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Friday,
July 25, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Saddam
sons’ killers killed in attack
India,
China crack down on Golden Triangle Lanka
drive against illegal immigrants Bangladesh
freezes Iraqi funds Maoists
set pre-conditions Pakistan
bans Newsweek edition |
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USA
deports 75 Pak nationals Major
who cheated quiz show sacked Councillor
shot in New York
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Saddam sons’ killers killed in attack
Paris, July 24 “The death of the two sons who were the future of Saddam Hussein’s regime marks the end of an era and we can hope that with the capture of Saddam himself the page will be definitively turned,’’ French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said after US forces killed Uday and Qusay Hussein on Tuesday. “It’s hard to predict the
immediate consequences, as one can imagine some Baathists will seek revenge. One can also imagine resistance to the coalition forces intensifying. That’s why for France the key is to press ahead with the political process.’’
Three US soldiers from the division that killed Saddam’s sons were killed today in a rifle and grenade attack, the US army said, meaning 44 soldiers had been killed since Washington announced the end of major combat on May 1.
Saddam himself is still believed to be in hiding in Iraq. Mr Villepin said the climate in Iraq, where basic infrastructure was still in shreds and occupying US forces were suffering casualties daily, would only improve with a Security Council resolution handing the UN responsibility. Speaking to France Inter Radio, he urged the UN be given control of reconstruction and peacekeeping in the country where US-led forces toppled Saddam. France led the opposition to the US-led war, preventing Washington from getting UN backing. Paris has since been pushing to get Washington and London to let the world body take over rebuilding the country. US President George W. Bush has called for military and financial aid from other countries. But such countries as Russia, Germany and India have backed France in saying they need a new UN mandate first. “Patching together a system from what exists, adding foreign troops to coalition forces, does not seem to us the best way to guarantee security in Iraq,” Villepin said.
— Reuters |
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India, China crack down on Golden Triangle Chiang Rai, Thailand, July 24 The Golden Triangle, where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet, is the world’s biggest producer of methamphetamines and a major centre for heroin production. But Thailand says most of the chemicals used to make amphetamine-style stimulants originate in India and China. Indian and Chinese anti-drug officials met with their counterparts from Thailand, Myanmar and Laos in northern Thailand today to discuss joint efforts at drugs suppression. “The China attaches great importance to the drug control cooperation with the neighbouring countries in the Golden Triangle area,” Luo Feng, China’s vice-minister for public security, said. The five countries agreed to restrict the trade of alphredine, pseudo-alphredine, and acetic enhydride, Chidchai Vanasatidya, head of Thailand’s Office of the Narcotics Control Board, told reporters after the meeting.
— Reuters |
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Lanka drive against illegal immigrants
Colombo, July 24 A police spokesman said the men arrested this morning from the beach resort of Mount Lavinia, just south of Colombo, were being questioned to establish their identities and nationalities as most of them did not have valid travel documents. However, it is believed that they entered Lanka legally because the country grants visa on arrival to nationals from South Asian countries, a concession which was earlier available to those from developed nations. The latest information showed that those arrested today included 86 Indians, 75 Pakistanis and 14 Bangladeshis. Two Lankans were also arrested. The latest arrest came four days after a similar detection of nine Bangladeshis, 83 Indians and 22 Pakistanis from the central town of Kandy. The arrests raised to 661 the number of Bangladeshis, Indian and Pakistanis arrested in Sri Lanka this month in connection with people-smuggling attempts. Six days ago the police took into custody 112 Indians and six Pakistanis who had arrived on the island to travel illegally to Italy. They were arrested at two hotels along the southern coast of the island. They have now been remanded till July 29. Another 254 Pakistanis arrested earlier this month have also been remanded till July 29.
— PTI |
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Bangladesh freezes Iraqi funds
Dhaka, July 24 Bangladesh Bank, the central bank, has issued a circular to all commercial and financial institutions in the country to freeze accounts maintained by Iraqis or those receiving any grant or assistance from Iraq. A list of 55 persons, including Saddam Hussein and his two sons — the possible account holders or contributors — was also provided with the circular. The circular was issued following a request by the US Embassy here, vernacular daily Janakantha reported. The action was in line with what has been done globally by the US Administration to freeze Iraqi properties and in conformity with UN Security Council resolution no 1483, the report said. All banks and financial institutions have been asked to report to the bank by July 27 the measures taken to freeze accounts, it added. Several institutions, including religious schools and mosques, have been allegedly funded by Iraq and at least one vernacular daily is reported, to have received grants from Saddam regime beginning mid-’80s.
— PTI |
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Maoists set pre-conditions
Kathmandu, July 24 The government has received a letter from the Maoists in response to a letter it had sent to them last week urging a third round of talks, Information and Communication Minister and spokesman for the government’s team Kamal Thapa said. He, however, did not elaborate what pre-conditions the Maoists had included in the letter. The government will make its stand public after thoroughly studying the content of the letter received from the Maoists, he was quoted as saying by Radio Nepal. However, sources said the major pre-conditions laid down by the Maoists, include releasing the Maoists from jail, restricting army movement outside their barracks and guaranteeing full security to the members of the talks team. The Maoists reply came a week after Communication Minister Kamal Thapa wrote a letter to the Maoist chief negotiator Baburam Bhattarai asking him to resume dialogue. The peace talks were stalled following conclusion of the second round of talks held between the government and the Maoists in Kathmandu on May 9. During the second round of talks the Maoists and the government representatives differed over the issue of restricting army movement, which caused delay in the talks.
— PTI |
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Pakistan
bans Newsweek edition
Islamabad, July 24 Shaikh Rashid said all copies of the weekly’s July 28 edition would be confiscated. “We have ordered the customs authorities to seize all copies of the Newsweek issue as it contains material which can incite religious sentiments,” Rashid said, adding that the objectionable article on page 40 was about the (Muslim holy book) Koran. He said there was freedom of expression in Pakistan, but the government expected the media to be careful about the religious sensitivities of the Muslim people. Pakistan, a country of 145 million predominantly Muslim people, has laws prohibiting religious incitement.
— AFP |
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Asks India to revive rail link Islamabad, July 24 |
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USA deports 75 Pak nationals
Islamabad, July 24 “They were living in the US illegally after being asked by the immigration authorities to leave in the late 1990s,” said Masood Khan. Most of the Pakistanis who returned had spent the last five months trying to fight their deportation, Mr Khan said. According to local newspapers, more than 400 Pakistanis have been forcibly returned from the USA since 2002 for immigration violations.
— AP |
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Major who cheated quiz show sacked
London, July 24 Major Charles Ingram, a veteran of the Bosnian conflict, received a letter today from the Army Board of Inquiry, telling him to leave by August 20. He is to receive a gratuity and will keep the pension he is owed after 17 years of service. The father-of-three will also lose his five-bedroom house in Easterton, Wiltshire, which the Army rents for him. He and his accomplice, Welsh college lecturer Tecwen Whittock, used a system of coded coughs to answer all questions correctly and take the top prize of £1 million ($ 1.6 million) on the quiz show recorded in September 2001. In April, Ingram and his wife Diana were convicted of deception, fined £15,000 ($24,000) each and sentenced to 18 months in jail. The judge suspended the sentence for two years and told Whittock and the Ingrams he had spared them jail because they had young families. The millionaire fraud trial made headlines around the world but the three are banned by law from profiting from their crime in Britain. The ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?’ production company said the story is to be turned into a film. Ingram is said to be writing a book about his experiences.
— DPA |
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Councillor
shot in New York New York, July 24 The shooter, who was a political rival of the councilman James Davis, was fatally shot by a plain-clothed police officer yesterday. The gunman’s ties with the councilman allowed him to bypass security and enter the hall. “Obviously, there was a breakdown someplace,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was in his office at the time of the attack and unharmed. Both victim, Brooklyn councilman Davis, and assailant Othniel Askew were on the balcony of the second floor of the chamber. The shooter was sitting in the balcony near Davis when he suddenly shot the councilman. A police officer, who was on the floor of the chamber, shot at the gunman five times.
— PTI |
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