Plot to kill Tamil leaders unearthed
COLOMBO, Oct 26 —The police said they had unearthed an LTTE plot to assassinate senior Tamil politicians of Sri Lanka.

Buchanan, Trump join Reform Party
WASHINGTON, Oct 26 — Fiery populist Pat Buchanan quit the Republican Party yesterday as another big week in the 2000 campaign began with Texas Gov. George W. Bush taking to the air waves and new polls showing a tighter White House race.

Inderfurth meets Taliban leader
WASHINGTON, Oct 26 — US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright held out prospects of better relations with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan as the militia’s representative met a senior official in the State Department to discuss the extradition of Saudi renegade Osama bin Laden.

Sharif ‘ laundered millions’
WASHINGTON, Oct 26 — Pakistan’s deposed Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif skimmed hundreds of millions of dollars from public works, wheat imports, sugar exports and other government projects, says The New York Times.

Wiranto’s wings clipped in new Cabinet

JAKARTA, Oct 26 (Reuters) — Indonesia today named its reformist Cabinet, announcing a line-up full of new faces and short on government experience.

Economist Kiwk Kian Gie, a close aide of Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri, was named top Economics Minister as widely predicted. General Wiranto was pushed aside as both Defence Minister and the armed forces chief, given the less powerful job of Security and Political Coordinating Minister.

Former Education Minister Juwono Sudarsono was named as the first civilian Defence Minister in generations.

Admiral Widodo, General Wiranto’s former number two in the military, replaced him as the armed forces chief. He is the first non-army man ever to hold the post and his appointment gives the country’s navy increased clout.

Mr Alwi Shihab, a top aide of President Abdurrahman Wahid, was named Foreign Minister, replacing Mr Ali Alatas who has held the post for over a decade.

Top politicians from most leading political groups got posts in the Cabinet, which faces daunting tasks in ending a crushing economic and political crisis and mass violence which has killed thousands in the past two years.

East Timor independence leader Xanana Gusmao would travel to Jakarta and meet, Indonesia’s new leaders, President Wahid announced today.

“I heard it from former Foreign Minister Ali Alatas that Gusmao is going to Jakarta”, Ms Wahid said. “If that is true Mega and I will pick him up at the airport”, he said immediately after his new Cabinet was announced.

“Mega” is Deputy President Megawati Sukarnoputri. Mr Wahid did not say when Mr Gusmao might come to Jakarta.

Mr Wahid said it was important for Indonesia to retain good relations with an independent East Timor. Jakarta invaded the former Portuguese colony in 1975 but last week revoked its 1976 ennexation after the territory overwhelmingly rejected Jakarta’s rule in an August referendum.

Yesterday, Indonesia said Mr Wahid expected to meet Mr Gusmao but said it would take place in a neutral country, possibly Brunei.

Mr Wahid’s announcement came after the UN in New York approved a peacekeeping force and interim administration to last for two to three years and lead East Timor to independence.

The force, of nearly 11,000 troops and police, will take over from a UN-backed intervention force sent in last month to stop a wave of killings by pro-Jakarta forces which followed the vote.

CANBERRA: Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on Tuesday welcomed Indonesia’s new Cabinet, saying that it would boost the country’s international standing.

“The balance and quality of the Cabinet is a credit to the judgement and political skill of President Wahid,” Mr Downer said in a statement. “Because of its strength, the Cabinet is likely to be received positively by the international community,” he added.

Mr Downer also said the new Cabinet, which includes the fewest Generals in Indonesia’s history, was likely to further boost investor confidence in the country, and help to get it back on its feet economically.

Musharraf mum on Sharif’s fate

DUBAI, Oct 26 (Reuters) — Pakistani military ruler Pervez Musharraf refused to be drawn into remarks published today about the fate of Mr Nawaz Sharif, whom he overthrew and detained in a bloodless coup on October 12.

General Musharraf made his comments in interviews with two Saudi-owned, London-based newspapers on the first day of a visit to Saudi Arabia, his first foreign trip since assuming power.

He arrived in the kingdom yesterday and held talks with King Fahd touching on Kashmir, Afghanistan and other issues.

Last night, he performed “umra”, the minor pilgrimage, in the Muslim holy city of Mecca and was to meet Crown Prince Abdullah in the Red Sea industrial city of Yanbu today.

Asked by Asharq Al-Awsat daily about the fate of Mr Sharif, he said: “You will see later. Let time decide and Mr Sharif himself will see what we will do”.

Asked if he would hand over power to an elected civilian govern-ment, General Musharraf told Asharq Al-Awsat: “There is no specific time regarding this.

“All I know is that I will concentrate on improving the economic situation in the country, consolidate unity and lead Pakistan to new horizons. That is when my work is finished and I hope this will happen as soon as possible.”

General Musharraf said he would seek Saudi support during his talks.

Gen Musharraf said the fact he left Pakistan on a foreign trip less than 20 days after the coup showed “my confidence that everything in Pakistan is okay and under control’’.

Diplomats in Pakistan said General Musharraf would welcome the Gulf’s diplomatic support because of Western anger about the coup.

General Musharraf, accompanied by Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmed, was due to travel to the United Arab Emirates tomorrow.

ISLAMABAD: A team of Commonwealth Ministers visiting Pakistan this week has asked to see detained Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

A team led by Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy is due in Pakistan this week for talks with senior figures in the new leadership, including army ruler General Musharraf.

A team led by Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy is due in Pakistan this week for talks with senior figures in the new leadership, including army ruler General Musharraf.

Lashkar may strike J&K in Nov
from Shahid Ahmed Khan

ISLAMABAD, Oct 26 — A front-ranking Pakistan-based mercenary group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, is planning to intensify strikes in Kashmir in the first week of November to coincide with its annual congregation, as the country’s army rulers showed little signs of curbing activities of such groups.

The Lashkar-e-Toiba is planning to hold its annual three-day congregation at Muridke on the outskirts of Lahore from November 3 to 5 and during this time plans have been chalked out to intensify attacks on Indian troops in Kashmir, leading Urdu daily Nawa-e-Waqt said quoting Lashkar sources.

The outfit, one of the most prominent and well-organised militant groups involved in the Kargil infiltration earlier this year, has apparently received indications that the army authorities have no intention of banning their congregation, the report said.

Earlier this month, doubts prevailed over the congregation amidst reports that the ousted Nawaz Sharif government was planning to impose a ban on it following a crackdown on most extremist religious groups in the country.

In fact, the Sharif government immediately after a spate of sectarian-related killings across Pakistan in the beginning of this month had launched a crackdown against Lashkar and other similar organisations in Pakistan.

Full scale preparations are underway for the Lashkar’s annual congregation in which nearly one million people from across Pakistan will assemble at Muridke, 35 km from Lahore, with no sign of any restraint on them by military authorities.

International and national media have also been invited to the congregation in which “participants of Kargil” would take part, a statement by the Lashkar, which has declared an open “jehad” against India, said.

Since the army takeover in Pakistan, official Pak-occupied Kashmir Radio has also broadcast an interview with Lashkar chief Hafiz Mohammad Sayeed, in the first hint of leniency on the part of army authorities towards militant groups. — PTI

Plot to kill Tamil leaders unearthed

COLOMBO, Oct 26 (UNI)—The police said they had unearthed an LTTE plot to assassinate senior Tamil politicians of Sri Lanka.

The plot came to light after Eric Savundranayagam of the LTTE, who masterminded the assassination of TULF parliamentarian Neelan Thiruchlvam, disclosed a hit list he had been given by rebel intelligence wing chief Pottu Amman. According to the police, Savundranayagam was given a briefing by Pottu Amman in an LTTE hideout in Puthukudiiruppu in Mullaituvu recently. Among those Savundranayagam was assigned to kill were Douglas Devananda and Posts and Telecommunications and Media Minister Mangala Sama Kawera.

The hit list handed to Savundranayagam, a telephone operator at a communication central at Wellawatte who was arrested when he went to attend the wedding of his sister in Chennai, also included the names of Chief Inspector Mohammed Neelabdeen of the counter terrorism unit and Tamil politician Anand Sangari.

Meanwhile, security has been beefed up for the Tamil politicians and other Cabinet Ministers.

Buchanan, Trump join Reform Party

WASHINGTON, Oct 26 (Reuters) — Fiery populist Pat Buchanan quit the Republican Party yesterday as another big week in the 2000 campaign began with Texas Gov. George W. Bush taking to the air waves and new polls showing a tighter White House race.

“I’m ending my lifelong membership in the Republican party... and declaring my intention to seek the Reform Party nomination for the President of the USA,” Mr Buchanan told a cheering crowd in the suburbs of Washington.

Buchanan, who advocates trade protectionism and a moratorium on immigration, could hurt the Republican ticket if he wins the reform party nomination but he faces a formidable challenge in New York developer Donald Trump.

Calling Buchanan “a Hitler lover,” Trump announced on Sunday that he was also joining the Reform Party. He had previously established a presidential exploratory committee.

Buchanan’s defection left six Republicans vying for the Presidency: Bush, publisher Steve Forbes, Arizona Sen John Mccain, Utah Sen, Orrin Hatch, Conservative activist Gary Bauer and talk radio host Alan Keyes.

Bush, the overwhelming front-runner, yesterday launched five television advertisements, including one in Spanish, in the early Presidential states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

But a new poll in New Hampshire, which will hold the first state primary of the campaign next Feburary 1, showed Bush’s lead there narrowing. He now leads with 39 per cent of the vote, only 12 points ahead of McCain, with the rest of the field in single digits.

A CNN/Gallup poll showed an almost identical picture. Bush’s lead over Gore, which was 16 points two weeks ago, has shrunk to only nine points, 52-43 per cent. The margin of error was five points.

The poll showed Buchanan gaining 5 per cent of the vote in a three-man race, but four of those points came from Bush and only one from Gore. Adding Buchanan to the mix reduced Bush’s lead over Gore to six points, 48-42 per cent.

Inderfurth meets Taliban leader

WASHINGTON, Oct 26 (IANS) — US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright held out prospects of better relations with the Taliban regime in Afghanistan as the militia’s representative met a senior official in the State Department to discuss the extradition of Saudi renegade Osama bin Laden.

Taliban representative Abdul Hakeem Mujahid held talks with Assistant Secretary for South Asia Karl Inderfurth for more than an hour at the State Department on Monday. Mr Mujahid left by a side exit of the department without seeing journalists. He did not issue a statement on his discussions with Mr Inderfurth.

State Department spokesman James Rubin sought to play down the expectations arising out of the Inderfurth-Mujahid meeting, clarifying that the talks with the Taliban were not on the verge of a breakthrough.

ISLAMABAD: Meanwhile, the Taliban has again ruled out handing over Saudi renegade Osama bin Laden to the USA, saying that nobody had produced evidence to prove his involvement in terrorism.

Sharif ‘laundered millions’

WASHINGTON, Oct 26 (UNI) — Pakistan’s deposed Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif skimmed hundreds of millions of dollars from public works, wheat imports, sugar exports and other government projects, says The New York Times.

The daily quotes the Director-General of Pakistan’s Federal Investigative Agency Mr Rehman Malik, as saying that Mr Sharif enriched himself, his family and his friends in government deals he conducted as Prime Minister.

The daily says Mr Malik (47) has spent five years looking into Mr Sharifs financial practices. Jailed by Mr Sharif after his re-election in 1997, freed and exonerated by Pakistan’s Supreme Court a year later, he lives in exile in London.

At least $ 160 million were pocketed from a contract to build a highway from Lahore, his home town, to Islamabad, the nation’s capital.

At least $ 140 million in unsecure loans from Pakistan’s state banks, he says went to finance companies owned or controlled by Mr Sharif.

More than 60 million were generated from government rebates on sugar exported by mills controlled by Mr Sharif and his business associates.

At least $ 58 million were skimmed from inflated prices paid for imported wheat from the USA and Canada.

In the wheat deal, Mr Sharif’s government paid prices far above market value to a private company owned by a close associate of his in Washington, the records show. Falsely inflated invoices for the wheat generated tens of millions of dollars in cash.

In one case, he has traced the flow of $ 7.85 million, including borrowed government funds, from Mr Sharif’s family business, the Ittefaq group.

In another case, Mr Malik tracked $1,85 million channelled through a Swiss bank to accounts in Washington, London, Pakistan and the British Virgin Islands that he said were controlled by Mr Sharif, his family and his friends.

6 killed in crash
CARACAS: Three civilians and three military personnel were killed on Monday when a military plane crashed during a storm in western Venezuela. Airport traffic officials said the Aravat aircraft was reported missing over the western Venezuelan flatlands. — DPA

Ex-PM’s wife quizzed
BAT YAM: The wife of former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was called in for questioning twice as part of a fraud investigation of the couple, police sources said. Ms Sarah Netanyahu was interrogated alone but her husband accompanied her to the fraud squad headquarters, where she was being grilled over a bill for $ 100,000 of contracting work at their private residence when he was in office. — AFP

Iran’s atomic bomb
DUBAI: Iran will have an atomic bomb and long-range missile by the year 2007 and 2004, respectively, according to Babel, an Iraqi newspaper owned by Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s son Uday. — ANI