Mahathir steps up offensive
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 — Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s ruling coalition today kept up an election offensive, blanketing newspapers with advertisements and warning of possible riots if the Opposition wins this month’s snap poll.

Hindus picket Boston church
BOSTON, Nov 22 — Nearly 48 Hindus picketed outside a church yesterday to protest a Southern Baptist convention prayer booklet that said Hindus have “darkness in their hearts that no lamp can dispel.”

10 rebels killed in Philippines
ZAMBOANGA, (Philippines) Nov 22 — At least 10 Muslim separatists were killed in fresh fighting with government troops in the southern Philippines today, despite earlier threats from President Joseph Estrada that he would terminate peace talks if rebel attacks persisted.

Gunman on rampage, kills 3, self
INDIANAPOLIS, Nov 22 — A man angry at being turned away from a party in this mid-western state shot dead three persons and injured two before taking his own life, yesterday, the police said.

West Asian arms ‘reach’ Chechens

MOSCOW, Nov 22 (UNI) — Kuwait’s Social Reform Society and the Live Heritage of Islam, Saudi Arabia’s Islamic Salvation International and the Islamic Congress, Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood branch, Vemen’s International Charity Organisation and the Islamic Organisation and UAE’s Islamic World League are some of the Arab religious organisations funding the separatists in Chechnya in their war against Russia, intelligence sources in The Kremlin have disclosed.

According to a report in the Russian weekly Vlast, these organisations, most of them belonging to the Wahabbite sect, have already lent billions of dollars to the Chechen separatists for buying weapons and making payments to the mercenaries.

“Cash is advanced in the name of construction of mosques and madrasas,” the report said.

Pakistan’s aid to the Chechen fundamentalists includes extending cash, weapons and sending mercenaries besides providing training to Chechen helicopter pilots, the report says.

The Turkey-based Chechen diaspora and Grey Wolves terrorist organisations have also been actively associated with the current civil war in Chechnya, and have already send over 1500 mercenaries there.

Osama Bin Laden is not the only Arab billionaire assisting the militants in Chechnya. The head of the Egyptian Zam Zam Charity Fund, Saad ei-Dinel Laben, had recently financed explosions of residential blocks in Russia and is still hiding somewhere in Russia, the report quotes intelligence sources as saying.

Some of the banks in Moscow have also functioned as conduits for extending huge sums in cash to the Chechen separatists, the report says and adds that these banks are controlled by Chechnya’s influential figures based in Moscow.

However, authorities in Moscow are working to plug in the sources from which these funds reach the separatists, a Novosti report quotes official sources as saying. The report also says that some of the main strategic towns and settlements in Chechnya are now under the control of Kremlin troops. 80 per cent of areas on the outskirts of the breakaway republic have already been taken over by the Russian forces, the report says.

But the retreating Chechens are building fortifications in the high mountain ranges, from where it would be difficult for the Russian troops to dislodge them, a ‘Voice of Russia’ report has said.

Iraq rejects UN move on oil-for-food deal

BAGHDAD, Nov 22 (AP) — The Iraqi Cabinet has dismissed the Security Council decision to grant two-weeks’ extension to the oil-for-food programme and called on friendly countries to reject the proposal.

The extension, approved by the UN Security Council on Friday, does not offer “anything toward the lifting of sanctions or to improve the condition of the Iraqi people”, the state-run Iraqi news agency quoted a statement issued after the Cabinet meeting as saying.

Earlier, Iraqi Foreign Minister Mahammed Saeed Al-Sahhaf had described the measure as “meaningless” and said “Iraq will not deal with it.”

However, it is not clear whether Iraq will immediately stop selling oil, the keystone of the humanitarian programme that allows it to use oil revenue to buy food, medicine and other humanitarian goods.

The extension was approved as a stopgap arrangement to give Security Council members time to resolve a deadlock in a wider, comprehensive policy on Iraq.

LONDON (Reuters): Iraq is winding down oil exports after rejecting a two-week extension of a UN programme allowing the sanctions-bound country to sell petroleum in return for humanitarian supplies, an Iraqi official said today.

The oil industry has no plans for resumption until it gets the go-ahead from the Iraqi government, the official belonging to the Iraqi State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO) said.

“This is what our government has said. We will not export for the next two weeks,” he said by telephone from Baghdad.

The decision helped push oil prices to fresh post-Gulf war highs today, as Brent crude futures hit a peak of $ 25.90 a barrel before retreating slightly to $ 25.84.

The SOMO official said Iraq had stopped exports from the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan and was loading its last two cargoes from the Gulf terminal of Mina al-Bakr.

Iraq till recently had been exporting roughly 2.2 million barrels per day (BPD), with some 950,000 BPD of Kirkuk rolling out of Ceyhan and about 1.25 million BPD of Basrah blend loading from Mina al-Bakr.

Accord on Timor border panel

MOTAAIN (Indonesia), Nov 22 (Reuters)— UN Officials and top officers in Indonesia’s military today signed an agreement on operations close to the border between East and West Timor.

The agreement was signed at this border village, close to the site of a clash last month in which an Indonesian policeman was killed. East Timor’s pro-independence Falintil guerrilla movement also signed the agreement.

The agreement establishes a joint border commission and sets out the framework for weekly cross-border meetings and a hotline. The objectives of the commission include “to curtail undesirable activities of militia elements (disarming and detaining them).”

The commission is also to decide on a common map of the border area, although today’s agreement says that the map will have no bearing on a final deal to settle the border. Both sides have been using different maps.

The meeting brought together Maj-Gen Peter Cosgrove, head of UN forces in East Timor, and Gen Adam Damiri, Indonesia’s regional military commander. Deputy commander of the Falinin Taur Matan Ruak also took part.

It was at the urging of Washington’s Ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrooke, who was visiting West and East Timor today. Mr Holbrooke said he was “profoundly moved” by the agreement, but said it remained to be seen whether it would be implemented effectively.

Mr Holbrooke arrived in West Timor’s capital Kupang yesterday and is due to return to the USA tomorrow.

Col Mark Kelly, spokesman for the multinational force in East Timor known as Interfet, said any line agreed upon to separate West and East Timor would not necessarily represent an international border once the Australian-led Interfet pulled out of the territory around mid-January.

Interfet, whose mandate was to restore order, will be replaced by the UN transitional administration in East Timor which will help lead the territory to independence in two to three years.

Colonel Kelly said it would be the UN’s responsibility to seek a permanent settlement to the border issue.

Church to shut down Nazareth sites

JERUSALEM, Nov 22 (AFP) — Church officials said today they would go ahead with a threatened two-day shutdown of Christian sites in the Holy Land to protest the construction of a mosque in Jesus’ home town of Nazareth.

The sites will be closed today and tomorrow, despite Israel’s last-ditch attempts yesterday to persuade the church authorities to cancel the planned closure of sites in Israel, East Jerusalem and the Palestinian territories.

The row centres on the government’s decision to allow a mosque to be built near the Church of the Annunciation, one of the holiest sites in Christendom.

Public Security Minister Shlomo Ben Ami defended the government’s decision yesterday, urging church officials to rescind their plans which he called as “lamentable.”

AMMAN (AP): King Abdullah of Jordan on Sunday pardoned 25 Hamas officials accused of illegal political activities in Jordan. Four of those released were sent to Qatar, apparently to live in exile.

“The case of Hamas is now considered closed after his Majesty the King decided to pardon all of the group’s activists,” Prime Minister Abdur-Ra’uf S Rawabdeh said.

GAZA(Reuters): Hamas has accused Jordan of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Israel by expelling four of the militant Palestinian group’s leaders to Qatar.

Abu Shanab spoke to reporters after Jordan released about two dozen Hamas detainees and put Hamas Politburo chief Khaled Meshal, spokesman Ibrahim Ghosheh and politburo members Abdul Aziz al-Umary and Sami Khatter on a plane to Qatar.

Mahathir steps up offensive

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 (Reuters)— Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s ruling coalition today kept up an election offensive, blanketing newspapers with advertisements and warning of possible riots if the Opposition wins this month’s snap poll.

Newspapers carried four full pages of advertisements for Mr Mahathir’s Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition underlining core themes for the November 29 poll — its 42 years of experience managing the economy and opportunities for women.

The ads took a shot at the opposition coalition, calling it “an incapable front” with no experience in economic policy.

Unlike a barrage of ads yesterday, the latest material stayed away from suggesting that an Opposition win would lead to violence. Those ads prompted two opposition leaders into filing police reports accusing the BN of defamation and sedition.

The opposition Alternative Front said newspapers had indicated they would not run their advertisements.

“We have been told verbally that none of the newspapers will carry our advertisements, but we have not been refused in writing,” front spokesman Rustam Sani told reporters.

A combative Mr Mahathir did not mince his words as parties looked to the elections one week away.

The 73-year-old Prime Minister, Asia’s longest serving elected leader, noted that riots erupted in 1969 after support for the bn’s predecessor alliance waned in poll that year.

Hindus picket Boston church

BOSTON, Nov 22 (AP) — Nearly 48 Hindus picketed outside a church yesterday to protest a Southern Baptist convention prayer booklet that said Hindus have “darkness in their hearts that no lamp can dispel.”

The booklet, released during Divali, contains a number of other phrases considered offensive by Hindus. It has ignited similar protests in Houston and Atlanta.

“At any sign of religious intolerance, we have to speak up,” said Chandra Kany Panse of the New England Hindus Against Religious Intolerance, which organised the protest at the Beacon Hill Baptist Church. “We would like the convention to drop this attack and apologise.”

10 rebels killed in Philippines

ZAMBOANGA, (Philippines) Nov 22 (AFP) — At least 10 Muslim separatists were killed in fresh fighting with government troops in the southern Philippines today, despite earlier threats from President Joseph Estrada that he would terminate peace talks if rebel attacks persisted.

The fighting came ahead of a planned meeting between Hashim Salamat, chairman of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid.

MANILA (Pool-PNA): Joseph Estrada has said he was willing to hold fresh talks with MILF leaders to speed up the peace process in Mindanao province.

Gunman on rampage, kills 3, self

INDIANAPOLIS, Nov 22 (AFP) — A man angry at being turned away from a party in this mid-western state shot dead three persons and injured two before taking his own life, yesterday, the police said.

After being thrown out of a gathering at an apartment building in Angola (Indiana), 272 km from here, the man sought to make good on a threat to return and shoot everyone, said Steuben Country Sheriff Joel Working.

The gunman kicked down the door of the apartment at 2 am (6 am IST) and started shooting, killing two men and seriously injuring two women, one of whom later died in hospital, the Sheriff said.

Deputy Sheriff John Araque, who shot the gunman twice before the man took his own life, was himself hit three times in the hip and pelvis and was in fair condition in hospital, the police said.

God invoked 14 times
NEW YORK: Gamil Hamed al-Batoti, the co-pilot on EgyptAir flight 990 repeated 14 times the phrase meaning “I put my trust in God” just before and just after the plane went into a nosedive, the Newsweek magazine reported quoting unidentified government sources and those close to the crash investigation. — AFP

4 killed in crash
VANCOUVER: Two small planes collided in mid-air in the western Canadian province of British Columbia killing four persons, reports said on Sunday. Each of the two-seater planes had two persons aboard, the reports said, adding that the cause of the crash was not immediately known. — DPA

5 traffickers jailed
SYDNEY: An Australian court today jailed five Indonesians for ‘’people trafficking’’ in the first case tried since the introduction of harsh new penalties aimed at stemming waves of illegal immigrants. The five fishermen, aged between 18 and 30, were jailed for two years for bringing 36 illegal immigrants to Ashmore reef, a deserted island 600 km off Australia’s remote north-west coast. — Reuters

Tripartite summit
TOKYO: China and South Korea have accepted Japanese proposal to hold a North-East Asian tripartite summit sans the USA at Manila this month, media reports said. The summit, to be held in the shadow of larger ASEAN summit, is expected to include Prime Ministers of Japan and China and the President of South Korea. Japanese PM Keizo Obuchi had a hard time persuading Beijing to accept his idea, the reports said on Saturday. — PTI

Okinawa base
TOKYO: Japan’s Okinawa island on Monday announced landmark plans to move a major US air base, helping to settle a three-year row over the heavy US military presence, officials said. The 27,000-strong US military force in Japan’s southern Okinawa prefecture — a US territory until 1972 — has caused friction since its occupation in World War II. Okinawa’s government said it had now approved plans to move the US Marine’s Futenma Air Station from its current site at Ginowan city on the island’s east coast. — AFP