Pak in quandary over Indo-Iran gas project
ISLAMABAD, Dec 15 — Pakistan’s military regime is in a quandary after Iran urged it to reopen talks on an ambitious gas pipeline project that could transport enormous reserves of gas in Iran to India through Pakistan earning huge royalty for Islamabad.

UN council vote on Iraq deferred
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 15 — A UN Security Council vote on comprehensive resolution on Iraq aimed at sending weapons inspectors back into the country was deferred till later in the week at the request of France after a day-long suspense drama yesterday.

Annan: poverty, AIDS key issues of millennium
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 15 — The UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, cited the spread of the AIDS pandemic and global poverty as the key challenges of the millennium, saying both issues would confront “us all very starkly.”

Clinton for 2000 for celebration
WASHINGTON, Dec 15 — U.S. President Bill Clinton has joined the debate over when to celebrate the new millennium, saying that he sides with those who plan to do it this new year rather than next.

China-Vatican understanding
HONG KONG, Dec 15 — After 50 years without diplomatic ties, China and the Vatican have reached an understanding on mutual recognition — with the Vatican cutting ties to Taiwan and Beijing permitting papal approval for the appointment of Chinese bishops, a newspaper reported today.

Russia ready for talks?

MOSCOW, Dec 15 (AFP) — Russia has said that an offer by OSCE chief Knut Vollebaek to meet Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov with a top Russian government minister was under “active discussion.”

Despite an earlier signal from Moscow that it did not want any outside mediation in the Chechen conflict, sources cited by Itar-Tass news agency yesterday said they were looking at a location for the three-way talks.

The parley could take place either in the Ingush capital Nazran or in the Russian-controlled sector of Chechnya, the agency reported.

GROZNY (Reuters): Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov offered Russia talks on ending the conflict in his rebel region, but said the head of Europe’s major security and human rights group should also take part.

Russian forces continued to pound the Chechen capital Grozny today but faced stiff resistance from the rebels. Reports said despite heavy artillery fire by federal troops, Chechen fighters repulsed six ground attacks by the Russian forces in the north and southeast of the besieged city.

Though Russian forces claimed to have captured the airport in Grozny, reports said Chechen units were still fighting the troops there.

Mr Knut Vollebaek, Chairman of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, was due to make scheduled visit to Russian-held areas of Chechnya today but Moscow gave no sign that it was about to accept Mr Maskhadov’s proposal.

The embattled separatist leader made his offer after Russian forces again pounded the Chechen capital Grozny on Tuesday, trapping civilians in the besieged city.

“He intends at this meeting to discuss questions concerning a ceasefire and the search for a peaceful settlement of the conflict,’’ said Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency, which spoke to Mr Maskhadov by telephone.

Mr Maskhadov offered to meet Russian officials in rebel-held or Russian-held territory, provided his security was guaranteed. The timing of the offer could embarrass Russia Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu said last week he was ready to meet Mr Maskhadov to discuss evacuating people from Grozny.

Mr Vollebaek, visiting the Dagestan region near Chechnya, yesterday said he was worried by the prospect of a full assault on Grozny, which a Chechen internet website said had already begun.

The report was denied by the Russian Defence Ministry. But Interfax news agency quoted military sources as saying clashes had taken place in Grozny, where between 8,000 and 30,000 people were said by a Russian government minister to be trapped.

Mr Vollebaek, who is also Norway’s Foreign Minister, was due to visit Russian-held areas in Chechnya today and to meet local Russian officials there. He called on Monday for a ceasefire but the plea was ignored.

“As far as I know, civilians have not left Grozny. That means many people who do not necessarily support the rebels would now be prisoners, victims of the fighting,’’ he said. Civilians in the shattered capital told Reuters they could not escape because of the almost continuous Russian gunfire, although they said military planes had not bombed the city for about two days.

Chechen rebels have said they had shot down two Russian planes and five helicopters and inflicted heavy losses on federal forces during clashes on the eastern side of Grozny.

A Chechen military official told AFP by telephone that two Russian pilots had been taken prisoner yesterday.

One plane and two helicopters were shot down in the region of Grozny, which is now completely surrounded by Russian troops, according to the Chechen account. The others were shot down in the Duba-Yurt and Chishki districts of southern Chechnya.

2 ex-Pak ministers in army custody

ISLAMABAD, Dec 15 (PTI) — After being under house arrest for more than two months, former ministers in the ousted Nawaz Sharif government, Mr Mushahid Hussain and Choudhury Nisar Ali Khan have been taken into army custody, family members said.

Information Minister Hussain and Petroleum Minister Khan were picked up from their residences by the army last evening and taken to an unknown destination.

“This is very unfortunate and completely against human rights. We will be consulting our lawyers as Mushahid was kept for two months without any charge. There is no law which says you can keep a person for several days without first charging him,” Mr Hussain’s wife Dushka Syed told a hurriedly call press conference last evening.

Denying that Mr Hussain had any role in the sacking of army chief Gen Pervez Musharraf, Ms Syed said army personnel who took him away refused to specify the charges against him and did not disclose where he was being taken.

During the past two months, Mr Hussain had not been questioned even once. “They (the army) failed to find anything against him”, she claimed.

Meanwhile, Urdu daily Nawa-e-Waqt, quoting family sources, said Choudhury Nisar Ali Khan was also taken away from his nearby Faizabad residence.

The authorities are yet to confirm or deny the detention of the former ministers, considered “very close” to the deposed Premier in taking all crucial decisions.

Mr Hussain and Mr Khan were among the very few among the 40 odd ministers in the Sharif Cabinet kept for the past two months in “protective custody” by the army. Former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar is also believed to be under house arrest, but there is no information about him.

Mr Syed said the former minister was in China from September 26 to October 4 and after returning did not have any one-to-one interaction with Mr Sharif. He only attended a Cabinet meeting and a brief meeting at the airport.

After Mr Hussain’s return, she said, he was mainly confined at home as the ISI had advised him that his life was in danger due to the sectarian killings.

Charges motivated: Benazir
from Trevor Barnard

LONDON, Dec 15 — Former Pakistan Prime Minister and Chairperson of the opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has said that she was both surprised and not surprised that General Pervez Musharraf had not withdrawn the “politically motivated charge” levelled on her and her jailed husband, Asif Ali Zardari, by the now ousted Nawaz Sharif Government.

In an exclusive interview with Asian News International (ANI) here, Ms Benazir said that General Musharraf had himself promised accountability and had gone on to arrest those people who had instituted the cases against her soon after assuming power on October 12. So she was surprised that the cases against her were still pending. She, however, said that she was not surprised over these developments as she was aware that “Some of the people around him (Musharraf).. were very keen to use corruption as a convenient tool for the aggrandisement of power. And when that happens I am high on the list because the people of Pakistan support me. They support me because the PPP promises liberalism, democracy, moderation, stability and a society free of discrimination.”

She went on to say in the interview that these people around General Musharraf had decided to hold a gun to her head by continuing to keep her husband behind bars in the hope that she would breakdown emotionally and give in to their political whims. She described these efforts as a sad development for Pakistan, adding that it was even more sad to know that all of Pakistan’s duly elected Prime Ministers’ “end up being pre-judged as criminals by a militaristic class, which wishes to rule the country.”

She claimed that the Musharraf-led military regime was overly preoccupied with the trial of former premier Nawaz Sharif and this had led to the “neglect of the more important bread and butter issues of our people.”

Asked to comment on her demand that Pakistan should return to democratic rule within 90 days she said: “I believe it is feasible. I believe the Supreme Court of Pakistan could conduct the elections. When the military took over, they said they were committed to democracy, they said they were forced to take over because Mr. Nawaz Sharif had turned into a despot. So everyone expected an end to despotism. However, power is tempting and it seems that now the regime is planning on staying on.”

The former Premier said she was concerned over the scandalisation of Pakistan’s political class. She said that the list of defaulters who had taken money from public sector banks showed most of them were businessmen, not politicians. Even Nawaz Sharif in his business capacity was a defaulter, not in his political capacity.

“There is corruption in Pakistan. There is corruption in all the procurement committees, there’s corruption in the tax department, there’s corruption in society at large. But instead of focusing on corrupt elements, the regime appears to be focusing on political control and thereby concentrating on the political class. This is the same mistake Nawaz Sharif made. He was so keen to get power and consolidate power that he neglected governance. — The Guardian, London

Pak in quandary over Indo-Iran gas project

ISLAMABAD, Dec 15 (PTI) — Pakistan’s military regime is in a quandary after Iran urged it to reopen talks on an ambitious gas pipeline project that could transport enormous reserves of gas in Iran to India through Pakistan earning huge royalty for Islamabad.

The project, which had been lying in cold storage for quite some time, came under discussion when military ruler General Pervez Musharraf paid an official visit to Teheran last week in a bid to strengthen his relations with the neighbourly country, according to domestic news agency Fortuna.

The proposed pipeline would require a tripartite agreement between Iran, Pakistan and India and General Musharraf had promised to the Iranian leadership to revert back to them on the project after thorough scrutiny of the scheme by his two-month-old government, Fortuna said.

UN council vote on Iraq deferred

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 15 (PTI) — A UN Security Council vote on comprehensive resolution on Iraq aimed at sending weapons inspectors back into the country was deferred till later in the week at the request of France after a day-long suspense drama yesterday.

The council has set no new date for the vote but indications are that it was unlikely before late Friday or Saturday. Diplomats said France asked for more time after Russia and China agreed to abstain following some changes in the text even though they do not fully meet what was being demanded by the two and do not change its tenor.

The vote, they say, may have been delayed till Saturday as France wants to wait until after the G-8 summit scheduled for Friday in Berlin to see if consensus could be reached.

Attending the meeting will be the USA, the UK and France. They along with China are the five permanent members with veto.

However, French diplomats also expressed reservations and were critical of ambiguity in the language which would allow different members to interpret the resolution differently. They wanted more time.

Diplomats say the vote would have shown sharp divisions in the council with China, Russia, France and Malaysia sure to abstain even though the USA and Britain would have attained their purpose.

Annan: poverty, AIDS key issues of millennium

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 15 (Reuters) — The UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, cited the spread of the AIDS pandemic and global poverty as the key challenges of the millennium, saying both issues would confront “us all very starkly.”

“AIDS is not over,” he told a news conference yesterday. “It is spreading very rapidly. We have to fight it as a health issue, as a political issue and as a social issue.”

Mr Annan said reports indicated that even in the USA many people with AIDS do not get help because they cannot afford it or spend the time needed to get medical attention.

In Africa and other areas, he said AIDS was not only killing parents and creating orphans but destroying the economic and social fabric of a country.

“In some situations, it is destroying the whole economy by taking away the professional people who are active in the economic, political and social life of the society,” he said.

AIDS has killed 16 million people around the world and infected 33 million more, according to UN figures. Some 11 million young people between 15 to 24 years already have the disease.

Closely related to AIDS, Mr Annan said was the “poverty in which so many of our fellow human beings are still confined.”

He said the recent World Trade Organisation summit in Seattle made everyone aware of the need for “shared global values and effective global institutions” to underpin markets.

Clinton for 2000 for celebration

WASHINGTON, Dec 15 (Reuters) — U.S. President Bill Clinton has joined the debate over when to celebrate the new millennium, saying that he sides with those who plan to do it this new year rather than next.

But in true Clinton fashion, he also held out the possibility of celebrating twice. “Maybe I can do it twice, and I’ll be the President of two millennial changes,’’ Mr Clinton said in a CBS radio interview released on Monday.

In the interview Mr Clinton also voiced a desire to follow the public-service example of former President Jimmy Carter and dismissed calls by former Independent counsel Ken Starr to acknowledge untruthful testimony regarding his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

But the President pleaded guilty when asked whether the White House millennium celebrations organised for the coming New Year holiday were “propagating the myth’’ that the millennium started with the arrival of 2000.

“By common consent everybody decided that we ought to celebrate the millennium on January 1, 2000, even though most of the strict correctionists say that it’s January 1, 2001,’’ Clinton said.

According to the Gregorian calendar, which begins the Christian era at year 1 A.D., the third millennium does not begin until 2001.

China-Vatican understanding

HONG KONG, Dec 15 (AP) — After 50 years without diplomatic ties, China and the Vatican have reached an understanding on mutual recognition — with the Vatican cutting ties to Taiwan and Beijing permitting papal approval for the appointment of Chinese bishops, a newspaper reported today.

An announcement is expected early next year, South China Morning Post reported, quoting sources who said details had been sent out to “insiders on the mainland and in Taiwan and Hong Kong.”

The deal would permit a visit to China by Pope John Paul II, if the frail pontiff’s health allowed him to carry out that long-cherished goal, the newspaper said, without identifying any of its sources by name.

UK to lift ban on gays
LONDON: Britain will lift its ban on gays serving in the military next year, government officials said. The government has been pressured to act after the European Court of Human Rights ruled in September that four British homosexuals were wrongly dismissed from the armed forces after they admitted their sexual orientation to investigators. — Reuters

Beatlemania back
LIVERPOOL (England): Paul McCartney relived all his yesterdays with an emotion-charged gig at Liverpool’s cavern club where the Beatles legend was born. One of the world’s biggest pop stars picked one of the tiniest venues — a dingy cellar packed with 300 adoring fans — for his triumphal return. “What better way to rock out the century,” said the veteran superstar who has pledged never to retire. — Reuters

Billy Crystal as host
LOS ANGELES: Actor-comedian Billy Crystal, whose quick wit and polish have made him Hollywood’s consummate master of ceremonies will return after a one-year break to host the academy awards in March, organisers of the show have said. Crystal’s appearance for the 72nd Oscars show, which ABC will broadcast live on March 26 from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, will mark his seventh stint as host of the movie industry’s premier awards. — Reuters

Proposal in cockpit
OSLO (Norway): It may not have been a match made in heaven, but it was close when a co-pilot proposed at 35,000 feet. The co-pilot of SAS flight SK 564 knew his girlfriend, an off-duty SAS flight attendant, was on his Copenhagen to Oslo flight on Monday, Oslo newspaper Verdens Gang reported on Tuesday. The 33-year-old Norwegian proposed marriage over the aircraft’s public address system, with his Captain’s blessing. The 27-year-old woman said she was half asleep when she realised that her boyfriend was popping the question. — AP

4 cops killed in Sind
KARACHI: Gunmen shot dead four policemen on Tuesday in Pakistan’s southern Sind province, the police said. Two gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons when the police stopped them for a routine check near Larkana, 450 km north of Karachi. — AP

Deal on Nazi slaves
BERLIN: After months of urgent talks, US and German negotiators have reached a breakthrough deal to compensate former Nazi slave and forced labourers, long-ignored victims of Hitler’s war machine. The deal, announced by victims’ lawyers on Tuesday, will establish a $ 5.2 billion fund to compensate hundreds of thousands of people forced to work for the Nazis and German companies during World War II. — AP

Minister pardoned
JOHANNESBURG: A former South African minister under the apartheid regime, who admitted to have had a hand in the bombing of builders belonging to a black trade union and a church organisation in the 1980s, has been granted amnesty by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Mr Adriaan Vlok, who served as a Minister of Law and Order under former Presidents P.W. Botha and F.W. De Klerk, was granted pardon along with 20 former security police officers on Tuesday. — PTI