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Wednesday,
September 17, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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40 UN members flay Israel USA to hold back some funds from Israel
Singapore’s SARS victim discharged Hong Kong’s SARS case
turns out to be false Benazir, Sharif join hands to fight army |
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UK reviews laws to naturalise Gurkhas Australian PM accused of lying Reyat can’t be treated as hostile
witness: court WHO warns children on exposure to sun
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40 UN members flay Israel United Nations, September 16 “To remove Arafat would be a major political mistake and adversely affect the peace process,” they said. Also, the vote on a resolution condemning Israel for plans to oust Mr Arafat, drafted by Palestinian UN envoy Nasser Al Kidwa and supported by Arabs, was postponed after the USA, closest ally of Israel, threatened to veto it, describing it as one-sided for its failure to condemn suicide attacks against Israel. Israeli Security Cabinet approved the plan to remove Mr Arafat last week after two more Palestinian suicide bombers carried out deadly attacks in Jerusalem. The UN resolution asked Israel not to expel or deport Mr Arafat and ensure no harm came to him. Diplomats said Syria, the only Arab member of the 15-member council, made some changes in the text but that failed to satisfy the USA. It was unclear whether the Arabs would agree to amend the text further to win American support. Diplomats said the USA had not explicitly ruled out the possibility of abstaining if the resolution in the present form was put to vote. Mr Kidwa warned the council that any action against Mr Arafat would mean an end of the Palestinian authority and the peace process. He walked out of the council as Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman began speaking. Mr Gillerman attacked Mr Arafat, describing him as an obstacle to peace, and a “professional terrorist” and said his removal would lead to a swift end of the conflict in the region. Mr Arafat, he said, was inventor of modern terrorism and was at the “helm of those who have been supporting mega-terror attacks, in the style of the bombing of the twin towers (World Trade Center in the USA) to bring region to the brink of a catastrophe.” “Just trash,” commented Mr Kidwa on Mr Gillerman’s accusation.
— PTI |
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USA to hold back some funds from Israel Washington, September 16 But the Administration said it has yet to decide whether to penalise Israel over construction of a security fence, which President George W. Bush called “a problem” for US efforts to build trust between Israelis and Palestinians. The deductions would come from a $9-billion package of US loan guarantees to help Israel weather a deep recession and fiscal crisis stemming in large part from the three-year-old Palestinian militant revolt against Israel for independence. An Administration official yesterday said the dollar-amounts for any deductions had yet to be determined. The move comes as the USA attempts to revive the US-backed peace plan known as the “road map” after a series of deadly Palestinian suicide bombings and Israel’s decision, in principle, to expel Palestinian President Yasser Arafat from the West Bank. “It is important for the Administration to consistently implement policies like these in order to maintain a credible role as a broker in the negotiating process,” said Israel Policy Forum spokesman Jonathan Jacoby. Israel says it needs the fence to keep out suicide bombers. Washington has expressed concern at Israel’s initial plan to make the barrier enclose Jewish settlements deep in the West Bank. Most of the barrier consists of a metal fence equipped with electronic sensors and tipped by razor wire, while some sections are cement walls. — Reuters |
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Singapore’s SARS victim discharged Singapore, September 16 The 27-year-old had tested positive for SARS on September 9, the world’s first reported case since the World Health Organisation declared a global outbreak of the disease over on July 5. The man, a National University of Singapore virologist, is believed to have caught SARS at one of the two laboratories where he worked and where SARS research is done. Hospital officials say he has recovered. “He was in good health when he left,” said Olivia Branson, a spokeswoman at SARS-dedicated Tan Tock Seng Hospital. He was sent home by an ambulance to begin a 14-day quarantine. “We had been holding him back for a few days to do some final tests.”
— Reuters |
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Hong Kong’s SARS case turns out to be false Beijing, September 16 “The Hong Kong woman has been confirmed to be negative to SARS virus test conducted by the Department of Health today,” a spokesman of the Hong Kong’s Department of Health said. Earlier, Hong Kong’s Secretary of Health announced that the department was conducting a second test on the 34-year-old woman who was admitted Princess Margaret Hospital last night. She was sent to the hospital by the medical authorities under the suspicion that she might be affected by the killer disease which devastated the Chinese territory earlier this year. The patient had fever and breathing difficulties — symptoms of SARS which killed over 250 persons in Hong Kong and over 800 world-wide earlier this year. Meanwhile, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman today assured that the country would take effective measures to combat any relapse of the epidemic.
— PTI |
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Benazir, Sharif join hands to fight army Islamabad, September 16 “The future governments of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) headed by Ms Bhutto and Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), lead by Mr Sharif will register cases against military rulers for imposing martial law and violating constitution”, sources with the Alliance of Restoration Democracy (ARD), in which both the parties were a part, said. ARD president Nawabzada Nasarullah Khan, who is currently visiting both Mr Sharif and Ms Benazir in their exiles in Jeddah and London, extracted the agreement between the two, local daily ‘The Nation’ reported today. The two leaders also agreed to follow a “unanimous” policy on foreign and internal affairs, it said, adding that they have agreed to return to Pakistan together to make an “international impact.” While Ms Bhutto lived in self-exile in London and Dubai to escape prosecution in a number of cases registered by Mr Sharif’s government, which was subsequently overthrown in a military coup by Gen Pervez Musharraf, Mr Sharif and his family have been exiled in Jeddah by the military regime.
— PTI |
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UK reviews laws to naturalise Gurkhas London, September 16 Immigration Minister Beverley Hughes said the review by Defence chiefs and the officials of the Home, Foreign and Commonwealth Office had already started. Further talks had been planned as well. It was possible the Gurkhas could come back to the country after discharge on the basis of work permit or immigration concessions. The move has been initiated because a growing number of Nepalese soldiers, part of the British Army since the 19th century, had been turning to the asylum system to claim naturalisation after their military career ended. There are about 35,000 Gurkhas serving in the British Army. The Gurkhas who retire after 17 years of service receive a pension of £ 91 per month as against £ 623 a month given to British soldiers who retire after 22 years.
— UNI |
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Australian PM accused of lying on Iraq Sydney, September 16 The government has admitted it knew of a British intelligence report before the war that warned a strike against Baghdad would increase terrorist threats in western Countries, contradicting his stated position in the lead-up to the war. He said the country’s top spy, ASIO Director-General Denis Richardson, had agreed with the assessment. Opposition leader Simon Crean said Mr Howard had lied to the public by arguing Australia’s involvement would not increase the country’s terrorist risk when he had intelligence saying the opposite.
— AFP |
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Reyat can’t be treated as hostile
witness: court Vancouver, September 16 Following the decision by Judge Ian Bruce
Josephson, prosecutors will not be able to challenge evasive testimony from Reyat who has already pleaded guilty for his role in the June 23, 1985 Kanishka bombing that killed all 329 passengers on board. The reasons for the ruling were not immediately available. Reyat was called as a witness by the British Columbia Court hearing the Air-India trial with the hope that he could bolster the murder and conspiracy charges against Vancouver businessman Ripudaman Singh Malik and Kamloops sawmill worker Ajaib Singh Bagri. Prosecutor Leonard Doust had called Reyat’s testimony last week a “pack of lies” and applied to cross-examine him as a hostile
witness. He had said that Bagri appeared to be protecting Bagri and Malik.
— PTI |
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WHO warns children on exposure to sun Geneva, September 16 “We know that by reducing overexposure of children and adolescents to the sun, we can substantially reduce the risk of contracting skin cancers, cataracts and other conditions which might appear later in life,” said Dr Lee Jong-wook, Director-General of the World Health Organisation. The WHO says the risk of skin cancer and cataract has increased due to the depletion of the ozone layer.
— AP |
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