Sherif blessed Kargil operation: Report

ISLAMABAD, July 30: Pakistan’s Kargil offensive was finalised and initiated with the consent and blessings of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who emphasised time and again that the objective was to "internationalise the Kashmir issue," a report in the daily Nawa-I-Waqt said today.

Quoting reliable military and political sources, the daily in its front-page story said that the "Kargil Operation" had started on the go-ahead signal from Mr Nawaz Sharif.

According to the paper, before the Kargil Operation Pakistan had consulted its friends - China and Saudi Arabia and took them into confidence. These countries had, however, asked Pakistan to monitor and be cautious of the possible reaction of India after the Kargil Operation.

The military leadership had an eye on the movement of the Indian striking force. When the Indian striking force came near the International Border, the security agencies finalised a plan to counter the Indian attack, sources were quoted as saying.

It was at this juncture that Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee established contacts with US President Bill Clinton on which Mr Clinton wrote a letter to Mr Sharif.

After consultations with Mr Clinton in Washington, Mr Sharif signed an agreement which pledged for the withdrawal of the Pakistani forces and intruders from Kargil sector.

The decision to give a withdrawal call to Mujahideen was taken unanimously by the political and military leadership of Pakistan.

The Mujahideen still occupied some hill tops and had laid mines around it to curb the Indian advance.

Because of the presence of the Mujahideen on the hill tops, the Kargil road was still within the range of the Mujahideen and for the last two months, India has not been able to rush help to its troops in Siachen. These troops are likely to face more hardships in winter, the article in the daily adds. (UNI)

Chandrika condemns Thiruchelvam’s assassination

COLOMBO, July 30: Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga has strongly condemned the killing of prominent Tamil leader Neelan Thiruhelvam by a suspected LTTE suicide bomber and said it was an attempt by the tigers to force their leadership on Tamils.

The LTTE wants to decimate moderate Tamil politicians to forcibly establish its leadership on the community, Chandrika said in a statement today and vowed to carry on with her peace package to end the ethnic war.

Condemning the attack, she said the aim of the terrorists who seek to decimate such eminent and democratic intellectuals of rare quality is to establish the terrorist leadership of the LTTE as the only valid leaders of the Tamil people.

The savage assassination of Thiruchelvam only helps to underline the fact that the country needs more politicians of his calibre to establish the rights and freedom of Tamil people, the President said.

Such acts demonstrate the arid and infertile terrain of the terrorist mind, she said and called on people to rededicate themselves to solve the country’s ethnic crisis in a truly peaceful manner.(PTI)

B’desh opposition calls strike on India transport

DHAKA, July 30 : Major opposition parties have called for a 30-hour nationwide strike from Monday in protest against Dhaka’s decision to allow Indian goods to be transported over Bangladeshi territory to another part of India.

"The decision is suicidal and a grave threat to Bangladesh’s national sovereignty," four opposition parties said in a joint statement.

"So we urge people to join a protest strike from Monday morning to Tuesday afternoon," they said.

A Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday agreed in principle to permit the transportation of Indian goods along Bangladeshi roads.

"We would rather give our blood than giving transit to hegemonist india," opposition leader Begum Khaleda Zia of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party said in remarks published today.

Ms Khaleda, Ms Hasina’s predecessor, has said India will use the transit to ferry troops and weapons to Northeast Indian states to combat separatist insurgents, whom she calls "freedom fighters". officials said yesterday a joint committee of experts from bangladesh and india would examine the proposal for bangladeshi truck operators to move indian goods in sealed containers across Bangladesh, "giving priority to Bangladesh’s economic interests".

The committee would also work out a timetable, when the service would be launched and how much Bangladesh would be paid, one official said.

Commerce minister Tofael Ahmed said Bangladesh’s economy would benefit from the arrangement.

"We will earn revenue through use of our trucks and employment of our workers," he said.

Ahmed said since 1980 India had been using Bangladeshi waterways for limited cargo transport. Road haulage would merely extend that facility.

India had also asked for permission to carry goods by train across Bangladesh but no such decision had yet been taken, Government officials said. (REUTERS)

‘Sindhuvir’ prepares to sail home after refit in Russia

MOSCOW, July 30: Indian naval kilo class submarine ‘Ins Sindhuvir’ is preparing to sail homewards next month after a complete refit and modernisation at Russian shipyards in Severodvinsk, reported ‘Izvestia’.

After the two-year renovation process at ‘Zvyozdochka’ shipyards specialising on servicing Russian nuclear submarines, Sindhuvir has been fitted with latest sonar and other electronic warfare systems and has undergone a two-week trial sailing in white sea close to the arctic ocean.

According to unconfirmed reports, the modernised torpedo tubes of Indian submarines would now be able to fire latest anti-ship cruise missiles declassified by Russia recently and India would be the first foreign power to receive them.

Two more kilo class submarine acquired by India from the ex-USSR in early 80s are also currently under going upgradation at admiralty shipyards in St Petersburg. (PTI)

Pak economy in crisis as IMF, WB defer loans

ISLAMABAD, July 30: Crisis stares in the face of Pakistan’s fragile economy after International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank decided to delay loans amounting to 390 million US dollars till an IMF mission completes its review of the country’s economy next month.

Though Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who rushed to Washington last week to sort out the matter following reports of a delay in the release of the next tranche from IMF, tried to give an impression that all was well, reports here quoting fund sources give a totally different picture.

Contrary to Dar’s claims, newspapers here quoted an IMF spokesperson in Washington as saying several issues are yet to be settled while other sources claimed he failed to get a firm commitment from the fund over the release of the next tranche of 280 million dollars out of a total bailout package of 1.6 billion dollars granted to Pakistan earlier.

The IMF had reportedly decided to send a mission to Pakistan next month to undertake a review of the economic scenario and look into the huge unplugged gap of rupees 45 billion left in the current year’s budget as well as the contentious issue of differences between the Government and the Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in Pakistan.

Even Dar confirmed that an IMF mission would visit Pakistan in August but claimed that broad a agreement has been reached and what the fund referred to as matters yet to be resolved are the technical matters and only nitty gritty which would be worked out in Pakistan.

However, during a special briefing for Pakistani media, Dar said, technically speaking, until the money is released, the IMF cannot say the issue has been completely resolved.

The Finance Minister expressed hope that the IMF review mission will be satisfied following their visit to Pakistan and the process would be completed before the annual meeting of the IMF Board which is scheduled for September 26 where sanction for disbursement is to be given.

The IMF-Pak wrangle has prompted the World Bank to delay a 110 million dollar rural development loan to Pakistan.

The bank has deferred the loan for the time being despite the fact that earlier it was scheduled to go before the World Bank Executive Board on August 6 for sanction.

Pakistan must first sort out the issues with IMF, a World Bank official was quoted as saying in another report from Washington here.

The Pakistani Finance Minister also tried to sort out the matter with the Bank’s Vice President for South Asia Meiko Nishimizu but she expressed her helplessness, the report said.

The report also claimed the move was a result of failure to meet several conditionalities, including settling disputes with IPPs, which are mainly funded by the World Bank and the Nawaz Sharif Government had reservations simply because they have been sanctioned during the Benazir Bhutto regime.

Among the economic issues hampering the progress of talks are Pakistan’s failure to meet the revenue targets and IMF’s insistence to hike petroleum price and impose a new mix of taxation measures to augment the revenue, which the Sharif Government is reluctant to take due to political compulsions and public resentment on the Kargil failure. (PTI)

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