April 15, 2003 keralamonitor.com

Rumsfeld confirms Iraq-Syria oil pipeline shut down

US Defense Secretary Donald H.Rumsfeld confirmed Tuesday that the US forces have shut down a pipeline running from Iraq to Syria.But Rumsfeld said that he was not sure that the pipeline that was shut off was the only one running from Iraq to Syria. "Whether it's the only one, and whether that has completely stopped the flow of oil between Iraq and Syria, I cannot tell you," he told a press briefing at the Pentagon.

The US defense chief also denied that coalition forces destroyed a pipeline, while responding to a reporter's question of whether the US military has disabled or perhaps destroyed the pipeline."We do not have perfect knowledge," he said. "We do know that they were instructed to shut it down and they have told us that they have."

The pipeline between Iraq and Syria, opened in 2000, was reported to have handled about 200,000 barrels of oil a day.Syria, one of the neighbors of Iraq, has been under intense pressure over the past few days after US claimed victory of war onIraq. In an unusual step to mount pressure on Damascus, the United States on Monday called Syria a "terrorist state," and threatenedto examine the possibility of imposing diplomatic and economic sanctions against Syria while accusing the country of harboring Iraqi leaders.

Indian Governments not to privatise AI, IA

New Delhi,Tuesday, April 15, 2003: The Indian Government today gave a formal burial to plans for privatisation of Air India and Indian Airlines by striking them off the disinvestment list even as it decided to privatise profit making Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilisers. The decisions were taken at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Disinvestment, Chaired by Prime Minister Atal Bihar Vajpayee, which also decided on fresh bids for Shipping Corporation to attract foreign entities besides setting the guidelines for workers to participate in the privatisation process. Announcing the decisions, Disinvestment Minister Arun Shourie told reporters that the two airlines were taken off the disinvestment process to enable fleet expansion on a proposal from the Civial Aviation Minister Shahnawaz Hussain backed by the Finance Minister.

Lebanese PM, Cabinet Resign

Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Tuesday submitted resignation of his cabinet to President Emile Lahoud, Arabiya TV reported. According to a statement from the president's office, Lahoud has accepted the resignation but asked Hariri to continue as caretaker until a prime minister is appointed to head a new cabinet. Hariri's surprise move took place after a meeting at the presidential palace Tuesday night, the statement said.

The president would summon a parliament meeting Wednesday morning on the formation of the new government and choose the new prime minister. Lahoud's press advisor Rafik Chlala said Tuesday night in an interview with local media that the two leaders had contacts in the last two days on the issue before Hariri made the decision. Chlala confirmed that the resignation was a step of the procedure to form a new government, but he denied there was any conflict between the two leaders. The outgoing government was formed in November 2000 after the general elections of the parliament. Hariri has led the Lebanese government for most time since 1992. He was out of power from 1998 to 2000. Lahoud named Salim Hoss as prime minister during that period.

GCC FMs call for quick establishment of civilian government in Iraq

- Foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GGC) ended their meeting here on Tuesday evening by calling for establishing a civilian government in Iraq as soon as possible. At a press conference following the three-hour-and-a-half meeting, Qatari Foreign Minister Shekh Hamad bin Jassim bin Al- Thani, the GCC rotating chairman, said the group hoped a new transitional civilian government, formed by all factions and representing the Iraqi people, could be established in the following week, because the Iraqis oppose any foreign military ruling.

"We are following what is happening in Iraq, and as Iraq is a Gulf state, we concern about the stability and security of the Iraqi people and hope the looting and disorder there will be under control as quick as possible," he said. On GCC's future role in Iraq, the Qatari foreign minister said " there has always been good brotherly relations between the Gulf states and Iraq. We welcome Iraq to be under the umbrella of the GCC."

Commenting on recent US and British threats to Syria, he said: "We reject any threat to the security of Syria which is an Arab country. Such threats should be stopped because Syria doesn't want to escalate the situation." Tuesday's meeting, the first high-level gathering of the six- nation regional alliance since the US-led forces toppled the 24- year regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq last week, came as serious questions are being raised about future US plan in the region. At the opening of the meeting, the GCC issued a statement, saying all the concerned parties of Iraq should intervene to stop
looting and disorder that were taking place in Iraq.

"The lasting period had a very quick change and the very sensitive and important issue was the war in Iraq and the consequences resulting from the war and the suffering of the brotherly Iraqi people," the statement said. "We hope the painful sufferings of the Iraqi people will come to an end as quickly as possible," it said. "We regard the reestablishing of security and stability in Iraq and working on providing humanitarian aid for the Iraqi people as a primary objective."

The GCC also stressed the importance of the UN role in rebuilding Iraq, and regarded the world body as the primary guarantee to international peace and security. The GCC, which groups Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar, was set up in 1981 mainly as an economic and political alliance. Its defence cooperation gained prominence after Iraq troops invaded Kuwait in 1990.

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday refuted the increasing US threat against Syria, while stressing Beirut's support to Damascus. The US accusations against Syria were aimed at diverting the world's attention from Iraq, where Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and his regime managed to escape from US attacks, the official NNA newsagency quoted Berri as saying.

Berri also said that Washington's accusations against Syria willdeteriorate the Mideast crisis for Israel's favor. "Is it Syria that calls for the absence of mass destruction weapons in the region? Is it Syria that has taken in the Iraqi opposition in last 30 years? It is Israel that holds all kinds of mass destruction weapons and Washington did not say anything," the speaker asked.

Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud said on Monday "the threats against Syria, some issued by Americans and some issued by Israelis, are not new development." Tensions between Damascus and Washington were rising recently asUS leaders escalate their accusations against Syria for producing chemical weapons and sheltering fleeing Iraqi leaders.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Monday the United Stateswill consider imposing economic and diplomatic sanctions against Syria for its support to the Saddam regime. Spokesman for the Syrian Foreign Ministry Buthaina Shabaan denounced Monday as "groundless" the accusations levelled by US officials. She told the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television Sunday night thatSyria wanted dialogue with the United States to solve their differences.

Egyptian FM rejects US pressure on Syria

CAIRO, April 15 -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher on Tuesday rejected mounting US pressure on Syria, stressing Egypt does not accept any threat to an Arab state. "Egypt rejects all threats against an Arab state," Maher told reporters when asked about US attempts to impose sanctions against Syria.

"Arab countries and the international community are unanimous onavoiding the repeat of what happened in Iraq," he said. "Nothing necessitates a repetition of this scenario," he said, referring to the ongoing US-led war on Iraq, which has been accusedof secretly developing and hiding weapons of mass destruction.

The United States claims that Syria possesses chemical weapons and offers haven to officials of the overthrown Iraqi regime, raising fears that Syria might be the next target. However, US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Tuesday weakened his threatening tone on Syria, saying there is no list of targets. "We have concerns about Syria, we have let Syria know of our concerns," he said at the State Department's Foreign Press Center in Washington.

"But there is no list, there is no war plan right now to go attack someone else either for the purpose of overthrowing their leadership or for the purpose of imposing democratic values," he said. On the same day, the Syrian government rejected as "baseless" the US accusations about its harboring fugitive members of the ousted Iraqi regime.

Anarchy in Iraq has worsened since US troops thrust into the heart of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad last Wednesday and ended Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's 24-year rule. Looting has been rampant in many areas of Baghdad in the absenceof government rule and law since the collapse of Saddam's regime, raising concerns and fears among local residents. Defying international opposition, the United States and Britain launched a war against Iraq on March 20 in a bid to topple Saddam.

Roundup: US military goals in Iraq shift

WASHINGTON, April 15 - After US Marines wrapped up the last significant Iraqi stronghold by seizing control of Tikrit, US military campaign in Iraq began moving from grabbing territory to targeting pockets of resistance, securing Iraq's cities and searching for chemical and biological weapons.

Major General Stanley McChrystal, vice director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in Washington that the fall of Tikrit on Monday meant "major combat operations are over" in the 26-day military campaign to take out Saddam Hussein's government.

But the challenge of restoring civil order and searching for pro-Hussein militiamen remained formidable in the still-chaotic country of 24 million people. Baghdad and other major cities had been devastated by looting during the first few days after the US forces entered the capital city. Scattered gunfire still echoed across the cities.

As a sign that large-scale combat operations have come to a close, US Navy is bringing two of the six deployed aircraft carrier battle groups home this week. A third could leave the Gulfregion next week.

The US Air Force, meanwhile, is recalling B-2 stealth bombers from the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, F-117 stealthfighters from Qatar and at least one F-15C fighter squadron from an undisclosed location, with more air units to follow shortly, officials said.

McChrystal said that US air sorties from air bases and aircraftcarriers have dropped to 700 and 800 a day, down from more than 1,000 a day for much of the war.

To carry out the new military goals, tens of thousands of US Army ground forces continued moving into Iraq. A brigade-sized force of about 5,000 soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division rolled into southern Iraq. It will relieve Marines around Tikrit, about 140 kilometers north of Baghdad, and take positions as far north as Kirkuk as a stabilization force, according to a Washington Post report published Tuesday.

The 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, a unit of about 10,000 soldiers from Colorado and the 1st Armored Division from Germany will also move into Iraq.

Secretary of State Colin Powell promised Monday that the US government would attempt to recover priceless artifacts that have been stolen by looters in recent days, and work to restore other items that have been broken in chaos.

The US military in Iraq has instructions to protect antiquities,officials said. Army Brigadier General Vincent K. Brooks said at the US Central Command headquarters in Doha that US forces have now secured all of Iraq's northern and southern oil fields, and are working to restore power and water services in Baghdad and throughout the country.

Humanitarian organizations continued to urge the Bush administration to expedite relief and stability operations. Some said they are concerned that they could end up working under the Pentagon, instead of the State Department, in Iraq as a result of an emergency spending bill passed Saturday by Congress.

"Our groups are still quite concerned about the possibility that their activities would come under military control," said Sid Balman Jr., spokesman for InterAction, the largest alliance of US nongovernmental organizations specializing in overseas relief and development. "The question is: How much more complicated and how much more dangers will it be for our groups?