Richardson moots Indo-Pak talks to end bilateral row
United States has said India and Pakistan should engage in a "comprehensive dialogue" to resolve all their bilateral problems, even as Islamabad accused New Delhi of building "ballistic missile arsenal." US President Bill Clinton's special envoy Bill Richardson told Pakistani Premier Nawaz Sharif that the US was aware of the issues relating to peace, security and non-proliferation in the region and therefore favoured a dialogue between New Delhi and Islamabad.
Premadasa armed LTTE: Panel
If the Jain Commission report was the official acknowledgement that India armed and financed Tamil militancy in Sri Lanka, the report of a commission inquiring into another assassination in Sri Lanka has made it official that the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa armed the Tamil Tigers to fight the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF).
Iraq demands lifting of sanctions
Raising the threat of a new crisis over UN arms inspections, Iraq has demanded the Security Council lift economic sanctions when it meets this month to review the status of Baghdad's weapons programme. But UN officials said there was little chance the council will do so when it meets, possibly the week of April 27.
...But Phnom Penh is still sceptical
Cambodian Government officials on Friday reacted warily to confirmation of notorious former Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot's death, demanding that a full and proper identification of the body be conducted. "We have seen many tricks before by the Khmer Rouge," said chief Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith. "This could be one too."
Pol Pot's cremation today
Khmer Rouge guerrillas will cremate the body of their leader Pol Pot, architect of Cambodia's brutal `killing fields' regime of the 1970s, today. The body will be cremated at a village in northern Cambodia about 3 km from the Thai border.
Bangla urges India, Pak aid to counter immoral child traffic
Bangladesh has sought co-operation from India and Pakistan to check rampant trafficking of women and children lured or abducted for exploitation across its borders. Welcoming the first batch of 12 rescued children repatriated from India, interior minister Rafiq-ul Islam said, "it is important that governments of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh stop this evil which affects not only the children and families but the entire nation".
