W O R L D

N. Korea rocks nuclear deal
Wants USA to provide atomic reactors
Seoul, Beijing, September 20
North Korea jeopardised a six-nation deal on giving up its nuclear arms just one day after it was struck by vowing today to keep the weapons until Washington provides civilian atomic reactors.

Pakistan reiterates stand on N-energy issue
Islamabad, September 20
In a pointed message to the US and other Western countries, Pakistan said on Monday that any discriminatory treatment on the question of civilian nuclear technology would not be acceptable to it.

External Affairs Minister K. Natwar Singh is warmly greeted by his Bangladeshi counterpart Murshid Khan, as their Pakistani colleague Khurshid M. Kasuri looks on at a lunheon for SAARC Foreign Ministers hosted by Pakistan in New York on Monday. — PTI

Pak for import of cement, garlic from India
Islamabad, September 20
After the Pakistan government permitted duty free imports of meat, sugar and four other essentials items from India, traders here now want to import ginger and cement through Wagah border.

Al-Qaida claims responsibility for London bombings
London, September 20
Al-Qaida, for the first time, claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 7 suicide bombings in London that killed 52 people. In a videotaped message, aired on the Arab television station al-Jazeera yesterday, Al-Qaida’s deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri said al-Qaida had the “honour” of carrying out the attacks.

Sikhs pray with Bush for Katrina victims
Sikh leaders from the Washington area joined President George W. Bush in a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance service at the Washington National Cathedral on Friday to honour the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

British army storms Iraqi jail, releases captured Britons
Basra, September 20
In a major show of force, British soldiers used 10 tanks to break down the walls of the central jail in the southern city of Basra and freed two Britons, allegedly undercover commandos, who had been arrested on the charges of shooting two Iraqi policemen.

N. Korea rocks nuclear deal
Wants USA to provide atomic reactors

Seoul, Beijing, September 20
North Korea jeopardised a six-nation deal on giving up its nuclear arms just one day after it was struck by vowing today to keep the weapons until Washington provides civilian atomic reactors.

The US State Department said the North’s views, set out in a lengthy statement, did not match the agreement it signed at six-country talks in Beijing. Japan said the North’s demand was unacceptable and China asked all sides to fulfil their promises.

Seoul said it would take the lead role in bridging the gap between the US and North Korean positions.

The six countries, also including Russia, had agreed yesterday to a set of principles on winding up Pyongyang’s nuclear programmes in return for aid and recognising its right to a civilian nuclear programme. The six agreed to discuss providing a light-water reactor “at an appropriate time”.

Analysts noted the North had backtracked on seemingly rock-solid positions before, and so the deal was not dead yet.

“They’ve chosen the appropriate time to discuss it is now,” said Peter Hayes, a North Korea expert at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. “I think what they’re doing is negotiating. They’re putting out a maximal position”.

The North’s Foreign Ministry statement could be mostly aimed at its own people, said Toshimitsu Shigemura, a professor at Waseda University in Tokyo and an expert on North Korea.

While official reaction to the end of the fourth round of talks had been upbeat, sceptics had already said the deal was long on words, vague on timing and sequence, and short on action.

The North’s comments exposed those shortcomings.

“The US should not even dream of the issue of the DPRK’s dismantlement of its nuclear deterrent before providing LWRs,” said the statement, published by KCNA news agency. “This is our just and consistent stand as solid as a deeply rooted rock.”

DPRK is short for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. LWRs are light-water reactors that experts say are more proliferation-resistant than others.

As the North has given ground before, its statement may not be the last word. After the first round in August 2003, it said just a day after the talks it saw no need for more.

“It could be a lot of bluster,” said one US official in Washington. But today’s statement posed at least a challenge to a deal which less than 24 hours earlier delegates applauded.

“This was obviously not the agreement they signed and we will see what the coming weeks bring,” said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, referring to the gap before talks are set to resume in November. Japan took the same view.

Referring to its nuclear deterrent, North Korea’s chief delegate, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye-Gwan, told mediapersons in Beijing: “There will be no such thing as giving it up first”.

Seoul said the North’s comments were no surprise.

“North Korea and the United States may pull and push over the wording of ‘appropriate time’ but the South Korean government role is to mediate,” President Roh Moo-hyun’s spokesman quoted him as saying. Roh said the deal should open the gates to more economic aid to the impoverished North.

South Korea’s stock market was optimistic, too. It ended on an all-time high, despite the apparent setback.

“North Korea’s willingness to compromise at the negotiation table is still a very good sign for the market,” said Kim Hyun-tae, a fund manager at Landmark Investment Management.

The five other players expressed a willingness in yesterday’s deal to provide oil, energy aid and security guarantees to the North in return for its ditching its weapons programmes.

Washington and Tokyo agreed to normalise ties with the North. It pledged to rejoin the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Again, today’s statement said that would happen only after it got the reactors, which experts say would force the North to upgrade its entire dilapidated electricity grid.

The United States, backed by Japan, had long argued North Korea could not be trusted with atomic energy because it had broken a previous deal. But China, South Korea and Russia said if Pyongyang scrapped its nuclear weapons and agreed to strict safeguards, it should have such an energy programme in future. — Reuters

Pakistan reiterates stand on N-energy issue
Qudssia Akhlaque
By arrangement with The Dawn

Islamabad, September 20
In a pointed message to the US and other Western countries, Pakistan said on Monday that any discriminatory treatment on the question of civilian nuclear technology would not be acceptable to it.

“We would like the US and the Western countries to provide the same kind of treatment to Pakistan as they are giving to India and we would not like to accept any discriminatory treatment in this regard,” Foreign Office spokesman Naeem Khan told a news briefing.

Asserting that Pakistan was a responsible nuclear state, the spokesman said: “We expect the Western countries, especially the US, will respond to our expanding requirements in the energy sector and will cooperate with Pakistan because all our nuclear facilities are under IAEA safeguards.”

Mr Khan was non-committal when asked if President Pervez Musharraf had raised the issue of nuclear technology with President George W. Bush during his recent meeting with him in New York.

Responding to a question about reports of the latest US preemptive nuclear doctrine, Mr Khan said: “Pakistan itself is a nuclear weapon state and maintenance of minimum nuclear deterrence is indispensable to our security but we are against the use of nuclear weapons.”

He then added: “Any doctrine that allows use of nuclear weapons for the purpose of preemption undoubtedly creates a deep sense of concern and anxiety in the international community.”

In reply to a question, Mr Khan termed the recent Musharraf-Manmohan summit meeting in New York as “very constructive and productive” and said detailed discussions were held on all bilateral issues, including Jammu and Kashmir.

Dispelling the impression that there had been no forward movement, he said that the two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the ongoing peace process. While pointing to the complexities of certain issues involved, he asserted there was no reason to be pessimistic and insisted the peace process was on track. The fact that the Indian Prime Minister had accepted the invitation to visit Pakistan was a positive development, he said.

The spokesman indicated that some progress on Sir Creek and Siachen issues had been made and in this context “some ideas” had also been exchanged at the Foreign Secretary level meeting in Islamabad.

Mr Khan announced that Pakistan and India had agreed to hold talks on the Kishanganga dam issue from November 7 to 12. 

Pak for import of cement, garlic from India

Islamabad, September 20
After the Pakistan government permitted duty free imports of meat, sugar and four other essentials items from India, traders here now want to import ginger and cement through Wagah border.

“We’ve sent inquiries to the Indian cement producers on behalf of our clients,” a Pakistani importer Chaudhry Barkat Ali said. “As soon as the Indian producers intimate the price of cement, we’ll place the order.”

It will be transported in rail wagons through Wagah border, Mr Ali was quoted as saying by the daily ‘Dawn’ today.

However, there is no official directive yet on import of cement and garlic. Pakistan is currently experiencing real estate boom due to buoyancy of its economy. Construction industry was considered to be the fast growing sectors, putting heavy pressure on cement intake.

“Pakistani importers were also looking into the possibility of bringing fresh ginger from India provided a competitive rate was offered by the Indians,” Mr Ali said.—PTI

Al-Qaida claims responsibility for London bombings
H.S. Rao

London, September 20
Al-Qaida, for the first time, claimed responsibility for carrying out the July 7 suicide bombings in London that killed 52 people. In a videotaped message, aired on the Arab television station al-Jazeera yesterday, Al-Qaida’s deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri said al-Qaida had the “honour” of carrying out the attacks.

“The London attack is one of the attacks that al-Qaida ... had the honour of carrying out against the Zionist, British arrogance,” said al-Zawahiri.

“This blessed attack revealed the real hypocritical face of the West,” al-Zawahiri said in the tape in reference to the British threats to deport anti-West Muslim clerics to their countries of origin.

He also criticized the British government’s plans to deport the radical Jordanian cleric Abu Qatada and nine other foreign nationals said to be a threat to UK security. — PTI

Sikhs pray with Bush for Katrina victims
Ashish Kumar Sen writes from Washington

Sikh leaders from the Washington area joined President George W. Bush in a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance service at the Washington National Cathedral on Friday to honour the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Dr Rajwant Singh, chairman of the Sikh Council on Religion and Education, Singh Sahib Darshan Singh, former Jathedar of Akal Takhat, Amrit Kaur, secretary of the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation, Gyani Kuldeep Singh, granthi of Sikh Foundation of Virginia, and Bhai Jagmohan Singh of Guru Nanak Foundation of American were among those who attended the interfaith event.

Following the service, Singh Sahib Darshan Singh along with all 19 members from the Sikh delegation met some of the refugees from New Orleans who are temporarily sheltered at the DC Armory in Washington.

Singh Sahib Darshan Singh said he offered “prayers for all faith communities who have been affected by this tragedy. Especially the Sikhs of New Orleans need our prayers and support.”

Dr Rajwant Singh said it was important “to be part of this national ceremony and express our deep felt sentiments to the victims of this disaster. It has provided us an opportunity to bring the feeling of togetherness.”

Many gurdwaras across the nation including from the Washington area have donated thousands of dollars to relief organisations helping families affected by the hurricane. The gurdwara in New Orleans was one of many buildings submerged by the floodwaters.

British army storms Iraqi jail, releases captured Britons

Basra, September 20
In a major show of force, British soldiers used 10 tanks to break down the walls of the central jail in the southern city of Basra and freed two Britons, allegedly undercover commandos, who had been arrested on the charges of shooting two Iraqi policemen.

The Basra Governor called the rescue yesterday a “barbaric” act of aggression.

Aquil Jabbar, an Iraqi television cameraman who lives across the street from the jail, said about 150 Iraqi prisoners also fled as the British commandos stormed inside and rescued their comrades.

Mohammed al-Waili, the Governor of the province, said the British raid was “barbaric, savage and irresponsible”.

“A British force of more than 10 tanks backed by helicopters attacked the central jail and destroyed it. This is an irresponsible act,” al-Waili said, adding that the British force had spirited the prisoners away to an unknown location.

Violence in the oil city of Basra, 550 km south of the capital Baghdad, flared earlier in the day as demonstrators hurled stones and Molotov cocktails (petrol bombs) at British tanks and at least four people were killed in the major outbreak of violence.

The fighting erupted after British armour encircled the jail where the two Britons were being held. During the melee one soldier could be seen scrambling for his life from a burning tank and the rock-throwing mob. — AP