Friday, May 28, 1999
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W O R L D | Friday, May 28, 1999 |
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Milosevic indicted for
war crimes Ruling party office set afire in
Jakarta |
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Colombian defence chief quits CARTAGENA, Colombia, May 27 — Colombia’s respected defence chief has resigned in protest against government concessions in peace talks with Marxist rebels. China will want edge over India Sun apologises for Sophie’s
photo ‘Bloody’ protests on
poll anniversary |
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Milosevic indicted for war crimes THE HAGUE, May 27 (AFP) — Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and four top officials have been indicted for war crimes, Chief Prosecutor Louise Arbour said today. A source at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has said that an arrest warrant has been issued. The crimes in question concerned Kosovo and not Bosnia-Herzegovina, he added. The others indicted were President of the Yugoslav Republic of Serbia, Milan Milutinovic, Yugoslavia’s Deputy Prime Minister, Nikola Sainovic, the Chief of General Staff of the Yugoslav Army, Dragoljub, Ojdanic and Serbia’s Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr Vlajko Stojiljkovic. “It’s another way of squeezing him and actively trying to stop him,” a diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AP at NATO headquarters in Brussels. It was not possible to establish whether Mr Milosevic would be cited for crimes against humanity or genocide. In Washington, US officials declined to comment on the imminent announcement but pledged support for the work of the tribunal. BEIJING, (AP): Indicting President Milosevic on war crimes charges could hobble attempts to find a political solution to the Kosovo crisis, China’s Foreign Ministry said today. A U.N. Tribunal has indicted Mr Milosevic for causing atrocities in his homeland. China has noted reports (of an indictment) and is concerned about the effect such an action may have on efforts to advance a political resolution for the Kosovo questions, ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said at a briefing. The tribunal’s move comes amid intensified NATO bombing in Kosovo aimed at pressuring Mr Milosevic into withdrawing Serb troops from the province and ending attacks on the ethnic Albanians who live there. China has been opposed to the NATO bombing since it began. Since NATO bombed its embassy in Belgrade on May 7, Beijing demanded an end to the air strikes before it will discuss a resolution on ending the crisis in the U.N. Security Council. NATO claims the bombing, in which three Chinese reporters died, was an accident. BELGRADE: Three civilians were killed and three others injured badly when NATO bombs hit the town of Ralja 40 km south of Belgrade late yesterday. Tanjug said early today. Tanjug said a child had been injured slightly and another was missing. Four bombs fell on Ralja between 2105 GMT and 2115 GMT (2.45 am) one of which hit two houses, (2.35am) the agency said. The two homes in Save Kovacevice street were totally destroyed and more combing through the wreckage. Studio B Radio and earlier that the bombs fell on two houses leaving at least one dead. Earlier, Tanjug news agency said Yugoslav anti-aircraft guns had shot down six NATO missiles, two over Mount Kosmaj 45 km. Meanwhile four powerful explosions wrecked Belgrade shortly after 2.00 a.m. on Thursday apparently coming from the northwest of the city. No information was available as to what was being targeted. But at Batajnica, 15 km northwest of the capital, there is a military airport which has been a regular target of NATO attacks. In other developments NATO warplanes bombed a road west of Belgrade late yesterday, causing a fire, Tanjug said. UNI: NATO’s campaign against Yugoslavia has hit the ordinary Serbians hard, according to United Nation’s Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Serrgio De Mello. NATO’s bombing has caused considerable damage to the utilities like health, water, electric power and transport Mr De Mello, who headed the UN inter-agency needs assistance mission to Yugoslavia, told a news conference here yesterday. A lot of damage has been done to Yugoslavia’s economy and unemployment rate has reached alarming proportions, he said. The destruction of fertiliser plant at Panceyo, near Belgrade, would adversely affect the agricultural production. Mr De Mello expressed concern over psychological affects of bombing on civilian population particularly women and children. The Under
Secretary-General, who also visited Kosovo, said the
damaged house of ethnic Albanians there indicate that
they were forced to leave. |
Kargil situation WASHINGTON, May 27 (UNI, PTI) —The White House has expressed concern about reports of escalation in the fighting in Kashmir, urging restraint to both the Indian Government and the authorities in Pakistan. A US spokesman, Mr Mike Hammer, last night said the USA wanted India and Pakistan to resolve their differences directly. “We hope they will be able to do so quickly in the context of the Lahore agreement.” Earlier, a State Department official said, “we understand that the two Prime Ministers had discussed the issue on the telephone and we encourage them to keep in touch.” The USA had instructed its embassies in New Delhi and Islamabad to express concern over the fighting and urge both countries “to work to reduce tension”. MOSCOW: Russia has demanded that India and Pakistan stop the latest fighting in the Kargil sector in Jammu and Kashmir. “The development of events in Kashmir once again shows the danger of the forceful precedent in international affairs created by the military action of NATO in Yugoslavia,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. BEIJING: China on Thursday appealed to India and Pakistan to exercise restraint and shoulder responsibility to maintain peace and stability in South Asia in the wake of air strikes by India to flush out militants from Kashmir. “We hope that these two countries exercise restraint and resolve their differences and disputes by peaceful means, through patient and candid dialogue,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao told newsmen. COLOMBO: Indian diplomats here briefed Sri Lanka about the circumstances that led to the aerial bombings of the locations occupied by infiltrators from Pakistan near the Line of Control (LoC). Official sources here said on Thursday that senior Indian diplomats conducted special briefings both at the Foreign Ministry and the Presidential Secretariat on Wednesday to provide factual information to the Sri Lankan Government. The briefings assume
significance as President Chandrika Kumaratunga is the
current chairperson of SAARC. |
Ruling party office set afire in Jakarta JAKARTA, May 27 (AP) — A Golkar Party office was set on fire early today in the worst attack on the ruling party since the campaign for the June 7 parliamentary elections began eight days ago. The blaze broke out just hours before tens of thousands of supporters of two Opposition parties choked the streets of this capital. Witnesses and police said no one was injured in the incident in the troubled north-western province of Aceh, the site of a violent separatist movement. National election officials said today voting there could be postponed because of rising violence but that they would wait until the day before the election to decide. They also said a small number of marked ballots had been found elsewhere. Meanwhile, former President Suharto delivered a letter to the Attorney-Generals office today authorising government investigators to search for and seize any money of his if they find it stashed in foreign bank accounts. He reiterated denials that he has money overseas. “I have given the power-of-attorney to the government through the Attorney-General. This is the bury information in the report by Time magazine about the transfer of money worth $ 9 billion from Swiss bank to a bank in Austria,” Suharto said. The government plans to send a team headed by the Justice Minister and the Attorney-General to Austria and Switzerland next week to probe the charges. Ever since his ouster
from office last year, Suharto has been accused of
allegedly moving millions of dollars to an Austrian bank.
Suharto, whose family is thought to have amassed a
fortune during his 32-year rule, has consistently denied
holding any wealth abroad. |
Colombian defence chief quits CARTAGENA, Colombia, May 27 (Reuters) — Colombia’s respected defence chief has resigned in protest against government concessions in peace talks with Marxist rebels. The resignation sparked vocal protests from the country’s restive military. However, President Andres Pastrana poured cold water on coup rumours or talk of a wholesale shake-up in the armed forces after he emerged from an emergency meeting with military leaders. “I want to reiterate my faith and total confidence in the Colombian armed forces”, said Mr Pastrana, who was in this Caribbean port city to host a summit with Andean community leaders when Defence Minister Rodrigo Lloreda announced his resignation yesterday. “Today, more than ever, the government and its armed force are deeply united and in accord about the national goal of searching for peace”, said Mr Pastrana. Mr Pastrana was flanked by all five members of his military high command as he read from the text of a prepared statement at Cartagena’s waterfront convention, where local media reports about Colombia’s worst military crisis in years plunged the summit into chaos earlier on Wednesday. The sudden departure of
Mr Lloreda, a civilian who won widespread respect within
the Army, triggered reports of widespread unrest. |
China will want edge over India WASHINGTON, May 27 (PTI) — China will insist on maintaining nuclear and missile superiority over India, a Carnegie Endowment report says. It could also refuse to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty or join the Missile Technology Control Regime and drop its diplomatic support for the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Carnegie Endowment report prepared by its consultant Dr Ming Zhang states. A “proliferation brief” by the endowment distributed to the media yesterday says China’s response to the Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests will have critical implications for the region. The “brief” states that an actual nuclear confrontation between India and China in the near future remains highly unlikely. It said it will take at least five years for China to monitor the development of India’s nuclear forces and to assess any possible nuclear threat to it. The report also states that until a new nuclear-security pattern fully emerges in South Asia, China will most likely maintain its current nuclear policies and its current modernisation plan, including the development and deployment of new DF-31 and DF-41 missiles. The report further
states that it is still hard to imagine that China would
do nothing if India deployed a significant number of
nuclear weapons or targeted nuclear weapons in China.
Pressure from the army would probably precipitate an
additional buildup to maintain China’s nuclear
advantage. |
Sun apologises for Sophie’s photo LONDON, May 27 (Reuters) — Britain’s top-selling Sun tabloid apologised for publishing a topless picture of royal bride-to-be Sophie Rhys-Jones after Buckingham Palace and Prime Minister Tony Blair led a furious outcry. The Sun splashed a photograph of TV presenter Chris Tarrant playing the fool with Rhys-Jones in the back of a car over 10 years ago and yanking her bikini top to reveal a bare breast. Rhys-Jones, 34, said the scandal would ruin her wedding to the Queen’s youngest son, Prince Edward, and Tarrant accused the press of trying to bury the royal couple’s marriage. “This has ruined my engagement. This (wedding) was supposed to be the happiest day of my life,” The Daily Mail quoted Rhys-Jones as saying. It said she felt
“utter betrayal” and Edward was “totally
disgusted and livid”. |
‘Bloody’ protests on poll anniversary BANGKOK, May 27 (AFP) — Exiled students slashed their arms with knives and soaked Myanmar flags with blood today outside Yangon’s Embassy here in protest at the Junta’s refusal to cede power to opposition democrats. More than 200 exiled students and Buddhist monks staged the protest on the ninth anniversary of Myanmar’s 1990 election which Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won by a landslide. Three students cut themselves and spilled their blood over Myanmar flags before setting them alight, police said. The crowd included refugees of several of Myanmar’s many ethnic groups, including Mons and Karens. Protestors called on Myanmar’s military government to “immediately transfer political power to the Parliament”, elected in 1990 which has not been allowed to meet. They also called on the government to release all political prisoners. Aung San Suu Kyi’s
NLD took 392 of the 485 seats on offer in the National
Elections on May 27, 1990. |
Swiss conductor dead BASEL (Switzerland): Swiss billionaire industrialist and symphony conductor Paul Sacher has died after a long illness, the pharmaceutical giant Roche announced on Wednesday. He was 93. Sacher was
reputedly one of the world’s richest men. He and
other family members controlled Roche Holding AG, and had
a joint fortune estimated at 25-30 billion Swiss francs
(17-20 billion dollars). |
Resignation of Reno, Berger demanded WASHINGTON, May 27 (PTI)
— Republican Congressman Dick Armey, the House
majority leader, has called for the resignation of
National Security Adviser Samuel Berger for his failure
to brief President Bill Clinton about Chinese espionage
in time. |
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| 3 Pak policemen killed in attack MULTAN: Gunmen shot dead three policemen in this central Pakistani city late on Wednesday in what police called a terrorist attack. They said a police patrol stopped four people riding on two motorbikes in violation of a ban on pillion riding. The policemen, who were also on motorbikes, were escorting the four to a police station when they opened fire, police said. In February five policemen were killed in a similar fashion in Multan where sectarian unrest this year has claimed dozens of lives. — AFP 40 killed in Somalia Clintons to move Sophie’s
award Saudi porn Everest climbers Live-wire
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