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Pak stand on Kashmir has world support: Aziz
Historic British Army regiments to be merged
Mortar attack on Sunni mosque
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10 Iraqis working for US company kidnapped
Rulers asked to learn from Dhaka tragedy
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Pak stand on Kashmir has world support: Aziz
Islamabad, December 19 The Indian leadership knows all this very well that we are not giving up our principled stand on Kashmir. And during my recent Indian visit, I had made it clear to the leadership in New Delhi that Pakistan wants to solve the Kashmir dispute through peaceful and meaningful talks, but we will never leave our principled stand,” he was quoted as saying in the media here. Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir enjoyed the moral support of the world, which made our case stronger, he claimed to reporters on board the plane yesterday while returning from his state visit to China. He said his visit to China was a success, adding Beijing had agreed to install a second nuclear reactor at the Chashma nuclear power plant early next year, overcoming its concerns following revelations by Pakistan’s top nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan that he proliferated nuclear technology to Iran, Libya and North Korea. Pakistan officials accompanying Mr Aziz said, initially the Chinese Government expressed concern following the disclosure about Mr Khan’s involvement in the black market of nuclear arsenal, local daily ‘Dawn’ said. “But their misgivings have been allayed and they are now very comfortable with the command and control system of Pakistan’s nuclear arms. They see it as an individual act for which the state is not responsible,” the officials said.
— PTI |
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Historic British Army regiments to be merged
THE government has unveiled one of the most sweeping sets of reforms for the army in recent history, triggering accusations of betrayal and hypocrisy.
Under the plans, four battalions will be axed and some of Britain’s most historic regiments merged into one body. The Scottish regiments were the most affected with five, including the Black Watch, rolled into one. Geoff Hoon, the Secretary of State for Defence, and General Sir Mike Jackson, the head of the army, forcefully argued that the restructuring was necessary to fight conflicts in the post-Cold War era. But the announcement of the measures in the Commons led to bitter and acrimonious exchanges with Annabelle Ewing, the Scottish Nationalist MP for Perth, being ordered out of the chamber after calling Mr Hoon a “back-stabbing coward”. Fellow Scottish Nationalist MP Mike Weir accused the government of “ a callous betrayal” of the Black Watch who had just returned from serving in Iraq, and Tory foreign affairs spokesman Michael Ancram said the plans from a “discredited and ineffective Defence Secretary” marked a “dark day” for the army. General Jackson said the decision to form the unit had come directly from the experiences of special forces in operations in the past 18 months in Iraq and Afghanistan. “It has become clear there is somethings of a gap between their capabilities and other forces. Very clearly there comes from this a requirement to provide ‘semi-conventional’ support in a number of areas to our highly specialised Special Forces.” The decision by the Committee of the Army Board to carry out the regimental mergers was embarrassing for Tony Blair who is believed to have asked senior officials, including General Jackson, to modify the plans to save political embarrassment. The opposition was most vocal in Scotland, where five regiments will combine to form the Royal Scottish Regiment. Jeff Duncan of Save the Scottish Regiments Campaign, said “Regiments like the Black Watch had put their lives on the line in Iraq, and now they have been betrayed.” The plans were bitterly condemned by Mr Ancram, who said they were driven by the government’s need to cut
costs. — By arrangement with The Independent, London |
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Saddam preparing legal challenge
London, December 19 The advice to take the case to US courts is contained in a 50-page brief prepared by Clive Stafford Smith, a leading British human rights lawyer, and intends to ensure that Saddam receives basic legal rights given to those tried in America, such as full access to his defence team and an independent judge and jury, a media report said today. The leaked brief, entitled “The Iraqi Special Tribunal as Victors’ Justice — the Inherent Illegality and Bias of the whole Process”, argues that the US law should prevail in the case because the trial is effectively being taken at the behest of the Americans, ‘The Sunday Times’ reported. The first hearings against former members of the Iraqi regime are due to start this week. Saddam’s case is expected next year.
— PTI |
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Mortar attack on Sunni mosque
Baghdad, December 19 The 7 a.m. (9.30 a.m) mortar attack targeted the Um al-Tuboul mosque in western Baghdad, sending plumes of smoke into the sky, shattering the mosque’s giant windows and showering the building’s floor with shards of glass. “It is a deliberate attack because the two mortars hit the mosque and apparently were not fired aimlessly,” said Fakhry al-Qeisi, secretary-general of the Supreme Association for Guidance and Daawa, a conservative Salafist Sunni organisation. “We do not know who is behind this act.” Although the mosque is officially known as Um al-Tuboul, the hardline Salafist movement took over the building during the disorder following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and renamed it Ibn Taymiyah mosque after a 13th-14th century Salafist scholar. The mosque is a major landmark in the capital’s western district and on the main road leading to Baghdad International Airport. On November 11, Iraqi security forces, backed by U.S. troops, raided the same mosque and arrested hardline Sunni cleric Sheik Mahdi al-Sumaidaei, who heads the Salafist Association, and 24 others.
— AP |
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10 Iraqis working for US company kidnapped
Baghdad, December 19 The groups, claiming to be the Mujahedeen Army, The Black Banner Brigade and the Mutassim Bellah Brigade, also threatened more attacks on Iraqi operations of the company, Washington DC-headquartered Sandi Group, and anyone who cooperated with it. Mutassim Bellah was an ancient Iraqi military commander. “We warn the director of (Sandi Group) ... to close the company completely and all its branches and to leave Iraq, otherwise those (hostages) who are in our grasp will be killed,” a masked militant wearing a traditional black Arab robe said in comments recorded on the tape obtained yesterday.
— AP |
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Rulers asked to learn from Dhaka tragedy
Hyderabad (Pakistan), December 19 He was speaking here on Friday night at a gathering organised by the Latifabad chapter of the party to mark the anniversary of the dismemberment of East Pakistan. He said Pakistan had come into being due to struggle of Muslims of the sub-continent but it had been disintegrated by army generals. He said statements against the two-nation theory and the Pakistan movement, similar to those made by Shaikh Mujibur Rehman, were being issued from London allegedly with the support of the rulers. He said those who had championed the cause of stranded Pakistanis were again sitting in the corridors of powers, but were maintaining a discreet silence on the issue. Mr Naseem said God had bestowed all natural resources upon Pakistan but unfortunately the country lacked efficient and honest leadership. Others who spoke on the occasion included Shaikh Shoukat Ali, Rao Masood Ali Khan and Amir Abu Abdullah. Our correspondent adds: Speakers at an All-Party Conference organised by the Jamaat-i-Islami have called for evolving a consensus among political parties not to allow any dictator to derail the democratic process in future. They stressed the need for a joint struggle by political forces against the government which they said had undermined the Kashmir cause, supremacy of Parliament and the Constitution and handed over the educational system to the Aga Khan Foundation. Speaking on the occasion, JI secretary-general Syed Munawar Hassan said political parties should demonstrate unity because the country was passing through a crucial phase He alleged that a bargain on the Kashmir issue was about to take place and under the garb of peace process, Pakistan was offering all kinds of relaxations to India without ascertaining the wishes of the Kashmiri people. He said any dialogue on the issue must be linked with the ouster of the Indian army from the occupied territory and the Kashmiri people should be compensated for the losses that they had suffered over the years. He called for allowing international media and observers to visit Kashmir. He said President Gen Pervez Musharraf was maligning armed forces because it was not on the army’s agenda to rule the country. Referring to Muttahida Qaumi Movement chief Altaf Hussain’s recent visit to India, Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal’s MNA Sahaibzada Abul Khair Mohammad Zubair said the statement of the Sindh Governor had proved that the visit was sponsored by the government. He said the government had not clarified its position despite repeated calls by political parties. He added that the operation in South Waziristan in which innocent people had been killed also indicated that a conspiracy had been hatched to destroy the country. |
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