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France, US reach deal on West Asia conflict
Murder of Indian sparks protests
Calm at Indo-B’desh border
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Nawaz, Fazl join hands to oust Pervez
US mum on Pak links
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France, US reach deal on West Asia conflict
United Nations, August 11 They said the US and France had reached an agreement on the draft which was being studied by Lebanon and Israel. But the council might vote even without getting response from them, they added. The draft was apparently finalised at the meeting attended by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Rice reportedly called up Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert just before the deal was reached on the resolution. According to diplomats, the draft resolution envisages giving the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon an enhanced mandate to help coordinate the eventual withdrawal of Israeli troops. However, it would ultimately be deployed under Chapter 6 of the UN Charter — which Israel has previously opposed. This is being seen as a concession to Lebanon and the Hizbollah, but it is not clear if Israel would agree, as it wanted the force deployed under the Charter’s Chapter 7, which would have given the troops more robust rules of engagement. Reports from Israel said there was a “good chance” of Tel Aviv accepting the new deal. But earlier in the day, Olmert ordered a massive ground offensive into southern Lebanon, saying that it was not satisfied with the draft resolution being debated in the US. If the new deal between US and France is accepted by Israel, it would be a dramatic reversal of stance. France and US sent the new text to the governments of Israel and Lebanon, but a French diplomat said the vote would go ahead whatever the response.
Beirut/Jerusalem:
Israel on Friday used combat jets and artillery to hit Hizbollah positions in Lebanon but held off a major ground offensive as Russia proposed a three-day truce to overcome differences at the UN over a peace plan backed by France and the US.
At least 12 persons were killed when Israeli jets attacked a bridge linking Lebanon and Syria. The Hezbollah responded by firing 150 rockets, injuring seven persons. The most intense fighting was reported from Marjayoun, a Christian town that served as the Israeli command centre during its 18-year occupation of south Lebanon till 2000. Israeli troops and tanks entered the town yesterday and were bombarding Hezbollah positions there. Israel has held off a planned offensive that would take its troops up to the Litani river, 30 km inside Lebanon, to give diplomacy more time. Positions in Marjayoun would give Israeli troops greater ability to strike at Hezbollah sites in the Litani river valley. UN peacekeepers were today sent to Marjayoun to evacuate 350 Lebanese troops detained by Israeli forces in the town, but they were unable to leave because of the fighting and the damage done to many roads and bridges. At the UN, diplomats said there had been a progress on a peace plan that has been held up by differences over a timeframe for the withdrawal of Israeli forces. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice headed for the UN to boost efforts to end the violence. But Russia said a deal might be a long way off and pushed its own plan for a 72-hour humanitarian truce to help tackle the "catastrophic" situation faced by those trapped by the hostilities. "The Americans and the French have failed to agree, they're still negotiating," Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said, adding that the world could no longer wait for the two countries to resolve differences over a ceasefire resolution drawn up by them. Israel, however, dismissed the Russian plan while John Bolton, the US envoy to the UN, said it would not be "helpful to divert attention" from efforts to reach a permanent and sustainable solution. Lebanon has rejected the French-US peace plan because it does not call on Israel to immediately withdraw its forces, and France has been backing amendments that would address Lebanon's concerns. But the US has been backing Israel, which wants to retain its forces in Lebanon till an international force is deployed in that country. Meanwhile, a report in the New York Times said the US administration was considering an Israeli request for "cluster bombs" or artillery rockets that were meant to be used against Hezbollah sites for launching rockets. One US official said the request was
likely to be cleared soon, but other officials said the administration was mulling the matter due to concerns that the cluster bombs could cause civilian casualties. Reports today said two more Israeli soldiers had died in the fighting, taking to 82 the number of Israeli troops killed since the fighting began on July 12. Over 1,000 Lebanese and Israelis have died so far.
— PTI
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Murder of Indian sparks protests
Melbourne, August 11 Rajneesh Joga (27), a student of accountancy in a Melbourne college, died from injuries suffered in an unprovoked attack by a 20-year-old passenger. The accused is alleged to have earlier stolen a car and was running from the police. Some of the protesting drivers were reportedly shouting ‘’Down with (Premier) Steve Bracks’’ in Hindi. Around 100 drivers parked their taxis along Flinders Street and gathered at Federation Square. The Premier Steve Bracks, who had earlier attended an event in the Square, refused to meet the protesters, who also staged a ‘sit-in’protest on the busy Flinders Street and Swantson Street intersection. ‘’The (alleged) killer was said to be under the influence of drugs so he would get away from Joga’s murder easily,’’ said Narinder Sharma, a taxi driver. — UNI
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Harinagar, August 11 On the Indian side, there were two casualties and on the Bangladesh side, there was one, yet the border saw seven hours of gun battle and 10,000 rounds were fired yesterday. Since this morning there has been no firing but tension was continuing although border flag meeting would be held on August 13. The BSF had claimed death of five BDR personnel but there was no independent verification. The Bangladesh media said only one died due to heart attack during the attack. The largest Bangladeshi newspaper ''Daily Star'' today reported that the BSF dug trenches along the border in the past few days and amassed troops. Meanwhile, the residents of at least 11 villages along the 32-km Cachar sector who fled their houses yesterday are yet to return. Meanwhile, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of BSF, Tripura, Cachar and Mizoram Frontier (TCM) J.C. Pandey said though the situation was normal, tension prevailed in the area bordering Bangladesh in South Asom. ''Unconfirmed reports received here said there are eight casualties on the Bangladesh side. Four of them are BDR personnel and others are civilians killed in the retaliatory firing by our jawans,'' Mr Pandey said. BSF had been maintaining strong vigil along Karimganj sector also. It had stopped movement of people and all kinds of vehicles within six km area from the international border. A BSF official expressed his anguish over the fact that despite a flag meeting held early last month, BDR's action was nothing but a betrayal of truce. The fate of one of its kind slated to be held on August 13 between sector commanders of Cachar and Sylhet stood uncertain, BSF sources said. The BDR actually indulged in unprovoked firing to grab 220 acre of Indian land on the other side of the Surma river in Cachar sector. Inspector General, BSF, S.K. Datta said over telephone from Agartala, ''We have been getting reports of troop build-up by Bangladesh with tension continuing to mount in the border area that witnessed heavy mortar attacks, never did the border witness such heavy mortar attacks before. The firing from across the border was unprovoked with Bangladeshi soldiers opening fire on us, '' he said. — UNI
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Nawaz, Fazl join hands to oust Pervez
Lahore, August 11 In a one-to-one meeting spanning an hour at the office of PML-N in London, the two leaders agreed that the time had come for all political forces to get united against the military ruler and decided to invite all other parties outside the ARD and MMA fold to join movement on a one-point agenda: “Ridding politics of military interference and removing the dictator, Gen Pervez Musharraf, through street struggle.” Talking to The Dawn on the telephone, Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman said he had a complete consensus with Mr Nawaz Sharif on the need to send the army back to barracks. “We had a complete unanimity of view on the need for cooperation among political forces to restore sovereignty of the parliament, which has become a big question mark,” he said. About the planned no-confidence move against Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, he said issue was discussed at length with Mr Sharif and both agreed that “sometimes such steps are taken to remove the incumbent government, but at other times they are only meant to show resentment against the government and condemn it.” Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman said: “We agreed that even if the no-confidence move failed, it would certainly achieve its wider political objectives i.e. proving political isolation of the government.” He said there was a “complete unanimity” of views that the present government had lost all moral authority to rule the country after the detailed judgment of the Supreme Court on the privatisation of Pakistan Steel Mills and the procedures adopted for the privatisation drive. No government, caring for its political and moral respect, should remain in the government after such big scandals, he said. Speaking to Dawn from London, Nadir Chaudhri, a spokesman for Mr Sharif, said both leaders discussed the prevailing political situation at length. There was a complete unanimity of views on almost all issue bedeviling the country, especially on the democratic front, he added. After holding a lengthy meeting in the presence of their aides, both of the leaders also met one-to-one for about an hour, he said, adding that they agreed that all political forces must be invited to join struggle against the “undemocratic” military rulers. Since the MMA had already agreed to cooperate on the no-confidence move against the government, both leaders agreed that all future political decisions should also be take “after mutual consultations”, he said. Chaudhri said Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman was very clear throughout the meeting about the need for political struggle against the military dictator.
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US mum on Pak links
Washington, August 11 Washington also refused to comment on media reports that pressure was applied on Islamabad to make a “key arrest” that eventually led to a number of arrests in Britain. “One of the things that we’re doing, of course, is we’re cooperating with the British authorities, and they’re the lead in the investigation and subsequent prosecution and I
don't want to say anything that might in any way adversely affect the ongoing investigation. I’ll wait for the British authorities to get that information out to the public,” US Attorney General said.
— PTI |
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