UNITED NATIONS, Dec 4: Iraq has accused UN Weapons Inspectors of providing enemy intelligence agencies with information obtained from its searches for ......more

Nawaz Sharif

WASHINGTON, Dec 4: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif won important concessions from US President Bill Clinton during talks here this week . .....more

Bangla SC sets
aside HC verdict
on maintenance

DHAKA, Dec 4: Bangladesh Supreme Court has struck down a verdict of the High Court which earlier held that a divorced wife was entitled to maintenance ..more

Clinton to visit West
Asia later this month

DUBAI, Dec 4: United States President Bill Clinton is expected to go ahead with his planned visit to the West Asia ..more

Shahi calls upon Sharif Govt not to sign NPT

ISLAMABAD, Dec 4: Former Pakistani Foreign Minister Agha Shahi has called upon the Nawaz Sharif Government "not to" sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) at any cost as that would reduce Pakistan to a non-nuclear power."

In an interview to the Urdu Daily Jung, Mr Shahi said "Pakistan has already made a mistake by de-linking its stand on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) from that of India’s for the sake of foreign aid. By following this de-linking, the United States can ask Pakistan to make a commitment on the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT) while India remains uncommitted."

Mr Agha Shahi said, "the jubilation being expressed by the Government at the partial, temporary lifting of the United States sanctions is in preparation for the signing of the CTBT. But India is free of any commitment in this regard so far."

"If Pakistan signs the NPT," he said: "It will have to accept all international conditions in relation to the Kahuta enrichment plant and all other facilities which are outside the purview of the International Atomic Energy Commission’s inspection. It will have to accept the status of a non-nuclear power instead of that of a de facto nuclear power. Therefore, Pakistan must not sign the NPT at any cost. It must be made clear here that to expect a nuclear umbrella from any country in the event of foreign aggression will amount to self-deception."

Justifying Pakistani rejection of India’s proposal of no-first use of nuclear weapons, Mr Shahi said by accepting this proposal Pakistan would forgo its right to use the atom bomb as a deterrent in case of what he called an Indian aggression. However, he said, "if the no-first use proposal also covers conventional weapons Pakistan can sign such an agreement." (UNI)

No reason to celebrate
50-year anniversary of human rights declaration

GENEVA, Dec 4: The universal declaration of human rights is one of the most important documents in the history of the United Nations. Nevertheless the person in charge of protecting those rights acknowledges that, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its adoption, there are no grounds to celebrate.

Torture, murder, persecution and discrimination have not diminished, said U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson.

"We can only be ashamed of this kind of failure," she said.

Human rights are abused in many countries. Amnesty International, the best known Human Rights Organization, has this year focused in particular on Algeria, Cambodia, Colombia, Kenya, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Human rights activists are nevertheless agreed that the declaration sends an important message, saying that at least there is an internationally acknowledged document against which Governments can be measured.

"Countries can insist on acknowledgement of the declaration and exert pressure when conducting their bilateral relations to ensure that these rights are respected," said Amnesty International’s spokesperson in Geneva, Isabelle Scherer.

The diplomatic effort by many countries to evade condemnation by the Human Rights Commission speaks for itself - criticism on these grounds hits investment.

"The moral authority of the Human Rights Commission is growing constantly. No country can evade it," said Mr Gerhart Baum, who has led the German delegation to the Commission’s annual session on six occasions.

The horror of the holocaust provided the impetus for drawing up the declaration, which was passed by the U.N. General Assembly on December 10, 1948.

Among the more significant achievements of the past 50 years have been the entrenchment of human rights in the constitutions of almost all countries and its contributions towards decolonisation and towards the ending of apartheid in South Africa.

No major U.N. issue escapes the North-South conflict, however. During the 1980s, many non-aligned countries believed that the declaration was being abused to condemn poorer countries - many of them under dictatorial Governments.

They received support in 1981 from Mr Jeanne Kirkpatrick, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations at the time. "Human rights have become a club that the rich swing against the poor, the majority against the isolated."

And they demanded new rights that would impose obligations on Western States as well. In 1986 the declaration on the right to development was adopted, requiring international disarmament and assistance for developing countries among other things.

"Many countries find, however, that it is within the domain of their own responsibility to satisfy certain preconditions. Among these is respect for human rights. Suddenly they find themselves under examination," Mr Baum says.

The Human Rights Commission has now appointed an expert to formulate concrete definitions of the right to development.

Human Rights Organisations are also imposing obligations on the west. Many Western countries avoid offending those that abuse human rights, such as China.

Aware of the lucrative markets they could be shut out of, they bank on the use of silent diplomacy. Amnesty accuses them of betraying human rights.

Recently the universal declaration of human rights has increasingly come under fire from two different quarters - some Asian and some Islamic countries are attacking it at its base.

The declaration is a product of the Judaeo-Christian tradition and cannot be implemented by Muslims, the Iranian Government says.

Like many other Islamic states Iran bases numerous laws regarding women on the principles of Islamic law, the Sharia, which is regarded as of higher importance than the declaration of human rights. Iran calls for the declaration to be reformulated.

Asian countries, primarily China, argue in favour of collective rights: "European states stress individual rights and values, while Asian countries Esteem collective human rights and obligations to the family and society," Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Qian Qichen says.

Using these citizens’ duties to back the national campaign against hunger, the Government wants to legitimate anything to suppress unrest and prevent production bottlenecks.

"These are dangerous tendencies. We can allow no tolerance regarding the abuse of human rights," Mr Baum says. (DPA)

Iraq accuses UN Weapons Inspectors of
providing enemies intelligence

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 4: Iraq has accused UN Weapons Inspectors of providing enemy intelligence agencies with information obtained from its searches for weapons of mass destruction.

Iraq’s Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz yesterday called on UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to take "urgent measures" to stop contacts between the Inspectors and the intelligence organs of countries, especially those that follow "anti-Iraqi policies."

"These contacts are more dangerous than has been known before," Mr Aziz said in a letter to Mr Annan. "These contacts include supply and exchange of sensitive information about Iraq and its national security."

For years, Iraq has accused Inspectors from the UN Special Commission, known as UNSCOM, of aggressive, offensive behaviour. Baghdad also suggested that American and British nationals working for UNSCOM passed information about iraq back to their capitals.

"But Mr Aziz said the extent of contacts between UNSCOM and

foreign intelligence parties enemy to Iraq’’ has only now become public.

He cited revelations by scott ritter, a former US marine who resigned in August as head of UNSCOM’s concealment investigation unit and disclosed that he sought and received Israel’s help in tracking down Iraqi weapons.

Mr Aziz also cited a November 10 report in the international herald tribune that the United States planned to use information about Iraqi military organisations gathered during inspections in a military attack. The United States called off airstrikes on November 14 after Iraq agreed to resume full cooperation with the weapons Inspectors.

"This means that the information on Iraq which the Special Commission gets under the cover of the security council’s resolutions is being turned over to the pentagon, and the American military plans depend on them," Mr Aziz said.

The Iraqi Minister also accused UNSCOM Deputy Chairman Charles Duelfer of passing information gathered in weapons inspections to Iraqi opposition groups that met in London last week.

Mr Duelfer said he was in London for a meeting at the foreign office and didn’t meet any Iraqi opposition groups.

He stressed, however, that UNSCOM is permitted to seek information on Iraq’s banned weapons programmes from any source and uses Governments and even the internet.

Mr Aziz also repeated Iraq’s demand for an investigation into UNSCOM’s "behaviour and its contacts" and for a restructuring of unscom which he said now had "great importance."

Baghdad wants the Commission staff to be more diverse, its headquarters moved from New York to Europe, and its Executive Director, Richard Butler, replaced.

The Weapons Inspectors must certify that Iraq’s biological, chemical and nuclear weapons and long-range missiles have been eliminated before the security council can lift sweeping sanctions imposed after Baghdad invaded Kuwait in 1990. (AP)

Concessions amid strain in US-Pak relations

WASHINGTON, Dec 4: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif won important concessions from US President Bill Clinton during talks here this week despite signs relations between the two countries remained strained.

Those ties were "fundamentally strong despite ups and downs," Mr Sharif told a packed news conference here yesterday. US officials, however, said Washington wanted stronger action from Islamabad on a host of nuclear nonproliferation and security concerns.

Mr Clinton told Mr Sharif in an earlier meeting that "more progress needed to be made on these issues before we would be in a position to remove all of the sanctions that had been put on Pakistan" after it conducted nuclear tests in May, said Karl Inderfurth, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs.

Washington wanted Islamabad to refrain from testing and deploying nuclear weapons and exporting nuclear material. It wanted closer cooperation in combating terrorism, severed ties to the ultra-Islamist Taliban in Afghanistan, and help in apprehending suspected terrorist Osama Bin Laden.

The fugitive millionaire faces federal charges of conspiring to kill US citizens outside the United States. Pakistan had promptly extradited another suspect in the August 7 bombings of US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and "if Osama Bin Laden is involved in terrorism, I don’t think we support this kind of activity," Mr Sharif said.

Washington slapped mandatory sanctions on India and Pakistan after the nuclear explosions conducted by them in May. Mr Clinton agreed Wednesday to waive some of these and renewed his pledge to settle a dispute over Islamabad’s 658-million-dollar purchase of 28 F-16 fighter planes, delivery of which was blocked by US sanctions imposed in 1990.

Those restrictions remain in place but Mr Clinton’s decision to waive some of the newer sanctions clears the way for US commercial banks, the US Export-Import Bank, the US Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Trade and Development Agency to resume doing business with the countries until October next year.

Mr Sharif declared yesterday that he would not sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) under pressure. "Coercive diplomacy is immoral and serves no purpose,"he protested.

Pakistan "will not sign the treaty under an atmosphere of coercion and pressure," he said. "Sanctions must be removed...And all embargoes on Pakistan must be lifted."

Mr Sharif also dismissed concerns about plans to establish a legal system modeled on the Taliban’s brand of Islamist Law and orders to dispense justice through military courts.

"We do not see the Taliban, or any other country, as a role model for Pakistan," he said, adding that ideas under discussion were intended to deliver "speedy and inexpensive justice."

Others were unconvinced. Mr Sharif’s proposals would subject human rights to "the executive’s interpretation of Islamic Law and its assessment of what is ‘right’ for a person," said William Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA.

Human rights group called on the Pakistani Government to withdraw its order to establish summary military courts, which it said would have three days to try, convict and sentence civilians suspected of disturbing law and order. "Appeals will lie only with a higher military tribunal," Amnesty warned.

"Justice should be done promptly," Mr Schulz said. "But that does not mean that a Government can establish military tribunals that deny the right to a fair trial."

Pakistani and Pakistani-American protesters shadowed Mr Sharif on his travels around Washington Tuesday-Thursday, waving placards describing him as "crime minister of Pakistan."

Washington previously eased some economic sanctions to prevent Pakistan from defaulting on its foreign loans and would support a restructuring of Pakistan’s bilateral debts at Paris Club meetings later this month. Likewise, it would back resumption of the International Monetary Fund’s stalled three-year, 1.6-billion-dollar lending programme in Pakistan.

That support was conditional, Mr Inderfurth emphasised. "What we are looking for is a strong, credible and fully implemented IMF package." The IMF’s Executive Board was expected to discuss the programme next month.

US officials confirmed that New Zealand had agreed to lease, and eventually to buy, Pakistan’s warehoused F-16 fighters for some 105 million dollars. The US administration would pursue using the revenue to add to the 157 million dollars already refunded to Islamabad through sales of aircraft components.

The F-16 issue has long been an open sore in US-Pakistani relations and a symbol to nationalists in the South Asian state that their cold war ally had betrayed them.

According to Mr Inderfurth, Washington was also watching closely Pakistan’s treatment of US and other power companies, the South Asian nation’s leading foreign investors.

Islamabad had announced its intention to terminate contracts to buy power from some of the firms, alleging that corruption had led to inflated energy prices. The corporations, however, argued that the cash-strapped Government was simply trying to wriggle out of its contractual obligations. The dispute has held up a 700-million-dollar World Bank power sector loan.

Mr Sharif failed to get Mr Clinton’s agreement to intervene in Pakistan’s decades-old conflict with India over Kashmir, which he described as "the gravest issue on the UN agenda."

Clinton said he would consider such a role only if "both parties wish the United States to be involved." India has rejected outside mediation on the issue. (IPS)

Bangla SC sets aside HC verdict on maintenance

DHAKA, Dec 4: Bangladesh Supreme Court has struck down a verdict of the High Court which earlier held that a divorced wife was entitled to maintenance by her former husband until her remarriage or death.

A full court of the appellate division of the Supreme Court yesterday set aside the High Court division’s judgment in a civil revision case that a person after divorcing his wife was bound to maintain her on a reasonable scale beyond the period of Iddat, till she lost the status of a divorcee by remarrying another person.

Iddat is a period of three months from the date of issuing Talaq (divorce) notice.

The verdict of the full court of the appellate division of the Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice A T M Afzal and four other judges came upon a appeal filed by one Hefdur Rahman against the decision of the High Court that his divorced wife Shamsun Nahar Begum is entitled to maintenance by Rahman till her remarriage or death.

The appellate division of the Supreme Court engaged two religious Les Maulana Obaidul Haque, the Khatib (head Imam) of the national mosque Baitul Mokkaram in Dhaka and Maulana Mohiuddin, the editor of the monthly Dadina as amicus cariae for authentic interpretation of the holy Quran and Hadith. (PTI)

Clinton to visit West Asia later this month

DUBAI, Dec 4: United States President Bill Clinton is expected to go ahead with his planned visit to the West Asia later this month despite the latest row between Israel and the Palestinians.

Mr Clinton’s trip to israel and the Palestinian territories will be a follow-up of the US-brokered Wye river accord signed by the Israelis and the Palestinians near Washington in October.

But the peace process is now facing a new challenge after Israel made it clear on Wednesday that it would carry out further troop withdrawals from the West Bank under the accord only if the Palestinians met three conditions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded that the Palestinians must abandon their intentions to unilaterally declare an independent state, stop incitement of violence and accept that Palestinian prisoners with "lood on their hands" would not be released.

Palestinians promptly rejected the ultimatum and their peace negotiator Saeb Erekat said the demands were "completely unacceptable".

The US has also rejected the conditions. E do not believe it is appropriate to add new conditions to the implementation of this agreement’’, US State Department spokesman James Rubin was quoted as saying.

Israeli newspapers today quoted Mr Aviv Bushinsky, spokesman for Mr Netanyahu, as saying that Mr Clinton’s visit would go ahead as planned.

Before that, US Middle East peace envoy Dennis Ross is expected to arrive in Israel on Sunday for meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to prepare the ground for Mr Clinton’s meetings with them.

The newspapers also quoted a US official as saying that the Israeli ultimatum would not affect Mr Clinton’s plans.

"I would hesitate to say this is going to affect the President’s visit. Both sides want the President’s visit to go well. A week from now, my guess is this will have been dealt with", he said.

One of the main problems that have cropped up between Israel and the Palestinians in recent weeks is about the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Israel says it will not free those involved in attacks against Israelis that resulted in deaths or injuries. The palestinians demanded that Israel must free prisoners held for anti-Israeli activities.

Israel released many prisoners recently but most of them were said to be people involved in crimes such as car thefts rather than political acts.

The violence of the last few days has shown that the release of the prisoners is a major emotional issue for the Palestinians. Mr Netanyahu issued the ultimatum after his cabinet met on Wednesday to consider what he described as ‘violations’ of the wye agreement by the Palestinians.

He was referring, in particular, to an incident in which an Israeli soldier was attacked in the West Bank town of Ramallah on that day.

"I cannot allow myself to see Israeli citizens being lynched by a crazed mob that received incitement from Palestinian officials", he said yesterday after winning support from his cabinet for his decision.

"We are not to be made fools", media reports from Jerusalem quoted him as saying.

"We will never release convicted terrorist murderers. This will just not be", he said last night on the question of Palestinian prisoners.

"Israel will proceed with the process only when we are sure that the Palestinians go back to keeping what they promised at wye", Mr Netanyahu said.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat described the Israeli decision as a "new breach of the wye river agreement...And an attempt to avoid honest and accurate implementation of what was agreed upon".

Under the wye agreement, Israeli troops are to pull out in three phases from an additional 13 per cent of the West Bank. When completed, the arrangement will give Palestinians full or partial control over 40 per cent of the territory.

The first withdrawal was carried out last month and the next two phases are scheduled within the next eight weeks.

Mr Arafat has repeatedly said that he would declare an independent state after May 4, 1999, at the end of the five-year interim period stipulated by the Oslo interim peace accords.

Mr Netanyahu has warned that israel would respond to such a proclamation by annexing areas of the West Bank and Gaza strip still under its control.

Israeli Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon is due to visit Washington next week for talks with US Secretary of State Madeline Albright, Defence Secretary William Cohen and National Security Adviser Sandy Berger, among others. (PTI)