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Wednesday,
December 19, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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USA asks
Pak to rein in ultras Karzai in
Rome to meet ex-king Rift
delays peacekeepers’ deployment
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5 Lankan
troops surrender Riot in
Australian migrants’ camp 
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USA asks Pak to rein in ultras Washington, December 18 In a reflection of a wavering stand in the past three days, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said “India has a legitimate right to self-defence.” However, when asked if India could attack terrorist training camps in Pakistan using a variant of the Bush doctrine, he said President George W. Bush had urged both sides “to share information, work with each other and take no action that would in any way hinder the war against terrorism to which both the countries have committed themselves.” Meanwhile, the US State Department has asked Pakistan to “address terrorist activities within their borders, especially the activities of militant groups.” “Pakistan needs to be concerned about the activities of militant groups within its border and needs to take appropriate action on its part,” the spokesman Richard Boucher said. Mr Boucher said of particular concern to the USA were the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad outfits, both of which had participated in
terrorist activities. US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said the USA is trying to ensure that a conflict does not erupt between India and Pakistan, faced with escalated tension in the aftermath of Thursday’s attack on Parliament. “Well, that’s what we’re trying to make sure does not happen,” Mr Powell said in a television interview when asked if there was a real possibility they could go after each other. His comments followed reports that India, which has blamed Pakistani nationals for the attack, is preparing to respond to the incident, having put on high alert its military along the Pakistan border in the Kashmir region. Mr Powell, however, said, “I think both sides are acting responsibly at this time. The Indian government I think has worked hard to find out who is responsible. We’re in touch with both governments, and I hope the degree of calmness that we have seen and degree of patience that we have seen sustains for quite a bit longer so that the situation doesn’t become critical.” “We would not wish to see this escalate to a direct exchange between the two nations going after each other, as opposed to going after their common enemy, which is terrorist organisations that conduct these kinds of horrible, horrible attacks,” he said in the television interview with Jim Lehrer in News Hour. Meanwhile, the State Department is urging India to finish its ongoing investigation of the attack on Parliament before resorting to any action against Pakistan. India insists that the attack was backed by Pakistani military intelligence (ISI) and carried out by Pakistan-based Islamic militant groups — Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.
PTI, IANS |
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Karzai in Rome to meet ex-king Rome, December 18 “They are part of Afghanistan. We have a Ministry of Defence and all forces in Afghanistan must eventually be under the ministry,” Mr Karzai, who will head an interim government, told reporters. Karzai, who arrived in
Rome late yesterday, is due to hold separate meetings with the 87-year-old former king Zahir Shah and Italian leaders, including Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, later today. Mr Karzai, head of an interim administration that will rule for six months, said; “I hope things will go very, very smoothly. So far it has been nice. Let’s hope for the best,” he told reporters as he was leaving his hotel to start his round of visits. The main purpose of his two-day visit is to meet Zahir Shah, who has lived in exile in the Italian capital since 1973. The ex-king is seen as a key player in trying to unite Afghans, at least symbolically. Zahir Shah is due to return home next year to open a “Loya Jirga, or grand council, to map out the country’s future as part of a UN-sponsored peace plan.
Reuters |
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Rift delays
peacekeepers’ deployment Berlin, December 18 The UN Security Council had been planning to take a decision on the force today, and on Friday the German Government had said it envisaged the necessary decision by parliament being taken this Thursday. However according to the FAZ, the Bundestag decision will now not come before the weekend, meaning there will only be a British advance contingent in Kabul on Saturday when the interim administration of Hamid Karzai takes office. The newspaper said differences remained between Berlin and London over how close the command of the new force should be linked with the command of the US forces currently in action in Afghanistan. “While Germany is pressing for a clear separation of the two operations, the British are demanding a combination of command lines,” it said.
AFP |
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Yemen hunt for Laden supporters Sana’a, December 1 They said Yemeni troops moved against an area called AlHhusoun in the marib area, some 140 km east of the capital Sanaa after a tribesmen refused to hand over a number of Islamists believed to belong to Laden’s Al Qaida organisation. The sources said the Yemeni forces had used tanks and helicopters in the attack to flush out the Islamists. Armed tribesmen returned fire. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Reuters |
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Israel resumes contacts with PA Jerusalem, December 18 “There are contacts under way at different levels and varying degrees of intensity,” an Israeli Foreign Ministry source said. “There is no decision by the government against meeting the Palestinians or talking to them.” Another senior Israeli political source said the contacts that have taken place since the Cabinet decision last week involved senior officials, including Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer. “They aren’t talking with Arafat. The Prime Minister doesn’t want Arafat involved but he doesn’t mind if they talk to the others,” the political source said. The two ministers were not immediately available to comment but Peres has said he is still in contact
with Palestinian officials without giving any details. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s security cabinet declared Arafat “irrelevant” after militants linked to the Fatah faction killed 10 Israelis in an ambush on December 12. The cabinet said the Palestinian leader had not fulfilled pledges to crack down on militant groups, despite intense pressure after a surge in nearly 15 months of violence. Israeli political analysts have said any Palestinian official in contact with Israeli officials was likely to report back to Arafat. Peres, an architect of interim peace deals with the Palestinians, has frequently warned Sharon that breaking off dialogue and combatting the Palestinian uprising by military means alone would be disastrous for both sides. The Israeli sources said there had been contacts between Peres and Palestinian Minister Saeb Erekat. Ben-Eliezer had spoken to Jibril Rajoub, the Palestinian Preventive Security chief in the West Bank, they said. The USA and the European Union have said they continue to view Arafat as the leader of the Palestinian people and that there is no bypassing the Palestinian Authority in efforts to end the bloodshed.
Reuters |
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5 Lankan troops surrender Colombo, December 18 An Army Lieutenant and four soldiers yesterday turned themselves in before a magistrate in the hill town of Kandy, as a special police team claimed that it had evidence pointing to the alleged involvement of the son of former Deputy Defence Minister Anuruddha Ratwatt in the mass killing. The army personnel were remanded in custody, giving a dramatic turn to the political killings in Kandy district that took place on December 5 after the polling was over while the victims were travelling in a van behind a government vehicle carrying ballot boxes at Madawala, near kandy. The troops pumped bullets from T-56 assault rifles into the van, apparently as punishment for preventing large-scale rigging by their vigilance. Mr Ratwatte, President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s uncle and a senior leader of her People’s Alliance, is widely accused by opponents of unleashing terror in Kandy. However, he called a press conference last week to deny any involvement, and challenged the police to produce any evidence implicating him or his sons. The Criminal Investigation Department has told the Magistrate that the suspects included Mr Lohan ratwatte, the former minister’s son. Mr Ratwatte also denied that Lohan had fled the country, and accused political rivals of base propaganda against his family and offered to cooperate with the investigations, if required.
PTI |
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Riot in Australian migrants’ camp Sydney, December 18 The incident, at the Woomera detention centre in South Australia state, is the latest and worst in a series of riots, demonstrations and escapes that have plagued the camps in the past two years. Almost 3,000 men, women and children are kept behind barbed wire in five such camps across Australia, while the authorities concerned review their applications for asylum. Some like Woomera are in remote locations. Most of the inmates have fled humanitarian catastrophes in the Middle East and south and central Asia, coming to Australia from Indonesia on boats organised by people-smuggling gangs.
AP |
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2 Nepal
publishers held Kathmandu, December 18 Gopal Budhathoki, publisher and Editor of Nepali-language weekly Sanghu, and Bandhu Thapa, publisher of another Nepali weekly Deshantar, were detained yesterday.
DPA |
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