Situation still explosive, says Pervez Musharraf

ISLAMABAD, June 22: Despite easing of tensions with India, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf today said the situation still remained explosive and could turn worse in the event of any major terrorist strike in Kashmir or elsewhere in that country.

In an interview to BBC Radio and television, he called for immediate withdrawal of troops from the border but added in the same vein that he "cares less" whether India de-escalates, and warned "they dare not violate our international border. They dare not violate LoC."

He also suggested talks at the highest level with India saying it would be best for him to have a dialogue with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as lower level parleys would only mean "to sideline the issues."

Referring to the Indian assertion that it wanted results on the ground before de-escalating, he said "we don’t want them to de-escalate. They can carry on remaining on the border. We know that it is hurting them" more than Pakistan.

"They called back their navy— what for. Let them remain in the high seas. They are not bothering us. It was bothering them, therefore they called them back. They are not doing us a favour by de-escalating," he said.

During the interview he answered questions relating to Kashmir, Pakistan’s deterrence, possible involvement of Al Qaeda and local Islamic organisations in terrorist activities. About the current stand-off between the two countries, he said "we came very close. As a military man I gauge it more from military capability point of view ... When Indians moved their forces forward, army and air force that became very dangerous. That situation still remains".

"The threat of war has in fact diminished because of diminishing of intentions. But the capability exists. The situation will remain explosive because if anything happens inside Kashmir or inside India which is a possibility by any independent, any terrorist organisation or group doing it, the situation can become explosive again. (PTI)

Foreign Ministry officials in Pak under fire

ISLAMABAD, June 22: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and audit officials in Pakistan have come down heavily on Foreign Ministry officials, including Ambassadors and Diplomats, for wasting national resources.

The PAC has directed that an inter-departmental committee investigate the issue and submit its report within 30 days.

An audit pointed out that several honourable "excellences" had got themselves foreign postings when they were nearing their retirement using their connections in the foreign office, but never returned to the country, "The News" daily reported.

The audit officials said an Ambassador had even submitted fake bills to claim a few dollars. "It was unbecoming of an ambassador," an audit official remarked.

In the meeting, the PAC was presided by H U Beg. Deputy Auditor General senior Chaudhry Mohammad Ilays was also present.

When the special audit report on the accounts of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Pakistan missions abroad 1999-2000 was presented, the first paragraph got everyone working. It pointed out that in Pakistan’s Embassy in Bahrain, an amount of 8,400 Dinars was drawn from the Government account by Ambassador Mohammad Nasser Mian against fake furniture rent bills between May 1996 and May 1998.

An inquiry established that 1,880 dinars were recoverable from the Ambassador, who has since retired from service, the paper reported.

The report said that the irregularity had been brought to the notice of the concerned even earlier, but had been ignored. However, foreign office officials replied they had moved a summary to the chief executive to stop his pension and other payable dues and adjust the amount against the recoverable sum.

A sum of 544 Dinars were shown recoverable from the same person in another corruption case. In an aberration, a domestic servant of former envoy Zafar Habib had been unauthorisedly appointed by the mission and paid 17,707 dollars between 1995 and 1999 in violation of rules. The committee was told the money could not be recovered as the person concerned was living in a foreign country, perhaps the US.

According to the audit, 496 passports had been issued to applicants from July 1997 to April 1998 in the Pakistan consulate in Birmingham on the same day the applications were received. However, as per records only 243 were listed as being issued on an urgent basis. An amount of 11,638 pounds for the remaining 253 passports, at the rate of 46 pounds per document, appeared to have been embezzled.

The audit pointed out that huge foreign exchange was wasted when an Ambassador did not like the official residence and asked for a new accommodation.

It also pointed out that an estimated Rs 5.8 crore was spent on behalf of other ministries by the mission when certain delegates came visiting. The delegates usually got double payment as vip visit allowance, but also claimed allowances from their own ministries.

The ministries whose officials received these amounts were : National Assembly Secretariat, human rights, information, Kashmir committee, cabinet division, parliamentary affairs, Prime Minister secretariat and law and justice. (UNI)

Exiles and warriors build new Afghan police force

KABUL, June 22: When Taliban fighters captured the Afghan capital eight years ago, A Raouf-Tij, a police officer, sold his uniform and bicycle and fled the city.

He returned late last year when the Northern Alliance, backed by US air strikes, ousted the hardline Taliban regime, and in January took up a post as chief of his police district.

"We had a very nice police force, but everything ended with the Taliban when the police escaped," Mr Raouf-Tij says.

"Now the old policemen are returning. The Northern Alliance is straightening things out."

Kabul’s Ragtag 2,400 policemen are the first in a national force that is anticipated to reach 70,000 officers.

Building a police force loyal to president Jamid Karzai’s new UN-backed administration is essential to end the factional fighting among regional warlords that helped give rise to the Taliban and created a haven for Al Qaeda militants, blamed for the September 11 attacks on the United States.

But Karzai’s choice of a new ethnic Pashtun Interior Minister at this week’s Loya Jirga, or Grand Council, could spark tension within the Tajik-dominated police force, uneasy that former minister Yunis Qanuni, a close aide to assassinated Northern Alliance hero Ahmad Shah Masood, was passed over.

Demonstrators lined up outside of the ministry on Thursday when new Interior Minister Taj Mohammad Wardak arrived for work.

"Police in Afghanistan have to be disciplined. They have to take orders. Whoever is their minister is their minister, period," Karzai said after the protest.

Mr Qanuni, who resigned as Interior Minister last week, was said to be unhappy with his appointment as Education Minister at the nine-day Loya Jirga, which ended on Wednesday. Sitting at his desk beneath an enormous portrait of Masood, Mr Raouf-Tij says he hopes the controversy does not undermine the Loya Jirga’s mandate to map out Afghanistan’s political future.

"For war to end in Afghanistan, those who know the job must take up their duties. This is the part we are playing," he says.

Mr Raouf-Tij, 48, commands 43 officers and sergeants in one of Kabul’s 150-odd police districts. Young officers outfitted in oversized fatigues sit in the shade on the porch of Raouf-Tij’s station house, swatting at flies in the dust-soaked afternoon heat. Their new gleaming white helmets are lined up next to a display of guns and ammunition.

Most of the police entered a six-week training course run by German troops in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which has patrolled Kabul since late last year.

German soldiers continue to conduct around 30 joint patrols through Kabul’s streets each day with Afghan police.

Their uniforms were provided by Turkey, some of their weapons by Romania, says German Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas lobbering, an ISAF spokesman. Germany has donated cars, bicycles and wireless equipment to the fledgling units.

"They needed to be trained in all police matters — how to handle traffic accidents and not just stand around looking at the wrecks," says Mr Lobbering.

The policemen are fitfully paid by the Interior Ministry, which receives funding from international donations agreed upon at a conference on Afghanistan’s reconstruction held in Japan in January. The monthly base salary is around 15, while more senior officers receive up to 50, Mr Lobbering says.

"Morale is low in some districts where police haven’t been paid," he says. A new recruit in Mr Raouf-Tij’s district says officers who have received their wages often supplement the salaries of those who haven’t.

"We’re slowly getting on our feet," he says. "If we didn’t have the Germans’ help, we would have been in trouble. First God helped us, then ISAF helped us."

Mr Lobbering says it will take at least three years to build a functioning police force for Afghanistan.

The United States and France are training a national army, expected to eventually reach 60,000 soldiers, backed by an 8,000-person Air Force and 12,000 border guards.

In the meantime, success can be gauged in dramatic achievements.

Riots broke out at a February soccer match between Afghan footballers and members of ISAF, intended to serve as a symbolic inauguration of Kabul’s Olympic Stadium, the blood-soaked arena where public executions had been carried out under Islamic Sharia law during the Taliban era.

Thousands of angry soccer fans without tickets to the match tried to force their way into the Stadium, and lobbering credits Afghan police for defusing the tension.

"They did not use their kalashnikovs as a first resort, as they would have in the past. They fired shots into the AIR and formed a cordon to block access to the stadium. It was enough to calm the crowd," he says. "I would call that baptism by fire."

But Mr Lobbering acknowledges the new police have yet to secure real safety on Kabul’s streets.

ISAF still receives complaints from residents about police intimidation or robbery and has changed the mix of police units to reflect the populations of the districts cops patrol.

"You also see ethnic tension within the police force, which is almost all former Northern Alliance fighters, but includes some Pashtuns and Hazaras," he says.

Police Chief Raouf-Tij says his squad is made up mostly of the tough former guerrilla warriors but that they now hope to contribute to Afghanistan’s experiment with multi-ethnic democracy.

"We want a young force, not just old warriors representing their tribes. We can only be successful if we have all the people’s support," he says. (AGENCIES)

Russia rules out mediation in Kashmir issue

BANGALORE, June 22: Russian Federation Ambassador to India Alexandar M Kadakin today categorically stated that Russia has no intention to mediate between India and Pakistan on the Kashmir issue and said the bilateral talks between the two countries should focus on containing cross-border terrorism.

He told newspersons here that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s separate talks with the leaders of both the countries at Almaty was aimed to convey the international community’s concern on the issue. US President George Bush and leaders of the European countries had urged Mr Putin to express concern on cross-border tension.

Mr Kadakin said Russia, a victim of terrorism itself, shared India’s ire over cross-border terrorism. This, rather than Kashmir, should be the focus of the bilateral talks. "We are 100 per cent behind India", he added.

Russia and India were the first countries to sound the alarm on international terrorism, but unfortunately it was ignored, he lamented.

Mr Kadakin spoke about the proposed twin city programme between Samara and Bangalore, the IT capitals of the two countries. The project would be completed before Mr Putin’s visit, scheduled for the year end, he hoped.

He said that he was proud of Russian assistance to India in the field of electronics and space research three decades ago and added both these areas have achieved a major breakthrough.

On the Roerich memorial at Tataguni Estate, Mr Kadakin claimed the delay in the judgement for the acquisition of the land was an insult to the millions of Russians who honoured Svetoslav. He however, hailed the Karnataka Government’s efforts to build a memorial.

Referring to the Russian Government’s demand that India hand over the remains of Svetoslav, now buried in Tataguni Estate, he said it was Sveioslav’s last wish to be buried in St Petersburg. Russia and its people were deeply sorrowed over the apathy shown towards the maintenance of Svetoslav’s grave. If Tataguni Estate became a thriving cultural centre and a fitting memorial to the great artist, then Russia would reconsider the demand.

He hoped that the issue would be resolved to mutual benefit and added that even if the remains of Svetoslav were removed to Russia, his soul, which was as Indian as it was Russian, would remain here. (UNI)

Citizens should vote, but only once

WASHINGTON, June 21: A voter fraud bill currently in conference committee in Congress would guarantee that every citizen have the right to vote, but only once, in an election.

Senator Christopher Bond, said, the final comprise, I think, does a good job of addressing both of the issues of making it easier to vote and tougher to cheat.

Speaking at a Cato Institute Forum Wednesday, Mr Bond said the bill provides 3.5 billion dollars of funding over the next five years to help states and counties improve and update their voting systems. It also provides minimal requirement for the voting systems to ensure minimal error rates. It gives voters the opportunity to correct any errors prior to casting their votes.

Under the bill, funding is provided to help the disabled to access the polling places. And a new Election Commission is also being established, Mr Bond said.

Mr Bond said some of the bill’s provisions are designed to counter situations where a person need only sign a card and send it in to register to vote. That could lead to registration of the dead, as has happened in St Louis, Mr Bond said, and also with the multiple problems of drive-in registrations.

Motor-voter has become auto-fraudo, and that is a significant problem, Mr Bond said.

Mr Bond said he has recommended that voters have a Photo ID or a written documentation either at the time the person registered or the first time to vote. The written documentation could be a Government check, a utility check or a bank statement as long as it shows the name and address of the person.

But Hilary Shelton, Director of the Washington Office of the NAACP, said the use of photo ID or documents for voting could be a form of discrimination for those who do not have such documentation or are colored Americans. You just add an additional cost...Than simply be able to go and exercise your right as an American citizen to cast your vote. Shelton said.

Shelton said that although the Senate version of the bill is not perfect, it will provide changes by the year 2006. For example, voters will be able to verify their choices before the votes are cast. Also by the 2004, computerized votes will be used.

We provide assistance to provisional vote, Mr Bond said. That means that a person can cast a provisional ballot and then the election authority has a 10-day period to check that this person is registered and eligible to vote. Then the ballot of the provisional vote will be counted.

Mr Bond said that prosecution and full disclosure of those who commit voting fraud is very important. He also said that there is no substitute in the voting process for having strong partisans, strong democrats watching strong Republicans.

Mr Bond said that strong media attention is also needed to change and improve the election process.

There are suspicions on both sides (democrats and republicans) about what is going on in our decentralized political process, said John Fund, from the Wall Street Journal.

Absentee and early voters increase the chances of voting fraud, fund said. It increases the cost and difficulties of election campaigns, which share a common ground with the election or voting reform, he added.

Voting is the most important part of our republican form of Government, Mr Bond said. I believe it is essential to restore faith and confidence in our system to make sure that everybody who is entitled to vote, gets the chance to vote, but only once. (UPI)

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