Oxfam responds to the critical situation in locust-affected West Africa
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Pakistan believes summit on despite Nepal crisis
01 Feb 2005 13:03:13 GMT
Source: Reuters
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(Adds Bangladeshi quotes, background on security) By Tahir Ikram ISLAMABAD, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Pakistan said on Tuesday it expects a South Asian summit at which it aims to continue peace talks with nuclear-armed rival India will go ahead in Bangladesh at the weekend in spite of a political crisis in Nepal. Bangladesh said it remained fully prepared to host the meeting of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which Pakistan currently chairs. "The information I have received so far is that the summit is taking place," said Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan, who was en route to the Bangladeshi capital. The political crisis in Nepal, where King Gyanendra sacked the government and assumed power on Tuesday, has raised doubts about whether the summit can be held since SAARC's charter requires all seven heads of state or government to attend. Leaders of the seven member bloc are due to hold summit sessions on Sunday and Monday after a meeting of their foreign minsters on Saturday. The foreign minsters and prime ministers of Pakistan and India are to meet on the sidelines of the summit to discuss their slow-moving peace process. Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shamsher M. Chowdhury said Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan discussed the summit with Pakistani counterpart Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri on Tuesday. "Bangladesh is fully prepared to host the 13th SAARC summit and we are confident about security measures taken for the summit," Chowdhury told a news briefing. "We learnt through international media that King Gyanendra has dismissed Nepal's government. But we are unable to make direct contact with Nepal through phone ... due to communications problem. BANGLADESH MONITORING "We are constantly monitoring developments there." SAARC comprises the Himalayan kingdoms of Bhutan and Nepal, the Indian Ocean islands of the Maldives and Sri Lanka, mostly Hindu India and its Muslim-majority Bangladesh and Pakistan. In the past some SAARC summits have been postponed because of the inability of one or more members to attend. Residents of the Nepali capital, Kathmandu, said the king had taken power for the next three years and placed many politicians under house arrest. Former Pakistani Foreign Secretary Tanveer Ahmed Khan told Reuters the only way the summit could be held would be if Gyanendra attended it himself, or nominated a new head of government or personal envoy to attend. "The only chance for SAARC is that the king comes personally because in the past they have attended these summits ... or he may select a personal envoy to meet the requirements," he said. SAARC summits are seen as a way to promote trade and cooperation and to overcome political tension, such as that between India and Pakistan, which has hobbled such cooperation. Dhaka has been placed under unprecedented security ahead of the summit, partly because of domestic political turmoil. A three-day, opposition-led general strike called after a grenade attack in the northeast on Thursday killed five people, including a senior opposition official, has just ended. The strike largely paralysed the country and the opposition Awami League has called for another three days of stoppages on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday to try to force out the government. (Additional reporting by Anis Ahmed in DHAKA)
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