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| Air India trial witness fears for her life VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Nov 6: The star prosecution witness against the Air India bomb suspects said....more Iraq made
last ditch NEW YORK, Nov 6: An influential adviser to the Pentagon received a secret message from a Lebanese-American....more Japan’s
risk-shy TOKYO, Nov 6: Japanese voters have a tough decision to make on Sunday: Stick with a long-ruling party and its fractious....more Government
fights to regain COLOMBO, Nov 6: Sri Lank’s beleaguered Government today fought to regain ground even as Prime Minister Ranil.......more |
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Indian consulate building in Karachi owned by India: Court ISLAMABAD, Nov 6: Pakistan’s provincial Sindh Government has admitted that the Indian consulate building in Karachi.....more Saudi
Police kill militant RIYADH, Nov 6: Saudi Police shot dead a Muslim militant during a dawn raid on a Riyadh neighbourhood today, the....more India for
flow of nuke UNITED NATION, Nov 6: India has asked industrialised nations to "shed the baggage inherited" from the past and allow.......more Indian
company loses SINGAPORE, Nov 6: An Indian company lost a business deal with a firm in Singapore because its 17-year-old chief......more |
Air India trial witness fears for her life VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Nov 6: The star prosecution witness against the Air India bomb suspects said she has lost everything because of what she knows, and fears she will eventually be killed by their supporters. The woman, who has testified that one of the accused told her details of the 1985 plot that killed 331 people, wept as she told the Court in Vancouver about her five years living in a witness protection programme. "I have lost everything ... You lose touch with your friends. You lose touch with your family," the woman told the hushed courtroom yesterday where relatives of both the victims and the accused are in the audience. "You have no history," she said. A Court order prohibits the media from publishing the woman’s name or any information that could identify her or where she lives. The woman is testifying at the trial of Ripudaman Singh Malik and Ajaib Singh Bagri, Sikh separatists charged with the June 1985 bombing of Air India flight 182 that killed 329 and another explosion that killed two Tokyo airport workers. Malik and Bagri have denied involvement. The woman, a one-time confidant and employee of Malik, told the Court yesterday that she was threatened repeatedly in late 1997 and early 1998 after he accused her of being a police spy. The woman denied she was working with the police at the time, but said she contacted the Canadian security intelligence service, the national spy agency, in November 1997 because of the rumors about her in the Vancouver Sikh Community. The woman said she did not tell the police about Malik’s alleged confessions to her until April 1998, in part because she did not think it was important and did not want to be involved in the case. "I could not understand why they were all jumping up and down," she said. The woman said she still fears she and her children will be killed despite living under special protection from the royal Canadian mounted police. "I don’t want to end up like Tara Singh Hayer," she said, referring to the publisher of the Indo Canadian Times newspaper who was assassinated at his home near Vancouver in 1998, and whose killers have never been caught. Hayer was also believed to know details of the bombings and was expected to be a prosecution witness. Prosecutors were scheduled to wrap up their questioning of the woman by today morning. Defence attorneys are expected to begin their cross-examination next week. (AGENCIES) |
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Iraq made last ditch effort to avert US-led war in Baghdad NEW YORK, Nov 6: An influential adviser to the Pentagon received a secret message from a Lebanese-American businessman days before the US forces strike in Iraq that Saddam Hussein wanted to make a deal to avert the war. The businessman’s efforts were, however, of no avail and the US went ahead with the military action. The revelation comes at a time when questions are being raised in Washington whether the Bush administration did enough to avoid war. Iraqi officials, including the Chief of the Iraqi Intelligence Service, had told the businessman that they wanted Washington to know that Iraq no longer possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, and they offered to allow American troops and experts to conduct a search, the businessman said in an interview with the media. He said the Iraqis also offered to hand over a man accused of being involved in the world trade center bombing in 1993 who was being held in Baghdad. At one point, he told the New York Times, the Iraqis pledged to hold elections. The messages from Baghdad, first relayed in February to an analyst in the office of Douglas J Feith, the Under Secretary of Defence for Policy and Planning, were part of an attempt by Iraqi intelligence officers to open last-Ditch negotiations with the Bush administration through a clandestine communications channel, ‘Times’ reported quoting people involved. The efforts were portrayed by Iraqi officials as having the approval of President Saddam Hussein, according to interviews and documents. The overtures, after a decade of evasions and deceptions by Iraq, were ultimately rebuffed. But the ‘Times’ said the messages raised enough interest that in early march, Richard N Perle, an influential adviser to top Pentagon officials, met in London with the Lebanese-American businessman, Imad Hage. According to both men, hage laid out the Iraqis’ position to Perle, and he pressed the Iraqi request for a direct meeting with Perle or another representative of the United States. "I was dubious that this would work," said Perle, widely recognized as an intellectual architect of the Bush administration’s Hawkish policy toward Iraq, "but I agreed to talk to people in Washington." (PTI) |
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Japan’s risk-shy voters seen sticking with Koizumi TOKYO, Nov 6: Japanese voters have a tough decision to make on Sunday: Stick with a long-ruling party and its fractious mix of reformists and foot-draggers, or opt for an untested opposition promising to become an agent of real change. Polls suggest most will take the low risk option, handing popular Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi’s camp a comfortable win in the first general election since he took office in 2001. They may also let his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), now governing in a coalition, keep its simple majority. If so, Koizumi will be able to claim a fresh mandate for his reform agenda, helping him to press ahead with more cuts in public spending, privatisation of money-guzzling Government corporations, and cures for the nation’s sickly banks. "If the results are as expected, there will be a bit better progress on reform, but no ‘great leap forward’," said Yasunori Sone, a Political Science Professor at Keio university in Tokyo. Analysts caution, however, that an LDP majority is not a done deal. "The LDP performance may be somewhat worse than the surveys suggest," said Jun Iio, a Professor of Government at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies. "The next three days are the crucial battle." The lower house election pits the wavy-haired, telegenic Koizumi’s LDP and its two partners mainly against the democratic party, led by Naoto Kan, a former grass-roots activist. The LDP has ruled for most of the past half century by catering to core supporters such as farmers, small businesses and construction firms, and many of its candidates oppose reform. Now, with its traditional support base eroding and the number of unaffiliated "floating voters" growing, the LDP is counting on Koizumi’s popularity to translate into a decisive win. Founded in 1996 and led by the less Charismatic Kan, thedemocrats hope their policy manifesto — including pledges to loosen bureaucrats’ grip on policy and give local Governments more say — will persuade voters they can achieve real change. Newly merged with a smaller pro-reform group, the democrats look set to boost their presence in the 480-member chamber from 137 seats, moving Japan closer to a true two-party system. Analysts say the chances of the democrats hitting their target of 200 and toppling the LDP are nearly non-existent since voters would be reluctant to hand power to a Novice party. "No one wants a shock treatment and no one is offering it. So you go with the trusted hand," said Jesper Koll, Chief Economist at Merrill Lynch in Tokyo. Koizumi has a mixed record on reform, with some criticising him for going too fast and others saying he’s been too timid. Attention is also on whether the LDP wins a majority on its own, and by what margin it succeeds or fails. The ruling coalition previously had 287 seats, of which 247 were ldp. Because the LDP lacks a majority in the upper house, Koizumi has said he plans to keep his alliance with the Buddhist-backed new Komeito party — whose support for LDP candidates is critical in the poll — and the tiny new conservatives. Winning a simple majority for the LDP, however, would strengthen Koizumi’s hand against anti-reformers in his party. "The only risk is if he comes in below the majority the LDP had before the election," Koll said. "That’s the real issue." Some expect Koizumi’s charm, combined with recent signs of recovery in Japan’s long-stagnant economy, to help the LDP win big, reversing a slide that led to its capturing only 233 seats in the 2000 election under the unpopular Yoshiro Mori. "I think Koizumi will slam dunk it," said Darrel Whitten, editor of Asia business watch newsletter. "It’s the economy, stupid. This was really a big tail-wind for the Koizumi camp." Others are not so sure, given that as many as 40 percent of voters were undecided when surveys were carried out last weekend. Whether voter turnout rises much above the 62 percent seen in 2000, the second lowest on record, will be a key factor. A higher turnout means more of the "floating voters" who Shun party ties and tend to favour the opposition will be casting ballots. Even the weather could influence the outcome. Sunny weather is said to dampen turnout because people choose to go out and play rather than vote. But too much of the rain that is forecast for most of Japan on Ssunday could also keep them inside. Either way, the campaign seems to have failed to capture voters’ imaginations, despite debate of a plethora of issues from pensions and privatisation to a planned troop dispatch to Iraq. Even a robust LDP performance should not be read as a resounding mandate for reform, since many candidates still woo special interest groups with old-fashioned promises of public projects and protectionism. "The LDP will still have two faces — that of the pro-reform Koizumi and that of the old guard...It’s not that easy to turn the party into a ‘new LDP’," Keio University’s Sone said. (AGENCIES) |
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Government fights to regain defence, security portfolios COLOMBO, Nov 6: Sri Lank’s beleaguered Government today fought to regain ground even as Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe rushed back from the US to grapple with his political foe President Chandrika Kumaratunga, after securing Washington’s support to the peace process with Tamil Tigers. Government spokesman G L Peiris said the cabinet wanted Kumaratunga to reinstate the Ministers of Defence, Internal Security and Information after her shock dismissal Tuesday plunged the country into political uncertainty. He said they also demanded the reconvening of Parliament which Kumaratunga ordered suspended till November 19, effectively prohibiting the Government from presenting the annual budget on Nov 12. "The cabinet expressed its firm opinion that any change of portfolios and subjects should not be made by the President without prior consultation with the Prime Minister according to the written instructions of the Attorney General," he said. US President George W Bush during a meeting with Wickremesinghe at the White House yesterday expressed strong support for the PM’s leadeship and his commitment to peace. "The President made it very clear that the US supports the Prime Minister’s efforts and reaffirmed our strong support for the peace process and the democratic institutions there," White House Press Secretary Scott Mcclellan said. "We discussed the peace process in Sri Lanka and I told the President (Bush) that I have the majority in Parliament," Wickremesinghe told reporters after the meeting. President Kumaratunga, who has been critical of Wickremesinghe’s handling of peace negotiations with the Tamil Tiger rebels, said she had to sack the three ministers because they had compromised national security. The move brought to a head the rocky relationship that Kumaratunga and Wickremesinghe have had in two years of being in a cohabitation administration. Both head rival political parties and while Kumaratunga holds the executive Presidency, her people’s alliance is in the opposition in a legislature headed by Wickremesinghe. Under new emergency measures declared by Kumaratunga yesterday, troops increased their presence in the capital and began setting up check-points all over the capital, officials said. "Deployment of armed forces and police must work together with understanding and no misuse of authority when duties are conducted," acting Police Chief Indra De Silva said. State buildings were put under armed guard and the police too stepped up mobile patrols as the nation tried to come to terms with the Government’s worst political crisis that took most people unawares. Already the fallout is beginning to be felt with the us postponing the finalising of a bilateral free trade pact that was to have been concluded during the Prime Minister’s meetings this week. G L Peiris also said the tourism industry has taken a body blow with some 2,000 cancellations virtually overnight ahead of what was to be a bumper winter season for the industry. "The US was ready to finalise the agreement during the Prime Minister’s visit and make an announcement when the Prime Minister was in Washington," he said. "The US has now decided it wouldn’t be able to take the final steps until (the Sri Lankan) Parliament re-asserts its authority." Accusing the President of acting in the "pursuit of power," Peiris said there was no need for the emergency to have been imposed. The regulations give wide powers to security forces to arrest and detain suspects for long periods of time and prevent public gatherings. "There is no vestige of justification to declare a state of emergency. This is action taken by the President purely in the pursuit of power. This is gross abuse of power, absolutely mindless of the consequences and a reckless act," he added. (PTI) |
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Indian consulate building in
Karachi ISLAMABAD, Nov 6: Pakistan’s provincial Sindh Government has admitted that the Indian consulate building in Karachi was owned by India and that all documents presented in Court relating to its sale were fake. Informing the local High Court on the matter, the Sindh Government noted that the property was still in the name of the Indian Government and all the documents presented in the Court relating to its sale were fabricated, media reports said. The Home Secretary of the Sindh Government S Anwar Haider in his counter-affidavit filed in the Sindh High Court yesterday rebutted the averments made by a local Pakistani Karim H Jiva that he was the rightful owner of the building and sold it to another Pakistani. The property belonged to the Indian Government and the documents submitted by the plaintiff and the builder were fabricated, Haider said in his affidavit, Pakistan daily ‘Dawn’ reported from Karachi. Categorically denying that claims made by Jiva, Haider said Jiva was in collusion with Syed Ali Baqar Naqvi, who claims to be the current owner of the property after purchasing it from Jiva for Rs 40 million. Though the case was believed to have closed, Naqvi filed a petition in the Sindh High Court to claim its custody. Contesting his stand, the Sindh Government has said that the title deeds of Jiva were fabricated. The Court adjourned the case to November 7 after directing that Jiva and Naqvi produce their original title deeds. Jiva and Naqvi went to the Court despite assurances provided by the Pakistan foreign office to India last month stating that the encroachment of the Indian consulate building in Karachi have been cleared. The encroachment was noticed by an Indian Airlines official in Karachi Rama Krishna and the Indian High Commission subsequently complained to the Pakistan foreign office asking the Government to clear the illegal encourachments from its consulate in upscale clifton neighbourhood. Subsequently, the foreign office notified that the encroachments have been removed and guards have been posted to protect all the five properties owned by India. Consulate was kept under lock and key ever since it was closed in 1994. (PTI) |
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Saudi Police kill militant in Riyadh raid RIYADH, Nov 6: Saudi Police shot dead a Muslim militant during a dawn raid on a Riyadh neighbourhood today, the second such strike on militant hideouts this week, the official Saudi press agency reported. The SPA quoted an interior ministry official as saying that eight policemen were also slightly wounded in the clash, which occurred in the capital’s southern Suweidi area. The official said that an unspecified number of militants had also escaped. He gave no further details. Suweidi appeared calm by mid-morning, with no visible security presence and the streets were mostly empty on the first day of the Saudi weekend. Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam and Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has launched in intensive crackdown on Muslim militants after a spate of terror attacks which killed dozens of Saudis and foreign residents. Diplomats said this week’s raids were proof of Saudi Arabia’s seriousness in battling militancy. Today’s the interior ministry said police had foiled a plot to target Muslim pilgrims in the holy city of Mecca and killed two militants believed to be linked to Al-Qaeda during a raid on their hideout. One policeman was also wounded in the clash, which came just over a week after the United States and Britain warned of a threat of attacks on western targets in the kingdom during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began in late October. Five militants — four Saudis and a Nigerian — linked to the plot were also arrested. On Thursday, an interior ministry statement said the Mecca militants had intended to use a huge amount of explosives and rocket-propelled grenades to cause maximum damage. The statement also said that while searching the militants’ hideout, police had also found large stockpiles of machineguns, hand grenades, ammunition and all sorts of explosives. "This just goes to show the extensive damage that would have happened to our country if these terrorists were allowed to go ahead with their crime," the statement said. Since a triple suicide bombing on May 12 which killed 35 people, the kingdom has arrested hundreds of suspected militants and banned dozens of mosque preachers for fuelling extremism. (AGENCIES) |
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India for flow of nuke technology for peaceful purposes UNITED NATION, Nov 6: India has asked industrialised nations to "shed the baggage inherited" from the past and allow flow of equipment and technology related to peaceful uses of nuclear energy in the interest of people of developing countries. Whenever there are no genuine concerns, barriers to deployment of nuclear technologies need to be examined and brought down through pragmatic approach, its representative B. Mahtab, MP, told the general assembly. Participating in the debate on the report of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he said growth of nuclear energy in the developing countries, particularly in fast growing economies with large populations, should be a matter of global interest in view of its potential to protect the earth from irreversible climate changes. "We must move towards a more peaceful and prosperous world on the basis of plenty of energy available within the reach of all. Mindless controls without addressing the core issue of meeting development aspiration of the needy do not help the situation: Rather it makes matters worse," he told the 191-member assembly. Emphasizing India’s commitment to work against proliferation of nuclear weapons, Mahtab said looking from the perspective of a large and growing economy like India, with its small hydrocarbon and depleting coals reserves, the development of nuclear energy based on closed cycle approach enabling fuller use of uranium and thorium is the only way to meet the development aspiration of more than a billion people. India, therefore, is pursuing a comprehensive R and D programme to explore newer technologies to widen the scope of nuclear energy use, he added. "Today, we are on a fast-track growth, backed by strong research and development programme, industrial and safety infrastructure," he said. Detailing India’s plan to increase production of nuclear power, Mehtab said two billion people are projected to be added in next 30 years to six billion already inhabiting the earth and another one billion in subsequent 20 years. Virtually all increase would be in the developing countries with bulk in urban areas. "The core challenge for development would thus be to ensure availability of productive work opportunities and access to basic services," he stressed. Referring to steep disparity of incomes between rich and the poor nations, he said availability of energy within the reach of everyone could significantly correct the situation. Stating that energy is the "engine for empowerment," Mahtab said, "only the power of atom can make it happen." (PTI) |
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Indian company loses deal
because SINGAPORE, Nov 6: An Indian company lost a business deal with a firm in Singapore because its 17-year-old chief executive was too young to sign a Memorandum of Understanding under his homeland’s law, it was reported today. Suhas Gopinath, chief executive of Bangalore-based online solutions provider Globals INC, was seeking a contract with singt INC, a business process outsourcing company, according to the daily newspaper streats. With 120 customers from countries including Germany, the UK and India, the deal for six contracts to set up websites with E-library capabilities would have been worth 38,269 Singapore dollars (22,000 dollars). Suhas told streats from Bangalore he was very disappointed the deal could not go through because Indian law requires the signatory to be at least 18. Negotiations started after his father introduced him to a company which does marketing for Singt INC., he said. "I do feel upset, and I feel that the minimum age should be 16," he was quoted as saying. Suhas was 14 when he developed his owned website called cool Hindustan.Com, a portal for Indians living abroad. (DPA) Iran hands over key drawings to UN nuclear agency VIENNA, Nov 6: Iran has said it had handed over to the UN nuclear watchdog crucial drawings of equipment used in its uranium enrichment programme to help prove it was not seeking to make an atomic bomb. "We revealed all components to the agency, including (original) drawings...So there is nothing which the agency has no information on," Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran’s Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told yesterday. Salehi said Tehran would deliver a letter accepting tougher short-notice nuclear inspections by the IAEA within a matter of days. The United States accuses Iran of secretly working on an atomic bomb. Tehran rejects the charge and says its programme is solely for peaceful generation of electricity. Earlier this year, the IAEA found traces of weapons-grade highly enriched uranium on components of Uranium-enrichment centrifuges. Iran says the traces were from contaminated parts purchased abroad, an explanation that met with scepticism in Washington and other capitals that suspect Tehran either bought or enriched the uranium itself for use in an atomic bomb. A diplomat familiar with the IAEA told delivery of the drawings was significant because they represented the "building blocks of Iran’s centrifuge programme" and could help the agency’s investigation into the origin of the uranium. Iran has said it was unable to provide the IAEA with names of the countries of origin of the centrifuge components because it bought them on the black market in the 1980s. Tehran has repeatedly said it was about to hand over a letter of intent to sign a protocol accepting short-notice Inspections, but has yet to do so. (AGENCIES) Code proposed to bolster security guards image SINGAPORE, Nov 6: Security guards in Singapore will not be allowed to smoke, drink alcohol or sleep on duty, under a proposed code of conduct to improve the industry’s image, agencies said today. Courtesy is also included in the code, drafted by a committee of representatives from two security associations. Agencies noted that the code could not improve the industry’s image unless adopted by all 300 security firms in the city-state. James Aruldoss, a committee member, said that some guards do not get proper lunch breaks or are expected to perform work beyond security tasks. In some cases, clients are late with payments. Some security firms promise more services than they can deliver, leaving clients with a bad impression, he added. (DPA) US hopes to cut forces in Iraq by 30,000 WASHINGTON, Nov 6: The US military hopes to reduce its presence in Iraq by 30,000 troops by May, a top Pentagon general has said. General Peter Pace, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the house armed services committee yesterday that the growing number of Iraqi forces coupled with troops from other countries could help reduce the US deployment to just more than 100,000. There are about 131,000 American soldiers currently in Iraq, plus another 25,000 from other countries working in divisions led by Poland and Britain. Pace said the military in the next two days would begin calling up more soldiers and reservists to begin serving in Iraq early next year as part of the rotation plans. (DPA) Prosecution offers no motive for
murder LONDON, Nov 6: The prosecution in the trial of a school caretaker charged with the murder of two 10-year-old English girls offered no motive for the killings at the start of the trial in London’s old Bailey. "For some reason known only to him he chose to murder them both," prosecuting counsel Richard Lathan told the Jury of seven women and five men yesterday, as he detailed the case against Ian Huntley, 29, who worked at the girls’ school. The prosecution alleges that Huntley murdered Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells after they disappeared in their home town of Soham on August 4 last year. Their bodies were found in the neighbouring county of Suffolk almost two weeks later, and the prosecution alleges Huntley’s intention was that they should never be found. Huntley’s former girlfriend Maxine Carr, 26, a former classroom Assistant at the same school, is charged with attempting to pervert the course of Justice and with two charges of assisting an offender. Huntley denies two counts of murder but has admitted a single charge of conspiring to pervert the course of justice. He and carr have been in custody since their arrests on August 17 last year. (DPA) |
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