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Sunday,
May 18, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Iraq
sanctions may raise strife in UN
Bush vows
to hunt down Al-Qaida ‘killers’ |
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20 Indians freed from Pak prison Bill
sparks Bible, Koran row 38-yr-old
man charged with Chohan’s murder |
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Koirala,
daughter summoned Kathmandu, May 17 Nepal’s powerful anti-corruption body Friday issued summons to a large number of politicians, including former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and former top bureaucrats, Nepalese newspapers reported today.
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Iraq sanctions may raise strife in UN
United Nations, May 17 The major concern of the three were regarding the UN role, which they want to be further enhanced, and over the method of phasing out of the “oil for food” programme under which Iraq sold oil to finance the purchase of food, medicines and other essential commodities but under strict supervision of the world body. Then there are issues of transparency about the way the “occupying powers” would rule Iraq. US Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday said in Berlin that the council would reach a deal within the next few days or weeks on the resolution which demands the immediate lifting of sanctions against Baghdad. The council has to take a decision by month-end as the current phase of “oil for food” programme expires in June. Diplomats said the five permanent veto-wielding members — the USA, UK, Russia, France and China — were expected to meet separately to discuss the phasing out of the programme, which still has about $ 13 billion in the escrow account run by the UN. The money would be controlled by the USA and UK under the resolution. Russia had several outstanding contracts which it had signed with the Saddam Hussein government and sources at the UN say that Washington and Moscow were expected to come to an understanding which would allow Russian contracts to be honoured. Council diplomats said the USA and UK were expected to submit the third version of the draft. Washington wants the resolution to be adopted next week and is working hard to give it and London sweeping powers to run the country for one year with automatic extension. But Moscow, Paris and Beijing are pressing for a stronger UN role in the reconstruction of the country. Russia and France want the sanctions to be suspended rather than lifted. They would also like the UN inspectors to go back and declare the country free of weapons of mass destruction before the sanctions were lifted as provided in the council’s earlier resolution. The draft resolution does not make any mention of inspectors. The consultations will continue next week.
PTI |
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Bush vows to hunt down Al-Qaida ‘killers’ Washington, May 17 The battles in Afghanistan and Iraq were important victories in the larger war on terror, “yet the terrorist attacks this week in Saudi Arabia, which killed innocent civilians from at least six countries, including our own, provide a stark reminder that the war on terror continues,” he said in his weekly radio address. The enemies of freedom “are not idle, and neither are we. Our government is taking unprecedented measures to defend the homeland. And from Pakistan to the Philippines, to the Horn of Africa, we are hunting down Al-Qaida killers.” “So far, nearly one-half of Al-Qaida’s senior operatives have been captured or killed. And we will remain on the hunt until they are all brought to justice,” Mr Bush said in the address which coincides with the US Armed Forces Day. He took the opportunity to say that the world had seen the “tremendous capabilities” of the US military. With fine allies at their side, American soldiers and sailors, airmen and marines, used advanced technology to gain historic victories in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said.
PTI |
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Iraqi surrenders Baghdad, May 17 |
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20 Indians freed from Pak prison
Quetta (Pakistan), May 17 Pakistan has released over 300 Indian fishermen since past month as a gesture of goodwill. The fishermen were arrested for violating immigration rules and Pakistani territorial waters. Most were released from the port city of Karachi along with their fishing boats. Pakistani Premier Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali announced earlier this month that Pakistan would free dozens of Indian prisoners, including the fishermen, as a gesture of goodwill to improve environment for possible peace talks between the nuclear rivals. The fishermen, along with six other Indians, boarded a bus in the southwestern city of Quetta to travel across Pakistan to the eastern city of Lahore where they will be taken to the border and handed over to Indian authorities, Quetta jail official said. Both Pakistani and Indian coastal security agencies arrest fishermen for allegedly violating each other’s territorial waters and fishing illegally frequently.
DPA |
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Bill sparks Bible, Koran row Ottawa, May 17 It centers on a Bill from a gay member of parliament Svend Robinson that would make it a crime, punishable by up to two years in prison, to incite or promote hatred against homosexuals. But his attempt to end gay-bashing has brought warnings that pastors or imams could be thrown into jail for preaching homosexuality is evil and that their scriptures could be banned or confiscated. Robinson, a member of the minority New Democratic Party, dismissed the fears as unfounded. “There’s not an attorney general in the country anywhere at any level who would consent to the prosecution of an individual for quoting from the Bible,” he told a House of Commons committee examining the Bill. “An attorney general who tried something like that would be run out of town on a rail.” Opponents of the Bill point to the Owens court case in Saskatchewan five months ago involving the right to quote the Bible in an newspaper and against homosexuality. The judge ruled that a Biblical passage in Leviticus “exposes homosexuals to hatred.” Even though the Owens case dealt with human rights legislation, critics said that sort of ruling could just as easily be applied in a hate-crimes case under the criminal code. “I’m concerned about the chilling effect of this kind of decision,’’ said Vic Toews of the official Opposition in parliament, the Canadian Alliance. The gay-rights lobby group Egale suggested the courts would eventually insist on including sexual orientation in the current hate-crimes legislation, which prohibits hatred on the basis of colour, race, religion or ethnic origin. “I would suggest to this committee that the legislation as it stands, by being under-inclusive, by failing to protect a group equally needing protection, is unconstitutional,’’ Egale’s John Fisher said this week. He said gays were more likely to be attacked than heterosexuals. Pat O’Brien, a legislator from the governing Liberal Party, recalled an incident in which Robinson himself had confronted a Roman Catholic priest on Parliament Hill who was protesting against homosexuality, and Robinson threw one of his signs over the embankment he was standing on. “I have concerns whether somebody like that is going to be able to carry out his freedom of expression,’’ O’Brien said. Because Robinson’s Bill has prompted an avalanche of e-mails and letters to members of parliament, it has become hot potato that the Liberals appear unsure how to handle. Liberal Justice Minister Martin Cauchon told the House of Commons on Thursday he supported the Bill. But socially conservative members of the Liberal Party were put on the committee on Wednesday when a motion was made to shelve it. Robinson successfully delayed that motion, and both sides are now looking to a final committee battle on May 26 or 27 that is likely to determine whether the Bill will die or proceed to broader consideration by parliament.
Reuters |
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38-yr-old man charged with Chohan’s murder London, May 17 “A 38-year-old man has been charged with the murder and will appear in custody at West London magistrate’s court,” the spokesman said. He did not name the man, but it was reported last week that the person arrested was believed to be Peter Douglas Rees. Rees was named by the police earlier this month as a “close associate” of Ken Regan, alias Avery, a former employee of Chohan, and William Horncy, alias Smith, both of whom have been named as suspects in the case. 54-year-old Regan from Salisbury, Wiltshire, and Horncy, 50, from the Bournemouth area, were seen boarding a ferry at Dover last month, reportedly on their way to Spain. Fortysix-year-old Chohan’s body was found in the sea off Bournemouth pier last month. He and his family vanished from their home at Hounslow in February. A post-mortem examination showed that he had been strangled, then buried in a field in Devon. After that his body was exhumed and dumped in the sea. Chohan’s wife Nancy (25) and their sons Devinder, (19 months) and Ravinder (4 months) and Nancy’s mother Charanjit Kaur (51) are still missing.
PTI |
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Koirala, daughter summoned Kathmandu, May 17 The country’s Commission for Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), a constitutional body, yesterday issued the summons based on the report by a high-level judicial probe commission on property set up by former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba over a year ago. The CIAA issued summons to over 40 political leaders and former top bureaucrats for interrogation. The judicial probe commission suspected many of those named of amassing property through illegal means. Koirala’s daughter, Sujata Koirala who married a German national but lived in the official Prime Minister’s residence during her father’s several stints as Prime Minister, was also served with the summons. Other top bureaucrats and former officials were also summoned, the report said, including the secretary at the Ministry of Population and Environment Lok Man Singh Karki and former Inspectors General of Police Achut Krishna Kharel and Moti Lal Bohara. Some of the top officials in Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand’s office were also summoned.
DPA |
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Mandela’s poser surprises Amitabh Johannesburg, May 17 “The visit was a humbling experience, a moment of deep emotions and full of surprise as I got the fortune of meeting Nelson Mandela there, who had himself come to pay respects to the legendary leader’s family. And with his characteristic humility, Mandela asked me if I still remembered him?,” Bachchan said here yesterday amidst peels of laughter before the presentation of technical awards at the fourth International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards.
PTI |
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2 UN guards killed Mazar-I-Sharif (Afghanistan), May 17 The guards were killed during
an exchange of fire between fighters from two rival factions yesterday
night, a UN official said. The official said the third person who was
killed was a civilian. Reuters |
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