Invasion will be ‘suicidal’ for Russia
BERLIN, Oct 2 — Chechnya’s separatist President Aslan Maskhadov has warned Moscow that it will be entering a ‘‘pan-Caucasus war’’ if Russia invaded the rebel region with ground troops.

Senate to debate on CTBT
WASHINGTON, Oct 2 — After more than two years of delaying U.S. ratification of a global treaty banning nuclear testing, Senate Republicans have suddenly offered to debate and vote on it next week.

Radiation fear continues in Japan
TOKAIMURA, Oct 2 — The Japanese Government today lifted the evacuation order for the more than 160 residents living near the uranium-processing plant that caused the nation’s worst nuclear accident.

TV channel for UK Punjabis
BIRMINGHAM, Oct 2 — Yet another Asian television channel is on the air in Britain. Based in the heart of the Asian quarter of Birmingham — the second city of the country and the capital of the industrial Midlands —Asia 1 TV began broadcasting this weekend.

UN force clarifies policy in Timor
DILI (East Timor), Oct 2 — International forces in East Timor today reserved the right to return fire into West Timor if under attack from across the border.

5 more killed in Pak violence

ISLAMABAD, Oct 2 (DPA) — Five persons, including a senior police official, were killed today as sectarian violence raged across Pakistan, the police said.

An unidentified gunman opened fire in Pakistan’s northwestern frontier province on Farooq Haider, a provincial traffic police chief, who later died in hospital, the police said.

He belonged to the Shi’ite Muslim community but the police did not say if Haider’s death was connected to the spate of religious killings which have been going on in Pakistan since early this week.

The two others, one among them a local Shi’ite leader, were killed in central Punjab’s southern Muzzaffargarh district, a hotbed for communal violence.

Two persons were killed and eight injured when unidentified persons opened fire on a radical Sunni Muslim seminary in eastern district of violence-prone port city of Karachi.

PTI adds: The sudden spurt in killings in the last five days has prompted the Prime Minister to immediately summon a high-level meeting of Chief Ministers of all provinces, senior officials and intelligence agencies to discuss the situation.

Mr Sharif reportedly told the meeting that the latest round of killings were an attempt to sabotage the efforts of his government to solve people’s problems.

Since the majority of victims were Shi’ites in the latest series of killings it has evoked angry protests and demonstrations by the minority community accusing the government of failing in its duty to protect them.

The Prime Minister discussed the sectarian killings with the Chief Ministers of three provinces and the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Sindh affairs as well as the Interior Minister, Mr Choudhury Shujaat Hussain, English daily, The News said quoting official sources.

The meeting decided to send a strong signal to intelligence agencies, whose chiefs were present, for lapses in not giving advance warning about the spurt in sectarian violence.

"A few misguided elements are being exploited by the enemies of Pakistan with whom the people have no sympathy," an official spokesman quoted the Prime Minister as saying.

"While the government is trying to work on its agenda of reviving the economy and resolving people’s problems, some anti-social elements are trying to sabotage the government’s efforts", Mr Sharif reportedly told the meeting.

The high-level meeting was summoned after yesterday’s attack on a Shi’ite mosque in Karachi where two unidentified gunmen sprayed bullets on worshippers killing nine persons.

Later in a retaliatory attack four worshippers were killed in another part of Karachi while emerging from a Sunni mosque.

By Friday evening the day’s toll rose to 18 with three others shot dead in Lahore and one each in Bhakkar and Multan. The authorities have begun rounding up leaders and workers of militant Sunni outfit Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) as the Shi’ite umbrella organisation TJP warned the government of country-wide protests if the killing of members of the community was not contained immediately.

‘N. Korea may use biochemical arms’

SEOUL, Oct 2 (Reuters) — Communist North Korea would likely use biochemical weapons if war ever erupted on the highly militarised Korean peninsula, South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung said yesterday.

“If war breaks out, North Korea is likely to use biochemical weapons of mass destruction in an attempt to inflict an initial major blow against us,’’ Mr Kim said in a speech on the Armed Forces Day.

“We are dealing with North Korea which is pouring all its resources into beefing up its military capability in the midst of a tragic famine and economic crisis,’’ he said.

“It is doing incomprehensible things under the absurd motto of ‘building a great nation of strength and prosperity’.”

But Mr Kim also said his approach of offering to engage cooperatively with North Korea on the basis of a strong defence posture was paying off.

North Korea last Friday announced it was freezing long-range missile tests, after the USA said it was relaxing a long-standing ban on trade and investment with the secretive, Stalinist state.

The two Koreas remain technically at war across the world’s most militarised frontier because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armed truce instead of a peace agreement. The USA has some 37,000 troops stationed in the South.

Pyongyang may attempt further provocations “in order to maintain their regime and gain the upper hand in international negotiations’’, Mr Kim said.

“Only if we are prepared for war can we deter it and secure peace.’’

Critics of the USA and South Korean engagement policy say North Korea has exhibited a pattern of making military threats in order to gain leverage in diplomatic negotiations.

But Mr Kim said North Korea’s decision to forego missile testing was “largely because of our firm defence posture and the ever-close coordination among Korea, the USA and Japan to prevent the test-launch’’.

25-year jail term for India-born nanny

SAN DIEGO, Oct 2 (AFP) — British nanny Manjit Basuta has been sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after being found guilty in the death of a 13-month-old baby. The nanny, a 44-year-old India-born Briton, was yesterday found guilty by the jury for the death of the baby in 1998.

According to California law, Judge William Kennedy had only two options in sentencing — the one he pronounced or parole.

Prosecutors had accused Basuta of shaking the baby, Christopher, and throwing him on the floor when he refused to stop watching television. The defence had argued that the child died after a fall because of an earlier head injury.

Basuta’s distraught family, which gathered at a Sikh temple near their home in Slough, southwest England, have vowed to appeal and called on the British Government to intervene to bring her home.

“How can this be justice?” asked her brother Amarjit Singh, choking back tears. The family’s lawyer, John Cooper, said they would be asking the British Government to intervene.

But the Judge said the sentence “did not shock the conscience” or “offend the fundamental notions of human dignity”.

“The defendant tried to blame this crime on just about everybody else. She’s insincere and she’s not very credible.

Thai embassy siege ends, 89 hostages freed

BANGKOK, Oct 2 (Reuters) — A siege of the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok ended dramatically today as a group of five heavily armed attackers released 89 hostages and escaped by helicopter to the Thai-Myanmar border.

The attackers, who stormed the mission last morning, were flown to Ratchaburi, 100 km west of Bangkok where they were dropped off.

Thai Acting Foreign Minister Sukhumbhand Paribatra and another official, who had flown with the dissidents to the border as a guarantee of their safety, then returned to Bangkok.

Thai Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart said all 89 hostages — 51 Myanmar nationals and another 38 persons of other nationalities — were released unharmed by the assailants.

Earlier reports by the police and other officials had put the number of hostages at up to 40-45.

"During this 25 hours, we are pleased that no one was harmed and now everyone is free,’’ Sanan told a news conference.

He said the Thai government had given the attackers safe passage out of Bangkok because it did not consider them "terrorists’’ but people seeking democracy in their own country.

The attackers, calling themselves the "vigorous Burmese student warriors’’, had been demanding the release of all Myanmar political prisoners, a dialogue between the Myanmar military government and the pro-democracy opposition — led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi — and a democratic parliament.

Mr Sanan said it was up to the hostage-takers where they went from now on. He said a criminal case would be opened and Thai law would be applied, but gave no details.

The hostages were freed in two large groups today: some as the attackers left the embassy compound in two cream-coloured minivans and another group of around 27 at the airfield from which the helicopters took off, witnesses said.

The hostages appeared exhausted but unharmed and relieved that their ordeal was over.

One Canadian hostage, who declined to give his name, told Reuters the whole group had been well treated.

"I am glad I’m free now,’’ he said after getting out of a minivan in which he had been taken to the airfield. "I was awake all night and only got to eat at 2 a.m. We were treated fine.’’

The release of the hostages ended an intense stand-off around the Myanmar mission, which had involved many hundreds of police and a large security operation throughout the Thai capital.

Negotiations were broken off by the attackers at one point during the night and food was delivered to the embassy to the gunmen, who were armed with AK-47 assault rifles and grenades.

A deadline by which the dissidents had vowed to start shooting hostages every half an hour if their demands for a getaway helicopter were not met passed early on Saturday morning without incident.

In the end, the attackers, wearing red bandanas, agreed to leave the embassy but took with them two busloads of hostages.

They were driven to a military academy in central Bangkok and were met by a helicopter, which the attackers boarded with Sukhumbhand and the other Thai official. Another helicopter followed the dissidents as they took off, witnesses said.

Russian troops move into Chechen area

MOSCOW, Oct 2 (Reuters) — A top Russian military official today confirmed media reports that federal troops had moved into Chechen territory but denied immediate plans for a large-scale ground operation, Russian news agencies reported.

The agencies reported that, earlier today, troops had seized a Chechen village situated three km from the breakaway region’s eastern border with the Russian region of Dagestan.

Russian warplanes carried out more air attacks in Chechnya, meanwhile, prompting a fresh outflow of refugees from the embattled region.

The agencies said Chechen leader Aslan Maskhadov planned to appeal for support later today at a meeting of regional political groups and unruly warlords as he strives to consolidate the nation amid fears of a Russian attack.

Russian troops in Chechnya seized village, the Ria news agency quoted the armed forces’ First Deputy Chief of Staff, Colonel-General Valery Manilov, as saying that in some areas Russian troops had already crossed the border.

‘‘The federal troops have crossed into Chechnya from several metres to a few kilometres,’’ Manilov said.

Top Russian officials had said troops would enter Chechen territory to set up a ‘‘sanitary zone’’ to prevent infiltration of Islamic rebels, whom Moscow blames for a recent incursion in Dagestan and a series of bomb blasts in which nearly 300 died.

Invasion will be ‘suicidal’ for Russia

BERLIN, Oct 2 (Reuters) — Chechnya’s separatist President Aslan Maskhadov has warned Moscow that it will be entering a ‘‘pan-Caucasus war’’ if Russia invaded the rebel region with ground troops.

‘‘We will forget all internal arguments,’’ Mr Maskhadov said in an advance copy of an interview in today’s Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper, adding that invasion would be ‘‘suicidal’’ for Russia.

Mr Maskhadov said Chechen warriors had a lot of experience and were well-armed. ‘‘Russia will ultimately lose the whole Caucasus region,’’ he said.

Russian warplanes pounded targets in Chechnya for the ninth consecutive day yesterday to destroy Islamic guerrillas it says are hiding there. The fighters have twice invaded neighbouring Dagestan since August.

Senate to debate on CTBT

WASHINGTON, Oct 2 (Reuters) — After more than two years of delaying U.S. ratification of a global treaty banning nuclear testing, Senate Republicans have suddenly offered to debate and vote on it next week.

Although 152 nations have already signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and Washington has taken the lead in pressing India and Pakistan to join the signatories, the USA itself has still not ratified it.

Republicans in the Senate, which must ratify treaties before they become binding, have stalled it in a complicated dispute with Democrats over a national missile defence system.

But, in an abrupt reversal, Senate Republican leader Trent Lott of Mississippi, on Thursday announced that the Senate would debate the treaty for 10 hours on October 6 and then vote on ratification.

“We are asking that we go to a reasonable time for debate and vote this comprehensive test ban treaty,’’ Mr Lott said. “I think this treaty is bad for the country and dangerous. But if there is demand that we go forward with it as I have been hearing for two years, we are ready to go.’’

Democrats, who have long pressed for just such a vote, were caught off guard and thrown into disarray.

Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota protested that 10 hours was insufficient time for a debate on ‘’a treaty as important as this,’’ While Senator Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat who has spearheaded an effort to bring the treaty to the Senate floor, announced he was keen to go ahead with ratification.

Others complained that no committee hearings had been held before rushing the treaty to a vote.

Republicans had blocked ratification of a new treaty banning nuclear tests because they are not convinced that the Clinton administration will agree to build a limited defence system against long-range missile attacks on the USA, particularly by so-called rogue nations.

A Foreign Relations Committee aide said Democrats’ hesitation to jump into a debate and vote on the treaty next week probably stemmed from a worry about whether they could muster sufficient votes for the treaty to be ratified.

The treaty, which would prohibit all nuclear testing, requires 67 votes — a two-thirds majority in the Senate for ratification.

Of the 152 nations that have signed the CTBT, fewer than 50 have ratified it. But for the USA ratification is particularly complex. To appease Congressional Republicans, Washington may be forced to renegotiate the cold war-era anti-ballistic missile treaty of 1972 with Russia to gain a provision to allow the USA to build a limited ballistic missile shield.

Radiation fear continues in Japan

TOKAIMURA, Oct 2 (AP) — The Japanese Government today lifted the evacuation order for the more than 160 residents living near the uranium-processing plant that caused the nation’s worst nuclear accident.

"Safety has been confirmed", top government spokesman Hiromu Nonaka said in a nationally televised news conference.

"We pray from the bottom of our hearts that their lives can return to normal as soon as possible".

Since the Thursday morning accident, which set off an atomic reaction and sent three workers to a hospital, people living in a 350 metre radius have been evacuated to a nearby community centre.

The night before, an advisory was lifted for hundreds of thousands of residents living within a 10-km radius of the plant to stay indoors.

But despite the government assurances of safety, serious doubts remained over how such a simple but potentially devastating accident could have occurred in a country that relies on nuclear power for a third of its energy.

For the first time since radioactivity was detected pouring out of the uranium processing plant here on Thursday, cars were on the streets, shops were open and many students were heading back to school for morning classes today.

An official declarations of safety were of little comfort to many in the town of 33,000, about 110 km northeast of Tokyo.

Pak wary of sex education

KARACHI, Oct 2 (Reuters) — Muneeza Kidwai is an agony aunt in agony. In Pakistan, where many aspects of sexuality are considered a taboo, she feels obliged to write her advice columns to a confused but needy audience in a kind of code.

Topics like puberty, masturbation or intercourse are never directly mentioned in her column in the newspaper.

It’s frustrating work, Ms Kidwai says, because the piles of letters she gets each week from teenagers and adults suggest there is a strong need for clear information about sexuality in this conservative Muslim country.

“We have a very confused youth out there,” Ms Kidwai said.

“They don’t know the different parts of their bodies, how they function, or what changes happen when puberty strikes.”

There is no formal sex education in Pakistan. Sexual health is simply not discussed in many families, and what few books do exist on the subject are often completely misleading.

“All we have is a load of misinformation,” said Annusha Hussein from Sahil, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which tries to combat child abuse.

A book called “Bahishti Zewar” (Heavenly Ornaments), written by a religious leader as a handbook for adult life, is a popular gift for young brides. But its guidance on sexual matters is somewhat obscure.

Many healthworkers see the book as dangerously misleading.

One of the few places where a more scientific approach is given is behind a rusty iron door in a slum district of Karachi. Inside lives Karima, a young divorced mother who works with an NGO called the Karachi Reproductive Health Project.

The group has put together a clear, illustrated handbook on male and female sexuality. Armed with this, Ms Karima and a male counterpart hold discussion groups in their neighbourhood, helping people with any sexual worries they might have.

So far, Ms Karima says, there have been no complaints either from the community or from the local religious leaders.

But agony columnist Muneez Kidwai has found that providing enlightenment is an uphill struggle. After trying to raise awareness of child abuse through her columns, she says she has been criticised by her editors — and has handed in her resignation.

But in the long term she believes that the future generations will take a more pragmatic approach to sexual health.

TV channel for UK Punjabis
By Trevor Barnard

BIRMINGHAM, Oct 2 — Yet another Asian television channel is on the air in Britain. Based in the heart of the Asian quarter of Birmingham — the second city of the country and the capital of the industrial Midlands —Asia 1 TV began broadcasting this weekend.

It is a Punjabi channel, set up and financed by Amrik Singh Sanota, a 49-year-old businessman whose wealth comes from a spread of activities, principally the manufacture of fashion accessories and property. For him it is the realisation of a dream. He says: “Our people have spread worldwide and enriched whichever culture or commercial area they have touched. And it is to them I dedicate this channel.”

The channel’s mission is ambitious — “to be the most dynamic, entertaining, informative and fashionable Asian television channel in the world.” Broadcasting 17 hours a day, seven days a week, it will provide a wide range of programmes, including religious, documentary, drama, films, soaps, news, current affairs and music, mainly in Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu and English. It will carry two ANI productions — South Asia Newsline and Dateline Punjab. It is a digital channel, broadcasting via satellite and receivable through a dish.

The launch of Asia 1 TV comes a few weeks after B4U went on the air as an outlet for Bollywood films. Two other major channels aimed at the Asian market are Zee TV and Sony TV. — ANI

UN force clarifies policy in Timor

DILI (East Timor), Oct 2 (Reuters) — International forces in East Timor today reserved the right to return fire into West Timor if under attack from across the border.

But a spokesman for the force striving to restore order to East Timor suggested foreign troops would stop short of pursuing militias into the neighbouring Indonesian-ruled province.

Jeffrey Archer
LONDON: Millionaire novelist IST Jeffrey Archer, has been chosen as the Conservative Party’s candidate to be London’s first elected Mayor. He was selected on Friday through a postal ballot of all party members in London. — Reuters

Flea invasion
NICOSIA: A flea invasion forced a state radio station in Cyprus to shut down as staff abandoned their studios and pest controllers were called in to wipe out the invaders. High doses of chemicals were sprayed in the radio studios of the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation on Thursday, forcing employees out in droves. — Reuters

Gandhi Jayanti
DUBAI: A unique photographic exhibition entitled, “My Land, My People” was organised to mark the 130th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi at the Indian Consulate here on Saturday. The exhibition which is on a worldwide tour comes from Doha, Qatar, on its way to Kampala, Uganda. — PTI

US office gutted
WASHINGTON: Fires in the basement at the US Department of Commerce forced Evacuation of its massive facility in downtown Washington, snarling traffic and resulting in 42 persons receiving treatment. The two fires were caused on Friday by overloaded electrical equipment. — DPA

Snake keeps watch
SAN FRANCISCO: The police in the California town of San Leandro has arrested a suspected drug dealer who used a novel method to stash 1.5 kg of methamphetamines — under a 2.5-metre-long python, reports say. — DPA

Sex compensation
DUESSELDORF (Germany): A German woman left paralysed after banging her head on a metal bedpost during sex with her boyfriend has been awarded substantial compensation by a court. The Bench stipulated on Friday that the 35-year-old woman receive 7,74,325 German marks ($4,28,000). — DPA

Sale of babies
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian authorities have begun cracking down on a recent rise in the illegal sale of newborn babies, mainly by illegal immigrant women to Malaysian couples for high prices, a news report said on Saturday. — DPA