W O R L D

Assassination of Hamas leader condemned
New York, April 18
Israel's assassination of the newly appointed leader of the Islamic militant Hamas movement, Abdel Aziz Rantissi, drew widespread condemnation from the international community, although the USA said Israel had the right to defend itself against terrorism.

Palestinian militants from Hamas raise slogans against the USA and Israel during a demonstration at the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp in south Lebanon on Sunday. Thousands of Palestinians held protests over the killing of Rantissi by Israel. — Reuters photo

BRIEFLY

A boy looks at an ornamental snake, displayed for sale at a pet market in St. Petersburg, on Sunday. Hundreds of animals, including some rare and exotic species, can be found at Russian pet markets.
— Reuters

Netanyahu backs Sharon’s pullout plan
Jerusalem, April 18
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's controversial disengagement plan looked set to win the backing of his party today after his main rival, Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said he would vote for the project.

Nahoko Takato (left), one of the three released Japanese hostages, is escorted by her brother Shuichi Takato on her arrival at Tokyo airport on Sunday. The three Japanese hostages were freed on Thursday after being taken captive in Iraq. — Reuters

Fresh protests in Nepal against King
Kathmandu, April 18
Students at Nepal’s leading university who support an Opposition drive to oust the royalist government brawled with the police today outside their main campus, the police said.

3 UN police officers killed in shootout
Kosovska Mitrovica/ Belgrade April 18
Three United Nations police officers, two Americans and a Jordanian, were killed and 11 others wounded in a shootout amongst prison guards after a verbal dispute erupted over the Iraq crisis, UN officials said. The dispute apparently occurred between the Americans and the Jordanian, who were serving in the UN Kosovo mission (UNMIK).

Pak tribesmen start hunt for Al-Qaida men
Wana, April 18
Pakistani tribesmen today launched an operation to flush out foreign militants and their local supporters from the rugged mountains near the Afghan border after they refused to surrender.

A US soldier sits atop a Humwee at a military base near the Iraqi holy city of Najaf on Sunday. US forces waited outside Najaf on Sunday with no sign of a breakthrough in efforts to avert a bloody confrontation with rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. — Reuters

 

 

 

Assassination of Hamas leader condemned

New York, April 18
Israel's assassination of the newly appointed leader of the Islamic militant Hamas movement, Abdel Aziz Rantissi, drew widespread condemnation from the international community, although the USA said Israel had the right to defend itself against terrorism.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemned the assassination, saying "extra-judicial killings are violations of the international law" and called on Israel to "immediately end this practice".

Mr Annan said the assassination could lead to further deterioration of an already distressing and fragile situation between Israelis and Palestinians and said "the only way to halt an escalation in the violence is... to work towards a viable negotiating process aimed at a just, lasting and comprehensive settlement, based on the Quartet's road map."

Rantissi, assassinated hours after Hamas claimed responsibility for a suicide attack that killed an Israeli guard at the Erez crossing yesterday, was appointed leader of the radical movement shortly after its previous Gaza head and founder, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, was assassinated in an Israeli helicopter strike in Gaza City on March 22.

The European Union's top foreign policy official denounced the killing of Rantissi calling it "unlawful" and warned that it would spur further violence in the region. A statement issued by EU foreign and policy security chief Javier Solana said the EU had consistently condemned extra-judicial killings.

In Washington, the White House did not denounce the assassination but expressed "concern" about the stability of the Middle-East following the killing and urged Israel to consider the consequences of its actions.

"The United States strongly urges Israel to consider carefully the consequences of its actions, and we again urge all parties to exercise maximum restraint at this time," the statement said.

GAZA: The Politburo chief of the Hamas movement, Khalid Mishaal, vowed to avenge the assassination of Rantissi and asked senior members of the fundamentalist faction to choose a new leader for Hamas "without declaring his name".

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat phoned the Hamas leadership to express his condolences over the assassination of Rantissi, a senior official in the radical movement said.

PARIS: France and Germany criticised Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi and said the European Union viewed such murders as a violation of international law.

"France condemns the attack perpetrated against the head of Hamas, Abdel Aziz al-Rantissi, which caused his death," a statement issued by the French Foreign Ministry said.

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, who was in Paris to meet the UN Envoy to Iraq, Lakhdar Brahimi, said: "Germany has always rejected targeted killings. We consider that these means should not be employed, and the events on the ground fill us with great concern," he told journalists.

MOSCOW: Expressing serious concern over the murder of Hamas leader Rantissi in Israeli missile attack, Russia said it had always opposed the practice of "targeted liquidation".

"Moscow is seriously concerned about what may happen next in the West Asia. Russia has stated on many occasions that it opposes the practice of out-of-court punishments and "targeted liquidation"," the official spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Mr Alexander Yakovenko, told reporters here.

VATICAN CITY: The killing of Hamas leader Abdel Aziz Rantissi and the hostage-takings in Iraq were "inhuman acts," Pope John Paul II said in his weekly angelus at the Vatican.

"I am following with great sadness the tragic news coming from the Holy Land and Iraq. The shedding of blood by brothers must end. Such inhuman acts are contrary to the will of God," he said.

The pope did not mention Rantissi by name but the authorities here said he was referring to the killing of the Palestinian leader. John Paul also "implored" the hostage-takers in Iraq to "show humanity" by releasing their captives. — Agencies

Netanyahu backs Sharon’s pullout plan

Jerusalem, April 18
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's controversial disengagement plan looked set to win the backing of his party today after his main rival, Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said he would vote for the project.

"The minister has decided that he will support the plan as the conditions that he had set for his approval have been met," his office said in a statement.

Mr Netanyahu's endorsement means that Mr Sharon's plan, under which Israel would withdraw from the Gaza Strip but keep most of its settlements in the West Bank, was almost certain to be approved in a referendum of Likud Party members in two weeks. — AFP

Fresh protests in Nepal against King

Kathmandu, April 18
Students at Nepal’s leading university who support an Opposition drive to oust the royalist government brawled with the police today outside their main campus, the police said.

Student activists, who have declared the main branch of Tribhuvan University off limits to the authorities, threw stones at the police and burnt tyres to stop traffic in front of the university, a police officer said.

Student leaders said several of their members were injured in a police baton-charge. The Police did not confirm injuries.

Leftist students on Wednesday tore down portraits of King Gyanendra across the main branch of Tribhuvan University, where the monarch is titular Chancellor, to show solidarity with the Opposition which demands a return to elected rule.

The demonstration was called today against the detention of 15 students among some 2,000 others in protests' across the capital a day earlier. “We will lock all offices of campus administrators on Monday if the students are not freed,” a student activist said.

The government on April 8 indefinitely banned protests in Kathmandu, saying they would be infiltrated by Maoist rebels waging a bloody campaign to overthrow the monarchy. — AFP

3 UN police officers killed in shootout

Kosovska Mitrovica/ Belgrade April 18
Three United Nations police officers, two Americans and a Jordanian, were killed and 11 others wounded in a shootout amongst prison guards after a verbal dispute erupted over the Iraq crisis, UN officials said. The dispute apparently occurred between the Americans and the Jordanian, who were serving in the UN Kosovo mission (UNMIK).

“A Jordanian policeman sprayed bullets at his US colleagues. Apparently, they were talking about Iraq and everything just went out of control,” a United Nations official told Deutsche-Presse Agentur.

Ten US officers and an Austrian policeman were wounded during the shooting. Three Americans were immediately flown to the US military base Bondstil in central Kosovo.

The United Nations police arrested at least four Jordanian officers following the incident, but no other details were immediately available.

Eleven others were wounded in the shootout inside the Mitrovica prison, the United Nations’ top official in Kosovo, Harri Holkeri, said.

“I am deeply shocked and dismayed by the unfortunate death of dedicated professionals who have come such a great distance to help Kosovo on its road to the future,” Holkeri said. “I convey my heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased, to their UNMIK police contingents, and their home countries governments.”

The UN Police Commissioner Stephen Feller, who visited the scene of the incident, said he was ‘’saddened at this tragic incident.” He said there would be a “thorough investigation into the incident”.

AMMAN: The Jordanian government on Sunday deplored the killing of two U.S. officers by a Jordanian policeman working with the United Nations peacekeeping force in Kosovo. “The Jordanian government regrets the incident and is following up investigations to know what happened exactly,” Minister of State and government spokesperson Asma Khader was quoted as saying by the official news agency, Petra. — DPA

Vajpayee in world’s 100 most influential
people’s list

London, April 18
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Wipro chairman Azim Premji and Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai figure in a list of the world’s 100 most powerful and influential people compiled by the Time magazine.

In the list to be published tomorrow, Mr Vajpayee finds mention along with world leaders US President George W Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Hu Jintao, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates.

Interestingly, Al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden is also included in the category of leaders and revolutionaries, the list available exclusively to The Independent on Sunday said.

The list is split into five categories — leaders and revolutionaries, builders and titans, scientists and thinkers, heroes and icons, artists and entertainers, with 20 names in each.

Yoga instructor B.K.S. Iyengar is included in the heroes and icons category which also mentions Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi and the Dalai Lama among others.

Former Miss World and actress Aishwarya Rai shares the limelight in the artistes and entertainers category with Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman, singer Norah Jones and author of the Harry Potter series J.K. Rowling.

Chairman of Wipro Ltd, is clubbed with media tycoon Rupert Murdoch and Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. — PTI

3 astronauts prepare for lift-off for ISS today

Baikonur (Kazakhstan), April 18
An American, a European and a Russian astronaut were preparing for their lift-off tomorrow towards the International Space Station from Moscow's launch pad in Kazakhstan.

"Everything uptill now has gone off as planned," Sergei Gorbunov, spokesman for Russia's Rosaviakosmos space agency, told AFP. "The Cosmonauts feel very well."

US's Edward Michael Fincke, Dutchman Andre Kuipers and Russia's Gennady Padalka are due to blast off aboard a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome at 0848 IST tomorrow.

They are due to dock at the station and replace Michael Foale and Alexei Kalery who have been there since last October.

Padalka and Fincke are due to remain at the station for six months, and are to perform two space walks in June and August. — AFP

Pak tribesmen start hunt for Al-Qaida men

Wana, April 18
Pakistani tribesmen today launched an operation to flush out foreign militants and their local supporters from the rugged mountains near the Afghan border after they refused to surrender.

Around 2,000 tribesmen, armed with assault rifles and other light weapons, started their march on foot towards Parvazaragh, around 35 km (20 miles) from Wana, where a group of militants is believed to be hiding.

“These people are bringing misery and trouble to our people,” said Malik Khadim, a tribal elder, while addressing his supporters. “If the wanted men are not arrested or killed, action will be taken against those tribes who fail to do their duty.” Tribesmen expect stiff resistance from the militants, who last month battled around 5,000 Pakistani troops for several days. More than 100 persons died, but no top militant figure was captured. The Pakistani authorities have been putting pressure on local tribes to help the government in hunting down militants in the region. — Reuters

BRIEFLY

Noted author Salman Rushdie poses with his wife Padma Laxmi after their marriage in New York on Saturday. — PTI

REMAINS OF 5 US MIAs REPATRIATED
HANOI: The remains of five Americans listed as missing in action (MIA) in Vietnam were repatriated to the United States for identification on Sunday from the central city of Danang. Major Thomas Dicken, Deputy Commander of the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Vietnam, said the bodies were recovered in recent US-Vietnamese search missions in central and southern parts of the south-east Asian nation. — AFP

3 RUSSIAN COPS KILLED IN SIEGE
MOSCOW: Two Russian policemen and an agent from the FSB intelligence service were killed during the siege of a suspected Chechen rebel holdout in a republic neighbouring Chechnya, Interfax reported on Sunday. — AFP

50 WORLD WAR II BOMBS DEFUSED
BEIJING: Fifty World War II bombs were disposed of by the police in Yueyang city in central China's Hunan province, a report said on Sunday. Most of these unexploded bombs were found on Friday in the Dongting lake and construction sites, which were believed to be buried and abandoned by Japanese troops during World War II, local newspapers reported. — PTI