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Saturday,
December 21, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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US, UK intelligence
insufficient: Blix Two killed in Gaza violence FBI men present during raid: Pak minister |
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‘Chicago’ gets eight Globe nominations
Russia destroys mustard gas
WTC benefits: 2 charged with fraud Terrorists were ‘planning attacks’ Afghan dies in attack on NGO
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US, UK intelligence insufficient: Blix London, December 20 “The most important thing that governments like the UK or the USA could give us would be to tell us of sites where they are convinced that they keep some weapons of mass destruction. This is what we want to have,” he told BBC Radio. Meanwhile, the UK will seek the UN’s explicit approval for war on Iraq in a second resolution at the end of January if arms inspections show President Saddam Hussein in breach of the UN demands, The Times reported today. The daily said the decision emerged after the USA yesterday declared Iraq in material breach of its UN weapons obligations because it had flouted the Security Council resolution 1441 through omissions in its arms declaration. The reason for UK’s keenness for a second UN resolution was that it wanted to obtain full international backing for military action to disarm Iraq, and it was confident it could obtain one, The Times said. Government sources told the paper that the US administration would go along with the UK plan so long as it believed a new resolution would be approved. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Tony Blair told the Left-wing Guardian daily in an interview that the USA, UK and other members of the UN Security Council would decide the seriousness of Saddam’s breaches of UN resolution 1441 and not the UN inspection team. WASHINGTON: A federal grand jury has inducted 12 persons on money-laundering charges for allegedly helping to funnel more than $12 million to Iraq in violation of a decade-old US embargo, the government has said. US Customs Service Commissioner Robert Bonner announced the action as a federal indictment was unsealed on Thursday in a federal court in Washington state. Mr Bonner said the indictment was handed down on Wednesday. Investigators say money was sent from US cities, including New York and Seattle, and then on to Britain, India, Canada, Brazil, Taiwan, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
Reuters, AFP, AP |
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Two killed in Gaza violence Gaza, December 20 On the Israeli political front opinion poll in Israel’s two biggest newspapers showed a corruption scandal had weakened Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Likud Party in the January 28 general election race. But the surveys indicated the Right-wing Likud Party was still on course to lead the next government. The Israeli election looked likely to delay efforts by the quartet of W. Asia mediators to finalise a peace plan to help end more than two years of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed. The quartet - the USA, the European Union, Russia and the UN - meets in Washington today with the USA in favour of honouring an Israeli request to go slow on the plan until the elections. Palestinians are also scheduled to vote in a presidential and legislative election on January 20, which Mr Yasser Arafat called following international and domestic pressure for reform. But the Palestinian central election committee formally recommended today that Mr Arafat delay the ballot, citing the difficulty of holding it while the Israeli forces remained in cities re-occupied after suicide attacks in Israel. In new violence today the troops raided the town of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip and demolished several homes. Witnesses said Majdi Moussa, a gunman who shot at the soldiers, was killed. Hospital officials said seven other persons were wounded in the exchange of fire. Hours after the raid Palestinian gunmen fired at an Israeli vehicle near the Gush Katif block of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip. Israeli military sources said one Israeli was killed. A spokesman said the victim was a settler. The militant Islamic Jehad group claimed responsibility. In Deir al-Balah the Israeli forces blew up, in controlled explosions, the homes of three terrorists.
Reuters |
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FBI men present during raid: Pak minister Islamabad, December 20 “The government has already admitted that 12 FBI men are present in Pakistan. It is not necessary that they were spearheading the raid. It is the Pakistani police which is on the forefront,” Pakistan Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said. It was on the basis of information given by the FBI men that such operations were conducted but it is totally wrong that they were in the forefront in operation held in Lahore, he told the BBC here. Asked what made them suspect that the persons arrested in Lahore were Al-Qaida men, the minister said when some foreign nationals were seen in a village and their activities seemed suspicious, the villagers informed the authorities concerned . The suspects were arrested yesterday.
PTI |
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‘Chicago’ gets eight Globe nominations Beverly Hills, December 20 “The Hours,” a three-tiered story about women whose lives are linked to a novel by Virginia Woolf, had seven nominations including best film drama, best actress for Nicole Kidman and supporting actor for Ed Harris. The comedy of in-jokes, “Adaptation,” about its own writers’ attempts to fashion its screenplay, had six mentions including best musical or comedy, screenplay by Charlie Kaufman and best comedy actor for Nicolas Cage. Nominees in 13 movies and 11 television categories for the 60th annual Golden Globes were announced by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The awards are regarded by some as indicators of front-runners for the Academy Award nominations in February. The Globes will be awarded on January 19. Besides “The Hours,” the best film drama contenders were the bittersweet Jack Nicholson road-trip saga “About Schmidt,” director Martin Scorsese’s “Gangs of New York,” the fantasy sequel “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” and Roman Polanski’s Nazi escape story “The Pianist.” Along with “Adaptation” and “Chicago,” the Charles Dickens classic “Nicholas Nickleby,” the Hugh Grant redemption comedy “About a Boy” and the crowd-pleasing blockbuster “My Big Fa Greek Wedding” will compete for best musical or comedy.
AP |
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Russia destroys mustard gas Moscow, December 20 It was the first consignment of chemical weapons to be destroyed at the facility in Gorny in the Volga river region of Saratov, about 700 km southeast of Moscow, which began operating this week. Munitions Agency spokesman Dmitry Timashkov said 840 kg of the gas had been destroyed at the plant yesterday. The operation was monitored by international inspectors. Russia has been trying to convince other nations of the seriousness of its efforts to liquidate its 40,000 tonnes of arsenal of chemical weapons, the largest in the world. The program was long delayed due to lack of funding from the Russian Government and some disarmament partners, including the USA, who have suspended promised funding in hopes of spurring Moscow to action.
AP |
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WTC benefits: 2 charged with fraud New York, December 20 Alexander Koltovskoy, 36, and Vincent M. Pizzi III, 48, were charged in the federal court with stealing from seven government agencies or related groups, including $ 228,000 from the Small Business Administration and $ 28,000 from the American Red Cross. The men pleaded innocent and were released after posting bail, $ 100,000 for Koltovskoy, $25,000 for Pizzi.
AP |
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Terrorists were ‘planning attacks’ Paris, December 20 The ministry said two of the four suspects told investigators they received training in the Pankisi Gorge, a remote region in Georgia that borders Chechnya, and had met Chechen rebel leaders. The four were arrested on Monday in a Paris suburb.
AP |
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Afghan dies in attack on NGO Kabul, December 20 The attacker also died and two French journalists working for the Paris-based NGO Aina were wounded when a grenade was thrown yesterday at Camp Warehouse, one of the main bases of the International Security Assistance Force.
Reuters |
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