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Updated on October 25, 2002 |
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--- South Asian News, August 16, 2002 ---
President Musharraf not to allow U.N. monitors to inspect Pakistan's nuclear facilities. For security concerns, Pakistan is to try the US Consulate bombing suspects in jail. Pakistan arrests 12 Islamic militants believed to be responsible for the deadly attacks on Christian institutions in Islamabad. Rival parties, Pakistan People's Party and Pakistan Muslim League, form coalition in bid to defeat Musharraf. In the editorial section, Boston Globe shows how Pakistan's nuclear laboratories can abet Islamic fundamentalists in using nuclear weapons for terrorist activities.
Top Stories
* Pakistan to try US consulate bomb suspects in jail (NY Times)
* Pakistan: No inspection of nuclear plants (Washington Times)
* India's leader says Pakistan still backs Kashmiri militants (NY Times)
* Indian army to get new tanks, nuclear-capable missiles (Wall Street Journal)
* Pakistan arrests Islamic militants (NY Times) (LA Times) (Morning Call) (Voice of America)
* Rival parties join in bid to defeat Musharraf (NY Times) (Voice of America)
* Pakistani court tells attorney general to answer Bhutto's petition (Wall Street Journal)
* Pakistan says Indian shell hit bus in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir (Wall Street Journal) (NY Times) (LA Times) (Washington Post) (SF Gate) (Las Vegas Sun)
* Sri Lanka nixes independent homeland (NY Times) (LA Times)
* Syrian minister in Pakistan to help ease tensions with India (Wall Street Journal)
* Indian Sikhs demand recognition by government (Voice of America)
* Bomb explodes in Indian train, nine wounded (NY Times) (Miami Herald)
Editorial/Op-Ed
* A US concern: Pakistani's arsenal (Boston Globe)
* Bhutto's power games (US News)
* Power of symbols in India (LA Times)
* Musharraf targets abuse of Pakistani women (Washington Times)
* Peace bid brings hope for key Sri Lankan port city (NY Times)
* A culture's at liberty (NY Daily News)
Business/Technology
* World Diagnostics to export to India (South Florida Business Journal)
Other Stories
* Appeal rejected in CIA slayings case (NY Times) (Washington Post) (Las Vegas Sun)
* Pakistan court orders Christian freed (NY Times) (LA Times) (Washington Post) (Miami Herald) (Baltimore Sun) (Las Vegas Sun)
* Four die in Bangledeshi mosque argument (NY Times) (LA Times) (NewsDay.com) (Las Vegas Sun) (Nando Times)
* Members of the Lost Tribe of Israel? (Forward.com)
Top Stories
* Pakistan to try US consulate bomb suspects in jail
Karachi, Pakistan -- Three men accused of killing 12 people in a car bomb attack outside the U.S. consulate in the Pakistani city of Karachi in June will be tried in prison because of security concerns, a top provincial official said on Friday. ``The Sindh government has issued a notification saying that the trial will be held inside Karachi's central jail,'' the official of the government of Sindh province told Reuters. ``The police have recommended jail trial because of security reasons,'' the official said.
(Registration Required)
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-pakistan-consulate-trial.html
* Pakistan: No inspection of nuclear plants
August 15, Islamabad -- Pakistan will not allow U.N. monitors to inspect its nuclear facilities, President Pervez Musharraf said Thursday. In an interview with Russia's Izvestia newspaper, Musharraf also ruled out the possibility of a nuclear war between India and Pakistan. "Our nuclear facilities are fully secure and there's no need for inspection by U.N. experts," the official Associated Press of Pakistan news agency quoted him as saying. Musharraf said his country's nuclear capabilities were meant "only for deterrence," dismissing speculation about a nuclear confrontation with rival India as "irresponsible."
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/r.htm
* India's leader says Pakistan still backs Kashmiri militants
New Delhi -- As India celebrated 55 years of independence today amid tight security against threats of Islamic militant attacks, it accused its neighbor and rival, Pakistan, of having "double standards" in its fight against terrorism. About 100,000 police officers and paramilitary soldiers took up positions here as Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee addressed the nation from the 17th-century Red Fort, a symbol of Indian nationalism. But the only reports of violence were elsewhere. At least nine people, including a child, were wounded in an explosion on a train in the eastern state of Jharkhand, the state's police chief, R. R. Prasad, said. In the Himalayan state of Kashmir, government forces killed two suspected militants in gun battles.
(Registration Required)
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/16/international/asia/16INDI.html
* Indian army to get new tanks, nuclear-capable missiles
New Delhi -- The Indian defense ministry plans to start producing the nuclear-capable intermediate range Agni missile to add to the army's arsenal, official sources said Friday. Introducing new tanks and missiles were part of 15 initiatives launched by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to mark the 55th anniversary of India's independence on Thursday. "The defense ministry will take several new initiatives to strengthen national security," an official statement said.
(Subscription Required)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20020816_000788-search,00.html
* Pakistan arrests Islamic militants
August 15, Lahore, Pakistan -- Police have arrested 12 members of Islamic extremist groups believed responsible for deadly attacks on Christian institutions in the Islamabad area, a senior police official announced Thursday. Police Inspector General Malik Assef Hayyat told reporters the suspects were believed involved in last week's attack on a Presbyterian hospital in Taxila, in which five people died, and the March raid on a Protestant church in Islamabad, in which two Americans and three others were killed.
(Registration Required)
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Pakistan-Arrests.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-pakistan-arrests0815aug15.story
http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-pakistan-arrests0815aug15.story
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=CD057ED4-BE2C4965B143D23E
* Rival parties join in bid to defeat Musharraf
August 15, Islamabad -- Pakistan's two largest political parties announced tonight that rather than compete with each other in parliamentary elections they would instead join to focus on defeating a coalition of small parties backing the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf. Under the arrangement, the Pakistan Peoples Party and Pakistan Muslim League will choose a single candidate from one of the two parties to run in most districts in the October elections.
(Registration Required)
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/16/international/asia/16STAN.html
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?ObjectID=7BA18E2D-4D3D-4432-B19AEB54E9D9D3BF
* Pakistani court tells attorney general to answer Bhutto's petition
Karachi, Pakistan -- A court Friday ordered Pakistan's attorney general to respond to a petition by former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto seeking to overturn laws that prevent her from running in October's parliamentary elections. The two-judge panel at Sindh province's high court asked the attorney general to appear before the court Wednesday to argue whether the laws should be voided. The judges will then decide whether to admit Bhutto's petition. Bhutto, who lives in self-exile in London and the United Arab Emirates, hopes to return to Pakistan to oppose President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, her supporters have said.
(Subscription Required)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20020816_000722-search,00.html
* Pakistan says Indian shell hit bus in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir
Muzaffarabad, Pakistan -- A shell fired by Indian troops hit a bus in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir on Friday, wounding six people, three of them critically, Pakistan said. The bus was struck during a heavy exchange of fire in the strategic Neelum Valley, 40 miles northeast of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, said the deputy police commissioner in the capital, Mehmoodul Hassan Raja. Military officials said thousands of residents were forced to remain indoors because of heavy overnight shelling by Indian forces on military posts and in residential areas of the Neelum Valley and the region of Chakothi, also near the border.
(Subscription Required)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20020816_000910-search,00.html
(Registration Required)
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-southasia-pakistan-injured.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-kashmir-pakistan0816aug16.story
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AAug16.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2002/08/16/international0545EDT0489.DTL
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-asia/2002/aug/16/081603533.html
* Sri Lanka nixes independent homeland
August 15, Colombo -- Sri Lankan said Thursday that as part of newly-announced peace talks with Tamil Tiger separatists, it will lift a four-year ban on the rebel group. The government also said it would not negotiate during the talks for an independent Tamil homeland. ``We will lift the ban, as now we have a firm date to start talks,'' government spokesman G.L. Peiris told reporters. On Wednesday the two sides agreed to hold peace talks in Thailand, sometime between Sept. 12 and Sept. 17.
(Registration Required)
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Sri-Lanka-Peace-Talks.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-sri-lanka-peace-talks0815aug15.story
* Syrian minister in Pakistan to help ease tensions with India
August 15, Islamabad -- Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf told Syria's foreign minister on a visit Thursday that the growing relationship between India and Israel was a threat to the Muslim world, a government statement said. Farouk al-Sharaa, who also serves as Syria's deputy prime minister, said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was concerned about the continuing tension between Pakistan and India and wanted to help defuse the situation, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry statement said.
(Subscription Required)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,BT_CO_20020815_002330-search,00.html
* Indian Sikhs demand recognition by government
August 15, Geneva -- Members of India's Sikh community observed their country's independence day with a demonstration in Geneva. The Sihk demonstrators are urging the U.N. Human Rights Commission to take up their demand for recognition by the Indian government. The demonstrators stood in front of a sign saying, "India Celebrates Its Independence, but the People Are Enslaved." And the protesters shouted, "Long live Khalistan," the homeland of India's Sikhs. Members of India's Sikh community traveled to Geneva from several countries. They are urging the U.N. Human Rights Commission to press the Indian government for their rights as a recognized minority.
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=DE3B6848-DEBD-41DF-A54A50B64E97EA67
* Bomb explodes in Indian train, nine wounded
August 15, Ranchi, India -- Nine people were wounded when a crude bomb exploded in a passenger train in eastern India on Thursday, police said. The explosion took place in the Pakur district of mineral-rich Jharkhand state where Maoist rebels had called for a boycott of the country's Independence Day celebrations on Thursday. ``The explosives were kept in a can below the seat. Nine passengers were injured,'' Jharkhand police chief R.R. Prashad said, adding it was not yet clear who was behind the blast.
(Registration Required)
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-india-blast.html
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/3868900.htm
Editorial/Op-Ed
* A US concern: Pakistani's arsenal
Kahuta, Pakistan -- Past the guard post on the outskirts of town, beyond the rickety buildings perched on a heat-baked plain, lie the crown jewels of Pakistan: the laboratories that produce the country's nuclear arsenal. Only authorized staff are allowed inside Khan Research Laboratories. In the nuclear world, Pakistan's weapons program is one of the most secretive. At the next checkpoint on the road toward the labs, orders are to shoot all strangers. Since Sept. 11, Western analysts increasingly have questioned whether Pakistan's weapons of mass destruction are secure. At a time when the Bush administration is deeply concerned about nuclear proliferation - from Iraq, Iran, and North Korea - and the prospect of nuclear weapons landing in terrorists' hands, Pakistan's nuclear technology raises particular concerns.
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/228/nation/A_US_concern_Pakistani_s_arsenal+.shtml
* Bhutto's power games
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has a new strategy in her bid to challenge Pakistan's military government in upcoming elections: Pressure the United States to quietly help her. Her party is running in the October parliamentary elections and is leading in some internal government polls. But if she returns from self-exile, she faces arrest after having been convicted, in absentia, of corruption last month in a trial she calls politically motivated. Now she wants Washington to lean on Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf to keep the election fair and let her run.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/whispers/whisphome.htm
* Power of symbols in India
The president of India plays a largely ceremonial role, subordinate to the prime minister, but a smart politician can create power from symbolism. The new occupant of the office, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, displayed that skill in picking a state torn by religious rioting for his first official visit, signaling his concern for the nation's Muslim minority. More than 1,000 people, most of them Muslims, were killed in riots in the western state of Gujarat in February and March. The state government did little to stop days of carnage that began as revenge after Muslims burned a train carrying Hindus back from a holy site claimed as sacred by both faiths.
(Registration Required)
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-india16aug16.story
* Musharraf targets abuse of Pakistani women
The recent gang rape of a woman as punishment by members of another tribe has brought international attention on the gross abuses and humiliation faced by Pakistani women since former military dictator Gen. Mohammed Zia ul-Haq tried to reintroduce Islamic law in 1979. Among the more horrific abuses in focus, besides rape, are such customs as "vani," in which teenage girls may be bargained away to settle feuds, and "honor killings," in which a woman may be killed by members of her family if she is perceived to have dishonored them by eloping or having an illicit affair.
http://www.washtimes.com/world/.htm
* Peace bid brings hope for key Sri Lankan port city
August 15, Trincomalee, Sri Lanka -- Less than a year ago, Sri Lanka's northeastern port city of Trincomalee was a place very few would have dared to venture into.Between its strategic deep-water port and a population evenly divided between Sri Lanka's main ethnic groups -- Buddhist Sinhalese, Hindu Tamils and Muslims -- Trincomalee had been a flashpoint in the island's 19-year civil war. Surrounded by territory controlled by separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, Trincomalee was a city heavily fortified by the government. Today, the visitors are back. The city's downtown bustles with merchants selling their wares and a new jetty has been built. Hotels are booked out for an industrial exhibition which will bring more than 400 potential investors to town when it kicks off on Friday.
(Registration Required)
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-srilanka-peace-trincomalee.html
* A culture's at liberty
Coney Island Ave. will come alive with traditional Pakistani music, food and dancing Sunday in honor of the south Asian country's 55th year of independence. In its 13th year, the annual Brooklyn festival is usually a joyous celebration of Pakistani art, culture and cuisine. But this year, organizers said, the mood will be somber because of the events of Sept. 11. Along with the customary panoply of Pakistani performers and booths offering traditional specialties, this year's festival will include a moment of silence in honor of the victims of Sept. 11 and another in memory of the Pakistani family killed in an apartment fire in Dyker Heights.
http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/story/11154p-10558c.html
Business/Technology
* World Diagnostics to export to India
August 14 -- Miami Lakes medical test and lab products company World Diagnostics said it has received permission from the government of India to sell a malaria test to the government and private customers. World Diagnostics said it expects orders under this license for the 2003 calendar year to be more than 41 million. The company said it expects to begin shipments in September or October. Ken Peters, World Diagnostics president and chief executive officer, said the Indian permission to market is a major milestone for his company.
(Registration Required)
http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2002/08/12/daily85.html
Other Stories
* Appeal rejected in CIA slayings case
August 15, Richmond -- A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected a request for a new trial from a Pakistani man sentenced to death for killing two CIA employees in 1993. Aimal Khan Kasi had claimed that his arrest in Pakistan violated an extradition treaty and that a juror had been tainted because she heard a news report about Americans being killed in Pakistan. He also contended the Virginia courts that convicted him should have forced the federal government to produce evidence that might have helped his case.
(Registration Required)
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-CIA-Shootings.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AAug15.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AAug15.html
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nat-gen/2002/aug/15/081502928.html
* Pakistan court orders Christian freed
August 15, Islamabad -- Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered authorities Thursday to release immediately a Christian sentenced to death in 1998 for blasphemy, the state-run news agency said. Defense attorney Abid Minto told the court Thursday that his client, Ayub Masih, had never made the allegedly blasphemous statements, but instead was a victim of a plot to steal his land, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported. The court agreed and ordered Masih released.
(Registration Required)
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Pakistan-Blasphemy.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-briefs16.1aug16.story
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-pakistan-blasphemy0815aug15.story
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/AAug15.html
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/3870266.htm
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.pakistan16aug16.story
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-asia/2002/aug/15/081502088.html
* Four die in Bangledeshi mosque argument
August 15, Dhaka -- At least four people were killed and another 50 were injured Thursday when students from an Islamic religious school clashed with residents of a government housing complex over a disputed mosque in the Bangladesh capital, police said. Both sides fought with bamboo sticks, bricks and stones. Witnesses said some security guards at the complexd fire, and riot police who arrived later used tear gas and rubber bullets to break up the two groups, said a police officer on condition of anonymity.
(Registration Required)
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Bangladesh-Clash.html
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-bangladesh-clash.html
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-bangladesh-clash0815aug15.story
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-bangladesh-clash0815aug15.story
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/w-asia/2002/aug/15/081502629.html
http://www.nandotimes.com/world/story/500402p-3987666c.html
* Members of the Lost Tribe of Israel?
On August 29, 100 people from northeast India will make aliya to Israel. Known as the Kuki-Chin-Mizo in their native states, they call themselves the Bnei Menashe, or children of Manasseh, and they believe they are one of the 10 Lost Tribes of Israel. Hillel Halkin rejects that claim, but in a new book suggests that while the Kuki-Chin-Mizo are not a lost tribe, some of their ancestors were. If Halkin's theory is correct, he will have found the first living remnant of the 10 tribes of Israel that were lost to history after their exile from biblical Palestine in 722 B.C.E., but whose memory was kept alive in religious and oral traditions.
(Subscription Required)
http://www.forward.com/issues/2002/02.08.16/news8.html
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--- South Asian News, August 16, 2002 ---
The Indian American Center for Political Awareness (IACPA) is a national non-profit organization committed to the political empowerment of the Indian American community. For additional information on IACPA, please visit www. <> .
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Copyright © 2001, Indian American Center for
Political Awareness. All rights reserved.
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