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Thursday,
February 20, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Bush
unmoved by protests
Columbia
shed parts before exploding Civilians
hold protest against military 11
Palestinians killed in Gaza
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Non-Aligned
Movement getting marginalised? There was a time not long ago when the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) evoked sharp reaction from the USA because of the movement’s significant clout in the United Nations and its ability to play a key role in influencing Security Council decisions on major international issues that did not compel any of the five permanent members of the council to use the veto power. Jackson
faces more legal woes
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Bush unmoved by protests
Washington, February 19 Mr Bush reiterated that war with Iraq was his last choice, but said, however, that war was preferable to doing nothing if Saddam Hussein did not disarm his country of weapons of mass destruction as required by the United Nations. “War is my last choice, but the risk of doing nothing is even a worse option as far as I am concerned,’’ Mr Bush told reporters at the White House yesterday. “I owe it to the American people to secure this country. I will do so,’’ Mr Bush said. Asked to comment on the weekend worldwide anti-war rallies, Mr Bush made it clear that in democracies people were allowed to express their opinion. “Evidently, some in the world don’t view Saddam as a risk to peace. I respectfully disagree.’’ Mr Bush also said the USA would continue to work with other members of the United Nations Security Council on a new resolution to follow up on Resolution 1441 on Iraqi disarmament. “We don’t need a second resolution,’’ Mr Bush said. “It’s clear this guy could even care less about the first resolution. He is in total defiance of 1441,’’ he said. But he said the USA wanted to work with friends and allies to see if a second resolution could be concluded. The President said Saddam Hussein was hoping that the coalition against him would fall apart, but he said he was determined to hold the Iraqi leader to account to protect Americans and to demonstrate the usefulness and effectiveness of the United Nations. The best way to deal with threats from terrorists was with effective international organisations, he said. “If the United Nations can’t enforce its own resolutions ... it says something about its utility as we head into the future.’’
UNI |
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Columbia shed parts before exploding
Washington, February 19 Radar images and pictures taken by astronomers and amateur sky-watchers confirmed that the spacecraft began losing parts over California well before a puncture in the wing caused its disintegration, investigators said. These pieces were probably so small that they might have burned up before reaching the ground, Mr James Hallock, member of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board said in Houston. Astronomers and sky-watchers on the West Coast had photographed the final moments of the shuttle. "Obviously, it would be very important to understand what those pieces are, particularly the ones that started falling off at the very beginning," Mr Hallock said. The radar images coincide with video footage showing the partial disintegration of Columbia as it passed over California, Arizona and New Mexico, before bursting apart in flames above Texas, he said. Meanwhile, NASA has amended the charter for a probe into the accident and allowed the board to hire staff and experts from outside the space agency to validate the investigations carried out by the panel, a NASA spokesman said. Ms Shiela Widnall, an expert in aircraft turbulence and spiraling airflow will join the probe panel next week. The new appointment and the charter amendment were done after the board faced the ire of congressional critics who alleged that only military persons and those linked to NASA or the space agency chief were on the probe panel.
PTI |
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Civilians hold protest against military
Colombo, February 19 Pro-rebel groups called on civilians and schoolchildren to wear black badges or ribbons and put black flags on vehicles and business establishments to protest what they called cases of harassment by the military. The protest campaign came less than a week after the military clashed with Tamil rebels in northern Sri Lanka over a dispute of female rebel cadres wearing black waistbelts, which is part of their military uniform and entering government-controlled areas. The military considers the wearing of black waistbelts and entering government-controlled areas as a violation of the ceasefire agreement between the government and rebels of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
DPA |
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11 Palestinians killed in Gaza Gaza City, February 19 The Israelis left considerable destruction behind when they pulled out of the area briefly around 4 a.m., more than five hours after about 40 tanks entered to Shajaiyeh neighbourhood. The Israeli forces resumed gunfire an hour later, witnesses said. The incursion was the second in as many days. The Israeli military would say only that it was limited in nature, not an invasion of Gaza. Three of the dead were in a car machine-gunned by soldiers, the Palestinians said.
AP |
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Non-Aligned Movement getting
marginalised? There was a time not long ago when the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) evoked sharp reaction from the USA because of the movement’s significant clout in the United Nations and its ability to play a key role in influencing Security Council decisions on major international issues that did not compel any of the five permanent members of the council to use the veto power. It must be admitted that later years saw some decline in the prestige and authority of NAM, as for instance, during the Gulf crisis following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Non-aligned members in the Security Council could not act in a coordinated way and some of India’s initiatives to defuse the crisis fell by the wayside. The growing marginalisation of NAM countries in the UN became evident. It is pertinent also to recall that in October, 1996, India was let down badly by its non-aligned colleagues in its bid to win a non-permanent seat in the Security Council. It was a victory for Japan’s yen diplomacy and a severe blow to the non-aligned solidarity. Next week, heads of state from 114 countries are gathering in Kuala Lumpur for their 13th summit to review the international political and economic situation and discuss the role of NAM in the 21st century. The conference is taking place in the shadow of a looming war against Iraq for which the USA and the UK are desperately seeking the sanction of the United Nations. The Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Abdullah Ahmed Badawi, has indicated that the summit might issue a special statement to voice the strong opposition of non-aligned countries to a war against Iraq. Events are moving fast in the United Nations, and the Bush administration has not given any indication that it will take note of the rising tide of world opinion against the use of force in trying to dethrone President Saddam Hussein. One can only hope that any declaration from Kuala Lumpur does not become irrelevant by a fait accompli that a unilateral US action could result. Apart from the immediate concern over Iraq, the summit will have its hands full with several global issues that cry for close and meaningful consideration. There have been several post-Cold War conflicts in the developing countries and, in the post-September 11 events, terrorism has become an issue of grave international concern. Many platitudes have been uttered in the past about the strength and utility of NAM. At recent summits, the leaders have declared that the relevance and efficacy of NAM have been established in world summits such as those on social development, population, women’s rights and sustainable development. But for all significant plus points NAM could claim, one cannot gloss over the relevant questions foreign policy experts have raised about the present-day utility of a movement that was born in 1961, inspired by a mutual feeling of solidarity in the face of the world’s bipolar division of the North. From a small beginning of 25 countries, the movement today has an imposing number of 114 members. The Non-Aligned Movement has had its ups and downs. It has witnessed the spectacle of its own members sparring against one another, like when Singapore described the Havana summit as the “lowest point of degradation” in non-aligned history, and Cuba retaliated by dubbing Singapore as a “US spokesman with a Chinese accent.” There is an unwritten rule in the movement that bilateral issues should not be raised in non-aligned conferences, but Pakistan has honoured it more in breach than in observance. It should not be a cause for surprise if Islamabad does it again at Kuala Lumpur. NAM declarations have often come in for criticism for being “notoriously long on rhetoric and short on action.” Votaries of the movement still insist that it is needed now more than ever in the era of globalisation where the new world order is being dictated by developed economies, largely to suit their own needs. Such a view has been expressed by the South African High Commissioner in Kuala Lumpur, Dr Abraham Sokhayo Nkomo. He said by assuming a significant role in global politics, NAM could not shirk its responsibility to champion the cause of developing countries. The summit will adopt two main documents, namely the Final Document, which will outline the common position of the movement on various issues on the agenda, and the Kuala Lumpur Declaration, which will focus on continuing the revitalisation of NAM, the theme of the summit. It is on the cards that the summit would concentrate more on economic issues such as market access for developing countries, bringing down trade barriers, etc, and less on political issues that could elude a consensus. It is in this context that the holding of the Non-Aligned Movement Business Forum on South-South Cooperation as an adjunct to the summit assumes
significance. Malaysia is reported to be keen to pursue a proposal for creating a permanent secretariat for NAM, but it is doubtful if it will win a consensus. Notwithstanding the scepticism about NAM’s relevance and its future, no one would suggest the movement should call it a day. It may have lost the gleam and glitter of its heyday of the pre-Cold War era, and is virtually moribund in political terms, but no one could dispute that its economic
relevance is greater than ever before. |
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Jackson
faces more legal woes Los Angeles, February 19 A judge in Los Angeles gave the pop icon a little good news yesterday, ruling that Jackson could pursue two complaints responding to the suit filed by his former manager South Korean-born Myung-Ho Lee. Jackson alleges Lee breached contracts and did not act in good faith in giving the singer business advice, while Lee claims that Jackson owes him millions in backpay. Judge Andria Richey rejected Lee’s request to dismiss the 44-year-old entertainer’s claims, saying the allegations were strong enough for him to pursue them. Lee and his Union Finance and Investment Corporation sued Jackson last April, alleging that the entertainer had reneged on a September 2001 promise to pay him more than $ 13 million in back wages. But Jackson, in court papers filed on December 20, denied he owed the money, claiming that someone had forged his name on an agreement to repay Lee for business advice. “I did not sign this document,” stated an affidavit from Jackson, currently embroiled in yet another public battle, this time over a television interview in which he revealed that he shared beds with young boys. According to the suit, Lee began working for Jackson in 1997, giving him business and career advice and arranging loans and setting up investments, after being introduced by another Korean businessman whom Jackson met following a failed charity concert in Seoul.
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The US military's Central Command (CENTCOM) personnel sit behind rows of networking computers in the Joint Operations Center,
located on the outskirts of Doha on Tuesday. Camp As-Sayliyah supports the largest CENTCOM pre-positioning facilities outside of the USA with senior
US military planners in place for the looming war with Iraq.
— AP/PTI photo
