MONDAY,OCT.15,2001
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 7A
Clashes leave 13 dead
The Associated Press
KANO, Nigeria — Fires smoldered in burned cars and ruined buildings in the northern city of Kano yesterday, a day after Muslim-Christian clashes left at least 13 people dead and religious tensions high.
The fighting Saturday was apparently ignited by clashes between police and an armed mob Friday following a protest by Muslims against the U.S.-led strikes on Afghanistan.
Police said they had confirmed 13 deaths in Saturday's violence, including five rioters shot by police. There were unconfirmed reports of hundreds dead but yesterday no bodies were visible on the streets.
kano's state government, anxious to play down the violence, dismissed the reports.
"To say hundreds is an exaggeration," said government spokesman Ibrahim Gwazharwa.
Some Muslims vowed more protests against the U.S.-led air strikes on Afghanistan.
But most residents expressed dismay at the fighting, saying they feared relations between Christians and Muslims in the largest city in northern Nigeria had been seriously damaged.
Government officials and some residents blamed fighting on thugs, not religious tensions.
"It is unemployed youths, both Muslim and
Christian, who are causing all the trouble," said Abdul Kadir, a university student.
But witnesses told of groups of Christian and Muslim rioters yelling religious slogans as they attacked and chased bystanders believed to be of another faith.
Government officials often deny the religious basis of fighting to avoid fueling further violence in Nigeria, which is divided between a Muslim north and Christian south.
An official said he was worried that if Christian traders in Kano fled, they would spread word of the violence, potentially igniting religious conflicts elsewhere in Nigeria.
The Associated Press
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Thousands of Islamic militants converged on a town in southern Pakistan yesterday, fighting pitched battles with police and paramilitary troops as they surged toward an air base that U.S. personnel are reportedly using.
One person was killed and 24 were injured in daylong battles around Jacobabad, police said. The desert city is the home to one of two Pakistani air bases made available to U.S. forces to support the air campaign against Osama bin Laden and his Afghanistan-based terror network.
Pakistan's military government has officially denied that U.S. armed services personnel and aircraft are in the country.
Militants battle police
country. But on Thursday, Pakistani officials confirmed on condition of anonymity that the country's president, military ruler Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has granted the United States use of at least two air bases during airstrikes
One militant leader exhorted followers to set Shabaz Air Base in Jacobabad on fire "at any cost," and another called on Pakistan's generals to overthrow Musharraf.
Police and paramilitary troops from the Interior Ministry fired tear gas to repel hundreds of demonstrators marching toward the air base. Protesters also battled police in two villages outside the city.
In a related demonstration several miles outside Jacobabad, one demonstrator was killed and 10 were injured, authorities and protest leaders said
Militant leaders have called for attacks on Shabaz and Pasni Air Base, another installation U.S. personnel are said to be using.
Protest leaders have called for a nationwide strike today — the day Secretary of State Colin Powell is to arrive in Pakistan to discuss the antiterror campaign.
Chilean Senate may vote to lift ban on divorce
The Associated Press
SANTIAGO, Chile — As he wrapped up his performance at a Chilean campaign rally, the comedian had just one request for senatorial hopeful Enrique Krauss: "Please, sir, work for a divorce law so I can get married."
The comedian, known as El Indio, is separated from his first wife, but can't remarry because Chile is one of the few countries in the world that still bans divorce.
political establishment
The candidate, according to the daily La Segunda, made no promises. That's no surprise. Over the past 90 years, repeated attempts to break the ban have foundered on the rocks of the Roman Catholic church and the conservative
However, the issue may finally be coming up for a Senate vote.
After 12 failed attempts, the lower house of Congress passed the bill in 1997, but it languished there for four years—until last week, when a Senate committee took it up. The government, which supports the bill, had recently proposed several changes in an attempt to make it more acceptable to the senators. The committee must file a report to the full Senate within 30 days.
Among the thousands of Chileans trapped in broken marriages, few are holding their breath. The Senate has set no date for voting, and when it finally happens, the outcome will
hang on one or two votes,
says Congresswoman
Antonieta Saa.
If enacted, the Civil Marriage Law will make divorce a costly and protracted affair.
Couples will have to show a judge that they underwent counseling. Stringent rules will protect the rights of children, guarantee their schooling is paid for, and that alimony and child support are provided.
So far so good, say both supporters and opponents. But proponents of the right to divorce are unhappy with the clause requiring husband and wife to show that they have lived apart for four years — three if the divorce is uncontested.
"That's an eternity when
The intent, explained Justice Minister Jose Antonio Gomez is "to protect the families and give couples a time to reflect."
Some think the law makes things worse. "It's better being the only Western country without a divorce law than the Western country with the worst divorce law," said Jimena Valdes, who runs a think tank specializing in women's studies.
Agronomist Gustavo Rojas would welcome the law. Separated from his wife a decade ago, he said she has at times denied him the right to see their daughter, leading to frequent and costly disputes in court.
I now have a new girlfriend and we want to get
married, but we can't because my marriage is still valid," he said.
At present the only way out of a Chilean marriage is by legal separation, obtainable if either side can prove there was a procedural error in the marriage process.
The favored bureaucratic subterfuge is to show a judge that one of the spouses was not living at the address listed at the time of the marriage. It's easy enough — and generally acceptable — to pull a few "witnesses" off the street to give the needed testimony.
The result is that the marriage is declared to have never legally existed. But that leaves everyone's rights in limbo.
Paulina Veloso. It sets out "clear rules on protection of the children and the weaker party of the couple, including alimony, visitation rights and others."
"In this aspect the law is very good," said lawyer
Various opinion polls show strong support for a divorce law, but the issue remains highly sensitive, especially because of church opposition in a country 84 percent of whose population calls itself Catholic
Priests have denounced the law from their pulpits, with some urging worshipers to punish pro-divorcee members, of Congress in the December elections.
"It's divorce now, it will be abortion next and then probably marriages among homosexuals," said Pablo Lizama, a Catholic military chaplain.
U.S. enters second week of attacks
The Associated Press
KABUL, Afghanistan — U.S. jets pounded targets in Kabul and other cities yesterday as the U.S. air campaign to force the handover of Osama bin Laden entered a second week. The White House rebuffed yet another offer by Afghanistan's Taliban rulers to negotiate on the terror suspect's fate.
In the latest raids, U.S. jets destroyed Kabul's Chinese-built international telephone exchange, severing one of the last means of communication with the outside world. Residents also said the capital's historic Mogul-style Balahisar Fort, built in the early 20th century, was in ruins. The report could not be confirmed because security kept outsiders from the area.
The U.S.-led barrage has left Afghan civilians with frayed nerves, since some of the targets are close to populated areas and at least in one case homes have been struck by accident.
been struck by someone.
"There is no Osama in Kabul," bank worker Mohammed Arif said.
"Osama and his people are not living in small mud houses. Why do they attack us? We are not his supporters.
We have never seen his face."
The third most powerful figure in the Taliban, Deputy Prime Minister Haji Abdul Kabir, said yesterday that the militia was willing to hand bin Laden over to a third nation if the United States offers evidence against him and halts the bombing. President Bush quickly rejected the offer.
"There is nothing to negotiate about. They are harboring a terrorist." Bush told reporters.
The Bush administration has repeatedly refused any conditions on its demands that the Taliban surrender bin Laden and his al-Qaida terror movement — suspected in the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States.