Riots rage on as Miss World contestants flee

KADUNA, Nov 23: Riots raged on in the northern Nigerian city Kaduna today after violence there forced beauty pageant organisers to abandon plans to stage Miss World in Nigeria.

Fighting which began as protest by Muslim youths against a newspaper article on the pageant has now degenerated into a bloody street war between Muslims and Christians.

An AFP journalist was forced to join around a 1,000 refugees hiding in the Kronenbourg Brewery in the south of the city near the main road to Abuja, protected by troops and an armoured car.

"We had to run for our lives. They came to my house in two cars and tried to burn it. We really don’t known what is happening," 20-year-old Julie Adabo told AFP.

Another woman said that a gang came to kill her after turning her home and only let her live when she lied and claimed to be a Muslim. One man said he had seen his brother cut down before him.

As she spoke, gunfire could be heard from the Trikania district around the plant and several buildings could be seen in flames.

Rioting in Kaduna on Thursday claimed at least 100 lives. Many more are since thought to have perished.

"Fighting continued until 11.30 pm (0400 IST) in this area. It started again at 6.30 am. We hear gunfire permanently," said the plant’s French manager Regis Bouffartigue.

Miss World’s organisters announced early today that they would quit Nigeria and seek to hold the December 7 ceremony, which was set for the Nigerian capital Abuja, in London instead. (AFP)

Musharraf loyalist sworn in as PM

ISLAMABAD, Nov 23: Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali of pro-military regime party PML-Q was today sworn in as Pakistan’s Prime Minister along with 21 ministers, in the first civilian Government after 1999 coup, but he would rule under the shadow of military President Pervez Musharraf.

A powerful figure in southern Baluchistan province, Jamali, 58, was administered the oath of office by Musharraf at a function at the Presidential palace at a function attended by top military brass, newly elected Parliamentarians, civil officials and diplomatic corps.

Besides the 14 Cabinet Ministers and seven Ministers of State, Musharraf also administered the oath of office to four advisors to Prime Minister, who included the outgoing Finance Minister Shoukat Aziz.

The Cabinet Ministers included three of the 10 defectors from Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

Surprisingly, the ceremony was attended among others by the leaders of the hard-line Islamic alliance Muthahida Jajlis Amal (MMA) who vowed in their debate at the National Assembly on Nov 16 not to recognise Musharraf’s Presidency and his controversial constitutional amendments.

The MMA’s leaders Fazlur Rehman, who lost to Jamali in the election for Prime Ministership and the alliance’s floor leader and chief of Jamat Islami, Qazi Hussain Ahmad attended the ceremony.

Their presence indicated the divisions among the anti-Musharraf alliance as PPP and PML-N of Nawaz Sharif whose leaders have boycotted the swearing in.

An MMA spokesman has been quoted as saying in the media that "we have accepted the results. Jamali is the Prime Minister no matter how he got it".

He said that MMA would play the role of constructive opposition. "We have to act with restraint and moderation."

Musharraf himself had taken oath of office of the President for another five year term on Nov 16.

Jamali has promised to continue Musharraf’s policies, including pursuing the war on international terrorism.

Despite Jamali taking over as Prime Minister, Musharraf, who had taken over power after ousting the Nawaz Sharif Government in a coup in 1999, would retain ultimate power with the authority to dissolve Parliament and sack the Premier. He continues as the Chief of the Army Staff and heads military-dominated National Seucurity Council, which has the final say on national policy matters.

Jamali’s first crucial test will come within two months when he faces a vote of confidence in the National Assembly.

The federal ministers who were sworn along with Jamali included Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri, Sheikh Rashid, Zubaida Jalal, Aftab Sherpao, Liaquat Jatoi, Awais Leghari, Faisal Saleh Hayat, Rao Sikandar Iqbal, Naurez Shakoor, Nasir Khan, Ghous Bakhsh Mehar, Yar Mohammad Rind, Abdul Sattar Lalika and Hamyaun Akhtar.

Out of the 14 ministers, Zubada Jalal was one of the high profile women ministers who served in Musharraff’s cabinet. She has resigned as the minister for education just before the elections and won as an independent from Baluchistan.

Those who were sworn in as advisors to Jamali included, Musharraff’s legal advisor Sharifuddin Pirzada, Fateh Ali Imrani, Nelofar Bakhtiar and Shaukat Aziz.

Ahead of today’s ceremony, Musahrraf has dissolved his Cabinet last night, a step seen as an attempt by the President to facilitate smooth transfer of power from the three-year military rue to an elected Government.

An official communique here last night said that the Cabinet of ministers served under Musharraf has ceased to exist. (PTI)

FBI probing Saudi link to Sept 11 hijackers

WASHINGTON, Nov 23: FBI is investigating into reports that Saudi money amounting to thousands of dollars was sent to its nationals studying in California who assisted the September 11 hijackers.

The bureau uncovered financial records showing a steady stream of payments to Omar Al Bayoumi through the bank account of Princess Haifa Al-Faisal, wife of Saudi ambassador to the US in early 2000 just before the hijackers Khalid Almidhar and Nawaf Alhami arrived in Los Angeles to plan the hijacking, FBI sources said.

Bayoumi was very close to the two hijackers, hosted a welcome party for them in San Diego and even helped secure an apartment for them, the latest edition of ‘Newsweek’ quoted FBI officials as saying.

The agency is also probing the financial records in Washington’s Riggs Bank through which the money 3,500 dollars a month came from Saudi Arabia, it said.

The investigation agency has also identified a friend of Bayoumi named Osama Basnan, a known Al-Qaeda sympathiser.

"When Bayoumi left the US in July 2001, monthly payments were sent to the account of Basnan", the report said.

Bayoumi was later arrested by the Scotland Yard in UK post-September 11 but firmly denied any connection to the attacks or any links to the hijackers, and was released for lack of evidence.

But the FBI was still investigating Bayoumi’s activities after he returned to Saudi Arabia, still suspecting that he may have served as an "advance man" for the hijackers, the report added.

Following revelations of Saudi link to Sept 11 incidents, a draft report by a joint UC Congressional Committee looking into the attack accused both FBI and the CIA for "not aggressively pursuing" leads linking the hijackers to Saudi Arabia.

The draft report also complained of lack of cooperation from Saudi officials in the investigations, the New York Times reported today.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported that FBI agents tracked phone numbers of a Saudi embassy employee in Bayoumi’s San Diego apartment and questioned two staff in this connection.

"The money had been sent to the Saudi students in San Diego, and it came from a wealthy Saudi source." The Post added. (PTI)

Robbery of 3 million pounds
5 people of Indian origin convicted

LONDON, Nov 23: Five people of Indian origin have been convicted by a court in surrey, in West London, for varying terms in connection with the robbery of more than three million pounds at Heathrow Airport in March this year.

Four of them were convicted at Kingston Crown Court yesterday for robbery and another for handling stolen goods from two consignments of foreign currency stolen from a South African Airways 747 Jet.

All men pleaded guilty to the charges. Sundeep Sidhu, 22, a part-time security guard who had volunteered to help unload high value cases from the 747 which had arrived from Johannesburg was sentenced to five and a half years and the remaining four were jailed five years each.

Judge Kenneth Macrae described their raid as "amteurish" and "a totally unsophisticated enterprise".

After the daylight robbery, Sundeep Sidhu told the police that two Asian men had been hiding in the back of the van. They forced him to drive out of the airport and they then fled with the money.

But the police suspected that the raid was an inside job, carried out by Sidhu who enlisted the help of his brother, Harjit Sidhu, 25, and three other men, Anil Parmar, 37, Manish Bhadresa, 23 and Harbhajan Padda, 33.

Police mounted a heavy surveillance operation. They compiled over 20 videos of the men talking about the money which they gave to deaf lip-reader, 20-year old Jessica Rees, to interpret.

Rees, who was described by a detective as "our secret weapon", was able to work out almost every word the gang members said.

In one, Sidhu talked of his plans to go to Hawaii later in the year and bragged that the police "had not sussed anything" and that "they’ve got no evidence", as undercover policemen filmed from a few yards away. Police also mixed with worshippers at an Indian festival in southall and filmed the men discussing how to change the money into American dollars.

Most of the money was recovered in 16 different addresses across London. Almost 270,000 pounds is still outstanding, which police believe was burned as it was in obscure currencies which the raiders feared they would not be able to use. (PTI)

Western planes again strike Southern Iraq

WASHINGTON, Nov 23: Western planes bombed a mobile radar system in southern Iraq today, continuing the recent "spike" in skirmishes in the no-fly zone, the US military said.

The most recent strike, at about 1630 hrs Ist, hit facilities located south of Al Amarah, about 165 miles 264 kms southeast of Baghdad.

"Today’s strike came after Iraq moved the mobile radar into the southern no-fly zone. The radar provides tracking and guidance for surface-to-air missile systems that can target coalition (US and British) aircraft," the US Central Command said in a statement.

The statement said the strike was a "self-defense measure" in response to "Iraqi hostile threats and acts" but gave no indication that Iraqi forces had actually fired on US and British aircraft patrolling the no-fly zones in northern and southern Iraq.

It said the last strikes in the southern no-fly zone occurred on Nov. 22 against unmanned communication facilities, also near Al Amarah. (AGENCIES)

Berlin, Paris call for defence union against terrorism

BERLIN, Nov 23: Germany and France are calling for a planned European Union defence partnership to include the fight against terrorism among its tasks, according to a paper leaked today to Deutsche Presse-Agentur DPA.

The two nations say the planned "defence union" should also be permitted to begin without all 15 EU nations coming on board.

The paper from German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer and his French counterpart Dominique De Villepin fleshes out proposals to make the EU more of a confederation than the loose association it is at present.

The convention on the future of Europe, chaired by former French President Valery Giscard D’Estaing, is currently drafting ideas.

The Berlin-Paris document stresses that EU nations face threats that are "not of an inter-state and military nature". The EU needs a "global vision of its security", using improved police and military cooperation to defend itself.

The ministers said they hoped a clause in the new agreement would allow the defence union to be formed among only some of the members.

"There will be situations in which not all the members will be willing or in a position to contribute to cooperation." (DPA)

Putin assures China on forthcoming trip

MOSCOW, Nov 23: Russian President Vladimir Putin, eyeing a forthcoming visit to China when he may offer assurances to his hosts over his pro-western foreign policy, said today he expected his trip to push relations to new heights.

Meeting Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan in the Kremlin, Putin said relations were on the up and he hoped his December 1-3 visit "would succeed in reaching new boundaries in cooperation".

The visit will give Putin an early chance to size up China’s new chief of the ruling Communist Party, Hu Jintao, who took the top job at a party Congress earlier this month.

The Kremlin said earlier this week Russia was glad China had re-affirmed continuity in developing relations with Russia following the reshuffle. Hu is expected to succeed President Jiang Zemin next year.

Referring to the political reshuffle, Putin said in televised comments he was impatient to meet the new leadership.

Russian-Chinese relations have flourished since Putin came to power in 2000, when, eager to restore ties with old Soviet allies, he paid his first official visit to Beijing that July.

But his swing to the west since he threw Russia’s weight behind the US global war on terror following the September 11, 2001, attacks in Washington and New York has caused some unease in Beijing over the future of the strategic partnership.

But Tang, in what could be a foretaste of official rhetoric during Putin’s visit, appeared to suggest China could take Russia’s policy changes in its stride.

"Whatever global changes take place, China will unshakeably develop its relations of friendship and cooperation with Russia," Tang was quoted as saying by interfax news agency.

Tang was in Moscow for a meeting of Foreign Ministers of the six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, a regional security organisation which apart from Russia and China also includes four countries of former Soviet Central Asia. (AGENCIES)

Bush pleased with Congressional response to terrorism

WASHINGTON, Nov 23: President George W Bush today reiterated his satisfaction with Congress’s quick passage of anti-terror legislation, saying it would enable him "to put the right people in the right place at the right time."

"I appreciate the Congress listening to my concerns and retaining the authority of the President," Bush said in his weekly radio address, broadcast from Romania where he was on the last leg of an eastern European tour highlighted by the NATO summit in Prague.

The Prague summit provided Bush with the chance to meet with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, which now has a non-voting association relationship with the alliance.

"Republicans and democrats approved a Department of Homeland Security that will unite dozens of federal agencies and nearly 170,000 federal workers behind a single, overriding mission, keeping Americans safe," Bush said in his address.

"This new department will coordinate our response to any future emergency. It will help us know who’s coming into our country and who’s going out.

"This new department will bring together the best intelligence information about our vulnerabilities to terrorist attack so that we can act quickly to protect America."

The President said he was also pleased by the passage of a law on port security and another on terrorism insurance.

"These measures will help keep terrorists and their weapons out of America," he said.

Bush said that during his European trip he had consulted "with our friends and NATO allies about the new threats to freedom that we face together". (AFP)

Chirac urges Iraq to clear up doubt about weapons programs

PARIS, Nov 23: Iraq must clear away international doubt about its weapons programs in order to remove any grounds for war against the country, French President Jacques Chirac said today.

As UN Weapons Inspectors return to Iraq for the first time in four years, Chirac also said he hoped their inspections don’t turn up weapons of mass destruction - but that any found must be destroyed.

"It’s clear the Iraqi authorities ... Cannot remain in a situation in which there is any doubt about whether they possess weapons of mass destruction," he told a news conference in Paris after an international conference on lebanese debt.

United Nations Weapons Inspectors are back in Iraq under a new Security Council resolution demanding the Iraqis give up any weapons of mass destruction or face "serious consequences."

The resolution requires Baghdad to make a declaration of any weapons of mass destruction, facilities to manufacture them, and "all other chemical, biological, and nuclear programs."

The first working contingent of 18 UN inspectors arrives in Baghdad on Monday, and an initial inspection is expected Wednesday.

Chirac said he hoped "that these inspections show there are no weapons of mass destruction, or that, if there are ... That they are destroyed."

"From that point on, I hope that there will not be any more reason for war," he added. (AP)

UN Inspectors’ equipment arrives in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Nov 23: A UN plane carrying equipment for Weapons Inspectors arrived in Baghdad today, ahead of searches set to begin on Wednesday for Iraq’s alleged weapons of mass destruction.

The plane landed at Baghdad’s Saddam international airport after a flight from Larnaca, Cyprus. The spokesman for the UNMOVIC inspections team in Iraq Yashuhiro Ueki has said the shipment will consist of computers, communications equipment, furniture, refrigerators and some medicines.

A team of 18 weapons inspectors will arrive in Baghdad on Monday and begin inspections on Wednesday, searching for any weapons of mass destruction and armed with a tough UN resolution that demands Baghdad disarm or face a possible US strike. Iraq denies it has any such weapons.

Iraq’s first real test comes on December 8, when it is obliged by the resolution to submit a full account of its weapons programmes. By January 27 the inspectors must have given their first report to the Security Council. (AGENCIES)

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