|
|
| Maoists attack
car showroom of Indian businessman in Kathmandu KATHMANDU, Sept 1: In a major attack on a car showroom belonging to an Indian businessman......more Pak extradites foreign NEW DELHI, Sept 1: While refusing to extradite 20 hardened terrorists to India, Pakistan has......more US administration NEW YORK, Sept 1: Warning the Bush administration against "dancing" with dictators, a leading US daily has said Vice President Dick Cheney’s recent calls for bringing democracy to Iraq ring hollow as long as....more |
|
Rejection of papers exposes electoral manipulations: PPP ISLAMABAD, Sept 1: Condemning the rejection of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s nomination papers from three constituencies, Pakistan Peoples Party today said it had exposed the hollowness of Pervez.....more PM
takes to streets, DHAKA, Sept 1: Bangladesh Prime Minister BegumKhaleda Zia today took to the streets .....more Washington wants inspectors back in Iraq LONDON, Sept 1: US Secretary of State Colin Powell today said that Washington wanted the "first step" towards......more |
 |
|
Maoists
attack car showroom of Indian KATHMANDU, Sept 1: In a major attack on a car showroom belonging to an Indian businessman settled here, Maoist rebels today damaged 22 vehicles causing a loss of Rs 50 crore, even as two bombs exploded in the Nepalese capital injuring one man. A group of 15 to 20 Maoists attacked ‘Tej And Karan’ company, a car dealership, at Teku, damaging the cars, including a Mercedeze Bench, which caused a loss of about 50 lakh rupees, owner of the company Tej Karan Jain said. However, no one was injured in the attack. After entering the showroom, the Maoists started smashing the glasses of the vehicles with iron rods at gun point, a staff member said. "Two of them showed us pistol and others started breaking the glasses of the brand new cars," he said, adding other rebels burnt the vehicles by pouring petrol at them. One of the guerrillas placed a bomb on a car and they ran away before the police came, he said. He said one of the employees, risking his life, took the explosive and threw it on the roadside and minutes after the bomb exploded making a huge sound. Glasses of two nearby houses were broken by the blast. Vice president of Nepalese Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry Rajendra Khetan condmned the incident saying "it will lower the morale of the business community." This sort of incident will discourage the private sector businessmen, hence the Government should immediately provide security to them, he demanded. Meanwhile, an explosion occurred at Kalimati near the Kantipur Engineering College early today but no one was injured in the incident. The bomb was planted at a parked ambulence and it exploded when police tried to defuse it. The vehicle was damaged in the explosion. In another incident, one man was injured when a bomb went off near a vehicle sales office at Tripureshwor. (PTI) |
|
Pak extradites foreign ultras, refuses to act on India’s list NEW DELHI, Sept 1: While refusing to extradite 20 hardened terrorists to India, Pakistan has deported scores of foreign militants under pressure from the United States, highly placed sources said. While the military regime is reluctant to act upon India’s request to deport the terrorists, including Dawood Ibrahim, prime accused in the Mumbai bomb blasts, it has sent back Uzbek, Uighur and Somalian militants, besides handing over dozens of foreign mercenaries to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for interrogation. Sources said the Pakistan military regime had recently sent back top Uzbek militants belonging to the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan to stand trial there. Similarly several Saudi, Egyptian and Sudanese ultras were either sent back to their respective countries or handed over to the FBI to investigate their links with the Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations. Islamabad extradited two prominent Uzbek militant Ikon Mamajanov and Hamidullah Kudratov, both believed to be close to Juma Namangani, leader of the IMU. But in India’s case, Pakistan is not keen to extradite 20 hardened criminals who are wanted in connection with a number of heinous crimes. A list of these terrorists was handed over to Pakistan during President Pervez Musharraf’s visit to Agra in July 2001. Scores of militants crossed over to Pakistan last October when the US launched its war against the Taliban. Most of them were given shelter in Wazirstan, northern ares and Pakistan occupied Kashmir. Pakistan also ordered Uighur militants to leave as they were actively involved in militant actvities in Muslim dominated areas of China. Similarly several hundred Al-Qaeda terrorist from Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Sudan and other nations have been handed over to the FBI for interrogation with some of them being sent to Guantanamo base. Over a 1000 FBI officials are still working in various places in Pakistan to track down Al-Qaeda terrorists. (UNI) |
|
| US administration warned against
‘dancing’ with dictators NEW YORK, Sept 1: Warning the Bush administration against "dancing" with dictators, a leading US daily has said Vice President Dick Cheney’s recent calls for bringing democracy to Iraq ring hollow as long as Washington is silent about Pervez Musharraf’s "arbitrary rule" in Pakistan. President George Bush is falling for the illusion that "tyrants" make great allies, the New York Times said in an editorial published today. "If Mr Bush is not careful, Washington will be mopping up for years from the inevitable foreign policy disasters that come of befriending autocrats who maintain a stranglehold on their own people," it said. Terrorism, the paper said, will retreat where democracy advances, not where autocrats muzzle political expression or buy peace at home by financing violence abroad. "General Musharraf, the Saudis and other autocratic allies like President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt rule repressive societies that become a breeding ground for anti-American hostility." When Washington preaches democracy while tolerating the tyranny of allies, America looks double-faced, the paper said. "That’s certainly the unflattering picture the world sees today," it stressed. The paper conceded that when unsavoury governments control strategic locations or resources, the impulse to join hands with them can be "irresistible" and in some cases, there may appear to be no practical alternative. It would have been much more difficult to dislodge the Taliban and Al Qaeda from Afghanistan without the cooperation of Musharraf, the paper said, adding Washington’s longstanding ties to Saudi royal family have ensured a steady flow of oil to the West for most of the last 60 years. "But there is a difference between making alliances of convenience and uncritically working with dictators. Washington should not repeat the mistake it has made so often in the past by muting its support for democracy and human rights in these societies." Bush, the Times said, has ordered the Government to dry up the funding of Islamic terrorism, but Saudi Arabia is the "principal financier" of groups that promote such terrorism. The White House is pressing the Palestinians to establish democratic institutions while largely condoning the undemocratic actions of Mubarak, it said while pointing out that a long, unhappy history illustrates the cost of cozying up to dictators. "America still pays for its blind support of the Shah of Iran. The blank checks Washington wrote to Gen Zia Ul-Haq of Pakistan in the 1980’s helped nurture what later became Al Qaeda," it said. Decades of "misguided American support" for Gen Suharto in Indonesia and Mobutu Sese Seko in Zaire, now Congo, the paper said, left both countries a legacy of debt, violent ethnic conflict and weak institutions. Stating that Ferdinand Marcos in Philippines was another painful embarrassment, it said the US administration seems to have learned little from these costly mistakes. "Meeting America’s short-term military and diplomatic needs should not require abandoning its democratic principles." (PTI) |
|
Rejection of papers exposes electoral manipulations: PPP ISLAMABAD, Sept 1: Condemning the rejection of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s nomination papers from three constituencies, Pakistan Peoples Party today said it had exposed the hollowness of Pervez Musharraf Government’s claims to hold free and fair polls. "How can the elections be fair when the head of the country’s largest political party and the twice elected Prime Minister was not being allowed to take part in the elections", Pakistan People’s Party acting general secretary Raja Rabani said. In a statement issued here, he said "it is now clear the regime has no intention of holding fair and free election and the process of electoral manipulation, which had already been initiated, has been further stepped up." On rejection of Bhutto’s nomination papers from two more constituencies today, he said papers of another former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif were accepted despite being convicted by a court. Bhutto’s papers were rejected on the ground that she has been convicted for failing to appear in an anti-corruption court in person. Though PPP does not grudge the acceptance of nomination papers of Sharif and he (Sharif) has announced the withdrawal of his papers as a mark of solidarity with Bhutto, the fact remains that as far as the regime is concerned it has two sets of laws, one for Lahore which is in Punjab and the other for Larkana in Sindh, Rabani said. Stating that the reason for this was the fact that Pakistan’s Army and bureaucracy comprised of people from Punjab province which was the largest among Pakistan’s four provinces, he said "this duality in the application of laws is dangerous for the federation.", Rabbani urged the international human rights bodies to take note of the manipulations in the electoral process resorted to by the regime in stopping Bhutto from contesting the polls. Bhutto has been wrongly convicted for corruption, he said adding, "the fact is that she has been convicted for absenteeism on the basis of a law made by the military regime and given back dated effect only to secure her conviction and keep her out of politics". The PPP also contests the view that she has been absent from court proceedings, he said explaining that she was present in the accountability courts through her defence attorneys in all the hearings and it is wrong to say that she abstained from court proceedings, the PPP leader said. "The PPP wishes to reiterate that it is not deterred and will fight out both on the legal and political fronts against tyranny and dictatorship" Rabbani said. (PTI) |
|
PM takes to streets, B’desh normal life hit by oppn strike DHAKA, Sept 1: Bangladesh Prime Minister BegumKhaleda Zia today took to the streets leading a march of herBangladesh Nationalist Party activists in an apparent show ofstrength even as main opposition Awami League enforced a12-hour general strike across the country to protest therecent attack on its chief Shiekh Hasina’s convoy. Prime Minister Begum Zia, who led a colorful procession,indirectly referred to the opposition Awami League saying itwould have to wait for another four years of her Government’srule for a change in regime. Zia also cautioned people against the "machinations" ofthe opposition. The opposition leader Sheikh Hasina had yesterday said the days of the BNP-led alliance Government was numbered. Trade and commercial activities in capital Dhaka and restof Bangladesh came to a near standstill today as a day-longcountry-wide hartal enforced by the opposition Awami Leaguedisrupted normal public life. The hartal ended peacefully barring stray incidents ofbrief clashes with police which led to a few arrests. Satkhira, the area in South West Bangladesh where SheikhHasina’s motorcade was attacked, witnessed some violence. At least six people including three women supporters ofAwami League were picked up by the police as they attempted tobring out a procession at Gulistan and Dhaka stadium area inthe capital. (PTI) |
|
Washington wants inspectors back in Iraq LONDON, Sept 1: US Secretary of State Colin Powell today said that Washington wanted the "first step" towards solving the Iraq crisis to be the return of weapons inspectors to assess President Saddam Hussein’s arms capability. Powell’s comments appeared to contradict the stance taken by US Vice President Dick Cheney, who said last week there was no point in sending inspectors back into Iraq but instead hammered home his case for pre-emptive military action. Speaking in an interview recorded for bbc television, Powell said US President George W Bush wanted to see the inspectors, who were forced out in December 1998, go back in. "The President has been clear that he believes weapons inspectors should return," Powell said in an extract of the BBC interview. The full interview is due to be broadcast next Sunday, September 8. "Iraq has been in violation of these many UN resolutions for most of the last 11 or so years," he said. "So, as a first step, let’s see what the inspectors find, send them back in." Powell also said he understood that the international community needed more information about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein before it decide on what should be done. "I think that the world has to be presented with the information, with the intelligence that is available," he said. "A debate is needed within the international community so that everybody can make a judgment about this." Powell’s comments underlined an emerging split between so-called hawks in the American administration such as Cheney and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld who back military action against Baghdad, and more restrained voices in Britain who say getting weapons inspectors back in should be the priority. Powell appeared to side with Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who last week insisted that weapons inspections were the priority of London’s policy on Iraq, not the "regime change" in Baghdad called for by Bush and Cheney. British Prime Minister Tony Blair is trying to tread a path between the two — insisted that some action must be taken against Iraq, but refusing to specify what that should be. Blair said on Saturday that the world could not stand by and allow Iraq to develop weapons of mass destruction in "flagrant breach" of United Nations resolutions. He said "doing nothing about Iraq’s breach of these UN resolutions is not an option" but insisted no decisions had been made about what action should be taken. Opposition conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith warned Blair against prevaricating on the issue of Iraq and accused him of allowing the debate on support for US-led military action to "drift". Writing in the London Sunday Times, Duncan Smith called for pre-emptive action against Iraq, saying Britain was at high risk from future missile attacks by Saddam Hussein. "We can choose to act pre-emptively or we can prevaricate. Intervening in Iraq is not about doing the right thing in the United States, it is about doing the right thing for Britain," he said. British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon will meet Rumsfeld for talks — widely expected to include the issue of Iraq — during a six-day trip to the United States this month. A Defence Ministry spokeswoman would not say when the trip would begin, but told Reuters Hoon and Rumsfeld would meet for talks on September 11 — the first anniversary of the attacks by suicide hijackers on New York and Washington. In an interview with the Italian daily newspaper La Stampa, US Under Secretary of State Marc Grossman said Bush had not yet decided how to topple Saddam Hussein’s Government. "President Bush has said on a number of occasions that he is a patient man, that he wants to consult with his friends, allies and Congress," Grossman said. "The President has not yet reached a decision on the way to overthrow Saddam Hussein. He will listen to his allies." (AGENCIES) |
|
|
|
|
