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Govt doctored budget figures to win cash from IMF’ WASHINGTON, Apr 19: An admission by Pakistan’s new military rulers that the former Government doctored budget figures to win cash from the International Monetary Fund shows they had made a clean break from the past, Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz said..........more US to assist WASHINGTON, Apr 19: The US intends to provide about three million dollars in assistance to Uzbekistan to combat terrorism and illicit trafficking in weapons of mass destruction, conventional arms and narcotics.....more
Sharif survived noose ISLAMABAD, Apr 19: Pakistan’s deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was spared the death....more |
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French daily apologises PARIS, Apr 19: The leading French daily ‘Le Figaro’ has apologised to President K R Narayanan....more ‘C’wealth has no authority to bring back democratic rule’ NEW DELHI, Apr 19: Commonwealth Secretary General Dr Donald McKinnon today........more
Russia’s Upper House MOSCOW, Apr 19: Russian Parliament’s Upper House, the Federation Council, today ratified ......more |
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WASHINGTON, Apr 19: An admission by Pakistan’s new military rulers that the former Government doctored budget figures to win cash from the International Monetary Fund shows they had made a clean break from the past, Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz said. Mr Aziz told Reuters after weekend talks with senior IMF officials here that he was "cautiously optimistic" the cash-strapped country would replace a stalled 1.56 billion-dollar IMF lending programme with a new package by the end of June. "Our finding accounting errors, advising the fund and then taking measures to prevent the occurrence of such discrepancies in the future clearly goes in Pakistan’s favour," Mr Aziz said in an interview late on Monday. "The IMF is going to review this matter in the next few weeks," he said. Pakistan disclosed this month that the Government of Mr Nawaz Sharif, ousted in a bloodless coup in October, had grossly understated the budget deficit in the last fiscal year at 3.4 per cent of gross domestic product instead of six per cent. The IMF, stung by reports of misleading information and misuse of funds by several borrowing countries, said this weekend it would require independent audits of central bank statements for all countries with current or future loans. The IMF halted lending to Pakistan last July after the Government lagged in implementing key tax reforms and resolving an acrimonious tariff dispute with Hub Power Co Ltd (HUBCO) hwpr.Ka. Pakistan badly needs fresh balance of payments support before early 2001, when a rescheduling on payments of 38 billion dollars in foreign debt runs out. Mr Aziz said the Government had submitted a structural reform package to the IMF that would serve as the basis for a new lending programme. He indicated Pakistan was not seeking to revive the existing 1.56 billion-dollar IMF plan. "Going back to the past may not be productive," he said, saying he wanted a plan finalised by fiscal year-end in June. First phase of privatisation starts may one Mr Aziz said home-grown proposals embraced fiscal reforms such as broadening tax collection and reducing the total number of taxes, and financial sector reforms, including improved supervision of the financial sector. He also said the Government had a "very ambitious" privatisation plan aimed at raising two-four billion dollars within three years. "We are circulating a law on privatisation which stipulates that 90 per cent of the proceeds from privatisation will go towards debt reduction and ten percent will go towards a poverty reduction programme," he said. Mr Aziz said the first phase of privatisation, beginning may one and affecting the banking, fertiliser and non-core gas and oil sectors, would entail "corporatising" state-owned firms and floating five to ten percent stakes on the Karachi Stock Exchange. He declined to outline a deadline for the sale of Pakistan Telecoms Co ptca.Ka, the flagship of Pakistan’s privatisation plan, saying only that it would fall under "phase two" and that Goldman Sachs was an adviser on the project. Mr Aziz also declined to forecast a date for the resolution of a bitter dispute with independent power producer HUBCO, which Pakistan says over-charges the state-owned power utility. The HUBCO dispute has annoyed the World Bank, which has loan guarantees worth 500 million dollars in the power project, and has damaged Pakistan’s image among foreign investors. (REUTERS) |
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US to assist Uzbekistan in combating terrorism WASHINGTON, Apr 19: The US intends to provide about three million dollars in assistance to Uzbekistan to combat terrorism and illicit trafficking in weapons of mass destruction, conventional arms and narcotics. Stating that terrorism and illegal trafficking in arms posed a serious threat to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all central Asian states, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who was on a visit to Uzbekistan, said that three million dollars of aid would be meant for equipment and training for combating the dual menace. The proposed assistance would be provided for the Anti-terrorism Assistance programme (ATA), International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) programme, non-proliferation, counter proliferation, and border defence. Albright said what happens in central Asia can affect South Asia by influencing Afghanistan and thus Pakistan and India, Uzbekistan’s proximity to Russia, China, Turkey and Iran. The future of the caucasus is also linked to developments in Uzbekistan. Thus, you are very closely connected to some of our most vital interests, she said. Uzbekistan was in the news recently when material, meant to help Pakistan make radiation bombs, was intercepted while an Iranian was transporting it through Uzbekistan by truck. The country is also facing cross-border fundamentalist terrorism seeking to overthrow the present secular Government and replace it by a Taliban-type Government. It is to participate in a counterterrorism conference being organised by the US in June. (PTI) |
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Sharif survived noose because of Pakistan Army officials involvement in conspiracy ISLAMABAD, Apr 19: Pakistan’s deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was spared the death sentence in the plane conspiracy case because of the involvement of some top Army officials in the conspiracy whom the military junta did not want to list as accused. The decision of the military authorities not to try certain army officers on the charge of conspiracy in an open court weakened the case against Nawaz Sharif who was sentenced to life imprisonment, according to a report published in the Lahore weekly ‘Friday Times’ edited by well-known journalist Najam Sethi, "For the conspiracy charge to stick, the military authorities needed to indict certain military officers of conspiring with the Pakistan Muslim League (PML) Government to complete the picture." The conspiracy began when Sharif met with former Corps Commander of Quetta, Lt Gen Tariq Pervez, in the first week of October, the weekly said in its latest edition yesterday. It said the Army took almost three weeks to decide the fate of the civilian rulers and Army conspirators after the takeover on October 12, 1999. They conducted the military trial before the civilian trial and called it the board of inquiry. This was done to examine whether the military officers should be included in the trial or not. What happened in that inquiry and what its legal position was, remains a mystery. At least six Army officers were arrested from the Prime Minister’s house on October 12. However, none of them was included in the list of accused when the case of criminal conspiracy, waging war against Pakistan, hijacking and terrorism was first registered at the airport police station on November ten, 1999, about 20 days after the incident. "The choice of Col Atiq, protocol officer of the corps in Karachi, as the complainant also caused a lot of embarrassment to the state. The complainant should have either been captain sarwat, the pilot of PK-805, or Brigadier Taj, Military Secretary to General Musharraf who was on board the flight," ‘The Friday Times’ said. It said that during the past 25 days of the board of inquiry conducted by senior officers of the armed forces, they could not decide who would be the complainant, the accused and the witnesses. For instance, at the time of the inquiry Brig Javed, Capt Kheli and others were the accused in the case. Later, Brig Iqbal emerged as a witness and col. Tahir Kheli was not even brought forward as witness. At the time of registering the FIR, the names of Brig Javed Iqbal and Col Tahir Kheli were dropped as accused and they were replaced by Shahbaz Sharif, Saifur Rehman and Saeed Mehdi. Another blunder was the decision to include sections of ‘high treason and waging war against Pakistan’ in the FIR. The prosecutors in their initial meetings were of the opinion that these sections could have been relevant if the Army officers who revolted against Gen Musharraf, had also been included to establish the conspiracy in the post-Kargil scenario. The decision not to include Gen Pervez Musharraf, Corps Commander Lt Gen Muzzafar Usmani and Maj Gen Iftikhar as key witnesses also weakened the case. According to the weekly, the Army’s Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch also could not convince their seniors that by separating the military officers from the civilian accused, the conspiracy charge would not stick. However, a colonel from the JAG branch did remain in the court during proceedings to help the prosecution. Among the entire 27 witnesses produced by the prosecution in the case there was only one witness, Brig Javed Iqbal, Military Secretary to the former Premier, who was produced as a person in custody. Before producing him the Army authorities had issued his court martial order. The prosecution lawyers, particularly Advocate General Raja Qureshi, did a "splendid job" in fighting a weak case prepared by the Army. Had the authorities taken a quick decision in the case, secured the black box and transcripts of the spools and included pro-Sharif officers as accused, the case would have become far more serious for Sharif. The weekly quoting political observers and legal experts said the case of conspiracy lost its credibility after the Army officers were "saved" and civilians were charged. "Judge Rehmat Jaffery who emereged as a highly professional and competent man, saved the prosecution when in the initial stages he dropped some of the sections from the FIR. The prosecution should also be thankful to the defence for not taking the complainant to task." Moreover, by deciding not to disclose the Kargil secrets and the names of the three generals who wanted him to sign some papers in the judge’s chamber, Sharif implied a compromise with the general headquarters. Earlier, in the open court he had declared that he would give some details in-camera but later dropped the idea for some reasons. "Whatever might happen when the appeal goes to the High Court, Sharif has evaded the death sentence and all his co-accused have been aquitted. The defence is confident that the decision has brought Sharif back into the political arena and put Musharraf on the defensive. The only way left for the Government now is to bring cases of corruption against Sharif and his loyalists," the weekly said. (UNI) |
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French daily apologises to Narayanan PARIS, Apr 19: The leading French daily ‘Le Figaro’ has apologised to President K R Narayanan for describing him as an untouchable and causing a controversy India took exception to. I apologise personally to you for this blunder and assure you that it was certainly not our intention to hurt you or be disrespectful to you in fact, quite to the contrary in as much as the relations between your country and the Figaro are old and friendly, Editor-in-Chief of Le Figaro, Michael Shifres, said in a letter to Narayanan. Reiterating his apology, Shifres said, please accept, Mr President, the expression of my highest consideration. The President, in an informal chat with newsmen on board the special aircraft en route toulouse, said yesterday I don’t feel anything in particular except that europeans have a fixation. But, he felt that the Indian mission in Paris could have given a proper briefing to the French media. Following is the text of the letter written by Shifres to Narayanan. Mr President, I understand that one of the headlines of Le Figaro has hurt you as well as your people. I apologise personally to you for this blunder and assure you that it was certainly not our intention to hurt you or to be disrespectful to you in fact, quite to the contrary in as much as the relations between your country and the Figaro are old and friendly. In reiterating our apologies, please accept, Mr President, the expression of my highest consideration. (PTI) |
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‘C’wealth has no authority to bring back democratic rule’ NEW DELHI, Apr 19: Commonwealth Secretary General Dr Donald McKinnon today expressed hope that the process of election would be set in motion soon for restoration of democracy in Pakistan. No timetable, has yet been fixed for the elections, he regretted, speaking to mediapersons here. The Commonwealth has no authority or powers to impose sanctions on any country to bring it back to democratic rule, he said replying to a question on Pakistan. The Commonwealth Secretary General described the controversy surrounding South African captain Hansie Cronje as "very sad" and said it had killed the very spirit of the game which was regarded as a game of chance. Asked about his opinion on legalising betting in cricket, he said "it will also be equally sad" as thereby the very nature of the game would get distorted. "The game should not be woven around a high complex legal structure", he observed, adding cricket should be kept out of it. Speaking about the discussions he had had with the Prime Minister, External Affairs Minister and the Finance Minister, he said trade and economic matters were discussed and the discussions were "very useful". Dr McKinnon lauded the role of India in the Commonwealth and said he was convinced that "India does see Commonwealth as an effective forum". About the sixth meeting of Commonwealth Ministers responsible for women affairs which concluded here today, the Commonwealth Secretary General said this meet had helped create a broad and sound base for effective implementation of the Commonwealth action plan relating to gender and development. Referring to the developments in Zimbabwe, including recent killings, he said these have led to mounting tension and are therefore a matter of growing concern. The current atmosphere is not conducive to free and fair elections. I believe that restraint should be exercised and urge authorities to do every thing possible to restore calm . He said he was maintaining contact with the Zimbabwe Government with a view to exploring how the Commonwealth could help enhance the credibility of the electoral process. The Commonwealth stands ready to provide technical assistance and I am willing to send Commonwealth observers to the elections if invited by the Government of Zimbabwe and supported by the parties contesting the elections. (UNI) |
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Russia’s Upper House ratifies Start-II MOSCOW, Apr 19: Russian Parliament’s Upper House, the Federation Council, today ratified the US-Russian nuclear arms reduction treaty, Start-II, with an overwhelming majority. The treaty, ratified by 112 to 15 votes with seven abstentions, will now go to President Vladimir Putin for signing. The Start-II was signed between US and Russia in 1993. Earlier last Friday the Lower House, the State Duma, had ratified the Start-II with the delay of seven years. (PTI) |
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