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NATO troops to stay in Pak for 90 days
Kutty issue raised at UN
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Canada poll on Jan 23
Norwegian truce chief to talk with Tigers
Agreement on Trans-Asian Railway
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NATO troops to stay in Pak for 90 days
Islamabad, November 30 Mr Maurits Jochems, Deputy Assistant Secretary-General for Planning in NATOs operations division, told a press briefing here yesterday that he did not receive an immediate reply when he raised the matter at a meeting with a Foreign Ministry official. Major Pakistani political parties have been raising objections about the presence of NATO’s troops in the country, saying that the army should have withdrawn its troops from North and South Waziristan regions and deployed them on relief duties instead of inviting NATO troops. Fielding questions together with the NATO contingent commander Air Commodore Andrew Walton, Mr Jochems said there had been no Pakistani request yet for a longer stay of NATO’s engineering-cum-medical team, but he had still raised the issue because the group needed a four-week advance notice to prepare to leave. Mr Jochems said although the present agreement between Pakistan and NATO had limited the contingents stay to only “90 days”, the period could be extended “only with mutual consent”. He said he had told Pakistani officials to “tell us in advance...if you think we could be useful for another period of time. I don't say another 90 days but perhaps (for) a few more weeks here and there.” The NATO official said the expiry of the NATO contingents 90-day mandate was a matter of debate within the alliance because of different dates of an offer and exchange of letters, military minds calculating the date at January 21 and legal minds at February 2 or 4. Both NATO officials dismissed fears voiced by some Opposition politicians that the relief contingent could lead to a long-term alliance presence in the area and referred to similar relief work it did after floods in Bulgaria and Romania as well to NATO’s departure from Bosnia after helping the Muslims in their conflict with Serbs and plans to do the same in Kosovo. Answering a question, Mr Walton said that ideally about four weeks was needed to get a force in or get it out adding, “we don't want to rush out to leave a vacuum”. He had no idea yet who would take over from his contingent, which is working in Bagh district of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), but he said it could be the Pakistan army for the engineering work and the Pakistani Red Crescent Society for the medical work. — UNI
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No giving in to kidnappers, says Merkel
Berlin, November 30 At the outset of her first major speech in Parliament, she focused on the kidnapping of a German woman who was seized in Iraq on Friday and has been threatened with death. “One thing is clear. This government, this parliament will not let itself be pressured,” Ms Merkel said, calling international terrorism one of society’s biggest challenges. “It is directed at everything that is important to us, at the core of our civilisation. It is directed against our entire value system, against freedom, tolerance and the respect of human dignity, democracy and the rule of law.” Susanne Osthoff’s kidnappers will kill her unless Germany halts cooperation with the US-backed Iraqi Government, according to a tape received by a German television station. Ms Merkel, who become Germany’s first woman Chancellor last Tuesday, veered quickly into domestic economic issues which her new government has said are its priority. She sits at the top of an unwieldy “grand coalition” with traditional rivals, which combines her Conservatives with the Social Democrats (SPD) of her predecessor Gerhard Schroeder. She faces the tough challenge of holding the new government together while cutting high unemployment and restarting growth. Ms Merkel, the 51-year old pastor’s daughter who grew up in the Communist East, offered a sober view of Germany’s economy, which has among the weakest growth rates in the 25-nation European Union and is struggling with joblessness of over 11 per cent.
— Reuters
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Kutty issue raised at UN
United Nations, November 30 Without naming Pakistan, Indian UN Ambassador Nirupam Sen asserted that there are clear signs that terrorists in Afghanistan continue to receive support from across the border, from its southern and south-eastern provinces. “International responses against such destabilisations are essential but cannot be limited to combat operations on the ground. It is equally necessary to resolutely attack the financing, the training camps and networks that support them,” he told the UN General Assembly yesterday. Squarely blaming the Taliban for the abduction and murder of Kutty who was engaged on the construction of Zaranj-Delaram road, Mr Sen strongly condemned the “inhuman and barbaric” killing of an innocent person. Pointing out that the Indian organisation is engaged in building a road which is vital for the development of Afghanistan and for the welfare of the people, he said, “it is inconceivable that anybody should be opposed to it and threaten those working on it.” Lauding the “remarkable” pace of democratic change in Afghanistan, the Indian Ambassador said the successful realisation of democracy’s milestones — the historic election of its President, the entry into force of its first ever Constitution and, most recently, fully democratic parliamentary elections — are all testimony to the courage and conviction of its citizens and leaders. “India’s support for a sovereign, democratic and prosperous Afghanistan was reiterated during the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Kabul in August 2005, when he conveyed that India stood ready to continue contributing to the task of rebuilding Afghanistan, including through the strengthening of its democratic institutions,” he told the delegates.
— PTI |
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Canada poll on Jan 23
Toronto, November 30 Governor-General Michaelle Jean yesterday dissolved Parliament on the advice of the Prime Minister and set January 23 for the election. Mr Martin’s Liberal Party lost a censure vote by 171 votes to 133 yesterday in the House of Commons amid acrimonious exchanges over corruption allegations. Mr Martin, who was elected Prime Minister 17 months ago, kicked off a 56-day election campaign, the first over the Christmas holiday in decades. His Liberal Party was accused of receiving kickback from advertising firms awarded millions of dollars in government contracts from 1995 to 2002, during the Chritien-led government, to counter a separatist movement in Quebec. Three Canadian minority governments were previously felled by no-confidence votes, but Mr Martin’s Liberals were the first-ever to fall on a stand-alone censure motion.
— PTI |
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Norwegian truce chief to talk with Tigers
Colombo, November 30 Mr Hagrup Haukland, heading the peace monitoring unit, will hold talks with LTTE political chief SP Thamilselvan — in the first meeting following President Mahinda Rajapakse’s election, The Morning Leader newspaper said. The meeting is set to take place in the rebel political capital of Kilinochchi, officials confirmed. The meeting comes in the wake of a statement by the new President that he wants the truce that is in place since February 2002 revised.
— PTI |
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Agreement on Trans-Asian Railway
Bangkok, November 30 The draft intergovernmental Agreement on the trans-Asian railway network was given final shape today after a three-day discussion here. The four-corridor network aims to offer efficient freight movement and improved access of the landlocked countries to major sea ports. Initiated by the Bangkok-based UN Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) in 1960, the trans-Asian Railway project will link Russia, Central Asia and Turkey to China, Mongolia, the Korean peninsula and South and South East Asia. The trans-Asian railways includes a northern corridor linking rail networks in China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, the Russian Federation and the Korean Peninsula. A southern corridor connects Thailand and the southern Chinese province of Yunnan with Turkey through Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Sri Lanka is also part of the corridor. Another corridor connects the South East and Indo-China sub-regions while a north-south corridor links northern Europe to the Persian Gulf through the Russian Federation, Central Asia, the Caucasus region and across the Caspian Sea. — UNI
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