8/14/2019 TheSun 2009-11-03 Page10 Karzai Gets New Term Run-Off Cancelled

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newswithout borders10 theSun | TUESDAY NOVEMBER 3 2009

Land abuse by developers halves Hongkongs iconic Victoria HarbourLand abuse by developers halves Hongkongs iconic Victoria Harbour

Smoke scare for Taiwanpresident in planeTAIPEI: Smoke poured from an aircraftcarrying Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeouafter a domestic flight, but the presidentwas taken off the plane and no one washurt, military officials said yesterday.

Smoke began billowing from theFokker 50 prop-jet aircraft late on Sundayas its brakes overheated after a shortflight from the capital Taipei to Taichung.

Ma was escorted off the plane in goodtime, his spokesman said, but he called

for a full safety check on the aircraft,which had passed an inspection in July.Military officials responsible for the

plane said they suspected a simple me-chanical failure. Reuters

Two charged over Thaikings health rumoursBANGKOK: Two people have beencharged in Thailand with spreadingfalse information about the health ofthe king.

A man and a woman, both Thai,were charged under a computer law,accused of damaging national securityby posting false information on theInternet, said police colonel AchayonKraithong yesterday.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 81, theworlds longest-reigning monarch, hasbeen in hospital since mid-Septemberwith a lung infection and fever. The

Thai bourse plunged 8.22% at onepoint on Oct 15 over the rumoursabout the king, revered as a demi-godby many Thais and who is seen as astabilising force in the nation. AFP

Many feared dead asboat sinks off AustraliaSYDNEY: More than 20 people werefeared dead yesterday after a boat car-rying about 40 sank in rough seas far

HONGKONG: Hongkongs iconic Vic-toria Harbour has halved in width overthe past 13 years because of reclama-tion work in the high-rise city of sevenmillion, a report said yesterday.

The gap between Kowloon andHongkong island used to be 2,300m

before reclamation work began inthe 1990s but has now shrunk to just910m, theSouth China Morning Postreported. Eighty hectares of harbourwas reclaimed from 1996 to 2004, anda further 12.7ha are to disappear in areclamation project in the Wan Chai

and Central area between 2010 and2016, the newspaper said.

The width of the harbour, Hong-kongs best-known landmark, ismeasured from Johnson Road in WanChai on Hongkong Island to ChathamRoad in Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon on

the opposite shore.The government has been criticised

for allowing too much reclamation ofthe harbour to accommodate high-riseoffice and housing blocks. It has alsobeen attacked for allowing develop-ment up to the waters edge and not

attempting to create walkways andrecreation areas along the harbourfront. The Society for the Protection ofthe Harbour said: In most countries,city planning is for peoples well-being,but in Hongkong city planning is formoney-making. dpa

Abdullah ... leaves thedoor open for futurediscussions.

off northwest Australia during a rescueattempt by a passing merchant ship andfishing vessel.

Defence chief Angus Houston said theunidentified boat capsized and then sankafter the LNG Pioneerand Taiwanese fish-ing craft responded to pleas for help in aremote area off Australias Cocos Islandsin the Indian Ocean.

It was not confirmed whether the boatwas one of dozens of people-smugglingvessels that have headed to Australia thisyear carrying more than 1,700 asylum-seekers, many of them from Sri Lanka andAfghanistan.

Some 17 people were rescued inlife-rafts thrown out by the LNG Pioneer,which was sailing to Western Australiawhen it diverted course to help the strick-

en boat. The boat started taking on waterlate Sunday and issued a distress call,officials said, warning that finding moresurvivors would be difficult. AFP

HK police hunt high-riseacid attackerHONGKONG: Police yesterday steppedup their hunt for a mystery attackerwho throws bottles of acid on to pass-ing crowds from high-rise buildings.

In the latest of a series of attacks,a man in his late 40s was injured by abottle of corrosive liquid thrown froma building in the urban Sai Wan Hodistrict late Sunday. He was taken tohospital but was not badly hurt.

Two days earlier, another bottle ofacid was thrown from a building in thecitys Shamshuipo district after dozensof shoppers were injured in similarincidents over the past 11 months.

In one single attack in June, 24people including a 4-year-old girlwere hurt when a corrosive liquid wasthrown from a high-rise building in theMongkok area.

The incidents have triggeredwidespread fear in the high-rise city.Rewards totaling almost US$40,000(RM140,000) have been offered bypolice following earlier attacks buthave failed to lead to any arrests orsignificant breakthroughs. dpa

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N. Korea wants face-to-facetalks with WashingtonSEOUL: North Korea called yesterday for directtalks with its long-time foe, the United States,and gave the clearest signal so far it was readyto return to nuclear disarmament talks it hasboycotted for almost a year.

The comments follow last weeks rare visitby a North Korean official to the United Statesand what has been a charm offensive by theostracised state which some analysts say is look-ing increasingly desperate for finance and aid.

The conclusion we have reached is that thedirect parties, which are the North and the UnitedStates, must first sit down and find a rational solu-tion, a foreign ministry spokesman was quotedas saying by the official KCNA news agency.

Now that we have shown the generosity ofstating the position that we would be willing totalk to the United States and hold multilateraltalks including the six-way talks, it is time for theUnited States to make a decision.

The comments were the strongest so far onthe secretive states willingness to return to talksit walked out last December.

Last month, leader Kim Jong-il said he wouldconsider rejoining the talks with China, Japan,Russia, South Korea and the United States, pro-vided it had direct discussions with Washington.

US academics and former officials said onFriday after meeting Pyongyangs second rank-

ing nuclear envoy that the North appeared to bemore open to resuming the six-way talks on itsnuclear programme.

North Koreas Ri Gun met the US special envoyto disarmament talks in the past week in rarecontacts in the United States, viewed as preludeto a visit to Pyongyang by senior US officials.

Pyongyang has demanded direct talks withWashington as the best way to resolve hostilityit argues has given it no option but to build anatomic arsenal.

However, the United States has said therewould be no negotiations outside the six-wayforum.

A well-placed diplomatic source in Seoul saidit was not clear whether there has been a funda-mental shift in the Norths position to abandon itsnuclear programme if the price is right.

North Koreas financial plight likely has ledto its charm offensive but we dont know if thatmeans it is ready to make major concessions onits nuclear arms plans, he said.

Destitute North Korea has been reachingout to its traditional foes after being hit by UNsanctions to punish it for its second nuclear testin May.

The sanctions were aimed at cutting into itsvital revenue source of overseas arms sales. Reuters

Karzai gets new term,run-off cancelledKABUL: Afghanistans election commissiondeclared Hamid Karzai elected as presidentyesterday after it called off a run-off followingthe withdrawal of his only rival.

The run-off, called after the first round inAugust was marred by widespread fraud, wasto have been held on Nov 7.

The Independent Election Commissiondeclares the esteemed Hamid Karzai as thepresident ... because he was the winner of thefirst round and the only candidate in the sec-ond round, the commissions chief AzizullahLudin told a news conference.

Ludin told a packed media conference thedecision was made to spare the Afghan peoplethe expense and risk of another election andbecause a one-candidate race would raise ques-tions about the legitimacy of the presidency.

Former foreign minister Abdullah Abdul-lah withdrew from the race over the weekend,citing doubts about the credibility of the elec-tion process.

Karzai has lost his legitimacy, he is a veryweak president and he cannot gov-ern without reaching out to DrAbdullah, said Kabul-basedpolitical analyst Haroun Mir.

So the ball is in Dr Abdul-lahs court right now.

Karzais camp on Sundayhad ruled out a coalition withAbdullah, but he has beenunder intense pressure from

various quarters to bring Abdul-lah into the government.

Earlier, UN chiefBan Ki-moon madea visit to Kabulthat had not

been announced in advance, as diplomaticefforts gathered pace to resolve the prolongedpolitical crisis.

We continue to stand by the people of

Afghanistan in their quest for prosperity andpeace, Ban said.The withdrawal of Abdullah from the

run-off had cast doubts over the legitimacy ofthe next government, already under a cloudfollowing the Aug 20 election marred by al-legations of fraud in favour of Karzai.

A weakened Afghan government underKarzai would be a blow for US PresidentBarack Obama as he considers whether tosend up to 40,000 more troops to fight a resur-gent Taliban in Afghanistan.

A spokesman for Karzais campaign saidthe president will issue a statement about theelection commission announcement later.

Abdullah had left the door open for futurediscussions but said no deals had been struckin return for his withdrawal, seen by diplo-mats as one way to spare the country moreuncertainty that discredits the governmentand can only aid the insurgency.

Ban ki-Moon met both Karzai and Ab-dullah, officials said.

A UN statement said the meetings wereto assure them and the Afghan peopleof the continuing support of the United

Nations doubts overthe credibility ofhis government. Reuters