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World leaders condemn Hamas chief’s killing
Militants attack Pak camp despite truce Police defuses bomb near Moscow: reports |
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Britain shuts Algiers Embassy New bird flu case hits Korea Decision on new bus service likely on April 9 Indian gets ‘Arab’ Nobel Prize Hike in pension of Gurkha ex-servicemen
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World leaders condemn Hamas chief’s killing Jerusalem, March 22 British Prime Minister Tony Blair said that the killing of Hamas leader was a “setback” for the Middle East. “We recognise Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism, but equally any steps should be within international law and should be neither disproportionate nor excessive,” he said condemning the killing. His Foreign Secretary Jack Straw described the killing “unacceptable” and “unjustified”. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak described the assassination as “regrettable” and “cowardly” while King Abdullah of Jordan called it a crime. Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said it was “state terrorism in its most hideous form”. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said such acts could only “feed the spiral of violence”. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana condemned the killing as “very, very bad news” for the West Asia peace process. This type of action does not contribute at all to create the conditions of peace,” Mr Solana said. Australian Foreign Ministry spokesman called for efforts to “try and prevent any further decline into violence”. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Kong Quan said China was “greatly worried” over the possible impact of the Israeli assassination of Yassin. “China is greatly worried about the possible impact on the West Asia regional situation brought by the death of the Palestinian Hamas spiritual leader Yassin,” Quan said. Russia said it was deeply concerned that the killing could trigger a new wave of violence. “It threatens a new wave of violence which could sabotage efforts to restart negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis by the ‘quartet’ of international mediators and key regional powers,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The Vatican also condemned the killing as an act of violence that could not be justified. “The Holy See joins the international community in condemning an act of violence that cannot be justified in any state of law,” Vatican spokesman said. Besides Egypt which condemned the killing and abruptly pulled out of the 25th anniversary celebrations of its peace treaty with Israel, Qatar and Syria also condemned the assassination saying it sought to destroy chances of peace. Turkey also condemned the act saying it did not contribute to peace or security in the region. Iran condemned Israel’s killing of Hamas spiritual leader as an act of state-sponsored terrorism against the Palestinian people. The Jordanian Government also condemned Israel’s killing and said it would lead to “serious escalation” of the Middle East conflict. Israel’s assassination of Hamas founder would ignite more violence, Kuwaiti Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah said. Japan called on Israel to exercise “maximum self-restraint”.
— Agencies |
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White House denies involvement Washington, March 22 White House National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said in a round of interviews on US television stations that the United States did not have advance warning of the assassination. ‘’It is very important that everyone step back now and try now to be calm in the region. There is always a possibility of a better day in the West Asia and some of the things being talked about by the Israelis ... might provide new opportunities,’’ Ms Rice told NBC’s ‘’Today’’ show. ‘’I would hope that nothing will be done to preclude those new opportunities from emerging,’’ she added. — Agencies Israel will pay heavily, warns Hizbollah Beirut, March 22 “The Zionists will discover soon that they have committed a very big folly, to add to their series of previous follies,” said Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah in a live appearance on the group’s al-Manar TV. “They will pay a heavy price for their ugly crime at the hands of the loyal mujahideen,” he said.
— Reuters |
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Militants attack Pak camp despite truce
Wana (Pakistan), March 22 Residents said rockets were fired at the army camp here early today. Militants and troops then exchanged fire for about two hours. There was no immediate word on casualties, though gunfire could also be heard from the area to the west of the town where troops and militants have been battling. Earlier, Pakistan’s army declared a ceasefire with suspected Al-Qaida fighters to allow tribal elders to try to negotiate the militants’ surrender. The army said hundreds of Al-Qaida suspects and their Pakistani tribal allies were surrounded in the desolate mountains but added that fighting had subsided yesterday after a week of clashes. “The government has issued 22 passes to a group of tribal elders so that they can go inside the cordoned area,’’ regional security chief Brigadier Mahmood Shah said. “They will go there tomorrow with a white flag. An ambulance will also go along with them to collect the bodies.’’ Shah said the elders would demand the release of any captured soldiers and the militants’ surrender. “The local tribesmen, who are accused of harbouring foreign militants, must be handed over to the government immediately. And all foreign militants must surrender, there is no other option.” Shah said there was a temporary ceasefire in operation.
— Reuters |
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Police defuses bomb near Moscow: reports Moscow, March 22 The police was alerted to the bomb on Friday by a woman who had come to clean an apartment that tenants had just vacated in Lyubertsy, a town just outside of the Russian capital, said the Kommersant and Gazeta dailies. The woman found three suitcases in the flat and, upon opening one, saw that it had neatly-stacked ammunition inside and called the police which, in turn, alerted the FSB intelligence services and began to evacuate the building. The ammunition turned out to be 18 rounds for an anti-tank grenade launcher connected together into a single bomb with an equivalent of 40 kg TNT, Kommersant said. The bomb was timed to have gone off earlier that morning but didn’t because of the faulty timer, law enforcement sources told Kommersant. The blast would have likely demolished at least a quarter of the nine-floor building that mostly housed retired military personnel. The last tenants to have rented the flat on the building’s third floor were Chechen men who had moved out the previous day, the police said. FSB sources told Kommersant that they believed the men were working for Shamil Basayev, one of top Chechen rebel commanders who has taken responsibility for many suicide blasts in Russia.
— AFP |
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Tone down election attacks, Kerry, Bush warned Washington, March 22 With a new poll showing Bush and Kerry neck-and-neck in the race, senior members of the Republican and Democratic parties appealed to the rivals to change tactics. “Let’s keep it civil so we don’t get so nasty that we discourage people from coming out and voting in a very important election,” Senator Joseph Lieberman, who was a contender against Kerry for the Democratic nomination, said yesterday. “This nation is almost evenly divided politically. And there are strategists in both parties who are urging both candidates to go for victory by whipping up into a frenzy the partisan, ideological base of both parties,” Lieberman told Fox News channel. Senator John McCain, who challenged Bush for the Republican nomination in 2000, said opinion poll verdicts on the campaign of attack adverts and political mudslinging would force them to change tactics. “If they start getting polling numbers like I think they will of people who will say: ‘A pox on both your houses’, then I think it will change. And I hope that it does,” he said. McCain said he was hearing from people in his home state of Arizona who are saying: “Look, I’m not even going to vote if this is the way the campaign’s going to be conducted.”
— AFP |
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Britain shuts Algiers Embassy Algiers, March 22 Jim Currie, Britain’s deputy head of mission in Algeria, told a news conference here on Sunday the decision followed a global review of security following a suicide truck bombing at the British consulate in Istanbul in November that left the consul among the dead. “It is related to the bombing... in
Istanbul,” Jim Currie said. — Reuters |
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New bird flu case hits Korea Seoul, March 22 Chickens at a farm in Yangju, 30 km north of Seoul, tested positive for the avian virus, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry said. “We have imposed a quarantine zone in Yangju to cull 4,00,000 chickens and ducks within a 3-km radius,” a ministry official said. A dead magpie in Yangsan, 420 km south of Seoul, was infected with the virus, the ministry said.
— AFP |
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Decision on new bus service likely on April 9 Islamabad, March 22 The news report that the service will begin from August 1 is incorrect, he said. The report, published yesterday, said the decision to begin the bus service from August 1 was made at a meeting between officials from the two countries. No such meeting had taken place, the spokesperson said, adding that a decision was expected at the technical level meeting between the two sides on April 9 and 10. |
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Indian gets ‘Arab’ Nobel Prize Dubai, March 22 The Saudi Riyal 7,50,000 (Rs 75 lakh) prize is awarded each year for outstanding work in the fields of science, medicine, Islamic studies, Arabic literature and service to Islam. Indian Ali Ahmad Nadvi shared his prize for Islamic studies with Saudi Yacoub Al-Bahussain. In a book on Islamic jurisprudence in financial matters, Al-Nadvi has attempted to adapt some of the concepts of earlier Islamic scholars to modern circumstances, according to the citation. Prince Sultan, second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence and Aviation, presided over the prize distribution ceremony at Al-Faisaliah Center yesterday.
— PTI |
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Hike in pension of Gurkha ex-servicemen Kathmandu, March 22 The pensioners or their widows will receive the increment on their current pension effective from April 1, Mike Scott of the UK’s Ministry of Defence told the representatives of the Regimental Associations. The increment has been made to ensure that the pensioners would keep pace with the cost of living in Nepal, Scott was quoted as saying in a British Embassy Press note here. The British Government distributes the pensions to its 26,000 pensioners or their widows mainly through Pension Paying Offices at Kathmandu, Pokhara, Bhairahawa and Itahari. Last year the British Government had increased the pension by 12 per cent. Besides pension, the British Government provides various benefits to the pensioners including medical and welfare through the Gurkha Welfare Scheme.
— PTI |
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