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Saturday,
January 18, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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11 warheads found in Iraq
Ties with Pak not at
India’s cost: Russia Cop killed in Nepal blast USA ‘faulted’ on human rights
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11 warheads
found in Iraq
Baghdad, January 17 Today, a defiant Saddam Hussein called on his people to rise up and defend the nation against a new US-led attack and promised that Iraq’s enemies would face “suicide” at the gates of his capital. The 40-minute televised address, delivered on the 12th anniversary of the Gulf War, revealed no sign that Mr Saddam was prepared to bow to demands of the United Nations nor step down as has been suggested by Arab leaders as a way to avoid war. “The people of Baghdad have resolved to compel the Mogols of this age to commit suicide on its walls,” he said, referring to the USA. “Everyone who tries to climb over its walls...will fail in his attempt,” he added. He said the Iraqi nation was fully mobilised against the threat of a new conflict and told President George W. Bush to “keep your evil away from the mother of civilisation.” “The whole nation will rise in defense of its right to live, its role and sacred sites, and their (aggressors’) arrows will go a stray or backfire, God willing,” he said. In an appeal for Arab support, he said, “Western peoples and circles’’ had long interfered with the nations of the Middle East, in particular Zionist Jews and Zionists who are not of the Jewish people.” He said the Bush Administration had been “pushed by Zionists and interest-seekers to play a role of wild and destructive instincts instead of the civilised behaviour that is expected in this age.” Meanwhile, a report from Nicosia said Mr Hussein had ordered a detailed list of names of United Nations weapons inspectors in order “to take them hostage” if the USA and its allies attacked. Israel Radio quoted the Saudi Arabian daily newspaper Asharq-al Awsat as saying that Mr Saddam recently held a meeting with top aides and agreed it was only a matter of time before the US and its coalition partners invaded Iraq. An “informed Iraqi source” said Mr Saddam planned to take UN inspectors hostage if the USA launched a military assault on his country.
AP, DPA |
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Ties with Pak not at India’s cost: Russia Moscow, January 17 Pakistan has meanwhile, heralded “a new stage” in relations with Russia as it announced the dates of President Musharraf’s first-ever visit to Moscow next month, a report from Islamabad said. General Musharraf will visit Russia from February 4 to February 6 at the invitation of his counterpart Vladimir Putin, the foreign ministry announced in a statement. “The visit...marks a new stage in the development of Pakistan-Russia relations and is expected to lay the foundations for enhanced and growing bilateral collaboration in the future,” the statement said. The delegations, led by the respective countries’ deputy foreign ministers, discussed counter-terrorism and “strategic stability,” the officials said.
PTI, AFP |
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Cop killed in Nepal blast Kathmandu, January 17 The police post at Tikhedewal in Lalitpur district, six km east of here, was destroyed when a group of Maoists exploded a bomb at the building, government-run daily ‘The Rising Nepal’ reported. After the explosion, the Maoists also shot dead Assistant Sub-Inspector Ruryanarayan Mahaseth, firing six rounds of bullets on him, it said. PTI |
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USA ‘faulted’ on human rights A report released by the international monitoring group based in New York says the US Government’s engagement on human rights has been compromised by its unwillingness to confront a number of critical partners, and its refusal to be bound by standards it preaches to others. According to the report, global support for the war on terrorism is diminishing partly because the USA too often neglects human rights in its war. “To fight terrorism, you need the support of people in countries where the terrorists live,” Mr Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said, making public the 558-page report covering human rights in 58 countries. “Cosying up to oppressive governments is hardly a way to build these alliances,” he said. Mr Roth cited the stand of the Bush administration which, he said, was generating resentment in Pakistan by uncritically backing General Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup. He recalled in this connection the statement of President Bush about the Pakistani president, who last year pushed through constitutional amendments to extend his term by five years and strengthened a draconian anti-terror decree. “He is still with us on the war against terror, and that is what I appreciate,” the US President had said. During the period under review, the report identifies positive trends such as end to wars in Angola, Sudan and Sierra Leone, as well as peace talks in Sri Lanka. On India, the report said in 2002 the country witnessed its worst episode of communal violence in over a decade, demonstrating the increasingly volatile consequences of a broad and government-supported Hindu nationalist agenda. The report also criticised the USA for ignoring human rights standards in its treatment of terrorist suspects. The Bush administration also abused immigration laws to deny criminal suspects their rights. It tried to undermine important rights initiatives such as the International Criminal Court, a new international inspection regime to prevent torture. |
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