W O R L D

China sticks to stand on Arunachal
Beijing, August 5
China today stuck to its charge that the Indian military “intruded” into its territory last month and said it had proposed border talks with India. “Not long ago, Indian military personnel crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to the Chinese side,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Kong Quan said.

Blast at US hotel in Jakarta, 10 dead

Jakarta, August 5 A car bomb ripped through the American-owned JW Marriott hotel in the business district of Jakarta today, killing at least 10 persons and leaving more than 70 injured, the police said. The mid-afternoon blast tore apart a restaurant and part of the lobby of the five-star hotel in the Auningang district of the Indonesian capital which is home to many foreign Embassies and businesses. Black smoke rises from Hotel Marriott in downtown Jakarta, Indonesia, on Tuesday. — AP/PTI photo

BRIEFLY

A tourist looks up through a glass tunnel at a group of Port Jackson sharks resting in the Sydney Aquarium on Tuesday. The open ocean aquarium is Sydney's most popular paid tourist venue, with over 1.15 million visitors last year. Tourism employs over half a million Australians and generates A$17 billion (US$11 billion) a year in export income.
— Reuters

No compromise on Kashmir, says Musharraf
Islamabad, August 5
Asserting that the Kashmir problem cannot be sidelined as it is too important an issue, President Pervez Musharraf has said that there was no pressure on Pakistan to abandon “Kashmir interests”.

Russia to meet MiG-21 upgrade target Moscow, August 5 Russia is raising additional funds to the tune of $ 18 million to meet the supply schedule of kits for the upgradation of MiG-21bis fighter jets currently in service with the Indian Air Force.

An Israeli policeman stands in front of a group of foreign and Israeli activists after they were detained and taken to the police station in the West Bank settlement of Ariel on Tuesday. Israeli troops detained 47 activists who tried to block the construction of a security barrier through Palestinian land in the West Bank Tuesday. — Reuters

Report on Powell contradicted
Washington, August 5
The US State Department and White House today contradicted a media report that Secretary of State Colin Powell and his Deputy Richard Armitage will not be available for service in a second Bush term.

China sticks to stand on Arunachal
Anil K. Joseph

Beijing, August 5
China today stuck to its charge that the Indian military “intruded” into its territory last month and said it had proposed border talks with India.

“Not long ago, Indian military personnel crossed the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to the Chinese side,” Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Kong Quan said.

Kong said this when asked to comment on a report in an Indian national daily that India had rejected China’s explanation on its intrusion into Arunachal Pradesh and sent a “strong demarche” to Beijing.

Asked to confirm the report, Kong responded by saying that “China has stated its position through diplomatic channels.”

On July 25, China had reacted sharply to another report in the Indian media that Chinese troops intruded into the Indian side of the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh and detained and disarmed some Indian security personnel. This occurred during Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s historic trip to China.

Responding to the report, China said it had never recognised the “so-called Arunachal Pradesh” mentioned in the media report.

Kong said that China had invited India to the 14th round of the Experts Group (EG) meeting on the boundary issue.

“China has invited India to send its delegation to China for the 14th meeting of diplomatic military experts on border issues,” he said when asked about the possibility of the next round of the EG.

“The specific time is to be discussed though diplomatic channels,” the spokesman added.

The 14th Joint Working Group (JWG) dealing with the India-China boundary issue held last November had decided to hold the 14th round of the EG earlier this year.

However, the two sides could not meet until now due to a variety of reasons, including differing perceptions on the complicated western and eastern sectors of their disputed boundary.

During the EG meetings, diplomatic, military and cartographic personnel reviewed the work being done in the Expert Group on the clarification and confirmation of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), and on the implementation of confidence-building measures.

India accuses China of occupying approximately 38,000 sq km of territory in Kashmir. In addition, under the so-called Sino-Pakistan ‘boundary agreement’ of 1963, Pakistan illegally ceded 5,180 sq. kms. of Indian territory in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir to China.

At the same time, China lays claim to 90,000 sq km of land in Arunachal Pradesh and does not recognise the North-Eastern state as part of Indian territory. — PTI

Blast at US hotel in Jakarta, 10 dead

An Indonesian firefighter runs past burning cars at the site of the bomb blast in Jakarta on Tuesday. — Reuters photo

Jakarta, August 5
A car bomb ripped through the American-owned JW Marriott hotel in the business district of Jakarta today, killing at least 10 persons and leaving more than 70 injured, the police said.

The mid-afternoon blast tore apart a restaurant and part of the lobby of the five-star hotel in the Auningang district of the Indonesian capital which is home to many foreign Embassies and businesses.

Indonesian Defence Minister Matori Abdul Jalil condemned the blast as a “terrorist attack”, but said it was too early to point the finger at the Jemaah Islamiyah group blamed for last year’s carnage in Bali and other bombings.

The police said 10 persons had been confirmed dead and 74 injured in the explosion, which left the facade of the 33-storeyed building spewing thick black smoke. Witnesses said at least three of the fatalities were foreigners.

“The blast was caused by a car bomb,” National Police Detective Chief Erwin Mappaseng said at the scene, as firefighters battled with flames leaping from several vehicles in front of the hotel.

He said the bomb was in a locally-made “Kijang” van, but that despite the presence of body parts near the van wreckage it was not yet known if it was a suicide attack.

Witnesses described a huge bang followed by chaotic scenes. — AFP

No compromise on Kashmir, says Musharraf

Islamabad, August 5
Asserting that the Kashmir problem cannot be sidelined as it is too important an issue, President Pervez Musharraf has said that there was no pressure on Pakistan to abandon “Kashmir interests”.

During an interaction with editors and columnists in Lahore yesterday, General Musharraf also said Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence was in place and under no circumstances it would be undermined or compromised.

“We want durable peace in the region and this cannot happen without the resolution of the Kashmir issue. There is no pressure on us to abandon our core nuclear and Kashmir interests,” he said. About Kashmir, he said it was too important an issue to be sidelined.

The President said under no circumstances Pakistan’s deterrence would be compromised or undermined. “Let no one mistake about our capacity to defend our homeland,” he said.

On sending troops to Iraq, General Musharraf said Pakistan would only send troops to Iraq if the people of that country wanted Islamabad to do so.

“We will send our troops not for extension of Iraq’s occupation. They will be sent to benefit the Iraqi people. In this connection there is no pressure whatsoever. We were asked to send troops and we agreed in principle,” he said.

He said troops would be send to Iraq either under the umbrella of the UN, the Organisation of Islamic Conference or any other world mechanism and not otherwise. “There is no hurry on our part and we would wait till such a request is received,” he added. — PTI

Russia to meet MiG-21 upgrade target

Moscow, August 5
Russia is raising additional funds to the tune of $ 18 million to meet the supply schedule of kits for the upgradation of MiG-21bis fighter jets currently in service with the Indian Air Force.

Vice-Premier Boris Alyoshin said that from September onwards, Russia will remove the "slippage" in supply of kits for the modernisation and upgradation of the IAF’s MiG-21bis fleet and will fulfil its contractual obligations.

The manufacturer is raising extra funds to the tune of $ 18 million in the private sector to meet its contractual commitments, Alyoshin was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.

In 1996, the Indian Air Force had signed a $ 300 million deal for the upgradation of its 125 comparatively new MiG-21bis fighters with Russia’s Sokol aircraft factory in Nizhny Novgorod (Former Gorky) on Volga.

Under the deal, which is already behind the original schedule by three years, Russia was to develop upgradation technology for modernised MiG-21-93 and transfer it to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

The upgradation involves replacement of the original engine with a more powerful one used in MiG-29 fighters, a sophisticated Kopyo (Spear) phased-array radar capable of simultaneously engaging up to nine targets and new generation air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles.

After the upgradation of two MiG-21bis fighters built in India by HAL under the Soviet licence at the Sokol plant, Russia has already supplied 60 modernisation kits.

Meanwhile, a leading Russian daily has blamed the lack of a proper trainer jet for the high crash rate of the IAF’s MiG-21 fighters.

MiGs were used as training planes for young pilots who do not have any experience steering supersonic fighters, Vremya MN commented yesterday.

"Other countries use special trainer jets but India forces its pilots (to) jump from sub-sonic planes to flying jets of a much higher level," it said in a commentary on Defence Minister George Fernandes’ "moral-booster" flight last week on the jet christened by the media here as the "Widow Maker". — PTI

Dhaka-Agartala bus service okayed

Dhaka, August 5
The Bangladesh Government has given the go-ahead to the proposed Dhaka-Agartala bus service from this month to bring the people of the two neighbouring countries closer.

Official sources said here today that the Cabinet, at its meeting chaired by Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia, approved the launching of the bus service last night on the lines of the Kolkata-Dhaka bus service, operational since June, 1999.

A report quoting Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan said the Bangladesh Cabinet gave its final approval and the bus service was expected to start any day.

Mr Khan told mediapersons here that the approval was in keeping with the Indo-Bangladesh Joint Economic Commission meeting held in Dhaka on July 14 and 15, wherein it waas decided to extend the bus service.

The road transport authorities of Bangladesh and the Tripura Government would sign an instrument of agreement, detailing various matters, including the date of operation, number of buses to be plied, ticket fare and places of stoppage, Bangladesh Communications Minister Nazmul Huda said. — UNI

Sikh family hurt in hate attack
Dharam Shourie

New York, August 5
In yet another hate crime attack, a Sikh family from India was roughed up by three drunken white youths who mistook them for Arabs, at Queens, a suburb of New York, on Sunday night.

According to the police and witnesses, Mr Surinder Singh was walking to his house with family members and a cousin, Mr Lakhvir Singh Gill, after parking his car when he was accosted by three men, who took him for an Arab because of his beard and turban.

The attackers taunted them with anti-Arab slurs and shouted, “Go back to your country, bin Laden” and their efforts to explain that they were Sikhs from India were futile.

Report on Powell contradicted
T.V. Parasuram

Washington, August 5
The US State Department and White House today contradicted a media report that Secretary of State Colin Powell and his Deputy Richard Armitage will not be available for service in a second Bush term.

Press Secretary Scott McLellan dismissed the The Washington Post report as "speculation and gossip running full speed in Washington" with Congress recessing and President George W. Bush leaving for his ranch.

"Look, Powell and Armitage are outstanding members of the President’s team and they are highly valued members of the President’s term, and they are doing an outstanding job."

"The State Department has already issued a statement in which they said that the purported conversation between Dr (Condoleezza) Rice (National Security Adviser) and Deputy Secretary Armitage (stating that he and Powell will not be available for a second Bush term) did not take place," McLellan said. — PTI

Swiss sentence for Benazir, Zardari 

Islamabad, August 5
A Swiss court has handed down former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and her husband Asif Ali Zardari six months’ suspended sentence and fined them $ 50,000 each in a corruption case, their lawyer said today.

“The Swiss investigation officer Devaud, on July 31, passed an order, pronouncing six months’ suspended sentence and a fine of $ 50, 000 each to Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari in the pre-shipment inspection case”, their lawyer said. The court also seized their bank accounts and a necklace. The case concerned allegations that Ms Bhutto and Mr Zardari received millions of dollars in private commissions from a Swiss national. — PTI

BRIEFLY

Japanese people wave flashlights in front of the gutted A-Bomb Dome on Tuesday. The city marks the 58th anniversary of the world's first atomic bomb attack on Wednesday. — Reuters

AUSTRALIAN UNDERGOES TRIPLE TRANSPLANT
SYDNEY: Australia’s first triple organ transplant recipient was in a critical but stable condition in a Brisbane hospital on Tuesday. Cystic fibrosis patient Jason Grey, 25, received a new heart, lungs and liver in a 14 hour operation at the Prince Charles Hospital. The operation was planned over nine months. — DPA

VIRAL LINK TO CERVICAL CANCER
LONDON: Many women are unaware that a virus is the main cause of cervical cancer or that birth control pills offer no protection against it, according to a survey released on Tuesday. The human papillomavirus (HPV) is linked with about 95 per cent of cervical cancer cases and is one of the most common causes worldwide of sexually transmitted disease. — Reuters

PAKISTAN FLOOD TOLL UP
KARACHI: Rescue teams discovered nine more bodies on Tuesday as flood water continued to recede in southern Pakistan, relief officials said, pulling a curtain back on devastation that has killed scores and left thousands homeless. The bodies of three children, two women and four men were found in the debris of houses in remote villages of Badin, about 250 km southeast of Karachi. — AP

PETER SAFAR DEAD
WASHINGTON: Dr Peter Safar, credited with inventing the mouth-to-mouth resuscitation technique, has died, the American Heart Association said. He was 79. Safar died on Sunday, the association said in a statement on Monday. It did not give a cause of death. — Reuters

PAKISTANI HELD FOR AL-QAIDA LINKS
WASHINGTON: The FBI has secretly arrested a Pakistani man suspected of having close ties to Al-Qaida terror mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, NBC television reported. Uzair Paracha, 23, was arrested four months ago in New York City at the office of the import company where he worked, the report said on Monday. — AFP