 |
Thursday,
February 27, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
|
Muslim nations discuss using oil as ‘weapon’ Mother of bombs may be tested in Iraq War with Iraq can cost USA $ 95 bn Lanka appreciates India’s support Editor compares Laden with Gandhi |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Muslim nations discuss using oil as ‘weapon’ Kuala Lumpur, February 26 “There were suggestions that we look at using our oil wells in order to exert some pressure,” Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who chaired an informal meeting of 48 Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) nations here, told reporters after the talks.
However, Mr Mahathir said, “Oil is a double-edged weapon. If the price of oil goes up, many of the countries of the south suffer the most.” “We have to also see how to use this weapon. If we simply mark up the price we might have a bad reaction that is why I recommended that we should think about it first and the OIC members also only agreed to look into it, he said” During the meeting, the members also urged Iraq to comply fully with UN weapons inspectors, Mr Mahathir said. “We have agreed that Iraq should comply completely with the requests by the inspectors for any examination into possible weapons of mass destruction which may be manufactured or which may be kept by Iraq,” he said. Mr Mahathir said Baghdad maintained it did not have anything that was endangering anyone and had invited the members to verify this. But, he said, “the members do not doubt Iraq and there is no need for them to go and verify.” “The problem faced by Iraq is that if it has nothing to show then there is an assumption that it is hiding. So either way, Iraq is not going to be able to get off the hook.” Asked about the OIC’s response on Chief Weapon Inspector Hans Blix’s demand that Iraq should destroy its longer-range missiles, Mr Mahathir said: “Well they said the missiles must be destroyed because these exceed the range permitted by the UN, our view is that if they (arms inspectors) want the missiles destroyed, Iraq should destroy to show its sincerity.” The members of the OIC also suggested to have closer association with European countries which oppose war. He said the OIC hoped that by making a common cause with Europe, it would be able to exert some influence on the USA. Mr Mahathir also said “our view is that there is no need for any other resolution by the Security Council as the present resolution on disarmament is adequate.” OIC members asked Mr Mahathir that he should write to the UN Security Council and the European Union to help avoid war. “By and large we agreed that we should try and influence as many as possible,” Mr Mahathir said.
PTI |
|
Mother of bombs may be tested in Iraq New York, February 26 ABC Television network quoted military sources as saying that the weapon, still in the experimental stage, would be used during the first nights of the attack. The bomb is called MOAB — short for Massive Ordnance Air Burst — and is the bigger version of the 15000-pound Daisy Cutter used in Vietnam, the Gulf War and in Afghanistan. MOAB is a 21,000-pound bomb that will be pushed out of the back of a C-130 transport and guided by satellite because it is not dropped by parachute, as was the old Daisy Cutter. The aircraft can let it go from far higher altitudes, making it safer for U.S. pilots. MOAB’s massive explosive punch, sources say, is similar to a small nuclear weapon. It is intended to obliterate a command centre hidden in tunnels and bunkers or a concentration of Iraqi tanks. Whatever the target, it must be far from cities where civilians might be hurt. But one important aspect of using this type of weapon, sources say, will be psychological impact on enemy troops. It is intended to terrorise Iraqi troops, drastically reducing their desire to continue the fight. The US preparations for a possible war against Iraq are almost complete, military sources say. More than 210,000 troops from the army, the Marine Corp, the navy and the air force are in the region and another 50,000 will reach there within the next two weeks. About 100 navy ships, including five aircraft carrier battle groups, are in place and the air force will fly in the last 150 planes, including B-52 stealth bombers, early next week. This would bring the total number of aircraft available for war with the navy, the air force and the army to around 900. During a briefing yesterday, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld made it clear that the force could not just sit there, indicating that the time for decision might be near. “It is very clear that once you flow the forces, it’s stressful to maintain them for a long period of time,” he explained.
PTI |
|
War with Iraq can cost USA $ 95 bn Washington, February 26 Citing unnamed administration and congressional officials, the paper said the amount did not include massive reconstruction costs that were expected to come later. Officials said planners were pegging the Defence Department’s costs for the expected war at $ 60 billion to 95 billion, according to the report. The expense of occupying and rebuilding Iraq, as well as providing humanitarian relief to as many as two million refugees, would be added to those costs, resulting in a marked increase in the $ 300-billion budget deficit the administration had projected for each of the next two years, the paper said. Until now, officials have provided only vague estimates of the cost of a war with Iraq and its aftermath.
AFP |
|
Call for French wine boycott
Los Angeles, February 26 |
|
Lanka appreciates India’s support Colombo, February 26 Sri Lanka’s chief peace negotiator G.L. Peiris said New Delhi was fully supportive of attempts to politically end the island’s drawn out ethnic conflict and had offered cash to the war-ravaged nation. “India wishes us well, but would not get deeply involved because of political and domestic compulsions arising from Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination,” Mr Peiris said. He said India had extended a $ 200 million credit line to Sri Lanka and the money was more than twice the $ 85 million the island received from international donors at a meeting in Oslo in November. “That alone shows much India supports us,” Mr Peiris said. He admitted that there were hiccups in the government’s peace bid with the LTTE. “There are no guarantees that we will succeed. But the prospects of peace are a great deal better today than it has ever been,” Mr Peiris told the Commonwealth Press Union holding its biennial meeting here. He said the LTTE was also experiencing a “painful” transition from a military organisation to a political outfit and the process was bound to be marked with obstacles and challenges.
PTI |
|
Editor compares Laden with Gandhi Colombo, February 26 Abdul Bari Atwan, Editor of the London-based Al-Quds Al-Arabi, one of the few journalists to have interviewed Osama bin Laden, said the Al-Qaida chief “reminded me of Gandhi, a prince of peace. Like a man who has given up all his possessions to take up a cause.” However, the comparison exasperated veteran Indian scribe Kuldip Nayar, participating in the biennial conference for Commonwealth press union, who sprung to his feet saying that “don’t drag people who are not here (into the argument).” At the conference, in which hundreds of journalists from Commonwealth countries are participating, Mr Atwan made some other interesting observations about the mastermind of the terrorist attacks on USA in September 2001, whom he found as “a man of average intelligence,” but with good manners. He said Bin Laden “hated” Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein more than the USA and he would be the happiest person to see American B-52 bombers flying over Baghdad.
PTI |
 |
| Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir | Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs | Nation | Editorial | | Business | Sport | World | Mailbag | In Spotlight | Chandigarh Tribune | Ludhiana Tribune 50 years of Independence | Tercentenary Celebrations | | 123 Years of Trust | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Kuala Lumpur, February 26
