Section A · Page 9
The University Daily Kansan
Tuesday, April 25. 2000
World
New arms race possible, Annan says
Albright argues defense is needed
The Associated Press
UNITED NATIONS — U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned yesterday that growing pressure to deploy national missile defenses could lead to a new arms race.
But Secretary of State Madeleine Albright countered that a way should be found to mount a limited defense against new threats.
Speaking at a conference of dozens of non-nuclear nations, as well as the handful of nuclear-armed states, Annan was responding to those who argued a 1972 treaty signed by the United States and the Soviet Union to ban antimissile defenses should be overhauled or even scuttled.
Annan referred to the treaty as a cornerstone of strategic stability and called for great care before taking steps that could reduce, rather than enhance, global security.
The Secretary-General made no direct reference to President Clinton's consideration of limited anti-missile defenses against what administration officials say is a threat of attack by North Korea and other so-called "rogue states."
But Albright stoutly defended amending the treaty to defend against incoming missiles.
"The treaty has been amended before, and there is no good reason it cannot be amended again to reflect new threats from third countries," she said.
Clinton is expected to urge Russian President Vladimir Putin at their summit June 4-5 in
Moscow to cooperate in modifying the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Many conservative Republicans in Congress would go further by scrapping the pact and proceeding with a spaced-based weapons program.
Putin has denounced tinkering with the treaty but in 1997 his presidential predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, agreed to take steps to destroy strategic nuclear warheads at a Helsinki, Finland, summit with Clinton.
American and Russian negotiators opened talks last week in Geneva, Switzerland, on reducing nuclear stockpiles and defending against nuclear attack.
The U.N. conference was called to review a 1968 treaty signed by 187 countries in which nonnuclear states agreed not to try to develop or acquire nuclear weapons on condition the nuclear
nations pursued disarmament. The treaty was extended indefinitely in 1995 with the Clinton administration's strong support.
A group of seven nations considered politically moderate called for negotiations without delay to achieve nuclear disarmament.
Nuclear testing by India and Pakistan in 1998 has fueled complaints that the United States, Russia and the others have not taken steps toward a world free of nuclear weapons. Those complaints are expected to be aired during the four-week conference.
Foreign Minister Rosario Green of Mexico, presenting the group's new agenda, proposed that nuclear states pledged not to use nuclear weapons first, as well as speed up the removal of warheads from missile launchers, end the deployment of battlefield nuclear weapons and expand nuclear-free zones.
Kidnappers ambush tourists in Malaysia
The Associated Press
SEMPORNA, Malaysia Search and rescue teams scoured southeast Asian seas yesterday after masked assailants carrying automatic rifles and a rocket launcher stormed one of the world's top diving resorts and sped off with 20 hostages.
An American couple escaped,
refusing to swim out to the kidnappers' boats and then hiding overnight in nearby bushes.
Defense Minister Najib Tun Razak said yesterday that an air- and sea search team had determined where the hostages — half of whom were foreign tourists — were being held, following their abduction the previous evening on the lush Sipadan Island in eastern Malaysia.
Malaysian officials said they were are not discounting the possible involvement of Abu Sayaf rebels, of local pirates and other
lawless groups.
A local marine photographer said one of the attackers identified himself as a police officer and told him to give up his watch and cellular phone.
Malaysian police said they suspected political motives were behind the attack.
The attack began when six masked gunmen, carrying AK-47s and a rocket launcher and speaking a Philippine language, grabbed tourists and workers and confiscated their cash and jewelry, Norian said.
The attackers then forced their hostages to swim a distance to two fishing boats, which then sped away and appeared to be heading into Philippine waters.
Two of the captives — James and Mary Murphy, both 51, of Rochester, N.Y. — managed to escape, ently let them go, and the American couple ran into the bushes and hid until dawn.
Beheadings abundant in Islamic Saudi Arabia
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Tranquilized prisoners are led into a public square blindfolded, their feet shackled, their hands cuffed behind their backs. With one swing of the sword, they are beheaded for crimes ranging from murder to drug trafficking.
The scene has unfolded 21 times already this year in Saudi Arabia, most recently yesterday when a Sudanese convicted of murder was executed. Human rights groups condemn the beheadings, but Saudi authorities say they are mandated by Islam and justified by the need to maintain law and order.
Saudi Arabia's strict interpretation of Islamic law mandates the death penalty for murder, rape, drug trafficking, sodomy or armed robbery.
"The kingdom derives its knowledge and dealings of human rights from the holy Koran and the teachings of the prophet," said Saudi
Interior Minister Prince Navef.
His comments at a university in Dhahran Sunday were the latest Saudi response to a scathing report released last month by the human rights group Amnesty International.
Amnesty, which has condemned executions in Saudi Arabia just as it condemns capital punishment elsewhere, said Saudi Arabia had one of the highest execution rates in the world.
At least 103 people were executed in 1999 in the nation of about 19 million people. In comparison, the Death Penalty Information Center counted 98 executions in the much larger United States last year, most by lethal injection.
Human rights organizations also complain that the accused are denied access to lawyers and do not receive fair trials. Amnesty had it documented systematic human rights violations in Saudi Arabia, including torture at police stations and prisons and convictions in secret trials.
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