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Karzai allays Pak’s ISLAMABAD, Apr 24: Seeking to dispel Pakistan’s fears over India operating its consultates in two Afghan cities close to the Pakistan border, ......more Saudi
Shi’ites AL-QATIF, SAUDI ARABIA, Apr 24: Like their Iraqi brethren, Saudi Shi’ites are marking one of the most sacred moments of their year, but say they ...more Pakistan political rivals ISLAMABAD, Apr 24: Talks between the Pakistani Government and opposition groups start tomorrow in an attempt to....more China hospital sealed after BEIJING, Apr 24: In its latest move to fight the deadly SARS virus, China today sealed off a major hospital in the capital........more |
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China mum on
US-N Korea talks, wants "sincerity" from both BEIJING, Apr 24: China, the host of first direct contact between the US and North Korea in over six months, today.....more Suicide bomber JERUSALEM, Apr 24: A Palestinian bomber blew himself up at a busy train station killing one person and injuring 13....more US rejects tiger claims COLOMBO, Apr 24: The United States today mounted a scathing attack on Tamil tigers for suspending peace talks with.....more Indo-Bangla Foreign DHAKA, Apr 24: The entire gamut of bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh would come up for discussion........more |
Karzai allays Pak’s fears over Indian consul near Pak border ISLAMABAD, Apr 24: Seeking to dispel Pakistan’s fears over India operating its consultates in two Afghan cities close to the Pakistan border, Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai has said Afghan-India relations will have no bearing whatsoever in a negative manner towards Islamabad. Karzai told the Pakistani leadership during his two-day visit to Islamabad which ended yesterday that the Indian consulates in Jalalabad and Kandahar existed since the independence of India. "I must be very specific here to say that Afghanistan is aware of the sensitivity of these things between India and Pakistan, and Afghanistan doesn’t want to be involved in the politics of the two countries," he was quoted by the local media as saying. "Afghanistan will not allow its territory to be used by one friend of ours against another friend and a brother of ours, that has to be understood very very clearly. Afghan-India relations should have no bearing whatsoever in a negative manner towards Pakistan," Karzai said. He also urged the Pakistan Government to become more active in pursuing members of Afghanistan’s former Taliban regime and handed over a list of wanted leaders to President Pervez Musharraf. Karzai said during their meeting on Tuesday, Musharraf also agreed to form a joint border commission to prevent further Taliban incursions into Afghanistan. "We have given the names of some top Taliban leaders for the Pakistan authorities to take action on. A longer and more specific list of names of the criminals will be given soon," Karzai was quoted as saying by the local daily `The Nation’ today. He said the list includes Akhtar Mohammad Usmani, a deputy of Taliban chief, Mullah Omar, Mullah Dadullah, the ousted militia’s intelligence chief, Mullah Biradar, the Taliban’s internal security chief, and Hafiz Mujeeb, a lower-ranking commander. "All four men who based in Pakistan are presently known to be carrying guerrilla attacks on US and Afghan Government forces in southern Afghanistan," the newspaper said. He said he believed, Taliban chief Mullah Omar was also hiding in Pakistan but he do not know the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden. "Pakistan has to address this issue of extremism and if both countries can develop a proper strategy jointly in a strong and sincere manner then we can promote stability," he added. (PTI) |
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Saudi Shi’ites commemorate Arbaiin with eye on Iraq AL-QATIF, SAUDI ARABIA, Apr 24: Like their Iraqi brethren, Saudi Shi’ites are marking one of the most sacred moments of their year, but say they face a continuing struggle for recognition in the strict Sunni Muslim kingdom. Shi’ites, mainly concentrated in the Eastern province South of Kuwait, say they have been freer to celebrate the Arbaiin after a recent thaw in Saudi relations with Shi’ite power Iran. The occasion marks the end of the 40-day mourning period after the death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of Islam’s Prophet Mohammad and one of the first leaders of the Shi’ite Muslims. The Sunni-Shi’ite split goes back to the early days of Islam. This week thousands of Iraqi Shi’ite Muslims, free to practise their rites after the fall of Saddam Hussein, made a pilgrimage to the holy city of Kerbala, where Hussein was killed in battle by the forces of an early Islamic ruler, or Caliph. Reflecting popular elation at the end of Saddam, Saudi Shi’ite clerics last week issued a statement of congratulation. Saudi Shi’ites, who have strong ties to their co-religionists in South Iraq where Kerbala is located, say troubles in the region have prevented most of them visiting the holy city for decades. But now at least they can throng their own streets. "All this wasn’t possible until three years ago. We had to stay inside to do anything because the authorities wouldn’t allow it," said Shaheed Quraish, a local office worker. Qatif is the Shi’ite centre of the Eastern province, where shi’ites are thought to be a majority. They form up to 10 percent of the population of the kingdom, which enforces a strict form of Sunni Islam. In one district, hundreds of men took to the street in the evening to watch a public play about the martyrdom of Hussein. In the drama, evil-looking soldiers of the Caliph Yezid Whip prisoners who refuse to join the war against Hussein, whose followers say that, as a descendant of Prophet Mohammed, he should lead Muslims. After Hussein’s brutal murder, an old man wails over this body. "They killed him, and they knew who he was", he cries. The spirit of Hussein appears to tell mourners not to be sad, but to spread Islam’s message of peace and justice. Shi’ites in Saudi Arabia say they are hopeful justice will come to them after decades of inequality at the hands of the powerful religious establishment. Analysts say the Saudi Government is alarmed at rising Shi’ite power in Iraq. Leading cleric Cassan Al-Saffar told this week he was optimistic about an end to insults in school textbooks, preventing Shi’ites, who only have a few Mosques, from building new ones, keeping them out of senior Government jobs and blocking access to the State media. Saudi Arabia rejects charges it discriminates against its religious minorities. Others are not so confident of change. "After the gulf war people asked the Government and had hope, but 12 years later nothing has changed. The Wahhabi view of Shi’ism is still harsh and they are focusing their efforts against us," said a local Sheikh, who asked to remain anonymous. "The Wahhabis are frightened of the crown Prince because he is for reform, though I’m not sure if he is ready yet to open up to other forms of Islam," he added. Reformers of all shades of opinion are betting on crown Prince Abdullah, who has received a petition from leading public figures asking for a more open, democratic and tolerant society. "I’m not allowed to pray in a Sunni Mosque. They built this huge Sunni Mosque in the middle of Qatif last year but we can’t pray in it," the Sheikh said, explaining that Shi’ites have tell-tale arm movements during prayer that give them away. Outside the Mosque, hawkers sell dozens of tapes and CDs of Shi’ite recitation. Most are from Bahrain, where the Shi’ite majority are free to practise their rites. After disturbances on several occasions since the 1979 Iranian revolution, Shi’ites say they have resigned themselves to working peaceably to improve their situation in the kingdom. "Imam Hussein was an example for people today about how to act when people spread mean things about us. Hussein’s brother gave up the caliphate to save people more suffering. It’s an example of knowing how to let it go," Quraish said. (AGENCIES) |
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Pakistan political rivals hope to break impasse ISLAMABAD, Apr 24: Talks between the Pakistani Government and opposition groups start tomorrow in an attempt to unlock an impasse over the military’s role in politics that has blocked parliamentary proceedings since an October election. Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali, a staunch ally of the military, has invited opposition parties for talks over constitutional changes introduced by military President General Pervez Musharraf before last year’s elections. The opposition, led by an Islamic Alliance, wants Musharraf to step down as Chief of Army Staff, and withdraw controversial constitutional amendments, under a Legal Framework Order (LFO), that give him the power to dissolve Parliament. They also object to the creation of a powerful National Security Council, which includes military leaders as well as politicians, and which they say is an attempt to institutionalise the role of the military in state affairs. Politicians say if the talks fail, the dispute could derail musharraf’s attempt to allow limited democracy in Pakistan while retaining significant powers for himself and the Army. "Go Musharraf go", close to a 100 opposition deputies have thundered each day for the last two weeks in the oval hall of the National Assembly, drowning out Government members and creating a spectacle that is unique in the country’s history. Opposition politicians stand for hours, thumping their wooden desks with leather file covers, and shouting "no LFO". The rumpus has prevented any serious parliamentary business since the election with the lower house passing just two bills. But Musharraf does not seem in a mood to compromise, adding that parliamentarians owed their positions to elections held under the LFO and should not object to it. "The LFO is part of the Constitution, it will not go," he told reporters in the eastern city of lahore this week. Members of the opposition Islamic Alliance have agreed to meet Jamali, but make no attempt to hide their contempt for Musharraf, who has angered them for his support for the US-led war on terror and on the Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan. The party of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto said it was too early to say what the outcome of the meeting would be. "We maintain that LFO will not become part of the Constitution unless the Parliament approves it," Makhdoom Amin Fahim, parliamentary head of Bhutto’s party told a news conference on Wednesday. "But the Government continues to insist that it is already a part of the Constitution." Shah Mahmood Qureshi, a senior official of Bhutto’s party, told the same news conference that the Government would have to compromise or talks would fail. "If they are holding talks for a photo opportunity, then the combined opposition is not interested in a photo opportunity." (AGENCIES) |
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China hospital sealed after four more SARS deaths BEIJING, Apr 24: In its latest move to fight the deadly SARS virus, China today sealed off a major hospital in the capital where four more people died of the disease and invoked emergency measures to quarantine the affected individuals and areas. According to latest SARS statistics announced by China’s Ministry of Health, the Chinese mainland reported a total of 2,422 confirmed cases of SARS while 209 people have died nation-wide. The panic-stricken capital itself has registered 39 deaths. Hong Kong also announced four more deaths and 30 new cases of SARS taking the territory’s toll to 109. Another 70 Hong Kong residents were placed under home quarantine as their observation confirmed one in five chance of infection with the mystery virus. Malaysia ordered a quarantine for 203 citizens, mostly low waged earners, who had visited a SARS-infected produce market in Singapore and warned that it would jail those who would break the orders. A day after World Health Organisaton added Beijing and Shanxi province to its list of places travellers should avoid, the authoriities here sealed off the 1200-bed people’s hospital of peking university because of multiple SARS infection preventing staff and patients from leaving the complex or allowing anybody to enter. Canada has reacted angrily at Toronto’s inclusion in the who list of advisory to travellers. Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman said if it was safe to live in Toronto, it was safe to come here too. In Taiwan, a hospital was closed after it reported the highest single-day cases of SARS. The Taipei hospital reported five probable cases of the virus bringing the total number of cases on the island to 38. Meanwhile, the WHO indicated that they are more cases in Shanghai than have been reported. A report from Shanghai today said that it had six suspected cases of SARS, taking their total to 16. One of them is Chinese-American, and the other is from Taiwan. The city’s two confirmed SARS patients remain in stable condition, the city’s Health Bureau said. The Beijing Municipal Government issued a circular late last night to quarantine people, areas, animals and products infected, or suspected of being infected, by SARS virus, in its latest bid to curb the spread of the disease. Places infected by the virus that require quarantine include hospitals, factories, construction sites, hotels, restaurants, office buildings, residential buildings, villages, schools and other designated places, according to the circular. "Compulsory measures may be taken if those involved refuse to cooperate with the relevant departments, and those who violate related laws and regulations will be punished accordingly," the circular warned. Ministry of Health officials say that provinces with SARS patients are working hard to control and prevent the spread of the epidemic, while Central Government established a task force to oversee the national fight against the virus. Liu Zhenhua, Governor of Shanxi province, one of the worst-hit, said that the Government has been granted special decision-making powers and discretionary rights to use financial resources in the fight against the virus. In North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Lian Ji, Vice-Chairman of the Regional Government, called on all sectors of society to express their love to SARS patients and their family members in order to boost their morale. In Fujian province, East China, the provincial Government has allocated five million yuan (about 600,000 US dollars) in special funding for the purchase of artificial respirators and other medical equipment for 19 hospitals designated to provide medical services for SARS patients. At a meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao, the State Council, China’s cabinet, decided yesterday to create a National Task Force to combat SARS, and a national fund of two billion yuan (243 million US dollars) was established for the prevention and control of SARS. (PTI) |
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China mum on US-N Korea talks,
wants BEIJING, Apr 24: China, the host of first direct contact between the US and North Korea in over six months, today appealed to both sides to show "sincerity" during the closed-door negotiations so as to find a peaceful solution to Pyongaang’s nuclear issue. "Due to the complicated historical context, the resolution of the outstanding nuclear questions on the Korean peninsula is a process that requires persistent efforts from various parties," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said on the tripartite talks between Washington-Pyongyang-Beijing on the highly sensitive issue. "We express the hope that the parties concerned will continue to show sincerity and play constructive roles," Liu said while commenting on the negotiations taking place at the highly-protected diaoyutai state guesthouse in western Beijing. The start of the three-day talks mark the first face-to-face between Washington and Pyongyang since talks broke up in October last year over North Korea’s alleged nuclear weapons programme in violation of a 1994 agreement. While no one is willing to say what would be the outcome of the secret parleys, some analysts say the fact that the two warring sides have agreed to sit down to talks represents a breakthrough in itself. Liu said China invited delegations from North Korea and the US to hold talks to seek a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue. The spokesman noted that since last October, the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula has been creating renewed tension in the region. Without giving out the mood at the talks, Liu said the meeting got underway yesterday with Chinese vice Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosting the opening ceremony. Wang held a banquet to welcome the North Korean and US delegations during which the participants enunciated their respective positions on the current nuclear issue and the overall situation on the Korean Peninsula and expressed their related concerns, he said. "This was conducive to the enhancement of mutual understanding and to a peaceful resolution to the nuclear issue through dialogue," he commented. "Together with the international community, China stands ready to continue its efforts to achieve a peaceful resolution to the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, he added. While the US is represented by Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia, James Kelly, the North Korean side is headed by the Vice-Director of American affairs of the Foreign Ministry, Ri Gun. The Chinese side is represented by the Director-General of the Department of Asian Affairs of China’s Foreign Ministry, Fu Ying. Apart from reading out from a prepared text, Liu declined to answer any other question on the first-ever trilateral talks between the three sides. North Korea has said that it wants a security guarantee from the US and says it needs a powerful deterrent to stave off the threat of attack. Washington says Pyongyang must abandon its nuclear programme before it could think of offering a guarantee. (PTI) |
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Suicide bomber strikes Israeli town amid peace moves JERUSALEM, Apr 24: A Palestinian bomber blew himself up at a busy train station killing one person and injuring 13 others in the Israeli city of Kfar Sava today, hours after the Palestinian leadership reached an agreement over the composition of the new cabinet paving the way for implementation of the US-backed roadmap to peace. The Al Aqsa martyrs brigade, of Yasser Arafat’s Fatah Movement, reportedly claimed responsibility for the bombing. The bomber was identified as Ahmed Khaled Khatib, 18, from the Balata refugee camp on the outskirts of West Bank city of Nablus. But an official spokesman of the Al Aqsa martyrs brigade denied his group’s hand in the bombing and said the attack could have been the handiwork of a splinter group of Al Aqsa. The bomber detonated the explosives when a security guard started checking him after noticing he was wearing a black coat despite the warm weather at the entrance of a new commuter train station in the central town of Kfar Sava, North of Tel Aviv, Israel radio reported. A guard spotted him (the bomber) and asked for his identity card, area police chief Amihai Shai said. A security guard was killed in the explosion which occurred at around 0950 hrs Ist while another was seriously wounded. Reports from the blast scene said twisted mass of metal, broken glass and human limbs were scattered at the station’s entrance. The suicide attack came hours after world leaders hoped for an end to the 31 months of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed as Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his Prime Minister designate Mahmoud Abbas reached an agreement over the composition of a new Palestinian cabinet. "The Kfar Sava attack is another vivid example of the cruelty of Palestinian terrorism and its readiness to strike at innocent Israelis at any and every opportunity," David Baker, an official in the Israeli Prime Minister’s office, said. It should be the top priority of the new Palestinian Government "to put an end to terror", Foreign Ministry spokesman Jonathan Peled said, adding "terror and violence cannot go hand in hand with negotiations. Arafat condemned the suicide attack. He also denounced the killing of two Palestinians by Israeli security forces in a village near Ramallah on the West Bank. The two men were killed when the forces opened fire on a stone-pelting crowd. "I condemn this operation against Israeli civilians," Arafat said at his Ramallah office. On the killing of Palestinian men, he said it was "a continuation of the daily Israeli crime against our people". (PTI) |
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US rejects tiger claims for suspending talks COLOMBO, Apr 24: The United States today mounted a scathing attack on Tamil tigers for suspending peace talks with Colombo and urged the guerrillas to make a firm commitment to end violence and terrorism. The US Embassy here in a statement said the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) guerrillas should return to peace talks immediately and take part in an aid meeting Japan is hosting in Tokyo in June. "We call on the tigers to reconsider and to return to the negotiating track," the US Embassy statement quoted Ambassador Ashley wills as saying. "We also call on the LTTE and the Government of Sri Lanka to honour the terms of the ceasefire even while talks are suspended." The LTTE’s chief negotiator Anton Balasingham four days ago announced pulling out of talks to protest the slow progress in implementing "critical issues" relating to the peace process. "We’ve reviewed carefully the ostensible reasons for these decisions cited in Balasingham’s letter to Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe," Wills said. "We do not find them convincing." His remarks came as the French Government too "deplored" the LTTE decision and asked the guerrillas to reconsider it. Wills said both the Government and the Tamil tigers should use the break in talks "to recommit themselves to negotiations." Wills said Washington strongly supported the Norwegian-brokered truce in place since February 23 despite problems in enforcing the truce. "Blame for this does not fall exclusively on the side of the Government, however, as the LTTE’s statement suggested. The tigers, too, bear heavy responsibility for numerous breaches of the ceasefire. "While the talks are suspended, we urge the LTTE to reflect carefully on its own transgressions. "Assassinations of opponents, intimidation of Muslims, taxation without representation, aggressive sea tiger behaviour and continued child recruitment do not build trust in the LTTE’s intentions." The LTTE was bitter that there was slow progress in getting a peace dividend for people in embattled regions and blamed "corruption and mismanagement" of successive Colombo Governments for the lack of overall economic progress in the country. "That’s ludicrous," asserted wills. "Successive Governments down here in the south have made many mistakes, that’s certain, but if blame is being distributed fairly, the ltte deserves a great deal as well. "Its pursuit of an extreme, separatist agenda, by violent means, has cost Sri Lanka’s north and east, but the rest of Sri Lanka too, thousands of lives and 20 years of peaceful development." Wills said Sri Lanka had to undo the damage caused by decades of war and terror and even more years of failed economic policies. "That will not be done overnight." (PTI) |
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Indo-Bangla Foreign Secretary level meeting next week DHAKA, Apr 24: The entire gamut of bilateral relations between India and Bangladesh would come up for discussion at the Foreign Secretary level meeting scheduled to be held here next week. "All issues that affect relations between us will be touched and discussed. All matters of mutual interests will be covered," Foreign Secretary Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury told reporters today. Matters relating to communication and commerce will figure prominently during the meeting. Indian Secretary for External Affairs Kanwal Sibal will arrive here on Monday for a two-day visit. Talks between the two neighbours is scheduled for April 29. This is the first meeting of the two principal functionaries on foreign relations since a new Government was installed here 19 months months ago. The coming meeting is taking place at the directives of the two Foreign Ministers who held a meeting in February. During the Awami League Government, it was decided that the two countries will have annual consultations of Foreign Secretaries alternatively at each other’s capital. However, the two Foreign Secretaries of the two countries met in December, 2000 in Delhi. To a question, Chowdhury said the Dhaka-Agartala bus service could not be initiated due to infrastructure problems but the project has not beeb abandoned. Meanwhile, Director General of Border Security Force Ajay Raj Sharma is scheduled to arrive here on Sunday for a week-long visit. Sharma will have formal talks with his counterpart Director General of Bangladesh Rifles Major General Jahangir Hossain on April 28, sources said. (PTI) Annan urges US-led forces to
assume GENEVA, Apr 24: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan today urged US-led forces in Iraq to assume their responsibility as the occupying power for ensuring public order and safety. Annan also called on the coalition to "set an example" by making it clear they would adhere fully to international law over the treatment of prisoners-of-war. Addressing the UN Human Rights Commission, Annan said: "What we must all hope is that a new era of human rights in Iraq will now begin." "I hope the coalition will set an example by making clear that they intend to act strictly within the rules set down by the Geneva conventions and the hague regulations regarding the treatment of prisoners-of-war," he said. And he said he hoped they would demonstrate "through their actions that they accept the responsibilities of the occupying power for public order and safety and the well-being of the civilian population". He also commented that the decision to go to war in Iraq without specific authorisation of the UN Security Council had created "deep divisions" that needed to be bridged. The 53-member UN body is due to wrap up its six-week annual session here tomorrow. (AFP) Pak court indicts 5 men for attempting to kill Musharraf KARACHI, Apr 24: An anti-terrorism court today indicted four Islamic militants and a former paramilitary ranger in connection with last year’s attempted assassination of President Pervez Musharraf in Southern Pakistan, prosecutors said. The indictment handed down by Judge Maqbool Rizvi charged the men with attempting to kill Musharraf by detonating an explosive-laden vehicle during his visit to Karachi last April, prosecution lawyer Abdul Waheed Khan told reporters. Rizvi read out the indictment in a fortified courtroom inside a prison. The defendants pleaded not guilty. The maximum penalty for attempted murder is life in prison. Named in the indictment are Mohammed Imran, Mohammed Hanif, Mohammed Sharib, Mufti Zubair who allegedly belong to Harkat-ul-Mujahedeen Al-Almi, an outlawed militant group that Pakistan authorities believe is linked to the Al-Qaeda. All four defendants were convicted earlier this week for their role in last year’s suicide car bombing outside the us consulate in Karachi that killed 12 Pakistanis. Imran and Hanif were sentenced to death by hanging, while Sharib and Zubair were sentenced to life in prison. The fifth suspect in the attempted assassination of Musharraf, Mohammed Wasim, is a former paramilitary ranger who is suspected of giving the other four information about Musharraf’s movements. Khan said he would produce nine witnesses. Defence lawyer Maqbool-ur-Rehman said "the prosecution has no case." "I am fully confidant that all the defendants will be acquitted," he said. (AP) Pak proposes unrestricted corridor to Gurdwara Kartarpur LAHORE, Apr 24: Pakistan Government is ready to provide unrestricted passage to Indian Sikh devotees who want to visit Gurdwara Kartarpur in that country without a passport or visa. President Pervez Musharraf has offered to provide Indian Sikhs with a corridor which would be fenced on both sides. No passport or visa would be required, but pilgrims would have to return within a few hours the same day, Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Co-Chairman Sham Singh and senior officials of the Pakistan Evacuate Trust said. Gurdwara Kartarpur in Pakistan is at a distance of three kilometres from Gurdwara Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur, with River Ravi separating them. A bridge which joined the two Gurdwaras was bombarded during the 1965 Indo-Pak war. Till 1960 there was unrestricted passage to Indian Sikh devotees to visit Gurdwara Kartarpur, crossing the bridge. With the opening of free corridor, Indian pilgrims would be able visit Gurdwara Kartarpur throughout the year. Hundreds of Sikh devotees from across the world had congregated at Gurdwara Hanslabad in Lahore recently, where a temple marks the birth place of Guru Nanak and at a temple in Nankana Sahib near Lahore to celebrate Baisakhi. Nearly 100 Indian Sikhs had been given special permission to cross into Pakistan through the wagah border for the occasion. (PTI) France must realise consequences
of its LONDON, Apr 24: British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said today that France must understand the consequences of its actions at the United Nations before the United States and Britain invaded Iraq. "Decisions have consequences and some of the approaches which were taken by some of our continental colleagues were simply inexplicable to most people in the us," Straw told the BBC. Britain and France have been seriously at odds over Iraq, with France, Germany and Russia bitterly opposed to the US-led invasion in which British forces played a major role. "I haven’t blamed france for military action," the Foreign Secretary said. "I did however critcise France for what I thought was a lack of constructive approach to the implementation of the Resolution 1441," he said. Straw said if France and Russia had joined in discussions at the United Nations Security Council for a "really tough ultimatum" to Saddam Hussein "then I think the war may have been avoided." "My criticism of my colleagues in France and elsewhere in Europe ... Is that they all willed the end, which was the disarmament of Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction and his compliance with the UN, but they failed to will the means," he said. Straw said there was a difference between current US relations with France and US relations with Germany. (AFP) |
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