• US sanctions against
  Libya stay

PKK leader pleads for pardon
ANKARA, April 6 — Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, facing a possible death penalty on treason charges, has pleaded for a pardon in return for the surrender of his guerrillas, a Turkish newspaper said today.

Shrine restoration allowed
YANGON, April 6 — Leaders of Myanmar’s embattled opposition have been temporarily released from detention to take part in a ceremony marking the restoration of the country’s most venerated Buddhist shrine, sources said today.

NATO missiles hit refinery
Russia draws up action plan

UNITED NATIONS, April 6 (Reuters) — NATO missiles struck an oil refinery and a bridge over the Danube late last night as the USA vowed the air offensive would continue till Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic capitulated.

The bombings showed no sign of stopping a torrent of ethnic Albanian refugees pouring across Kosovo’s borders, forcing the West to set in motion Europe’s biggest humanitarian operation in 50 years.

State news agency Tanjug said huge flames and heavy clouds of smoke could be seen above the refinery near the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad shortly after two strong detonations rocked the area. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Quoting the civil defence authorities’ crisis centre, Tanjug said NATO missiles had also hit a railway bridge over the Danube linking the border town of Bogojevo, 160 km northwest of Belgrade, to Erdut, in Croatia.

It said NATO warplanes struck in or near at least five Serbian towns yesterday, the 13th day of the air campaign.

Among the targets was the residential area of the central town of Aleksinac, where at least 10 civilians were injured, Tanjug said.

In Washington, President Bill Clinton said Belgrade’s policy of "ethnic cleansing" in Kosovo would not be allowed to stand.

"We are prepared to sustain this plan for the long haul," he said. "Our plan is to persist until we prevail."

NATO officials said the number of ethnic Albanians driven from their homes in Kosovo over a year of conflict had risen to 831,000, including over 360,000 expelled from the province since NATO strikes began on March 24.

In New York, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan used some of his toughest language since the start of the crisis, telling UN Security Council members: "The brutal persecution the refugees and displaced persons are suffering, the loss of their family members, their homes and even documentation of their identities, underline the urgency of their plight."

Yugoslav Foreign Minister Zivadin Jovanovic told Annan in a letter that if he did not "take the side of justice and law" by putting an end to NATO’s attacks. He would "become an accomplice in undermining the system of the United Nations".

Annan said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson was taking urgent steps to "monitor the shocking violations of human rights of the Kosovar population".

BELGRADE (AFP): Two NATO aircraft were shot down last night in a raid on Novi Sad, Serbian television reported.

Both pilots ejected and search operations had been launched for them, RTS TV said.

The first plane was downed as it tried to destroy the last remaining bridge over the Danube, and the pilot ejected over Petrovaradin, a suburb on the right bank of the river.

The second plane was hit after an attack on an RTS transmitter on Mount Fruska Gora, some 10 km south of Novi Sad, it said.

MOSCOW: Russian President Boris Yeltsin on Tuesday said he was "outraged" over NATO’s intensified bombardment of Yugoslavia and declared that Moscow had drawn up a "wholesome plan of action" to help end the US-led bombings PTI report from Moscow said.

At a meeting with Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, he discussed a "wholesome plan of action" to mount fresh offensive to achieve a peaceful solution of the Kosovo crisis, Itar-Tass reported. He, however, did not divulge the details of the plan.

Albania opposes refugees’ dispersal

BELGRADE, April 6 (AP) — Milder weather was little comfort today for the tens of thousands of refugees who continued to pour out of Kosovo in an exodus not seen in Europe for a half a century. The UN Refugee agency said the number of ethnic Albanians reaching neighbouring states had reached nearly 400,000.

More than half of them have taken shelter in Albania, one of Europe’s poorest countries. Albania yesterday offered to take more refugees to relieve pressure on neighbouring Macedonia and to prevent western nations from dispersing them to countries far from their homeland.

In Macedonia, conditions remained dire at a makeshift refugee camp in the border town of Blace, where thousands were living in shelters of plastic and blankets in a muddy, fetid no-man’s land.

“There are too many people in that small concentrated area for safety and also for sanitation and health concerns,’’ said Chris Thomas of the US Red Cross.

As of yesterday, 239,000 refugees had arrived in Albania, 120,000 in Macedonia and 35,000 in Montenegro, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said.

NATO said relief flights carrying 200 tonnes of food and other emergency supplies were scheduled for Albania and Macedonia.

NATO announced plans by many member-states to temporarily take in some 110,000 refugees to ease the pressure on Yugoslavia’s neighbours. Germany was to take the most — 40,000 while the USA and Turkey agreed to 20,000 each and Canada 5,000.

Airlifts began yesterday to Turkey and Norway, but chaos was causing delays.

In Brussels NATO air commodore David Wilby yesterday said the alliance would take advantage of better weather conditions over Kosovo to accelerate its attacks on the Serb and Yugoslav police, tanks and soldiers accused of systematically expelling ethnic Albanians from Kosovo.

“We will focus our attention on fielded forces in Kosovo,’’ Mr Wilby said. “We will disrupt Serbian military operations on the ground.’’

Serbian state television showed a top aide to Milosevic meeting with the moderate Kosovo Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova. NATO had earlier questioned a report that Rugova met last week with Milosevic, saying the Albanian leader was believed to be under house arrest. NATO yesterday declined to speculate further on Rugova’s fate.

Human rights Watch yesterday also reported that Baton Haxhiu, Editor-in-chief of Koha Ditore, the Albanian-language newspaper in Pristina, was alive and well. The human rights group and US officials had reported in the early days of the conflict that he was feared dead.

UNITED NATIONS (AP): Deeply divided over the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, the UN Security Council did manage to agree on a statement expressing deepest concern at the grave humanitarian situation created by the mass exodus from Kosovo.

The 15-member council yesterday steered clear of blaming any party for the exodus, and there was no mention of the bombing in the brief statement read to the media by council President Alain Dejammet, France’s UN Ambassador.

Yesterday, the council limited itself to calling on all those who were able to provide aid to all those in need, wherever they may be.

Council members also welcomed efforts by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to tackle the refugee problem and thanked donor nations who accepted refugees on a temporary basis.

Russia and China blocked efforts by other council members to issue a longer and more detailed statement, saying they wanted nuances of the original text to be further discussed, diplomats said.

Those divisions aside, Mr Annan didn’t mince words when he briefed the council on the humanitarian situation in Kosovo accusing SERB security forces of forcibly driving ethnic Albanians from their homes and carrying out shocking violations of human rights.

Yet again we face the abominable practice of “ethnic cleansing” only a few years after it transformed the demography of Bosnia and Herzegovina,’’ the Secretary-General said in a statement. The Serbian authorities must halt such actions.’’

US sanctions against Libya stay

WASHINGTON, April 6 (AFP) — US sanctions, including a trade embargo, imposed against Libya are to remain in place despite the suspension of United Nations sanctions, the US State Department has said.

US State Department spokesman James Rubin yesterday said Libya’s handover of two suspects wanted for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing would not affect the unilateral US sanctions, some of which were in place before the Pan Am plane was blown up.

“Our unilateral sanctions ... are the product of presidential executive orders,” Rubin said. “They are intended to limit Libyan access to funds and material for terrorist activities, weapons of mass destruction programmes and other destabilising military actions, and those will remain”, she said.

“We need to have additional concerns alleviated before we will address modifying our own sanctions,” Rubin added.

Unilateral US sanctions include a freeze on Libyan assets in the United States of America and a ban on American firms doing business there.

Following the handover of the two Libyan suspects, the seven-year-old United Nations air weapons and diplomatic sanctions were suspended.

The sanctions are expected to be fully lifted by the UN Security Council within 90 days, following a report by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Khalsa marches in Canada

TORONTO, April 6 (IANS) — An estimated 1.5 lakh persons marched through Vancouver and suburban Surrey in Canada to commemorate the tercentenary of the birth of the Khalsa.

While organisers of the Vancouver parade claimed 1 lakh persons participated, the police estimates put the number at about 60,000. In Surrey organisers said about 50,000 joined the march, while the police estimated there were about 20,000.

British Columbia province Premier Slen Clark, at the Vancouver event, praised the contribution of Sikhs over the last century, noting there are now three Sikhs in prominent positions in his government. “These political contributions pale to the economic and cultural contributions Sikhs have made. It is an honour to be here today on behalf of the Government of British Columbia and the people of British Columbia”, Mr Clark told the congregation at Ross Avenue Gurdwara, the oldest and biggest Sikh shrine in Canada.

Federal Minister of Revenue Herb Dhaliwal and Attorney-General Ujjal Dosanjh, who were among the speakers, pleaded for unity within the Sikh community. Their reference was to internal division over use of furniture in community meal rooms in gurdwaras. The differences led to clashes between moderates and hardliners last year. Ross Avenue Gurdwara was the first to introduce tables and chairs in the community meal room 20-year ago.

Mr Dhaliwal appealed to his fellow Sikhs to come together despite differences that have intensified over the last year. “I appeal to all Sikhs — this is a time to be united. This is a time to come together,” he said.

He recalled that Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the 10th guru who founded the Khalsa order on April 13,1699, not only fought against inequality but “had it in his heart to forgive and forget so life could move on.”

From Ross Avenue Gurdwara, the politicians went to the shrine at Surrey and, after making speeches there, returned to Vancouver to join the parade.

“It is the biggest crowd we have ever seen,” claimed Ross Avenue Gurdwara General Secretary Rajinder Singh Bhela. “People who have lived here for 40-year or more have been saying to us it was the best they have ever seen.”

An organiser of the parade in Surrey claimed “it was a very big success. I think this area has never seen (an event) like this. We are very happy. It was very colourful with lots of saffron turbans.”

Relics of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, including his sword, spear and shield, were put on display at Ross Avenue Gurdwara. According to reports, this was the first time in the 300 years of the Khalsa that the sacred artefacts have been allowed out of India. The relics were later carried in the Vancouver parade in a revolving glass case.

But the Sikh community here is divided. “There is no unified gurdwaras committee,” Mr Gurdev Singh Mann, President of suburban North York Gurdwara, and another Sikh leader, Mr Surjit Singh Mahal, complained. They are part of a rival group called the Khalsa Day Celebrations Committee that is holding a separate event on April 18.

PKK leader pleads for pardon

ANKARA, April 6 (Reuters) — Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, facing a possible death penalty on treason charges, has pleaded for a pardon in return for the surrender of his guerrillas, a Turkish newspaper said today.

The mass-circulation Sabah Daily said Mr Ocalan told prosecutors visiting the Turkish prison island where he is being held that he regretted his role in leading the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in their 14-year-old fight for Kurdish self-rule.

“This country is also my country. This state is also my state. Give me chance and I will give good service to my country. If there is a pardon, I will get the PKK to surrender,” the newspaper quoted Mr Ocalan as saying.

One of the prosecutors said he had visited Mr Ocalan on the island of Imrail at the weekend but could not confirm the newspaper report.

Shrine restoration allowed

YANGON, April 6 (AFP) — Leaders of Myanmar’s embattled opposition have been temporarily released from detention to take part in a ceremony marking the restoration of the country’s most venerated Buddhist shrine, sources said today.

Some 50 members of Aung San Suu Kyi’s Democratic Opposition, including elected members of Parliament, were given passes to see the hoisting of a large gold and gem-encrusted ceremonial umbrella atop Shwedagon pagoda.

“I am out here because we made a special request to the authorities. For Buddhists this is the event of a lifetime, an MP said, requesting anonymity.

The two passes were granted yesterday to enable top members from the party’s Yangon division to witness the final stages of the restoration, the temple’s first in 128 years.

“We are ok,” he told the AFP, referring to senior members of the National League for Democracy which began in September last year.

Myanmar’s main opposition party in September announced the formation of a 10-member “Representative Committee” to implement its decision to convene a Parliament elected in 1990.

The move led to the detention of hundreds of party faithfuls in what authorities described as “government guesthouses.”

The NLD won a landslide victory in 1990, winning 382 out of 485 seats, but the military has ignored the result and not allowed Parliament to sit.

Sikh pilgrims in Lahore

ISLAMABAD, April 6 (PTI) — Nearly 100 Sikhs from India have arrived in Lahore to visit Pakistan’s holy Sikh Shrines as part of the tercentenary celebrations of birth of Khalsa Panth.

The delegation, which includes members of Parliament and those from Punjab Assembly, would be visiting Dera Sahib and Nankana Sahib Gurdwaras in Pakistan’s Punjab province and would also meet Punjab Governor Shahid Hamid among others, official sources today said.

The delegation would begin its return march by road tomorrow from Dera Sahib Gurdwara in Lahore and would cross into India through the Wagah border before proceeding to Kiratpur Sahib in Ropar district on April 10.

Indian High Commissioner G. Parthasarathy has arrived in Lahore to meet the delegation members and a number of senior officials of Indian High Commission are stationed in Lahore to ensure that the group had a comfortable stay.

Russia retains germ warfare plan

NEW YORK, April 6 (PTI) — A top Russian defector has revealed that Russia retains a clandestine offensive germ warfare programme that could be revived within months, media reports said here today.

“Russia retains her offensive germ warfare programme despite a 1991 decree by President Boris Yeltsin banning it,” the New York Times quoted former scientific chief of the Soviet germ warfare programme Kanatjan Alibekov as saying.

The paper said Alibekov, who headed Soviet Union’s germs programme from 1975 to 1991, cited several Russian journals to support his statement in a recently released book.

The Kazakhstan-born Alibekov, also makes startling disclosures about Soviet Union’s germ warfare programme that included a failed attempt to develop the AIDS-causing HIV into a slow killer.

Millennium baby
AUCKLAND: No prizes for guessing what Rachel and Steve Knowler will be doing this Friday night as they take part in a competition to conceive the first baby of the new millennium. The couple is one of 100 couples who will be given a room in an Auckland hotel by a radio station which is running the competition as part of a promotional campaign. The station claims health professionals have identified April 9 as the best day to conceive a baby which would be born on January 1, 2000. — AP

Rickshaws hit Paris
PARIS: Rickshaws are to hit Paris next week, enabling footsore, tourists to scan the heart of the city in springtime with no effort spent. Painted bright yellow and black, like New York cabs, an inaugural fleet of around 10 rickshaws go into service on April 12 for an hour ride. — AFP

Fruits ‘cure cancer’
WASHINGTON: Two compounds found in fruit, vegetables and cereals can reduce the growth of some forms of cancer, according to a study published in the journal of Nutrition. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin found that the two compounds, gama-tucotrienol and beta-ionone, present in plants, people commonly at actively affected human cancer cells when combined. — AFP

23 die in forest fire
BEIJING: Twenty-three persons have been killed fighting a serious forest fire raging across a vast area of mountain woods in northern China. Some 1,000 soldiers and firefighters are battling the fire with help from 2,000 civilians, the official Xinhua news agency said in an overnight report. The blaze started on Saturday. — AFP

University for Afghans
PESHAWAR: A university for Afghan refugees on Monday opened in this Pakistani border city giving 2,000 Afghan girls and opportunity to study. In the 90 per cent of Afghanistan ruled by the Taliban religious army, girls have not been allowed to attend school. The Taliban say they will open schools for girls after peace comes to their war-shattered country. — AP