W O R L D

Pak troops were involved in Kargil, says Musharraf
Islamabad, September 24
In the first official acknowledgement of involvement of Pakistan’s regular troops in the Kargil conflict, President Pervez Musharraf has described it as “a landmark in the history of the Pakistani army”.

World sceptical of news of bin Laden’s ‘death’ Paris, September 24 A French intelligence memo suggesting Osama bin Laden might have died of typhoid has been greeted with scepticism around the world — though persistent reports the Al-Qaida leader was struck with illness raised questions about his fate.

Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee greets Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing prior to their bilateral meeting at the UN Headquarters in New York on Saturday — PTI

Saudi Arabia deports 120 Indians
Dubai, September 24
Saudi Arabia has deported 120 Indians, who were either working illegally or overstaying in the country after granting them amnesty from the prosecution. An Indian Embassy official said more than 20,000 persons, including many Indians, had been detained during the past six months for overstaying after visiting the country for pilgrimage.

First Hindu cadet in Pak army
Islamabad, September 24
The Pakistan army has recruited a Hindu for the first time in its nearly 60-year-old history, months after it commissioned a Sikh youth. Danesh formally donned the Pakistan army colours at a parade here yesterday along with fellow recruits.

Pak troops were involved in Kargil, says Musharraf

Islamabad, September 24
In the first official acknowledgement of involvement of Pakistan’s regular troops in the Kargil conflict, President Pervez Musharraf has described it as “a landmark in the history of the Pakistani army”.

“Considered purely on military terms, the Kargil operations were a landmark in the history of the Pakistani army,” he writes in his book ‘In the Line of Fire’ scheduled to be released in New York tomorrow.

For long Pakistan has maintained that the 1999 conflict in Kargil involved “freedom fighters”, but the General says that five units of his army had supported the “freedom fighter groups” to compel the Indians to employ more than four divisions.

He insists that Kargil was a tactical victory for his men trying to “undo Indian adventurism”, according to extracts of the book carried by The Nation which in turn quoted BBC.

The President rubbishes speculation that Pakistan was preparing for a nuclear attack on India at the time of the conflict.

“I can say with authority that in 1999 our nuclear capability was not yet operational.....Any talk of preparing for nuclear strikes is preposterous,” he says.

NEW YORK: In an indication that he will not relinquish the post of the army chief in the near future, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said he has derived strength from his uniform to amend the controversial Islamic laws that no leader, including a woman premier, had dared to touch.

As rights groups stepped up their campaign in support of the Women’s Protection Bill in Pakistan, he said he was the only ruler since 1979 who had the courage to amend the Hudood Ordinance that had draconian provisions for rape victims.

“No one touched this (law) since 1979. If I were not in uniform, even I would not (have) touched the issue,” he said defending the importance of his continuing as the army chief and President.

Referring to Benazir Bhutto, he said the laws were not touched even when Pakistan had a woman as the Prime Minister.

Expressing his government’s commitment to reforming Pakistan’s rape laws through the Women’s Protection Bill, he said “We need a consensus. We don’t want reforms that lack consensus. We don’t want to create political turmoil. We are dealing with both liberals and extremists on the issue. I am walking a tightrope and I think I am a good balancer.”

The Pakistan Government had put the Bill in cold storage under pressure from the Muttahida Majlis Amal that threatened to quit Parliament and assemblies if the Bill was not modified as per their wishes.

Meanwhile, moderate Islamic scholar Javed Ahmed Ghamdi resigned from the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), saying the government had bypassed the constitutional body on the Protection of Women Bill.

“I put in my papers during a council meeting. The chairman of the council and all my colleagues asked me not to resign, but my decision is final and irreversible,” Ghamdi was quoted as saying in the Pakistani media.

He said the committee’s proposal to make adultery an offence under the Pakistan Penal Code was against Islamic injunctions.

He asserted that the Koran conferred equal weight to evidence given by women and men, but changes being brought by the government in the Protection of Women Bill at the instance of clerics deprived women of that religious right.

The government formed a separate committee of ulema to review the Bill with the stated purpose of ensuring it was in conformity with Islamic injunctions.

Ghamdi said this was a breach of the CII’s jurisdiction, since the very purpose of the council was to ensure that Pakistan’s laws did not conflict with the teachings of Islam.

“The CII is a constitutional body. And after this bypassing by the government, I don’t want to serve in it anymore,” he said, and urged other CII members to resign too.

Ghamdi said the amendments in the Bill proposed by the ulema committee were against the injunctions of Islam.

By incorporating the ulema’s suggestions in the Bill, the government was in fact keeping the status quo on the discriminatory laws against women, he said. “The ulema committee’s amendments kill the basic essence of the Bill that was passed by a parliamentary select committee,” he said. — PTI

World sceptical of news of bin Laden’s ‘death’

Paris, September 24
A French intelligence memo suggesting Osama bin Laden might have died of typhoid has been greeted with scepticism around the world — though persistent reports the Al-Qaida leader was struck with illness raised questions about his fate.

France, the United States, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia all said they had no evidence to support the assertion in the memo, which was published yesterday in the French regional newspaper l’Est Republicain and today in Le Parisien.

The confidential document, drafted by the French foreign intelligence service DGSE and dated September 21, stated that, according to a normally reliable source, Saudi Arabia’s intelligence services “are now convinced that Osama bin Laden is dead”.

It said the 49-year-old Islamic militant, who has been held responsible for the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, succumbed to typhoid fever in Pakistan between August 23 and September 4.

The Saudis were seeking evidence of bin Laden’s death, notably by looking for his remains, the memo said.

French President Jacques Chirac yesterday confirmed the DGSE memo was genuine, stating he was “surprised” it had been made public and ordering an investigation into its leak.

But he stressed that the information it gave was “in no way confirmed.”

Other countries closely involved in the hunt for bin Laden quickly stepped forward to emphasise the same thing.

The Saudi Embassy in Washington issued a two-sentence statement saying “the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has no evidence to support recent media reports that Osama bin Laden is dead”.

“Information that has been reported otherwise is purely speculative and cannot be independently verified,” the statement stressed.

It did not, however, address the French intelligence memo nor say whether its evaluation of what Saudi intelligence believed was inaccurate.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said of the reports on the DGSE document: “No comment, and no knowledge.”

Several US intelligence officials told US media they had noticed no unusual Internet or communications “chatter” which would likely follow such a momentous development.

Pakistan’s interior minister, Aftab Sherpao, told AFP in Islamabad: “No, we do not have any such information with us.”

Security officials hunting Al-Qaida in Pakistan rejected the report. A senior official told AFP on condition of anonymity that “no such information has been shared” by the Saudis and that it was “inconceivable that an event of this nature would remain unnoticed in Pakistan.”

Bin Laden has several times been rumoured to have died in the past, only to appear later in audio or video recordings.

The last verified message from bin Laden was posted on the Internet on July 1, accusing Iraqi Shiites of waging “genocide” against Sunnis. A US official said the message was deemed authentic.

The last time images of him were seen was in October 2004, in a videotape delivered to the Arab television network Al Jazeera. — AFP

Saudi Arabia deports 120 Indians

Dubai, September 24
Saudi Arabia has deported 120 Indians, who were either working illegally or overstaying in the country after granting them amnesty from the prosecution.

An Indian Embassy official said more than 20,000 persons, including many Indians, had been detained during the past six months for overstaying after visiting the country for pilgrimage.

The Indians were given amnesty by the Saudi Government and were repatriated to India on a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight last Thursday.

Three hundred and thirtythree Indian workers were granted royal pardon last year and 585 the year before.

The official said this Ramazan season, India would seek clemency for its nationals languishing in prisons, Arab News reported.

A number of workers, mostly from Kerala, are in Saudi prisons and deportation centres. Many of them are unable to pay blood money for accidents resulting in deaths for which compensation has to be paid. These workers are hopeful that the Indian Government will plead for their release. — UNI

First Hindu cadet in Pak army

Islamabad, September 24
The Pakistan army has recruited a Hindu for the first time in its nearly 60-year-old history, months after it commissioned a Sikh youth.

Danesh formally donned the Pakistan army colours at a parade here yesterday along with fellow recruits.

Danesh, who hails from Tharparker district in Sindh, said he was inspired by Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf to join the forces.

“President Musharraf has all the qualities that a great leader should possess,” he was quoted as saying by state-run APP news agency. — PTI