Bali residents denounce Indonesian Minister for
insulting Hinduism

JAKARTA, Oct 20:

Residents of the Indonesian resort island of Bali are threatening to boycott a general election slated for next May unless President B J Habibie sacks a minister who they say insulted them and their Hindu religion, the official Antara News Agency reported today. more

Russia should ratify Start
II treaty, says Maslyukov

MOSCOW, Oct 20:

A top Russian official said in an interview published today that Russia should ratify the Start II arms control treaty and begin working toward Start III while maintaining its military industry at a high level and improving its strategic nuclear forces.more

Halliwell, 26, A.K.A. Ginger Spice, has been appointed a Goodwill Ambassador for the U.N. Population fund in Britain to promote healthier choices about reproduction and greater awareness of reproductive rights.

"She will be a great Ambassador for young people," Alex Marshall, the Fund’s deputy director for information, said yesterday.

"Halliwell quit the all-girl British pop group on May 31, citing

differences between us.’’ Last week, the British media reported that she had signed a two million pound (3.4 million dollars) deal with Chrysalis records.

Halliwell will be working in Britain with Marie Stopes international and population concern, voluntary organisations which promote reproductive health, especially among women, Marshall said.

Both groups are part of the U.N. Population Fund’s "face to face campaign," which is using voluntary organisations to promote awareness of population issues across Europe.

Asked why Halliwell was chosen to be a Goodwill Ambassador in Britain, Marshall said: "she almost chose herself. She’s interested in the issue. She got together with Marie Stopes international."

She is scheduled to appear today at a press conference at the United Nations with officials from the Fund to discuss her new role. (AP)

They said Mr Gayoom, who was the only candidate after the citizen’s majlis, or Parliament, rejected four other nominations, secured 86,504 votes out of a total of 95,168 polled.

A high 75 per cent of the voters in the Indian Ocean atoll nation of 250,000 Sunni Muslims exercised the Franchise, the officials said.

They said Mr Gayoom would assume the new term on November 11. The election was held under the country’s new constitution, which came into effect in January.

Unlike under the previous constitution, when the citizen’s majlis chose a candidate for the election, the new constitution provided for prospective candidates to file nominations for the Presidential election before the Elections Commissioner.

The nominations were then vetted by a group of eminent persons, which forwarded Mr Gayoom’s nomination to Parliament after rejecting four other nominations, including one from a tailor and another from a fisheries worker.

Parliament voted overwhelmingly for Mr Gayoom last month. The london-based Amnesty International (AI) said there were several political prisoners in the Maldives and expressed the hope that Mr Gayoom would take steps to release them and introduce political reforms during his new term in office. (UNI)

While sharply criticising Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif for forcing Army Chief Gen Jehangir Karamat to quit his post unceremoniously, Beg, writing in a Pakistani newspaper, admitted that he was confronted with similar hard decisions when during his stewardship of the Army one of his divisional commanders had sent his contingents into the enemy territory.

Writing in The News international, he said the change of guard in the Army was hasitly executed and triggered ominous interpetation.

Beg cited the incident of incursion by Pakistani troops into Jammu and Kashmir to claim that Sharif should have taken decision like him with grace and propriety to ensure that no ripples were created in the Army.

Beg said it was in 1990, when a corps commander entered his office in utter desperation and anxiety, and to my query, he replied that he had come to seek removal from command of one of his divisional commanders.

As per his (corps commander’s) narration, the Divisional Commander had transgressed the GHQ policy and had crossed the Line of Control in Kashmir. He had sent his battalions into the Valley, he said.

Beg said when he asked the corps commander whether the action by one of his GOCs had caused any loss of life or setback, he replied in the negative even claiming that intruding Pakistani forces had resisted a brigade-size counter attack by Indian Army.

I told him the GOC and his men needed to be congratulated for their bold action and at the same time some action had to be taken as the GOC had violated the orders of the GHQ, Beg said, admitting that he had handled the situation by transferring the divisional commander, who had almost reached the end of his field tenure.

This is the first time that a senior Pakistan Army officer has admitted to Pakistani forces being the aggressor in the widespread border flare-ups, particularly across the line of control in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Pakistani authorities have been trying to project Indian forces as provocateurs for these border skirmishes.

The former Pakistani Army Chief did not elaborate in which sector of Line of Control the Pakistani incursion took place. But, military observers said the incursion by two battalions was a major one.

Gen Beg sought to cite the incident to attack the Pakistani Premier, calling his removal of Gen Karamat as immature. He warned that Karamat’s exit would bring in political and ideological conflicts, which with bad governance, may become harbinger of a violent change in Pakistan. (PTI)

The musical show was in progress in the Karathivu area, 385 km East of the Capital, in Ampara district when it was attacked late Monday night as a large gathering, many of them Hindu devotees, were witnessing the event.

The area is controlled by commando units of the elite Special Task Force (STF), but rebels regularly infiltrate the area.

Earlier in the day Hindu devotees were provided with all arrangements to move about freely and visit temples to celebrate a religious festival.

Police said they were unable to comment who was responsible for the attack, but could not rule out the possible involvement of Tamil rebels. (DPA)

Drawing the attention of the international community to the double standards of India on the Kashmir issue, Aziz said ironically while on the one hand India accepts the need of resolving the Kashmir issue, in the same breath they insist that Kashmir is a part of India and its future is not open to discussion.

Aziz, who took over as Pakistan’s Foreign Minister barely three months ago in the wake of growing tension between the two countries following their nuclear explosions in May said that the just concluded Foreign Secretary level talks here did not show any change in India’s position on the basic issue of Kashmir.

We find no change in India’s position on the basic issue, Aziz was quoted as saying while commenting on the outcome of the four-day of talks in Islamabad which ended on Sunday.

India blocked any appreciable progress on any issue particularly on the basic issue of Kashmir, he said. Aziz drew the attention of the world community towards the double standards of India on the Kashmir issue and said, it is now for the international community to see whether this contradictory position adopted by India is either reasonable or logical.

He also stressed that the normalization of relations between India and Pakistan depend on the resolution of the Kashmir issue saying it is now remains to be seen whether India would recognise that relations with Pakistan cannot become normal unless there is some progress on the Kashmir issue.

He also said the outcome of the latest round of talks with India was far less than our expectations but added that the only positive aspect is that, the two sides have agreed to continue the talks and keep up the efforts to find a solution to the Kashmir issue.

The news also quoted senior Pakistani officials as saying the Foreign Secretary level talks were a non-starter on the issue of Kashmir as they also said Pakistani wanted to have the next round of the Foreign Secretary level talks earlier in December before the start of the Muslim’s fasting month of Ramzan but India did not agree.

The two sides have now agreed to hold the next round of talks in the first half of February 1999 in New Delhi. (PTI)

Hannah Moxon and Hayley Park, both aged 15, have joined a 30-strong class at their city of Portsmouth girls’ school in London because they wanted to talk to their Bengali friends in their native tongue, according to the Times, London.

Bengali has been taught at the school, which has about 150 Asian students, for the past four years to those who were born in Britain, but speak the language at home with their parents.

"A number of non-Asian girls have studied Bengali, but it is the first time that they have opted to enroll in a course," Judith Kilpatrick, the school Principal, was quoted as saying.

The school had recently introduced a new class in Punjabi too. The Bengali and Punjabi classes are held after the school so that students can attend voluntarily.

Joanna Lofts, a teacher in the same school, has also joined the Bengali class but she would not be taking the examination.

"It is easier than I thought it would be, but perhaps that’s because I want to learn it so I am more interested," says Hayley.

"We can say things like our name and ask people zaqcbohey are," says Hannah.

Their Bengali friends are impressed. "They have nearly caught on well. soon I won’t be able to say anything without them knowing," the Times quoted Shopna Begun as saying. (UNI)

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