Deutsche Welle English Service News January 17th , 2001, 16:00 UTC Powell arrives in India U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in New Delhi on Thursday aiming to avert a war between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan and maintain the momentum of the U.S. campaign against terrorism.Mr. Powell, flying in from Islamabad, after a trip to Afghanistan, said he wanted the two to recognise the need to use diplomacy and said he saw a commitment on both sides to avert war.But he said the situation remained extremely dangerous. Hundreds of thousands of men are massed on the border in a crisis triggered by an attack on India's parliament last month,blamed by New Delhi on Pakistan-based Kashmiri separatists. Powell visits Kabul U.S. Secretary of State Collin Powell met with Afghanistan's interim prime minister Hamid Karzai today during the first visit to Kabul by a top American diplomat in more than 25 years. Mr.Powell, who's touring South Asia before heading to a donors' conference in Japan on Afghan reconstruction, promised Mr. Karzai long-term U.S. aid. Afghanistan needs at least 15 billion dollars over the next 10 years, according to the World Bank. It's awaiting an initial 220 million dollars from Washington, frozen during the Taliban regime. British police net al Qaeda suspects British police made a wave of anti-terrorist arrests on Thursday and charged a 37-year-old Algerian with being a key member of al Qaeda, the organisation suspected of masterminding the September 11th attacks on America. A 30-year-old Algerian was also charged with membership of al Qaeda, the group loyal to Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden. Both were also charged with financing terrorism. Police said a further 11 people had been arrested in Leicester, which has a sizeable Muslim population, in raids on eight different addresses. Eight of the Leicester group were arrested under Britain's tough new terrorism laws and the other three were held on suspicion of immigration offences. UN human rights chief concerned about Afghan prisoners' status U.N. human rights chief Mary Robinson said on Thursday Afghan prisoners held by the United States in Cuba must be treated according to international human rights and humanitarian laws and are prisoners-of-war , protected by the Geneva Conventions. The USA insists they are not, despite a growing international outcry over the prisoners being drugged, shackled and hooded for travel and then held in outdoor cages at the base. The former Irish president said that respect for human rights had come under increasing pressure, since the September 11th attacks in the U.S. sparked the Afghan war.The Dublin conference brought together 100 human rights activists from 70 countries to discuss the growing infringement on human rights by governments taking advantage of September 11th to clamp down on dissent and opposition. U.S. troops in Philippines only to advise The Philippine government has reiterated that U.S. troops being deployed to the country's southern Mindanao region would only be used to provide training and advice to local forces. The announcement counters criticism that the move could turn the country into another Afghanistan. The U.S. is sending around 160 special forces and 500 support and technical staff to the area to help local troops who are battling Muslim guerrillas. S.Africa prepares for potential Zimbabwe refugees South Africa has designated a disused military base near its northern border as a reception centre for refugees fleeing neighbouring Zimbabwe in the event of what one official called a meltdown there. Health workers, immigration officials, police and soldiers could be called up at any moment to help handle a sudden influx of refugees, he added. Zimbabwe President Mugabe is seeking to extend his 22-year rule in elections called for March 9th and 10th,but intimidation and violence surrounding the seizure of white-owned farms and the election campaign have resulted in a deep economic recession, with unemployment and inflation rising, food shortages looming and a foreign exchange crisis causing fuel and other shortages. The European Union, the United States and Zimbabwe's African neighbours have all urged Mugabe to drop plans to ban foreign observers and reporters and to ensure a free and fair poll. South African President Thabo Mbeki has refused to break ties with Mugabe, saying his country would bear the brunt of a total economic or social collapse there and that his primary duty is to protect his limited influence over Mugabe. IMMIGRANTS STILL BEING SENT BACK Defence spokesman Sam Mkhwanazi said the monitoring committee would respond to requests for assistance from other departments but not take the lead in managing a refugee crisis. Provincial immigration officials said there had been no surge in the steady flow of illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe over the past few months. Britain has said it will stop deporting refugees to Zimbabwe until after the March election, but South Africa is still sending illegal immigrants back across the border every day. One official said the Northern Province administration had repatriated 5,058 Zimbabweans in November, adding: "This is around normal for this time of year." "There is probably a bus taking people back even as we are speaking. It's a daily event," he said. Mashokwe said the government was monitoring the illegal immigration situation closely. An earlier plan to stockpile tents to be used in an open-air exhibition area had been dropped in favour of the plan to use empty barracks in old military bases close to the border. "We are ready for anything, but we are not in a state of high alert right now," he said. Gambia goes to the polls Voters are going to the polls in Gambia today to elect a new parliament. The election is being boycotted by the country's main opposition, the United Democratic Party. Because of the boycott only 15 of Gambia's 48 constituencies are being contested. Voter turnout so far appears to be low. War Crimes Tribunal for Sierra Leone Sierra Leone's government and U.N. officials have reportedly signed an agreement in Freetown to set up a war crimes tribunal, after ten years of civil war. One key suspect is the detained rebel leader Foday Sankoh, whose RUF movement was blamed for abuses of tens of thousands of civilians. From New York, the U.N. Security Council has ordered its peacekeeping force in Sierra Leone to help prepare for presidential and parliamentary elections, due on May the 14th. Since May last year, 45,000 militia fighters have been disarmed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- For more information please turn to our internet website at http://dw-world.de/english Here you'll find out what's happening in Germany, Europe and the rest of the world. News and background reports from the fields of current affairs, culture, business and science. And of course the DW website also has information about DW-RADIO and DW-TV programmes: topics, broadcast times and frequencies. You can even listen to all programmes as audio-on-demand. Serbian News Network - SNN [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.antic.org/
