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CIS Ambassadors to China Visit People's Daily Online t the invitation of People's Daily President Xu Zhongtian, a team of CIS ambassadors and journalists to China, as from Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakstan, Kyrgyz,Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and other countries paid a visit to People's Daily Online Wednesday. Xu extended his warm welcome in a speech, saying in ten years we have kept good relations with CIS countries, and the People's Daily has carried many reports on the culture and social life of these countries and we will further strengthen cooperation and exchanges with CIS members. **** Former Deputy Public Security Minister Sentenced to Death. Former Vice-Minister of Public Security of China Li Jizhou was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve in Beijing Monday for taking bribes and dereliction of duty. He was deprived of political rights for life, and all his personal properties were confiscated. Li took bribes of one million yuan, 500,000 U.S. dollars and 30, 000 HK dollars from Lai Changxing, the mastermind behind the Xiamen smuggling case, when he served as assistant to the public security minister and deputy minister of public security in the 1994-1997 period. In return, Li interfered at the request of Lai when police and border security authorities in Hainan were investigating an oil tanker used by smugglers. According to the No. One Intermediate People's Court, Li was given lenient treatment as he showed repentance, assisted the court and urged his relatives to return illicit money and goods. Earlier, Li's wife, Cheng Xinlian, was sentenced to a two and a half years' imprisonment. **** AL Urges U.S. to Materialize Support for Establishing Palestinian State. A senior official of the Arab League (AL) Monday called on the U.S. administration to take concrete steps to turn into reality its endorsement of an independent Palestinian state. "The statements by U.S. President George W. Bush, in which he said he supports a Palestinian state, is a good initial step that has to be activated by an official American declaration," said Said Kamal, assistant secretary-general of the AL, quoted by Egypt's state-run MENA news agency. He warned of the possibility of marginalizing the Palestinian issue or even leaving it to "be a prey" to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's aggressive policy, in the light of the fact that the world is preoccupied by combating terrorism. "The U.S. should officially declare that its current campaign against terrorism would not involve a military strike against any Arab country and would try to conduct dialog with Iraq instead of threats," Kamal said. Early this month, Bush told reporters in Washington that creating a Palestinian state has "always" been on the U.S. agenda regarding settling the Mideast crisis. "The idea of a Palestinian state has always been part of a vision, so long as the right to Israel to exist is respected," he stated. As its first reaction to the U.S. stance, the AL has praised Bush's statement as a "step in the right direction," while expecting the U.S. to intervene actively to help prevent the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories from further deterioration. **** China Urges Israel to Retreat From Palestinian Towns. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Sun Yuxi said in Beijing Monday that China urges Israel <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/israel.html> i to withdraw troops from Palestinian areas as soon as possible. China is seriously concerned and worried about the escalation of violent conflicts between Israel and Palestine, he said. Sun made the statement when responding to a question on the escalation of tension between Israel and Palestine. China opposed and condemned Israel for seizing territory in Palestinian areas by military force and urged Israeli troops to retreat from these towns as soon as possible, Sun noted. China has noted the efforts Palestinian authorities have made to alleviate the tension and expects the two sides to maintain maximum restraint and to keep on taking effective measures to avoid the armed violence and resume negotiations, he said. **** Israel's Labor Sets Redlines for Remaining in Government. Israel's leading Labor party said on Monday that it will quit the government if the Israeli army remains in the Palestinian-controlled towns for an extended period of time, or if the government intends to dismantle the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). The left-wing party set the redlines when its Knesset (Parliament) members met to discuss the army's ongoing operations in the six Palestinian West Bank towns and their implications. The military operations, the largest in scope since the launch of the 1993 Oslo peace process in retaliation for the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi last Wednesday, triggered strong protests from the Labor party members. Some leading Labor members said that the party should pull out the government if the escalation continues in the Palestinian territories. Former Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami was among those who strongly called for Labor's resignation from the government. He said at Monday's gathering that the Labor was becoming increasingly irrelevant and that there is little room for maneuver in the government. Resigning from the government, he said, was vital in saving the party from being consigned to the "political trash can." Haim Ramon, Knesset member and a senior member of the Labor, said he was convinced that Sharon made up his mind to topple the PNA, although Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer had repeatedly denied the speculation. Ramon said that it is clear that PNA Chairman Yasser Arafat will not extradite the assassins of Ze'evi, "therefore we will remain there forever." He was referring to the ultimatum issued by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to Arafat to hand over Ze'evi's killers before the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Palestinian towns. Peres, who is on a trip to the United States, said on Sunday that it was not time yet for the Labor to pull out the government. Ben Eliezer, also from the Labor, tried to defend the union with Sharon's right-wing Likud party and counter criticism of the army operations at Monday's meeting, saying that there were numerous terror threats from the territories that led the government to decide to send troops there. Labor Cabinet Minister Dalia Itzik predicted Sunday that the party would leave the government within three months. In the meantime, Sharon is trying to bring the right-wing National Religious Party into the government in order to bolster the right-wing bloc. If successful, this would allow Sharon to hold onto his parliamentary majority even if the Labor left the coalition. **** US Warplanes Launch Two Rounds of Attacks on Kabul. US warplanes Tuesday launched two rounds of air raids on the Afghan capital of Kabul, one just after midnight and the other at dawn, reports reaching here from Afghanistan said. The first round of air strikes on Kabul came about 12:45 am (20:15 GMT on Monday) as US warplanes dropped three large bombs. The warplanes returned at dawn and dropped two more bombs around 6:00 am (01:30 GMT). The Taliban anti-aircraft guns opened fire around mid-morning as the US warplanes crossed the sky again. The latest attacks came just one day after US jets hit Taliban front-line positions Monday as the United States tried to pave the way for the opposition in Afghanistan to advance on Kabul and other major cities. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
