Give timetable for popular rule: USA
WASHINGTON, Oct 18 — The USA has urged Pakistan’s new military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf to expand his announced withdrawal of troops along the country’s international border with India to include forces on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir and initiate other confidence building measures to ease tension with New Delhi.

lBeg for 2-yr army rule

Musharraf's Indian roots
NEW DELHI: THE man who has set out to change the course of history in Pakistan was born in a sprawling "haveli" at Kucha Saadullah Khan, now a congested and dirty locality behind Golcha cinema in the walled city.

UK to hand over probe report to Pak
LONDON, Oct 18 — The British Government has decided to hand over the report of a magisterial inquiry into the properties and bank accounts of Asif Ali Zardari, husband of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, in the country to the Pakistan Government, sources said.

Give timetable for popular rule: USA

WASHINGTON,, Oct 18 (PTI, UNI) -- The USA has urged Pakistan’s new military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf to expand his announced withdrawal of troops along the country’s international border with India to include forces on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir and initiate other confidence building measures (CBMs) to ease tension with New Delhi.

Welcoming his offer to resume "unconditional and result-oriented" dialogue with India in his first policy address to the nation yesterday, us State Department spokesman James Rubin urged him to "undertake other CBMs that could lead to a lessening of tension" between the two neighbours.

"The USA believes it is critically important for Pakistan to begin to resolve its differences with India... We welcome measures such as the unilateral drawdown of forces along the international border with India. We hope this move could be expanded to include forces along the Line of Control in Kashmir," he said in a statement hours after General Musharraf’s address.

The Clinton administration suggested a series of steps to General Musharraf, including resolving his country’s differences with India that would determine the US attitude towards his regime.

Mr Rubin called upon him ‘’to offer a clear timetable for the early restoration of constitutional, civilian and democratic government.

The USA noted General Musharraf’s statements with respect to global non-proliferation objectives and nuclear and missile restraint. He had also stated his belief that the Afghan conflict could be settled only through a representative government in Kabul, a view the USA shared.

General Musharraf, in his 20-minute impassioned speech, pledged to revive the ailing economy, crack down on corruption largely blamed for the country’s economic problems and check religious fundamentalism. He also announced a six-member National Security Council to run the affairs of the state.

ISLAMABAD: The US envoy today expressed the hope that the Indo-Pak bilateral dialogue process would resume very soon despite a military regime in Islamabad and said it would like to see an offer of troops withdrawal from the Line of Control (LoC) by Pakistan.

‘‘We have our interest in return of Indo-Pak dialogue ... we will very much like to see the dialogue get moving as soon as possible,’’ US Ambassador to Pakistan William B. Milam told reporters here.

Gen Pervez Musharraf is very open to resuming dialogue with India, said Mr Milam, one of the first western envoys to call on him barely days after the Nawaz Sharif government was overthrown.

Appreciating General Musharraf’s gesture of withdrawing troops from the international border with India by terming it as a ‘‘good faith gesture’’, he said the USA would like to see a similar offer made on withdrawal from the LoC too.

The US envoy did not agree with the view that the regional security situation had worsened after the army takeover and also dismissed the notion that the army was solely responsible for the Kargil crisis.

He said the USA was disappointed that the new ruler has not given any time-frame for the restoration of democracy in Pakistan but showed some softening of attitude towards the new military regime in the country.

‘‘We did hope for a time-frame and remain disappointed that there isn’t one,’’ Mr Milam told reporters commenting on General Musharraf’s address to the nation last night.

‘‘On the other hand, we were heartened by his (Gen Musharraf’s) pledge that the military will stay in power only as long as absolutely necessary,’’ he, added.

Meanwhile, the UK has also stepped up pressure on Pakistan’s new military leader to set a clear timeframe for an early return to democracy.

In London, Foreign Secretary Thomas Cook criticised his failure to outline a firm deadline for a return to democracy but welcomed Islamabad’s unilateral announcement to de-escalate troops from its international border with India.

Speaking in Tokyo, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Mikio Aoki welcomed General Musharraf’s declaration promising a return to democracy but called upon him to map out specific procedures to achieve the goal.

"But we also think it is important a specific process towards restoration of democracy be presented."

A Reuters report from Islamabad said Pakistan’s exiled former leader Benazir Bhutto praised General Musharraf’s plan to crack down on corruption.

"I welcome General Musharraf’s bold proclamations to establish true accountability against all those who have damaged our nation through their own greed and abuses," she said in a statement faxed from London.

RIYADH (IANS): Saudi Arabia has said that it would continue ‘‘good relations’’ with Pakistan as it has full confidence in the latter’s armed forces.

In the first official reaction after the army takeover, the Defence Minister, Prince Sultan bin Abdel Aziz, said: ‘‘Saudi Arabia always stands up for international legitimacy, for law and order, and that’s why we hope for calm and stability for the Muslim people of Pakistan,’’ NNI news agency reported.

Beg for 2-yr army rule

RAWALPINDI, Oct 18 — Pakistan’s former army chief, Gen (retd) Aslam Beg, has advocated two years of military rule to remove what he called the political filth of 10 years.

Gen Beg, now president of the Pakistan Qiadat Party, told a news conference here that the army could ensure revival of national institutions through ruthless accountability and economic reforms.

‘‘The military action will lose public support if the army fails to conduct ruthless accountability’’. He proposed formation of a national advisory council and a national defence council, comprising technocrats and honest politicians.

Gen Beg said the accumulated ‘‘political filth’’ of 10 years could not be cleaned within three months and the army should be given two years to restore people’s confidence in the system. He proposed a five point administrative reforms package, including even-handed accountability and punishment to corrupt elements. He also called for economic revival and financial discipline and punishment to the corrupt.

He called for a review of the constitution to ensure electoral reforms. ‘‘If elections were held without implementing this five-point agenda then the polls could be disastrous and the process will shatter confidence of the nation,’’ he said. — IANS

Russians 6 km from Grozny

MOSCOW, Oct 18 (DPA) — Russian troops today continued their advance along the Terek river in the breakaway republic of Chechnya and took up positions six kilometres from Grozny, reports said.

While no major clashes had taken place since yesterday, the commander of the Russian forces, Gen Viktor Kazantsev, said forces were regrouping before launching a second major campaign against Chechen fighters.

"God grant that this operation can be completed as quickly as possible,’’ Itar-Tass news agency quoted General Kazantsev as saying.

The Terek separates the republic’s northern plains now held by Russian forces from the hills and mountains to the south and the capital Grozny, which lies 20 km beyond the river.

Russia NTV television carried unconfirmed reports that the government forces advancing from Ingushetia in the West had taken up positions at Pervomaiskaya village, less than six km from the city.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin yesterday ruled out any rush to Grozny, saying: "We will not use the tactic of large-scale military action with tanks and the storming of cities.’’

Moscow deployed ground forces in Chechnya almost three weeks ago after raids by Chechen-led gunmen in Dagestan and a series of massive bombings in Russian cities which the government blames on Chechens.

Russian President Boris Yeltsin justified the invasion saying it was part of Russia’s battle against international terrorism.

The Kremlin quoted Mr Yeltsin as telling French President Jacques Chirac on the telephone that the Russian operation was aimed at "liquidating the locations of international terrorism’’ and at securing Chechnya’s return to Russia’s constitutional territory.

The news agency interfax quoted Mr Chirac as having underlined that the integrity of the Russian federation must be respected. More than 160,000 Chechen refugees have so far fled the republic.

The commander of Russian air operations in Chechnya, Gen Valeri Gorbenko, on Monday confirmed that two pilots missing since the beginning of the month were dead.

The pilots’ planes had crashed near Tolstoy-Yurt and Grozny. General Gorbenko said they were downed by Russian-made heat-seeking Strela and Igla missiles, although Chechen sources said they were shot down by US-made Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.

Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov has meanwhile acknowledged disputes with his field commanders about a peaceful settlement in the Chechen conflict. Mr Maskhadov was quoted as saying that dissent was growing among the field commanders, who are fighting Russian troops in small units, about his attempts to settle the future status of Chechnya by negotiation.

In Moscow, the Interior Ministry and Domestic Security Service said they had taken measures to avert action by the rebels, whom it blames for a series of devastating bomb blasts which killed almost 300 people in Russian towns.

Russia’s Defence Ministry said warplanes had hit fighters’ bases in several villages and towns surrounding Grozny, including the Chechen stronghold of Bamut, where clashes between Russian troops and the rebels were reported on Sunday.

Interior Ministry troops had completed a "clean-up’’ operation against the rebels in 40 villages across Chechnya, a spokesman in Moscow said by telephone.

Russian leaders have denied plans for a ground offensive, but have not ruled out taking Grozny— a dangerous move which would risk triggering a replay of the ill-fated 1994-96 Chechen war with separatists.

Musharraf's Indian roots

NEW DELHI: THE man who has set out to change the course of history in Pakistan was born in a sprawling "haveli" at Kucha Saadullah Khan, now a congested and dirty locality behind Golcha cinema in the walled city.

Gen Pervez Musharraf, who deposed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a sensational bloodless coup after being dismissed as Chief of Army Staff, spent his early childhood in the "Nehar Wali Haveli", parts of which have long since given way to a commercial and residential complex.

However, a small dilapidated portion of the original structure still stands but is not safe to be lived in. Two small rooms on the first floor were occupied by a driver who packed up and left a couple of months back. According to neighbours, he has not been seen since.

The haveli, like most evacuee properties on either side of the divide, was occupied by the locals when the riots broke out in 1947 and people fled to save their lives.

However, none of the neighbours has any inkling of who lived there at the time of partition or who owns the rundown property now.

The high roofs and arches of the haveli are believed to have earlier witnessed history in the middle of the 18th century when it was occupied by a "Wazir" (Minister) in the court of Bahadur Shah Zafar — the last Mughal emperor.

The dingy four-storeyed Gola Market behind Golcha cinema occupies part of the haveli which was bought by General Musharraf’s grandfather Qazi Mohtashimuddin when he retired as a Commissioner in undivided Punjab.

General Musharraf, who has now assumed the title of Chief Executive, is the second of three sons of Syed Musharrafuddin, a cashier with the Directorate General of Civil Supplies in Delhi who was absorbed into the foreign service when he migrated to Pakistan at the time of partition. He rose to be Joint Secretary in the Foreign Office.

The information was provided to UNI on condition of anonymity by a first cousin of Syed Musharrafuddin. The General’s uncle, now aged past 80, runs a small business from a dilapidated shop in a narrow by-lane near the Jama Masjid.

Age has withered his frame but his mental faculties are astonishingly sharp. It is with a lump in the throat that he reminisces about his nephew, "hamara khoon" (our blood), who made it big, and how the family migrated.

"Those were terrible times. Riots had broken out and there was blood and mayhem everywhere. Syed Musharrafuddin managed to reach Gul-i-Rana, the mansion of Nawab Liaqat Ali Khan which later became the official residence of the Pakistan High Commissioner. What happened after that I do not know."

(Nawab Liaqat Ali Khan, who served as Finance Minister in the interim government later became the first Prime Minister of Pakistan.)

Pervez was the first to join the army from a family of bureaucrats, he said.

"I have not seen him (General Musharraf) since my cousin migrated to Pakistan. I was there when he was born in the August of 1943. I also was born in the same haveli. The partition shattered my life and divided the family. I saw my daughter-in-law (the General’s wife) for the first time when the newspapers carried her photograph after the change of guard in Pakistan.

General Musharraf’s elder brother Javed, who was educated at Anglo-Arabic School at Ajmeri Gate was a top officer with the Pakistan Foreign Service while the youngest, Naved, practices medicine in the USA. — UNI

Zardari's property
UK to hand over probe report to Pak

LONDON, Oct 18 — The British Government has decided to hand over the report of a magisterial inquiry into the properties and bank accounts of Asif Ali Zardari, husband of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, in the country to the Pakistan Government, sources said.

The decision to hand over the documents, collected by the magistrate during a month-long inquiry last year, was taken two days before the military coup in Pakistan. "It has nothing to do with the present situation in Pakistan." NNI news agency reported quoting unnamed sources.

The sources said Benazir Bhutto, who lives in London, had been informed about the British Government's decision. Zardari has been given the right to appeal against the decision within 10 days before British Home Secretary Jack Straw, the sources added. Mr Farooq Naik, a Pakistani lawyer who appeared before the Bow Street Magistrate's court for Zardari, was called to London by Ms Bhutto the same day for consultations.

Zardari, who is serving a jail sentence in a corruption case in Pakistan, is understood to have told his lawyers to file an appeal with the British Home Secretary against the British Government's decision. If the appeal is rejected, the British Home Secretary would order releasing the documents to the Pakistan Government through diplomatic channel," the sources said. — India Abroad News Service

Catalonia poll
MADRID: Nationalist leader Jordi Pujol has won re-election in Spain’s Catalonia region in an election that gave Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar food for thought before a national election early next year. Mr Pujol’s centrist Convergence and Union (CIU) coalition took 56 seats in the 135-seat regional Parliament, according to official election returns — four fewer than in 1995, but still enough to get the chance to head another minority government. — Reuters

10,002 kisses
BAD OEYNHAUSEN (Germany): A German actress has kissed her way in the Guinness Book of World Records. Andrea Suwa (27) on Sunday kissed 10,002 men, women and children in a five-hour marathon in this northern German town. She kissed a person every 3.5 seconds to beat the old record of 5,001 kisses. — DPA

2 wives at one go!
TEHERAN: An Iranian man married two women simultaneously, the daily Entekhab reported on Sunday. Mir Ali, a 25-year-old man from the Chenarani tribe in northeastern Iran, married his 19-year-old cousin and another 20-year-old woman, the daily said. — DPA