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Friday,
May 23, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Pilot didn’t send Mayday signal ‘India left with no choice on Kashmir’ US nod to Israel’s radar for India Explosion rocks Yale University Tape raises fears of fresh
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Three-year-old befriends
python Three-year-old Cambodian boy Oeun Sambath hugs his best friend, a four-metre long female python named Chamreun or 'Lucky' in the village of Sit Tbow on Sunday. Superstitious villagers are flocking to see the boy, who they believe, has supernatural powers and was probably the son of a dragon in a former life.
— Reuters photo
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Pilot didn’t send Mayday signal Vancouver, May 22 Mr Michael Quinn testified in the Supreme Court that he heard “no Mayday call of any kind” from the pilot of the Air-India flight after a routine conversation about its route through the Irish air space. Mr Quinn told the court yesterday that the Air-India flight was travelling at about 850 kmph when its radar signal disappeared and that the control tower had received no emergency call of any kind from Air-India. The recorded conversation between Mr Quinn and the Air-India pilot which was played in the court yesterday started with “Air-India 182 good morning” and had the pilot confirming the flight plan through the Irish air space. “Right sir, Squawking 2005, 102,” the pilot had told Mr Quinn and then there was silence. Mr Quinn testified that the Boeing 747 that had departed from Montreal hours earlier “disappeared off our radar screen at 0713 hours.” He said he called other planes in the vicinity to see if they could see the aircraft, which did not respond to more than a dozen different attempts to make radio contact. “Air-India 182 Shannon. Air-India 182, Shannon,” Mr Quinn’s panic-striken voice was heard. Mr Quinn said he also tried getting in touch with the pilot on the now-defunct TWA airlines, asking him to descent to a lower flight level. The pilot reported seeing a vapour trail but no airplane. Mr Quinn also tried to enlist the help of British Airways flight.
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‘India left with no choice on Kashmir’ Islamabad, May 22 Addressing troops at a forward location on the Line of Control (LoC) in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) yesterday, he said, “While we welcome the peace proposals, we as soldiers have to be clear that the only guarantee for peace is our preparedness for war.” Describing militants as “freedom fighters”, Gen Khan, who was personally chosen by President Pervez Musharraf as the Vice-Chief of Army, said the Indian Army was fighting militancy in Kashmir for over 13 years without any success.
PTI |
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US nod to Israel’s radar for India Jerusalem, May 22 The change of heart by the USA on the defence deal, according to the business daily Globes, is due to strong lobbying by India. The decision comes barely two months after the US administration threatened Israel with the withdrawal of a one billion dollar special military grant if it went ahead with the defence deal, sparking a strong Israeli response, accusing the USA of high-handedness to protect its own business interests. US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage is said to have given US assent for the defence deal during his visit to New Delhi on May 10, Globes said, quoting sources in Washington. Israel is also said to have lobbied for the deal, with delegations from its Defence Ministry reportedly raising the issue in talks in Washington. The USA reportedly also partly opposed the deal because of Pakistani concerns and the need for Islamabad’s Cooperation in its war against the Taliban in Afghanistan and the Al-Qaida, the report said. However, diplomatic and other sources reportedly told Globes, that the US consent was mainly due to an Indian initiative for Indian-Israeli-US cooperation against terrorism. National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra proposed the initiative in a speech to a Jewish organisation in New York on May 8. “Close relations between India and the USA and India and Israel are logical,” Mr Mishra had said, adding that he hoped India would soon invite Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for an official visit. Phalcon is a long-range Israeli-made radar mounted on a Russian-built cargo plane. The radar will extend the range of the Indian Air Force, enabling very long-range identification of targets and better control of assets used against them. The White House is also considering lifting restrictions on Israel exporting defense systems against ballistic missiles. This would enable India to purchase the “Arrow” missile systems, which were developed with American financing and, therefore, require American approval for sales. Earlier, in 2000, then Prime Minister Ehud Barak had cancelled the deal to sell four Phalcon planes to China after US opposition, which construed it as a direct threat to US strategic interests.
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Explosion rocks Yale University New York, May 22 The FBI is investigating the blast which occurred at 0210 hrs IST damaging the classroom and the adjacent lounge with no injuries being reported. However, no immediate link with international terrorism has been established. But officials said they were not yet sure how sophisticated was the device, who planted it or what was the motive. No one has claimed responsibility for the blast. NBC television network quoted investigators as saying that preliminary analysis indicated that it could be a pipe bomb. The FBI said the explosion was caused by an “explosive device.” The explosion triggered concern as it came hours after the nation went on high alert against possible terrorist attacks. But officials moved quickly to allay the fears. The police cordoned off the area keeping reporters three blocks away as dogs searched the campus for any more explosive devices. The bomb exploded in the classroom where law students had taken the final examination earlier. The building was almost empty when the blast occurred.
PTI |
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Tape raises fears of fresh attacks Dubai, May 22 US military bases went on their highest alert following bloody suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco last week. Al-Jazeera television aired an audio tape it said was from Ayman al-Zawahri, bin Laden’s top lieutenant, who urged the Muslims to strike at the embassies and commercial interests of the USA, Britain, Australia and, oddly, Norway. A Saudi source said a suicide airliner attack had been thwarted by the arrest of three Moroccans, rejecting comments by Interior Minister Prince Nayef that no such plot had existed. Britain’s envoy said the oil-rich kingdom was riskier than ever. Egypt tightened security near embassies, foreigners’ homes and tourist sites, anxious it might suffer the next blow after suicide bombings killed 34 persons in Riyadh, mostly foreigners, and 41 in Casablanca. Bin Laden’s loosely spread al Qaida network was blamed for the Riyadh attacks, while Morocco has said the Casablanca attacks were linked to international terrorism. Oil prices rose sharply amid warnings of further attacks. Analysts said last week’s bombings helped reverse a 25-per cent slide in oil prices since mid-March.
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Three-year-old befriends
python Sit Tbow (Cambodia) May 22 Curled up for an afternoon snooze inside the coils of his companion, the child, Oeun Sambath, attracts regular visits from villagers anxious to make use of what they believe are his supernatural powers. “He has been playing with the python ever since he could first crawl,’’ said his mother Kim Kannara.
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New York, May 22
Sit Tbow (Cambodia) May 22
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