Saturday, February 20, 1999
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W O R L D | Saturday, February 20, 1999 |
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4 Greek, Kenyan ministers quit LONDON, Feb 19 — Turkey shrugged off Kurdish fury and attacked for a second day separatist guerrillas in northern Iraq as protesting Kurds lifted their prolonged two-day siege of the Greek Embassy in London.
Serbia
asks NATO to end pressure pressure |
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 President Boris Yeltsin (right) smiles while speaking with Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and head of the European Union's Executive Commission Jacques Santer (left) in the Kremlin in Moscow on Thursday. Yeltsin met with Germany's Chancellor and Jacques Santer on Thursday for talks on reviving Russia's economy. AP/PTI UK move ‘will hit asylum-seekers’ ASYLUM-SEEKERS in the UK who try to launch a legal challenge over the way they have been treated by the British Immigration authorities will be cut off from all state support, including food and lodgings, under new Home Office proposals. |
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Monica interview airing
allowed 5
Pak ordinances become invalid Soyabeans
dumped outside PM’s office |
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Ocalan capture fallout LONDON, Feb 19 (Agencies) — Turkey shrugged off Kurdish fury and attacked for a second day separatist guerrillas in northern Iraq as protesting Kurds lifted their prolonged two-day siege of the Greek Embassy in London. Three Greek Government Ministers were forced to resign over Turkey’s capture of Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan in Kenya as at least 50 to 70 Kurdish students, who had barricaded inside the Greek Embassy brandishing home-made bombs, emerged from the building in London’s posh South Kensington area to surrender to metropolitan police who whisked them away to detention in a luxury bus. In Ankara, officials said Turkish troops had pushed more than 15 km into northern Iraq to strike a blow to Kurdish guerrillas as Cobra helicopters fired rockets at rebel targets in the Matina mountains with up to 4,000 troops aided by 1,000 Kurdish pro-state militia taking part in the push. Widespread protests were reported all over Europe as tension mounted following reports that Israeli intelligence agency Mossad had been involved in the capture of Ocalan. British media reports said despite earlier claims that Kenya played no part in Ocalan’s arrest, Kenyan Government officials put the PKK leader on a flight out of the country, quoting Kenyan official. The successful operation by the Turkish elite forces has sent a wave of jubilation across the country with many describing the capture of Ocalan, Turkey’s most wanted man as the “greatest victory in the 75-year history of the nation.” The extensive coverage of a handcuffed Ocalan inflamed Kurdish passions all round Europe with widespread demonstrations and violence reported from Germany, which has a sizeable Kurdish population, to other European capitals. In Athens, three ministers resigned amid heavy criticism over the harbouring of Ocalan in Nairobi and his subsequent capture by Turkey — an act viewed in Greece as humiliation at the hands of an arch-rival. NAIROBI: Kenyan top government minister Simeon Nyachae has resigned after President Daniel Arap Moi took him away from the Finance Minister in a reshuffle which also saw heads roll in the abduction of Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan. Outgoing Finance Minister Nyachae, appointed early last year, had been due to hold talks soon with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the resumption of a $ 205 million enhanced structural adjustment facility frozen in 1997, largely because of high-level corruption. Mr Moi transferred him to the Industrial Development Ministry on Thursday. Foreign Minister Bonaya Godana kept his job, but Mr Moi sacked police Commissioner Duncan Wachira, the Criminal Investigations Department chief and the Principal Immigration Officer. BAGHDAD: Baghdad demanded the immediate retreat of Turkish troops following their incursion into northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish rebels. “The Iraqi Government vigorously condemns this new Turkish aggression and protests the violation of Iraq’s sovereignty by the Turkish armed forces,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman quoted by the official news agency said on Thursday. The spokesman called on Ankara to “pull its invading troops back immediately and stop its aggressions, which contravene the UN charter, international law and good neighbourly relations”. The spokesman added that
the timing — just after Iraqi-Turkish discussions in
Ankara on improving bilateral relations — increased
Baghdad’s “astonishment” at the incursion.
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Serbia asks NATO to end pressure pressure BELGRADE, Feb 19 (AFP) — The Serbian President, Mr Milan Milutinovic, demanded an end to pressure on Belgrade to accept a NATO deployment in Kosovo, Tanjug news agency has reported. He made the call in an “urgent” message to the six-nation contact group on the ex-Yugoslavia, last night in Paris. In his message, Mr Milutinovic “requests protection against the repeated pressures for our delegation to accept the so-called military annexe, that is the stationing of foreign troops with a view to applying the accord drawn up by the contact group for Kosovo,” Tanjug said. It was quoting a communique from the President’s office published after a meeting between Mr Milutinovic and US mediator Christopher Hill yesterday evening at Rambouillet outside Paris where Kosovo peace talks are being held. “The threats and ultimatums concerning the troops can only distract those taking part in the talks from the fundamental issue of a political agreement, so vital for Kosovo,” he said. “Besides protection against this kind of pressure, President Milutinovic has asked the contact group to do its utmost to ensure that in accordance with the 10 principles spelled out by the contact group, the participants in the talks turn their attention once again to the agreement and to the matters for which the Rambouillet meeting was convened,” the communique said. The message was addressed
to the Foreign Ministers of France, the UK the USA,
Russia, Italy and Germany. |
And now bus to China? BEIJING, Feb 19 (PTI) — Will India and China agree to start a bus service to normalise their bilateral ties in near future? Though diplomatic sources said no such move was in the offing, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman did not reject the idea of bus diplomacy. “As we know, the Indian side has never proposed to the relevant Chinese department to start a bus service between the two countries,” the spokesman told PTI here. The Chinese response, in reply to a question, came after Defence Minister George Fernandes recently expressed optimism that the day was not very far when a stage would be reached for starting a bus service between India and China on lines similar to that of Delhi-Lahore bus service. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will travel to Pakistan by road tomorrow marking the inauguration of first such bus service between India and Pakistan. However, analysts noted that Sino-Indian relations at the present juncture needs a strong symbolic gesture to resume bilateral dialogue. They said starting a
regular commercial bus service between the two Asian
giants on lines similar to the Delhi-Lahore and the
proposed Calcutta-Dhaka route will help normalisation of
Sino-Indian relations. |
Monica interview airing allowed WASHINGTON, Feb 19 (AFP) — Independent counsel Kenneth Starr has given Ms Monica Lewinsky permission to be interviewed on US and British television, but has placed restrictions on what she may say, The New York Times said today. Ms Lewinsky will be interviewed by Barbara Walters on ABC Television tomorrow, but the 90-minute interview will likely be broadcast on March 4 at 8 a.m. (IST) sources with knowledge of the terms of Ms Lewinsky’s agreement with ABC told the daily. Mr Starr, however, has forbidden Ms Lewinsky to disclose any details of her initial interview with his staff, the paper said. Ms Lewinsky was blocked from speaking to news organisations under the terms of an agreement she signed last year with Starr’s office, which granted her immunity from prosecution in exchange for her testimony in Starr’s investigation of President Bill Clinton. The Times’ sources also said that Mr Starr had allowed Britain’s Channel 4 to broadcast its interview with Ms Lewinsky on March 4. Channel 4, the daily said, agreed to pay Ms Lewinsky $ 600,000, while ABC executives and Ms Walters said no money was exchanged for their interview with Ms Lewinsky. Also on March 4, a book on
Ms Lewinsky and her affair with Mr Clinton written with
her cooperation by Andrew Morton will go on sale, sources
with knowledge of the publisher’s plans told the
daily. |
5 Pak ordinances become invalid ISLAMABAD, Feb 19 (ANI) — The Pakistan Supreme Court’s verdict making Military Trial Courts (MTCs) “unconstitutional, having no lawful authority and of no legal effect” has rendered all the five ordinances invalid. The government had promulgated them after establishing military courts. The ordinances includes the Electricity (Emergency Provisions Ordinance) that deals with combating power thefts. A senior official said here that although the Supreme Court has announced its judgement only about Ordinance Number XII of 1998, dealing with the setting up of military courts, all the ordinances had become invalid with immediate effect. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court’s ruling has been widely welcomed by opposition parties, which hailed it as the government’s defeat and a step towards restoration of law and constitution in the country. Leader of the opposition
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Ms Benazir Bhutto said
the Supreme Court verdict was a “giant leap towards
establishing the rule of law and constitution and a slap
on the face of a regime hell-bent on destroying every
state institution.” |
UK move ‘will hit
asylum-seekers’ ASYLUM-SEEKERS in the UK who try to launch a legal challenge over the way they have been treated by the British Immigration authorities will be cut off from all state support, including food and lodgings, under new Home Office proposals. The plan was confirmed as Mr Jack Straw, British Home Secretary, lost an Appeal Court test case which could affect the way thousands of deportations are handled each year. Three appeal judges on Wednesday cancelled the deportation order faced by Mr Mohammed Arif (36) a teacher, sending him back to Pakistan occupied Kashmir where he faces a seven-year hard labour prison sentence, because the Home Secretary had failed to prove that the political situation was now safe for him to return. The proposal to end state support of asylum-seekers who bring such challenges will effectively end 2,000 such high court judicial review cases each year, and forms part of a new “cashless system” of state support proposed in a draft British Home Office manual published on Wednesday. “Support will not be provided where judicial review is pursued,” says the Home Office document. “Appellants should look to their own community or the voluntary sector for any support. The Immigration and Nationality Department is considering the case for providing grant aid for such functions.” Home Office officials envisage that about 22,000 asylum-seekers will be dispersed around the country in “no choice” accommodation, with the Immigration authorities specifically banned from taking their personal circumstances into account. A further 14,000 who are living with family or friends will receive the bare minimum subsistence help in the form of food vouchers and other support. For the first time the manual also makes clear the purpose of the new arrangements by explicitly stating that one objective of the new organisation to run the system will be “to minimise the incentive to economic migration, particularly by minimising cash payments to asylum-seekers” while ensuring nobody is left destitute. The Refugee Council in the
UK has voiced alarm at the judicial review proposal. —
The Guardian, London |
Soyabeans dumped outside PM’s office LONDON, Feb 19 (AP) — Greenpeace activists dumped four tonnes of genetically modified soya beans outside Prime Minister Tony Blair’s office to protest against his statement that bioengineered food is safe to eat. The environmental group said seven persons were arrested after they offloaded the beans yesterday from a truck at the gates that block the entrance to Downing Street. “He should listen to the wishes of the U.K. public who want him to ban gene food now,’’ said Greenpeace Executive Director Lord Melchett. Mr Blair’s office
said on Monday he was satisfied that food made with
genetically modified products, notably tomato paste and
soya sauce, had been rigorously tested and approved by an
independent committee before going on sale in Britain. |
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| Research to attract worshippers LONDON: Church of England leaders have turned to a market researcher who has sold dish soap and diapers to help figure out what worshippers expect from their churches and priests. Using focus groups to conduct market research is part of a larger strategy by England’s state church to appeal to younger worshipper and appear more business like, according to The Daily Telegraph. The programme is being overseen by the church’s 19-member archbishops’ council, which met this week to talk about how to attract new customers. — AP 42 die in fighting UNCTAD chief Turner apologises UNITA rebels Indian murdered Anwar trial |
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