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Annan
expresses concern UNITED NATIONS, Oct 23: The UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has ..more
China laps up British BEIJING, Oct 23: Chinese state media lapped up the pomp and ceremony....more No pressure works on WASHINGTON, Oct 23: India has asserted that no pressure works on us to ..more Pakistani bank rejects ISLAMABAD, Oct 23: A business house owned by the man who headed the ..more |
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Pak
Army likely to name ISLAMABAD, Oct 23: Pakistan’s Army rulers are expected to name a.....more UNSC demands end to fresh attacks in Afghanistan UNITED NATIONS, Oct 23: The UN Security Council....more Plurastic societies should not be undermined: India UNITED NATIONS, Oct 23: India has warned if democratic.....more
Assertive charles in no-show for Jiang LONDON, Oct 23: The reported decision of Britain’s....more |
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Annan expresses concern over Chechnya conflict UNITED NATIONS, Oct 23: The UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has expressed strong hope that special care would be taken to avoid innocent civilians casualties in the current conflict in Northern Caucasus region of Russia. Annan has read with great concern reports of recent development there and hopes that provisions of humanitarian law in armed conflict are respected, his spokesman Fred Eckhard said. The Secretary-General in his statement, however did not mentioned the name of Chechnya or blamed anyone on this issue. Briefing reporters, Eckhard did not go beyond the statement which followed reports that more than 100 people might have been killed in the Chechan capital grozny by rockets which hit a market and a maternity ward. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) quoted authorities in neighbouring ingush as saying more than 160,000 people have been uprooted by the Russian military crackdown in Chechnya. The Ingush authorities fear that as many as 300,000 people will pour into Ingushetia if the Russian military push continues. Shelter is already a major problem, UNHCR said, with some 7,100 of the displaced living in tents and 5,000 in wagons and dilapidated buildings. Tens of thousands of people could be left without shelter at the onset of a harsh Northern caucasus winter, it said. UNHCR is sending its fourth convoy of 12 trucks carrying food and other supplies. (PTI) |
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China laps up British pomp, ignores protests BEIJING, Oct 23: Chinese state media lapped up the pomp and ceremony of President Jiang Zemin’s visit to Britain this week, ignoring dogged human rights protests and a reported snub by heir to the throne Prince Charles. Newspapers splashed photos of Jiang with Queen Elizabeth and husband Prince Philip across front pages, and described in meticulous detail the ceremonies laid on to welcome the first Chinese head of state to Britain. State television broadcast extensive pictures of the ceremonies, but like the newspapers ignored persistent demonstrations against Chinese policies on Tibet and human rights. Jiang’s royal treatment — including a bedroom in Buckingham palace and a horse-drawn carriage ride through central London —symbolised an end to an era of Chinese national humiliation at the hands of Colonial powers led by Britain. "Red carpet reception, a 21-gun salute in a nearby park, royal horse guards wearing tall, shiny helmets and a grand parade kicked off the Chinese President’s stay in Britain," Wednesday’s edition of the China daily said. "The grand ceremony in front of Buckingham palace demonstrated the British devotion to tradition and the improvement of ties between the two countries," it said. No mention was made of a series of small but determined street protests from human rights campaigners and Tibetan independence activists that dogged Jiang’s visit. State media also ignored a report in Britain’s daily telegraph that Prince Charles deliberately stayed away from a state banquet at the Chinese Embassy on Thursday to show his anger at China’s human rights record. As Jiang prepared to leave Britain yesterday, royal officials denied that Prince Charles had intended to snub Jiang, saying he had a "private engagement". But the telegraph said Charles, an admirer of Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, had also refused to accompany Jiang on a number of other engagements during his state visit. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, in talks with Jiang on Thursday, urged China to start a dialogue with the Dalai Lama, who fled the Himalayan region in 1959 after a failed uprising against Communist rule. Britain does not recognise Chinese sovereignty there. The China daily said on Friday the door was still open for talks between Beijing and the Dalai Lama, but reiterated long-standing conditions, effectively ruling out a policy change. Chinese media focused on reports of thousands of people, including overseas Chinese, Cheering Jiang in Britain. They paid particular attention to Jiang’s rare privilege of a bedroom at Buckingham palace, the queen’s residence. "According to British royal customs, the queen only receives two heads of state every year. President Jiang is the only honoured guest to stay in Buckingham place this year," the official Xinhua news agency said. Jiang was to be seen off from the palace by a ceremonial detachment of Queen Elizabeth’s guards on Friday before making a private visit to Cambridge University and flying to Paris for the second leg of a six-nation, 17-day tour. The trip to Cambridge could see more protests, and human rights group Amnesty International has said it will hold a series of street demonstrations to press for improved human rights in China when Jiang arrives in France yesterday. After France, Jiang is to visit Portugal, Morocco, Algeria and Saudi Arabia. (REUTERS) |
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No pressure works on us to sign CTBT: India WASHINGTON, Oct 23: India has asserted that no pressure works on us to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) though United States said it is disappointed at the lack of concrete action by New Delhi to achieve non-proliferation goals. I can tell you frankly, no pressure works on us (to sign CTBT). I have said it and Government has said it a number of times, National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra told reporters after a meeting with Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott here yesterday. We did talks about the treaty and I reiterated our well-known position...We have not signed the CTBT, we are trying to have a consensus on adherence to the CTBT and we have said it is not possible without having a consensus in the country, Mishra, who is also the Principal Secretary to Prime Minister A B Vajpayee said. US Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, earlier told reporters that while we continue to believe that India is better off without nuclear weapons, we recognise that India feels it needs such a capability. For this reason, he said, the US is discussing a number of concrete near-term steps India can take and cited America’s known positions on the Test Ban Treaty and fissile materials and called for a restraint in missile development, including non-deployment. Although we’ve heard India’s intentions with respect to several of these steps, we have been disappointed, frankly, at the lack of concrete actions to acheive them, he said. Mishra, however, said we did not discuss the nuclear weapon status of India. Richardson said: The United States and India share many interests—energy and the environment, economic interaction, international security, fighting terrorism and promoting democracy. These shared interests are why President Clinton plans to travel to South Asia in the new year. We hope his trip takes US-Indian relations to a new, higher level. My visit, and the President’s, are opportunities to explore greater cooperation in a number of areas that would be of benefit to both our countries, he added. Asked how far and how fast the two countries can move in various areas of cooperation, he said, depends in part on India’s actions particularly on non-proliferation issues. Richardson, who is in charge of not only civilian energy but also all of America’s nuclear weapon establishments, said he plans to be in India from October 26 to 28 for talks with Prime Minister A B Vajpayee, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and Energy and Resource Ministers. He will also visit Varanasi to see an energy efficient after-treatment plant outside of the holy city. He will be the first US Cabinet Minister to visit India after the recent elections. However, he did not commit himself on the possibility of us selling nuclear power plants to India but pointed out that during Japan’s recent nuclear accident, the US provided aid. Richardson also envisaged greater scientific cooperation between India and the US—interrupted by the nuclear test —in the mutual interest and pointed out that Indian Americans are making their mark in the US weapons laboratories while Indian students are coming on top on scientific subjects in the US school system. (PTI) |
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Pakistani bank rejects loan repayment offer ISLAMABAD, Oct 23: A business house owned by the man who headed the accountability drive of the deposed Government has offered to pay back defaulted loans in instalments but the bank has rejected the offer, news reports said today. The state-owned United Bank spurned the offer of monthly instalments of 6 million rupees (120,000 dollars) from Redco Textile Mills run by Saifur Rehman, chief of the Ehtesab (accountability) cell in deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s Government, as it would take 20 years to the bank to recover the 960 million rupees credit. The offer came after General Pervez Musharaf, the military ruler who toppled Sharif on October 12, gave four weeks to loan defaulters to clear their outstanding dues or face the consequences. Rehman, a close confidante of Sharif, had launched a massive "accountability" campaign during their 30-month old Government which was mainly directed against Sharif’s top rival, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and her family. Bhutto, whose Government had been dismissed in November 1996, mainly on charges of corruption and misrule, has been living in exile after an accountability bench of the Lahore High Court disqualified her and her husband from Parliament and handed down jail sentences after finding the pair guilty of corruption. (DPA) |
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Pak Army likely to name NSC to oversee state affairs ISLAMABAD, Oct 23: Pakistan’s Army rulers are expected to name a National Security Council (NSC) to oversee state affairs on today in its first major step towards replacing the Government it overthrew on October 12. Army sources said Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf was likely to name the NSC, which he has said will group himself, the armed forces heads and several experts, pending the selection of a cabinet. The naming of the NSC will be the first step towards establishing an administration and getting Government to function after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was toppled and detained in a bloodless takeover. Pakistan’s day-to-day affairs have been kept ticking over by civil servants since the coup, with State (Central) Bank of Pakistan Governor Mohammad Yaqub running financial affairs. Experts to advise on foreign affairs, the constitution and social matters are also expected to be named in a seven-member nsc headed by the 56-year-old career soldier Musharraf. Few more days to form cabinet Army sources said naming of a cabinet would take a few more days as the military searches out technocrats and experts untainted by allegations of corruption against many members of the ruling elite. The naming of the NSC will take place a few days before the arrival of a commonwealth fact-finding team after the 54-nation grouping of mostly british ex-colonies suspended Pakistan’s participation at a summit later this month. The summit is expected to take a final decision on Pakistan’s membership at the summit in Durban, South Africa. Britain and Canada have both voiced extreme displeasure at the military intervention and overthrow of an elected Government. Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy will head the mission, which is expected to arrive in Islamabad on Thursday and to hold talks with top military leaders. Western states have expressed keen disappointment that Musharraf gave no timetable for a return to democratic rule in a keynote address one week ago but have tempered their displeasure with a signal absence of calls for Sharif’s return. Corruption crackdown A crackdown on corruption, including allegations that Sharif enriched himself to the tune of 100 million dollars, is Musharraf’s main priority in what is seen as an attempt to bolster public confidence in military rule. Musharraf said one week ago that he was forced into taking charge because of economic and political chaos but has pledged an eventual return to democratic rule and to install "real democracy" and accountability. Ministers in Sharif’s ousted Government are either being held in protective custody pending a national corruption probe or are at home and not talking to the media. Musharraf and his advisers are expected to move into Islamabad’s cabinet block, used by Sharif and his predecessors, on Saturday in another sign that a Government is slowly being assembled, Army sources said. They said Musharraf had given orders that no lavish expenditure would be made to refurbish the offices, which are situated in Eastern Islamabad in a purpose-built administrative headquarters which are currently largely empty. (REUTERS) |
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UNSC demands end to fresh attacks in Afghanistan UNITED NATIONS, Oct 23: The UN Security Council has asked the Taliban in Afghanistan not to trigger fresh attacks and stop sheltering and training of terrorists in the country, especially in areas controlled by the militia. Stating that the the continuing conflicts in the strife-torn country posed a serious and growing threat to regional and international peace and security, Russia, the current Council President, said Taliban must stop providing sanctury and training to international terrorist and refrain from planning any extremist activities. In a harshly worded presidential statement yesterday, the Council expressed deep distress over thousands of non Afghanis, mostly from religious schools, fighting by the side of Taliban and demanded an end to foreign interference. The reference was to the Pakistani fighters who, United Nations top official in Afghansitan Lakhdar Brahimi had said Thursday, are coming into the country by bus loads. Other officials say the Pakistanis, mostly from religious schools, have no affection either for Afghans or the country but are driven by religious fervour and Taliban cannot control them. Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov who read out the statement at a formal meeting, once again demanded that Taliban hand over Osama Bin Laden, indicted in the US on the charges of terrorism, to appropriate authorities by November 14 to face trial. Otherwise, sanctions would be applied against them. The statement comes a day after Brahimi said he was temporarily suspending involvement as his repeated efforts had been frustrated. But the Council favoured continuing United Nations involvement and called for a political solution. The statement recalled that the Taliban’s July offensive was launched only a week after the meeting of the six plus two group in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, despite repeated Council demands to stop fighting. This, it said, has undermined international efforts to restore peace in the country and has led to enormous suffering for the civilian population. Reiterating that the UN must continue to play a central and impartial role in international efforts to resolve the conflict, the Council again demanded that the parties, especially the Taliban, resume negotiations under UN auspices without delay and preconditions, in full compliance with UN resolutions. The United Front of Afghanistan had repeatedly made clear that they were willing to talk with the Taliban, it noted. The Council said there is no military solution to the conflict and that only a negotiated political settlement aimed at the establishment of a broad-based, multi-ethnic and fully representative Government acceptable to all Afghans could lead to peace and reconciliation. (PTI) |
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Plurastic societies should not be undermined: India UNITED NATIONS, Oct 23: India has warned if democratic plurastic societies are allowed to be undermined, every ethnic group, sub group, faith, colour, creed and indeed every individual would be a nation state. Addressing a UN committee, Indian delegate Inder Jit, a former MP, decried disturbing attempts to reinterpret some basic principles of the charter and apply them selectively notwithstanding the havoc that is likely to be caused. It was an essential principle to regain sovereignty, maintain that sovereignty and territorial integrity and was not meant to interfere in the internal affairs of other nations, he emphasised during a debate on self determination. With decolonisation, he said, it was hoped that finally the era of slavery was coming to an end and freedoms would be enjoyed in the sanctity of state. But as we come to the close of the century, these hopes have unfortunately been often belied. In many parts of the world, we find freedom in fetters. We have governance by sleath or coercion and relations between states are still very unequal. In its most extreme form, power is masked behind apparent legality of humanitarian concern to subvert sovereignty, territorial integrity and democratic choice, he asserted. In a strong denunciation of state sponsored terrorism, Inder Jit said in some regions, including Asia, mercenary activities are more often than not are not strictly of a contractual nature but are tinged with relgious fervour and misplaced indeological motivation. Terrorism is one powerful instrument of malevolence directed at open societies. When supported by states, this power increases by leaps and bounds. Democratic choice, the basis for self determination, becomes the first victim, he told the committee. He also expressed concern over increasing use of mercenaries and child soliders by non states actors and terrorist groups. (PTI) |
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Assertive charles in no-show for Jiang LONDON, Oct 23: The reported decision of Britain’s Prince Charles to snub a banquet for Chinese President Jiang Zemin over the Tibet question brought renewed speculation yesterday that the heir to the throne was charting a new, more assertive role. Experts said the issue was more profound than simply whether Charles disapproves of China’s human rights policies or its occupation of Tibet, arguing that it challenged the extent of the Government’s power over the monarchy. "The role of the monarch and the monarch’s children is what’s being tested here...How far does he have to go when asked by downing street to do something," said Harold Brooks-Baker, the American Publishing Director of Britain’s Bible of Aristocracy, Burke’s Peerage. "If downing street asks the queen to receive an even more controversial head of state, would she feel she had to do it, would she let herself become a puppet? if and when Charles becomes king will he carry out the wishes of downing street in the same way if he disapproves?" Charles’s boycott, although officially denied, was nonetheless seen by royal observers as a clear signal of his anger at China’s human rights record and his sympathy with Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. The prince had a "private engagement" on Thursday night, when the queen and other royals attended the dinner at the Chinese Embassy, said a spokeswoman for St James’s Palace, Charles’s London residence. It followed days of small but determined street protests during Jiang’s visit, the first by a Chinese head of state since Mao Tse Tung declared the nation communist 50 years ago. "The prince has shown in the past that he has a great affinity for the Dalai Lama," Lord Avebury, liberal democrat peer and chairman of the all-party parliamentary human rights group, told BBC radio. Human Rights "He can’t come out and say to Jiang he’s disgusted with the human rights policies of China’s Government and the repression that continues in Tibet, so by staying away from the banquet he signals his displeasure in the only way open to him. This is very useful because it proves to Jiang that...The distaste at the Chinese policies extends throughout the whole society." Don Foreman, Secretary-General of the Monarchist League, said: "But if he did stay away from principle then he’s showing his independence of mind which will have won him some admiration....He’s shown the courage of his own convictions and he’ll win approval, but that’s not what he’s done it for." The prince likes to make his opinions known and relations between him and Prime Minister Tony Blair have been on the slide since Charles upset the Government by speaking out against genetically modified food on his website. Charles may just be reviving the royal role of acting as a channel for the grievances of the "little people". His recent championing of the plight of farmers was another campaign which might have been seen as treading on the Government’s toes. But Blair has no real power over Charles. Unlike the rest of the nation which can be bribed, threatened and cajoled, he is not dependent on the goodwill of whitehall and can speak out. "He has a very high sense of decency and morality and it might even be his undoing one day...But I don’t believe the Prince of Wales ever does anything to gain public support," said brooks-baker. "(REUTERS) |
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