Afghans believe Laden in Pak

KABUL, Nov 14: Afghan officials and Taliban in hiding expressed no surprise when they heard that an audiotape has surfaced purporting to be the voice of Osama bin Laden.

Many said they believed all along that the Al-Qaida leader was alive - perhaps in the semi-autonomous region across the border in Pakistan or in one of Pakistan’s cities.

Some went so far as to suggest bin Laden is not only alive but traveling with Mullah Mohammed Omar, the deposed Taliban leader also wanted by the United States.

"I can say with full confidence that they are still active and are launching anti-Government and anti-US activities, said Gen Said Agha, Afghan commander of the Border Security Forces in eastern Nangarhar province.

According to a former Taliban diplomat, both men met recently with Mullah Akhtar Mohammed Usmani, a Taliban commander reputedly named by Omar as his successor. Usmani reported back that the two were safe, the source said.

Bin Laden, prime suspect in the Sept 11 attacks on the US, went into hiding shortly afterward. The audiotape appears to be the first hard evidence in nearly a year that the Al-Qaida leader survived the US airstrikes in Afghanistan.

Yesterday, a US official familiar with the tape said the audiotape was probably authentic.

Agha, the Afghan commander, said it’s possible bin Laden is traveling with Mullah Omar. The mountain peaks that run like a spine between Pakistan and Afghanistan would be a perfect hiding place for the two men, he said.

Western intelligence sources say bin Laden’s Al-Qaida network is aligned with certain Islamic groups in Pakistan, including Harakat-ul Mujahedeen and Jaish-e-Mohammed, both banned in the aftermath of last year’s attacks. (AP)

China’s Jiang hands party to new generation

BEIJING, Nov 14: Chinese President Jiang Zemin hailed a smooth transition to a new generation today as a landmark Communist Party congress officially confirmed he would step down with five other elderly leaders.

But Chinese sources said Jiang would wield power in retirement through allies in the new leadership, to be unveiled tomorrow, and as author of a plan to let capitalists into the party which the congress wrote into the party constitution.

"With the congress election of a new central committee, the party’s central collective leadership has realised a smooth transition from the old to the new," Jiang, 76, told the 16th congress as it closed to the strains of the internationale.

More than 2,000 delegates burst into "thunderous" applause when the results of the election of a new central committee were announced, Xinhua said, sealing the transition to a new generation of leaders led by vice president Hu Jintao, who is 59.

Hu was the only member of the current 7-man leadership elected to the central committee, it said, indicating he would take over from Jiang as party general secretary tomorrow.

Only central committee members can be on the Politburo Standing Committee — the pinnacle of power which now has seven seats — or party chief.

After months of secretive jockeying for power, the Xinhua report was the first official confirmation that the party was moving ahead with what is billed as its first peaceful and orderly leadership succession.

Previous transitions have been tainted by purges, plots and bloodshed — including Jiang’s appointment as party chief after the crackdown on protests around Tiananmen Square in 1989.

"More than 2,100 delegates to the congress showed respect and appreciation to 76-year-old Jiang and his colleagues for the breadth of their political vision and sterling integrity," Xinhua said.

The new standing committee will parade out from behind a screen in the great hall tomorrow — the climax of a tense drama in which almost all the action has taken place off stage.

The new lineup, hammered out by retiring leaders, is a fiercely guarded secret and the subject of months of speculation by party members, China analysts and diplomats alike.

"We won’t know for sure until we see who comes out and in what order," said one Chinese political scientist. "Leadership succession is more institutionalised than it used to be, but still very opaque."

Veteran China watchers say almost nobody has accurately forecast a Chinese leadership succession yet.

But the consensus among Chinese sources with close links to the party and leading analysts is that Jiang, who will step down as President in march, has shoe-horned at least four key allies into the new standing committee.

The body could also be expanded to nine, with six people from his camp, they say.

Jiang has secured a seat for his main protege and hatchet man Zeng Qinghong, 63, who stepped down as head of the party’s organisation department last month, they say.

Vice Premier Wen Jiabao, 60, is sure to join the standing committee, backed by premier Zhu Rongji, 74, and is expected to take over the reins of Asia’s fastest growing economy next year — although some say the premiership is not his for sure.

Parliament chief Li Peng, 74, has negotiated a seat for his protege, Internal Security chief Luo Gan, 67, who is expected to take over the party’s corruption watchdog, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection.

The other candidates for the standing committee, whether it is seven or nine, all have close links to Jiang — either through personal friendship or as part of a "Shanghai Gang" of natives or former officials from China’s financial centre.

"Wherever Hu looks — up, down, left or right — he will see Jiang’s men," said another Chinese political scientist.

Huang Ju, 64, who stepped down as Shanghai party chief last month, is expected to join the new leadership and may take over the national people’s congress, China’s parliament, next year.

Beijing’s former party boss, Jia Qinglin, 62, a close friend of Jiang, is likely to take a standing committee seat despite being tainted by a massive smuggling scandal that unfolded under his watch in the southeastern province of Fujian.

He is expected to take a back seat role in the new leadership — most likely as head of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference which advises parliament.

Vice Premier Wu Bangguo, 61 and a former Shanghai party boss, will join the standing committee, probably as Executive Vice Premier, but perhaps instead of Huang as parliament chief.

If the standing committee is expanded, two more Jiang allies are likely to join, the Chinese sources and analysts say.

They are Li Changchun, 58, party boss of the southern province of guangdong, and Wu Guanzheng, 64, party chief of Shandong province in the east.

The overwhelming number of Jiang allies in the new leadership will guarantee him a say in decision-making and protect his family’s interests after his retirement, the sources said.

The congress also approved a plan to write Jiang’s political theory, the "three represents", into its charter, putting him on a symbolic plane with predecessors Deng Xiaoping and Mao Zedong.

The theory says the party represents advanced productive forces, advanced culture and the majority of the Chinese people. It broadens the party’s political power base of workers and peasants to private entrepreneurs and other social strata.

But it also boosts Jiang’s power in retirement, requiring him to be consulted on any further reforms.

Hu will have to defer to Jiang for the next few years but will try to promote his own allies through the ranks to build up his own power base, Chinese sources and analysts said.

‘’before that, I’m afraid Jiang Zemin and his cronies are going to keep the situation very much under control,’’ said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, Director of the Hong Kong-based French Centre for Research on Contemporary China.(AGENCIES)

‘King of pop’ defends himself in courtroom trial

LOS ANGELES, Nov 14: The beleaguered "king of pop" Michael Jackson took on a new starring role in a courtroom, to defend himself against a 21.2 million dollar fraud and breach of contract lawsuit.

Jackson yesterday gave evidence in a trial brought by his longtime concert promoter Marcel Avram, who is suing him for allegedly illegally cancelling two millennium concerts he had signed up to play.

The usually-gloved superstar received a celebrity welcome as he arrived at a courtroom near the California city of Santa Barbara in a black and silver limousine preceded by a police escort.

Wearing a white surgical mask over his mouth and a red jacket, Jackson waved as scores of fans brandishing "free Michael" placards cheered him as he stepped from his stretched van surrounded by a phalanx of bodyguards.

Inside the courtroom, however, Jackson spoke softly, answering only "yes" or "no" to questions put to him by lawyers after he was called as a hostile witness in the trial.

Avram, who has promoted Jackson since 1972, claims Jackson cancelled new year concerts in Sydney and Honolulu after notching up "dismal" ticket sales for two earlier concert appearances.

"Michael Jackson’s decision not to perform at the millennium concerts came as a shock to Avram who had for many months expended much time and money," the suit said.

The suit claims Israeli citizen Avram — after advancing the singer 11.2 million dollars for the concerts — "was left to explain Michael Jackson’s erratic behaviour — and to pay all of his bills." (AFP)

Poor sound quality of "Osama" tape hampering analysis

NEW YORK, Nov 14: The poor sound quality of the latest taped message attributed to Al Qaida chief Osama bin Laden has created problems for American analysts in distinctly verifying his identity, senior Bush administration officials said.

Analysts at the US Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency were facing problems in analysing the tapes, the oficials were today quoted as saying.

The tape had been played over a telephone to the Arab satellite television station Al-Jazeera on Tuesday, which would have wiped out the high and low frequencies that help distinguish voices, a media report said.

"But even if the quality had been superb, the Government analysts would have faced pitfalls in trying to verify the voice, the New York Times reported.

Identity of a person can be ascertained by analysing the voice, since the vocal tract physically differs from one person to another, but unlike verifying someone’s identity through fingerprints, voice recognition is indirect.

The science of using computers and linguists to identify individuals by their speech has improved dramatically in the last several years, but still involves considerable guess work and speculation, according to experts.

The Government’s assessment so far that it cannot be absolutely certain that the audiotape broadcast on Tuesday was recorded by Osama bin Laden does not surprise experts in the field of voice authentication, the paper says.

"If an imposter wanted to put together a tape, he could fool a lot of people," an expert was quoted as saying.

Experts said the most successful imposter would probably be a member of bin Laden’s immediate family, though mimicry is often detected by the new technology used in voice authentication.

Government analysts, the paper said, would have begun by compiling a set of recordings that bin Laden is known to have made, called a library in the parlance of voice authentication.

Most of these recordings came from videotapes in which it is clear that bin Laden was the Speaker. This earlier material provided a wide range of his speech and varied background noise with which to compare the new tape.

With the previous recordings as a template, the Government analysts would have then fed the old and new tapes into a computer using software that most probably was designed expressly for the intelligence agencies, it said.

The programme, the Times said, converts speech into bits and chunks, and then computes the degree to which the two sets of tapes match.

Intelligence officials have said the resulting score means there is a 90 per cent probability that the voice on the new tape is indeed of bin Laden.

By comparison, fingerprinting done by law enforcement officials is accurate in the order of 99.99 per cent or even higher. (PTI)

PML(Q)-MMA coalition an "alarming development", US think tanks

ISLAMABAD, Nov 14: Concerned over reported progress on the formation of a coalition Government by pro-military Pakistan Muslim League-Q and hardline six-party religious alliance Muthahida Majlis Amal, leading US think tanks have described it as an "alarming development", saying it will reinforce suspicion against President Pervez Musharraf’s regime.

Induction of MMA in Pakistan’s federal Government would be viewed with extreme suspicion and unease in both official Washington and Capitol Hill, two leading American South Asian experts interviewed by Pakistan newspaper ‘Daily Times’ said in Washington said yesterday.

Some component parties of the MMA were seen as ideologically one with the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Also there was little reason to suppose that they have modified their views since the October elections, they said.

One expert, Selig Harrison, author of several books on South Asian politics said that MMA’s election platform has featured defence of Al Qaeda, hatred of America and support for Osama bin Laden and Mullah Omar.

Harrison said while all parties constituting the MMA were not necessarily to be identified with Al Qaeda, there were elements in the alliance that had close ties with the Taliban and Al Qaeda. If the MMA were to join the new Government in Islamabad, these elements would pose a "big problem" for Pakistan and for Pak-US relations, he said.

Harrison said the PML-Q and MMA alliance would also reinforce suspicion against the Musharraf Government as persistent reports about Pakistan’s nuclear collaboration with North Korea, has raised many eyebrows.

"It will definitely undermine confidence in Pakistan on Capitol Hill. It will lend strength to the view held by some that Pervez Musharraf is opportunistic in his relations with the US, his real objective being to remain in power. His commitment to the war against terrorism will be seen as tenuous at best," he said

Already former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who is currently camping in US has told a meetings of Washington think tanks that the Pakistan Army and the religious leaders were "natural allies."

In this backdrop, Harrison said the entry of MMA into the federal Government would confirm fears that this was what Musharraf was preparing to do from the beginning. He had sidelined the liberal and centrist parties and created a space for the MMA to fill.

Harrison said as for the MMA’s demand that US troops should not be stationed on Pakistani soil, it was by no means unreasonable. "No country liked foreign troops on its soil," he said.

He said MMA’s hostile and confrontationist policy towards US, that would affect a host of things adversely, including US economic assistance to Pakistan and the helpful role Washington had played in facilitating Pakistan’s relation with internationjl financial institutions. "All these things would then be in jeopardy," he said.(PTI)

Capital’s ‘Hyde park’ reverberates with anti-US slogans

NEW DELHI, Nov 14: The Parliament street, the Hyde park of the capital, today reverberated with anti-US slogans as a broad band of political leaders and peace activists vented their spleen on Washington’s "aggressive designs" against Iraq in defiance of a snowballing worldwide protest.

Organised under the auspices of "committee against war on Iraq", the protestors also slammed the Indian Government’s "blunderous policy of maintaining silence" on the issue, saying this could be construed as siding with "the murderous pair of Bush and Blair."

Addressing the impressive slogan-shouting and placards-wielding protestors, CPI(M) general secretary Har Kishen Singh Surjeet said the disintegration of the erstwhile USSR had drastically altered the global power equation, emboldening the US to launch aggressive designs against any country in the world.

"The embers of protest are shining bright in most of Europe, Latin America and Asia, but President Bush has rekindled the jingoistic passions in the US as a prelude to his war against Iraq," he said.

Mr Surjeet pointed out that barring the US and the UK, the remaining 13 members of the Security Council had strongly objected to any military campaign against Iraq. "This is a big challenge before the world community and must be stoutly resisted at the global level."

Describing the American designs against Iraq as "an instance of terrorism," the CPI(M) generel secretary said it was shameful that the Indian Government had not raised its voice against it.

"We are going to raise the issue in the winter session of Parliament and and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will be asked to come out with a categorical stand," he added.

Former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (S) president H D Deve Gowda berated the US for its bullying attitude’’ against any country which refused to kowtow to its dictates and appealed to UN and all genuinely democratic countries to forge a global coalition against the "imperialistic designs" of Washington. "By launching a war against Iraq, the US wants to foist a puppet regime in Baghdad and control its enormous oil wealth," Mr Deve Gowda said and appealed to the world to realise Washington’s "dual policy" on isues like the Palestine and destruction of weapons of mass destruction.

By launching this protest rally, which would be replicated in most parts of the country, he said leaders and activists had sent out their strong resolve to resist American designs against Iraq on "frivolous" charges.

An ailing former Prime Minister, Mr V P Singh, who was scheuled to address the gathering failed to turn up because of his poor health. He, however, briefly joined the rally at its fountainhead near Mandi House, some three km from the Parliament Street.

CPI general secretary A B Bardhan said it was amazing that despite the acceptance of the UN resolution by Iraqi President Saddam Hussain to allow UN inspectors to visit his country and ascertain the existence of weapons of mass destruction there, the US was trying to impose a war on it.

‘’the us has mobolised some 1.5 lakh troops and also despatched its frigates preparatory to a war even as lakhs of people, including children, have perished resulting from the decade-long embargoes imposed on iraq. This is a straight case of us imperialism and has to be resisted at all levels.’’

CPI (ML) leader Deepankar Bhattacharya said Iraq "has emerged as a shining example of third world resistance against American imperilaism and all the countries must prop the Saddam Hussain regime against the US and British designs. (UNI)

Bangladesh to probe on India’s list of camps, insurgents

DHAKA, Nov 14: Bangladesh today said it was investigating into the list given by India regarding the existence of terrorist camps and Indian insurgents from northeast in this country.

"We will let them know once the probe is over", foreign secretary Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury told reporters here.

India has given Bangladesh a list prepared by security agencies, consisting of 99 terrorist training camps and 77 wanted insurgents, including some leaders, as also nine criminals who have been arrested by Bangla authorities.

Providing their exact locations in the list, India has told Bangladesh to shut down the camps.

Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani last week said operatives of Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI and Al-Qaeda terror network are active in bangladesh, an allegation Bangladesh vehemently denied.

The camps in the list included those run by National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT), All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF), National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM), People’s Liberation Army (PLA), United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), Muslim United Liberation Tiger of Assam (MULTA), Achik National Volunteer Council, Chakma National Liberation Front (CNLF), and Dima Halam Daoga.

Top ULFA leaders Anup Chetia and Babul Sarma and Tripra rebel leader Sanjiv Deb Burman were among those India wanted Bangladesh to hand over.

Referring to the handing over of Chetia and Burman, Chowdhury said the rebel leaders’ legal standing is being examined. "Once those are gone, it would be conveyed to Delhi."

According to Indian officials, Chetia had been arrested and sent to jail in Bangladesh on January one, 1998 under Foreigner Act and Passport Act.

Babul Sarma was jailed on December 24, 1997 also under the same acts as was another top ULFA leader Laxme Prosad Goshame.

Chowdhury sought India’s cooperation in arresting criminals from Bangladesh who crossed over following the current army-led crackdown.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Morshed Khan in an interview with BBC mentioned that criminals were fleeing to India to evade arrest.

Chowdhury however said, "despite differences of opinion, we remain committed to cooperative relations."

The Foreign Secretary also informed that the upcoming meeting between the two countries- the Joint Secretary level trade talks and the working groups talks on the border- will go as per schedule.

Early this week, Chowdhury had claimed that allegations of insurgency and intelligence activities against India from Bangladesh soil had been thoroughly investigated and were found to be without any basis.

He refuted the allegation that Al-Qeada elements were being given shelter in Bangladesh and reaffirmed Dhaka’s consistent position against terrorism in all its forms. (PTI)

Lanka PM to meet Balasingham in Oslo on November 25

COLOMBO, Nov 14: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will meet the LTTE’s chief negotiator Anton Balasingham for the first time on the sidelines of an international donor conference in Oslo later this month to strengthen moves towards a political solution to the Tamil question, the Government said today.

"It is an opportunity for the Prime Minister to discuss the progress made in Thailand peace talks with the head of the ltte delegation and some of the political issues we are formulating," Cabinet Spokesman G L Peiris told newsmen here.

The two sides decided to form thre sub-committees on political, military and economic matters. Peiris and Balasingham head the panel that will seek to find a political settlement.

Balasingham’s statement in Thailand that the LTTE was ready to consider federal or confederal constitutional models in other parts of the world has made it possible for the two sides to take up core issues directly instead of postponing it until normalisation was achieved on the ground.

The Oslo conference on November 25 will be attended by representatives of many prospective donor countries and hear a joint presentation by the Government and the rebels for funds to begin the mammoth task of rebuilding the war-ravaged North and East.

Peiris, who is also Constitutional Affairs Minister, said a white paper setting out the priority areas for which aid was invited had been prepared.

The sub-committee on rehabilitation and humanitarian matters, formed in Thailand in the last session of peace talks and charged with the task of receiving and disbursing aid, would hold its first meeting on November 18 at the northern town of Kilinochchi, Peiris said.

The meeting would give finishing touches to the presentation to be made in Oslo, he said.

Significantly, a special representative of Japan would be present at the meeting in recognition of Japan’s status as Sri Lanka’s largest donor accounting for 45 per cent of its external aid.

Japan is also interested in the presentation, as it is due to host a larger donor conference in aid of Sri Lanka early next year. The Oslo meet is expected to raise just enough funds to kick off rehabilitation work, but long-term project needs are to be met by infusion of funds on a much larger scale.

Peiris said Australia had committed itself to nine million Australian dollars in aid, comprising 7.5 million of direct aid and the rest through bilateral programmes for community-based development initiatives.

"We want to convert the international goodwill that this peace process enjoys into money. We also want to make rapid use of the funds," he said.

The Government was working with several ministers to frame steps to avoid bureaucratic delays and convert the aid in to a "peace dividend that will touch the lives of all people". (PTI)

US security officials almost sure of Osama’s voice on tape

WASHINGTON, Nov 14: US intelligence officials say they are almost certain that the voice on a new audiotape praising recent terror attacks is that of Al-Qaeda supremo Osama bin Laden giving rise to concerns that the Saudi fugitive terrorist leader is still alive.

Administration officials said the White House had been informed that Government linguistics experts believed the voice on the tape was Bin Laden’s, the Washington Post reported today.

The tape, first broadcast on Qatar’s Al Jazeera channel on Tuesday, has caused such deep concern in the administration because if it proves genuine, it will be the first hard evidence in nearly a year that Bin Laden is alive.

President Bush told reporters the tape had "put the world on notice yet again that we’re at war and that we need to take these messages very seriously, and we will." Mr Bush refused to commit himself completely, however, saying he would leave it to the Government’s experts to "speak about whether it’s him or not."

No matter the ultimate determination, administration officials said they were bracing for the possibility that the tape might contain hidden messages to Qaeda followers, and that these might spur further terrorist attacks.

In an indication that the tape was made in the last few days or weeks, the voice said to be his refers to several recent terrorist attacks, including two October attacks — the Bali bombing and the mass hostage-taking at a theater in Moscow, the report said. Both the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency are scrutinizing the tape. And it has been subjected to digital analysis. However, officials said, it was of such poor quality that experts would probably be unable to determine its authenticity conclusively. Even so, specialists are conducting still more comprehensive tests.

One problem facing the analysts is that, at some point, the message was recorded or re-recorded over a telephone line, making the technical review more difficult. American officials said they were not certain whether Al Jazeera had recorded the message from a telephone line or whether the telephone connection had been made with some intermediary before the tape was given to the Arab network.

"It has been passed over a telephone line at some point," an official said.

Ahmad Muaffaq Zaidan, the reporter who provided the tape to Al Jazeera, said it had been given to him on Tuesday in Islamabad by a Bin Laden Emissary.

At the national security agency, the super-secret eavesdropping and code-breaking group, linguists who specialize in studying Bin Laden’s speech and voice patterns reported their belief that the voice on the tape is his, officials said. But the administration remained reluctant to offer a definitive answer. (UNI)

India for broad-based negotiations; moots
monitoring mechanism

SYDNEY, Nov 14: India today mooted a monitoring mechanism to ensure that obligations of WTO member countries were not detrimental to them and said negotiations should be undertaken on a broad front to take fully on board interests of developing countries.

"There was a need to ensure that the process of ongoing multi-lateral negotiations is carried forward on a broad front to ensure that interests of developing countries like India are fully taken on board and credibility of the multi-lateral trading system is re-established," Commerce and Industry Minister Arun Shourie said here.

He suggested setting up of a monitoring mechanism to ensure that obligations taken by member countries do not act to their detriment in any manner.

Participating in interactions with the Trade Ministers at the informal WTO Trade Ministers meeting, Shourie said "we must not move away from the core of the doha declaration which is essentially trade and development and not issues which might be extraneous to this core such as labour, environment and the like".

He also put foward the suggestion that in the area of technical assistance, the multilateral trading system should focus not only on capacity building to enable developing country members to participate effectively in negotiations but also actively help them in overcoming barriers to trade.

During the informal exchange of views, WTO Director General Supachai Panitchpakdi gave the Trade Ministers an overview of the post-Doha scenario and an assessment of the priorities and challenges on the road to the next ministerial at Cancun, an official release said.

The ministers exchanged views on a broad range of issues relevant in the context of the Doha negotiations -particularly trips and public health and issues relating to implementation and special and differential treatment which are of significance to the developing countries.

Trade ministers of about 25 countries are participating in the two-day informal meeting including India, Brazil, US, EU, China, Japan and Kenya, it said. (PTI)

| home | state | national | business | editorial | advertisement | sports
| international | weather | mailbag | suggestions | search | subscribe | send mail |