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| Afghan sentenced to death for journalist killings KABUL, Nov 20: An Afghan man accused of killing four journalists in 2001, including two , was found guilty today and.....more US looks
inward as prices LOS ANGELES, Nov 20: US consumers face sharply higher prices on their favorite Italian wines and French cheeses........more UN
Security Council LONDON, Nov 20: French President Jacques Chirac, has urged reform of the UN Security Council to become more.......more Myanmar
frees number two YANGON, Nov 20: Myanmar’s ruling Generals have freed their second most prominent political prisoner, Min Ko Naing.......more |
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Afghan sentenced to death for journalist killings KABUL, Nov 20: An Afghan man accused of killing four journalists, including two , three years ago was found guilty.....more US stands
by Powell WASHINGTON, Nov 20: The United States defended its charges that Iran was working to fit a missile with a nuclear......more India, Pak
should resile LAHORE, Nov 20: Asserting that his country has not not given up its demand for a plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir......more Philippines
drops bombs in MANILA, Nov 20: Air strikes by Philippine security forces that forced hundreds of people to evacuate the southern........more |
Afghan sentenced to death for journalist killings KABUL, Nov 20: An Afghan man accused of killing four journalists in 2001, including two , was found guilty today and sentenced to death after saying his gang was acting on the orders of a senior Taliban commander. Reza Khan, 29, was also found guilty of raping an Italian woman among the four journalists, and sentenced to 15 years in prison on that charge, said National Security Court Judge Abdul Baset Bakhtari. In the same court hearing, Khan was convicted on separate charges of killing his wife and of holding up a bus and cutting off the ears and noses of four male passengers. "The crimes are proven and there is no doubt about it," Bakhtari told the court in reading the sentences. Khan stood impassively as the verdict was read. The four journalists, including Australian television cameraman Harry Burton and Afghan photographer Azizullah Haidari , were killed on November 19, 2001, at Tangi Abrishum, about 90 km east of Kabul. They were both 33. Spanish journalist Julio Fuentes of El Mundo and Italian journalist Maria Grazia Il Cutuli of Corriere Della Sera were the other two victims. The journalists were stopped on the road from Pakistan by a gang of about 12 gunmen while trying to reach Kabul days after the defeated Taliban had withdrawn from the city. Speaking in the judges’ chambers before the hearing, Khan said he had shot "the Afghan" among the journalists but insisted he had been ordered to and would have been killed if he had disobeyed. "I fired two bullets from my gun and I killed the Afghan," he said. In court before sentencing, he admitted killing his wife and attacking the bus passengers, but denied shooting any of the journalists and the charge of rape, however. "I was forced to go there and I am really sorry for this action against the foreigners and locals," he told the court. "I am seeking mercy because I was forced to go there by Mohammad Agha," he said, referring to a local Taliban commander. Khan told the court that after the journalists were stopped and captured, Mohammad Agha had spoken by satellite telephone to a senior Taliban commander known as Mullah brother who had given the order to kill them. He said they were made to stand in line with their hands tied and Mohammad Agha shot the woman first, about an hour or 90 minutes after they were first stopped, and then the others. "He (Agha) said: ‘We are going to do a Jihad’ and opened fire," Khan said. Khan said Haidari had appealed to Agha not to shoot as he was just a journalist, and also an Afghan. He said one of the gang, named Rohullah, who had carried out the shooting, was also in custody. Court officials confirmed that but said there was no evidence against him. Explaining the separate mutilation of the bus passengers, Khan said Agha had ordered this treatment of men found without beards, to show "there are still Taliban around". While in power, the Taliban ordered all men to grow beards, in line with their interpretation of Islamic practice. Capital punishment in Afghanistan is carried out by hanging, but the Judge said Khan would be allowed to appeal. A court official said that in a previous confession, Khan had admitted to killing three of the journalists, but not the woman, and had retracted a confession to the rape. In a confession broadcast on television in August, Khan admitted killing one journalist and identified the leader of his gang as Mahmood Zar Jan. Court officials said that last year, a man named Mamoor was sentenced to 16 years in jail for being part of the gang, but he was not among the killers. Mahmood Zar Jan, Mohammad Agha and other gang members remain at large. (AGENCIES) |
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US looks inward as prices on imported foods rise LOS ANGELES, Nov 20: US consumers face sharply higher prices on their favorite Italian wines and French cheeses this holiday season, as the US dollar’s steep drop against the euro has sent the cost of imported goods soaring. In light of such sticker shock, consumers are increasingly seeking out US-made alternatives to gourmet food and wine from euro-zone countries, and importers of such goods face a tough holiday season, experts said. As the euro’s value rises, the dollar’s purchasing power is reduced. Unless producers or importers of European goods make up some of the difference, US consumers end up picking up the tab. One New York-based importer of French wines said his costs have risen 50 per cent since the dollar began its decline against the euro two-and-a-half years ago. As a result, bottles of Macon village wines from France’s Maconnais region, which cost about 12.99 three years ago, now sell for around 16.99, a rise of roughly 35 percent. "This is going to impact sales tremendously," said Joe Dressner, co-owner of Louis/Dressner selections. "I am making less money than I used to." To help preserve profit margins, Dressner has asked some suppliers to lower prices on their wines, though those efforts have not always been successful. Another wine importer, Larry Challacombe of Berkeley, California-based global Vineyard importers, said higher prices on French wines are helping sales of wine from regions like California and south America. "A lot of people will look at the wine from somewhere else, like the wine from California or Chile or Argentina," Challacombe said. The euro this week soared to an all-time high against the dollar of 1.3047 on concerns about the wide US current account deficit and global foreign exchange policy. That represents a nearly 20 per cent rise from a year ago, when importers were already feeling the brunt of a run-up in the single currency’s value against the greenback. Since the start of 2002, when the euro was trading around 0.8750, the euro has appreciated by around 50 percent against the dollar. According to market research publisher packaged facts, the rise in prices on imported goods helps support a growing trend toward consumption of US-made fine foods, its editor, Don Montuori, said in an interview. Sales of Gourmet foods are expected to rise 23 per cent by 2007 to 43.4 billion, montuori said, and he expects much of that increase to come from goods produced domestically. "The price pressures on imported goods will have people looking domestically," Montuori said. "There are more options now from the domestic side." Marky’s Caviar, a miami-based importer of Gourmet foods like French cheeses and Russian caviar, has increased the number of US-made products he sells so he can provide cheaper alternatives for customers. The company has also started farming its own Russian sturgeon for Beluga and Sevruga Caviar at a farm in Florida. "We are looking for different sources and we buy some domestic cheeses. In general we buy more domestic products now," said Mark Zaslavsky, president of Marky’s Caviar. Zaslavsky added that he had doubts about whether his business, which relies on French goods for over 30 per cent of its sales, would be profitable this holiday season. (AGENCIES) |
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UN Security Council has to
become more LONDON, Nov 20: French President Jacques Chirac, has urged reform of the UN Security Council to become more representative of ‘today’s world,’backing a permanent place for India, Germany, Japan, Brazil and a large African country like South Africa or Nigeria. Chirac said he supported a council of 20 to 25 members and was in favour of more non-permanent members. Chirac, who was on a two-day visit to the UK, says his country’s relations with London are as important as its ties with Germany. He said "our relationship with great Britain is as important as our relationship with Germany. Friendship is always progress. It’s not a substitute, it’s an addition."He spoke of the ‘true friendship’ between his country and Britain but stressed there were ‘differences’ over Iraq. Mr Chirac admitted the two nations took different views on military action in Iraq but added that they had "never worked in closer co-operation" than in the current fight against terrorism. He also spoke of history and values shared by Europe and America which had forged a link so strong that it ‘cannot be challenged by anybody.’ Mr Chirac, who was speaking to an invited audience of 200 students and academics at Rhodes house at the university of Oxford, also defended the right to intervene in states for security or humanitarian reasons, but only with the United Nations’ backing. (UNI) |
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Myanmar frees number two political prisoner: Source YANGON, Nov 20: Myanmar’s ruling Generals have freed their second most prominent political prisoner, Min Ko Naing, leader of student democracy protests in 1988, a source close to his family said today. The release of Min Ko Naing, who had been in jail since March 1989, was a move Myanmar experts had been looking for as they sought to measure the significance of a purge of Prime Minister Khin Nyunt and his intelligence apparatus last month. The release could be a signal that the Generals may be willing to move seriously on political reform, they said. But the former Burma’s most prominent political prisoner, democracy icon and Nobel peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, remains under house arrest at her lakeside villa in Yangon despite calls from around the world for her freedom. And hopes of progress on reform have been dashed before. The source said Min Ko Naing — a pseudonym taken by Ko Paw Oo Tun during 1988 protests which the military ended bloodily with hundreds, possibly thousands, of deaths — was freed from a jail in Sittwe, 560 km west of Yangon yesterday. He was flown to the capital last evening and appeared to be in good health, but the family planned to arrange a thorough medical check-up, said the source. The former student leader, now 42, was released just hours after state media announced nearly 4,000 people would be released from jails where they had been held "inappropriately" by Khin Nyunt’s powerful intelligence machine, now dismantled. Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the United Nations human rights expert on Myanmar, welcomed the mass release and said he hoped it included all political prisoners detained for trying to exercise their basic rights to freedom of opinion, religion and assembly. This would help create an "enabling environment", which would be "essential for the success of any political transitional process" towards democracy, he said in a statement issued in Geneva. Senior members of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), were among those released yesterday, but there was no official word on who had been freed. NLD officials were reluctant to confirm the names of colleagues returning home, possibly because they did not want to trigger celebrations that could provoke the military which has ruled the former Burma in one form or another since 1962. But NLD officials did say that among those freed was Win Tin, a high-profile aide to Suu Kyi who was jailed in 1989, the year the NLD won a landslide election victory only to be denied power by the ruling Generals. Sudden freedom came as a shock to some of those released. "It was a pleasant surprise for all of us," said Ohn Maung, 77, an nld official who was among the first to arrive home after an abrupt end to more than six years of incarceration. "I went to prison on February 26, 1998 and got back home about 10 minutes ago," he told . "I did not have to sign any undertaking and I expect most of the NLD members will also be released like me." He said three other NLD members had been on a prison department bus which left his detention Centre. The Generals, who have rarely heeded foreign pressure, ordered the mass release less than two weeks before a summit of the association of south east Asian nations, one of the few international groupings willing to have Myanmar as a member. ASEAN secretary general Ong Keng said on Thursday — before news of the prisoner release — that the 10-member group would have tough questions about the fate of the "road map to democracy" Khin Nyunt announced days after taking office in August last year. (AGENCIES) |
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Afghan sentenced to death for journalist killings KABUL, Nov 20: An Afghan man accused of killing four journalists, including two , three years ago was found guilty today and sentenced to death. Reza Khan, 29, was also guilty of raping an Italian woman among the four journalists, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison on that charge, said national security court Judge Abdul Baset Bakhtari. Khan was also convicted on a separate charge of killing his wife. "The crimes are proven and there is no doubt about it," Bakhtari told the court. The four journalists, including Australian television cameraman Harry Burton and Afghan photographer Azizullah Haidari , were killed on November 19, 2001, by gunmen at Tangi Abrishum, about 90 km (55 miles) east of Kabul. They were both 33. Spanish journalist Julio Fuentes of El Mundo and Italian journalist Maria Grazia Il Cutuli of Corriere Della Sera were the other two victims. The journalists were stopped on the road from Pakistan while trying to reach Kabul just days after the defeated Taliban had withdrawn from the city. Speaking to journalists and observers in the Judges’ chambers before the court hearing, Khan said he had shot "the Afghan" among the journalists but said he had been ordered to and would have been killed if he had disobeyed. In court before sentencing, he admitted killing his wife, but denied shooting any of the journalists and the charge of rape. "I was forced to go there and I am really sorry for this action against the foreigners and locals," he told the court. "I am seeking mercy because I was forced to go there by Mohammad Agha," he said, referring to a man he had identified as a local commander. Capital punishment in Afghanistan is carried out by hanging. The Judge said Khan would be allowed to appeal against his sentence. Khan said that after the journalists were stopped and captured, Mohammad Agha had spoken by satellite telephone to a Taliban commander known as Mullah brother. The journalists were made to stand in a line with their hands tied and Mohammad Agha shot the woman first, about an hour or 90 minutes after they were first stopped, and then the others were shot. A court official said that in a previous confession, Khan had admitted to killing three of the journalists, but not the woman, and had retracted a confession to the rape. In another confession broadcast on Kabul television in August, Khan admitted killing one of the reporters. He had identified the ringleader of his gang, which numbered 10 to 12 people, as Mahmood Zar Jan. In this confession, Khan said he received money for his role in the attack. He said Jan had stolen the reporters’ equipment after the attack. Mahmood Zar Jan, Mohammad Agha and other members of the gang remain at large. (AGENCIES) |
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US stands by Powell comments on Iran nuke threat WASHINGTON, Nov 20: The United States defended its charges that Iran was working to fit a missile with a nuclear warhead and dismissed doubts about the reliability of its intelligence on the Islamic republic. "We believe we are on very, very solid ground in pointing to a clandestine effort by Iran to develop Weapons of Mass Destruction and their delivery systems," Adam Ereli, a state department spokesman, told a news briefing yesterday. The Washington post cited unidentified US officials as saying the information, made public by Secretary of State Colin Powell, was unverified and based on a single "walk-in" source. Ereli said he would not discuss intelligence. Separately, European Union Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana, a former Nato Boss, challenged the US allegations. "At this point, the Iranians do not have any nuclear weapons, so it’s impossible to use the missiles with nuclear weapons," he said during a visit to Austria. Powell earlier this week said the United States had intelligence suggesting Iran was working on the technology to deliver a nuclear warhead on a missile. Powell’s allegations, made without accompanying evidence during a trip to Brazil, prompted comparisons with the Bush administration’s pre-war charges that Iraq had developed illicit weapons that threatened US interests. Those charges formed the core of Washington’s case for war. However, no such weapons were ever discovered, and there is widespread agreement among experts that they never existed in any substantial number. Ereli said Powell’s assertion stood. "The Secretary did not misspeak. The Secretary knows exactly what he was talking about. And there is a firm basis for the Secretary making the remarks that he made," Ereli said. "And there should be, I think, no question in our mind of casting doubt or walking it back." Meanwhile, hundreds of demonstrators marched to the capitol in Washington in a protest organised by Iranian exiles against Tehran’s nuclear weapons program. They waved signs such as "a-bomb for Iran, nightmare for the world" and "speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves." Ereli said US policy on an Iranian nuclear threat remained that a diplomatic not a military solution should be pursued. Western diplomats in Vienna, meanwhile, said Iran was preparing large amounts of uranium for enrichment, a process that can be used to make nuclear weapons. "The Iranians are producing UF6 (uranium hexafluoride) like hell," a non-US diplomat on the governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency said. Ereli said he could not substantiate the reports of UF6 production in Iran. "These allegations only heighten our concerns that Iran continues to pursue nuclear activities and does not honor its commitments," he said. Iran denied the accusation with one official calling it a "sheer lie." (AGENCIES) |
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India, Pak should resile from stated positions: Musharraf LAHORE, Nov 20: Asserting that his country has not not given up its demand for a plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir, President Pervez Musharraf today said Pakistan and India have to step back from their stated positions and show flexibility to resolve the issue. "There is no no change in our position. We have not not given up our stand on implementation of the UN resolutions to resolve Kashmir issue. Both countries have to step back and meet half way," he said while addressing a meeting of South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA) being attended by journalists from SAARC countries. Without naming Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his assertion that J and K was an inalienable part of India and ruling out redrawing of the borders, Musharraf said "the vibes coming from India are not not encouraging". Apparently referring to Singh’s remarks in J and K earlier this week that India would listen to his suggestions if they came through proper channels, the President said "we want to discuss and debate them". Musharraf had given a formulation at an Iftar party last month that seven region on both sides of the Line of Control could be identified, demilitarised and their status changed by placing them under joint control, giving them independent status or putting them under un mandate to resolve the Kashmir issue. Referring to his formulation, Musharraf said "I have been asking people what is the solution that could be amicably acceptable to both India and Pakistan. And I have not got the answer so far." He said "if we have to move forward some options have to be made for discussion. We have to throw them open for public debate." The General said both the countries should move forward together to find a solution to the Kashmir issue. "We would like to move forward, we would like to meet India half way. We will not move all the way. Half way journey from India and we will move half way," he said. "We want to discuss with sincerity to resolve disputes with flexibility and an open mind. We will leave or shift (Pakistan’s position) when India leaves its position. But never unilaterally. "Lastly, we had the courage to go for a solution. Both sides need courage to go for a solution. The courage to fight or confront is easier than to reconcile and accept," Musharraf said. (PTI) |
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Philippines drops bombs in rebel areas, hundreds flee MANILA, Nov 20: Air strikes by Philippine security forces that forced hundreds of people to evacuate the southern island of Mindanao were aimed at kidnap gangs and not at Muslim rebels who have a base there, officials said today. But security forces and rebels both said the incident would not hit talks to end a Muslim rebellion that has killed more than 120,000 people in the southern Philippines since the late 1960s. Major-General Raul Rellano, the army commander in the central region of Mindanao, said Government troops launched offensives in the province of Maguindanao to target the Al-Qaeda-linked militant Abu-Sayyaf group led by Isnilon Hapilon. "The air strikes were not directed against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)," Rellano said in a radio interview. "The attack was a simple police action to neutralise the Abu Sayyaf and kidnap-for-ransom gangs in the area." A spokesman for the largest Muslim separatist rebel group accused the military of using the Abu Sayyaf and kidnap gangs as "convenient excuse" to hit MILF communities, but vowed to carry on the talks. "We will raise this issue in the ceasefire panel meeting next week in Pagadian," Eid Kabalu told by telephone. The army informed the rebels of the attack just as the bomb runs neared their end, he said. "There are existing mechanisms to address this kind of problem," he added. "We will not allow minor incidents to waste the gains we have worked for under the peace process." Kabalu said hundreds of residents of the farming community of datu Saudi Ampatuan fled to avoid the crossfire. One rebel was hurt and several houses destroyed in Friday’s attack. Malaysia has been brokering the peace talks since March 2001. About 50 Malaysian soldiers and 10 from Brunei were deployed last month in five areas in Mindanao to deter both sides from breaking a 16-month-old truce. A team of peace monitors led by a Malaysian General joined the ceasefire panels from Government and MILF investigating the areas hit by the air strikes on Saturday, checking the condition of displaced residents. Formal negotiations are expected to resume within the year in Kuala Lumpur. (AGENCIES) UN staff union slams senior mgt, supports Annan UNITED NATIONS, Nov 20: The UN staff union, representing over 5,000 employees, has strongly criticised senior management of the world body for exonerating top investigator Dileep Nair of Singapore, who is accused of misconduct, and regretted Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s decision to support it. But, the union expressed full confidence in Annan while terming the inquiry into allegations of misconduct against Nair, head of the UN office for oversight services, "insufficient". The council, the executive body of the staff union, adopted a resolution criticising the probe and demanded a copy of the investigation against Nair conducted by under-Secretary-General for Management Catherine Bertini. While regretting Annan’s decision to pardon the top official, president of the staff union Rosemarie waters said "we not only have confidence in him (Annan), we support him fully. He is in a very difficult job under very difficult circumstances, but we continue to hope that he is doing his best." It also called for transparent investigations into reports of wrongdoing by top UN management, saying "we only want his (Annan’s) senior management to exhibit the transparency and accountability that he has proscribed for the organisation." United Nations Chief Spokesman Fred Eckhard said Bertini found that no staff regulations have been violated, not were any rules broken in appointment or promotion in Nair’s office. With regard to other allegations, the investigation found that no credible information was provided as follow up and therefore Bertini recommended that no further action was necessary, he said. The Secretary-General accepted the findings and told nair that he was confident that the good work carried out by office of oversight services would continue under his (Nair’s) leadership, Eckhard said. Though Nair was exonerated, Annan’s Chief of Staff Iqbal Riza in a letter to waters said that Bertini did recommend that Nair be advised to exercise caution when making personnel-related decisions. The staff council was angry that it had not been consulted during the six-month investigation and expressed "great concern" over what it saw as a trend to exonerate officials charged with misconduct. Eckhard said union representatives have been invited to meet with the top officials next week to discuss the matter further but it was not clear whether they would meet Annan. He said the findings have been shared with the staff council but agreed that it was not happy about the conclusions. The entire report has been given to the council but they were given "more details than were made public," he added. The staff council had earlier adopted a resolution expressing no confidence in Annan, which waters denied later. "It was never the intention of anyone to malign the Secretary-General or suggest that there was no confidence in him at least from the staff," waters told reporters. (PTI) Bush committed to fostering
US-India WASHINGTON, Nov 20: US Secretary of State designate Condoleezza Rice has assured that President Bush was committed to moving US-India relations forward after India raised concerns over the ramifications of its proposed arms deal with Pakistan, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said. Mr Saran told reporters here yestserday that he made it clear to Rice that the arms sale could have repercussions on the ongoing India-Pakistan peace dialogue. Since Mr Bush took office four years ago, US-India relations had seen significant transformation, with India viewed as a strategic partner, Mr Saran said. India conveyed the concern that the sale of the arms to Pakistan could impact the "positive sentiments and the good will" built up between the two countries, he added. The arms package, amounting to some 1 billion dollars, to India’s neighboring country is beginning to be an irritant in the relationship between the two countries. But Ms Rice quelled India’s concerns, assuring that Bush had made a personal commitment to move relations between the two countries forward, Saran said. On the sale of F-16 aircraft to Pakistan that has sparked controversy, Saran said he was told that no decision had been taken. The US was also appreciative of India’s withdrawal of troops from Kashmir, describing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s decision as an "act of statesmanship," said Mr Saran. Asked about US sanctions on two Indian scientists, he said the sanctions are being reviewed. India earlier conveyed that there was no basis for US sanctions against the two scientists. Mr Saran, who met with several other top US officials, said he used the meetings to exchange bilateral views. He also expressed satisfaction with the commitment to maintaining strong India-US relations with key officials leaving office. "We have every reason to believe that the initiatives taken in the first term will be carried over to the second term," he said. Among the us officials saran met were deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, outgoing deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, assistant Secretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman and assistant Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Alan Larson. (UNI) Japan threat to EU over nuclear fusion site LONDON, Nov 20: Japan would walk away from a partnership with the EU to build the world’s first nuclear fusion reaction if work begins on a site in France without its agreement, Japan’s chief negotiator has said. Talks between Tokyo and the European Union over where to build the 12 billion dollars International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) — which would try to replicate the way the Sun generates energy — ended in deadlock earlier this month. The EU wants the project to be based in Cadarache, near Marseille, while Tokyo is hoping it will be built in Rokkasho, a remote fishing village in northern Japan. "If Europe maintains its hard line and if France starts building without any agreement from us, we will never join," Satoru Ohtake, head of nuclear fusion at Japan’s Science and Technology Ministry, said in an interview published in London’s Financial Times newspaper today. "That would be a miserable result. That would split the world in two." Nuclear fusion has been touted as a long-term solution to the world’s energy problems, as it would be low in pollution and use limitless sea water as fuel. However 50 years of research have failed to produce a commercially viable fusion reactor. Talks between the EU, South Korea, Russia, the United States, Japan and China in Vienna last week to decide iter’s location ended in stalemate. China and Russia are said to support France while South Korea and the US favour Japan. On Tuesday the EU offered Japan incentives if it were to drop its bid, such as allowing Tokyo to be involved in building the site in Cadarache. However, the offer has angered Japan which believes the EU’s attitude has been insulting. "They are treating this like a king and servant relationship, where the king throws small things to the beggars," Ohtake told the paper. "It is bad manners. We have our pride." Ohtake added the ideal solution would be to reduce the differences between the two sides so the loser could climb down gracefully. He suggested the final decision could then be taken using a method put forward by David King, the scientific adviser to the British Government — by tossing a coin. (AGENCIES) Bush committed to fostering
US-India WASHINGTON, Nov 20: US Secretary of State designate Condoleezza Rice has assured that President Bush was committed to moving US-India relations forward after India raised concerns over the ramifications of its proposed arms deal with Pakistan, Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said. Saran told reporters here yestserday that he made it clear to Rice that the arms sale could have repercussions on the ongoing India-Pakistan peace dialogue. Since Bush took office four years ago, US-India relations had seen significant transformation, with India viewed as a strategic partner, Saran said. India conveyed the concern that the sale of the arms to Pakistan could impact the "positive sentiments and the good will" built up between the two countries, he added. The arms package, amounting to some 1 billion dollars, to India’s neighboring country is beginning to be an irritant in the relationship between the two countries. But Rice quelled India’s concerns, assuring that Bush had made a personal commitment to move relations between the two countries forward, Saran said. On the sale of F-16 aircraft to Pakistan that has sparked controversy, Saran said he was told that no decision had been taken. The US was also appreciative of India’s withdrawal of troops from Kashmir, describing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s decision as an "act of statesmanship," said Saran. Asked about US sanctions on two Indian scientists, Saran said the sanctions are being reviewed. India earlier conveyed that there was no basis for US sanctions against the two scientists. Saran, who met with several other top US officials, said he used the meetings to exchange bilateral views. He also expressed satisfaction with the commitment to maintaining strong India-US relations with key officials leaving office. "We have every reason to believe that the initiatives taken in the first term will be carried over to the second term," he said. Among the US officials Saran met were deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, outgoing deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, assistant Secretary of State for Political Affairs Marc Grossman and assistant Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Alan Larson. (UNI) |
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