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Saturday,
June 14, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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70 killed in Iraq in raid on
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Pak minister’s visit to N-arms sites under attack India, China to counter terrorism jointly JK, Chechnya ultras aided by ‘same source’ China
sacks naval commander Indo-Pak bus service likely by early July UK providing training to Nepal army
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70 killed in Iraq in raid on ‘terror’ camp
Baghdad, June 13 A U.S. soldier was wounded in the attack that was launched yesterday and was still in progress, he said. The 101st Airborne Division and special operations units were involved in the raid that began early on Thursday with an airstrike on the camp, 150 km northwest of Baghdad. “It is a large operation. It is ongoing,” the spokesman said. He said a U.S. helicopter was shot down in the operation yesterday. The Apache H-64’s two-member crew were rescued unhurt as two other Apaches engaged irregular Iraqi fighters. It is the first time a U.S. helicopter has been shot down since the end of major combat operations in Iraq. U.S. officials blame the attacks on Saddam loyalists, but locals say some are linked to the rising anger at the way U.S. troops behave during searches and raids on houses. The attacks have remained concentrated in Baghdad and two nearby areas — to the west around Ramadi and Falluja and to the north around Balad, Baquba and Tikrit, Saddam’s hometown. Some 4,000 troops also scoured an area around the Tigris, northeast of the town of Balad this week in “Operation Peninsula Strike”, which the military said was the biggest operation it had launched since major war combat ended. It said the operation, which began on Monday, was part of “the continued effort to eradicate Baath Party loyalists, paramilitary groups and other subversive elements”.
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USA shifts criticism away from Israel Washington, June 13 Israel drew a stern public rebuke from President George W. Bush after Tuesday’s helicopter strike on Palestinian militant leader Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi. That sparked a backlash from Israel’s supporters in the USA, who defended its actions as part of the Jewish state’s war on terrorism. In the 48 hours that followed, Israeli officials reached out to mend fences with their American counterparts, who, they say, were not given advance warning of the missile strike. In those private discussions, the Israelis acknowledged shortcomings with the Rantissi operation and in the way it was disclosed to Washington. “We can always do a better job,” said on Israeli source. At the same time, the powerful pro-Israel lobbying group, AIPAC, and Israel’s supporters in Congress piled pressure on President Bush to soften his criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. AIPAC argued in a statement yesterday that Israel had no choice but to take on the Hamas, and that “it should be the policy of the US to support’’ Israeli actions.” Jericho (West Bank): Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas is committed to convincing militant Palestinian factions to accept a ceasefire agreement with Israeli forces, he told US Secretary of State Colin Powell on the telephone. “Mr Abbas promised he would try to restore the calm and succeed in having different Palestinian factions accept the ceasefire in order to promote the application of the ‘roadmap’,” Information Minister Nabil Amr said on Thursday. Mr Abbas had already asked Palestinian groups to “stop the violence”, the minister added.
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Pak minister’s visit to N-arms sites under attack Islamabad, June 13 Raising the issue in the Senate yesterday, senior PML (N) leader Ishaq Dar said “though Pakistan’s nuclear programme has reportedly been frozen long ago, this fresh visit by a federal minister to sensitive areas where even a civilian President could not go is a cause for an alarm for the entire nation.” Linking Mr Aziz’s trip to the nuclear site to his forthcoming visit to the USA, Mr Dar, a former Finance Minister, said he, too, came under pressure from the Americans in the past on the nuclear issue, local daily ‘The News’ reported. “Every time a Pakistani Finance Minister visits the USA for discussion on financial matters, the Americans love to hear about details of the country’s nuclear programme,” he said. Stating that the issue came up when he met the then US Deputy Treasury Secretary in the Bill Clinton administration, Mr Dar said the US officials wanted to know details of Pakistani nuclear programme but he “snubbed” them saying “this was none of their business”. Mr Dar said he had also visited some nuclear sites in his capacity as the Finance Minister but was not allowed to go beyond a point. Criticising the Opposition for raising the issue of his visit to sensitive areas where the country’s nuclear weapons have been stockpiled, Mr Aziz said they had done a “disservice” to the country by raising the issue at a public forum. He said the country’s nuclear programme was in safe hands and “everybody must know that no compromise would be made with any one on the nuclear programme.” Besides the controversy over his visit to nuclear sites, Mr Aziz also faced severe criticism from the Opposition for “tailor making his budget” to suit the World Bank and the IMF. Issuing a “fact sheet”, the Islamist alliance, Muttahida Majlis Amal (MMA) called Mr Aziz’s budget as an “IMF document”. It alleged that this year’s budget was the continuation of all IMF policies imposed on the country since the past three years. The foreign debt of $ 36 billion amounted to half of Pakistan’s gross national product and the Rs 256 billion earmarked for this year’s debt repayment amounted to 36 per cent of the gross national income, the alliance said.
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India, China to counter terrorism jointly Beijing, June 13 “The two sides exchanged views on the international and regional counter-terrorism situation, Sino-Indian cooperation on counter-terrorism, role of the UN in combating global terrorism and enhancing counter-terrorism capabilities,” Indian embassy sources said. Both sides also stressed the important role of the UN in the international counter-terrorism cooperation — bilaterally and multilaterally, a source said. These consensus were reached between senior officials of the two foreign ministeries during their second meeting on Sino-Indian dialogue mechanism on counter-terrorism which was held here ahead of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s official visit from June 22 to 27. The meeting, originally planned for May, had to be rescheduled due to the outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in China. The Indian delegation was led by the Joint Secretary (East Asia) of the External Affairs Ministry, Mr Ashok K. Kantha, while the Chinese side was led by the Acting Director-General of the Department of International Organisations and Conferences of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr Zhang Jun. The Indian side met with Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Shen Guofang. During their interaction, Mr Shen said the Sino-Indian counter-terrorism dialogue would also help prepare for the forthcoming visit to China by the Indian Prime Minister.
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JK, Chechnya ultras aided by ‘same source’ Moscow, June 13 “The terrorist bands active in Russia’s Chechen Republic and in Jammu and Kashmir are receiving finances from one and the same sources, ring-leaders of these bands have got training from one and the same instructors, including on the territory of Afghanistan,” he said in an interview. He said Russia as well as India were of the view that terrorist acts could not be justified by any political, ethnic, religious, socio-economic or other considerations. “Here the policy of double standards is inadmissible. All terrorists should be equally treated. The terrorists wherever they are located, must know that justice will reach out to them.” Mr Losyukov said. The minister stressed that the fight against terrorism must also be directed against those who gave sanctuary, financial and other backing to them. Expressing satisfaction at the Indo-Russia cooperation in countering international terrorism and other forms of trans-national crimes including illegal drug trafficking, Mr Losyukov said both countries opined that the main task was to strengthen international anti-terror coalition and its legal framework.
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China sacks naval commander Beijing, June 13 China dismissed navy commander Shi Yunsheng and political commissar Yang Huaiqing, replacing them with Zhang Dingfa and Hu Yanlin, state media said today, without explanation. The official Xinhua news agency announced later that another 10 officers had been demoted or dismissed over the accident, which killed 70 sailors and officers in one of China’s worst naval disasters since the Communists took power in 1949. They included northern fleet commander Ding Yiping and his political commissar Chen Xianfeng, Xinhua said.
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Indo-Pak bus service likely by early July Islamabad, June 13 Azfar Shafqat heads the three-member Pakistani delegation which will meet Indian officials on June 19 and 20. The expected resumption of bus transport between the two countries is part of their confidence-building measures after Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s peace offer to Pakistan.
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UK providing training to Nepal army Kathmandu, June 13 “However, the UK Government believes that there can be no acceptable military solution to the conflict”, Mr Jeffrey James, is on a visit to the Himalayan Kingdom, told mediapersons here yesterday.
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