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Bush
backs Annan’s WASHINGTON, Mar 24: US President George W Bush has endorsed UN secretary.....more Rift
in Jatiya Party, DHAKA, Mar 24: The Jatiya Party led by H M Ershad is headed for another split due ..more US
defence secy WASHINGTON, Mar 24: U.S. defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld has signaled to President George W. Bush his intention......more Qian warns US arms sales to Taiwan could spark war WASHINGTON, Mar 24: China’s top foreign policy official has warned the United States against.....more |
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Indian jailed for SINGAPORE, Mar 24: A grieving father who kicked a kitten to death in Singapore because it sniffed his feet has been jailed for two weeks......more Kashmir
issue dominates GENEVA, Mar 24: The Kashmir issue virtually dominated the proceedings of the 57th session of the commission on human rights today with exiled leaders of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) questioning the sanctity of the Security/......more WASHINGTON, Mar 24: Lalit Mansingh, who is here to take up his new assignment as India’s Ambassador to the US, has discussed the.....more US says remaining sanctions against India under review WASHINGTON, Mar 24: The United States has said the sanctions imposed on Indian after the 1998 Pokhran nuclear tests are still under review, but has |
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Bush backs Annan’s bid for 2nd term WASHINGTON, Mar 24: US President George W Bush has endorsed UN secretary general Kofi Annan’s candidature for a second term in office. "My administration thinks he is doing an excellent job as secretary general of the United Nations, and, therefore, we heartily endorse his second term...I appreciate your willingness to serve a second term, Mr secretary general," Bush told Annan at a meeting at the Oval office yesterday. "I am looking forward to working not only to make sure that you serve a second term, but once that is done, work closely with you to keep the peace and to make the world more prosperous," a White House statement quoting Bush said. Thanking Bush, Annan said "I am also looking forward to working with you....We have many issues to work on together... A whole range of issues, including HIV-AIDS, poverty, the Balkans and African issues, whose tenure as secretary-general ends on December 31, announced Thursday that he would seek a second term in office. (PTI) |
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Rift in Jatiya Party, on verge of another split DHAKA, Mar 24: The Jatiya Party led by H M Ershad is headed for another split due to the internal bickerrings within the party over its decision to take part in parliamentary proceedings. The secretary general of the party general Naziur Rahman Manzur was sacked for his open stand against the party’s decision to return to parliament by Mr Ershad, former president and chairman of Jatiya Party and presidium member Abm Shajahan was made the acting secretary general of the party yesterday. "I cannot be removed this way without approval of a party council," said Naziur Rahman Manzur as quoted by some newspapers. Manzur is in hiding for the last one week after his younger brother Mostafa was arrested in connection with an industrialists murder case. Action against Naziur came after Ershad’s wife, Raushan Ershad, MP and his brother GM Qader, MP met the former president Ershad in Dhaka Central Jail yesterday to apprise him of the latest development in the party. Ms Raushan told UNI that Ershad asked them to return to Parliament to show their majority and retain the election symbol, ‘plough’ since another faction of JP led by ex-Prime Minister Mizanur Rahman Chowdhury and Communications Minister Anwar Hossain is claiming the symbol. JP’s (Ershad) decision to return to Parliament has caused ripples in the the four-party alliance which is boycotting the house for more than two years. At a recent meeting, Bangladesh Nationalist Party chief Khaleda Zia was learnt to have rebuked Raushan for taking decision on return to Parliament. Raushan said, " if BNP lawmakers and other opposition MPs can join the Parliament to save their seats, why should we not go to Parliament to save our election symbol?". Khaleda has asked the JP to either remain in the opposition alliance or opt for collaborating with the Government. As an immediate, fallout, Raushan abstained from attending the march 21 grand rally’ of the alliance in the city. Ershad expressed dismay at opposition’s ultimatum to the Government, saying it is a matter of hardly three weeks as the Prime Minister has already announced to quit power after April 17. Expelled secretary general Naziur Rehman Manzur earlier alleged that Raushan and GM Kader were conspiring to break the opposition unity by toeing the Government line and planning to attend the Parliament session. In another development HM Ershad was shifted to prison cell of Bangabandhu Medical University Hospital from Dhaka Central Jail today for treatment. But political circle and press reports say Ershad has been shifted to hospital in a bid to facilitate negotiations with the Government to break away from the opposition alliance which is demanding resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina by March 30. Ershad’s counsel Khandakar Mahabub Hossain said that Ershad may be allowed to attend the upcoming Parliament session on parole. The party had split into JP (Ershad) and JP( Mizan-Manzu) way back in 1998. (UNI) |
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US defence secy outlines military overhaul WASHINGTON, Mar 24: U.S. defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld has signaled to President George W. Bush his intention to press dramatic changes in U.S. military strategy with increased emphasis toward Asia, senior defense and administration officials have said. The officials, who asked not to be identified, confirmed yesterday a Washington Post report that Rumsfeld outlined broad shifts away from cold war planning for a major war in Europe during a White House meeting on Wednesday. But the officials stressed in interviews with Reuters that Rumsfeld had made no decisions yet on pending U.S. weapons programs and had not made any arms recommendations to bush at a meeting attended by representatives of the defense and state departments and the National Security Council. The President, they said, agreed with the thrust of Rumsfeld’s emphasis on China’s growing military and economic importance and on all of Asia. "He (Rumsfeld) did not make any recommendations or discuss weapons in detail. But the secretary made clear that China and Asia — and the distances involved there — are looming ever larger on our radar. That will obviously make (arms) changes necessary," one of the administration officials told Reuters. The post, quoting senior Government officials, said a sweeping defense review being conducted by Rumsfeld on orders from Bush was likely to lead to a recommendation to build smaller navy aircraft carriers that might be less vulnerable to new missiles and to put more emphasis on radar-avoiding, long-range bombers such as the batwing b-2 for power projection in Asia. "The secretary has not received any detailed briefings on specific weapons programs yet," one senior defense official told Reuters in response to questions. "His reasoning is ‘first-things-first — and first comes strategy — followed by the weapons to carry it out,"’ the official said. The top-to-bottom review of strategy and arms is aimed at moving the cumbersome cold war U.S. military away from a decades-long thrust toward all-out war with the former Soviet Union toward threats posed by high-tech arms proliferation in the 21st century. The post quoted officials close to the defense study as saying that it will lead to a shift away from the current pentagon strategy of being prepared to fight two major wars —perhaps in Korea and the Gulf — virtually simultaneously. The newspaper said the review also could lead to buying a smaller number of planned F-22 fighter jets for the Air Force. The service is currently planning to buy 340 of the F-22 air-superiority jets from Lockheed Martin Corp at a cost of more than 60 billion. But critics say the short-range jet would not be effective in Asia, where distances are great and the United States has few bases. Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co. are also vying for a contract to build up to 3,000 or more planned joint strike fighters for the U.S. Air Force, navy and marine corps and Britain’s royal navy. Britain has committed 2 billion to the JSF program, which is also under review by the new administration, and Italy and other allied countries are interested in the fighter. Rumsfeld refused on Wednesday to predict whether or not the JSF might go ahead despite a ringing endorsement of the fighter from visiting British Defense Minister Geoffrey Hoon. Bush has proposed a 310.5 billion military budget for 2002 but has said he would decide whether to increase defense spending after Rumsfeld’s pentagon review. Sources cited by The Washington Post said the pentagon review was likely to push the Air Force toward spending more on long-range bombers such as the B-2, built by Northrop Grumman Corp. The Air Force currently has a fleet of 21 of the bombers, which flew round trip nonstop from the United States to bomb Serbia during NATO’s air war against Belgrade two years ago. Some members of Congress have been pressing the pentagon to buy more of the stealthy bombers. (REUTERS) |
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Qian warns US arms sales to Taiwan could spark war WASHINGTON, Mar 24: China’s top foreign policy official has warned the United States against selling new arms to Taiwan, saying it could provoke war in the cross-straits region. "Since there is already trouble in that particular region, if weapons were sold to that region, it would be like adding fuel to the flame," Chinese vice premier Qian Qichen said yesterday. He spoke at a lunch sponsored by the U.S.-China Business Council, the National Committee on U.S.-China relations, the U.S.-China policy foundation and the Nixon Center. "There is already a spark there. If you pour oil and fuel over this spark, the spark would turn into a great flame.... We don’t want to see the flame of war there," Qian said, answering questions through an interpreter. He addressed the gathering of about 300 businessmen and foreign policy experts as he wrapped up a visit to Washington aimed at persuading President George W. Bush against new weapons sales to Taiwan. Bush is to decide next month whether to grant Taiwan’s request for a major new arms package. China considers Taiwan a renegade province and has in recent years intensified pressure on the island nation to unite with the mainland — by force if necessary. The Taiwan arms sale decision is expected to have a major impact on U.S.-China ties. Among the items under consideration are diesel submarines, P-3 submarine-hunting aircraft and the aegis ship-based battle system. The sophisticated aegis system for detecting and shooting down incoming missiles is the most controversial one on the list. Qian, who sought to set a tone for bilateral relations with the new Republican administration during his U.S. visit, described his talks with Bush and other officials as an "extensive, constructive and frank dialogue," which in diplomatic language generally means tough and difficult. He said the United States has repeatedly committed itself to a "one China" policy and this means "Taiwan is part of China." "Therefore to sell weapons to parts of the territory of another sovereign state, whether the weapons are defensive or offensive, won’t stand," Qian said. He reiterated China’s view that the Taiwan question is "the key" to healthy U.S.-China ties and "it brooks no foreign intervention." In his formal speech, Qian made a point of rebutting assertions that his country is engaged in a major military build-up. That is a main rationale by Bush’s national security team and others for giving Taiwan more arms to defend itself against a possible Chinese attack. "It is indeed groundless to clamor about a China threat," said Qian, who read the speech in halting English. He asserted that "China’s defense policy is a defensive one" and stressed that Beijing’s military spending is 5 percent that of the United States, one-third of Japan’s and less than one-half of Britain’s. Moreover, "in the past 10 years ... We have cut our defense forces twice, by a total of 1.5 million servicemen," he said. During a White House meeting on Thursday, Bush pressed Qian on China’s detention of a U.S.-based scholar, Gao Zhan, and the treatment of her 5-year-old son and called for China to allow greater religious freedom. Yesterday, Qian made no mention of Gao’s case and the hand-picked written questions posed to him did not raise it. But he insisted that "never before has the human rights situation in China been so good, and it is still improving." Qian reaffirmed the Government’s opposition to the Falun Gong, a meditative grass-roots movement that has gained increasing popularity in China, calling it a "poisonous tumor on society" and a "cult that ruins families and human lives." The audience applauded Qian frequently and several speakers lavished him with praise. James Sasser, former U.S. Ambassador to China, extolled Qian as a "world class diplomat" who has worked to reduce tensions across the Taiwan straits. (REUTERS) |
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Indian jailed for killing kitten SINGAPORE, Mar 24: A grieving father who kicked a kitten to death in Singapore because it sniffed his feet has been jailed for two weeks. Kathan Hovindaraj, 36, became angered by the cat which kept sniffing his toes while he was using a public telephone, The Straits Times reported today. He kicked the kitten away once, but when it came back again he kicked it much harder and it died, the court heard. Govindaraj, an Indian national, said that while he was on the phone to his home in India he had been told that his son had died from a snake bite. (AFP) |
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Kashmir issue dominates proceedings of 57th session of commission of HR GENEVA, Mar 24: The Kashmir issue virtually dominated the proceedings of the 57th session of the commission on human rights today with exiled leaders of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) questioning the sanctity of the Security Council resolutions on the dispute, stating these were "not relevant in the present context." As many as eight representatives of various Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), including Europe-based Kashmir separatist leaders, expressed their views when the commission took up for discussion the "right of people to self determination and its application to people under colonial or alien domination or foreign occupation". Representatives of the Indian and Pakistani Government clashed several times on the issue with New Delhi blaming Islamabad for inciting and fomenting trouble in Kashmir, and showing no response to resumption of dialogue by stopping cross-border terrorism. Initiating the discussion on the issue, Mohammed Mumtaz Khan of the International Institute for Peace said the "UN resolutions as per its definition do not meet the criteria of self determination since its scope is limited. It denies the majority of people their right to determine their own future." Mr Khan, settled in Canada, said the future of Kashmir was being determined by the Pakistani seminaries and zealots in the name of religion and the people of the state were being deprived of their rights. He said Kashmir being a multi ethnic, multi religious and multi cultural state was a symbol of communal harmony, but the religious zealots had destroyed this character. Barristar Abdul Majid Tramboo, Executive Director of the International Council for Human Rights, urged the commission to establish an office of the High Commissioner for self determination, besides the self determination commission, which should consist of representatives of the member-states of the United Nations. He expressed the hoped that the commission would help evolve an effective mechanism for the realisation of the right to self determination. Barristar tramboo had organised the first international conference on right to self determination here in August last. Referring to the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, he said the civil conflict was causing socio-economic destruction and loss of life. But Sardar Shaoukat Ali Kashmiri of the European Union of public relations accused Pakistan of bringing miseries to the people of the state. He said Pakistan had illegally ceded 4000 km of disputed territory to China in 1963 and its regime had denied basic democratic rights to the people of the pok for several decades. It had also imposed a constitution, which was a clear proof of enslavement of the people of the areas. Mr Shoukat, who had been staying in Switzerland for the past several years after escaping from the PoK, demanded that the people be given free access to each part of their divided state so that reunion of families could be made possible. He urged Islamabad to stop support to fundamentalists in the state and "let the people exercise their right to determine their future." London-based separatist leader Altaf Hussain Qadri of the World Muslim League demanded initiation of the political process with the Kashmiri leadership for an early resolution of the dispute. He also urged the commission to send its observers to Jammu and Kashmir to monitor the human rights situation there. Mr Qadri said the Kashmiri leadership had offered a number of alternatives, including opening up of parallel dialogue with Pakistan and India. However all such moves were rejected. Ghulam Muhammed Safi and Mr Maqbool Ahmed also gave their views on the settlement of the dispute. The Indian Government representatives accused Islamabad of scuttling all peaceful moves to resolve the bilateral problems and said pakistan was primarily responsible for the current situation in Kashmir. By sending trained terrorists, it had caused immense damage to the economy and infrastructure of the state. They expressed New Delhi’s willingness to resume talks with Pakistan if it stopped support to cross-border terrorism. A representative of the humanitarian law project said the people of Kashmir should be given a legally mandated humantarian aid. The Palestinian, Tamil, Kosovo and other issues also came up for the discussion. Representatives of Egypt, Libya, Palestine, Pakistan and other nations criticised Israel for locking the peace process. China said the parties concerned needed to exercise restraint to create an atmosphere and conditions for the renewal and acceleration of peace negotiations. (UNI) |
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WASHINGTON, Mar 24: Lalit Mansingh, who is here to take up his new assignment as India’s Ambassador to the US, has discussed the prospects of further consolidating bilateral relations with US Secretary of State Colin Powell. The 30-minute meeting yesterday was his first high level contact with a US official. External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh’s three-day visit to the US beginning April five figured prominently in the discussions. Mansingh, who called on Powell to present a copy of his letter of credence, said Jaswant Singh, who was also Defence Minister, was looking forward to fruitful discussions with Powell, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. "Indo-American relations today are the best they have ever been", he said and assured Powell of India’s keen desire to build on the momentum that has been established. Mansingh briefly raised the issue of post-Pokhran sanctions against India and conveyed New Delhi’s viewpoint on them to which Powell reiterated that the entire issue of sanctions, including those slapped on India, will be reviewed. "Basically, what we discussed was about the way Indo-US relations have evolved in the past and the outlook for the future," he told reporters after the meeting. Powell, who warmly received Mansingh, said he had closely followed Indo-US developments and that it was Bush administration’s policy to continue to build on the momentum established in bilateral relations in the past year. "India is a highly impressive democracy and the Bush administration is keen to expand bilateral relations in every area," he said. He said he was looking forward to a full discussion on a whole range of issues with Jaswant Singh. Mansingh said "the Secretary of State clearly reiterated the policy of President George W Bush to build on the good work done in the past and expand relations with India. Powell said he was himself committed to the process." This indicated a desire on the part of the United States to build on the solid foundation laid during the high level exchange of visits last year, he said. Mansingh said New Delhi and Washington were "natural allies" — the phrase used by Prime Minister A B Vajpayee during his visit to the US in September last year. He also touched upon several areas of cooperation identified in the vision statement signed by the two countries during former President Bill Clinton’s visit to the country last year. (PTI) |
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US says remaining sanctions against India under review WASHINGTON, Mar 24: The United States has said the sanctions imposed on Indian after the 1998 Pokhran nuclear tests are still under review, but has not given a timeframe when these would be lifted to facilitate full-fledged cooperation between the two countries. The entire issue of sanctions, including the ones imposed on India, would be reviewed, Secretary of State Colin Powell told India’s new Ambassador Lalit Mansingh. Mr Powell, however, did say when the issue would be decided. "We briefly touched upon the issue of US sanctions against India," Mr Mansingh told reporters today after a thirty-minute meeting with the Secretary of State. He said he put forth India’s viewpoint that continuance of sanctions came in the way of full-fledged relations between the two countries, especially in science and technology. Mr Mansingh recalled the commitment given by Mr Powell on lifting of the remaining sanctions against India during his confirmation hearings before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Mr Powell had then said that he would review all sanctions, especially those against India, to see whether it was time to move forward and remove the remaining one. Mr Mansingh said Mr Powell reiterated the Bush administration’s policy to expand bilateral relations and that he himself was committed to that process. The Secretary of State said he was keenly looking forward to External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh’s visit to Washington on April six and that he would discuss the whole range of bilateral relations with the Indian Minister, Mr Mansingh said. Mr Powell will host a lunch in honour of Mr Jaswant Singh, also holding the charge of Defence Ministry. The visiting dignitary is scheduled to meet Defence Secretary Donald H Rumsfeld and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice during his two-day visit. The new Indian Ambassador said there were no plans at the moment for the External Affairs Minister to call on President Bush. Mr Mansingh said he extended an invitation to Mr Powell to visit India at the earliest, adding he was confident on the visit materialising in due course. The Secretary, Mr Mansingh added, pointed out he had paid a brief visit to India in 1998. Mr Mansingh said he assured the Secretary of State of India’s commitment for achieving the goals and objectives identified by the two countries. Reiterating that India and the United States were "natural allies," the Ambassador touched upon several areas of bilateral cooperation agreed to in the vision statement and elaborated in the dialogue agenda. Mr Jaswant Singh would kick start the dialogue process which would be followed by high-level visits from both sides, the Ambassador said. Describing the meeting as "extremely cordial," he said Mr Powell was gracious and expansive during the discussions. Mr Ted Andrews, Desk Officer in the State Department dealing with India, and Mr Alok Prasad, Deputy Chief of Indian Mission here, were present during the talks. (UNI) |
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