W O R L D

Pak must curb terror camps: Bush envoy
Washington, June 8
Mr Zalmay Khalilzad, President George W. Bush's special envoy and the former Ambassador to Afghanistan, has said Pakistan must curb terrorist camps within its territory.

UN resolutions are redundant: Umar Farooq
Islamabad, June 8
In a significant statement, moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference today said that the UN resolutions on Kashmir had failed to resolve the issue and the time has come to explore other options.

Malik meets Musharraf
Islamabad, June 8
Yasin Malik, chief of a faction of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front held a one-on-one meeting with President Pervez Musharraf yesterday. There was no official word available about the meeting, which took place after the dinner hosted by President Musharraf for Hurriyat leaders.

China charges G-4 with dividing UNSC member states
Beijing, June 8
China today accused India and other G-4 countries, which are seeking permanent membership in an expanded UN Security Council, of dividing member states of the world body’s top organ on the issue.

Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan is welcomed by Dutch girls in traditional costumes as he arrives at Schiphol airport, Amsterdam, on Wednesday. Indian film stars are travelling to the Netherlands to attend the International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA) from June 9 to 11 in Amsterdam. — AP/PTI

30 killed in China mine blasts
Beijing, June 8
At least 30 persons were killed in two mine explosions in China today, the deadliest blast involving a state-runcoal mine already flagged for safety violations, state media reported.

Over 60 journalists held in Nepal
Kathmandu, June 8
More than 60 journalists were arrested in Nepal today as hundreds of scribes entered a restricted area here demanding democratic rights and press freedom.

Window closing for US in North Korean N-talks
There is a small crack in the otherwise closed door between the US and North Korea. That is part of the message Stanford Professor John Lewis, an expert on northeast Asian security issues, brought back this past week from a visit to China and North Korea.

Flags to fly half mast in respect of Kanishka victims
Toronto, June 8
For the first time in 20 years since the Kanishka bombing, flags across Canada will be lowered to half mast on June 23 in remembrance of the victims of one of the worst terrorist attacks the world has seen.

Body parts fall from plane
New York, June 8
Pieces of a man's body fell from the wheel well of a South African Airways passenger plane bound for John F. Kennedy International Airport and landed in a yard of a suburban home, the police said.

Actress Bancroft dies of cancer
New York, June 8
Anne Bancroft, who won the 1962 best actress Oscar as the teacher of a young Helen Keller in “The Miracle Worker” but achieved greater fame as the seductive Mrs Robinson in “The Graduate”, has died. She was 73.

Pak must curb terror camps: Bush envoy

Washington, June 8
Mr Zalmay Khalilzad, President George W. Bush's special envoy and the former Ambassador to Afghanistan, has said Pakistan must curb terrorist camps within its territory.

Speaking at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing to confirm his appointment as US Ambassador to Iraq, Khalilzad said: "If it's a 10-mile journey, we are in mile 4," measuring the progress in Afghanistan.

While many achievements can be counted there was a long way to go yet, he noted. "Big issues" remain, among them "more needs to be done for Afghanistan's relations with neighbours whose territories are being used by Taliban and Al Qaida."

When pressed to name the neighbours, Khalilzad said, "Certainly some elements of the Taliban and Al Qaida went to Pakistan, and some went to Iran. Pakistan is doing very well and I must praise the efforts of General (President Pervez) Musharraf, on all fronts. But we would like to encourage President Musharraf to do as much as possible...I think the two countries need to do more to implement the (accountability and reconciliation agreement)."

During his testimony, Khalilzad said the US had no intention of establishing a permanent base in Iraq and that it would take less than the estimated 10 years to put down the insurgency there. — IANS

UN resolutions are redundant: Umar Farooq

Islamabad, June 8
In a significant statement, moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference today said that the UN resolutions on Kashmir had failed to resolve the issue and the time has come to explore other options.

“The UN resolutions (on Kashmir) have failed. We may have to sacrifice one lakh more people to get them implemented,” Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who is visiting Pakistan along with eight other separatist leaders from the Kashmir valley, told a press conference here along with Pakistan Information Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmed.

Taking a dig at his opponent and hardline Hurriyat leader Sayed Ali Shah Geelani, who is studiously advocating a solution to the Kashmir problem based on the UN resolutions, Farooq said those who are advocating this should look at Palestine and Iraq, where the UN has failed besides Kashmir.

Asked to elaborate his comments further, Farooq said, “the matter of fact is that UN has failed and there is no other option other than exploring other ideas.”

While the UN resolutions are there, one should look beyond and explore other possibilities, he added.

Giving an upbeat assessment of the meeting last night all the visiting separatist leaders had with President Pervez Musharraf, Farooq said they discussed a number of ideas including the proposals for soft borders and self governance advocated by the General in recent weeks.

Farooq said their visit to Pakistan had formally kicked off a “triangular” dialogue process between India-Pakistan, Kashmiris-Pakistan and the circle would be complete when they meet the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the coming weeks to discuss the ideas they have deliberated with Musharraf.

The Mirwaiz also ruled out accepting the LOC as a solution and called for a timeframe to resolve the Kashmir issue, which he admitted was a very complex one. He said the first phase of the talks should focus on chalking out proposals and solutions that were acceptable to India, Pakistan and Kashmiris.

Meanwhile, Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf has termed Hurriyat leaders as the ‘true Leaders’ and ‘right representatives’ of the people of Kashmir. — PTI

Malik meets Musharraf

Islamabad, June 8
Yasin Malik, chief of a faction of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) held a one-on-one meeting with President Pervez Musharraf yesterday.

There was no official word available about the meeting, which took place after the dinner hosted by President Musharraf for Hurriyat leaders.

Despite being part of the APHC delegation, Mr Malik held separate meetings with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and United Jehad Council (UJC) chief Syed Salahuddin last Sunday.

Mr Malik refused to divulge details of his meeting, saying he would do so on his return to Srinagar. — UNI

China charges G-4 with dividing
UNSC member states

Beijing, June 8
China today accused India and other G-4 countries, which are seeking permanent membership in an expanded UN Security Council, of dividing member states of the world body’s top organ on the issue.

“On the reform of the UNSC, we understand the desire of the Indian side to play a bigger role in the UN. Of course, we believe that the reform of the UNSC is only one aspect in the reform of the UN which includes many other aspects,” Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Shen Guofang said.

He stated this during an interaction with a visiting media delegation from South Asia, including India, when asked about China’s stance on New Delhi’s bid for the permanent membership of the UNSC.

Shen noted that the G-4 comprising India, Brazil, Germany and Japan had been “working with other countries on a big scale.”

“In fact, their activities have already divided the member nations of the UNSC,” he said.

“We hope the G-4 is fully aware of the seriousness of the issue. When the whole issue of UNSC reform is still very divisive, it is not appropriate for us to talk about who should be the permanent member and who should not be the permanent member,” Shen said.

Though Shen noted that China and India had upgraded their relations to a strategic level during Chinese premier Wen Jiabao’s visit to India in April, he avoided any mention of Beijing’s reported backing of New Delhi’s bid for a permanent UNSC seat during the trip. — PTI

30 killed in China mine blasts

Beijing, June 8
At least 30 persons were killed in two mine explosions in China today, the deadliest blast involving a state-runcoal mine already flagged for safety violations, state media reported.

A gas leak at the Zijiang coal mine in Lengshuijiang city in central China’s Hunan province killed at least 21 persons. Some 232 workers were underground when the gas leak occurred at around 8.30 am (IST) state television said.

The workers were killed when a large amount of poisonous gas poured into the pit where they were working, Xinhua news agency said.

Six rescue teams were searching underground for four missing workers, television said.

The Zijiang mine was on a list of 61 state-owned coal mines that fell short of basic work safety conditions released by national coal mine safety authorities in May, television reported. — Reuters

Over 60 journalists held in Nepal

Kathmandu, June 8
More than 60 journalists were arrested in Nepal today as hundreds of scribes entered a restricted area here demanding democratic rights and press freedom.

Those arrested included Bishnu Nishthuri, President of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), which has launched a campaign against the government’s curbs on free media.

About 500 journalists from both print and electronic media gathered at Bhrikutimandap Exhibition ground here to stage a demonstration against the suspension of press freedom by King Gyanendra on February 1, when he assumed full powers by dismissing multiparty government.

As riot police, numbering in hundreds, closed the main gate of the exhibition ground to prevent them from taking out a rally, the journalists, breaking the security cordon, entered a restricted area shouting slogans against the Royal government.

After the royal takeover, many streets near the palace complex, and in other parts of Kathmandu, have become restricted areas, where demonstrations are not allowed.

The scribes were carrying placards that read ‘Restore Press Freedom,’ ‘Allow FM radio to transmit News’, ‘End Press Censorship,’ ‘Abolish Restrictive Press Laws,’ ‘Stop Arresting Journalists’ and ‘Withdraw Unconstitutional Orders to curb Media.” — PTI

Window closing for US in North Korean N-talks
Daniel Sneider

There is a small crack in the otherwise closed door between the US and North Korea. That is part of the message Stanford Professor John Lewis, an expert on northeast Asian security issues, brought back this past week from a visit to China and North Korea.

Lewis, making his 11th visit to Pyongyang, met at length with the senior officials involved in the stalled six-party talks on the North Korean nuclear programme.

They told him they were within a week of agreeing to return to the talks, responding to a May 13 visit by US officials to the North Korean UN mission, the first direct contact since last December.

The North Koreans then pulled the plug, citing the statements of senior US officials, warning that they would go to the UN to impose an economic embargo against Pyongyang if talks failed to resume.

The Pentagon has since abruptly ended a cooperative programme to search for the remains of Korean War-era MIAs in the North and dispatched stealth fighter-bombers to South Korea. The North Koreans went postal this past week when Vice President Dick Cheney repeated his oft-stated harsh views.

But the desire to find a way back to the talks was still evident Thursday when the North Koreans pointedly praised President George W. Bush's relatively mild comments in his May 31 press conference, including his relatively respectful reference to the North Korean leader as "Mr. Kim Jong Il." Pyongyang is extremely worried about a new food crisis because of unfavourable weather conditions at the critical moment when rice seedlings are transplanted, Lewis reports. International food aid is dropping sharply. And the Communist state's tentative steps towards economic reform will falter without outside investment.

The North Koreans know their survival may depend on trading their nuclear weapons programme to join the world economy. Some elements of the leadership are sufficiently eager that an agreement to return to talks could come quickly.

Unfortunately, North Korea also wants to change the content of those talks.

As they outlined in a March 31 statement and reiterated with Lewis, the North now insists that the initial talks should not be about dismantling their nuclear programme.

Rather, these should be arms-control talks among the six parties pairing their disarmament with steps by the US to remove what the North claims are preparations for a pre-emptive nuclear strike against it and creating mutual security on the entire Korean peninsula. — IANS

Flags to fly half mast in respect of Kanishka victims

Toronto, June 8
For the first time in 20 years since the Kanishka bombing, flags across Canada will be lowered to half mast on June 23 in remembrance of the victims of one of the worst terrorist attacks the world has seen.

Prime Minister Paul Martin will join the relatives of the victims of the 1985 Air-India disaster at a special remembrance ceremony in Ireland. In the bombing, 329 persons, mostly Canadians, were killed when the Air-India plane exploded near the south coast of Ireland.

There will be a special commemoration on the 20th anniversary of the carnage on June 23. Ottawa has already promised to cover part of the travel costs of families who wish to attend.

In an unusual gesture, marking another first in the Air-India saga, the Prime Minister met with the families of the victims in Toronto and talked to them about the tragedy. The relatives, who have been angry and upset ever since the lengthy Air-India trial ended without any convictions, came from as far as Vancouver to meet Mr Martin. — UNI

Body parts fall from plane

New York, June 8
Pieces of a man's body fell from the wheel well of a South African Airways passenger plane bound for John F. Kennedy International Airport and landed in a yard of a suburban home, the police said.

A US Customs Inspector discovered the rest of the man's body at 0730 hrs (local time) 1700 hrs (IST) after Flight 203 landed in New York from Johannesburg, South Africa, said a spokesman yesterday for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which oversees area airports.

A South African Airways spokeswoman said it appeared to have been a stowaway attempt. She said the plane had stopped in Dakar, Senegal, on its way to New York.

The pilot reported feeling vibrations at take off but conducted a check and found nothing amiss, said Nassau County, New York police detective Kevin Smith.

During the flight, Smith said the pilot felt more ''vibrating sensations and heard pounding, but nothing appeared wrong with the plane.''

The body parts, which included the right leg, part of spine and a hip, struck a garage roof of the home in South Floral Park, New York, before landing in the backyard, the police said. — Reuters

Actress Bancroft dies of cancer

New York, June 8
Anne Bancroft, who won the 1962 best actress Oscar as the teacher of a young Helen Keller in “The Miracle Worker” but achieved greater fame as the seductive Mrs Robinson in “The Graduate”, has died. She was 73.

She died of cancer on Monday at Mount Sinai Hospital, John Barlow, a spokesman for her husband, Mel Brooks, said.

Bancroft was awarded the Tony for creating the role on Broadway of poor-sighted Annie Sullivan, the teacher of Keller, who was born deaf and blind. She repeated her portrayal in the film version.

Yet, despite her Academy Award and four other nominations, “The Graduate” overshadowed her other achievements.

Bancroft complained to a 2003 interviewer: “I am quite surprised that with all my work, and some of it is very, very good, that nobody talks about ‘The Miracle Worker’. We’re talking about Mrs Robinson. I understand the world. ... I’m just a little dismayed that people aren’t beyond it yet.” — AP