 |
|
USA speaks tough on Uzbek onslaught
Veto issue “matter of concern”: USA
Newsweek retracts story on Koran abuse
Soft borders no solution: Pervez
Italian aid worker kidnapped in Kabul
Blair proposes I-cards, Bill on immigration
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Panel hears graft charges against Deuba
|
|
USA speaks tough on Uzbek onslaught
The Bush administration on Monday had harsh words for its ally in the war on terrorism saying it was “deeply disturbed” by reports that soldiers in Uzbekistan fired on unarmed civilians during anti-government protests in that country last week.
Uzbek President Islam Karimov has blamed the unrest on Islamic extremists. Mr Karimov offered a base to the USA military to launch attack on Afghanistan in 2001 after Turkey refused to make its base available. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters on Monday: “We certainly condemn the indiscriminate use of force against unarmed civilians and deeply regret any loss of life.” He said the Bush administration had urged the Uzbek Government to exercise restraint, stressing that violence cannot lead to long-term stability. “And we have made that point with senior Uzbek authorities in Washington and Tashkent,” he said. Mr Boucher also criticised the anti-government demonstrators who set inmates free at a prison in the Uzbek city of Andijan on Friday. “There is nothing that justifies acts of violence or terrorism and we are very concerned at reports of either the release or the escape of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan members,” he said. According to reports, government troops violently dispersed demonstrations on Friday in Andijan, opening fire on crowds of protesters in the city’s main square. The death toll is unknown, but eyewitnesses estimated that several hundred were killed and many more injured, including unarmed civilians. Washington has urged Mr Karimov to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross and other humanitarian organisations full access to the region. Earlier in the month, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom recommended that Uzbekistan be put on the State Department’s list of “countries of particular concern” for severe violations of religious freedom. Noting that the Uzbek government had blamed the recent violence on extremists, Mr Boucher said Washington felt that the “tag of Islamic extremists had been used too broadly by the government and that there needed to be more respect for people who want to profess their religion peacefully”. He also urged the government in Tashkent to undertake democratic reforms. New York-based Human Rights Watch on Monday said it was concerned that the Uzbek Government might again use excessive force against demonstrators and unleash a broader crackdown on peaceful protesters and dissidents. “The government can’t use the war on terrorism to justify shooting demonstrators,” said Holly Cartner, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia division. “This isn’t about terrorism. It’s about people speaking out against poverty and repression.” |
|
Veto issue “matter of concern”: USA
Washington, May 17 “I think we all know that the issue of the veto power is one that has been discussed. It has been raised in discussions among member states, including by some who are looking for membership of the Security Council,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told mediapersons here when asked about reports of the USA opposing veto power to India and other countries if they become permanent members of the council. Asked whether the USA should continue to have veto power in the expanded Security Council, he replied: “The USA should have the veto power.” About the official US position on veto power to Japan, the only country the USA has supported for a permanent seat in the Security Council, he said: “We have made clear our support for Japan’s candidacy for a permanent seat.
— PTI |
|
Newsweek retracts story on Koran abuse
After a barrage of criticism from the White House, the State Department and the Pentagon, Newsweek on Monday retracted its story about US interrogators at Guantanamo Bay desecrating a Koran.
“Based on what we know now, we are retracting our original story that an internal military investigation had uncovered Koran’s abuse at Guantanamo Bay,” magazine’s Editor Mark Whitaker said in a statement late on Monday. According to the magazine, it checked the story, which appeared in its May 9 issue, before publication with a Pentagon source. That official identified an error, which the magazine rectified, but said nothing about a government source’s reference to an alleged incident in which US interrogators flushed a Koran down a toilet at the US detention facility. “The official had not meant to mislead, but lacked detailed knowledge” about the statements made by the government source, the magazine said. Earlier, on Monday, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, while not asking for a retraction of the story, said he found it “puzzling that Newsweek now acknowledges that the facts were wrong, and they refuse to offer a retraction”. “There is a certain journalistic standard that should be met, and in this case it was not met. The report was not accurate, and it was based on a single anonymous source who cannot personally substantiate the report. They cannot even verify the accuracy of the report,” he added. Attending a hearing on Capitol Hill, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld noted that people had lost their lives because of the report. “People need to be very careful about what they say, just as they need to be careful about what they do,” he said. On her way back from Iraq, where she made a surprise visit, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told accompanying reporters that the story had done “a lot of harm”. “It’s appalling that this story got out there. The sad thing was that there was a lot of anger that got stirred by a story that was not very well founded,” she said. At the Pentagon, a senior official noted that there was no evidence to support the Newsweek report. “Newsweek’s story about Koran desecration is demonstrably false, and there have thus far been no credible allegations of willful Koran desecration, and Newsweek has produced no such evidence,” Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said. The Pentagon official stated Newsweek could not “retract the damage it had done to this nation or those that were viciously attacked by those false allegations”. Mr McClellan said the report had had “serious consequences”. “It has caused damage to the image of the USA abroad. People have lost their lives. It has certainly caused damage to the credibility of the media, as well, and Newsweek, itself,” he said. Apology not enough: Pak
Islamabad, May 17 Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said the report “insulted the feelings of Muslims...just an apology is not enough. They should think 101 times before publishing news that hurt hearts”. His comments came a day after the Foreign Ministry reiterated a demand for a probe into the alleged desecration. |
|
|
Soft borders no solution: Pervez
London, May 17 “Many magazines and articles I read from the Indian side, some of them misrepresent this soft as meaning a solution. I don’t see this as a solution at all. This may be a step towards confidence building, which could facilitate a solution,” he was quoted as saying by the daily Financial Times in an interview here on
Monday. In reply to a question about the proposed $ 4.5 billion gas pipeline from Iran to India through Pakistan, the President said Pakistan needed energy for its continued development. “We are short of energy. We want gas immediately. Our industry is suffering; investment coming to Pakistan is suffering, so Pakistan’s interest is to get gas fast.” Answering a question on the arrest of Al-Qaida operative Abu Faraj Farj Al Libbi, Gen Musharraf described the capture as very significant and a big dent for Al-Qaida, rendering it unable to function as a centrally controlled and cohesive entity. “I can’t say for sure that we finally nailed them and finished them, but we have taken over their sanctuaries, their communications centres, and left them in small batches, on the run. I can certainly say with (a) fair amount of surety that their linkage is very seriously damaged,” the President was quoted as saying. “We have broken their back. They cease to exist as a cohesive, homogenous body under good command and control, vertical and horizontal,” he added. Answering a question on the reported desecration of the Holy Quran at the
Guantanamo Bay interrogation Centre, he called for ‘‘maximum punishment’’ for the people responsible. |
|
|
Italian aid worker kidnapped in Kabul
Washington, May 17 Thirty-two-year-old Clementina Cantoni’s abduction evoked memories in the NGO community of similar kidnappings in Iraq, and concern about the tenuous law and order situation in Afghanistan. Three United Nations workers were kidnapped in Kabul in October and held for 27 days before being released unharmed. Miss Cantoni, an aid worker for 10 years, has been working in Afghanistan since March 2002 where she runs a programme called “Humani-tarian Assistance for the Women in Afghanistan.” The programme provides food assistance and other help to 11,000 widows and their children, according to CARE. Expressing concern for Miss Cantoni’s well-being, CARE International called for her immediate release in a brief statement on Monday. This was the second kidnapping of a CARE worker in recent months. |
|
Blair proposes I-cards, Bill on immigration
London, May 17 The ID card plan, announced by Queen Elizabeth II in Parliament amid great pomp and pageantry, is the most contentious measure proposed by Mr Blair since his Labour Party was re-elected for a third term in office on May 5.
— AFP |
|
Panel hears graft charges against Deuba
Kathmandu, May 17 The Royal Commission for Corruption Control (RCCC), set up by the monarch, detained Mr Deuba last month and charged him and a cabinet colleague of embezzling 5.3 million dollars state funds in a drinking water project. Prosecutors have also accused Mr Deuba and six former cabinet ministers of distributing 54,000 dollars from the Prime Minister’s relief fund to party supporters during the Hindu festival of Dasain last October. Mr Deuba was not present when the charges were read, but an official said he would get a chance to defend himself. If found guilty, Mr Deuba could be sentenced to up to 13 years in jail, legal experts said. “He will get a full chance to reply and seek legal assistance to defend himself,” said Mr Prem Raj Karki, a spokesman of the commission. — Reuters |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Washington, May 17
