tribuneindia...Spotlight

			Tuesday, May 4, 1999
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Lithuanian PM quits
VILNIUS, May 3 (DPA) — Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Vagnorius handed a letter of resignation today to President Valdas Adamkus. "The most important thing is that the interests of the country be fulfilled. I hand over Lithuania as a stable country," Mr Vagnorius said after a brief closed-door meeting with the President.

Nazia Hassan
ISLAMABAD, May 3 (PTI) — Ailing Pakistani pop singer Nazia Hassan has denied media reports that she had slipped into coma and said she was recovering fast and hoped to record her new song soon. Hassan, who is reportedly suffering from blood cancer for the last few years, told ‘News’ from London that she was improving after treatment.

Win Chadha
NEW DELHI, May 3 (UNI) — Mr Win Chadha, former Bofors agent in India, and his son, Harsh are also among those being named as accused in the CBI’s first charge sheet to be filed soon in the Rs 64 crore payoffs case, bureau sources said today. The CBI had named them and three others as beneficiaries of the kickbacks in the Rs 1,436 crore Howitzer gun deal signed with Sweden in 1986.

13 LTTE men killed
COLOMBO, May 3 (PTI) — At least 13 LTTE guerrillas have been killed in separate clashes with the troops in Sri Lanka’s northern Jaffna peninsula, while the rebels blew up two power transformers in central Colombo today, the Defence Ministry said. The Army ambushed five Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres at Thaddvankoddy and killed as many rebels in a similar operation in the north yesterday, a Defence Ministry release here said. Three more militants were killed when troops opened fire at them in Northern Paranthan.

Pro-Benazir rally
KARACHI, May 3 (AFP) — Thousands of supporters of Pakistan opposition Leader Benazir Bhutto staged a noisy rally here last evening against the former Prime Minister’s conviction on corruption charges. During the rally held in the Lyari district, the Pakistan People’s Party head spoke to other party leaders by telephone from Dubai, witnesses said. The party has held a string of demonstrations across the country in the past week. Reports said Ms Bhutto’s lawyers have gone to Dubai to consult her prior to filing an appeal to the Supreme Court. Ms Bhutto and her jailed husband Asif Ali Zardari were each sentenced to five years imprisonment and barred from holding public office by an anti-corruption high court on April 15.

17 protesters killed
JAKARTA, May 3 (AFP) — Indonesian soldiers today opened fire on thousands of protesters in the troubled province of Aceh, killing at least 17 persons and injuring scores more, hospital officials said. Thousands of people, mostly youths, had taken to the streets to protest military violence in the past days, a local journalist said. The shooting erupted at the Simpang Pabrik Kertas Kraft paper factory on the outskirts of Lhokseumawe in north Aceh, the journalist said. "We have a total of 37 persons admitted here, 10 of them have died of bullet wounds,’’ a staff member at the Arun hospital in Lhokseumawe, north Aceh told AFP by telephone.

10 killed in mishap
HYDERABAD, May 3 (PTI) — Ten persons, including eight state government officials, were killed and five injured in two road accidents in Medak and Krishna districts of Andhra Pradesh during the past 24 hours. The police said eight "nodal" officers, associated with the "janmabhoomi" (community development through people’s participation) programme, were killed on the spot when their jeep collided with a lorry on the outskirts of Siddipet town in the neighbouring Medak district today. The officials were identified as Shanker Rao, Srinivas Rao, Muralidhar, Ramakrishna, Hari, Aniruddin, Raju and Anantaswamy, the police said.