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Wednesday,
December 4, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Vajpayee
may decide on SAARC summit after Dec 12: Pak Lanka
talks focus on politics, economy
B’desh
to be vigilant about foreign visitors China for
global fight against terror
Jamali regains majority |
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Pak
refutes reports on Kenya blast Indian
girl to be tried for murder In USA,
this is no time for jokes
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Vajpayee may decide on SAARC summit after
Islamabad, December 3 Mr Vajpayee’s decision to visit Islamabad at present appears to have been linked to the internal political situation in India, specially to elections in Gujarat which are to be held on December 12, Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri said in an interview to local private television ‘Geo’ last night. “It looks like Mr Vajpayee will come up with his decision regarding the SAARC summit after December 12,” he said, a day after Mr Vajpayee asserted that he would consider attending the SAARC summit if Pakistan completely stopped cross-border terrorism before the event. Pakistan has proposed to hold the summit from January 11-13. “Pakistan wants friendship but India should reciprocate our feelings as it takes two to tango,” he said in an interview to ‘Geo’. He said both countries should come forward to initiate a dialogue and find solutions to the problems facing them. Referring to the tensions between the two countries, Mr Kasuri reiterated that India followed “coercive diplomacy” to pressurise Pakistan. Virtually defending President Pervez Musharraf’s policy towards India, he said both Mr Vajpayee and Mr Musharraf were close to signing an agreement in Agra but the talks collapsed at the last moment as “some elements” in the BJP did not want improvement in bilateral ties for their “vested interests”. Mr Kasuri said in the aftermath of the events of September 11 attacks, India was hoping that Pakistan would commit a mistake and it would take advantage of the situation. However, General Musharraf adopted a clear policy which was in the best interest of Pakistan, he said. Pakistan cannot even think of exporting nuclear technology to any country, he said, adding that North Korea was far ahead of Pakistan in the field of nuclear technology. When North Korea has the capability to fire missiles thousands of miles away, then why would it need precision technology from others, he asked. North Korea, too, had never said that it got nuclear technology from Pakistan, he said. The Pakistan Government had a clear policy that it would not violate the Missile Technology Control Regime, Mr Kasuri said. About the fallout of the emergence of Islamic alliance Muttahida Majlis-e Amal, he said the conglomerate comprised of responsible persons and could not be equated in any way with the Taliban. He said the MMA had many persons in its ranks who had been members of the National Assembly, Senate and different Cabinets.
PTI |
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Lanka talks focus on politics, economy
Oslo, December 3 The Norwegian-brokered talks aimed at ending three decades of ethnic bloodshed in Sri Lanka, shifted gear to take up thorny political issues to prepare for a final settlement to the conflict, diplomats said. However, talks were likely to be drawn out, officials and diplomats involved in the negotiations here said, adding that the two sides would study a presentation on the Canadian system of government today. The talks opened here amid a worsening political crisis that could have a knock-on effect on the peace process revived by Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who came to power a year ago. Sri Lanka went in for the talks here yesterday with a depleted negotiating team as its key Muslim leader, Rauf Hakeem, was forced to return home on Sunday to face a challenge to his leadership in his minority party. However, the other peace negotiators here played down the impact of the crisis at home and pursued talks with no change in their original agenda, diplomats said.
AFP |
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B’desh to be vigilant about foreign visitors
Dhaka, December 3 The government was “forced to up” surveillance on foreign nationals after the arrest of the two foreign journalists on charges of sedition, The Daily Star said, quoting highly placed sources in the government. However, the government had no plan to impose any restriction or obstruct foreign journalists if they came under genuine identity, Information Minister Tariqul Islam was quoted as saying. Mr Islam said the government would not have arrested the two foreign journalists had they not faked their identity. “They might have ill motives behind their visit”, he said. Any government in the world would take action against any foreign national involved in activities other than their declared ones, the minister said. The surveillance decision was also taken in the wake of several reports in the international media linking Bangladesh to the Al-Qaida network, the paper said. Italian national Leopoldo Bruno Sorrentino and British citizen of Pakistani origin Zaiba Naz Malik, who entered Bangladesh to work for Britain’s Channel 4 Television, were arrested on November 25 while they were trying to cross into India. They were sent to jail yesterday on the completion of five days in
remand. PTI |
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China for global fight against terror
Beijing, December 3 “The Chinese Government supports the fight against all forms of terrorism. We also believe that all such fights should have clear evidences, (be) well-targeted, follow the United Nations charter and international norms,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said when asked to comment on a controversial statement by Australian Prime Minister John Howard. “(These norms are) also agreed upon by the international community,” Liu said while acknowledging that China had taken note of the reactions of other Asian nations to Howard’s remarks. Commenting on the Iraqi weapons inspection issue, Liu said the UN weapons inspectors had not yet completed their task and stressed that China supported a diplomatic and political solution to the Iraqi issue. “In China’s view, the relevant UN resolution should be implemented earnestly and in full.
PTI |
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Saddam’s palaces inspected BAGHDAD: International inspectors roared up to one of Saddam Hussein’s presidential palaces on Tuesday and demanded and received quick entry, in an early test of new powers to hunt for weapons of mass destruction anywhere, anytime in Iraq. A key Iraqi official said, meanwhile, that the Baghdad Government, in a long-awaited declaration later this week, would reaffirm its position that it no longer had such weapons. They found spectacle and opulence inside Al-Sajoud Palace. But there was no word that they found anything else. AP
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Jamali regains majority
Islamabad, December 3 Senior MQM leader Farooq Sattar told media in Karachi after meeting Mr Jamali that the party’s 17 members in the National Assembly would vote for the new government.
PTI |
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Nawaz Sharif planning to shift to London Islamabad, December 3 |
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Pak refutes reports on Kenya blast Islamabad, December 3 |
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Indian girl to be tried for murder
Durban, December 3 The girl, who was arrested a month ago, was declared fit to stand trial, expected to start on January 31, for the murder of 59-year-old Radha Govender, a businesswoman in Pietermaritzburg, about 100 km west of Durban. The girl was placed in a psychiatric hospital for a month for observation as to whether she knew the seriousness of her alleged action. According to the police, the girl had hired two black men to murder her grandmother. The men, aged 24 and 26, have been convicted of the murder and sentenced to 25 years each in prison. They told the police that the girl had given them knives to commit the murder and had “rewarded” them for their services by allowing them to help themselves to goods from Govender’s home.
PTI |
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In USA, this is no time for jokes Ever since terrorists struck at the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, Americans have felt an unprecedented sense of insecurity and have become prone to suspicion over incidents that may just be innocuous. Words like Osama bin Laden, Al-Qaida and Taliban produce immediate fright with nightmarish visions of terror and terrorists. That was what happened in New Jersey over the weekend (Saturday) when the driver of a Greyhound bus, en route from Philadelphia to New York city, was trying alternate routes to avoid heavy traffic. The passengers, annoyed over the diversions, asked him where he was going. The irate driver told them he was taking them “to the Taliban”. That was it. Cell phones of passengers became active with emergency calls to 911, and the police responded in a big way with 19 patrol cars, thinking it was a possible terrorism incident. According to media reports, the police flagged down the bus, evacuated the passengers and questioned the driver. The immediate result was a big traffic jam. Soon, the police discovered it was no more than a loss of temper on the part of the driver, 37-year-old Robert Mickens. He had to pay for his “foolish remark” and the overreaction of the passengers. He was charged for creating a false pubic alarm, an offence that carries a maximum penalty of $ 500 and up to six months in jail. |
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