Thursday, August 5, 1999
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W O R L D | Thursday, August 5, 1999 |
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Laden has links in Pak, Iraq: USA WASHINGTON, Aug 4 — Saudi-born alleged terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden has high-level contacts in Pakistan, Iraq and Sudan, apart from rich financial supporters in the West Asia and the Persian Gulf, US officials were quoted as saying by the Wall Street Journal today. Floods leave 2 m homeless in China BEIJING, Aug 4 — Heavy flooding in China in which several hundred people have so far lost their lives has also rendered almost two million people homeless, a red cross official said here today. Ms Jane Marin said 66 million people in six provinces were affected by the flooding and 58,000 had been injured. |
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 AFGHANISTAN: Taliban troops leave for the Parwan province, recently captured from opposition forces as people waiting for their transport at Old Road, near Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday. Taliban militia pushed their opposition alliance led by commander Ahmed Shah Masood, to Panjhir valley. — AP/PTI
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Clinton to veto WB funding Bill Book
sheds light on Hillary’s affair Turin
shroud ‘not fake’
Breakthrough
in treating leukaemia Robertson
to be NATO chief 518
killed in Congo bombings |
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Laden has links in Pak, Iraq: USA WASHINGTON, Aug 4 (PTI) — Saudi-born alleged terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden has high-level contacts in Pakistan, Iraq and Sudan, apart from rich financial supporters in the West Asia and the Persian Gulf, US officials were quoted as saying by the Wall Street Journal today. His ties with Pakistan, they said, were despite the fact that Islamabad had helped the US in laying hands on two alleged terrorists wanted by the FBI for trial. The journal said US intelligence and law enforcement agencies were working "closely" in the war against global terrorism with "locals" in India, Egypt, the Philippines, Albania, Uruguay, Germany, Britain and other countries "to clamp down on bin Laden’s operatives on charges ranging from petty theft to carrying bogus travel documents." The new US tactic in the anti-terrorist battle, for which the US Congress last year voted and raised the amount from $5 billion to $10 billion this year, is to make "life miserable for terrorists around the world", it said. Referring to the US tactic, Michael Sheehan, State Department’s acting coordinator for counter-terrorism, said, "This is like an endurance run. There are no silver bullets or spectacular events. What we have to do is close down the terrorists’ space and drain the swamp they have in". "Such is America’s counter-terrorism strategy: Do what you can to indict the suspected terrorists and haul them back for trial, especially operatives of the man the USA has branded as the mastermind behind the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, Islamic militant Osma bin Laden," it said. US officials, said the paper, believed that busting up suspected terorist cells was the best way to thwart an outright attack. "With help from the FBI and a slew of foreign police agencies" said the paper, "the CIA says it has disrupted several dozen small terrorist cells in the Balkan, Central Asia and Africa." The journal said the USA has offered helpful countires a wide range of assistance, from trade allowances to assistance in controlling porous borders. Countries that refuse to help, said the paper, could expect a cold shoulder or worse. Nations such as Sudan and Afghanistan that have given bin Laden sanctuary over the years have suffered sanctions and increasing international isolation thanks to US pressure, the paper said. ISLAMABAD (AP): Meanwhile, the USA has asked Islamabad to ensure the safety of Americans in Pakistan following threats from militant Islamic groups, a US Embassy official said today. US officials expressed concern over the threats and pointed out that Pakistan had a responsibility to protect Americans in its territory. The official did not say when the meetings were held. There was no immediate
comment from Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry. |
Floods leave 2 m homeless in China BEIJING, Aug 4 (DPA) — Heavy flooding in China in which several hundred people have so far lost their lives has also rendered almost two million people homeless, a red cross official said here today. Ms Jane Marin said 66 million people in six provinces were affected by the flooding and 58,000 had been injured. She said there was a danger of disease outbreaks amid poor sanitation in the current hot weather. While the red cross put the death toll at about 420, government officials spoke of roughly 240 dead and 24,000 injured. But observers noted that the official number of those killed by the floods had already been given as 240 one month ago. The Red Cross said that the floods would probably last at least until September since it was continuing to rain. There was now danger that the Yellow River might burst its banks in some places. Although the situation was stabilising on the upper reaches of the Yangtse river, flooding was continuing further down China’s longest waterway. Among the provinces threatened by high water levels were Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu and Anhui. The Red Cross is to set up an appeal on Thursday in Beijing and Geneva for $ 8.5 million Swiss francs ($ 5.7 million) to aid at least a million victims of the flooding. The organisation wants to use water treatments and chemicals for inhibiting the spread of diseases. The Chinese Red Cross has so far sent out 2,509 medical teams to treat the injured and distribute water purification tablets and the Red Cross estimated some 20 million yuan ($ 2.4 million) worth of aid in the form of foodstuffs, medicines, clothing and blankets and tents had been distributed. MANILA (AFP): At least 10 people were killed and up to 47 others missing when a massive landslide smashed onto a residential enclave outside Manila, raising the death toll in monsoon rains to 52, officials said today. About half of a nearby hill eroded, sending tonnes of mud and boulders crashing through Cherry Hills residential subdivision last evening, burying homes or crumpling them like an “accordion”, witnesses said. Rescuers, armed with hydraulic jacks and crowbars, combed through twisted metal and concrete at the middle-class enclave in Antipolo town just outside the capital. The search continued until nightfall amid incessant rains. By afternoon the remains of two more residents had been dug out, bringing to 10 the number of bodies recovered so far. Up to 47 other residents are still missing. Elsewhere in the country, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said 42 other people were killed in floods and landslides triggered by the heaviest rainfall in 25 years which began last weekend. More than 222,000 people have been displaced in the capital and surrounding provinces, mainly due to overflowing rivers, the Red Cross said. “It was like it was hit by a powerful bomb,” an AFP photographer on the scene said, describing the devastation at Cherry Hills in which rows of two-storey homes lay crumpled. Media reports and
officials said up to 30 residents were also injured in
the tragedy. |
Pak Senate refuses to discuss killing ISLAMABAD, Aug 4 (PTI) — In a shocking display of its support to the inhuman practice of “honour killing”, the Pakistani Senate has refused to take up for debate a resolution condemning the killing of a young woman allegedly with the connivance of her parents for seeking divorce from her husband. The Senate, the Upper House of Parliament, witnessed uproarious scenes on Monday when Iqbal Haider of the opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) tried to move the resolution but a majority of the members, cutting across party line, rejected it even before it could be placed before the house. The resolution sought to condemn the daylight murder of 26-year-old Samia Sarwar, a mother of two, in the Lahore office of well-known human rights activist Asma Jehangir in April. Urging Senate Chairman Wasim Sajjad “not to waste the time of the House in this ‘khurafat’ (irrelevant discussion)”, Haji Abdul Rehman from tribal areas said the resolution condemning killing of women in the name of honour could not be taken up as it was against the “religious and cultural sentiments”. Awami National Party leader Ajmal Khattak joined the Senators of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League in opposing the resolution saying that it was not a case of human rights but a “matter of honour”. Chairman Sajjad also supported the attempt to prevent any debate on the resolution as he sought the verdict of the House whether the issue can be debated. A majority of the members said no. A dejected Haider later said it was the “blackest day of the senate as it had legitimised killing of women in the name of honour”. The resolution was presented before the House for the first time in April soon after Sarwar’s murder and a highly watered down version of it was approved by at least 22 members including Religious Affairs Minister Raja Zafarul Haq and Information Minister Mushahid Hussain. Most of the members later withdrew their support and it was left to a handful of PPP Senators to fight in vain. Sarwar, seeking separation from her husband despite her parents’ opposition, had taken shelter in a women’s home run by Ms Jehangir’s sister Hina Jilani, who was helping her in getting divorce. She was shot dead by a
bearded man accompanying her mother when she came to Ms
Jehangir’s office to meet her daughter. |
Clinton to veto WB funding Bill WASHINGTON, Aug 4 (Reuters) — The US House of Representatives has approved a Bill that would cut overseas spending and slash funding for the World Bank, a measure the Clinton administration has vowed to veto. The $ 12.6 billion Foreign Operations Bill, passed by a vote of 385-35, would decrease the World Bank’s lending programme for the world’s poorest countries by $ 232 million and also cut aid to foreign groups engaged in abortion-related services. The measure came up almost $ 2 billion short of the amount the Clinton administration had requested. The Senate has already passed a version of the Bill with less severe cuts. Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, scoffed at the abortion amendments as a red herring but said Democrats should approve the Bill in the hope that later negotiations with the Senate and the White House would produce a better funded Bill with no abortion amendments. Republicans said the Bill, which authorises US Overseas funding for a range of programmes from military aid to Israel to polio eradication, was less important to Americans than cutting taxes, fixing social security and medicare or reducing the national debt. “President Clinton wants 2 billion more,” Sonny Callahan, an Alabama Republican, told the House. “He’s not going to get it. So yes, this Bill is a vote to cut foreign aid.’’ The Clinton
administration, which has often vetoed legislation
containing abortion language, made clear that the
President would veto the Bill on grounds of both the
funding shortfall and the abortion amendment. |
Book sheds light on Hillary’s affair LONDON, Aug 4 (AFP) — Days after she spoke frankly about her husband US President Bill Clinton’s infidelities, a new book alleges that Hillary also had an affair with a White House lawyer in 1977, The Times has reported. Christopher Andersen is the author of “Bill and Hillary: The Marriage,” which was published yesterday, the same day as Talk magazine, which contained an interview with the First Lady, who spoke of her love for the President. According to The Times, Andersen’s book charts the affair between Hillary Clinton and her childhood friend Vincent Foster, the White House lawyer who committed suicide in 1995. Andersen claims the affair began in 1977 and was known about by many friends and colleagues, The Times reported. The book contains testimony from state troopers who guarded the Clintons’ mansion in Arkansas, when Bill Clinton was Governor. One trooper, L.D. Brown, said Foster would turn up at the mansion “like clockwork” whenever the Governor was away. “Hillary and Vince were deeply in love. I saw them locked in each other’s arms, deep-kissing, nuzzling,” he says in the book. Foster became embroiled in a number of scandals, including the Clintons’ own Whitewater legal battle. According to The Times,
he was found dead in July 1995 from a single shot through
the roof of his mouth in his car in a wooded area outside
Washington. |
Prince Philip ordered Di’s death: Al Fayed LONDON, Aug 4 (DPA) — Britain’s Prince Philip gave the order for the death of Diana and her boyfriend Dodi al Fayed two years ago, Dodi’s father Mohammed al-Fayed was quoted today as claiming. “Prince Philip is the one responsible for giving the order,’’ the 66-year-old Egyptian businessman who owns the prestigious London store Harrods, was quoted as telling the new US Magazine talk. Prince Philip, husband of queen Elizabeth, “is very racist, he is of German blood and I’m sure he is a Nazi sympathiser,’’ Al Fayed was further quoted by the Express newspaper as telling talk. “Maybe God has
chosen me to teach these people that they are not above
the law,’’ he was quoted as saying. “maybe
I am God’s messenger. You can’t take my dignity
and my honour and kill my son. I cannot recover until I
find out who did it.’’ |
Turin shroud ‘not fake’ ST. LOUIS, Aug 4 (Reuters) — New scientific testing on the Shroud of Turin, thought by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus, has turned up evidence contradicting a carbon dating analysis that concluded the shroud was a mediaeval fake. Plants and pollen embedded in the shroud have been traced to the area around Jerusalem and dated to before the eighth century, according to an Israeli scientist. The earlier carbon dating examination done on a sample corner of the shroud concluded it was made between 1260 and 1390 AD. By analysing the images of plants and actual pollen that transferred to the shroud, scientists led by botanist Avinoam Danin of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem lent weight to those who believe it to be Christ’s burial cloth. “This combination
of flowers can be found in only one region of the world.
The evidence clearly points to a floral grouping from the
area surrounding Jerusalem,’’ Mr Danin said in
a presentation on Monday to the International Botanical
Congress. |
Breakthrough in treating leukaemia SYDNEY, Aug 4 (DPA) — Researchers in Australia announced today what they claim is a significant breakthrough in the treatment of leukaemia in older patients. Leukaemia is normally treated by a course of chemotherapy followed by a bone marrow transplant, but because their bodies cannot tolerate high levels of chemotherapy, older people are not offered this treatment. Doctors in Adelaide treating two older patients have skipped chemotherapy and gone straight to a bone marrow transplant, effectively transplanting the immune system of a healthy donor into the cancer patient. The Royal Adelaide Hospital’s Peter Brady said the success of the procedure had prompted a nationwide trial. “We believe that
this is really the beginning of a revolution in the way
we can use bone marrow transplantation,” he told
Australia’s ABC radio. |
Suicide bomber kills 14 in Lanka COLOMBO, Aug 4 (PTI) — Thirteen Sri Lankan elite police commandos and a civilian were killed and 18 other troops seriously injured when a woman LTTE suicide bomber blew up their vehicle at Veppankulam, about 4 km from Vavuniya town, today. An LTTE woman suicide bomber, waiting on the roadside at Veppankulam village near Vavyuniya, sprang at the vehicle carrying 30 police commandos and blew herself up with powered explosives strapped to her body, reports reaching here said. The Army has so far confirmed the death of nine commandos and said that the condition of 16 of the 21 injured police personnel was serious. The commandos belonged to the Special Task Force (STF), a highly trained police unit specialising in anti- terrorist operations in the urban and rural areas. Army sources said a large number of commandos were killed as the impact of the explosion directly hit the vehicle. Meanwhile, the Army said eight LTTE militants were killed in different encounters with troops in Northern Jaffna and Vanni yesterday. The bombing came as the LTTE conveyed to the government through the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) that it was agreeable to give safe passage to the supply of essential commodities to over three lakh civilians living in the rebel-held Northern Vanni region. According to sources in the international humanitarian relief organisations, the LTTE consented to open the main highway near the Army-held Northern Mankulam in Vanni. Every week the government sends tonnes of rice and other essential supplies through its co-operatives in Vanni to be sold to civilians, as a humanitarian gesture. These food convoys pass through LTTE and Army check-points. The supplies were disrupted two months ago due to the Army’s latest offensive to capture more LTTE-held areas in North-West Mannar. Although the Army later offered three different alternative routes, the rebels refused to accept the Army’s condition of having a 5 km civilian safety zone (CSZ) from LTTE check posts. After prolonged acrimony, the Army finally agreed to do away with the CSZ provided the LTTE took responsibility for the safety of civilians and soldiers. "The supplies are expected to resume in a few days," an ICRC official said.
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Robertson to be NATO chief BRUSSELS, Aug 4 (AFP) — NATO ambassadors today chose British Defence Secretary George Robertson to replace Spain’s Javier Solana as Secretary-General of the Atlantic alliance, a NATO diplomat said. The official announcement of Mr Robertson, the only declared candidate for the job is to be made later in the day after the NATO Council meets to rubber-stamp the nomination, the diplomat said. The decision was to have
been taken yesterday but was delayed when the ambassadors
of Belgium, the Netherlands and Canada, while not
opposing Mr Robertson’s nomination, said they needed
specific instructions from their governments. |
518 killed in Congo bombings KIGALI, Aug 4 (Reuters) — At least 518 people were killed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo today when Sudanese planes launched an air raid on two villages in the north of the country, a rebel leader said. Jean-Pierre Bemba, a millionaire businessman who heads the Ugandan-backed Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC), said one Russian-built Sudanese Antonov plane dropped 18 bombs on Makanza and Bogbonga, two small towns on the Congo river, 800 km of the capital, Kinshasa. "Kabila bombed us this morning at 10 a.m. These bombs killed 384 civilians and 134 soldiers,’’ Mr Bemba told Reuters. News of the attack comes
three days after Bemba put his signature to a ceasefire
deal worked out in the Zambian capital last month which
was agreed by six African governments involved in the
year-old war.
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| Pak army killings: skulls
recovered DHAKA: Skulls, bones and other human remains bearing evidence to the large-scale massacre of Bangladeshis by the Pakistan army during the 1971 liberation war have been recovered here. Bangladesh War Museum authorities on Tuesday unearthed four skulls, four jaws and nearly 150 bones of various sizes from a well in a mosque at Mirpur in the capital city, according to museum officials. — PTI World’s oldest fossil 2 clerics
appointed Iraqi poet dead Ban on feminist
film $16m for Kennedy
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