The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

G7 leaders tell Russia to halt Crimea referendum

Washington, March 12
Ahead of the referendum in Crimea on its merger with Russia, G7 countries in a strongly worded statement asked Moscow to "cease all efforts" to change the status of the strategic Ukrainian peninsula.

"We call on the Russian Federation to immediately halt actions supporting a referendum on the territory of Crimea regarding its status, in direct violation of the Constitution of Ukraine. Any such referendum would have no legal effect," said the G7 countries in a statement.

"Given the lack of adequate preparation and the intimidating presence of Russian troops, it would also be a deeply flawed process which would have no moral force. For all these reasons, we would not recognise the outcome," said the statement issued by leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, the US, along with the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission.

Russian annexation of Crimea would be a clear violation of the United Nations Charter; Russia's commitments under the Helsinki Final Act; its obligations to Ukraine under its 1997 Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership; the Russia-Ukraine 1997 basing agreement; and its commitments in the Budapest Memorandum of 1994, the leaders said.

"In addition to its impact on the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, the annexation of Crimea could have grave implications for the legal order that protects the unity and sovereignty of all states. Should the Russian Federation take such a step, we will take further action, individually and collectively," the statement said.

As such the G7 countries called on the Russian Federation to de-escalate the conflict in Crimea and other parts of Ukraine immediately, withdraw its forces back to their pre-crisis numbers and garrisons, begin direct discussions with the government of Ukraine, and avail itself of international mediation and observation offers to address any legitimate concerns it may have.

"We, the leaders of the G-7, urge Russia to join us in working together through diplomatic processes to resolve the current crisis and support progress for a sovereign independent, inclusive and united Ukraine." "We also remind the Russian Federation of our decision to suspend participation in any activities related to preparation of a G-8 Sochi meeting until it changes course and the environment comes back to where the G-8 is able to have a meaningful discussion," leaders of the G-7 countries said. — PTI

Missing Malaysian airliner: 12-nation exercise involving 42 ships and 39 aircraft enters fifth day
Search extended to Andaman Sea

A woman writes a message for passengers aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines plane in Sepang, Malaysia, on Wednesday. AP/PTI

Kuala Lumpur, March 12
Search operations for the five-day-old missing Malaysia Airlines flight with 239 persons on board was today extended to the Andaman Sea and India's help sought as international efforts to trace the aircraft yielded no breakthrough.

As the massive 12-nation exercise involving 42 ships and 39 aircraft entered the fifth day, Malaysian civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said its planes were now also searching in the southern part of the Andaman Sea.

Rahman confirmed that defence radar picked up an "indication" that the plane may have turned back from its intended flight path over the South China Sea.

He said this was why the search operation had been extended to the Andaman Sea. The US Federal Aviation Authority and the US National Transport Safety Board have been roped in to help track the missing aircraft. The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200 plane was carrying 227 passengers, including five Indians and one Indian-origin Canadian, and 12 crew members when it mysteriously vanished from radar screens an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, triggering speculation that it may have been hijacked, crashed into sea or disintegrated mid-air.

"We will not spare any effort to find the missing plane. The search has been extended to two areas and we are now searching nearly 27,000 square nautical miles -- 12,425 square nautical miles in the Straits of Malacca and 14,440 square nautical miles in the South China Sea," Malaysia's Minister of Defence and acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters at a crowded press conference.

“Forty-two ships and 39 aircraft have now been deployed in the search for MH370. Twelve countries have now joined the search, with India, Japan and Brunei being the latest to join the team," he said.

As China and Vietnam criticised Malaysia for lack of information, Hussein denied "chaos" in search efforts and said they would never give up hope of finding the plane.

He said, "Unless we get the aircraft and the black box, it is unlikely that we will be able to answer a lot of speculative issues that have been raised." "The way forward is to bring more experts to analyse both the civilian and the military data, in the east or in the west, on land or in the water. This is exactly what we are doing. We are now working with many experts including from Boeing, the US Federal Aviation Authority and the US National Transport Safety Board," he said.

Meanwhile, Vietnam has said it was scaling back search operations in its waters. "We've decided to temporarily suspend some search and rescue activities, pending information from Malaysia," Deputy Minister of Transport Pham Quy Tieu said, adding that boats were still searching the area. — PTI

Massive search

We are now searching 27,000 square nautical miles. Forty-two ships and 39 aircraft have now been deployed in the search for MH370. Twelve countries have now joined the search, with India, Japan and Brunei being the latest to join the team. — Hishammuddin Hussein, acting transport minister, Malaysia

Andaman Sea scan

Planes are now also searching in the southern part of the Andaman Sea. The defence radar picked up an indication that the plane may have turned back from its intended flight path. This is why the search had been extended to the Andaman Sea. — Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, malaysian civil aviation chief

Pilot’s last words: All right, good night

Beijing, March 12
"All right, good night", were the last words from the missing Malaysian plane with 239 persons aboard before it disappeared from the radar screens. These words were spoken in the last radio transmission from the cockpit of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, Malaysia's Ambassador to Beijing was quoted by the Singapore-based Strait Times as saying during a meeting with Chinese relatives of those on board.

Aviation officials said the pilot’s last-heard words were in response to Malaysian air traffic controllers information that they were entering Vietnamese airspace and that air traffic controllers from Ho Chi Minh city were taking over.

Anxious and angry over their loved one's unknown fate and lack of progress in locating the plane, the family members yesterday had requested for the meeting with the Malaysian Government to seek answers to their questions.

While the disappearance from radar screens could be a result of hijacking and the hijackers turning off signals, the pilot, in such an event, should still have sent a secret mayday code, a Malaysian civil aviation official was quoted as saying. — PTI

Ukraine vows not to fight Russia

Kiev, March 12
Ukraine's acting president said he would not wage war over Crimea as the ex-Soviet state's premier prepared today to seek US President Barack Obama's help against Russia's expansionist threat.

The first meeting between Obama and Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk comes with Europe's largest nation in danger of breaking apart when the predominantly ethnic Russian region holds a Moscow-backed referendum Sunday on switching over to Kremlin rule.

Ukraine's acting President Oleksandr Turchynov told AFP his heavily outnumbered army would never try to seize back the Black Sea peninsula from Russian troops who made their land grab days after the February 22 ouster in Kiev of pro-Kremlin leader Viktor Yanukovych.

"We cannot launch a military operation in Crimea, as we would expose the eastern border and Ukraine would not be protected," Turchynov said in an interview with AFP.

Turchynov also said Russian President Vladimir Putin has so far resisted intense international pressure and refused all contacts with Kiev aimed at resolving the worst breakdown in East-West relations since the Cold War.

Washington has imposed travel bans and asset freezes on Russians held responsible for violating the territorial integrity of Crimea. — AFP

NATO deploys surveillance planes

NATO deployed two surveillance planes to fly over Poland and Romania to monitor the crisis in neighboring Ukraine. The surveillance flights won't leave the airspace of its member nations, thus not crossing either into Ukrainian or Russian airspace, a spokesman for NATO's operational headquarters said in Belgium.

2 dead, 20 hurt as two NY buildings collapse

New York, March 12
At least two persons were killed and 20 others injured when two buildings collapsed after an explosion today in the East Harlem neighbourhood of New York City, sparking a major fire that engulfed the area in thick smoke, officials said.

Police and firefighters are responding to reports of an explosion and partial collapse of the six-storey building around 9 am on Park Avenue between 114th and 117th streets, the Fire Department said.

CNN quoted law enforcement agents as saying that the explosion could be due to a gas leak and do not believe the explosion was terror-related.

City officials said the buildings have been completely destroyed in the explosion. The cause of the apparent blast is not known yet and members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force have responded to the scene out of an abundance of caution, authorities said.

So far, there are reports of 11 minor injuries. The site of the explosion is close to a major commuter rail line that connects New York's suburbs to the city.

Video footage from the scene of the explosion showed heavy smoke rising from the area as firefighters and police reached the spot to put the blaze out.

A man who was on the 15th floor of a building on 125th Street told CBS News he saw dark smoke billowing down several blocks.

“The building shook and then we looked to see what was happening. We saw a whole lot of smoke. A lot of smoke came out," witness Samuel Paul said.

The city's bomb squad is also responding to the situation as a precaution.

Many residents in the neighbourhood reported hearing a loud explosion.

The New York Fire Department said on its Twitter feed that it is responding to a "5-Alarm" fire and "multiple dwelling explosion and collapse" at the building.

The city's bomb squad is also responding to the situation as a precaution. The fire department has 39 units and 168 members responding to the explosion that happened at around 9 am.

One of the buildings housed a piano store, a Spanish church and residential units. Federal authorities have not yet commented on the cause of the explosion. — PTI

China to spend more on navy, air force upgrade
President Xi Jinping asks military to hasten modernisation, focus on combat capability

Beijing, March 12
In a major strategic shift, China has for the first time decided to spend more from its $132 billion defence budget to upgrade navy and air force amid deepening conflict with Japan, South China Sea dispute and US military push into Asia-Pacific.

The shift in allocation of funds, changing the old pattern of their equal distribution among the three forces in the past was part of a blueprint drawn by China's new leadership headed by President Xi Jinping at a key meeting recently where big structural reforms for the country's military were finalised, official media said.

Significantly, Xi, at his meeting with defence delegates attending the annual session of Parliament, yesterday asked the 2.3 million-strong world's largest standing military to hasten modernisation, focusing on combat capability.

He also sent out a stern message to the countries with whom China has territorial disputes. "We expect peace, but we shall never give up efforts to maintain our legitimate rights, nor shall we compromise our core interests, no matter when or in what circumstances," he said.

He also hinted at permitting private sector in military hardware production.

Market can play bigger role in military modernisation to jointly create a highly effective development pattern that features army-civilian integration, he said.

His remarks followed a CCTV report stating that China opted to spend more money on naval upgrade in view of raising maritime disputes and the growing interests of Chinese military interests overseas, shifting the balance towards improving the capability of the navy and air force.

Under this, more money will be allocated to navy and its high-tech capability, the report said. China last week allocated a whopping $132 billion for defence, a hike of 12.2 per cent in one of the highest in its two decade-long double-digit raise in military spending. — PTI

15 killed as rival gangs clash in Karachi
Afzal Khan in Islamabad

Armed conflict between two rival gangs in Karachi's crime-infested Lyari area left 15 dead on Wednesday raising death toll during past 24 hours to 23 in the gang war that keeps erupting at regular intervals.

More than 40 persons were injured as eight bomb explosions rocked the area during the day confining residents inside their homes. The dead included four women and two children.

The situation became tense after Sheraz Zikri, a brother of notorious gangster Ghaffar Zikri, was killed during a raid jointly conducted by Rangers and the police in Lyari area of the city on Wednesday.

Sheraz Zikri, alias Fateh Muhammad, was himself involved in various crimes and was a wanted criminal, the police said. Two alleged gangsters were also killed last night. As many as eight persons lost their lives on Tuesday in a wave of violence gripping the city despite ongoing targeted operation.

On Wednesday Jhat Pat Market of Lyari became a battleground as the two groups - Baba Ladla and Uzair Baloch gangs - attacked each other with hand grenades, rockets and guns. "The clash erupted this morning when two gangs exchanged heavy gunfire, later they fired RPGs and lobbed hand grenades at each other," senior police official said.

Pentagon notifies Congress to upgrade Pak’s C-130 fleet

Washington, March 12
The Pentagon has notified the Congress to upgrade Pakistan's C-130 fleet at an estimated cost of $100 million, saying the US support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.

The Defence Security Cooperation Agency yesterday notified the Congress this will facilitate the continued operation of the Pakistan's Air Force C-130 fleet (five C-130B and eleven C-130E models) for counter-insurgency or counter-terrorism flights.

Noting that the existing Pakistani fleet is facing airworthiness and obsolescence issues, and as such will require upgrades and repairs for continued operation and effectiveness, the Pentagon agency said.

The fleet upgradation will also help the Pakistan Air Force in regional humanitarian operations; troop transport; and Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions within Pakistan and in the region.

The proposed modernisation of the C-130 fleet should ensure continued viability for an additional 10-15 years, it said. — PTI