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Tuesday,
September 30, 2003, Chandigarh, India
  
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Karzai denies anti-Pak activities Hand of friendship
still far, says Pak Armitage, Rocca to visit Pak |
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Russia non-committal on Kyoto Protocol Two more jailed for Bali blast |
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Reinstate Chaudhry as Fiji PM,
says Rabuka
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Karzai denies anti-Pak activities by India Islamabad, September 29 “I have personally assured everyone on the Pakistani side that there will be no anti-Pakistan activity conducted on or from the Afghan territory. In fact the Indian Government has been categorically told that the consulates would only conduct commercial activities,” Mr Karzai said in an interview to Pakistan daily ‘The News’ in New York. He observed that most of these consulates have been functioning in Afghanistan for a long time. Mr Karzai, however, expressed concern over the resurgence of Taliban and regretted that the Pakistani Government was not fully addressing his government’s concern on the issue. The Taliban used Pakistan to carry on attacks against Afghan forces, he said. “In the last few months there have been instances of small groups of Afghan ‘Taliban’ crossing over from the Chaman border.” “In one instance, the Afghan forces attacked a Taliban group. The injured were transported in official Pakistani vehicles to government hospitals. This was evidence of government patronage to these Taliban,” he said, calling on Pakistan to exercise stricter control on border. Mr Karzai also expressed concern about some madarsas located in Baluchistan province that preached Afghan students to revolt against his government. “There are some madarsas in parts of Baluchistan still preaching Jehad to Afghan students against the Afghan Government. Some of these are under the influence of Maulvi Abdul Ghani, the brother of the Health Minister of Baluchistan,” he alleged. He also said Pakistan leaders continued to make statements “which paint us as the enemies of Pakistan.” “The Jamat Ulema Islami (JUI) leaders few months ago in a major NWFP congregation declared that on one side we have the Indians and on the other the Afghan Government. JUI Leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman said Mr Karzai was pro-Indian, therefore, Pakistan’s enemy,” he said, adding that there was no statement by the Pakistan Government on such an assertion by a major politician. —
PTI |
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Hand of friendship still far, says Pak Islamabad, September 29 “The peace process has not started as until now we have only been speaking about peace but no ‘robust’ engagement yet. The hand of friendship which Prime Minister Vajpayee offered from Srinagar has not reached us yet,’’ Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said at a press briefing today. His comments came a day after Mr Vajpayee, on his return from his 13-day foreign trip to Turkey and the USA, said his peace initiative with Pakistan had “suffered a setback’’ due to the remarks of Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf, and a fresh impetus was needed. Denying that Pakistan was “desperate’’ for peace, Mr Khan said the onus to improve relations was on India, as Islamabad had already offered a dialogue, which New Delhi had refused. “Soon after Mr Vajpayee’s speech in Srinagar, Prime Minister Jamali had talked to him and proposed a whole raft of confidence- -building measures (CBMs). President Musharraf had, in the last few months, given several concrete proposals,’’ he said, pointing out that India had never responded to any of these. The spokesman called on India to shed its ‘negative’ and ‘anti-Pakistan’ stance and speed up the peace process. “The way forward is through engagement. We must talk,’’ Mr Khan said, adding peace was in the interest of both countries. “Both have important stakes in improving relations, as this will ensure peace and security in the region, solve the Kashmir dispute and lead to better relations between people of both countries,’’ he said. —
UNI |
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Armitage, Rocca to visit Pak Islamabad, September 29 The visit of the two leaders was announced by Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan at a press briefing today. The stalled Indo-Pak peace process and the rapidly worsening Pak-Afghan ties following the resurgence of Taliban are expected to form the agenda of the talks. —
UNI |
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Russia non-committal on Kyoto Protocol Moscow, September 29 Addressing the World Congress on Climate Change which opened here, Mr Putin declared that Russia would ratify the protocol only if it was in its interest and “after the government thoroughly studies this problem.” “The government has been thoroughly studying this problem and the entire range of uneasy problems related to it. A decision will be taken after this work is carried through and, of course, in compliance with the national interests of the Russian Federation,” Mr Putin said. The fate of the 1997 protocol depends on Russia’s ratification as the United States has rejected it. To take effect, the protocol must be ratified by no fewer than 55 countries, accounting for at least 55 per cent of global emissions in 1990. The US was then responsible for one-third of global emissions. India, which has already ratified the protocol, was represented at the Congress by a delegation led by Environment Secretary Prodipto Ghosh. In a lighter vein, Mr Putin said global warming was ‘good’ for cold countries like Russia. In his inaugural remarks, Mr Klasu Toepfer, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), said, “Russia’s ratification of the Kyoto Protocol will make it possible to launch the mechanism of its fulfilment.” On the eve of the congress, Russia released a first day cover depicting a map of temperatures, which scientists say the earth will have 30 or 40 years from now. —
PTI |
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Two more jailed for Bali blast Bali, September 29 Judges found Maskur bin Abdul Kadir and Hernianto guilty of violating anti-terror laws by helping organisers of the bombing rent a safe house on Bali and hosting gatherings of the militants at which plans for the October 12 attacks were drawn up. But the court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to support prosecution claims the defendants knew that the people attending the meetings were terrorists planning an attack. Hernianto, who like many Indonesians uses a single name, was sentenced to 12 years in prison, while Maskur was jailed for 15 years. The Indonesian authorities have arrested about 36 persons in connection with the bombing. Two of the militants have been sentenced to death, and 13 have received prison terms ranging from seven years to life. —
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Reinstate Chaudhry as Fiji PM,
says Rabuka Suva, September 29 Mr Chaudhry, the Pacific nation’s first ethnic Indian leader, was overthrown in a coup in May, 2000. A year earlier Mr Chaudhry had defeated Mr Rabuka in the general election. Mr Rabuka himself came to power in two coups in 1987. Mr Rabuka told AFP today that he was circulating a pamphlet entitled “The need for reconciliation” to say no progress had been made right since the 2000 coup. The coup had seen the installation of caretaker Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase by the military and a general election that confirmed the arrangement. Mr Rabuka said there needed to be reconciliation between the majority indigenous population and Indians, who make up around 44 per cent of the 840,000 people. “The process must include the recognition of Mr Chaudhry as the rightful Prime Minister and his Cabinet as the rightful executive body,” he said. —
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Elia Kazan dead New York, September 29 Kazan, who was born in Constantinople, came into his own in the 1940s, staging plays by the preeminent writers of the day, from Tennessee Williams to Thornton Wilder to Miller, and directed some of the most famous actors of his time from Marlon Brando to Gregory Peck to James Dean. —
Reuters |
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Afghan President Hamid Karzai has denied allegations of
anti-Pakistan activities by Indian consulates in Afghan cities of
Jalalabad and Kandahar and rather accused Islamabad of not “fully
addressing” his complaints of resurgence of Taliban using its soil.
