movie contains some dark and scary scenes, oversized fantastic creatures and the desperate, heightened fight to the finish at the end,” the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said in its review. While the ‘Chamber of Secrets’ is “morally acceptable and technically above average, parents should carefully decide whether very young children should be allowed to watch it,” the bishops said. AFP