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Tuesday,
September 2, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Pak army men held for links with India, say reports Forces’ success blow to terrorists, says Bhagat Resume direct talks, Pakistan asks India |
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Kelly felt betrayed, testifies widow Lyngdoh receives Magsaysay award |
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Hambali financed Jakarta bombing, says Bali bomber FBI to help probe Najaf blast USA offers
$ 9bn arms sale to Pak Israeli ex-PM found guilty
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Pak army men held for links with India, say reports Islamabad, September 1 While one group of men and officers was being investigated for their links with Al-Qaida, another group, which was larger in size, was taken in custody for possible links with India, local daily Dawn reported. “It was reliably learnt that more than 12 Army officers are under arrest for their alleged links with a religious organisation,” even though the Defence spokesman, claimed there were only “three or four” officers, Pakistani newspaper The Nation said. The report said some of them were also being investigated for possible links with a group of Army officers, who made a coup attempt against former Premier Benazir Bhutto eight years ago. Defence officials were not immediately available for comment on these reports. The group of Army personnel allegedly having links with Al-Qaida was arrested some months ago in Rawalpindi after a lead was provided by senior Al-Qaida leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammad. The second group was arrested from Sindh by the Field Intelligence Unit (FIU) for contacts with India, Dawn said. Six or seven of the officers arrested are up to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. “The government is keeping the arrests secret as it is trying to bust the entire net. In the second group, the officers are not above the rank of Major”, Dawn quoted officials as saying. Pakistan defence spokesman Major-Gen Shaukat Sultan yesterday told reporters here only three or four Army officers were being detained for possible links with extremist organisations. However, he said that he was not in a position to comment about the officers arrested for their links with India. —
PTI |
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Forces’ success blow to terrorists, says Bhagat London, September 1 “I firmly believe the successes of security forces in the recent days have dealt a firm blow to the Islamic militant organisations, and this structure would be soon dismantled,” Mr Arun Bhagat said in BBC Hindi special programme “Aapki Baat BBC Ke
Saath” broadcast last night. “The recent successes in Srinagar and the success of the Delhi police on Saturday night show that efforts are being made,” Mr Bhagat said. “The international pressure on Pakistan — which is helping such organisations — would force it to stop this,” said Mr Bhagat, who formerly held posts like the Director of the Intelligence Bureau, the Director-General of the Border Security Force and the Police Commissioner of Delhi. To a question on recent bomb blasts in Mumbai, Mr Bhagat said the fight against militancy would have to be a long one and “we have to be ready to suffer losses also.” Admitting that one could not prevent each and every militant strike, he said the police had succeeded in bursting more than 250 militant cells last year. “But this is a long-drawn battle because the centres of militant organisations are outside the country, he said. —
PTI |
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Resume direct talks, Pakistan asks India Islamabad, September 1 Reacting to the Vajpayee’s remarks in Jammu on Friday that a “meaningful” dialogue with Pakistan was not possible until it stopped cross-border terrorism, Pakistani Foreign Office spokesman Masood Khan said “You do not extend a hand of friendship saying, look here is my hand I will shake it with you if you do this and that.” “This and that can be done when you talk to each other,” he said questioning the relevance of the offer of hand of friendship by Mr Vajpayee. “What kind of hand of friendship is this? It is suspended in midair. He has extended it and he is withdrawing it. I have never seen a hand of friendship which is extended and withdrawn so quickly.” Khan said if the offer was to have friendship with Pakistan, “then come forward and talk to us. Where is the problem?” “Our assessment is that India has this morbid fear of a political settlement of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. We believe that Kashmir is a political dispute. It can be resolved only though political means and it can never be resolved through state sponsored terrorism,” he said. About allegations that Pakistan had a hand in the Mumbai blasts, Khan said: “Pakistan for God’s sake had nothing to do with Mumbai.” Khan said there was “absolutely no evidence” to support Deputy Prime Minister
L.K. Advani’s allegations in this regard. He accused External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha of vitiating the relations between the two countries by conducting a “smear campaign” against Pakistan during his travels abroad. —
PTI |
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Kelly felt betrayed, testifies widow London, September 1 “He said several times over coffee, over lunch, over afternoon tea that he felt totally let down and betrayed,” Janice Kelly testified via a video link to a judicial inquiry examining the circumstances of his apparent suicide. Kelly, 59, was found dead near his rural home days after he was identified as a possible source for a British Broadcasting Corp. claim that the government “sexed up” an intelligence dossier about Iraq’s weapons programme. Mrs Kelly said she learned of his involvement on July 8 as the couple watched the television news. “The main story was that a source had identified itself and then immediately David said to me, “It’s me,” she told the inquiry, headed by senior appeals judge Lord Hutton. “My reaction was total dismay, my heart sank and I was terribly worried because the fact that he said that to me ... I knew that he was aware that his name would be in the public domain quite soon.” Kelly seemed “desperately unhappy about it, really really unhappy, totally dismayed,” she said. Kelly was called to testify before a House of Commons committee on July 15. He was reported missing two days later, and his body was found on July 18. Mrs Kelly said her husband had become “very much more taciturn, more difficult to talk to, more tense, more withdrawn” after he had written to his superiors at the Ministry of Defence saying that he might have been the source for the BBC report. —
AP |
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Lyngdoh receives Magsaysay award Singapore, September 1 Mr Lyngdoh was conferred the award, as per the citation, ‘’for introducing and implementing election laws to safeguard the sanctity of Indian ballots. He believes that elections are the foundation and best hope of secular democracy even in a country beset by secular and religious strife,’’ it added. Ms Sinha was honoured for her efforts to emancipate children in Andhra Pradesh who were forced to hard labour. “Through Sinha’s efforts, countless Indian children receive better opportunities in life through education,’’ the citation read. The award, which was presented last night, was also conferred on six other individuals, including China’s Dr Gao Yaogie, Japans Dr Tetsu Nakamura, Mr Seiei Toyama and East Timor’s Mr Aniceto Guterres Lopes. Dr Yaogie was awarded for addressing the issue of acquired immune deficiency syndrom/ human immune virus (AIDS/HIV) in China. Dr Nakamura was honoured for his commitment for providing succour to the refugees living near Afghanistan and Pakistan border areas. Mr Toyama was honoured for his efforts for ushering in a green revolution in the deserts of China. Filipino journalist Sheila Coronel was given the award for journalism, literature, and creative communication arts. —
UNI |
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Suu Kyi not on fast, says Myanmar Yangon, September 1 The US State Department said yesterday that Suu Kyi, who has been in detention for three months, was fasting to protest against her confinement and that Washington was deeply concerned for her welfare. While Myanmar did not specifically deny the US fast charge, the government said it was “confused” by it. “We firmly believe it is quite odd for the US State Department to make such a claim without stating any sources to verify its allegation,” the government said in a statement. A senior member of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) could not confirm the US assertion. Washington’s fast strike statement came a day after new Myanmar Prime Minister Khin Nyunt promised a “road map to democracy” in a speech delivered three months after Suu Kyi was detained. Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, was detained on May 30 with dozens of supporters after a clash between her backers and pro-government youths. The government says she is being held for her own protection and will not say where she is. It says she will be freed when the political temperature cools. |
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Hambali financed Jakarta bombing, Jakarta, September 1 Testifying in the trial of Abdul Jabar, a suspect in the August, 2000, blast in Jakarta that killed two persons and injured 19, Amrozi — dubbed “the smiling bomber” by the media — said he provided the mini-van that was later used in the attack. Amrozi, now on death row for his key role in the Bali night club bombings last year that killed 202 persons, said he only knew bombers had used the car in the 2000 blast after the police gave its licence plate number in television coverage of the blast outside the ambassador’s residence. Hambali, whom the authorities have accused of being the operations chief of Jemaah Islamiah and a key Al-Qaida link to the region, was caught in Thailand last month and has been in American custody. Amrozi said Hambali gave him money for the car. “Hambali said he needed a Suzuki Carry. I said I got one,” said Amrozi, who giggled and smirked when he recounted how he and Hambali bargained over the price of the car. After the incident, Amrozi said he told another Muslim militant called Dulmatin — wanted by the police for his suspected role in the Jakarta and Bali bombing — that he should have been told the car was needed for a bombing. —
Reuters |
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FBI to help probe Najaf blast Baghdad, September 1 Tom Fuentes told AFP that his officers would examine samples of the explosives used in Friday’s car bombing and would check the suspects being held to see if they were known terrorists. Fuentes is already helping the Iraqi police in the probes into the August 19 suicide truck bombing of the UN headquarters in Baghdad and the Jordan Embassy blast on August 7, that kicked off the recent wave of car explosions in Iraq. Meanwhile, an audio tape purporting to carry the voice of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein today denied his involvement in the car bombing in the holiest Iraqi Shia Muslim city of Najaf. The Qatar-based satellite broadcaster Al-Jazeera broke into programming with the announcer saying that it was about to play a purported Saddam tape in which he denied his involvement in the Friday attack that killed over 100 persons, including revered Shia cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim. —
AFP, AP |
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USA offers
$ 9bn arms sale to Pak Islamabad, September 1 They said Pakistan had compiled its arms and spares shopping list after the USA made the offer. A five-day meeting of Pak-US Military
Consultative Commission has also been called in Washington to discuss the arms deal, the sources were quoted as saying by Pakistan daily The News. Besides a list of vision devices, missiles and radars, Pakistan’s bid for purchase of 40 F-16 aircraft and upgrading of existing F-16 fleet are also on the agenda of the Washington meeting. The Pakistan delegation led by the Defence Secretary, Lt-Gen Hamid Nawaz (retd), will also discuss arms and equipment purchase for its Navy and Air force with their US counterparts. The delegation will leave for the USA by the end of next week.
— PTI |
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Israeli ex-PM found guilty Jerusalem, September 1 Thirteen Israeli Arabs were killed in the October 2000 protests, in which thousands threw stones and blocked streets in a show of support with Palestinians in the West Bank. A Jewish motorist was killed at the time. —
AP |
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London, September 1
Charles Bronson dead
