SITREPS
Rizla Ranger (Revivin') UK
Ten Macedonian soldiers have been killed and three injured in an ambush by
armed ethnic Albanian rebels, a Macedonian Government spokesman has said.
The fierce gun battle, which broke out on a motorway to the west of the
capital, Skopje, has overshadowed the final push to negotiate a political
solution to the six-month ethnic conflict.
The deaths are the highest number of casualties the Macedonians have
suffered
in a single day since the fighting began.
The spokesman, Antonio Milososki, said the attack, which he described as a
"rebel offensive", had cut off the north-western city of Tetovo.
The guerrillas reportedly attacked the military convoy with rocket-propelled
grenades near the village of Grupcin on the motorway between Skopje and
Tetovo.
The army responded with tanks and helicopter gunships.
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Rizla Ranger (Revivin') UK
Rioters in the Macedonian capital Skopje have attacked ethnic Albanian shops
and businesses after 10 Macedonian soldiers were killed in a rebel ambush.
A curfew was imposed after unrest in the town of Prilep, where many of the
killed army reservists lived.
The mosque in Prilep was burnt down
A Macedonian policeman was also reported to have died in fighting with
ethnic
Albanian rebels during Wednesday night to the west of Macedonia's second
city
of Tetovo.
Macedonia's leadership has called for decisive military action against
ethnic
Albanian rebels who have been fighting the army for the past six months.
Retaliation
The country's National Security Council, which includes the president and
prime minister, said there could be no question of implementing a peace deal
brokered on Wednesday by Western mediators before the rebels had been pushed
back from recently-seized territory in the north and west.
In Skopje, mobs looted ethnic Albanian shops and broke into a hospital where
rebel fighters were thought to be receiving treatment.
Outside the parliament building, protesters waved Macedonian flags and
chanted
slogans against president Boris Trajkovski, whom they see as appeasing the
rebels.
In the south western town of Prilep, demonstrators burned a mosque and
Albanian-owned businesses, and broke into an army barracks to steal weapons.
The 10 soldiers were killed when the convoy they were accompanying to Tetovo
was ambushed by rebel fighters.
A fierce gun battle followed the attack, near the town of Grupcin, with
rebels
and soldiers dug in on different sides of the motorway.
The deaths of two officers and eight reservists marked the highest number of
casualties the Macedonians have suffered in a single day since the fighting
began.
Breakthrough
The setback to peace comes after Wednesday's breakthrough in talks, which
saw
Western envoys manage to persuade Macedonian and ethnic Albanian leaders to
initial an accord after 12 days of talks.
The looting and burning continued into the night
But all parties were sceptical when European Union negotiator Francois
Leotard
announced that there would be an official signing on Monday.
The deal is designed to grant ethnic Albanians, who make up about a third of
Macedonia's population, new rights.
Nato has pledged to send in a 3,500-member force to oversee the disarming of
the rebels once the final deal is signed.
But the renewed violence has threatened to undermine the agreement.
The BBC's Jonathan Charles in Skopje says many diplomats fear that once more
Macedonia is lurching towards civil war.
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Three senior Bosnian Muslim commanders have pleaded not guilty to war crimes
charges at the international tribunal in The Hague.
The three - arrested last week by the police in Bosnia-Hercegovina - are
accused of murder and other crimes committed against Croats and Serbs during
the war in central Bosnia in 1993.
Charges against the three :
Murders
Inhumane treatment causing great suffering
Wanton destruction
Illegal detention
The three men are the highest-ranking Muslim officers to face trial at the
International War Crimes Tribunal.
They were charged with murder, wanton destruction and inhumane treatment
among
19 counts on the indictment.
Muslim fighters are accused of a range of atrocities
The indictment alleges that General Enver Hadzihasanovic, General Mehmed
Alagic and Colonel Amir Kubura were responsible for executions and massacres
following attacks on towns and villages.
Their alleged victims were mainly Croat, but also Serb prisoners-of-war and
civilians.
The prosecutors claim the worst of these crimes were carried out by foreign
Muslim fighters known as mujahideen - or holy warriors - under the command
of
the three accused.
Witnesses
The men have already appeared before the tribunal as court witnesses in
ongoing trials.
General Hadzihasanovic gave the final testimony in the trial of the Serb
General Radislav Krstic, who was convicted last week of genocide at
Srebrenica.
These three men are not the first Muslims to go on trial at the tribunal.
Two camp commanders were sentenced three years ago for crimes against Serbs.
But now the military chiefs are being held accountable for atrocities
carried
out by their subordinates.
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A judge in the United States has ordered the FBI to reveal how it bugged the
keyboard of the son of a mafia boss.
In this new age of rapidly evolving technology, the court cannot make a
determination as to the lawfulness of the government's search... without
knowing specifically how the search was effectuated
The bureau bugged the computer keyboard of Nicodemo Scarfo Jr, charged with
running illegal gambling and loan operations, after it failed to unscramble
encrypted files stored on his computer's hard disk.
But it refused to reveal how the bugging was done, arguing that this would
endanger national security and FBI investigators.
Mr Scarfo's lawyers are trying to discover the bugging method and have the
FBI's evidence ruled inadmissible.
Advanced technology
"In this new age of rapidly evolving technology, the court cannot make a
determination as to the lawfulness of the government's search... without
knowing specifically how the search was effectuated," wrote US District
Judge
Nicholas Politan in his ruling.
"This requires an understanding of how the key logger device functions. In
most, if not all search and seizure cases, the court... understands the
particular method by which the search is executed.
"Because of the advanced technology used, the court does not have the
benefit
of such an understanding," he wrote.
The FBI has not even revealed whether the method it used to monitor Mr
Scarfo's computer involved hardware, software or both.
Court deadline
Judge Politan gave the FBI until 31 August to reveal how it carried out the
bugging, but he also gave the bureau 10 days to provide evidence to support
its assertion that national security and investigators' safety were at
stake.
Mr Scarfo used the widely available encryption program Pretty Good Privacy
(PGP) to scramble his computer files. When the FBI managed to copy his hard
disk in January 1999, it was unable to unscramble them without Mr Scarfo's
password.
It went back to his computer and installed a key logging system, which
subsequently revealed his password and what the bureau says is evidence that
he was a loan shark.
The bureau had a search warrant at the time, but no approval to carry out a
bugging operation.
Mr Scarfo's lawyers say that the bureau infringed their client's
constitutional rights, but the bureau says that the key logger does not fall
under the terms of current legislation on bugging.
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The Colombian military is on alert for a possible retaliation by left-wing
rebels to the government's decision to call off talks with the National
Liberation Army (ELN).
President Andres Pastrana announced the talks freeze on Tuesday, saying the
rebels had raised new demands and rejected government proposals.
Car bombs and kidnappings are a feature of Colombia's unrest
The ELN has not yet reacted to Mr Pastrana's speech, but such actions by the
government in the past have been met with mass kidnappings, attacks against
oil and electrical and road blockades by rebels.
Unofficial talks had been taking place in neighbouring Venezuela between
representatives of the government and the ELN, Colombia's second largest
rebel
force.
Security alert
Interior Minister Armando Estrada said security measures were being
intensified to ensure that the violence does not escalate.
Mr Pastrana had promised to end the 37-year old guerrilla war before leaving
office next year.
I thought it was still possible to find a way out and not close the process
definitively
Since 1998, the government has also been trying to persuade the larger
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) to lay down their weapons, but
correspondents say there has been little progress.
More than 40,000 people, mainly civilians, have lost their lives in the past
decade alone.
Mr Pastrana made his announcement in a surprise, strongly-worded televised
address to the nation on Tuesday.
He called the ELN rebels "obstinate" and unwilling to "advance towards a
peace
process".
The government has been talking to FARC rebels for two years to little avail
Correspondents say the ELN has recently suffered losses on the battlefield,
raising hopes that it would be more willing to reach a peace deal.
The government had offered to cede a demilitarised zone to the ELN, as it
has
done with the FARC, but it seems the rebels were not satisfied.
Formal peace talks taking place in Europe had also been suggested.
Political benefit
ELN commander Antonio Garcia said last week that the president was using the
negotiations for his own political benefit.
A peace mediator has called the announcement "unfortunate".
Former Foreign Minister Maria Emma Mejia said: "I thought it was still
possible to find a way out and not close the process definitively."
Both the ELN and FARC say that Mr Pastrana has not done enough to curb the
activities of the right-wing paramilitaries who are often accused of
violating
human rights.
FARC and the paramilitaries are also accused of profiting from Colombia's
enormous trade in cocaine and heroin.
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KINSHASA,
Congo
(AP) —
Homer Ntoya packed himself, 30 relatives and a coffin into a minibus and set
out Thursday, bouncing over the potholes of Congo's capital in search of a
graveyard with room for his aunt's corpse.
``All cemeteries are full now,'' said Ntoya, relieved to finally find an
empty
grave plot on the outskirts of Kinshasa, after hours of looking.
``It is difficult to live, but it has also become difficult to die,'' Ntoya
said.
Kinshasa, a city that counted only four cemeteries when war broke out on
Aug.
2, 1998, now has 11 — and they're jammed.
Three years ago Thursday, Congo rebels supported by Rwanda and Uganda
reached
the outskirts of Kinshasa in an attempt to overthrow then-President Laurent
Desire Kabila.
Within weeks, Congo government forces managed to secure foreign allies and
push the front line 375 miles away from Kinshasa. Since January, a
cease-fire
overseen by the United Nations has generally held, with almost all sides
pulling back from key battle zones across the country.
In Kinshasa and across Congo, however, civilians still die from the unended
war.
Bullets from persistent skirmishes claim a few — and hunger and disease
claim
countless more.
Six armies, five of them foreign, and two rebel movements have carved up the
1
million-square-mile country, severing farmers from markets and blocking food
and medicine from the starving and sick.
According to the U.S.-based International Rescue Committee, the conflict has
claimed more than 2.5 million lives — most, indirectly.
Ntoya's aunt, Janette, was one of them. A 50-year-old widow, she contracted
hepatitis, sickened, and died, without medicine.
``She is not a direct victim of the war, but like all of us she was subject
to
a lot of stress and also she could not afford treatment. That makes people
more fragile,'' said Ntoya, a diamond miner thrown out of work with the war.
Across Congo, poorly supplied hospitals and badly paid doctors are helpless
—
with little or no drugs crossing rival territories.
``People are dying from illnesses that are in fact easy to cure'' said
Kabamba
Mbwebwe, a doctor at the Kinshasa's General hospital. ``But we have no
medicine to give them, so we can only watch.''
Since the war started, most of the profits from Congo's almost unrivaled
deposits of diamonds, copper and other minerals have been channeled into
arms
and armies.
According to Mabi Mulumba, an economics professor at the University of
Kinshasa, Congo's government still manages to take in $1 billion a year,
despite having lost 60 percent of its territory with the war.
The money has only fueled the fighting — and Congo's people have been given
only the consequences to deal with.
As a result, Kinshasa's graveyards are busy places.
Every day at the cemetery Ntoya found, grave diggers walk from the cemetery
to
the nearest source of water, miles away, where they collect water to make
cement for the graves.
``Here, there is no day off,'' said Freddy Molongo, the cemetery attendant.
Every year, Molongo's cemetery alone adds about 8,000 graves — most of them
children, always the first victims when food and medicine are in short
supply.
With childhood inoculation campaigns cut off with the war, epidemics of
measles alone are claiming countless lives in rebel-held territory.
At a minimum charge of $150 per burial, Kinshasa's cemeteries have become
one
of the few flourishing businesses in the wartime economy.
Jobless carpenters have turned into coffin-makers. Taxi drivers have
transformed their cars into hearses. Shops of the funeral industry have
sprung
up across Congo's sprawling capital — in rich and poor neighborhoods alike.
The poor see the most suffering from the war. But the rich have their share
as
well.
Next to Janette Ntyoa's grave, another family was burying Raphael Lukengu, a
40-year-old diamond dealer.
``He died from a kidney problem, which started after he was detained and
tortured for four months,'' explained Valliante Lukengu, his younger
brother.
Congo soldiers did it, the young brother said. ``We don't even know what the
soldiers suspected him of,'' he said.
Thursday, burying the dead of the war left the living too busy to think of
the
cause of their suffering.
``I had even forgotten it all started three years ago. It seems ages since
it
all started,'' said Ntoya, waiting for a bus ride home at the gate of the
cemetery after burying his aunt.
+ + + +
Standard Times
(Freetown)
August 8, 2001
By George Wilson
The minister of Transport and Communication, Hon. Momoh Pujeh who has been
named in dubious diamond deals has been reportedly declared a wanted man by
certain Kamajors in the Bo and Kenema districts. According to Kamajors
intelligence sources, most of the Kamajors who are now hunting Momoh Pujeh
were reportedly employed in his mining project in the rich diamond deposits
at
Kpasala in Kenema district. Reports state that ever 520 pieces of diamonds
were accrued from the mining operations last year and that the proceeds were
reportedly confiscated by the minister. Sources say that after waiting in
vain
for months for the minister to account to them and to deliver their own
share
of the proceeds, the Kamajors have painfully resolved to apprehend and bring
to book the minister, whenever and wherever they come face to face. A
Kamajor
who spoke to this press maintained that Momoh Pujeh has abandoned them
without
any convincing reason. Formerly, it was explained, Momoh Pujeh used to put
up
at the Sir Milton Hotel whenever he visited Bo to transact his diamond
business. Since then, the Kamajor disclosed, the minister always puts up at
an
unknown location when he visits Bo. Also, he is reported to have completely
abstained from setting foot at Wandor chiefdom where the Kamajors are said
to
be in desperate search of him. Another victim of the minister's
victimization
Alhaji Soko who the minister reportedly defrauded millions of leones, has
sworn never to forgive him adding that he is prepared to expose him at all
times. Another allegation levied against the minister says that after
fruitless endeavour to get the former give them their own share, the
Kamajors
allegedly made a report to V.P. Demby. The Kamajors say they are puzzled why
the Vice President had not instituted any enquiry against the minister.
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Standard Times (Freetown)
August 8, 2001
By Saidu Kamara
Reports reaching Standard Times press state that inspite of the recent
release
of political detainees and lifting of the ban on political parties by
Liberia's President Charles Taylor, rebels of the Liberians United for
Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) are poised more than ever before to
unseat
the man most Liberians regard as despotic. According to competent sources,
the
Spokesman of LURD Mr Joe Wiley said their forces have captured the strategic
north -eastern town of Zozor cutting off Gbanga 200 km on the main highway
east of Monrovia. Reports further reveal that causualty figures on the side
of
the Liberian government forces is high while that among the rebels is yet
unknown. It is also more distrubing to know that Gbanga which used to be
Taylor;s stronghold during his rebels days has been cut off completely.It is
now abundantly clear that the fighting is fast spreading southwards.
Meanwhile, some officials of the Minsitry of Defence in Liberia have denied
claims of rebel successes and insist that Zozor and even Voinjama are still
under government control. Most of the political detainees released by
President Taylor have met with their people in the interior of Liberia while
other politicians in exile are preparing to return and revive their
respective
political parties. "But most of them have expressed concern about their
personal safety" remarked former interim president Prof Amos Sawyer and Mrs
Salif Johnson of the Unity Party
+ + + +
UN Integrated Regional Information Network
August 7, 2001
Lagos
Governor James Ibori of Nigeria's Delta State signed into law on Friday a
new
bill that prohibits the activities of militant groups blamed for communal
violence and disruption of oil industry activities in the state.
The bill, passed by the state legislature in July, gives teeth to the
governor's avowed resolve to smash armed militants responsible for communal
violence, sabotage of oil installations and hostage-taking in Nigeria's
leading oil producing state.
"The state government can no longer afford to watch innocent citizens
terrorised and its economy jeopardised by irresponsible youths that like to
take laws into their hands," a senior Ibori aide told IRIN on Monday.
Those who continue to maintain armed militant groups would also be
prosecuted
with a battery of other existing laws covering crimes such as the illegal
possession of firearms and unlawful assembly.
The new law marks a significant move by the governor away from his initial
policy of containing the myriad of militant groups in the restive region
through dialogue, to one of imposing his authority. Ibori had been elected
in
1999, at a time the southern state, particularly the oil industry hub of
Warri, was wracked by bitter ethnic violence involving the Ijaws, Itsekhiris
and Urhobos over claims of ownership of the oil town.
He started talks between the groups and made acclaimed political moves
credited with bringing the violence under control. But in recent times there
have been sporadic clashes, suggesting a resurgence of widespread violence.
Early in July the Nigerian units of transnationals Chevron, Shell, and
Westminster Dredging petitioned the government to end the activities of an
armed group operating on the Escravos River, said to be of the nearby
Ugborodo
community.
A local newspaper citing Shell's petition said the militants were angered by
the decision of the oil companies to deal only with the Ugborodo Community
Trust, a group of elected community representatives, in all relations with
the
locality. The trust appeared to confirm this when it alleged the existence
of
"mercenaries put together and financed by people with vested interests and
targeted at destabilising the oil community".
The new law is believed to be aimed at such armed gangs which have sprung up
all over Nigeria's impoverished but oil-rich Niger Delta, and which continue
to disrupt oil industry activities in a bid to extract ransoms.
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger (Revivin') UK
Saturday 04 August 2001
Five Mujahideen Terrorise 40 Russians
A truly remarkable event took place when five Mujahideen from the Rabbani
Unit
came face to face with a Russian unit, consisting of 40 soldiers.
While out on a reconnaissance mission, the five Mujahideen unexpectedly met
a
group of 40 Russian soldiers, and without hesitation, took positions to
engage
them in confrontation. Not only were the five Mujahideen greatly
outnumbered,
they were also not prepared for battle. At that moment, an amazing turn of
events took place. As the Mujahideen showed resilience and were evidently
prepared for battle, fear struck the 40 strong Russian unit. The Russians
approached the Mujahideen to negotiate, with a request that there be no
hostile confrontation, and that they be allowed to leave the area. It would
appear that the Russians thought they were facing five, of a larger group of
Mujahideen who were close by, and did not want to risk their safety in
confronting them. The Mujahideen accepted the Russian request and monitored
them as they left with apparent fear and terror on their faces.
It was an incident, which baffled the Mujahideen, who never imagined
something
like this could happen. It is a clear sign of the manifest Iman of a Muslim,
and how it evidently strikes fear into the hearts of the Kuffar. Allah is
surely the One who Bestows the Protection and Victory to the Mujahideen.
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Rizla Ranger (Revivin') UK
The Russians are coming
During Ethiopia and Eritrea's 10-month border war, each side has bombed the
other. But when an Ethiopian Sukhoi-27 fighter crashed during a
demonstration
flight two months ago, the pilot who ejected was a former Russian Air Force
colonel named Vyacheslav Myzin. Radio transmissions intercepted by the
United
States confirm that many of the pilots in the Ethiopian-Eritrean conflict
speak Russian to their ground controllers. With ex-Soviet mercenaries flying
for both sides, American officials wonder whether there will someday be a
Russian vs. Russian dogfight over Africa–and how seriously the pilots would
go
for the kill.
Central Africa's wars. Russian-speaking pilots are said to be involved in
wars
in Angola, Sierra Leone, and Congo (formerly Zaire). It almost appears that
"if you don't speak Russian, you can't fly in central Africa," says Joe
Sala,
a former Africa specialist for the U.S. State Department.
During the cold war, the presence of Russians would surely have indicated
Soviet government support. Today, U.S. officials say, the mercenaries may
well
be freelancers. But commercial interests also appear to be involved. When
Ethiopia purchased the high-tech Sukhoi-27s, for example, it insisted on a
package deal that included mechanics, trainers, and, some analysts believe,
pilots. It's unlikely that the governments of Russia, Ukraine, or Belarus
have
officially approved. But "there is a considerable degree of a wink and a
nod"
to win weapons sales and keep factories running, says Mark Galeotti, an
expert
on Russia at Keele University in Britain.
Africa hands also say the Russian-speaking pilots have displaced the South
Africans who used to dominate the skies, partly because the South Africans
demand higher pay and stricter aircraft maintenance. Says Sala: "For
Russians,
if a plane falls out of the air, that's standard operating procedure."
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger (Revivin') UK
count-of-Kosovo.html
Rizla Ranger (Revivin') UK
VLADIKAVKAZ,
Russia -
Chechen rebels fired on Russian outposts and vehicles in breakaway Chechnya,
killing at least three and wounding many other federal servicemen in a day
of
attacks, officials said Wednesday.
At least two Russian soldiers were killed and two wounded in 11 shellings of
federal positions throughout Chechnya since Tuesday, said an official with
the
Moscow-appointed civilian administration for Chechnya, who asked not to be
named.
In addition, a serviceman was killed and four were wounded in the pre-dawn
hours Wednesday when insurgents prompted a firefight with federal troops in
the village of Starye Atagi.
Rebels have regularly carried out such night raids on Russian positions,
steadily bleeding the federal forces and shaking their morale. During the
daytime, they target federal forces with radio-controlled landmines.
Federal aircraft and artillery on Wednesday continued to strafe Chechnya's
southern mountains in an attempt to hit rebel hideouts, though the massive
daily barrage has proven of little worth so far. Russian soldiers also
searched for suspected rebels in Grozny and several other towns and villages
throughout Chechnya.
Meanwhile, a Russian woman who had been held hostage for more than two years
in Chechnya was freed Wednesday. Svetlana Kuzmina, who worked for a charity
in
the central Russian city of Samara, had traveled to Chechnya to try to free
Russian servicemen held hostage there in 1999, when she was seized herself,
Russian television stations reported. Details of her release were unclear.
"I was prepared for anything, and I thought on many occasions that I would
die," she said at Moscow's Vnukovo airport in comments shown on NTV.
The Associated Press
+ + + +
Death outside the firing line for Russian Army
--------------------------------------------------------------
Stricken by accidents and disasters, the Army is falling apart
-------------------------------------------------------------
Men are dying in the Russian Army – at least 12 servicemen since the
beginning
of July. The armed forces have lost two planes, and huge weapons stockpiles
in
Buryatia have been entirely destroyed. This is without counting casualties
in
Chechnya, where the figure was higher again.
For peacetime, these non-Chechnya casualty figures are comparable to the
kind
of figures one could expect from taking part in a minor armed conflict.
There’s no doubt that any one of President Vladimir Putin’s counterparts at
the G-8 summit in Genoa would have long since lost his job if, as commander
in
chief of the armed forces, he lost a dozen soldiers in just a month.
But these casualty figures for July aren’t even any different to those for
June. And this is counting only the tragic incidents that the Army bosses
don’t manage to hide.
So what is happening to the Russian Army? I put the question to a
high-ranking
military officer and got an indignant reaction. "How can you put in the same
basket the death of Gen. Timur Apakidze, one of Russia’s best fighter
pilots,
and the case of two soldiers shooting six of their fellow servicemen?" the
officer said. "What connection can there be between the deaths of a soldier
and an officer who entered a sewerage shaft without the proper equipment and
the fact that huge artillery stockpiles in Buryatia caught fire after being
struck by lightning? This is just a series of tragic coincidences."
The general in question didn’t seem to get the point that this kind of
series
of coincidences is called a systemic crisis – the kind of crisis that
affects
all different parts of a system and which not even brilliant specialists can
find solutions to.
Apakidze, for example, was a top-notch specialist who knew everything about
the naval Su-33 fighter plane, but he couldn’t do anything about the
negligence of those who built the plane and got it ready to fly. Every time
there’s a tragedy, the Defense Ministry sets up a commission of inquiry, but
none of these commissions ever draws conclusions that would prevent future
murders and explosions.
As I’ve already written in this paper, what we are seeing now is the
complete
and final disintegration of the Soviet military model. This model functioned
on the premise that the entire state is a military camp in which everything
is
subjugated to the interests of the defense sector. But in today’s
conditions,
nothing remains of the Soviet principle of military service as the "duty and
obligation" of every citizen. Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov recently
admitted
that the Army manages to call up no more than 13 percent of the young men
eligible for service in the armed forces.
What this means is that the quality of draftees is getting worse all the
time.
Half the draftees have never worked anywhere and haven’t studied. Many of
them
were picked up by the police and forced to fulfill their military
obligations.
Putting guns in their hands is about as clever an idea as arming the inmates
of a prison. Relations in Army units, in fact, aren’t any different to those
in prison. That two soldiers were shot dead by their colleagues in Rostov or
that six died in Voronezh is not the ultimate issue. The issue is that this
can happen any place, any time.
For rank-and-file soldiers, military service is a form of legalized slavery,
while for officers it is a completely feudal affair. Unless an officer has
support from some high-placed official, his fate is entirely in the hands of
his immediate commander and the personnel department employee. Without
giving
any motivation for their decisions, these two people can promote the officer
or keep him where he is, send him to Moscow to study or to some godforsaken
place on the Chinese border. This hasn’t changed since Soviet times, but
back
then, the officers at least had the compensation of relatively good wages
and
social prestige. Now, they have neither one nor the other.
The only thing that keeps officers in the armed forces these days is the
hope
of getting free housing and the fear of not being able to find their niche
in
civilian life. The officers with the most initiative and determination are
leaving the Army and those who stay on are deeply indifferent to their
service.
All this leads to sheer negligence of basic safety rules. Only in this
situation could an officer crawl into a shaft filled with methane without
the
proper equipment (this took place just a few meters from the Paratroops
General Headquarters). Only in this situation could it turn out that the
warehouses of the artillery stockpiles in Buryatia were inadequately fitted
with lightning rods.
Finally, the state still wants to keep the whole military-industrial complex
in its hands. This means that, unlike in the United States, technologies
developed by the defense sector will not be transferred to the civilian
sector. As a result, the cost value of arms will remain high, making it
impossible to re-equip the armed forces. This means that Russian pilots will
continue flying planes that have had their service lives artificially
prolonged several times over.
These events highlight the current military reforms’ most serious mistake.
The
authors of these reforms are trying to repair and modernize a system created
by a now-defunct regime, and Russia is paying with the lives of its soldiers
for this reluctance to part with a relic of the past.
+ + + +
Max Camirand
-max
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> count-of-Kosovo.html
>
Rizla Ranger (Revivin') UK
MOSCOW - Shamil Basayev’s military camp, situated in the mountainous area of
the Vedensky district in Chechnya was destroyed by federal aviation
yesterday,
reported headquarters of the consolidated division of federal forces in the
North Caucasus on Thursday.
Chechen militants were themselves to blame for the fact that an attack on
the
camp of the most notorious Chechen warlord became possible. According to the
NTV company, the information about the location of Basayev’s military base
was
obtained by the Russian military from Chechen fighters arrested in the
Alleroy
settlement of the Kurchaloyevsky district in Chechnya on August 5. Federal
forces carried out a missile and bomb attack on the camp destroying a
temporary headquarters building, dug-outs, trench shelters and ammunition
depots of the rebels. Casualties were reported among the Chechen rebels.
Other valuable information has also been obtained from the arrested
fighters.
In particular, it was confirmed that Chechen warlord Aslan Maskhadov was
staying in the Kurchaloyevsky district, together with his Chechen rebel
groups.
+ + + +
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — An explosion killed three children and injured 35
people in a northern Colombian town Thursday in what officials called a
guerrilla attack in retaliation for the government's decision to suspend
peace
talks.
Police blamed the leftist National Liberation Army, or ELN, for the pre-dawn
explosion in the town of San Francisco, 110 miles northwest of Bogota. The
blast killed two sisters, ages 7 and 8, and their cousin, a 10-year-old boy.
The group has not claimed responsibility. It would be the first ELN attack
since President Andres Pastrana on Tuesday suspended contacts with the group
that were aimed at starting negotiations. Pastrana made the decision because
he said the group has been inflexible in demanding a large rebel sanctuary
in
northern Colombia to hold the talks.
Police said explosives laid near San Francisco's police station ripped
through
nearby residences, damaging 25 houses and causing the deaths.
The ELN also staged a light attack against the nearby village of Granada
early
Thursday, but there were no injuries or damages.
Observers have been fearing an upsurge in fighting since Pastrana's decision
to break off contacts. When talks with the ELN have broken down in the past,
the group has retaliated with kidnappings, highway blockades, and attacks
against the electricity infrastructure.
Colombia's 37-year civil war pits leftist guerrillas from the 5,000-strong
ELN
and the much larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, against
the government and right-wing paramilitary groups.
+ + + +
Macedonian air force jets have bombed rebel positions around the
north-western
town of Tetovo, raising serious doubts about a Western-brokered peace plan
due
to be signed on Monday.
The air attacks followed a day of fighting in Tetovo between Macedonian
security forces and ethnic Albanian rebels, with reports of rocket and small
arms fire - and at least 10 civilians injured.
It was the first time Macedonia had made use of the planes, Sukhoi Su-25
fighters, which it bought earlier this year from the Ukraine.
Francois Leotard, the European Union's peace mediator, had already admitted
that the agreement initialled by the two sides could be jeopardised by the
latest fighting.
"I remain very cautious, I can't deny that, because if the situation
continues
to deteriorate on the ground, what has been established and concluded on
paper
could be called into question," he said.
Meanwhile, Macedonian army chief of staff General Pande Petrovski has been
sacked, a statement from President Boris Trajkovski's office said.
His dismissal follows a rebel attack on a military convoy on Wednesday in
which 10 Macedonian soldiers were killed, the worst day's tally of
casualties
so far in the conflict.
The latest fighting in Tetovo was described by a Macedonian army spokesman
as
some of the fiercest yet.
Macedonian radio said Tetovo resembled a ghost town, with reports of
shooting
and explosions in the morning and afternoon.
The government has accused the rebels of trying to clear Macedonians from
their area of control.
After Wednesday's death toll, another Macedonian policeman was killed
overnight in the north-western village of Rataje. Macedonian news agency MIA
said the policeman was killed in a rebel attack.
In face of the upsurge of violence, Defence Minister Vlado Buckovski, seen
as
a moderate, has called on Macedonians to "give peace a chance".
"This is a moment at which we decide the destiny of our country. Although we
are full of sorrow and pain, we mustn't take leave of our senses and make
decisions under the influence of strong emotions," he said.
The renewed fighting came after a breakthrough in the peace talks on
Wednesday, when Western envoys persuaded Macedonian and ethnic Albanian
leaders to initial an accord after 12 days of talks.
The deal is designed to grant ethnic Albanians, who make up about a third of
Macedonia's population, new rights.
Nato has pledged to send in a 3,500-member force to oversee the disarming of
the rebels if and when the final deal is signed.
+ + + +
British scientists have uncovered new clues that could solve the mystery of
what sank the Russian submarine Kursk.
Underground shockwaves detected at the UK Government's seismic monitoring
station, Blacknest, confirm the submarine was rocked by two explosions.
Experts believe the first, smaller blast may have been caused by the leak of
hydrogen peroxide (HTP), a colourless, odourless liquid used to propel the
Kursk's torpedoes.
A fireball spreading to the front compartment of the submarine could have
detonated stacks of stored torpedoes, sparking the second, massive explosion
that flooded the Kursk with water.
The evidence, revealed in the BBC Science TV programme Horizon, draws on
secret government documents concerning a submarine accident off the coast of
Portland on the southern coast of England in June 1955.
Thirteen men died when the submarine, the Sidon, was blown apart by an
experimental torpedo containing HTP.
The Russian people are still waiting for answers
When they examined the wreck of the submarine, investigators discovered that
inside the torpedo a stainless steel pipe containing HTP had burst.
An inquiry concluded that this was what had caused the accident, although
the
precise mechanism remained a mystery.
Nearly half a century later, the Kursk disaster prompted Maurice Stradling,
a
torpedo designer and former lecturer at the Royal Naval Engineering College
in
Plymouth, to look again at how HTP could have caused an explosion on the
Sidon.
Simple error
Mr Stradling concluded that HTP splashing over reactive metals inside the
torpedo created a gas that blew open the torpedo casing.
He believes there are similarities between the Kursk disaster and the
sinking
of the Sidon.
"The engine would have over-revved and the HTP pipe would have burst...
allowing HTP to spray into the inside of the torpedo hull..."
Maurice Stradling
On the morning of the Russian tragedy, the Kursk was preparing to test-fire
a
torpedo. Mr Stradling proposes that the disaster began when someone made the
simple error of starting the torpedo engine too soon - while it was still
inside the submarine.
"If the torpedo was accidentally started then because the propellers were
not
in the water there would be nothing to control the speed of the engine," Mr
Stradling told the BBC. "The engine would have over-revved and the HTP pipe
would have burst... allowing HTP to spray into the inside of the torpedo
hull...and the whole ghastly chain of events would be in place."
Nobody will know for sure unless remains of the submarine's front
compartment
are raised. Although the Russians are trying to lift the Kursk, they plan to
leave the front of the submarine on the seabed.
And, although the Royal Navy stopped using HTP in its torpedoes after the
Sidon sinking in 1955, the Russians still use it, unlike almost all other
countries.
+ + + +
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia -- Thirty-one people were killed in an attack by
gunmen
on a palm-oil plantation in the strife-torn Indonesian province of Aceh.
Police officials and separatist rebels in the region each accused the other
of
carrying out the assault.
The raid on the Bumi Flora plantation in Idi Rayeuk district on Thursday
coincided with newly appointed President Megawati Sukarnoputri's
announcement
of her Cabinet.
Many human rights groups believe that Megawati, a nationalist with close
ties
to the military, will adopt a hard line in dealing with separatism.
It was the highest casualty toll in a single incident in Aceh this year.
On July 21 an assault claimed 21 lives in Peureulak district, also in the
east
of Aceh.
Lt. Col. Sad Harunantyo, a police spokesman, said 31 people were killed and
seven were wounded in the attack by gunmen he described as members of the
Free
Aceh Movement.
He said all the victims were plantation employees.
Amri Abdul Wahab, a rebel leader in northern Aceh, said the attack was
carried
out by soldiers who rounded up and machine-gunned the unarmed villagers.
Deputy Aceh police spokesman Sudarsono told Reuters news agency the attack
was
carried out by GAM, the armed Free Aceh Rebel group.
The victims were plantation workers and were shot down when lining up for
their monthly payment, he said.
Rebels of the Free Aceh Movement are fighting for independence of their gas-
and oil-rich homeland on the northern tip of Sumatra, about 1,750 kilometers
(1,100 miles) northwest of Jakarta.
More than 6,000 people, mostly civilians have been killed in the past
decade.
Separatist leaders in the flashpoint region have accused President Megawati
of
ordering the military to step up its fight against insurgents.
The accusations first stemmed from violent developments that marred
Megawati's
first week in power, when teargas and batons were used in Jakarta to quell
demonstrations.
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger (Re-Energised) UK
Hundreds of people are still missing in Angola after an attack on a train in
which more than 90 people are reported to have died.
The train detonated an anti-tank mine which had been placed on the track,
and armed men attacked the passengers who survived the explosion.
In the past three months, Unita has conducted a number of high-profile
assaults in areas close to the capital, aimed at causing maximum disruption
The attack appears to be the work of Unita rebels, who have carried out a
number of assaults in Northern Angola in the last few months.
The attack occurred on Friday about 150km south-east of the capital Luanda.
The train, which had been heading for the town of Dondo, apparently
detonated an anti-tank mine that had been placed on the track.
The explosion caused the train's fuel tank to catch fire.
Then, as passengers tried to flee the burning carriages, armed men -
believed to be from the Unita rebel movement - appeared from the bush and
began firing on the passengers with automatic weapons.
But of the 500 people believed to have been on board the train, hundreds are
still unaccounted for.
It is not known whether they were kidnapped by Unita or fled into the bush,
or whether their bodies are still to be recovered from the burnt-out train.
Funerals have already taken place for about 20 of the people whose bodies
were carried from the wreckage.
Nearly 150 people were injured, some of them sustaining serious burns.
They are being treated at hospitals in Luanda and in the provincial capital
Ndalatando.
There are concerns that the provincial hospital may not have adequate
medical supplies to treat the victims.
The 180km route between Luanda and Dondo is one of the few functioning
railways in Angola, with three services a week - an economic lifeline for
the provinces it serves.
In the past three months, Unita has conducted a number of high-profile
assaults in areas close to the capital, aimed at causing maximum disruption.
This latest incident coincides with a visit to Angola by an American
delegation which is trying to assess whether conditions are right for a
general election which has tentatively been scheduled for next year.
The attack is being seen as an attempt by Unita to embarrass the government
by reminding the visitors that Angola is still far from stable.
+ + + +
Colombian armed forces have captured 11 rebels from the country's second
biggest guerrilla force, the National Liberation Army (ELN), a military
spokesman said.
The men were caught in the city of Cartagena as the army continued its
offensive against the ELN following the breakdown of peace talks earlier
this week.
President Andres Pastrana broke government contacts with the guerrillas on
Tuesday, accusing them of intransigence.
The rebels responded with bomb attacks, one of which killed three children.
The funerals of the victims took place in the north-eastern town of San
Francisco, where more than 40 people were also injured in an explosion.
The BBC's correspondent in Colombia, Jeremy McDermott, says if the town's
inhabitants are looking for retribution, it seems President Andres Pastrana
is the man to deliver it.
Long criticised for being too soft on the guerrillas, Mr Pastrana has
unleashed a military and political offensive against them.
Some 2,000 men from the elite Rapid Deployment Force have been sent to
Bolivar province - an ELN stronghold.
The government has also revoked the rebels' political status has been
revoked, and arrest warrants for guerrillas leaders have been renewed.
This week's violence was sparked by the Colombian Government's suspension of
peace talks in Venezuela with the ELN guerrillas.
Our correspondent says the offensive against the ELN may be a way to give
the army free rein, while preserving the peace process with the biggest
rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
Although the army has long argued the ELN can be defeated militarily, the
latest rebels attacks show the ELN is unlikely to bow down without a fight.
+ + + +
Accra Mail (Accra)
August 10, 2001
A.R. Alhassan
Buffalo Soldier to reveal all...
There is a brusqueness and show of bravado about General Arnold Quainoo
especially when he is talking, that make him seem belligerent. During the
PNDC/NDC eras he earned a reputation, approaching notoriety, for the way he
went about serving the interests of his Commander-in-Chief. In sections of
the media, he was sometimes referred to as the "Buffalo Soldier". This had
nothing to do with Bob Marley's song of the same title but because of the
aura of Taurus the bull around him. The General actually has a soft
underbelly - one that has made him a nature and wildlife lover. He has for
many years supported the activities of the Ghana Wildlife Society.
Since the fiasco of his command as the first ECOMOG Commander in Liberia,
the General has enjoyed a quiet retirement, saying very little and trying to
be every inch the elder statesman, something his one time Commander-in-Chief
is finding hard to achieve.
On Wednesday, he was the keynote speaker at a round table forum organised by
African Security, Dialogue and Research on the theme of Reflections on
Security where he disclosed his plans to write a book on his experiences as
the first ECOMOG Commander.
The "Buffalo Soldier" now wants something done about the "sorry state" of
Africa. He wants those sitting on the fence to change their positions and
help alter the unacceptable trend on the continent. What he did not say was
how the continent's despots, of which, some would argue, his former
Commander-in-Chief was one, contributed in creating that sorry state.
He also recognises the importance of statecraft in the restoration of peace
in troubled spots. "Road blocks and other aspects of conventional
peacekeeping would not achieve much unless warring factions are made to see
guns as not the answer to the problems." This confession is equally at
variance with his former Commander-in-Chief's doctrines about the supremacy
of the gun in settling political issues and who even now is still harping on
the possibility of using guns to change the democratically elected
government of Ghana. Ironically, the General has studiously refused to
dissociate himself from his former Commander-in-Chief's widely reported
outbursts against democracy.
General Quainoo mentioned ethnocentricity as another source of conflict and
condemned national security strategies that are based on ethnocentricity and
friendship. The General neither developed this theme nor did he even cite
examples. There would be confusion, he said, if a conference on the national
interest was held. What the General was implying was unclear, but reading
between the lines, it was obvious that he was criticising the current
security disposition of the country.
As the forum progressed, so did his adrenaline level. In response to a
remark by General Sam, a Member of the Council of State regarding the
inefficient performance of Ghanaian troops in Liberia, "Buffalo Soldier"
exploded and hinted darkly that had he been allowed to talk about national
security he would have said worse things. He left participants at the forum
guessing what worse things he had up his sleeves regarding Ghana's national
security.
When a member of the audience, Colonel Coker Appiah asked why he made the
now (in)famous statement of "I would go in with 3000 men and come out with
3000" when he was appointed ECOMOG Commander, "Buffalo Soldier" shouted back
"What was wrong with saying that?" The brusqueness and bellicose nature of
this response elicited much laughter and the import of the question was
lost.
General Arnold Quainoo's experience from his Liberian command deprived Ghana
of the top slot once and for all, and became the preserve of Nigerian
Generals. General Quainoo's debriefing on the Liberian fiasco has not been
made public. It is not known whether he was even debriefed at all. This
concern was commented on by the Deputy Commandant of the Armed Forces
Command and Staff College, Navy Captain Quashie who queried the country's
deficient and complete lack of record keeping culture. He feared that his
records when he commanded a ship would be lost when the vessel goes for
refitting. He therefore called for an enhanced archival system for
historical events.
In reaction to that, General Quainoo asked for the establishment of a
"Lessons Learnt Unit" with a view to disseminating lessons picked from
fields of operations as in Liberia and other troubled parts of the
continent. It was supported by Brigadier Agyemfra who was Ghana's Ambassador
to Liberia from 1996 to 2001.
How well or badly General Quainoo fared as a field commander in one of
Africa's dirtiest civil wars would no doubt be debated by generations of
West African officers, some of whom would wonder how come a General was
reduced to taking his orders from a Flt. Lieutenant. By his own admission,
there was no political direction to make his command succeed.
When he presented the picture of how President Doe was taken away and
killed, his helplessness stood out clearly. "Doe had visited our
headquarters in a Lincoln Continental and dressed in American fatigues. He
looked like the American Ambassador in that country. I did not invite him
and he sat me down and told me that the same forces that toppled Nkrumah
were to do the same thing to him. Just then forces of Prince Johnson arrived
and disarmed Doe's bodyguard and started firing. They took him away. I was
not there to defend Doe."
This narration must have awoken terrible memories because at the end of the
discourse the General pleaded, "Pardon me for the harshness. It was because
of how I felt about the issues I raised."
A pardon, it seems, is what he will eventually get from posterity.
+ + + +
http://www.emb.com/bbs/messages/414.html
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
UN Integrated Regional Information Network
August 13, 2001
The Angolan army (FAA) and the UNITA rebel movement are engaged in
"heavy fighting" in the northern part of the central highland's
province of Bie, Lusa reported on Wednesday. The report said that
fighting was concentrated around Gamba, a village in the Nharea
district about 100 km north of the provincial capital, Kuito. The
report quoted humanitarian sources as saying that more than 3,000
residents had fled Gamba in recent days.
Meanwhile, the official news agency Angop said that two children were
killed by an explosion on Tuesday in the central Angolan city of
Huambo. Another child was seriously injured in the blast, the report
added. There were no details on the origin of the explosion.
In a separate development, reports on Wednesday said that an
"unidentified" toxic spill killed at least two people in Cabinda in
northern Angola, and a number of people had to be hospitalised after
they inhaled the product. The incident took place on Saturday.
Hospital officials were quoted as saying that the victims were
suffering from respiratory problems and convulsions.
+ + + +
New Vision (Kampala)
EDITORIAL
August 13, 2001
There IS confusion in the rebel held territory in the Democratic
Republic of Congo. Mbusa Nyamwisi a rebel leader claims to have
toppled the RCD-Kisangani leader, Prof Ernest Wamba dia Wamba and
Jean-Pierre Bemba head of Congolese Liberation Front (FLC). It is a
shame that the confusion in the rebel ranks is coming at a time when
Kinshasa regime is considering national dialogue. The rebels should be
preparing their participation instead of tearing themselves apart.
Mbusa's move threatens the implementation of the Lusaka Peace Accord.
At the moment when the world is expecting peaceful resolution of
conflict in Congo the coup is certainly disruptive. It can not be a
solution to the larger problem.
If the rebel leaders cannot put up with each other and are wrestling
over leadership then they cannot be fighting for the good of the
people. The rebels have often justified their war as a struggle to
liberate the people of Congo. If this is true then there shouldn't be
any leadership wrangles. They should be working together to advance
the cause of the people.
The coup demeans the struggle to a power scramble. And turns the
liberation of the beleaguered country into a bad joke. If the rebel
leaders are not united and are jostling over leadership of the rebel
organisations then they don't have a shred of moral authority to be
fighting for the people. Mbusa cannot justify his move because it is
selfish in intent. It smacks of lust for power. And re-writes the
cause of the war from being popular to individual crave.
Mbusa should stop behaving badly and get back to the fold to work with
Bemba and Wamba for the good of the Congolese. It is time for lasting
peace.
+ + + +
Sunday 12 August 2001 Russian Soldiers Continue To Fall
In a continuation of hard strikes against the enemy, the Mujahideen
were successful in inflicting maximum damage to the Russians, who
suffered losses in both equipment and personnel. And with this, the
evidence of Russian blood continuing to be shed is all too apparent,
while the Mujahideen continue their operations. This Jihad against the
Russian forces will be a proof that, by The Will of Allah, Russian
losses will not be what they expect them to be, but worse then that.
Amongst the recent operations, some of them are as follows:
Gudermes
In the supposed Russian stronghold city of Gudermes, the Mujahideen
destroyed a BTR armoured vehicle, resulting in the cremation of both
the vehicle itself and all of the Russian soldiers who were its
passengers. This is proof that, even though Gudermes is considered a
stronghold of the Russian forces and the pro-Moscow Chechen traitors,
the Mujahideen are here in strength and numbers.
Gekhi
Commander Sharif's group attacked a Russian post, where a number of
Russian soldiers were stationed. After killing 4 Russian soldiers, the
Mujahideen made a peaceful retreat.
Allah Punishes Russia With A Heavy Storm
It was reported via the Russian media that 10 died during the
hurricane in Bremoi. The local government in the area are
investigating the deaths, and the regional administration will be
receiving final information regarding the extent of the damages, which
resulted due to the hurricane, before 15th August. According to
information released on 09 August, 1363 houses are still submerged
under water. With that, 250 km of roads and 40 bridges have also been
destroyed by the hurricane.
Thursday 09 August 2001 Mujahideen Commander Killed During Fierce
Battle
A ferocious battle erupted between a Mujahideen unit and a group of
Russian soldiers and local Chechen police, resulting in the death of
28 enemy soldiers and the martyrdom of Commander Abdul Wahab.
Commander Abdul Wahab led a unit of eight Mujahideen to dispose of a
traitor in the village of Shelkovskoy. While the Mujahideen were
returning to base after successfully completing their mission, they
were confronted by a URAL truck and two Tiblitka jeeps full of Russian
soldiers and traitors. Commander Abdul Wahab deployed his unit for
battle once again against 20 Russian soldiers and 8 local Chechen
police. After an intense and bloody battle the Mujahideen finally
returned to base with the body of their valiant commander, leaving the
village littered with dead corpses of enemy soldiers and traitors. We
ask Allah to the accept the martyrdom of Commander Abdul Wahab and
grant him the highest station in Paradise.
Russian Dissant forces walk to their own death
The Mujahideen ambushed a group of Russian Dissant forces near the
village of Mokh-Keti, killing 12 and injuring a further 8. The
Mujahideen spotted the Russian reconnaissance unit approaching and
without hesitation set up a spontaneous ambush. The Russian unit,
completely unaware of any Mujahideen presence in the locality, walked
directly into a hail of bullets and were killed without being able to
return fire. Alhamdulillah, all of the Mujahideen returned to their
bases safely after collecting the spoils.
More Ambushes
Four Mujahideen in the city of Zekn Yort destroyed a Ural truck,
killing and wounding a group of Russian soldiers. However, as the
Mujahideen retreated from the area they were ambushed by another
Russian unit. After an exchange of fire, three Mujahideen were
martyred but the fourth managed to escape. We ask Allah to accept them
as martyrs in His path.
Vedeno
An undetermined number of Russian paratroopers were killed and wounded
as they walked into a mined and booby-trapped base belonging to
Commander Waleed. Only a short while after the Waleed unit retreated
from the base, huge explosions were heard ringing out from the area. A
number of helicopters were then spotted clearing the scene of dead and
injured soldiers.
Meanwhile, Russian snipers killed an innocent civilian woman as she
walked down the road in the village of Shel-khtoi .
Shali
Russian forces killed one of their own collaborators in the centre of
the city of Shali for reasons that are not yet clear.
+ + + +
Police in Colombia say three IRA suspects arrested in the country may
have been training rebels in the use of explosives.
Police named two of the men as James Monaghan and Martin McCauley,
both of whom it is thought have been previously convicted in Britain
of terrorist charges and membership of the Provisional IRA.
The identity of the third man has not been established, though he was
travelling under the name of David Bracken.
It is not clear if the three men are being linked to either the
Provisional IRA or the dissident Real IRA.
Two of the men were travelling on British passports, the other was
holding an Irish passport.
If it emerges that they are linked to the Provisional IRA, it could
have implications for the Northern Ireland peace process and the
lengthy negotiations about IRA arms decommissioning.
They were presented to the media at a press conference in Colombia's
capital of Bogota.
Security forces were unable to arrest the men for five weeks because
they were in a safe haven agreed by the Columbian government and the
revolutionary paramilitary group the Farc.
The men were detained as they left the area controlled by Farc.
Police said Mr Bracken is alleged to be the leader of the group, and
was the only one of the three who spoke Spanish.
Sir Reg Empey, the senior Ulster Unionist negotiator and trade and
enterprise minister in the powersharing executive, said if the men
were members of the Provisional IRAthen the republican commitment to
the Belfast Agreement would be "seriously, if not fatally undermined".
The three men are being held for questioning in Bogota.
The arrests were made by a specialist investigative branch of the
Colombian Police, known as the Fiscalia, at the weekend.
The Colombian military said they believed that the men had been
instructing the Farc in explosives and terrorist tactics.
The Farc controls 40% of the countryside and is involved in
drug-running.
It is feared that the Farc may want to take its fight, which has been
mainly confined to the countryside, into the city.
The BBC's correspondent in Columbia said it was understood that
forensic examination of the men's clothing and luggage had shown
traces of explosives.
He said that the Attorney General's Office had intonated that the
three could face charges of entering the country with false papers and
training an illegal army in terrorism.
The latter carries tough penalties in Columbia.
The Colombian authorities have liased with the RUC on fingerprint and
photographic data.
Peter Robinson, deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, said
he had been alerted to the development by British intelligence
sources.
Rizla Ranger (Revivin') UK
The three suspected IRA men arrested in Colombia have knowledge that could
change the face of this country's 37-year civil conflict.
The three men, David Bracken, James Monaghan and Martin McCauley are
believed
to be part of the Provisional IRA's Engineering Unit, experts in the design
and construction of explosive devices and home-made mortars and rockets.
"We have made mistakes with the rudimentary nature of our weapons"
FARC field marshal Jorge Briceno
They spent five weeks with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC).
With more than 18,000 fighters, this is the country's most powerful rebel
army, controlling almost 40% of Colombia.
Key weaknesses
But it has two key weaknesses. It is a rural fighting force with little
urban
experience, and its knowledge of explosives is primitive.
The FARC's Briceno wants to take the fight to the cities
These are two areas in which the IRA excels.
The FARC field marshal Jorge Briceno, better known by his alias 'El Mono
Jojoy', has admitted it has problems with the use of home-made mortars,
constructed out of gas cylinders used for cooking, a common feature in
Colombian kitchens.
Almost every week the FARC attack some isolated outpost of the security
forces, pounding bases with these cylinder bombs.
But the collateral damage is huge, and often more civilians are killed than
security force members.
"We have made mistakes with the rudimentary nature of our weapons and
injustices against our own people, so we are analysing other possibilities,"
Mr Briceno said.
In July he announced the FARC would be taking their fight into the cities,
largely isolated from the fighting until now.
Army claims
The Colombian attorney-general's office stated that traces of four different
types of explosive were found on the Irishmen's clothing and in their
luggage,
lending credence to army claims it has evidence the IRA men were training
guerrillas.
It remains to be seen what the Colombian authorities are going to do with
the
three men.
If no extradition requests are forthcoming from Britain, Colombia has two
options: to deport the men or prosecute them for entering the country
illegally and training for terrorist purposes.
Legal sources indicate the latter is more likely if a case can be built, as
the security forces are afraid of what these men have taught the FARC. Very
afraid.
+ + + +
Colombian prosecutors have been carrying out their first interviews with
three
IRA suspects accused of training Marxist rebels.
The Colombian army say they have strong evidence including secret film
against
the trio, Martin McCauley, James Monaghan and another man who has been named
as Niall Connolly from Dublin.
They are accused of training members of the guerilla group Farc in
bomb-making.
However, it is thought they may also have been exchanging information.
It may take up to 18 months before the Colombians decide whether to bring
charges against the men, who were arrested at the weekend, after entering
the
country in June.
If convicted, they could face maximum prison terms of 15-20 years, court
sources in Colombia have said. However, they could be deported or
extradited.
The commander of the Colombian army has said Northern Ireland police had
confirmed the men were IRA members.
Background
Martin McCauley won five-figure sum in damages against RUC after
shoot-to-kill
incident
He received a suspended sentence for possessing rifles
James Monaghan appeared on party platform at 1989 Sinn Fein conference
On Tuesday night, Garda commissioner Pat Byrne said all three men were known
to them and were believed to be members of the IRA rather than dissident
republicans.
Meanwhile, Sinn Fein's Alex Maskey has denied that any of the three men
arrested in Colombia were members of Sinn Fein.
He said on Wednesday one of the three, James Monaghan, was a member of the
party's executive - but left in 1989 or 1990.
He also said Martin McCauley had been an election worker in Lurgan, but
never
a member of Sinn Fein.
The third man, who has been named as Niall Connolly, from Dublin, had not
been
heard of by Sinn Fein before.
Passports
Two of the men were travelling on British passports, the other was holding
an
Irish passport.
The arrests were made by a specialist investigative branch of the Colombian
Police, known as the Fiscalia, at the weekend.
Forensic tests were carried out after their capture and they showed they'd
been handling explosives, cocaine and amphetamines
General Mora
Colombian Commander-General Jorge Enrique Mora told the BBC: "It has been
confirmed to us by the authorities in Northern Ireland that they are IRA."
If it is proved the men are members of the Provisional IRA, it could have
implications for the Northern Ireland peace process and the lengthy
negotiations about IRA arms decommissioning.
The three men are being held for questioning in Colombia's capital of
Bogota.
They were presented to the media there at a press conference on Monday
evening.
Commander-General Mora said forensic tests carried out in Bogota on the
men's
clothes and luggage allegedly showed that they had been handling explosives
and drugs.
He said: "Forensic tests were carried out after their capture and they
showed
they'd been handling explosives, cocaine and amphetamines."
The Royal Ulster Constabulary said on Monday evening that the matter was
being
handled entirely by the Colombian authorities.
+ + + +
Tamil Tiger rebels have warned the Sri Lankan Government that they plan to
recapture the northern town of Jaffna very soon.
+ + + +
A Russian helicopter gunship has been shot down by rebels in Chechnya,
killing
its two-man crew.
The Russian defence ministry said the helicopter had apparently been hit by
fire from a grenade launcher.
The incident happened in the mountainous Vedeno district in southern
Chechnya,
the scene of at least two other rebel attacks in the past two days.
+ + + +
A senior Bosnian Serb officer has arrived at The Hague to face war crimes
charges after surrendering to Nato troops in Bosnia.
Lieutenant-Colonel Dragan Jokic faces charges of murder, extermination and
persecution under an indictment from the tribunal which was unsealed on his
arrival at the detention centre in the Netherlands.
He is accused of involvement in the 1995 massacre at Srebrenica of 7,500
Bosnian Muslim men and boys.
His surrender comes a day before Colonel Vidoje Blagojevic - seized by Nato
forces in the Bosnian Serb republic last week - is due to appear before the
tribunal to face genocide charges connected with the massacre.
Surrender
"He surrendered this morning at 0820," Colonel Jokic's lawyer, Krstan Simic,
told the Reuters news agency.
He said the colonel had given himself up at a base of the Nato-led
stabilisation force, S-For, in the northern town of Banja Luka.
Hague Tribunal: Key moments
3 July: Slobodan Milosevic appears on charges of crimes against humanity
5 July: Serb "Adolf" Goran Jelisic acquitted of genocide
26 July: General Rahim Ademi is the first Croatian to appear at the court
2 Aug: General Radislav Krstic receives first ever conviction for genocide
Colonel Jokic was the wartime head of the engineering section of the Zvornik
brigade and operated in the Srebrenica area during the war.
He has already been questioned by war crimes prosecutors several times.
On 2 August, General Radislav Krstic became the first person to be convicted
for genocide by the tribunal for his role in the Srebrenica killings.
Since the extradition of the former Yugoslav leader, Slobodan Milosevic, to
the Hague in July, a number of war leaders have been handed over. They
include
three Bosnian Muslims and the first Croatian, General Rahim Ademi, to appear
at the tribunal.
The Bosnian Serb authorities have come under pressure to present more
indictees to the tribunal, particularly The Hague's two most wanted, Radovan
Karadzic and Ratko Mladic.
+ + + +
An advance party of 400 mainly British troops are to leave for Macedonia
within the next few days, but there is uncertainty about how long they will
have to spend in the country.
The troops will pave the way for a much larger Nato force to oversee the
disarmament of ethnic Albanian rebels.
"I don't think they will be out in 30 days"
Lord Ashdown
UK Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram said he expected the mission, which he
acknowledged would "not be risk-free", to last for not more than 30 days.
But UK shadow defence secretary Iain Duncan Smith said there was a "strong
possibility" the mission could last longer.
Nato's ruling council approved the mission after the Macedonian Government
gave a formal go-ahead for the 3,500-strong force.
Fighting is said to be less intense this week
Macedonian Foreign Minister Ilinka Mitreva told a news conference she
expected
the British troops to arrive by the weekend.
No alliance member governments objected to the plan.
The advance Nato group, led by Brigadier Barney White-Spunner, will be drawn
from Britain's newest rapid reaction force, the 16th Air Assault Brigade.
Its role will be to establish whether it will be feasible for a Nato force
to
implement the weapons collection plan agreed by the Macedonian government
and
the rebel Albanian Liberation Army (NLA).
Testing the water
They will be talking to the Albanian rebels on the ground to establish
whether
they intend to honour their undertakings to hand over their arms voluntarily
under the terms of the agreement signed on Monday.
The BBC's Skopje correspondent Paul Adams says there is a sense of relief
throughout Macedonia that the international community has at last come to
sort
out the conflict.
Correspondents say the advance party will be a way of testing the water both
politically and militarily for the deployment of the full force.
The British troops come from the 16th Air Assault Brigade
The British force will set up a command headquarters for the mission, talk
to
individuals involved in this week's truce and carry out other reconnaissance
work.
Then if the peace holds it will signal for the rest of the disarmament force
to be sent in.
Initial indications are the entire mission, codenamed Operation Essential
Harvest, will last just 30 days.
While Mr Ingram said the mission was not risk-free, he added it "is not the
overall planning assumption that this will be a hostile environment".
But many fear that troops will get "sucked in" to a more prolonged
commitment
in the region.
Amnesty
Former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown told Britain's Channel 4 News:
"I
don't think they will be out in 30 days.
"You remember when we first went into Bosnia we said it would be over in a
year. Anyone who knew anything about the situation knew perfectly well that
it
wouldn't."
The Macedonian Government also appears to have agreed that rebels who keep
their promise to disarm will receive an amnesty - another condition Nato has
made central to its sending the full force.
Peace accord's key points
Amends constitution to remove ethnic references
Makes Albanian second official language in some areas
More ethnic Albanians in police and other institutions
Allows degree of self-rule in Albanian-dominated areas
Census to be held to establish country's exact ethnic mix ahead of elections
However, Danish General Gunnar Lange, assigned to command the entire Nato
force, said the operation could not begin unless another condition, a
durable
ceasefire, was met.
Once the main operation gets under way Nato troops will not actually disarm
the rebels.
The rebels will collect their own weapons and deposit them at pre-arranged
collection sites, said Major General Lange, Nato's senior military
representative in Macedonia.
Nato troops would then move in, seal the area, pick up the weapons and
leave.
Defence sources stressed that Nato troops, including around 1,000 from the
2nd
Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, would be only lightly armed and would not
be equipped for any wider peace-keeping role in the region.
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger (Revivin') UK
Colombia's President Andres Pastrana has signed a controversial new law
giving
the military sweeping powers, despite international opposition and army's
abysmal human rights record.
The legislation gives the military new powers of detention and the right to
set up martial law in specific places, giving them authority over civilian
officials.
There is serious concern that these provisions could facilitate torture or
other forms of human rights violations
The legislation has been fiercely opposed by human rights groups and
politicians in the United States.
Many fear it will herald a new chapter in human rights abuses by the
military,
which has proven links to right-wing death squads and often turns a blind
eye
or even aids paramilitaries in their massacres of guerrilla sympathisers.
Rights groups say that no military force should have the judicial powers the
bill grants, especially when not officially at war.
The rebel groups operate throughout the Colombian countryside
Amnesty International released a statement saying "there is serious concern
that these provisions could facilitate torture or other forms of human
rights
violations of those captured during counter-insurgency operations".
Powerful voices in the US, which is supporting the Colombian military to the
tune of over $1bn, have also been raised in protest.
But the Colombian army insists the legislation is necessary and that until
now
it has been fighting the civil conflict with one hand tied behind its back.
Human rights groups just hope the other hand will play fair now it has been
unleashed.
+ + + +
A Croatian suspected of committing war crimes during the 1991-1995
Serb-Croat
war has been arrested in Germany, police say.
There was an international arrest warrant for the 42-year-old man, who is
wanted on 30 counts of murder and crimes against humanity, police added.
The man, whose name has not been released for legal reasons, is suspected of
belonging to a Serb group that massacred Croatian civilians in 1991.
Police said the Croatian Government had 40 days to present extradition
documents to the state court in Celle, which will decide whether to
extradite
him.
The man's transfer is subject to approval by the German Government.
He was arrested on Tuesday in the town of Bremervoerde, 50 km (30 miles)
west
of Hamburg where he had been working as a waiter, police announced on
Thursday.
Croatian authorities are seeking the man, who they say joined the Serb group
in the area of Titova Korenica in 1991.
Thousands of Serbs were forced out of Croatia in 1995
He is allegedly connected to attacks on Croatian civilians, including one in
which 30 people were killed in the city of Knin.
He is also suspected of participating in attacks on the villages of
Poljanek,
Sertic Poljana, Korana and Smoljanac.
According to the police, the Serb group shot at civilians, burnt down houses
and interned residents in a camp at Knin.
Knin was the focus of rebel Serbs' attempts to prevent Croatia's
independence
from Yugoslavia in 1991.
+ + + +
BOGOTA,
Colombia
(AP)
— Colombia's biggest rebel group acknowledged Thursday that they are holding
three Germans and linked their July 18 abduction to Washington's backing of
a
Colombian anti-drug offensive.
Ulrich Kuenzel, an employee of the German aid agency GTZ, was in Colombia
advising on alternative development for poor farmers and Indians, including
crop substitution for cocaine- and heroin-producing farms.
Kuenzel, his brother Thomas, and Reiner Bruchmann, a friend, were grabbed
from
their car outside the town of Silvia, 200 miles southwest of Bogota.
In a communique faxed to The Associated Press, the Revolutionary Armed
Forces
of Colombia said it was ``retaining'' the three Germans while their actions
in
Colombia were being investigated.
The rebels said suspect the Germans' presence was linked to Washington's
$1.3
billion support of the so-called Plan Colombia, which is aimed at
undercutting
drug production. The insurgents earn millions of dollars a year by
``taxing''
narcotics production.
Under Plan Colombia, U.S.-trained troops and spray planes are wiping out
drug
crops. The plan also envisions alternative development programs to wean
farmers off growing coca and poppy, which are used to produce cocaine and
heroin.
The rebel statement claimed the social side of Plan Colombia is ``a smoke
screen to hide the interventionist and militarist essence of this initiative
of the United States of America.''
The European Union has warned that continued abductions could jeopardize a
$293 million EU aid program to Colombia.
+ + + +
Le Potentiel (Kinshasha)
August 16, 2001
Eddy Mukuna
Kinshasa
There was a serious commotion in Kinshasa's Central Market and the immediate
surroundings on Wednesday morning following the shooting of a "shegué", or
street child, after he argued with an armed policeman.
Witnesses at the scene, including Miss Huguette, who saw the unfortunate
child
collapse near her, say the policeman had ordered the victim to hand over
money
he had stolen from a shopper minutes earlier. But the child declined and
even
theatened to throw boiling water at the uncompromising policeman.
When the policeman persisted, the child carried out his threat, grabbing a
pot
of water being boiled by a nearby woman (whether for tea or fufu, witnesses
could not agree) and throwing it at the man.
Angered by the attack, the policeman quickly drew his gun and shot the
child.
Then, having realised the gravity of his act, he ran away, disappearing into
the crowds.
The gathering of onlookers around the boy's bleeding body attracted other
street children who, in an act of spontaneous solidarity, headed for the
market police station. Some of the policemen fled in disarray but their
chief
was caught and beaten to death.
The attackers then ransacked the station and freed all the detainees held
there before extending the "punishment" to market traders, injuring several
of
them, destroying their stalls and looting their property.
The authorities are usually quick to move in and quell riots but in this
particular incident, reinforcements were not despatched until much later.
Having seen the extent of the damage at the market, the police proceeded to
arrest some children who were still loitering in the area.
Up to 1pm, the emergency room at Kinshasa's General Hospital had received 13
people with serious injuries. One of the injured had been taken into the
operating theatre. The morgue had only received the body of the dead child
who
remained unidentified.
This is the second time the shooting of a street child has paralysed
Kinshasa's Central Market and led to looting. The event could have been
prevented if the government had dealt firmly with the increasing and
dangerous
phenomenon of street children.
In any case, people at the Central Market only want one thing: that the
government seizes this opportunity to deal with the issue once and for all.
+ + + +
Hundreds of Indonesian troops are patrolling the streets of the capital of
troubled northern Aceh province after more than 15 explosions there
overnight.
The authorities say the blasts in Banda Aceh are the work of the Free Aceh
Movement, and are timed to coincide with Friday's official celebrations
commemorating independence from Dutch colonial rule.
People rush to board buses before a transport strike
Four banks on the university campus near the capital are reported to have
been
attacked, as well as schools throughout the province.
On Thursday, Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri apologised to the
provinces of Aceh and Irian Jaya for human rights abuses committed by past
governments.
But she said she would never allow them to break away from the Indonesian
state, as East Timor did in 1999.
Agency reports say the streets of Banda Aceh are quiet, and few buses are
running after threats from the rebels.
The disturbances in Aceh came as security forces announced the discovery of
a
mass grave containing 48 bodies near Lhong village in the west of the
province.
Aceh military spokesman Colonel Firdaus said they had been alerted to the
mass
grave by a Free Aceh official who had turned himself in to the authorities.
If confirmed, this is the largest mass grave so far uncovered in Aceh, where
some 6,000 people have died over the past decade in the separatist struggle.
The security forces launched an offensive against the rebels in March, since
when more than 1,000 people have been killed.
In a speech on the eve of independence day, President Megawati urged the
provinces to accept new autonomy packages which will give them a greater say
in their own affairs.
In her first major address since being sworn in last month, Megawati said:
"We
apologise to our brothers who have long suffered as a result of
inappropriate
national policies.
"We need to pay more attention to human rights.
We need a security force which is effective, highly disciplined and under
the
control of the government."
She urged separatists to abandon their struggle and "help build a new
Indonesia".
The situation in Aceh and Irian Jaya was completely different from East
Timor,
she said, adding that rebels should be aware that they did not have any
support from foreign countries.
Although spokesmen for the separatist movements were quick to reject the
proposals, Megawati has said she will travel to Aceh in early September to
try
to find a peaceful solution to the violence.
+ + + +
The Sierra Leone Government is urging people to stop jeering and throwing
stones at former military leader Valentine Strasser.
A government statement said Captain Strasser had been embarrassed by people
throwing stones at him and booing him when he ventured out on the streets of
the capital, Freetown.
"It is a great concern to the nation," the statement said.
Captain Strasser became Africa's youngest head of state when he seized power
in 1992 aged 25, but was overthrown in a bloodless coup four years later.
He was flown to London in handcuffs and went on to study law at Warwick
University as part of a United Nations-brokered peace deal.
However, he didn't complete his course and was refused re-entry to the UK
last
year.
Sierra Leoneans had hoped Strasser's coup might end a war that broke out in
1991, but his regime failed to either defeat or reach a deal with the
rebels.
His reaction to an attempted coup by former army officers in December 1992
led
to international condemnation.
Nine suspected coup plotters and 17 other prisoners were executed.
Amnesty International has demanded that he stand trial for alleged murder
and
torture.
After Strasser's downfall, multiparty elections saw Ahmad Tejan Kabbah
become
president.
He was ousted a year later by a coalition of army officers and rebels of the
Revolutionary United Front, only to return in the following year after
military intervention by Nigeria.
Rebels have now begun disarming under UN supervision following a ceasefire
last November.
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger (Re-Energised) UK
in the UK(rain) please have one on me
http://www.virtualtoke.com/htbin/vtoke_select.cgi
Rizla Ranger UK
This Day (Lagos)
October 23, 2001
Chukwudi Nwabuko and Chuks Okocha
Abuja
Get Their Killers, Obasanjo Orders Security Agents
Na'Abba writes govs of Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa States
The slain soldiers were held hostage on October 11 by local militant men in
Benue State and killed the day after.
The soldiers who were sent to the borders of feuding Taraba and Benue states
were captured in Vase and held hostage in Zakibiam village in Benue State.
With specific instruction to enforce peace between the warring communities,
they, therefore became vulnerable as they were not given instruction to use
firearms.
They were given specific instructions not to shoot anybody or disarm any of the
warring communities...
In this situation, they were vulnerable to anything," Defence spokesman, Col.
Ganiyu Adewale said.
The remains of the 19 soldiers, among them an Army Captain, killed in action at
Vaase along Benue/Taraba state border by some unidentified ethnic militiamen
were yesterday laid to rest at the National Cemetery, Kirimajiri, Abuja, even as
President Olusegun Obasanjo yesterday directed security agencies to track down
their killers and bring them to book.
Also yesterday came reports that the speaker of the House of Representatives,
Alhaji Ghali Umar Na'Abba, has written Governors George Akume, Jolly Nyame and
Abdullahi Adamu of Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa states respectively on the need to
initiate dialogue and understanding to resolve the crises in their states which
led to the killing of the soldiers.
He said that the motive of the killers was sinister and aimed at destabilizing
the country.
At the solemn occasion which attracted the service chiefs, Ministers, Akume and
Nyame, traditional rulers from the two states, and military commanders, Obasanjo
bemoaned the fate that befell the soldiers who he said fell into the hands of
people they had sworn to protect.
Draped in Nigeria's national colours of green and white, the coffins of the
fallen soldiers were conveyed in army trucks. The funeral party was made up of
six soldiers who carried each of the coffins. After all the ceremonies they were
lowered into the graves at about 5.17 p.m.
The laying of wreaths were performed by Obasanjo followed by the ministers of
Defence, Lt. Gen. T.Y Danjuma, Lawal Batagarawa and Mrs Modupe Adelaja, Akume
and Nyame, Service Chiefs, the Inspector-General of police, the wife of the Army
Chief as President of Nigerian Army Officers Wives Association, the wife of
Captain Mustapha, and the representative of the other 18 soldiers.
The names of the officer and 18 soldiers killed were given as Captain A.
Mustapha, with Army number N/8724, Sgt. Oliver Ibok, (63NA/42092), Cpl. Haruna
Samari (79NA/ 4964; Cpl. Samuel Maduabuchi (79NA/15743; Cpl Yakubu Sani
(79NA/5575 and Lcpl Abdul Usman (79/NA28626).
Others include Lcpl Muazu Lawal (91/NA/31/2980); Lcpl Memoye Omuku (93NA/36/
2169); Lcpl Ali Abdul'Azeez (96/NA/43/8829); trooper Ado Yaloji (93NA/35/1124);
Trp Bala Umar (95NA/39/1473 and Trp Abdul Adamu (95NA/391185.
The rest include Trp Mark Omije (95NA/40/4198); Trp Alamina Alasele (95NA/40/
3182), Trp Ma'azu Isah (96NA/41/3105); Trp Ahmadu Hassan (96NA/41/1583; Trp
Ahmadu Yusuf (96NA/42/5182; Trp Ibrahim Abdullahi (96NA/ 42/6174 and Trp Azeez
Mutairu (98NA/46/1167).
Both the officer and soldiers are from the various units of the 3 Armoured
Division of the Nigerian Army, Jos.
Prayers for the repose of the souls of the fallen soldiers were said by the
representatives of the Catholic and Protestant churches, while Major Shehu Garba
Mustapha led the Muslims in prayer.
Major Samuel Idoko and Corporal Augustine Ali of the protestant and Catholic
faith respectively prayed for the repose of the souls of the departed officers.
Obasanjo, who looked disturbed, explained the rationale for sending the soldiers
to bring peace to the warring communities, saying that one of the roles of the
Armed Forces was to aid civil authorities restore law and order when there is a
threat. He expressed regrets that the soldiers fell victim of the attack and
vowed that the government would do everything necessary to track down the
killers.
"The situation along the border warranted the posting of soldiers to forestall
the persistent killing of people", Obasanjo said, adding "the motive of the
killers is sinister and aimed at destabilizing the country".
Obasanjo explained that rather than discourage the government, the killings have
strengthened the resolve of his government to protect the lives and property of
Nigerians, adding "no amount of provocation will make us abandon this noble
cause".
Said he: "In performing its constitutional role, the Armed Forces will
occasionally face this kind of havoc. I'm happy the members of the armed forces
have not played into the hands of the perpetrators of this crime. It has
remained calm. I have directed security agencies to track down and bring the
perpetrators to book. We will make sure it does not occur again".
He used the opportunity to condole the families of the deceased and urged them
to bear the loss with fortitude.
Earlier in his funeral oration, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Alexander
Ogomudia expressed sadness at the gruesome murder of the soldiers, lamenting
that they met their death barely three weeks after they were sent to keep the
peace.
He said that the slain officer and soldiers were dedicated men who had served in
Liberia, Sierra Leone and in Bakassi, adding that their performance in their
assignments informed their being chosen to check the excesses of the warring
communities.
"They are rare breeds whose demise is a great loss to the Nigerian Army. We love
them, but God loves them more", Ogomudia said.
In his letters to the governors, Speaker Na'Abba said: "I urge you to do all you
can to bring the situation under control. Problems of instability undermine our
collective aspirations to unity and development. What are perceived as pockets
of clashes may look isolated, but what they collectively indicate have
consequences for the unity of the country. Time, therefore, has come for us to
seek their permanent resolution so that we can mobilize our energies for
development".
The Speaker who attributed the cause of the crisis to what he described as
"unresolved questions about citizenship, ethnic identity, access to resources,"
said that the only way to resolve them is " through dialogue and recourse to
procedures laid down in the constitution".
According to the Speaker "these may look time-wasting, but since history show
that negotiations and dialogue follow every war, then it is better to talk."
In this regard, Na'abba advised the three governors to consider convening a
broad based meeting where all the issues in dispute will be discussed stating
that experience have shown that peace lasts when made by parties in a dispute.
He told the governors that the House of Representatives was ready to assist the
three states to achieve a lasting peace in the process, saying "we will like to
see a speedy return to normalcy in the areas of dispute, because for all their
sacrifices, our people deserve better than these needless conflicts."
+ + + +
Large numbers of people are reported to have been killed by men wearing army
uniforms in a remote part of Nigeria's Benue State.
The Reuters news agency says that refugees arriving in the state capital of
Makurdi speak of at least four villages in which similar incidents occurred on
Monday.
Precise figures are so far impossible to obtain, but some reports speak of
hundreds of dead.
A spokesman for the Nigerian army, Colonel Felix Chukwuma, denied that troops
had killed any villagers.
The deaths occurred in the district where the bodies of 19 soldiers were found
hacked to death on 12 October after they were sent to quell tribal violence.
The soldiers were buried with full military honours in the federal capital Abuja
on Monday - the same day as the massacres took place.
One of the refugees who reached Makurdi told Reuters news agency that the
killers had gathered more than 100 men on Gbeji's central square and executed
them.
"I was hiding in the bush very nearby," said farmer Daniel Gbeji.
"That's where I saw everything. I would not move. I would not even shake because
they were shooting at where the grass shook."
A reporter for Radio Benue who visited Zaki-Bian said the whole town had been
razed, with 100 bodies on the ground there.
A former Nigerian army chief, General Victor Malu, who comes from the area, said
armed men burst into his own home and killed four of his household before
burning down neighbouring houses.
The Benue state governor is reported to be contacting the country's President,
Olusegun Obasanjo.
"We are calling on the federal government to withdraw the troops," said a
spokeswoman for the governor.
In the attack on 12 October, ethnic Tiv militiamen abducted soldiers in Benue
state and hacked them to death.
The BBC's Lagos correspondent Dan Isaacs says that soldiers may well have been
involved in Monday's attacks, with or without the encouragement of their
officers.
He says the incident recalls an earlier one in November 1999, when troops were
sent to the Delta town of Odi to quell unrest after the murder of a number of
policemen.
In the operation, several soldiers were reported killed - after which troops
razed the town to the ground and left dozens of civilians dead.
General Malu, at that time head of the army, said his men had been forced to act
in self-defence.
The BBC correspondent says that if President Obasanjo does not take firm action
to condemn the latest attacks, he could face severe criticism at home and
abroad.
+ + + +
THE key witness in the case against three suspected IRA men detained in Colombia
has disappeared.
The witness, who Colombian authorities suspect could have been kidnapped by the
Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), is a former police
inspector alleged to have seen the trio working with rebels.
Anti-terrorist police in Bogotà said that the witness had “strangely
dissappeared” from his home in a residential area of the capital, where he had
been under police guard. “We cannot explain where the witness is but there are
suspicions that he has been removed in a covert operation by the FARC,” said a
spokesman of Colombia’s anti-terror squad, the DAS police.
The disappearance could wreck the Colombian case against Niall Connolly, Martin
McCauley and James Monaghan. Without the man’s testimony, legal experts say, the
chances of the three being convicted are slim. The remaining evidence is thought
to be circumstantial. It suggests that the suspected IRA men had contact with
explosives while in the guerrilla-controlled region of San Vicente del Caguan.
Lawyers say that this is insufficient for a conviction.
+ + + +
The Monitor (Kampala)
October 23, 2001
Okoth Leah
Uganda was among the first victims of the most wanted Saudi Arabian dissident
Osama Bin Laden's terrorism attacks, President Yoweri Museveni has said.
"Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) rebels trained in Bin Laden's camps, launched
attacks and killed innocent Ugandans from bases in the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC)," Museveni said. The President said this Sunday during a state
dinner hosted in honour of the visiting President of Ireland Mary McAleese at
Sheraton Hotel Kampala.
According to a statement issued yesterday by the Presidential Press Secretary
Mary Karooro Okurut, Museveni said that Uganda was compelled to cross into DRC
in order to destroy ADF bases there and defend her sovereignty.
Museveni hailed the Irishgovernment's support for Uganda's efforts to fight
poverty.
He said that the contribution of Irish Development Agency to Uganda has led to
the reduction of poverty incidence from 55 percent to 35percent in the last ten
years.
Museveni also said that Ireland has supported Uganda's budget to the tune of $
24m (Shs 42.2bn) annually.
He called upon Ireland to assist Uganda to develop its tourism industry.
The President of Ireland announced that her country's contribution to
development programmes will go up to $ 30m (Shs53bn) annually.
"Ireland will work with the government of Uganda to build a modern Uganda," she
said.
Meanwhile in Mbarara, McAleese visited three projects funded by her government.
She went to Nyakakoni AIDS outreach project in Rwampara county where she
inspected a new catholic church under construction. She later visted Nyamitanga
Hill where she laid a foundation stone at St. Francis Tailoring project before
she made a private visit to the Daughters of Mary and Joseph Conventry.
McAleese is here for a five days state tour of the Irish funded projects.
She will be leaving the country on Saturday.
+ + + +
The Times of Zambia (Ndola)
October 23, 2001
John Nkhata
Lusaka
A POLICE officer at Chilanga police station in Lusaka yesterday shot himself
after a quarrel.
The officer died instantly after shooting himself in the mouth and blowing off
his head.
A suicide note found in his pocket read in part: "I have killed myself because
of one officer at this police station".
The officer in his early 20s recently graduated from Lilayi police academy.
An eyewitness from nearby Freedom township said, he heard two gun shots, and
when he rushed to the scene, he found the officer with part of his head reaped.
When reached for comment police spokesman Lemmy Kajoba said he had not received
a report on the matter.
And two people were killed on the spot by hit and run drivers in Chisamba and
Kapiri Mposhi on the Great North Road on Tuesday night.
Central Province police chief Ryan Chitoba said the first accident happened when
the unidentified man who was trying to cross the road was hit by a motor
vehicle.
Mr Chitoba called on the public to assist bring to book the culprit who did not
stop after the accident.
He said a mini-bus driver hit another pedestrian who was instantly killed in
Chisamba and police had arrested and charged the driver for causing death by
dangerous driving.
Mr Chitoba named the victim as Fredrick Mpatama, 28, who was hit at around 22:00
hours near Mfumbela in Chisamba.
He said that Mr Mpatama's body was in the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) and
the driver was detained at Chisamba police station.
And five people have been picked up in Mufumbwe in connection with the theft of
diesel from a Zesco thermal plant.
Mufumbwe police officer in-charge David Kaampa confirmed the picking up of the
five after a tip off from members of the public.
Police recovered 19 by 20 litres of the diesel from two of the men who were
picked up.
-A Lusaka magistrate has stayed an order by the Director of Public Prosecutions
(DPP) to discontinue an inquest involving a policeman who shot and wounded a
suspect who later died.
Magistrate Richard Muchaila observed that there were no grounds to warrant the
discontinuation of the inquest and arrest the policeman before a key defence
witness adduced his evidence.
The magistrate said article 15 of the Constitution allowed the DPP to
discontinue proceedings but he was not allowed to do so through an interested
party.
He lamented the level of injustice by those perpetrating that he warrants an
arrest of a person for murder before even establishing the cause of the death of
the deceased.
The magistrate added that the bone of contention was to verify how the policeman
killed the suspected thief and burglar who was at the time believed to have been
on the run.
+ + + +
Tuesday, October 16, 2001
FALLON, Nev. — A 59-year-old man who received a suspicious letter with amorous
writings and women's lace panties turned it over to sheriff's deputies, who
stored it in a biohazard barrel before determining it didn't come from a
terrorist.
"It was from a secret admirer," Churchill County Sheriff Bill Lawry said.
"We returned the letter and the underwear," he said.
The Fallon man said he became concerned about the threat of anthrax
contamination because the unsigned letter was mailed from Reno in a yellow
envelope with no return address.
Neatly printed on two pages, the sexually suggestive message and black thong
panties arrived Thursday.
"It just about blew my socks off," said the man, speaking on the condition he
not be named. He said he had lived in the rural community only since September
and few people had his address.
"I don't know of anybody who would do this and I have no explanation for it. I
feel kind of silly," he told the Lahontan Valley News and Fallon Eagle Standard.
The man said he had been worried about anthrax exposure because he sniffed the
contents to determine if perfume was present on the letter or the underwear.
The woman who made the overture notified the sheriff on Monday when she learned
that the letter had been turned over for investigation. She told authorities she
was romantically interested in the single man.
+ + + +
War News
23-10-2001
Chechenpress
October 20, in the village Prigorodnoe Chechen fighters attacked military column
of aggressors. October 19, as a result of "mopping up" operation made by
aggressors in the "Olympic pass" of Djokhar-City. 20 people were grasped.
At the night of October 18 to 19 in the Katayama settlement Russian aggressors
killed three peaceful people.
October 18-20 in the Zandack village fights between Chechen Armed forces and
Russian occupiers reccurenced. According our correspondents Russians lost a
number of military equipment. Then they shell off village and destroyed some
houses.
October 20, in the Avtorkhanov's district bus with OMON (Special Detachment of
Militians) was blown up, destroying four of them.
The same day in the "36-th Uchastok" was killed driver of civilian URAL.
October 18 in the "RTS" of Djokhar-Gala Russian occupiers robbed one family and
brutally beat housekeeper.
As a result of "mopping up" operations were held 20 people in the Naur's
district, 7 in the October's and Staropromyslovsky, 15 in the Achkhoy-Martan, 20
in the Zozan-Yurt.
Naur's, Vedeno's, Kurchaloy's, Nozhay-Yurt's districts are totally blocked.
October 21, as a result of explosion military vehicle URAL with two occupiers
was destroyed near oil factory.
As a result of chaotic fire opened by occupiers one woman 35 years old was
killed in the Argun. The same day in the Argun was killed one inhabitant of
block-house.
October 20 in the Mayrtup village Chechen fighters blew up BTR (armored troop
vehicle) of aggressors.
+ + + +
Details of Putin Assassination Plot
The Associated Press
23-10-2001
Azerbaijani security officials on Monday revealed new details on what they
described as a plot to kill Russian President Vladimir Putin during a visit to
the country in January.
They said the main suspect was Iraqi citizen Kianan Rostam, who underwent
training in Afghanistan and in 1997 reached Russia's breakaway republic of
Chechnya through Pakistan, Turkey and Georgia.
Rostam "was in contact with people who were at Osama bin Laden's training
camps," Araz Gurbanov, spokesman for Azerbaijan's National Security Ministry,
said in reference to the suspected terrorist mastermind blamed for Sept. 11
terror attacks in the United States.
Rostam, who fought alongside Chechen separatist rebels and married a local
woman, came to Azerbaijan in early 2000, using a false Russian passport. In the
fall of 2000, he began preparing explosive devices at his home in the capital
Baku with the help of two unnamed foreigners, Gurbanov said.
Security agents intercepted Rostam's telephone conversation with an Afghan
citizen who also took part in the fighting in Chechnya, Shamshir, and learned of
the plot to kill Putin, Gurbanov said.
Authorities arrested Rostam on Nov. 18, 2000, and found 48 radio-controlled
explosive devices at his home. Gurbanov said these bombs worked on a principle
that "so far has not been known from world practice."
"The devices were coded and all their frequencies were programmed, which
protected them from outside influence. They were impossible to neutralize," the
spokesman said.
An Azerbaijani courts sentenced Rostam to 10 years in prison last August on
terrorism and other charges.
Top Azerbaijani officials first revealed the case last week. The Kremlin offered
no comment at the time and Russia's FSB security service said it had "no such
information."
However, according to Gurbanov, FSB officials have confirmed information on a
planned attack on Putin to their Azerbaijani colleagues and indicated that
Chechen field commanders were involved. Putin visited Azerbaijan in January amid
unprecedented security.
+ + + +
When the BBC first broadcast its new Afghan soap opera in 1994, the audience did
not even understand the concept of a cliffhanger ending. Now, with 35m
listeners, the Archers-inspired show is so popular that the Taliban have dropped
plans to outlaw radio.
They have committed most political crimes in the book, but there is one which
the Taliban can never be charged with. After banning TV, music, theatre and
dance, they are safe, one assumes, from the accusation of pandering to popular
opinion. Or, at least, they were. For when plans to outlaw radio, the only
public entertainment left, were floated earlier this year, Afghanistan's ruling
clerics suffered a rare crisis of confidence. How, they wondered, could they ban
radio when more than 70% of the population - including most of their own foot
soldiers - were so addicted to a thrice-weekly soap opera that threats to remove
it raised talk of insurrection? That the agent for this empowerment is made by
the BBC is only slightly less astonishing than the fact that it is based on the
Archers.
Three mornings a week, with repeats in the evening, somewhere in the region of
35m listeners tune in to the World Service for a 15-minute episode of Naway Kor,
Naway Jwand, or New Home, New Life. Two versions are broadcast, one in Pashto,
the other in Dari, to an audience that stretches across Afghanistan and into
Pakistan. Like its British equivalent, the Afghan soap is set in a fictitious
rural community, the village of Bar Killi. Unlike the Archers, the issues it
tackles are forced marriages, blood feuds, landmines and opium addiction. There
is Nazir, the buffoon of a security guard based on Eddie Grundy, who in a recent
episode set fire to his neighbour's haystack. There is Rabiya Gul, the bolshie
wife in the mould of Jennifer Aldridge who the Taliban routinely complain
embarrasses their efforts to subdue women. And there is Rahimdad, the village
barber, a solid Sid Perks type character whose shop is the meeting place - much
like the pub in western soaps. In the seven years since the show's birth, the
fortunes of these characters have become so vital to national morale that it is
thought not only to have saved radio from banishment, but to have encouraged the
Taliban to soften their line on a range of other issues.
Superficially at least, Bar Killi seems a long way from Ambridge, but in 1993,
when Gordon Adam, the head of the World Service's Pashto section, began scouting
for an Afghan drama series, it was the Radio 4 soap he first looked to for
inspiration. The Archers was devised in the 1950s to instruct rural listeners in
modern farming methods, a fine template, thought Adam, for a soap aimed at
education-starved Afghans. "The Americans had been doing this kind of thing for
a while," he says. "For years, the communications unit at Johns Hopkins
University put out soap operas to developing countries with health issue
storylines." The approach taken by the Americans, however, was not one he wanted
to repeat. "It was pretty hard-sell - real social marketing. They would run 30
episodes all about the benefits of taking the pill or using condoms. There was
no long-term development of characters. We wanted to follow the Archers
tradition of developing stories over months and years, so that people came to
trust the show."
Before they could reach that stage, there were big logistical problems to
overcome. In 1993, the Taliban were still three years away from power, but the
civil war was rolling into action. With co-creator John Butt, Adam decided to
develop and broadcast the show from the relative stability of BBC studios in
Peshawar, Pakistan. The two men flew out with Liz Rigby, a scriptwriter from the
Archers, to find Afghan actors and writers who could combine gripping plot lines
and practical advice with a sensitive handling of the mullahs.
Butt spoke fluent Dari, Pashto and Urdu and put out the call for staff. Rigby
devised a workshop to train them. The response was more impressive than
expected. "We were helped by the appalling destruction of Kabul," says Adam. "It
resulted in a huge exodus of artistic talent. They all left and descended on
Peshawar - all the best writers and actors in the country - just as we were
setting up."
From the Archers, they borrowed a structural template: 15-minute episodes broken
into five scenes and two or three main storylines. With funding from the UN,
they drew up a list of priority issues. Early storylines in New Home, New Life
included a boy losing his leg after stepping on a landmine, a woman giving birth
on the roadside with no medical attention and the tribulations of a man with two
wives. Listeners were advised that the knife used to cut the umbilical cord
should be clean and that the popular practice of feeding a fractious baby opium,
might not be a good idea.
It was an instant hit. Since 70% of Afghans received the BBC World Service, it
didn't take long to get them hooked. "It was a captive audience," says Butt.
"But the production values were very high. We would start off with an
educational concept, then concentrate on making the story good."
"The writing was good, the acting was excellent," says Adam. "It was a great
diversion at a time when there wasn't much to laugh about. Best of all, we
suddenly found we had a big female audience. All sorts of stories came out about
women fixing it so their husbands were out of the house during the soap. We
tried to schedule the programmes so that women could hear them." (The omnibus is
broadcast on a Friday afternoon, when Afghan men traditionally go to the mosque
for a lengthy prayer session.)
"The Afghans were very news hungry," says Andrew Skuse, a social anthropologist
who wrote his PhD on the success of the soap. "They really trusted the BBC.
After years of abuse of the media under various regimes, the BBC was seen as
more trustworthy than the national service. Some thought it was the national
service. They hadn't a clue where it was located. People would often tell me
they thought the BBC was a village in Afghanistan."
Despite all this, there were cultural adjustments that had to be made before
listeners could understand what was going on. Storytelling is traditional to
Afghan culture, but the soap opera format is not. In the first few weeks,
listeners were mystified by the way the show kept ending just as it was getting
good. "They would wonder why the programme stopped after 15 minutes in the
middle of the story," says Felicity Finch, the actress who plays Ruth Archer in
the British soap. Last year, Finch flew to Pakistan to make a radio documentary
about her Afghan counter parts. She found that the slow build-up of
western-style drama didn't sit with Afghan storytelling - more had to happen in
each episode to hold the audience. "At one point, they had to have a cliff
hanger at the end of each scene. I thought, my God, if the Archers writers had
to deliver a cliff hanger at the end of each scene they'd be driven mad."
Once people got the hang of it, however, they responded in the manner of all
devoted soap fans and got busy blurring the line between fiction and reality.
The Free Deidre Barlow campaign found its equivalent in Nazir's hunt for a wife.
Enthusiastic listeners wrote in offering their daughters; popularity polls were
run. By the time another of the show's actors left to settle in Australia, the
conventions of soap-addiction were so firmly planted that listeners held
services of condolence for him all over the country.
Equally familiar, was the way in which as New Home, New Life became more
popular, so it provoked metropolitan condescension. "The show was fantastic for
people living in the country," says Zabih Popalzai, a former listener who came
from Kabul to London eight years ago. "For some, it was the only source of
information on new maternity methods or food hygiene. But for a city audience,
it was very basic. We didn't really need to be told to wash our hands before
eating."
Nonetheless, critically, the show was a hit. But evidence also started to emerge
that the educational messages were hitting home. "Because it's radio and Afghan
is a very oral culture, retention of the storylines is phenomenal," says Skuse.
"I would run into kids who had heard a song recited on the drama a couple of
days earlier, and they would know it off by heart. Their recall was incredible."
Letters poured in from listeners who learned, through the soap, to fill in the
craters left by Scud missiles to stop them breeding malaria mosquitoes. After a
long-running storyline about landmines, listeners to New Home, New Life were
found to be statistically less likely to be killed by a landmine than
non-listeners.
Then, in 1996, the Taliban came to power. The soap's future looked uncertain.
Not only was it broadcast by what hardliners might perceive to be an agent of
western imperialism, but it contained womens' voices, banned from the airways
for encouraging unholy thoughts in male listeners. Shirazuddin Siddiqi,
programme controller and a former drama teacher at Kabul University, told the
Taliban it was simple. "I said, we are covering the lives of three communities
and villages. For it to be realistic, you must have men women and children. If
you don't have women in the village, it is not a village. That's all there is to
it."
His argument was accepted, although for once it seemed that the Taliban had
little choice in the matter. "Of course they all listened to it too," says Adam.
"It's easy to think of the Taliban as a monolithic, crazy bunch of people, but
in fact most of them are fairly ordinary, just trying to get through life. They,
as much as anyone else, want some diversion. Even though it had a pro-woman
agenda, they were happy to listen to it. It relieved the boredom of the day."
"The rank-and-file Talibs all loved it," says Skuse. "They're just country guys
on a bandwagon. Higher up, the Taliban realised that given the low state of
their infrastructure, they couldn't block the signal from the BBC."
"I believe that one of the reasons the Taliban didn't ban radio was because of
New Home, New Life," says Siddiqi. "All the soldiers were addicted to it.
Earlier this year, the Taliban were very unhappy with the BBC over their
coverage of the destruction of the Bamiyan valley buddhas, and expelled its
correspondent from Kabul. They considered the possibility of banning
listenership to the station altogether, but they couldn't because it would have
enraged their foot soldiers."
The show survived, but the scriptwriters now worked on a knife edge. The Taliban
would occasionally ring in, accusing them of proselytising for Christianity
(Siddiqi retorted visually: he grew a beard). "The potential for this to go off
the rails was immense," says Adam. " We could easily have upset people and the
staff in Peshawar could have become targets. But John made some acute editorial
decisions. He took on storylines about conflict resolution without becoming
party political. Through coding, it became obvious to listeners when he was
referring to Masoud or the Northern Alliance, although it was never mentioned.
It was an amazing editorial tightrope and the secret success of the drama."
"We could have been braver," says Butt. "I wanted to do a storyline about a
woman being beaten up, because it was happening - our researchers had witnessed
it. I wanted to show the New Home community reacting with horror. But the
writers were a bit nervous. I still rue not having pushed that through."
With the war against the west have come new and more difficult decisions. For a
week after September 11, the show went out as normal. As the shock began to wear
off, Siddiqi realised he had to reflect what was happening. He pulled the show's
three-month production cycle and started writing for the next day. No mention
was made of the World Trade Centre, and "the war" was referred to only in
general terms. But advice on how to flee safely was written into the script. "We
couldn't get into the country to see what was going on, so we used our own
experiences," says Siddiqi. "When I left, pregnant women were walking long
distances and suffering miscarriages. My son was bitten by a malaria mosquito
and by the time we crossed the front line and got to a doctor, it was far too
late. He died."
The show's creators, refugees all, told listeners: don't panic; don't grab
everything and run; if you do have to flee, get your children immunised first.
"We warned them that while the panic would subside, they should expect to be
traumatised by bad memories and bad temper for a long, long time," says Siddiqi.
"We said pay attention to those feelings and try to support each other. It makes
us feel better, to do this. We have the happiness of being helpful."
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
Monday, October 22, 2001
Indian security personnel carry away four dead bodies of Islamic separatist
militants at Awantipore Air Force base, 30 kilometers (20 miles), south of
Srinagar, India, Monday, Oct. 22, 2001. India's security forces foiled the
suicide attack by Islamic militants at the important air force base in Kashmir
on Monday, police said, while the army said an officer died in cross-border
firing between Indian and Pakistani soldiers.
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger (Re-Energised) UK
+ + + +
The man said he had been worried about anthrax exposure because he sniffed
the
contents to determine if perfume was present on the underwear.
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger (Re-Energised) UK
+ + + +
Authorities arrested Rostam on Nov. 18, 2000, and found 48 radio-controlled
explosive devices at his home. Gurbanov said these bombs worked on a
principle
that "so far has not been known from world practice."
"The devices were coded and all their frequencies were programmed, which
protected them from outside influence. They were impossible to neutralize,"
the
spokesman said.
+ + + +
DiMethylTryptamine
the
warring communities...
Bollocks.
Rizla Ranger UK
More evidence is emerging of the violence unleashed by Nigerian soldiers on
several communities in the central state of Benue earlier this week.
Regional officials say that more than 200 villagers were killed by soldiers to
avenge the murder of 19 comrades by tribesmen on 12 October.
The army, which is maintaining a heavy presence in the area and has imposed a
dusk-to-dawn curfew, has denied all involvement.
But the BBC's Dan Isaacs, who is in the state capital Makurdi, says the army has
clearly been meting out its revenge.
Latest eyewitness reports say the town of Zaki Biam, where the abducted soldiers
were found hacked to death, has been largely destroyed by army shelling.
Troops first entered the town on Monday shooting at civilians before launching
rocket-propelled grenades at buildings.
A local television crew visited the scene shortly afterwards and filmed graphic
pictures of charred bodies lying in the streets.
There is also compelling evidence that people in the villages of Gbeji, Anyin
and Iorja were rounded up, shot and their bodies subsequently set alight.
Attacks were also reported in the villages of Vaase, and Tseadoor.
Angered by the soldiers' action, university students took to the streets of
Makurdi on Wednesday, burning tyre barricades.
At least 13 people were killed and three mosques set on fire in the Makardi
protests on Wednesday, Reuters news agency quoted residents as saying.
A security adviser to the state governor visited Zaki-Biam on Wednesday told the
BBC he had witnessed the systematic destruction of buildings by soldiers.
The town itself is now deserted.
President Olesugun Obasanjo has yet to make an official statement on the Benue
attacks.
But the BBC's Dan Isaacs say the unrest clearly demonstrates the fragility of
civilian rule in Nigeria when tensions and divisions within the army can provoke
such violence.
The governor of Benue has already called for troops to be withdrawn.
Soldiers were initially sent to track down the killers of the 19 soldiers, who
were found hacked to death after being deployed to quell violence between two
local tribes, the Tivs and Jukuns.
The Benue killings recall an earlier massacre in November 1999 when troops
killed civilians and levelled the town of Odi in the Niger delta after a number
of soldiers were abducted and killed.
+ + + +
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has entered the debate on terrorism - telling a TV
interviewer that the US might just as well bomb London if it is serious about
fighting terrorism.
"If the United States wants seriously to eradicate terrorism, the first capital
that should be pounded with cruise missiles is London," Colonel Gaddafi said on
the Arabic satellite news channel al-Jazeera.
"It is the shelter of terrorism," he added, referring to charges that Islamic
militants suspected of violence are protected by Britain's policies on political
asylum.
Colonel Gaddafi, who said that the US had the right to respond to the 11
September terrorist attacks, called for an international conference to define
terrorism and then fight it.
He said that while no one had claimed responsibility for the attacks, the United
States could attack Osama bin Laden if it were sure he was responsible.
"If the United States knows who attacked it, and if he admits to attacking the
United States, then it would have the right to retaliate against him," the
Libyan leader said.
"It would have the right to do whatever necessary without consulting the UN
Security Council."
Sticking to that "principle", Colonel Gaddafi said that he would have attacked
the White House after the US raids on Tripoli in 1986, had he had missiles.
But he put the two countries' longstanding dispute aside, as he did in the days
after the attacks in the US, in offering his sympathy to Americans.
"Despite the confrontation, struggle, and disagreement with the United States,
we must show solidarity with the US people," he said.
However, he said that the international community needed to agree on a
definition of terrorism before the world could join together in fighting it.
"We also disagree with one another on what happened in the United States, what
is happening in Afghanistan, and what is even happening in Iraq," he said. "This
is because we have not so far defined terrorism."
"If we know what terrorism is, we will all resist it," he added.
"It is unreasonable for a responsible UN member state not to fight terrorism."
Again, this statement had a typical twist in the tail.
Colonel Gaddafi said that for him, terrorism is "the threat of fleets,
sanctions, embargoes".
"The largest terrorist organization now is the UN Security Council," he said.
+ + + +
Standard Times (Freetown)
October 24, 2001
Unissa Bangura
The flying operations of Paramount Airlines within Guinean territory have been
declared unsafe.
According to report reaching Standard Times, Guinean authorities have suspended
the operation of Paramount Airlines within their country due to what they
described as lack of maintenance of their aircrafts.
The report further add that with the frequent helicopter crashes around the
globe, the Guinean authorities cannot sit by and allow their nationals to
continue travelling in an aircraft considered unsafe.
It will be recalled that sometime this year, BIVAC International raised abundant
questions regarding the unsatisfactory operations of Paramount Airlines. BIVAC
was also concerned about Paramount Airlines management refusal for their
aircrafts to be inspected for fitness.
According to investigation carried out by this press, it was discovered that
even the Aberdeen village community had expressed fears regarding the operations
of Paramount Airlines, praying that their aircraft does not crash in their
village.
This press further learnt that on many occasions Paramount Airlines aircraft fly
without proper documentation and approval from the civil aviation.
Sources say this is the second time Paramount Airline is facing problem with
civil aviation authorities in Guinea. The last time it was reported that
Paramount Airlines was grounded in Guinea due to lack of proper documentation.
+ + + +
The Daily Observer (Banjul)
October 24, 2001
Sorrie N Ceesay & Momodou Bah
The spokesman for the Gambia Police Force, Inspector Sarjo Keita has reliably
informed the Daily Observer that four Japanese nationals were currently in
police custody for allegedly kidnapping over 30 women and four boys with the
intention of converting them to Christianity.
Speaking to our reporters in a telephone interview, Inspector Keita revealed
that on Monday October 22 the Bakau police arrested the accused persons who
allegedly rented a self-contained house at Cape Point where those converted were
kept in communicado for four months with a monthly payment of an undisclosed
amount.
Inspector Keita said when those people were arrested they were found without
documents and according to them, they converted people by baptising them on the
beach.
When these reporters visited the alleged converts at the Bakau Police Station,
they revealed that they came from different parts of the country.
They said they were promised jobs by the accused persons but not to convert them
to Christianity. "We have lived in the self-contained house for a period of four
months under restricted conditions as they don't allow us to go about our daily
lives," they disclosed.
The four boys who are residents of Bakau also revealed that they had lived with
the women, some of them quite old in the self-contained house after their
conversion to Christianity against their will and were paid a monthly salary of
1000 dalasis with a promise that they would be provided with jobs.
The boys further revealed that it was not until Monday October 22 when they
converted two other youths along the Bakau Beach that the matter was reported to
the police who dispatched a team of officers to raid the beach side where they
were found converting other youths believed to be bumsters.
The accused persons were arrested and taken to the Bakau Police Station.
+ + + +
Standard Times (Freetown)
October 24, 2001
Recent reports from competent source reaching this press have revealed that
members of the Revolutionary United Front are being enlisted to fight on the
side of President Charles Taylor in Lofa county.
Our source revealed that most RUF members rather than disarm have joined
President Taylor in Liberia to fight against the invading force-Liberians United
for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD). Our source intimated that some RUF
rebels do not trust the government of Sierra Leone and fear for their security
after they would have disarmed, and would rather fight for Taylor than disarm.
Although RUF acknowledged the fact that most of their flag bearers have been
released from Pademba Road prison, they continue to emphasise that the
government of Sierra Leone is yet to meet all their demands
+ + + +
The Monitor (Kampala)
October 24, 2001
Julius Mucunguzi
Uganda has denied reports that it is amassing troops in eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo in anticipation of a possible attack by UPDF dissidents, Col.
Samson Mande and Lt.Col. Anthony Kyakabale.
Army commander Lt. Gen. Jeje Odongo told The Monitor yesterday that such reports
were "nonsense".
There were unconfirmed reports from Kigali yesterday that Ugandan troops were
advancing toward Rwandan positions in eastern DRC following reports that the
renegade officers had launched an armed group in the Rwandan held territory in
Kanyabayonga.
"Uganda has only one battalion in Congo, and it is in Beni, so anybody who is
saying that doesn't know what he is saying," Odongo said on phone.
Press reports yesterday claimed the renegade officers had formed a rebel group,
the Peoples Redemption Army (PRA), operating and camped in Kanyabayonga.
Odongo said that the army is prepared to deal with Col. Samson Mande and Lt.
Col. Anthony Kyakabale should they attack Uganda.
He said it was no secret that the renegade officers have been preparing
aggression against Uganda from either Rwanda or DRC, but dared them to attack.
"I dare them to come and attack. They will see," Gen. Odongo warned.
Mande, Kyakabale and several others defected from the UPDF and fled to Rwanda,
citing persecution and harassment.
They subsequently declared war against Uganda.
Kanyabayonga is located at the border of the territory controlled by the
Congolese rebel groups RCD-Goma (supported by Rwanda) and the area controlled by
the RCD-ML supported by Uganda.
Rwanda and RCD-Goma rebels are located in that area.
Political analysts fear that with renewed tensions between Uganda and Rwanda a
cross border war is possible.
President Yoweri Museveni recently requested donors to allow Uganda increase
defence spending to counter possible aggression from Rwanda.
Museveni wrote a letter Aug. 28 to the British Secretary of State for Overseas
Development, Clare Short, requesting Britain to "understand Uganda's intention
to raise defence spending beyond the 1.9 percent of GDP agreed with donors."
Tension has been mounting between the two former allies. Clare Short has been
requested to mediate in the standoff between the two countries. Mediation is
supposed to start after Short has met Museveni and Paul Kagame in Botswana at
the end of this month, according to the British High Commission spokesman Ewan
Ormiston.
However Kigali has denied those accusations.
+ + + +
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombian fighter jets streaked over a vast rebel safe
haven this week to search for airstrips used for drug smuggling, the army said
Wednesday. Rebels called the flights a threat to fragile peace talks.
Two Mirage jet fighters flew over the safe haven at an altitude of at least
10,000 feet Tuesday after taking off from Tres Esquinas, a base where U.S.
intelligence experts have worked alongside Colombian military personnel, an
official at the Defense Ministry said.
More flights could be expected, the official said Wednesday, speaking on
condition of anonymity.
Gen. Fernando Tapias, commander of the Colombian armed forces, said the flights
were aimed at detecting clandestine airstrips used for drug smuggling and
insisted the military has the right to carry out the missions.
``(It is) an exercise of sovereignty over Colombian territory,'' Tapias told
reporters late Tuesday.
President Andres Pastrana ceded the Switzerland-sized swath of jungle and
savanna to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, three years ago
to spur talks aimed at ending Colombia's civil war, now in its 37th year.
But FARC officials said earlier this month it would not hold peace talks inside
the safe haven, claiming the planned military overflights imperiled their
safety.
Many Colombians fear that if peace talks collapse, the war that kills about
3,000 people each year will intensify.
``I think we are at a critical juncture,'' said Carlos Garcia, the president of
Congress. Garcia told The Associated Press he held out hope that the warring
sides would still show a desire to reach a cease-fire agreement.
Underscoring the dangers of all-out war, a smaller rebel group that failed to
start formal cease-fire talks with the government stepped up its campaign of
bombings and other attacks.
On Wednesday, a car packed with 44 pounds of dynamite exploded on a rural road
outside the country's second-largest city, Medellin, police said. The bomb,
which injured a passer-by, was believed to have been planted by the National
Liberation Army, or ELN.
ELN rebels have also waged a sabotage campaign in eastern Arauca state against a
major oil pipeline that transports crude from an oil field operated by Los
Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum.
The ELN mounted five dynamite attacks Tuesday against Cano-Limon-Covenas
pipeline, which has been shut down while repairs are made. There have been
hundreds of attacks on the pipeline this year.
In Bolivar state in northern Colombia, government troops clashed with ELN
rebels, killing one guerrilla, the army said. Bomb-making materials were found
at the site.
+ + + +
BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - In a sign of a possible hardening of U.S. attitudes
toward international crime since the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and
Washington, the United States on Wednesday said it would seek to extradite
Colombia's warlords for their alleged involvement in drug-trafficking.
"The United States wants to try members of the three groups which are involved
in drug-trafficking and money laundering and will seek their extradition," U.S.
ambassador to Colombia Anne Patterson told a conference on money laundering in
the Caribbean resort of Cartagena.
Colombia's three outlawed armed militias -- locked in a 37-year-old war that has
claimed 40,000 lives in the last decade -- are accused by Colombian and U.S.
drug officials of funding their war machines with cocaine exports. They are also
included on the State Department's list of "terrorist" groups.
Although Washington has won the extradition of several Colombian drug lords
under a 1997 bilateral extradition treaty, Patterson's comments are the first
time a U.S. official has announced the United States will seek to try a
Colombian warlord for alleged links to drug-trafficking.
The United States is spending $1 billion in mostly military aid to assist
President Andres Pastrana's "Plan Colombia," aimed at wiping out cocaine
production in rebel-held jungles in the south. Colombia is the world's No. 1
cocaine producer.
The largest of the South American nation's armed militias -- the leftist
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC in Spanish -- is engaged in
3-year-old peace talks with Pastrana's government.
Observers agree any peace settlement with the FARC, which says it is fighting a
revolutionary war in a country marked by abysmal differences between rich and
poor, will most likely include an amnesty to allow rebels to demobilize and hand
over their weapons. Under such an arrangement, it would be unlikely that
Colombia could agree to extradite guerrilla and paramilitary leaders.
U.S. and Colombian officials estimate the 17,000-member FARC -- the oldest rebel
force in Latin America -- make hundreds of millions of dollars from the drug
trade each year.
The other two illegal armed groups are the Cuban-inspired National Liberation
Army -- known by the Spanish initials ELN -- and the right-wing United
Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, or AUC, a vigilante force that targets rebel
sympathizers.
PASTRANA TO VISIT U.S. NEXT MONTH
Patterson said Washington's decision to seek the extradition of Colombian
warlords was prompted by the Sept. 11 attacks, in which extremist militants
believed to be part of Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden's network, crashed
hijacked passenger jets into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing
more than 5,000 people.
"Since Sept. 11 we have completely evaluated our strategy against illegal
international activities," Patterson said.
Since the attacks in New York and Washington, some Colombian officials have
expressed concern that U.S. policymakers might shift their attention elsewhere.
Pastrana is scheduled to travel to the United States next month. He had been due
to host Secretary of State Colin Powell on Sept. 11, but Powell called off his
visit.
+ + + +
At least one person has died and more than 60 injured after a series of
explosions ripped through an army base in northern Thailand.
Witnesses spoke of fireballs and plumes of smoke rising hundreds of metres above
the base, which is used to store munitions.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has said initial reports indicate the
explosion was accidental - it is believed to have been triggered while a lorry
was being unloaded near one the base's arsenals.
The blasts happened at the army base in the Pakchong District of Nakhon
Ratchasima province, about 260 kilometres (160 miles) northeast of Bangkok.
A Thai army spokesman said the base contained 50 buildings used to store
ammunition.
Our correspondent in Bangkok, Jonathan Head, says continuous explosions have
prevented emergency services from getting close to the source of the blast.
The first blast occurred at around 0900 local time (0200 GMT) and was followed
by several smaller blasts.
Injured soldiers and civilians - mostly suffering cuts from flying glass - have
been taken to local hospitals for treatment.
Provincial governor Sunthorn Riewluaeng has ordered the evacuation of villagers
within a several kilometre radius of the base.
"It's still exploding, so I have asked local authorities to evacuate people from
all public places such as schools, and close off roads leading to the blast
site," he told AFP.
The explosion has also blocked off one of Thailand's busiest roads, creating
heavy traffic jams.
+ + + +
Police in Indonesia say they are investigating reports that hundreds of asylum
seekers who drowned when their boat sank off the coast of Java had been forced
onto the vessel at gunpoint.
Three-hundred-and-fifty migrants lost their lives in the incident; most of them
were from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Police officers are alleged to have been bribed by people-smugglers to coerce
migrants who were wary of boarding the 19-metre boat. Officials have said it was
overcrowded and unfit to sail.
A national police spokesman, Brigadier General Saleh Saaf, said an intelligence
team was looking into the allegations.
Thousands of asylum seekers travel to Indonesia each year, using it as a
springboard from which to get to Australia.
The police have denied the allegations, and other survivors have said no-one
forced them onto the boat, which was headed for Australia.
But one survivor, an Iraqi, said on Wednesday that about 30 police officers
armed with pistols and automatic weapons forced passengers onto the wooden boat,
even though several did not want to go after seeing its poor condition.
"They said they were willing to kill us," said Achmad Hussein Ali, speaking
through a translator. "The police even beat two refugees with their rifle
butts."
He said a police boat then escorted the asylum-seekers' boat out of the port.
Indonesian national deputy police spokesman Lt Col Prasetyo denied the
allegations.
"The accusations are not true," he said. "It is our duty to protect the
refugees."
A Jakarta spokesman for the United Nations' refugee agency (UNHCR) Raymond Hall,
said the authorities must carry out a "really serious investigation" into the
claims.
"If there was any complicity from the local authorities ... in actually forcing
people to get on the vessel that would be a source of ... grave concern," he
said.
Another survivor, Ali Ahmmad, a Kurdish refugee from Iraq, said the police were
working with three people-smugglers who were also armed.
Australia on Wednesday named one of those men and asked Indonesia to extradite
him.
"We know who the person was who arranged this particular package of travellers,"
he said. "He put 400 people on a boat 19 metres long that could only take 150
people."
He said the man, who he described as of Egyptian origin, had been behind other
people-smuggling operations. He said Australia had passed information on him to
Indonesia on several occasions.
Indonesia announced on Wednesday it will host international talks on
people-smuggling next month.
Foreign Minister Hasan Wirayuda said the issue was becoming urgent, with the
expected arrival of more Afghan asylum-seekers because of the US air strikes.
Australia has taken a hard line against asylum seekers trying to enter the
country by sea since late August, when it refused entry to a boatload of mainly
Afghan refugees rescued at sea by a Norwegian freighter.
It has since turned away about 1,500 asylum seekers, sending the majority to
other countries including Nauru, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea for
processing.
+ + + +
Police in the Philippines say they have carried out a raid on the northern
Manila hideout of a kidnap gang and captured four suspects.
Officials said a policeman was killed in the operation in the densely-populated
San Francisco del Monte neighborhood which began after the gang had released
three people they had abducted on Monday.
The officials said that the kidnappers responded to tear gas with automatic
weapons fire and surrendered only after they had run out of bullets.
The four suspects are accused of kidnapping a Chinese-Filipino women, her son
and a driver outside a school in Manila. Correspondents say the clash underlines
the growing problem of kidnapping in the Philippines.
Last week, President Gloria Arroyo vowed to fight the trend by lifting a
moratorium on the death penalty and ordering that kidnappers should be the first
to be executed.
+ + + +
The Sri Lankan military say at least seven soldiers were killed when their
vehicle was blown up after hitting a land mine in the north of the country.
A Sri Lankan defence ministry spokesman said that the vehicle was travelling
near the village of Nelliyadi in the northern Jaffna peninsula when it hit the
mine.
He blamed Tamil Tiger rebels.
+ + + +
A Pakistani man arrested by the FBI as part of its investigation into the 11
September attacks has been found dead in his cell.
He is thought to have died of a heart attack, but tests for anthrax poisoning
have been carried out on his body.
The 55-year-old man was one of more than 800 people detained by the FBI after
the attacks on New York and Washington.
The man, whose name has not been released, was found dead in his cell in a
county jail in New Jersey.
The post mortem examination is being performed to determine what killed him but
medical staff at the prison say he is thought to have suffered a heart attack.
Tests for possible anthrax contamination were performed on the man, his cellmate
and a number of guards but according to prison officials the tests were
negative.
The FBI, which is being highly secretive about its investigation into the
attacks is refusing to say whether the dead man was a significant suspect, but
the agency has revealed that it is waiting for the results of anthrax tests
taken in the Jersey City apartment of three other detainees.
It has been reported that articles on bio-terrorism were found inside the flat
belonging to Mohammed Pervez, Mohammed Jaweed Azmath and Ayub Ali Khan.
Mr Azmath and Mr Khan are regarded as prime suspects by the FBI - they were
arrested on a train in Texas in September allegedly in possession of hair dye,
$5,000 in cash and box cutting knives similar to those used by the hijackers.
They were booked on a plane from San Antonio to Denver on 28 September.
Mr Azmath and Mr Khan are reportedly refusing to co-operate with investigations,
but US officials believe that their arrest prevented another hijacking.
+ + + +
Naxalite rebels attacked a survey team of the Mineral Exploration Corporation of
India in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, setting fire to four
vehicles and damaging two drilling rigs.
No staff member was harmed in the attack.
The rebels from the left-wing People's War Group (PWG) left a note which said
the raid - by about 40 of its armed activists - was in revenge for the killing
one of its leaders, Allam Naga Satyam, by police 10 days ago.
Security for multi-national companies operating in the state had recently been
increased following an attack on a Coca Cola bottling plant last Sunday
+ + + +
Police in the western Indian state of Maharashtra say they have arrested four
alleged militants of the Pakistan-based Hizbul Mujahideen group.
The arrests were made in Thane, a neighbouring district of India's financial
capital Bombay, late on Tuesday night.
According to the police, the militants had planned to kill some well-known
public figures in Bombay.
The Thane police commissioner said one of the arrested militants, Farooq Sami,
is also wanted by police in connection with several terrorist acts and murders
in Indian-administered Kashmir.
The three others are Mohammad Akbar Bhat, Farooq Ahmed Siddiqui Bhat and Altaf
Bhat.
Police say they have recovered two foreign-made pistols and some live ammunition
from the possession of the alleged militants.
According to the police, the four Hizbul members were awaiting a large
consignment of sophisticated arms and explosives from across the border.
A Bombay city tourist guidebook and a walkie talkie set have also been recovered
from the group.
This is the third instance in the last year of alleged militants being arrested
by the Thane police.
In November last year, police arrested four militants thought to be members of
Lashkar-e-Toyeba.
This year in August, police gunned down two suspected members of the Lashkar
group in an encounter in Thane.
+ + + +
The Taleban are arming civilians in preparation, they say, for any American
ground attacks on Afghanistan.
They have been distributing weapons to people, particularly in the rural areas
of the south and east, where the Taleban have generally been most popular.
The Taleban are clearly confident that the weapons will not eventually be turned
against them
But it is a move which has left many Afghans worried about the future.
One of the greatest achievements of the Taleban in the 1990s was the disarming
of the general population.
The decision to start distributing arms was announced after the last Taleban
council of ministers.
Light and heavy weapons, including rocket launchers, machine guns and
anti-aircraft guns, should be given out to villages and other places, said one
of the ministers, in order to resist American commando operations.
Reports are now coming in that the new policy is being implemented, particularly
in rural areas in the mainly ethnic Pashtun south and east.
The Taleban are clearly confident that the weapons will not eventually be turned
against them, despite claims by Washington to have forged alliances with many of
the Pashtun tribes.
If that is the case, it could cause problems for the American war planners.
The move has left many people here worried about the future of their country -
worried that the arms will in the end be used against fellow Afghans either in
crime or war.
Weaponry given by the West to the mujahedin to fight the Soviet occupation of
the 1980s helped lead to lawlessness and in-fighting after the defeat of
communism.
The Taleban swept to power by bringing order out of the chaos of those times,
with a policy of disarming the population.
+ + + +
Russia's arms supplies to Afghanistan's anti-Taleban Northern Alliance are
ferried across the Piandzh river from Tajikistan under cover of darkness.
The primitive chain-ferry at Farkhor, driven by an Iranian tractor, is within
range of Taleban gunners, according to a Russian television crew who filmed it
earlier this month, which is why it no longer works during the day.
For an army that still relies on cavalry charges, some of the more sophisticated
weaponry promised by the Russians may take some getting used to
The latter are mainly Soviet-era weapons, many of them no longer in production,
which the Afghan fighters prefer for their simplicity and reliability in
conditions of high humidity .
For an army that still relies on cavalry charges, and is short of good footwear,
ammunition and rifles, some of the more sophisticated weaponry promised by the
Russians may take some getting used to.
The list includes tanks, armoured personnel carriers, helicopters, howitzers,
mortars, anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns and multiple rocket launchers,
according to the Russian media.
In addition Moscow has promised grenade launchers, automatic rifles and snipers'
rifles, optical instruments, mine-clearance systems, shortwave radios and spare
parts.
The BBC's Kate Clark saw lorry loads of Russian rockets, mortar shells, and
ammunition near Feyzabad heading south into the Panjshir valley two days after
the American air bombardment began.
The total cost of the Russian supplies is expected to reach $40m, though many
items on the list are described as obsolete, and are being supplied from Defence
Ministry stockpiles, rather than direct from military plants.
According to some reports it may currently be impossible to load heavier items
on to the chain ferry because of low water levels.
Russia's estimated supplies
50 tanks
80 infantry fighting vehicles
40 anti-aircraft guns
10 multiple-launch rocket systems
200 grenade launchers
15 anti-tank, howizter and mortar batteries
Automatic guns and snipers' rifles
Source: Russian Public TV
However, it is claimed that other pontoon bridges have been built, and they may
already be in operation.
There is an alternative crossing of the river Piandzh - which widens, as it
travels west, into the Amu Darya or Oxus - at the Uzbek city of Termez.
According to Russian sources, President Vladimir Putin has already reached
agreement with his Uzbek counterpart, Islam Karimov, to use this bridge, but it
leads before long to Taleban-held territory.
Only when, or if, the Northern Alliance takes the city of Mazar-e-Sharif will
this route become an option.
The Northern Alliance already has some ancient armoured vehicles and tanks that
were seized from Soviet forces in the 1980s, when Moscow and the mujahideen were
on opposite sides.
According to Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer, Russia has been
secretly arming the ante-Taleban fighters, since 1996 using them to fight a
proxy war with the authorities in Kabul.
He alleges that:
Parts of the Russian 201st division, based in Tajikistan, have already crossed
into Afghanistan and are directly involved in combat
Unmarked Russian jets have attacked Taleban targets
Russian advisers are in Afghanistan helping to train Northern Alliance fighters
to use the newly supplied equipment
The Russian media is also full of reports that 1,500 extra soldiers have been
airlifted into Tajikistan to join the existing ranks of the 201st division,
estimated at between 6,000 and 10,000-strong.
Russian forces in the vicinity also include between 11,000 and 20,000 border
guards.
The arms ferried across the Piandzh go to the ethnic Tajik forces led by
Mohammed Fahim, whose forces also control the Panjshir valley.
The leading ethnic Uzbek commander, General Dostum, has complained that so far
he has received nothing from the Russians, while complaining of shortages of
rifles and ammunition.
Dostum has, however, been promised military aid by Turkey, a country with which
he has a long association.
+ + + +
The inmates of a new prison in the Russian city of Kursk can look forward to
undreamed of luxury - if they can afford it.
Moscow TV 6 says the local authorities in Kursk, south of Moscow, will be
offering inmates the chance to pay for luxuries such as a television,
refrigerator, and most of all - privacy.
They hope the pay-as-you-serve-time system will turn the new prison into a
profit-making enterprise.
Russia has one of the largest prison populations in the world, with more than a
million inmates in jails across the country. Overcrowding is notorious and HIV
and tuberculosis are rife.
So cash-starved local authorities are looking for innovative solutions to the
problem of housing, maintaining and feeding the inmates.
In Kursk, the new prison will offer inmates the possibility of buying their
privacy. Each cell has two bunks - and well-off inmates can pay for the second
bunk and have the cell to themselves.
"There are rich people who would like to be kept in custody in better
conditions," a prison official said. "Since such an opportunity has presented
itself, why not?"
The local media are already speculating that the new prison will be more
profitable for the city council than building a new apartment block.
Many Russian prisons currently house up to five times the number of inmates they
were designed to hold, forcing prisoners to share bunks or to sleep in shifts.
The Justice Ministry says more than 4,000 inmates in Russian prisons have HIV,
the virus that causes Aids.
Tuberculosis afflicts another 100,000 prisoners - and up to 10,000 of them die
of the disease every year.
TV 6 said that there would be no shortage of paying customers in Kursk. Many of
the city's businessmen and officials have been jailed in recent years on
corruption charges, it said.
+ + + +
and now the important news from Zambia -
The Post (Lusaka)
October 24, 2001
Martin Kunolu
Lusaka
MY husband beats me whenever I cook vegetables, a woman has told a Lusaka local
court.
Janet Tembo, 28, of 168/9, Chaisa compound said this in a matter in which she
sued her husband Augustine Tembo, 33, of the same compound for reconciliation.
Janet told senior presiding justice Sainet Chitambo that conflicts in their
marriage of ten years started last year when she discovered that Augustine had a
lover.
When Janet asked Augustine if he wanted to be in polygamy, he replied that it
was a secret and only his mother knew, the court heard. Janet said that when she
approached her mother-in-law on the matter she brushed her off.
"She openly told me that I was a dirty woman who did not even shave pubic hair.
It was shocking for my mother-in-law to tell me that," said Janet.
Justice Chitambo: "If your husband said that he wanted to have two wives, are
you ready to be in polygamy." "Yes, I am ready for the sake of our four
children," replied Janet.
Janet disclosed that Augustine did not support the family "but whenever I
prepared vegetables, he would beat me saying that I was supposed to be preparing
meat or chicken."
Augustine who declined to cross-examine Janet in his brief testimony denied
having a lover and said that the problem in their marriage was his wife's
untidiness.
Court reconciled the couple saying Augustine had no concrete reason as to what
led to conflicts in their marriage and Janet was advised to sue her
mother-in-law if she continued to interfere in their marriage.
- - - -
The Post (Lusaka)
October 24, 2001
Martin Kunolu
Lusaka
A KAUNDA square woman narrated in court how her estranged husband infected her
with syphilis.
Bertha Kangwa was testifying in a case in which she sued Richard Silungwe of
Kaunda Square for divorce in the Chelston local court alleging that he deserted
their matrimonial home.
Kangwa told senior court justices Reverend Omega Kasanshi and Elias Mwenda that
conflicts in their marriage of seven years started in 1998 when Silungwe first
deserted the matrimonial home.
Kangwa said that a few months later they reconciled but he continued to visit
his lover within Kaunda square.
"I discovered that he had a swollen manhood and said that he cut himself when
shaving pubic hair," she said. Kangwa said when she went for a medical check-up,
it was discovered that she had syphilis.
"I told my husband and we received treatment together," said Kangwa, adding that
marital conflicts so worsened that Silungwe, who had again deserted their home
would brand her a prostitute. Kangwa disclosed that their failure to have a
child in marriage contributed to marital disputes.
After Kangwa's testimony, justice Kasanshi asked Silungwe if he had understood
what his wife said to which he replied,"that's rubbish." Silungwe's statement
compelled justice Mwenda to slap him with a contempt of court charge for using
abusive language.
Silungwe was reminded that it was an offence to use abusive language in court.
Silungwe was later detained at Chelston police station after the court official
prosecuting the contempt case, Lewis Mwanthamanya asked for an adjournment on
grounds that the facts were not ready.
The criminal case will be heard on October 25, 2001.
+ + + +
more news L8R
Rizla Ranger UK
Mohammed Humayun is busy fighting his own private war on the side of the
country's Northern Alliance. He controls an army of 300 hardy soldiers, six
tanks and a BM 21 multiple-barrelled rocket launcher. Not bad for a 15-year-old.
While British teenagers dream of motorbikes and Britney Spears, Humayun is busy
fighting his own private war on the side of the country's Northern Alliance.
Standing on the roof of his sprawling mud-brick compound in the village of Bolak
Kushlaq, near the town of Kalafgan, he is quite literally king of all he
surveys.
Stretching out in every direction are the brown parched fields and scattered
settlements of the 26 hamlets and villages under his control.
Rising sharply to the north and west are the jagged peaks of the outstretched
fingers of the great Hindu Kush, their brown sides flecked at the top with the
first snows of winter. And behind the peaks are the Taliban.
Humayun's story is a graphic illustration of the almost medieval nature of the
various factions which make up the Northern Alliance which has been battling for
control of Afghanistan.
It is this grouping to which the West is making increasing overtures as it seeks
to overthrow the Taliban and Osama bin Laden.
Humayun gained control of this little empire three months ago when his father,
Aghagan, 40, was killed in a Taliban rocket attack. Since then, all that he had
built up passed to his son. "It was not just because of being his son," says
Humayun. "There was a great council meeting. They decided to give it all to me."
His father's death has also put him in charge of his mother, his father's two
other wives and a total of seven brothers and three sisters, all younger than
him.
"It is a big responsibility but I am used to it," he says. "I was my father's
deputy. I was in charge of things when he was away. When he died, I was very
sad. Very sad. But then I understood I am a man."
His self-confidence is bewildering. This pint-sized warlord, who looks younger
than his 15 years, strides among his giant soldiers like a little Napoleon. He
is already married, to Jamila, a girl he met at school rather than in the more
usual arranged marriage.
She lives with his mother in the nearby town of Kalafgan. His grandmother lives
here in the courtyard but men, even esteemed foreign visitors, are not allowed
to see her. Here women go out wearing the full burqa.
"I think this is wrong, I would like my wife to have only a headscarf," he says
brightly. "But these are the traditions here."
Aid officials say child soldiering is a product of a society which puts clan
loyalties ahead of anything else. "This case reflects the reality of
Afghanistan's problems - you have the leading family where a man died only to be
replaced by his oldest son," said Red Cross official Eloi Fillion. "It's like
succession for a king."
We are led into Humayun's compound with its high mud walls by the bearded
soldiers of his Uzbek militia - Uzbeks claim descent from Ghengis Khan, and are
the fiercest of the Afghan tribes.
Our translator, an ethnic Tajik teacher, is nervous at first. But once Humayun
appears to greet us, the soldier's expressions change from fearsome to fawning.
Hoisting their Kalashnikovs, two men rush off through the courtyard dust, one
returning with a plastic watering can for us to wash our hands, the other with a
pink towel for us to dry them.
Then we are ushered into his long meeting room, with bare white walls and
mattresses on either side.
Along the middle, a plastic sheet is unrolled and food is produced - fresh-baked
nan bread, bowls with potatoes and meat, and hardboiled eggs and fresh fruit. "I
am sorry, if I knew you were coming my men would have gone shopping in the
bazaar," he says. The remnants of the first course are hurried away by men
stooping so low they struggle not to fall over. Then there are bowls of
pistachio nuts, raisins, and coffee-flavoured boiled sweets, along with the
first of a stream of tea urns brought by flunkies throughout the evening.
Through it all, Humayun explains his responsibilities. His is one of a chain of
interlocking fiefdoms which shore up the Northern Alliance front line: until the
arrival of American bombers this month, holding this position had been touch and
go.
His father was killed in one of the battles of summer, during which the Taliban
had tried, and nearly succeeded, in its annual ritual of pushing the Alliance
back a few dozen more miles.
But these Uzbeks gave no ground: they are a rock in the Alliance - and one
reason why, if the valley decides that a 15-yearold is their new commander
nobody, not even the president, queries the decision.
"My system is simple," he says. "All the time I split my men - 150 to the front
line and 150 here." Then, in a touch of modesty, he adds: "You know, the tanks
are not really mine. They belong to the government. The government has made them
mine to use."
The star piece of kit is the truckmounted BM 21 Russian-made rocket launcher, a
fearsome weapon which can fire 40 threemetre long rockets far up over the hills,
each landing without warning and with the force of several artillery shells.
This is not only a devastating weapon, but the Afghan equivalent of owning a
Lear jet.
Humayun is not uneducated: until the fall of Taloqan last year, he attended its
most prestigious school, the Abdul Ostman - named after Afghanistan's most
famous poet. When he assumed command shortly after his father's death, his first
decision was to recruit 70 Abdul Ostman old boys - all he could find from the
school, now in Taliban hands, to fight in his army. And he made his cousin, Juma
Khan, 16, his personal bodyguard.
"Children make great soldiers," says Humayun. "In the West, you have the wrong
idea about this. Children are strong and fast, and they are very brave."
Evening draws in, with the orange setting sun momentarily lighting up the far
hills. Darkness falls fast here and it is total in a valley without electricity.
A petrol lamp is produced. Humayun's face, already young, now looks positively
cherubic, all the more so for the contrast he gives to the deeply lined faces of
the elders fawning before him. When he speaks, they all sit and listen.
For all his youth, he shows more knowledge of the outside world than most other
warlords. "The problem for Afghanistan has always been the foreigners," he says.
"It is their meddling that creates these wars. If all the forces leave, there
will be peace here."
And the United Nations? "Two years," he says with a frown. "A United Nations
force could stay in my country for two years. After that, I think, there will be
trouble."
Humayun has powerful friends. The next warl o rd along, Mohammed Daoud, speaks
highly of him - as well he should, given that Humayun's men control the only
road to his isolated fortress.
Another supporter is Northern Alliance President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who has
guaranteed to fix things for Humayun to study at a London college of his choice
once the war is over.
"Do you think Juma Khan will have a problem with the gun in your city?" he asks
me, on discovering I work for the Standard. I tell him yes. "How about a
pistol?" he asks hopefully.
Then, with politics out of the way, he turns to other matters. He moves to the
top of the room, his men hurriedly scuttling from their seats. And he pats the
cushion next to him and nods at my Norwegian colleague. She obeys the summons,
and he stares at her as she sits, towering over him. We have moved from the Sun
King to the King And I.
"You are very beautiful," he says. "Could you tell me, in the West do ugly women
find husbands?" She says yes. "That is good," he says sagely. "Over here, beauty
is everything.
"In Afghanistan, a woman who is ugly will not get a husband. But still it can be
all right for her, as long as she learns a skill. Like making carpets."
As the evening draws on, he relaxes, and is not afraid to pick his nose in
public. There is an awkward pause when the picking triggers a nose bleed - and a
dozen flunkies rush to offer their neckscarves to mop up the blood.
"Sometimes people do think I am just a child," he suddenly confides. "I went
visiting the foreign ministry in Hoja Bowdin. At the gate, the guard would not
let me in. He told me I was a child."
He pauses, staring at my colleague, letting the words sink in. "I was angry.
Later, of course, the man realised his mistake. He brought me tea, `but," he
adds ominously, "I did not drink it." And, you suspect, that is one man who will
not be journeying into the Bolak Kushlaq valley.
We sleep on these same mattresses - after a chain of goodnights in which the
Norwegian has her hand shaken many times.
Morning finds his soldiers already crammed into the adjacent room, hoping for a
glimpse through the glass doors of this strange blonde female as she rises from
her sleeping bag.
And then, after a quick breakfast of bread, tea and something like rice pudding,
it is time to show off the rocket-launcher.
A column forms on the road, with Humayun and ourselves in the van, his village
commanders following and a mass of ordinary soldiers behind them, with Humayun's
green army jeep with tinted windows bringing up the rear.
As Humayun arranges his men around his rocket launcher, one of his elderly
uncles, Yakop, steps forward, walking with the aid of a long brown leather-bound
cane. Yakop explains that he is one of three uncles who "advise" their chief on
military matters.
So do they take the decisions? "Er no, we just offer advice, you know, for the
battles. For the times when he might not have all the experience that is
needed."
But what if he ignores their advice? This causes a moment of embarrassment on
the face of the uncle, surrounded as he is by Humayun's foot soldiers. "Look, it
is like this. It is only advice, but he always accepts it."
That is the nearest note of dissent you will hear in the Bolak Kushlaq valley.
Everyone else, asked about how they feel to have a 15-year-old making
life-or-death decisions, says that is fine.
And then it is time to go: Humayun bids us a happy farewell, and then the royal
jeep is prepared. He says he must go. To the front line? "No," he says, suddenly
bashful, "I must have my hair cut."
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
Unconfirmed
China News Service and Yomiuri Report Osama and Omar Were Assassinated
Source: Zhonghawa Shinwen and Yomiuri Shimbun
Published: 24 October 2001
Author: China News Service
(from Reporter Sugiyama of Yomiuri in Beijing)
Strong Caveat: This is the first and only such report that appeared several
hours ago, off of Chinese and Japanese news wires, and is unconfirmed.
Therefore it is just an advisory that such a report has been filed. Merits
considerable skepticism while checking its validity.
Report by China News Service quoting Japanese source in Tokyo per the following
(translated by AIT from Chinese from the site at:
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/2001-10-24/26/133210.html/ in Chinese, and
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/05/20011024id36.htm in Japanese):
"Chinese News Service Reports: Osama bin Laden Killed?"
Filed by Hiroyuki Sugiyama, Yomiuri Shimbun Reporter based in Beijing.
Based on Japanese sources in Tokyo, news report (s) has been received that on
October 16th, both the leader of Taliban Afghanistan Omar and the leader of
AlQaida, Osama bin Laden, were both shot and killed in Afghanistan, by elements
within their ranks. However at this time no other news sources have confirmed
the assassinations.
The CNS news report stated that it is reported that Omar and Bin Laden had
returned to one of the underground Taliban bases near Kandahar in the south, at
approximately 11 a.m. local time in Afghanistan on 16 October. As the two and
others were entering the underground base, it was reported an ally fired upon
his (Omar's) back from the rear. The report is that Omar was hit in the upper
torso, and bin Laden was hit once in the chest and once in the upper left
shoulder area. Both expired at that location.
The report goes on to say that accompanying bin Laden were one of his sons and
this son's wife, who were also hit with gunfire in the chest, waist and shoulder
areas, and they too have reported suffered fatal wounds from this attack. The
second eldest son of Omar also suffered a gunshot wound to the right side of his
lower torso, and escaped the shooting, but expired on the following day."
End of Text
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
Associated Press
Oct. 24, 2001 14:00:00
BELFAST, Northern Ireland - In a quick response to the IRA's historic decision
to begin disarming, Britain started demolishing two army watchtowers on Northern
Ireland's border today.
Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid said workers began dismantling towers on
Sturgan Mountain and Camlough Mountain in the so-called "bandit country" of
South Armagh, a region of high Irish Republican Army support bordering the
Republic of Ireland.
Demolition of a lookout post at Newtownhamilton, another South Armagh border
town, and an army base at Magherafelt, a predominantly Roman Catholic town in
the province's center, would begin this week, Reid said.
"Our aim is to secure as early a return as possible to normal security
arrangements," he said.
Reid also said Britain and Ireland would not seek extradition of IRA members for
offenses committed before April 10, 1998, the date of the Good Friday peace
accord. That would allow about two dozen IRA suspects to return to Northern
Ireland without fear of prosecution.
Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble announced that his Protestant party's three
Cabinet ministers in the Northern Ireland unity government resumed their offices
today.
They resigned last week to protest the IRA's refusal to disarm. Had they not
returned, Thursday was the deadline for the government to be suspended or
collapse.
The next, more contentious step comes next week, when Trimble, a Nobel Peace
Prize laureate, is expected to seek re-election as leader of the government.
He needs majority support from both the Protestant and Catholic blocs in
Northern Ireland's legislature. While Catholics have pledged their support,
Protestant lawmakers are almost evenly divided over whether to sustain an
arrangement that includes the IRA-linked Sinn Fein party.
On Tuesday, international disarmament officials confirmed that the IRA had put a
substantial amount of weapons "beyond use."
Security officials have estimated the IRA possesses more than 100 tons of
weapons in secret bunkers throughout the Republic of Ireland, much of it
smuggled from Libya in the mid-1980s.
Chief Constable Ronnie Flanagan, commander of Northern Ireland's police force,
said it was too early to declare that the IRA would never take up arms again.
But "we are certainly the closest yet, in my estimation, to saying that the war
waged by the Provisional IRA is over," Flanagan said, using the outlawed group's
full name.
Some anti-British militants, however, predicted that even more IRA members would
join dissident groups committed to mounting more bomb and gun attacks in pursuit
of the IRA's traditional aim - the abolition of Northern Ireland as a
Protestant-majority state. Since 1970 IRA violence has claimed more than 1,800
lives.
"Only one section of the IRA is disarming," said Joe Dillon, a senior supporter
of a splinter IRA group nicknamed the Real IRA, formed after the IRA's 1997
cease-fire. The Real IRA was behind the deadliest attack in the past three
decades of conflict, a 1998 car-bomb attack on the town of Omagh that killed 29
and wounded more than 330.
And in an apparent sign that the group remains active, two men were arrested
today at a police checkpoint in possession of a submachine gun. Flanagan said
they were Real IRA suspects.
Outlawed anti-Catholic groups have shown no sign of following the IRA's lead on
disarmament. Two of those groups, the Ulster Defense Association and Loyalist
Volunteer Force, earlier this month had their cease-fires declared invalid by
Britain because of recent attacks on Catholics.
But Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said he wasn't concerned about disarming the
Protestant groups.
"There is no big demand from within the broad Sinn Fein constituency for the
loyalists to be put through hoops over the question of guns, we simply want them
to stop using their guns and we simply want them to stop using their bombs," he
said in Dublin.
+ + + +
epoch
Doug Quarnstrom
This pointer is an analysis of this rumor.
...hard to say if it is true.
Rizla Ranger (Re-Energised) UK
Heard the word on the Afghan oil?
http://www.channel4.com/news/home/20011025/Story04.htm
Respec'!
Riz
"Doug Quarnstrom" wrote
Rizla Ranger (Re-Energised) UK
Rizla Ranger (Re-Energised) UK
Rizla Ranger UK
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon appealed to Americans on Thursday to send in bright
ideas on thwarting terrorism, announcing an unusual, open competition to speed
the winners into use.
The Defense Department said it was looking for help in "defeating difficult
targets, conducting protracted operations in remote areas and developing
countermeasures to weapons of mass destruction."
The goal was to find concepts that can be developed and fielded in 12 to 18
months, a blink of an eye compared with standard Pentagon acquisition and
deployment procedures.
U.S. officials from President Bush down have said they fear more terrorist
attacks after the Sept. 11 hijack attacks that killed more than 5,000 people at
the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and on a crashed flight in Pennsylvania.
Laying out a streamlined three-step application process, the Pentagon called for
one-page idea descriptions by Dec. 23. Those retained will be asked to provide
up to 12 pages of details.
The department then will invite those with the most promising ideas to submit
full proposals in a third phase "that may form the basis for a contract," a
statement said.
We're open to ideas from just about everybody," added Glenn Flood, a Pentagon
spokesman. More information on the process has been posted at
http://www.bids.tswg.gov.
Rizla Ranger UK
Oct. 23 — Here is the text of the e-mail, dated Oct. 18, sent by Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein to Christopher Love, 43, a Pennsylvania-based computer engineer.
(Editor's Note: This e-mail is reprinted as it was received by ABCNEWS.com.)
In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
Dear brother in the family of mankind,
I read your e-mail message of October 2nd carefully and I have well pondered
over your emotions regarding the victims of the two towers.
All I can say is presenting my condolences to you, and to reiterate the Muslims
linguistic formula on occasion, like this: (God has created us, and to him we
return. May God give you long life ).
In a letter of reply like this, there may be no room to say all I want, not to
acquaint you with Saddam Hussein's and his comrades in the leadership way of
thinking, or of how Iraqis think through them, and of the kind of principles
they believe in.
Nevertheless, as you have come to me to know about things, as I understood from
your message: the way my people, the Arabs and Muslims, for whom the Arabs are a
model, think. You wanted an answer to these questions by addressing yourself to
an official in the leadership of this people, and this religion, as well as to
someone from the region, you call the Middle-East.
I may give you an explanation to what happened to the two towers, and made
America mourn, and inflicted pain and sorrow on others, because such an event
has been inflicted on other people in the past, including Arabs and Muslims, in
many cases.
I began this letter, by addressing you by the word "brother", although you are
neither Iraqi or Arab, nor a Muslim, as can be seen by your name.
'Why I Called You Brother'
Christopher, do you know why I called you brother? Because I never forget, that
all mankind come from Adam and Eve. They are all brothers, although they later
became different nations and adherent to different religions. Hence, to our
understanding,, we are one family within the peoples of our earth.
In this family, there is vice and virtue, good and bad people. As long as a man
safeguards his rights and duties, within himself, and with humanity, avoids
transgressing other peoples' rights, greed, and harming others, and tries to be
useful to others, only if they ask for his help, he becomes their brother. But,
when any member of this family of mankind oppresses, exploits, unjustly wages
wars on them, or lies and deceives others, he would be acting like a devil in
the form of man.
We, Arabs, have learned this, brother Christopher, before any nation on earth.
We have taught it to you, and to all the adherents of divine religions in the
Universe, because God the Almighty, had created Adam and Eve on our land.There
is no other chronicle or religion, that pretends, or can prove the contrary.
Abraham, the friend of God and the father of all prophets, is one of us, as are
all the other prophets. Whenever, God made a revelation, the Arabs were the
people to undertake the mission of spreading it to other non Arab nations, after
believing in it themselves. Again, I say that this the fundamental basis of the
humanitarian viewpoint of, not only Saddam Hussein and the Iraqi people with
him, but also of all Arabs, in all their great homeland, which was divided by
British and French colonialism, and which the US is trying to halt its people's
unity, and forbid them from enjoying their rights which God bestowed on them on
their propre land.
Once again I say, that the basic general rule is that, he who wants to avoid the
harm of others, must not harm them. He who wants to enjoy the fruits of his
corps must not damage the corps of others. In Iraq, and in the Arab rural
regions, and that could be true in different degrees, allover the world, people
would fight each other, and some of them maybe killed, but no one ever burns the
corps of others. If a criminal ever did so, he would be considered an outcast,
and his blood would be shed. Why is such an act so severely judged, although, in
comparison, the killing of a man is much more a serious act than the burning of
corps? This customary law in the Iraqi countryside, and maybe in the Arab and
world also, is based on two reasons: First: a man, can think, hide, and confront
others, while corps cannot run, hide, or draw a gun on who wants to harm them.
Second: a man cannot live without corps, and for this reason, burning his corps
is equal to depriving him from his right to live, and also, because more than
one family may have a share in these corps.
The damage would be inflicted, not only on the share of the person who is meant
to be harmed. It would include the shares of the entire family: women, children,
old people, or even young men, who can carry weapons. It is for this reason,
that our religion prohibits the killing of woman, children and old men, as well
as the uprooting of trees, when a war is fought, by necessity, between two
armies.
Burning Cereals in Silos
Do you know, brother Christopher, that your admini- stration, in its war against
the people of Iraq,has been burning not only the cereals in silos, but even the
harvest by throwing flares in order to make Iraqi people starve?
Do you know what does this mean? It means collective death. Your successive
administrations have killed one billion and a half Iraqis in eleven years as a
result of the blockade it has imposed on Iraq, according to statistics published
international organizations, including American humanitarian organization. You
can ask them for details, by Internet.
Food is important and holy to people, because it is related to man's right to
live. In the same way medicine has the same sanctity. This is something we have
learned from our history and civilization which are thousands of years old,
Hence I remind you of the Crusades in 1096-1291 by which the western aggressors
came to occupy the land of Arabs, under the pretext of saving Al-Quds from the
infidel Muslims as confirmed by documents issued by the west itself. Notice the
motto, dear Christopher: "Saving Al-Quads from the infidel Muslims"! So, the
Muslims are infidels, not in the eyes of the church, but in the eyes of the
Western leaders who mobilized the nations of the West to come as invaders to the
holy land of Al-Quads, which is the land on which landed Prophet Mohammed "Peace
be upon him" in his divine nocturnal journey.
An individual person in a nation, may be fanatic because of a wrong reasoning,
or awareness, but could leaders be so too?
You may say that this is something that happened a very long time ago. But what
made me mention it in my letter to you, is what I saw, and heard of some
leaders, not ordinary Western citizens. It seems that as if those leaders have
recalled all this inventory of fanaticism and hatred of the times of the
Crusades, in which the Western leaders considered the Arabs, who are the people
of the country and the owners of the land, as infidels who must be expelled from
their land by force.
They have, now, planted the Zionist entity in our land to replace that hatred.
They have revived the memory of the old Crusades wars by a new war of Crusades,
called for by the highest ranking rulers in your country, and in other countries
of the west.
Isn't it a paradox, and double standards, to accuse a citizen of fanaticism, to
denounce his fanatic attitude and than to mobilize armies against him, and
against the country in which he is living, on the basis of nothing but
suspicions, while waging an outrageous campaign of hatred and fanaticism to the
maximum, which even includes calling for, and the recalling the old Crusades
wars against Arab and Muslims, as we mentioned?!
Nevertheless it is well-known, that when the Arabs and Muslims leader Salahdin
Al-Ayoubi, was told that the leader of Crusades, Richard, who was called the
(Heart of Lion), was ill, he sent him a doctor, and that when his horse was
killed in a battle, he refused to fight anyone before mounting another horse.
But do you know that your administration has, one way or the other, deprived the
people of Iraq from food and medicine?
Do you know the meaning of the death of one million and a half human beings, in
addition to those who are killed by bombs and missiles?
Maybe, you and the majority of the peoples of America, do not know that American
bombardment, and death harvest caused by fighter jets, and missiles, are ongoing
in Iraq for the last eleven years, and have not stopped until the moment of
writing this letter? Do you know why you don't know?! Because the media in your
country which is controlled by Zionism, do not want you to known. And because
your administration, which says that it is necessary for the peoples of the
world to know, does not want you to know. You should ask your administration,
why doesn't it speak to you about facts ? Why doesn't present you any
information except its devilish fancies?
As for me, I can tell you why Zionism doesn't want you to know the harm
inflicted on the people of Iraq. The Zionist and the American administration
believe that it is necessary that Iraqis die. The Jewish Albright, the former US
Secretary of State, spoke in this way, or in a similar case, when she said that
the objectives of the US foreign policy, justify the death of Iraqi children.
The reason is that the Iraqis refused the Zionist usurpation of Arab and
Palestinian territories. They refuse to accept the crimes of occupying
Palestine, the Golan, and the Lebanese territories, and refuse do accept the
Zionists confiscation of the holy places of the believers in God, including
Muslims there.
Hence, whenever Zionism has the upper hand over high ranking officials in
America, it pushes the administration toward a confrontation with the Arabs, and
reinforces Zionist entity, at the expense of Arab and Palestinian rights.
By the way, please ask for the videotapes to see how the Jews, in the occupied
territories, kill old men, children and women, in front of the cameras. Do you
know that all these crimes have been perpetrated since 1935 by using Western
weapons, and in fact, American weapons in particular, weapons that cost billions
of dollars, the administration takes from American tax-payers to be granted as
an aid to the Zionist entity?
Invaders and Aggressors
So, the Arabs and Muslims did not cross the Atlantic, as invaders or aggressors.
They did not colonize America. It is America that brought them all kinds of
sufferings. If any of your rulers says something different, please discuss it
with them. For example, if they say that they crossed the Atlantic to make sure
that you get your oil supplies, tell them that oil is guaranteed by mutual
interests and non-aggression, not by aggressions, killing, violating other
people's rights, and destroying all sanctities.
If your rules say that , they crossed the Atlantic in the past to fight
Communism so that it does not invade the West, tell them that the ex-Soviet
Union has fallen apart, as has the Warsaw Pact, although I personally don't
accept the contradiction between the call for the freedom of thinking, and
saying that the Western way of thinking is more vital and modern, as the
intellectuals and leaders of the West say, and between fearing Communism.
Do you know, brother Christopher, that the NATO, which was created under the
pretext of confronting Communism, still exists, and was even enlarged after the
collapse of the Warsaw Pact. Decisions of death are taken in its name, against
some peoples of the world sometimes, as was the case against Yugoslavia, because
it is an independent, and Slovak country, and because the majority of its people
are Orthodox, not because their oppression of Muslims in Bosnia, as was claimed,
to fool the Muslims, and falsely win their support in international forums?
If we go on, we can give thousands of examples on the blind fanaticism exported
by the West to the world with American participation during the last 50 years.
But I don't want to burden you. I only want to tell you that the people of Iraq
are against all kinds of fanaticism, whether based on religion, nationality or
race. They are against the use of fanaticism as a cover for harming people whom
God does not accept to harm. They call for love between the peoples and nations
of the world. Nevertheless, we do not believe in love on one side only.
Iraq has been harmed severely by the fanaticism of others, including America. It
was also severely harmed by terrorism. Maybe you don't know that many the
members of our leadership were victims of terrorism and terrorist. Some of them
escaped death, by the will of God, after being injured or missed by the
terrorists, in addition to the pain inflected to our people.
Do you know brother, that your administration's reaction to that, was one of
encouraging it and rejoicing ? Do you know that your administration has been
encouraging terrorism against us for the past eleven years, calling to overthrow
us by force, allocating special funds to do so, and boasting about not fearing
God, as it publicly announces that on TV screens, because Iraq does not have the
same destructive force and armament of America? The Palestinians, whose right to
resist the occupation forces are guaranteed by the international law,
promulgated by America and the other big powers, are considered terrorists
because they resist the Zionist occupation of their territories, and holy
places.
Tell me, brother, if the Vatican is occupied by Arabs, or non-Arab Muslims,
wouldn't its people fight the occupying forces? Wouldn't the English people
fight for the Westminster cathedral? Or wouldn't the French people, defend
Notredame? (sic) I say they must fight for them ! Why, then, are your armies
occupying Mecca and the land of our Prophet? Why are you occupying the regional
waters in the Arab Gulf, in addition to territories in its countries ? Why is
your ally, the Zionist entity, occupying our holy places, and territories, in
Palestine, by using your arms, and financial, political, media, and moral
support? And, why are your administration killing people, including children in
Iraq, Afghanistan, and in Palestine now, just as it did, before that, in
Lebanon, Sudan, Somalia and Libya, and the list of Arabs and Muslims to be
killed is long?!
I know that Arabs are far from being fanatic. Do you know why? Because, God, the
Almighty, assigned them with the mission of delivering the messages of all
religions to humanity, and not to Arabs alone. They have fulfilled their
mission, so that all Christians is now indebted to Arabs for guiding them to
Faith, which God wanted them to have when, He made it possible for them to reach
you, or for you to reach them, so that you know what they believe in, and be
affected by it.
I know that Arabs, in general, do not adopt fanatic stances against any people
for religious reasons. But, can anyone guarantee that one fanaticism does not
create another ? Can anyone guarantee that the death toll and killing, inflicted
upon Arabs and Muslims by the American armies, would not lead to a
counter-reaction, whether that reaction is well guided, or is a random one, that
pleases no one except those who carry it out?
These words are general rules and principles, although I still do not know who
is behind what happened to the towers on September 11, 2001. Your government did
not help me, or anyone else, by showing, or communicating the information it
possesses, so that we can elaborate an opinion, if it needed to know the opinion
of those whose people it daily attacks with bombs, starves to death, and
deprives from the right to live, construct, and deploy their creativity.
Our law, which is borne of our religion and heritage, and of our reasoning which
is thousands of years deep, stipulates: "the Plaintiff should present evidence
and the defendant should take an oath." But the plaintiff, which is your
administration did not present any evidence so far. Nevertheless, it accused the
people it accused, without showing us, or anyone else, any evidence, except for
Blair and the ruler of Palestine, as they both said. The people accused have not
pleaded guilty.
Anyhow, I don't think that your administration deserves the condolences of
Iraqis, except if it presents its condolences to the Iraqi people for the one
million and a half Iraqis it killed, and apologizes to them, for the crimes it
committed against them. As for the American people, we have sent them our
condolences through Mr. Tareq Aziz's letter to the Voices in the Wilderness
Organisation and Mr Ramzi Klark, the former Attorney General, on Sept. 18, 2001.
Dear brother,
He who does not want his harvest to be burned must not set fine to the harvest
of others. He, who wants to live in security, should accept the right of others
to live in security, and he who is irritated, or raged by an aggression, should
not aggress others. He who cherishes the lives of his people, should remember
that God created all people equal at birth, in death, and in their human values,
that's why he should remember that the lives of others are also cherished by
their people. He who strikes people with remote control missiles should except,
that there would be someone to seek revenge, for his dignity and the dignity of
his people, and consequently does something harmful, or fatal, by stabbing a
dagger in his body, or taking his life by a sword.
He who sees himself as a man, who revenges his dignity, should not deprive other
men from their dignity, and he who calls for the respect of his people, men and
women, should respect the people of other nations.
He who remembers God, must not ignore or forget, that God the Almighty, is
capable of everything, and of providing the weak with what makes those who
underestimate them, make heed of their rights and respect them.
In any case, the security of humanity is, in our view, a responsibility on the
shoulders of all good people. Any irresponsible action on the part of
superpowers may give way to a counter irresponsible action by the people, even
if the smaller nations do not take such a course of action.
Finally there is something in your letter that you asked to be corrected, if it
was wrong about the ex President Bush, is giving us reason to believe that he
was our ally in the issue of Kuwait, but he was forced to abide with the
United-Nations?.The Fact, Mr. Christopher, is that, it was President Bush who
adopted the logic of war, right from the first day of those events. He refused
solving the problem politically, and entering into a dialogue with us. The
resolutions of the United Nations were, in fact, adopted under pressure from
Bush and his administration. He then waged the war against Iraq, in a way that
had nothing to do with the issue of Kuwait. His objective was to destroy all
Iraq, and to deprive its people of the edifice they built, in several decades,
and not merely getting the Iraqi armed forces out of Kuwait. He did that in
1991, and he later committed similar things, and he and his administration, are
still doing so under different pretexts and justifications.
Wishing that you will have the opportunity to see the fact as they are, and not
as your administration present them,
Yours truly,
Saddam Hussein,
Baghdad, Shabban 2,1422 H.
Oct. 18, 2001
Rizla Ranger UK
This Day (Lagos)
October 25, 2001
Ademola Adeyemo
Ibadan
The adulterated "killer" kerosene explosion had spread to Ogbomoso, in Oyo State
claiming the lives of eight people including four students of the Ladoke
Akintola University (LAUTECH).
Twenty two victims of the kerosene explosion were also admitted into the
University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan for various degrees of burn.
The high number of casualties prompted the students of LAUTECH to issue a threat
that they would match to the headquarters of the Nigeria National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC) to protest the death of their colleagues.
The students led by their President, Comrade Egbeleke Ropo, in their protest to
the office of the Oyo State Governor, Alhaji Lam Adesina, claimed that the
explosions had killed three students while fifteen others were on the danger
list.
Egbeleke who also blamed frequent power outages for the incident said NNPC could
not absorb itself from the distribution of the killer kerosene in the country.
Also yesterday, the authorities of the Baptist Medical Centre Ogbomoso in a
release in Ibadan said that not less than 12 patients had been admitted for the
treatment of burns in the hospital.
According to the release signed by the Principal Medical Officer of the
hospital, Dr. a. O. Adeniyi, eight of the patients had died while others were on
danger list.
But the hospital regretted that the victims refused to disclose the source of
the "killer" kerosene thereby making it difficult to trace the main source of
the product.
At the UCH, the emergency unit of the hospital was busy attending to the victims
yesterday, many of whom were said to have been brought for admission from Ojoo,
Apata, Moniya and nearby villages.
+ + + +
P.M. News (Lagos)
October 25, 2001
Sunday Oriyan
Makurdi
Another 13 persons were reported killed yesterday in Makurdi, capital of
troubled Benue State where soldiers allegedly killed 500 on Tuesday after
invading four villages in search of murderers of 19 soldiers on October 10.
Many people were also reportedly injured.
According to Reuters News Agency, the 13 people were killed when students of the
Benue State University poured into the streets to protest the invasion of the
state by soldiers. Three mosques were also allegedly set on fire during the
protests.
Situation in the embattled state is very tense as soldiers, who have been given
orders to shoot on sight paraded the streets in armoured vehicles to enforce a
dusk to dawn curfew imposed on the capital.
Protesters burned barricades while chanting anti-government slogans and calling
for the withdrawal of soldiers from the state.
A security adviser to the state governor who visited Zakibiam, one of the
ravaged villages yesterday said he witnessed the systematic destruction of
buildings by soldiers using rocket-propelled grenades.
The town is now deserted following army attack on Tuesday which left many people
dead. Refugees arriving Makurdi narrated tales of horrendous massacres, saying
soldiers descended on their villages on Monday, rounding up menfolk then
shooting and setting them on fire.
"I was hiding in the bush very nearby", said one farmer. "That's where I saw
everything. I would not move I would not even shake because they were shooting
at where the grass shook".
Former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Victor Malu, who comes from the area said armed
men had burst into his own home and killed four members of his household before
burning down neighbouring houses.
Yesterday's protest was reportedly led by an estimated 5000 students from Benue
State University and University of Agriculture, Makurdi who left their campuses
in the morning. They took over the Wurukum Market area where they lit bonfires.
Many trades who sighted them took to their heels while business centres and
stall owners quickly closed their shops.
The Jukuns who live mainly around the Wurukum area in a suburb known as Angwa
Jukun quickly gathered their personal effects and fled to the state police
headquarters.
But Governor George Akume, who spoke to journalists at 9.00 a.m. today said only
two people have been reported to him as killed.
The governor said the protest by students was hijacked by hoodlums who went
about stealing. He disclosed that President Obasanjo told him on telephone
yesterday, that he had ordered immediate cessation of all military operation in
the area.
Akume confirmed the killing of over one hundred and thirty people in Gbeji
village alone and the destruction of General Victor Malu's house in Tse-Adoor.
He, however, declined to give figure of the total number of people killed by
soldiers saying "the numbers are being compiled".
The governor, who had earlier apologised to the federal government said the
soldiers killed by Tivs was a case of mistaken identity.
As tension pervades Makurdi, the Governor, George Akume has invited 48 prominent
indigenes of the state for an emergency meeting by 8.p.m. today at the
Hovernment House, Makurdi.
Among those invited are all retired senior military officers from the state,
including Victor Malu, the immediate part Chief of Army Staff.
Akume's concern for the security situation in the state was instrumental in the
appointment of Col. Edward Jando (retd) as Special Adviser on Security Matters
last month.
+ + + +
The Monitor (Kampala)
October 25, 2001
Andrew M. Mwenda
Museveni, Kagame meeting in balance
As the diplomatic row between Uganda and Rwanda deepens, the international
community has stepped-up efforts to avert an impending war between the two
former allies.
Highly placed diplomatic sources have told The Monitor that London, Washington
and Brussels have all put both Uganda and Rwanda under intense diplomatic
pressure to exercise restraint in the current escalation of military
hostilities.
Impeccable military and security sources in both Kampala and Kigali have
confirmed to this reporter that Uganda and Rwanda have been amassing troops
along areas near their borders with the Uganda even clearing access roads to the
Rwanda border, although President Museveni's aide Moses Byaruhanga said on
Monitor FM last evening that none of these was not connected to any hostile
action against Rwanda.
According to reliable diplomatic sources who talked to The Monitor on condition
of anonymity, last week Rwanda launched several diplomatic offensives against
Uganda. Sources say Rwanda was using the now famous Aug. 28 letter President
Yoweri Museveni wrote to British Overseas Development minister, Claire Short.
Museveni's letter to Short was asking for British permission to allow Uganda
increase her military spending by more than 120 percent to counter possible
aggression by Rwanda. The British refused the request.
According to diplomatic sources Kigali circulated Museveni's letter to all
leaders in the Great Lakes region and to key diplomatic missions at the United
Nations headquarters in New York. Sources say that last Wednesday (October 17)
Rwanda notified all diplomatic missions that Uganda intended to launch an attack
within 48 hours.
According to a highly placed source in Pretoria, South African president, Thabo
Mbeki called President Museveni to express his concern about the "impending"
war. The source told The Monitor that Museveni told Mbeki that Uganda was not
planning any such attack. The source further said that Mbeki then called
Tanzanian president, Benjamin Mkapa who has been quietly mediating between the
two countries to express his (Mbeki's) concern.
Highly placed diplomatic sources in London have told The Monitor that Short
called Museveni late last week to talk about the tensions between Uganda and
Rwanda. Subsequently, on Monday this week the British government handed a
demarche (diplomatic note demanding for a promise that Uganda will not attack
Rwanda) and handed it to the ministry of foreign affairs in Kampala. Britain did
the same with Rwanda.
When contacted, the second secretary (political) to the British high commission
in Kampala, Ewan Ormiston, said Britain is a friend of both Rwanda and Uganda.
"Am not therefore not prepared to comment on details of bilateral exchanges
between the two governments," he said, "But we are concerned about reports of
tension."
Highly placed sources in the ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kampala intimated to
this reporter that they were under "diplomatic siege" the whole of last week
with calls coming in from far and wide asking why Uganda intended to attack
Rwanda. The Monitor has reliably learnt that this week, Uganda has moved from
its defensive posture to an active diplomatic offensive to counter "Rwanda's
propaganda."
Information available to The Monitor further indicates that the United States
will hand a demarche to Uganda on Monday next week, again seeking a clear
statement from Kampala that it will not be the first to attack. The USA, like
Britain, will hand the same note to Rwanda seeking a guarantee from Kigali that
it will not attack first.
When contacted, the US Embassy's Public Affairs officer Mary Jeffers told The
Monitor last evening that: "I cannot comment publicly on private diplomatic
communication before the two countries".
According to sources in Dar Es Salaam and Nairobi, Presidents Mkapa and Daniel
arap Moi of Kenya have both been in touch with Museveni and Kagame trying to
prevail on the two leaders not to begin a fight. Sources have told The Monitor
that both Museveni and Kagame have each individually assured Moi and Mkapa that
they will not be the one to shoot the first bullet.
The Monitor has further confirmed that Presidents Kagame and Museveni will not
meet at the Global Coalition for Africa conference in Gaborone, Botswana this
week as previously reported in the media. Rwanda government spokesman told The
Monitor last evening that Kagame can only meet Museveni after the Uganda
president apologised for insulting him (Kagame) in the letter to Short.
According to information which this reporter has obtained, European Union (EU)
officials in Nairobi, Kampala, Dar Es Salaam and Kigali are meeting today and
tomorrow to adopt a common position on how to dissuade the two countries from
war. Again, highly placed sources have confirmed to The Monitor that the EU will
present a demarche to both Kampala and Kigali this Friday or latest Monday next
week.
However, The Monitor has established that relations between Uganda and Rwanda
are being handled through State House, the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence
(CMI) under Lt. Col. Noble Mayombo and the office of the army Chief of Staff,
Maj. Gen. James Kazini. The ministry of Foreign Affairs is by and large ignorant
about the actual situation on the ground and can hardly offer a proper brief to
diplomats who call on them for explanation.
+ + + +
New Vision (Kampala)
October 25, 2001
Three UPDF cadet officers undergoing training in Jinja collapsed and died on
Tuesday, army spokesman Lt. Col. Katirima confirmed yesterday.
Emmy Allio reports that the training for the remaining 1,235 cadets continued
yesterday.
A dozen other cadets were yesterday rushed to a hospital in Jinja after they
also collapsed during training.
"We lost three cadets who could not withstand the vigorous training. We are
making efforts to inform their nearest of kin," Katirima said.
He said, "We undergo tough exercises which need people who are physically fit.
The point of being fit before recruitment was made clear to the cadets during
the recruitment exercise."
The recent countrywide exercise for recruiting cadets into the army hit a snag
when it was discovered that foreigners beat the screening process and got
recruited into the army.
The army admitted that Rwandan nationals infiltrated the recruitment exercise.
Katirima said, "The screening is going on slowly as the cadets train. We are
sure if such infiltrators exist, we shall catch them."
He said Rwandan army officers who were part of a larger group detained by the
Joint Anti-Terrorism taskforce were still in detention.
+ + + +
The human rights organisation Amnesty International has called for the immediate
release from detention of its representative in Gambia who, it said, appeared to
have been arrested because of remarks he made on the BBC.
Mr Mohammed Lamine Sillah, who was detained on 22 October, was one of at least a
dozen, and probably many more, people - including opposition activists and
journalists - who were picked up in the wake of a presidential election held on
18 October.
The poll was won by President Yayah Jammeh, who first came to power in a
military coup in 1994.
The presidential elections were judged by election observers like the
Commonwealth to have been fair on the day of the voting.
But the wave of arrests after the poll may indicate that President Jammeh's
government, which first came to power in a military coup, is reverting to its
old repressive ways now that the foreign observers have left the country.
The Amnesty International representative in Gambia was detained after telling
the BBC about the earlier arrests of opposition activists.
The main opposition party claims that some 60 of its people have been picked up
without charge in what appears to have been an exercise in settling political
scores.
Although this figure cannot be confirmed, a large number of arrests have taken
place. In some cases, members of the youth wing of President Jammeh's ruling
party have been moving from house to house pointing out opposition members who
are then detained by the police.
Gambia's former military coup leader won the elections, standing as a civilian,
partly by appealing to the youth.
He also exploited the incumbency which his 1994 coup gave him by mobilising the
resources of the state behind his ruling political party.
This was particularly noticeable during the campaigning when Mr Jammeh told
villagers that if they voted for him they would be rewarded by development
projects - but if they voted for the opposition they would get nothing.
It was also clear during the campaign that the army supported Mr Jammeh. He was
followed during the hustings by a heavy security presence which appeared to
exceed the immediate security threat and was interpreted by the opposition as
intimidating.
For example, at one ruling party rally I saw at least two large anti-aircraft
guns. There is no known armed opposition in Gambia, and certainly none that has
aircraft.
At another rally I saw army officers' wives, dressed for the occasion in the
uniforms of their husbands. The message was obvious - the army is behind the
president.
But Mr Jammeh also won the election by successfully exploiting a split in the
opposition, which failed to mobilise behind a single candidate.
That same opposition is now crying foul and pointing to the wave of arrests as
proof of the repressive nature of the regime.
+ + + +
Intelligence bosses have appealed to users of extremist Arabic websites to
identify terrorists supporters of Osama Bin Laden in the UK.
There have been fears that cells or "sleepers" affiliated to Bin Laden's
al-Qaeda terrorist network could remain in the UK.
MI5 officials have posted messages on several sites, hoping to glean information
about terrorists who may have helped organise the 11 September atrocities.
It is hoped that security services can learn more about the attacks and prevent
any similar outrages in the UK.
We are asking members of the public to telephone us if they have any information
that could help us track down terrorists
Home Office spokesman
A Home Office spokesman said: "The purpose is clear.
"We are asking members of the public to telephone us if they have any
information that could help us track down terrorists.
"To do this successfully it relies on the help of the general public."
The spokesman said several extremist websites had been targeted.
The Sun newspaper has reported that one of the websites was a Saudi opposition
group which had offered support to Bin Laden.
Protection plea
Written in Arabic, the MI5 message said: "The atrocities that took place in the
USA on 11 September led to the deaths of about 5,000 people, including a large
number of Muslims and peoples of other faiths.
"MI5 (the British Security Service) is responsible for countering terrorism to
protect all UK citizens of whatever faith or ethnic group.
"If you think you can help us call us to prevent further outrages, call us in
confidence on 020 7930 9000."
The Sun reported that MI5 had 671 hits within the first 10 hours, 16 of which
attacked the allied coalition's aims in Afghanistan.
+ + + +
New Vision (Kampala)
October 26, 2001
Emmy Allio
The United Nations has rushed to intervene in the disputed Congolese town of
Kanyabayonga which is at the centre of the conflict between Uganda and Rwanda,
sources said yesterday.
The United Nations Observer Mission to Congo (MONUC) team flew from Kisangani on
Monday to Kanyabayonga to establish who was in charge there after Rwanda and
Uganda raised concern over its control.
Army spokesman Lt. Col. Phinehas Katirima said yesterday MONUC was yet to
release its findings.
But the controversy on who controls the town continued Tuesday, with Rwanda
denying it had troops in the town and accusing Uganda of amassing troops to
attack its army.
Rwanda said its army's Chief of Operations confirmed that UPDF held positions
marked out at the first Joint Military Commission's meeting in Kampala on
October 12, 1999.
The Rwanda government-owned The New Times newspaper yesterday said the UPDF and
Jean Pierre Bemba's Congolese Liberation Movement (MLC) forces were in control
of the town.
The paper said Rwanda had protested to MONUC, accusing Uganda of amassing troops
at Kanyabayonga "for imminent attack against Rwandan troops' positions".
But Katirima said, "Rwanda is lying. We have no troops in Kanyabayonga. We left
that position in June."
Uganda's defence minister Amama Mbabazi on Wednesday denied that Uganda was
amassing troops to fight Rwanda.
Meanwhile, the government yesterday ordered the total withdrawal of its
remaining troops and equipment from the Congolese towns of Gbadolite and Buta to
end its presence in that part of Congo.
The UPDF will, however, remain in the northeastern Congolese town of Bunia where
the battalion from Buta will be transferred, Katirima said.
"The current situation does not allow us to keep the army in Congo. The
government has decided to withdraw completely from the rear parts of Congo," he
added.
A defence ministry official said funds were ready to fly home the soldiers and
heavy equipment left by the army in Gbadolite.
Uganda has said the Rwanda-backed People's Redemption Army (PRA) led by renegade
UPDF officers, colonels Anthony Kyakabale and Samson Mande were training in
areas around Rutshuru, south of Kanyabayonga in the Rwanda-controlled part of
the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
On Monday, President Yoweri Museveni appointed Lt. Col. Samuel Segamwenge, who
was one of the commanders in the Kisangani clash against the Rwandan army, to
replace Col. Edson Muzoora in Bunia.
Since August last year, the UPDF have withdrawn from Lisala, Kanyabayonga,
Bafwasende, Butembo, Buta, Libenge, Gemena, Basankusu, Isiro and Gbadolite.
+ + + +
Vanguard (Lagos)
October 25, 2001
Godwin Akor, Rotimi Ajayi, Ben Agande, Kingsley Omonobi, Victoria Ojeme, Emma
Nnadozie & Olasunkanmi Akoni
Makurdi
Unidentified groups launched fresh attacks yesterday on the Tiv village of Zaki
Biam in Benue State, two days after soldiers gunned down dozens of people in
what is generally seen as a revenge mission following the killing of 19 soldiers
by youths.
Tiv legislators in the National Assembly reacting to the murder of their people
are accusing the federal authorities of ethnic cleansing against the Tiv while
the Benue State Government imposed a curfew to stem the tide of killings.
Defence Minister, Lt. Gen. Yakubu Danjuma, Tuesday briefed the National Security
Council (NSC) on the invasion of four Tiv villages and the alleged murder of
about 200 residents by soldiers.
In the latest attack on Zaki Biam, unidentified people reportedly destroyed
buildings in the largely deserted town.
"They say people have visited Zaki Biam again to do a total levelling," Shima
Ayati, Special Adviser to the State Governor of Benue State said on telephone
from Makurdi.
"This morning they are there. They are destroying buildings now because the
people all ran out of Zaki_Biam," said Ayati, who is also relief coordinator in
the state.
The killings of the more than 200 people began Monday in the community of Gbeji
and spread to neighbouring Vaase, Anyiin and Zaki Biam villages near where the
bodies of 19 soldiers were found hacked to death on October 12, government
officials said.
Tiv legislators in the National Assembly reacting yesterday to the alleged
killing of residents of four villages in Benue accused the Federal Government of
effecting a "gruesome act of ethnic cleansing against the Tiv."
They therefore asked President Olusegun Obasanjo to set up a judicial commission
of inquiry into the conflicts involving the Tiv in Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa
states.
In a petition to the British High Commission in Abuja and the U.S.
Ambassador in Nigeria, Senator Daniel Saror and Hon. Gabriel Suswan asked the
two authorities to intervene to save the Tiv from going the way of Rwandans.
They said: "For quite some time now, there has been a deliberate plan to
eliminate the Tiv people in Taraba and Nasarawa states. The idea has been to
ensure that the Tiv people who are numerous in those states are denied exercise
of their political voting rights. They are being forced to relocate to Benue
State as refugees.
"In Taraba State, where the campaign has been most vicious, Tiv people are being
hunted and killed as wild animals and their houses destroyed. They are arriving
Benue State as refugees; the situation can only be compared to the genocide in
Rwanda.
"The situation has deteriorated to the point that Nigerian soldiers in the last
few days have invaded Sankera Federal Constituency of Benue State using armoured
vehicles.
"At Gbeji in Ukum LGA, the soldiers came pretending to be peace makers, the
unsuspecting villagers assembled at the market square. The soldiers opened fire
and killed over 100 civilians including women and children.
"They moved to Anyiin town in Logo LGA and destroyed the town and killed some
civilians.
"In Katsina Ala LGA they attacked the compound of Gen. Victor Malu, levelled the
place and killed four of his relations in the process, including a man and his
wife.
"At Zaki_Biam in Ukum LGA, the invading soldiers destroyed many houses including
the house of Hon. B.A. Chaha, former Speaker of the Federal House of
Representatives, the house of the paramount chief and that of the local
government chairman. They destroyed many other houses and killed a number of
civilians.
"It is clear that the Federal Government of Nigeria has approved a plan to
eliminate Tiv people from Taraba and Nasarawa states using the Nigerian Armed
Forces of which he is the Commander in Chief.
"Our prayer and appeal to you is that you please use your good offices to
prevail on the Nigerian government to halt this gruesome act of ethnic
cleansing.
"Your intervention is necessary if the Tiv race will not suffer the same fate as
the case in Rwanda."
And in a separate letter to President Olusegun Obasanjo, Prof. Daniel Saror
noted that despite several petitions to government on the crisis in Benue State,
the killing of Tiv people has continued.
FG to blame- Unongo
Another prominent Tiv leader, Dr. Paul Unongo at a press conference in Abuja
yesterday blamed the Federal Government for the escalation of the crisis between
the Tiv and the Jukun.
Dr. Unongo who spoke, for the Tiv said the non-implementation of a 10 point
programme initiated by the Babangida administration by its successors accounted
for the continued clashes between the Tiv and the Jukun.
Said he: "The Federal Government is as much to blame as all those who are
involved in this mini war because it has failed either by design or for some
reasons refused to implement the 10 point programme which is at the root of the
crisis."
Curfew imposed on Makurdi, Gboko
On its part, Benue State Government yesterday imposed an indefinite curfew on
the state capital, Makurdi, and Gboko. The curfew runs from 6.00 p.m.
according to the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. B.O Oche who said it was
to "forestall the activities of hoodlums in the two towns."
Security agents, he said, had been directed to shoot violators on sight.
He said the curfew was imposed at the end of an emergency meeting between the
state governor, his cabinet and security agencies.
Danjuma briefs NSC
Defence Minister Lt. Gen. Theophilus Danjuma, Tuesday briefed the National
Security Council on the raiding of some villages in Benue State by armed
soldiers.
The Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana said yesterday that the National
Security Council had met on the issue.
Prof. Gana, however, said the issue was not discussed at yesterday's Federal
Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
"It is a very sensitive and very important nature, I am sure Mr. President is
treating it. But the National Security Council has met on it."
Army denies involvement
However, the army authorities yesterday reacted to reports claiming mass
killings of indigenes of Benue State in reprisal attacks with its spokesman,
Col. Felix Chukwuma stating that the army was in the state to search for the
killers of the slain 19 soldiers as well as keep the peace only.
The Director of Army Public Relations told Vanguard in his office, that
insinuations that the army sent its men to invade the state were misplaced and
erroneous.
According to him, though a detailed statement on the activities of the soldiers
deployed for peacekeeping as well as search and rescue efforts would be issued
by the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), there was no iota of truth in the claim that
soldiers were sent there to carry out reprisal killings.
Why army intervened- POLICE
Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Haz Iwendi yesterday in Lagos said soldiers
intervened in the crisis because it had turned into guerrilla warfare.
Answering questions on why soldiers took over the duties of the police during
the crisis, the police spokesman said, "it is like a guerrilla warfare. The
scenario is different. It degenerated into a condition where you do not see
anybody at the scene of the crisis.
"What they do is to attack and withdraw. If it was a crisis on one-on-one, we
could be there. But now, people are being killed daily by masked youths who set
up uncountable road blocks and armed with sophisticated weapons.
That was why army came in to clear the obstructions.
"Police were not able to cope with the situation after it snowballed into a
guerrilla warfare. Moreover, the Governor of Benue State had to seek permission
from the Presidency for the army to patrol the area before some of them
(soldiers) were killed."
On the reported differences between Benue and Taraba police commissioners over
the crisis, Mr. Iwendi said: "Governors of Benue and Taraba states visited the
Inspector General of Police in Abuja and they were full of praises for the two
commissioners. So, I don't think any of them (commissioners) should be held
culpable for the escalation of the crisis.
The commissioners have been holding joint meetings aimed at resolving the
crisis."
Another Odi in the making - CLO
The Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) has condemned alleged invasion of some
villages in Benue State by soldiers resulting in the killing and maiming of more
than 200 Nigerians.
In a statement, CLO said this latest action was a crime against humanity and a
gross violation of human rights contrary to Section 33 of the 1999 constitution.
"While we condemn the senseless killing of the 19 peacekeeping soldiers, we do
not see this present act as capable of bringing about lasting peace in the area.
However, we want those responsible to be brought to justice," it said and asked
the Federal Government to immediately:
Withdraw the soldiers from Benue State; Empower the police to carry out their
responsibility; Constitute an independent judicial commission of enquiry to look
into the age long Tiv Jukun feud; and, Take steps to rebuild Odi which was
destroyed by soldiers in a similar operation in 1999." Pandemonium in Makurdi
Meanwhile, as the Tiv/Jukun crisis deepen, pandemonium broke out yesterday in
Makurdi, following the blocking of roads by irate youths at the Wukukum area
near the Benue State University.
Schools have been closed since Monday while civil servants deserted their
offices as early as 9.00 a.m. While some sources said the youths planned to
engage in reprisal attacks because of the invasion of five Tiv villages by
soldiers, other sources said the police had prepared to ward off such moves.
When our correspondent visited Wukukum, smoke from burnt tyres and canisters had
enveloped the entire area. Mobile policemen were also on patrol in the whole
town.
Shops in Makurdi were closed while parents ran helter-skelter to pick their
children from school.
Prior to the action of the youths, the police in Makurdi had announced that it
would deal ruthlessly with any group that embarks on demonstrations whether
peaceful or violent.
Soldiers escape ambush on Benue, Taraba boundary
A News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) report yesterday said another set of soldiers
narrowly escaped an ambush by suspected Tiv militia along the crisis hit
Benue/Taraba boundary.
The soldiers could have been abducted at the same spot where 19 military
personnel were recently kidnapped, slaughtered and their bodies reportedly
mutilated.
The soldiers, however, shot six of the heavily armed militiamen and arrested two
suspects, whom they handed over to the police at Wukari.
Deputy Governor of Taraba, Alhaji Saleh Danboyi, visited the disputed boundary
area on Tuesday and confirmed the report.
He was briefed by Brig. Gen. D.D. Yaji, Commander, 23 Armoured Brigade, Yola,
who is also the leader of a team deployed to the affected area to restore
normalcy.
Yaji gave an assurance that "the boundary areas and crisis hit North East and
Abuja routes are now under full military control and will soon be declared safe
for motorists."
+ + + +
The Taleban have captured a senior opposition figure, Abdul Haq, close to the
capital, Kabul.
The Taleban are congratulating each other by radio on the capture of Commander
Abdul Haq, declaring this to be a great success
Commander Haq had been widely expected to be a key figure in any post-Taleban
administration in Afghanistan.
A Taleban spokesman said he had been arrested despite efforts by US helicopters
to rescue him.
The BBC's Rahimullah Yusufzai says the arrest marks a major setback in US-backed
efforts to replace the Taleban regime with a broad-based and multi-ethnic
government.
In an immediate reaction, the son of Afghanistan's former king Mohammed Zahir
Shah confirmed Abdul Haq's capture and asked the Taleban to spare him.
"We appeal to the Taleban to spare his life" Mir Wais Zahir told Reuters news
agency in Rome. "This is a blow to my father's peace plan."
Abdul Haq was a Kabul area commander of the mujahadeen in the 1980s.
To the Afghan resistance, he was a hero of the ten year conflict which ended
with the Soviet troops retreating in 1989.
Commander Haq, as he is still often called, is a Pashtun, like the Taleban.
He has been highly critical of the US bombing raids on his country, saying they
were damaging his efforts to win over more moderate members of the Taleban.
He also opposes the opposition Northern Alliance.
Sources close to Abdul Haq confirmed to the BBC on Friday morning that he had
been captured.
The Taleban say his capture - in the province of Logar - was the result of a
careful military operation.
"The Taleban are congratulating each other by radio on the capture of commander
Abdul Haq, declaring this to be a great success," the Pakstan-based Islamic
Press Agency (AIP) said.
"We laid a secret seige for two days... during the siege American helicopters
carried out intense bombing to enable Commander Haq to escape but we arrested
him at 0230 (Friday) when he tried to escape," a Taleban spokesman told AIP.
The Taleban say they captured at least four other men in the operation as US
helicopters tried to bomb Taleban positions.
After helping drive out the Soviets from Afghanistan, Abdul Haq steered clear of
the infighting among the victorious mujahadeen.
He recently returned to Pakistan from self-exile in the United Arab Emirates.
He attracted a great deal of media and diplomatic attention because of
expectations of the role he would play in a post-Taleban Afghanistan.
In 1999, after he joined the campaign to rid his homeland of the Taleban, gunmen
shot dead his wife, their 11-year-old son and a bodyguard outside his home.
Earlier this week, he told the BBC's Matthew Grant that he would be ready to
take up arms again if he could see no other way forward - but first he wanted to
try his hand at diplomacy.
He supports efforts to return the 87-year-old former Afghan king, Mohammed Zahir
Shah, to power and hopes to create a coalition large enough to propel the
monarch back to Kabul.
His own network includes moderate Taleban leaders, his former mujahadeen fellow
commanders and other Afghan strongmen.
Commander Haq told the BBC that despite Afghanistan's recent history it could
create a political process and bring forth a "new system that would co-operate
with the international community".
This would rid the country of the Taleban without permitting the Northern
Alliance to slip in through the back door, he said.
"And there would be no revenge. You would be part of the system which you had
changed and would have a role to play in the future."
+ + + +
Concord Times (Freetown)
October 25, 2001
Alhassan Spear Kamara
Freetown
Over 120 child ex-combatants who have just been disarmed by UNAMSIL and
demobilized by NCDDR are presently receiving a free medical attention from an
international non governmental organisation MSF Holland based at the government
hospital in Makeni.
Some of the children have expressed fear of going back home and would like to
stay with Caritas-Makeni.
They have been quoted as saying that they might be disowned by members of their
family.
"I cannot go back to my home because my parent may not accept me," 16 year-old
Mohamed Rogers from Pujehun district said.
The children who are between the ages of 10-18 years were visibly malnourished.
Madam Zainab Y. Sesay from the Child Protection Unit, Caritas - Makeni said that
the children were abducted by the RUF.
She said most of the children are infected with diseases like hernia, sexually
transmitted diseases and malaria.
She described the condition of the child ex-combatants as pathetic.
Presently, the child ex-combatants are camped in a Caritas branch office
situated along Station Road where they are cared for.
+ + + +
Concord Times (Freetown)
October 25, 2001
Ibrahim Seibureh
Freetown
The people of Wellington were 4 a.m. Thursday woken up by a shoot out between
the police and armed robbers in which two men of the underworld were killed.
The CPO "D" Division Mr. P.E. B. Wellington said Thursday the police received a
phone call saying the robbers were operating at 10, Congo Water street,
Wellington.
The police immediately mobilised and headed for the area.
On their way, the robbers who had laid ambush for them opened fire.
"We responded," he said adding that they later discovered two of the robbers had
died.
The rest ran away dragging along one of the dead robbers.
Alimamy Mansaray, a prime suspect, of 15, Magnus street is now in police net.
They found on the dead robber MM 7.62 riffle, 19 live ammunitions, one car tape
and speakers including two torchlights.
The identity of the dead robber, the police say, has not been known. Meanwhile
eight people were Tuesday arrested at Victoria Park for loitering.
The police described Victoria Park as recently being notorious as a venue for
robbers.
The arrested men have been charged to court.
+ + + +
Daily Trust (Abuja)
October 23, 2001
Sudan's main rebel group has claimed to have killed 429 government troops over
the last week in attacks on oil-producing areas in the war-ravaged south.
It was not possible to confirm the rebel claims, and government officials in the
Sudanese capital, Khartoum, were unavailable for comment Sunday.
A spokesman for the Sudan People's Liberation Army said its fighters last week
attacked a number of oil companies in Wehda, 800 kilometers south of Khartoum,
and overran government forces in the provincial capital of Bentiu.
The rebels did not say which oil companies were attacked.
In western Upper Nile, the rebels attacked a main oil-production area,
destroying bulldozers and other equipment, SPLA spokesman Yasser Arman said in a
statement faxed from Asmara, Eritrea.
"In central Upper Nile, the rebels attacked a garrison in the Fam al-Zeraf area.
In that attack, 105 government soldiers joined the rebels", he said.
He said the attacks took place between October 12-20. It was unclear in which
attacks the government troops were allegedly killed.
Arman warned oil companies operating in southern Sudan to leave the area, adding
that oil-production areas were "legitimate military targets."
The SPLA has been fighting for autonomy for southern Sudan from the Islamic
government in Khartoum since 1983, demanding religious freedom for southerners
who follow mainly traditional beliefs or Christianity.
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
The Taleban claim they have executed Afghan opposition commander Abdul Haq, who
was captured in Afghanistan.
Mohammed Tayyab Agha, a spokesman for Taleban leader Mullah Omar, told the BBC
that two of Haq's men, captured with him, had also been executed.
+ + + +
The CO
"Rizla Ranger UK" <LAWsL...@RidgelineWesleys.edu> wrote in message
news:tKbC7.1244$xS6....@www.newsranger.com...
>
> Oct. 23 - Here is the text of the e-mail, dated Oct. 18, sent by Iraqi
President
> Saddam Hussein to Christopher Love, 43, a Pennsylvania-based computer
engineer.
>
>
> (Editor's Note: This e-mail is reprinted as it was received by
ABCNEWS.com.)
>
Wow. Interesting stuff. I'll have to read it several times to get
everything, but I get the impression it's a mix of anti Zionist propaganda,
some slightly skewed facts and some outright untruths (last time I looked,
Mecca was still owned by the Saudis).
I assume this has been verified and is not a hoax of some kind?
Interesting that he'd actually take the time to reply, assuming that it
actually came from him.
I was under the impression he didn't speak English, can anyone confirm?
The CO
"We will have no truce or parley with you, or the grisly gang who work your
wicked will. You do your worst and we will do our best."
Sir Winston Spencer Churchill (1874-1965)
Speech to the London County Council [July 14, 1941]
Rizla Ranger UK
Shameless German glam-h4x0r Kim Schmitz aka Kimble, who recently stole headlines
with his YIHAT (Young Intelligent Hackers Against Terrorism) publicity stunt and
his unsubstantiated claims to have hacked a Sudanese bank with /bin/laden
accounts, has been fingered in a defacement of SecurityNewsPortal (SNP) which
prompted the site's sudden closing. Oh, and the flamboyant Schmitz is broke,
too.
First things First
We were quite shocked Wednesday to learn that SNP would close shop after
suffering a defacement by someone claiming to be Kimble/YIHAT. The defaced page
ridicules SNP's own security and obsesses on the injustice of their raking in
cash for security services.
Fine, except that SNP sells nothing; and fine, except that the site is hosted
and its owners are therefore not in complete control of its defenses. But other
than that, the defacer is a real oracle of security wisdom.
"Hacked by Kimble of YIHAT," the defacer announces. "Hello, world!" he adds,
indicating at least a programming-101 comic awareness, and then goes on to
denounce SNP in the manner indicated above for several long, dull paragraphs.
This made no sense to us, since calling bullshit on SNP's security would only
remind us of how Fluffi(y) Bunni(y) recently humiliated Kimble and his YIHAT
leet guardians by defacing his shameless vanity site; so we contacted Kimble and
SNP Editor Marquis Grove with our doubts.
Kimble hasn't replied, and we think we can guess why; but Marq told us in no
uncertain terms that "the defacement of our Web site was not done by Kimble."
"The defacer hopes that by signing the defacement with Kimble's name and giving
all his contact and Web site addresses, Kimble will be put on the flaming end of
indignant users," he reckons.
As for the decision to pull the plug on SNP, Marq considers it the ultimate
trump. Rather than see his host plagued by k1dd10ts, he's simply removed the
target. No target, no phun. Bugger.
A Legend in his own Mind
Who is this Kimble, anyway? He has a Web site devoted to his aggrandizement as
an obscenely spoilt fat bastard with money to burn. He even hired a model who'd
posed in Playboy to pretend to be attracted to him as he squired a cluster of
pals around the Caribbean in a rented yacht he hopes we'll think he owns.
He likes to be photographed in proximity to helicopters and private jets and
fast cars and pretty sluts, and he litters his site with enormously too many
pictures illustrating this appetite.
He's established a legend of his hacking proficiency based on a little fact
interlarded with a lot of juicy bits taken from media accounts and movies, as
this article mirrored by attrition makes painfully clear.
He's claimed to organize a leet squad of cyber ninjas called YIHAT who would
penetrate the nether-world of on-line terrorism via their gay shell accounts.
He's claimed that his YIHAT guard have penetrated the /bin/laden financial lair,
but he's offered not one shred of proof.
"I want to see some proof of these hacks," InfoSec News Editor William Knowles
says. He issued a challenge to Kimble back on 11 October to cough some of it up.
"I think this hack into the AlShamal Islamic Bank is a complete crock of shit,
and I am calling on Kim Schmitz: Show us the proof on this!"
As of today, Knowles hasn't heard word one from YIHAT or its fatboy founder. And
we're far from surprised. But Kimble persists in trading on myth:
"YIHAT, founded to acquire and coordinate a team of hackers with the goal of
eliminating the electronic foundations of terrorist activities worldwide, has
successfully completed the first phase of its mission: The team has reached the
projected strength and has gathered a sufficient amount of information to launch
the second phase of the YIHAT operation, which is to monitor, infiltrate and
take control of the information infrastructure used by or supporting
terrorists," the team of IRC kiddies claims, adding, ominously, that "YIHAT
moves to the underground."
It really is touching how they ape cDc's deliciously self-mocking humor:
"You have never seen us, but you may have felt our wrath. We operate in the
bitter darkness outside the known channels. We slink like cats along the
fringes, spreading the power and propaganda of the Cow wherever we are.
"We have mastered, one and all, the power of digital chi; we have been deeply
indoctrinated into its devastating offensive capabilities, and we can strike,
suddenly and mercilessly, without even moving a finger. Our minds, bodies, and
black clad keyboards are under our total control: our every movement, thought,
and keypress are choreographed more perfectly than a classical ballet, and all
have deadly purpose.
"We are capable of disguising our true purpose to such a degree that it is no
longer expressible in words. We have eyebeams. We can strike out with such power
as to crumble the sham defenses of any but the most stringent master of cow fu.
Our hands contain the power and wisdom of the ancients, our hearts their
unblinking vision."
Beautifully written. Only Kimble is trying to sell this hokum as straight news.
KimVestor
Fatboy has an investment fund, too. It isn't registered, of course, because it's
a Ponzi scam. You just know he's paying dividends out of the investments of
fresh dupes. You can just smell it.
Now it seems he's up to his eyeballs in debts like any free-spending charlatan,
and his shares in KimVestor are about to be seized to address them. It also
appears that his shares are going to be woefully inadequate to satisfy his
creditors, according to German financial news outfit TeleBourse.
Here's what BabelFish makes of it:
"The appointed Internet Kroesus Kim Schmitz, whose Kimvestor AG is worth 200
million euro according to own specification approximately, is before the from.
How the anlegermagazin reports the TELEBOERSE in its current output (Thursday),
first of the three participation of the Kimvestor AG, the TUEV Dataprotect GmbH,
placed an insolvency request. In the passed days one dispatched the Schmitz
creditor, so the TELEBOERSE, who had waited some months long in vain for a
payment of several hundredthousand Marks, erstrittene before court, to Schmitz a
seizing resolution for the shares of the Kimvestor AG held by it. Whether the
remaining value of the Kimvestor participation in the mega Car and the Money
bank are sufficient for the payment of the Schmitz debts, by Bankern one doubt,
is called it in the report."
Here's what I make of it:
Pyramid scam. ®
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
D U S H A N B E, Tajikistan, Oct. 25 — Like so many children in Afghanistan,
13-year-old Ahmed Massoud lost his father in the fighting that has engulfed the
country for more than 20 years.
But Ahmed's loss was also a loss for the country.
His father, Ahmed Shah Massoud, was a brilliant military leader who helped the
Afghans throw out the Soviet invaders in the 1980s. For the last few years, he
had led the Northern Alliance's military efforts against the repressive Taliban
who control most of Afghanistan.
Then — two days before the attacks on New York and Washington — Massoud was
assassinated by suicide bombers posing as a television news crew. Northern
Alliance officials believe the assassins were sent by Osama bin Laden to
eliminate the Taliban's most formidable enemy.
Although Massoud led a life of war, he was grooming his son to lead the Afghan
people on a path he hoped would lead to peace.
"My father never talked to me about war," Ahmed told me shortly before his
father's memorial service. "He did not want me to follow a military education.
He said that the world would be peaceful when I grow up, so I have to be ready
for this peaceful world."
Ahmed lives with his mother and four sisters in Tajikistan, safely away from the
fighting in northern Afghanistan's Panjshir Valley. He is barely a teenager, but
members of his father's anti-Taliban forces already treat him with incredible
deference and respect.
He is very quiet, but carries himself with the self-assurance of a grown man.
When he met with us, he strode across the room to shake our hands, then calmly
took his seat for the interview. His movements and his bearing are exactly like
his father's.
I met Ahmed Shah Massoud a year ago when I traveled to northern Afghanistan,
where he was nearly surrounded by the Taliban and fighting desperately to keep
his supply lines open for the winter.
To reach him in his mountainous headquarters, we first flew in an ancient
Russian helicopter over the 18,000-foot peaks of the Hindu Kush range. We
continued by pick-up truck over rough dirt roads, then crossed a river
Afghan-style: on a raft of cow hides sewn together and inflated. The technique
worked for the army of Alexander the Great, and it worked for us.
It was hard to believe that these were the same people who had defeated the
mighty Soviet military, but they were.
Many believe it was because Massoud was a brilliant strategist whose guerilla
tactics bled the Soviets for 10 years until they finally gave up and left.
Massoud's battlefield success is legendary — and not lost on the Taliban
commanders. Although no evidence has emerged of Taliban involvement in his
assassination, many suspect they knew that to control all of Afghanistan they
needed to take him out.
Fahim Dashti, an Afghan journalist and an old friend of Massoud's, witnessed the
assassination. He said that on Sept. 9 two men posing as television journalists
traveled to Massoud's rear base in northern Afghanistan.
"Massoud welcomed them and one of them began to read his questions while the
other one set up his camera," recalled Dashti, who was also planning to film the
interview, as a record for Massoud. "The last question was something about bin
Laden. Massoud was backlit and I was adjusting the white balance on my camera
when there was a huge explosion. The room was filled with smoke and fire and the
windows were broken, and then I do not remember."
The explosion burned Dashti's arms, but, miraculously, his face was protected by
his camera. At that moment, Massoud's bodyguards, who were standing right
outside the door, rushed into the room.
"When I first heard the explosion I thought it was an airplane bomb," said Alem,
one of the bodyguards. "But then I entered the room and I saw that all that
remained of the cameraman was his legs. Then I knew it was a suicide bomber."
The room was completely destroyed. Massoud lay dying on the ground surrounded by
the bodies of the dead and the wounded. Alem rushed to his leader's side in time
to hear him utter his final words, a traditional prayer: "I put my trust in one
God and that God is Allah." Massoud died in his arms.
Massoud was known as the Lion of Panjshir. Now some of his followers are looking
to his young son as a symbol of hope in their ruined country.
I cannot imagine a heavier burden than the one on the 13-year-old's shoulders:
to fill his father's shoes and to lead his people. But Ahmed seems to have the
inner strength for the job.
"I learned three things from my father," he told me. "To be brave, to love your
country, and to fight for an independent Afghanistan."
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
OSAMA BIN LADEN and his al-Qaeda network have acquired nuclear materials for
possible use in their terrorism war against the West, intelligence sources have
disclosed.
The Western sources say that the suspected mastermind of the September 11
attacks on America does not have the capability to mount a nuclear attack but
fear he would do so if he could.
They believe that he obtained the materials illegally from Pakistan, which has a
nuclear capability.
The knowledge that bin Laden has components for a nuclear weapons device in his
arsenal is believed to lie behind the regular warnings from President Bush and
Tony Blair that he would commit worse atrocities than the suicide assaults on
New York and Washington if he were able to.
They may also explain the speed with which the decision was taken to go after
bin Laden and his terrorist network, even if that meant toppling the Taleban
regime in Afghanistan first.
The disclosure comes as MPs prepare to learn today the details of British troops
earmarked for deployment to Afghanistan. They will include a commando group of
about 1,000 Royal Marines, currently on exercise in Oman, as well as a large
contingent of special forces and specialist support units. The force will be
based on ships that have also been participating in the huge tri-Service
exercise. They are expected to include the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious,
stripped of her Harrier jets so she can be used as a platform for helicopters,
or HMS Ocean, a dedicated helicopter carrier, two anti-aircraft destroyers to
protect the carrier, the assault ship HMS Fearless, and two Royal Fleet
Auxiliary support vessels.
Yesterday Mr Blair sought to reassure Muslim leaders that the military action in
Afghanistan should be over as quickly as possible. He told the Islamic Response
to Terrorism Conference in North London: “I hope you understand that what is
important is that we make sure at the same time we take the action necessary now
in order to hold to account those who committed the actions of September 11.”
There has been clear evidence for several years that bin Laden’s agents have
been trying to buy, steal or smuggle nuclear systems in order to attack the
West. He has said that it was his “religious duty” to seek to acquire chemical,
biological and nuclear weapons of mass destruction.
An informed source has told The Times that bin Laden appeared to have amassed a
“terrifying” range of weapons although he was insistent that he did not have the
capacity to launch a nuclear attack.
Intelligence sources, however, have voiced concerns about bin Laden obtaining
radioactive material for a “dirty bomb”. Rather than being used in an atomic
weapon, the material would be dispersed in a way that would seriously
contaminate a small area. In an urban environment hundreds of people could die
and thousands more be exposed to radiation poisoning.
In 1993 a senior bin Laden operative, Jamal al-Fadi, met a Sudanese military
commander in Khartoum to try to negotiate the sale of a cylinder of enriched
South African uranium for a black market price of $1.5 million (£1.2 million). A
separate al-Qaeda attempt to buy weapons-grade nuclear material through the
Russian mafia was foiled in Prague when several kilograms of highly enriched
uranium were seized, according to a German TV report last week.
Earlier this week two former government nuclear scientists in Pakistan were
detained amid fears about their links with the Taleban. Bashir uddin Mahmood was
project director in Pakistan’s nuclear programme before its 1998 tests. Since
retiring from the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission three years ago, he ran a
group which carried out relief work in Afghanistan, and was known to be
supportive of the Taleban. Chaudry Abdul Majid was a director of the commission
in 1999.
Intelligence officials have long been aware of the potential for contraband
uranium to be turned into an atomic “suitcase bomb”. An easier outcome is a
radiological weapon — a conventional weapon with a radioactive core — which has
the ability to contaminate large areas.
George Tenet, Director of the CIA, told the Senate Intelligence Committee last
year that bin Laden was trying to obtain nuclear materials.
However, some are convinced bin Laden already has a nuclear capability.
According to a book about the terrorist leader, The Man Who Declared War on
America, Chechen rebels facilitated the sale of nuclear suitcase bombs in the
late 1990s from a range of former Soviet republics including Ukraine,
Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Russia.
Quoting Russian and Arab intelligence sources, the author, Yossef Bodansky, says
that bin Laden’s go-betweens paid the Chechens $30 million in cash and gave them
two tonnes of heroin with a Western street value of up to $700 million for a
number of bombs.
In 1998 bin Laden issued a statement entitled “The Nuclear Bomb of Islam”, which
said: “It is the duty of Muslims to prepare as much force as possible to
terrorise the enemies of God.”
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
Rizla Ranger UK
from a discussion forum last year
http://www.airliners.net/discussions/general_aviation/read.main/336291/
Rizla Ranger UK
Subject: Pre Flight Announcement, 2002
Date: Friday, September 14, 2001 8:50 PM
"Good Afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Northwest
Flight 571, service to Los Angeles continuing on to San
Diego. Before we take off, we'd like to acquaint you with
some of the safety features of this Boeing 767. You know
about the emergency exits, oxygen masks, floating seat
cushions, and so on, so we will not waste time with those.
Consult the cards in your seat pocket for information on all
features of our aircraft.
"Please do pay attention to the new security features.
"In the event of midair terrorism, a panel will open
alongside the window seat, containing two lightweight
automatic handguns. They are fully loaded, and extra clips
are available in velcro straps. As the flight attendants are
now demonstrating, to operate the pistol, simply draw back
the slide and let it fall forward, then aim by lining up the
slot in the rear site with the front site, centered on the
middle of your targets torso. Depress the trigger repeatedly
to fire. The pistol holds 10 rounds; after the last the
slide will lock back. Depress the clip release button
located above the grip on the left side, remove the clip and
slide a new one into place. Please be careful of your field
of fire, and continue firing until your target goes down.
"Your seats backs are equipped with kevlar armor, stay well
down and aim over the top or around the side.
"Your flight attendants are all armed with compact
submachine guns; please follow their lead in directing fire.
"If you feel you are unable to perform these duties, or are
a conscientious objector, please let our attentants know so
we can reseat you in the 'cowards rows' at the rear of the
plane and not bring you drinks or peanuts.
"For your safety, the aisles are equipped with electrified
strips and computer controlled antipersonnel mines. For this
reason, please remain in your seats until the captain has
signalled all clear.
"Note that the area around the cockpit is cleared of seats
and marked with contrasting carpet. Under no circumstances
should you cross this barrier during flight, various
automatic devices will be activated to protect the cockpit.
"The hatch in the floor at the back of the cabin is
similarly marked and should be avoided during flight.
"Anyone creating a disturbance, caught tampering with the
pistol cases or smoke detectors in the lavatories will be
apprehended and ejected via the rear floor hatch.
"Thank you, and have a pleasant flight. We know you have a
choice when you fly, and we thank you for choosing
Northwest..."
Flatus M
Rizla Ranger (Re-Energised) UK
to
acquaint you with Saddam Hussein's and his comrades in the leadership way of
thinking, or of how Iraqis think through them, and of the kind of principles
they believe in."
Note usage of the third person - it was probably written
by Sadmans official translator. I can't imagine Sadman
sitting at his PC using outlook while surfing porn ;)
Respec'!
Riz
"The CO" wrote
Rizla Ranger (Re-Energised) UK
"In this family, there is vice and virtue, good and bad people. As long as a
man
safeguards his rights and duties, within himself, and with humanity, avoids
transgressing other peoples' rights, greed, and harming others, and tries to
be
useful to others, only if they ask for his help, he becomes their brother."
hehehehehehehe :)
at least his sense of humo(u)r goes
beyond his 80's Special Forces moustache
;)
Rizla Ranger (Re-Energised) UK
Sometimes I see a news item that looks
interesting for the SITREPS and post it
without reading it (reading it much later
in the day).
This 'sadman' email, after reading it,
is very interesting.
Mecca isn't owned by the Saudi's. The Saudi's
are the Guardians of Mecca, it's their stewardship.
They are like the Windsors in the UK. Before the
Windsors various family's were the 'Royal' line.
So the Saudi's may not be around forever, but
Mecca will. That is why the believers of Islam
are angry - the way the Saudi leadership is in
the debt to America and the West is intolerable.
As the email says, how would the UK feel if it was
guarded by Arabs? hehehehehehe, spot on I say,
we'd be pissed bigtime, and who is to say a few nuts
wouldn't emerge from the population?
It was either dictated by the Dictator Sadman, or
it is a phenominal hoax, perpetrated by one who
knows the Iraqi/Arab mindset totally. Re: the Zionist
references, well, I think they have much to answer for
(regarding policy in their homeland. I am not in any way
anti-Jewish/Israeli)
And for me, because of that insight into the mindset,
much of the post made sense. I don't know what
'skewed facts' or 'outright untruths' you refer to -
my knowledge on this region, beyond archeology,
is somewhat limited, so I'd be interested to hear
what you spotted in the mail.
What's interesting about the email is that we only see the reply
and not the actual initial email posted by Brother Christopher.
I wanna know what Chris asked him!!
Untold Respec'!
Riz
"The CO" wrote
Wow. Interesting stuff. I'll have to read it several times to get
Rizla Ranger (Re-Energised) UK
EPOCH, DO NOT FOOKIN ADD NEWSGROUPS
TO ANY OF MY POSTS IN FUTURE PLEASE.
Jean Claude Gawd Darn!
Absolute Sincerest Apologies to all, here in AWM,
for the inconvienience of any forthcoming incoming
Trolls, Kooks and the like...
epoch
dunno exactly how that happened...
I'll see not to Xpost.
sorry
Rizla Ranger (Re-Energised) UK
Respec'!
Riz
"epoch" wrote
The CO
"Rizla Ranger (Re-Energised) UK" <Eat...@TheGatesOfHeavenlyPussy.Com> wrote
in message news:3bd9b8b7$0$8513$cc9e...@news.dial.pipex.com...
> Wow is not the word, CO!
Yes. Very interesting.
> Sometimes I see a news item that looks
> interesting for the SITREPS and post it
> without reading it (reading it much later
> in the day).
>
> This 'sadman' email, after reading it,
> is very interesting.
Indeed.
> Mecca isn't owned by the Saudi's. The Saudi's
> are the Guardians of Mecca, it's their stewardship.
Sorry I should have made that clearer, I meant owned in the military sense,
ie it's in Saudi Arabia and their responsibility, you are correct in that it
is a stewardship, it's considered to be a "sacred trust" to safeguard it and
all those making the Haj or pilgrimage to Mecca. A Hadji (pilgrim) has
certain privileges whilst on his journey and a citizen of an enemy state may
not be assailed whilst engaged in the journey. All muslims are expected to
make the Haj at least once in their lives - after which they may wear the
Fez to show they are returned pilgrims.
> They are like the Windsors in the UK. Before the
> Windsors various family's were the 'Royal' line.
> So the Saudi's may not be around forever, but
> Mecca will. That is why the believers of Islam
> are angry - the way the Saudi leadership is in
> the debt to America and the West is intolerable.
Understood, however the letter implied that non muslims were in charge of
Mecca and that is simply not true. It is also true that the Koran suggests
than no unbeliever should be allowed to remain on the soil (well sand) of
Arabia (the entire peninsula in this sense, not just Saudi)
This was one of Bin Ladens favourite rants, but it's unlikely to ever happen
to the degree that would make them happy.
> As the email says, how would the UK feel if it was
> guarded by Arabs? hehehehehehe, spot on I say,
> we'd be pissed bigtime, and who is to say a few nuts
> wouldn't emerge from the population?
No doubt, however Mecca is guarded by Arabs. This was at best a distortion
of the fact that
Mecca is a Saudi responsibility, although they do have ties to non muslims
(the US). US troops do not guard Mecca or any part of it AFAIK, but their
mere presence anywhere on the Arabian peninsula is sufficient to engrage the
radical fringe of Islam.
> It was either dictated by the Dictator Sadman, or
> it is a phenominal hoax, perpetrated by one who
> knows the Iraqi/Arab mindset totally.
Certainly by someone who knows their mindset. Not beyond the realms of
possibility that Sadly Insane wrote (or dictated more likely) the text,
which was then translated to English.
The shifts in the syntax suggests it was translated by someone with an
Arabic or other Semitic language as native. Certainly not written by a
native english speaker IMHO. This makes it more likely to be genuine.
> Re: the Zionist
> references, well, I think they have much to answer for
> (regarding policy in their homeland. I am not in any way
> anti-Jewish/Israeli)
I don't think many dispute the Israelis overreact at times. That said,
considering their
history, it's unlikely they would have survived as a nation this long if
they had not been somewhat ruthless.
> And for me, because of that insight into the mindset,
> much of the post made sense. I don't know what
> 'skewed facts' or 'outright untruths' you refer to -
> my knowledge on this region, beyond archeology,
> is somewhat limited, so I'd be interested to hear
> what you spotted in the mail.
The bit about Mecca is at best a distortion. (Allow that some things may be
slightly shifted in translation too - this can alter the sense of a
sentence - remember the "We'll bury you" incident with Kruschev),however the
sense here seemed clear that the writer considered that Mecca was not under
Muslim control and that is simply not true.
He refers to the Islamic prohibition against killing women and children and
uprooting trees during a war between armies. This is rank hypocrisy as he
used chemical weapons against Kurds indiscriminately killing entire
populations. (BTW, the 'corps' he is referring to is not the latin "body"
but seems to be a misspelling of 'crops')
He also maintains that sanctions have killed one and a half BILLION Iraqis.
This is ridiculous and is simply an attempt to invflate the effect of
sanctions (which have a serious impact on his attempts to rebuild his
military and a bigger one on the general populace since he diverts needed
funds to the military) and create public sympathy that would hopefully see
them lifted.
Later in the message he asks if you know the meaning of the death of one
million and a half human beings, so perhaps the first is a typo or
mistranslation, however despite the number, the causation is the same.
He goes on to suggest that sanctions deprive the Iraquis of food and
medicine and this is so only because he diverts funding from this to his
military, without which he is a paper tiger. ie it's his choice.
Outright contradictions, he mentions Yugoslavia and suggests this was not
done to aid muslims, but to persecute the Serbs for being Orthodox
christians and fool the muslims into thinking NATO was a friend.
He directly claims that Mecca and 'the land of our prophet' is 'occupied' as
are 'regional waters'.
Zionist 'occupation' of 'their' holy places and territories in Palestine.
Jerusalem is at the heart of this problem as unfortunately is it a holy
place to Jews, Christians (including Russian and Greek Othodox, Coptic,
Maronite etc) and Muslims. The Jews will not hand it over since it
historically was theirs to begin with. The Muslims will not accept infidels
(jews or christian) control over it as they consider it 'defiles' 'their'
Holy place. They will not share it. Their religion forbids it.
Stalemate.
Other minor distortions, some of which can be attributed to honest
impressions on their part, others that are deliberate distortions.
> What's interesting about the email is that we only see the reply
> and not the actual initial email posted by Brother Christopher.
>
> I wanna know what Chris asked him!!
Yes, me too.
Cheers
The CO
"It is not a field of a few acres of ground, but a cause, that we are
defending, and whether we defeat the enemy in one battle, or by degrees, the
consequences will be the same."
The American Crisis, no. 4 [September 12, 1777]
Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
Swarvegorilla
> It really is touching how they ape cDc's deliciously self-mocking humor:
>
> "You have never seen us, but you may have felt our wrath. We operate in
the
> bitter darkness outside the known channels. We slink like cats along the
> fringes, spreading the power and propaganda of the Cow wherever we are.
cult of the dead cow were masters, this guys a tosspot.
Swarvegorilla
Rizla Ranger UK
The first contingent of South African troops has arrived in Burundi as part of
an international force to protect members of a new power-sharing interim
government.
The South African soldiers' mission in Burundi is a delicate one.
Some Tutsi politicians have expressed resentment that foreigners are being
brought in to guarantee the safety of the returning Hutu exiles - they say the
job should be done by the Burundian army.
But many Hutu politicians insist that a neutral protection force is essential if
the formation of the transitional government is to go ahead.
Burundi has been engulfed in civil war since 1993.
The conflict between the Tutsi-dominated government and the Hutu rebels has cost
the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, and caused massive suffering.
Under a deal brokered by former South African President Nelson Mandela, an
interim government, which will share power between Hutus and Tutsis is due to be
formed on 1 November.
Some opposition politicians have already begun to return.
Jean Minani, leader of the Frodebu party, arrived in Bujumbura on Sunday to be
greeted by applause and cheers from his supporters.
But the main Hutu rebel groups are still refusing to take part in the
transitional government.
Without their involvement, there will be no early end to Burundi's war.
+ + + +
Hutu rebels in Burundi have carried out a raid on a secondary school in the
capital, Bujumbura, killing one student and two soldiers guarding the property.
Burundian officials said five other students were injured in the attack.
The rebels then stole food, forcing some of the remaining students to carry the
victuals to their base 20km (12 miles) away.
Those students were later released unharmed, but apparently unfed.
The attack comes less than a week before a new three-year transitional
government is due to take office in Burundi, as part of South African-mediated
efforts to end the long-running civil war.
The new government will include both Hutus and Tutsis, and will initially be
protected by South African troops.
+ + + +
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
October 26, 2001
Fresh fighting in eastern Angola has led to a new influx of refugees into
Zambia, deepening the humanitarian and security burden. Delphine Marie, a UNHCR
spokeswoman in Geneva, told IRIN on Tuesday (23 October) that the refugees were
being transported by truck to Nangweshi, about 140 km from Zambia's western
border with Angola. "The transfer of some 4,000 newly arrived refugees away from
the borders is now half completed," Marie said. "About 2,000 refugees have
already been moved and we are optimistic that the remaining 2,000 will be
transferred by the end of this week."
Marie said the new arrivals at Nangweshi were being accommodated in a temporary
centre situated just outside the main camp. "The Nangweshi camp has already
reached full capacity. The camp can house about 15,000 and at the moment we have
15,700 refugees at Nangweshi," she said. "The temporary site already has 1,300
refugees and with new arrivals this could overflow soon."
Meanwhile, as the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) rushed relief supplies to
western Zambia, the agency warned that its food stocks were under pressure. With
a United States cereal donation only due in the country in mid-January, WFP's
Deputy Country Representative Jorge Fanlo Martin told IRIN that the agency
"urgently" needed US $820,000 to purchase 2,000 mt of cereals to cover a
two-month supply gap. Martin said the arrival of the Angolan refugees had "added
to our problems". Nevertheless, WFP was ferrying food to the newcomers at
Nangweshi, in what Martin described as a "truck-to-mouth operation".
UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond told a press briefing on 19 October that most of the
new arrivals had come from the Angolan towns of Kavaleka and Cilenga in Cuando
Cubango, an area of intense fighting between government forces (FAA) and UNITA
rebels. The fresh violence has followed a familiar pattern over the past two
years, in which the FAA has tried to consolidate its positions against UNITA
ahead of the rainy season.
However, according to one Johannesburg-based security analyst, the FAA this time
believe they have trapped senior members of the UNITA leadership close to the
Zambian border. If that proves to be the case, he pointed out, the situation
would become "problematic" if UNITA was forced to cross into Zambia, a country
that has tried to distance itself from Angola's long-running civil war.
Security fears at Nangweshi
UNHCR said it needed time to relocate the refugees from Nangweshi further
inland, following concerns that the camp was being used by UNITA rebels as a
training and logistical base. "UNHCR has been concerned about these allegations
and there has been talk of relocation, and while that still may be on the table,
we are confronted by the needs of the new arrivals from Angola," UNHCR southern
Africa spokesman Fidelis Swai told IRIN on 24 October.
Nangweshi, the main refugee camp in the region, lies on the western fringe of
Zambia, isolated from the rest of the country by the Zambezi river. Described by
UNHCR as a model camp, Nangweshi was set up at the end of 1999 to shelter an
earlier influx of refugees fleeing fighting around Jamba, a major UNITA
stronghold in southeastern Angola.
However, the UN's Monitoring Mechanism on Sanctions against UNITA has expressed
concern that UNITA intelligence officers of the Brigada de Informacao Geral
(BIG) operate in Nangweshi, and that the camp may be used as a rebel logistical
base. In a supplementary report to the UN Security Council earlier this month,
the Monitoring Mechanism said: "The Mechanism believes that ideally the camp
should be moved further away from the border. Should that not be possible,
another option would be to ensure that the refugee leadership does not include
anyone who had leading functions in Jamba, or who could build up UNITA control
over the camp."
+ + + +
The Monitor (Kampala)
October 26, 2001
A man and his wife were killed during a revenge grenade attack in Burundi's
Kanyosha region, south of Bujumbura, the head of the region, Jean de Dieu
Niyongabo, said on Wednesday.
"The woman was killed immediately and her husband died in hospital," said
Niyongabo, who added that the attack "was an act of personal revenge."
Since the start of the year there have been at least 10 deaths from four grenade
attacks in Bujumbura, where authorities say thousands of firearms and grenades
are held by residents.
Burundi's war -- which pits ethnic Hutu rebels against a Tutsi-dominated army
and government -- has dragged on for eight years and claimed the lives of some
200,000 people, most of them civilians. -AFP
+ + + +
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
October 26, 2001
An attack at the weekend on Zimbabwean immigrants in the impoverished Zandspruit
settlement northwest of Johannesburg has again thrown the spotlight on
xenophobia in South Africa. Local residents of the impoverished Zandspruit
settlement decided at the weekend to expel the hundreds of Zimbabweans living
among them and destroy their homes. They accused them of involvement in violent
crime and taking the jobs of South Africans. Locals with Zimbabwean friends were
also targeted.
Police spokeswoman Terry-Anne Booyse said more than 20 people were arrested for
public violence and would appear in court in Johannesburg on 24 October. The
Zandspruit squatter camp has about 15,000 shacks and some 50,000 residents
living there.
The South African Human Rights Commission and the local churches said they would
mediate between South Africans and Zimbabwean living in the informal settlement.
The SAHRC condemned the "racial cleansing" at Zandspruit. "Whilst we acknowledge
the dire economic situation faced by many South Africans, actions such as those
in Zandspruit merely fuel xenophobic hatred rather than address the core issues
of economic underdevelopment", SAHRC's Phumla Mthala told IRIN on Wednesday.
The South African cabinet said on Wednesday that "concrete decisions" with
regards to the role of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in
Burundi to protect a transitional government, could only be finalised once the
United Nations Security Council had approved the mission.
"Concrete decisions with regard to the role of the SANDF in this process will be
finalised once the UN Security Council has processed relevant resolutions, and
details of the mandate have been negotiated. When these decisions are finalised,
they will be duly communicated to all relevant institutions as required by our
constitution and conventions," a cabinet statement said.
Mbeki urges Zimbabwe to act within law
South African President Thabo Mbeki urged Zimbabwe on Wednesday (24 October) to
handle Zimbabwe's land programme within the law and pledged his country's
support for global efforts to bring peace and stability to the country.
Responding to questions in parliament, Mbeki said the Commonwealth and the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) had each appointed a task group to
deal with the land crisis and political instability in Zimbabwe. "Both SADC and
the Commonwealth - and South Africa as part of both of those initiatives - are
committed to those goals. South
"Zimbabwe must address all of the questions that have been raised, of peace and
stability and an end to the conflict, of dealing with the issue of land
redistribution within the context of the law and addressing these very, very
serious issues concerning the economy, in a serious way. We are very interested
that this government does indeed deal with those questions," Mbeki said.
+ + + +
The authorities in Mali say bandits have ambushed a tourist party travelling
south of the desert city of Timbuktu, killing a driver and a guide.
Officials say the bandits robbed the tourists during the attack before escaping.
A government vehicle travelling in a second convoy was taken by bandits on the
same desert track - known as the Road of Hope - after two people had been shot
and injured.
Correspondents say the attacks have raised fears among tour operators in
Timbuktu of a slump in trade due to a lack of security in the area. Insecurity
has persisted in the region despite the ending five years ago of the Tuareg
rebellion that turned the vast desert north of Mali into a war zone.
+ + + +
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Presumed paramilitary gunmen forced at least nine
peasants from their homes and executed them in front of their families in
separate attacks Saturday, police said.
Armed men in civilian clothing shot and killed five people in the town of
Chiriguana, 341 miles north of the capital, Bogota. Men in military uniforms
killed four others in the village of Fresno, 74 miles west of Bogota.
Local police blamed the slayings on the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia,
or AUC, a grouping of outlaw militias that is waging a violent campaign against
leftist guerrillas. Authorities were investigating reports that paramilitary
militias on Friday killed nine other people in Tolima province.
The 37-year war between government troops, guerrillas and paramilitary militias
kills an estimated 3,500 people every year in the South American country.
+ + + +
The Colombian army say they have found the body of an Irishman after a gun
battle with left-wing guerrillas in the northern province of Choco.
They say it is unclear whether the man was fighting with the Marxist guerrillas
of the National Liberation Army (ELN) or had been kidnapped by them.
Army sources say they are checking with British and Irish authorities to see if
the dead man had any known connection the three Irishmen arrested here in
August, on terrorism charges.
The Colombian authorities identified the man as Jeremy Parks.
They said Mr Parks had entered the country legally on 15 September and had a
60-day visa.
His passport bore stamps from Ecuador - from where he had entered Colombia - as
well as Peru and Cuba.
It is unknown what he might have been doing in the remote northern province of
Choco, one of Colombia's poorest, on the country's Pacific coast.
General Nestor Ramirez, the army's second in command, who made a statement on
the discovery of Mr Parks, said it was not clear whether the Irishman had been
voluntarily with the ELN or had been captured by them.
However, there had been no reports of a kidnapping.
The authorities are investigating whether there might be any link with the three
alleged IRA members now in detention.
James Monaghan, Martin McCauley and Niall Connolly were arrested as they left
the safe haven of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in the south
of the country in August.
They have been charged with training rebels in explosives and terrorism.
Irish lawyers for the three alleged IRA men have been denied access to the
guerrilla safe haven.
Due to the arrest of the Irishmen and reports of other foreigners training the
FARC, the safe haven has been banned to all foreigners except those that get a
permit from the Colombian peace commissioner.
The lawyers for the Irishmen have been denied the permit.
+ + + +
A bomb has exploded in a crowded shopping mall in the southern Philippine city
of Zamboanga.
Hospital officials say at least 11 people have been killed, and some 50 others
were treated for injuries.
Philippine officials said the bomb went off on Sunday evening at a food court in
the Zamboanga mall - a popular gathering place in the city.
They suspect Muslim separatist rebels could have detonated the bomb.
Mindanao island, where the blast happened, has had several incidents of
separatist violence in recent weeks.
A second homemade device was found later, but safely defused.
Witnesses at the food court said they saw bloodied people lying on the ground
after the blast, which shattered windows in a mall across the street. Shoppers
stampeded out of the mall.
"There was this bag that suddenly went off and in the next second, everybody
fell to the ground," said Julie Santos, an employee at one of the food shops in
the court.
The army commander in the region said it was possible that the bomb could have
been planted by the Abu Sayyaf, a small armed group that says it is fighting for
independence for the Muslim minority in the south of this mainly Christian
country.
The government calls them bandits who kidnap for ransom.
At present, they are holding about 11 hostages, including two Americans.
The regional army commander said the blast in Zamboanga could have been intended
as a gesture of protest against the presence in the city of a group of American
military advisers.
Officials say the advisers are in the region to assess the needs of the
Philippine armed forces in their efforts to rescue the Abu Sayyaf's hostages.
The United States also says the group has ties to Osama Bin Laden, the chief
suspect in the 11 September terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
+ + + +
With impeccable timing, a Russian air crew have published a book about their
flight from Taleban capitivity called Escape from Kandahar.
The story began in August 1995 when Captain Vladimir Sharpatov and his six
fellow crew members took off in their Ilyushin-76 cargo plane bound for Kabul
via Tehran and the United Arab Emirates.
They were laden with 30 tonnes of weapons for the besieged Afghan government of
President Burhanuddin Rabbani.
The government was fighting to keep control of Kabul in the face of attacks from
the Taleban militia, which had raised the flag of fundamentalist Islam in the
southern city of Kandahar.
Despite having ousted the Soviet invaders in 1989, Mr Rabbani was now turning to
Russia to help fight their common enemy, the Taleban.
A Taleban jet forced the Ilyushin to land and began a year of captivity and
uncertainty for the seven Russians.
They were taken out for the occasional excursion to buy traditional Afghan
clothes, but were otherwise kept constantly on the move, usually at gunpoint, to
avoid any chance of rescue.
In the end, Captain Sharpatov and his men managed to escape using their own
ingenuity.
The Taleban allowed them to carry out maintenance work on the plane every two
months. They took advantage of one opportunity to trick their guards into
leaving their weapons outside the plane, overpowered them, and took off.
Sharpatov was relieved to make it home to Kazan
They took the Taleban completely by surprise and sped past two lorries sent to
intercept them on the runway. The Taleban were not able to scramble their
aircraft in time.
Captain Sharpatov flew the plane, with the three bewildered Taleban guards on
board, at an altitude of 50-60 metres to the Iranian border.
"We flew really low because if we had been any higher we would have been spotted
by radar and an interceptor would have caught us," the captain told Russia's TV6
channel.
Captain Sharpatov has no sympathy for his former captors. Asked about the
bombing raids on Taleban positions, he said something should have been done
about them a long time ago.
The book is now on sale in Moscow
He and his colleagues remember their flight to freedom as a second birthday, and
cannot forget the suffering of the Afghan people they left behind.
"My heart really goes out to these people. I've seen what a poverty-stricken and
miserable standard of living they have. They're still fighting because they've
nothing left to lose," he said.
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
Taliban have claimed arresting an American at Spin Buldock on the Pak-Afghan
joint border.Taliban authorities say documents recovered from him shows that his
name is Mazhar Ayub and he was arrested when he was entering Spin Buldock from
Chamman. Qari Abdul Wakil, a Taliban official says that the arrested man has
served in the U.S. army from 1971 to 1991. He has also fought during the Vietnam
war. He had also worked for the CNN from 1992 to 1998. After 1998, he visited
Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar where he recently worked with the UNCHR in the
refugee camps.
According to NNI, Taliban official said that Ayub was giving information to the
Americans and other Western countries about the Afghans. Taliban also think that
his name could not be Mazhar Ayub. They recovered form him maps of Afghanistan
and other information and books on Afghanistan.
He also have some electronic equipment and they say that he might be providing
information to the U.S. and other military sections through these electronic
equipment. Taliban also said that when they stopped him, he told them that he
was a journalist. When his body search was carried out, some other materials
were recovered from him. That is why, the Taliban suspected him and arrested
him. Taliban say that they have kept him in a secret location and could not say
anything about his whereabouts. He is now under interrogation.
Taliban say that they may obtain something else from him. They said that the
U.S. organization, CIA had assigned him to visit Afghanistan to provide them
information in the cover of providing aid to the wounded persons. Taliban say
that his two American colleagues, Johan and Mong are a present in a Quetta hotel
and the arrested man had entered Afghanistan with the help of these persons.
Ex-Pak ISI chief says Taliban have won the first round
As the United States admitted Taliban as tougher, the former ISI Chief, General
Hamid Gul says the Taliban have won the first round. In an interview here he
said that the United States has no political solution for the next round as
well. They have no visible military targets, he added.
When asked about the demand of an Afghan conference in Peshawar for the
formation of a broad-based government in Afghanistan, the former general said
that the supporters of former king Zahir Shah always considered that it is the
only solution of Afghanistan problems.
He said that United States also pushes the same. He recalled that in the
beginning the United States had been supporting the Taliban movement with the
impression that after the failure of the Taliban, Zahir Shah would be brought
back to run the affairs. "But that proved wrong because Afghans are independent
people," he added. eferring to the current situation, Hamid Gul said termed the
U.S. as the flag bearer of imperialism.
"It is important to note that a visible change has occurred in the Afghans
society but they are (U.S.) attempting to reverse the historical facts which is
impossible now," he added. He said for the time being the Taliban enjoy grip on
the affairs. He said the situation would remain so in the winter also. What the
U.S. will do after that, it is still not clear.
+ + + +
This time the question is not of thousand Chechens battling on the side of
Taliban together with Uzbeks, and only about 50 fighters, whom, on assurance of
the same Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), Amir Khattab is going to send
to Afghanistan through Azerbaijan. Thus Russian as inappropriate have forgotten
partially, that exactly one week ago, they already have sent Khattab himself to
Afghanistan, who decided to do some fighting over there, in winter campaign
against Americans, in addition incredibly original way to fill up lines of their
armed divisions. As declared Russian – «Khattab hopes, that during his absence,
his groups in the Chechen Republic will considerably be filled up».
Correspondent of «Kavkaz-Center» briefly asked Amir Khattab to comment on the
latest announcement of the Russian special services which, in opinion of Chechen
sides, under any propaganda sauce continue their attempts to impose opinion even
about indirect participation of Chechens in an attack on USA.
(Style of conversation of Amir Khattab is kept).
Corr.: Russian again declared, that you are going to Afghanistan. More precisely
now not you have been mentioned, but 50 mujahideen from your division?
Khattab: They without us can well cope with the situation, and, I think, they
will cope it. And chatter Russians have absolutely bothered me.
Corr.: You have any information on events in Afghanistan?
Khattab: Yes. We listen to radio, we look «Al-Jazeera», we receive the
information from our friends, who even earlier together with me were at war
against the Soviet armies, and now they are at their houses. There all is
lawful. Russian and Americans speak, that war will finish till winter. I do not
think, that it will be finished. One person against America earlier was Osama
bin Laden and his circle - twenty - thirty persons, but now, alhamdu lillah, the
whole people, seventeen millions. Today everyone wants to revenge America. Now
Americans receive that they have done there. Anything they will not get there.
Especially they will finish it in the winter. As we already spoke, they can
start war at any moment, but cannot finish it insha Allah. It is already visible
now. I think, that the victory in Afghanistan will be on the side of Taliban.
Corr.: Russian have staked on Rabbani and Northern alliance?
Khattab: This old man Rabbani knows nothing. Very weak person. I know him. The
main moment is that there is not one nation in opposition. There are Tajiks,
some Pushtoons, Uzbeks, and Turkmen. Between them there will be no union, will
not be concrete. Though visibility through information propaganda will be. These
people earlier with each other were at war, strongly was at war against Ahmed
Shah, and Dostum. Today there was no commander, who would be capable to gather
people. But through propaganda information, they want to show, and Russia wants
to show, at least, they try to do something there. War at present did not begin;
the real war is far away. Now it is short war. But, when there will be fight of
hands, legs, more shortly, then it will be clear.
+ + + +
MULLAH UMAR VOWS TO TEACH ALLIES A LESSON
Mullah Umar, has openly vowed to teach the allies a lesson in warfare, if they
invaded Afghanistan.
Speaking to a Turkish newspaper Mullah Umar, states "...they wont be welcome in
Afghanistan, and we shall teach them a lesson in warfare...".
Earlier during the week, US officials cast doubt over whether they would ever be
able to catch Usamaah Bin Ladin, "it would be like finding a needle in a
haystack" US defense.
With high levels of Anti-American feeling floating around the Islaamic world,
countries such as Pakistan and other Arab states have seen young Muslims
departing to answer the call for Jihaad.
TALIBAN HOLD THEIR GROUND
Three weeks after allied action against the Taliban, it is hard to see what the
American have done with regards to removing or weakening the Taliban. Taliban
forces have held their ground, they have repelled all Northern Alliance attacks
and launched numerous counter offensives against anti-Taliban forces.
Although Anti-Taliban forces have stated that they are ready to march onto Kabul
and re-take the city, they have not gained a inch since the allied action, while
Taliban forces have been reinforced and ready to with stand any attack.
Although all western media have stated that their seems to be rifts within the
Taliban, all statements are baseless, as the Taliban have been drawn closer, and
Muslims from around the world flock to join the Taliban.
ALLIES KILL OVER 1,500 MUSLIMS
Allied action against Afghanistan has resulted in the death of over 1,000
Muslims, many have been women and childern, yet the allies acknowledge these
deaths as collateral damage, while when there own people die, they refer to it
as a crime against humanity, surely this under International law, the murder of
over 1,000 innocent men, women and childern would amount to a war crime?
Allied bombs have killed people while they were offering their prayers, bombs
have hit hospitals, schools, aid warehouses, and destroyed village after
village. The US has in fact commited and broken International Laws regarding
rules of war, yet will be see Bush or his commanders before an international
court facing charges genocide?
ZIONIST FORCES KILL IN OCCUPIED PALESTINE
After launching what the Zionist have stated was a counter terrorist opertaion,
tanks have rolled into mainly Muslim areas, firing and destroying houses,
killing people while they slept.
Palestine has turned into a war zone, with Zionist forces firing from every
position, firing tank shells and killing those inside, ragardless if they were
innocent or not.
The International community remains silent, while at the same time the proclaim
to love peace.
THOUSANDS FLOCK TO TAKE PART IN JIHAAD
In what is seen as a show of strength over 30,000 armed Mujahids have flocked to
Afghani border, while before this large convoy, thousands of others have gone
across to fight along side the Taliban and wage Jihaad.
Muslims from across the world have amassed and entered Afghanistan to reinforce
Taliban positions within Afghanistan.
While Muslims have flocked to take part in Jihaad, western countries have
promised to supply soldiers to combat the Taliban, in contrast the allied force
numbers just under 26,500 soldiers, while at the last estimation taliban forces
combined with other elements have numbered at over 300,000.
EGYPT IS LOSING A GRIP TO CURB SUPPORT FOR BIN LADIN
The same picture is emerging in other Arab and Muslims countries, with
Anti-American feeling running high within the general public. Egypt a country
seen to be on freindly ties with the US has in recent days seen the level of
support for Usamaah Bin Ladin and the Taliban rise, while the government is
helpless to combat it.
Polls carried out in Pakistan and other Muslims countries have produced shocking
results for western allies, with 83% of Muslim polled saying they supprt the
Taliban and Usamaah Bin Ladin, and who believe this is in fact a war against
Islaam. The allies have lost the propaganda war and the objuective to win the
hearts and minds of Muslims.
Surely with 83% of Muslims polled the Taliban must be doing a right thing and it
is in accordance with Islaam, maybe the allies have protrayed the Taliban to be
barbaric and those who oppress women, while their facts are stating otherwise.
+ + + +
The Statement of the Commander of The Faithful
Mullah Muhammed 'Umar (may Allah preserve him)
Regarding Recent Events
In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Praise be to Allah, the One who said: 'Go forth, light-armed and heavy-armed,
and strive with your wealth and your lives in the way of Allah! That is best for
you if you but knew,' and 'Oh you who believe! what is the matter with you,
that, when you are asked to go forth in the cause of Allah, you cling heavily to
the earth? Do you prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter? But little is
the comfort of this life, as compared with the Hereafter. Unless you go forth,
He will punish you with a grievous penalty, and put others in your place; but
Him you would not harm in the least. For Allah hath power over all things.'
And may He shower His peace and blessings upon His Prophet, the Imaam of the
Mujahideen and Commander of the Horsemen, our Prophet Muhammed, who said: "I
have been sent in the final hours with the sword so that none is worshipped but
Allah Alone with no partner, and my provision has been provided under the shades
of my sword, and humiliation and belittlement is on whoever opposes my order,
and who ever imitates a people is one of them." - (Abu Dawood and Ahmad).
To proceed:
And so oh great ummah (nation) of Islaam, oh 'best of nations risen up for
mankind, you command good, and forbid evil and you believe in Allah.'
Oh Muslims in the East and West…
Oh you who believe in Allah as Lord, and Islaam as way of life, and Muhammed (s)
as Prophet and Messenger…
Oh Muslims everywhere:
Undoubtedly you are closely watching with all interest and empathy the crusade
which is being led by the United States of America, with full support of Britain
and the European Christian states, and NATO and Russia, and the ex-Communist
states and whoever agrees with them from the people of the creed of disbelief,
and the apostates and the cowards amongst the Muslims - they are gathering their
armies and campaigning as one party against the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,
aiming to fulfill one thing, which they themselves have announced: the
termination and destruction of the Islamic Government of Afghanistan; and end
what they call: 'bases of terrorism'.
And undoubtedly you understand that which calls these people to do their crusade
attacks is hidden deep (in their hearts) as Allah (swt) informed us in His noble
book: 'Nor will they cease fighting you until they turn you back from your faith
if they can. And if any of you Turn back from their faith and die in unbelief,
their works will bear no fruit in this life and in the Hereafter; they will be
companions of the Fire and will abide therein' - they want to destroy this
Islaamic state, because it is Islaamic, or for what reason, and under what law
or practice is it permissible to punish a suspected individual, for mere
suspecting - let alone attack and punish a whole nation because of that
"suspect"?!
What the heavenly laws (i.e. Allah's laws) and even the man-made laws of earth
have agreed upon is that an individual is innocent until proven guilty…. but
they fight us because we have established a unique Islamic system, and this in
reality is worse for them then the attack upon New York and Washington.
Oh Muslims of the World:
The question now is no longer if the attacks on America were correct or not, for
what happened, happened; supports it the one who supports it, and opposes it the
one who opposes it.
The question now is: what is the obligation of the Muslim ummah towards this new
crusade against Afghanistan?!
What is the ruling on the one who allies with the crusaders and stands by their
side in any manner? That which this ummah has agreed upon, and that which the
a'imah (the scholars) have agreed upon is that in this condition in which we are
in today, jihad against the invaders becomes fard 'ayn (a personal obligation)
upon every Muslim, no permission is sought for a son from his father, nor slave
from his owner, nor husband from his wife (and vice-versa), and there is no
difference amongst the scholars regarding this.
This is the ruling on jihad against the invaders and the obligation of the
Muslims towards it.
As for the ruling upon the supporters of the crusaders, then Allah, the Most
High has outlined it already. Allah, the Most High, says in His final
revelation: 'O you who believe! Do not take the Jews and the Christians for
friends. They are friends of one another. And whoever of you takes them for
friends is (one) of them. Surely Allah does not guide wrongdoing people.'
Allah, may He be glorified, outlines in this passage three matters:
1. The forbiddance of allying with the Jews and Christians and supporting them.
2. That whoever supports them, and helps them then the ruling upon him, is the
same as the ruling upon them. And;
3. That supporting them is from the character and signs of the hypocrites.
And He, may He be glorified has shown how allying and supporting the
disbelievers nullifies imaan (belief) in Allah and His Messenger, when He said:
'You see many of them supporting those who have disbelieved. What an evil thing
they have brought unto themselves, if Allah casts His anger on them, and they
are cast into hell-fire forever. And had they believed in Allah, and His
Messenger and what revealed upon him, they wouldn't have supported them.'
And from these passages and others the scholars have ruled that supporting the
disbelievers against the Muslims is a nullifier from the nullifiers of Islaam
and that the ruler upon the doer is apostasy, and expulsion from this millah
(creed).
Oh noble scholars of Islaam, and callers to Allah everywhere:
Your priority is complying with these truths and not fearing the blame of the
blamers, and this is part of the covenant of Allah with the people of knowledge:
'And remember Allah took a covenant from the People of the Book, to make it
known and clear to mankind, and not to hide it.' So they clarify the matters of
this religion to the people, and they arouse them on jihad, 'Oh Messenger arouse
the believers on fighting.'
And oh businessmen:
Your priority is to donate and give in the path of Allah, Most High, who said:
'Verily Allah has purchased from the believers their wealth and their bodies in
exchange for paradise.' And, 'The parable of those who spend their property in
the way of Allah is as the parable of a grain growing seven ears (with) a
hundred grains in every ear; and Allah multiplies for whom He pleases; and Allah
is All-Embracing, All-Knowing.'
And oh Muslim youth:
Your priority is jihad and preparation, and preparing that steel for fire, as
Allah says: 'then slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them
captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush'.
And oh Muslims everywhere:
The Prophet (s) said: 'There will not cease to be a group from my ummah dominant
upon the truth (and in another narration: fighting upon the truth). Those who
abandon them will not be able to harm them until the Decree of Allah comes'
(Saheeh Muslim).
So this hadeeth categorized people into three groups:
1. at-Taa'ifah al-Mansoorah (the Victorious Party): and they are the people of
Islaam, who fight upon it.
2. at-Taa'ifah al-Mukhaalifah (the Opposing Party): and they are the Jews,
Christians and the people of disbelief, the apostates and the cowards from
amongst the Muslims.
3. at-Taa'ifah al-Mukhthilah (the Cowardly Party): and they were the ones who
refused to support the Muslim group and decorated that nicely for the people.
And there is no other group; so let every Muslim look to see in which group he
fits.
And in this hadeeth we also understand that their opposition from the
disbelievers and people claiming to be Muslims will not harm them.
And we are certain of Allah's victory, which He promised in the Qur'an, on the
tongue of the Prophet (s), but this victory is on the condition that we give
victory to the religion of Allah and having sincerity in doing so. Allah, Most
High says: 'Verily Allah will assist those who assist Him, verily Allah is
Most-Powerful, Most-Honourable' and He said: 'If you assist Allah, Allah will
assist you and make you firm'. And when Allah gives victory to us, neither
America, nor its allies or helpers will be able to stand to face us, Allah says:
'If Allah assists you, then there is none to defeat you'.
America and its partners, no matter how much power they have, none of that
equates with anything from the power of the Most Powerful, the Most Strong; for
Allah says: 'And let not those who disbelieve suppose that they can outstrip
(Allah's Purpose). Lo! they cannot escape. And prepare against them what force
you can and horses tied at the frontier' And He, the Most High says: 'So fight
you against the friends of Satan; ever feeble indeed is the plot of Satan'.
The soldiers of America, their numbers and preparation does not frighten us,
because we are from the soldiers of Allah, who said: 'And to Allah are the
soldiers of the Heavens and the Earth, and Allah is All-Wise, All-Honored.'
And the economic strength of America does not astound or stun us, for Allah, the
Most High says: 'And for Allah are the treasures of the Heavens and the Earth,
but the hypocrites fail to understand'.
And its defense measures do not astonish us, for Allah has said: 'Those who
disbelieve give to distract from the path of Allah, so they will donate and then
regret, and be defeated'.
And the advanced military systems of America do not threaten us at all, for
Allah, may He be glorified says: 'while they deemed that their fortresses would
defend them against Allah; but Allah came to them whence they did not expect,
and cast terror into their hearts; they demolished their houses with their own
hands and the hands of the believers; therefore take a lesson, O you who have
eyes!' and 'And those who disbelieved came down from their fortresses and
(Allah) planted fear into their fears, some you kill, and some you imprison, and
you inherited their lands and homes and wealth, and a land which you did not
step on (from before); and Allah is capable of doing everything.'
So, oh Muslims:
Be certain of Allah's victory that He promised us…for Allah does not break His
promise.
'And Allah will assist those who assist Him, verily Allah is All-Power,
All-Honoured. And we settled them in the land; establish the prayers, and give
zakah (alms), and command good and forbid evil; and unto Allah is the ending of
matters'
Wassalamu 'alaykum wa rahmatullah
The Servant of Islaam and the Muslims
Commander of the Faithful
Mullah Muhammed 'Umar (Mujahid)
16/7/1422 AH.
+ + + +
After many days of bombardments of Afghanistan, practically any of the targets
declared by USA and their allies have not been achieved. The Afghan army is
still efficient and daily proves its victories above formations of so-called
Northern alliance. Heads of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and demonized by
American press, Bin Laden are alive. Authoritative and known commanders of
mujahideen are alive both all in the slightest degree.
Taliban practically completely have kept heavy arms, armored engineering, and
systems of air defence and aviation stations, except for the new radar, three
civil and two military planes, which were destroyed in first night of
bombardments. In all country, the Islamic authority continues to function and
not only shows its viability, but, rigidly punishes also those, who side with
the enemy as it has taken place in three settlements in area of Mazar-e-Sharif.
We shall remind, that in these kishlaks, 11 person including three rural heads,
who according to the plot with the armed opposition, have handed over villages
to Northern alliance, were publicly executed.
In the meantime, official American - British propaganda continues to assure the
entire world of the efficiency of air strikes of allied aircraft in spite of the
fact that even with the help enormous powerful satellites, until now was not
possible to show even one impressing proof of productivity of bombardments of
Afghanistan. Taliban in turn on the contrary, practically daily tell and show
documentary evidences of destruction of hundreds of peaceful citizens and losses
of American commandoes.
However, UK Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon, speaking to the press conference in
London, tried to assure journalists, that the American air strikes have
undermined forces of Taliban and have weakened their capability to resist to
Northern alliance. As he said, as a result of air strikes were destroyed nine
camps of organization of Osama Bin Laden's «Al-Qaeda» network, the serious
damage was put to nine air stations, which were controlled by Taliban, and also
defeat was inflicted on twenty nine military garrisons. In addition to it, Geoff
Hoon says, that soon Great Britain should decide whether to send ground armies
to Afghanistan.
But, similarly, Taliban does not know these data of the British minister. Afghan
armies with «weakened capability of opposition to Northern alliance», defeat
oppositionists behind defeat, pushing them farther from Mazar-e-Sharif and
similarly in Tahar province. Conditions around Kabul remain quiet. Despite of
periodic bombing on position of Taliban, American - British aircraft, formations
of Northern alliance have not moved from its place, preferring not to tease
Taliban too often with shelling. Rare gun volleys and stutters of machine guns
are periodically shown on the American MASS-MEDIA, but languid actions of
opposition commanders in any way do not allow professionals from CNN to draw
habitual Hollywood pictures for the American inhabitant.
Bilal Eski, Kavkaz-Center
+ + + +
A gunman has gone on the rampage in the city of Tours, reportedly killing
several people.
The French news agency AFP, quoting rescuers, says four people have been killed.
Five other people are said to have been hurt.
Two of the casualties are said to be police officers. The others are thought to
be passers-by.
The gunman has fled into an underground car park in the city centre.
Dozens of people have taken refuge in nearby offices.
"We have been told to stay inside the lock the doors," Edwige Guignard, of Tours
tourist office, told BBC News Online.
"Everybody ran in from the streets. We have around 15 people taking refuge here,
and 15 staff. Everyone is afraid."
The incident began near the city's post office at 0945 (0845GMT), she said.
Dozens of armed police officers are at the scene.
A spokeswoman for the Mayor's office in Tours confirmed that a shooting incident
had occurred, but no further details were immediately available.
+ + + +
SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) - Shooting broke out Sunday in northwestern Macedonia,
seriously injuring a police officer in the worst violence in weeks, state
television reported.
The shootout comes less than two days after Macedonian and ethnic Albanian
leaders said they reached a compromise on a dispute that had stalled
implementation of a peace accord.
State television said ethnic Albanian rebels who have officially disbanded
launched the pre-dawn attack 14 miles west of Skopje. A police officer was
hospitalized in the attack, but the report did not give further details.
A top member of the rebel group reached by telephone declined comment, but said
on condition of anonymity that his men were ``very unhappy'' with the recent
agreement.
Government and police officials were not immediately available for comment on
the shooting.
European Union security chief Javier Solana said Friday that leaders for
Macedonian and ethnic Albanian political parties had resolved disputes over
constitutional changes. The announcement raised hopes that parliament, set to
convene this week, might adopt reforms called for in an August peace accord.
The Western-brokered deal ended six months of clashes between Macedonian forces
and insurgents who took up arms saying they were fighting for more rights for
their people. Ethnic Albanians make up a third of Macedonia's 2 million
population.
The rebels agreed to surrender 4,000 weapons to NATO in return for political
reforms.
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
Rizla Ranger UK
Wolfgang Seifarth, 65, a German tourist visiting the country of Zambia, saw
nothing wrong with getting a quickie in the bushes from a 22-year-old local, but
the magistrate had a different idea. Declaring that Wolfgang had committed a
"gross abomination against Zambian laws", Magistrate Aloysius Mapate has
sentenced the old man to six years with hard labor.
No doubt the old man's nutsack shrivelled even further as he realized that
choosing to represent himself in the court wasn't the brightest idea. His
primary defense had been an unawareness that oral sex was illegal in Zambia;
history does not shine kindly on tourists who cause a ruckus and then claim
ignorance of the law. He plans to appeal the ruling.
Luckily nothing like this happens in America. Well, except for that case three
weeks ago where a Kansas teen named Matt Limon was sentenced to seventeen years
in prison for Felony Head on another resident of the boarding school he was
attending. The ACLU's all over that one like a Zambian whore.
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — A kidnap victim, a wayward adventurer or a foreigner
fighting with Colombian rebels?
Mystery surrounded the death of a purported Briton who was killed Sunday
alongside a rebel in a firefight with Colombian government troops.
Colombian authorities have been on heightened alert about the presence of
foreigners inside guerrilla territory after the arrests in August of three
alleged Irish Republican Army members accused of training rebels in urban
warfare.
The army said the man killed Sunday was carrying a passport from Britain that
identified him as 28-year-old Jeremy Parks of Northern Ireland. He was clad in
military-style clothes and was found after army troops fought with National
Liberation Army rebels near a road running from Quibdo, capital of Choco state,
to Medellin, Colombia's second-biggest city.
Rebels sometimes force their kidnap victims to don rebel uniforms, but British
Embassy spokesman Alfonso Morales said there had been no reports that anyone by
the name of Parks had been abducted.
In London, the British Foreign Office said it was in contact with Parks'
relatives and that the body had not yet been conclusively identified. There was
a ``slim chance'' that Parks' passport had been stolen and somehow ended up on
another man's body, the Foreign Office said.
The army said Parks' passport indicated he was from Northern Ireland, but the
British Embassy said there were no indications of any link with the embattled
province.
In August, the three alleged IRA members were captured after spending time in an
area controlled by the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. They had
been traveling with falsified passports and identities and are now jailed
awaiting a possible terrorism trial in Colombia.
There have been no reports of IRA involvement with the smaller National
Liberation Army.
The army said the passport indicated Parks had traveled to Cuba in July, entered
Ecuador on Sept. 9, and on Sept. 15 crossed the border overland into Colombia.
+ + + +
This Day (Lagos)
October 27, 2001
Roland Ogbonnaya And Christian Ita With Agency Reports
Taliban key opposition leader executed
Libyan President, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi yesterday offered to help track down
Osama bin Laden the prime suspect of the September 11 terrorist hijacked plane
attacks at the World Trade Centre in the United States as warplanes dropped up
to 10 bombs on Kabul overnight as Afghan opposition forces said they had no
plans to attack the capital.
Gaddafi told a French Government minister that he is willing to trade
information and offer police help in the hunt for the terror chief.
"The head of the Libyan State has no intention of participating militarily in
the struggle against the bin Laden network but exchanges of information and
police co-operation are conceivable," French Cooperation Minister Charles
Josselin said in Paris after a trip to Libya and Sudan.
The maverick Libyan leader also repeated calls for an international conference
to define terrorism, Mr Josselin said.
Gaddafi had expressed compassion for the American people after last month's
hijacked plane attacks on New York and Washington but had also slammed the
United States with "harsh and severe words".
"He denounced what he called the arrogance of the United States and rejected the
choices imposed by the United States on the rest of the world," Josselin said.
Gaddafi has in the past railed against US foreign policy but has recently toned
down his rhetoric and this week described the September 11 attacks as
"horrifying".
Libya is on a blacklist of countries that the United States defines as
supporting terrorism. Washington bombed Tripoli in 1986 after accusing Gaddafi
of involvement in the bombing of a Berlin nightclub frequented by US service
men.
Josselin said a consensus on the definition of terrorism would be hard to
achieve and said Gaddafi had also lambasted the United Nations for the
"terrorism of the Security Council".
He said the Libyan leader regarded the Irish Republican Army (IRA), which this
week agreed to start giving up its arms, and the Basque separatist group ETA as
freedom movements.
The United Nations imposed an air and arms embargo on Libya in 1992 for failing
to hand over two Libyans suspected of bombing a Pan Am flight over Scotland in
1988.
Meanwhile the Taliban has executed a key opposition leader allegedly dropped
into Afghanistan to destabilise the regime.
The legendary Mujahideen Commander Abdul Haq had been captured by Taliban troops
and was then killed along with two others, believed to be Afghans.
The Afghan exile was on a mission to cut off backing for the regime and build
support for a post-Taliban government.
His murder is a serious blow to allied attempts to build a new government, if it
manages to topple the Taliban.
+ + + +
This Day (Lagos)
October 27, 2001
Peter Umar-Omale, Bature Umar, Donald Andoor And Iyefu Adoba
Abuja
Ogbeh, Gemade call for restraint
Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen. Victor Malu (rtd), has threatened to fight
back on behalf of his Tiv kinsmen if the Federal Government fails to bring the
soldiers who killed about 100 villagers in Benue State on Monday to book.
Speaking with newsmen in Makurdi yesterday, General Malu whose house was razed
down and his aged blind uncle and other relations killed, accused the military
authorities of deliberate genocide against the Tiv people.
General Malu who said he had already reported the incident to President Olusegun
Obasanjo, the Minister of Defence, the Chief of Defence Staff, the National
Security Adviser and the Inspector-General of Police said: "I am expecting that
there will be some response. If response does not come, I am a Nigerian citizen
and as such I have the right to take whatever measure to seek redress."
"I am waiting to see the outcome of my report to the authorities. This is not a
case of unknown soldiers. the soldiers who invaded our communities were
commanded," he added.
Referring to the 1999 Odi massacre, General Malu said: "Let me make it clear
that the Odi incident cannot be compared to what happened to the people in my
community. On our way to Odi in 1999, three soldiers were killed and five
wounded by heavily armed civilians who ambushed us on the way."
He further added "we came under heavy firing in Odi, so we had to fire back. But
the soldiers that invaded my community came in armoured vehicles against unarmed
civilians."
Malu urged the Federal Government to bring to book the culprits of the spate of
violent riots in different parts of the country where innocent citizens and
prominent citizens are targetted.
General Malu said he had spoken with Mr President over the matter who told him
not to take the attack on his house personally.
"Till now, I am trying to understand what that meant because I am not aware of
anybody else in whose house soldiers went under command, killed people,
destroyed properties. If I don't take it personal, do I wait until I die?
He also described the destruction of his house by soldiers as premeditated
saying "that those people did not go to my house by mistake, as the attack on my
house was led by an officer and my house is 15 kilometres away from the scene of
the incident in which 19 soldiers were allegedly killed."
The soldiers, he said, laid siege on his village for two days using
sophisticated rifles and machine guns on innocent unarmed citizens and "I still
find the whole incident totally incomprehensible," he said.
"Short of naming his enemies, Malu continued: "But I know one thing, the
soldiers that came to my house did so on instruction. I don't want to accuse
anybody because I can not substantiate it. It was a troop that was totally led
by an officer who came to conduct such an operation. So it couldn't have been a
mistake."
Malu who said the attack on his house took place the very day he came back from
London, delayed talking to the press until he travelled to Benue to see things
for himself. "I restrained myself from making any statement because I didn't
want to give you an information based on what I have been told on phone. That is
why I decided to pass to Makurdi. To my greatest shock what I came to see was an
understatement from what I was told on telephone."
Describing the extent of damage, Malu said " on the first day a truckload of
troops led by three reconnaissance vehicles came to the village. As they
dismounted without any question, they started shooting randomly. The first place
they entered was the house of the village head. There and then they shot him, an
85-year-old man who was blind; shot his wife and then moved to my own house
where they started systematic destruction of the house using the armoured
vehicles. They demolished my late fathers house and burnt all the huts on my own
side of the village."
He further told the BBC that he made contact with virtually everybody that
matters in the country except the Chief of Army Staff, Major General Alexander
Ogomudia who he could not meet for reasons he did not disclose.
Meanwile, Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Barnabas Gemade
has cautioned the military against over reacting in their bid to fish out the
alleged killers of their colleagues in Benue state as "two wrongs do not make a
right".
In the same vein, the Party's National Chairmanship aspirant, Mr. Audu Ogbe, has
called for dialogue in the resolution of the festering crisis.
In a statement in Abuja, Gemade cautioned the military not to allow the killing
of 16 military personnel which led to the burning of four villages and the
attendant loss of numerous lives to degenerate further.
"Guided by history, the Nigeria military must not allow the situation to
degenerate further as having been victims of various descriptions of harassment,
from no fewer than three states they had been forced into in the first instance,
what is happening to the Tiv of modern day Nigeria is not of his own making" he
emphasized.
Gemade's words of caution co-incided with those of PDP National Chairmanship
aspirant, Chief Audu Ogbe who regretted the loss of lives as a result of the
Tiv/Jukun crises . He called on the parties to the crisis to "seek peace through
dialogue rather than a recourse to violence".
The statement signed by Chief Doyin Okupe appealed to the federal government,
the governments of Benue and Taraba states and all persons of good will to
continue to work for peaceful and lasting settlement to prevent further loss of
lives and the steady erosion of confidence and brotherly relations among the
neighbourhood communities in the area.
+ + + +
Concord Times (Freetown)
October 29, 2001
Alhassan Spear Kamara
Freetown
Senior RUF Commander, Col. Razaak is currently languishing behind bars.
Concord Times gathered in Makeni that he is under lock and key on the orders of
RUF interim leader, Gen. Issah Sesay.
Razaak's arrest was ordered when RUF rebels in Matotoka sent a signal to Issah
accusing him of a suspicious behavoiur.
Sources say he was apprehended at Baama Konta on board a Mercedes vehicle
allegedly loaded with looted goods.
Trouble started for the commander when he reportedly started bribing his
colleagues at a checkpoint at Matotoka in order to have a safe passage.
They reportedly sent a signal to Issah in Kono who wasted to time in ordering
his arrests.
Sources say all efforts by Razaak to bribe his release from the rebels proved
futile.
+ + + +
Concord Times (Freetown)
October 29, 2001
Alhassan Spear Kamara
Freetown
There were tears of joy at the Wusum Stadium in Makeni, Thursday as over 95
former child soldiers reunited with their families.
The children, three of whom were girls, were brought to Makeni from the Caritas
Makeni Interim Care Center in Lungi A Unamsil release issued Friday stated that
the children had not seen their families in over three years.
Concord Times gathered that an additional 130 children are expected to be
reunified next week.
While addressing the reunited former child combatants, Ambassador Oluyemi
Adeniji called on the families to welcome their children back "with open hands"
and give them "all the support they need to grow into normal children".
Most family members shed tears of joy on seeing their children again.
The UNICEF representative, Ms. Joanna Van Gerpen, also addressed the gathering.
"All of us want the best possible future for these children" she said adding "we
want them to be safe and free from the dangers of war".
During the ceremony, four children were symbolically handed over to the
representative of the Paramount Chief Bai Shebora Kasangha II. The entire group
of children was then transported to the offices of Caritas-Makeni, where anxious
parents waited to complete formalities and take them home.
+ + + +
The Monitor (Kampala)
October 28, 2001
Tom Malaba
Panic and terror gripped St. Matia Mulumba Public library Saturday afternoon
when a panga wielding mechanic from Kisekka market walked into the hall, chopped
off a student's head and scurried away with it.
Wilber Mugali entered the library hall at Old Kampala shortly after midday and
hacked Geff Ibra Yahaya to death.
Yahya was a student of Kampala Citizens College and resident of Educare Hostel
in Old Kampala. He and other students had gone to the library to revise for the
forthcoming senior six final examinations.
Eye witnesses said that the assailant seemed to know where his victim was seated
because he walked straight to the room where Yahya was. "I heard someone
screaming and when I went there I found him cutting with all his strength," a
witness who did not want to be named said.
It was the terror-stricken witness that alert police officer at Old Kampala.
"By the time I came back he had opened for himself and walked away with the head
in the polythene bag," a witness said.
The brave student pursued and hurled stones at the assailant up to Martin road
where he dropped Yahya's head.
Police came in shortly and arrested the suspect.
The regional police commander (RPC) Kampala Extra region Ahmed Wafuba described
the act as murder.
"It's very rare that an assailant kills somebody and carries away the parts,"
Wafuba said yesterday.
The chairman of Kisekka market Mulangira could not confirm whether Mugali worked
in their area.
+ + + +
Some attractively original theories have been going the rounds about the real
reasons for the Afghan war.
It is obviously much more, some columnists and political theorists suggest, than
a simple effort to stamp out terrorism.
Apart from the popular theory (in some parts of Europe as well as the Middle
East) that this is a war on Islam, there is also the theory that it is a war
motivated mainly - or even purely - by long-term economic and political goals.
The importance of Central Asian oil and gas has suddenly been noticed.
The valuable deposits of fossil fuels in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and
Azerbaijan, previously discussed only by regional experts and international
energy companies, are now being mulled over on the opinion pages of popular
dailies.
The Afghan war, it has been discovered, has an economic side to it.
Some writers, indeed, have gone further, suggesting that economic considerations
provide the main, or at the very least a major, motivation for US and western
involvement in Afghanistan.
If one discounts the more extreme and emotional versions of this theory, the
argument boils down to this:
Afghanistan has been proposed by more than one western oil company (the US-based
Unocal is often mentioned, but it is not the only one) as the best route by
which to export the Central Asian republics' important output of oil and gas
Given the increasing importance of finding and exploiting new sources of fossil
fuel, governments like those of the US and the UK are enormously keen to gain
influence in the Central Asian region in order to secure those supplies for the
West
In order to achieve that, and get those energy supplies moving out of Central
Asia, they need to set up a pro-western government in Afghanistan.
Flawed theory
This line of argument falls down on a number of points.
It is undeniably true that the Central Asian republics do have very significant
reserves of gas and oil, and that they have been having difficulty in getting
them on to the world market on conditions favourable to them.
Until recently Russia had an almost total monopoly of export pipelines, and was
demanding a high price, in economic and political terms, for their use.
But it simply is not true that Afghanistan is the main alternative to Russia.
On the contrary, very few western politicians or oil companies have taken
Afghanistan seriously as a major export route - for the simple reason that few
believe Afghanistan will ever achieve the stability needed to ensure a regular
and uninterrupted flow of oil and gas.
There have been exceptions, of course, like Unocal and the Argentine company
Bridas.
The main proponents of the Afghan pipeline idea, however, apart from the Taleban
regime itself and its backers in Pakistan, was the government of the eccentric
Turkmen President Saparmyrat Niyazov, known as "Turkmenbashi".
The West, in contrast, and particularly the US, has put almost all its efforts
into developing a major new route from the Caspian through Azerbaijan and
Georgia to the Black Sea.
This had the potential advantage (from a western point of view) of bypassing
Russia and Iran, and breaking their monopoly of influence in the region -
allowing the states of the Caucasus (Georgia, Azerbaijan and possibly Armenia)
and Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan) to
develop a more balanced, independent foreign policy.
The Afghans would benefit from a pipeline
That, of course, worries many in Russia, and to a lesser degree in Iran.
They also now fear that the Central Asians' willingness to entertain US forces
on their territory could substantially increase US influence in the region.
Such a scenario, however, is far from certain.
The western powers have caused considerable annoyance among the authoritarian
regimes of Central Asia by harping on human rights abuses - particularly,
incidentally, against Muslims - and the need for greater democratisation.
It seems highly unlikely, moreover, that the US-led "Coalition against
Terrorism" has any illusions about how "pro-western" any potential new Afghan
Government would be.
The main prerequisite for the survival of a new administration in Kabul, is that
it win wide acceptance among the various ethnic and political groupings in
Afghanistan itself.
And very few of those groups are exactly pro-western.
Western influence in Afghanistan would, at best, remain shaky.
In addition, if peace and stability were to return to Afghanistan, and a new
pipeline to Central Asia was to be built, the principal beneficiaries would
undoubtedly be the Afghans, as well as Pakistan, Turkmenistan, and the other
Central Asians.
In brief, then, considerations of economic and political influence will
undoubtedly play a part in western strategies in Afghanistan.
It would be strange if they did not. But the argument that these are the main
motivations behind US actions, not the desire to stamp out international
terrorism, will probably find support mainly among those who already have a
fondness for conspiracy theories.
+ + + +
THOUSANDS of Pakistani warriors armed with automatic weapons, axes and swords
headed for the Afghan border yesterday to join forces with the Taliban regime
shielding Osama Bin Laden.
Between 5,000 and 10,000 were reported to be travelling in a convoy of trucks,
buses and vans on the northwest frontier. They vowed to fight a holy war against
the United States.
Last night hundreds were massing in the mountains on the Afghan border, carrying
everything from rocket launchers to pickaxes.
The organisers claimed similar-sized groups were camped around towns, ready to
join them today. There were reports, however, that Pakistani authorities were
trying to prevent them crossing into Afghanistan.
Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taliban leader, had appealed for tribes in border
provinces to provide men to help him resist American-led attacks. The fighters,
urged on by clerics, plan to join Taliban forces, who are thought to number
about 40,000. Their ranks are being swollen by Islamic fundamentalists from many
countries, including Britain.
Already thousands of Afghans have been conscripted into the army to fight the
rebel Northern Alliance and prepare for attacks by US and British troops.
Volunteers brandishing Kalashnikovs and shotguns said they considered themselves
lucky to go to Afghanistan and face a martyr's death.
"Everybody should be ready to sacrifice their lives," said Mohammed Khaled, a
leader of the newly formed force.
The emergence of the Pakistani "jihad brigade" coincided with evidence that the
British government is concerned over the progress of the war against terrorism.
Tony Blair sought yesterday to restore confidence 48 hours after admitting to
the cabinet that it was not going well. The prime minister, who visits the
Middle East again this week to shore up support for the antiterror coalition,
warned colleagues on Thursday that battering the Taliban into submission was
taking longer than expected.
The accidental American bombing of a Red Cross complex in Kabul, the capital,
was also cited as a cause for concern, according to cabinet sources. Such
worries were compounded yesterday when a US plane mistakenly bombed a village
controlled by the Northern Alliance.
Ten Afghans were feared dead and 20 injured at Ghanikhil, north of Kabul, after
a laser-guided bomb hit a house.
Before the deaths were reported, Blair issued an upbeat statement from Chequers
about the prospects of the war. "Whatever faults we have, Britain is a moral
nation with a strong sense of right and wrong," he said. "That moral fibre will
defeat the fanaticism of these terrorists and their supporters."
American planes carried out their heaviest strikes yet on Taliban targets in and
around Kabul as officials in London and Washington struggled to resolve
conflicting statements about the course of the war.
They accept it has made limited progress after three weeks of bombing and only
one confirmed assault by US ground forces. Geoff Hoon, the defence secretary,
warned in an interview with Defence Review that "we are in for the long haul,
with perhaps no end in sight".
His remarks upset US officials and contradicted a plea from General Pervez
Musharraf, Pakistan's president, who condemned "excessive" civilian deaths and
said military action must be brought to an end as soon as possible.
"If Hoon is saying there is no end in sight, that is not the view here," said a
senior Washington source. "The British may be more prepared to stay in for the
longer pull — in America we tend to need results."
Britain has offered America SAS troops for fighting in the cave networks where
Bin Laden is said to be hiding. The prospect of fighting in such confined spaces
and against an enemy who knows the caves, is daunting. However, a British source
said: "It's a job which looks likely to need doing, however unpleasant. If our
soldiers are thought to be best suited to it, then they will do it."
Tension over the next phase of the war has been heightened by the execution of
Abdul Haq, a prominent Afghan opposition leader captured by the Taliban, and by
the failure of the Northern Alliance to make any significant military gain.
The Taliban were keen to exploit the impression that their opponents were in
disarray. "Haq's fate is the biggest political setback for America," said Mullah
Rehmatullah Kakazada, their consul-general in Karachi. "They have attacked
mosques, Red Cross offices, schools and hospitals. They have miserably failed."
America has seen the first public signs of discontent with President George W
Bush's conduct of the war. Last week Senator John Kerry, a Democrat with
presidential aspirations, expressed concern at the lack of any clear victory. "I
believe we need to turn the heat up," he said.
Senator John McCain, Bush's former rival for the Republican presidential
nomination, warned that fighting in "half-measures" would not work. "The Taliban
and their terrorist allies are indeed tough fighters," he said. "They will need
to experience a more impressive display of American firepower before they
contemplate surrender."
Bush has so far refused to be rattled by such concerns. "The American people are
going to have to be patient, just like we are," he said.
In Britain, Blair's spokesman insisted that progress was being made. "We have
said from the start that this would be a long haul," he said. "We should not,
though, underestimate what has been achieved. We have destroyed the Al-Qaeda
terrorist camps. We have ground down the military defences of the Taliban."
Blair and senior ministers were said to be aghast that Admiral Sir Michael
Boyce, the chief of the defence staff, had indicated that the war could last for
four years.
Gordon Brown, the chancellor, is to release an extra Ï16m for the security
services. MI5 will spend its share on monitoring fundamentalist groups in
Britain, while MI6 will expand operations in central Asia.
Brown said Bin Laden's personal wealth, drug earnings and commercial activities
would be targeted. Tomorrow 35 countries, including Britain, will meet in
Washington to plan further financial measures.
Three Luton men are among four British Muslims reported to have been killed
during an American rocket attack on Kabul last week. One, who used the assumed
name of Mohammed Omar, was a recruiter of young Britons for the Taliban.
+ + + +
Afghanistan again claims use of chemical weapons by US
Afghanistan's Taliban says there is mounting evidence that the United States is
using chemical weapons in its attacks on Afghanistan and said it feared depleted
uranium shells were also being fired.
This came as the Taliban's public health minister and two Kabul doctors gave
details of what they said were cases of people dying inexplicably after showing
symptoms which may have been the result of infection by chemical weapons.
A surgeon at Kabul's Wazir Akbar Khan hospital, cited the cases of three of his
patients -- two girls aged 12 and 15 and a boy aged 15 -- who had been taken to
hospital after being injured in bombing attacks.
All three had only slight injuries but died within hours of arriving at the
hospital after developing breathing difficulties and internal bleeding, the
doctor said.
However, the medics admitted that they could not confirm the use of chemical
weapons because they did not have the facilities to analyse tissue from the
victims.
Asked why they did not send samples abroad for analysis, Public Health Minister
Mullah Mohammad Avas said he did not know where a fair assessment could be made.
+ + + +
JABAL SARAJ, Afghanistan (AP) - Afghanistan's opposition was mobilizing hundreds
of elite fighters Tuesday near the front north of Kabul - well-armed, trained,
and ready for the order to march toward the capital.
"We are ready for action," said 25-year-old Ahmad Zai, toting a Kalashnikov
rifle and a rocket launcher. He said he expected to move on the Afghan capital
"in the near future."
Across Taliban territory, meanwhile, U.S. jets bombed overnight near the fronts
north of Kabul front and near the key northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif. The
cities of Jalalabad in the east and Kandahar in the south also came under
attack, according to Taliban and other reports.
Opposition commanders, impatient at three weeks of limited precision targeting
by American warplanes, have been pushing for all-out U.S. air assault against
front lines outside Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif.
Commanders of the northern-based opposition met over the weekend to plan an
attack on Mazar-e-Sharif and open key supply lines to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan
to the north.
Appearance of the 800 elite troops near the front here about 30 miles north of
Kabul was the first tangible sign that the opposition is gearing up for a move
on the capital, which the Taliban seized in 1996.
Elite fighters interviewed Tuesday said they had been moved up in recent days
from the rear opposition base of Khwaja Bahuaddin.
In camouflage uniforms, they stood out among the bulk of the anti-Taliban troops
- for the most part, ragtag bands in mixes of camouflage and traditional long
tunics. The elite troops, or "Zarbati," are better-paid, better-equipped, and
better-trained.
"In my 23 years of fighting I've learned how to become a sniper," said one of
the elite fighters, Latif, carrying his long-scoped sniper rifle. "It sit in
high places and take aim at my enemy. There are plenty of them."
Despite the bravado, and the reinforcements, the opposition forces are believed
to be far outmanned on the long-stalled front guarding the approach to Kabul.
Thousands of Taliban fighters and Arab allies of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida
network are believed to be dug in across the hillsides and undulating valley
facing the opposition forces.
Taliban defenses have shown no sign of breaking under a week of steady U.S.
bombing at the Kabul front.
President Bush ordered the U.S.-led campaign Oct. 7 after the Taliban repeatedly
refused to surrender bin Laden, chief suspect in last month's terror attacks in
the United States.
In other attacks-related developments:
-The FBI warned again that terrorists may attack U.S. interests, possibly this
week, and that Americans and police should be on the highest alert.
-Americans' doubts about the war on terror are starting to grow, despite their
continued overwhelming support of President Bush and the military attacks on
Afghanistan, a poll suggests. The CBS-New York Times poll indicated 18 percent
have a "great deal of confidence" the government can protect its citizens,
compared with 35 percent in late September.
-Defense officials said future U.S. commando raids or other ground fighting
might be based from an airfield inside Afghanistan. "Needless to say, that's our
job - to consider much different things, and we do," Defense Secretary Donald H.
Rumsfeld said.
Overnight, the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press reported, U.S. jets attacked
at Dara-e-Suf, where the Taliban have stopped opposition forces trying to
advance on Mazar-e-Sharif.
Other U.S. strikes hit at Balkh province to the city's north.
Taking Mazar-e-Sharif would give the opposition full control of vital supply
routes, allowing ammunition, troops and other goods to flow in from neighboring
Uzbekistan.
East of Balkh, U.S. aircraft targeted the airport of Kunduz province, the news
agency said. The Pentagon said Monday that U.S. air operations were shifting
north toward Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, apparently to bolster alliance forces
along key supply lines.
The Taliban's own Bakhtar news agency reported overnight strikes south of the
capital - some allegedly hitting a water supply system built by international
aid groups.
The Taliban news agency also reported U.S. attacks on Taliban front lines in
northern Jozjan province, where Taliban troops face off against northern
alliance forces. U.S. jets renewed attacks at day at the southern city of
Kandahar, the Taliban's headquarters, and almost emptied of its 500,000 people.
In neighboring Pakistan, meanwhile, Islamabad's daily newspaper The News said
Pakistani officials were reassured after Musharraf's talks there with Gen. Tommy
Franks, commander of the U.S. campaign in Afghanistan.
The News quoted unidentified Pakistani government officials as saying Franks had
offered "some assurances" that bombing during Ramadan could be stopped or
limited to Taliban targets away from civilian areas.
The United States, despite the report, has given no clear sign bombing would let
up for the Islamic holy month.
"The Taliban and al-Qaida are unlikely to take a holiday," Rumsfeld said.
+ + + +
Reports from Nepal say Maoist guerrillas have stepped up activities ahead of a
proposed third round of peace talks.
But officials say they are still optimistic about the early resumption of
dialogue.
Nepalese police said that at least seven civilians were injured in rebel attacks
in the remote north-western hill district, Jumla, during Nepali Hindus' biggest
festival, Dashain.
Thirteen others were abducted in another remote hill district, Terathum, in
north-eastern Nepal.
These are the most serious incidents of violence since the government and the
rebels announced an indefinite cease-fire three months ago ahead of the first
formal peace talks in six years.
There has been some let-up in Maoist violence since then, but the authorities
have accused the rebels of not being serious about enforcing the truce which
would improve the atmosphere for dialogue.
The rebels have made similar allegations, saying the government has not done
enough to create such an atmosphere.
After two rounds of inconclusive talks over the past three months, the next
round is expected to take place immediately after the Dashain festival.
The fortnight-long festival formally ends on Wednesday.
Eighteen hundred people have been killed since the Maoist rebels began a violent
campaign six years ago to replace Nepal's constitutional monarchy with a
communist republic.
Rebel negotiators have demanded an interim government to make way for a new
constitution and a republican regime.
The authorities say, they are determined to defend the present constitution
which guarantees constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy.
+ + + +
A senior Ukrainian stock market official has been stabbed to death in the
capital, Kiev.
Oleksy Romashko, 38, was deputy head of the six-member state commission which
regulates Ukraine's stock market.
He was stabbed several times as he left the block of flats where he lived with
his wife and daughter.
An Interior Ministry spokesman said the motive for the murder was not yet known
and no arrests had been made.
But there have been suggestions in police circles that it may have been a
contract killing.
Pools of blood could be seen on the stairs of Mr Romashko's block of flats
A BBC correspondent in Kiev says that few Ukrainians have been shocked by Mr
Romashko's murder as high-profile killings are not uncommon in the former Soviet
republic.
Last week, police began a criminal investigation into the deaths of a driver and
bodyguard who worked for the parliamentary speaker.
They were found dead in a park and a post-mortem showed they had died of
poisoning.
One theory is that they drank contaminated vodka, but the police have not ruled
out a more sinister explanation.
Earlier this year the killing of the journalist, Georgy Gongadze, whose headless
body was found near Kiev, rocked the political scene amid accusations that the
Ukrainian president, Leonid Kuchma, had ordered his assassination.
Mr Kuchma vehemently denied the allegations.
+ + + +
October 28, 2001 -- All the employees of First Equity Enterprises managed to
flee safely from the company's 15th-floor offices before the south tower of the
World Trade Center vanished in a roar of smoke and dust on Sept. 11.
Now it appears something else has disappeared, too - the firm's president and
$105 million of investors' money.
The Brooklyn U.S. attorney's office and postal inspectors reportedly have
launched an investigation into the disappearance, which affects 1,400 investors
in 14 countries.
And a New Zealand private eye says he's traced about $2 million of the money to
a Swiss bank account.
First Equity served as a clearing house for a Manhattan currency-trading firm
called Evergreen International Spot Trading. First Equity took in funds, issued
statements and gave money to Evergreen clients who wanted it.
The Australian Financial Review, which conducted an extensive investigation into
the case, said the disappearance came to light after stock-market trading
resumed Sept. 17.
Clients who called First Equity to find out about their accounts or take out
cash were ignored.
The Review said after getting hundreds of complaints from clients wanting to
know what happened to their money, Evergreen brokers and company president
Albert Guglielmo called the FBI.
"The money's missing? Yes. Where is it? God only knows," Guglielmo said. "We
have New York City firemen's money in here. Do you know how embarrassing that
is? It's a horror story."
The investigation fell to the Brooklyn U.S. attorney's office because First
Equity was created using a Brooklyn address four years ago, the paper said.
On Oct. 5, the office issued a warrant that froze all First Equity accounts with
Chase, Banc One, National Australia Bank and Bank of New Zealand, it said.
The balance in the Australian bank's account was reduced to just $100,000
through a series of wire transfers that began well before the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks, it said.
Bill Muller, a spokesman for the Brooklyn U.S. attorney, said the office's
policy was not to comment.
The newspaper said Gary Farberov, First Equity's president, has vanished and
brokers and clients have been unable to contact Evergreen's chief financial
officer, Paulina Sirotina, who dealt personally with Faberov and controlled the
financial arrangements with First Equity.
Neither could be reached for comment.
+ + + +
NEW YORK -- When two jets tore into the Manhattan skyline, Beverly Hall made
frantic calls trying to find her sister, who worked at the Marriott Hotel in the
World Trade Center.
Hall would later learn her sister had run outside and survived. It didn't cross
her mind that her husband, a delivery man who made stops all over the city,
might be inside. But he was. Her husband, Vaswald George Hall, never made it
out.
Hall, a 50-year-old Jamaican, was one of scores if not hundreds of people from
the Caribbean who happened to be in the World Trade Center on the morning of
Sept. 11.
On Sunday, officials from throughout the Caribbean will attend a memorial
service at Manhattan's Riverside Church honoring Caribbean victims of the
terrorist attacks. Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson is among those
expected to attend.
Although precise numbers are hard to come by, Gov. Sila Calderon of the Puerto
Rico has said hundreds of Puerto Ricans are believed to have died. Consular
officials also have counted at least 41 victims from the Dominican Republic, 17
from Jamaica, 25 from Guyana, 11 from Trinidad and smaller numbers from a
smattering of other Caribbean countries.
Some victims also were U.S. citizens born in the Caribbean.
Hall, who held dual Jamaican and U.S. citizenship, was making deliveries on the
66th and 88th floors of the north tower when the plane hit, according to records
from his employer, Urban Fetch Express, his wife said.
His company later called her at home to ask if anyone had heard from Hall. No
one had.
"I don't know the reason why he was put there at that time," Hall's widow said,
sitting among candles and sympathy cards at home in the New York City borough of
Queens. "I am not going to question God on this."
She said her husband had rushed off to work while she was still in bed. An
employee for a New York research company, she said she regretted not saying
goodbye to him.
On Sept. 7, Hall had celebrated his 50th birthday with a barbecue for
parishioners from his church, the Oneness Pentecostal Tabernacle, where he was
an usher.
Hall left Jamaica in 1984 to join his wife-to-be, a Jamaican who had moved to
New York a year earlier.
Beverly Hall said her husband kept busy in New York, running errands in his van
when he wasn't working. He never returned to Jamaica, where he has four adult
children from a previous relationship.
Members of the family's church now regularly visit Beverly Hall to offer
sympathy and support. Without their help, she said, "I would have cracked
already."
+ + + +
The bus on which Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man in a
landmark 1955 US civil rights protest has been sold to a museum for $492,000 at
an internet auction.
Steve Hamp, president of the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan, described
the 1948-model bus as "the most important artefact in the history of the civil
rights movement" - although it is not certain whether this was the actual
vehicle on which Rosa Parks was arrested.
Mr Hamp said the Ford museum in Dearborn planned to restore the bus and
eventually put it on permanent display.
The Ford collection already includes the limousine in which President John
Kennedy was travelling when he was assassinated in Dallas on 22 November 1963.
Ms Parks, now 88 and in poor health, was employed as a seamstress at a
department store in the Alabama capital of Montgomery.
On her way home from work on 5 December 1955, she refused to give up her seat to
a white man, when the bus became crowded, thus breaking the law.
Ms Parks was arrested and fined, sparking a year-long boycott of Montgomery's
buses.
At the time, black passengers in Montgomery were required to pay their fare at
the front door of the bus, then enter by the back door.
Besides having to give up their seats to white passengers, they were not allowed
to sit across the aisle from them.
The incident led to a US Supreme Court decision that forced the city to
desegregate its bus system and helped to fire the civil rights movement.
However, no bus number was written down on police records when Ms Parks was
arrested, and there have been questions over the years as to whether it would be
possible to identify the vehicle.
The Ford Museum said experts had determined that the bus was the one on which
Rosa Parks made her protest.
But other historians have questioned whether it can be proved that the bus is
the right one.
There were 45 bids for the bus in the auction, including one from the city of
Denver, which had hoped to make it the centrepiece of the city's
African-American research library.
"The whole civil rights struggle came from this. That's what's so unique about
this item," Denver Mayor Wellington Webb said.
+ + + +
Mission Powerboat Service Ltd
Mission Powerboat Service Ltd announces the 2K2 PORT SECURITY Upgrade Version of
its radar avoiding TIGER High Speed Patrol Boats. Providing rapid interception
of threats to naval ships and port facilities, the 2K2 PORT SECURITY TIGER is
offered in 8.5 Meter and 12.5 Meter versions. The 2K2 TIGER provides speeds in
excess of 80 knots and advanced ballistic armour protection for crew and law
enforcement officers. The 2K2 TIGER's unchallenged speed is crucial in
intercepting and investigating if an approaching work boat/tender is a serious
threat. The 2K2 TIGER is designed with sling hard-points to allow for shipboard
transportation and deployment prior to entering a port, allowing a pair of
TIGERS to lead the way and provide close-in security escort. Mission Powerboat
Service, Ltd. builds Advanced TIGER Patrol Boats for Law Enforcement, Special
Warfare, and Counter-Terrorism Operations.
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
The determination of some British Muslims to join the Taliban's fight against
the nation of their birth has sparked calls in some quarters for them to be
charged with treason.
The Treason Act 1351 makes it a criminal offence to give aid and comfort to the
monarch's enemies - and although the death penalty was formally abolished for
the offence just three years ago, the crime is still punishable with a life
sentence.
But the Act is not effective, the Home Office says, in the current conflict
because Britain is not at war in a traditional "State versus State" manner.
However, Britons who join the fight with Osama bin Laden and the Taliban could
still be prosecuted and jailed on their return if they train for acts of
terrorism or kill anyone abroad.
Section 54 of the Terrorism Act 2000 makes it a criminal offence to instruct,
train or receive training in the making or using of a firearm, explosive or
chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.
One person has been charged under this section of the Act since 11 September
after allegedly offering "Ultimate Jihad" training for Muslims seeking to take
part in a holy war.
The biggest task facing police and prosecutors would be gathering evidence
against someone who had allegedly entered Afghanistan to fight against the West.
But sources say the simplest catch-all piece of legislation to use would be the
Offences Against the Person Act 1998 which means a Briton who kills anyone
abroad can be tried in the UK.
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
A Tamil Tiger suicide boat has hit an oil tanker off northern Sri Lanka, setting
the ship on fire, military officials said.
Navy patrols have rescued 12 crew members and 13 security personnel from the
tanker, named as the MV Silk Pride.
There are no immediate details of casualties.
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
An Egyptian man living in London has been charged with conspiracy to murder the
late Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah Masood.
Yasser al-Siri, 38, has been committed for trial at the Old Bailey charged with
conspiring with others to murder Mr Masood, who was assassinated in Afghanistan
on 9 September.
He allegedly provided a letter, through his London-based Islamic Observation
Centre, vouching for two Arab journalists seeking an interview with Mr Masood.
The two men, believed to be agents of the Taleban, blew themselves when they
were in Mr Masood's company. He died from his wounds a few days later.
Mr al-Siri, a book publisher, appeared amid high security at Belmarsh
magistrates' court in south east London on Tuesday morning.
He was arrested at an address in Maida Vale, west London a week ago, and has
also been charged with inviting support for a banned organisation, Gamaa
al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group).
Gamaa al-Islamiyya is an Islamic militant group which was blamed for the 1997
massacre of 58 tourists at Luxor in Egypt.
Mr al-Siri has also been charged with inviting funds for the purpose of
terrorism and making available property for the purposes of terrorism.
He is also accused of stirring up racial hatred by publishing 3,000 copies of a
book which called for the killing of Jews.
Tuesday's hearing was delayed for about an hour after Mr al-Siri was taken ill.
A bail application by Mr al-Siri's solicitor, Gareth Peirce, was refused and he
was remanded in custody by Judge Timothy Workman to appear at the Old Bailey on
7 November.
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
A report looking into whether Liberia has violated UN embargos has recommended
that additional sanctions be imposed on the government claiming it was still
involved in supplying arms to the rebels in Sierra Leone.
The 135-page " name and shame" report said Liberia was channelling funds from
its shipping activities and timber exports to finance gun-running operations
between eastern Europe and Africa.
Under the sanctions regime which came into force in May, diamond exports from
Liberia were banned in an effort to halt the smuggling of gems from rebel-held
areas in Sierra Leone, and to punish Liberia for its support for the rebels.
Liberia had always called the sanctions unjust and had said it would cooperate
with the UN, as its information was based on hear say.
The UN report, released on Monday, acknowledged that the diamond trade through
Liberia has largely been curbed.
But it points to two payments of $925,000 dollars to an account in the United
Arab Emirates saying such money transfers were used to break the arms embargo.
It also says tighter controls were needed over Liberia's revenue obtained from
its "flag of convenience" shipping register.
Reuters news agency reports doubts that the Security Council will impose a ban
on the country's shipping and logging industries.
It says Secretary General Kofi Annan last month warned that more sanctions would
hurt ordinary Liberians most.
Liberia and Sierra Leone have been fighting a proxy war through various rebel
groups for several years.
The Liberian Government said it had taken comprehensive measures to comply with
the UN's demands.
The RUF have been accused of killing, raping and mutilating civilians over the
last decade.
Liberia has yet to recover from its disastrous civil war in the early 1990s, and
is already under an arms embargo stemming from its 1989-1996 civil war.
Taylor has always said sanctions are unjust
It receives millions of dollars every year by registering more than 1,000 ships
under its flag.
This means that ship owners, who may only have a post box in Liberia, could
escape strict maritime regulations.
It also means that they could pay less taxes and fees as well as operate looser
labour and safety laws.
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
17:30 2001-10-29
PRAVDA
ISLAMIC BEARD SPECIALIST ANALYSES BIN LADEN
“You can say a lot about a person from an analysis of his beard”, according to
barber Nazirullah, in Peshawar, Pakistan.
Barber Nazirullah declares that “Osama Bin Laden is a leader and a fighter. He
does not need luxury or comfort. He is a man who can lead a hard life for a long
time. He is not worried about anything else”.
Barber Nazirullah says that a man’s beard, in his culture, can speak volumes
about his character. “You can say a lot about someone from the way they grow
their beard. Cuts depend on tribal custom and personal preference”. He states
that his family have been barbers for three generations and that he understands
intrinsically the psyche behind the beard.
“All Afghans have a beard. It is very important. You can only shave it off to go
to a funeral or maybe for the first night with your wife”. Regarding Osama Bin
Laden, barber Nazirullah is certain that “he is not worried about his beard like
a young man. He lets it grow strongly and naturally. He is also greying, which
shows a certain degree of wisdom”.
Concerning Taleban leader Mullah Omar, barber Nazirullah declares that “I have
heard that he has a good beard. Some say that it grows a lot over his nose.
Normally, religious people let it grow below the nose”.
Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY
PRAVDA.Ru
LISBON PORTUGAL
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
+ + + +
South-African woman cannot make it out: whether they have been knowingly
insulted or it has been just a practical joke. The point is that one of the
newly-constructed towns has been officially conferred a name which in the local
patois means female genitals. To be exact, this is not quite so. In the Xhosa
language, the word “ingkuza” means “vagina,” while in the Zulu language, it
means “anal hole.” Interestingly, the new township has been erected on the
territory where both peoples have long resided, and the authorities should have
known it.
Local people think that the new township’s title is just immoral. Beatrice
Ngkobo, the local commissar on sex equality states: “It’s disgusting, and it’s
insulting.” But she is objected by those who support the new township’s name. In
their view, one should not consider it only from the viewpoint that the word
“ingkuza” has only a certain anatomical meaning. The point is that so was named
a nearby mountain, and the name is correct from the historical point of view.
Another argument in favour of preserving the “historical name” is that “it’s
wasting of time to discuss such a rubbish.” According to the township’s mayor,
quoted by the Daily News, the council has also developed the alternative name.
Now, it is up to a court of arbitration to decide on this delicate issue.
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
It is very hard to serve in the Russian army, to put it mildly. The soldiers do
anything just to make the term of their army service shorter. However, the
latest occasion is surely too much. As The Izvestia newspaper informed, a
frontier guard soldier in one of the military units of the Primorye region ate
over 2 meters of metal just with a hope to be demobilized ahead of the scheduled
time. In a week the soldier’s health worsened and he had to ask for doctor’s
help. The doctors took those objects out of his organism and now the soldier may
be charged for those actions. The surgeon who operated the military man on said,
the 19-year-old guy’s stomach was filled with 19 metal hooks that used to be the
parts of the army bunk. The doctors inserted the endoscope in guy’s body more
than 40 times in order to take the entire volume of the eaten metal out. The guy
was conscience at that process and even helped the doctors to count how many
metal objects were remaining inside. If the guy is considered mentally healthy,
he will be charged for deviating from the army service and causing damage to the
state property.
Rizla Ranger UK
The Monitor (Kampala)
October 30, 2001
Mugabi Frank
Three people have so far died of plague and four others are undergoing treatment
in Arua district.
This was disclosed by the health inspector of Vurra sub-county, Santos Angwalia,
recently while briefing the Resident District Commissioner, Thomas Okot Nyalulu,
on the epidemic.
Santos said the areas bordering the DR Congo in Vurra county had registered a
number of plague cases.
He said his office was trying to sensitize the population on how to take
precaution. He said the disease could be prevented by practising good hygiene.
He called upon residents clear bushes, store food safely to keep away.
Meanwhile, in Nebbi district, the disease which was reported last month has so
far claimed 15 lives and affected 40 people according to the District Director
of Health Services, Dr Sam Orach.
+ + + +
The Monitor (Kampala)
October 30, 2001
Hassan Isilow
Police in Busia Friday arrested 80 suspected criminals and idlers in an
operation intended to weed out criminals in the area.
Busia District Police Commander, Florence Kirabira confirmed the arrests and
said the move was intended to flash out criminals ahead of the Christmas and
Iddi festivities.
"We have had a number of violent robberies and burglaries in the district in the
past months and we have now come out to fight crime ahead of the festive
seasons," she said. The swoop follows a recent regional security meeting held in
Kisumu between Ugandan authorities and their Kenyan counterparts. The meeting
resolved to crack down on any suspected cross-border criminals.
A source at the meeting told The Monitor that the officials resolved to beef up
border security following the Sept.11 terrorist attack in New York.
Kirabir noted that border areas have a tradition robberies and insecurity.
"Surely celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ can not be about robbing and
terrorizing people," she said.
She said those arrested would soon appear in court after undergoing thorough
screening.
+ + + +
Concord Times (Freetown)
October 30, 2001
Freetown
The 2001 Mines Monitor Report has stated that Sierra Leone has a stockpile of
900 antipersonnel mines.
The report stated that though the country is not known to have produced or
exported landmines, it is reported that the country has received a large quantum
of it from Liberia.
At the Bamako landmine seminar held in February,2001, it was acknowledged that
landmines are found in the country but the authorities could not verify the
types.
According to the Report, it was acknowledged that the AFRC/RUF alliance used
landmines during the interregnum.
The report say RUF combatants openly described their making of improvised
explosive devices using grenades.
Military records at the Military Hospital, Wilberforce indicate that 45 people
were killed and 11 injured by landmines during the decade- old war.
Concord Times has confirmed that no landmine has been turned in by the
combatants though British Special forces during their operations against the
RUF, sources say encountered a handful of antipersonnel mines among captured
rebel weapons.
SHARE Researchers have been especially hailed for the report on landmines.
+ + + +
New Vision (Kampala)
October 30, 2001
Grace Matsiko in Kabale
Uganda has withdrawn one UPDF battalion from Kikagati border point near Tanzania
and redeployed them at Nshungezi, 25km away as part of the peace gestures to
resolve the conflict with Rwanda, defence minister Amama Mbabazi said yesterday.
Mbabazi made the pronouncement after a reconciliatory meeting with his Rwandan
counterpart, Emmanuel Habyarimana, at the White Horse Inn, Kabale. The meeting
was initiated by Uganda and facilitated by Britain.
The British envoy to Uganda, Tom Phillips, as well as that to Rwanda, Sue
Hogwood, attended the closed-door meeting in what officials referred to as the
direct British involvement in resolving the conflict between the two former
allies.
Asked about the significance of his presence, Phillips said, "No comment at the
moment."
Mbabazi and Phillips arrived at the venue of the meeting aboard a military
gunship and were accompanied by the Army Commander, Lt. Gen. Jeje Odongo, the
Chief of Military Intelligence, Lt. Col. Noble Mayombo, Mayombo's deputy Maj.
James Mugira and other senior UPDF officers.
The Rwandan delegation included the acting Chief of Staff, Brig. Gen. James
Kabarebe, RPA spokesman Lt. Col. Bosco Kazura, the head of Military
Intelligence, Col. Jack Nziza, Rwandese representative to the Joint Military
Commission under the Lusaka agreement, Col. Laurent Munyakaze and Byuma Commune
RPA commander Lt. Col. George Rwigamba. The delegates were received in Kabale by
RDC Lt. James Mwesige.
In a joint communiqué, Mbabazi and Habyarimana called for transparency and prior
notification of any proposed troop deployments within the common borders and in
the DR Congo where the two countries back different rebel factions.
"The minister (Mbabazi) informed his counterpart (Habyarimana) that Uganda has
withdrawn one battalion from Kikagati to Nshungezi," it said.
Kikagati is on the border with Tanzania but close to the Kagera River which
connects to Rwanda.
Mbabazi told The New Vision that the withdrawal of the soldiers was intended to
restore public confidence in the Uganda - Rwanda relations.
The troops were deployed at Kikagati about two months ago when renegade UPDF
officers, Col. Samson Mande and Lt. Col. Anthony Kyakabale, now in exile in
Rwanda, declared war on Uganda.
The meeting called for an extradition treaty in light of the concerns about
dissidents in either country.
They also agreed that the dissidents be dissuaded from their activities and
relocated to third countries under the supervision of the UN refugee agency.
"In order to prevent misinterpretation of information, the ministers agreed to
establish a mechanism involving the UK diplomatic missions in both countries, to
evaluate and verify information with potential to cause misunderstanding," the
statement said.
+ + + +
The Monitor (Kampala)
October 30, 2001
Carl Bialik
New York
As relations between Rwanda and Uganda deteriorate to worrying levels, a former
US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa has predicted a Rwandan victory
should Uganda invade it.
"There is no way [the Rwandans] could be defeated on their home territory,"
Herman Cohen told The Monitor last week.
"They have a better army. After all, they were trained in the United States."
Asked to react to Cohen's analysis, Army Commander Lt. Gen. Jeje Odongo simply
told The Monitor: "No comment".
Uganda insists it has no plans of war against Rwanda despite its grievances, and
instead accuses the latter of planning terrorist activities against Kampala.
These fears were cited in the now famous letter President Museveni wrote to
British Secretary of State for Overseas Development, Clare Short, Aug. 28 asking
Britain to appreciate his intention to increase defense spending.
Herman Cohen, who served in the State Department during the elder George Bush
administration, has since 1994 worked as a consultant on Africa for a private
firm, Cohen and Woods International.
Cohen said Uganda "has a lot of grievances against Rwanda," but he does not
expect fighting to take place.
Cohen said if he were in a position to advise Rwanda and Uganda, he "would urge
them to be prudent and not resort to violence. Above all, I would urge them to
accelerate their departure from the Congo. So much of their trouble originates
form their dispute in the Congo, and there are several UN resolutions demanding
they get out."
One tactic Cohen suggests Uganda could use to its advantage in a conflict is an
economic blockade. "If Uganda shut off all roads to Rwanda, Rwanda would have
great difficulty supplying themselves, because they are [more] landlocked," he
said.
Cohen also thinks a Rwandan invasion of Uganda is highly unlikely. "They have
enough trouble at home defending against rebels, so they have to keep their
troops at home," he said. "They (Rwanda) can't spread themselves too thin. And
the whole area on the Ugandan side is very mountainous."
Cohen recalled that the Rwanda Patriotic Army started out as members of the
Ugandan army, supplied by Museveni.
He told The Monitor that Rwanda has not yet "returned the favour".
The immediate cause of this latest flare in Uganda-Rwanda relations has been
President Museveni's letter in which he also described the Rwandan regime as
"ideologically bankrupt".
"The President was deeply upset by [Col. Dr. Kiiza Besigye]," Cohen said
commenting on Museveni's letter.
"He believed that this [campaign] was financed by the Rwandans, and he felt that
was a real betrayal."
Besigye was Museveni's closest opponent during the March presidential elections.
When asked why Museveni's letter came across as emotional and unedited, Cohen
said, "[Museveni] has a way of doing that sort of thing; of reacting that way."
Cohen told The Monitor that the stature of Uganda and Rwanda in the West has
declined because of their participation in the war in the Democratic Republic of
Congo.
"Both the Rwandan and Ugandan leadership were considered very much
representative of a new generation of leaders replacing old, corrupt regimes,"
he said.
"But I think their status in the US has gone down because of what has happened
in the eastern Congo. Their occupation of the eastern Congo has resulted in
massive human degradation; they've had terrible occupation policies, fomented
ethnic wars, dealt very harshly with human-rights organizations, and caused
massive deaths and malnutrition and disease which normally wouldn't have taken
place."
Meanwhile, a representative of a refugee commission has also warned of the
potentially disastrous humanitarian consequences of a war.
Joel Frushone, policy analyst for the US Committee for Refugees, said a
Uganda-Rwanda conflict would be calamitous.
"We do not want to see either country causing trouble or starting trouble,
because of the consequences," Frushone told The Monitor.
"Another war in that region would have the potential to produce massive flows of
refugees," he warned.
+ + + +
New Vision (Kampala)
October 30, 2001
Justin Moro
The army at the Uganda-Sudan border is on full alert following reports that a
group of LRA rebels were planning to enter the country from their bases in
southern Sudan.
According to security and military sources in the district, the UPDF have been
deployed along the border and have been placed on full alert.
Reports have been circulating in Gulu and Kitgum that some LRA rebels had
crossed into the country from their bases in Sudan.
But, the former northern reserve force commander, Brig. Julius Oketta, refuted
the reports.
+ + + +
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
October 30, 2001
Two armed opposition movements in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
have agreed to form "a joint military force to track down, arrest and disarm
negative forces" including the Interahamwe (Rwandan Hutu militias), the ex-FAR
(former Rwandan Armed Forces), and the Mayi-Mayi (Congolese militias),
rebel-controlled RTNC radio reported in Goma on Monday.
Other groups will include the FDD (Burundian Hutu rebel Forces pour la defense
de la democratie), the ADF (Ugandan rebel Allied Democratic Forces) and NALU
(National Army for the Liberation of Uganda), RTNC radio added.
Delegations from the two rebel movements - the Rwandan-backed Rassemblement
congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) and the Ugandan-backed Mouvement pour la
liberation du Congo (MLC) - submitted a plan for their coalition to Rwandan
President Paul Kagame, with whom they met in Kigali during the weekend. Kagame
"encouraged them to continue working together, and to realise that only
Congolese can solve Congo's problems", the Rwanda News Agency (RNA) reported on
Monday.
The joint delegation informed Kagame of the beginning of the inter-Congolese
dialogue last week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The meeting was suspended on Sunday
22 Oct by talks facilitator and former Botswanan president Ketumile Masire after
the DRC government delegation left the talks, stating that insufficient funds
prevented a fully-representative dialogue to take place. Efforts are underway to
restart the talks in November in South Africa.
The joint rebel delegation was led by the Secretaries-General of RCD-Goma,
Azarias Ruberwa, and of the MLC, Olivier Kamitatu.
On Wednesday, the UN Security Council expressed its support for "Phase III" of
the UN peacekeeping operation in the DRC - a move that would involve the
deployment of UN troops and military observers towards the east of the country,
where the "negative forces" are based. Although the 1999 Lusaka peace agreement
places the responsibility of demobilising and disarming these forces on
signatories of the accord, the UN has become involved as well.
A mission led by the Emergency Response Division (ERD) of the UN Development
Programme (UNDP) recently determined that "the time is right for the
implementation of disarmament, demobilisation and durable solutions initiatives
as dispositions and actions exist in the region that, if reinforced, could
support a [such a] process to check the continued evolution of armed groups
within the DRC and the Great Lakes region".
+ + + +
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
October 30, 2001
Johannesburg
South African troops deployed in Burundi to protect politicians participating in
the country's multiparty transitional government are faced with a very "delicate
mission", analysts told IRIN on Tuesday.
Speaking from Burundi, independent analyst Jan Van Eck said the South African
National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers were going into a "very unhappy
environment" but should be "okay" if they kept their mandate limited.
"The troops will be okay if they perform the task of going in there and serve as
a protection force. If they stick to this then they are unlikely to encounter
any problems. The difficulties could arise if they are forced, through
circumstances, to deviate from the mandate," Van Eck said. "The problem could
come if the troops are forced in any way to engage in some kind of fighting and
the last thing everybody needs is for South Africa to become embroiled in some
kind of conflict on foreign soil."
A spokesman for the SANDF told IRIN that in total about 701 soldiers would be
deployed. The first group of 204 left South Africa on Sunday, with another 204
leaving on Tuesday. The remainder were likely to leave before the end of next
week Colonel John Rolt said. He said the troops would be stationed in the
capital Bujumbura, and "will be armed so that they can defend themselves if need
be".
The soldiers were sent to Burundi at the request of former president Nelson
Mandela, official facilitator to the peace process. At a regional summit on
Burundi held in Pretoria on 11 October, agreement was reached between the
Burundian government and seven opposition parties on the legal framework and
structure of the multiparty transitional government. The participants called for
the deployment of an impartial multinational presence. The multiparty government
is due to be formed on Thursday, 1 November.
An official from the department of foreign affairs told IRIN that the deployment
of the South African troops was an interim measure and it was not clear when
they would be joined by troops from Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal who would make up
a multi-national force, called for under the 11 October agreement.
"The mediator, former president Nelson Mandela felt that it was important that
the SANDF guys go in as soon as possible and hence their deployment," he said.
He emphasised that the South African troops, and later the multinational force,
were not a United Nations force but did have United Nations support.
On Monday the UN Security Council passed a resolution saying that it "strongly
supported the establishment of an interim multinational security presence in
Burundi to protect returning political leaders and train an all-Burundian
protection force".
Van Eck said that sending a foreign force to Burundi had always been a
controversial subject. "The biggest problem confronting them is that they are in
many respects not wanted. Sending in a foreign force has always been a very
controversial issue and Burundians will be watching the South Africans very
carefully," he said. "Most Burundian would have been more open to an
international police force rather than a foreign army. Burundians are very
protective of their independence and their sovereignty."
He explained that some Burundian parties had already publicly stated their
objection to foreign troops in the country. "Extremists on both sides have not
welcomed the deployment," said Van Eck.
Analysts also raised concerns about operational aspects of the deployment,
pointing out that many deployed soldiers do not speak French or many of the
other regional languages, and were given no language lessons before being
deployed.
"No we did not give any kind of language lessons. The troops will have some time
on their hands during their mission and hopefully during this time they will
learn the language," Colonel Daan Boshoff from the SANDF told IRIN. "We did
however give our guys a thorough intelligence briefing giving them a review of
the geographical terrain, the current political situation and a sketch of the
main political role players."
Earlier this year South Africa sent a small contingent of support personnel to
the Democratic Republic of Congo. The group were part of a United Nations
initiative and included paramedics and traffic controllers. In 1998 South
Africa, as part of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), sent
troops into Lesotho to try and reverse what was described as an iminent military
coup. The intervention was initially resisted by elements of the Lesotho army
which had earlier mutinied, and the capital Maseru was pillaged by looters as
lawlessness took hold.
+ + + +
Concord Times (Freetown)
October 30, 2001
Sulaiman Momodu
Freetown
Most Sierra Leonean listeners to BBC Network Africa must have been shocked to
hear Gibril Massaquoi bashing the press in the early hours of Tuesday.
Those who are lovers of the press must have hissed, cursed or insulted the RUF
Spokesman for describing the press as "irresponsible." But let us face the
reality for one moment. Is the press not irresponsible? Have you not seen
sensational headlines in the newspapers which even our man at Hill Station has
been complaining about? Have you not seen inaccurate, false, unethical and
unprofessional stories in the papers?
Not too long, Gibril was in our office and convinced that we have a job to
report all sides in the Sierra Leone crisis, we dedicated enough space to him
and the RUF.
To some people, Massaquoi might have dropped some dollars for our efforts. This
is complete garbage, rubbish and nonsense and only a journalist who wants his
reputation killed or slain will accept even a gift from the RUF.
To jog your memory, Gibril entered our office when the police were allegedly
after his neck for having blood diamonds.
In the event, thousands of dollars were seen in his possession forcing some
police officers to salivate.
"The police begged me for bribe," Massaquoi had alleged . It was our lead story.
That was then.
On Monday this week, Gibril rang us up to debunk newspaper report that he was
tied like a sheep for defying the orders of his boss, interim RUF leader, Gen.
Issa Sesay.
The Vision Newspaper had actually written detailed report that Massaquoi had
been expelled from the RUF.
The Vision is not known for carrying reports that are not well-sourced
especially as that newspaper has access to otherwise exclusive or if you like,
classified information.
By saying that the report on his expulsion from the RUF was false and the press
is irresponsible, Gibril was not only attacking, assaulting and challenging the
Vision Newspaper, but the President of SLAJ and his Executive and of course all
journalists in the country.
By making a sweeping and nasty remark of that nature, Gibril should know, if he
does not, that he is the most irresponsible animal the press has ever known.
At his age, over 30 years, Massaquoi should have been contributing to the
development of his motherland, but look at his handiwork.
Whole towns and villages have been reduced to rubble by setting poor civilian
houses on fire forcing them to sleep in the open air or in goat pens,
slaughtering of hundreds of women and children, amputating defenseless people
including babies and yet he has the liberty to call the press irresponsible.
Gibril called the press irresponsible. Again, I accept that some sections of the
press may have their shortcomings, but let us take a quick look at what prompted
Massaquoi to call the press irresponsible.
Massaquoi with his own mouth said he defied the orders of his boss. What can be
more irresponsible than this?
And he did not defy his boss because he wanted to save lives or it was in the
interest of national security, he defied his boss to go and mine for diamonds in
Tongo Field.
Talking about this will definitely raise emotions and as such make the Kamajors
feel like snuffing life out of his bloody head. Massaquoi and his boss are
engaged in plundering Tongo Field for diamonds and he sheepishly said they had a
misunderstanding over mining as if to say what they are doing is legal.
Annoyingly also, he said it in a manner as if to say, "I am telling the world
that we are mining and let the authorities go to hell or if they like, drink
drums of water from the Atlantic Ocean and die".
To Massaquoi, he has tried and tasted the pulse of the SLPP Government and know
they would not cough even if he committed murder, let alone mine.
The RUF had stated in one of the most stupid anthems ever composed: "Go and tell
the president Sierra Leone is my home.. where are our diamonds Mr. President ".
Such irony on the part of the RUF is unimaginable, ridiculous, distressing and
is food for thought for those who think the rebels had an agenda.
Massaquoi had no shame to tell the world that he can strangulate his boss to
death over gravel and by his utterance, he is telling anybody and everybody that
he is an armed robber to the marrow.
It is worth noting that in most revolutions, the leaders most times end up
slaughtering themselves. Sam Maskita Bockarie, the chief of genocide is no more
with the RUF. He was kicked out of the very Movement he had killed hundreds of
innocent children and split the belly of pregnant women in his madness to get to
State House.
Where is he today?
By his own words, Massaquoi may as well be telling people that he is suffering
from hallucination and badly needs to see a psychiatrist.
As the RUF rebels hand in their tools of death and destruction, in my opinion,
this is time for Massaquoi to pray and fast for all the mountain of curse and
sin that he has to his credit and which may extend to his great grand children
and several unborn generations .At this juncture, let me give Massaquoi the
assignment of taking a look at all the so-called 'high and mighty' RUF
commanders that had fallen six feet through the trigger of their own men.
The latest on this list are Dennis Mingo alias Superman and Commander
Christopher who was gunned down by his own colleague.
Unless and until Gibril Massaquoi realized that he has derailed and is living a
life no different from the monkeys and the baboons, the fate of Superman,
Christopher and many others may as well be waiting "responsible" Gibril.
+ + + +
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
October 30, 2001
A driver and a tour guide were killed after bandits ambushed a tourist party
travelling south of Timbuktu, news organisations reported. The tourists were
robbed, BBC reported officials as saying. A government vehicle travelling in a
second convoy was taken by bandits on the same road after two people were shot
and injured, BBC said. It quoted correspondents as saying that the attacks had
raised fears among tour operators in the northeastern town of Timbuktu of a
slump in trade due to a lack of security in the area.
The southern Sahara region between Mali, Niger and Chad has been plagued by
banditry in recent times. Some of the bandits are thought to be former rebels
who fought the Mali and Niger armies until peace deals were reached in 1995. In
Niger, rebellion broke out again in 1997 and ended in 1998. In northern Chad a
new rebellion began in late 1998.
+ + + +
Liberia's maritime authority has reacted with disbelief to a UN report which
says money from the country's shipping activities is been used to finance
gun-running, saying his activities were "completely transparent".
The Commissioner for Maritime Affairs, Benoni Urey told the BBC's Focus on
Africa programme that even the opposition groups inside the country were
"comfortable" with the handling of money obtained from the country's shipping
operations.
The report which is expected to be debated by the UN Security Council on Tuesday
was commissioned to look into whether Liberia has violated UN embargos imposed
in May to punish the government for supporting rebels in Sierra Leone.
The report recommended that additional sanctions be imposed on Liberia claiming
it was still involved in supplying arms to the rebels.
The 135-page " name and shame" report said that as Liberia was channelling funds
from its shipping activities and timber exports to finance gun-running
operations, a bank account supervised by a UN agency should be set up.
This account would be supervised by a UN agency and the money used for
development projects in Liberia.
But Mr Urey said: "It is our right to decide what we do with our money. They
cannot tell us that they would take the money of the government of Liberia and
put it in an account controlled by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
But the Liberian rebel group Lurd welcomed the report saying revenue accrued
from shipping and the country's timber is not used for the benefit of ordinary
Liberians.
Under the sanctions regime, diamond exports from Liberia were banned in an
effort to halt the smuggling of gems from rebel-held areas in Sierra Leone.
Liberia had always called the sanctions unjust and had said it would cooperate
with the UN, as its information was based on hear say.
The UN report, released on Monday, acknowledged that the diamond trade through
Liberia has largely been curbed.
Reuters news agency reports doubts that the Security Council will impose a ban
on the country's shipping and logging industries.
It says Secretary General Kofi Annan last month warned that more sanctions would
hurt ordinary Liberians most.
Liberia and Sierra Leone have been fighting a proxy war through various rebel
groups for several years.
The Liberian Government said it had taken comprehensive measures to comply with
the UN's demands.
The RUF have been accused of killing, raping and mutilating civilians over the
last decade.
Liberia has yet to recover from its disastrous civil war in the early 1990s, and
is already under an arms embargo stemming from its 1989-1996 civil war.
It receives millions of dollars every year by registering more than 1,000 ships
under its " flag of convenience."
This means that ship owners, who may only have a post box in Liberia, could
escape strict maritime regulations.
It also means that they could pay less taxes and fees as well as operate looser
labour and safety laws.
+ + + +
Police in Senegal have given further details about a weekend clash with
separatists in the southern province of Casamance.
The police said four rebels and two civilians had been killed in the fighting
between the army and rebels of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance.
The authorities had previously said that two rebels died in the incident, which
took place near the town of Djibonker, just outside the provincial capital,
Ziguinchor.
+ + + +
Reports from Russia say more than 300 youths have rampaged through a market in
Moscow, killing at least one stallholder and injuring several others.
The Interfax news agency said the incident happened when gangs charged through
three trading areas in southern Moscow.
The news agency said police arrested about 10 people but most of the attackers
fled.
The arrested youths were shown on Russian television, dressed in black - many
with shaven heads.
It is not clear what prompted the attack, but Interfax said it was organised by
members of the ultra-nationalist party, Russian National Unity.
+ + + +
War News
30-10-2001
Interfax
The head of Chechnya's Nozhay-Yurt District police department, Salavdi
Gairbekov, was killed in Argun, 10 km east of Grozny, sources in the Russian
Interior Ministry's department for Chechnya told Interfax.
Gairbekov's car came under fire in the center of Argun on Sunday evening when
the police chief was returning home from Khankala. Several other people were
killed and wounded in the shooting, sources said.
The center of Argun is sealed off. All vehicles moving from Shali, Vedeno,
Kurchaloy, Gudermes and Nozhay-Yurt districts, as well as from Gudermes to
Grozny, have to use a bypass.
The search for the attackers is underway in the town, police said.
Gairbekov was the husband of Isita Gairbekova, chief of the Nozhay-Yurt District
administration. There have been repeated attacks on the head of the
administration. Her house was bombed and her sister was killed.
2 teenage girls killed in Chechen village
Two girls - Lazit Taramova, 15, and Malika Lavayeva, 14, have been killed in
Goity in Chechnya's Urus-Martan district.
"The village was fired at with large-caliber weapons and mortars on Saturday,"
the local administration chief Shirvani Yasayev told the press on Monday. "The
fire came from the direction of a military unit." Islam Bikayev, Magomed
Chukuyev, Akhmed Lavayev and Laila Aidamirova were seriously injured.
District prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation.
Sixteen houses on Goity's Chapayev and Kuibyshev streets were destroyed by the
shooting. Shells and shell fragments with serial numbers have been found at the
scene, Yasayev said.
A military commission from Khankala, the federal forces HQ in Chechnya, has
arrived in Goity to assess the damage.
Russians seize civilians in several towns
Chechenpress
Russian aviation subjected Nozhay-Yurtovsky, Shatoysky, Vedensky and
Achkhoy-Martanovsky Districts to bomb and missile strikes on 27 October.
Two young people were seized on Ulitsa 8 Marta [8 March Street] in Dzhokhar
[Grozny] on 27 October as a result of a "clearance" operation. Their fate is
unknown.
The district center of Kurchaloy remained blockaded on 27 October. A
Chechenpress correspondent reported that Russian soldiers seized 9 local
inhabitants and took them away to an unknown destination.
According to information from the operational department of the General Staff of
the CRI [Chechen Republic of Ichkeria] Armed Forces, a Russian armored personnel
carrier was blown up on a remote-controlled mine on Ulitsa Mayakovskogo
[Mayakovsky Street] in Dzhokhar on 26 October. According to preliminary
information, three Russian soldiers were killed.
Russian soldiers blew up a mine in the village of Katayama on 25 October.
Fortunately, no civilians were injured. According to eyewitnesses, the Russian
soldiers accused a youth of carrying out the explosion and shot him on the spot.
Russian subunits carried out a punishment operation in the village of
Alkhan-Kala on 25 October. As a result, about 15 local residents were seized and
taken off to an unknown destination.
Mobile subunits of the CRI Armed Forces attacked a Russian checkpoint in the
town of Argun on 26 October. According to information from the General Staff of
the CRI Armed Forces, two Russian servicemen were killed. Immediately after this
Russian soldiers opened random fire on residential quarters of the town. Several
houses were damaged.
Russian interior troops seized eight local residents during a "mopping up"
operation at the Rodina collective farm on 26 October.
According the information obtained from our correspondents, in the Gudermes in
front of the occupier's administration second day inhabitants of the Gudermes'
district are continuing act of protest. The reason to call a meeting was the day
before made by aggressors seizure of young mother and her son teenager, who were
working in their kitchen-garden. It is not first time when Russian pilots hunt
peaceful people. The tragedies of similar character had place in Argun,
Achkhoy-Martan, Za-Vedeno, Zozan-Yurt, when Russian pilots have grasped
teenagers and then threw them out from helicopters.
October 27, in the Shali's market during "mopping up" operation were detained
one man 60 years old and 2 teenagers.
October 26, in the Old Atagi Russian occupiers broke into a house of peaceful
people and beat housekeeper without any reason.
October 27, in the Djokhar-City Russian occupiers robbed a number of flats and
beat some women, who wanted to stop them. In the Katayama, Karpinka, Zavodskoy
and some other districts of Djokhar-City "mopping up" operation is going on. A
large number of people was detained.
The same day on the Zhukovsky street of Djokhar-Gala Chechen fighters blew up
military vehicle URAL, injuring two and destroying some occupiers.
October 27, on the road Khankala - Argun military column of aggressors was
attacked by Chechen fighters. As a result of battle 3 BTR and 10 occupiers were
destroyed.
In the Alkhan-Kala, Goity, Argun and Gudermes during "mopping up" operation were
detained approximately 30 people.
The alleged goal of Äspecial operations" as well as Ämopping-up" operations is
to detain people linked to armed formations and to find weapons. However,
Russian soldiers are searching Chechen fighters mostly in linen cupboards,
clothes cupboards and household equipment. Almost every day they visit people's
houses, preferring to carry out searches at the houses of the well-off.
Russian aircraft bomb Vedeno outskirts
Prague Watchdog
Ruslan Isayev
The number of missile attacks and bombardment has risen sharply in Vedeno,
southern Chechnya, in the last week. The federal air force bombs especially
southern and eastern outskirts of Vedeno where the Gizgin-Lam mountain and the
village of Meini-Chu are located.
In the night between Oct 23 and Oct 24, a few artillery grenades exploded just
next to houses in the Dyshne-Vedeno village, but nobody was hurt. What saved
local people s lives was that they made to get to their cellars and temporary
shelters. However, it was impossible to avoid some damage and the roofs of three
houses were destroyed. As the local claim, the artillery attack against their
village was planned.
In addition, the road between Shali and Vedeno has been blocked by Russian
soldiers for the second day. Only women and children are allowed to go through
the checkpoints in the Tsa-Vedeno settlement, situated in the Vedeno Gorge,
where a mopping-up operation is taking place. According to available reports,
unlike usually, the operation has claimed no incident in the village so far.
Musa Chimayev and his son Bislan Chimayev, detained for possession of a hunting
rifle, though kept upon a legal license, were released after half of the day.
Obviously, the rifle was not returned.
Local people say that the latest bombardment and mopping-up operations in the
Vedeno outskirts are linked to recent Chechen armed groups attacks against the
district military commandment and local police department in Vedeno. Chechen
fighters torched the internal affairs department, beat the policemen and took
their arms one pistol, ten sub-machine guns and one machine gun. Besides, one
policeman, Supyan Zulkornayev, is still hospitalized with a head-injury.
On the next day, the deputy district commander gathered the local people and
claimed turning over those fighters who had participated in the attack against
the department. What is more, he required returning federal arms with the threat
of carrying out a severe mopping-up operation in the village. The people did
their best to tell the soldiers that civilians have nothing to do with the
attacks. However, as it seems, their attempts to avoid a mopping-up operation
proved vain.
+ + + +
Alejandro Bernal boarded a Miami-bound plane accompanied by agents of the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration at 9 a.m. at Bogota's police airport.
He arrived in Florida in late afternoon and was taken to a federal detention
center near Miami. An initial appearance before a U.S. magistrate was scheduled
for Wednesday, DEA spokesman Joe Kilmer said.
Bernal's extradition came after Colombia — the world's largest producer of
cocaine — on Sept. 7 extradited Fabio Ochoa, a former lieutenant of the
legendary late drug lord Pablo Escobar, to Miami.
Bernal and Ochoa were captured in October 1999 in a joint operation carried out
by Colombian police and DEA agents dubbed "Operation Millennium."
Shipped About $1 Billion of Cocaine Per Month
The two were indicted along with 41 others allegedly involved in the drug
smuggling ring in September 1999 by a Fort Lauderdale, Fla. federal grand jury.
Agents said the cocaine allegedly shipped by the ring had a street value of
about $1 billion per month.
Ochoa has admitted his past involvement with the defunct Medellin cartel run by
Escobar but has claimed he had no dealings with Bernal's ring. He was the
highest-profile Colombian to be extradited to the United States since the South
American nation lifted a constitutional ban on extradition in 1997 under
pressure from Washington.
U.S. authorities described Bernal as a former Medellin cartel member who later
ran the world's largest cocaine transportation organization, allegedly smuggling
20 to 30 tons of cocaine per month through Mexico into the United States in 1998
and 1999.
"This guy is huge. He was the main transportation guy that everybody went to,"
Kilmer said.
Bernal faces charges of racketeering, conspiracy to import and distribute
cocaine and money laundering.
Last week, U.S. Ambassador to Colombia Anne Patterson said the United States
would seek to extradite Colombia's leftist rebels and right-wing paramilitary
warlords for their alleged involvement in drug-trafficking to finance a
37-year-old war that has claimed 40,000 lives in the last decade alone.
The United States, the world's largest consumer of illegal drugs, is providing
more than $1 billion in largely military aid, to assist President Andres
Pastrana's anti-cocaine "Plan Colombia."
+ + + +
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A former Pakistani nuclear scientist who quit government
service to work for a food aid group in Afghanistan was being held for
questioning but was not under arrest, Islamabad's top spokesman said on Tuesday.
Bashiruddin Mahmood's family have expressed concern because they have not spoken
to him since Saturday, and his son said he understood he was in the "protective
custody" of the government.
Major General Rashid Qureshi, spokesman for President Pervez Musharraf, told a
news conference that Mahmood was involved in a non governmental organization
(NGO) and had gone to Afghanistan.
"There are certain questions that we need to ask him," he said, without
specifying which government agency was holding the well-known nuclear scientist.
He said Mahmood was not involved with Pakistan's nuclear weapons program.
"He is not under arrest," Qureshi said, adding Mahmood was not well and was
believed to be in hospital.
Qureshi offered no further details but Mahmood's son, Asim, told Reuters he had
a heart condition.
"He has not come home yet... we are worried about his health," Asim said, adding
the authorities had not explained the reasons for the detention.
In 1998, Mahmood wrote newspaper articles protesting then-prime minister Nawaz
Sharif's intention to sign the nuclear Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Islamabad
has not signed the agreement.
Soon afterwards, Mahmood took early retirement from the Pakistan Atomic Energy
Commission and devoted his time to welfare work, particularly for Afghans
suffering from 20 years of war and the worst drought in living memory.
Another former nuclear scientist, identified only as Majeed and a colleague of
Mahmood, had also been in custody since October 23, Asim said.
The Dawn newspaper said Mahmood was released on Monday but Asim said he had not
come home or spoken to the family since Saturday, although Majeed had called his
home last night and appeared to be "shaken."
NO LINKS TO WEAPONS
Qureshi said neither man was involved with Pakistan's weapons-linked nuclear
program. Mahmood had headed a nuclear power reactor in the Khushab area of
central Punjab province.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman last week dismissed any suggestion that
the scientists were being detained in a nuclear-related investigation, and said
Mahmood's NGO was under investigation as were all NGOs working in Afghanistan.
Pakistan unveiled its atomic capability by carrying out nuclear tests in May
1998 in response to tests by rival India.
The government says Pakistan's nuclear program is in secure hands and has also
assured the world that it will not export sensitive technology abroad.
Local media reported the investigation also involves other associates of Mahmood
assisting him in the relief work through an Islamabad-based NGO.
Asim said his father set up the NGO to send food and aid to Afghanistan,
including five trucks of medicines after the start of U.S.-led strikes against
the Taliban over their refusal to surrender Osama bin Laden, chief suspect in
the September 11 attacks on America.
Asim said his father was also setting up a flour mill in the southern Afghan
city of Kandahar to help overcome food shortages and it was being tested just
before the air strikes began.
+ + + +
Chechen Mujahideen take down Russian helicopter
Commander Rabbani's unit managed to force down a Russian helicopter, after
mujahideen fired a surface-to-air missile at it, missing it. They then opened
fire on it with their PK machine-guns, hitting it and causing it to malfunction,
forcing it to land in the village of Khatni.
Mujahideen attacked a group of Russian infantry with machine guns and RPGs in a
village close to the capital and managed to injure some of the soldiers. The
mujahideen returned to their bases without suffering any casualties, and to
Allah belongs all praise.
Today, near the Russian base at Khankala, close to the capital Grozny,
mujahideen blew up a 'Awazik' vehicle with a targeted land-mine, killing all its
occupants.
1,800 dead in Afghanistan
During the war against so-called terrorism over 1,800 innocent people in
Afghanistahn have been killed, and not a single taliban soldiers died in the
three weeks of bombing.
Village after village, house after house are destroyed on a daily basis,
regardless of who maybe inside the house.
The US does not even acknowledge the loss of life, refering to it as collateral
damage, one wounders if some was to refer to those innocent victims that died in
the WTC bombing as collatral damage how the US would act?
"Go to Afghanistan and see what happens to your family"
Those were the words of the British government is using, trying to scare those
young Muslims who have or who are planning to travel to Afghanistan. The bizard
statement has featured across the British press, seems to indicate that if a
young Muslim was to take up arms, then he family would become a target.
Were has the democracy gone, the British so loves to profess about about, the
right to not threaten anyone?
Reports of young Muslims flocking to lands in which Muslims are being opressed,
is not anything new.
USA searches soldiers for the ground operation
One of the former ministers of Islamic government of Afghanistan, which now
heads the large subdivision of Taliban in the north of the country, spoke on the
Arab television channel Al-Jazeera and in the categorical form, he refuted all
reports about the new approach of the armed formations of Northern alliance on
the positions of Afghan mujahideen. He stated that all offensive operations of
enemy, which were realized earlier, were repelled. Moreover, the subdivisions of
Afghan troops counterattacked Northern alliance and inflicted serious damage on
it. The representative of Afghan command reported that the detachments Of
Dostum, Fahim Khan, etc sustained the heaviest losses in manpower and material.
Afghan commander stated that after defeat near Kandahar, when were destroyed 2
combat helicopters of Americans and 25 commandoes, the military command of USA
searches for soldiers in the entire world for the fight against us. Americans
are not soldiers. They are suffering from AIDS and addicted to narcotics and
they can do nothing, stated Afghan commander in the interview for Al-Jazeera TV
broadcasting.
Americans admit serious problems
The military action of USA and their allies against Afghanistan passes far from
being how it is presented by official Washington propaganda, becomes more and
more obvious on a background of numerous failures in achievement of the goals
pursued by Americans in Afghanistan. Military analytics and observers any more
do not hide that fact, that bombardments and rocket shelling practically have
not changed the situation inside the country for the benefit of the armed Afghan
opposition.
Massive deliveries of the Russian arms and engineering do not help Northern
alliance. The many thousands contingent of Tajiks and Uzbeks from former Soviet
republics in lines of opposition does not rescue the situation, which is more
and more going out of the control of so-called world powers.
+ + + +
PRAVDA
2001-10-31
BEAR CURED OF ALCOHOLISM
About a third of its 7-year life, bear Potapych was boozing. As a bear-cub, he
was bought by a successful businessman who wanted to impress his friends with
his haughty manners and kept the bear in his villa. Though, later the
businessman was imprisoned, and the bear stood in the villa with watchman uncle
Misha.
Uncle Misha loved the bear in his own way, feeding him and giving him to drink.
They even drank together: uncle Misha was a drunkard, so Potapych took to
alcohol too. Potapych even got accustomed to drink from a glass. In the evening
the bear was usually drunken and sometimes he went out of the fence and followed
passing people. In the morning he had a hang-over and uncle Misha gave him to
drink again. Local people preferred to avoid meeting the bear.
Afterwards the bear even stared to attack people. So, workers of zoological base
of the State Cinema Fund, feeling sorry for the bear, decided to take Potapych.
Uncle Misha made a farewell banquet for his boon companion, therefore the bear
was completely drunken when the workers of zoo-base arrived to take him.
Next morning Potapych had a hang-over and was depressed. He did not want to eat.
The workers of the zoo-base were afraid the bear could die. All the more, it was
very famished. So, zootechnicians decided to gradually reduce the doze of
alcohol in the bear’s daily ration to break the animal of the bad habit. At
first, the bear was very weak, though later he cheered up. In a month the bear
got out of alcoholism and turned to milk. The bear put on weight and became
similar to its brethren, though it is still behind normal bears what about
weight and size. Zootechnicial Tatyana Yarkina, looking after Potapych, says its
psyche is disturbed, so she prefers to keep attention contacting with the
animal. But she is optimistic about its future and considers Potapych being a
good bear.
+ + + +
PRAVDA
2001-10-30
TURKISH NATIONAL ATTACKED BY DUTCH SOLDIERS
Thirty-one-year-old Mustafa Chitak was deliberately run over by a vehicle driven
by the Dutch soldiers. He was seriously injured. There were two people in the
car
On the evening of October 16, Mustafa, a citizen of the Netherlands of Turkish
origin and a software specialist, was going back home from a cafe, where he had
a game of billiard with his Dutch friend. When they came up to Mustafa’s car on
the parking place, they heard screams: “F*** Islam!” and “Death to Muslims!”.
Mustafa and his pal tried to ignore the “brave military men,” but when one of
them yelled, “I wish you had cancer!” (which is a very rude swearing expression
in the Dutch language), Mustafa’s friend could not stand it any longer, as his
father died of cancer.
Mustafa tried to settle the conflict down, but the soldiers were going on and
on: “All Muslims must get a bomb in the a**!” Then they hit Mustafa in the face
several times and it seemed to be over. However, while Mustafa was trying to
reach his car, he was run over by the military vehicle of the Dutch soldiers at
a high speed and fainted. Besides a brain concussion, Mustafa Chitak had 21
fractures. As his pal said, the Dutch military men screamed,“One more Muslim out
of this world!”
+ + + +
PRAVDA
2001-10-30
ALBANIANS CONTINUE ARMED PROVOCATIONS IN MACEDONIA
Up to armed provocations all nights through, Albanian rebels opened fire last
night in Tetotvo, dozens of villages outside the city and in the vicinity of the
town of Kumanovo. Over the curfew from 10:30 p.m. to 05: a.m. local time, they
managed to smash several Tetovo cafes belonging to Macedonians.
Meanwhile, the Macedonian authorities have decided to lift the curfew in
Kumanovo and the suburbs, which was introduced several months ago when armed
clashes between government forces and Albanian extremists were frequent. Skopje,
however, offers no comments on the reasons why mixed police patrols consisting
of three Macedonians and three Albanians have not yet assumed the job of 24-hour
village inspection.
+ + + +
16 SEPARATISTS KILLED IN CHECHNYA YESTERDAY
The Chechen law enforcement officers killed 16 separatists and detained 8
separatists yesterday, the press centre of the Russian Interior Ministry in
Khankala said.
Policemen discovered 13 buried bodies of bandits in the town of Argun. They were
killed on October 28 as a result of beating off the separatists' attack on the
deployment point of one of the law enforcement bodies' detachment.
The killed militants are being identified, the press centre noted.
+ + + +
REMNANTS OF GELAYEV'S GANG DESTROYED
The remains of the gang led by Ruslan Gelayev, a notorious Chechen warlord, have
been destroyed during a special operation conducted by the Defence Ministry of
the self-proclaimed republic of Abkhazia.
According to Vladimir Arshba, the Chief of Staff of the Abkhaz Armed Forces,
several days of searches in the southern sector of the Kodori gorge resulted in
locating Gelayev's unit, which is notorious for its atrocities. Having
determined the exact coordinates of the base, Abkhaz rangers radioed for
helicopters, which subsequently delivered massive missile and bomb strikes on
the terrorists, Vladimir Arshba stated.
The Abkhaz intelligence reports that the terrorists' death toll comprised of
some 150 men virtually destroying the gang. "We have no data concerning the
location of Gelayev at the moment of the attack," Arshba said
+ + + +
Iraq's army is preparing to repulse an attack from the US and Great Britain. The
statements from George W. Bush about Iraq’s connection to the acts of terror of
September 11 and the spread of the anthrax virus could not help being noticed in
Baghdad. As Iraq’s Vice-Premier Tareq Aziz said in his statement, Iraqi
intelligence has information about America and Great Britain’s readiness to
launch missiles on 300 targets on the territory of the country.
“We are attentively watching the events taking place in America and England, and
we know that sooner or later this strike will take place in reality, Aziz said.
This will be a very serious mistake. The Arab world will not forgive this, for
it is unfair, real aggression.”
US Minister of Defense Donald Rumsfeld went further and in his Saturday
interview, he stated, “There are some people who would like Saddam Hussein to be
out of Iraq; I am surely one of them.” Then, he went on: “This administration is
not afraid of pronouncing the word “Iraq.” Iraq has been on the list of the
countries that are sponsors of terrorism for a long time already. There are no
doubts that Iraq as a state carries out acts of terrorism and supports them.
Saddam Hussein, being the leader of the terrorist state, poses a threat to other
countries of the world, including the United States of America.” Answering the
direct question if there was an attack on Iraq planned, Rumsfeld said, “We are
doing what we are doing and I tell you that the president has declared this war
to be against terrorism networks all over the world.”
America does not conceal the fact that it would like to exchange Saddam for a
leader who woul be more loyal towards America. The US also admits that it will
be very hard to do so. All attempts to provoke a coup d'etat and to overthrow
Hussein have ended in failures. Saddam has colossal support within his country.
The international sanctions are good for Saddam as well. America is surely
trying to gain the maximum number of opportunities from this situation and put
Saddam on his knees. It is easy to guess the position the Arab world will take,
but it is hard to imagine what Russia would do in such situation. Would it leave
its old ally in trouble and forget about its economic and strategic interests or
not?
Dmitry Litvinovich
PRAVDA.Ru
+ + + +
US special services are very active in the search for terrorists. While trying
to rehabilitate themselves in public opinion for the events of September 11,
they send triumphal reports about catching new terrorists on US soil. A “witch
hunt” has started in the country.
According to US special services, about 1000 people were arrested, suspected of
implication in Al-Qaida organization. This is not a small number, is it? A
common citizen would think that the country is simply full of spies and
terrorists. The appeal for watchfulness was not in vain. Most of the arrested
people were detained by special services after phone calls of patriotic citizens
who recognized international terrorists in people next door or friends. These
Americans are so attentive!
Though in fact, everything is much more prosy. Most of the arrested people are
Arabs. Skin color became a kind of indicator of belonging to the criminal
community of bin Laden.
US law-enforcement officers are alarmed. The courts are full of victims’
complaints of the violation of constitutional rights. America is trampling on
its democracy with military boots. Later, it will be clear who is right. The
main task is to annihilate all the springs of terrorism in the country and to
release the rest of the world from it.
Many people initially accused of being terrorists’ accomplices and later
released in the absence of corpus delicti tell about mockery and torture during
questioning. Not long ago, it could not be imagined, while now, it becomes the
norm. Once, on his TV program “Vremena," Russian journalist Vladimir Pozner
said, “I am afraid that hunting for Arabs will follow these events." He seems to
have been right.
Dmitry Litvinovich
PRAVDA.Ru
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
CIA agent 'met Bin Laden in July'
by Toby Rose
Le Figaro today claimed that a CIA agent met Osama bin Laden in a Gulf hospital
as recently as last July and received "precise information" about an imminent
attack on the US.
According to the French daily, the agent met Bin Laden while he was being
treated at the American Hospital in Dubai for a kidney infection. The agent was
subsequently recalled to Washington.
The hospital today vigorously denied the report, which is based on a number of
sources, including French secret services and a hospital administrator.
Bin Laden is said to have arrived in the UAE from the Pakistan city of Quetta,
accompanied by his personal physician, four bodyguards and an Algerian nurse. He
was visited by family members and leading Saudis. The paper claims he was
treated in the urology department headed by Dr Terry Callaway.
Bin Laden is said to have severe medical problems and "the kidney infection has
spread to his liver". Le Figaro claims a mobile dialysis machine was delivered
to his Kandahar hideout in Afghanistan last year.
In a further twist, French secret service operatives are said to have met
officials from the US embassy in Paris last August after the arrest of Algerian
Djamel Beghal in the UAE.
A French secret service report on 7 September warned of possible attacks, and
that the order to act would come from Afghanistan. Le Figaro says very precise
information on targets for attack was communicated to the CIA.
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
October 31, 2001
Civilians continue to seek safety in government-controlled towns across the
country as they flee intensifying fighting between rebel UNITA forces and
Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) troops, according to humanitarian officials.
An aid worker in Kuito, capital of the central Bie province, told IRIN on
Wednesday there were large influxes of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in
area where there had been attacks, but that there continued to be a "steady
movement (of IDPs) into Kuito and Camacupa", also in Bie.
Large numbers of Angolans have fled into Zambia, Namibia and Angolan towns in
recent weeks to escape a major government offensive in the provinces of Bie,
Moxico and Cuando Cubango. Humanitarian sources who spoke to IRIN attributed the
large displacements to military activity in the region, but added that
population movements elsewhere in the country indicated widespread insecurity.
World Food Programme (WFP) spokesperson in Angola, Cristina Muller, told IRIN:
"I think during this week there has been a high number of IDPs (internally
displaced persons) arriving in places where WFP is present." The number of
people would be determined after everyone was registered, she said.
Muller added, however, that there was a stabilisation in the number of IDPs
entering therapeutic feeding centres, especially in Bie, indicating an
improvement in their nutritional status compared to about six months ago.
She said another indication that the number of IDPs was rising was an increase
in the number of landmine accidents reported in the past week. The victims were
usually IDPs who went in search of firewood on arrival at a new area or camp
without knowing the area was mined, she said.
Meanwhile, the FAA reported on Monday that their offensive launched in Bie last
week had resulted in the destruction of a strategically important UNITA base and
the death of the area's operational commander. Lusa reported that according to a
government military source, an offensive around the town of Umpulo, about 180 km
southeast of Kuito and about 650 km from the capital Luanda, had led to the
death of 26 UNITA soldiers, including a brigadier identified only as
"Cerqueira".
The source told Lusa that Angolan officials believed Cerqueira could have been
responsible for UNITA leader Jonas Savimbi's movements. They thought Savimbi
could be in the area if this was the case. The Angolan government said recently
it believed that Savimbi and other senior UNITA leaders were hiding in the
interior or southeastern parts of the country. It also said the rebel activity
was intensifying in the north of the country, particularly in Uige province, in
an attempt to keep open arms smuggling routes through the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC).
Angolan government and military officials discussed the issue with their DRC
counterparts in meetings this week, but details of the discussions - which also
follow a United Nations report that UNITA continues to smuggle arms through the
DRC in spite of an arms embargo - were not released.
+ + + +
Standard Times (Freetown)
October 31, 2001
Mohamed Kakay
A Lebanese diamond dealer Hisham Mackie has admitted to Standard Times that he
bought a 69 carat "Blood Diamond" from Mr.George Pessima, the present
Establishment Secretary and Mr.Ndolla Myres of the Government Gold and Diamond
Office for the cheap sum of US $ 30,000 (Thirty thousand dollars).
Hisham Mackie boasted that he has nothing to fear as long as he bought the
diamonds from a recognised government office and also disclosed that in fact the
69 pieces carat of diamonds have already been exported to Belgium.
Residents in Kono and Freetown who earlier saw the diamond valued it at 69
carats while Mr Myres in concert with Messrs Pessima and Hisham Mackie under
valued it at 32 carats.
Sources say the owners of the diamonds have called upon the three men to produce
the diamond so that it could be valued in the presence of the Mines Ministry
officials in order to ascertain their true value.
Meanwhile, Mr George Pessima, who had been at the centre of the allegations has
been quick to clear his name, stating that when his Kono brothers placed the
diamonds in his hands he immediately contacted Mr Myres at the GGDO for
valuation and subsequent sale.
He said he was not present at any stage of the transaction and did not receive
any commission or kick back from the sale.
Mr. Ndolla Myres has also denied receiving any kick back but said his commission
was instead given to Mr. George Pessima who had earlier denied receiving a cent
from the illegal deal.
Reports further revealed that Mr Ndola Myres is currently under mounting
pressure from prominent Kono politicians and Paramount Chiefs to produce the
diamonds which, Hisham said has been exported to Belgium. They also accused Mr
Myres of duping the illiterate miners by under valuing the said diamond to his
advantage and those of Mr.Pessima and Hisham Mackie to the detriment of this
nation. "He has betrayed the trust bestowed on him so the Anti Corruption
Commission should investigate him and the other two" one of them said.
Sierra Leoneans will never benefit from diamonds, no matter what type of
government we may have as long as there are criminally minded Sierra Leoneans
and dubious foreigners operating in the country, remarked a Kono resident.
+ + + +
Vanguard (Lagos)
October 31, 2001
By Kingsley Omonobi, Ben Agande, Albert Akpor & Evelyn Oisa
Lagos
The Federal Government said yesterday that the recent murder of 19 soldiers by
Tiv youths in Benue State was nothing short of a declaration of war on the
country.
The army has already arrested nine men in connection with the incident while the
police yesterday confirmed impounding a Peugeot 504 saloon car owned by a former
military administrator (name withheld), and alleged to have been used in
supplying arms to militant youths in Taraba State.
The killing of the soldiers and the destruction of four villages by soldiers
were condemned yesterday by the House of Representatives on its resumption,
while the 36 state governors are due to meet in Abuja today on the spate of
violence in the country.
Information Minister, Prof. Jerry Gana in an interview with newsmen in Ikeja
said no society would tolerate the killing of soldiers. The killing, he said,
"is tantamount to a declaration of war by a group against the nation," although
he was quick to admit that it was done by youths "who were out of their minds."
Prof. Gana wondered why critics were blaming the Federal Government over the
destruction of Tiv villages by soldiers, saying: "The key thing to note is that
things reached a stage where the governors of Benue and Taraba states,
independently reached out to Mr. President to provide military support to clear
road blocks which had been set up by militant youths.
"They were just kind of robbing people; they were taking innocent lives, so Mr.
President approved, and operational orders were given to the Chief of Army Staff
with very clear guideline on the roles of the engagement.
"It was a peace-keeping effort to clear the road blocks and make the area safe.
So the military there were ordered and they cleared the road block at the Taraba
end of the border. It was when they got to the Benue end, close to the last one
when, as you know, 19 soldiers were ambushed, taken away and unfortunately
murdered and their bodies mutilated."
lNine suspects arrested
Military sources told Vanguard in Abuja that the nine suspects including an
ex-serviceman, were found with a large quantity of arms and ammunition among
which were a G3 (general purpose rifle), pistols, dane guns, knives, daggers as
well as bows and arrows.
The suspects and the exhibits have since been handed over to the police for
further investigations and prosecution.
Besides, the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt.-Gen. Alexander Ogomudia was said to
have commenced investigation into the burning and destruction of the house of
his predecessor, Lt.-Gen. Victor Malu (rtd.) during the soldiers revenge
mission.
He has already ordered soldiers deployed to Vaase, Zaki-Biam and other trouble
spots to hold fire as directed by President Olusegun Obasanjo. This directive
will, however, hold according to sources only if the people of the border area
go about their daily life in accordance with the law and cooperate with security
agencies seeking to fish out those that killed the 19 soldiers.
Last weekend, the Federal Government asked the Benue State Government to produce
the killers of the soldiers as a condition for the withdrawal of soldiers from
the area.
Government asked the state authorities to produce the bodies of the three
remaining soldiers as well as their rifles.
lPolice confirm impounding car
The police, shedding light on the crisis between Taraba and Benue states,
confirmed impounding a car belonging to a former military administrator of Delta
State on the suspicion that it was being used to supply arms to militant youths
in Taraba State.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Haz Iwendi who confirmed the development
at a press conference, however, gave no detains. But he said investigation into
the matter was continuing.
The car was said to have been intercepted by the police between Taraba and Benue
states. Five occupants of the car were also arrested.
He lamented the killings of many police officers by Taraba and Benue youths even
before the murder of the 19 soldiers sent to the states for peace-keeping. The
force spokesman explained that the soldiers were sent to the state because
youths had in their possession sophisticated weapons which the police could not
match.
lReps deploy killings
However, the House of Representatives yesterday deplored the killing of 19
soldiers by Tiv militia in Benue State and the destruction of four villages by
soldiers in a revenge mission.
But a prayer by a representative of the constituency where the attack took place
to the effect that Defence Minister, Lt.-Gen. T.Y. Danjuma, and the Chief of
Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Alexander Ogomudia be asked to resign their appointments
was thrown out.
The position of some members of the House that President Olusegun Obasanjo
should henceforth seek approval of the National Assembly before any troop
deployment in the country was similarly rejected.
Raising a matter of urgent public importance, Mr. Gabriel Suswam Logo, Ukum and
Katsina-Ala constituency told the House that about 157 defenceless civilians
were lined up and killed in cold blood by soldiers in their revenge mission.
Condemning the murder of security agents, Mr. Suswam said the killing of
civilians was no answer to the problem. He blamed President Obasanjo for
ordering troops to Benue State and blamed the Senate President, Chief Pius
Anyim, the Deputy Senate President, Alhaji Ibrahim Mantu and the Senate Leader
for giving their assent to the action.
After much argument for and against the motion the House expressed its
disapproval of the actions of the Tiv militia and the destruction by soldiers.
Gov. Segun Osoba of Ogun State told airport correspondents in Ikeja yesterday
that all the governors were worried about the wanton destruction of lives and
property occasioned by tension and political upheavals.
+ + + +
The leader of a militant Islamic group in Luton was "left half-dead" after he
was attacked by fellow Muslims outraged by his fundamental outbursts, it emerged
today.
Shahed, leader of the Al-Muhajiroun organisation in the town, who claims to
command 50 members and 200 supporters, was ambushed by three "moderate" Muslims
in the streets.
The 28-year-old said he was repeatedly punched and kicked following a public
demonstration held in the wake of the deaths of two Luton men in a US bombing
raid on Kabul, Afghanistan, where they had gone to fight for the Taliban.
"The three attackers were large men. They kept punching and kicking me," he
said. "They nearly choked me to death. I was only saved by a barber who
witnessed the attack. He turned me on my back and cleared my airways. They left
me half-dead."
The assault occurred on Tuesday night, hours after Shahed and 10 supporters
proclaimed in a noisy public demonstration that it was every Muslim's duty to
fight for the Taliban. The group hailed Afzal Munir and Aftab Manzoor, both 25,
who died alongside fellow Taliban volunteer Yasir Khan, from Crawley, as
martyrs.
Community leaders have since vowed to drive Al-Muhajiroun from the streets of
Luton. A statement from one of the town's mosques read: "Al-Muhajiroun have been
warned in no uncertain terms that their activities will no longer be tolerated
here. Muslims are sick and tired of their provocative remarks."
Moderates claim remarks by Al-Muhajiroun have escalated racial hatred in the
town where 20,000 Muslims live and that people were living in fear of reprisals.
However, despite the attack, which left him "covered in cuts and bruises" and
fearful of leaving his home, Shahed defiantly declared he will continue to
preach the extremist group's views in Luton.
Meanwhile Scotland Yard has launched an investigation after comments made by a
spokesman for Al-Muhajiroun on the Jimmy Young show prompted a flood of
complaints.
More than 200 people complained to the BBC after Abdul Haq said in the Radio 2
interview: "We will continue to struggle and strive until we see the flag of
Islam flying over 10 Downing street."
Numerous listeners subsequently bombarded the BBC with call and emails accusing
the Muslim activist of "hypocrisy", while others contacted police, prompting the
launch of an investigation into Mr Haq's comments.
Scotland Yard's involvement follows the Government's recent announcement that it
would make laws on incitement to racial or religious hatred more stringent.
A police spokesman said: "We have received complaints. An investigation has been
launched and we are in close consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service."
+ + + +
Police in the Ugandan town of Tororo have used tear gas to disperse secondary
school students who went on the rampage in an attempt to lynch their headmaster.
The town was paralysed as police fought running battles with the students of
Tororo College, which has now been closed indefinitely.
The students accused the headmaster, Benard Wakwale, of corruption and poor
administration.
He is now under police protection.
Trouble for Mr Wakwale began on Saturday when parents walked out of the school's
annual general meeting in protest at his failure to improve dormitories and
sanitation facilities.
On Wednesday morning, violence flared after students refused to attend daily
school assembly.
One student calling himself Osama Bin Laden reportedly shouted: "My fellow
Taleban, give me the dead headmaster's head."
The frightened headmaster immediately used his mobile phone to call in the
police.
The riot squad then arrived but were pelted with stones by the students.
Following the riot, Tororo District Education officer Gamusi Doya announced the
immediate closure of Tororo College.
Mr Doya said six candidates would be allowed to return to the school accompanied
by their parents this Friday to sit exams. The rest of the students are to
remain in their homes until further notice.
+ + + +
The UN Security Council has endorsed 20 May as the date for East Timor to assume
formal independence and said that UN peacekeepers will remain in the territory
for the immediate future.
The decision came after the choice of date was reluctantly accepted by key
politician Xanana Gusmao, and East Timor's transitional government voiced
concern about a possible UN withdrawal.
The Security Council agreed to maintain soldiers, civilians and police trainers
in East Timor for between six months and two years after independence.
East Timor has been under UN administration since late 1999 after Indonesia
ended 24 years of occupation in the face of armed resistance.
Mr Gusmao, the man widely expected to become East Timor's first elected
president next year, had said that the date, chosen by the recently elected
88-member constituent assembly, introduced party-political bias as it marked the
founding of East Timor's first political party.
The Social Democratic Timorese Association was the precursor of Fretilin - now
the territory's dominant party.
Mr Gusmao had said he preferred the date of 5 May - the anniversary of the
signing of a UN agreement which paved the way to ending Indonesian rule.
But he agreed to accept 20 May, as it was the decision of the constituent
assembly.
The UN currently has about 800 civilian personnel and 8,000 peacekeepers in the
territory.
East Timor's Foreign Minister Jose Ramos Horta recently warned that the
territory would be "undermined by an early withdrawal or considerations about
cutting expenses".
The territory has unemployment of 80% and is seeking funds from the UN and the
World Bank to build its economy.
According to the UN, about 50,000 East Timorese are still living as refugees in
squalid camps in Indonesia.
Ahead of Wednesday's vote, Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN administrator in East
Timor, called on the Security Council to stick by the impoverished territory,
despite pressure to divert funds elsewhere, such as Afghanistan..
"We are concerned that not only attention but resources will now be channelled
almost exclusively to Central Asia," he said.
"I can only say: 'Do not forgot East Timor'."
+ + + +
ISLAMABAD: After intense consultations with his generals, the Russian President
is now willing to commit "roughly quarter of a million combat troops and an
equal number of air force, intelligence, logistical and service personnel" to
help the US led 'war on terrorism' currently waged in Afghanistan, The News has
found out from highly reliable sources from within the diplomatic community of
Islamabad.
We are also told that Moscow's decision to militarily get engaged in Afghanistan
for another time was finalised on October 17, "after around ten days of midnight
oil burning in the planning and operations departments of the Russian armed
forces". The News has already reported on Monday that Russia launched a new
satellite, Molniya (Lightning), late last week. It is equipped for military
communications as well as intelligence gathering and surveillance. Thus,
appearing as if an 'Afghanistan-specific' satellite.
Washington is compelled to discreetly approach Moscow for provision of the
ground troops after miserably failing in changing the ground realities of
Afghanistan, despite three weeks of relentless pounding from the air. Before
flying the bombing sorties to Afghanistan, the US planners were almost certain
to see the Taliban crumble within a week of aerial assaults.
The expected panic in their ranks was to create vacuum of power, to be filled by
a 'transitional government' headed by Zahir Shah, the deposed king. Reliable
sources also claim that Washington was finally forced to review the original
plan for war in Afghanistan, after "the fruitless visit of Colin Powell to
Islamabad on October 18."
The US Secretary of State was almost certain to have some "moderate Taliban"
standing next to him, at the press conference he was to address at the end of
his visit. The mysterious travelling to Islamabad and Dubai by Wakil Ahmad
Muttawakil, the foreign minister of Afghanistan, close to Powell's visit was
considered connected to the expected development. Nothing happened in the end.
Little wonder the day after Colin Powell's leaving Pakistan, the Russian
president reached Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. He came there from
Shanghai where the US president also had very lengthy meetings with him. A
Peshawar-based source from the Northern Alliance claimed to The News on phone
that "during his meetings with President Bush in Shanghai, Putin urged the
Americans to revise their attitude toward the Northern Alliance, if they really
want to win the war in Afghanistan."
Whatever the truth, Putin did reach Dushanbe after the Shanghai meetings. Met
with Rabbani and his supreme commander, Fahim. And, left Tajikistan after
reiterating his country's support to Northern Alliance in very strong words.
Some anti-Taliban Pushtuns, who have been waiting for Zahir Shah got panicky for
the right reasons, after his Dushanbe statement.
Pir Syed Ahmad Gillani set a meeting in Peshawar and a legendary commander of
yesteryears, Abdul Haq, rushed to Jalalabad to show some support on the ground.
Both the initiatives couldn't take off. Haq rather met a morale-sapping killing.
An 'all-Afghan meeting' in Turkey, which was suggested by none other than Zahir
Shah, could still cheer the anti-Taliban Pushtuns up.
The said meeting was to take place on Saturday, October 27. At the end of which
a 'supreme council' comprising 120 members was to be propped. Northern Alliance
was asked to nominate 60 persons for it. While, the rest were to come on Zahir
Shah's recommendations. Many in Islamabad were confident that putting of the
said "supreme council" will lead to a speedy 'liberation of Mazar-i-Sharif'.
General Rashid Dostum was to lead the march on Mazar under the aerial cover,
furnished by the USA. After taking over Mazar, he was also expected to invite
troops for the defence of the liberated city, from the "brotherly Muslim country
of Turkey". It now appears, however, that Northern Alliance wasn't very excited
with this plan. For, the Turkish diplomats are staying put in Istanbul since
Friday to "welcome the guests" from the Northern Alliance. No one has yet shown
up, though in the name of "bad weather".
It's different matter that a reporter of Turkish Daily News has found out, after
talking to his sources in Dushanbe and Tashkent, that weather in both the cities
was "slightly cloudy," which wasn't upsetting the commercial flights' schedule
for the past four days.
While the anti-Taliban Afghans are taking their sweet time to furnish a viable
looking alternate to the government they want to topple, Americans are getting
edgy after entering the fourth week of relentless bombing. The mighty image of
an invincible looking 'super power' will get serious dents, if Washington fails
to show it to the world that it really was winning the 'war on terrorism,' after
using so many lethal weapons for almost a month. That too, against an
impoverished country without any regular army. And, it can't achieve the
objectives without launching the ground troops.
Many in Pakistan and the rest of Muslim world naively believe that the
"comfort-addicted" Americans can take the 'body bags' no more. They could yet
not realize that after killing of 7,000 civilians by the hijack-suicide attacks
of September 11, some American troops have to die to establish the military
superiority of their country. It is not the "will to die" which is missing. Pure
mathematics is delaying the launching of ground troops.
Some military analysts insist that the US needs to field "a ground army of some
400,000 trained combat troops" to win the war in Afghanistan. But the combined
strength of instantly available forces of the USA and Britain is less than a
third of this figure. In bases around Afghanistan's borders, around 100,000
American troops are stationed. The British number is 30,000-plus.
Washington can still overcome the number-deficiency by using "tactical (read
nuclear) weapons." The News has already reported that after the 70-minute talk,
President Bush had with his Russian counterpart on the phone on September 23,
Washington moved some of its tactical weapons for deployment in Uzbekistan. We
also reproduced reports. Claiming, that a thousand-plus US soldiers stationed at
the Khanabad airfield of Uzbekistan conduct their "morning exercises" in
fighting gears and masks, which smack of preparations for the use of "radiating
material".
Washington never cared to confirm or refute the deployment of some of its
tactical weapons in Uzbekistan. But any sane person can appreciate that
Americans have to think twice before using the nuclear weapons for another time
in relatively short span of years since World War-II. Already, many people very
strongly believe that the Americans had no military justification to use the
atomic bomb against Japan. But they did it. Probably, "for testing the
devastation an atomic weapon can cause in real life".
Since September 11, many Americans are rightly upset about the 'negative image,'
they have about them in Muslim countries. In the said context, they would
perhaps hate to appear as if "testing" their "smart bombs" on hapless, and
Muslim, Afghans, who already have endured more than 20 years of incessant
battles and brutalities. The option of using the ground forces remains intact,
therefore.
Interestingly, much before beginning of the aerial assaults on Afghanistan,
India had very correctly assessed that the 'war on terrorism' would also call
for the use of ground forces in the end. And, they were keen to lend theirs. We
have it from highly reliable sources that PR boys of the Indian army were
extremely active in some foreign capital in the last two weeks of September.
Thanks to their lobbying, the prestigious defence publications like Jane Defense
Weekly printed very lengthy articles. Suggesting, that "Kashmir and
Kargil-hardened troops of the Indian army" can also fight for the Americans in
Afghanistan, "during the forbidding months of winter". Washington had to ignore
these loud hints for the fear of backlash, the use of Indian troops in
Afghanistan can create; first in Pakistan and later the whole Muslim world.
For maintaining the largest army amongst the NATO members, Turkey is the obvious
alternative. Being Muslim makes it doubly attractive. But its obvious preference
for Uzbek Afghans disturbs the Tajik-dominated Northern Alliance. It also has to
retain most of its troops on the home ground to keep the check on Saddam's Iraq.
Russia has thus emerged as the only country with a substantial and
Afghan-hardened military force which now is willing to fight shoulder to
shoulder with their erstwhile enemies, the Americans, in Afghanistan. The cruel
twists of history!
+ + + +
Kosovo Serbs are mystified by reports that mujahedin have set up a training camp
in their village.
By Nehat Islami in Roptova, south-east Kosovo. (BCR No. 292, 31-October-01)
Bogus reports of bin Laden training camps in Kosovo have been made before, but
the latest claim has taken the Balkan propaganda war to the borders of the
absurd.
In the latest round of scare-mongering, it's been alleged that the village of
Ropotova, in south-east Kosovo, is a focal point of the Saudi dissident's
al-Qaeda network.
Ropotova is, however, an ethnically-Serb village, a place where even a single
mujahedin would, needless to say, stand out somewhat from the crowd. But try
telling that to the Russian and Macedonian media
On October 16, the Moscow-based RIA Novosti news agency, citing an unnamed
correspondent in Kosovo, claimed a group of some 50 Algerian and Afghan
mujahedin were training at a camp in the Kamenica municipality, located in the
US K-For sector.
The camp, RIA Novosti alleged, was being run by Ayman al Zavahiri, one of bin
Laden's closest collaborators and employed as instructors Albanian deserters
from the Yugoslav army. The trainees, the report went on, would make up
terrorist units for operations in Kosovo and Macedonia.
Three days later, Dnevnik, a leading Macedonian newspaper, quoted "reliable
sources" as confirming the RIA Novosti reports and pinpointing the location of
the camp in the village of Ropotova.
The reports failed to mention that Ropotova's 150 homes are all occupied by
ethnic Serbs, who were mystified how anyone might imagine that their village was
home to mujahedin - their sworn enemies. "What sort of mujahedin would dare to
come to our village," one local told me. "Ropotova is surrounded from all sides
with Serb villages."
Zoran Jovanovic, a Serb municipal official from Kamenica, said, "I am in
permanent contact with the Serb and Albanian locals, but have never heard from
Ropotova villagers about any such camp. This is a small territory. If there was
something, we would know."
The claims of mujahedin activity have also been rubbished by US K-For units
patrolling the area. "The regular air and ground patrols conducted by the
Russian and American troops in close cooperation with the Serb and Albanian
communities in the region have not discovered such information," said K-For
spokesman Major Randy Martin.
Shaip Surdulli, head of the Kamenica municipality, believes the training camp
claims were circulated to create tension between Serbs and Albanians ahead of
the upcoming elections; to brand Albanians "allies of the 'terrorist' Osama bin
Laden" and to discredit US troops operating in Kosovo.
The Kamenica municipality is home to around 55,000 people, 18 per cent of whom
are Serb. Kamenica town, with a population of 10,000, suffered few casualties
during the 1999 war. Serbs and Albanians continue to live and work together
there, in a rare example of ethnic tolerance.
The municipal assembly has 11 Serb advisors on its books and 23 Serbs work in
the local administration, two in senior positions. They also serve in the local
police force and travel freely to their church and to a local market they share
with Albanians. And, perhaps most significantly, since the end of the Kosovo
war, there has been no violence between the two communities.
Nehat Islami is the IWPR project manager in Kosovo.
+ + + +
WHAT A WEBSITE NAME!
http://www.arabpestcontrol.com/
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
In response to the US Department of Defense's call issued last week for help in
fighting terrorism American Technology, an innovator of new sound technologies,
has proposed a state-of-the-art non-lethal weapon technology, the Directed Stick
Radiator (DSR) in answering.
The Directed Stick Radiator is a portable, battery-operated non-lethal weapon
technology that uses a high intensity acoustic pressure wave to disorient and
disable targeted individuals up to 100 yards away. The DSR discharge causes no
lasting effects on the targeted individuals and could be safely used in aircraft
without fear of puncturing the fuselage. The company has been asked by the US
Army and a major defense contractor to submit the DSR technology to the Pentagon
for funding consideration.
Elwood Norris, CEO and chairman of American Technology, stated, "Our Directed
Stick Radiator technology is a breakthrough in portable, non-lethal weaponry for
military personnel and law enforcement officers. Instead of using noxious
chemicals, high voltage sparks or other close-quarters means of disabling a
suspect, DSR could allow authorised users to safely and remotely incapacitate a
specific individual or small group temporarily. DSR could also be used for
animal control without harmful effects. We believe our DSR technology has the
potential to become the non-lethal weapon of choice for military and law
enforcement use.''
The company has also been requested to submit specific configurations of its HSS
(HyperSonic Sound) and NeoPlanar loudspeaker technologies for non-weapon-related
military audio applications. Presentations of the technologies to government and
military officials have been ongoing with several more scheduled through
November.
+ + + +
from the Rumour Mill
October 15 -- By now you have seen and digested the Taliban home video,
allegedly showing Osama bin Laden and a couple of his buddies sitting outside
their cave in Afganistan, talking about Operation 911. The video happened to
surface on a "Muslim" TV station (al-Jazeera) in the puppet state of Qatar, just
as the first US bombs were falling on Afganistan.
If the US and its pals could fake such a video -- and they're easy to fake,
either with morphing or stand-in impersonators -- why wouldn't they? Think about
it. You're going to bomb a destitute people in a destitute land. You want to
neutralize world outrage that will inevitably follow. So you have a man -- I'll
call him Osama bin Fake-It -- speak out as the bombs fall. Fake-it sends a
message that offends world conscience, praising the slaughter of New York
civilians, thereby neutralizing sympathy the world might have for bin Laden's
protectors (your intended bombing victims).
The makers of the Taliban Home Video rely upon our having a short memory. They
hope we won't remember an authentic CNN interview with Osama Bin Laden,
conducted by Peter Arnett and shown in March, 1997. In that interview, bin Laden
makes his views clear. In the 2001 Taliban Home Video, bin Fake-it turns Bin
Laden's views around 180 degrees. Coincidentally, the 180 degree turns just
happen to serve US 2001 propaganda purposes.
The 1997 interview is now most newsworthy. Too bad CNN has not re-released it,
but keeping the public fully informed would not serve the master's purpose. I
have a copy of that 1997 CNN interview. It was sent to me in 1998 and I
distributed it with my commentary: "Bin Laden: A Patriot in His Own Land." Both
are attached below for your reading convenience.
I would like to compare what Osama bin Laden said in 1997 with what Osama bin
Fake-it says in 2001. As I do this, you'll probably want to refer to the
transcript of bin Fake-it's remarks as shown on US TV on October 7. I used the
translation I found on the Houston Chronicle webpage. http:/
/www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/special/terror/front/1079137
As you read, remember that bin Laden and his comrades brought the giant USSR to
its knees. He is credited with being an accomplished strategist and tactician.
http://www.afghan-web.com/history/articles/ussr.html
Bin Laden is no fool.
* Bin Laden on Striking Military Targets, 1997 CNN interview *
Reporter: "Mr. bin Laden, you've declared a jihad against the United States. Can
you tell us why? And is the jihad directed against the US government or the
United States' troops in Arabia? What about US civilians in Arabia or the people
of the United States?"
Osama bin Laden: " . . . we have focused our declaration on striking at the
soldiers in the country of The Two Holy Places [Mecca and Medina] ... "
Speaking of the bombings of US troops in Riyadh and Al-Khobar (Dhahran), bin
Laden patiently explained their purpose was to get US occupation troops out of
Arabia. He had high praise for those who did the job.
Fair enough. In America, we also give high praise to our soldiers when they
perform heroically.
Elsewhere in the interview, Arnett asks bin Laden if the jihad will stop when US
troops leave Arabia. Bin Laden replies he wants US troops out of *all* Muslim
lands.
Let's consider the facts. US troops in Muslim lands have two purposes: to
suppress Arabs for Israel and to guarantee cheap oil for the US. That is, US
troop presence in Muslim lands is a violation of our own Constitution, which
says the armed forces are to be used for the common defense of the Republic.
Our forces in the Muslim lands are occupation armies. Occupation armies don't
leave when politely asked. George Washington found that out, so he had to kill
lots of British soldiers and officers to drive them out. Bin Laden sees his job
as the same. Surely occupation armies must be willing to take what they are
willing to dish out. Nothing Mr. Bin Laden says here is unusual or unreasonable.
* Bin Fake-it on Striking Military Targets, 2001 Taliban Home Video *
Bin Fake-it makes no mention of military targets. Given bin Laden's 1997 goals,
Bin Fake-it seems oblivious to the outrageous flaw in Operation 911: no military
damage to the enemy. How very odd.
* Bin Laden on Striking Civilian Targets, 1997 CNN interview.*
In response to a question from Arnett, bin Laden says: "As for what you asked
whether jihad is directed against US soldiers, the civilians in the land of the
Two Holy Places (Mecca and Medina) or against civilians in America, we have
focused our declaration on striking at the soldiers in the country of the Two
Holy Places.
"The country of the Two Holy Places has in our religion a peculiarity of its own
over the other Muslim countries. In our religion, it is not permissible for any
non-Muslim to stay in our country. Therefore, even though American civilians are
not targeted in our plan, they must leave ..."
That's clear. Bin Laden is not targeting American civilians. He just wants them
to leave his country.
* Bin Fake-it on Striking Civilian Targets, 2001 Taliban Home Video *
Speaking of the demolition of the World Trade Center, Bin Fake-it says: "God has
blessed a group of vanguard Muslims ... to destroy America."
So now bin Fake-it is rejoicing that US civilians were killed, despite the fact
that killing civilians was not bin Laden's goal. Bin Fake-it fails to mention
that these US civilians were killed on US soil, even though Bin Laden's 1997
goal was simply to get them to leave the Muslim countries. What a stunning
switch of strategy.
* Bin Laden's Goal: Get US Forces Out of Muslim lands, 1997 CNN video *
Arnett asks if bin Laden will quit the jihad if US troops leave Saudi Arabia.
Bin Laden replies US troops must leave Arabia and the rest of the Muslim world.
"... we have declared jihad against the US, because in our religion it is our
duty to make jihad so that God's word is the one exalted to the heights and so
that we drive the Americans away from all Muslim countries."
So Bin Laden's goal was to get US military forces out of Muslim lands. He does
not say he wants to destroy America. He just wants us to go away, much like we
wanted the British to go away in 1776.
* Bin Fake-it's goal: To DESTROY America, 2001 Taliban Home Video *
The obvious result of bin Fake-it's words "God has blessed a group of vanguard
Muslims ... to destroy America" will be used to justify increased military
presence in Muslim lands and provides the US with a perfect public relations
justification to flood Afganistan with US bombs and troops.
Recall that in the war with the USSR, the Muslims did not pursue the Russians
onto Russian soil. The Muslims were satisfied with driving them out of
Afghanistan. But now bin Fake-it invites open war, a war he cannot possibly win.
Strategically, praising Operation 911 was a disaster for an accomplished
strategist and tactician.
* Bin Laden's expansive statements on Jewish Control
of the United States, 1997 CNN interview *
Search the 1997 text yourself for his words on this matter. "Due to its
subordination to the Jews ..." See his other references to the US and Israel.
* Bin Fake-it's statements on Jewish Control
of the United States, 2001 Taliban Home Video *
Bin Fake-it doesn't mention that the Jews control America. Surely bin Laden
wouldn't miss this golden opportunity to go to the heart of the matter. After
all, Operation 911 caused a big splash. We would have had the patience to
listen. But the Taliban Home Video was just a minute or so long. Bin Fake-it was
given just enough time to provide Tee Vee sound bytes that damaged Muslims'
interests, but not enough time to expose those who wish to tear out Islam's
heart. Very odd.
* Bottom Line *
Let's move on from those interviews and notice this: The US now says it is "in
no hurry" to catch bin Laden.
"The Pentagon is in no hurry to try to catch or kill Osama bin Laden as it
orchestrates a step-by-step bombing campaign over Afghanistan." ("Pentagon Will
Not Rush Manhunt," Washington Times, October 9, 2001.)
But just a few weeks before the US DEMANDED that the Taliban hand bin Laden over
or the US would take military action . . . . The refusal of the Taliban to hand
bin Laden over without evidence or judicial procedure was the causa belli of the
military strikes.
Recall that the US is accusing bin Laden of masterminding the slaughter of
approximately 7,000 Americans, and has said that he is the brains and the money
behind the Taliban. If those statements are true, capturing him should be the
first priority. Indeed, by October 11, the FBI warns us that over the next
several days, we should be aware of new terrorist attacks, which would of course
be directed by the pesky bin Laden. The Senate and the House of Representatives
pass a draconian bill, allowing suspension of our rights, but, remember: "The
Pentagon is in no hurry to try to catch or kill Osama bin Laden . . . "
On October 14, CNN.com reported President Bush again refused an offer by the
Taliban to surrender bin Laden to a third country if the US would produce
evidence of his complicity in Operation 911. ("Afganistan pounded in second week
of airstrikes.")
No, capturing or otherwise placing Osama bin-Laden in custody would spoil the
fun. It's better to have bin Fake-it on the loose, mouthing the words written by
the NWO psyops team.
*Al-Jazeera*
The Taliban Home Video was first aired on the Qatar TV station al-Jazeera.
Al-Jazeera was founded only five years ago, during what was probably the
planning stages of this war. Al-Jazeera deserves attention, and its getting
some. It was the subject of a breathlessly adoring article in the Washington
Post's Style Section on October 9, 2001 ("Qatar TV Station A Clear Channel To
Middle East." )
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28526-2001Oct8.html
" . . . it has the record of breaking exclusive news stories that many American
networks might envy," drools the Post. Al-Jazeera followed up its broadcast of
bin Fake-it "with an interview with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Other
recent interview guests have included Secretary of State Colin Power and Israeli
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres."
"What makes al-Jazeera's scoops all the more remarkable is that the 24-hour
satellite news station is the creation of one of the world's smallest countries,
Qatar, and broadcasts out of a region with little tradition of press freedom . .
"
"Just as CNN became compulsory viewing around the world during the 1991 Gulf
War, so too is al Jazeera becoming an indispensable source of intelligence on
events inside Afghanistan . . .
To those who live far away from the Washington, D.C. beltway, the significance
of a Post STYLE article may not be apparent, but know this: Whom our Jewish
supremacist masters wish to raise up or cast down -- these are accorded a
feature article in STYLE section of the Washington Post.
Yes, al-Jazeera is just as Jewish as Seinfeld. Expect more bin Fake-it news and
bin Fake-it photos from al-Jazeera.
* Votes, Please *
So, how do you vote? Was the Taliban Home Video a morphing job, or was an Osama
bin Laden impersonator used?
The FBI votes for the impersonator. How do I know? Look at the FBI's Most Wanted
page and see the image of bin Laden they are using.
http://www.fbi.gov/mostwant/topten/fugitives/laden.htm
Not the grainy image we see in the Taliban Home Video, is it? I have downloaded
this FBI webpage for safekeeping, and advise you to do the same, before the
photo is replaced with another image.
http://www.Public-Action.com/911/wtstandin.gif
http://www.Public-Action.com /911/standin.gif
(From Washington Times, October 8, 2001, pg. A3.)
Note that the FBI says of its photo: "Date of Photograph unknown." Why not use a
current image, the one in the Taliban Home Video, if you believe that image is
true?
Come to think of it, why can't the FBI offer a date for its photo of Public
Enemy Number One? The world's foremost investigative agency should know the
source of its own material and find out when the photo was taken. Is that too
difficult?
But don't expect reason or truth. Remember who you are dealing with. Israel's
puppet state -- let's agree to call it USrael --is one of the most deceitful and
ruthless nations on Earth, and the FBI is one of its fix-it arms. You only need
to remember the Waco Holocaust to know that. So of course the case against Osama
bin Laden, together with the hokie Taliban Home Video, STINKS.
"Bin Laden: A Patriot In His Own Land" and CNN
March 1977 Interview
By Carol A. Valentine Curator
Waco Holocaust Electronic Museum
http://www.Public Action.com/SkyWriter/WacoMuseum
Copyright, August 1998
May be reproduced for non-commercial purposes.
In March, 1997 Osama Bin Laden was interviewed by CNN. In that interview, Bin
Laden he made a number of incontestable points:
* " . . . the US government is unjust, criminal and yrannical . . . . The
mention of the US reminds us before everything else of those innocent children
who were dismembered, their heads and arms cut off in the recent explosion that
took place in Qana (in Lebanon) . . . "
[We're reading you, Mr. Bin Ladin. We watched the US butcher American children
in Waco. See: http:/
/www.Public-Action.com/SkyWriter/WacoMuseum/death/death.html For video of the
Qana massacre: http://www.middleeast.org/mer117.htm ]
* The US is subordinated to Jewish/Israeli interests; * The government of Saudi
Arabia is a US-puppet government; * The US-puppet Saudi government artificially
holds down the price of oil; * The US-puppet Saudi government thus conspires in
the theft of Arabian natural resources; * The price of oil should be set by the
free market.
"The US . . . wants to occupy our countries, steal our resources, impose on us
agents to rule us based not on what God has revealed and wants us to agree on
all this. If we refuse to do so, it will say we are terrorists . . . At the time
that they condemn any Muslim who calls for his rights, they receive the highest
top official of the Irish Republican army at the White House as a political
leader, while woe, all woe, to the Muslims if they cry out for their rights.
Wherever we look we find the US as the leader of terrorism and crime in the
world."
Osama Bin Laden sounds much like one of our own Founding Fathers facing the
tyranny of King George III. That we have gained the enmity of this man is a
bitter commentary on our own imperialism and our own betrayal of the principles
of the American Revolution.
Notice how quickly the reporter gets down to the key issue: the price of oil if
Arabia was not a US puppet state (see third question).
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Thanks to Norm at http://www.flinet.com/~politics/ai pac/
for bringing my attention to the CNN interview.
=== Transcript of Osama Bin Laden interview ====
The first-ever television interview with Osama Bin Ladin was conducted by Peter
Arnett in eastern Afghanistan in late March 1997. Questions were submitted in
advance. Bin Ladin responded to almost all of the questions. CNN was not allowed
to ask follow up questions. The interview lasted just over an hour.
REPORTER: Mr. Bin Ladin, could you give us your main criticism of the Saudi
royal Family that is ruling Saudi Arabia today?
MR. BIN LADIN: Regarding the criticisms of the ruling regime in Saudi Arabia and
the Arabian peninsula, the first one is their subordination to the US. So, our
main problem is the US government while the Saudi regime is but a branch or an
agent of the US. By being loyal to the US regime, the Saudi regime has committed
an act against Islam. And this, based on the ruling of Shari'a (Islamic
jurisprudence), casts the regime outside the religious community. Subsequently,
the regime has stopped ruling people according to what God revealed, praise and
glory be to Him, not to mention many other contradictory acts. When this main
foundation was violated, other corrupt acts followed in every aspect of the
country, the economic, the social, government services and so on.
REPORTER: Mr. Bin Ladin, if the Islamic movement takes over Arabia, what kind of
society will be created and will Saudi Arabia, for example, return to the laws
of the Qur'an at the time of the Prophet?
BIN LADIN: We are confident, with the permission of God, Praise and Glory be to
Him, that Muslims will be victorious in the Arabian peninsula and that God's
religion, praise and glory be to Him, will prevail in this peninsula. It is a
great pride and a big hope that the revelation unto Muhammad, Peace be upon him,
will be resorted to for ruling. When we used to follow Muhammad's revelation,
Peace be upon him, we were in great happiness and in great dignity, to God
belong credit and praise.
REPORTER: Mr. Bin Ladin, if the Islamic movement takes over Saudi Arabia, what
would your attitude to the West be and will the price of oil be higher?
BIN LADIN: We are a nation and have a long history, with the grace of God,
Praise and Glory be to Him. We are now in the 15th century of this great
religion, the complete and comprehensive methodology, has clarified the dealing
between an individual and another, the duties of the believer towards God,
Praise and Glory be to Him, and the relationship between the Muslim country and
other countries in time of peace and in time of war. If we look back at our
history, we will find there were many types of dealings between the Muslim
nation and the other nations in time of peace and in time of war, including
treaties and matters to do with commerce. So it is not a new thing that we need
to come up with. Rather, it already, by the grace of God, exists. As for oil, it
is a commodity that will be subject to the price of the market according to
supply and demand. We believe that the current prices are not realistic due to
the Saudi regime playing the role of a US agent and the pressures exercised by
the US on the Saudi regime to increase production and flooding the market that
caused a sharp decrease in oil prices.
REPORTER: Mr. Bin Ladin, you've declared a jihad against the United States. Can
you tell us why? And is the jihad directed against the US government or the
United States' troops in Arabia? What about US civilians in Arabia or the people
of the United States?
BIN LADIN: We declared jihad against the US government, because the US
government is unjust, criminal and tyrannical. It has committed acts that are
extremely unjust, hideous and criminal whether directly or through its support
of the Israeli occupation of the Prophet's Night Travel Land (Palestine). And we
believe the US is directly responsible for those who were killed in Palestine,
Lebanon and Iraq. The mention of the US reminds us before everything else of
those innocent children who were dismembered, their heads and arms cut off in
the recent explosion that took place in Qana (in Lebanon). This US government
abandoned even humanitarian feelings by these hideous crimes. It transgressed
all bounds and behaved in a way not witnessed before by any power or any
imperialist power in the world. They should have been considerate that the qibla
(Mecca) of the Muslims upheaves the emotion of the entire Muslim World. Due to
its subordination to the Jews the arrogance and haughtiness of the US regime has
reached, to the extent that they occupied the qibla of the Muslims (Arabia) who
are more than a billion in the world today. For this and other acts of
aggression and injustice, we have declared jihad against the US, because in our
religion it is our duty to make jihad so that God's word is the one exalted to
the heights and so that we drive the Americans away from all Muslim countries.
As for what you asked whether jihad is directed against US soldiers, the
civilians in the land of the Two Holy Places (Saudi Arabia, Mecca and Medina) or
against the civilians in America, we have focused our declaration on striking at
the soldiers in the country of The Two Holy Places. The country of the Two Holy
Places has in our religion a peculiarity of its own over the other Muslim
countries. In our religion, it is not permissible for any non-Muslim to stay in
our country. Therefore, even though American civilians are not targeted in our
plan, they must leave. We do not guarantee their safety, because we are in a
society of more than a billion Muslims. A reaction might take place as a result
of US government's hitting Muslim civilians and executing more than 600 thousand
Muslim children in Iraq by preventing food and medicine from reaching them. So,
the US is responsible for any reaction, because it extended its war against
troops to civilians. This is what we say. As for what you asked regarding the
American people, they are not exonerated from responsibility, because they chose
this government and voted for it despite their knowledge of its crimes in
Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and in other places and its support of its agent
regimes who filled our prisons with our best children and scholars. We ask that
may God release them.
REPORTER: Mr. Bin Ladin, will the end of the United States' presence in Saudi
Arabia, their withdrawal, will that end your call for jihad against the United
States and against the US ?
BIN LADIN: The cause of the reaction must be sought and the act that has
triggered this reaction must be eliminated. The reaction came as a result of the
US aggressive policy towards the entire Muslim world and not just towards the
Arabian peninsula. So if the cause that has called for this act comes to an end,
this act, in turn, will come to an end. So, the driving-away jihad against the
US does not stop with its withdrawal from the Arabian peninsula, but rather it
must desist from aggressive intervention against Muslims in the whole world.
REPORTER: Mr. Bin Ladin, tell us about your experience during the Afghan war and
what did you do during that jihad?
BIN LADIN: Praise be to God, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds, that He
made it possible for us to aid the Mujahidin in Afghanistan without any
declaration for jihad. It was rather the news that was broadcast by radio
stations that the Soviet Union invaded a Muslim country. This was a sufficient
motivation for me to start to aid our brothers in Afghanistan. I have benefitted
so greatly from the jihad in Afghanistan that it would have been impossible for
me to gain such a benefit from any other chance and this cannot be measured by
tens of years but rather more than that, Praise and Gratitude be to God. In
spite of the Soviet power, we used to move with confidence and God conferred
favors on us so that we transported heavy equipment from the country of the Two
Holy Places (Arabia) estimated at hundreds of tons altogether that included
bulldozers, loaders, dump trucks and equipment for digging trenches. When we saw
the brutality of the Russians bombing Mujahidins' positions, by the grace of
God, we dug a good number of huge tunnels and built in them some storage places
and in some others we built a hospital. We also dug some roads, by the grace of
God, Praise and glory be to Him, one of which you came by to us tonight. So our
experience in this jihad was great, by the grace of God, praise and glory be to
Him, and the most of what we benefitted from was that the myth of the super
power was destroyed not only in my mind but also in the minds of all Muslims.
Slumber and fatigue vanished and so was the terror which the US would use in its
media by attributing itself super power status or which the Soviet Union used by
attributing itself as a super power. Today, the entire Muslim world, by the
grace of God, has imbibed the faithful spirit of strength and started to
interact in a good manner in order to bring an end to occupation and the Western
and American influence on our countries.
REPORTER: Mr. Bin Ladin, what was the significance of the Afgan war for the
Islamic movement? Veterans of that war are fighting for Islamic movements and
conflicts from the former Soviet republics such as Chechnya to Bosnia to
Algeria. Can you explain that phenomenon to us?
BIN LADIN: As I mentioned in my answer to the previous question, the effect of
jihad has been great not only at the level of the Islamic movement but rather at
the level of the Muslim nation in the whole world. The spirit of power, dignity
and confidence has grown in our sons and brothers for this religion and the
power of God, Praise and Glory be to Him. And it has become apparent even to the
Islamic movement that there is no choice but return to the original spring, to
this religion, to God's Book, Praise and Glory be to Him, and to the sunna of
His Prophet, Peace be upon him, as understood by our predecessors, may God be
pleased with them. Of this, the acme of this religion is jihad. The nation has
had a strong conviction that there is no way to obtain faithful strength but by
returning to this jihad. The influence of the Afghan jihad on the Islamic world
was so great and it necessitates that people should rise above many of their
differences and unite their efforts against their enemy. Today, the nation is
interacting well by uniting its efforts through jihad against the US which has
in collaboration with the Israeli government led the ferocious campaign against
the Islamic World in occupying the holy sites of the Muslims. As for the young
men who participated in jihad here, their number, by the grace of God, was quite
big, Praise and Gratitude be to Him, and they spread in every place in which non
believers' injustice is perpetuated against Muslims. Their going to Bosnia,
Chechnya, Tajikistan and other countries is but a fulfillment of a duty, because
we believe that these states are part of the Islamic World. Therefore, any act
of aggression against any of this land of a span of hand measure makes it a duty
for Muslims to send a sufficient number of their sons to fight off that
aggression.
REPORTER: Can you tell us now about your expulsion from Saudi Arabia and your
time you spent in Sudan and your arrival here in Afganistan?
BIN LADIN: I was, by the grace of God, Praise and Glory be to Him, in the great
spot that is dear to God, Praise and Glory be to Him, al-hijaz, especially
Venerable Mecca, where is God's Ancient House. However, the Saudi regime imposed
on the people a life that does not appeal to the free believer. They wanted the
people to eat and drink and celebrate the praise of God, but if the people
wanted to encourage what is right and forbid what is wrong, they can't. Rather,
the regime dismisses them from their jobs and in the event they continued to do
so, they are detained in prisons. I have rejected to live this submissive life,
by God's favor, Praise and Gratitude be to Him, that is not befitting of man let
alone a believer. So, I waited for the chance until, God, Praise and Glory be to
Him, has made it possible for me to leave the country of the Two Holy Places. I
hope God, Praise and Glory be to Him, would confer upon me His favor to return
one day when God's law rules in that country. I went to the Sudan and stayed
there for about five years during which I visited Afghanistan and Pakistan to
work against the Communist government in Kabul. When the Saudi government
transgressed in oppressing all voices of the scholars and the voices of those
who call for Islam, I found myself forced, especially after the government
prevented Sheik Salman al-Awdah and Sheik Safar al-Hawali and some other
scholars, to carry out a small part of my duty of enjoining what is right and
forbidding what is wrong. So, I collaborated with some brothers and established
a committee for offering advice and we started to publish some declarations.
(The Advice and Reformation Committee). However, the Saudi regime did not like
this and started to exercise pressure on the Sudanese regime. The US government,
the Egyptian government and the Yemeni government also helped in doing so. They
requested me explicitly from the Sudanese regime and the pressure continued.
Saudi Arabia dropped all of its conditions put to the Sudanese regime in return
that I be driven out of the Sudan. The US government had already taken the same
stance and pulled out its diplomatic mission from Khartoum and put forth their
condition to return only after I have left. Unfortunately, the Sudanese
government was in some difficult circumstances and there was a tendency inside
the government that was inclined to reconciliation or surrender. Then, when they
insisted initially that I should keep my mouth shut, I decided to look for a
land in which I can breathe a pure, free air to perform my duty in enjoining
what is right and forbidding what is wrong. I ask God, Praise and Glory be to
Him, for increase in prosperity for this great land, the Land of Khurasan
(Afghanistan) in order to carry on this duty. So, we implore God, Praise and
Glory be to Him, that He accept (our deeds) from us and the Muslims.
REPORTER: Now, the United States government says that you are still funding
military training camps here in Afganistan for militant, Islamic fighters and
that you are a sponsor of international terrorism; but others describe you as
the new hero of the Arab-Islamic world. Are these accusations true? How do you
describe yourself?
BIN LADIN: After the collapse of the Soviet Union in which the US has no
mentionable role, but rather the credit goes to God, Praise and Glory be to Him,
and the Mujahidin in Afghanistan, this collapse made the US more haughty and
arrogant and it has started to look at itself as a Master of this world and
established what it calls the new world order. It wanted to delude people that
it can do whatever it wants, but it can't do this. It leveled against me and
others as many accusations as it desired and wished. It is these (accusations)
that you mentioned. The US today as a result of the arrogant atmosphere has set
a double standard, calling whoever goes against its injustice a terrorist. It
wants to occupy our countries, steal our resources, impose on us agents to rule
us based not on what God has revealed and wants us to agree on all these. If we
refuse to do so, it will say you are terrorists. With a simple look at the US
behaviors, we find that it judges the behavior of the poor Palestinian children
whose country was occupied: if they throw stones against the Israeli occupation,
it says they are terrorists whereas when the Israeli pilots bombed the United
Nations building in Qana, Lebanon while was full of children and women, the US
stopped any plan to condemn Israel. At the time that they condemn any Muslim who
calls for his right, they receive the highest top official of the Irish
Republican Army (Gerry Adams) at the White House as a political leader, while
woe, all woe is the Muslims if they cry out for their rights. Wherever we look,
we find the US as the leader of terrorism and crime in the world. The US does
not consider it a terrorist act to throw atomic bombs at nations thousands of
miles away, when it would not be possible for those bombs to hit military troops
only. These bombs were rather thrown at entire nations, including women,
children and elderly people and up to this day the traces of those bombs remain
in Japan. The US does not consider it terrorism when hundreds of thousands of
our sons and brothers in Iraq died for lack of food or medicine. So, there is no
base for what the US says and this saying does not affect us, because we, by the
grace of God, are dependent on Him, Praise and Glory be to Him, getting help
from Him against the US. As for the last part of your question, we are
fulfilling a duty which God, Praise and Glory be to Him, decreed for us. We look
upon those heroes, those men who undertook to kill the American occupiers in
Riyadh and Khobar (Dhahran). We describe those as heroes and describe them as
men. They have pulled down the disgrace and submissiveness off the forehead of
their nation. We ask Allah, Praise and Glory be to Him, to accept them as
martyrs.
REPORTER: Let's go to the bombings of United States troops in Riyadh and
Dhahran. Why did they happen and were you and your supporters involved in these
attacks?
BIN LADIN: We ask about the main reason that called for this explosion. This
explosion was a reaction to a US provocation of the Muslim peoples, in which the
US transgressed in its aggression until it reached the qibla of the Muslims in
the whole world. So, the purpose of the two explosions is to get the American
occupation out (of Arabia). So if the U.S. does not want to kill its sons who
are in the army, then it has to get out.
REPORTER: On the same issue of the American troops in Saudi Arabia, do you think
there will be more bombing attacks on them? or attacks on U.S. civilians in
Arabia? or assassination attempts for example, on the Saudi royal families?
BIN LADIN: As for the previous question, the explosion of Riyadh and the one in
Al-Khobar (Dhahran). It is no secret that during the two explosions, I was not
in Saudi Arabia, but I have great respect for the people who did this action. I
say, as I said before, they are heroes. We look upon them as men who wanted to
raise the flag of "There is no God but Allah", and to put an end the non
believers and the state of injustice that the U.S. brought. I also say that what
they did is a great job and a big honor that I missed participating in.
REPORTER: Do you think there will be more bombing attacks on American troops in
Saudi Arabia? or attacks on American civilians in Saudi Arabia? or will there be
assassination attempts on the Saudi Arabian ruling family?
BIN LADIN: It is known that every action has its reaction. If the American
presence continues, and that is an action, then it is natural for reactions to
continue against this presence. In other words, explosions and killings of the
American soldiers would continue. These are the troops who left their country
and their families and came here with all arrogance to steal our oil and
disgrace us, and attack our religion. As for what was mentioned about the ruling
(Saudi) family those in charge, do bear the full responsibility of everything
that may happen. They are the shadow of the American presence. The people and
the young men are concentrating their efforts on the sponsor and not on the
sponsored. The concentration at this point of Jihad is against the American
occupiers.
REPORTER: What are your views about Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman and have you ever
met him? Do you know him?
BIN LADIN: Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman is a Muslim scholar well-known all over the
Muslim world. He represents the kind of injustice that is adopted by the U.S. A
baseless case was fabricated against him even though he is a blind old man. We
ask Allah, The Almighty, to relieve him. The U.S. sentenced him to hundreds of
years just to please its caprice and the whims of the Egyptian regime. He is now
very badly treated and in no way fit for an old man like him or any Muslim
scholar.
REPORTER: The U.S. State Department quoting a Pakistani official says that Ramzi
Yousef, a convicted bomber in the World Trade Center in New York City stayed in
the house you funded in Peshawar, Pakistan for those receiving training during
the Afghan conflict after the Trade Center bombing, is that true? Did Ramzi
Yousef stay in your house in Peshawar?
BIN LADIN: I do not know Ramzi Yousef. What the American government and
Pakistani intelligence has been reporting is not true at all. But I say if the
American government is serious about avoiding the explosions inside the U.S.,
then let it stop provoking the feelings of 1,250 million Muslims. Those hundreds
of thousands who have been killed or displaced in Iraq, Palestine, Lebanon, do
have brothers and relatives. They would make of Ramzi Yousef a symbol and a
teacher. The U.S. will drive them to transfer the battle into the United States.
Everything is made possible to protect the blood of the American citizen while
the bloodshed of Muslims is allowed in every place. With this kind of behavior,
the U.S. government is hurting itself, hurting Muslims and hurting the American
people.
REPORTER: Mr. Bin Ladin, were you involved in financing the bombing of the World
Trade Center in New York City?
BIN LADIN: I have no connection or relation with this explosion.
REPORTER: Mr. Bin Ladin, in a recent interview with an Arabic newspaper, you
said that Arabs who fought in the Afghan war killed U.S. troops in Mogadishu,
Somalia. Can you tell us about that?
BIN LADIN: The U.S. government went there with great pride and stayed there for
some time with a strong media presence wanting to frighten people that it is the
greatest power on earth. It went there with pride and with over 28,000 soldiers,
to a poor unarmed people in Somalia. The goal of this was to scare the Muslim
world and the whole world saying that it is able to do whatever it desires. As
soon as the troops reached the Mogadishu beaches, they found no one but
children. The CNN and other media cameras started photographing them (the
soldiers) with their camouflage and heavy arms, entering with a parade crawling
(on the ground) and showing themselves to the world as the "greatest power on
earth". Resistance started against the American invasion, because Muslims do not
believe the U.S. allegations that they came to save the Somalis. A man with
human feelings in his heart does not distinguish between a child killed in
Palestine or in Lebanon, in Iraq or in Bosnia. So how can we believe your claims
that you came to save our children in Somalia while you kill our children in all
of those places?
With Allah's grace, Muslims over there, cooperated with some Arab "Mujahideen"
who were in Afghanistan. They participated with their brothers in Somalia
against the American occupation troops and killed large numbers of them. The
American administration was aware of that. After a little resistance. The
American troops left after achieving nothing. They left after claiming that they
were the largest power on earth. They left after some resistance from powerless,
poor, unarmed people whose only weapon is the belief in Allah The Almighty, and
who do not fear the fabricated American media lies. We learned from those who
fought there, that they were surprised to see the low spiritual morale of the
American fighters in comparison with the experience they had with the Russian
fighters. The Americans ran away from those fighters who fought and killed them,
while the latter were still there. If the U.S. still thinks and brags that it
still has this kind of power even after all these successive defeats in Vietnam,
Beirut, Aden, and Somalia, then let them go back to those who are awaiting its
return.
REPORTER: Mr. Bin Laden, your family is a rich powerful family in Saudi Arabia.
Have they, or the Saudi Arabian government asked you to stop your activities?
BIN LADIN: They have done that a lot. They have pressured us a lot, especially
since a lot of our money is still in the hands of the Saudi ruling family due to
activities of the our family and company (Saudi construction giant, the Bin
Ladin Group). They sent me my mother, my uncle, and my brothers in almost nine
visits to Khartoum (Sudan) asking me to stop and return to Arabia to apologize
to King Fahd. I apologized to my family kindly because I know that they were
driven by force to come to talk to me. This regime wants to create a problem
between me and my family and in order to take some measures against them. But,
with Allah's grace, this regime did not get its wish fulfilled. I refused to go
back. They (my family) conveyed the Saudi government's message that if I did not
go back, they'll freeze all my assets, deprive me of my citizenship, my
passport, and my Saudi I.D. and distort my picture in the Saudi and foreign
media. They think that a Muslim may bargain on his religion. I said to them do
whatever you may wish. It is with Allah's bounty, we refused to go back. We are
living in dignity and honor for whom we thank Allah. It is much better for us to
live under a tree here on these mountains than to live in palaces in the most
sacred land to Allah, while being subjected to disgrace not worshipping Allah
even in the most sacred land on earth, where injustice is so widespread. There
is no strength except with Allah.
REPORTER: Mr. Bin Ladin, have Saudi agents attempted to assassinate you? Are you
targeted by the U.S. government? Are you in fact in fear of your life?
BIN LADIN: The U.S. pressures are no secret to you. The Saudi pressures are also
in response to American pressures. There were several attempts to arrest me or
to assassinate me. This has been going on for more than seven years. With
Allah's grace, none of these attempts succeeded. This is a proof in itself to
Muslims and to the world that the U.S. is incapable and weaker than the picture
it wants to draw in people's mind. A believer must rest assured that life is
only in the hands of Allah, and sustenance is also in the hands of Allah, the
Almighty. As for fearing for one's life, it is difficult to explain to you how
we think of ourselves, unless you have full belief. We believe that no one could
take out one breath of our written life as ordained by Allah. We see that we see
that getting killed in the cause of Allah is a great honor wished for by our
Prophet (PBUH). He said in his Hadith: "I swear to Allah, I wish to fight for
Allah's cause and be killed, I'll do it again and be killed, and I'll do it
again and be killed". Being killed for Allah's cause is a great honor achieved
by only those who are the elite of the nation. We love this kind of death for
Allah's cause as much as you like to live. We have nothing to fear for. It is
something we wish for.
REPORTER: What are your future plans?
BIN LADIN: You'll see them and hear about them in the media, God willing.
REPORTER: Mr. Bin Ladin, if you had an opportunity to give a message to
President Clinton, what would that message be?
BIN LADIN: Mentioning the name of Clinton or that of the American government
provokes disgust and revulsion. This is because the name of the American
government and the name of Clinton and Bush directly reflect in our minds the
picture of children with their heads cut off before even reaching one year of
age. It reflects the picture of children with their hands cut off, the picture
of the children who died in Iraq, the picture of the hands of the Israelis with
weapons destroying our children. The hearts of Muslims are filled with hatred
towards the United States of America and the American president The President
has a heart that knows no words. A heart that kills hundreds of children
definitely, knows no words. Our people in the Arabian Peninsula will send him
messages with no words because he does not know any words. If there is a message
that I may send through you, then it is a message I address to the mothers of
the American troops who came here with their military uniform walking proudly up
and down our land while the scholars of our country are thrown in prisons. I say
that this represents a blatant provocation to 1,250 million Muslims. To these
mothers I say if they are concerned for their sons, then let them object to the
American government's policy and to the American president. Do not let
themselves be cheated by his standing before the bodies of the killed soldiers
describing the freedom fighters in Saudi Arabia as terrorists. It is he who is a
terrorist who pushed their sons into this for the sake of the Israeli interest.
We believe that the American army in Saudi Arabia came to separate between the
Muslims and the people for not ruling in accordance with Allah's wish. They came
to be in support of the Israeli forces in occupied Palestine, the land of the
"Israa" of our Prophet (PBUH).
+ + + +
Swarvegorilla
> Afghan-hardened military force which now is willing to fight shoulder to
> shoulder with their erstwhile enemies, the Americans, in Afghanistan. The
cruel
> twists of history!
>
> + + + +
Damn.........
Can a 4th world country fight off 2 super powers?
Can the US and Russia stay friends after the first stray ordinance frags
start happening?
Will the US have to help out in Chechnya to 'pay' the Ruskies back?
Will the Chinese perhaps offer a division or 2?
For these answers and more stay tuned to SITREPS..................
Rizla Ranger UK
As veteran Afghan commanders return to the spotlight, one of the beleaguered
country's most legendary figures has remained conspicuously absent.
The former governor of Herat, Ismail Khan, has been silent since his escape from
a prison in Kandahar more than a year ago.
His forces recently claimed to have captured Chaghcharan, the capital of
Afghanistan's Ghor province, and said they were pushing on towards Herat.
But it is not known if Ismail Khan is among them.
The former governor was mooted as a potential successor to the late Ahmad Shah
Massoud, the charismatic Northern Alliance commander, but holds little support
in the north-eastern region of Afghanistan
Afghan affairs commentator Olivier Roy says little information has come from
Ismail Khan's camp.
"I don't know the extent of the co-operation between him and the Northern
Alliance at the moment but he's just waiting, and trying to make scores on the
ground," he said.
Michael Griffin, author of 'Reaping the whirlwind - the Taleban regime in
Afghanistan' believes that Khan, who has a reasonably good human rights record,
could figure in the country's future
"He can claim to represent a vanished golden age, as well as having an unblooded
reputation," he said.
"But the problem is that he's Tajik," he added. "It is looking for Pashtuns like
Abdul Haq which is the secret to the post-Taleban government quandary."
Described by Afghanistan expert Ahmad Rashid as "shrewd, short and with an elfin
smile", it was Khan's epic escape from his Taleban captors in March last year
which brought him to prominence.
Nearly 18 months later there is little word of the man who was feted for
liberating Herat from 12 years of communist rule
Few believed the stories about his escape until it was confirmed a week later.
Speaking to the BBC, he said people dissatisfied with Taleban rule had helped
him.
During the time that he was on the run his son denied he had escaped and said he
had been "eliminated" by the Taleban. Meanwhile, the Taleban offered a large
reward for his recapture.
But nearly 18 months later there is little word of the man who was feted for
liberating Herat from 12 years of communist rule.
Khan was an officer in the national army and rose up against the Soviet forces
stationed in Herat just months after their arrival in 1979. This initial fray
resulted in the death of hundreds of Soviet soldiers.
It was the start of his 10 year war against communism.
In the beginning, Khan's rule in the city was hailed as a success. Herat's
schools were filled with more than 40,000 children, nearly 50% of which were
girls.
But the establishment of a conscript army was not welcome in the traditionally
liberal city.
Corrupt officials and reports of a lack of funds to pay his soldiers were
weaknesses that counted against him when the Taleban launched their offensives
towards Herat..
Taking the city of Herat, which sits near the borders of Iran and Turkmenistan
was an asset too attractive for the Taleban to ignore.
The value of controlling the Pakistan-Turkmenistan highway has proven to be a
big earner for the regime.
More 20 years after Khan's uprising little has changed.
If he is in Afghanistan, his attitude could be reminiscent of the first
collective meeting of Mujaheddin commanders he is reputed to have organised
inside the country in 1987.
During that meeting the field commanders demanded that they, rather than party
leaders in Peshawar, dictate the political outcomes of their military efforts.
These commanders were indignant that Afghans bickering with each other over
international support in Pakistan held sway over them.
If he is inside Afghanistan Ismail Khan is likely to be sceptical of any outside
political interference.
But the legendary governor without successful military offensives against the
Taleban may well be overlooked.
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
Osama’s New Recruits
WASHINGTON, D.C.—As U.S. intelligence agents strained to pick up conversations
among Al Qaeda members gloating over their September 11 success, soldiers in
America's racist underground gnashed their teeth over not having carried out the
attack on "Jew York" themselves.
"It's a DISGRACE that in a population of at least 150 MILLION White/Aryan
Americans, we provide so FEW that are willing to do the same," bemoaned Rocky
Suhayda, Nazi Party chairman from Eastpointe, Michigan. "[A] bunch of towel
head/sand niggers put our great White Movement to SHAME."
Suhayda's chilling online comments, collected with other racist postings by the
Southern Poverty Law Center, merely hint at the virulent hatred shared by
thousands of extremists within U.S. borders. Though the feds may have considered
the white-power gang too dumb (not to mention lazy) to launch a major assault,
the recent anthrax attacks look increasingly like their doing. Some of these
people have yearned to acquire the means of biochemical warfare, and today
they're openly calling for an assault.
"The current events . . . have caused me to activate my unit," wrote Paul R.
Mullet, the Aryan Nations chief in Minnesota. "Please be advised that the time
for Aryans to attack is now, not later."
Scarier still, there's always the chance the white-power guys in the U.S.
wouldn't have to do this all by themselves. Fueled by a shared anti-Semitism,
the white supremacists of America's hinterland have forged links with extremists
in Europe—and perhaps even the Middle East.
Last week, U.S. News & World Report revealed that officials at the Defense
Department were speculating that the late Timothy McVeigh, a Gulf War veteran,
acted as an Iraqi agent when he bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City in
1995. That might seem a far-fetched idea, but federal agents initially put out a
global dragnet, thinking the terrorists might have been Middle Eastern. Later,
in preparation for McVeigh's trial, defense attorney Stephen Jones traveled
around the world, stopping off in London, Tel Aviv, Belfast, and Manila.
In the Philippines, Jones found people who told him Terry Nichols had met there
with Middle Eastern terrorists, including Ramzi Yousef (the kingpin of the 1993
World Trade Center bombing) and, possibly, Osama bin Laden himself. Al Qaeda was
using the Philippines partly as an auxiliary base and partly as a pool of new
recruits. McVeigh ridiculed the idea of Nichols's involvement in the
Philippines, but Jones reports that his client later admitted it was possible.
What makes these theories even more bizarre is that the leaders seem to have
crossed paths and exchanged notes. At one moment, they all came together in one
wing of a federal prison in Colorado. There, McVeigh, Yousef, and the Unabomber
met and became buds.
A few far-right groups have in the past sought to embrace the Arabs as a way of
getting at Jews. In 1990, Gene Schroeder, a leader of the underground Posse
Comitatus, accompanied a group of farmers to Washington for a powwow in the
Iraqi embassy. During the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Dennis Mahon, then a Tulsa Klan
leader, organized a small demonstration in that city to support Saddam Hussein,
for which he says he got a couple of hundred dollars in an unmarked envelope
from the Iraqi government.
White-power interest in bioterrorism goes back to the early 1980s, when movement
leader Bob Miles gave one group called the Covenant Sword and Arm of the Lord a
barrel of cyanide to poison a major city's water supply. The Aryan Republican
Army, a cadre of bank robbers who claimed they were robbing banks to finance the
revolution, produced a video with one of its people dressed in a hazmat suit.
In 1993, Thomas Lavy, a member of the Aryan Nations, mixed up a batch of ricin,
a deadly poison made from castor beans. The FBI arrested Lavy in Arkansas, and
he hung himself in jail before anyone could figure out what he was up to. That
same year, a Minnesota woman went to the cops complaining her husband had
leveled a shotgun at her. She told of a stash of poison, which on investigation
also turned out to be ricin, meant for U.S. marshals who seized a friend's
property for tax violations.
In 1995, a onetime Aryan Nations member was convicted of wire fraud after buying
three vials of inert bubonic bacteria from a Maryland laboratory. Interviewed in
1997 by CNN, Larry Wayne Harris explained, "I said, 'OK, is there any regulation
governing this stuff?' And they said, 'No, there's none whatsoever. There is no
regulations.' " Harris stored the plague in the glove compartment of his car. "I
just threw it in, locked it up." Harris was later arrested for suspected
possession of anthrax, but charges were dropped when the specimens turned out to
be vaccines.
Law-enforcement insiders say whoever is behind the recent anthrax attacks will
likely fit one of two prototypes. The first is that of the Unabomber, a lone
anarchist nut operating with no outside support. The second is that of Eric
Rudolph, a follower of racist right groups and suspected bomber of abortion
clinics. Rudolph has spent the past few years on the lam, after disappearing in
the North Carolina mountains.
Their cases may provide a clue as to what's going to happen next, says Mike
Reynolds, a former Southern Poverty Law Center investigator. Both men slowly
perfected their weaponry, with Kaczynski trying one bomb after another, starting
in 1978, until a 1985 explosion killed a man in Sacramento. He would make his
bombs in Montana and then transport them to sites as far away as Berkeley,
California.
Cops say Rudolph also perfected his bombs. He stands accused of beginning with
the clumsy backpack explosion at Centennial Park in Atlanta during the Olympics,
then of setting one off in a local gay bar. No one was killed. By the time he
allegedly got to the Birmingham, Alabama, abortion clinic, he was using timers
and setting off the explosions by radio from a car. The message from both these
cases is pretty simple: Hone the technique and use it with astounding success
again and again.
That abortion clinics have received hundreds of new anthrax threats—on top of
the ones they've gotten in years past—serves to shore up the theory that current
attacks are domestic. Nor is raw anthrax a particularly hard weapon to get,
since it requires only a specimen, an incubator, and hate.
As the bioattacks unfolded, William Pierce, a former physics teacher and current
leader of the neo-Nazi National Alliance, suggested Americans shouldn't be
surprised. "What the people mailing out anthrax-infected letters are giving us
is just a reminder that we can have no real security—in fact, no real future for
our children and our grandchildren—until we regain control of our own
government," Pierce wrote online. "You must not believe the generals and the
politicians who tell you confidently from your television screens that if we
just use enough cruise missiles and smart bombs and kill enough of the Jews'
enemies in the Middle East we'll be safe again. Americans will never again have
real security or real peace of mind until they have regained control of their
government and their media."
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
Fight & Flight
Ex-Navy SEALS
Wage War Over Airport Security
A Cursor Dot Com
Internet Exclusive
by Bill Salisbury
POSTED OCTOBER 21, 2001---SAN DIEGO--
I began thinking about Steve Elson and Cathal “Irish” Flynn almost from the time
I saw the enormous horror of those planes exploding through the WTC Towers. Both
men are retired Navy SEALS and I’d known them while we were on active duty.
I first met Flynn when he relieved me after I’d served a 7 – month tour in
Vietnam as officer in charge of three SEAL platoons. Some three months later he
was on his way to the Philippines and then the Strand as commanding officer of
UDT Twelve, his abbreviated combat time in the Rung Sat Special Zone finished,
his ticket punched. Flynn was a tall, almost gaunt man with a scholarly air: the
sort of fellow with whom you could discuss Realpolitik or Monetary Theory.
Elson had served a full combat tour in the Rung Sat as a SEAL corpsman and
returned to work for me when I was executive officer of SEAL Team Two in Little
Creek, Virginia. You wouldn’t discuss Realpolitik with Elson, but you sure as
hell would rather have him walk point on a hairy mission than Flynn.
Despite his relative lack of combat experience, Flynn parlayed – in my opinion –
his empire building skills, adroitness as a staff officer, and ability to
cultivate contacts among senior officers into a series of promotions that ended
with flag rank. He retired as the head of the Naval Intelligence Service and
became head of security at the Federal Aviation Agency in 1993 – in part, I
suspected, because of his carefully cultivated friendship with another former
SEAL, Senator Bob Kerrey.
Elson also ended up at FAA but on the other end of the food chain: he was a
security agent toiling in the trenches at Houston International Airport during
the latter years of Flynn’s tenure as his big boss in Washington, D.C. I
wouldn’t have known of this connection if it hadn’t been for an e-mail that
crossed my computer screen about a year ago. The message had been shot-gunned to
several retired SEALS who share the net. Steve Elson sent the message that – as
the saying goes – took Flynn to the woodshed.
“Two weeks ago,” the message began, “Mr. Cathal Flynn retired as head of FAA
'security' to his Coronado home with a big, fat retirement check.” Elson went on
to deliver such licks as”Flynn joined the FAA cult and proved anathema to
security ... Essentially, there is no security in civil aviation today. There is
deterrence based on the false appearance of security...Flynn and his staff
punish agents for doing what they took an oath to do.”
Elson cited an FAA “vulnerability assessment report” at a major airport in late
1998 to show how far security had plummeted and quoted from that report: “The
assessment team managed to break through different security screenings
repeatedly in many different areas. Team members were caught only 4 times during
450 attempts to penetrate different security areas. They managed to get by
passenger X-ray screening repeatedly...having on them a gun sealed under their
belt-buckle...an automatic MAC machine gun under their jackets on their backs.”
According to Elson, not long after the report was filed Flynn painted a wildly
inaccurate portrait of airport security in testimony before a Senate Committee:
“Flynn reported a 96% success rate in preventing unauthorized access to
restricted areas...I believe it fair to say Flynn lied. Flynn lied, covered up
wrongdoing, looked the other way, worst of all Flynn placed totally
incompetent/unqualified managers in positions of importance and supported abuse
of employees. FAA security personnel no longer take job initiative because they
are afraid of repercussions.” Elson went on to list specific examples of
employee abuse he claimed supported his opinion.
Elson also told the SEALS why he wrote the e-mail. “Because Flynn has not only
disgraced himself, he has disgraced our community...FAA (security agents)
absolutely hate his guts for the damage he has done and the destruction of
morale and work incentive. I can tell you many agents don’t have a very high
opinion of SEAL Teams because of Flynn, a ‘SEAL Admiral.’ When asked if Flynn
was a SEAL, I just say, ‘Naw, he was just an admin guy. Flynn’s performance
makes this an easily acceptable statement.”
Whew, I thought. I hope Elson can back this up because – despite the obvious
hyperbole – he was making very serious allegations. I sent my own e-mail,
pointed this out, and asked what Flynn had personally done to him. Elson in my
experience had never been one to engage in character assassination or otherwise
stir up shit in a community that had several such practitioners.
Elson was characteristically forthright in his reply. "I can back up what I said
with tons of stuff. The Government Accounting Office asked me to give them a 3
hour brief. Ended up 10 hours over two days. I have hand delivered over 600
pages of documentation to Congress on the crap that goes on in FAA.
“I’ve written hundreds of papers that I send up to D.C. In most, I
challenged/dared anyone I had slandered to sue me. So far, no takers. Perhaps
Flynn will. I hope so. That would give me the perfect opportunity to get more
documentation into the media."
Well, I thought, if you’ve got the goods on Irish Flynn, why hasn’t Congress or
his boss, the Secretary of Transportation, done something about your complaints?
Why has Irish returned to Coronado with a “fat FAA retirement check?” (Elson
would later tell me he believed Congress was as bad as Flynn for not doing
something about the failings of FAA security.)
Over the next several weeks I exchanged e-mails with Elson to learn if he were
some embittered Don Quixote or if what he said about Flynn and FAA security had
some basis. We were all to learn too well about how that security would fail,
although there are those such as Flynn who maintain nothing could be done to
prevent suicidal terrorists, who were also pilots, from hijacking those planes
with knives and box cutters. That reality, they say, was simply unimaginable.
As for Flynn, Elson maintained throughout our conversations that “The most
important issue is not Flynn: it’s the terrible state of civil aviation
security. It’s just a matter of time before we have another catastrophic
terrorist attack like Pan Am 103.”
I pressed Elson on why he raged so against Flynn. “When Flynn took over FAA
security,” Elson said, “I stayed away from him because I didn’t want to appear
as if I were taking advantage of our SEAL ties. I’d known the guy when we served
together on the staff at the Special Operations Command in Tampa and I thought
highly of him. He once helped me out of a tight spot that could have cost me my
career. When other FAA agents asked me what he was like, I told them he was a
little different but that he’d do the job.
“Then in December ‘98 I got fed up with all the security failures I and other
agents had reported to our superiors, who sat on their hands and did nothing. In
fact, I got a disciplinary letter placed in my file by the Houston manager
because I'd gone out on my own time during holidays – when terrorists are likely
to strike because of the crowds – and ran my own assessment study. Discovered
and documented many instances of violations ... but I wasn’t out to put anyone
on report. Whenever I saw something out of whack, I told the screeners what was
wrong and how they could fix it. I used to give out cookies to people while I
talked to them about security. No one ever complained that I knew of. But the
manager didn’t like the bad news and wrote me up. Same thing happened to other
agents.
“I finally contacted Flynn and told him we were spending a fortune on security
and getting nothing back but garbage. I gave him specifics and he promised to
investigate. Sent his assistant, Kay Payne, to three airports I complained of,
where agents had filed grievances against abusive managers, and had discovered
horrendous lapses in security. Payne submitted a report to Flynn who promptly
buried it.
“I continued to send memos, document the serious problems. Worked for two years
within the system trying unsuccessfully to change things. For my efforts I got
interviewed by the FBI and turned in to the US Marshalls. That was fun. I won.”
I asked him to tell me more about the FBI business. “I think Flynn sic’d them on
me. I’d quit the FAA in protest but I kept sending letters and documents to
anyone who might care and some I was sure didn’t. Flynn said I’d been
threatening people. So here comes the FBI to interview me. I passed with flying
colors and that was the end of that.”
Elson gave me a copy of a letter he wrote the Secretary of Transportation at the
time, Rodney Slator, about Flynn’s “Misuse of FBI Assets in an Intimidation
Attempt”. Here’s a sampling of what Elson told Slator: “I have tried to
work...within the system and chain of command to address the many problems ...
in the FAA. The FAA response to my letters, e-mails, and memos varied. First
they called me a ‘hero’ and ‘one of the agency’s most dedicated agents.' Then
they tried to mollify me, but did so in a condescending and insulting manner.
Then they [including you] tried to ignore me. Then they tried to discredit me.
Now they have made a futile attempt to intimidate me by involving the FBI. Let
me make two things very clear – [I will not be intimidated] by [Flynn] involving
the FBI and I don’t quit! The flying public’s life is unnecessarily threatened.
I can’t quit.”
I told Elson this was pretty strong stuff and suggested maybe his zeal and
passion could work against him and diminish his credibility. “Others,” he said,
“have told me the same. These are FAA people who appreciate my efforts but think
I’m nuts for what I write and the volume.”
But two important media outlets have considered Elson sufficiently credible-- at
least about FAA security -- to feature him on exposes of that security. Jim
Morris used a quote from an interview with Elson to title his February 2001
article in U.S. News: “Since Pan Am 103, a ‘facade of security.’” Morris also
focused his lead paragraph on Elson: “A serrated hunting knife tucked in his
pants, Steve Elson strolled through a screening station at New Orleans
International Airport without setting off the alarm. He cleared checkpoints on
two other concourses, drawing nary a glance. Had he held a ticket, the former
FAA special agent could have boarded any flight armed with a deadly weapon.
Dressed, in his words, ‘like a dirt bag,’ Elson later went snooping behind
counters in the Delta Air Lines gate area in plain view of passengers and
employees. He was searching for unused baggage tags, which he sends to members
of Congress to make a point: that a terrorist could easily grab such a tag and
attach it to a suitcase rigged with a bomb. Left near a jetway door, the bag
would likely be loaded onto an aircraft.”
In commenting on the U.S. News article Elson told me: “Funny thing is, I didn’t
even realize I had the knife in my pants until later. It simply does not trip
the mags. Also, I told Jim that New Orleans was one of the better airports
around. Jim flew down to my home in Metarie, Louisiana, and spent three days
interviewing me for the story.”
Elson also said he’d been interviewed by FOX TV for a special on security at an
airport far worse than what he’d encountered in New Orleans: Logan International
in Boston. Elson gave me a tape of the program during a visit he made to San
Diego last May.
Before viewing the tape, I asked Elson what he thought of Lindberg field where
he’d just landed and, of course, wandered around checking things out dressed
more like a tourist than a dirt bag.
“The San Diego Airport looked pretty good from what I observed going through. I
could have picked up Frontier Airline bag tags and with some effort, picked up
keys from Alaska and United. Would have been risky but doable. What I really
look for at airports are the basics, just the basics. No use worrying about the
esoteric or James Bond crap until these folks can manage the very simple, basic
things.
“If you decide to do some testing, it should be a lot like the video of what Fox
did at Logan. Testing which deals with everyday events at airports. And testing
that will be transparent to the screeners and airport security. I have only
heard that testing is not legal. I think they're afraid of the media unless
there's a very clear violation. For instance, on the Fox video the picture of
Deborah (the Fox reporter) opening the jetway door. Originally she started to go
through the door – definitely a local and federal violation. That had to be
stopped – just open the door.
“Doors at San Diego will be tougher than at Logan. In Terminal Two, the airport
got smart and spent some good money on some good technology. Door combos, for
example, are on scramble pads. Good Idea. However, there are still many ways to
beat the system.”
As we watched the Fox video I was struck by how insightful, dedicated, and
reasoned Elson appeared. I would later see the same kind of person when he
appeared on “60 Minutes” after the terrorist attacks. He was not the man some of
his more hotly worded e-mails suggested.
Despite my low opinion of how Irish Flynn had made admiral and may have gotten
his job at FAA, I nevertheless realized how strident Steve Elson could be. I
wasn’t going to accept his accusations at face value no matter how reasonable he
appeared on TV. I contacted Irish Flynn and he immediately agreed to a phone
interview.
We talked for nearly an hour. Before our conversation I’d sent him an e-mail
setting forth Elson’s major complaints. He answered them point by point in a
careful, measured style that I recalled from many years ago while he was Chief
of Staff for Naval Special Warfare Group ONE at the Coronado Amphib Base.
We began with Elson’s allegation that Flynn had lied to Congress. “I don’t
recall the numbers of the assessment study Steve’s referring to, but I know they
were high.” Flynn said he believed the successful attempts may have been through
the first line of defense – the screeners – but fewer attempts were successful
on actually boarding the planes. Still, he recognized the security situation
exposed by the testers was “pretty damn bad.”
He said he had testified in open and closed sessions before a Congressional
committee that FAA had a very high rate of success in keeping testers from
actually boarding the aircraft. He didn’t recall the exact rate of failure to
stop the testers, but it could have been 4 percent and that, he said, was still
“disquieting.”
Elson’s manager in Houston had put a letter of caution in his file because Elson
insisted working holidays and weekends despite being told to stop. The reason
had to do with personnel policy over which Flynn said he had no control. The FAA
had experienced agents who volunteered to work without pay on their days off,
worked the days, and then changed their minds about no pay. These agents would
then demand overtime pay and FAA might have to compensate them. Flynn added he
knew “Steve would never do that,” but FAA policy – not Flynn’s – wouldn’t allow
anyone to volunteer to work free no matter how well intentioned.
I asked why in the world couldn’t some administrative procedure by set up to
protect against those who would abuse the system and at the same time allow
dedicated agents to work on their own time? Flynn said he tried to find a way
but it just couldn’t be done. When Elson wouldn’t accept the reality, he got his
letter. (Later, in an e-mail, Flynn gave examples of Elson's behavior that
suggested Elson was obstreperous, intolerant, puritanical, and unbalanced, and
at one point Flynn told me, "Steve is nuts." Nevertheless, he also praised Elson
as "a doer...generous and thoughtful...a great host" and compassionate.)
I was particularly interested in Flynn’s response to Elson’s charge that he
thought Flynn may have sent the FBI after him. “First of all, I don’t recall
sending the FBI after Steve. When he left the FAA he began writing all these
letters...to my FAA boss, to the Transportation Secretary, to Congress...he even
wrote the President. I got copies of some of these letters but not all.
“In one letter Steve said either he or someone else – it wasn’t clear who – had
daydreams about ‘putting the Houston FAA manager in the cross-hairs.’ I believed
the manager’s life might be in danger and that I owed it to her to take
protective action. I turned the matter over to our internal affairs people. They
may have contacted the FBI. I don’t know.”
Flynn acknowledged that FAA had “pockets” of morale problems and I asked him how
he dealt with those pockets. He said he would talk to the regional FAA managers
and convene discussion groups among agents to improve communication with
management. I asked if he’d ever relieved a manager because of poor morale among
the troops and he said no.
Flynn also said he never buried a report from his assistant into Elson’s
charges. He said he didn’t even remember a written report and his assistant may
have simply told him of her findings. She said the charges could not be
substantiated. (On 20 September, the Dallas Morning News reported that an
attitude survey taken shortly before the WTC attack showed many field agents
lacked confidence in managers at headquarters and in their own regions.)
As for Elson’s claim he’d retired with a “fat retirement check,” Flynn said his
monthly retirement check from FAA amounted to less than $700.00. He added that
when he took the job with FAA he had to give up his entire military pension.
That brought me to my suspicion that Bob Kerrey had helped him secure the FAA
position. “Bob Kerrey,” he said, “had absolutely nothing to do with that. I was
first offered the job in 1990 by someone I’d worked for while on active duty who
thought I was the person for the job. I turned it down.
“I did ask Kerrey for assistance once, but it was for a completely different
appointment in the government. I didn’t get the position. When I was again
offered the FAA job in 1993, I accepted. Bob Kerrey had nothing to do with the
offer.”
Flynn turned to Elson’s e-mail accusing him of giving SEALS a bad name: “I’ve
seen a copy of that memo and of course dispute it. In fact, I had another SEAL
in FAA call me after the memo appeared to assure me he was in no way associated
with it and deplored its contents. Another FAA employee who is an attorney
overseas called for the same reason.”
I then asked Flynn about a subject that had troubled me even before the horror
of 11 September: the regulation that allowed knives with blades less than four
inches on planes.
“Who,” I began, “makes the regulations about what passengers may or may not
carry onboard?”
“The head of FAA security.”
“Did you authorize knives on board with blades less than 4 inches when you were
in charge?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Flynn said that before the events of 11 September security was geared toward
what experience had taught: hijackers normally wanted something in return for
freeing the passengers. Perhaps it was for money, freedom for imprisoned
comrades, publicity for a cause, or a combination of such goals. The hijackers
would have to land at some point to close the deal.
The pilot’s job was to placate the hijackers and get on the ground as soon as
safely possible.
Once on the ground, security forces would be in a position to retake the plane.
The hijackers of course knew of this possibility and would be heavily armed.
They counted on survivability not suicide. They wouldn't think of taking over a
plane with only a four-inch knife. Such idiocy would invite an immediate assault
by security once they learned the hijackers had nothing more formidable than a
Swiss Army knife.
Flynn also pointed out that such a knife was carried by many innocent passengers
to help them while away the time on long flights. Flynn gave the example of
women using the scissors on the knife for crocheting. He also said passengers
would use the file to do their nails. Flynn’s successor seems to have shared
this benign view of the short-bladed knife: he kept Flynn’s regulation in force.
Flynn talked about how he had improved security during his seven years at FAA.
“I was not,” he emphasized, “‘anathema’ to security.” He assured me FAA
statistics would back him up. He said he simply could not be expected to foresee
the chain of events that has plunged us into national crisis.
“But,” I said, “if movies could imagine terrorists hijacking a plane and turning
it into a guided missile, why couldn’t FAA? Didn’t you engage in 'what if'
sessions? Brainstorm contingencies?”
Flynn said FAA conducted such sessions but again, nobody envisioned the
extraordinary facts of these terrible events: maniacal terrorists armed only
with knives and box cutters, who could fly an airplane and were prepared to die.
(He would later tell me in an e-mail that previous attacks by Bin Laden’s men
had been “deadly determined , but planned for survival and escape.” He provided
examples.)
Throughout our conversation I sensed a man who was -- for all his calm, measured
responses -- in great anguish. I felt for him and was glad I wasn't in his
position.
September 11th. All day and into the night I watch TV, searching for hard facts
about the unspeakable horror through a numbing video stream of pontificating
politicians wrapping themselves in the flag, talking heads vowing vengeance,
self-important news anchors acting as ring-masters, and – worst of all – old
men, their jowls a-quiver, speaking with Delphic certainty, telling us we must
steel ourselves to send oh so many young men to their doom if good is to conquer
evil. I think of my son and his SEAL mates who are even now on their way to the
Middle East.
I find the facts I seek. They gleam through the murk like diamonds: The planes
that struck the Twin Towers had been hijacked by terrorists after the planes had
taken off from Logan International Airport; the terrorists were armed with
knives they had smuggled aboard.
This article originally appeared in the San Diego Reader, September 27, 2001.
+ + + +
ScottCovey
This has us laughing on the floor here. Firstly the
village is in the American KFOR territory, but the
area is actually a Russian KFOR site. I have been to
many Serb villages, and I stand out, let alone anyone
who is slightly off-white!I also find it strange,
considering that the Russians are Serb supporters.
As are the French by the way.
Rizla Ranger UK
Sierra Leone's Minister of Transport and Communications Momoh Pujeh has been
arrested for involvement in illegal diamond mining.
The country's anti-corruption commission said Mr Pujeh's wife has also been
detained.
The commission said the two had been engaged in illicit diamond mining in Kenema
district.
They had also been found in possession of a large quantity of illicit diamonds.
A BBC correspondent in Sierra Leone said the arrest will undoubtedly embarrass
President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah as it is normally the rebel group, the
Revolutionary United Front that is accused of illegal mining and diamond
smuggling.
The minister is even said to have smuggled some diamonds to the United States.
The arrest shows that the authorities are trying hard to prove they are cracking
down on corruption.
But illegal mining of so-called conflict diamonds is rampant throughout the
country
The RUF is itself deeply involved in the trade, but has alleged for some time
that government officials are also running their own operations.
+ + + +
The Monitor (Kampala)
November 1, 2001
John Augustines Emojong
Students of St.Peters College Tororo armed with a gun, pangas, slashers, axes,
metal bars, knives, clubs, petro and sticks Tuesday attacked Manjasi High
School.
The attack which occurred between 6.30- 7.00 pm left several students and
members of the public injured.
Four students of St. Peters and three of Manjansi were admitted in Tororo
Hospital with serious injuries
A gun- wielding student whose identity could not be established engaged police
in a fire exchange, forcing them to withdraw to Tororo Girls School. Police
later called for reinforcement of regular and anti-riot police who defused the
chaos.
Four students of Manjasi have been arrested and detained at Tororo central
police station.
The ugly incident began on Sunday when St. Peters students went to a Catholic
church at Naluwerere, about 100m from Manjasi and Tororo Girls school, attacked
the Manjasi students and disrupted the Sunday service.
Manjasi and Tororo Girls students were having a joint service meant to bless the
senior four and six candidates who are beginning national examinations on Nov.
5.
Six students from Tororo Girls fainted during the scuffle and were rushed to
Tororo Hospital.
There is long standing dispute between St. Peters College and Majansi High
School over girls from Tororo Girls School.
Manjasi is about six kilometres away from St. Peters College on Malaba-Kenya
Highway.
Meanwhile, St. Peters College was yesterday closed indefinitely following an
incident in which the students who nearly killed the Headmaster, Bernard
Wakwale.
Violence began at about began at about 7.30am when students confronted Wakwale
on his way to office. They beat him and he ran to Uganda Martyrs Cathedral where
he took cover.
Gun-fire rocked the school as police fought running battles with rioting
students who vowed to kill the headmaster.
A reinforcement of UPDF soldiers from Rubongi Barracks was later called.
+ + + +
BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - A Colombian sorceress who allegedly entered the
international cocaine smuggling business used black magic to soothe her nervous
drug runners.
Maria Elisinda Vasquez Munoz, known simply as "the Witch," would make her
employees swallow many as 70 latex glove fingers filled with cocaine before they
boarded planes to Europe, police said on Thursday.
"She would tell them that the black magic would protect them, that nothing would
happen to them," said Col. Rodrigo Gonzalez, head of Interpol in Colombia.
"Obviously, it did not work," he said, adding that Vasquez was found with a
voodoo doll.
Vasquez and eight other members of her drug smuggling ring were arrested on
Halloween in what the police called "Operation Bewitched."
+ + + +
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Gunmen on Thursday killed a regional prosecutor who was
investigating both a paramilitary group and leftist guerrillas in Colombia — the
second person to be killed in that job within four months.
Carlos Arturo Pinto, 53, was on his way to work in the eastern city of Cucuta
when he was shot and killed by two gunmen on a motorcycle, the national
prosecutor's office said.
Pinto had replaced Maria del Rosario, who was killed in July in Cucuta. The
killing remains unsolved.
Both Pinto and del Rosario had been investigating human rights violations by
leftist rebels and a right-wing militia group, according to Alejandro Ramelli,
chief of the human rights unit of the national prosecutor's office.
Ramelli told a news conference Pinto's death was an example of how prosecutors
around the country are risking their lives to perform their jobs in this
war-torn country. He sharply rejected criticism by a United Nations human rights
representative, who on Wednesday said the prosecutor's office was the ``weakest
link in the chain'' of justice in Colombia.
Following a 10-day fact-finding mission to Colombia, Hina Jilani — U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special representative for human rights workers
questioned prosecutors' decision to drop charges against a retired general
suspected of having ties with paramilitary groups. Jilani also suggested the
prosecutor's office lacked impartiality.
Ramelli called Jilani's accusations ``irresponsible,'' saying suggestions that
prosecutors favor one side in Colombia's war can bring retaliation from another
side.
+ + + +
more low tech weapons
http://www.rubberbandguns.com/devestator.htm
+ + + +
Terrorists are planning to blow up the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco as
one of a number of targets on the west coast of America, the governor of
California said last night.
Gray Davis claimed law enforcement agents had uncovered "credible evidence" of a
plot to blow up four bridges in California during the rush-hour between today
and next Wednesday. Other suspected targets include the Vincent Thomas Bridge in
Los Angeles and the Coronado Bridge in San Diego.
National Guard troops and coastguards have been ordered in to protect bridges.
Two days ago US attorney general John Ashcroft and FBI director Robert Mueller
placed America on the highest alert, warning "credible" intelligence indicated a
likely attack on the US or its interests overseas linked to Osama bin Laden and
his al Qaeda network.
There were warnings of six planned attacks in California and Oregon over the
next five days. It is believed the most dangerous period is over the next 24
hours.
The 4,200ft Golden Gate suspension bridge spans the entrance to San Francisco
Bay and carries some 270,000 vehicles a day. Security there was stepped up two
weeks ago after four Pakistani men were arrested while video-taping the bridge.
They were released without charge.
+ + + +
The northern Nigerian state of Kaduna has introduced a modified version of
Sharia or Islamic law in an attempt to keep Muslims and Christians in the state
happy.
Plans last year to introduce Islamic courts were put on hold after riots in the
city of Kaduna in which more than 2,000 people were estimated to have died.
The situation in the mainly-Muslim city is reported to be tense and no formal
ceremonies are being held which correspondents say is a sign of how nervous the
state authorities are.
The political capital of mainly Muslim northern Nigeria has for years been
divided along religious lines but, residents say those divisions have hardened
considerably since the violence.
Islamic punishments are not being incorporated into the criminal code in Kaduna,
as has happened in several other northern Nigerian states - but local
communities are being given more power, through new customary and sharia courts,
which will deal with civil matters.
Mukhtar Sirajo, an adviser to Kaduna State Governor Ahmed Makarfi, told AFP news
agency the system was designed to keep everyone in Kaduna happy.
"Given the complex nature of our state and the unfortunate events we experienced
last year, we will not implement the sharia as is done in other states," he
said.
More than 70 sharia courts will be opened across the state and a similar number
of customary courts will also be set up.
The Anglican Archbishop of Kaduna, Benjamin Achigili, told AFP that Christians
would object to Islamic law if it affected them but would accept it it were only
to affect Muslims.
"Christians have a stake in the Sharia issue as long as it affects their lives.
But if the Sharia is exclusively for Muslims we have no worries about it. Let it
be," he said. Muslim mechanic Umar Ibrahim, whose brother died in the violence
in February last year, said the arrangement was only partly what Muslims wanted
but was acceptable given the violence in the state.
Kaduna is one of more than a dozen states in predominantly Islamic northern
Nigeria which have adopted Sharia law in the past two years.
+ + + +
Armed palace guards have blocked off part of the Tongan capital amid growing
alarm over the 82-year-old king's health.
King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV returned last week from New Zealand where he underwent
heart treatment.
On Thursday, he appeared frail when he was taken by wheelchair to formally to
close the Legislative Assembly he controls.
It was the first time he had been seen in a wheelchair and observers said he
appeared confused and shaky.
"He is not going to last much longer," said pro-democracy movement leader and
member of parliament Akilisi Pohiva.
He told AFP news agency a number of roads in the capital Nuku'alofa had been
blocked off.
"There is uncertainty and confusion," he said. "There is a leadership crisis in
the country... we really don't know what is going on."
The heir to the throne, Crown Prince Tupuotoa, is apparently battling with his
sister, Princess Pilolevu Tuita, for control.
The king's second son, Prime Minister Prince Ulukalala Lavaka Ata, has kept out
of the political battle. He is second in succession and a strong supporter of
his brother over his sister.
A deeply conservative, Christian country, Tonga is ruled by the king supported
by hereditary noblemen who together have a perpetual majority in parliament,
electing 70% of its 30 members.
Assembly members listening to the king's speech on Thursday said he confused
them by saying Tonga needed 4,000 Chinese and adding that he wanted the kingdom
to manufacture shark nets for the United States.
Last month the Tongan Government denied the king was near death while in
Auckland, saying he was well enough to go shopping and attend church.
But palace sources gave a different story.
Born in 1918, Taufa'ahau Tupou IV became king when his mother, Queen Salote
Tupou III, died in 1965.
Educated in Australia, where he obtained a degree in law, he was the first
Tongan monarch to receive a Western university education and the first Tongan to
gain a university degree.
Before acceding to the throne, Taufa'ahau Tupou IV held ministerial posts in
education and health and also served as prime minister.
+ + + +
The United Nations mission in Bosnia-Hercegovina has closed down 15 bars where
women were being forced into prostitution.
The bars in the northern district of Brcko were closed for violations of labour
laws and taxation.
The closures are a new tactic in the UN's attempts to stem the flow of women
trafficked into Bosnia from eastern Europe.
But a UN spokesman admitted it was only a short-term measure and many of the
premises would reopen as soon as their papers were back in order.
Up to 120 women were working in the bars as prostitutes, of whom around a
quarter were probably trafficked.
Many of the trafficked women do actually have work permits designating them as
waitresses - a practice the UN said was difficult to justify when Bosnia had an
unemployment rate of between 40% and 50%.
Most of the women come from Romania, Moldova, Ukraine and Belarus.
They cannot speak the language and have no family connections in Bosnia, making
it more difficult for them to escape.
The majority believe they are going to western Europe to work as waitresses or
nannies.
Some get involved willingly, knowing they will be working as dancers or
prostitutes. What they do not know is that they will be effectively kept
prisoner and will not receive any of the money that they earn.
In the past two years the UN and the International Organisation for Migration
have repatriated around 380 women trafficked into forced prostitution in Bosnia.
+ + + +
AN elite American military unit is preparing for possible incursion into
Pakistan in order to steal its nuclear weapons arsenal, it is reported today.
The special forces unit is training with Israel's most trusted anti-terrorist
unit, and would be called into action in the event that Gen Pervaiz Musharraf
lost power in Pakistan, the New Yorker magazine said.
The CIA believes that Pakistani army officers sympathetic to the Taliban could
pose a threat to Gen Musharraf, and that some of the country's estimated 24
nuclear warheads could be stolen by renegades within Pakistan's intelligence
service, the ISI.
Seymour Hersch, a journalist whose reporting on the post-September 11 crisis has
been broadly accurate so far, said that members of Israel's Unit 262, or Sayeret
Matkal, came to America soon after the attacks and have been training with
Pentagon special forces.
Mr Hersch quoted a "senior military officer" as confirming that intense planning
was going on for the "exfiltration" - theft - of warheads. But there are doubts
about whether the CIA - or any other intelligence agency - knows the exact
location of Pakistan's warheads, which were first tested, to the surprise of
American intelligence agencies, in 1998.
The fear that Gen Musharraf could lose control of the country and some or all of
the warheads is based on the close links between the ISI and the Taliban. Last
week, the Pakistani president dismissed such concerns.
"We have an excellent command-and-control system which we have evolved, and
there is no question of their falling into the hands of any fundamentalists,"
Gen Musharraf said. Pakistan is thought to have a number of intermediate-range
missiles to carry its warheads as well as using F-16 fighter-bombers.
There are a number of possible targets for the use of these weapons by renegades
sympathetic to the Islamic extremists in Afghanistan. These include India,
itself a nuclear power, or the four American aircraft carriers and British
vessels currently cruising off Pakistan's coastline as bases for air and
commando attacks on the Taliban and al-Qa'eda.
+ + + +
Weekly Trust (Abuja)
November 2, 2001
As the 30 days grace granted to Madam Safiya Husseini, convicted adulteress in
Sokoto State, to appeal against the verdict that condemned her to death by
stoning closes in, there are strong indications that the woman might have fled
her village for good. But will her escape save her from death by stoning?
Madam Safiya's route to death was charted by some unidentified informants from
her village on the 23rd of December, 2000. On that day, the police in Gwadabawa,
the headquarters of Gwadabawa Local Government Area, said they received
information from 'reliable sources' in Tungar Tudu, the villae the lady hails
from, that a 35-year-old divorced woman had been pregnant for eight months
outside wedlock. The informants also fingered one Malam Yakubu Abubakar, a
married man in the same village, as being responsible for the pregnancy.
The registrar of the Upper Shariah Court at Gwadabawa, Alhaji Mohammed Umar,
told Weekly Trust that the police had earlier reported the case to the Lower
Shariah Court at Gwadabawa but that because the court has no jurisdictional
competence to entertain criminal matters, the case was tranferred to the Upper
Sharia Court on the 3rd of July 2001.
The case did not present any complexities for the judge. Both Yakubu and Safiya
were summoned to appear before the court and defend themselves.
Safiya had no defence, said the judge. In the Maliki school of Islamic
jurisprudence which guides the adjudication of Sharia judges in Northern
Nigeria, the manifestation of pregnancy is sufficient proof of cuulpability of
adultery for women. At the time of her appearance at the court, Safiya had been
delivered of a seven-month-old baby of unknown paternity. That was unimpeachable
evidence that she was guilty. As for men, only two conditions can make them
liable to the punishment of adultery: confession or the testimony of four
trustworthy witnesses who must have witnessed the commission of the crime.
Yakubu denied responsibility for Safiya's pregnancy, and there were no witnesses
to invalidate his avowal of innocence. On the basis of this, the judge, Alhaji
Mohammed Bello, sentenced Safiya to death by stoning, and acquitted Yakubu.
A police officer told Weekly Trust at Gwadabawa that it had been fairly obvious
to the police and the Shaira court at Gwadabawa that Safiya would run away after
the sentence had been passed on her. The source said throughout the period of
the trial, the lady had been gripped by terror, and that the first day the judge
fixed for ruling had to be postponed because the lady had bolted in terror from
the police station at the prospect of the verdict. "We didn't run after her. We
have been taught that in shariah law it is not the norm to coerce anybody who is
facing criminal charges to appear before the court," the source said. He pointed
out that what the police did was to plead with her brother who had served as her
surety to encourage her to appear before the court. "And she and the brother
came to the court without any force," he said.
When Weekly Trust first visited Tungar Tudu which is a few kilometres away from
Gwadabawa, family members said Safiya had travelled to a nearby village and
would be back the following day. But after the second visit and she was still
away from the village, it was learnt from the villagers that family members of
Safiya were only concealing the truth. Weekly Trust was told that the lady left
the village to an undisclosed place along with her baby and personal effects the
first day Weekly Trust visited the house.
The villagers who spoke to Weekly Trust, all of whom were men, said Safiya was
not deserving of much sympathy because, according to them, she has a despicable
moral profile. They pointed out that because she is beautiful, she has had
difficulties imposing moral restraint on herself. They said she has been married
and divorced twice before her last pregnancy which put her in her present
difficulties.
But what is intringing, even curious, about Safiya's escape from the village,
according to the villagers, was the fact that before she left the village,
members of the Sokoto State Sharia Implementation Committee had visited her
family house. It was not clear what the committee discussed with the lady, but
people in the village believe that her escape has links with the visit of the
Sharia implementation committee. The chairman of the Sokoto State Shariah
Implementation Committee, Sheikh Mohammed Mode Abubakar, confirmed to Weekly
Trust that members of his committee had visited the family house of the
convicted adulteress. He said, however, that it was the Gwadabawa Local
Government chapter of the committee, not the state committee which he heads,
that visited Safiya's house. He also said he had not yet been fully briefed of
the purpose of the visit for him to be in a position to make an informed
comment.
Predictably, this position has created grounds for the breeding of speculations
and suspicions. Did the committee members plead with her parents to accept the
judgment in good faith and thereby deepened her feeling of terror which made her
to run away? Or was her escape at the instance of the committee members?
The position of Islamic scholars on this would seem to give credence to the
speculation that the lady ran away at the behest of the shariah implementation
committee. The judge who sentenced the lady to death by stoning said if somebody
convicted of adultery runs away, the law does not coerce them to face the
punishment. "If she runs away that is all. Because even the woman that was said
to have been stoned during the time of the Prophet (SAW) was the one that told
the prophet that she was pregnant, then the prophet asked her to go until she
gave birth. She returned to the prophet and the prophet told her to go back and
wean the child. It was after she returned to the prophet without the child that
the prophet ordered that the woman be stoned to death. Had it been that she did
not return, she wouldn't have been stoned to death. Therefore, if Safiya runs
away, fine," he said.
Mallam Muhammad Bello Uthman, a lecturer of Islamic law and doctoral research
student in Islamic Criminal Law at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, agreed.
He said any adulterer or adulteress who is convicted on the basis of confession
will be left off if they run away. According to him, the doctrinal basis for
this position is that before a case of adultery can be established on anybody,
not even the minutest strand of uncertainty or doubt should exist. "This was why
when it was reported to the prophet that Maiz Al-Aslami had attempted to run
away when he felt the impact of stones, the prophet (PBUH) said, why didn't you
bring him back to me? He could have repented and Allah would have accepted his
repentance."
Mallam Uthman gave another instance during the reign of the third rightly-guided
caliph, Sayyidina Uthman, when the caliph provided a convenient alibi for a
convicted adulteress to escape punishment. "A woman was brought who was
pregnant. She was about to be convicted when Sayyidina Ali said, 'you might
possibly be a heavy sleeper and someone might have approached you in your
sleep.' The woman said yes. And he said this is an excuse."
But the chairman of the Sharia implementation committee in Sokoto State, Sheikh
Muhammad Abubakar, holds a different view. He said the Sharia court will be held
responsible for her escape, and insisted that she would still be punished any
moment she returns to the village, however long it takes.
The 80-year-old father of Safiya, Mallam Husseini Tungar Tudu who is hard of
hearing and partially blind, would not disclose to Weekly Trust what the purpose
of the visit of the Sharia implementation committee was. But he said he did not
accept the judgement of the Upper Sharia Court. "There was no justice in this
judgement as far as I am concerned. I don't want my daughter to die by stoning.
The judges should please be just. Only Allah can judge everybody," he said. When
he was reminded that the punishment passed on his daughter was in conformity
with the provisions of the Qur'an and the traditions of the prophet of Islam,
the old man murmured astagfirullah (an Arabic phrase meaning God should forgive
me). But he still insisted that "Allah is forgiving, and my daughter should be
forgiven."
At a point, the man stopped talking and called his wife to come and continue
with the conversation. The wife who gave her name as Ige Malia looked distraught
and crest-fallen. She said she had been deeply disturbed by the verdict on her
daughter. "How can I go through the pains of bearing and bringing up a child and
somebody says that child should be stoned to death one day and you expect me to
be happy! We will stand by her whatever it will cost us," she said.
She also defended her daughter against the charge that her marital restlessness
is evidence of her waywardness. Hajiya Malia said her daughter's first marriage
collapsed because the husband was so irresponsible that he did not feed her and
the two children she bore for him, adding that the collapse of the second
marriage was "the design of Allah."
The mother said she was pained that Yakubu Abubakar, the man earlier alleged to
be the author of her daughter's pregnancy, was acquitted while her daughter was
convicted. She said even though she had never witnessed her daughter and Yakubu
standing together, her daughter's daughter who has been named Adama is the very
living image of Yakubu. "They should leave my daughter alone the way they have
left Yakubu," she said.
Hajiya Malia, who said no Mallam attended the naming of the daughter of Safiya
insisted that her daughter's travails are traceable to the fact that "God did
not give her a good husband." According to her, Safiya had confided in her that
Yakubu had hypnotized her with charm, and that it was under the spell of that
charm that she unconsciously gave in to Yakubu's sexual advances which she had
repulsed four times.
Apparently, Safiya did not tell this to the court which convicted her. She might
very well have got a reprieve if she had retracted her confession and given this
alibi.
+ + + +
ScottCovey
This has us laughing on the floor here. Firstly the
village is in the American KFOR territory, but the
area is actually a Russian KFOR site. I have been to
many Serb villages, and I stand out, let alone anyone
who is slightly off-white!I also find it strange,
considering that the Russians are Serb supporters.
As are the French by the way.
> From: Rizla Ranger UK<LAWsL...@RidgelineWesleys.edu>
> Organization: http://www.newsranger.com
> Newsgroups: alt.war.mercenary,alt.war
> Date: Thu, 01 Nov 2001 09:52:36 GMT
> Subject: Re: SITREPS
Rizla Ranger UK
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) - Gunmen burst into a bar and attached hotel in a
rough San Salvador neighborhood and killed 10 people in an execution-style
slaying that could be related to the drug trade, police said Friday.
The massacre of five women and five men just before midnight Thursday was the
worst single incidence of violence in the Salvadoran capital since the country's
12-year civil war ended in 1992.
There were no arrests.
"The motive is still unknown, but it apparently could be a settling of accounts
over drugs," said Carlos Martinez, assistant commissioner of the San Salvador
police. Traces of substances believed to be illicit drugs were found at the
crime scene. Police were performing tests on those traces and the bullets used
in the attack.
As an elderly woman and three children hid terrified in the back of the hotel,
the gunmen shot five men and three women as they sat in the bar. The killers
then entered the hotel and gunned down two more women there.
All of the victims were finished off with a single gunshot to the head. Nine
were pronounced dead at the scene, and the tenth, a woman, died at a local
hospital without regaining consciousness.
The survivors - the elderly woman and the children - were unable to provide
police with any description of the killers.
The killings happened in a rough Salvadoran neighborhood dotted with bars known
as cervecerias, some of which also function as cheap hotels.
Police said that residents of the area claimed not to have heard or seen the
attack.
El Salvador and other nations in Central America have increasingly become
transfer points for Colombian drugs being moved to the U.S. market.
+ + + +
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - As Osama bin Laden's hand-picked biographer, Hamid Mir
says it's about time to set the record straight on America's public enemy No. 1.
Sure, Mr. bin Laden is a Muslim hero, a veteran of the fight against the Soviet
occupation of Afghanistan. But he is just the front man of Al Qaeda, according
to Mr. Mir, a Pakistani journalist who was invited by bin Laden to conduct
marathon interviews at secret hideouts in 1997 and '98. The real brains of the
outfit stand in bin Laden's six-foot five-inch shadow, Mir says, specifically,
Egyptian radical Ayman al-Zawahiri, often identified as a top lieutenant.
Scott Baldauf gives you the story behind the story.
"The modern world is fighting a cave man," says Mir, sitting in the corner
office of Daily Ausuf, the Urdu-language newspaper that he edits in Islamabad.
"Osama is a person who says, 'If I have to fight, I'll fight in the mountains
like I fought against the Soviets.' He'll pack an AK-47, a kilogram of grenades,
a kilogram of explosives, and a donkey to carry them all to a cave.
"Zawahiri has a different kind of experience," Mir says. "He is not interested
in fighting in the mountains. He is thinking more internationally, involved in
militancy inside Egypt. He was behind the terrorist attacks on tourists [the
1997 attack in Luxor left 58 dead]. He is the person who can do the things that
happened on Sept. 11."
Figuring out who is the right-hand man of the Al Qaeda terrorist network and who
is simply "the man" could mean the difference between ending the war on
terrorism and prolonging it for years. Even if US and British commandos manage
to find bin Laden's cave in the windswept moonscape of Afghanistan, many experts
on Islamic terrorist groups say there are plenty of experienced, motivated
fighters who could carry on the work. Besides Dr. Zawahiri, a leader of the
Egyptian radical group Islamic Jihad, they include:
• Asad and Ahmad Abdel Rahman, advisers to bin Laden in Afghanistan. They are
sons of influential Egyptian cleric Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, who is serving a
life sentence in the US for his involvement in the 1993 World Trade Center
bombing.
• Imad Mughniyeh, a member of the Iranian-backed Hizbullah in Lebanon. Israeli
intelligence experts suspect him of involvement in numerous attacks, including
the 1983 truck bombing of the US Marine barracks in Beirut that killed 300.
Jane's Defense Weekly reported recently that in the six months prior to the
Sept. 11 attack, Mr. Mughniyeh was in touch with Al Qaeda operatives.
But none of these men is thought to have the sheer intellectual and persuasive
influence of Zawahiri. The son of a Cairo doctor, he became swept up in a branch
of political Islam in 1966 at age 15, as a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, a
party that viewed the secular Egyptian government as run by infidels.
"People usually start in their 20s," says Mohammed Salah, an expert on Islamic
political and militant groups for Al-Hayat, an international Arabic-language
paper published in London. For Zawahiri, "working so young with these groups
allowed him to develop a very organizational brain, which was able to create
sophisticated organizations."
It was in Peshawar, Pakistan, in 1985, that Zawahiri and bin Laden first met.
Both were involved in recruiting and training Muslims to fight Soviet forces in
Afghanistan.
Mir, the Pakistani journalist, says he noticed bin Laden's reliance on the older
Zawahiri during extensive interviews about the fatwa, or religious edict, issued
by the two men in February 1998. Mir disagreed strongly with the fatwa, which
stated that "to kill the Americans and their allies - civilians and military -
is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it
is possible to do it."
How could a Muslim call for the killing of innocent people, Mir asked, when the
prophet Muhammad forbade Muslims from killing innocent civilians?
The question took bin Laden by surprise. He called for books and commentaries on
the Koran, Islam's holy book, and studied them for half an hour. Then he
consulted in Arabic with his colleagues, listening in particular to Zawahiri.
Finally, bin Laden spoke: "You see, when the innocent people of Palestine were
killed by American-made weapons used by Israeli troops who are supported by
American taxpayers, your innocent American friends were silent at that time,"
Mir recalls bin Laden saying. "Their silence proves their guilt."
Even after numerous arguments by bin Laden, Mir wasn't convinced. Bin Laden was
gifted at political oratory, Mir says, but his religious knowledge was shallow.
"If bin Laden had to give a speech at one of these rallies of people where
people shout Osama's name and call for jihad, the crowd would be sorely
disappointed," says Mir.
For this and other reasons, Mir says he came to the conclusion that it is
Zawahiri, not bin Laden, who has the organizational and mental skills to run Al
Qaeda.
Other observers disagree, however, and say that although Zawahiri might have a
lot of tactical experience, the idea of a global jihad has been bin Laden's for
more than 20 years, while Zawahiri is a comparatively recent convert.
"Ayman al-Zawahiri from the beginning was as all the other ordinary Islamists,"
says Diaa Rashwan, a senior researcher at Egypt's Al-Ahram Center for Strategic
Studies. "He had his own project to establish an Islamic state here in Egypt,
but over the last three years, he has gone closer to the Osama bin Laden theory.
It means to fight the enemies of Islam, the Americans and Israelis, but not to
build an Islamic state."
"For me it's very clear who is affected by the other," he says. "It's Zawahiri
who has changed."
Jamal Ismail, a correspondent for Abu Dhabi Television who has met bin Laden in
Peshawar, agrees that he has what it takes to run Al Qaeda. "Mentally he has it,
psychologically he has it, financially he has it," says Mr. Ismail. "Even before
he came to Afghanistan in 1984, he was talking about jihad, saying we are
fighting here in Afghanistan, but our biggest enemy is Israel and the United
States."
• Staff writer Ilene Prusher in Cairo contributed to this report.
+ + + +
British and American troops are being prevented from conducting any meaningful
operations on the ground against the Taliban and Osama bin Laden because of a
lack of knowledge about conditions in Afghanistan, defence sources admitted
yesterday.
With the government showing increasing signs of impatience at the failure to
make a breakthrough after three weeks of air strikes in which more than 3,000
bombs have been dropped on the country, the sources said there was an "an
intelligence vacuum".
Amid a growing realisation that the lightning attack by US airborne troops into
Afghanistan captured on grainy video this month was little more than a public
relations exercise, there is also increasing concern and frustration in
Washington about the way the military campaign is going. "The Americans are very
desperate about what to do next," another well-placed defence source told the
Guardian.
"Before you send forces in you have to understand the environment in terms of
the terrain, the weather, the lines of sight," a senior defence official said.
"It's all very well having satellite imagery from the sky, but you need people
to smell the ground, preparing and understanding the ground before you commit."
Military chiefs want more information on the the Taliban's troops, their
locations, numbers and their reconnaissance capabilities.
"Before we commit human beings to a life-threatening situation we have a moral
duty to be sure we understand the risks and that we have alternative plans if
something goes wrong," the source said.
The military explanation for the perceived lack of progress came as Tony Blair
tried to counter the sense of drift in the conduct of the war and as fresh
evidence showed that public opinion is moving in favour of a bombing pause.
An ICM poll in yesterday's Guardian showed a cooling in support for the war,
with 62% saying they were in favour, a 12-point drop in just over two weeks. But
probably more significant was the 54% who wanted a halt to attacks to get aid
convoys into Afghanistan.
Mr Blair, in a speech in Cardiff, reaffirmed allied objectives and insisted he
would "neither flinch nor falter".
The prime minister acknowledged that people were concerned about civilian
casualties and the refugee crisis. "All these concerns deserve to be answered.
No one who raises doubts is an appeaser or a faint heart," he said.
He urged the public to "go back to why we are in this conflict", adding: "On
September 11, thousands of people were killed in cold blood in the worst
terrorist attacks the world has ever seen. That is a fact. Those responsible
were the al-Qaida network reared by Osama bin Laden."
He said the Taliban have one hope: "That we are decadent, that we lack the moral
fibre or will or courage to take them on; that we might begin but we won't
finish. They are wrong. We won't falter. We will not stop until our mission is
complete."
Defence sources, who deny there is any rift between Geoff Hoon, the defence
secretary, and his military commanders, said 200 marines on standby in the Gulf
- along with SAS troops - were ready to move quickly if the opportunity and
intelligence fell into place. "It may be we'll have to wait several weeks or
longer before we have sufficient confidence to commit," a defence source said.
Mr Hoon - in Washington for talks with his opposite number, Donald Rumsfeld -
denied that there was any "disconnect" between British and American approaches
to the conduct of the war.
However, Mr Hoon made clear that as far as the British were concerned, Ramadan
[starting on November 17] would be a factor, but not a decisive factor in
planning military operations. He said: "We would have regard to Ramadan but
equally we would have regard to the military necessity of keeping the Taliban
regime under pressure."
In another clear difference of tone between London and Washington, Mr Hoon
defined the war aims as bringing Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida organisation
"to account" for the September 11 attacks, and to make sure they were unable to
carry out similar attacks in the future.
Mr Rumsfeld and President Bush have defined victory as freeing Americans from
fear of terrorism, implying a much more far-reaching campaign against all
terrorist groups.
+ + + +
Even though Arabic is the world's fifth-most widely spoken language, the F.B.I.
and C.I.A. need translators. The problem has existed since before the WTC
bombing in 1993, when the F.B.I. had documents in Arabic, but no one to
translate them.
+ + + +
http://www.topps.com/enduringfreedomchecklist.html
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger (Re-Energised) UK
Anyway, glad it got ya smiling rather than your usual morning
grimace at the taste of their coffee ;)
Ulti-M8 Respec', each and every time!
[;)
(x-posts trimmed)
"ScottCovey" wrote
Rizla Ranger UK
The leader of the breakaway Comoros island of Anjouan in the Indian Ocean, Major
Mohammed Bacar, has vowed to bring in harsh measures to prevent future unrest,
following a failed coup attempt over the weekend.
Major Bacar, speaking on the recaptured state radio, promised severe treatment
for the leaders of the failed coup.
Mr Bacar told Reuters news agency that his troops had routed their opponents and
that the coup leader, Lieutenant-Colonel Said Abeid, had fled.
Radio Anjouan was seized by Colonel Abeid on Saturday.
Colonel Abeid was himself supplanted in a coup by Mr Bacar three months ago.
Mr Bacar said that punishment would be swift for those involved.
"Heads will roll, he said. "Some people have abused my confidence and taken
advantage of the climate of peace and serenity which I have established and have
collaborated in this coup."
One person was reported to have been killed and several others wounded in the
coup attempt.
Colonel Abeid said his bid to return to power was motivated by a desire to end
moves towards reconciliation between Anjouan and the rest of the Comoros
archipelago.
Islanders are reported to be divided between those who want a federal structure
for the islands, and those who prefer total independence for Anjouan.
Colonel Abeid originally seized power in 1999, but was overthrown in August by
troops who set up a new military government under Major Mohamed Bacar.
Allaoui Ahmed, the head of a militia group closely linked to Colonel Abeid,
criticised Major Bacar for allegedly "favouring plans to introduce a new
constitution" to be put to a referendum on 23 December.
The constitutional reform was part of an effort to end the political crisis in
the Comoros Islands, triggered by Anjouan's secession from the central
government based on the main island of Grande Comore in 1997.
The Comoros islands have suffered numerous military coups since independence in
1975.
+ + + +
Dick Eastmans kinda story:
A secret CIA office was destroyed in the 11 September attack on the World Trade
Center, the New York Times reports.
The US intelligence agency had an undercover site at 7 World Trade Center near
the twin towers.
The CIA sent a special team to scour the wreckage for vital intelligence reports
after the attack, the paper says.
Government officials quoted by the paper said the agency's staff working at the
undercover site were safely evacuated before the twin towers crashed to the
ground.
US intelligence operations were seriously disrupted, the paper said.
Reports were said to have been stored in the building on either paper or
computers - it is not known how much was recovered.
The site operated behind the front of another federal organisation which the New
York Times did not name.
The office was used as a base to spy on and recruit overseas diplomats working
at the United Nations, and played a major role in espionage operations against
Russian intelligence officers, the paper says.
It also kept up contacts with several leading US business executives, who shared
information with the CIA after foreign business trips.
Agents based at the Manhattan site often worked undercover, pretending to be
diplomats or business executives.
They were also heavily involved in counter terrorism efforts in the New York
area, working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies.
The paper says US intelligence officials stress there is no evidence that the
hijackers knew that the undercover station existed.
CIA officers have undergone rigorous training and drills on how to quickly and
effectively destroy and dispose of important documents in emergencies, states
the New York Times.
As a result, a CIA station should be able to protect most of its secrets, a
former agency official told the paper.
"If it was well run, there shouldn't be too much paper around," the former
official said.
CIA officers in New York have been forced to share space at the United States
Mission to the United Nations, as well as borrow other federal government
offices in the city, officials told the newspaper.
A CIA spokesman declined to comment to the newspaper.
+ + + +
Libyan troops have set up defences around the residence of the President of the
Central African Republic (CAR) as an armed confrontation with part of his army
continues.
The Libyans intervened in the CAR in May, when a former military ruler tried to
overthrow the elected civilian president, Ange-Felix Patasse.
Now a new dispute has arisen between Mr Patasse and armed supporters of the army
chief of staff, General Francois Bozize.
Sporadic shooting was heard on Sunday in the capital Bangui after an overnight
lull.
This latest crisis in the CAR began late last month, when the army chief of
staff was accused of being part of the coup attempt in May.
General Bozize denies this, and says that in fact he played a key role in
defending President Patasse by putting the coup down.
When Mr Patasse's troops moved on Saturday in an apparent attempt to arrest Mr
Bozize, shooting started and military road blocks went up around the houses of
both men.
Now Libyan troops, who came to help protect Mr Patasse in the attempted coup in
May, are again defending his residence.
Mr Bozize's men, drawn from part of the army loyal to him, are reported to have
moved from his home area in the north of the city and to have crossed a key
bridge that leads towards the centre of town.
The United Nations used to have a peacekeeping force in the Central African
Republic.
But now there is just a political presence. The UN representative in Bangui is
nevertheless trying to negotiate a solution to the hostilities.
Mr Patasse's election in 1993 ended a long period of military rule.
The CAR has seen numerous military coups and revolts since independence from
France in 1960.
The French used to maintain a military garrison there to protect their
interests, but it often became embroiled in local politics.
When the French withdrew, the UN briefly tried its hand at enforcing peace.
Now the Libyans are playing a role they say is aimed at encouraging stability.
But none of these foreign forces has succeeded in providing the secure
environment ordinary Central African citizens so desperately need.
+ + + +
Daily Trust (Abuja)
November 5, 2001
Henry Omunu
Alarmed by the large-scale killings and de-struction visited on Tiv villages in
Benue State by soldiers on a revenge mission over the killing of 19 soldiers,
House of Representatives member, Mr. Gabriel Suswan, has alerted the nation of
plans by the army to carry out fresh raids in Benue State.
The lawmaker made the allegation while reacting to a report carried on national
television, where a senior military officer, Brigadier-General D.
Yaji was said to have accused the Tiv of arming and training 6,000 militia men
in an unknown part of Benue State.
Mr. Suswan, while speaking with newsmen in Abuja at the weekend, described the
allegation of training militia men as false, explaining that the army was only
orchestrating a grand plan that would enable them launch another raid on Tiv
villages.
In urging Brig. Gen. D. Yaji to substantiate his claims, the lawmaker whose
constituency was where the reprisal attacks took place said "there is no iota of
truth that 6,000 militia men were being trained in a Tiv village.
"What they are trying to do is prepare ground to launch attacks on other parts
of Tivland, after they have finished with one past," he added.
According to him, the army is planing to use helicopter in the new phase of the
reprisal raids under the pretext of searching for the training camp of the
militia men.
"Grounds are being prepared and lies told that, the Tiv people are fighting the
army," Rep. Suswan said further, adding however that this proposal was false,
"as we Tivs have many of our sons in the army.
"The whole agenda is to destroy Tivland," he said and appealed to President
Obasanjo to call Defense Minister, Lt Gen. Theophilus Danjuma (rtd.) and Army
Chief, Lt. Gen. Alexander Ogmudia to order, rather than allow a situation where
there would be total breakdown of law and order in Tivland.
Furthermore, the lawmaker accused Brig. Gen. D. Yaji whom he alleged led by the
army team which carried out the reprisal killings of taking sides in the
Tiv/Jukum ethnic crisis, pointing out that "Nigerians are being made to believe
that Tivs are the aggressors."
He said the Federal Government was yet to publicly admit the arrest on September
26,2001 of a soldier, Sergeant Bala Tsokoyo, and four other persons with
gun-running for the Jukuns.
The five persons, the lawmaker added were arrested at Ashinku village in Shendam
Local Government Area of Plateau State, while in possession of sophisticated
weapons loaded in an official car belonging to former Delta State military
administrator, Air Commodore Ibrahim Kefas (rtd).
Found in possession of the men were FN riffle (No. 98.051997); Armlet rifle (No.
526814); AK47 riffle (No. 1991-CK 3172); a Barrette pistol and a double-barreled
gun, Rep. Suswan stated.
+ + + +
Daily Trust (Abuja)
November 5, 2001
Our Reporter
At least 10 persons, including an imam, were feared dead in the weekend clash
between supporters of the Chairman of Sanga Local Government Area in Kaduna
State, Mr. Frank Bala, and the Chief of Gwantu, Alhaji Ibrahim Yakubu.
Eye-witnesses said that trouble erupted on Friday after the Juma'at prayers when
some youths allegedly ridiculed some Muslims in Gwantu, the headquarters of the
local government.
Investigations revealed that the weekend clash was the climax of a simmering
feud between the council chairman and the Gwantu chief.
Sanga Local Government Area has a predominant Christian population with a
Christian as chairman while the Chief of Gwantu is a Muslim.
Daily Trust gathered that what really sparked the clash was the decision by the
chairman to re-locate the council headquarters from the chief's domain to the
former's. This decision, our sources disclosed, did not go down well with Alhaji
Yakubu and two other prominent traditional rulers in the area.
Besides the relocation issue, our correspondent learnt that the traditional
ruler's grouse against the chairman include non-performance, lack of
accountability and dictatorial tendencies.
A council staff, who wants to remain anonymous accused the chairman of "not
listening to advice from ordinary people or the traditional rulers who are our
fathers."
One of the eye-witnesses reported seeing at least eight corpses and many razed
houses, including one belonging to the former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to
Mrs. Maryam Abacha. Police source in Kaduna said that an unspecified number of
arrests have been made in connection with the incident.
The sources also revealed that law enforcement agents have been drafted from
Kaduna and Kafanchan to the area to help restore peace.
The Governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Ahmed Makarfi, will address the press today
on the matter. Meanwhile, uneasy calm reigns in the area even as road blocks are
still in place.
+ + + +
Daily Trust (Abuja)
November 5, 2001
A woman witchdoctor, her husband and assistant were hanged at the weekend for
the murder of a Malaysian member of a state assembly, whom they lured with
promises of political power before killing him for money.
Mona Fandey, her husband, Mohamed Affandi Abdul Rahman and their helper, Juraimi
Hussin, went to the gallows after exhausting all appeals for the murder of
Mazlan Idris in 1993, prison officials said.
The three were sentenced to death in 1995 after a sensational trial which heard
how they approached Mazlan with promises of building his career and fortune,
then chopped his body into bits and went on a shopping spree with his money.
"All three have undergone their sentence as of this morning," Malaysian Prisons
Department spokesman, Jamil Razif Kassim, told Reuters.
The National Bernawa News Agency said unidentified relatives claimed the bodies
of the three from a government hospital and buried them on Friday.
The murder story was among the most bizarre in the country's history. A
U.S.-educated lawmaker in Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's United Malaysia
National Organisation (UMNO), Mazlan was said to have sought supernatural help
to climb up the party ladder.
Before his killing, he was made to lie on a floor, close his eyes and wait for
money to "fall from the sky". He was then beheaded with an axe, skinned and
chopped into 18 parts before being buried in a hole and covered over with
cement. His grisly death led to calls for a ban on witchcraft, which remains a
fairly common practice among superstitious Malays.
The murder trial also became a media circus because Fandey performed various
theatrics in court and wore jazzy outfits and smiled for press photographers.
The voodoo woman - said to be a member of royalty, a pop singer and water ballet
artiste before turning to witchcraft - testified she had also given talismans
and charms to other UMNO politicians to make them more appealing to voters.
+ + + +
This Day (Lagos)
November 4, 2001
The Divisional Crime Officer of Zaki-Biam divisional headquarters of the Nigeria
Police in Benue, was flogged mercilessly by soldiers who invaded some villages
in the state two weeks ago, to avenge the death of their colleagues, according
to the state Police Commissioner, Mr. Cyrian Onephrojire.
Onephrojire made the disclosure while briefing Vice-President Atiku Abubakar at
Zaki-Biam, in Ukum local government area of the state, during his one-day
assessment visit to the area.
He said that apart from flogging the D.C.O., the Police Divisional Headquarters
at Zaki-Biam was also burnt down by the soldiers, and all the detainees were
released.
The commissioner said that only 28 persons were killed in Zaki-Biam during the
soldiers' siege.
NAN reports that most of the affected houses were still burning at the time of
the Vice-President's visit, while three corpses still littered the yam market,
where most of the killings took place.
The Ukum local government headquarters and the home of former Chief of Army
Staff, retired Maj-Gen. Victor Malu, were also burnt by the soldiers.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that most of the residents of the
affected area, who are non-indigenes were seen leaving the town.
+ + + +
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Fighters from Colombia's largest rebel group killed
three policemen and kidnapped at least 11 civilians over the weekend,
authorities said Sunday.
Separately, gunmen abducted a judge and three lawyers Sunday in Antioquia
province north of Bogota, the army said. It wasn't immediately clear who the
captors were.
On Saturday, some 50 fighters from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia,
or FARC, besieged the town of Paujil in Caqueta province, National Police deputy
director Gen. Alfredo Salgado said.
Three police officers were killed and two injured during a three-hour battle
with the rebels in the town 155 miles south of the capital, he said.
Fighters from the FARC also abducted eight truck drivers after setting up a
roadblock late Saturday in Casanare province. In the same region, the rebel army
also kidnapped three technicians from a national radio and television institute.
On Sunday, gunmen abducted a local judge and three lawyers from a park outside
Caldas, 215 miles north of Bogota, army spokesman Capt. Jorge Florez said.
Guerrillas have battled the government and a rival right-wing paramilitary army
for 37 years. An estimated 3,500 people are killed every year.
Last week, a 28-year-old Briton was killed after being abducted by a smaller
rebel group, the National Liberation Army.
Leftist guerrillas are blamed for most of last year's 3,700 kidnappings in
Colombia. The ransoms help fund their insurgency.
+ + + +
ARAUQUITA, Colombia (AP) — Leftist guerrillas say they are showing peasant
farmers in the oil-rich plains of eastern Colombia how to fight and build bombs
in an effort to fend off an offensive by a feared paramilitary group.
The move by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, in Arauca state
marks an escalation in Colombia's war, where civilians are often caught in the
cross fire but normally flee rather than fight.
The guerrillas are teaching peasants military tactics, as well as how to make
homemade land mines and other crude weapons, Felipe Rincon, the FARC commander
in Arauca, told The Associated Press. He added that the FARC is ``in the
process'' of acquiring more sophisticated weapons for civilians.
``We are developing 'people's weapons,' and providing training,'' Rincon said.
``Hundreds of people are coming forward.''
He did not specify how many people were being trained.
The decision reflects the desperation of the leftist rebels to hang onto Arauca,
which produces huge revenues for them in the form of extortion from oil
companies and ``taxes'' on fields of coca, from which cocaine is made.
The FARC appears haunted by the loss 10 months ago of the central Colombian oil
boomtown of Barrancabermeja to the paramilitaries, and is bent on preventing the
same thing from happening in Arauca.
``That experience demonstrated that people must prepare themselves to defend
what they have been building all their lives,'' Rincon said.
The outlaw paramilitary group, known by its Spanish initials AUC, is allegedly
financed by landowners anxious to rid their areas of the guerrillas. It
regularly massacres civilians suspected of aiding the guerrillas.
The AUC heralded its push into Arauca last summer with a wave of selective
killings. In October, the AUC even shot dead a congressman and a former
congressman from Arauca, accusing both of being rebel collaborators.
A leading Colombian human rights advocate criticized the FARC plan to arm and
train civilians.
``Arming civilians always intensifies the war, and converts them into military
targets,'' said Daniel Garcia Pena.
One peasant farmer said he had taken 10 days' of military training along with a
dozen other men at a secret location in the sweltering plains.
Sporting a mustache, the diminutive farmer — who for security reasons gave his
name only as Giovanni — said he planned to return for more training ``so that I
am prepared to defend myself.''
Residents in Arauca hurry home each day before a rebel-imposed 6 p.m. curfew. On
a recent late afternoon, a farmer flagged down a truck on a rural road and
clambered into the rear.
``What a relief,'' said the farmer, who gave his name only as Carlos. Nervously
eyeing others in the back of truck, Carlos murmured to a reporter that the
rebels have been known to kill curfew violators as they struggle to maintain
control over this sparsely populated region of grasslands and broad rivers.
After the paramilitary incursion began, the rebels declared an ``armed
blockade,'' banning all vehicles from the roads of Arauca and burning the
vehicles of violators.
But the traffic ban caused some $15 million in losses to trucking companies and
other businesses, said Arauca Chamber of Commerce President Carlos Gaona, and
inconvenienced most everyone.
The rebels dropped the armed blockade in mid-October after 19 days.
Many campesinos say they're reluctant to ask the army for protection from the
paramilitary fighters. Despite government efforts to sever links between the
army and the AUC, some soldiers still secretly help the paramilitaries, who view
the rebels as a common enemy.
Army Col. Gustavo Matamoros denied there are army-AUC links in Arauca, and said
his troops would fight both.
Matamoros said he was unaware of reports that the FARC was training campesinos,
or peasant farmers, but made clear that anyone picking up a gun would be fair
game for security forces.
``If the campesinos arm themselves, they are no longer civilians,'' Matamoros
said. ``They become military targets.''
Colombia's 37-year war pitting leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and
the army claims at least 3,500 lives a year.
+ + + +
The Guardian
For centuries the people of Afghanistan's parched plains and valley floors have
been sustained by hundreds of miles of irrigation channels, known as karez,
delivering water from distant rivers to low-lying orchards and fields.
The greater part of this ingenious system of tunnels, trenches and wells sunk
deep into Afghanistan's mountains has been dry for the last three years during
the most crippling drought in memory, but over the coming months they will run
thick with Taliban troops defending themselves against allied ground forces.
The karez criss-cross the plains of the south, and their strategic advantage to
the Taliban lies in their secrecy. They are unmarked on maps, but to local
forces with an intimate knowledge of the terrain they will form a vital part of
the guerrilla campaign ahead.
Largely invisible at ground level, the karez allow troops to move quickly and
safely from position to position, mounting swift surprise attacks and moving on
before the enemy has time to respond. Up to 10 feet deep and equally wide in
places, the karez also provide vital supply lines and food storage facilities.
Many have been fortified to augment the caves in which Osama bin Laden and his
retinue are thought to be hiding.
According to Major Charles Heyman, editor of Jane's All The World's Armies, the
karez could provide a major obstacle to any western ground offensive. "They have
always proved a really good route for guerrillas to operate in. Local knowledge
is vital to combating them, but it doesn't take the brains of an archbishop to
work out roughly where they are," he said
"If you're in an area of sparse rainfall, but crops are growing, there are
likely to be irrigation tunnels nearby. It's an issue that platoon commanders
are going to have to be aware of."
As the karez supply water, they are usually close to occupied areas and are
already in use by Afghan civilians sheltering from bombardment.
The tunnels often go deep underground and have provided shelter for centuries.
It is thought the karez have been in use since around 300BC, when Alexander the
Great became the first and last invader to conquer Afghanistan. They have been a
defensive bulwark ever since, being used to repulse everyone from Genghis Khan
in in 1224 to the Soviets in the 1980s.
During the Soviet invasion, mojahedin camped in the karez network besieged the
town of Khost for almost 10 years. The town's Russian defenders ranged Scud
missiles, bombers, artillery, helicopters and commandos against them, but could
not shift them from the tunnel system. Eventually Khost was retaken.
They may also have been used by Osama bin Laden to evade the 1998 US missile
strikes launched by President Clinton in retaliation for the African embassy
bombings. Some have said he escaped that attack by using the karez near Khost.
+ + + +
PRAVDA
09:50 2001-11-05
About 3,000 foreign mercenaries joined the forces of the Taliban over the past
few days to defend Kabul and the northern approaches to the Afghan capital. The
Washington Post newspaper wrote this on Monday citing its own sources and the
information from the Northern Alliance command.
As the newspaper notes, despite Islamabad's assurances of having closed the
border with Afghanistan, the mercenaries managed to cross it using the
mountainous locality. "They appeared in Kabul two or three days ago and are
crossing the border in groups every day", The Washington Post quotes Nadir Shah,
the Northern Alliance field commander in the Dernam region, as saying. According
to him, the composition of the mercenaries' ranks is "mixed - the Arabs,
Pakistanis and Chechens, but most of them are Pakistanis."
+ + + +
The deceased are often buried with their cell phones in Slovakia. A priest had
to stop the funeral ceremony because a dead body’s cell phone rang. A call from
the coffin had an indescribable impression on the people present at the
ceremony. Some person wanted to call his dead pal and the connected cell phone
rang from a jacket pocket of the body. Another funny thing happened at another
funeral, when a son of the dead man decided to check the charge of the batteries
of the cellular phone, which was also put in the coffin together with the body.
+ + + +
More L8R
Rizla Ranger UK
Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg)
ANALYSIS
November 2, 2001
Hazel Friedman
"Can I pour you a SADC special ? Or one of our alcohol-free independence day
cocktails - perfect for a sobering day?"
I am sitting in a shebeen on the outskirts of Maseru. Three years ago, this was
the watering hole of choice for journalists bored with sipping sundowners at the
Lesotho Sun hotel. Three years later the shebeen owner, Joseph Mofokeng, is
concocting another cocktail to commemorate the recent deployment of South
African troops in Burundi. "Let's hope we don't have to call this cocktail
Operation Blunder, like Boleas," he jokes.
On September 22 1998 the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) -
principally South Africa and Botswana - launched Operation Boleas in response to
pleas by the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) to quell an army
rebellion and growing anarchy in the mountain kingdom. Opposition parties had
claimed that the election result that put the LCD in power was fraudulent. They
launched an aggressive protest, urging their king to dissolve the newly elected
Parliament and install a government of national unity.
Nine South African soldiers died while suppressing the army mutiny. Over 50 LDF
soldiers and 40 civilians were killed by SADC forces. Order was restored, but
not before much of Maseru's business district and parts of neighbouring Mafateng
and Mohale's Hoek were reduced to rubble.
And questions remain unanswered about the massacre at Katse Dam in which 15
members of the LDF were mowed down by South African soldiers, some of them,
allegedly, as they slept. Charges persist that excessive force was used.
The South African government continues to insist on the legitimacy of the
operation in spite of the fact that its mandate was questioned by many.
"As is the case with the current deployment of troops to Burundi, the South
African government's intervention in Lesotho in 1998 involved no specific
endorsement from the United Nations Security Council or the Organisation of
African Unity," says human rights lawyer Hakim Olafse.
The SADC forces concede that tactical shortcomings and poor intelligence
resulted in a force too weak to handle the operational requirements and
especially the level of resistance. But they say that messy means are justified
by orderly ends.
The riots formed part of an orchestrated campaign by opposition members and
rebellious soldiers to make the mountain monarchy ungovernable. Businesses owned
by foreigners were targeted, while most of the government buildings, banks and
the post office were left unscathed.
But the orgy of arson and looting was also a spontaneous eruption by a nation
which had prided itself, until September 22, on never having been invaded. And
if there remains a single image encapsulating the humiliation of this nation it
is of the giant Basotho hat - Lesotho's most famous landmark - engulfed in
flames.
Today a new and improved hat has been constructed. "The country is trying to
create an investor- friendly climate through incentives," explains economist
Peter Malephatlo. "It's also downsizing and re-educating the army, and promoting
a culture of peace and reconciliation." He adds: "South Africa and Lesotho have
learnt much from the intervention."
The excesses resulting from Big Brother's intervention have been largely
forgiven by the Basotho. This is evident through the involvement of South Africa
in the restructuring of the Lesotho army and SADC's peaceful withdrawal from
Lesotho in May 2000.
There have also been concerted efforts to mend relations with Lesotho's foreign
residents whose properties were targeted by looters.
Speaking at a Basotho-Indian community bosberaad in May 2000, workshop organiser
Osman Sally Moosa said the main objective of the initiative was to provide an
impartial platform for all Basotho to engage in crucial dialogue "to bring about
the much needed environment for economic growth and development in which
business will thrive, thereby generating employment for our people".
But for most Basothos the post-Boleas reality consists mainly of rising
unemployment and living costs. About 799 businesses were destroyed during the
Maseru riots, while neighbouring Mafeteng and Mohale's Hoek suffered the
destruction of 136 and 105 businesses respectively. Damages ran into
multimillions, yet 79% of businesses were uninsured.
"Three million people are still suffering from the mistakes of Operation
Boleas," says political analyst Sello Ramakgotla. "Considering the volatility of
the rest of continent, it is likely that South Africa will become involved in
further military interventions. We must know how far we can go and acknowledge
past mistakes in order to avoid tragic long-term consequences for regional peace
and stability."
+ + + +
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
November 5, 2001
Nairobi
Fighting erupted in the Central African Republic (CAR) capital, Bangui, early
Saturday morning when government soldiers tried to arrest former army chief
General Francois Bozize for alleged involvement in the failed coup of 28 May,
news agencies reported.
On Sunday, AP reported a resident as saying that at least one woman had been
killed by a stray bullet, while a hospital employee said two children were
seriously wounded, one with a bullet in the chest and another by flying
shrapnel. Residents were reported to be fleeing, but precise numbers and
locations were unavailable on Monday.
Multiple efforts to negotiate a peaceful resolution have been undertaken by UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan's special envoy to the CAR, retired Senegalese army
General Lamine Cisse, and by a committee of elders from Ouame prefecture,
Bozize's home region.
On Sunday, Bozize loyalists were reported by AP to have advanced a few miles
south from his home in the north of Bangui, armed with rifles, rocket launchers
and mortars. They succeeded in taking the strategic Ngola bridge, which links
the northern and southern parts of the city and was previously held by the
presidential guard. Witnesses told AP that Bozize's soldiers seemed to be moving
toward Patasse's residence, and were within 2.4 km of the presidential villa by
Sunday night. Libyan troops, flown in to put down the May coup attempt, were
reported to be guarding Patasse's residence.
Presidential guard units, meanwhile, moved armoured cars and tanks into Bangui's
streets, which AP reports to have remained deserted since Saturday.
The warrant for Bozize's arrest was issued by a joint commission of inquiry
investigating the failed May coup, following the discovery of armaments in three
private homes in Bangui. Bozize's supporters, members of his Gbaya ethnic group,
told AFP that they are suspicious of what they term "political manoeuvres"
against their leader and fear for his physical safety, especially as the attempt
to arrest him came after the official announcement of the arms caches
discoveries. AFP quoted one official source as saying: "It's not clear if there
is a direct link between these weapons and General Bozize."
Bozize was dismissed from the military on 26 Oct. without explanation, as part
of a major reshuffle of senior army posts. Bozize told Reuters that he had no
links with the attempted May coup. The CAR ministers of defence and security
were dismissed in August.
+ + + +
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
June 19, 2001
NAIROBI, 19 June (IRIN) - The chief of staff of the armed forces of the Central
African Republic (CAR), General Francois Bozize, has detailed a number of steps
to be taken to reduce continuing violence and to ensure a return to peace in the
capital, Bangui.
The announcement, made by Bozize on Tuesday on Radio Centrafrique, follows a
failed coup attempt on 28 May at the residence of President Ange-Felix Patasse
by a rebel faction of the military that owes its loyalty to former president and
general Andre Kolingba.
Citing "failure by residents to observe the times of the curfew" and "acts of
violence of all kinds", Bozize announced that "the following measures will, from
now on, be enforced: First, military patrols will be organised during the day
and at night to apprehend all law-breakers. Second, any soldier, gendarme,
policeman or any other armed individuals found in an area not within their
jurisdiction will be arrested. Third, anyone involved in acts of violence,
sporadic shooting or criminal activities aimed at causing anxiety among the
people will be dealt with militarily."
On Tuesday, tens of thousands of Bangui residents were reported to still be
displaced. Earlier, on Friday 15 June, UNICEF, the lead agency dealing with the
humanitarian situation in CAR, received in Bangui an aircraft from Denmark
carrying some 40 mt of humanitarian supplies, including high-protein biscuits,
medicine and water-purification materials for vulnerable populations, according
to a UN spokesman.
Responding to persistent allegations of violence against Yakomas, Kolingba's
ethnic group, Patasse on Saturday denied any victimisation of the Yakoma people,
adding that the coup perpetrators alone were being targeted.
"Don't confuse Kolingba and the army. Kolingba transformed the army into
something ethnic. I am trying to correct this, to return the army to its true
mission, which is the army of the whole republic, a multi-ethnic army," Patasse
told the BBC on Monday.
However, in an interview on Sunday with Radio France Internationale (RFI),
Patasse admitted that "soldiers were nervous because they were not expecting
this coup".
Kolingba and his supporters are still being sought, though they are believed to
have fled the capital. Patasse has declared a bounty of US $33,000 for Kolingba,
dead or alive, according to news reports.
Sidiki Kaba, head of the International Human Rights Federation (FIDH), told
Radio France Internationale (RFI) that "nothing justifies the witch-hunting and
ethnic cleansing currently taking place."
"We are saying that all this must stop," Kaba said. "There should not be any
collective sanctions against Andre Kolingba's tribe. We are calling on the
authorities to engage in political discussions, as soon as possible, in order to
find a political solution to the crisis."
General Amoudou Toumani Toure, the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan, was on Friday scheduled to discuss "reports of extrajudicial
killings and human rights violations which are reportedly still going on in the
aftermath of the coup attempt and which are targeting certain ethnic groups
linked to [Kolingba]", according to a UN spokesman.
General Toure told a press conference Saturday that "there is something
fundamental in Bangui today. It's fear. The people are afraid to go to work,
afraid of everything. The first step is to reassure people in the area, to seek
out those still hiding in the bush."
Toure, a former president of Mali, played a key role in resolving CAR military
uprisings, also led by Kolingba, in 1996 and 1997. "I am emotionally attached to
this country. So, my work is to see in what ways, after the difficult situation
the country underwent, can we restore things back to normal so that daily life
can be resumed and security restored to enable the people to live in peace," he
told Radio Centrafrique on Friday, 15 June.
At a press briefing on Sunday, Patasse defended the military intervention of
Libya and of a rebel faction from the neighbouring DRC to support his
administration. He said Libyan leader Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi as a "personal friend"
whom Patasse had asked "to send a small number of troops to protect me", AFP
reported.
As for Jean-Pierre Bemba, leader of the Mouvement pour la Liberation du Congo
(MLC) in the DRC, Patasse noted that the Ugandan-backed rebels controlled a vast
swathe of territory in the DRC across the Ubangui river border of the CAR. "I am
keen to maintain a peaceful climate on both banks. If policies regarding our
neighbours are not durable, we will find ourselves in a war situation. My
brother Bemba and my son [young DRC President Joseph] Kabila must reach out to
each other, and the Ugandans and Rwandans must leave the Congo," he told AFP.
Patasse repeatedly accused France of having supplied weapons to Kolingba. In an
interview with the BBC on Monday, he condemned "the neo-colonialist France which
sent these arms, and which sent officers and mercenaries to kill the Central
African people. These are the weapons we found at Kolingba's house," Patasse
said, indicating boxes of weapons bearing the French flag in the garden of his
Bangui residence. Patasse has called for an international tribunal to determine
who was behind the effort to remove him.
France, meanwhile, has vigorously denied having had any role in the attempted
coup, and announced on Friday, 15 June. that it would grant emergency
humanitarian aid of three million francs (US $387,763) to help displaced people
return to their homes.
French foreign ministry deputy spokesman Bernard Valero told AFP that "this aid
will be put into effect directly by our embassy [in CAR] in close coordination
with the Central African authorities and other donors".
Last week, the government estimated the toll of the fighting as 59 dead,
comprising 25 soldiers and 34 civilians, and 89 injured, while civil society
sources said that the number of victims was far higher, especially among the
Yakomas.
The Central African Republic, a former French colony that stretches from
northern savannah bordering Chad to southern rainforest bordering the DRC,
remains one of Africa's poorest countries.
Patasse first became president in 1993 in the country's first-ever multiparty
elections. Kolingba led two earlier unsuccessful coup attempts against him, in
1996 and 1997, reportedly motivated by insufficient military salaries, after
which a French-backed African force, followed by a UN peacekeeping mission, was
sent to CAR. Patasse won re-election in 1999 amid opposition claims of fraud.
Division in Bangui mirrors the country's ethnic split between Patasse's north
and the south - home to Kolingba, as well as to independence President David
Dacko and the late Jean-Bedel Bokassa, who crowned himself emperor before being
toppled in 1979.
+ + + +
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
November 5, 2001
The ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has had "a
major impact on the human rights situation in the country", with torture
reported in government- as well as rebel-held areas, the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, said in her latest report, released on 30 Oct.
The section on the DRC constitutes an overview of Robinson's "dialogue regarding
several situations concerning which the Office of the High Commissioner has
taken steps to assist in the promotion and protection of human rights".
In government-controlled areas of the DRC, the High Commissioner's office
"received reports of summary or extrajudicial executions, prolonged arbitrary
detention and torture". The High Commissioner "expressed particular concern"
about the trial of 80 individuals before a military court in Likasi, Katanga
province in late August/early September.
"According to reports, most of the defendants were held incommunicado and were
subjected to torture," Robinson said. "The trial took place in Likasi, located
about 2,000 km from Kinshasa, although the crimes were allegedly committed in
Kinshasa. This had apparently affected the defendants' ability to call witnesses
... Credible sources reported that eight individuals were sentenced to death."
In rebel-held areas of the DRC, "general insecurity persists" and the High
Commissioner's office received "credible reports of arbitrary detention,
systematic violations of the right to movement, free expression, association and
fair trial, and torture, sometimes leading to the death of the victims".
However, Robinson acknowledged positive initiatives undertaken by the government
of President Joseph Kabila: a declared moratorium on the death penalty, the
inter-Congolese peace and reconciliation dialogue, and a national conference to
develop a human rights agenda held in June in the capital, Kinshasa.
Among the ongoing activities Robinson's office is undertaking to curb the human
rights abuses in the DRC are the continued monitoring of human rights violations
and strengthening of national capacities to redress them; training sessions for
government leaders and civil society; programmes aimed at improving conditions
in prisons and other detention centres; monitoring of trials; and a radio
programme on human rights education that began broadcasting in June.
Robinson also noted her office's ongoing "close cooperation" with the UN
peacekeeping mission in the DRC (known by its French acronym, MONUC) and its
human rights department.
+ + + +
The East African Standard (Nairobi)
EDITORIAL
November 5, 2001
Daggers have been drawn as the Kamjesh and Mungiki groups battle it out over
control of matatu routes, and the authorities are accused of complicity.
On every matatu terminus in and around the city, you will never miss the band of
dishevelled, almost savage looking young men. They assert themselves with vigour
and sometimes brutality. They are the Kamjesh, the self-styled band of young men
who have over time assumed full control of matatu routes in and around the city.
Kamjesh have a strong presence and influence across the city of Nairobi where
they hold sway on the matatu industry. The group widely composed of school
dropouts and urban delinquents, have become a "government" unto themselves,
adhering to own set of rules. They draw the rules for themselves and for matatu
owners and operators to observe.
no-go zone: police clear a road block imposed by fighting touts in dandora. the
skirmishes paralysed public transport in the area for days.
They are not recognised by government, and the matatu owners and operators have
no choice but to comply with their stringent, sometimes outrageous, demands. And
this, surprisingly, has been the case for years. However, these youths have
often over-stretched their powers, daringly taking control of the matatu
industry.
They have increasingly become emboldened, slowly acquiring other vicious
qualities, and in the process, becoming the real danger at bus stops, subjecting
travellers to all manner of harassment and robbing the same in broad daylight.
Yet, even as the Kamjesh grew in strength and stature, steadily entrenching
themselves in the city matatu sector, the youth have also worked to make
themselves the real nemesis of the people; the very people they're supposed to
protect.
The ignominy that is Kamjesh and which this gang has for long been associated
with - being crude, vulgar and violent - could as well be said to be what, in a
sense, precipitated the entry of the now dreaded Mungiki into the matatu
industry.
The latter, a mixture of both religious adherents and die-hard
traditionalists-cum politicos, are now entangled in a deadly turf war with the
Kamjesh over control of Nairobi's major matatu routes. When the matter came to a
head a couple of weeks ago in Nairobi's Dandora estate, where the two physically
fought it out, at least 17 lives were reported lost. Yet, none of the two sides
wants to shoulder any blame for this unprecedented blood bath. Leaders from both
sides claimed innocence and totally absolved their members from any wrong doing.
And the police, and the provincial administration personnel who appeared on the
scene, too, looked horrified and promised a quick response to these murders most
foul. But the authorities are yet to act and neither are the two antagonists
ready to lay down their arms.
To them, the battle for control of city's PSV routes has just begun. But what,
actually, is bringing forth all this chaos and why must lives continue to be
lost in reckless and little understood wars?
"The Mungiki are all to blame for the chaos you see. These are the real
perpetrators of the heinous acts of brutality that have been reported in the
past and now," says Joseph Obok, leader of the Kamjesh in the city's Githurai
matatu stage. To Kamjesh, who claim to have controlled matatu business in
Nairobi since time immemorial, Mungiki is but a cluster of spoilers, and its
followers are just out to spill innocent blood.
"We earn an honest living and we have every right to operate on this stage.
Being jobless youth, we got tired of staying idle all day and decided to come
here and eke out a living for ourselves. Look, these matatus ferry our parents,
brothers and sisters daily to and from work. Our kin pay money for transport and
keep the vehicles running. What is wrong then, if we become managers of the
parks, where these vehicles pick passengers? This is our business and we have
been doing it for years," says Obok.
That is exactly why they charge every matatu that picks passengers on stages
they man. The Sh40 per trip is to cater for what the youths term their daily
financial needs. Each member - and they could number into hundreds per stage -
takes home Sh300 per day, which is exclusive of the amount matatus have to pay
for every rush hour and for plying a city route.
They have dismissed the Mungiki as infidels who are sponsored by powerful
politicians and who are out to cause chaos and deny them their livelihoods. "The
Mungiki are hell-bent on messing up matters for us. They have no status quo, no
goodwill to operate and neither do they want city public transport to run
smoothly," says Obok, adding: "Our nemesis have a military-like mentality and
want to form own cartels, armies - akin to militia - to take over Nairobi's
major PSV routes".
"They are a tribal cable and have sworn not to rest until all matatu routes fall
under control of the Kikuyu," he says. Obok who is the secretary of the Kamjesh
groups says that they are surprised by the laxity and lethargy of government
officials to deal with the issue. "The authorities have refused to act. Either
they are unwilling or have been compromised in this whole saga. Why, for
instance, are these people brandishing guns in the open and even unleashing
their terror on harmless Kenyans without any action being taken?" he posed.
Obok says that Kamjesh suspects authorities complicity in the turf wars -
including provincial administration, senior police officers, government officers
and the Transport Licensing Board (TLB) personnel.
"All we can say is that we can now no longer afford to remain quiet. We are
tired and plan to hold demonstrations across the city to protest Mungiki acts.
They should know that the business of matatu management in the city is the
responsibility of the Kamjesh youth, the bona fide party charged with the
Herculean task. We want them to listen to us and leave us alone," he concluded.
+ + + +
The East African Standard (Nairobi)
EDITORIAL
November 5, 2001
The recent wrangles over routes in Mombasa point to a time bomb about to
detonate. MMOA secretary general Sammy Gitau blames it on a cartel whose key
players are politicians, the police and some matatu owners.
A cartel-like group of individuals is on the verge of taking over "almost all
matatu routes in Mombasa and its environs". Last week, Sammy Gitau, the Mombasa
Matatu Owners Association (MMOA) secretary general warned that the situation
could get out of control. In an interview with The Big Issue, Gitau described
the situation as "a time bomb waiting to explode".
He said, "government and all stakeholders must address this issue now before it
becomes completely unmanageable."
The official was speaking in the wake of a recent matatu operators' strike in
the hitherto peaceful seaside town of Mombasa.
"But this isn't just about a cartel. It is also about the traffic police
department, some Coast politicians, matatu owners like myself and the public at
large. In a sense, all are to blame for this looming crisis" said Gitau as he
chillingly revealed that signs of the operations of a cartel-like organisation
were evident as early as 1990. Saying that his association warned the police,
and the administration about this development Gitau regretted that no action was
taken then. The official believes the hundreds of rowdy touts operating in
Mombasa are not acting alone, he suspects they are fronts for a much wider,
organised group of individuals whose agenda is, as yet, not quite clear.
"There were only a few of them then," he said of the touts, "now they're all
over town. You can't control them: It's a much wider, bigger thing than you
see," lamented Gitau.
"Yet, it isn't that there are no laws to deal with this situation. According to
the Traffic Act, touting is an offence. But these rowdy youths operate in full
view of the police. The police don't even make any attempt to arrest or control
their activities," he noted.
Mombasa Island alone, says Gitau, now has touts running into thousands. Likoni
Ferry, GPO, Mwembe Tayari, Tudor, Magongo, Docks, Chaani, Jomvu and Mikindani
are heavily manned by touts.
Dozens of others, he says, operate in Mazeras, Mariakani, Kaloleni, Ukunda,
Diani, Msambweni, Malindi, Kilifi, Bamburi, Mtopanga, Kongowea, and Mtwapa. "I
can tell you that these people are everywhere. It's a big time industry
involving huge sums of money," Gitau explained adding, "These people own no
vehicles - they even do not know how much a matatu costs, but they're out there
reaping all the profits. Isn't that ridiculous?" The official who owns several
matatus in Mombasa says, "After doing all the rounds the buck stops somewhere.
And, I do not see how the police can let anyone make so much money - sometimes
using very crude methods - where they invested nothing.
"But all said and done, we also take a share of the blame. The trouble is that
we are not really in charge of our vehicles. We have left the drivers and
conductors to have the final say where we invested so much. Ours is just to wait
for the money in the evening," said Gitau.
He disclosed that some touts make up to Sh3,000 daily by manning matatu stages
and controlling certain routes, a function only bestowed to the Transport
Licensing Board (TLB) department.
He suggests that matatu owners unite and monitor the operations of their
vehicles. "Already, some of them (touts) have even formed their own
associations!" Gitau said, accusing the mostly teenage school drop-outs who man
the matatu termini of criminal activities. "They should be driven out of the
stages," Gitau declared adding, "That's the only way to restore sanity in the
matatu industry. Only drivers and conductors should be in charge of the
operations and not hooligans.
"These people (touts) are also manipulated by politicians who give them drugs
and handouts. Politicians are also to blame for this vice, but let them be
warned that what we have here are dangerous cartels that could one day turn on
them and their businesses.
He says these touts are the same people that politicians hire to cause mayhem
during elections or campaigns.
But James Ziro Washe, a tout at the Likoni Ferry terminus disputes Gitau's
allegations. He said, "I have been here for seven years and I don't know of any
criminal among my colleagues. We respect our job, the only one we could get
owing to the unemployment situation in the country."
He claimed that the touts, numbering about seventy at the terminus, are
"peaceful, professional business people" who do their job to earn a decent
living. "We don't harass any passenger here. We only announce to them the
destination of the matatu," he reiterated.
Washe is the secretary to their association, "One Love Youth for Development
Self Help Group", formed several years ago. He denies they are fronting for a
cartel and says the association holds "court" every Friday to discipline errant
members who are either suspended or fined depending on the severity of the
offence they committed. And, he clarifies that the members neither engage in
drug abuse nor squander their earnings.
Commenting on the recent matatu strike in Mombasa, Gitau says it was the work of
a cartel. "The operators along Tudor-Likoni route differed with their
Bamburi-Likoni route counterparts. Each of them trying to prevent the other from
entering their route, occasioning the strike," he said. The strike paralysed the
Bamburi route services for three days, exposing commuters to immense suffering.
Gitau says efforts to regulate Mombasa matatu termini have been frustrated by
the local council. He says that the town's designed common terminus at Mwembe
Tayari has been grabbed while another one approved in a council meeting was also
"interfered with" by some greedy civic leaders.
+ + + +
Vanguard (Lagos)
November 4, 2001
Vincent Ujumadu
FOR several days now, residents of the commercial city of Aba have been living
in fear following the battle of titans going on between two opposing groups of
the Abia State Vigilante Services, alias Bakassi Boys. At the last count, no
fewer than 16 lives have been reportedly lost. Most of the victims, according to
Sunday Vanguard findings, were apprentices at the Ariaria shoe plaza whose
dismembered bodies were dumped in trenches along Enugu_Port Harcourt expressway
in the city.
A common feature in the city since Monday when the war began was the heavy
presence of gun and matchet wielding youths parading the streets and putting
fear on the passers by. Just like in a war situation, the opposing groups have
their strong holds in parts of the city where they map out their operational
activities. While those now dubbed 'original Bakassi' are firmly in control of
the Ariaria end of city, those regarded as 'fake Bakassi' line the streets on
the Port Harcourt Road end of Aba.
Sunday Vanguard learnt that what triggered off the war was a dispute between an
Ariaria_based shoe maker and his landlord. According to the information, the
shoe maker was said to be owing his landlord several months of house rent and
when efforts to collect the money yielded no results, he decided to adopt the
new common habit in Abia State which is to invite Bakassi to deal with an
opponent when there is a misunderstanding.
It was gathered that at the instance of the landlord, the young shoe maker was
given several matchet cuts by Bakassi Boys and his property set ablaze.
This, it was learnt, angered his (shoe maker's) colleagues who it must be noted,
originally formed Bakassi when robbery and the activities of miscreants were
rampant in Aba several years ago.
They therefore took to the streets and in the process, burnt down the two storey
building where the shoe maker was tenant. They also torched the headquarters of
Bakassi near Ariaria Market and removed several charms from the building.
Several vehicles were also burnt.
One of the shoe makers who simply gave his name as Nwobia told Sunday Vanguard
that this is the opportunity the Shoe Makers Association has been waiting for,
adding that they are tired of watching hoodlums parade themselves as members of
Bakassi which was formed with good intention.
It must be noted here that the original objective of forming Bakassi was to rid
Aba of criminals. The initiators risked their lives to flush them out and many
even lost their lives in the process. At that time, some people who were thought
to be superhuman beings and untouchables were killed such that residents and
visitors now go about their normal businesses without molestation. Some of the
criminals who saw that their continued stay in Aba would lead to their untimely
death also fled the city. After flushing the criminals out, the shoe makers then
decided to have a standing vigilante group with the sole aim of protecting lives
and property in Aba.
It was indeed the success made by Bakassi that attracted Governor Chinwoke
Mbadinuju of Anambra State into inviting them to Onitsha. At the time they went
to Anambra, Onitsha was more or less the most unsafe city in Nigeria as people
dared not stay outside their homes beyond 6.00 p.m. Today, the story is
different as Onitsha has become one of the safest cities where people can even
stay out beyond 12.00 midnight.
Unfortunately, as years went by, some youths who couldn't make it in various
forms of human endeavour began to infiltrate Bakassi. Suddenly, it became a
common statement to hear that members of Bakassi Boys were involved in domestic
quarrels and were even demanding gratifications from people. As time passed,
their original objective became secondary.
Surprisingly, some people who have questionable characters have been parading
themselves as members of Bakassi and before long, dabbled into revenue
collection from residents in Aba and Umuahia at machet and gun point. They also
began to arrest, detain and sentence people to fines and death as the case may
be.
As Nwobia, the shoe maker told Sunday Vanguard, all the people who are involved
in such activities are mere impostors who are reaping where they did not sow,
adding that the recent incident between a shoe maker and a landlord showed that
"the cup of members of fake Bakassi in Abia State is full".
Indeed, before the latest confrontation, there were instances which showed that
the operators could not have been original Bakassi. For instance, at the
troubled Ulonna North Farm Settlement in Abia State where the land donors have
been having a dispute with the settlers, the settlers contracted Bakassi Boys
who invaded the village three times within one month. During one of their raids,
they abducted, arrested, detained and tortured one Bartholomew Onwudinjo, an
assistant headmaster and one Samuel Udemba both of Umuda Ofeme at their Aba
detention camp. Also, the member representing Umuahia North constituency in the
State House of Assembly, Sir Nkem Chris Ike, was recently abducted by Bakassi
and driven to Isiagu in Ebonyi State where they dumped him for opening his mouth
too wide in the House.
Also, one Chief Ujah lost his life recently in the hands of Bakassi after he was
detained for several days because he could not produce his two sons who they had
come to arrest for alleged robbery in their community.
Similarly, a Lagos based businessman who visited home recently ended up at the
Bakassi detention camp in Umuahia for his failure to settle the Boys when they
approached him.
Before the recent confrontation in Aba, there had been a similar one in Umuahia,
the state capital. Due to increasing robbery incidents in the town, some traders
were said to have approached the Aba headquarters of Bakassi to extend its
services to Umuahia. Within one week stern looking young men invaded the city
and started man-handling perceived enemies who they had previous dealings with.
Although the original Bakassi Boys were said to be gradually flushing out the
fake ones in Aba, there have been arguments as to whether its existence is still
necessary in view of the fear that the group might metamorphose into a political
thuggery outfit for future elections. Indeed, there had been calls to ban their
existence as the next general elections approach.
Secretary to the Government of Abia State, Chief Chikwerendu Nwosu said the
issue of banning Bakassi should not arise because it had been there before the
present administration came into being.
+ + + +
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
November 5, 2001
Abidjan
Sierra Leonean former rebels have denied allegations in 'The Washington Post' on
Friday that they sold millions of dollars' worth of illicit diamonds to the al
Qaeda terrorist network, news organisations reported.
"I want to say that ... we have at no time either operated as a terrorist group
or with a terrorist group," Eldred Collins, head of the Revolutionary United
Front Party (RUFP) Public Relations Unit, said on Voice of America (VOA) in
response to the US newspaper article. However Collins acknowledged that diamond
transactions could have taken place unknowingly with al Qaeda members, VOA
reported.
Al Quaeda, the network blamed by a US-led coalition for the 11 September
terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, is headed by the FBI's most wanted
man, Osama bin Laden.
The article alleges that "diamond dealers working directly with men named by the
FBI as key operatives in bin Laden's al Qaeda network bought gems from the
rebels at below-market prices and sold them for large profits in Europe". It
makes "perfect sense" for a terrorist network to deal in diamonds as they can be
easily hidden, hold their value and are very hard to trace, the paper quoted a
US official as saying.
The chairman of Sierra Leone's Political and Peace Council, Omrie Golley, said a
panel would be set up to investigate the allegations, news organisations
reported.
+ + + +
PRAVDA
21:04 2001-11-05
The Taliban stated that there were several American military men taken captives
in the south of Afghanistan, the Iraqi News Agency reported.
Kandagar’s Mullah Hasan Rehmani said, there were several “spies” and American
military men taken captives – the people, who were carrying out a special
operation on the outskirts of the city.
It should be mentioned, that the message of this kind from the Taliban was not
the first one. If one believes to the spokesmen for the movement, they have at
least 4 US choppers, over 50 Americans in killed and about 50 captives. All this
information has not been confirmed yet. We remind that the Taliban stated on
Saturday, they had downed two US helicopters, which were carrying the American
soldiers aboard. Spokesmen for the movement promised to expose the video tape,
depicting the downed helicopters and the dead bodies. This promise has not been
kept, as it seems. The Pentagon rejected that information, like before.
+ + + +
PRAVDA
15:39 2001-11-05
An Iranian special force assault division is being redeployed to the Afghan
border from the central regions of the country, the Emirates News Agency (WAM)
reported from Tehran, making reference to certain informed sources.
The 58th "Zulfikar" Special Force division will be stationed in the town of
Nehbandan, where a training camp will also be set up.
The decision to re-station the division was made by the country's highest
command after having considered the development of the situation in Afghanistan.
This decision was also approved by Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-Khamenei, the
Commander-in-Chief of the Iranian Armed Forces.
+ + + +
scary stuff from PRAVDA
18:09 2001-11-03
In America the majority (70%) of fast food purchases are impulse buys. Few
people go out specifically to buy hamburger and the like. This fact points to
the importance of restaurant site location. Just as magazines and sweets are
strategically placed at the checkout counter in the supermarket, fast food
joints are located at a particular place by design and not by accident. In the
past McDonald’s used helicopters to assess the growth of residential areas. They
would look for cheap land along side highways and roads that would lie at the
heart of future suburbs. However they have progressed from that. In the 1980s
McDonald’s became one of the world’s biggest purchases of satellite photography,
using it to predict urban sprawl. McDonald’s developed a software package called
Quintillion that integrated and ranked information from satellite images,
detailed maps, demographic information, CAD drawings and sales data from
existing stores. Thus, the science that lays behind the strategic placing of
restaurants in prime locations in order to maximise profits is a science that is
analogous to those used by the military intelligence agencies.
Strategic locations are paramount to fast food outlets. By analogy US government
places the same importance on location. However, the location is not a parking
lot in a housing project but it could be; an island, a peninsula, an isthmus, a
mountain range, a waterway or a landlocked landmass. In the case of South
America, through the Monroe doctrine, this could be a whole continent. The
criteria that define a good location are not based on where lay the wealthy
middle class with expendable incomes. In this case they are based on mineral
resources, human resources, agricultural capacity and strategic positions for
trade routes and transportation of goods and commodities, to name a few. Thus
the Golan Heights, Panama, the straits of Malacca and the Suez Canal, etc are
all examples of sought after prize positions. Just as strategically position
McDonald’s restaurants have become ubiquitous in North America US military bases
are starting to become peppered throughout the Islamic lands.
Why are we comparing such a trivial issue like fast food with the
McDonnell-Douglas Corporation who were the manufacture of the F-4 Phantom, the
A-4 Skyhawk, the F-15 Eagle, and the F-18 Hornet. The point being made here is
that the means of thrusting these two All-American products on to the world are
dangerous and devious. We should be aware of the stealthy manner that US
imperialism has spread over the globe.
The by products of taking on the role of the worlds police force the US has been
allowed to set up its military bases in all the most strategic positions. These
bases could just be a military base surrounded by a barbed wire fence, or an
aircraft carrier patrolling other nation’s sovereign waters, or a base could be
an entire country as is the case with Pakistan. The Caspian oil rich states now
have a most loyal servant to America to the south in Pakistan. On the soils of
Uzbekistan there is Military presence is of awesome proportions.
In recent years the US has treated the whole country of Iraq merely one great
big riffle range. The Baghdad has been treated as if it was a gigantic
disposable paper-shooting target.
America's military is the country's biggest business. According to the House
Budget Committee, in 2000, defence expenditures represented 16 percent of
discretionary federal spending. Excluding entitlements like Social Security and
Medicare, all non-defence spending combined was only 19 percent of the federal
budget. In the Department of Defence's most recently published report, the 2001
defence budget will be more than $300 billion, of which $60 billion would be
spent on procurement and almost $40 billion on research and development. The
budget for national defence is expected to exceed $360 billion by 2006.
In 2000, world-wide arms sales rose to 36.9 billion dollars (up from 34 billion
in 1999). Poor countries bought 68 percent of last year's [2000] U.S. weapons
output. U.S. arms makers signed contracts for some 18.6 billion dollars in 2000,
up from around 12.9 billion dollars the previous year. U.S. contracts accounted
for 49.7 percent of global sales last year.
During the 1997-2000 period, the United Arab Emirates ranked first among
developing nations in the value of arms transfer agreements, concluding $14
billion in such agreements. India ranked second at $7.6 billion. Egypt ranked
third with $6.9 billion. The US agreed to sell to the UAE advanced 80 F16s. The
deal is estimated to be around 15 billion dollars. However, in return, the US
will be able to build military bases there with improved access to the only
deep-water port capable of housing aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf.
The US also sells many weapons to Turkey. These are used against Turkey’s own
population. The US turns a blind eye to these atrocities. This is because they
are able to set up bases in such a key geopolitical location. This position
allows them to spy on places in the Middle East, such as Iraq and because Turkey
will be the main receiver of oil headed to Western countries, from the Caspian
Sea.
It is not just US that have used arms trade for profit and for strategic
advantage. The UK is the world’s second biggest supplier of arms. When General
Zia ceased power in Pakistan he vowed to ⌠┘match India sword with
sword, tank with tank and destroyer with destroyer. Britain, just prior, to this
had sold to India, Sea King helicopters, Hawk and Harrier aircraft and Sea Eagle
anti-ship missiles. Salesmen from the UK offered Pakistan a very similar package
deal. The UK has had a good track record of selling what ever they want for a
quick buck. The arms sales to Iraq throughout the 1980’s stands as testament to
that. In 1981 Douglas Hurd, then Foreign Minster, flew specially to Baghdad to
celebrate with Saddam the coming to power of the Baathists in 1968.
He was not the only arms salesmen and politician to live it up with Saddam over
that period. In 1988 David Mellor, then a foreign office minister, partook of
the Takriti hospitality. While David Mellor was posing of photographs with
Saddam, his host ordered the gassing of 5,000 inhabitants of Halabja. The
opportunistic, used car salesmen approach, to international arms dealing was
typified by Thatcher and son. When Mrs Thatcher ordered the nation to Rejoice!
during the Malvinas Islands War in 1982, she omitted to mention that the first
Harrier aircraft lost was shot down by Argentinean fighters using British built
ammunition.
War in itself has been a means of furthering imperialist ambitions. The recent
event in N.Y. and DC has been described as a second Pearl Harbour. This is an
important analogy as Pearl Harbour changed US public opinion overnight about
many things, so did the bombing of the WTC. This first event warrants review.
It is now well documented that President Roosevelt (FDR) provoked the attack on
Pearl Harbor. He knew about it in advance and covered up his failure to warn the
Hawaiian commanders. The US was warned by, at least, the governments of Britain,
Netherlands, Australia, Peru, Korea and the Soviet Union that a surprise attack
on Pearl Harbor was coming. Important Japanese codes were broken before the
event. The chief of OP-20-G Safford and Friedman of Army SIS, the two people in
the world that knew what was decoded, said that FDR knew Pearl Harbor was going
to be attacked. FDR needed the attack to happen so he could enter the war, since
the public and Congress were overwhelmingly against entering the war in Europe.
It was his backdoor to war.
Abraham Lincoln said "Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment
nothing can fail. Without it nothing can succeed. He who moulds opinion is
greater than he who enacts laws." This maxim of Lincoln was something that
President Roosevelt (FDR) new the reality of. In November FDR ordered the Red
Cross Disaster Relief director to secretly prepare for massive casualties at
Pearl Harbor because he was going to let it be attacked.
When he protested to the President, President Roosevelt told him that "the
American people would never agree to enter the war in Europe unless they were
attack [sic] within their own borders." [U.S. Naval Institute - Naval History -
Advance Warning? The Red Cross Connection by Daryl S. Borgquist]
Well before the events of December, 7 1941 back in the summer (14 August) at the
Atlantic Conference, Churchill noted the "astonishing depth of Roosevelt's
intense desire for war." Churchill cabled his cabinet "(FDR) obviously was very
determined that they should come in."
The consequence of the US entering W.W.II was it allowed the US to create its
global empire from the spoils of the war. The whole war and the organisations
set up after the war by the US, UNO, World Bank and IMF all served to
consolidate the new empire that US acquired.
The devastation of the war is well known. The cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
are testament to that. However the cruelty of FDR’s conniving plan is clear in
the US now domestic history. FDR sacrificed approximately 3,000 lives at Pearl
Harbor as well as scores of planes and 5 battle ships. To FDR this was a small
price to pay for the greater spoils of the neo-colonialists post war world. In
addition after Pearl Harbor the Supreme Court ordered that 100,000 American
people of Japanese origin be rounded up and imprisoned for the rest of the war.
This was the contempt FDR had for his own people.
Borrowing FDR’s most famous quote; the people had more to fear than fear itself.
They had the brutality of an uncaring government with a despotic dictator at the
helm.
It may be argued that there can be no McDonald’s without McDonnell-Douglas.
However from our standpoint we would agree. We neither need nor want McDonald’s
or McDonnell-Douglas.
+ + + +
http://www.nationallampoon.com/MoDstyles/newsflash/main/nf_osama.asp
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
Rizla Ranger UK
A total of 35 civilians have been killed by Hutu rebels in two incidents on
Monday, according to military sources.
The attacks come just days after the inauguration of a new government, which
shares power between ethnic Hutus and Tutsis.
Hundreds of thousands of people have died in the eight-year civil war.
Front for the Defence of Democracy rebels killed 24 civilians, including women
and children, in attacks on southern Bururi province, south-east of Bujumbura.
Earlier, the FDD ambushed three cars in Ruyigi Province, east of Bujumbura,
killing 11 passengers.
Three soldiers were killed in violence at the weekend.
Nearly all political parties are represented in the new cabinet but the FDD and
another Hutu rebel group have rejected the agreement and vowed to continue their
war against the Tutsi-dominated army.
Former South African President Nelson Mandela, who has spent two years seeking
to bring peace to Burundi, portrayed the new government as a vital step towards
ending the fighting.
But he became increasingly frustrated at the lack of progress towards a
ceasefire and has now stepped down as mediator.
Burundian President Pierre Buyoya, who is a Tutsi, will remain in office for the
first 18 months before handing over to a Hutu.
+ + + +
Rizla Ranger UK
The Perspective (Smyrna, Georgia)
OPINION
November 6, 2001
Abdoulaye W. Dukule
Once upon a time, there were two little towns, in Liberia. They were cities by
themselves, bustling and dynamic, immaculate, with thousands of people traveling
in and out every day. Yekepa and Harbel, in the past represented two poles of
the Liberian economy, the iron ore and the rubber capitals of the country.
Experts, both local and expatriates looked over the smooth operations of the
mines and the rubber. Getting a job in one of those little cities guaranteed a
leap into the world of middle class Liberia. These two cities, like the rest of
the country fell to the war. Yekepa is now a ghost town while Harbel somehow has
become a shadow of what it used to be.
That was then, now, there is a new pole of economic dynamism. It is called Kilo
83. Like Yekepa for the iron ore and Harbel for rubber, Kilo 83 reflects the
economic reality of the day. Timber! Kilo 83 is the capital of timber
exploitation in Liberia. But unlike Yekepa and Harbel where any one could go and
look for a job, Kilo 83 is not accessible to everyone. It takes connections at
the highest level to reach there. Those who dare venture into the forest to hunt
disappear.
Unlike Yekepa and Harbel that were open cities and served somehow as a showcase
for the companies that build them, Kilo 83 is a very guarded secret. Not many
people know its location and even fewer people know its location. Kilo 83 is
seating in the middle of the jungles, with its manicured lawns, its satellite
dishes, its beautiful houses and its small army.
To get to Kilo 83, you take the road leading to Buchanan, after Buchanan, you
keep going towards Rivercess. After 45 minutes drive, you reach an intersection.
The road to Rivercess leads you towards the south. If you go north, you run into
a gate, manned by tough-looking guys, armed with AK-47. You are asked to show an
ID card or a laissez-passer. If you don't have an identity card or a
laissez-passer, you are turned back, if you are in luck, otherwise, you may be
taken away and disappear in thin air.
The guys at the gate only know two types of documentation. The ID card is the
original identification card delivered to the original fighters in 1990-1992.
Fighters who joined after Octopus do not qualify. The second form of
identification emanates from Fox, the young man who has become the right hand of
Gus. He towers over every operation at Kilo 83. At 23, he is very dynamic,
sleeps little and is always flying between Monrovia and Kilo 83, either with Gus
or very important guests going to take a look at the operation at Kilo 83 or
management of the site flying to Monrovia for R&R at Hotel Africa where
everything awaits them.
In Harbel, there were mostly Americans, mixed with Liberian technocrats. In
Yekepa, there were Germans, Canadians, Liberians and people from everywhere. At
Kilo 83, there are Malaysians, former military personnel, escapees from the
various political and military upheavals. There are also a few Lebanese. The
Liberians who work there are not mid-level managers like in Harbel or Yekepa.
They are cooks, guards, or hired hands who come in for a week or so work and go
back to where they came from. They do get paid, well paid compared to salary
levels in the rest of the country. Flomo was able to purchase a new color
television and a VCR the last time he was in Monrovia. . One does not need a
satellite dish to capture the signals from television stations across the globe.
He is also building a house for his aging mother in Smell-No-Taste.
Flomo came to Kilo 83 just a few months ago. He had been in Monrovia, navigating
from the security detail of one VIP, struggling to make ends meet. Once in a
while, he would go to General Momo Giba, his friend from way back. Momo got
tired of supporting him and referred him to Fox. Fox gave him a laissez-passer
and he went to the gate. He was screened. He had his original NPFL identity
card. He spent a night at Kilo 83, in a small guesthouse, with four other
people. They watched war movies and later on watched South African television by
satellite. In the morning, he had a healthy breakfast and was put on a pick-up.
They traveled a few hours and arrived at a small hamlet. It had all the training
facilities he had seen in Mataba, Libya, ten years ago. For two weeks, he
re-acquainted himself with guns, and with good nutrition and vitamins, became
strong and healthy again like a fighter should be. At the end of the
conditioning, he was surprised when instead of Kilo 83, he found himself on a
truck, going to Lofa.
Flomo and his companions spent three weeks in Lofa, chasing rebels, taking over
village and sleeping in the jungle. When his tour of duty came to an end, he
returned to Kilo 83. He had earned his job. Now he works with one of the
Malaysian truck drivers. He cooks for him, cleans his quarters, and once in
awhile, goes to Buchanan to find girls for him. He receives $150 a month. He has
free housing. Water and electricity run 24 hours, 7 days a week. Every three
weeks, he has a day off and goes to Buchanan or sometimes, travels to Monrovia.
Finally, the years of fighting and killing in the trenches for the NPFL are
paying off.
Kilo 83 is the dispatching center for logs coming out of the Sapo forest, the
greatest mass of rainforest in the country. When logs come to the central
station, some are marked with the RTC symbols for Gus while others are stamped
with the sign of OTC. Kilo 83 is worth all the investments because it produces
some of the greatest logs in world. The Sapo forest is full of quality trees.
The huge trunks are then hauled to the ports from where they are shipped to
China or France. When Malaysian ships come for the logs, they also unload fuel
that is needed to run the generators. New samples of log tree from Malaysia are
now growing in the nursery. The streets have not yet been paved.
There are basketball and tennis courts in Kilo 83. But there are no children and
no women. Women who are allowed in have to leave as soon as their chore is taken
care of, which usually is simply to spend the night enteratining the Malaysian
or Lebanese men working in the dow. Every one has an AK-47. It's a town for men.
There are always rumors that former fighters of LPC - Liberian Peace Council of
Dr. George Boley - would attack and take over the camp for Oscar Quiah or burn
it down. This anticipation creates and maintains a continuous state of anxiety.
But so far, things have been calm. Kilo 83 is well and alive.
Maybe, someday, this model of development would extend to the rest of the
country. Everyone would get paid on time. Everyone would have light, water and
medical care. All for free. Of course, with all that, we would have to accept
other side of the coin.
+ + + +
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
November 6, 2001
Nairobi
Libyan reinforcements arrived in the Central African Republic capital, Bangui,
on Monday to help President Ange-Felix Patasse put down a revolt by dissident
troops loyal to the sacked army chief, Gen. Francois Bozize, news organisations
reported.
Radio France International announced that some 80 heavily armed Libyan troops
arrived to join another 100 of their colleagues guarding the president. There
were reports of city residents fleeing sporadic fighting - which continued
overnight in the city of some 524,000 people - but no casualties were announced.
Fighting broke out on Friday when loyalist forces tried to arrest Bozize, who
has sought refuge in a barracks in the far north of the capital, Reuters
reported. He was dismissed on 26 Oct. after being accused of involvement in a
coup plot and after weapons were found in three homes in the capital, AFP
reported. However, he has denied involvement saying he backed Patasse during
army mutinies in 1996 and 1997. Bozize had refused to submit to a summons by a
judicial commission probing this year's coup attempt, on 28 May. He refused to
appear before the commission because, he said, he had not been given sufficient
safety guarantees.
Overnight Monday, loyalist troops fought off a rebel attack on the home of
Interior Minister Joseph Mozoule, Reuters reported, as the Representative of the
UN Secretary-General, Lamine Cisse, continued to mediate in the crisis. The
Organisation of African Unity - the continent's foremost political body - says
it too is sending its representative, Mahamat Doutoum, to Bangui. They are being
joined in the mediation effort by Chad's ambassador in Bangui, Maitine Djoumbe,
AFP reported.
+ + + +
P.M. News (Lagos)
November 6, 2001
Dickson Offre
Kaduna
Uneasy calm rules Kaduna, the political headquarters of the North as the state
begins formal implementation of the Islamic Legal System, popularly called
Sharia.
Many non-Muslims, out of apprehension, have kept their children from school and
restricted their movement to zones considered safe.
The state government had earlier declared that it will not attach any fanfare to
the commencement of Sharia in the state to prevent the situation from being used
to foment trouble in the state.
But in an address during the swearing-in-ceremony of three high court judges and
judges of the state's Customary Court of appeal, the state Governor, Alhaji
Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, warned that the state would deal decisively with any
religious or political leader that uses the implementation of the judicial
system to cause confusion in the state. Not satisfied with the governor's
warning, a church, Voice of God Prophetic Ministries International, with
headquarters in Kaduna has commenced a 15-day fasting and prayer for the peace
of the state, following the commencement of Sharia in the State.
Reverend Elijah Ogbonna Agbom, General Overseer of the church, told P.M.News
that "all is not well and only prayers can guarantee peace in the state".
But most parts of the state remained peaceful with security personnel placed on
high alert to prevent a breakdown of order. Under Kaduna's brand of Sharia,
application of the laws are restricted to areas that are predominantly Muslim
and their cases would be handled by Sharia courts, while appeals will go to the
Sharia courts of appeal.
Non-Muslims, however, have the option of magistrate and customary courts. The
Customary Court of Appeal has also begun functioning in the state.
Kaduna's Sharia appears unique as it has neither an implementation committee nor
a Hisbah, implying that it will have no pool of men to fish out offenders.
Observers see it as a political scheme to please Muslim agitators for the
Islamic legal code.
+ + + +
New Vision (Kampala)
November 6, 2001
Emmy Allio
Tense relations with Rwanda have forced Ugandan authorities to urgently embark
on re-organising and uniting Congolese rebel groups in northeastern DR Congo
which the UPDF still occupies, sources said.
State minister for foreign affairs in-charge of regional cooperation, Col.
Kahinda Otafiire confirmed that the government has proposed another format in
which the rebels can work together.
security officials said the Rwandan army and Rwanda-backed RCD-Goma rebels last
weekend pulled back troops from Kanyabayonga and Rutshuru, ahead of a planned
visit to the suspected areas by a joint commission set up by Kampala and Kigali
authorities.
The commission to be led by a UPDF officer, Major James Mugira, and RPA officer,
Col. Charles Kayonga, are still bogged down by modalities before embarking on
their mission, sources said.
President Yoweri Museveni reportedly met Congolese rebel officials, Prof. Ernest
Wamba dia Wamba and John Tibasima Ateenyi at the State House, Nakasero and
suggested that Mbusa Nyamwisi should control the Beni-Butembo section
+ + + +
The Nation (Nairobi)
November 6, 2001
David Mugonyi
The Kenya-Somalia border was reopened yesterday after a three-month blockade.
President Moi lifted the restrictions when he met the leaders of the
transitional Somalia government at State House, Nairobi, yesterday.
The border, he announced, had been reopened as a "goodwill gesture" in
recognition to what had been achieved during the four-day Nairobi reconciliation
meeting.
The President closed the border in late July, saying the Government would not
deal with political factions fighting for power in Somalia.
Further, the move to close the border was aimed at curbing the flow of small
arms into the country.
However, the decision dealt miraa (khat) traders and farmers a blow, making them
lose millions of shillings as their cargo could not be airlifted to Somalia.
Yesterday, the President said the factions were headed for reconciliation.
He said the factional leaders present had made significant progress in narrowing
down their differences and had promised to continue meeting.
Those who attended the talks included delegates from the Transitional National
Government (TNG) led by Mr Abdikassim Salat Hassan, the interim president of TNG
and Somalia Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SRRC), the leader of the
United Somali Congress, Mr Ali Hassan Osman "Ato", and SRRC secretary general,
Mr Maulid Ma'ane Mohamud.
Other powerful warlords -Mr Hussein Farah Aideed and Mr Sudi Yalahow - were said
to be attending a parallel peace meeting in Addis Ababa.
The leaders assured the President that they would consult widely to bring
on-board those who did not attend the Nairobi meeting.
But they were told to stop the war as they consult.
The President said the Government would continue leading the negotiations with
Ethiopia, Djibouti and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) states.
The proposed consultation, the Head of State added, should culminate into a
summit.
He appealed to the international community to help the Somali government end the
10-year-old war.
While opening the talks on Thursday, President Moi expressed fear that the civil
war in Somalia might turn the country into a haven for terrorists.
In a communique read by Minister of State in charge of Internal Security Marsden
Madoka, the leaders agreed on their future agenda;
Implementation of the resolution of the 8th IGAD Summit of Heads of State and
government on Somalia and other relevant Organisation of African Unity and UN
security council resolutions.
They will also review state laws in accordance with the requirement of the
reconciliation process.
A power sharing based on all Somali clans will be adopted.
There will be national disarmament and adherence to international principles of
peaceful coexistence.
Renunciation of violence as a means of setting political differences and
cooperation with the international community in eradication of any forms of
terrorism.
Dispute over land, public and private property will also be addressed.
While opening the talks on Thursday, President Moi said the civil war in Somalia
may turn the country into a haven for terrorists.
He said there were an estimated 350,000 internally displaced people in Somalia
and more than 400,000 refugees in neighbouring countries with Kenya hosting
138,738 by May last year.
"Somalia's internal wrangles have turned the country into an international crime
syndicate ranging from drug barons, religious extremists to international
fugitives from all over the world," he noted.
+ + + +
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
November 6, 2001
The newly formed armed forces of the Transitional National Government (TNG) of
Somalia have launched an operation to clear illegal roadblocks from the main
Kismayo-Mogadishu road, a senior military official told IRIN. The operation had
begun on Monday at Haraf, 13 km south of Mogadishu, Gen Isma'il Qasim Naji, the
chief-of-staff, said. "The operation has as of today cleared 17 roadblocks from
Haraf to Barawe, 210 km south of Mogadishu," he said, adding that the security
forces had so far arrested 35, killed four and wounded eight freelance militia
manning the roadblocks.
The Kismayo-Mogadishu road had become very dangerous of late, with increased
banditry and extortion of travellers by the militia, Abdishakur Shaykh, a Barawe
businessman, told IRIN. He said that the residents of the Lower Shabelle Region
welcomed the operation to clean up the area. "I hope it is not just a one-time
thing, but a sustained operation," he said. Naji said the TNG armed forces would
set up "a permanent operation centre in Barawe" to ensure that the militias "get
the message that we are here to stay, and will not tolerate them coming back".
"We are starting a new operation today to clear the Barawe-Jilib part of the
road," said the general. "Our aim is to clear all the roadblocks from the 500-km
stretch between Mogadishu and Kismayo." This operation was likely take two to
three weeks, Naji said. Somali political sources told IRIN that the operation
was a prelude to the TNG's setting up regional administrations in areas where it
enjoyed support. "It would not surprise me if you see senior government
officials, including the president, moving about the regions within the next
month or so," said one.
+ + + +
The Nation (Nairobi)
November 7, 2001
Hopes of getting a Kenyan aid worker feared abducted in southern Sudan dimmed
yesterday when it emerged that the Government could not negotiate with unknown
captors.
An official from Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was difficult to establish
contacts with the rebels.
Ms Juliane Waithera Muiruri, an employee of the Lutheran World Federation,
allegedly seized along with two Sudanese colleagues on Friday morning has not
contacted her organisation. The organisation had asked the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs to intervene.
Field operations coordinator, Mr George Atisa, said Ms Muiruri with the two were
on their way to see sick children at a feeding programme centre.
Southern Sudan has been ravaged by 18 years of civil war which pits the Khartoum
government, which is largely Muslim, against the Christian and animist south.
+ + + +
New Vision (Kampala)
November 6, 2001
Lillian Nalumansi
Researchers from the United States and Uganda are examining the blood cells of
the 254 Ebola survivors for clues on developing an Ebola vaccine.
Dr. Sam Okware, the commissioner for communicable diseases in the Ministry of
Health, said the Uganda Virus Research Institute and the Centre for Disease
Control were studying the survivors' blood to discover why they escaped death
despite exposure to Ebola.
He told The New Vision last Friday there were plans to develop a vaccine from
the blood cells of those who were exposed to the virus but did not contract it.
"They could have built antibodies to neutralise the virus or they survived due
to differences in treatment. This is still being studied and if all goes well a
vaccine will be ready next year," he said.
He said government had spent over sh3b handling the Ebola outbreak. Of the 425
people that contracted Ebola, 172 died while 254 survived.
+ + + +
I love Zambian news!
The Times of Zambia (Ndola)
November 6, 2001
POLICE in Kitwe have declared they will bring down the five vicious dogs at a
farm for harassing people.
But the decision has infuriated the owner, Kufekisa Masiye, who said in an
interview in Ndola at the weekend that it was not his fault that the dogs were
menacing.
Mr Masiye said police had informed him that his dogs would be brought down
because of two incidents that have occurred, which included the death of a
suspected thief.
He confirmed that his dogs attacked a suspected thief at his farm who was mauled
to death by the five dogs.
The recent case was last weekend when a trespasser was again attacked and was on
the verge of death but quick action by health personnel at Wusakile Hospital
resuscitated him.
"The man was badly mauled and the private parts were tampered with in the
process. We thank the quick and professional reaction by doctors and other
health workers at Wusakile Hospital who saved the man's life.
"I have since offered to have the man live with us in the period of nursing his
wounds at my cost," Mr Masiye said.
Mr Masiye, a worker at Atlas Copco in Chingola and is an ardent breeder of dogs,
appealed to police to save his dogs because he would be devastated if they were
brought down.
He explained that the dogs were as close to him and worked as guards at his
farm, off the Ndola-Kitwe dual carriageway.
Mr Masiye, who breeds dogs as a hobby, has since offered his services to those
wishing their dogs to be trained in particular characteristics without any costs
+ + + +
Belgium's debt-laden national airline has formally filed for bankruptcy,
according to Brussels court officials.
The airline's board was finally forced to accept that its desperate search for
fresh investment of 372m euros had failed on Tuesday, according to chairman Fred
Chaffart.
The airline's problems started after its part-owner Swissair, which has also
collapsed, reneged on a promised 136m-euro injection into the Belgian airline.
The decision to shut down was taken at an evening board meeting where the future
of the airline and its 12,000 workers was decided.
Earlier in the day, Sabena cancelled most of its flights after ground staff in
Brussels staged a walk-out in protest over rumours of the bankruptcy decision.
The search for a rescue plan had continued until the last minute.
The Belgian government is Sabena's majority shareholder, holding a 50.5% stake.
Sabena's debts total about 2bn euros (£1.2bn; $1.8bn).
Earlier on Tuesday, Virgin Express, the budget airline part-owned by the British
tycoon Sir Richard Branson, said it had failed to cut a deal to buy parts of
Sabena's operations.
Virgin Express had hoped intensive last-ditch talks on Tuesday would bring an
agreement.
But by late-morning it said it now believes "it will be in the best interests of
Virgin Express to pursue (an) independent plan".
It intends to increase its own flights from Brussels.
There were chaotic scenes in Brussels' Zaventem airport as flight authority
officials warned travellers holding Sabena tickets to stay away.
"No one knows what's going on," said check-in counter worker Trudi Weerts, who
described the confusion as "scandalous".
Nevertheless, the government is thought to have drafted extra police at Zaventem
airport to deal with possible disturbances.
+ + + +
The UN special envoy to the Central African Republic says there has been a
breakthrough in efforts to end clashes in the capital, Bangui, between forces
loyal to the president and soldiers backing a dismissed army chief.
General Lamine Cisse told the BBC that following his talks with sacked General
Francois Bozize, the rebel leader had agreed to the reopening of the main road
from Bangui.
General Cisse said Bangui was relatively calm following a fourth day of clashes.
Fighting has taken place between forces loyal to President Ange-Felix Patasse -
supported by Libyan troops - and soldiers backing General Bozize.
Violence broke out after an apparent attempt to arrest General Bozize on charges
of involvement in a failed coup attempt in May. General Bozize denies the
charge.
In his first public comment, President Patasse said he wanted a peaceful
solution to the crisis.
In a statement via a spokesman broadcast on radio, he appealed to General Bozize
to withdraw his forces from the main road leading to the northern part of the
city and to start negotiating.
Earlier, a BBC correspondent in the city said loyalist troops, backed by Libyan
forces, had attacked an army barracks and appeared to be advancing into the area
controlled by General Bozize.
An artillery exchange at the barracks in the north-western part of the city
continued for about two hours on Tuesday afternoon.
Thousands of civilians are continuing to flee the city but there are no official
casualty figures.
The southern and central parts of Bangui are reported calm, with some schools
and businesses reopening, according to witnesses.
The Libyans first intervened in the Central African Republic in May when a
former military ruler tried to overthrow the elected civilian president.
The Libyan troops, whose presence in Bangui illustrates Colonel Gaddafi's
increasingly active role in sub-Saharan Africa in recent years, say they are
restoring order.
The Central African Republic has experienced numerous coups and mutinies since
independence from France in 1960, many based on ethnic differences.
But our West Africa correspondent Mark Doyle says this crisis is different as
President Patasse and the army chief he has fallen out with are both from the
same northern tribe.
He says that while in previous years France often intervened militarily, this
time it is the Libyans who are playing big brother to one of the local sides.
+ + + +
A judge has been shot dead in the city of Bilbao in the Basque region of
northern Spain.
The victim, named as Jose Maria Lidon Corbi, was shot at close range by two
masked men as he got into his car in the suburb of Getxo at around 0730 local
time (0630 GMT).
No-one has claimed responsibility for the shooting, which comes less than 24
hours after a car bomb in the centre of Madrid on Tuesday that injured more than
90 people.
But the BBC's Madrid correspondent, Flora Botsford, says both attacks are
characteristic of the Basque separatist group ETA.
Two men suspected of belonging to the group have already been arrested for the
Madrid attack, after a member of the public chased them in his car while in
contact with police by mobile home.
A senior government official whose car had passed the scene seconds earlier -
and was the possible target of the attack - suffered minor cuts.
But at least four of the injured were seriously hurt, including a mother and her
three-year-old daughter, said Spanish Interior Minister Mariano Rajoy. Six
people remain in hospital.
Two people - a man and woman - were arrested shortly after the blast, apparently
after a member of the public raised the alarm.
The pair were said to have been carrying explosives, a pistol and wigs when they
were detained.
Government spokesman Pio Cabanillas said the explosion was powerful enough to
have caused a "real massacre".
ETA was blamed for another car bomb blast in Madrid in mid-October, when 17
people were injured.
It has killed some 800 people over the last 33 years.
+ + + +
Three people, including a local councillor and a policemen, have been shot dead
in the Pakistani port of Karachi.
The incident took place outside a municipal building in the north of the city
when unidentified gunmen opened fire with assault rifles.
Six other people were wounded in the attack.
The gunmen escaped.
The police say the motive for the attack is unclear.
+ + + +
Police in the Pakistani city of Quetta are investigating an attack by
unidentified armed men on its main airport that left one security guard dead.
Quetta is near the volatile Afghanistan border and police say the attack could
be linked to the American bombing campaign against the Taleban.
+ + + +
The Pentagon's only publicly announced commando raid on Taliban positions,
hailed as a success and beamed around the world in video pictures hours later,
actually went badly wrong, seriously injuring American soldiers, sources in
Pakistan said yesterday.
The debacle, which saw US Delta Force soldiers come under intense fire from the
Taliban, prompted a review of special forces operations in Afghanistan and seems
to have led to a delay in similar behind-the-lines operations.
The ferocity of the Taliban resistance caught US commandos unawares and showed
that 13 days of bombing had failed to break the Taliban's morale. It sparked a
debate in the Pentagon on the advisability of such missions in the absence of
clear intelligence.
Soon after the October 20 raid, the US switched its military strategy, throwing
its weight behind the opposition Northern Alliance and relying on it to provide
ground troops for the campaign.
The day after the raid the Pentagon hailed the operation a success that proved
that US forces could strike anywhere at any time, in the manner of their
choosing.
But details provided to the Guardian by sources in Pakistan and the US, together
with American press reports, present a different picture.
· A raid by Delta Force commandos on a Kandahar compound of the Taliban's
leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, ran into heavy resistance, causing serious
casualties. One soldier's foot was blown off.
· A simultaneous raid by army rangers on a Kandahar airstrip was carried out
only after forward troops had checked that the area was clear. It was mainly for
the benefit of the cameras and to boost the rangers' morale.
· The fierce Taliban response to the Delta Force raid led to a review of similar
planned operations, and to questioning of the leadership of the war's US
commander, General Tommy Franks.
According to an authoritative and independent source in constant touch with
Kandahar, Delta Force commandos, the most elite force in the US army, searched
Mullah Omar's compound but found it had been stripped of anything that might
provide useful intelligence. As they emerged they came under intense fire,
forcing them to retreat. The Taliban later retrieved "an American foot", still
in its boot.
"There was a lot of blood," the source said. "The Taliban had expected an
attack. They were ready and waiting."
During the raid a Chinook helicopter was badly damaged. The Taliban later said
they had shot it down and showed off a portion of its landing gear.
The account given to the Guardian was consistent with an article in New Yorker
magazine yesterday. The author, Seymour Hersh, said 12 Delta commandos were
wounded, three seriously. He quoted a US military officer as saying that the
team found itself in "a tactical firefight and the Taliban had the advantage".
The commandos were forced to retreat to helicopters and abandon one of the
raid's objectives - the insertion of an undercover team into the area, the New
Yorker said.
Delta Force is a primarily anti-terrorist unit based at Fort Bragg, North
Carolina. Its existence is never formally discussed, nor are casualties. Its
members are trained to attack with stealth in small teams, but the Kandahar raid
was a noisy production, involving a back-up force of 200 rangers, AC-130
gunships and 100 Delta Force commandos.
"The mission was laid on like General Motors coming to the Afghan war, like we
did in Vietnam," Mr Hersh said. At the same time, a company of rangers
parachuted on to a Kandahar airfield in an operation portrayed the next day in
dramatic TV footage. But in his article, Mr Hersh said that before the drop, an
army pathfinder team had checked that the airfield was free of Taliban forces.
The raid was for the benefit of the cameras.
On October 20, the speed and intensity of the Taliban response at Mullah Omar's
compound "scared the crap out of everyone", a senior officer told the New
Yorker, which reported that the setback had triggered an inquiry into how such
commando raids were planned and executed by central command.
Since military operations began on October 7 there has been grumbling among the
Pentagon's civilian leadership that Gen Franks, an artillery officer, is too
hidebound and too steeped in US military doctrine and its reliance on
overwhelming firepower, to lead a special forces campaign requiring guile and
stealth.
Some senior officials want such operations to be run directly from the Pentagon.
Mr Hersh said yesterday he had been used by special forces officers to signal
their unhappiness about how the operation was planned.
"The reason I learned about it is [Delta Force] were upset about what happened.
This isn't the way you run Delta Force, you can't have this kind of big-scale
operation. And so they're sending a message over the fence to the leadership."
Gen Franks and the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, General Richard
Myers, both denied that the Taliban had inflicted casualties on US forces. Gen
Franks, who is based in Tampa, Florida, said there were injuries during the
operation, but "we had no one wounded by enemy fire".
The failure of the October 20 raid prompted senior British officers to emphasise
the importance of good intelli gence. They made it clear they did not yet have
it, and the post-mortem after the raid has delayed repeat operations.
"We need proper, joined-up, serious operations," a British defence source said.
But with better intelligence, further raids by small groups of special forces
are on the cards once more, almost certainly involving British forces.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon confirmed yesterday it was looking at airfields in
Tajikistan and other central Asian countries in the search for land bases close
to Afghanistan from which to launch air support missions for the Northern
Alliance.
The alliance is said to be poised for major offensives on the capital Kabul and
Mazar-i-Sharif after carpet bombing by US B-52s of the Taliban lines.
+ + + +
A UNIQUE manual for Islamic terrorists, detailing every aspect of how to fight a
guerrilla war, from biochemical attacks to finding the fatal pressure point
during hand-to-hand combat, has been obtained by western intelligence agencies.
The 7,000-page guide - entitled Encyclopaedia of Jihad - provides an insight
into how terrorists from Osama Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network operate in both
urban environments and on the battlefield.
Filling 11 volumes and circulated both in book form and on CD-Rom to terrorist
instructors, it offers guidance on how to inject frozen food with biochemical
agents to create mass panic, rig up a door lock to explode when the handle is
turned, and bring down a plane with a missile.
"This is an amazing document," said Roland Jacquard, head of the World Terrorism
Observatory in Paris. "It gives us a very clear idea of what we are up against
with Al-Qaeda and Bin Laden's followers throughout the world."
The encyclopaedia - extracts of which have been obtained by The Sunday Times -
is dedicated to Bin Laden and Abdullah Azzam, a charismatic preacher who was a
formative influence on the Saudi terrorist. It distils the experience of 10
years of guerrilla fighting against the Russians in Afghanistan and draws on
stolen CIA and special services' handbooks.
The most chilling volume is the 11th, which deals with bioterrorism, which is on
a separate CD-Rom. It explains how to disperse potentially lethal organisms and
poisons, ranging from botulism and viral infections to anthrax and ricin, the
highly toxic chemical used on the tip of an umbrella by a Bulgarian secret
service agent to kill the dissident Georgy Markov in London in 1978.
It details targets such as water and food supplies, and advocates maximising
public panic by poisoning medicine, thereby jeopardising treatment of the sick
and injured. Sources of biological material include a list of countries that
produce anthrax and a training camp in Pakistan where toxins are manufactured.
The encyclopaedia was found in 1999 in the home of Khalil Deek when he was
arrested in connection with an alleged plot to bomb Jordan's main airport in the
capital, Amman, on the eve of the millennium.
A university educated computer expert, Deek, who was born in the
Israeli-occupied territories, had spent two years in Peshawar, Pakistan, where
he told people he was compiling a CD-Rom on the writings of a well-known Muslim
preacher.
Though he denied being part of the Al-Qaeda network, he shared a bank account
with Abu Zubaydah, often described as Bin Laden's chief-of-staff.
Despite his connections, Deek was released by the Jordanian authorities in May
this year after 17 months in prison. Officials said there was insufficient
evidence to charge him, though it is known that he helped to decipher Al-Qaeda
computer codes for investigators.
Each of the 10 volumes of the main encylopaedia carries a picture showing a
belt-fed machinegun standing in a window next to a copy of the Koran. One, on
security and intelligence, shows the long-term planning involved in operations,
with "sleeper" cells set up years in advance. "The mujahed should be young, so
he can start the mission 10 years before the start of the jihad," it states.
Surveillance of potential targets - with video cameras, still cameras and
mini-microphones - is critical. And targets should be chosen to put pressure on
the country to "stop it intervening or creating an obstacle to the jihad",
according to Jacquard. They include:
Symbolic targets, such as the Statue of Liberty in New York or the Eiffel Tower
in Paris, where attacks would cause psychological damage but would be largely
victimless;
Key infrastructure, such as nuclear power stations, skyscrapers, ports and train
stations;
Human targets, including stadiums where large numbers of people congregate and,
particularly in Arabic countries, influential public figures.
The construction of booby- trapped explosive devices that would not be out of
place in a James Bond film is explained in minute detail. One page, from the
volume on explosives, shows how to turn a packet of cigarettes into a bomb.
"Steel plates with electric current are placed on the interior walls of the pack
so that when the pack is pressed (such as being stepped on), the plates touch
each other and therefore the electric circuit is complete," it states.
"This system is normally used in an empty pack thrown in front of the house
where the targeted person lives, or just to create chaos in a particular area."
It goes on to detail how individual cigarettes can be primed with explosives as
well as cigarette lighters, mattresses, chairs and even chocolate bars,
toothpaste tubes and hairbrushes. Bin Laden appears on Al-Jazeera TV yesterday
against a sacking backdrop to stop geology revealing his whereabouts
Another page shows how an envelope can be booby-trapped with a slim lead of C4
explosive, a desk drawer sprung to explode when it is opened, and a barbecue or
fireplace prepared to set off a hidden bomb when the fuel is lit.
A carefully drawn picture of a motorcycle helmet shows how it can be lined with
explosive, then remotely controlled to blow up when the intended victim puts it
on.
One section shows how to turn cameras into bombs. It was the method used to kill
Ahmed Shah Masood, the leading Afghanistan opposition commander, two days before
the September 11 attacks.
Two Arabs posing as television journalists exploded the bomb in their camera
when they interviewed him. The blast killed Masood and one of the terrorists.
The other was shot by Masood's bodyguards.
Besides analysing how Semtex can be used, the encyclopaedia contains
instructions on the ingredients needed to make explosives, including innocuous
substances bought from supermarkets.
It begins with the basic chemical compounds and then lays out the exact
quantities to be combined. One suggestion even includes Nescafé coffee and
sugar. "It is clearly the work of someone who is very familiar with chemistry,"
said one anti-terrorist expert. "It might be hard for a guerrilla in the field
to follow the detailed instructions, but they are very accurate."
Each volume is comprehensive. In discussing timers, the section on explosives
ranges from complex loop, tremor and tilting switches to cruder versions that
can be made from mousetraps, clothes pegs or light switches.
Unlike other Islamic terrorist manuals, previously revealed in court papers,
there is little religious direction in the encyclopaedia. Everything is
presented factually, almost every page carries a diagram.
At least four of the chapters are devoted to the military, from showing how to
create an assault gun in a field forge from metal scavenged from the battlefield
to mounting an attack on combat vehicles.
Another section covers first aid, including how to prevent blood loss from
wounds. Alongside are further diagrams demonstrating how to kill an opponent by
pinching pressure points on the back of the neck and the windpipe.
The book outlines how bridges can be blown up using conventional military
explosives. Last week America was put on high alert over the possibility of
attacks on bridges such as the Golden Gate in San Francisco.
Other volumes teach typography, map reading and how to use the stars to work out
your location. The importance of propaganda and misinformation is outlined,
telling operatives of plans to "penetrate certain Arabic papers and also western
ones". The aim is to sow trouble and confusion by spreading false rumours.
The sophistication of some parts of the manual has alarmed intelligence
agencies, which have asked counter-terrorism experts given access to the
document not to discuss or release key elements, particularly on bioterrorism.
Jacquard believes the document charts how Islamic terrorism has developed over
the past decade, expanding beyond conventional, low-technology forms of attack.
There are now different types of terrorist. "The first is psychologically and
intellectually weak and is used to stage such 'classic' attacks as car bombings,
hijackings and kidnappings," he said.
"Recruits who fit a second, stronger profile are referred to as God's Brigade by
those returning from Afghan training camps and are destined for operations such
as suicide attacks and bioterrorism."
+ + + +
The BLU-82B/C-130 weapon system, nicknamed Commando Vault, is the high altitude
delivery of a 15,000 pound general purpose bomb from a C-130. This system
depends upon the accurate positioning of the aircraft by either a fixed ground
radar or onboard navigation equipment. The ground radar controller or aircrew
navigator as applicable, is responsible for positioning the aircraft prior to
final countdown and release. Primary aircrew considerations include accurate
ballistic and wind computations provided by the navigator, and precision
instrument flying with strict adherence to controller instructions. The minimum
altitude for release due to blast effects of the weapon is 6,000 feet AGL.
The BLU-82 is a 15,000 pound GP bomb originally designed to clear helicopter
landing zones in Vietnam. The warhead contains 12,600 pounds of GSX slurry and
is detonated just above ground level by a 38-inch fuze extender. The weapon
produces an overpressure of 1,000 pounds per square inch. Eleven BLU-82s were
dropped during Desert Storm, all from Special Operations C-130s. The initial
drops were intended to test the ability of the bomb to clear mines; no reliable
bomb damage assessment exist on mine clearing effectiveness. Later, bombs were
dropped as much for their psychological effect as for their destructive power.
+ + + +
Traditionally in Iraq, women have tended to marry in their 20s at the latest,
but now, according to government officials, difficult economic conditions as a
result of a decade of international sanctions have forced a change in marriage
patterns.
In Iraq, there are now said to be one million women over the age of 35 who are
not married.
At a wedding party in central Baghdad, the bride, resplendent in white frills,
poses for the camera, as family and friends cheer the new couple on.
Among the watching women is Regiha. At 35 she is way past the once traditional
marriage age.
"It is very difficult in Iraq nowadays because of the economic situation and the
costs. Getting married isn't at all easy," she says.
Not at all easy, she means, for the women waiting for marriage proposals and for
the men who are expected to pay for the dowry, the marital home and the costs of
bringing up a family.
The problem is that after eleven years of sanctions most Iraqis are now
desperately poor, relying on government food rations to survive.
Many men feel they have little to offer a potential bride.
Hassan is a 50-something civil servant who says he was on the verge of marrying
when the sanctions were imposed. Now, he says, he cannot afford to.
"Our life in Iraq before the sanctions was very good and the government made
houses and gave land, salaries were very good," he said.
"I decided to marry before the embargo. I delayed to prepare everything,
suddenly the embargo destroyed all my dreams. My salary for one year isn't
enough to buy a kitchen or a refrigerator."
Help is sometimes at hand for a few lucky couples. At a mass wedding couples can
be seen dancing beneath pictures of Saddam Hussein.
It is all organised and paid for by the Iraqi authorities, with a three-day
honeymoon in a Baghdad hotel thrown in as well.
Held on special national occasions, mass weddings are an acknowledgement of what
is increasingly seen as Iraq's marriage problem.
However it is not just the embargo that is to blame for the large number of
single Iraqi women over 35.
In the corridors of a Baghdad University, many women students say they now want
a decent career before they will consider marriage.
Doctor Bathenal Hilu, head of the psychology department, believes the high rate
of unmarried women is, in fact, a positive phenomenon.
"I see this as part of development, women now want to prove themselves and
anxiety about success is diminishing," he said.
"The embargo is part of the reason for the low number of marriages, but I don't
think it's the main reason. Now it's not a problem if you're 40 and you want to
get married, and this is not just in Iraq."
"In all societies there are lots of single people."
Among Iraq's new class of unmarried women is Dima Amin, an English teacher still
single at 31.
"I'm thinking of having someone maybe with characteristics which are not really
available, that's why," she says.
However she denies that she is simply being more choosy.
"No, it's not like that really, but actually I'm not worried about it," she
said.
"People are not thinking the same way like before, 10 years before it was
something different."
It seems, therefore, that it may be Iraqi men most of all that need the
sympathy.
After more than a decade of sanctions, many feel they can barely afford marriage
and if they do strike up the courage to propose, they could find themselves
snubbed by a newly empowered woman determined to put her career first.
+ + + +
The Times newspaper reports that the CIA were training cats to be spies in the
1960s to use against the Soviet Union.
The project reads like a horror story in terms of sheer cruelty to animals and
will provide a wealth of information for animal welfare groups. The project was
named Acoustic Kitty (cat), in which a cat was fixed with eavesdropping devices
in a series of operations.
The cat’s operating procedure was simple: it was supposed to sit near the target
so that conversations could be picked up and transmitted by the cat’s internal
electronic devices. After five years of planning and preparations, the cat was
fitted with the equipment and sent out on its first mission, its tail having
been transformed into an aerial. D-Day spelt disaster, however, as the poor
animal was killed by a passing taxi as it crept towards its first contact.
The source of this information is the CIA’s disclosed hitherto-secret files from
the Science and Technology Directorate regarding US undercover operations during
the Cold War.
The mission was thereafter classified as “not practical”.
Certainly Osama Bin Laden will quake in terror if from the depths of his cave in
Kandahar he hears a mournful MIAUW. It could be a CIA agent disguised as a cat,
or vice-versa.
+ + + +
Swarvegorilla
fight a
> guerrilla war, from biochemical attacks to finding the fatal pressure
point
> during hand-to-hand combat, has been obtained by western intelligence
agencies.
>
> The 7,000-page guide - entitled Encyclopaedia of Jihad - provides an
insight
> into how terrorists from Osama Bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network operate in
both
> urban environments and on the battlefield.
>
> Filling 11 volumes and circulated both in book form and on CD-Rom to
terrorist
> instructors, it offers guidance on how to inject frozen food with
biochemical
> agents to create mass panic, rig up a door lock to explode when the handle
is
> turned, and bring down a plane with a missile.
>
> "This is an amazing document," said Roland Jacquard, head of the World
Terrorism
> Observatory in Paris. "It gives us a very clear idea of what we are up
against
> with Al-Qaeda and Bin Laden's followers throughout the world."
I'm pretty sure i'm not the only one who would love to read this. For
education purposes of course............
Rizla Ranger (Re-Energised) UK
cat story made me piss meself laffin'!
;)
"Swarvegorilla" wrote
Rizla Ranger (Re-Energised) UK
crew - I seem to be still mopping up pockets of
crossposting resistance within this old thread :(
Sorry, all!
Respec'!
Riz