19 - 25 July 2001
Issue No.543
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 19 - 25 July 2001 Issue No.543 |
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Hitting the nail on the head
THERE were jubilant cries on Saturday from US military officials in the remote central-Pacific Republic of the Marshall Islands, where a successful test of the US's controversial missile defence system lifted off. Turning a deaf ear to international condemnation, the US launched its fourth test of its proto-type hit-to-kill technology, which is designed to seek out an armed ballistic missile and destroy it.Two out of three previous attempts have failed, bringing the record of multi-million- dollar tests to a moderate 50 per cent success rate. Further tests will soon breach the terms of the landmark 1972 Anti-ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia, the umbrella under which all nuclear nonproliferation agreements were developed.
Moscow condemned the test, reiterating Russia's position that rather than ensure security, the missile defence programme will spark a new international arms race. But the US may have more to worry about than nasty remarks. The arrival in Moscow on Sunday of Chinese President Jiang Zemin, a long-time acquaintance of Russian President Vladimir Putin, marked unfortunate timing for the test. The two leaders discussed a number of key international concerns, but the US's national missile defence programme topped the list. On Monday, Putin and Jiang flexed their collective muscle by signing a showy treaty of "friendship and cooperation".
Out of time
UPHEAVALS in the world's seemingly forgotten Northern Ireland peace process reached their zenith last week with six days of heated negotiations in the secluded Weston Park country house in the English Midlands. The talks were punctuated by some of the worst violence in Northern Ireland for some time when an estimated 200 nationalist protesters let loose a hail of petrol, acid and paint bombs on police last Thursday night. Days of rioting in Belfast led to hundreds of police being injured, but the limping negotiations soldiered on until their close on Saturday. More violence flared up on Monday night, but was contained without injury.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Irish Premier Bertie Ahern declared the negotiating over and said that the two governments would pull together a package to sell to the majority Protestant and minority Catholic sides of the conflict. The main stumbling blocks still nagging at all parties centre on paramilitary disarmament, Northern Ireland's police force and reducing British troops in the region.
A wrench was thrown in the lurching peace machine when Northern Ireland First Minister David Trimble resigned on 1 July over the IRA's staunch refusal to decommission its weapons stash. Under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday agreement, Blair will have to determine by 12 August whether to call new elections or suspend Northern Ireland's Assembly.
Counting the years
THE countdown began last Friday for a triumphant Biejing after its landslide win as host city of the 2008 Olympic games, beating out hopefuls Toronto, Paris, Istanbul and Osaka. Ecstatic crowds filled the streets in a burst of national pride and newspapers blared the good news, but the decision was met with subdued enthusiasm from the international community. Cautious leaders expressed their belief that the International Olympic Committee's choice shouldn't be a political one, but in the case of China -- consistently castigated for its poor human rights record -- it seems impossible to leave politics aside.
Human rights groups denounced the decision as a reward for gross human rights infractions and warned against inevitably severe crackdowns in the runup to the games. Equally appalled by the announcement was Tibet's Dalai Lama, who declared that the Olympic nod would buttress the sagging credibility of the Chinese regime and encourage further repression.
The highly coveted honour of hosting the Olympics could be enough to turn around China's deteriorated infrastructure and stagnant economy, but it is also a vindication for the regime, which maintains that Beijing's successful bid is proof that President Jiang Zemin's style of rule -- an aggressively open market economy coupled with strict one-party rule -- is both effective and viable.
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