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No political control NEW DELHI, Oct 22: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto....more Over 100 dead in Grozny MOSCOW, Oct 22: Russia has tightened its stranglehold ....more Indonesia’s reformers JAKARTA, Oct 22: This week’s elections in Indonesia could have hardly..more Japan to send envoy TOKYO, Oct 22: Japan would send a senior diplomat to India and...more
US calls for fair WASHINGTON, Oct 22: United States has strongly urged ....more |
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Opinion poll throws MOSCOW, Oct 22: An opinion poll conducted in Russia this week.....more More than 140 injured in TAIPEI, Oct 22: Another major earthquake struck Central Taiwan....more
Najam Sethi, wife get ISLAMABAD, Oct 22: Noted Pakistani journalist Najam Sethi, who was.....more China
says door open BEIJING, Oct 22: The door is open for conditional talks between Beijing and Tibet’s Dalai Lama, the China daily said today, a day after Britain urged Chinese President Jiang Zemin to open talks ....more |
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No
political control over Pak’s nuclear NEW DELHI, Oct 22: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has admitted that there is no political control over Islamabad’s nuclear programme. There is no political control of what actually happens inside (the programme), Bhutto said recalling when she was the Prime Minister when I asked to visit the nuclear facility, nobody said no, but the visit was stalled. Describing Pakistan’s new military Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf as a moderate and courageous man, Bhutto said in an interview to ‘Newsweek’ that Washington had a key role to play in early restoration of democracy in Pakistan. I think Washington must encourage the prompt return of democracy. Two or three years is too long. Three months is what we would prefer, the former Pakistan Premier said. She said though personally she had been unable to be in touch with US leaders, she had asked friends to try and see what the readout in Washington is. The former Premier said that there were only two ways that Pakistan could proceed after the coup. Either there might be an election in which I do have a role to play and I will go back and to that or I would defer any role for myself, but not necessarily for my party if there was some sort of (political) hiatus that was backed by the international community, she said. Asked if she were to govern again, what would she do differently, Bhutto replied that she would create a liberal Parliament saying the present Parliament was dislocated from the people. Women do not get in, minorities do not get in, professionals do not get in. If you have a Parliament of the urban elite and the ruling elite, you do not really have a Parliament of people, she said. On why deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, apparently warned by Washington of a coup, went ahead to interfere with the military, Bhutto said only he (Sharif) can answer that question. But Washington kept bailing him out. In 1998 there was lot of disquiet among armed forces over the unceremonious removal of their Chief. But again Nawaz was perceived to have backing of the international community, and he survived. Bhutto said she had tried to establish contact with the new military rulers who were yet to respond to her. She said she wanted to tell military leaders that Pakistan’s stability was dependent on the democratic system and early return to it. (PTI) |
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Over 100
dead in Grozny MOSCOW, Oct 22: Russia has tightened its stranglehold on Chechnya with tanks and troops encircling Capital Grozny to flush out Islamic militants and gain control of the breakaway republic even as reports said 118 people had been killed and over 400 injured in raids on the city. During his Caucasian tour on Wednesday, Russian Premier Vladimir Putin asserted that there would be no peace with President Aslan Mashkadov till he embraces Russian constitution. Maskhadov has little or no legitimacy since he was not elected under Russian consitution, Putin said. As Russian tanks and artillery had taken positions to fire point-blank at provincial Capital Grozny, the Government defined certain conditions for initiating peace talks with Maskhadov or any political forces which were ready. In a statement released late yesterday as Putin was leaving for crucial Russia-EU meet in Helsinki, the Government said Chechnya should respect the constitution of the Russian Federation and its sovereignty and territorial integrity. Grozny should also denounce terrorism, disarm illegal armed formations and handover to federal authorities persons guilty of terrorist acts, hostage taking and banditism. The provincial Government must ensure human rights and fundamental freedom and create conditions for safe return of people forced to leave their homes, it said. Meanwhile reports quoting Chechen officials said rocket attacks on an open air market, a maternity ward and other parts of Grozny yesterday left 118 dead and over 400 injured, many of them seriously. There was no independent verification of the casualty. Chechen officials claimed the rockets were fired by Russian forces moving into the city. The Russian Defence Ministry, however, denied the charge. Grozny’s central market was littered with shattered bodies, severed limbs and pools of blood after six rockets exploded amid stalls, which were crowded with shoppers, Chechen officials said. At least four other rockets slammed other parts of the city, including the one that hit a maternity ward killing 27 people, mostly women and newly-born babies, they said. The Russian Government stressed in the statement issued last night that all questions of political settlement of the situation in the Chechen Republic must and will be resolved at the negotiations table. The way to this is open. The Russian Government also confirmed that an earlier declared amnesty will be applicable to all militants who have not directly taken part in terrorist acts. The anti-terrorist operation in Chechnya was a natural response of the state to a challenge to the entire Russian society and to the whole world. The first stage of the operation was successfully completed when one third of the republic’s territory was freed from terrorists, the Government statement said. (PTI) |
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Indonesia’s reformers remain cautious after victories JAKARTA, Oct 22: This week’s elections in Indonesia could have hardly turned out better for the country’s reform movement. With the elections of Mr Abdurrahman Wahid as President and Ms Megawati Sukarnoputri as his Vice President, two opponents of the old Suharto regime sit atop the Indonesian republic. In addition, the glass ballot boxes at the people’s assembly during the vote count symbolised a transparency not known in the country’s 50 years of independence. The vote count was broadcast live on television as the country experienced its first competition for the State’s highest offices in half a century. But the reformers have refrained from breaking out in euphoria. "We don’t know what was played out behind the scenes," said Mr Syed Farid Alatas, an Indonesia expert in Singapore. Mr Alatas said the results of the elections were negotiated, paid off and whenever possible swindled behind the public facade. There had been rumours for weeks that a lot of money was being pumped into the election. "You can’t get rid of a corrupt culture that fast," Mr Alatas warned. The long-ruling Golkar Party was especially involved in the final results as party chief Akbar Tanjung became a key figure in the election. First he backed the dismantling of Mr Bacharuddun Jusuf Habibie’s Presidency. Then he announced his candidacy for the country’s top job himself before shortly thereafter withdrawing from the race. The next morning, he declared he wanted to become Vice president only to back down again. The result of Mr Akbar Tanjung’s game is that both winners were dependent on the Golkars’ support. For without the votes of the Golkar faction, which is aligned with the country’s military, Mr Wahid could not have defeated Ms Megawati on Wednesday and Ms Megawati would have had difficulties with Mr Hamzah Haz yesterday. Indonesia’s strongman, Defence Minister and General Miranto, has remained passive since the election results. He will no longer be Defence Minister but will remain general of Indonesia’s forces. Why he played with the thought of becoming Vice President will remain his secret. But if developments go against the interests of the military, a putsch of the generals is not out of the question. After Mr Wahid’s surprising victory, his decision to name Ms Megawati as Vice President at least partially established some legitimacy to the democratic procedure. Ms Megawati, the eldest daughter of founding president Sukarno, was the winner during Indonesia’s parliamentary elections last June. Whether President Wahid will really allow Ms Megawati to have any power or influence is doubtful. The Vice President plays more of a ceremonial role. "I don’t know if she wants to dedicate streets and schools every day," Mr Wahid said a year ago when asked if he could imagine Ms Megawati as his Vice President. (DPA) |
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Japan to send envoy to India, Pakistan TOKYO, Oct 22: Japan would send a senior diplomat to India and Pakistan next week to promote dialogue and exchanges with New Delhi and press the new military regime in Islamabad to restore civilian rule. Japanese Foreign Secretary Ichita Yamamoto will work with the new Government in New Delhi to promote dialogue and exchanges, and work out modalities for a planned visit to Tokyo by External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, country’s Foreign Minister Yonei Konu said here today. Yamamoto is also scheduled to hold talks with Singh. In Pakistan, Yamamoto will call upon the new military ruler General Pervez Musharraf and other officials to map out a clear and concrete process towards restoring a civilian Government after the Army tookover the democratically elected Government of Premier Nawaz Sharif on October 12, Kono told reporters. Japan will also urge the two countries to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) citing its importance following the rejection of the treaty by the US Senate last week, Kono said. (PTI) |
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Opinion poll throws up Premier Putin in Presidential race MOSCOW, Oct 22: An opinion poll conducted in Russia this week has thrown up Premier Vladimir Putin as leader in the Presidential race. Mr Putin won 20 per cent of the votes in the poll conducted on October 16-17, followed by Mr Yevgeny Primakov, who heads the fatherland-all Russia bloc, with 18 per cent, a RIA Novosti release said today. However, sociologists are stressing that the difference of one-two per cent was within the limits of a statistical error. But the direct question - who would they vote for if Mr Primakov and Mr Putin vied for Presidency - showed the final correlation of forces. In such a situation, Mr Primakov could now hope for 36 per cent of votes, the corresponding figure for Mr Putin being 42 per cent. Other potential challengers for the Presidency also cannot match Mr Putin. If a choice between only two candidates were made, the Premier would win 52 per cent of votes against 25 per cent won by Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, 55 against 18 of Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, and 55 against 15 of Yobloko bloc leader Grigory Yavlinsky. Experts opine that the appointment of Mr Putin to the post of Prime Minister marked the appearance of not only a fresh face which had long been expected by society, but also of a skillful and strong leader. During the latest poll, 63 per cent of the respondents said that Mr Putin, as Cabinet head, was impressing them. A week ago 57 per cent positively assessed the Premier’s activity. By contrast, the number of those who negatively assess his activities as Prime Minister keeps diminishing. Their proportion stood at 14 per cent in mid-September, nine per cent at end September, seven per cent at the beginning of October, six per cent last week and five per cent this week, the release added. (UNI) |
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More than 140 injured in new quake, 27 fires TAIPEI, Oct 22: Another major earthquake struck Central Taiwan early today, leaving at least 140 people injured, damaging buildings and causing dozens of fires and partial power blackouts. A Central Weather Bureau (CWB) spokesman said the quake measured 6.4 on the richter scale and struck 2.5 km west of Chiayi city, 12 km below the surface. It was independent of the huge 7.6-magnitude tremor that struck Central Taiwan’s Nantou county on September 21, killing at least 2,446 people. Today’s tremor was followed by numerous aftershocks, including two of six degrees magnitude and several five-degree quakes. There were reports of at least 27 fires and an explosion at the chemistry laboratory of the National Chung Cheng University in Chiayi. No fatalities were reported immediately by an emergency center in the Chiayi city fire department or the Central Government Emergency Response Centre established in the national fire administration, the Kuomintang Party-owned Broadcasting Corp of China (BCC) reported. Vice President Lien Chan, the ruling Kuomintang’s standard-bearer in next March’s Presidential election, was to visit affected areas this afternoon, the office of the President announced. Almost all the injuries occured in Chiayi city and the surrounding Chiayi county. One injury was reported by BCC in Tainan city, which received a four-degree shock from the major quake and sharp blows from aftershocks. No more injuries were reported from Nantou county, even though the Mingchien village seismic monitoring station in Nantou county recorded a six-degree shock. (DPA) |
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Najam Sethi,
wife get International Press ISLAMABAD, Oct 22: Noted Pakistani journalist Najam Sethi, who was persecuted by the previous Nawaz Sharif Government for allegedly endangering the sovereignty of the country by making some critical comments against the regime during a lecture in India early this year, and his wife Jugnu Mohsin have been awarded the International Press Freedom Awards. An elated Mohsin told PTI over telephone from her Lahore residence that we are really pleased and gratified that the CPJ has recognised our efforts and added they were looking forward to visiting New York next month to receive the award. Mohsin, who is the Managing Editor and publisher of the popular weekly Friday Times edited by Sethi said she was quite thrilled after getting a separate acknowledgement from the CPJ. She also writes a regular column in the paper. I was particularly moved that it (CPJ) gave me an acknowledgement separately, Mohsin said recalling the harrowing time she went through when Sethi was put in jail for three weeks by the previous Sharif Government. CPJ earlier today announced the awards in New York. According to a CPJ release Sethi was dragged from his bedroom in the middle of the night by Government agents who beat him, gagged him and then held him without charge for nearly a month. However, Mohsin continued to publish the paper even after her husband’s detention, the committee said. Sethi was arrested in May this year after being labelled as a RAW agent and for his interview to BBC in a documentary on Government corruption and alleged involvement of Nawaz Sharif’s family members in graft charges. Sethi was released after nearly one month of detention following a court order. Mohsin said goons sent by Nawaz Sharif stormed into our house in the middle of the night, beat Najam and took him away...Those were the most difficult period of my life when not only I have to bring out the weekly alone but also fight for the release of Najam. She said the award was also a recognition for their crusade for freedom of the press. For Sethi, who was not available for comment as he was in a meeting, this was the second award since London based Amnesty International honoured him as Journalist of the Year’earlier this year. The other recipients of the CPJ Award include Jesus Joel Diaz Hernandez, who founded an independent news agency in Cuba, Baton Haxhiu, Editor in Chief of Koha Ditore, a daily in Pristina, Maria Cristina Cabellero an investigative editor of a weekly Semana in Columbia and Don Hewitt, the veteran Executive Producer of CBS’s 60 minutes, the committee said. (PTI) |
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US calls for fair treatment to Sharif WASHINGTON, Oct 22: United States has strongly urged the new military regime in Pakistan to respect the rights of deposed Premier Nawaz Sharif and mete out a fair and impartial treatment to him during all investigations. US strongly urges that the rights of deposed Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif and others who may be under investigation are respected and that they receive fair and impartial treatment, in accordance with international standards, State Department spokesman James Folley said. Foley said that when US Ambassador to Pakistan William Milam met with the new military ruler General Pervez Musharraf in Islamabad last Friday, I believe he was given assurances as to his (Sharif’s) well-being. I can’t comment on his exact whereabouts but certainly hope that he is safe and secure. We understand that there is an accountability process underway, and we understand that there are preliminary investigations of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif underway, in connection with efforts to restore accountability in Pakistan, Foley told reporters in a daily briefing. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) of Pakistan has initiated probe into Nawaz Sharif’s alleged involvement in bank frauds and charged him with financial misdeeds amounting to over 100 million US dollars. In a report submitted to the military authorities, FIA accused Sharif of money laundering to the tune of 40 million dollars, tax evasion of over 60 million dollars, bank fraud and forgery of over 10 million dollars and an unspecified amount by misusing his office and public funds for personal benefits, the domestic PPI news agency said on Wednesday. (PTI) China says door open for talks with Dalai Lama BEIJING, Oct 22: The door is open for conditional talks between Beijing and Tibet’s Dalai Lama, the China daily said today, a day after Britain urged Chinese President Jiang Zemin to open talks with the exiled spiritual leader. But the newspaper quoted a senior Tibet Government official as repeating China’s long-standing terms for beginning talks, effectively ruling out any change in policy. The Dalai Lama must stop advocating Tibetan independence, admit Tibet and Taiwan are part of China, and cease separatist activities before negotiations can start, it quoted Mr Xu Mingyang, Executive Vice Chairman of the Tibet Government, as saying. The Dalai Lama has said he is ready for dialogue "anywhere, any time", and favours negotiations for autonomy under Chinese rule that could preserve and promote the Tibetan people’s cultural, religious and linguistic identity. Tibet has been occupied by Chinese troops since 1950. The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising. Yesterday, the last day of Mr Jiang’s visit to Britain, Prime Minister Tony Blair urged the Chinese leader to open a dialogue with the Dalai Lama. Britain does not recognise Chinese sovereignty over Tibet and wishes to see the remote Himalayan region have control over its internal affairs, Mr Blair’s spokesman said. The China daily said the channel for talks had always been open for the Dalai Lama, who won the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize. But it said the Dalai Lama had never been sincere to hold talks with Beijing, and accused him of masterminding separatist activities, including several explosions and assassinations in Tibet. A farmer who tried to set off an explosion in front of Lhasa’s central Potala Palace in August was alive and had confessed to his crime, the newspaper said without giving further details. Tibetan independence activists dogged Mr Jiang on his trip to Britain, the first by a Chinese head of State. (REUTERS) |
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