Chinese ambassador Qin Huasun yesterday said the ratification documents were deposited with U N Chief Kofi Annan. The landmine protocol of the convention on certain weapons ratified by China falls short, however, of an international convention banning the production, use and transfer of landmines.

China, the United States and Russia have not signed the international convention, which will enter into force next March.

China preferred instead the protocol on landmines, which restricts the use of the weapons to certain situations.

Mr Qin said his Government is "rich in mine clearance experience" and its technology and equipment are well suited to conditions in developing countries.

He announced a donation of 100,000 dollars to a U N trust fund for mine clearance in Bosnia-Herzegovina. China will also host training courses in mine clearance in the next two years. (DPA)

The 59-year-old actor announced he would marry Gena O’Kelley, 36, on the weekend of November 28-29 in Dallas.

The daily news of Los Angeles said yesterday the couple met after Ms O’Kelley sent the actor her topless picture.

Norris, who was filming his seventh season of the TV show

Walker, Texas Ranger,’’ couldn’t be reached through publicist Paul Baker, who didn’t return telephone calls seeking comment. (AP)

The PNM was set up last month when nationalist leaders of Sindh, Baluchistan, North-West Frontier Province and Southern Punjab (also allied the Seraiki region) held a two-day conference here on the first and the second of the last month. The main demand at this conference was that all the units constituting the Federation of Pakistan be given autonomous status as had been promised by the Muslim League’s Lahore resolution of 1940.

The Quetta meeting yesterday was attended by almost all nationalist leaders from the four provinces who were present at the Islamabad conference. The speeches made were also more or less the same in content.

When they spoke of the oppression of different nationalities in Pakistan, Punjab naturally came in for the bitterest attack. "We are not directing our anger against Punjab but against Islambad. But both are one and the same," said Awami National Party (ANP) leader Ajmal Khattak, who played a pioneering role in starting this movement.

The ONM condemned the imposition of the Governor’s rule in Sindh as an effort to establish an autocratic rule in the country.

Among other things, the meeting demanded a separate province for serakis, who claim to account for 60 per cent of Punjab’s population. They claimed to be different from Punjabis culturally and linguistically by speaking a mix of Sindhi, Punjabi and Pushtu. Leader of the Seraki movement Taj Mohammad Linga was present at the meeting along with other Seraki leaders.

In a resolution, the ONM demanded fresh census in the country thus rejecting the results of the one which was held this year seven years behind time with the help of the army.

The movement also demanded that outside interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan be stopped forthwith. It also said the Federal Government must terminate its agreement with American companies to fish in Pakistani territorial waters. Baluch leaders had earlier said that this agreement would render at least 10,000 baluch families jobless.

In the tribal areas of North-West frontier province, tribal parliamentarians have threatened that they would join the opposition if Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif did not include two of their representatives in his cabinet. This is the first time that tribal parliamentarians have been kept out of the cabinet.

This threat has come at a time when Mr Nawaz Sharif is trying to woo members of the Senate to pass the Shariat Bill. Last month, of the eight tribal members of the National Assembly, six had voted for the bill while two absented themselves.

The implication of the latest threat is that if Mr Sharif does not take two tribal parliamentarians into his cabinet the tribal Senators would not vote for the Shriat Bill when it comes up in the upper house where the Muslim League does not have the required two-third majority. (UNI)

The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader arrived in the United States yesterday and was scheduled to meet President Bill Clinton next week.

In Washington, sources close to the Dalai Lama said he might make a gesture to Beijing during his nine-day visit to pave the way for a meeting with Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

But China gave no indication that it was ready to drop its tough preconditions for any such meeting.

A spokesman for the ruling state council, or cabinet, accused the exiled god king of using his U S trip to meddle in Beijing’s internal affairs.

The Dalai Lama is using contacts and negotiations with the Central Government as a pretext to launch propaganda and sway public opinion, the spokesman was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency.

This demonstrates his lack of sincerity.

The state council spokesman reiterated those demands, saying: The Dalai Lama must sincerely abandon calls for the independence of Tibet and cease activities designed to split the motherland. (REUTERS)

This would be the seventh round of parleys between Prime Minister’s special envoy Jaswant Singh and the US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott since the May Pokhran tests and the subsequent American sanctions against India.

Experts from both countries are meeting in New Delhi on November 9 and 10 to apprise each other of the perceptions on nuclear-related issues including export controls on dual use technology.

Both delegations would include officials from commerce, customs, energy, deenean Foreign Ministries.

The Jaswant-Talbott meeting assumes significance as this would be the first time they would be holding parleys after Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s pronouncement at the UN General Assembly session on September 24 that India is prepared to bring discussions with key interlocutors to a successful conclusion so that entry of force of the CTBT is not delayed beyond September, 1999 when a review conference is due.

Vajpayee had, however, observed that 44 countries still needed to ratify the treaty before it can come into force.

The Rome meeting would be held a fortnigt before President Clinton meets Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Washington on December 2.

Clinton is expected to offer a major financial package if Pakistan was prepared to sign the CTBT and tighten export controls.

Meanwhile, the United States said steady progress had been made in its strategic dialogue with Pakistan but made it clear that important issues, including non-proliferation concerns, were yet to be resolved.

Clearly we have made steady progress but there are important issues where we need to nail down commitments to deal with important non-proliferation concerns. Important issues still need to be resolved, State Department spokesman James Rubin told reporters after the sixth round of talks between Pakistani Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmed and Talbott here yesterday.

The parleys touched various issues including security, proliferation, terrorism and strategies for addressing Islamabad’s economic crisis.

The two sides also discussed the agenda for Clinton-sharif meeting next month. (PTI)

UN resolution to use force against Iraq falls short

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 5: The UN Security Council finalised a deal on a resolution condemning Iraq for ending cooperation with weapons inspectors but it falls short of a threat to use force if Baghdad continues its defiance.

With Russia insisting against the use of force against Baghdad, the Security Council last night reached a broad agreement on the resolution which to some extent meets the Iraqi demand to lift sanctions imposed after the Gulf war.

The resolution says the Council is ready to consider easing of sanctions once Iraq resumes cooperation with the inspectors.

Iraqi Ambassador to the United Nations Nizar Hamdoon held out hope of a solution when he said his country might reconsider its decision Saturday if the Council gives some indication as to when the sanctions would be lifted.

The resolution has been so drafted that all sides could claim victory.

Even as diplomats were fine tuning the resolution, the United States was taking the position that it could go ahead with military action without fresh sanction from the Council.

American officials said Defence Secretary William Cohen during his recent visit to Gulf countries had received strong support for any military action US may take against Iraq. (PTI)

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