Iraq rejects UN resolution
BAGHDAD, Dec 18 — Iraq “categorically” rejects a UN Security Council resolution which aims to get UN arms inspectors back into Iraq under a new sanctions regime, an Iraqi MP has said.

From Ludhiana to European Parliament
BRUSSELS, Dec 18 — It is a long way from a primary school in Ludhiana, Punjab, to the steel-and-glass palace of European Parliament in Belgium’s capital Brussels.

Putin can’t hold ‘fair’ poll
MOSCOW, Dec 18 — In the run-up to tomorrow’s state Duma poll, former Premier Yevgeny Primakov’s Fatherland-all Russia (OVR) has questioned Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s capability to ensure ‘free and fair’ elections.

Sharif’s remarks may invite yet another charge
ISLAMABAD, Dec 18 — Pakistan’s military regime has taken serious note of deposed Premier Nawaz Sharifs’ recent statement that Gen Pervez Musharraf and four of his generals and not the whole army was behind his ouster and may charge him with trying to create dissension within the armed forces, a leading newspaper said today.

Linda Tripp may testify in court
ELLICOTT CITY, Dec 18 — Linda Tripp, whose taped conversations with Monica Lewinsky led to President Bill Clinton’s impeachment, may testify at a hearing to determine if she can be tried on wiretap charges, her lawyer said.

Indian observers for Lanka poll
COLOMBO, Dec 18 — Former Election Commissioner G.V.G. Krishnamurthy is among the five Indian poll observers, the largest contingent sent by any country, who have arrived here for the December 21 presidential polls.

Indian captain still in jail
PARIS, Dec 18 — Crew continued to battle the seas to clean-up the massive oil slick in the Bay of Biscay, threatening the Atlantic French coast, even as the authorities denied consular access to the arrested Indian captain of the ill-fated Erika tanker for the second consecutive day.

Al-Badr threatens Kargil-like action

ISLAMABAD, Dec 18 (PTI) — A Pakistan-based militant outfit has threatened to launch more “Kargil-like” operations and said its activists were entering Kashmir from the Pakistan side, even as it appreciated the Kashmir policy of the present military regime.“More Kargil-like operations are part of our future plans”, Al-Badr Mujahideen chief Bakht Zameen told leading Urdu daily Nawa-e-Waqt.

Claiming that his group’s activists were entering Kashmir from the Pakistan side, the Al-Badr chief said “our Mujahideen (holy warriors) trample the Line of Control (LoC) every day” as his group “does not accept” the LoC.

The statement by the Al-Badr chief comes a few days after two other Pakistan-based militant outfits, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Harkat-ul Mujahideen, warned that they were going to step up their campaigns in Kashmir.

Zameen claimed complete understanding among all Pakistan-based militant groups who are waging ‘jehad’ in Kashmir and said they chalked out their plans together.

Accusing US President Bill Clinton of trying to impose a plan to bifurcate Kashmir by converting the LoC into the international border, he said his group would never accept any such proposal.

The Al-Badr chief also criticised the Kashmir policy of Pakistan’s deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, saying it had damaged the “Kashmiri freedom movement”, and appreciated the policy of the present military regime.

“The new government comparatively has a better understanding of the Kashmir problem and that is why we hope it would take better steps with regard to Kashmir”, Zameen said.

Pak rules out troops withdrawal from LoC

Pakistan has ruled out any possibility of troops withdrawal from the Line of Control (LoC) and asserted that its deployment position on the LoC continues to be the same as it was before and during the Kargil conflict.

“There has been no weakening on the LoC,” Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) chief Brig Rashid Qureshi declared yesterday scoffing speculations about troops withdrawal from the LoC in view of an announcement made in this regard by Gen Pervez Musharraf recently.

“Let me clear once and for all, that troops were withdrawn from depth areas without any sign of weakening on the LoC,” Brigadier Qureshi, who is also the press secretary of General Musharraf, told reporters at the army headquarters.

“There has been no change in Pakistani troops (deployment) on the LoC and today we are there as we were a year back,” he said.

Iraq rejects UN resolution

BAGHDAD, Dec 18 (APF) — Iraq “categorically” rejects a UN Security Council resolution which aims to get UN arms inspectors back into Iraq under a new sanctions regime, an Iraqi MP has said.

“Iraq categorically rejects this resolution,” said MP Yusef Hamdan yesterday.

“Iraq demands that the Security Council fulfil its commitments towards Iraq, which has carried out the resolutions of the council, and immediately lift the sanctions that were imposed in 1990,” Mr Hamdan said.

He described the vote as a “tragedy, and a bad start to the 21st century,” and lashed out at the “cowardliness” of the three permanent council members — China, France and Russia — which abstained in the vote.

“We cannot count on the cowardly stances of these great powers, who have common interests they cannot give up for the benefit of Iraq,” he said.

“The Russians want to guarantee themselves the silence of the Americans,” he said, in a reference to Moscow’s military offensive in Chechnya.

“The Chinese, who are led by graduates of American universities, lose their heads as soon as the wheat trade is mentioned,” he said.

“As for the French, they have no differences with the Americans, except when it is a matter of different interests.”

“The Iraqi people have huge resources and will fight these shady plans which are not meant to lift sanctions, but aim to maintain and prolong them,” he said.

The UN Security Council voted 11-0 in favour of the resolution 1284 yesterday, under which sanctions against Iraq will be suspended for renewable periods of 120 days, provided Baghdad cooperates with a new UN arms control body, to be called UNMOVIC.

The three permanent council members which abstained in the vote, withheld their power of veto over council decisions. One non-permanent member, Malaysia, also abstained.

Shortly after the vote was passed, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein chaired a meeting of several of his top officials, the official INA news agency reported.

Those attending included Vice-President Taha Yassin Ramadan, Deputy Prime Ministers Tareq Aziz and Hikmat Al-Azzawi, and Oil Minister Amir Mohammed Rashid.

Iraq is demanding the unconditional lifting of the sanctions that have been in force since it invaded Kuwait in 1990, and had frequently reiterated in the run-up to the vote that it would reject the resolution.

Indo-UK ties put on ‘even keel’

LONDON, Dec 18 (PTI) — The year 1999 saw the Indo-British relations, soured after Pokhran II, get back on normal tracks with the promise of further consolidation in the new millennium.

The bilateral ties, which touched the nadir after India tested a series of nuclear devices in May last year, were put on “even kneel” following diplomatic efforts on both sides and high-level visits to Britain by External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Brajesh Mishra.

No doubt, the directions for the path to be followed came from the top — British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Indian counterpart Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Mr Blair in a recent interview said he and Mr Vajpayee had agreed that the bilateral relations should be further strengthened and needed to be given a “new push” in the 21st century.

With Mr Blair expected to visit India in the third quarter of next year, ties now look set to sail new heights.

The high-level visits also included Britain’s Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott’s trip to India early this months his second this year, and last month’s visit by Foreign Office Minister Peter Hain to New Delhi and Bangalore.

From the Indian side, Commerce Minister Ramakrishna Hegde and Steel and Mines Minister Naveen Patnaik of the previous Vajpayee government visited London in February this year to attract investments from Britain.

Communication Minister of the present government Ram Vilas Paswan also visited the UK recently and met leading investors.

Then, there was a visit by the delegation of the Confederation of Indian Industries and the FICCI, paving the way for the revival of the Indo-British economic partnership.

Twenty-year old Indian beauty Yukta Mookhey, scored over 93 other contestants to emerge as the Miss World 1999 at a glittering ceremony in London.

She won prizes worth $ 1,00,000.

The year saw Indians in the UK rising in various arenas. Talvin Singh became the first Indian to win the Technics Mercury Music Prize, the musical equivalent of the Booker Prize. Twentyeight-year-old Talvin Singh beat established names like Chemical Brothers, Manic Street Preachers, Blur and Stereophonics with his fusion of Indian classical melodies with contemporary British dance music. His winning album was entitled “OK”.

Keith Vaz, the longest serving Indian-origin member of the British House of Commons, not only became the first ever Asian to join the British Council of Ministers but was promoted within six months as a Minister in charge of, among other things, Europe.

Indian ace swimmer Bula Chowdhury crossed the English channel for the second time after a decade — a rare feat by an Asian.

Besides, four of the six Asian women achievement awards in the field of entrepreneurship were won by Indian women.

It was a memorable year for the large Sikh community in the UK. The Sikh Trust Card, the first religion-based credit card in the world, was launched here which was followed by inauguration of the first state-aided Sikh school here by the Home Secretary Jack Straw.

Eminent literary figure Nirad C. Chaudhury who chose to describe himself as the “unknown Indian” died here at the age of 101 in August.

The stray cases of attacks on Christians in India had their echo here as over 2,000 people took out a silent march in central London here in March in protest.

From Ludhiana to European Parliament

BRUSSELS, (IANS) Dec 18 — It is a long way from a primary school in Ludhiana, Punjab, to the steel-and-glass palace of European Parliament in Belgium’s capital Brussels.

It is the road travelled by Neena Gill, who is celebrating her first success after being elected to the legislative body of the 15-nation European Union (E.U.) under the colours of Britain’s Labour Party.

Soon after becoming a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in June, she found herself caught in the intricacies of the EU’s budget, equivalent to about £ 60 billion as a member of the legislative body’s most powerful committee. It is the Budgets Committee, which has the politically demanding task of hammering out the EU budget with the Finance Ministers of the 15 member governments and its executive arm, the European Commission (EC).

Neena Gill is not a novice in financial matters. About nine years prior to her election to European Parliament she was chief executive of a housing group in north and east London, with 5,000 homes, assets of £ 200 million and a turnover of £ 20 million.

On Thursday, she had the quiet satisfaction of seeing her efforts on the committee crowned with success when MEPs approved the EU’s budget for 2000. At just under 94 billion euros (one euro is about 0.64 pounds), the budget is equal to just over one per cent of the combined gross national product (GNP) of the 15 EU countries.

Neena Gill left Ludhiana at the age of 10 when her parents emigrated to Britain. She has a degree in social studies from Liverpool, where she was active in student politics. She joined the Labour Party, but made her mark through providing better housing for poor Asian and black families, single people and the elderly.

Her first job was in London’s Southall area in the early 1980s, working to improve housing for Asians. It was a time when the housing needs of ethnic minorities were not being addressed and many Asians were living in overcrowded apartments, some with no attached bathrooms. It was also a time when the extended Asian family was breaking down and elderly and single Asian women were being left to fend for themselves.

It was her work as chief executive of two major London housing associations that brought her in contact with politicians. She became increasingly convinced that in order to do more she had to enter politics. She was encouraged to make the move by Labour politicians and sought selection as a Labour Candidate for a seat in Westminster.

It was her failure to get selected that made her aware of the role of parliamentarians. She, therefore, put herself forward for the European Parliament last year and was chosen as the Labour candidate for the West Midlands, a constituency which includes the cities of Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton.

She is also a member of the European Parliament’s Trade and Industry Committee. Its membership should prove useful to Gill in helping British businessmen of Indian origin who want to develop their exports of Indian ethnic products to other EU countries.

She is a member of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and South Korea. To her disappointment, she is not a full member of the delegation for relations with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Even so, she hopes to visit India either with the delegation or on her own, returning to the country of her birth for the first time since she left as a 10-year-old.

At European Parliament, she will take up problems her Asian constituents have raised with her. Not all Asians living in Britain have taken British nationality. As a result, travelling within the 15-nation EU is not easy for them, even for those who have lived in Britain for over 20 years. Gill is hopeful that she can find a solution with the help of Keith Vaz, Britain’s Minister for Europe who is also of Indian descent.

Her husband is an oceanographer and director of an environmental consultancy. They have a son, aged 13.

Putin can’t hold ‘fair’ poll

MOSCOW, Dec 18 (PTI) — In the run-up to tomorrow’s state Duma poll, former Premier Yevgeny Primakov’s Fatherland-all Russia (OVR) has questioned Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s capability to ensure ‘free and fair’ elections.

Spokesman Vyacheslav Nikonov raised this issue even as the dirtiest poll campaign in Russia’s modern history, marred by scandals and mudslinging against OVR leaders Primakov and Yuri Luzhkov by a member of Kremlin inner circle Boris Berezovsky and the government media came to a close at midnight yesterday.

“Either Putin is behind this dirty campaign or he is not aware of state of affairs in the country and the government is independent from the Prime Minister,” the spokesman said.

Yesterday the RIA ‘Novosti’ agency, controlled by the Information Ministry, popularly known the Kremlin’s ‘Ministry of Truth’ flashed a story saying the number 3 in OVR federal list, St Petersburg Governor Vladimir Yakovlev, is to shortly announce his decision to withdraw from the fray, causing an uproar as this means that the whole over alliance would be disqualified from contesting the tomorrow’s poll.

Leader of another key ‘Yabloko’ block Grigory Yavlinsky, also did not rule out the possibility of ballot rigging in favour of pro-Kremlin ‘Unity’ bloc led by Emergencies Minister Sergei Shoigu.

The Duma poll is seen as the dress rehearsal for the June 2000 presidential elections which would end the Yeltsin era and open a new chapter in Russia’s political development in the next millennium.

This is the precise reason why the Kremlin and Primakov-Luzhkov led OVR alliance are locked into a mortal power struggle.

Sharif’s remarks may invite yet another charge

ISLAMABAD, Dec 18 (PTI) — Pakistan’s military regime has taken serious note of deposed Premier Nawaz Sharifs’ recent statement that Gen Pervez Musharraf and four of his generals and not the whole army was behind his ouster and may charge him with trying to create dissension within the armed forces, a leading newspaper said today.

“Mr Sharif may be charged for his statements and tried under the Army Act”, Urdu daily ‘Jung’ reported, quoting government sources.

“By his remarks to party workers on Thursday at Lahore, where he had gone for prayers after his mother-in-law’s death, Mr Sharif has also violated the directive of the court not to make any political statement”, the daily said.

Meanwhile, Mr Ejazul Haq, Pakistan Muslim League Vice-President, has refuted party chief Sharif’s allegations, saying that all decisions by the armed forces were generally taken unanimously.

Mr Haq, son of the former military ruler Zia-ul-Haq told the daily” “The armed forces take all its decisions unitedly and no major decision is taken at an individual or group level”.

Linda Tripp may testify in court

ELLICOTT CITY, Dec 18 (Reuters) — Linda Tripp, whose taped conversations with Monica Lewinsky led to President Bill Clinton’s impeachment, may testify at a hearing to determine if she can be tried on wiretap charges, her lawyer said.

A day after Lewinsky testified in Howard county circuit court that she did not give Tripp permission to record their telephone calls, Tripp attorney Joe Murtha said he would announce next week if his client would testify.

“Whether to call her as a witness is now the decision I have to make,’’ the attorney said during a recess after five days of pre-trial testimony. “I anticipate that I will not call her. But I don’t want to admit to that today,’’ he said.

Tripp, the Pentagon employee who gave more than 20 hours of secretly recorded conversations to former independent counsel Kenneth Starr in early 1998, was indicted in July on two counts. If convicted, she could face five years in prison and $ 10,000 in fines.

Indian observers for Lanka poll

COLOMBO, Dec 18 (UNI) — Former Election Commissioner G.V.G. Krishnamurthy is among the five Indian poll observers, the largest contingent sent by any country, who have arrived here for the December 21 presidential polls.

The others in the contingent are Press Council Chairman P.B. Sawant, former Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Gurbachan Singh, former Director of South Asian and South East Asian Institute Prof V. Suryanarayana and retired Bureaucrat B.S. Raghavan.

As many as 27 foreign poll observers from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and Holland along with 13,500 election monitors, chosen by three independent election monitoring bodies, will oversee the polls.

Indian captain still in jail

PARIS, Dec 18 (PTI) — Crew continued to battle the seas to clean-up the massive oil slick in the Bay of Biscay, threatening the Atlantic French coast, even as the authorities denied consular access to the arrested Indian captain of the ill-fated Erika tanker for the second consecutive day.

British, German and Dutch vessels joined two French ships already engaged in the massive clean-up operation.

French officials said viscosity and specific gravity of the heavy fuel oil cargo loaded on Erika was high, which made it difficult for the vacuum systems to remove it.

There was a lot of oil at the sea which threatened the coastline, Mr Tosch Moeller of the London-based International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited (ITOPF) said over telephone.

“Millennium Prayer”
LONDON: If someone suggested “Auld Lang Syne” as a good tune for the Lord’s prayer, “you’d want to puke,” says Sir Cliff Richard. But Britain’s ageless pop star went further; he recorded it. Despite heaps of abuse and derision, “Millennium Prayer” has been No. 1 in Britain for three weeks — and it perhaps the most hated hit in recent times. — AP

Pak and Viagra
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has rejected a plea to allow the sale of anti-impotency Viagra pills in the country. The decision was taken on Friday by the Health Ministry’s drug registering board, the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency reported. The board acted on the basis of international studies indicating adverse effects of the US-manufactured pills, the report said. — AFP

Desilting channels
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan army will deploy 50,000 troops on desilting water channels, a senior military official has said. The operation will be launched on December 26, the official Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) news agency quoted Brig Rashid Qureshi as saying on Friday. — AFP

Explosives seized
SEATTLE: US customs agents have arrested a man crossing the Canadian border into the USA with 90 kg of powerful explosives and timing devices, a government source has said. The man, who carried Canadian identification papers with two different names, on Friday tried to outrun the agents after they found two garbage bags full of white powder in his rented car, investigators said. — AP