Soften deportation law: Pallone
WASHINGTON, Sept 3 — A Democratic Congressman, Mr Frank Pallone, has urged his congressional colleagues to soften some of the arbitrary and ruthless provisions of the new deportation law.

Pak: CTBT decision depends on India
ISLAMABAD, Sept 3 — Pakistan today said a final decision on signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty will be made after taking into account the “new situation” in view of India’s announcement of its draft nuclear doctrine.

Warning on another quake
MENLO PARK (CALIF), Sept 3 — A scientist who two years ago predicted last month’s devastating Turkish earthquake warned yesterday that a ‘domino effect’ on the country’s north Anatolian fault could mean dangerous seismic stress is building up around Istanbul.

Lewinsky’s father asked to help Clinton
LOS ANGELES, Sept 3 — Talk about chutzpah. First, the US President, Mr Bill Clinton, had an affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky and now his legal defence fund is asking her father to help pay for the consequences.

No let-up in violence: 4 UN men dead
E. Timor vote result today

DILI (E. Timor) Sept 3 (AP) — Anti-independence militiamen occupied towns and villages across East Timor today, and the UN said at least four of its staff members have been killed and many others are under siege by marauding gangs.

A new wave of violence also swept across parts of the capital, Dili, where votes were being counted in Monday’s historic referendum on East Timor’s future.

“People are running for their lives. There is panic. The shooting is coming closer,” one resident said in a telephone interview from the Dili’s troubled Becora district.

The UN mission said it was “defenceless” in face of the deteriorating security situation and the inability of Indonesian defence forces to restore law and order.

UN spokesman David Wimhurst said at least four locally-hired UN staff members had been killed and six were missing sine the referendum. Other reports put the death toll at five.

Pressure increased on the UN to deploy armed peacekeepers to East Timor, as Indonesian security forces failed to stop pro-Indonesian militia gangs from wreaking havoc, and thousands of people fled their homes.

For the first time, Indonesia indicated that it might allow a multinational force into East Timor. However, a peacekeeping force would have to be authorised by the UN Security Council.

Reuters adds: East Timor braced for more violence with tomorrow’s announcement of the result of a ballot on independence, an option fiercely opposed by pro-Jakarta militiamen, who now control much of the territory.

The result is expected to show overwhelming support for independence, but pro-Jakarta militiamen have been waging a campaign of terror against East Timorese who want to sever links with Indonesia.

Indonesian Army Chief General Wiranto, said he had sent two battalions of extra troops to East Timor at the request of the United Nations.

The Government of President B.J. Habibie is under international pressure to control the gangs that are killing at will, with the backing of elements of the Indonesian military.

Gen Wiranto said the extra troops were being flown in from Kupang, the capital of neighbouring West Timor. A battalion has around 700 men on average.

Witnesses said thousands of militiamen effectively controlled Ermera district, about 30 km south of the capital, Dili. They also largely command the towns of Maliana and Liquica and operate with impunity in several others areas.

A convoy of UN workers from Maliana arrived safely back in Dili on Friday after evacuating the town.

“The trend is that the militia have been very active. They certainly control many of these places in East Timor”, UN spokesman David Wimhurst told a news conference.

He called the response by Indonesian police “totally inadequate” — a criticism voiced around the world as police and troops ignore, or even encourage, militia activity. “The police have been unable to respond in any way to the deteriorating situation,” he added.

Charges against paparazzi dismissed

PARIS, Sept 3 (Reuters) — French judges have dismissed manslaughter and other charges against nine photographers and a motorcyclist in the 1997 car crash death of Princess Diana, the Paris Prosecutor’s Office announced today.

In the final report, investigating magistrates Herve Stephan and Marie-Christine Devidal found that chauffeur Henri Paul was mainly to blame because he was drunk and under the influence of anti-depressants. He, Diana and her friend, Dodi Al-Fayed, died in the crash.

The photographers and despatch rider were probed on suspicion they might have contributed to the deaths by chasing Princess Diana’s car and failing to help the victims.

State prosecutor Maud Coujard squarely laid the blame on Paul in her report issued on August 17 and recommended that the drawn-out case be closed without charges.

Mr Georges Kiejman, lawyer for Dodi’s father Mohammed Al-Fayed, last week threatened a long legal battle if the magistrates dropped charges in the case.

Under French law, any party to a case may contest a decision by investigating magistrates. Appeals go before a three-judge panel which usually takes several months to study them and normally do not succeed, say legal experts.

A lawyer for Dodi’s father Mohammed Al-Fayed, owner for the Ritz Hotel which employed Paul, immediately said he would file an appeal, heralding what could be a drawn-out legal battle.

The prosecutor’s statement quoted the ruling as saying the accident on August 31, 1997 “was due to the fact the vehicle’s driver was in a state of drunkenness and under the influence of medication incompatible with alcohol”.

“This prevented him from keeping control of his vehicle when he was driving at high speed, on a difficult section of road, while having in addition to avoid a vehicle going in the same direction”, the report said.

It said the exhaustive two-year inquiry “did not establish in a formal way any fault that could be certainly linked with the accident and blamed on the persons under investigation”.

The ruling said Dodi “cannot be reproached” for calling in Paul to drive or taking other security decisions that evening.

By contrast, it said the nine photographers and one photo agency motorcyclist investigated in the case had been severely criticised by witnesses for snapping pictures at the scene of the accident. But it said their behaviour, while perhaps questionable from a moral point of view, “does not constitute in itself an infraction as characterised by penal law”.

The Fayed family has long argued that photographers who chased Diana and Dodi after their dinner at the Ritz that night were responsible for the accident.

India ratifies landmine pacts

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 3 (PTI) — India has ratified two protocols which restrict the use of anti-personnel landmines, booby traps and other such devices and ban use of laser weapons specially designed to cause permanent blindness.

The Indian Ambassador to the United Nations, Mr Kamlesh Sharma, deposited the instruments of ratification with the world body yesterday.

The protocols are part of the convention on prohibitions or restrictions on the use of certain conventional weapons which may be deemed to be excessively injurious or to have indiscriminate effects.

India has always maintained a moratorium on export of landmines and has been contributing to international efforts in dealing with the problem. For over three decades, Indian armed forces have helped in demining operations under the United Nations in several countries, including Angola, Bosnia, Congo, Mozambique and Somalia.

So far as blinding laser weapons are concerned, this is the first time, since the use of exploding bullets was prohibited in 1868, that a weapon of military utility has been banned before it has been actually used on the battlefield.

The protocol on mines, which was amended on May 3, 1996, prohibits the use of non-detectable anti-personnel mines and stipulates that all mines produced after January 1, 1997, must contain at least eight grams of iron or equivalent to make their detection easier and removal less hazardous.

The scope of the protocol has been extended to cover “armed conflicts not of an international character”.

It also prohibits use of mines designed to detonate during detection operation and provides that remotely delivered mines must be constructed to self-destruct within 30 days of emplacement with 90 per cent reliability.

Soften deportation law: Pallone

WASHINGTON, Sept 3 (PTI) — A Democratic Congressman, Mr Frank Pallone, has urged his congressional colleagues to soften some of the arbitrary and ruthless provisions of the new deportation law.

Mr Pallone, former Co-Chairman of the Congressional Caucus for India and Indian Americans, in a letter to his colleagues said that the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) and the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 were designed to curb illegal entry into the USA and ensure that criminal aliens could not avoid deportation.

But, in reality, what these laws had done was to alienate the entire non-citizen population of the USA, including legal permanent residents.

Mr Pallone said that the Family Reunification Act of 1999, introduced by a Congressman, Mr Barney Frank, would go a long way in correcting the blatant injustice being suffered by countless individuals and families that reside in this country legally and who have already paid the price for any past wrongdoing.

Mr Frank’s legislation seeks to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to revise the conditions under which the Attorney-General may cancel the removal of certain long-term permanent residents from the USA. This would include cancelling the removal, for humanitarian or public benefit reasons, certain permanent residents convicted of “aggravated felonies”.

According to the 1996 acts, all non-citizens who have committed a crime at any time during their residency in the USA, including legal permanent residents with relatively minor non-violent convictions, are ineligible for relief from deportation.

Under these laws, mandatory detention has been put into place while waiver hearings and judicial review have been eliminated, he said. The further injustice of this measure, he notes, is that it is retroactive.

But since the 1996 laws, any crime that earns a sentence of one year or more is considered to be an “aggravated felony” and makes this, and this alone, grounds for immediate deportation.

Policies lead to secret prostitution

ISLAMABAD, Sept 3 (UNI) — Taliban’s anti-feminist policies are forcing women, especially those who have lost their husbands in the war, to clandestine prostitution in Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan.

But what may come as a bigger news for those who take Taliban’s Islamic credentials seriously is that these so-called religious warriors use their brute authority to force these women to submit to their carnal desire gratis.

These disclosures were made by the Karachi-based English-language weekly, Herald. Prostitution is considered adultery in Afghanistan and punished accordingly. But Herald’s correspondent, who reported this from Kabul, wrote that punishment for prostitution could be reduced by heavy bribes to judicial authorities.

When the Taliban took over Kabul in 1996, they banned women from going out of their houses to work with menfolk. Thus, overnight thousands of educated and experienced women lost their government jobs or their business. A large number of them who had also lost their husbands and other male members of their families, were left with no alternative but to beg for feeding their dependants.

As a sequel female beggars began appearing on the streets of Kabul. Eventually they turned prostitutes in the guise of beggars. They cover themselves with tattered clothes from head to toes but underneath wear decent clothes.

Their clients were usually shopkeepers who had a store room or an attic where they took the woman without any problem, the paper said.

Beggar prostitutes charge about 2 lakh Afghanis which is equal to Rs 250 (Pakistani). A beggar prostitute has to find more than one client a day to feed her family.

A large number of brothels has sprouted all over Kabul. The “sex-workers” always have to keep on moving to avoid detection.

But there were brothels which had the protection of the Taliban who want free fun, Herald reported adding that Taliban soldiers too went to these brothels.

Pak: CTBT decision depends on India

ISLAMABAD, Sept 3 (PTI) — Pakistan today said a final decision on signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) will be made after taking into account the “new situation” in view of India’s announcement of its draft nuclear doctrine.

“Pakistan cannot remain unmindful to this situation (announcement of India’s nuclear doctrine) and we have to take into account all these factors before a final decision (on the CTBT), “Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Tariq Altaf told reporters here.

Once again linking its stand on signing the treaty with India’s position, Islamabad also indicated that it may renew its negotiations with the USA on the issue afresh.

Referring to an earlier announcement that Pakistan had delinked its stance on signing the CTBT with that of India’s, he said, “for us the bottomline is that we will keep our national security interests supreme while taking a decision.”

“Recent developments have created a lot of complications and the new situation, arising from India’s militarisation programme, has destabilised peace and security in the region,” Altaf added.

Incidentally, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had announced in the United Nations General Assembly last year that Pakistan would adhere to the CTBT by September, 1999, and it is expected that Sharif would make a final announcement on his country’s stance on the treaty when he again addresses the world body on September 22.

Warning on another quake

MENLO PARK (CALIF), Sept 3 (Reuters) — A scientist who two years ago predicted last month’s devastating Turkish earthquake warned yesterday that a ‘domino effect’ on the country’s north Anatolian fault could mean dangerous seismic stress is building up around Istanbul.

Ross Stein, a geophysicist with US Geological Survey (USGS), said a string of large earthquakes that have shaken the Turkish fault since 1939 indicated that each large shock opened the door for the next.

‘In a general sense, this will ratchet up the stress on the faults closer to Istanbul and increase the probability of a quake there,’ Stein told reporters at a news briefing. ‘This is an area of concern.’

Stein said it would be prudent for authorities in Turkey’s largest city to prepare for another large quake — although he pointed out that there was no way of forecasting whether this would occur in five years or 50.

The 1997 analysis concluded that two areas in Turkey were particularly at risk for fresh earthquake disaster: The area east of Ercinzan, which has been largely quiet since 1939, and the area south of Izmit — the epicentre of last month’s quake.

Lewinsky’s father asked to help Clinton

LOS ANGELES, Sept 3 (Reuters) — Talk about chutzpah. First, the US President, Mr Bill Clinton, had an affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky and now his legal defence fund is asking her father to help pay for the consequences.

Dr Bernard Lewinsky is letting all of Los Angeles know he is madder than hell and is not going to take it anymore.When the elder Lewinsky, a Los Angeles cancer specialist, received a letter from the Clinton Legal Expense Trust, asking him for a donation to help the President clear his attorneys bills, he put it back in the mail marked, “Return to sender. You must be morons to send me this letter.”

Mr Lewinsky told Harvey it was the second begging letter he had received from Mr Clinton’s legal expense fund people, who said that the President owes about $ 5 million in legal expenses.

Sharon confirmed
JERUSALEM: Hawkish former General Ariel Sharon was confirmed as leader of Israel’s opposition Right-wing Likub Party on Friday after easily seeing off two challengers in a vote by party members. A Likud party official said the 71-year-old had won 52 per cent of votes, more than enough to make him the outright victor without a second round run-off. — Reuters

Koran stolen
ISTANBUL: The Istanbul police are looking for clues to recover a priceless 900-year-old manuscript of the Koran stolen from the Topkapi Palace, NTV news channel said. The theft was discovered on Thursday in the section of the palace where miniatures are on display, officials told NTV. — AFP

8 die in clashes
JAKARTA: At least eight persons have been killed in new communal clashes in the strife-torn eastern Indonesian province of Maluku, reports said on Friday. At least seven persons were killed, many others were injured and more than 250 homes and other buildings were torched or damaged during Thursday’s violence in the north Maluku district, the reports said. — DPA

Dy PM ousted
WARSAW: The Polish Prime Minister, Mr Jerzy Buzek, said on Wednesday that he had sacked his Deputy Premier over suspicions of links with Communist-era security police. Mr Janek Tomaszewski, a veteran anti-Communist activist who was also the Interior Minister, was sacked after refusing to resign or answer press accusations. “The Prime Minister should be able to trust his ministers,” said Mr Buzek. “We had to end this uncertainty.” — Reuters.

Ex-General demoted
WASHINGTON: The US Army took the highly unusual action of demoting a retired General who admitted during his court-martial last spring that he had adulterous affairs with the wives of four subordinates. The officer, David Hale, vowed to challenge the decision in a federal court on Thursday. Army Secretary Louis Caldera reduced Hale’s rank from a two-star Major-General to a one-star Brigadier-General. Hale (53) was once a top commander of NATO forces in southern Europe — AP

Anti-crime force
LAHORE: A new surveillance force has been set up in the Lahore Cantonment, with the objective of controlling rising crime by putting in place a well-equipped, modern organisation. The Garrison Security Force (GSF) began its operations on Wednesday within the cantonment localities. . — ANI