DATE=9/22/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=WORLD COURT / PAKISTAN (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-254201
BYLINE=LAUREN COMITEAU
DATELINE=THE HAGUE
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Pakistan has started legal proceedings against
India at the World Court in the Netherlands over the
shooting down in August of a Pakistani naval aircraft.
All 16 people on-board were killed when the plane was
shot down by India's air force. As Lauren Comiteau
reports from The Hague, Pakistan now wants India to
take both legal and financial responsibility for the
incident.
TEXT: Pakistan's Foreign Ministry says it decided to
take its case to the United Nation's highest legal
body after India rejected its demand for more than 60
million dollars in compensation.
Pakistan says the unarmed aircraft was on a routine
training mission inside Pakistan when Indian air force
planes shot it down without warning. It says most of
those killed were young naval trainees.
India has claimed that the plane flew into its
airspace -- a claim Pakistan vigorously denies.
Pakistan says it found the wreckage two kilometers
inside its own borders, and in its legal filing, even
accuses India of sneaking into Pakistan and taking
evidence from the crash site.
Pakistan has called for a United Nations fact-finding
mission to investigate what it calls a blatant act of
military aggression, one that violates the U-N charter
and international law. It also wants judges at the
World Court to hold India legally responsible for the
incident--and to order India to compensate both
Pakistan and relatives of the victims. Any ruling is
likely years away. (Signed)
NEB/LC/GE/LTD/JP
22-Sep-1999 13:02 PM EDT (22-Sep-1999 1702 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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