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Sharon UN speech turns Israeli politics on its head
Manmohan-Pervez talks not failure: Aziz
To press India to be more flexible, Pak to approach US
G-4 nations vow to remain united
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Bush fails to garner support on Iran
Extremist groups active in UK varsities: report
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Sharon UN speech turns Israeli politics on its head
Jerusalem, September 16 Mr Sharon’s speech to the UN General Assembly yesterday calling for compromise to “end this bloody conflict” was more conciliatory than many had expected from an Israel leader long vilified internationally as an intransigent hardliner. Mr Sharon held firm on his insistence that it was now up to the Palestinians to prove they want peace by cracking down on militants following Israel’s pullout from Gaza earlier this week after 38 years of occupation. Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr Sharon’s rival in their Likud party, accused the Prime Minister of turning his back on his rightist roots, and Interior Minister Ophir Pines of centre-left Labour, said he had “unconditionally joined the peace camp”. Palestinians saw it as a propaganda ploy to mask Mr Sharon’s intention to keep a permanent hold on Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, continue expanding settlement blocs there and forestall a return to final-status negotiations. Just a few months ago, it would have been unthinkable for the burly, 77-year-old ex-General to stand before the world forum that many Israelis see as a bastion of anti-Israel sentiment. But the implementation of his “disengagement” plan has softened his image as Israel’s uncompromising “Bulldozer” and drawn accolades from the international community, which hopes the Gaza withdrawal will serve as a catalyst for renewed peacemaking. “The man who for the past four decades has intimidated, threatened, torpedoed, prevented, wagged his finger and thundered with a parched throat, restarted the clock yesterday and redefined himself,” wrote Ben Caspit, a political columnist for the daily Maariv. Still, Mr Sharon said little to suggest he planned any conciliatory moves toward the Palestinians anytime soon. “We do not see anything positive (in Mr Sharon’s speech),” said Palestinian Planning Minister Ghassan al-Khatib. Mr Sharon’s UN address drew harsh criticism from rightist opponents who brand him a traitor to the settlement movement he once championed. They see the Gaza pullout as a betrayal of Jewish biblical claims and a reward for Palestinian violence. “In his speech, Mr Sharon has finally clarified that he is turning to the left and will continue to make concessions,” Netanyahu, who is trying to unseat Mr Sharon as Likud chief for the next general election, said in a statement.
— Reuters |
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Manmohan-Pervez talks not failure: Aziz
Islamabad, September 16 “This is untrue,” Mr Aziz told the media here today, emphasising that the meeting between the two leaders was part of the ongoing composite dialogue, which is a continuous process. He said the two countries have made headway in resolving their outstanding problems. In their New York meeting, the two leaders expressed satisfaction on the pace of the ongoing dialogue process and agreed to continue it to bolster relations between the two nations. Pakistani and Indian Foreign Secretaries, who met in Islamabad early this month, agreed to hold the third round of talks between January-July 2006 on all eight agenda items ranging from the Jammu and Kashmir issue, peace and security, Siachen, Sir Creek, Wuller Barrage to cooperation in counter-terrorism and promotion of economic ties as well as friendly exchanges. “Pakistan wants to resolve all bilateral issues through dialogue and finding a solution to the Kashmir issue is our government’s top priority,” Prime Minister Aziz said. — UNI |
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To press India to be more flexible, Pak to approach US
Islamabad, September 16 Quoting officials, the paper said the Pakistani side went into the talks on September 14 expecting some progress, but came out “slightly disappointed.” They, however, managed to salvage something from the meeting as the Indian Prime Minister accepted an invitation by General Musharraf to visit Pakistan, “although no dates have been agreed upon,” it said. The Pakistan media uniformly reported lack of progress in the Singh-Musharraf meeting, saying the Indian Prime Minister’s nod to visit Pakistan was the only “saving grace.” Well before the talks, Mr Jahangir Karamat, a former Army chief, told a large contingent of Pakistan media which covered the event that the two leaders were likely to agree on troop pullout from the Siachen area. He also said that India might agree to pull out troops from some areas in
Jammu and Kashmir. — PTI |
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G-4 nations vow to remain united
New York, Sep 16 Indian External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh underlined that the four countries remained united in their approach to sweeping UN reforms despite the US openly saying that it favours only Japan to sit on the Security Council. "We are not in a tearing hurry," he said. "And India will not pull out of G-4." The G-4 grouping has been trying to muster the support of two-third of the UN. But it is short of the target and has been banking on the 53-member African Union to prop it up.
— IANS |
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Bush fails to garner support on Iran
The Bush administration’s efforts to build a coalition against Iran appear to be floundering.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice acknowledged that Washington might not have the support of key countries in its attempt to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council. The Bush administration had hoped to persuade a majority of nations to vote with it at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) meeting in Vienna on September 19, to get a referral on Iran for its failure to give up key parts of its nuclear energy programme. Washington has sought the support of Russia, China and India for the September 19 vote at the U.N. nuclear watchdog. The Security Council has the authority to impose sanctions and an oil embargo. India has indicated it will only vote in the IAEA if there is a consensus on the issue. T.P. Sreenivasan, a former Governor of India at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, told The Tribune that India had joined the consensus on all IAEA resolutions so far. "There was never a vote at the IAEA on this [Iran] issue before. Our position has been that Iran should honour its obligations under the NPT and that all issues should be resolved through dialogue with the IAEA,” he said. In the past, India had abstained from voting on the North Korean nuclear weapons issue on the ground that New Delhi did not want to be party to matters relating to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. "But we realised that such a position would rule us out of the negotiations on such issues,” Mr. Sreenivasan said . The Bush administration also appears to have shaky support from key European powers on the Iran issue. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met the British, French and German foreign ministers in New York yesterday. The three nations— the EU3, had been negotiating with Iran to give up what they suspect is a nuclear weapons program. Tehran maintains the program has a peaceful purpose. After the meeting with the Iranian leader, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the EU3 wanted to avoid referring Iran to the Security Council. Mr Ahmadinejad will address the General Assembly on Saturday. He has promised to unveil new proposals in his speech. The Iranian leader also met Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the U.N. summit. Miss Rice said she was concerned by Moscow’s decision to sell a reactor to the Iranians. Earlier, in a meeting with Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Mr. Ahmadinejad said Iran was ready to share peaceful nuclear know-how with other Islamic states. Miss Rice told the Fox News editorial board, “There is quite a bit of room and scope to put enough pressure on Iran diplomatically to at least constrain Iranian activities significantly.” |
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Extremist groups active in UK varsities: report
London, September 16 The study by Brunel University due to be published next week found “extremist and terror groups” active in more than 30 institutions across the country. British Education Secretary Ruth Kelly yesterday ordered Vice-Chancellors to clamp down on student extremists in the wake of the July terror attacks in London. She said university administrators must inform police if they suspect students or staff are
engaging in “unacceptable behaviour.” The Guardian newspaper said the document by Anthony Glees, the director of Brunel University’s Centre for Intelligence and Security Studies, lists more than 30 institutions, including some of the most high-profile universities in the country, where “extremist and/or terror groups” have been detected. The study claimed that the Islamist groups Hizbut-Tahrir and al-Muhajiroun, which are subject to a “no-platform policy” by the National Union of Students, are active on many campuses and often operate under different names. The report catalogues the activities of far-right organisations and animal rights extremists. Among the universities named in the report are Cambridge, where the BNP were detected; Oxford, where the report said animal rights extremists had been active; and the London School of Economics and Manchester University, which both had active Islamist extremist groups. Glees said personal tutors often had no idea about their students’ views and that many undergraduates spent very little time in lectures or tutorials. “It is in this environment that these groups can flourish without being detected.” However, Wakkas Khan, from the Federation of Student Islamic Societies, was quoted by the daily as saying that although there were individual members of Hizb ut-Tahrir at many British universities they were not organised as a group and did not pose a threat.
— PTI |
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In video: PM meets world leaders. (
