by Susanne Gusten

ANKARA, Feb 16 (AFP)

Turkey announced Tuesday it had captured its enemy number one, rebel Kurdish separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan, in an undercover operation and had hauled him back to face trial in a Turkish court.

Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers� Party (PKK), was apparently abducted in Nairobi on Monday after leaving the Greek ambassador�s residence en route to the city�s airport, according to Greek officials.

But the Kurdistan Information Center in Bonn said Ocalan had been kidnapped Monday from the Greek embassy in Nairobi, where he had taken refuge since February 2, and was then taken to Turkey.

The development caused immediate diplomatic tensions, with Greece and Kenya trading accusations of recklessness while Israel flatly denied reports that its Mossad secret service was involved in the operation.

Protests by Kurds across Europe in show support of Ocalan turned violent as news of the abduction spread, with demonstrators seizing hostages inside several Greek diplomatic premises and at the Kenyan embassy in Bonn.

But in Ankara, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit was jubilant in announcing the capture of Ocalan, wanted on charges of treason and terrorism in connection with his movement�s 15-year-old violent campaign in southeast Turkey for an independent Kurdistan.

�As of 3:00 a.m. (0100 GMT) this morning, the head of the separatist terror organization Abdullah Ocalan is in Turkey,� Ecevit said. �He was arrested in an undercover operation. We had been following him for 12 days in various countries,� he said.

His voice choking with emotion, Ecevit added: �May God save our nation and all mankind (eds:correct) from terrorism and war.�

The prime minister refused to give details of the operation, but stressed neither Ocalan nor anyone else had been injured.

�He will now be made to answer for his deeds by the independent courts of Turkey,� the prime minister declared.

�We said that wherever he was hiding in the world, we would get him. This state has kept its word. It has kept its vows to the mothers of our martyrs,� he said.

More than 30,000 people have died in the fighting between Turkish forces and the PKK, according to the Turkish government.

Ecevit called on PKK members to give themselves up, telling them: �You have now reached the end of your road.�

�Everyone must know that nothing can be achieved in Turkey by terrorism,� he added.

Ocalan had been on the run since October, when he was flushed out of Syria under the threat of Turkish military action.

He arrived in Rome in November and immediately requested political asylum, declaring that he renounced violence and was seeking a peaceful resolution to Kurdish demands for a homeland.

Turkey demanded his extradition, sparking a diplomatic row with Italy and other European powers, which showed a reluctance to intervene and risk upheaval within their own large Kurdish and Turkish minorities. Ocalan left Italy in mid-January, beginning a prolonged search aboard a small private plane for a country of shelter. Syria had earlier expelled him under pressure from Ankara, leading him to Russia first.

Sightings of him were reported in a number of countries, but he was denied refuge everywhere in Europe.

Greece, which has strained relations with Turkey, on Tuesday admitted it gave him shelter - �for humanitarian reasons� - for 12 days at its ambassador�s residence in Kenya.

Ocalan, however, left the premises on Monday with the intention of going to the Netherlands, but vanished while en route to Nairobi airport, Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangolos said in Athens.

Kenyan Foreign Minister Bonaya Godana said he had confronted the Greek ambassador after learning that Ocalan was in Nairobi and demanded that the Kurdish leader leave.

�The government immediately requested for his expatriation from the country to which the Greek ambassador agreed after consultations with his minister in Athens,� Godana said in Nairobi, adding that Athens knew Ocalan�s destination.

Across Europe, the PKK showed its muscle among the large Kurdish diaspora, staging protests that it said would only be called off once Turkey had guaranteed Ocalan�s security.

The demonstrators held hostages inside Greek diplomatic buildings in London, Vienna and The Hague, while in Bonn, two hostages were held inside the Kenyan embassy. Kurdish women in Copenhagen, Berlin and London suffered serious injuries after setting themselves on fire.

In Moscow, special interior ministry forces arrested 15 people who stormed the Greek embassy while UN officials in Geneva were trying to persuade 20 Kurdish militants from leaving a UN building.

The United States, which had maintained that Ocalan should face trial, welcomed the arrest and called on Kurdish militants to end their protest action.

Turkey stepped up security at its embassies in 21 countries and asked governments for assistance to prevent attacks on Turkish citizens.

by Pierre Glachant

WASHINGTON, Feb 16 (AFP)

The impeachment and later acquittal of President Bill Clinton has irrevocably altered US political life, elevating the culture of prosecution at the expense of the presidency, historians have concluded.

The tortuous experience has circumscribed the autonomy of the presidency, laying it open to greater legal reprisals they said.

�The impeachment has given new energy to a far-reaching and largely unnoticed structural change in the American polity; the institutionalisation of the prosecutorial culture,� observed Arthur Schlesinger, historian and former special assistant to President John Kennedy said in Time magazine.

�There is no one in the White House with whom presidents will be able to discuss confidential problems without fear of subpoena,� he elaborated.

In evidence, historians cited the decision by the US Supreme Court to allow independent counsel Kenneth Starr to question White House lawyers, and the president�s secret service detail.

It was Starr�s investigation into Clinton�s efforts to cover up his liaison with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky which triggered impeachment proceedings.

The upshot of the Supreme Court ruling was that future presidents would be more �isolated� and find it harder to get �candid advice� from their advisors, said Allan Lichtman, a historian at Washington�s American University.

Thomas Mann, from Washington think-tank the Brookings Institution, said this episode in US politics had raised the stakes in political in-fighting.

�This presidential scandal has accelerated the arms race in using legal tools, investigation, prosecution, civil litigation to destroy one�s political enemies.�

�The specter of an intensification of that war is really frightening,� he added.

But Henry Graff, from New York�s Columbia University, warned that it was premature to write off Clinton�s role in history as simply the president who was impeached over a tawdry sexual liaison.

If the Republicans lose the 2000 elections, he cautioned, the current Republican-controlled Congress would be seen as having been �out of touch with the public,� he charged.

The Congress, which impeached Clinton, and has been accused of carrying out a Clinton witch-hunt, would be seen to have �failed to understand what America outside of the city of Washington was like,� he said.

by Jim Mannion

WASHINGTON, Feb 16

(AFP)

US Marines could be quickly deployed to Kosovo as part of a NATO-led force if the warring sides reach an agreement - or US warplanes could strike Serb targets if Belgrade blocks an accord, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

With the outcome of peace talks in Rambouillet, France, still in doubt, the Pentagon and its allies are facing key decisions on these two fronts: air strikes or a ground force to enforce a long-term settlement.

NATO will have to decide this week whether to begin moving combat aircraft into position for possible air strikes if, by the Saturday deadline, it looks like Belgrade is standing in the way of an agreement, Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said.

The United States, which would have the dominant role in any air strikes against Serb positions, has pledged to provide 260 combat and support aircraft for such an operation.

Many of those aircraft already are in Europe, but others would have to come from the continental United States in advance of any strikes, Bacon said.

B-2 Stealth bombers and B-52 strategic bombers are among the US warplanes on 48 hour alert for a possible Kosovo mission, but they could operate directly from the United States, he said.

The 1,000-member civilian ceasefire monitoring mission in Kosovo also would have to be withdrawn ahead of time and non-governmental relief agencies working in the southern Serbian province would have to be given time to get their people out, Bacon said.

�These are questions that have to be asked and answered later in the week as we get a clearer idea of whether the talks are making progress,� Bacon said.

Serbia has dug in its heels on the question of a NATO-led force, which it opposes as a violation of its sovereignty.

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright warned Tuesday that Serb rejection of a peacekeeping force was a �deal breaker� that could trigger NATO air strikes.

Meanwhile, NATO is expected to complete its operational plan for a peacekeeping force in the next couple of days, Bacon said.

US Army General Wesley Clark, the supreme allied commander, will have to decide whether to use a light force to get troops in quickly or a heavy force capable of overpowering any military challenge.

�Clearly, the Marines are a leading option to go in quickly. They would go in from the Greek port of Thessaloniki,� Bacon said.

Britain already has begun shipping heavy weapons for the Kosovo force. Some 400 British tanks, armored vehicles and self-propelled cannons were due to arrive before the end of the month in Thessaloniki.

A 1,800-member French-led force already is in Macedonia, and is likely to become the nucleus of the French contingent in Kosovo, Bacon said.

Indian PM�s visit to Pakistan weighs symbolism against substance

by Giles Hewitt

NEW DELHI, Feb 18 (AFP)

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will become Saturday the first Indian premier to set foot on Pakistan soil for 10 years, carrying hopes of a new spirit of detente between the rival new nuclear powers.

Vajpayee will cross into Pakistan on the inaugural run of a first-ever cross-border bus link, to be greeted by Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, who has promised his guest a �warm� reception.

The two premiers will then fly by helicopter for talks in Lahore, a potent symbol of the bloody Hindu-Moslem carnage that marked the partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947.

�By itself the bus journey may be a small step, but the symbolism is significant due to its enormity,� said Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh.

Indeed, such is the weight of symbolism being attached to Vajpayee�s visit, that some analysts, while welcoming any talks between the two leaders, have questioned whether the exercise amounts to much more than a public relations exercise.

Since both countries conducted tit-for-tat underground nuclear tests in May, the international community - driven mainly by the United States - has launched and maintained an intense diplomatic push to bring the South Asian rivals together.

The lifting of sanctions imposed after the tests has been made partially conditional on progress in bilateral negotiations.

A prime ministerial summit, with the added bonus of being held in the sub-continent, will enable India and Pakistan to claim that substantial progress has indeed been made.

During his visit, Vajpayee is expected to initiate a dialogue on a sub-continental nuclear strategy with Sharif.

The Indian premier has also indicated a willingness to hold a political dialogue on the seemingly intractable issue of Kashmir - the territorial dispute that remains the main thorn in the side of bilateral ties.

But analysts here held out little hope of any significant agreement coming out of the Vajpayee-Sharif meeting.

�Sharif�s invitation to Vajpayee and his positive response are an encouraging development only up to a point,� said former foreign secretary J.N. Dixit.

�Expectations both in India and Pakistan should be tempered by realism and stark realities on the ground,� Dixit said, pointing out that both leaders were to a large extent prisoners of entrenched domestic policies vis-a-vis the old enemy across the border.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since 1947, two of them over Kashmir.

While the prime ministers may be inclined to reason together, and public opinion is in favour of a thaw in relations, the power structures in each countries are less than supportive.

�It is a curiously contradictory predicament,� Dixit said.

A third round of bilateral secretary-level talks scheduled to begin in New Delhi on Thursday have now been postponed until after the meeting in Lahore.

The previous two rounds, which covered Kashmir and a raft of other disputes, ended with no sign of progress.

Kalim Bahadur, head of Central Asian studies at New Delhi�s prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University, said the Vajpayee-Sharif meet was simply an elevated version of the existing dialogue.

�The long-term problems can�t be solved by a brief visit,� Bahadur said.

�I think we will see the prime ministers instructing their officals to carry on dialogue more positively, but they won�t suggest any specific solutions.