tribuneindia...Spotlight

			Wednesday, March 17, 1999
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13 feared dead in UN copter crash
MIAMI, March 16 (Reuters) —The wreckage of a UN helicopter that vanished in Haiti has been discovered Northeast of Port-Au-Prince and rescue crew members reported no sign of any survivors, the US Coast Guard has said. "The helicopter is totalled. There are numerous bodies and body parts all over the place, which would indicate that all 13 persons on board perished in the crash," Coast Guard spokesman Scott Carr said here yesterday. The UN-chartered chopper had set out on Sunday night from the capital on a mercy mission to help a Finnish woman hurt in a speedboat accident in Northern Haiti. UN officials said the Russian-made MI-8 helicopter had six Argentines, six Russians and an American on board.

Cong MLA quits
BHUBANESWAR, March 16 (PTI) — The one-month-old Giridhar Gamang government in Orissa today suffered a set-back when a prominent Congress legislator and former Minister Jagannath Rout resigned from the state assembly saying his non-inclusion in the new ministry had tarnished his image. Mr Rout, who made a dramatic entry into the House as it was witnessing uproarious scenes over reports about his resignation, told the members that he had decided to quit the assembly since his failure to find a berth in the new ministry reflected on his personal image.

US-N Korea talks
SEOUL, March 16 (AFP) — The USA and North Korea have reached the final stage of negotiations over US demands for access to Pyongyang’s suspected nuclear site, South Korea’s top security adviser Lim Dong-Won said today. "It appears that the USA and North Korea, on talks over Kumchangri underground site, have come to the final stage and the two sides are now working on the wording of the accord," Mr Lim told reporters.

Suicide bomber
COLOMBO, March 16 (PTI) — At least four persons were killed and 10 injured when a female LTTE suicide bomber blew herself in an unsuccessful attempt on the life of Sri Lankan chief of anti-terrorist operations on the outskirts of Colombo, police said. An LTTE woman suicide bomber jumped towards the chief of the Lankan anti-terrorist operations Mr Mohammed Nilabdeen, at suburban Mount Lavaniya police station, who in a quick reflex escaped the certain death.

Mild quake in UP
NEW DELHI, March 16 (PTI) — Western Uttar Pradesh experienced an earthquake of slight intensity this morning, the met office here said. The earthquake measuring 3.2 on the Richter scale with its epicentre at 28.3 latitude and 78.4 degree longitude occurred at 9.47 a.m., it said.

Russian minister
NEW DELHI, March 16 (PTI) — Russian Defence Minister Marshal Igor Dmitrievich Sergeyev will pay a five-day visit to India from March 19 and hold talks with senior ministers. During his stay in the capital, Mr Sergeyev will call on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and have discussions with Defence Minister George Fernandes and External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh. The three service chiefs will also call on the visiting dignitary, a Defence Ministry spokesman said.

Taliban ban
KABUL, March 16 (AFP) — Afghanistan’s ultra puritanical Taliban militia officially banned Nawroz, the traditional Afghan new year ceremonies, as an anti-Islamic practice, official radio Shariat said today. The religious militia station added clerics had also decided at a meeting yesterday to ask people to shun such customs. Nawroz, which literally means new day, marks the first day of the Persian solar year which begins in five days time.