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Pallone flays Clinton WASHINGTON, May 18: Democratic US Congressman Frank Pallone has criticised the..more Barak’s efforts to revamp party, himself, face test TEL AVIV, May 18: Ehud Barak, Israel’s most decorated soldier and new Prime Minister...more Film on Asian immigrants making waves at Cannes LONDON, May 18: ‘East is East’ a British rip roaring comedy about Asian immigrant life in United Kingdom.....more |
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India’s
ICBM to be WASHINGTON, May 18: India is developing an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) and it will be ready for launch by mid-2001, the US...more Immense scope for
increasing Egypt, CAIRO, May 18: Egypt has called for greater trade ties with India emphasising the need to exploit the vast economic potential of the two....more ‘US ignored Chinese help WASHINGTON, May 18: The Clinton administration, in its efforts to promote US trade with China, ignored....more Sino-US military BEIJING,
May 18: China
today ruled out resumption of military exchanges with the
US , suspended.....more |
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Pallone
flays Clinton for refusal to designate WASHINGTON, May 18: Democratic US Congressman Frank Pallone has criticised the Clinton administration for its refusal to designate Pakistan’s Government as a sponsor of international terrorism in the wake of its role in Jammu and Kashmir. In a statement in the house of representatives, Mr Pallone said there are indications that leading, moderate Pakistani officials have convinced the State Department not to designate Pakistan a sponsor of international terrorism for fear that it would provoke anti-American sentiment and embolden the radicals. The question is, given the continuing pattern of Pakistani support for the militants in Kashmir, what has been accomplished by our refusal to state the obvious, he asked. He referred to the department’s annual report, patterns of global terrorism 1998, which was released two weeks ago. It stated that as in previous years, there were continuing credible reports of official Pakistani support for Kashmiri militant groups that engage in terrorism. Mr Pallone said the report had quoted Pakistani officials saying that while the Government of Pakistan provides diplomatic, political and moral support for ‘freedom fighters’ in Kashmir, it is firmly against terrorism, and provides no training or material support for Kashmiri militants. Kashmiri militant groups continued to operate in Pakistan, however, raising funds and recruiting new cadre. These activities created a fertile ground for the operations of militant and terrorist groups in Pakistan, including the HUA (Harkat-Ul-Ansar). Mr Pallone said, HUA is the terrorist organisation that has been blamed for the 1995 kidnapping of five Western tourists in Kashmir, including two Americans. One of the American hostages managed to escape. One other, a norwegian, was brutally murdered. The fate of the remaining hostages, including an American, Donald Hutchings of Spokane, Washington, is still unknown. Even if we accept the argument that there has not been official Pakistani training or material support for the militants — and there has been evidence to cast doubt on this assertion — but, if we accept that argument, still, it is clear that our State Department recognises at a minimum that Pakistan is the base for various militant groups, and that there are credible reports of official Pakistani support, he added. He said, Pakistan admitted to diplomatic, political and moral support for the militants. And we have to wonder, how anyone can use the word moral to describe support for a movement that has caused the deaths of thousands of civilians and the dislocation of hundreds of thousands of people from their homes, he added He also drew attention to the plight of Kashmiri Pandits. They had suffered doubly — from the atrocities committed by the militants, and the indifference of the world community. (UNI) |
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Barak’s efforts to revamp party, himself, face test TEL AVIV, May 18: Ehud Barak, Israel’s most decorated soldier and new Prime Minister, has shown daring in battle but caution in politics. A centrist at heart, the 57-year-old labour party leader abstained in the cabinet vote on the first land-for-peace agreements with the Palestinians that were negotiated by his mentor, the late Yitzhak Rabin. During his campaign for Prime Minister, Mr Barak said he would move quickly to reach a final peace deal with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. However, he also promised voters he would give them a chance to approve or reject it in a referendum. Such careful deliberation made him appealing to middle-of-the road voters who had supported hard-line Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 1996, but were disappointed by a flagging economy and a freeze in mideast peacemaking under Netanyahu’s Rule. Barak, a short, compact man with a lisp, was born in 1942 on Kibbutz Mishmar Hasharon, a communal farm near the coastal resort of Netanya. The oldest of four boys, he was a quiet, dreamy child who would trail behind on school outings to investigate his surroundings, said his mother, Esther Brog, 85, who immigrated from Poland in the early 1930s and helped found the Kibbutz. He was a late bloomer, who had a growth spurt only after being drafted into the Army at age 18. He rose quickly through the ranks, serving as chief of staff from 1991 to 1995. He participated in daring hostage rescue missions and oversaw strikes against PLO guerrilla leaders, including a 1973 raid of a PLO compound in Beiruy’s image of an elitist, weak-kneed playground for Ashkenazi, or European-born, Jews. He shaped labour into a tough-minded home for israelis of all ethnic backgrounds. He apologised to Sephardic Jews "those with North African and Middle Eastern roots" for reatment they suffered at the hands of labour leaders upon immigrating in the 1950s. Barak reached out to immigrants from the former Soviet Union and took up unifying issues such as education and job creation. In addition, he brought a small religious party and a sephardic leader into labor to form his one Israel umbrella group. Barak also disconnected himself from the public persona of his predecessor, Shimon Peres, whom many Israelis viewed as soft in negotiations with the Arabs and indifferent to the country’s minorities. After taking over the party leadership, Barak refused to grant peres, a nobel peace prize laureate, the honorary position of party chairman because he felt peres would undermine his authority. Going into the campaign five months ago, few predicted Barak would have a chance to win. He decided to get professional help, hiring campaign strategist James Carville, who ran US President Bill Clinton’s election campaign in 1992. Carville presented barak as a military hero. Campaign commercials showed him in daring hostage rescue missions to underscore that Barak would not be soft on security. Barak also promised to end Israel’s 17-year military presence in Lebanon within one year of being elected, but has not detailed how he would do it. Territorial compromise with Syria in exchange for peace is an option, Barak has said, but he has not said whether he would return the entire golan heights a key Syrian demand. On the crucial question of Palestinian statehood, Barak has said only that he advocates separation between the two peoples. He said that under any final peace agreement, most Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip the land the Palestinians want for their state would remain under Israeli control. (AP) |
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Film on Asian immigrants making waves at Cannes LONDON, May 18: ‘East is East’ a British rip roaring comedy about Asian immigrant life in United Kingdom starring famous Indian cine star Om Puri is making sensations in the ongoing cannes international film festival. The film, adapted from Pakistani-origin writer Ayub Khan-Din’s play about his mixed Mancunian-Pakistani family, has already been snapped up by Miramax, who pushed ‘Shakespare in love’ to Oscar. Prolonged ovations greeted both its screenings and the kind of audience reaction which hasn’t seen since the full monty, The guardian reported adding members started laughing in the first minute and didn’t stop. The film has been directed by Dublin based Damien O’Donnel and is based on trials and tribulations of an mixed immigrant family in a small British coastal town of Salford. The India cine and stage star, Om Puri, has the central role in the movie where he plays George Khan. Puri plays the role of an immigrant fish-n-chip shopowner in the film. The film revolves round his plans for his seven children including arranged marriages, Muslim orthodoxy and proud recognition of what to his children are alien traditions. Critics are highly acclaiming Om Puri’s role in the film where the other powerful performance comes from British Star Linda Basset. (PTI) |
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India’s ICBM to be ready by mid-2001 WASHINGTON, May 18: India is developing an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) and it will be ready for launch by mid-2001, the US weekly defense news says. In an article India to develop extensive nuclear missile arsenal, the weekly, in its latest issue, quoting officials and scientists at India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), says that the Indian ICBM named Surya will have a range of 5,000 km. India, it said, is also building a medium-range naval missile, medium-range air-to-air missiles and extended range versions of the Prithvi missile. An advanced version of nuclear-capable Surya will be developed once the first model has been tested, it said. Besides DRDO, the weekly said, Premier Research Laboratories, including the Defence Research and Development Laboratory in Hyderabad, and about 90 scientific and private institutions will be involved in the development of Surya at a cost of 50 million dollars. DRDO scientists quoted by the weekly said, they are upgrading the existing short-range Prithvi missile from a 150-km range to 350 km. Further, a Naval version of the Prithvi, called Dhanush, with a range of 250 km, is expected to be tested later this year. In addition, about 20 Agni ballistic missiles, with a range of over 2,000 km, will be produced by DRDO by the end of 2001 at a cost of 150 million dollar, the scientists told the weekly. DRDO, the weekly said, is also developing a medium-range air-to-air missile called Astra, to be fired from combat aircraft, including sea harrier, MiG-29 and SU-30. About five million dollar will be spent on the Astra, which is expected to be test-fired in October, it said. Sreedhar Rao, senior fellow at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, is quoted by the weekly as saying: This is a logical step after successful completion of the test of Agni-II. The need for acceleration of Surya-I and Surya-II has arisen because of the introduction of such missiles into Asia, coupled with the maturing of India’s capabilities for missile production. The weekly also reported that China has plans to further accelerate its missile development and build solid-fueled ICBMs with a range of 8,000 km, partly in reaction to the US bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade. Refusing to accept the US excuse that it was an accident, Zhu Jin, a retired People’s Liberation Army Colonel and former attache in Washington, told the weekly that the Chinese believe the bombing was not accidental but a test of China’s resolve. (PTI) |
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Immense scope for increasing Egypt, India trade ties CAIRO, May 18: Egypt has called for greater trade ties with India emphasising the need to exploit the vast economic potential of the two countries and urged for increase in bilateral investment and promotion of comprehensive industrial cooperation in various sectors. There is wide scope for increasing two-way economic cooperation especially with both countries seriously implementing liberalisation and globalisation measures, Egypt’s Trade and Civil Supplies Minister Dr Ahmed Goweili said inaugurating the first ever Indo-Egypt joint business group meeting here yesterday. A partnership agreement aimed at providing an umbrella facility for private sector companies in both countries to enter into direct bilateral trade and investment has been finalised and was initialled by the Indian envoy to Cairo, Shiv Shanker Mukherjee and Ahmed Ragai Bakry, first under secretary in Egypt’s International Cooperation Ministry. The agreement will be formally signed at a later date at the ministerial level. Goweili said that with the current level of bilateral trade in the range of about 450 million dollars, there was unlimited scope for businessmen to enter into new ventures. Bilateral trade over the past four years has increased by 25 per cent. India was represented at the joint business group meeting by a high-level Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) delegation headed by V Srinivasan, Chairman of WS Industries Ltd and other members were from the TATA Group, Steel Authority of India, Kirlosker Group and CII’s principal advisor A C Patankar. (PTI) |
‘US ignored Chinese help to Pak in nuclear field’ WASHINGTON, May 18: The Clinton administration, in its efforts to promote US trade with China, ignored the Communist state’s collaboration with Pakistan in the field of nuclear arms which ultimately resulted in the latter’s nuclear tests on May 29, 1998, touching off a new arms race in the region, says a new book based on intelligence reports. The book, "Betrayal how the Clinton administration undermined American security," by Bill Gertz, currently being serialised in The Washington Times, quoted a former military officer who worked in the White House, saying, "the lengths this administration went to ignore great dangers to U S national security in the name of promoting business were unprecedented." Two years before it completed a 70,000 dollar deal to sell ring-magnets — key components in making fuels for nuclear weapons — to Pakistan in March 1992, China signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which forbids signatories from providing components of nuclear weapons to non-nuclear states. China failed its first test as a signatory, undermining years of work to keep states like Pakistan from building nuclear bombs, it adds. To this day, the Chinese and Pakistani Governments deny the sale. But for 70,000 dollars China gave a major boost to Pakistan’s nuclear-weapons programme. However, the CIA did produce an unclassified report to Congress saying China was the primary source of nuclear-related equipment and technology to Pakistan. In a move aimed at keeping the ring-magnets dispute quiet, the then Secretary of State Warren Christopher wrote to the Export-Import Bank later in February 1996, asking it to defer loan approvals for American businessmen operating in China. The cutoff would have been worth about 10 billion dollars in new loans if it had been kept in place. But the measure lasted only 30 days and did not affect already-approved loans. Several U S corporations, including Boeing and Honeywell, lobbied against sanctions. To many in the business community, nuclear-weapons transfers should not be allowed to disrupt the flow of trade. The failure to sanction Beijing undermined the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and encouraged China and other nations to disregard their obligations under it, said House National Security Committee chairman Floyd D Spence. "It is a further example of the administration looking the other way when the Chinese openly violated international law." But it was a lawmaker from President Clinton’s own party who had some of the strongest words. "It is outrageous that the administration has now freed the Export-Import Bank to use taxpayer funds for loans to assist the China National Nuclear Corp. — the very company that sold the ring magnets to Pakistan," said Democratic Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi. "When all is said and done," she added, "The Chinese proliferated nuclear-weapons technology and got away with it, and Pakistan received essential nuclear-weapons technology and was rewarded." (UNI) |
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Sino-US military exchanges not to resume BEIJING, May 18: China today ruled out resumption of military exchanges with the US , suspended following NATO bombings of its embassy in Belgrade. China’s position remains unchanged, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said, while denying reports that the high-level diplomatic contacts between the two countries would resume next month. Beijing snapped diplomatic contact with the US on military affairs, arms control and human rights on May 10 in protest against the bombings of its embassy which killed three and injured 20 Chinese citizens. Replying to questions on Sino-US relations at a routine Foreign Ministry briefing, Zhu asked the US to undertake a comprehensive, thorough and just probe into U S-led NATO bombings of its embassy and make public the result at an earliest date. He said U S President Bill Clinton has promised to send a special envoy to China to brief the Chinese leadership about the outcome of the investigation into the incident. Zhu, however, said it was still early for an U S envoy to visit Beijing. (PTI) |
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Sharif acquitted of corruption charges ISLAMABAD, May 17: The Accountability Commission of Pakistan has acquitted Premier Nawaz Sharif of charges of customs duty evasion in a case relating to import of BMW cars, media reports said today. The Chief Ehtesab (accountability) Commissioner (CEC), Justice Mujaddid Mirza, who disposed of two identical complaints filed by main opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) against Sharif and his close friend and former business aide Saifur Rehman, in the BMW car import deal, said the CEC did not find any reason to proceed further with inquiry in the matter, the English daily Dawn reported. In the BMW case, it was alleged that Rehman in connivance with Sharif, had imported 25 BMW cars in September 1992 at a lower value in a bid to evade customs duty to the tune of rupees 1.369 million. The CEC, who based his judgement on an earlier Lahore High Court verdict and a report by Central Board of Revenue (CBR), had earlier disposed of four other charges against Sharif out of a nearly 40 curruption references filed against him by PPP since the present Government launched the accountability process to unearth corruption cases in the country since 1990. Rehman has been made the chief of the accountability bureau in the Prime Minister’s Office to pursue, mainly, the corruption cases against PPP chief Benezir Bhutto and her husband Asif Zardari, who have since been convicted in one of the cases. The CEC, Justice Mirza, had earlier ruled in January that he would not refer the corruption references against Sharif and Rehman to the accountability bureau for investigations as it was headed by Rehman. Instead, the case would be investigated by an independent agency, he said. The ruling had evoked optimistic response from Benazir and her party saying now the corruption cases against Sharif would be properly investigated. (PTI) |
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