Syria sets terms for talks with Israel
DAMASCUS, Dec 12 — Syria said yesterday that its peace talks with Israel, scheduled to resume in Washington next week after a break of almost four years, would be based on Israel’s full withdrawal from the Golan Heights.

Japan allowed US N-arms on its soil
WASHINGTON, Dec 12 — Despite its aversion to nuclear weapons, Japan allowed more American nuclear weapons on its territory during the 1950s and ’60s than officials of either country have publicly acknowledged, according to declassified US government documents.

Nepali Congress wins byelection
KATHMANDU, Dec 12 — Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai’s Nepali Congress party won all three seats in a by-election whose results were announced by officials today.

LTTE claims capture of naval base
COLOMBO, Dec 12 — The LTTE today claimed to have succeeded in capturing a strategic naval camp off north-eastern coast in Sri Lanka even as reports said over 250 rebels were killed in a major military offensive since yesterday.

Two corridors for civilians opened

STARYE ATAGI (Russia), Dec 12 (AP) — While Russia’s air strikes on the Chechen capital, Grozny, remained suspended today to allow civilians to leave the battered city, the military accused rebels of using the lull to build fortifications and plant mines in the city.

Under intense international pressure to end its offensive in Chechnya, Russia backed off yesterday from an all-out assault of Grozny. The military said all air strikes against the Chechen capital would be halted until midnight.

“We know ... that the militants are blocking (civilian) people from leaving the city,” Russia’s government representative in Chechnya, Deputy Prime Minister Nikolai Koshman, said yesterday according to the Itar-Tass news agency. Russian officials repeatedly accused Chechen rebels of using civilians as human shields.

Mr Koshman estimated that up to 50,000 civilians remained in Grozny. Other officials cited numbers several times lower. “We will not strike against a human shield,” Mr Koshman said.

However, many of the remaining civilians appeared unable to leave because they are old or infirm, and lack transport. Others did not know about the ultimatum to leave, according to refugees who did make it out of Grozny.

Col Gennady Alyokhin, a Russian military spokesman, said today that rebel fighters were building fortifications on the strategic heights near Grozny outskirts, planting mines in the city streets, and installing machine guns on building roofs, preparing to rebuff a possible attack by Russian troops.

But he also said that some rebel groups were fleeing Grozny for southern mountainous regions, where Russian troops have yet to venture.

Senior Russian Generals said the army would wait two to three weeks before trying to seize Grozny, according to Russian news reports. Russia planned to use commandos and other special forces troops to take the city, Mr Koshman said.

Russian forces were also preparing to seize the town of Shali, a gateway to the Caucasus mountains some 25 km southeast of Grozny. Federal troops were “completing the blockade of Shali” today, Col Alyokhin said.

As Moscow tried to assuage international critics of the war, Russian Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu travelled to Chechnya last evening, on orders from Premier Vladimir Putin, to arrange safe passage for the civilians.

Russia has opened two safe corridors for civilians of northwest, to the town of Pervomaiskaya, some 20 km from Grozny, and to the south-western town of Alkhan-Yurt, just outside Grozny. Only five people arrived via the new, Alkhan-Yurt route when it opened yesterday, officials said.

Mr Shoigu ordered emergency situations forces in the northern Caucasus to be put on the alert, saying the rebels might use toxic chemicals in Grozny. The Russian military claimed this week that Chechen rebels had blown up canisters containing toxic chemicals on the eastern outskirts of Grozny, and that winds carried a toxic cloud, likely consisting of chlorine and ammonia, north-west over the capital.

“We cannot rule out the possibility that the militants are ready to take any action, and we must be ready to protect the people,” Mr Shoigu was quoted as saying.

“I hope that (Chechen President Aslan) Maskhadov will have the courage to block actions that could hurt innocent civilian population of the republic,” he said.

Grozny Mayor Lecha Dudayev bristled at Shoigu’s comments and claims that rebels were using civilians as human shields. “Nobody is preventing the residents of Grozny from leaving the city,” he was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.

Another accountability drive

ISLAMABAD, Dec 12 (PTI) — The Pakistani military regime has drawn plans to launch second round of accountability drive from next week with promise that this time the focus will be on corruption rather than on the bank loan default which would once again make the two former Prime Ministers, Mr Nawaz Sharif and Ms Benazir Bhutto, its main targets.

“This time, corruption will be more in focus than loan default,” Chairman of the newly created National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Lt Gen Mohammad Amjad, said while announcing the second round of drive during a PTV programme.

Lt Gen Amjad, who has been given enormous power to pursue the corrupt elements in the society under an accountability ordinance, urged the people to come forward and provide leads to the bureau saying “The general public can play an important role in helping the bureau reach the right targets by extending cooperation”.

“People can provide leads to important cases”, he said but conceded that his job may be a time consuming one and it may not produce instant results as people are expecting saying, ‘a runner for a marathon race would not conduct himself as a contestant for a 100-metre race’.

“There is no short-cut, as a whole process of investigation of crime detection and linkage is to be followed”, he added.

NAB had earlier launched a countrywide crackdown against bank loan defaulter on November 17 after a four-week ultimatum issued by the Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf to the loan defaulters to make a voluntary refund ended on November 16.

More than 30 prominent politicians, bureaucrats, industrialists, businessmen and former army generals heading some civilian organisation were arrested in the first round with nearly a dozen declared absconding including Benazir Bhutto.

As a result of this new guidelines that has excluded the members of the armed forces and the judiciary from the purview of the anti-corruption drive of NAB, the promised first data-bank of corrupt Pakistanis, to be prepared by the NAB, is not likely to have any names from the army and the judiciary, the report said.

Gen Musharraf while making a policy statement during his address to the nation on October 17 had announced that names of all those found involved in corruption and loan default would be published.

The news report also cited a number of corruption cases within the judiciary and the army saying that as per the latest stand now all these cases would be referred to either the Chief Justice of Pakistan for proper action or would be dealt under the Army Act and army’s own surveillance system respectively.

NAB, however, has only been refrained from touching the serving armed force personnel but it can initiate action against any retired personnel, the report said.

UNI: Gen Pervez Musharraf has denied violations of human rights in Pakistan and said the change of government on October 12 had become absolutely necessary because of obstruction of justice and the dismal state of the economy .

“I am happy to declare to the international community that Pakistan as a signatory to the universal declaration of human rights, continues to abide by the declaration in letter and spirit. Nothing adverse has occurred as far as human rights are concerned after the change of government in Pakistan on October 12,” he said in a message on universal declaration of human rights.

“The civil courts are functioning, the Press is absolutely free and the citizens of Pakistan enjoy all fundamental rights,” he said.

Gen Musharraf’s statement came a day after Pakistan’s best-known human rights activist, Asma Jehangir, was denied permission to leave for Kosovo as a special rapporteur for the UN. She was off-loaded from a Kuwait Airlines plane at Lahore on Friday. Ms Jehangir possesses the UN’s certificate of immunity and privileges.

Russia all set for parliamentary elections
From M.L.Madhu in Moscow

Elections for the Russian state of Duma (the lower house of parliament) will take place on December 19. Russians will elect 450 representatives or members for the next four years. Half of them will be elected on the basis of national parties or bloc’s lists and the remaining half will be elected according to single mandate constituencies. In other words, 225 seats will be won by individual candidates in voting contests across Russia. They can be backed or supported by different political parties or blocs, but they will not be on their official list of candidates.

For the coming Duma elections, 29 political parties or blocs were registered by the Russian Central Election Commission. They will contest 225 seats. One party known as Spac or Salvation has been disqualified by the Moscow court on the basis of providing wrong information in its declaration about the property and other assets of some of its members. In fact, Russian public opinion was highly against this party, because it has fascist orientation with Nazi symbols and ideology. Two years ago, its skin head followers had created a good deal of terror for the Jews and people of Afro-Asian origin.

So now 28 political parties or blocs with a total of 3,786 registered candidates will be in the election race. In addition to these, 2,300 independent candidates have been registered for single mandate constituencies.

According to the Russian election rules and regulations, only those political parties, blocs or movements can be represented in the State Duma or lower house of the parliament which are able to win at least 5 per cent of the national vote. Others will not be represented in the Duma. For instance, in the last Duma elections of 1995, 43 political parties or blocs participated in the elections, but only four — Communist Party of Russia, Our Home is Russia, Liberal Democratic Party of Zhirinovsky and liberal Yabloko Party of Yavlinsky — were able to get representation in the Duma. Communist Party had won 22.3 per cent, Liberal Democratic Party of Zhirinovsky 11.18 per cent, Our Home is Russia 10.83 and Yabloko 6.87 percent of the total national vote. As compared to the elections of the year 1995, the number of the political parties and blocs is much less this time and the struggle for winning the seats will probably be much harder.

Out of 28 political parties and blocs entering the election race, as at present, only three can be quite sure of crossing the 5 per cent barrier of national vote and enter the Duma. They are the Communist Party of Russian Federation, Fatherland - All Russia bloc headed by Yevgeny Primakov and Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov and liberal Yabloko party of Grigory Yavlinsky.

The Communist party has a stable and devoted electorate and as such will find its representatives in the Duma. Most of the analysts are inclined to conclude that its percentage of Duma representation will decrease to some extent this time because of two reasons. A split in some of its ranks and left forces is the first reason. For instance, Victor Ilyukhin, one of its activists, has formed his own party known as the “Movement in Support of the Army”.

Similarly, one of its allies, Agrarian Party’s leader Lapshin, along with a number of members has joined Luzhkov’s Fatherland — All Russia bloc. Extreme Leftist Viktor Anpilov has his own political bloc known as Stalinist Bloc for the U.S.S.R. This bloc includes Stalin’s grand-son also as one of its leaders. Some other left parties have also been formed. Second reason can be the death of a number of its electorate, who are generally elderly pensioners and devoted old communists and are dying slowly and gradually. Many Communists are also not quite satisfied with the performance of their representatives in the Duma during the last four years of its political activities. But in spite of all these negative factors, the Communist Party of Russia is likely to remain a leading force in the newly elected members of the coming December 19 elections. According to the estimates and forecasts of most of the political analysts, it will secure about 20 per cent seats in the state Duma. It will be slightly less than the last election results.

Fatherland — All Russia bloc of former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov and Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov is expected to show good results in the coming elections. Yury Luzhkov formed his political party Fatherland last year and this summer he merged it with All Russia movement headed by Tatarstan’s President Mintimer Shaimiyev. Thus emerged the Fatherland – All Russia political bloc. It may be pointed out that All Russia movement is a political organisation of some of the regional leaders and an indicator of the growing political ambitions and role of the Russian regions, which have been quite passive in the past. Like the All Russia movement, another regional political organisation “The Voice of Russia” also came into existence in the beginning of this year and this organisation has joined hands with another political party “Unity” which is considered a party of power because it is being backed by the Kremlin.

Fatherland — All Russia bloc gained greater political importance and weight when Yevgeny Primakov, one of the most popular leaders, joined and agreed to head it. The prospects and chances of this bloc are generally considered quite bright, although analysts assess its percentage of seats differently. Some are very optimistic and think that it might top the national vote, while others opine that it will occupy second position (next to the Communist Party of Russia) and will secure 12-14 per cent of the total vote-cast. It may be added that if this political bloc will do well in the coming Duma elections, then two of its top leaders — Yevgeny Primakov and Yury Luzhkov — are likely to decide as to who of the two will join the presidential race in June next year. Luzhkov has been repeating that he has no presidential ambitions and Primakov has been avoiding to give any concrete answer to this question. But it is generally believed by political thinkers that both of them entertain this hidden ambition and if the circumstances are favourable, then one of them will join the presidential race. In any case, Fatherland — All Russia political bloc is likely to be an important force in the next Russian State Duma, although President Yeltsin and his inner circle, the so called “Family” is doing its utmost to damage the image of this bloc and its leaders. A regular campaign is being conducted in the mass media against this bloc and especially, against Mayor Luzhkov. Efforts are being made to defeat Luzhkov in the mayoral elections which also take place on December 19 along with the Duma elections.

As mentioned earlier, a special political party known as “Unity” has been formed a couple of months ago under the leadership of Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu to take away as many votes as possible from Fatherland — All Russia bloc and thus weaken its position in the coming elections. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has openly declared his support to “Unity” – the Party of Power or Kremlin backed party. It might harm Fatherland — All Russia bloc. In fact the campaign against this bloc has already damaged its prospects. If one can believe the objectivity of the opinion polls. They indicate that this bloc will secure 10 percent or even less votes, but it remains disputable.

One more political party, which is quite certain to cross the 5 per cent national vote barrier and enter the next Duma is Grigory Yavlinsky’s “Yabloko” party with a liberal political and economic orientation. In the last elections of 1995, it had secured about 7 per cent of the national vote. Political experts and analysts, as also the polls indicate this party to do better in the coming elections. During the last four years of the Duma, this party and its leaders have generally taken an independent stand on most of the important issues, have stayed away from the government at all levels and have succeeded in building an image of honest and sincere political approach and thinking. They are not tarnished with corruption and other evils of Yeltsin era. The main limitation of this party and its leader Grigory Yavlinsky is high intellectual level which quite often remains beyond the understanding of the common voters and also the sphere of its influence and support in the distant regions of Russia. In spite of these limitations, Yabloko is expected to secure 8 to 9 per cent votes. Political observers opine that higher the percentage of national vote secured by Yabloko, better it would be for the country, because it could help in speeding up the process of economic and political reforms.

Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, headed by Vladimir Zhirinovsky, is now entering the election race under two names — Liberal Democratic party and Bloc of Zhirinovsky, because the Central Election Commission had refused to register it in its previous name for giving wrong information in the property declarations of a number of its members. But recently the Central Election Commission has revised its decision and approved the original name also. At present it is the second biggest party in the Duma with more than 11 percent of the national vote, but is not likely to cross the 5 per cent hurdle in the coming elections and enter the Duma. Pro-government voting record of this party and scandalous, quarrelsome and unparliamentary behaviour of its leader Zhirinovsky has disappointed most of its supporters. Therefore, analysts have genuine doubts about its political future.

Our Home is Russia party, led by former Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, which has more than 10 percent of the national vote in the current Duma, is also not likely to clear the 5 per cent barrier and enter the Duma in the coming elections. This party was a very close ally of the Kremlin during the last four years and generally named as the Party of Power. This party, as also its leader Viktor Chernomyrdin, have been losing their political base and electoral sympathy. Hence, it appears that it will have to wait and work hard in the next four years to be able to enter the Duma in the year 2003.

A newly formed political bloc — Union of Right Wing Forces — headed by former Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko and former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov might also founder on the 5 percent barrier and not enter the Duma. It is a party of young democrats and reformers with future vision and programme, but the results of the reforms in the last few years have disappointed the common Russians to such an extent that they would not like to vote for them. Hence, this bloc is likely to remain hanging on the 5 percent barrier limit.

One more party, which needs attention is the Kremlin backed “Unity” party. Latest polls indicate that it might surpass even Fatherland – All Russia bloc, although many experts don’t agree with this conclusion.

The remaining, more than 20 parties and blocs, don’t seem to have much chance to cross the 5 per cent limit and represent themselves in the Duma. But election results can always bring some surprises and unexpected results.

As far as the 225 single mandate constituencies are concerned, the regional leaders and governors will have a lot of scope to influence the results and the choice and success of the candidates.

It may be added that under the present Russian Constitution most of the real power is concentrated in the hands of the president and the Duma or the lower house of the Russian parliament can hardly play any decisive role in determining the destiny of the Russian people, yet it can frame at least some such useful laws which may promise new hopes of bright future.

EU okays RRF creation

PARIS, Dec 12 (PTI)—The European Union (EU) today agreed to an ambitious plan of creating a rapid reaction force (RRF) to tackle situations like Kosovo but experts suspect the viability of such a force considering the political differences between some of the member states and US reservations regarding it.

In the summit meeting at Helsinki, the leaders of the 15-member EU approved plans to assemble a multinational force of up to 15 army brigades with nearly 60,000 troops in the field. The highly mobile force is expected to be ready by 2003.

The EU leaders want this multinational army to operate independently from the US-dominated North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato). The new force would have its own staff, warships and satellites to respond to emergencies like Kosovo without banking on the US war machine.

“This time we are really there; what so long seemed a mirage has become a reality,” French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine said referring to the creation of an European force.

Portugal, which takes over the EU presidency in January, will be asked to draw up a more detailed report on the force.

However, the EU cautiously stressed that Nato must remain “the foundation of the collective defence” of the EU.

The Europeans apparently are motivated by the conflict in Kosovo during which they had to follow the US military strategy than adopting their own.

The campaign exposed Europe’s military weakness, but it also alarmed allied leaders about the implications of US tactics during the conflict.

Turkey has threatened that it would oppose the planned European force to use Nato’s assets if the EU delayed Ankara’s inclusion into the union. Turkey, which is a key member of the Atlantic alliance, can veto a future EU operation from using Nato’s bases or equipment.

Syria sets terms for talks with Israel

DAMASCUS, Dec 12 (Reuters) — Syria said yesterday that its peace talks with Israel, scheduled to resume in Washington next week after a break of almost four years, would be based on Israel’s full withdrawal from the Golan Heights.

“The problem was the land, the rights, and the necessity of having a total pullback to the (pre-war) June 4 (1967) borders. The talks are resumed on this objective basis,’’ said Mr Ameed Khouli, Director-General of the government daily Al-Thawra.

“Syria would not have sacrificed eight years of heavy political work and complicated negotiations and achievements to restart the talks from the zero point,’’ he said.

“The USA knows this viewpoint. We had to experience this steadfastness in order to achieve a resumption of talks from the point where they left off,’’ he said in a front-page comment.

US Middle-East peace envoy Dennis Ross said the talks, bringing together for the first time Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq Al-Shara, would be held next Wednesday and Thursday.

Syria said the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin had agreed during previous negotiations in 1994 to withdraw fully from the Golan, a strategic plateau captured by Israel from Syria in the 1967 Middle-East war.

Japan allowed US N-arms on its soil

WASHINGTON, Dec 12 (AP) — Despite its aversion to nuclear weapons, Japan allowed more American nuclear weapons on its territory during the 1950s and ’60s than officials of either country have publicly acknowledged, according to declassified US government documents.

Nuclear weapons for US planes, submarines and surface ships were located on two Japanese islands — two Jima and Chichi Jima — before the United States of America returned the islands to full Japanese control in 1968, according to the documents, which cite the types of weapons at various locations but not their numbers.

After the United States of America ended its occupation of Japan in 1951 and the World War II enemies signed a security treaty, it was Japan’s official policy not to permit nuclear weapons on its territory. Washington took the view that this prohibition did not extend to Islands which remained under US jurisdiction after 1951, according to a Clinton administration’s official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

In 1997, secret US government documents were declassified and the public learned that the island of Okinawa had been home to American nuclear weapons before it was returned to Japanese control in 1972.

Nepali Congress wins byelection

KATHMANDU, Dec 12 (AP) — Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai’s Nepali Congress party won all three seats in a by-election whose results were announced by officials today.

The election results will not alter the balance in the legislature, but both the governing Nepali Congress and the Opposition Communist Party had taken the byelection as a prestige race.

Nepali Congress candidates won from Morang, Jhapa and Rautahat election districts where the balloting was ordered after the winners of the general election in May resigned because they had contested and won more than one seat.

The victory boosted the party’s strength to 113 seats in the 205-seat House of Representatives, Nepal’s lower house of Parliament.

LTTE claims capture of naval base

COLOMBO, Dec 12 (PTI) The LTTE today claimed to have succeeded in capturing a strategic naval camp off north-eastern coast in Sri Lanka even as reports said over 250 rebels were killed in a major military offensive since yesterday.

The clandestine LTTE Radio, monitored in Jaffna, said that its guerrillas had captured an adjacent naval base at north-eastern Vettilaikerni which was used as a main supply route to the beleaguered army garrison.

Vettilaikerni is about 25 km north-east of Elephant Pass.

The rebel radio said the capture of the naval base was a significant victory as it was used by the Sri Lankan naval ships and boats to ferry troops and supplies.

Claiming that the army suffered heavy casualties, the LTTE Radio however did not give figures of its own losses.

Miss France
PARIS: France chose a new millennium belle but the prime-time TV election of Miss France-2000 left the nation with a beauty queen whose crown was still hotly disputed. Ms Sonia Rolland, an 18-year-old student, won a jury ruling on Saturday night after a phone-in vote which was expected to have drawn one of the biggest programme audiences of the year for the nation’s leading commercial television station, TFL — Reuters

Death toll up
RABAT (Morocco): The death toll in Wednesday’s Fez building collapse has gone up to 47 with the recovery of 16 more bodies from the debris here, Moroccon news agency MAP quoted officials as saying. There is little hope of finding any survivors of this five-storey building collapse incident, it said. — PTI

Sentenced
MADISON (USA): A court has sentenced a student at the University of Wisconsin to 10 days’ jail for killing a fellow student’s pet parrot by cooking it in a microwave oven. Chad Alvarez (23), son of the university’s football coach, was also ordered by the court on Friday to be put on probation for five years. — Reuters