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Saturday,
April 26, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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US troops catch Turkish team
North Korea admits having
N-weapons USA, North Korea end
nuclear talks |
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No one can attack nuclear Pak: Musharraf India to give Nepal military aid Nepal, USA sign pact to fight
terrorism ASEAN prepares strategy to combat SARS
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US troops catch Turkish team
New York, April 25 Using the “pretext” of accompanying humanitarian aid, the elite soldiers in civilian clothes passed through the northern city of Arbil on Tuesday in a vehicle lagging behind a legitimate aid convoy, Time magazine said today, adding that they were caught at a checkpoint on the outskirts of Kirkuk. “We were waiting for them,” a US paratroop officer was quoted as saying. The team put up no resistance though a variety of AK-47s, M4s, grenades, body armour and night vision goggles were recovered from their car. By Wednesday US paratroopers were holding 23 persons of the team, including a dozen of soldiers. The commandos were escorted back over the border early yesterday morning. Even as the USA was busy stabilising a post-war Iraq, the magazine said, Turkey was setting out to create a footprint of its own in the Kurdish areas of the country. “They did not come here with a pure heart,” US brigade commander Col Bill Mayville is quoted as saying. “Their objective is to create an environment that can be used by Turkey to send a large peacekeeping force into Kirkuk.” During US-led war, Kurdish fighters entered Kirkuk, but pulled out after Turkey asked the USA to block them from controlling the city, having a large Kurd population. Turkey fears if Iraqi Kurds took control of the city they can push for an independent country, that could inspire Kurdish rebels across the border in Turkey.
PTI
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N. Korea admits having N-weapons Washington, April 25 North Korean delegate Ri Gun made this disclosure to US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly during a social gathering after the first session of the China-North Korea-US talks in Beijing on Wednesday, the sources said yesterday. He also said Pyongyang might test, export or use the nuclear weapons depending on US actions, the sources said. Earlier, the CIA had said North Korea “may have” one or two nuclear weapons. But it was not definite about it. Also, it was still not known whether it had tested its nuclear weapons. North Korea has said the only way a weaker power can protect itself against the USA in the context of its present “aggressive” policies, as was demonstrated in Iraq, is by having nuclear weapons. However, Secretary of State Colin Powell warned North Korea while speaking before the USA Asia Pacific Council on Wednesday that the US would not be intimidated by what he called “bellicose statements.” The North Koreans said they had made the same admission in 1993 but the US officials who contacted former Clinton Administration officials were told there appears to be no record of a previous North Korean statement to that effect, the Washington Post quoted officials as saying. Though US officials, said the Post, were still puzzled over the statement and its exact meaning, including whether North Korea was threatening to test a nuclear weapon, one official said, “It was very fast, very categorical, and obviously very scripted.” North Korea said it was ready to settle the dispute but that the “master key” for successful talks was for the USA to drop its hostile policy towards Pyongyang. PTI
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USA, North Korea end nuclear talks
Beijing, April 25 US officials have said they are seeking the “verifiable and irreversible” elimination of the North-Korea’s nuclear weapons programme. The three-day talks, hosted by China, were the first high-level US-North Korean contact since tensions over the North-Korea’s nuclear ambitions spiked in October. Despite the apparent impasse, both sides agreed to meet again, according to China’s Foreign Ministry. South Korean officials said they were looking into the alleged North Korean claims about its nuclear capability. Some analysts suggested that Pyongyang was bluffing. North Korean delegate Ri Gun told US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly that North Korea had reprocessed all 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods in its possession, a senior US official in Washington said on condition of anonymity. The official said Ri Gun made the comments about the fuel rods at a plenary session while the other comments on its nuclear activities were made at a social gathering on Wednesday after formal discussions. If the North-Korea’s alleged claims of reprocessing are true, then that would put it much closer to building six to eight additional weapons beyond the one or two it is believed to have. AP
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No one can attack nuclear Pak: Musharraf
Islamabad, April 25 “Let me tell you that Pakistan’s turn will not come after Iraq,” General-Musharraf said at a news briefing here yesterday. “No one can launch a pre-emptive strike on Pakistan because we are a nuclear power, we are a missile power,” he said. “We are fully capable to face and resist every situation ... we are fully capable to watch our interests,” he said. He stood by his government’s stance on Iraq. “Our diplomatic stance was correct on Iraq,” he said. “We have respect in the community of nations and in the Muslim world. How can our turn come?” he said. General-Musharraf said he would continue to hold both the posts of President and Chief of Army for five years despite the opposition demand that he gave up his uniform for their acceptance of his presidency. He admitted that he “realised” that both the slots should not be held by the same person but implored the media “to please leave the issue, when I will be one and not the other, to my judgment”. “I have a major role to play in uniform,” General-Musharraf said, adding that in view of domestic and external compulsions, he had recently spoken to the Chiefs of Air Force, Navy and Army commanders. “If I am not in uniform I can’t have access to them,” he said. He said he wanted “to remain President and army chief for five years because by the end of that time the situation should have improved,” to enable him to relinquish charge of the army. Agencies
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India to give Nepal military aid
Kathmandu, April 25 A consignment of weapons amounting to Rs 62.50 crore is also in the pipeline, the visiting Army Chief said while addressing a function organised by the ex-Gorkha servicemen at the Indian Pension Paying Office in Pokhara in West Nepal yesterday. Saying that India will continue its support to the Nepal Army in its anti-terror campaign, General Vij said it was prepared to provide any type of assistance to establish peace in Nepal. "It is the wish of the Indian people to see stability and peace in Nepal, he said adding that "if there is no peace, it will be no good for the ex-Gorkhas also". General Vij also announced a Rs 100 million package to execute drinking water projects in 927 villages in Nepal, where ex-Gorkhas inhabit. India annually distributes about Rs 400 crore pension to the 1,15000 Gorkha ex-servicemen in Nepal through Pension Paying Offices in Kathmandu, Dharan and Pokhara. At present over 40,000 Gorkhas are serving in the Indian Army The Indian Army chief later visited the Pension Paying Office in Dharan in eastern Nepal, where he interacted with the ex-Gorkha servicemen. PTI
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Nepal, USA sign pact to fight terrorism Kathmandu, April 25 The agreement covers security cooperation, including security of important physical infrastructures, important personalities and security in border areas. The USA has been assisting Nepal, the scene of a seven year old Maoist insurgency, in its fight against terrorism by providing arms, logistic support and training.
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ASEAN prepares strategy to combat SARS
Kuala Lumpur, April 25 According to a draft statement issued after the first day of talks, suspected patients would be barred from travelling and a tab would be kept on their contacts to look for symptoms of the pneumonia- like disease, which has claimed nearly 276 lives worldwide. “This is to ensure that the person suspected of SARS should not be allowed to travel,” said the draft proposals expected to be adopted by the participants at the end of the two-day meeting tomorrow. Officials from South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan also took part in the discussions. “Things are beginning to turn the tide,” said Mark Salter, a World Health Organisation (WHO) expert, who expected a return to normalcy in the coming months. He said many SARS-hit countries, like Vietnam, appeared to be succeeding in damping down the spread of the virus. “We’ve no cases for the past 12 days in Hanoi because it has been effectively brought under control,” he said.
PTI
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Washington, April 25
