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6 US army officers face expulsion
John Updike wins PEN/Faulkner Award Madhav Nepal,
G.P. Koirala released Indo-Bangla talks on terror camps
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6 US army officers face expulsion Baghdad, May 3 The six were slapped with the General Office Memorandum Reprimandum (GOMR), an effective career killer, which blocks any promotion and could see them expelled if the military decides to take further action, the official said. A seventh individual has been handed a “letter of admonishment,” a punishment one grade below the GOMR. All seven are now appealing the rulings. The officers, whose reprimands were issued in the last month during one of three investigations into the abuse of detainees at the Abu Gharib prison, near Baghdad, include Brig-Gen Janis Karpinski, who had overseen the prison system in Iraq. The official refused to say if General Karpinski, a reserve officer, received a GOMR or the lesser reprimand. The investigation kicked off last January when a soldier stepped forward with lurid tales of abuse by prison guards inside the walls of Abu Gharib, once the most dreaded prisons under fallen dictator Saddam Hussein. Besides the officers, six US prison guards have been charged with criminal conduct for abusing detainees at Abu Gharib and four more guards are still under investigation. A third enquiry has also been opened into interrogation procedures that could lead to criminal indictment or administrative punishment of intelligence officers, both military and CIA, and civilian contractors involved in questioning detainees. LONDON: In a new twist to the controversy over the authenticity of purported pictures of torture of Iraqi prisoners by British troops, two soldiers who exposed the incident insisted they told the truth while some army officers claimed the photos were fakes. Daily Mirror, a tabloid, quoted two soldiers who exposed British troops torturing an Iraqi suspect insisting yesterday that they told the truth. The unnamed soldiers from the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment said, “The Army knows there are pictures of other incidents.” Hover another daily ‘The Times’ in a lead story quoting senior officers said pictures that appear to show a hooded Iraqi prisoner being abused and beaten up by British soldiers are “almost certainly fake”. Ministry of Defence officials promised that the photographs, which first appeared in the Daily Mirror on Saturday, would be thoroughly investigated, amid fears that they could anger Iraqi civilians. Piers Morgan, the Editor of the Daily Mirror, said the two soldiers who supplied the pictures and made the allegations had revealed more details of brutal treatment of Iraqi prisoners by British soldiers. —
AFP, PTI |
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9 US troops killed in Iraq Baghdad, May 3 But Washington had good news yesterday when US civilian Thomas Hamill escaped from being held hostage for three weeks by gunmen and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he expected the Security Council to authorise a multinational force for Iraq. “Quite frankly, it’s in everybody’s interest to do whatever we can to stabilise Iraq,” Mr Annan told NBC television, adding that a resolution being considered by Washington would deal with Iraq’s future after a planned US handover of power on June 30. US Marine Major T.V. Johnson told reporters that six soldiers died when the mortar attack targeted a military base in west Iraq, but would give no further details. Two US soldiers were killed in northwest Baghdad and another died in a guerrilla attack at a US base near the northern oil city of Kirkuk. Two members of the Iraqi Civil Defence Corps were also killed in Baghdad yesterday. After April became the bloodiest month for US troops in Iraq with 129 combat deaths, American commanders were able to report better news when Hamill, a trucker, ran into the arms of a US patrol close to Saddam Hussein’s home town of Tikrit. Hamill, 43, was taken hostage after his convoy was attacked and destroyed on a main highway out of Baghdad on April 9. Two fellow employees of the US company Halliburton’s subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root are still missing. Former US hostage Thomas Hamil, who escaped his captors at the weekend, has left Iraq and is on his way to a military hospital in Germany for medical check-up, a US military official said today. Meanwhile, the USA appointed a former senior officer of the Iraqi armed forces to take overall command of an Iraqi force in the town of Falluja, a senior US military official said today. The official said Mohammed Latif would lead the Falluja Brigade, subject to checks on his background.
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Gandhi, Mother Teresa humanitarian
heroes
London, May 3 The illustrious list which begins with one of Gandhi’s ardent followers, Former South African President Nelson Mandela, includes Nobel laureate Mother Teresa as the fifth greatest humanitarian hero chosen by the Britons. Gandhi occupies the fourth position. The polls, which marked the start of week-long celebrations of Charity Work, was conducted by the British Red Cross. It surveyed 2,000 Britons wherein 28 per cent chose Mandela while 9 per cent voted for Gandhi. Princess Diana came second followed by musician and campaigner Bob Geldof. The poll gave Princess Diana 23 per cent votes. Mother Teresa was ranked at fifth position with 7 per cent votes. Prime Minister Tony Blair was ranked at sixth position, one place ahead of Prime Minister Winston Churchill. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Blair shared the sixth position. Princess Diana was more popular with women accounting for 28 per cent of their votes and was also admired by the18-24 age group, who voted for her in greater numbers than all other age groups. Mandela was the most popular choice among British men claiming 30 per cent of their votes. “The Red Cross has touched many people’s lives over the last 60 years, we want to hear those stories and celebrate the Red Cross heroes who make a real difference everyday,’’ Red Cross chief executive Sir Nick Young said. The deadline for nominations is May 17 with the winner of the Red Cross Humanitarian Hero Award announced on May 31. The choosing the greatest humanitarian hero, the hunt has now begun for the Britain’s unsung Red Cross humanitarian hero. —
UNI |
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John Updike wins PEN/Faulkner Award New York, May 3 One of the three judges who chose the winners, who were announced today, praised Updike for “an astonishing display of what prose should be and what it can do” and for illustrating for his readers “what we were like as the 20th century bumped along”. Updike — who has published more than 40 books of fiction, poetry and criticism — is best known for his “Rabbit” series, which includes the novels “Rabbit Run” and “Rabbit Redux” and follow an American everyman as he grows up, marries, builds a career and ages. It has been hailed as a definitive account of life in USA in the 20th century. The writer, born in Pennsylvania and now living in Massachusetts, has won every major literary award in the USA, including two Pulitzer Prizes for fiction, the American Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award and now the PEN/Faulkner. Updike, 72, was chosen from 350 writers for this year’s award from the PEN writers organization, which promotes literature and free expression. The other four finalists were Frederick Barthelme for “Elroy Nights”, ZZ Packer for “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere”, Caryl Phillips for “A Distant Shore” and Tobias Wolff for “Old School”. —
DPA |
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Madhav Nepal, G.P. Koirala released Kathmandu, May 3 Keeping in view the demands of political parties, the government has lifted prohibitory orders in Kathmandu effective from mid-night today, Nepalese Home and Communication Minister Kamal Thapa told reporters. “Though there is still some fear that Maoists might infiltrate into the agitation programme being launched by the five political parties, so I urge them to observe restrain while holding demonstrations and meetings,” Mr Thapa said. He also informed that all those detained in connection with the pro-democracy agitations, including NC President G.P. Koirala and CPN-UML general secretary M.K. Nepal have been released. There are no more than five persons in detention in connection with the agitation, the Home Minister clarified. —
PTI |
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Indo-Bangla talks on terror camps fail Dhaka, May 3 Although a joint statement of discussions was signed by BSF Director-General Ajai Raj Sharma and his Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) counterpart Major-Gen Jehangir Alam Chowdhury agreeing to stop illegal cross-overs, the two sides engaged in allegations and counter-allegations over the issue of terrorist camps. During the five-day biennial meet, General Sharma handed over a list of 195 terrorist camps based in Bangladesh, irrespective of disclaimer from his BDR counterpart. The number of such camps cited in the list is five higher than that specified during the last meeting in New Delhi in January. The BDR, on the other hand, alleged that 37 anti-Bangladesh camps were based in India and submitted a list of 344 terrorists they believe are in that country. In view of such allegations and counter-allegations, he said, he had proposed joint investigation. —PTI |
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Islamic terrorists kill 10 in Algeria Algiers, May 3 In the capital Algiers, two policemen were shot dead late Saturday during celebrations of a Muslim religious holiday. The daily Le Matin said the killers belonged to the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), and denies reports that its members are surrendering and giving up the revolt on its Internet website. Algerian media reports recently said some 300 Islamic insurgents had surrendered to security forces, thereby largely putting an end to the organised rebellion that had taken some 150,000 lives in Algeria since 1992. In another incident, two soldiers were killed and an unspecified number were injured when suspected rebels detonated a bomb near a military convoy in Bouira, about 100 km east of Algiers. Six civilians were also killed by terrorists —
DPA |
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Peru, Mexico recall envoys to Cuba Lima, May 3 Meanwhile, Mexico also recalled its Ambassador to Cuba and requested Cuba’s Ambassador leave Mexican territory within 48 hours. —
AFP |
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Catholic radicals beat up actor Madrid, May 3 ‘’Me cago en Dios’’ (‘’In God I shit’’) has prompted controversy in the Spanish capital, where regional Prime Minister Esperanza Aguirre called on the Circulo de Bellas Artes theatre to suspend it. Two Catholic zealots aged 21 and 24 years jumped up from the audience and stormed the stage, shouting ‘’Long live Christ the King’’ and ‘’Blasphemers’’. They injured actor Fernando Incera and playwright Inigo Ramirez de Haro, destroyed a part of the equipment and attempted to set the theatre on fire. ‘’The public did not react immediately, because it thought these events were part of the play,’’ Ramirez de Haro explained later. The attackers were subsequently detained. Conservative politician Aguirre, who is Ramirez de Haro’s sister- in-law, said a play offending ‘’the deepest feelings of most Madrid residents’’ should not be staged at a publically funded theatre. —
DPA |
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New York, May 3
