|
|
|
|
|
Egyptian army commits to civilian rule, treaties
Obama recalls Gandhi in welcoming Mubarak’s exit
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Taliban attack Kandahar police HQ, 21 killed
‘Peace in China not gained by giving in, only through war’
Meira Kumar in Colombo
|
|
Egyptian army commits to civilian rule, treaties
Cairo, February 12 Pro-democracy activists in Cairo's Tahrir (Liberation) Square, the epicentre of an earthquake of popular protest that unseated Mubarak, have vowed to stay there until the Higher Military Council accepts their agenda for democratic reform. Throughout the Middle East, autocratic rulers were calculating their chances of survival after Mubarak was forced from power in a dramatic 18-day uprising that changed the course of Egyptian history and unsettled Washington and its allies. "The Arab Republic of Egypt is committed to all regional and international obligations and treaties," a senior army officer said in a statement on state television. The message was clearly designed to try and soothe concerns in Israel which has a 1979 peace treaty with Egypt, the first Arab nation to make peace with the Jewish state. Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz welcomed the statement, saying peace was in the interests of both countries. "I am very happy with this announcement," he said. In another move to restore order, the army said it would "guarantee the peaceful transition of power in the framework of a free, democratic system which allows an elected, civilian power to govern the country to build a democratic, free state". —
Reuters Protesters divided
The protesters are divided over maintaining their vigil of the Tahrir Square. While some want to go back home, others want to stay to ensure that military abides by its commitment to transfer power to civilian government through free and fair elections.
Obama recalls Gandhi in welcoming Mubarak’s exit
WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama recalled the non-violent methods of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr as he praised the people of Egypt for their peaceful protests and welcomed the end of Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year-rule. “While the sights and sounds that we heard were entirely Egyptian, we can’t help but hear the echoes of history: echoes from Germans tearing down a wall, Indonesian students taking to the streets, Gandhi leading his people down the path of justice,” Obama said in his speech hours after Hosni Mubarak resigned as President of Egypt.
Switzerland freezes assets of Mubarak
London: Switzerland has announced that it was freezing assets owned there by Hosni Mubarak, the media reported on Saturday. “The government wants to avoid any risk of misappropriation of state-owned Egyptian assets,” a statement by the foreign ministry of Switzerland stated. Stories of Mubarak’s personal wealth, ranging up to wild estimates of $70 billion, long suppressed by state media, have been circulating among the crowds of protesters, the report said.
|
|
Taliban attack Kandahar police HQ, 21 killed
Kandahar, February 12 The bold afternoon raid showed insurgents are still able to launch deadly strikes on heavily fortified government institutions despite the past year’s influx of US troops into Kandahar province, the Taliban’s birthplace. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. Fifteen of those killed were Afghan police officers, said provincial Governor Toryalai Wesa. Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary said three Afghan soldiers, two civilians and one intelligence service agent also died in the assault. Insurgents first struck around noon, detonating a series of explosions that rocked the area near the provincial police headquarters. The police post is located in central Kandahar, not far from the governor’s offices. Initial reports suggest a car bomb exploded outside the police compound, and then immediately afterward two suicide bombers tried to storm the headquarters but blew themselves up outside the perimeter wall, according to NATO officials in Kandahar. Five militants fitted with suicide vests battled with police for several hours, Bashary said. Some occupied a multistory building housing a wedding hall across the street from the headquarters. From there, they fired on the police headquarters compound with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. An Associated Press reporter nearby said multiple explosions rocked the neighbourhood around the station. Exchanges of gunfire occasionally died down, only to pick up again several minutes later. Residents quickly shuttered shops and took cover inside as the fighting raged, and NATO vehicles could be seen inside the city. Helicopters hovered over the city as police deployed extra forces on the streets and around government buildings. — AP
|
|
‘Peace in China not gained by giving in, only through war’
Beijing, February 12 The article published in the Qiushi Journal, the official publication of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC), said China must adhere to a basic strategic principle of not initiating war but being ready to counterattack. “We must send a clear signal to our neighbouring countries that we don’t fear war, and we are prepared at any time to go to war to safeguard our national interests,” the article said, suggesting an aggressive strategy to “Throughout the history of the new China (since 1949), peace in China has never been gained by giving in, only through war. Safeguarding national interests is never achieved by mere negotiations, but by war,” it said. The piece said countries like Japan, India, Vietnam, Australia, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Korea are trying to join the anti-China group because they either had a war or a conflict of interest with China. “What is especially unbearable is how the US blatantly encourages China’s neighbouring countries to go against China. We cannot completely blame the US, as flies do not stare at seamless eggs. “They are attempting to gain benefits by using US,” it said. It suggested that China should use its economic clout and trade as a weapon to rein in neighbours. “China’s neighbouring countries need China’s international trade more than China needs them, with the vast majority of China’s trade deficit caused by these countries,” it said. “Therefore, they, but not China, will suffer greater damage by antagonising China. China should make good use of these economic advantages and strategic power. This is also the most effective means to avoid a war,” it said. The article said the US has adopted a series of strategies to contain China like through an exchange rate war, through a public opinion war, besides launching military exercises and simulated warfare, and the development of an anti-China alliance. China on its part, it said, can consider the idea of launching economic warfare through strategies to contain the US dollar and making effective use of forums like the IMF and initiating a space war by developing strong space weapons. It also suggested as a counter-strategy the idea of pursuing a strong policy against neighbours joining the US alliance, even attacking a nearby enemy and forming anti-US alliances in Latin America and Africa. — PTI
|
|
Meira Kumar in Colombo
Colombo: Speaker of the Lok Sabha Meira Kumar, who was in Colombo on Saturday as the guest of honour at a conference of lawmakers from Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Maldives and Sri Lanka, said she firmly believes that parliamentarians should take the lead in evolving a national consensus for empowering the poor in each of these countries by displaying the political will to democratize and decentralise at a faster pace. The conference ends on Wednesday. — TNS
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
Egypt's new military rulers told the nation today that they were committed to civilian rule after the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak and said they would respect all treaties, a move to reassure Israel and the United States.
