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Asia-Pacific Daily Report
August 19, 2003
Afghanistan
Attack by suspected Taliban fighters kills at least 9 people, aid workers
injured
In the latest round of violence in Afghanistan, at least nine Afghan policemen
were reportedly killed when suspected Taliban fighters ambushed a car near
Kharwar district in the southwestern province of Logar, some 56 miles (90
kilometers) south of the Afghan capital Kabul. According to the provincial military
commander, Fazalullah Mujadadi, a security commander and eight other police
officers were killed when their car came under attack. Police had gone to the
area to investigate a rocket attack on the home of a government soldier on
Sunday (August 17) that left two of his family members killed. In another incident
last night (Monday, August 18) in Salar district in the central Wardak province,
armed men stormed into a compound belonging to the Mine Detection and Dog
Center (MDC) and beat five Afghan employees with rifle butts. According to the
United Nations Mine Action Program (UNMAP), the assailants shot out the tires
of a truck and stole and torched an ambulance. A US-led coalition base in the
provincial capital Asadabad in the eastern province of Kunar also came under a
rocket attack. According to a US military spokesman, none of the three rockets
fired at the base hit their target. Germany’s overseas development ministry said
today that armed assailants burglarized the Kabul office of the German Society
for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) yesterday and stole US$132,000. Last week,
two local workers of the Afghan Red Crescent Society were killed by suspected
Taliban in the southeastern province of Ghazni. On Sunday (August 17), two
Afghan workers for the British charity Save the Children were attacked and
wounded in the northern province of Badakshan. The surge in recent violence
that has already claimed nearly 100 lives over the past 10 days points to a
worsening security situation across the country. Although Afghan officials often
blame Taliban elements operating from Pakistan for the attacks, some violence
backed by disgruntled warlords inside Afghanistan cannot be ruled out in the face
of top-level changes within the provincial governments by President Hamid
Karzai. The Afghan government, the United Nations, and numerous humanitarian
aid and human rights groups have renewed their calls for the expansion of
security operations beyond Kabul, warning that failure to maintain security could
plunge the country back into chaos.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/low/south_asia/3162621.stm
http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/asiapcf/central/08/19/afghan.attacks.ap/index.html
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/6686f45896f15dbc852567ae00530132/8b5a244a41a9b9b2c1256d87004bc481?OpenDocumen
t
India
1,673 persons killed in past 3 years in Indian communal violence
According to the Indian Minister of State for Home, I D Swami, a total of 1673
people were killed in 2538 communal incidents in India from 2000 to June 30,
2003. Swami was speaking to a session of the Lower House of Parliament
yesterday. He added that 90 people were killed in 251 incidents so far this year.
It was not clear if the statistics included deaths from Gujarat state’s massive
communal riots last year in which nearly 1,000 mostly Muslims were officially
killed. Human rights groups have put the actual toll closer to about 2,000, as they
say many riot incidents have gone unreported. In addition, Swami reported that
the Review Committee on the new Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), which
oversees the implementation of the controversial anti-terrorism bill, has received
17 complaints from southern Tamil Nadu state, 4 from New Delhi, 3 from Uttar
Pradesh and 1 from Jharkhand, all of which are being reviewed. Political conflict
in Tamil Nadu has led to the use of the POTA bill.
http://www.ptinews.com/createframes.asp?main=Indian&val=1&ID=
Two custodial killings, 8
others killed in IcK as Army
Chief visits to review
security
According to the Kashmir
Times today, another custodial
killing of a Muslim civilian has
occurred in Jammu. The
suspect was reportedly
arrested on India’s
Independence Day last Friday
(August 15) and died while in
custody and allegedly under
torture. In addition, a Hindu
civilian arrested at the same
time in Jammu was also killed
while in police custody. About
4 such incidents have been
reported in the past week
alone. Yesterday, residents demonstrated in Rajouri district against the custodial
killing of a Hindu hotelier, resulting in the suspension of a senior police officer.
According to the Kashmir Times, there has been a marked increase in custodial
killings since a senior police officer, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dr.
Kamal Saini has taken charge in Indian-controlled Kashmir’s (IcK)’s southern
Jammu region. In recent months, there has also been an increase in deliberate
militant violence against civilians in Hindu-dominated southern IcK. Meanwhile,
Indian Army Chief General Nirmal Chander Bij is on a five-day visit to IcK to
review the region’s security situation, particularly in areas bordering Pakistancontrolled Kashmir (PcK), as well as counter-insurgency operations. IcK last
week experienced a sharp increase in rebel violence in the run-up to
Independence Day, as well as over the weekend. Meanwhile, 1 civilian was killed
and another injured in the crossfire of a clash in Anantnag, while 3 other civilians
were reportedly shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Baramulla and Poonch
districts. One security personnel and 8 militants were killed in clashes in
Anantnag, Pulwama, Rajouri and Poonch districts today.
http://www.kashmirtimes.com/first12.htm
http://kmsnews.org/Kashmir%20News/News190803-07.htm
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/print.asp?page=story_19-8-2003_pg7_50
http://www.kashmirtimes.com/more1.htm
Myanmar
Thai-based NGO cuts rations to opposition offices
According to the newspaper, Irrawaddy last week, a Thai-based NGO which
provides assistance to Myanmar refugees along the Thai-Myanmar border has
stopped giving rations to pro-democracy offices opposing the Myanmar military
junta in the Thai border town of Mae Sot. The Burma Border Consortium (BBC)
made the decision to stop support last month and about 10 offices, including
those representing ethnic groups, face a lack of food since they depend solely on
the BBC's rations, which include rice, salt, and cooking oil. In its letter of
notification, the BBC said they would support the opposition groups while they
conduct training seminars in refugee camps. A BBC source said it could only
provide support to people inside the camps, which could force the opposition
groups back into refugee camps. Opposition members believe the decision may
have come from pressure from the Thai government, which is currently pursuing
a more reconciliatory foreign policy with the military junta. In addition, several
opposition offices along the Thai-Myanmar border have been reportedly closed in
recent months after staff members were threatened with deportation by Thai
authorities. The BBC provides food and shelter items to more than 100,000
refugees living in 16 refugee camps along the Thai-Myanmar border. The NGO’s
total 2000 budget was nearly US$13 million donated from 40 sources, including
11 governments.
http://www.irrawaddy.org/news/index.html?#opp
Sanctions hit as Myanmar switches to euro; Myanmar, China agree to
increase ties
According to Yahoo News on Sunday (August 17), analysts say US sanctions
against Myanmar have crippled the country’s already fragile economy. US
President George Bush recently approved legislation, which goes into effect later
this month that bans all imports and foreign remittances from Myanmar, as well
as freezes the military junta’s property holdings and financial assets in US banks,
in response to the detention of democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in May. In
addition, US banks are refusing to process most dollar-based transactions with
their Myanmar counterparts. According to the Associated Press yesterday, the
junta over the weekend ordered that the euro and other currencies should be
used in place of the US dollar in all international business transactions. Foreign
organizations in public health and environmental protection have said that they
are not able to fund their projects while embassies say they are having difficulty
with daily financial transactions. In addition, the prices of imported medicines
have been driven up. Thousands of workers in textile factories producing for the
US market also stand to lose their jobs. Both the EU and Canada have also
imposed stricter sanctions, while Japan, Myanmar’s largest donor, has
suspended new economic aid. Deputy Senior General Muang Aye is currently in
China for a six-day trip for the most important diplomatic trip since Suu Kyi’s
detention. Observers say the trip is meant to secure financial and economic aid
from China as a result of the tough sanctions. Yesterday, top Chinese and
Myanmar officials in Beijing said that they have agreed to bolster military
cooperation. Over the weekend, China announced that it will lend Myanmar
US$200 million for Myanmar’s biggest hydroelectric project.
http://www.hindustnatimes.com
http://www.hindustantimes.com
http://www.irrawaddy.org/news/index.html?
http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/030817/3dged.html
http://www.bangladesh-web.com/news/aug/19/i18082003.htm#A14
Nepal
Peace talks over for now, government and Maoists say
The third round of peace talks between Maoist rebels and the government ended
today without any major agreements after a key Maoist demand was rejected by
the government. However, both sides said that they would meet again and would
stick to the January ceasefire pact. Chief government negotiator Prakash
Chandra Lohani said that the rebels had demanded that there be a new
assembly to draft a new constitution to define the role of the king. “We think that
their demand can be accommodated by amending and reforming the present
constitution. We had a divergence of views so the present round of talks has
ended. We will meet again and the date and the venue for the next meeting will
be decided by the facilitators within one week,” he said. On the opening day of
talks on Sunday (August 17) the government agreed to hold a conference of
political parties to discuss the conflict as well as agreeing to include the rebels in
an interim government. Communications and Information Minister Kamal Thapa
says that both sides would agree upon new dates for the next round of talks
within a week. More than 7,200 people have died since the Maoists began their
insurgency in 1996.
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters08-19-073655.asp?reg=ASIA
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3164507.stm
Pacific
Australian to head Pacific Islands Forum
Yesterday, Pacific Islands Forum members elected an Australian, Greg Urwin, to
head the grouping for the next three years, starting in January 2004. Since the
forum started in 1971, the position had always been given to a Pacific Islander.
Urwin sought to allay fears that Australia had pressured South Pacific countries
to elect him to the post and said that he would be a “servant of the people” who
elected him there. “The moment I take up the appointment I will cease to be an
Australian,” he said. Urwin will replace Noel Levi, from Papua New Guinea,
whose term runs out in December. Australia’s national newspaper, The
Australian, reported that Urwin would create a force capable of responding
rapidly to security threats or disease outbreaks under plans being promoted by
New Zealand. “When SARS came along there was no regional response,
everyone went into their own little huddle (but) there should have been
coordination right around,” New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said. She
added that a regional reaction to the violence in the Solomon Islands was too
slow. “There should have been an alert go up quite some time ago. At the
Pacific Islands Forum last year in Fiji there was quite a lot of discussion about the
Solomons, but it never went anywhere because nobody was coordinating it. We
don’t want to be in that position in the future,” she said. Urwin has served as
Australia’s top diplomat in Samoa, Vanuatu, and Fiji and currently lives in the
Fijian capital Suva.
http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org/pireport/2003/August/08-18-01.htm
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,6986937%255E2702,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3155859.stm
Philippines
66,000 IDPs still at
ARMM refugee camps;
398,000 more in
relatives’ homes
According to MindaNews
yesterday, about 66,702
IDPs (Internally
Displaced Persons)
displaced by either the
armed conflict between
the government and the
rebel Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF)
or this season’s
flashfloods are still living
in various refugee
camps across the
Autonomous Region of
Muslim Mindanao
(ARMM). The IDPs are
in 81 refugee camps in
Maguindanao, Lanao del
Sur provinces, as well as Sulu and Marawi cities. Maguindanao has the most
number of refugee camps with 58. In addition, Bainon Karon, ARMM social
welfare secretary, said that there are also still 398,222 people who have not
returned to their villages yet. “Majority of these families stayed with relatives
whose houses were only partially damaged, so they could continue their farming
and fishing activities to earn income for their daily needs,” said Karon. Other
IDPs have refused to return home for fear of the security situation. In addition, of
47,279 families displaced by flash floods in Maguindano, only 90 remain in a
refugee camp in Sultan Kudarat province. She added that the number of IDPs is
still expected to rise as surveys are still being carried out in Lanao del Norte and
in Kabuntalan town, Maguindano, where military forces are currently conducting
military operations in their search for recently escaped Indonesian bomb expert
Fathur Roham al-Ghozi. Karon added that foreign and local NGOs such as
Tabang Mindanaw, the Red Cross, the UN Multi-Donor Program are helping to
provide relief items to the IDPs. At least 45,000 fled nearby Pikit, North Cotabato
province when the MILF conflict broke out there in February. The figures did not
include neighboring Maguindanao, as Maguindanao is under the ARMM which
has a separate social welfare department.
http://www.mindanews.com/2003/08/17/nws-bakwits.html
Other World News
Iraq
Deadly blast at UN Baghdad headquarters kills at least 20, including SRSG
A massive truck bomb exploded in the late afternoon on Tuesday (August 19)
outside the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, which has been serving as the UN
headquarters. At least 20 people were killed and dozens more injured. UN
officials confirmed that the Special Representative of the Secretary General for
Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, was among the dead. The truck bomb detonated just
below his office. Vieira de Mello was on leave from his position as the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights to serve as the chief UN representative in Iraq
for four months. There are currently 300 UN personnel working in Baghdad and
646 throughout the country. It was not clear how many were in the building at the
time of the explosion. The UN Security Council issued a statement that read,
“Such terrorist incidents cannot break the will of the international community to
further intensify its efforts to help the people of Iraq.” Security in Iraq has
increasingly become an issue of concern, with more than 60 US soldiers having
been killed in hostile attacks since US President George W. Bush declared the
end of the war on May 1. In recent weeks, targets of attacks have shifted to
include Iraqis working with coalition forces as well as both Iraqi and foreign aid
workers. Attacks have also become well organized, requiring access to larger
amounts of explosives and other resources. No group, however, has claimed
responsibility for today’s blast.
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20030819_953.html
http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters08-19-060342.asp?reg=MIDEAST
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/e452f609ae4017dfc1256d87004befe4?OpenDocument