Holocaust victims’ accounts
Swiss banks to drop veil of secrecy
NEW YORK, Nov 16 — Prodded by Jewish advocacy groups, Swiss banks have dropped their refusal publicly to identify many accounts that had been held by victims of the holocaust, a source close to the issue has said.

Yeltsin rebuffs West on Chechnya
MOSCOW, Nov 16 —The USA and European states have no right to ask Russia to suspend military operations against terrorists holed up in the breakaway province of Chechnya, Russian President Boris Yeltsin has said.

Falun Gong urges Annan to step in
BEIJING, Nov 16 — More than a dozen defiant members of China’s banned Falun Gong spiritual movement staged a bold protest in Tiananmen Square today, unfurling a banner during a visit by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to Beijing.

Strike over diesel price hike
KATHMANDU, Nov 16 — Businesses in the Nepali capital were closed today after a general strike called to oppose a recent increase in fuel prices.

Israel turns down China’s plea
JERUSALEM, Nov 16 —Israel’s Parliamentary Speaker Avraham Burg said yesterday he had refused a Chinese request to cancel a meeting next week with the Dalai Lama.

Pakistan SC denounces Act

ISLAMABAD, Nov 16 (PTI) — Pakistan’s Supreme Court has severely criticised the Anti-Terrorist Act enacted by the previous government under which present military rulers are now trying to convict deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The Full Bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Saiduzzaman Siddiqui, dubbed yesterday the law a "licence to kill" for the police as the military regime attempted to prove that the law was a "good piece of legislation".

The court also reprimanded Attorney-General Aziz A Munshi, who had been recently appointed by Chief Executive Gen Pervez Musharraf, for not appearing before it.

The Bench, while hearing several petitions challenging the Act, took serious note of a provision in the law which empowered officers of the police and other law-enforcing agencies to kill any person merely on doubt of involvement in terrorism.

Chief Justice Siddiqui, while commenting on this provision, observed that Pakistan was a peace-loving civilised state in which the police and other law-enforcement agencies could not be given "a licence to kill citizens".

Deputy Attorney General Tanvir Bashir Ansari tried to prove that the law was "a good piece of legislation".

Mr Justice Irshad Khan, another judge on the Bench, said through such provisions efforts were made to legalise the so-called "police encounters". "Mr Attorney, you want to legalise such police encounters in the guise of anti-terrorist law," he told the Deputy Attorney-General.

"Tomorrow you can kill a person busy in wall chalking. We can’t allow such laws," the Chief Justice said.

He also observed during the course of arguments that the police could not kill any person even if he was involved in any offence, saying that "this is the job of the courts to decide the fate of the accused".

The Chief Justice also took serious notice of the absence of the Attorney-General during the hearing of such an important matter as he said "the common people are suffering because of the Constitution of larger Benches as their cases are being delayed. But even then you are not giving any importance to argue your case".

He directed the Deputy Attorney General to ensure the presence of the Attorney General on the next hearing date.

Meanwhile, a Pakistan-born member of the British Parliament has been allowed to meet deposed Premier Nawaz Sharif and is reportedly working on an understanding between Mr Sharif and the present military rulers of the country, a leading newspaper reported here.

The British Parliamentarian, Choudhury Mohammed Sarwar Khan, met Mr Sharif at an army mess on the outskirts of Islamabad yesterday evening and was scheduled to hold a meeting with General Musharraf, according to the mass circulation Urdu daily Jung.

The report further said that Choudhury Sarwar was working on some kind of formula under which an understanding could be reached between the deposed Premier and the army rulers. The daily claimed that Mr Sharif had expressed his willingness to accept any condition to wriggle out of the present situation.

The authorities, however, were insisting that first Mr Sharif be made accountable for all irregularities, including financial ones, through a transparent judicial process, the report said.

BEIJING: Gen Pervez Musharraf’s special envoy, Shahabzada Yaqub Khan, is arriving here on Wednesday to brief the Chinese leadership about the situation in Pakistan after the military coup there on October 12, official sources said on Tuesday.

Mr Khan, a former Foreign Minister of Pakistan, was likely to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan and other senior Foreign Ministry officials, the sources told PTI here.

C’wealth summit
Pakistan dismisses communiqué

ISLAMABAD, Nov 16 (AFP) —Pakistan today dismissed as unacceptable a Commonwealth summit communiqué calling the military coup here as illegal and demanding speedy restoration of democracy.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman said the communiqué issued at a Commonwealth summit, in Durban South Africa yesterday ignored ground realities in Pakistan and focussed on the form of democracy to the detriment of the substance.

It has used unacceptable words in its characterisation of the change in Pakistan of October 12, the spokesman said.

The Foreign Ministry spokesman said the summit ignored the report of the CMAG which acknowledged the strongly felt desire for change in Pakistan.

The summit communiqué has lost sight of substance and dwelt on the form of democracy.

He said the government was determined to launch electoral reforms along with its efforts for economic stabilisation, strengthening of the federation and transparent accountability.

The government would welcome assistance for democratic reforms and combating corruption, especially in tracing and recovering illegally transferred wealth, he said.

Pakistan would continue to interact with the Commonwealth exclusively on the basis of reciprocity, the norms of diplomatic propriety and our national interests, he added.

Pak likely to arrest loan defaulters

ISLAMABAD, Nov 16 (AP) — Pakistan’s military rulers are expected to begin arresting people and auctioning off their property when the four-week deadline for the repayment of bad debts end later today, bankers and government officials said.

A list of everyone who has not repaid his loans will be handed over to the army, said a State Bank of Pakistan official under condition of anonymity.

One of the first promises made by Gen Pervez Musharraf after overthrowing the elected government on October 12, was to pursue the corrupt and recover illicit wealth.

He issued a warning to those with outstanding loans: pay up before November 16 or risk jail.

It is estimated that bad debts total Rs 211 billion ($ four billion). Most of this money is owed by 320 of Pakistan’s biggest businesses and prominent families. The family of deposed premier Nawaz Sharif is among those who have not paid their loans.

According to today’s newspaper reports barely Rs 3 billion ($ 55.5 million) has been recovered to date or less than 2 per cent of the total.

General Musharraf earlier said the new government was looking at stronger laws that allowed for quick disposal of the property of loan defaulters.

Indo-US talks on CTBT

LONDON, Nov 16 (PTI) — India and the USA today resumed crucial talks on disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation, with New Delhi stating that there was now much greater understanding of its security concerns.

External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, who flew in here from Durban after attending the Commonwealth summit, met US Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott for the two-day ninth round being held after a gap of nearly ten months.

Officials said the security perspectives of the two sides were further elaborated and clarified with a view to harmonising each others’ perceptions on nuclear related issues.

The talks, preceded by a breakfast meeting, assume significance in the light of US President Bill Clinton’s visit to India slated to take place early next year.

This is the first high-level interaction between the two sides after the new Vajpayee government assumed office and India announced its draft nuclear doctrine, which has come in for sharp criticism from Washington.

However, New Delhi has termed the US concerns as "overstated" as it was simply a discussion paper released by the National Security Advisory Board.

Both Mr Singh and Mr Talbott resumed parleys on four issues relating to security, disarmament and non-proliferation which included the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), Fissile Material Cut Off Treaty (FMCT), Indian defence posture and export control, officials said.

Mr Singh was assisted by Foreign Secretary K Raghunath, Foreign Secretary-designate and Indian High Commissioner to the UK Lalit Mansingh and Joint Secretaries in the External Affairs Ministry Alok Prasad and Rakesh Sood.

The talks are being held on the basis of comprehensive proposals that India put forward on disarmament and non-proliferation matters including announcing unilateral moratorium on nuclear tests and willingness to discuss converting it into a de jure obligation.

India has also expressed its readiness to enter into constructive negotiations on the FMCT and reaffirmed its stand on maintaining stringent control on export of sensitive technologies.

Officials said the parleys were held in a cordial and relaxed atmosphere.

The dates of Mr Clinton’s India visit were also discussed.

Mr Singh and Mr Talbott had last met briefly in New York in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and earlier in Moscow in May.

Before emplaning for London, Mr Singh told reporters in Durban that a great deal has happened since the last round of talks in January which included the Lahore Declaration, the Kargil conflict, the coup in Pakistan and the rejection of the CTBT by the US Senate.

Expressing satisfaction over the last eight rounds, Mr Singh said "there is now much greater understanding of India’s security concern."

Aceh referendum in 7 months: Wahid

TOKYO, Nov 16 (DPA) — Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid today said a referendum on self-determination for the country’s troubled Aceh province may be held in seven months.

“In general the plan now is to have the referendum on Aceh ... seven months from now,” he told the National Press Club in Japan, where he was on a two-day unofficial visit ending today.

The President said whether the referendum would be on autonomy or independence from Indonesia was up to the “people themselves, not the government”.

A news report earlier today said the USA was expected to despatch a team to Indonesia to help resolve the separatist conflict in Aceh, where migrant settlers have started fleeing their homes fearing unrest.

Mr Wahid had accepted President Bill Clinton’s offer to send a conflict resolution team to Jakarta, the Jakarta Post reported.

The daily was quoting Foreign Minister Alwi Shihab, speaking aboard the Indonesian presidential plane en route from Salt Lake City to Japan.

“He (Clinton) does not want to see Aceh separate from Indonesia. He wants to see Aceh remain a part of Indonesia,” The Post quoted Mr Shihab as saying.

PTI: Mr Wahid, however, expressed confidence that Aceh would remain a part of Indonesia and that the trend for Indonesia’s many islands to call for autonomy or independence would not escalate.

“I don’t believe that separatists in different islands voice the majority (opinion), they are a minority, a very small minority. That’s why I agree about (holding) the referendum,” he explained.

The Free Aceh Movement, which accuses the central government of stealing Aceh’s natural resources and the military of massive human rights abuses in the province, has been waging an armed rebellion, demanding the creation of an Islamic state.

Last week, several people took part in a rally in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh sending the strongest signal yet to Jakarta that they want self-determination.

Mr Wahid, who was elected as Indonesia’s President last month, left Japan today after a two-day unofficial visit.

Holocaust victims’ accounts
Swiss banks to drop veil of secrecy

NEW YORK, Nov 16 (Reuters) — Prodded by Jewish advocacy groups, Swiss banks have dropped their refusal publicly to identify many accounts that had been held by victims of the holocaust, a source close to the issue has said.

“There seems to be an agreement on publishing at least half of the accounts,” the source, who asked not to be identified, said.

The apparent reversal came as representatives of the Swiss banks and Jewish advocacy groups, working together on the so-called Volcker Commission, sought to draft a report due to be released next month on assets owned by the victims of the Nazi Holocaust during the World War II era.

The Volcker Commission’s report is due to be used by the US Judge overseeing a $ 1.25 billion settlement that Swiss banks reached last year to compensate holocaust victims.

The commission, established in 1996 by Swiss banks and the World Jewish Congress (WJC), a Jewish advocacy group, has found 44,000 bank accounts held by victims of the holocaust — more than 50 times the number the banks had claimed four years ago.

Many holocaust victims have criticised the Swiss banks for long for using bank secrecy laws to block them from withdrawing their assets after the war ended.

Mr Israel Singer, secretary-general of the WJC, met yesterday in Zurich with other members of the Volcker Commission.

Mr Elan Steinberg, WJC executive director, declined comment when asked how many of the holocaust bank accounts would be published in the commission’s report.

“I can confirm that they discussed the question of the publication of names and accounts as well as the final language of the report. It won’t be finalised today but we will meet again in New York next week,” he said.

“Important progress has been made and we expect the report to be out in December,” he added.

While the 44,000 holocaust accounts are worth billions of dollars, very few of the holocaust survivors and heirs who have claims still are alive.

“As a result, the $ 1.25 billion settlement between Swiss banks and holocaust victims will be more than adequate to pay all claims”, Mr Steinberg said.

Yeltsin rebuffs West on Chechnya

MOSCOW, Nov 16 (UNI) —The USA and European states have no right to ask Russia to suspend military operations against terrorists holed up in the breakaway province of Chechnya, Russian President Boris Yeltsin has said.

“We will not stop our offensive until the last terrorist is pushed out or eliminated,’’ he told newspersons here yesterday, on the eve of his departure to Istanbul to attend a summit conference of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation Europe (OSCE).

Mr Yeltsin’s attitude towards the West has hardened after repeated criticism of the Kremlin’s policy on Chechnya. Observers here say Russia will not allow the West to turn the OSCE into an anti-Russian forum.

Moscow has meanwhile set up a temporary administration for Chechnya in Gudermes, which was freed from rebel control last week. The Kremlin has hinted that it will turn Gudermes, the second largest city in Chechnya, into the permanent capital of the republic, as Grozny, the existing capital, has been reduced to rubble, Voice of Russia said yesterday.

Meanwhile, federal troops further advanced into the war zone yesterday when they encircled Grozny. Combat planes had bombed the military fortifications around the capital and blocked passage through the Argun region, through which the rebels obtained military hardware from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and other Arab states.

DUBAI: (Reuters): Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov has appealed to Muslim countries for help over the Russian military campaign against his country, the head of the world’s largest Islamic organisation said.

Mr Azeddine Laraki, Secretary-General of the 55-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), said yesterday he received a letter from Mr Maskhadov ‘’describing the tragedy in Chechnya and urging Muslim countries to take an appropriate position that befits the magnitude of the tragedy’’.

Mr Laraki said “the developments in Chechnya’’ led him to turn down an invitation from Russia to visit Moscow.

Sexual fragrances to fight pests

HOCHHEIM (Germany), Nov 16 (DPA) — German vine growers have achieved remarkable success fighting pests with sexual fragrances. Within the framework of a pilot scheme, in April the vintners distributed more than 90,000 ampules containing so-called ‘’sexual bait fragrances’’ within their vines.

This synthetically produced fragrance corresponds with the pheromone which is produced naturally by females of the grape-curler insect to lure males. However, with 500 ampules per hectare the air is so evenly saturated by the fragrance that the insects get confused and only find their sexual partners with difficulty.

The effect lasted from April until September, throughout all three possible generations of the grape curler.

“This year we only had an infestation of about 1.5 per cent, which is far below the damage barrier of 4 per cent. This is negligible,” says the Director of the experiment, Mr Wilhelm Orth.

The infestation of the vines which were not equipped with the fragrance amounted to 40 per cent.

Unlike pest control with pesticides, this new technology is thought to damage neither the environment nor the quality of the wine. In the coming year, it is to be applied intensively in the Hochheimer vineyards.

But at a price of about $ 275 per hectare, Mr Orth acknowledges that the pheromone ampules cost about 150 per cent more than conventional pest control I.E poison.

Falun Gong urges Annan to step in

BEIJING, Nov 16 (Reuters) — More than a dozen defiant members of China’s banned Falun Gong spiritual movement staged a bold protest in Tiananmen Square today, unfurling a banner during a visit by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to Beijing.

Witnesses said plainclothes police detained up to 15 practitioners shortly after they held up a 10-foot red banner reading: “Falun Dafa” — another name for Falun Gong.

The police pulled down the banner and pushed down the arms of practitioners, who were holding them up, apparently trying to practise Falun Gong — callisthenics designed to harness inner energy and heal mixed with Buddhist and Taoist beliefs.

HONG KONG: Falun Gong has urged Mr Annan to investigate human rights violations in China, a human rights group has said. Falun Gong adherents in Beijing, Shanghai and the provinces of Jilin, Sichuan and Hebei had written five letters to Mr Annan, according to the Hong Kong-based Information Centre of Human Rights.

Strike over diesel price hike

KATHMANDU, Nov 16 (Reuters) — Businesses in the Nepali capital were closed today after a general strike called to oppose a recent increase in fuel prices.

The Communist Marxist-Leninist (ML) party called the strike to protest against the government’s decision late in October to raise the price of diesel by 48.3 per cent and kerosene by 23.8 per cent. The government said the hike was the result of an increase in global prices.

“The increase has resulted in the rise in prices of various goods, hitting consumers,” Mr Radha Krishna Mainali, a member of the Left party, said.

Israel turns down China’s plea

JERUSALEM, Nov 16 (AFP) —Israel’s Parliamentary Speaker Avraham Burg said yesterday he had refused a Chinese request to cancel a meeting next week with the Dalai Lama.

Mr Burg said he was contacted on Sunday by China’s Ambassador to Israel Wang Changyi, who asked him to cancel the meeting.

The Chinese Embassy did not have any immediate comment.

Floods bring disease
HANOI: Disease has struck thousands of Vietnamese in the aftermath of central Vietnam’s worst floods in a century. The Tuoi Tre newspaper said on Tuesday. It said 9,862 persons had eye infections, 9,347 had diarrhoea, 1,096 persons suffered from dysentery, while 16,460 cases of flu had been recorded following the floods that hit the region earlier this month. — Reuters

“James Bond Girls”
LONDON: Graham Rye has never forgotten the day in 1962 when he watched Ursula Andress emerge from the sea in the first James Bond Movie “Dr No.” Now, 18 films later in the world’s most successful spy saga, the President of the James Bond International Fan Club has compiled “The James Bond Girls” — a retrospective look at the women who tempted and targeted the spy over four decades. Rye, believes Sean Connery was the definitive Bond — but Pierce Brosnan comes close in “The World Is Not Enough”. — Reuters

128-yr-old dies
AMMAN: A 128-year-old Jordanian who raced horses and camels with the founder of Jordan, King Abdullah I, has died leaving behind 103 grandchildren and great grandchildren, Al-Dustour newspaper reports. Hajj Saad al-Gharir, who died recently in Amman, fought in both world wars, and had “strong ties” with Abdullah I, the great grandfather of Jordan’s current ruler King Abdullah II, it said on Monday. — AFP

Couple jailed
SINGAPORE: A Singapore couple who took cannabis at an end-of-exams party in Perth, Australia, were jailed for a year each after they were caught during a random check on entering from Malaysia, reports said on Tuesday. Gavin Seow Lek Chen, 28, and Lynn Cheok Lye Peng, 22, engaged to be married, pleaded guilty to drug consumption in district court. — DPA

Odd stage for the Bard
LONDON: A British theatre company is putting on a run of Shakespeare’s plays in an old Victorian toilet. The Bog Standard Theatre Company spent three years and £ 4,000 ($ 6,475) converting the facilities into a 12-seat venue with a tiny stage in the western English town of Malvern. “Shakespeare said all the world’s a stage so I guess that includes toilets,” the troupe’s Dennis Neale told The Sun tabloid. — Reuters