SITREP - PHOK

[Rizla Ranger UK]

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The Post (Lusaka)
April 2, 2002
Bivan Saluseki

SUSPECTED UNITA rebels have abducted three Zambians from Sikongo in
Kalabo, chief Nabuluyushuwa has disclosed.

But police spokesman Lemmy Kajoba yesterday said police were not aware
of the abductions. Chief Nabuluyushuwa said 15 suspected UNITA rebels
attacked four villagers in Sikongo area and raped one of the women
before abducting the other three.

The chief said the three were being held at a military camp in Angola.
He said the raped woman was admitted to Lewanika General Hospital in
Mongu.

Chief Nabuluyushuwa said the rebel incursions had caused havoc and
misery in Western Province with over 70 families being displaced.
Chief Nabuluyushuwa called on government to deploy more security
officers in the area as his subjects were being harassed by Angolans.

"They have failed to farm because they are running away," he said.
Chief Nabuluyushwa said the villagers were being attacked while their
food and property was being looted. When contacted, Kajoba said he had
not yet received a report on the matter.

And a security guard in Lusaka was yesterday murdered by unknown
people in Kabulonga residential area. Kajoba said Sufuniso Mashete,
33, an employee of one of the local security companies was murdered
yesterday at a house he was guarding in Sunningdale in Kabulonga.

He said the deceased sustained a deep cut on the head and was later
dumped in the swimming pool at the house. Kajoba said the victim had
been guarding the house in the night. He said the house was being
renovated and the owner was not staying there. Kajoba said the body
was discovered by another person in the morning.

He said 17 pockets of cement were stolen including the swimming pool
water pump.

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UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
April 2, 2002

Four people, including two children, were wounded on Monday when
rebels fired mortar bombs into two residential areas in the suburbs of
the Burundi capital, Bujumbura, sources in the capital confirmed to
IRIN.

News organisations reported that successive mortar explosions were
heard on Monday afternoon in the north and south of Mutanga, around
the capital.

"It is true that one of the adults injured during the attack is an
employee of the World Food Programme [WFP]," an official from the
agency told IRIN on Tuesday. "The injury was not very serious," he
said, adding that the official had been at home at the time of the
attack.

The local Burundi news agency Net Press reported on Monday that a WFP
official, Aime-Pacifique Nyenimana, was slightly wounded in the
attack, which took place at Mutanga South Municipal College.

"The attacks were carried out by a small group of rebels who threw
some three mortar bombs at the population," the army spokesman,
Augustin Nzabampema, told IRIN on Tuesday. "Although their motive was
not clear, it is quite likely that they wanted to kill and also create
fear among the population," he added. He said fighting had been in
progress around Isale in Bujumbura Rural Province since last week.

Despite the installation of a transitional government in November last
year, fighting has continued in various parts of the country. The
latest round of fighting resumed on 11 March and has caused the
temporary displacement of thousands of people.

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UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
April 2, 2002

A delegation of community leaders has been sent to the Hauts Plateaux
of South Kivu Province, where clashes have been in progress between
Banyamulenge (ethnic Tutsi) fighters and the rebel Rassemblement
congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma), a Banyamulenge spokesman,
Enoch Sebeniza Ruberangabo, told IRIN on Monday.

The dispatch of the mission followed weeks of fighting between RCD
forces and the Banyamulenge, who have been joined by other tribes,
Ruberangabo said. RCD Secretary-General Azarias Ruberwa also confirmed
that fighting had been taking place.

Ruberangabo, who has written to the RCD authorities to criticise their
handling of the problem, is the coordinator of Shikama, a collective
of Banyamulenge associations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
(DRC). He is also a civil society representative at the
inter-Congolese Dialogue in Sun City. In his letter to the RCD, he
warned that in trying to crush Banyamulenge resistance, the RCD would
increase the risk of the extermination of the DRC Tutsi community.

The Banyamulenge spokesman told IRIN that the image of the RCD as a
Banyamulenge movement was false, and could cause grave prejudice in
terms of people's perception of his community.

Ruberangabo said that since the Banyamulenge uprising broke out in
January, its ranks had been reinforced by hundreds of RCD soldiers,
led by Commandant Patrick Masunzu, an ethnic Banyamulenge officer in
the RCD. "When I left Bukavu [the main town in South Kivu] on 22
February," Ruberangabo said, "there were already 21 dead from the
conflict and 42 wounded in the general hospital."

Thousands of RCD soldiers had been sent to put down the revolt, he
said, but a delegation of Banyamulenge leaders had also been organised
by the Rwandan government. It was intended that the delegation would
isolate Masunzu, said Ruberangabo. "It will be very difficult for them
to negotiate with Masunzu as the delegation was constituted in
Kigali," he added.

The Banyamulenge constitute the oldest Tutsi community in the DRC, and
it is said that most Congolese Tutsis belong to it. Although they are
prominent in the RCD, and have provided many troops for the movement,
there have been several previous clashes between the Banyamulenge and
Rwandan-backed RCD.

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Accra Mail (Accra)
April 2, 2002
Gareth Rannamets

The Commander of the United States Third Air Force, Major General
Kenneth W. Hess, was in Accra last Wednesday for a two day working
visit with the main Chiefs of Staff of Ghana's Armed Forces. He
touched down at the Accra Air Force base in Burma Camp at exactly
eleven o'clock, and was welcomed by a guard of honour on the tarmac.
From there he went to visit first the Chief of the Defence Staff, Lt.
General Seth Obeng, and then the Chief of Air Staff, Vice Marshall E.
Mantey.

General Obeng was reluctant to release exact details of what is on the
agenda, because of obvious security reasons. He said only that the
visit was in order to look at, "how we can work as two armed forces,
and how we can work efficiently together."

The US Third Air Force, though, is one of the two major USAF
contingents based in Europe (specifically, Mildenhall in the UK) and
is responsible for all US Air Force activities North of the Alps in
Europe, and south of the Sahara in Africa. It is also responsible for
'contingency planning' in Africa, which involves constructing various
hypothetical situations in which US forces may become involved, and
then basing future force set-ups on the basis of these possibilities.
The September 11th attacks have led the entire American military
worldwide to reconsider their 'force postures', and the Third Air
Force is no different.

The only hint given by General Obeng was his suggestion that, "in the
future we shall see a lot of co-operation between the two armed
forces." A return visit from the Chief of the Defence Staff to the UK
is already on the agenda, though no specific date has been set as yet.

General Hess arrived with his Chief of Operations, Colonel Steve Dryer
and his personal aide Major Gregg Brown. The group, which arrived on
an official US government jet, left from the Air Force base on
Thursday.

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Accra Mail (Accra)
COLUMN
April 2, 2002
Harruna Attah

Yes, I am one, and I have said so, so many times.

My family and close friends know I'm a Dagomba and proud of being so.

They also know (I told them myself) that Dagomba men have a fondness
for a particular part of the female anatomy - for which I am no
exception!

At times like these, what else can one do if not to go to the basics
of life and try to dredge out some commonality?!

I kid you not, what took place in my traditional capital last week has
shaken me to the core.

I got the news of the assassination of the Ya Na with extreme
trepidation and loathing. I feared the worst. My fears were made more
palpable by totally irresponsible media reporting and commentaries.

I said of my non-Dagomba media colleagues, who seemed to actually be
relishing in the tragedy, "What do they think they are doing? Would
they approach it this way if their traditional areas were up in
flames?" To my Dagomba media colleagues who seemed to be fanning
things, I said, "Fools, if only you knew the damage you are causing
your own people."

Anyway, their own media insensitivities have caught up with us as
peace-loving Northerners have started saying, "Leave us alone".

Really, they should leave us alone, for if they cannot understand our
pain, they should not add insult to our injury.

But as the true Dagomba man that I am, this is what I have to say: "To
work, mma bihi"; we have a country to feed and the rains are almost
upon us. Let's get to work, or else what we fear most - the disgrace
that comes from a Dagomba man's inability to feed his family - will
well and truly befall us. Let it not be said that Dagbon went hungry
because there were no men to farm the lands.

Let the rest of us continue with our day-to-day jobs and leave our
leaders to work out a lasting solution - which in God's name, I am
sure they will.

Already, we have exhibited exemplary behaviour by not allowing things
to escalate to engulf the whole of Dagbon. That's at least something
we can all be proud of. Though painful, let's also count our
blessings.

God help Dagbon, God save Ghana.

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The Nation (Nairobi)
April 3, 2002

A suspected poacher was shot dead by Kenya Wildlife Service wardens on
Easter Monday. A gun and 117 rounds of ammunition were recovered in
the incident.

The man was killed in a shoot-out at Dakawacho, Tana River District,
where poachers killed several elephants from the Tsavo East National
Park

The game wardens also recovered a rifle-propelled grenade after three
other armed suspects fled.

The dead was identified as Mr Hussein Abdul. Police said his
colleagues escaped with their guns.

Coast police boss Samuel Kilemi said they were closing in on the
suspects on the run. He added that police were assisting the KWS to
stop poaching in the park.

Elsewhere, a conservationist said communities living next to protected
forests and marine parks should be allowed to harvest the resources.

This will help end the animosity between government officials and the
communities, said Mr Geoffrey Karume.

He said controlled exploitation of resources in forests such as the
Arabuko-Sokoke Forests in Malindi and Kilifi districts had proved that
neighbouring communities were the best placed to protect them.

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Vanguard (Lagos)
April 2, 2002
Anayo Okoli

THE new police crime bursting outfit, Operation Fire for Fire (OFF)
was launched in the Onitsha Area Command weekend with a charge by the
Area Commander, Mike Okough to the officers and men of the command to
be diligent and sincere in carrying out their assignment.

The launching came on the heels of a new wave of insecurity that has
enveloped Anambra State of recent with incessant reports of robbery
attacks and mysterious killings.

The command, according to Okougha has deplored 400 policemen for the
operation in the command which comprises of about five local
government areas.

Already the outfit has swung into full action with the smashing on
Saturday of a gang of armed robbers that has been terrorising Onitsha
and its environs in recent times. The gang was intercepted last
Saturday while robbing motorists and Okada operators along Cemetery
road, and in the ensuring exchange of gun with a police patrol team on
ALGON jeep, one of the suspects, Kelechi Ogbogu was shot by the police
while another one, Ifekandu Onwuzurike was arrested.

The police recovered from them an Italian made pistol marked 92F Army,
a bag containing 17 printed Holland wrapper, a pair of sandals and a
matchet.

Before the launching of Operation Fire for Fire," last week, Anambra
State had been enjoying a relative security as a result of the
operation of the Bakkassi Boys and the police.

Recently, there have been increased robbery and murder cases. Robbers
have also terrorized parts of Onitsha and its environs and Nnewi
areas.

In Ogidi, near Onitsha, three people were killed by unknown persons in
what appeared to be a political assassination. The state police
command has already made some arrests in connection with the killing.

Okougha disclosed that that he has also warned the outfit against
extortion, terrorizing innocent people and illegal traffic checking,
saying that the commissioner of police has set up a monitoring team to
monitor the operation of the outfit.

"We must make sure that "Operation Fire for fFre" succeeds. I
personally parade them before they take off," Okougha said and called
for the cooperation of the people.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International, Nigeria has commended the Area
Commander for the "roles you played throughout the year, 2001, in your
quest to give the Nigeria police her desired face-lift in Onitsha
area."

In a letter of commendation signed by Anyim Sunday Anyim and Dr. Nkem
Otuka, zonal co-ordinator and campaign co-ordinator for the East,
respectively, Amnesty International noted that Mr. Okougha carries
police job with human feeling and sincerity.

"The sincerity, objectiveness, moral disposition, impartiality and
urgency adopted by you in handling of issues/cases within your command
(as witnessed by our researchers) are worthy attributes which have
endeared you so much to the entire people within your territory,
including the human rights community," Amnesty said.

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Concord Times (Freetown)
April 2, 2002
Joshua Kawa
Freetown

40 girls at the Holy Rosary Secondary School, Pujehun have been
discovered pregnant.

The investigation into the prevalent pregnancy in the school started
when it was discovered in the Queen of the Rosary Secondary School in
Bo (QRS), a sister school of Holy Rosary Secondary that one of their
first year pupil and six other senior secondary school pupils were
pregnant.

Millicent was reported to have given birth in a nearby toilet close to
the school.

The other 6 pregnant students discovered in the school, (names
withheld) alongside Millicent, have been expelled from the school.

Principal Musa has established interim suggestion boxes along Njalu
Road in BO for vital information that would lead to discovery
pregnancy or gross misbehavior of any student.

At the Holy Rosary, Pujehun, the principal Josephine Sowa has said
that the rampant pregnancy of students in her school, stemmed from the
waywardness of the students, coupled with the fact that, there had
been no boarding home to put students of HRS under care and
protection.

Principal Josephine Sowa therefore called on NGOs, school and
government authorities and the public to help combat the awkward
situation facing the school.

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Concord Times (Freetown)
April 2, 2002
Joshua Kawa.
Freetown

Four miners have been killed after a tree at a mining site in Ngelehun
village, Badjia chiefdom, Bo District fell on them while they were at
work.

Another, Sheku Mansaray, who survived, is receiving medical attention
at Ngelehun Health Centre.

Those that died instantly were; Abu Mattia, Ausu Yaya, Sahr Samba and
Alie Brima.

After the incident, an eyewitness, Ivery Tucker of Ngelehun village,
informed the Bo police station. A team of police detectives headed by
detective Inspector H.S.B. Moseray, together with Dr. B.S.

Kargbo of the Bo Government Hospital visited the scene.

According to the Police Media Department in Bo, the post mortem result
states that it was a mere misadventure.

Bo police media boss Sgt. Sesay told Concord Times that, a man called
Simeon Gaba of the same village owned the mining site.

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New Vision (Kampala)
April 2, 2002
Titus Kakembo

At cockcrow yesterday, hordes flocked to the Mayor's Garden in
Kampala, some climbing thorny trees and shrubs, in search of an empty
bottle of BB soda worth sh1m.

"We cannot take chances just because it is Fools day! Last time
somebody got the MTN treasure in the Sheraton. You never know," said
Steven Serubiri as he breathlessly clambered up a palm tree.

At 11:00am, the angry guards at the entrance barred many more fortune
hunters. The disgruntled people complained and accused them of greed
and being unfair.

"They begun coming here by 6:00am during the morning showers. They
have rustled through the garbage, some entered the manholes and roamed
the whole compound in vain. They were all over the place. I don't know
if it is there," a guard said.

The guards estimated the number of hunters were over 100. The hopefuls
were listeners of local radio station Super FM, which at dawn
announced a reward of sh1m to anyone who returns the BB soda bottle to
the station.

The surprised guards were overwhelmed by the publicity when WBS TV
crew, radio presenters and print journalists streamed hot on the heels
of every fortune hunter for a comment about their great expectations.

"It was an idea we hatched up with BB soda brand manager Robert
Kigula. At midday, we had to rescue the hunters from the blazing sun
heat. It was a fools day stunt," said Super FM boss Peter Ssematimba.

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New Vision (Kampala)
April 2, 2002
Amlan Tumusiime

FRESH clashes have broken out between the Bakiga and Banyoro in
Kakindo, Bugangaizi county in Kibaale district over land.

About 200 people have fled the village following the clashes that
started on Sunday night. They are now camped at Katikara trading
centre.

Katikara is about 18 miles from Kakindo.

The Kibaale district Police Commander, Fabian Drazi, said 11 people
were arrested in connection with the unrest.

Drazi said the suspects, who include both Bakiga and Banyoro, would
appear in court today for inciting violence.

He also said several weapons including spears and pangas (machetes)
had been recovered by the Police and would be taken to court as
exhibits.

Sources said during the fight that lasted over six hours, four houses
were burnt and several banana plantations destroyed.

The district chairman, who is also the Resident District Commissioner,
Patrick Baliddawa, said security had been beefed up in the district.

The district CID officer, Erastus Byekwaso, and officials of the
Internal Security Organisation and Military Intelligence have gone to
Kibaale to check on the clashes.

"We have been expecting this to happen in Kakindo, Nkooko and
Kasambya. Our security is enough to contain the situation," Baliddawa
said.

Katikara LCI chairman Peter Bazirake has asked health officials to
intervene, saying the area lacks enough sanitary facilities.

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HECTOR TOBAR
Los Angeles Times Service

STANLEY, Falkland Islands - The landing craft came ashore on a beach
of white sand and turquoise water, a solitary spot where Patrick Watts
and his friends chased away the penguins and raced motorcycles in
their youth.

On that April morning, it was thousands of Argentine teenagers who
spilled onto the beach.

They were ''chicos'' from the pampas on the adventure of their lives,
a tragicomic little war that would change Argentina forever and leave
scars that linger, a generation later, on these remote islands in the
South Atlantic.

The beach at Yorke Bay is closed today, as are many beaches, hillsides
and meadows.

The treeless moonscape of the Falklands is dotted with more than 100
abandoned minefields, each a no man's land since the Argentines
invaded the islands 20 years ago this April.

The scars also run deep in Buenos Aires, where thousands of veterans
live as broken, middle-aged men. Some sell trinkets on buses and
trains, hit hard by their nation's economic hard times. A powerful
stigma haunts many of the 13,000 Argentine survivors of the war.

''Here it says I'm a hero,'' said Raúl Barrera, 39, holding his
veteran's identification card, which he sometimes flashes at skeptical
commuters. ``But when you go to look for work, they find out you're a
veteran and they think you're mentally ill.''

EMOTIONAL TOLL

Six out of 10 Argentine veterans are out of work or underemployed,
according to an advocacy group. About 300 have killed themselves,
including one war survivor who threw himself from the top of a
250-foot-tall patriotic monument in 1999.

The emotional toll is not confined to the losing side. In Britain, the
number of Falklands veterans who have committed suicide since the war
-- 264 -- outnumbers the British deaths in the battle.

''War is a uniquely horrible human activity . . . and it causes injury
to the mind,'' said Stephen Irwin, an attorney for British veterans
from the Falklands and other wars who have filed suit against their
government for allegedly failing to prepare them for the stress of
combat.

In Argentina, the loss of the 1982 war helped usher in the collapse of
a military government and the return to democracy. But today that
democracy is in peril as the official unemployment rate soars to 25
percent. During a Southern Hemisphere summer of upheaval five men
rotated through the presidency.

These troubles make people nervous in the Falkland Islands, which are
about 250 miles off Argentina's southern coast. Claimed by both
nations for centuries, the Falklands -- called the Malvinas by
Argentines, the name they also gave to the war -- have been occupied
by Britons since 1833.

The war, started by Argentine military leader President Leopoldo
Galtieri in a desperate attempt to stay in power, cost the lives of
655 Argentines, 252 British soldiers and three civilians.

During the brief Argentine occupation, the same generals who
''disappeared'' tens of thousands of their own citizens in a ''dirty
war'' against dissent in the late 1970s and early '80s imposed a less
violent, but authoritarian brand of rule on the 2,000 British subjects
who live here.

`NEVER RECOVERED'

''My mother never recovered from the war,'' said Patrick Watts, 57, a
third-generation Falklander. ``She had her house broken into [by
Argentine troops]. She had jewelry stolen and she lost all her cattle
-- either they were killed by the Argentines or they stepped on
mines.''

The British government has invested millions of pounds in the islands
in the past two decades, building badly needed roads. The Falklands
are now synonymous with British patriotism and any talk of Argentine
sovereignty is a political poison pill in the United Kingdom.

There is a new army base and airstrip on East Falkland island, manned
by a large contingent of British soldiers -- the exact number is
classified.

Certain corners of the Falklands have the feel of a military operation
in progress, as if the war never ended. Fighter jets routinely fly low
over Stanley harbor. Strands of barbed wire mark tracts of land where
ubiquitous red signs warn: ``DANGER, MINES.''

MENACING LEGACY

The Argentines planted most of the mines. Nearly all are plastic,
making them difficult to detect. When several British soldiers were
injured in mine clearance work in the days after the war, the army
decided to leave about 18,000 mines buried in the sand and soil.

The minefields are only the most menacing legacy of a conflict that
remains seared in the memory of Falklanders. People here have always
retained the outlook and disposition of an isolated British rural
village. For them, the Argentine occupation was an unwanted encounter
with an alien culture.

The Argentines imposed a chaotic and arbitrary form of rule. They
tried to force Spanish instruction in the schools.

They made people drive on the right-hand side of the road, which
struck Gerald Cheek, an aviation official, as absurd.

Cheek was at the wheel of his car with his family one morning in
Stanley when he found himself in a standoff with an Argentine army
truck -- they were going in opposite directions, but on the same side
of the road.

'I got very angry. I said, `I'm in my country! I'm on the left side of
the road and I'm not moving!' ''

Afraid he would be arrested, Peck set off for the hills.

''I felt safer sleeping under the stars,'' he said.

He became a one-man guerrilla army, sabotaging air strips and taking
notes on Argentine positions. When British troops landed, he joined
them as a guide.

In Stanley, meanwhile, the situation quickly deteriorated. In the
curfew-darkened town, panicky Argentine troops often opened fire on
each other or on wandering dogs and cats.

CULTURAL IDENTITY

The war only served to strengthen the Falklanders' sense that they had
a unique cultural identity apart from Argentina, which continues to
assert its claim.

Jan Cheek, a member of the Legislative Council of Falklands Islands
and Gerald's sister-in-law, is mystified as to why anyone would think
of making the Falklands part of Argentina.

'You look at our way of life here, and what's going on in Argentina,
and you say, `What's the point?' ''

+ + + +

With peace talks broken down, Colombia has plunged into all-out war
with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), one of the
world's largest and most brutal insurgencies. Washington's response is
a bipartisan rush to offer "counterterror" aid to Colombia's military,
essentially putting the drug war on hold.

A supplemental funding request now before Congress would radically
broaden the U.S. mission in Colombia, lifting all restrictions on U.S.
military assistance to target the FARC. It would be a grave mistake,
though, to change our mission in Colombia so hastily. The risks are
far greater than in other second-tier "war on terrorism" countries
such as the Philippines, Georgia and Yemen.

True, terror is a tool of the FARC and the smaller National Liberation
Army, as well as of the rightist paramilitaries of the United
Self-Defense Forces of Colombia. But these groups are larger and quite
unlike the enemies the United States has confronted since Sept. 11.
Unlike al Qaeda or Abu Sayyaf, Colombia's irregulars have nearly
40,000 members between them, control significant amounts of the
countryside and have long histories. Counterterrorism in Colombia
would require a strong dose of counterinsurgency, an area in which
Washington's record is decidedly mixed.

The success or failure of counterterrorism (or counterinsurgency) will
depend heavily on what the Colombians themselves do. U.S. military aid
can make a difference only if Colombia satisfies two very hard-to-meet
conditions.

The first is that Colombia break all links with the paramilitaries and
get serious about stopping them. The United Self-Defense Forces are
responsible for the vast majority of the more than 4,000 noncombatants
killed in Colombia's war last year. Yet the State Department's March 4
human rights report reminds us that "members of the security forces
sometimes illegally collaborated with paramilitary forces" throughout
2001. A well-documented pattern persists of military personnel aiding
and abetting paramilitaries while evading investigations or
prosecutions. This gives strong reason to fear that expanded U.S.
assistance could support units and officers tied to the terrorists of
the right.

The second condition demands that Colombia contribute dramatically
more to its own war effort. Washington alone cannot help a country of
40 million people, with an area 53 times that of El Salvador, whose
150,000-member army can deploy only some 40,000 troops into battle.
(The rest are at desk jobs or guarding vulnerable infrastructure.)
This force would need to triple or quadruple to take on the insurgents
effectively.

It is still unclear whether Colombia will make the necessary
sacrifices. Colombian law excludes conscripts with high school degrees
-- that is, all but the poor -- from service in combat units. The
World Bank's figures show that Colombians pay only 10.1 percent of GDP
in taxes -- half the U.S. figure and far from the 40 percent that
Americans spent on taxes and war bonds during World War II. Bogota
spends only 1.97 percent of GDP on defense, leaving a huge gap to
fill.

The need goes far beyond defense spending. Colombia's war has deep
social and economic roots, and ending it means improving the civilian
government's ability to provide basic services. Even if Colombia meets
both conditions, most U.S. aid must help Colombia meet its nonmilitary
needs.

The danger is that Colombia will satisfy neither condition. Instead of
sacrifice and mobilization, Bogota may choose a cheaper, less
demanding course of action: giving free rein to the paramilitaries.

The 14,000-strong Self-Defense Forces have more than tripled in size
since 1998, and their leaders, riding a wave of drug profits and
donations from wealthy Colombians, are pledging to double again in a
year. The guerrillas' behavior has increased the death squads'
political acceptance. The candidate leading polls for the May
presidential elections, hard-liner Alvaro Uribe, is promising to arm a
million more civilians. On a February visit, I heard several reports
of paramilitaries gathering townspeople and instructing them to vote
for Uribe.

The paramilitary option tempting many Colombians may promise low-cost
victory over the guerrillas -- but only after a bloodbath whose
proportions will shock the world. And any peace that might follow
would be very short indeed.

If Bogota embarks on a good-faith war and a good-faith peace effort,
taking on all armed groups -- right or left -- U.S. support will be
indispensable. If Colombians simply unleash the death squads, though,
military aid will only add to the horror. Before rushing to expand its
mission, the United States must be certain that it understands which
path Colombia has chosen.

The writer coordinates the Colombia project of the Washington-based
Center for International Policy.

+ + + +

1 April: In the last 24 hours, the Palestinians have produced new
tactics for assailing Israeli armed forces engaged in a major
operation to uproot Palestinian terror.

In Qalqilya Sunday morning, April 1, eight hours after a large Israeli
tank and ground force took control of the West Bank city, seven
Israeli soldiers were injured, one seriously, by a Palestinian trap.
Sent to silence a rooftop sniper, they entered the room below – at
which point six explosives planted in the room were detonated.

In Ramallah, one of the houses scoured by Israeli troops for
terrorists and weapons was filled with gas during the night. The
Palestinians attempted to ignite the gas when the soldiers were
inside, but failed.

A far more complex and ambitious tactic blew up in their faces: the
attempt to pit a unit of suicides, especially trained by al Aqsa
Brigades commander Tawfiq Tirawi, against Israeli forces in Ramallah.

This was the first such battlefield confrontation.

It was preceded by an intelligence ruse. Taking advantage of the
turmoil of the Haifa restaurant suicide bombing Sunday afternoon,
March 31, a group of foreign pro-Palestinian campaigners – most from
Europe – managed to get past Israeli forces in Ramallah and reach
Arafat's office. With them were some foreign correspondents.

When the group left the office, planted among them were several
Palestinian terror chiefs wanted by Israel. The moment the campaigners
were outside, they were surrounded by heavy Israeli forces and most of
the Palestinian fugitives captured.

But the protesters performed a more important clandestine service for
the Palestinians, as it later emerged:

While holed up in Ramallah, Palestinian strategists had devised a plan
for deploying a unit of suicides for the first time in battle against
Israeli troops. The unit's mission was to fight the Israeli siege
force and inflict heavy casualties, after which the survivors were to
head for Arafat's compound, break the Israeli encirclement and release
their leader and his men.
Palestinian recovery of control of Ramallah's center – even for a few
hours - would have been a major victory, enabling Arafat to declare he
had broken out of the Israeli siege in 2002, unlike the one in Beirut
1982.

To carry this operation off required intelligence and a means of
sending orders out of the besieged quarters to the unit. The European
protesters were more than willing to oblige. As they advanced on foot
through Ramallah to Arafat's compound, they noted the positions of
Israeli troops and tanks and made their report to the imprisoned
Palestinian leaders. While the news cameras recorded the foreign
supporters hugging and kissing the Palestinian leader, Tirawi took a
group aside and briefed a small group on the orders to be conveyed to
the suicide unit. When they left, they carried orders to the suicide
unit waiting outside in central Ramallah.

That night, a contingent of 40-50 suicide combatants – some armed with
explosive belts - went into action. As they advanced on the government
compound, they were quickly surrounded by elite IDF troops, who fought
their first hand- to-hand battle with a large contingent of suicides
trained in military combat.

The battle lasted six hours. Palestinians with explosive belts
strapped to their bodies attempted from time to time to approach
Israeli soldiers and blow themselves up together – and were thrown
back. The battle ended with the Palestinian unit destroyed or
captured. Six were killed and four seriously injured. There were no
Israeli casualties.

The defeat of Tirawi's crack suicide unit ended Arafat's hopes of
fighting his way out of his corner. His best option now is to take
advantage of the negotiating paths opened up since Sunday by a group
of Arab rulers, led by Morocco's king and European Union officials for
his safe passage outside the area of conflict. Morocco appears to be
willing to accept him as a political exile. Otherwise, he will stay on
as an Israeli prisoner while the men around him gradually turn
themselves in.

The defeat of the suicide unit has wider repercussions. Until Sunday
night, the suicides were considered invincible, capable of bringing
governments and armies low by terrorizing civilians. It is a fact that
not a single Israeli child is to be seen on the country's streets
despite the Passover holiday, that Israel's restaurants, cafes and
shopping centers are shunned and the tourist industry has crashed all
over the Middle East.

The Ramallah battle proved that suicides can be disarmed and
vanquished when deprived of their primary weapon: their ability to
instill fear.

Yet Arafat and his following are reported by DEBKAfile's Palestinian
sources to be utterly convinced they are within an inch of victory,
that Israel has been brought to collapse by the seemingly
inexhaustible supply of suicide bombers. They are now preparing a
further escalation of their offensive by targeting Israeli leaders,
starting with prime minister Sharon.

So confident is Arafat that he now talks to his confidants - not
merely as Palestinian supremo, but as a leader of Middle East stature,
who is capable of bending Arab regimes to his will with his ultimate
weapon – suicidal terror.

+ + + +

Thursday March 28, 2002

Wednesday night's episode had a bunch of Russian Rambos routing a gang
of evil Muslim extremists in the forbidding mountains of Chechnya.
The Chechen Islamists, led by a British-born SAS veteran and mercenary
recruited in Islamabad, sported green headbands with white Arabic
script.

The Russian commandoes wanted not for the best of gear - automatic
weapons, state-of-the-art communications equipment, crisp uniforms.

Fearless and cynical, the commandoes finished off the Chechens in a
hail of hot lead in yet another victory for the Spetsnaz, the elite
Russian commandoes and the eponymous heroes of the latest Russian TV
blockbuster.

The new TV serial, Spetsnaz, started this week on Russia's main
channel.

It features non-stop violence, a stirring rock music soundtrack, and
celebrates the tough guy New Patriotism of President Vladimir Putin's
Russia.

The same mood is evident at the cinema in the new box office smash,
War, by Aleksei Balabanov, whose previous Brat-2 movie had Russian hit
men outwitting and gunning down feckless Americans in Chicago.

War is also set in Chechnya, recounting the exploits of a fierce young
Russian warrior coming to the aid of a desperate English couple
kidnapped by horrible Chechens.

Balabanov's cameras like to dwell on scenes of shocking violence, with
Chechens portrayed chopping off limbs and ears. Some find such scenes
pornographic in the way the camera lingers, relishing the blood and
cruelty.

Russians are used to such scenes, however, from "reality TV" as news
bulletins have shown the charred corpses of bomb victims and a
notorious Chechen warlord shooting a kneeling Russian captive in the
head at point-blank range.

Spetsnaz started with its tales of heroic exploits in Chechnya at
prime time on Monday evening.

The next morning the best-selling tabloid, Komsomolskaya Pravda,
offered a very different glimpse of the reality in Chechnya for the
crack Russian troops.

"Pitiful" equipment, "clerks" sitting behind desks trying to run a
military campaign, huge corruption and incompetence, and rank
insubordination mounting among the very crack units who are the
vanguard in Mr Putin's 30-month war.

The newspaper revealed that elite Russian military units are
increasingly refusing to do combat duty in the war in Chechnya,
embittered by the wretched conditions, poor pay, and the corruption of
the Russian officer class.

"We won't be cannon fodder in Chechnya," declared a police ministry
rapid reaction unit from Cherepovets, 400 miles north of Moscow.

They set the authorities an ultimatum to which the men expect a
response by next week. "If not, we see no sense in further taking part
in the Chechen adventure," the men announced.

The picture they painted of the situation in Chechnya was a far cry
from the uplifting scenes depicted in the new patriotism of the TV
serial and the smash Balabanov movie.

In the past six weeks, anger and bitterness have been evident among
special police units in Kaliningrad, Syktyvkar, Vorkuta, Vologda,
Kirov, and Murmansk, all in northern Russia and all part of a
spreading mutiny against serving in Chechnya.

When eight members of a special police unit refused to go to Chechnya
last month, they were sacked.

The men had to be reinstated after more than 20 of their colleagues
then joined the rebellion.

It is not difficult to see the grounds for complaint. Day by grinding
day, the Russians are sustaining heavy casualties, although the issue
is barely publicised and there has been no public uproar.

According to statistics released this week by the defence ministry,
2,331 Russian soldiers have been killed and 5,898 wounded in Chechnya,
since Mr Putin launched his war in August 1999.

That works out at nine Russian troops killed or maimed every single
day on average for the past 30 months, although these figures are
widely viewed as understated.

In any case they refer only to army conscripts and not to security
service troops or interior ministry paramilitaries, who represent a
large part of the 80,000-strong Russian military in Chechnya.

In this context, the damning and defiant indictment of the Russian war
effort by the men from Cherepovets, highlighted the plunging morale of
the Russian forces almost three years into a conflict that shows scant
sign of ending.

"The leadership of our mobile units in Chechnya is in the hands of
those who know nothing about special units' tactics and methods of
operation," the Cherepovets ultimatum stated.

"There has effectively been a halt to payments to combat units
although you can get a bullet or be blown up by a mine any time.

"Many billions are being directed at the reconstruction of Chechnya.
The results are not visible. But the Chechen administration is
drowning in luxury.

"You get the impression that everything is being bought and sold. So
give us a reason why we should be cannon fodder?"

Pavel Felgenhauer, a military affairs analyst, said: "This sort of
thing is happening all the time, though it's seldom reported.It's all
risk and little pay. Officers are resigning rather than go to
Chechnya."

The venality of the Russian officer class is a persistent cause of the
low morale, and a trial that ended with acquittals of two senior
officers last week in Moscow has done nothing to restore motivation.

The trial revolved around the worst known case of "friendly fire" and
who was to blame for the deaths of 22 Russian troops in Grozny, the
Chechen capital, two years ago this month.

The special police paramilitaries were killed by a fellow Russian unit
in an enormous bungle. The authorities then sought to cover up the
tragedy by blaming the deaths on an ambush by Chechen gunmen.

The acquittals last week meant that no one alive was held responsible,
although one officer who died in the shooting was singled out for
chastisement.

But the trigger for the Cherepovets mutiny was an attempt to extend
the tour of duty in Chechnya from three months to six months.

The rapid reaction forces refused and insisted instead on serving only
two months.

"You'd think we had no families, no homes, and no jobs to do," the men
stated. "Go to Chechnya without a clue, without money and come back to
find your family gone? Why? What for?"

Money is also a major grumble, with the paramilitaries complaining
they are not receiving the combat bonuses they are supposed to
receive. But the criticism is more broadly targeted.

On television and in the cinema, the Russians, of course, are winning
the war. The Kremlin, in any case, proclaimed victory a long time ago
without ever officially having declared a war.

This also angers the men from Cherepovets. "There is still not martial
law but a state of emergency law which does not reflect what's going
on. There's a war on in Chechnya."

+ + + +

March 29, 2002

THE Taleban are reportedly preparing a spring offensive against
American forces in Afghanistan, with 300 suicide bombers ready to
attack installations.
Recent attacks on the coalition forces in the eastern Afghan province
of Khost and in Kandahar has given the Taleban a tremendous boost.
Operation Anaconda was seen as a victory for the Taleban after what
they saw as a premature end to the American offensive, with many
fighters fleeing into Pakistan after relatively limited casualties.

Maulvi Mehmood Din, a senior Taleban official who has just visited
several Afghan provinces, said that guerrilla actions in Afghanistan
would intensify in May.

One of the many activists now based in Pakistan, he said: "We have
some 300 suicide bombers ready to attack the American installations in
Afghanistan. They are confident of mobilising support among the
Pashtuns, who they believe would not accept a foreign-propped
government in Kabul. "People are still with us and the Americans are
being sucked into a war which they can never win," he said.

Mr Din has just returned from Kandahar and Helmand provinces where he
said he met several Taleban leaders. His elder brother, Abdul Haq, a
former minister in the conservative Afghan regime, has been in
Afghanistan for the past couple of weeks planning the comeback as the
Taleban begin to regroup to fight a protracted guerrilla war.

"We are waiting for the snow to melt," another Taleban member in a
border refugee camp said. "Most of our fighters are still there and
can be activated at short notice." He claims that they have enough
arms stockpiled to continue fighting for several years.

There is concern over a growing nexus between Taleban and Pakistani
radical Islamic groups who are challenging the Government of President
Musharraf.

+ + + +

War News
AP
02-04-2002

Russian troops clashed with rebels in two regions of Chechnya, killing
five militants, and police discovered a cache of weapons and
ammunition in the neighboring Russian region of Ingushetia, officials
said Monday. One serviceman was killed and one was wounded Sunday when
rebels put up resistance during a sweep of the city of Argun, said an
official in the Moscow-appointed Chechen administration. Two rebels
were killed and the rest escaped, the official said, speaking on
condition of anonymity.

Three rebels were killed in a skirmish Sunday outside the village of
Tsotsin-Yurt, the site of frequent sweeps by Russian forces. No
servicemen were killed in that clash.

Nine Russian soldiers were killed and 23 were wounded in other rebel
attacks over the past 24 hours, the official said. At least 110 people
were detained on suspicion of rebel ties, as troops continued searches
for militants in five regions of Chechnya including the capital
Grozny.

Meanwhile, police acting on a tip from a camp for Chechen refugees
discovered an arms stash on Sunday in Ingushetia, which borders on
Chechnya. The Ingush Interior Ministry said the find included 30
portable grenade-launchers, a machine gun, three Kalashnikov assault
rifles, ammunition for the weapons, and about five kilograms (11
pounds of explosives).

Two sisters of Adam Deniyev, a deputy head of the Moscow-appointed
administration who was killed in an explosion last year, were shot and
killed Sunday in their homes in the family's home village of Avtury,
the Interfax news agency reported. Rebels had taken responsibility for
Adam Deniyev's killing, saying he was targeted for cooperating with
the Russians. His brother Gazimagomed Deniyev was killed in Moscow
last month, Interfax reported.

In Grozny, a Russian army conscript was freed by Russian forces after
being held two months for ransom, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
The Federal Security Service said Monday it had foiled a plot to
kidnap members of a Russian television crew in Grozny and hold them
for dlrs 1 million ransom.

+ + + +

more L8R

[Paul Edwards]

"Rizla Ranger UK" <o...@ziplip.com> wrote in message news:7499a8cd.02040...@posting.google.com...

> The emotional toll is not confined to the losing side. In Britain, the
> number of Falklands veterans who have committed suicide since the war
> -- 264 -- outnumbers the British deaths in the battle.
>
> ''War is a uniquely horrible human activity . . . and it causes injury
> to the mind,'' said Stephen Irwin, an attorney for British veterans
> from the Falklands and other wars who have filed suit against their
> government for allegedly failing to prepare them for the stress of
> combat.

Bloody hell, they're not wrong with figures like that!

I don't normally listen to things like that, but if the biggest
killer is now suicide, yep, there needs to be more
attention paid to that. For the future, anyway. I wouldn't
say that the government was negligent.

BFN. Paul.

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

Government forces have regained control of Kakata - about 50km (30
miles) of the capital, Monrovia - after the town was attacked by
rebels known as Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy
(Lurd) on Wednesday.

The Liberian authorities say at least three civilians died in the
fighting.
Many of Kakata's residents fled to neighbouring rubber plantations.

+ + + +

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

April 3, 2002

The Australian mining company, Argosy Minerals, will resume its
operations at its Musongati nickel project, southeastern Burundi,
after a two-year suspension, a statement from the organisation said on
Tuesday.

The company suspended its operations in April 2000, due to escalating
political tension and the resulting deterioration in security in the
country at that time, the statement said.

However, over the past year, according to the company, there have been
significant political changes in Burundi resulting from the peace
initiative introduced by Burundi's peace process facilitator, Nelson
Mandela, it said.

"This initiative culminated in the deployment of a South African
peacekeeping force in October last year and the establishment of a
transitional government in November 2001. These measures have resulted
in the easing of political tensions and improved security conditions
ahead of ceasefire negotiations," the statement said.

Following the World Mining Ministers Forum held in Toronto, Canada,
recently, Argosy management met Burundi's Minister of Energy and Mines
and the Director-General of Geology and Mines, the company said. Their
discussions focused on the improving political and security climate in
Burundi and the means by which the world class Musongati nickel
laterite project could be advanced, including addressing
infrastructure issues in association with multilateral agencies, it
noted.

The Musongati complex lies within what has been referred to as the
East African nickel belt, but is more correctly termed as the
Kabanga-Musongati Ultramafic Alignment - a recognised metallogenic
province hosting nickel and cobalt sulphide mineralisation to the
north (Kabanga, Kasese), and platinum mineralisation to the south
(Mibango), the statement said.

The complex comprises three distinct areas - Geyuka, Rubara and
Buhinda - extending over some 16 square kilometres, an area which is
overlaid by a high-grade nickel laterite with an inferred resource of
185 mt grading 1.31 percent nickel, 0.08 percent cobalt and 0.2
percent copper, according to the statement.

+ + + +

Miningweb (Johannesburg)
April 2, 2002
Peter Gonnella

Despite the civil unrest in Burundi, Australian-based junior Argosy
Minerals [ASX:AGY] has taken the brave step of ending its self-imposed
force majeure and is hoping to resume exploration and development
activities in the East African nation. The company took the decision
after positive discussions with the Burundi Minister of Energy &
Mines, Mathias Hitimana, and the Burundi Director General of Geology &
Mines, Mathias Sebahene, during the recent World Mining Ministers
Forum held in Toronto, Canada.

Argosy's wholly-owned subsidiary, Andover Resources, suspended work at
its Musongati laterite nickel project two years ago after rising
political tensions and the subsequent safety concerns in Burundi.
"Over the past year there have been significant political changes in
Burundi resulting from the peace initiative introduced by (former
South African president) Nelson Mandela," said the company's manager
corporate strategy, David Russell. The Mandela-backed peace-keeping
effort saw South Africa mount its biggest ever military deployment in
October last year and the mobilisation was followed a month later by
the formation of a transitional Hutu-Tutsi government.

These measures, according to Russell, have culminated in improved
security. He said the return of Hutu politicians from exile to
participate in the transitional government was an encouraging sign for
the country's future. The current Burundi government, which has a
revolving leadership between the Hutus and Tutsis, has yet to finalise
a ceasefire agreement as it has met with resistance in the form of two
or three interest groups.

Argosy has been monitoring the civil war between the Hutu rebels and
Tutsi army through various channels including sources on the ground
and the United Nations. Although, according to a Reuters report, there
have been at least 29 civilians killed and 80 wounded in the past
three weeks, the junior mining company was optimistic a resolution was
in sight. "The hostilities appear to be winding down," Russell said.

As for the project itself, cleverly - given the serious financial woes
suffered by the three laterite nickel producers in Australia and the
large capex requirements to develop such projects - Argosy has decided
to also throw the market spotlight on the Musongati deposits' platinum
group metals prospectivity. The Musongati deposits were assayed for
platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold in the 1970s and 1980s. That
reconnaissance work and follow-up mineralogical studies revealed the
presence of platinum group metals (PGM) in both the laterite and in
association with nickel-copper sulphides in the underlying ultramafic
rocks. "The PGM association and the implications for an underlying
massive sulphide deposit make Musongati unique from an exploration
perspective," the company said.

Russell said Argosy planned to undertake a new exploration work
program which would include revisiting previous drill intersections of
nickel-copper sulphide mineralisation where PGM assays are known to
exceed 3ppm. Russell said drilling would follow a geophysical survey
and re-examination of the historical data.

"The opportunity for PGMs in addition to the significant nickel-cobalt
laterite resource defined to date presents an opportunity for a major
company to participate in the project on a joint venture basis," the
company said.

The Musongati complex lies within what has been referred to as the
East African nickel belt, but what Argosy says is more correctly
termed the Kabanga-Musongati ultramafic alignment, a recognised
metallogenic province hosting nickel and cobalt sulphide
mineralisation to the north (Kabanga, Kasese), and platinum
mineralisation to the south (Mibango).

The complex comprises three distinct areas - Geyuka, Rubara and
Buhinda - overlain by an inferred open-pittable nickel laterite
resource of about 184.7 million tonnes grading 1.31 percent nickel,
0.08 percent cobalt and 0.2 percent copper based on three drilling
programs carried out by an engineering company acting for the United
Nations and World Bank. This equates to contained nickel metal
totalling 5.3 billion pounds, or about 6 percent of stated world
resources.

Argosy closed A$0.055 down to A$0.435 a share at the end of trade
today.

+ + + +

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

April 3, 2002

At least two people were killed and 12 wounded in an attack on a
passenger train in the Republic of Congo (ROC) travelling from
Pointe-Noire to the capital, Brazzaville, the Congolese government
reported on Wednesday. The attack was said to have taken place in two
separate locations near Kinkembo, some 150 km west of Brazzaville.

The BBC reported that the train completed its journey, and that some
of the wounded were in a critical state when they arrived in
Brazzaville.

Government sources speculated that the attacks had been carried out by
members of the Ninja militia of the Pool region, allied to the
Reverend Pasteur Ntoumi.

Last month, Col Michel Ngakala, the High Commissioner for the
Reintegration of Ex-Combatants in ROC, accused Ntoumi of opposing the
demobilisation of his men and thereby constituting a threat to peace.
Although Ntoumi has expressed willingness to the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Organisation for
Migration (IOM) for his men to be reintegrated, negotiations between
him and the government have thus far been unsuccessful.

Following years of civil war and the signing of two ceasefire
agreements in November and December 1999, the process of demobilising
an estimated total of 25,000 militia fighters began in ROC. These
included members of the Cobras (loyal to President Denis
Sassou-Nguesso), the Cocoyes (loyal to former President Pascal
Lissouba), and the Ninjas (loyal to former Prime Minister Bernard
Kolelas).

All those who surrendered and handed in their weapons were guaranteed
an amnesty by the government, including those responsible for serious
human rights abuses during the armed conflict, according to Amnesty
International. Ngakala's office was created by the government largely
to manage a US $5 million loan from the World Bank to be used for the
reintegration of ex-combatants.

Since the end of the civil war, many former militiamen have
surrendered their weapons in exchange for civilian jobs. Through the
UNDP/IOM programme for the "Reintegration of Ex-Combatants and
Collection of Light Weapons", which has been operating since November
2000, more than 7,500 ex-combatants have been assisted in the
transition to civilian life through funds and training to start small
businesses. Some 1,800 have been reintegrated by the government,
primarily into the army. The initiative has also collected and
destroyed 12,000 small arms.

While the reintegration programme received funding in 2001 from core
UNDP funds, a UNDP Small Arms Trust Fund, Norway, Sweden and USA, it
is now seeking funds for a second phase to reintegrate some 8,000
ex-combatants and to collect about 40,000 small arms. "Although the
European Union (750,000 euros, or $659,745) and Sweden (5,000,000 SEK,
or $486,997) have recently confirmed their contributions to the second
phase, another $3 million dollars is needed to complete the
programme," a UN source told IRIN on Wednesday.

+ + + +

Ghanaian Chronicle (Accra)
April 3, 2002

Yendi is calm and tranquil. So calm that, a first time visitor would
wonder whether it is the same town that grabbed the attention of the
nation, a week ago, when it submerged itself in a gruesome battle that
lasted three days and saw the assassination of its King in bizarre
circumstances.

By Easter Friday, the inhabitants were going about their businesses
and chores without let or hindrance.

After four days of intensive gun battle, except the presence of a
number of soldiers and policemen, there was no sign that the town had
undergone any hostilities.

Houses in most areas of Yendi are intact and the lorry station was
busy as usual. But the same thing cannot be said of the area where the
King's Palace is situated. It looked deserted.

The Palace is a caricature of its original form.

The frontage is riddled with bullets, not from muskets, but
sophisticated arms with strange staccato sounds, said security
sources.

Some of the walls are splattered with bloodstains. Houses around the
Palace were also affected.

The roofs of the Palace have been blown off in the massive
conflagration that engulfed it.

The walls have been pervasively scotched by fire and some have been
knocked down. What remains of the Palace, which was obviously looted,
are the soot of bric-a-bracs.

All the same a couple of policemen stood guard there.

The Chronicle gathered that the late Ya-Na Yakubu Andani II had only
his Palace guards and a modicum of subjects to defend him. They put up
a stoic defence of the Palace before they were eventually overwhelmed.

Under the intensive offensive, only three warriors remained to protect
the Ya-Na and to hold the fort.

Under the pressure, one of the three was killed, another fled and the
other escaped with serious injuries.

Then the Ya-Na, who refused to flee, ventured outside the smoking
Palace.

He was instantly shot in the neck.

His corpse is suspected to be among the twenty-eight that are
deposited at Yendi hospital.

Uptill now the head and limbs of the Ya-Na have not been recovered
though word circulated that they may be close to identifying and
recovering them.

The Government delegation, led by Senior Minister J. H. Mensah, was
there to see the injured on admission.

The delegation, which was on a fact finding and conciliatory mission,
included Retired Major Courage Kwashigah, Minister for Food and
Agriculture; Madam Hawa Yakubu, Minister for Tourism; Mr. Kwadwo
Baah-Wiredu, Minister for Local Government and Mr. Jake Obetsebi-
Lamptey, Minister for Information.

+ + + +

Mopheme/The Survivor (Maseru)
April 3, 2002
Thabo Thakalekoala

Easter is supposed to be a time of peace and calm. It is a time when
Christendom remembers the moment when Jesus Christ laid down his life
so that mankind could be saved from his sins.

However, Easter was not so peaceful and calm for some residents of
Sea-Point and Thibella, Maseru, as they had to be rushed to hospital
after they sustained serious and minor injuries when some members of
the Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) ran amok and attacked patrons of some
public bars and shebeens in the area.

According to eyewitnesses who may not be named for fear of reprisals,
on the night of Thursday, March 28, one of the top military officers
was assaulted and robbed of M300.00 by unknown people at one of the
bars located in Thibella, Maseru.

This happened during a drinking spree accompanied by loud music. The
officer was allegedly strangled outside the bar in a secluded, dark
area and robbed of the cash and his identity card. His attackers fled
after the incident.

According to investigations made by Mopheme/The Survivor, the incident
was not reported to the police for unknown reasons.

During the night of Good Friday, a large contingent of heavily armed
soldiers clad in military fatigues and in private clothes, and
travelling in military and civilian vehicles attacked the bar and
assaulted innocent people who were enjoying their drinks.

Some of the assaulted people interviewed by Mopheme/The Survivor
indicated that they were forcibly made to line and lean against the
wall and searched by the soldiers who were at same time hurling
insults at them.

"They demanded to know the names and whereabouts of the people who
allegedly assaulted their senior officer. Some of us did not even know
that such an incident took place the previous night. After that we
were kicked and beaten terribly so much that many of us sustained
broken ribs, legs and hands and had to receive medical attention," one
of the victims said.

According to victims some of the people assaulted by the soldiers were
police and prison officers who even tried to produce their identity
cards which were ignored by the assailants.

From there the "rampant" soldiers are reported to have proceeded to
sheebens in Thibella where they carried out their mission of terror.

However, it was in Thibella where the soldiers met with severe
resistance from drinkers who wanted to know the purpose of the
"mission" and why innocent people were being harassed.

According to reports received by Mopheme/The Survivor about five pubs
within Sea-Point, Stadium Area and Thibella were attacked and
terrorized by the soldiers. However, no arrests are reported to have
been made.

The military "operation" is reported to have continued until the
evening of Saturday, March 30, 2002. Some of the bars and sheebens
were forced to close earlier than normal during the festive Easter
weekend as some of the revellers chose to stay and drink at home for
fear of being beaten up.

Residents interviewed viewed the matter as unfortunate and uncalled
for.

They indicated that the assault of and robbery of cash from the
unnamed senior army officer should have been reported to the police.

"The soldiers decided to take the law into their own hands and
terrorize innocent people. This does not augur well for the name and
the image of the Lesotho Defence Force. Why did they not follow normal
procedures?" a seemingly furious resident said.

Some of the residents also pointed out that the incident brings back
memories of when the LDF was notorious of harassing and assaulting
innocent people, adding that the incident was unfortunate since the
country is moving towards elections.

"This is a critical period in the history of this country. We do not
need situations like this which may be wrongfully interpreted and
politicized," one of the victims added.

The Assistant Commissioner of Police, Kizito Mhlakaza told Mopheme/The
Survivor that the incident was never reported to the police either by
the aggrieved army officer or the victims of soldiers' harassment.

"We do not know anything connected with such case. I would advise all
the aggrieved parties to approach the police and report this matter so
that necessary steps could be taken," he added.

Commenting on the allegations, Brigadier Sebajoe of the Lesotho
Defence Force said the incident was reported, adding that it is the
policy of the LDF to avail any information regarding the army, its
activities and its personnel to the media.

"We do not want to hide anything. We want to be transparent as much as
possible as a matter of policy. However, I will refer you to Colonel
Victor Mohapi of the LDF Air Wing under whose command the concerned
officer falls," he added.

In a telephonic interview, Col. Mohapi told Mopheme/The Survivor that
the name of the officer in question is Second Lt. Shoaepane Melao.

"It is true such an incident took place on the evening on March 28,
2002 at Mothebesoane's Shop near Thibella. Officer Melao had just
bought a non-alcoholic beverage when he was suddenly attacked by two
young men in front of the shop. They took his wallet which contained
money and his staff identification card. They took money and threw
back the wallet and the ID card at him, and fled in the direction of
Thibella just across the road," he said.

Col. Mohapi pointed out that officer Melao went back to the same place
the following day with five soldiers in plain clothes to investigate
the matter and look for the two young men.

"However, they could not find the two culprits there. That is when
they started the hunt for them going to different bars and shebeens
within the area. But, at one sheeben in Thibella they found many young
men who demanded to know what they [soldiers] were doing there. The
boys were in the company of the Deputy Director of National Security
Service (NSS) who also showed some resistance to the investigations of
Melao and his counterparts. One of the soldiers was taken hostage at
knife-point by one of the boys. That is when one soldier managed to
escape and reported the matter to the officer on duty at the LDF Air
Wing and came back with some soldiers who intervened and solved the
matter.

Col. Mohapi indicated that Melao had agreed to the fact that he and
his colleagues beat up people, especially young men in bars that they
visited in Thibella and Sea-Point, adding that this was done to make
those people disclose the identities and whereabouts of the culprits.

He assured Mopheme/The Survivor that investigations into the incident
are continuing and proper disciplinary measures will be taken against
Melao if he is found to have overstepped the limits.

+ + + +

The Namibian (Windhoek)
April 3, 2002
Maggi Barnard

TWO South Africans from Randfontein were found dead in their tent at
Mile 14 on Sunday morning.

Bernd Porter discovered his father Johannes (48) and his father's
friend Johannes Lampert (44) dead in their beds.

The exact cause of their death will only be known once a post-mortem
has been finalised.

It is suspected that the deaths might have been caused by fumes which
leaked from their caravan's gas fridge.

However, Police at Swakopmund remained baffled as Bernd Porter had
also slept in the tent closest to the gas bottle.

The zip of the tent was apparently also open.

Police also speculated that the deaths might have been a result of
food poisoning.

Bernd was admitted to hospital on Sunday and discharged yesterday.

An officer investigating the case said his condition had deteriorated
yesterday morning and that his tongue was swollen.

+ + + +

P.M. News (Lagos)
April 3, 2002
Bamidele Ogunwusi
Lagos

Six female students of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, (OAU),
were in the early hours of Monday raped by dare-devil armed robbers
who also carted away valuables worth millions of naira at Owode Street
in the ancient city of Ile-Ife.

The street, popularly inhabited by students of the institution, was
invaded around 2a.m. by the armed robbers numbering about 30. The
robbers sacked the security guards on duty in the street and inflicted
severe injuries on the people.

P.M.News gathered that the six students raped during the operation
which lasted about an hour also lost valuables worth of thousands of
naira.

It was also learnt that the students and residents of the area tried
as much as they could to send signals to the police to alert them on
the incident but the sporadic firing by the gun-totting armed robbers
prevented them from doing so.

P.M.News on Monday morning saw hundreds of students of the university
who reside on the street staging a peaceful protest at the police
station in Modakeke, accusing the police of not making any effort to
dislodge the robbers during the operation.

A police source who spoke with P.M.News, however, replied that they
did not receive any distress call on the said robbery operation.

Meanwhile, most of the students who were raped during the operation,
including a well-known lady on campus named Bukky, are said to be
recuperating at a private hospital.

It would be recalled that about 15 students of the institution were
similarly raped three weeks ago by robbers who gained entrance into
their building at about 2.15a.m. The students were beaten mercilessly
and cash worth over N65000 and other valuables like video CD, cassette
players, television sets and foodstuffs were carted away by the
remorseless robbers.

+ + + +

Daily Trust (Abuja)
April 3, 2002
Uwem Umo

The police in Maitama division, Abuja, have arrested a 22-year-old
security guard who allegedly kidnapped his employer's son and demanded
N1 million ransom.

According to reliable police sources, the security guard, Mr. Bitrus
Zumunchi, employed to guard Plot 696 Agadez Crescent, Wuse II, Abuja,
allegedly went to Roberto Nursery and Primary School, also located in
Wuse II, Abuja, and took away one Master Steve Akele, an
eight-year-old pupil of the school and son of his employer.

After convincing the young lad that his mother wanted him taken to
Mararaba, Nasarawa State, he however, diverted on their way and kept
the boy with one Emmanuel Chikwendu at Nyanya, a suburb of the Federal
Capital Territory (FCT).

Abuja Trust further gathered that the security man later asked the boy
for his father's phone number with which his accomplice called Mr.
Akele to demand a N1 million cash ransom.

When the matter was reported to the police, two teachers from that
school were invited to make statements at the police station and the
descriptions they gave matched that of the security man.

Meanwhile, another little boy who was playing with the kidnapped boy
when the security guard went for him also gave a vivid account of the
encounter and also the description of the guard.

However, when the police eventually arrested him, he denied knowledge
of the kidnap but unknown to him, the two teachers who volunteered
statements to the police had seen him when he came to pick the boy.

Under intense interrogation, he broke down and reeled out the details
of the plan that eventually led to the kidnap drama and led police to
where the boy was kept in Nyanya.

According to him, he had been nursing the plan to kidnap the boy for
one year now.

When asked why he kidnapped the boy, he said the father had always
been treating him like a slave and was hostile while he once had a
dream that the man wanted to kill him.

Meanwhile, his accomplice has disappeared and abandoned his house in
Nyanya.

According to the police, the security man alleged that he spent
N15,000 to make the boy comfortable.

The kidnap drama lasted about 36 hours. The police PRO for FCT, Mr.
Nendel Gomwalk (ASP) confirmed the arrest and the recovery of the boy.

+ + + +

P.M. News (Lagos)
April 3, 2002
Bamidele Ogunwusi
Lagos

Luck ran out on a randy 'prophet' in Agugu area of Ibadan last Friday
when he was apprehended by people in the area for raping a 14-year old
girl who incidentally is the daughter of an Oodua Peoples Congress
(OPC) member in the area.

The dreadlocked prophet, who owns a church in the area called Holy
Michael Spiritual Healing Church, was said to have raped the 14-year
old girl on Thursday evening when the girl came into the premises of
the church to sell bread.

The prophet, P.M.News learnt, gave the girl N200 for the 'show' to
prevent her from telling her parents that he had violated her sexually
.

P.M.News also gathered through a reliable source that the prophet, who
is an expert at deflowering young girls in the area, had deflowered
not less than ten young girls since he came to the area two years ago.

However, the girl on getting home informed her parents of her ugly
experience with the prophet. The father, a member of the OPC in the
area, was said to have mobilised men who beat the prophet thoroughly.

It took the efforts of elders in the area before the prophet was
rescued from the boys who had planned to nail him to the cross as
retribution for his despicable acts.

P.M.News also gathered that the prophet was made to sign an
undertaking that the he will no longer sexually harass innocent young
girls in the area. He was also made to pay expenses for the medical
treatment of the girl who was taken to the hospital on Friday.

+ + + +

Standard Times (Freetown)
April 2, 2002
Abdul Kposowa

Skirts were torn apart, lappers were pulled down on the barb wire
fence as panic-stricken inmates of 52 Sackville Street in the east end
part of Freetown abandoned their children in a stampede on Good Friday
when Musa Bayraytay, a soldier SLA 1540/999 armed with a G-3 automatic
riffle stormed the compound in search of his mother, sister and others
to shoot dead.

Eyewitness accounts told Standard Times shortly after the incident
that Musa Bayraytay, alleged to have been under the influence of
drugs, chased his younger sister with whom he had earlier had a
quarrel.

Sources said the frightened girl, Amie Bayraytay out ran Musa and
entered into a nearby store where he docked for cover. Musa then
attacked the No 52 Sackville residents and demanded that his mother,
Mrs Fatmata Bayraytay, come out of the house as he Musa was aggrieved
over his mother's persistent query for his anti social behaviour.

The mother struggled to escape from his killer son but as fate could
have it, the blood thirsty soldier fired at the woman twice, the first
bullets hit the deceased on the head, the second on the left side of
her chest. She cried for help but by the time the other inmates came
to her rescue, she dropped dead.

There was pandemonium as people ran in all directions in great panic.
The police were soon called in.

Family sources say Musa Bayaraytay had been behaving abnormally. In
fact it was alleged that Musa Bayraytay stole the G-3 weapon from
another military personnel at the Murray Town Barracks which he used
to attack his family.

It is further alleged that Musa Bayaraytay was one of the west side
boys that terrorised motorists as well as commuters on the
Waterloo-Masiaka highway.

Sources say the late Fatamata Bayraytay had some of his children and
other family members in the United States and Canada. The money and
other goodies those relatives used to send have been the source of
grudge the young soldier had for his family and because of this past
record the mother have relinquished her motherly care for the rude and
unruly soldier.

Few minutes after the incident some civilians in the area braved it
out and arrested the killer soldier and handed him over to the Eastern
Police station.

Meanwhile, the remains of Madam Bayraytay were buried the same day
after a postmortem examination at the Connaught mortruary. The murder
suspect is said to have been handed over to military authorities,
awaiting court martial

+ + + +

New Vision (Kampala)
April 3, 2002
Felix Osike

THE US government has backed the on-going military operation by the
Uganda People's Defence Forces, against the Lord's Resistance Army
(LRA) rebels in Southern Sudan.

Defence minister Amama Mbabazi on Saturday said "they support it," and
added that other friendly countries to Uganda had also been informed
of the operation.

The LRA led by Joseph Kony and the Allied Democratic Forces is listed
as an international terrorist organisation alongside the al Qeada
network of Saudi dissident and America's most wanted man, Osama Bin
Laden.

Mbabazi said Uganda had not sought for material support from any
nation.

He said on Friday the operation would be limited to the approved
defence ministry budget.

"It will not affect our budgetary provisions, but we will have to do a
bit of adjustments. Some activities may have to wait for the next
financial year," he said.

The UPDF launched a military offensive on LRA camps on Thursday,
following a protocol signed between Uganda and Sudan.

By Friday, the UPDF had captured five camps and recovered several
weapons.

The captured camps are Lara, Orek, Rwot Kempaco, Lubangatek and Bin
Rwot, located about 90km from the Uganda border and covering an
estimated area of 100 square kilometres. The rebels had stocked enough
food for six months.

The operation involves destroying LRA camps and rescuing children who
are in Kony's captivity.

Mbabazi said Kony's entire force had moved from their enclave near
Juba to the south, towards Uganda border.

The Sudanese People's Armed Forces (SPAF) have also sealed off the
northern exit route for Kony forcing him to flee towards the Sudanese
People's Liberation Army (SPLA) controlled areas.

SPLA has also allowed the UPDF to use its territories for the
operations.

+ + + +

New Vision (Kampala)
ANALYSIS
April 3, 2002
Gawaya Tegulle

The death by firing squad of two UPDF soldiers has opened debate, not
only on the wisdom and fairness of the Field Court Martial as a forum
of dispensing justice in the army, but more importantly, its
constitutionality.

On March 25, Private Abdullah Mohammed and Corporal James Omedio were
executed publicly in Kotido after a Field Court Martial found them
guilty of murdering an Irish priest, Father Declan O'Toole, his cook
and driver.

The investigation, trial and execution took place within less than 72
hours after the crime, a haste which was widely questioned by the
Ugandan public and passionately condemned by various sections of the
Irish civil society and the international community.

Controversy was heightened by the bizarre pronouncement that the
accused would be executed - even before court had began hearing the
case.

Defence minister Amama Mbabazi defended the UPDF move as perfectly
constitutional and well within the legal parameters of Ugandan
military law.

The law governing the Court Martial is the National Resistance Army
(NRA) Statute 1992. This law provides for the existence of military
law, stipulates who is subject to it and the hierarchy of the military
court system, as well as the parameters within which each court may
operate.

This Statute establishes five kinds of Court Martial -- the Unit
Disciplinary Committee (UDC), Field Court Martial, Division Court
Martial (DCM)and General Court Martial (GCM). The fifth is the Court
Martial Appeal Court that dispenses appellate jurisdiction only,
arising from the decision of the General Court Martial.

Under section 76, the UDC is the lowest and is chaired by a Captain or
above. Its jurisdiction is limited to cases other than those involving
murder, manslaughter, robbery, rape, treason, terrorism and
disobedience of lawful orders resulting in loss of life.

A case beyond UDC jurisdiction is referred to the DCM which is headed
by a Major or a higher-ranking officer and has unlimited jurisdiction
-- it may try any offence under the NRA Statute.

The GCM has both original and appellate jurisdiction over all persons
and offences in the army and may sit anywhere in Uganda. The Field
Court Martial is a special military court designed to dispense summary
justice in war situations. It is different from the General Court
Martial and the Division Court Martial in that it serves in situations
considered impracticable for these two types of court martial to
apply.

A war front is one of those out-of-the-normal situations where it is
simply impracticable for the army to take weeks and months conducting
investigations and sitting in court sessions for long periods of time.

The idea is that a quick investigation must be conducted, a quick (and
presumably thorough) trial held, the verdict pronounced and justice
duly dispensed.

Much of the time the public romanticises military service as
honourable without exception - highlighted by famous battles, displays
of courage under fire and medals earned. But military researchers say
this is not always the case. Many soldiers' military service is not
always courageous and honourable.

Much of what actually happens is what soldiers would not brag about to
their families. Army life is hard, and desertion, insubordination,
cowardice under fire, theft, murder, and rape are not uncommon -- like
any other humans under pressure, soldiers can make mistakes.

Section 92 of the Statute stipulates the following penalties: death
being the highest, followed in descending order by imprisonment for
two or more years (including life sentence), dismissal with disgrace
from the army, imprisonment for not more than two years and dismissal
from the army.

Next is detention, reduction in rank, communal labour, forfeiture of
seniority, suspension, severe reprimand, reprimand, caution, fine,
stoppages and such other minor punishments as may be prescribed.

Under section 91 of the Statute the President, who is also the
Commander-in-chief of the army, may exercise his prerogative of mercy
over all decisions of all court martials -- with the exception of the
Field Court Martial.

Article 121 of the Constitution that bestows the prerogative of mercy
on the President stipulates in agraph (6) that he

What soldiers say

Last week, two junior soldiers of the UPDF were executed by firing
squad after being tried and found guilty of killing Fr. Declan
O'Toole. The two were tried under the field court martial. The New
Vision's Joshua Kato talked to several junior soldiers on their
perception of the field court martial and whether they offer justice.
All the interviewees preferred to remain anonymous. Below are their
views:

The court is set up to control soldiers. We are a sensitive part of
society. We carry guns, we are trained to kill, we need laws to
control us. My main worry is that the court martial might be used by a
unit commanding officer to settle personal feuds with junior officers.

The field courts are good. They deter us from committing acts that can
compromise our stand in the field, says a lieutenant at Bombo. Killing
civilians in an operation area, or stealing, or even insurbodination
can compromise a whole operation. This is why we need these courts.

My problem is that these courts were set up for all of us, not for a
few of us in the army,

But more often, these courts discriminate in their mode of operation.

Many officers with cases that should be taken before a unit or even
general court martial are not taken, while those with minor cases are
taken there. This is my problem with our laws. But all other armies in
the world have got similar courts.

The court martials are our laws, just as other fields and
professionals have their laws. When you join teaching, you have to
move according to the teaching service code. Likewise, when you join
the army, you have to move in line with the army code of conduct, with
the inevitability of facing the court martial.

These laws make us look like non-humans, which is not the case. I am
not saying that we should not have army courts, but I sometimes don't
like the way we are handled.Soldiers might be sentenced to death and
executed because of the limited time for the trial and the fact that
the field court martial does not allow for an appeal.

We joined the UPDF well aware of these laws. Sometimes we fell victim
of them and earn ourselves punishments, but that is how it should be.

Of all 15 soldiers The New Vision talked to, only one said that these
courts are bad. However, all of them were worried that the court
martials might be misused by senior officers to settle personal
grudges with their juniors. This is what the army command should
check.

+ + + +

New Vision (Kampala)
April 3, 2002
Emmy Allio

THE UPDF has captured a large cache of arms from Kony rebels in
southern Sudan.

The defence minister Amama Mbabazi yesterday briefed the Cabinet on
the progress of the operation in Sudan and presented a list of the
captured arms, which were estimated to be worth sh3.5b.

The arms were captured last Friday. Some five rebel camps have been
overrun by the UPDF.

"The value of the arms reflect the value of the operation. Any army
that loses such a quantity of arms loses half its strength," army
spokesman Major Shaban Bantariza said yesterday.

Arms captured include seven 60mm mortars, two 12.7mm Katyusha, 150
sub-machine guns (SMG's) and 63 boxes of ammunition, 21 landmines, 26
hand grenades, 213 boxes of 82mm bombs, ten 107mm (Katyusha) bombs, G2
machine guns, G3 rifles and anti-personnel mines.

Also captured were three Toyota Landcruisers, one motorcycle, seven
sewing machines, three bicycles and a large quantity of food that
could feed the 6,000 rebels and captives for six months.

"The capture of these items now opens phase two of the war that will
involve pursuing and smoking out the lightly armed rebels from their
hiding," Bantariza said.

He said, "Without more foreign support and no time to settle to
cultivate, Kony is almost finished."

Mbabazi over the weekend said the army had overrun Kony's camps at
Lara, Orek, Rwot Kempaco, Lubangatek and Bin Rwot, about 90km from the
Uganda border.

Mbabazi said Kony's force had moved to the south of Juba. The Sudanese
army has sealed the northern exit route, forcing Kony to flee to the
SPLA controlled areas. SPLA has allowed the UPDF to get him there.

+ + + +

BOGOTA, Colombia - Colombian army troops discovered and then
dismantled an abandoned rebel resort complete with a swimming pool, a
dance hall, satellite television and hundreds of bottles of whisky and
beer.

The ``Eden Spa'' complex was hidden deep in the jungle, inside a
former rebel safe haven in southern Colombia that President Andres
Pastrana revoked on Feb. 20 when the country's peace process
collapsed.

In the compound of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or
FARC, soldiers found 500 bottles of whiskey and 500 cases of beer,
plus imported alcohol like Chivas Regal and Baileys Irish Cream,
according to video of the site that was broadcast Wednesday by RCN
television.

Gen. Roberto Pizarro, chief of the army's Southern Joint Task Force,
estimated the complex was worth about $900,000. He said the army has
dismantled three other similar rebel resorts.

+ + + +

BOGOTA, Colombia -- The Colombian Air Force bombed a rebel column in
the south, killing at least 40 guerrillas, an air force colonel said
Wednesday.

The rebels were discovered on a highway built by the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, 125 miles south of Bogota,
according to Col. Flavio Ulloa.

Bombers were sent into the area Tuesday night and air force officials
showed the press a videotape of the operation. People could be seen
fleeing the attack. Ulloa said between 40 and 80 rebels died. There
was no immediate way to independently confirm the death toll.

Meanwhile, two mayors in Arauca state were kidnapped Wednesday by men
dressed in military uniforms, police said. Three other local
government officials in Aruaca disappeared Tuesday, police said, but
the circumstances were not clear.

Members of illegal, right-wing paramilitary forces have been known to
wear Colombian military uniforms.

Colombia's various armed groups use kidnapping to intimidate local
politicians, and to collect ransom.

Colombia's 38-year civil war pits the FARC and a smaller rebel group
against the paramilitaries and government forces. Some 3,500 people
are killed every year in the fighting.

+ + + +

03 April 2002

MEERAN SHAH (News Desk): American and British troops have begun a
major operation in the eastern Afghan province of Khost, and have been
distributing dollars to the villagers in the region. According to
information received from Meeran Shah, U.S. and British soldiers have
been observed roaming the area in APCs. On Monday, the coalition
troops raided some mountain trenches at Zawar but did not succeed in
finding any large stockpiles of ammunition. During the operation, the
troops were seen distributing dollars among the local people to please
them and gather information about the Mujahideen. No further details
were available at the time of writing this report.

Special News

"WE ONLY USED TO GET A SINGLE PIECE OF BREAD TO EAT FOR THE WHOLE
DAY", SAYS AN EX-PRISONER OF SHIBARGHAN TORTURE CELL IN AFGHANISTAN

SIRA-E-NOORANG (Special Report): One of the prisoners who was released
recently from the Shibraghan torture camp said the following during an
interview:

"Praise be to Allah who blessed us with Islam. The Iman and morale of
the brothers, who are still in torture camps in the different regions
of Afghanistan, is still at the highest level. The world cannot even
imagine the conditions these brothers have been facing for the past
six months.

They are only given a single piece of bread to eat for the whole day.
Many of them have already been martyred due to the lack of food. They
are not provided with any sort of medication and this itself has
resulted in the martyrdom of at least 200 of the Mujahideen.

The brothers are being tortured on daily basis, and by Allah, the
intensity of the torture is being increased daily. The enemy tortures
them using different types of machines like drill machines, electric
saws, etc.

The whole world mourned at the death of those few thousand people in
WTC, but how many eyes have shed any tears for the ruthless conditions
and treatment which our brothers are facing these days in different
parts of the world!"

http://www.azzam.com Daily news, articles and interviews on the Jihad
in Afghanistan

+ + + +

Kavkaz Center
03-04-2002

Chechen commander Amir Rizvan, whose subunits are actively operating
in Vedensky District, has told Kavkaz Center's correspondent that
Russian aircraft carried out bomb strikes on a mountain base, where
Russian prisoners of war were being held, at dawn on Tuesday. Amir
Rizvan said that 11 captive occupiers were killed on the spot by a
bomb that fell directly on a dug-out. Amir Rizvan did not elaborate on
other details of the incident.

+ + + +

Radio Kavkaz
03-04-2002

The Leader of the Information Center of the United Command of
Mujahideen of Dagestan, Zeid Dagestani, gave a brief interview to
Radio Kavkaz where he reported that Russian authorities started to
recruit mercenaries for combat operations in Abkhazia.

Zeid Dagestani: "According to our reports, the recruitment of
mercenaries into Russian gang formations for participating in combat
operations on the territory of Abkhazia has started. In particular,
such work is being conducted in Buinaksk military headquarters. At the
same time, under the threat of physical reprisal against their
relatives, young men from Chechnya are being drafted into Russian
armed forces which are now being deployed in Dagestan. Manipulations
with conscripts are also being conducted in other republics of
Caucasus.

We are convinced that such actions by Moscow have clearly outlined
goals and tasks. The Kremlin is trying to turn the growing war for
national liberation by the nations of Caucasus against Russian empire
into an internal conflict in Caucasus. Russian leaders have plans to
seriously split the nations of Caucasus in order to retain the
territories of Caucasus occupied by Russia. According to these plans,
a native of Caucasus will be supposed to kill his fellow Caucasian
native, a Muslim will be supposed to kill a fellow Muslim, and a
Christian will kill his fellow Christian.

As we already know, the secret recruitment for the war in Abkhazia is
also under way in other republics of Northern Caucasus. There they
promise mercenaries large sums of money. Massive anti-Georgian
propaganda is being conducted among them. During confidential
conversations with potential mercenaries Russian secret services
officials are promising them land and houses on the territory of
Abkhazia (in the resort area), as well as on the territory of Georgia.
According to the reports from our sources, on March 18 at the Buinaksk
military headquarters some official from Russian secret services, who
identified himself as FSB Colonel Andrievsky, during his conversation
with the mercenaries who signed the contract, stated that "the
Americans along with Chechens and Georgians want to attack Abkhazia
and take that territory away from Russia. We must forestall it and be
in Tbilisi before the Americans settle there..."

Since your radio station is heard by many people in Caucasus, I would
like to seize the opportunity and call on all Dagestanis on behalf of
Dagestani Mujahideen not to fall for Moscow's provocations and not to
play the disgraceful role of a puppet in the dirty hand of Kremlin
puppeteers. If you do not want caskets from the Caucasus front to be
coming to your cities and villages, do not yield to the persuasions
and promises of Kremlin criminals. Boycott the service in Russian army
which turned into a gang of robbers and murderers long time ago".

+ + + +

United States officials are investigating a statement by a prisoner
captured in Afghanistan and held in Cuba that he is a US citizen.

The man, named by the ABC news network as Yasser Esam Hamdi, was
captured after a November prison uprising in the northern Afghan city
of Mazar-I-Sharif.

The Justice Department says it has found a birth certificate in the
southern state of Louisiana that appears to match his claim that he
was born there.

Children born in the United States are automatically American
citizens.

If the claims prove true, Mr Hamdi would be eligible to be transferred
to the US mainland.

So far, only one US citizen, John Walker Lindh, has been found among
Taleban and al-Qaeda fighters captured during the US-led campaign
against terror.

Mr Hamdi is one of around 300 suspects being held at Camp X-Ray, in
the US base at Guantanamo Bay.

Mr Hamdi says he was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where his parents
were working.

He accompanied his parents to Saudi Arabia when he was a toddler.

The executive order, signed by President Bush last year allowing
suspected terrorists to be tried in military tribunals does not extend
to US citizens.

That means that Mr Hamdi could be eligible to be moved to the mainland
and face a civilian trial like that being used to prosecute Mr Walker.

Mr Walker faces 10 charges including conspiring to kill Americans and
providing support to terrorists, including Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda.

On Wednesday, lawyers for Mr Walker said he was "tortured" into
confessing and was mistreated by the FBI

+ + + +

Molotov cocktails have been thrown into a building which houses a
synagogue in the French city of Montpellier, just hours after a Jewish
school's bus was burnt out in a Paris suburb.

Firebombs were thrown in through a window of the Montpellier building,
starting a brief blaze in local government offices beside the
synagogue. No-one was injured.

In Aubervilles, a northern Paris suburb, a bus belonging to a Jewish
school was found burnt out in a car park overnight.

The incidents appear to be the latest in a string of attacks against
the country's Jewish community, which officials believe is linked to
the escalating violence in the Middle East.

+ + + +

The Afghan interim administration says it has uncovered an
anti-government plot and has arrested at least 50 suspects in the
capital, Kabul.

The director-general for security at the Interior Ministry was quoted
by the Association Press news agency as saying the plot - the most
serious threat yet to Hamid Karzai's fledgling administration -
included plans to set off bombs throughout Kabul.

General Din Muhammad Jurat said most of those arrested were members of
Hezb-i-Islami, a hardline Islamic group headed by former prime
minister and mujahedin commander Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

Mr Hekmatyar's forces were among several groups which battled for
control of Kabul in the 1990s, inflicting great damage on the city.

Lieutenant-Colonel Neal Peckham, spokesman for the International
Security Assistance Force (Isaf), said about 300 people had been
arrested by the Afghan authorities in the past six or seven days,
including 12 people arrested on Wednesday night.

He said peacekeepers were not involved in the operations, but in many
cases were tipped off about planned arrests, so that they could stay
clear of a particular part of town.

+ + + +

[Flash]

"Paul Edwards" <kerr...@nosppaam.w3.to> wrote in message
news:v4Uq8.17471$hi7....@news-server.bigpond.net.au...

classic Paul statement

Flash

[Paul Edwards]

"Flash" <Work...@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:CfWq8.29310$uR5....@newsfeeds.bigpond.com...

And what's wrong with it? The government did not have prior
knowledge that there would be more suicides than fatalities in
the Falklands.

In fact, strictly speaking, they would need to have like 10 wars
in a row where this is true, before they can say that a pattern
is emerging, it's not a once-off.

And also, they need to show that the number of suicides are
significantly higher amongst soldiers who have served in war,
compared to soldiers who didn't serve.

So yes, they're a long way from being negligent. It is something
that should be investigated though.

BFN. Paul.

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

The NEWS (Monrovia)
April 4, 2002
Sheriff Z. Adams
Monrovia

The dissidents attack in Kakata yesterday, at about 11:a.m.,
reportedly left two Lebanese merchants dead. Elliah Hage and George
Hage were killed after the rebels had taken brief control of the town.
Eye witnesses told reporters that the rebels also abducted scores of
people while retreating.

A team of journalists traveled to the city along with a convoy of
United Nations officials currently on an assessment mission in
Liberia, saw an emotional scene of government troops in combat
readiness.

Our reporter traveled with a team of journalists to the city few hours
after government troops had flushed the rebels out and saw the police
headquarter in Kakata burnt down while several vehicles including
those belonging to government troops, were also seen burnt.

Defense Minister Daniel Chea, speaking to journalists in Kakata City
after he had briefed Harjit Sandhu, head of the UN assessment mission
to Liberia said about a platoon of dissident troops attacked Kakata by
11:15 a.m.

Minister Chea said the dissidents entered the city with some civilians
who carried their ammunition.

He said most of the residents of the town fled toward the Firestone
area while others moved toward the central Liberian town of Gbarnga.
Fleeing civilians could be seen along the Kakata-Monrovia highway.

The Defense Minister disclosed that government troops captured one of
the dissidents during the attack.

The captured dissident, Jehu Kamara, said to be in his teens, admitted
that he was captured by government troops, but he denied being a
fighter.

Kamara told reporters that he was captured in Bopolu by the
dissidents, but he refused to join them to fight although he had been
with the dissident.

Kamara also said he came along with more than 100 dissidents from
Bopolu totting their ammunition boxes. The captured fighter identified
the chief of staff of the dissidents as one Blackie.

Defense Minister Chea also told reporters that there was no casualty
on government side, although he could not say whether the dissidents
sustained any casualty. The Minister narrated that the dissidents
by-passed Morris Farm to attack Kakata.

"...Kakata is a central point; if you allow dissidents sit here, you
will cut off Monrovia from the rest of the country... and we were not
going to allow that to happen," he declared, saying "we didn't just
rely on one unit, so we pull all the units in gear...."

Government troops were seen patrolling every part of Kakata. He said
the dissidents were being pursued toward the Bong Mines areas, saying
"we want to know exactly from where they came in."

The defense boos said while government troops were anticipating the
attack, the dissidents by-passed their positions and attacked them.

"Government position is very difficult right now...," Minister Chea
indicated, adding "government has the responsibility to deal with
these people, but at the same time, government is hit by the arms
embargo. We could have done a lot more for our people had we not been
hit by an arm embargo... but as it is now, it is very difficult...we
are trying to do some tough jobs under very difficult conditions," the
Minister stressed.

Girard Farad, a surviving Lebanese merchant, told reporters that when
the dissidents entered the town they moved into the homes of the Hage
brothers and demanded money and other valuables.

He Claimed that US$600.00, and some Liberian dollars as well as
videos, televisions and other items were given to the dissidents.

Farad said most of the dissidents had plasters on the left side of
their faces. Some them he said in mufti while others were dressed in
full military uniforms.

As the convoy of journalists and the UN assessment team drove off the
city, government troops posted in strategic positions were seen in
battled readiness.

+ + + +

Concord Times (Freetown)
April 4, 2002
Sahr Komba
Freetown

A bomb explosion has claimed the lives of four children in Kono.

The incident took place recently at Simbakoro in the Nimikoro
chiefdom, Kono District.

The children are said to have been playing around a compound when they
reportedly picked up an object which they started playing with.

The unsuspecting children met their death when the bomb was detonated
while they were playing with it.

The four kids were reportedly killed on the spot.

As a result of the incident, an extensive search was carried out.

Nineteen more bombs were discovered.

According to the town chief of Koidu town, Sahr Chendeka, two Ak47s
were also discovered buried behind a house.

When contacted, Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police, Francis Munu
confirmed that he was aware of the incident but would not say how many
people were killed.

He said "the explosive ordinance disposal experts were aware of the
incident" and added that moves were in progress to search for
undetonated bombs in Kono and other parts of the country.

"The incident is a manifestation of problems that will be faced in
post-war era," one Kono elder remarked.

When contacted, Unamsil sources denied having knowledge of the
incident.

+ + + +

Rebels known as Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy
(Lurd) have launched a fresh series of hit-and-run attacks near the
capital Monrovia, according to the Liberian Government.

Lurd guerrillas attacked the town of Tubmanburg, 60km (37 miles)
north-west of Monrovia on Thursday, defence officials say.

The fighting follows a raid on the town of Kakata - 50km north-east of
the capital, Monrovia - which the rebels briefly held on Wednesday.

Lurd rebels based in northern Liberia have waged a sporadic campaign
against the government of President Charles Taylor since mid-2000, but
have pushed south towards Monrovia in recent months.

In the attack on Tubmanburg, the rebels appeared to have come from the
direction of Bopolu, their main stronghold.

There are no details on casualties

+ + + +

4 April: Four men are now in Israel's sights. Two – Yasser Arafat and
Palestinian intelligence chief Tawfik Tirawi – are under siege in
Ramallah.
The other two – Fatah-Tanzim militia chief Marwan Barghouti and Rashid
Abu Shbak, deputy to Gaza preventative security chief Mohammed Dahlan
– are running for their lives with Israeli intelligence services on
their heels.
These manhunts take time. Palestinian bombmaker Yahya Ayyash was not
caught in a day, while the world's most wanted fugitive, al Qaeda's
Osama bin Laden, and his senior lieutenant, the notorious Imad
Mughniyeh, continue to elude the most
intensive pursuits.

A senior Israeli security source, asking to remain anonymous, told the
Washington Post that Israel's biggest mistake in the past 18 months of
the Intifada was to show too much respect for the Palestinian
Authority's top executives. They were awarded VIP passes, weapons,
their entrée to the White House, money, territory, an airport, a
seaport, health services and jobs.
Israel was repaid with lynching, explosives belts and a widening
culture of suicide bombings.

Back in October 2000, DEBKAfile was the first to carry the transcript
of a telephone conversation between Arafat and Barghouti, in which the
Palestinian leader told the militia chief, "Kill – kill as many Jews
as you can."
Several days later, DEBKAfilerevealed that Tirawi, the intelligence
chief, had taken charge of the terror offensive on the
Modi'in-Jerusalem highway, and that he and Barghouti had split up the
terror orbit between them – the Ramallah-Jerusalem highway for
Barghouti; the Modi'in-Jerusalem Route 443 for Tirawi.
Dahlan is the equal of any of the other four terror chiefs.
DEBKAfilewas again the first publication to take a close look at the
Gaza security chief's exploits in the long months of the Palestinian
confrontation. An innovator, with a good scientific brain – if
terrorism can be termed a science – it was Dahlan who first applied
cellular telephones to triggering car bombs and explosive devices. He
created the Palestinian "military industries", that manufacture
mortars and rockets. Most recently, Dahlan orchestrated the
bomb-blasts that destroyed two Merkava-3 tanks.

Arafat also entrusted him with welcoming Hizbollah arrivals in the
Gaza Strip.
All the same, not he but his deputy, Abu Shbak is the object of
Israeli pursuit.

The Gaza terror executive has drawn an immunity card against a promise
to the Americans and Israelis to kept the Gaza Strip calm as long as
battles rage in the West Bank.

Overnight, bombings, infiltrations and shooting attacks have tapered
off in the territory he controls. An unseen hand has miraculously
silenced every rifle barrel and explosive. Hamas and Islamic Jihad
have melted into the background, and talk of dialogue with their
leaders instead of Arafat's Fatah has dried up.
Dahlan believes that after the Israeli army cleanses the West Bank of
terrorists, his big chance will come to take over that territory too.
He has promised that he will bring tranquility there, like the Gaza
Strip.
In more than half the world, meanwhile, Israeli is being condemned for
its operation to purge terror. UN secretary general Kofi Annan and
leaders in Europe, China and Japan, backed by vocal media, demand an
immediate halt to Israel's counter-terror offensive. On the other
hand, the US leaders -- President George W. Bush, defense secretary
Donald Rumsfeld and secretary of state Colin Powell – sing a different
tune. They are quietly supported by German chancellor Gerhard
Schroeder, Russian president Vladimir Putin and British prime minister
Tony Blair, who thus indirectly sanction the Israel action.

Arguments heard from opposition groups in Israel, contending that the
Sharon government is taking on the whole world by continuing its
offensive, are treated by the Israeli majority as self-serving rather
than representing the true situation. Some Israeli media, for example,
distorted US secretary of state Colin Powell's latest message. He was
represented as voicing a strong opinion against Arafat's removal. All
he said in fact, was that the Palestinian leader must not be forcibly
deported. If Arafat chose to leave voluntarily, it would be perfectly
acceptable to Washington.

One of his comments struck a note of hostility to the Palestinian
leader: If Arafat moves somewhere else, he warned sternly, he will
keep on doing there what he has been doing here. The implication was
that those doings would not become more salutary if transplanted.
Clearly, the US secretary of state is under no illusion about Arafat
continuing his war of terror against Israel and the Jewish people
wherever he goes.

To make sure the war situation does not zoom out of control,
Washington has posted two very senior officers in the
Israel-Palestinian arena: CIA chief George Tenet has been shuttling
between Israel and other Middle East capitals, while former Marine
Corps general Anthony Zinni remains in place even after he failed to
secure a ceasefire.

Furthermore, DEBKAfile reports that members of American special forces
units have been spotted in undercover action for the first time.
Sporting US special forces combat gear and weapons, they were seen
moving against suspected terrorists during the battle around the
monasteries and churches of Bethlehem on Wednesday, April 2.

When the moment came to extricate US and European citizens – some held
hostage by Palestinian militants - US armored cars drove up through
the streets of Bethlehem and well-armed American "security men" came
to pick them up. Israel tanks, helicopters and drones provided cover
for the five-hour operation to rescue all the foreign civilians
stranded or held hostage in Bethlehem.
That was not their primary mission. DEBKAfile's military sources
report that the US commando contingent is present for an undercover
assignment that could determine the outcome of the entire Israeli
military operation to root out the terrorist menace. Even Barghouti,
Tirawi and Abu Shbak are secondary targets, belonging to the past. A
new threat is posed by the foreign crack force Arafat has been able to
smuggle into the country from Lebanon. It is made up of highly-trained
fighters – Palestinian, Hizballah and al Qaeda. This group has been
designated the special target of the US contingent.

This seek-and- destroy mission is underway in deep secrecy. But when
it is over, Arafat's latest threat will be exposed as having posed one
of the most decisive confrontations of the global war against terror.
US and Israeli commandos are now focusing all their strength on the
effort to catch the infiltrators before they can do their worst.

President Bush, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, Arafat and Middle
Eastern leaders have all suspended their next moves pending the
outcome of this clash. Bush, Powell and Rumsfeld are defending the
combined operation against critics the world over – some inside Israel
too – so as to give Sharon and the US contingent the time it needs to
complete its mission.

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

The Irish Examiner
04 Apr 2002
Eddie Cassidy

AN Irish human rights worker spoke yesterday of his miraculous escape
from the clutches of a Colombian death squad. Dubliner Gearóid Ó
Loinsigh said he was set up by the Colombian army for an attempted
ambush by right-wing paramilitaries. Fears for his safety mounted in
recent weeks after he failed to contact his Ballymun family and
friends in the Dublin-based Latin America Solidarity Centre.

Mr Ó Loinsigh, in South America since last November with a human
rights agency Sembra, phoned his home yesterday to say "I'm safe and
well."

However, he disclosed that army personnel questioned him for over
three hours when he arrived at the Santa Hosa Del Sur airport in the
north-east of the country on April 13 en route to Bolivar. The army
later offered to escort him and a German female colleague to a town,
where they advised the pair to seek overnight accommodation in an
hotel well-known to paramilitaries. Mr Ó Loinsigh said: "I became
anxious and contacted some friends in the location where we were
travelling to. They advised us to hire a car and avoid going to the
hotel."

Speaking from Colombia, he said: "I'm satisfied that if I had gone to
the hotel, I would be a dead man. I have no doubt about that. The
death squad arrived at the hotel shortly afterwards looking for what
locals said was the European." Latin American friends in Dublin have
disclosed that other human rights workers were questioned about the
Irishman. One friend, Iniki Irigoien, said the Colombian army was in
possession of an arrest warrant for Mr Ó Loinsigh. "I spoke to Gearóid
this morning, 7am local time, and he reported being safe and well.
He's in a secure area and in the company of friends," Mr Irigoien
said. Mr Ó Loinsigh, who made several visits to Colombia, is recording
complaints of human rights' abuses against the local communities.

The Latin American Solidarity Centre said the particular area was
under siege for about a year from various paramilitary-type
self-defence groups - made up of ex-army personnel. Food and medical
supplies are in short supply.

Mr Ó Loinsigh said yesterday he had no immediate plans to leave the
area, although his security is out of his control. Friends of Mr Ó
Loinsigh and LASC have appealed to the Department of Foreign Affairs
to demand his safe passage in Colombia. The Irish Ambassador in Mexico
has made contact with the Colombian authorities, who insist the area
Mr Ó Loinsigh is located is not under army control.

+ + + +

YOKOHAMA, April 4 - A group of seven Colombians have been arrested on
suspicion of breaking into a house in Yokohama's Totsuka Ward and
stealing cash and other valuables, police said Thursday.

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

In the summer of 1975, with the Cold War raging and the memory of
Saigon's fall terribly fresh, the United States sponsored a covert
operation to prevent another communist takeover, this time across the
world, in Angola.

The effort failed to keep a Marxist government from gaining power but
ushered in a long and chaotic civil war, involving U.S., Chinese and
Russian interests and Cuban and South African soldiers.

Now, coinciding with the death in February of Washington's longtime
rebel ally in Angola, Jonas Savimbi, a trove of recently declassified
U.S. documents seems to overturn conventional explanations of the
war's origins.

Historians and former diplomats who have studied the documents say
they show conclusively that the United States intervened in Angola
weeks before the arrival of any Cubans, not afterward, as the U.S.
government claimed then. And although a connection between Washington
and South Africa, which was then ruled by a white government under the
apartheid policy, was strongly denied at the time, the documents
appear to demonstrate their broad collaboration.

"When the United States decided to launch the covert intervention, in
June and July, not only were there no Cubans in Angola, but the U.S.
government and the CIA were not even thinking about any Cuban presence
in Angola," said Dr. Piero Gleijeses, a history professor at Johns
Hopkins University, who used the Freedom of Information Act to uncover
the documents.

Similarly, cables of the time have now been published by the National
Security Archive, a private research group.

"If you look at the CIA reports which were done at the time, the
Cubans were totally out of the picture," Gleijeses said. But in
reports presented to the Senate in December 1975, "what you find is
really nothing less than the rewriting of history."

Cuba eventually poured 50,000 troops into Angola in support of a
Marxist independence group, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of
Angola. The group held the capital in the months just before
independence from Portugal, declared in August 1975.

But Gleijeses' research shows that the Cuban intervention came in
response to a CIA-financed covert invasion via neighboring Zaire, now
known as Congo, and South Africa's simultaneous drive on the capital,
using troops who posed as Western mercenaries.

The Marxist party quickly defeated the United States' first ally in
the war,

the National Front for the Liberation of Angola, based in Zaire. Then,
in a decisive but little-known battle in November 1975 at the village
of Ebo, 1,300 Cuban troops battled a much larger South African column,
halting its advance.

The United States gradually switched its support to Savimbi's
movement, UNITA, and continued to support it intermittently during
nearly two decades of devastating warfare.

Gleijeses' research documents significant coordination between the
United States and South Africa, from joint training missions to
airlifts, and bluntly contradicts the official congressional testimony
of the era, as well as the memoirs of former Secretary of State Henry
Kissinger.

Gleijeses' work draws heavily on White House, State Department and
National Security Council memorandums, as well as extensive interviews
and archival research in Cuba, Angola, Germany and elsewhere. It was
carried out in preparation of Gleijeses' recently published history of
the conflict, "Conflicting Missions, Havana, Washington and Africa,
1959-1976."

"The book does seem to have nailed Henry quite specifically on this
question," said Thomas Hughes, a former director of intelligence for
the State Department during that period, referring to Kissinger. The
book, Hughes said, "is an impressive account, a sad story that seems
to be written almost out of a feeling that it might be lost. It is an
amazing story of Cuban resourcefulness and persistence."

But in the end, Hughes said, the Cubans' commitment meant little.
"Angola, where they won, has been a disaster for 30 years, so you can
hardly speak of a triumph," he said.

After reviewing Gleijeses' work, several former senior U.S. diplomats
who were involved in making policy toward Angola broadly endorsed its
conclusions.

"Considering that things came to a head over covert action in the U.S.
government in mid-July, there is no reason to believe we were
responding to Cuban involvement in Angola," said Nathaniel Davis, who
resigned as Kissinger's assistant secretary of state for African
affairs in July 1975 over the Angola intervention.

+ + + +

[DiMethylTryptamine]

"Rizla Ranger UK" <o...@ziplip.com> wrote in message
news:7499a8cd.02040...@posting.google.com...

> + + + +
>
> In the summer of 1975, with the Cold War raging and the memory of
> Saigon's fall terribly fresh, the United States sponsored a covert
> operation to prevent another communist takeover, this time across the
> world, in Angola.
>
> The effort failed to keep a Marxist government from gaining power but
> ushered in a long and chaotic civil war, involving U.S., Chinese and
> Russian interests and Cuban and South African soldiers.
>
> Now, coinciding with the death in February of Washington's longtime
> rebel ally in Angola, Jonas Savimbi, a trove of recently declassified
> U.S. documents seems to overturn conventional explanations of the
> war's origins.
>
> Historians and former diplomats who have studied the documents say
> they show conclusively that the United States intervened in Angola
> weeks before the arrival of any Cubans, not afterward, as the U.S.
> government claimed then. And although a connection between Washington
> and South Africa, which was then ruled by a white government under the
> apartheid policy, was strongly denied at the time, the documents
> appear to demonstrate their broad collaboration.
>

He he...
We knew it all along.

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

Suicide bomber Ibrahim Oude walked into the Palm Hotel dining room,
looked around, smiled and detonated a bomb so powerful it tore cars
apart on the street outside, killing 25 people and injuring over 100
more.

The last thing on his mind as he went on his mission nine days ago in
the resort of Netanya was to bring Palestinians and Jews together.

But he didn't figure on the Vider family. Four generations of the
clan, 13 people in all, had gathered for the pre-Passover feast.
Sivan, 20, and her fiancé Avi Beckerman, 26, were killed on the spot.

Sivan's cousin and sister were badly wounded and father, Zeev, 49,
lingered in intensive care for five days until he died on Tuesday.

Non-religious but a deeply moral man, Zeev wanted to be an organ donor
and so, when doctors said they needed a kidney to save a Palestinian
woman's life, the family did not hesitate.

Zeev's son Nimrod, 25, who was in Poland at the time of the bombing,
said: "There is a choice on who to give the donation to; we could have
said no, only transplant a Jew. But to us, it was not important
whether the organs went to Arabs or Jews.

"Our father always taught us that 'life is life' and that there is no
difference between us. He taught us to be on the side of the sublime
and to never judge anyone by their religion or their race." As the
decision was made, 50 miles away in Shuafat, on the outskirts of East
Jerusalem, Palestinian Aisha abu Khadir, 54, was arriving for her
regular session of kidney dialysis.

For four years, she had refused to allow members of her family to
donate one of their kidneys, fearing they would risk their own health.

Her son, Said, 23, said: "We got a call out of the blue from the
Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikvah, for my mother to go in straight
away - so we rushed there and they gave her a new kidney on Tuesday
night.

"They didn't tell me anything about this Israeli guy. But after the
success of the operation, the doctor took me aside and said, 'I want
to tell you something very important - this kidney comes from one of
the victims of the Natanya bombing.'

"I was so shocked. I was really very sad because civilians are paying
the price of the fighting. But I was grateful that my mother would not
have to suffer any more."

Nimrod Vider added: "I'm very proud of my father and of what he stood
for. If his donation means that someone will pause to think for one
second before the next act of terror, we will have done our part."

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

Brendan O'Neill

Operation Anaconda was 'an unqualified and absolute success', said US
General Tommy Franks on 18 March 2002, as the US offensive against
al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters in the Shah-i-Kot region of Gardez in
east Afghanistan finally came to an end (1).

But on the same day, UK newspapers reported that 1700 British marines
were flying out to east Afghanistan at 'America's request', because,
'despite months of intensive bombing from the air, and weeks of
fighting on the ground, the war [there] is far from over' (2).

Since it kicked off at the start of March 2002, Operation Anaconda has
been a minefield of contradictory statements and unanswered questions.
Was it an 'absolute success' (3), or a 'big mistake' (4)? Did it wipe
out the last 'pockets of al-Qaeda and Taliban resistance' (5), or did
al-Qaeda fighters 'escape' to fight again (6)? Did America's first
combined ground-and-air offensive of the war kill 800 of the enemy
(7), or about 20 (8)? One US commentator says, 'We don't know, the
Afghans don't know - and the US military doesn't seem to know'.

Operation Anaconda began on 1 March 2002 as a battle against 'the last
remaining' al-Qaeda and Taliban forces holed up in the Shah-i-Kot
mountains - with US commanders talking about 'wrapping up the
operation…in little more than 24 hours' (9). Four days later, on 4
March 2002, the operation made big news when eight US soldiers were
killed. One soldier died after falling from a helicopter that was
fired upon by rocket-propelled grenades - another seven died after
being forced to make a 'controlled crash landing' and engaging in an
hour-long gunfight with al-Qaeda forces (10).

From the outset, Operation Anaconda raised more questions than
answers. Was the US military prepared for this new battle in
Shah-i-Kot - or was it taken by surprise? According to a military
analyst writing in the New York Times, the whole thing caught
Washington-based military officials unawares: 'For many in Washington,
the biggest surprise is that such a large and important battle could
emerge with so little warning.'

Another commentator wanted to know how two of the 'most wanted groups'
in the world could wander around a warzone and set up shop near a
fairly busy part of Afghanistan: 'The apparent convergence of so many
Taliban and al-Qaeda men, at a time when the USA had begun an all-out
effort to smash the two groups, posed what could be the greatest
conundrum of the war: how was it possible for such a large number of
fugitives…to gather less than 20 miles from Gardez, a busy provincial
capital, without attracting an earlier pursuit by American and Afghan
forces?' (11)

Some of America's top military brass privately called for commanders
to be sacked

But other reports rejected the 'taken by surprise argument' and
claimed that the US military was fully prepared for the battle of
Shah-i-Kot, had been training for months, and was just waiting for the
right moment to strike. 'US intelligence had been tracking the
regrouping of up to 1000 enemy fighters for months', said one report,
'and carefully planned an assault that involved surrounding the region
in an effort to cut off escape routes' (12). A US military spokesman
said that America 'knew [al-Qaeda] was regrouping', and indeed let
them regroup, until it was the 'right time to hit them'.

An Afghan commander working with the Americans on Operation Anaconda
put a different spin on it - claiming that he and others had warned US
commanders about the al-Qaeda presence in Shah-i-Kot three months ago,
but had been ignored. According to the New York Times: 'Abdul
Hassankhel, a veteran of the Muslim guerrilla war against occupying
Soviet forces in the 1980s [said] that American forces in the area had
sealed themselves off from Afghan commanders who could have directed
their attention to the [Shah-i-Kot] district by early December. "We
tried to talk to them, but the Americans paid no attention", he said.
"They never speak to us".' (13)

Surprise or not, five days into Operation Anaconda the US military
reassured us that it was 'on top' in east Afghanistan, and that the
battle 'should be won in a couple of days' time' (14). 'We've got
confirmed kills in the hundreds', said major-general Frank Hagenbeck.
'We truly have the momentum at this point' (15). So why, just the
following day, did the Washington Times claim that some of America's
top military brass were privately calling for heads to roll over
Shah-i-Kot, and for some of the commanders involved to be sacked?

'Military officers are privately criticising US tactics in the battle
of Gardez', reported the Washington Times on 7 March, 'saying war
commanders should have used air strikes for days or weeks before
sending ground forces against 800 enemy troops in Afghanistan' (16).
Apparently, 'some [Pentagon leaders] informally have discussed firing
commanders, but others say any dismissals would send the wrong message
to US allies as well as to supporters of Osama bin Laden' (17).

As military commanders on the ground claimed to be 'on top' of the
battle, a senior Air Force commander in Washington said, 'The way we
lost those seven guys was a repeat of Somalia' (18) - conjuring up
images of 1993's disastrous Battle of Mogadishu when 18 soldiers were
killed, otherwise known in US military circles as 'our other Vietnam'
(19).

As the battle that should have been over in 'little more than 24
hours' raged into its fifth day, American and Afghan allies started
playing a blame game over the failure to pin down the al-Qaeda and
Taliban forces at Shah-i-Kot. Afghan commanders - who are being paid,
trained and armed by the US military to fight alongside it in east
Afghanistan - claimed that the eight US soldiers died because of the
US military's 'lack of planning' and 'forethought'. According to Said
Mohammed Isshaq, the Afghan security chief in Gardez, '[The Americans]
made a big mistake…. They went ahead without making trenches, without
reinforcing their positions. And then they were cut off. They
retreated really badly' (20).

US troops were pulled out for 'failing to adapt to guerrilla
tactics'

Another Afghan commander went further, suggesting that the US military
was incapable of waging a ground war in this part of the world and
should pack up and leave: '[The Americans] were not trained for the
kind of fighting we do in the mountains and, in these conditions,
their kind of fighting is useless. They were weakening our morale. It
was better for them to go.' (21)

Gul Mohammed, an Afghan soldier, questioned the American tactic of
moving ground forces so close to al-Qaeda positions (within firing
range) before giving directions to soldiers on what to do next. 'Why
did they do that?', he asked, accusing Americans of making themselves
and their Afghan allies an 'easy target'. 'They're intelligent.
They're trained. They're not idiots… There was no need to gather near
the enemy's place.' (22)

US soldiers were having none of it, instead pinning the blame on the
Afghans - as captured in the Los Angeles Times headline 'Back at base,
US troops say Afghans failed them'. One anonymous US soldier had a pop
at General Zia Lodin, the commander of the allied Afghan troops: 'He
punked out on us. I don't know how much we paid him, but I'll shoot
him myself.' (23)

But for all US soldiers' complaints about 'untrustworthy' Afghans and
threats of shooting them, the US military continued to depend on
Afghan forces - particularly for hand-to-hand combat in dangerous
territory around Shah-i-Kot. 'The Americans are relying heavily on
Afghan militia to do much of the ground fighting', said one report.
'But to hold together this unlikely coalition of fractious allies, the
Americans…must persuade the rival forces to focus on a common enemy
instead of one another.' (24)

According to another report, the US forces in Shah-i-Kot became so
desperate that they even had to fall back on asking Afghan warlord
Bacha Khan for help - the former governor of the Paktia province who
was removed by Afghanistan's interim government at the end of 2001
after he allegedly 'tricked US commanders into bombing a convoy of
tribal leaders travelling to his inauguration in December by telling
the Americans that the vehicles carried Taliban leaders' (25).

The blame game heated up on 12 March 2002, when it was reported that
'hundreds of American troops were pulled out of the ground battle with
al-Qaeda forces because they failed to adapt to the guerrilla tactics
required for fighting in the mountains' (26). The Americans described
the withdrawal as a 'tactical reappraisal of their battleplan', while
Afghans said it was because US soldiers 'were unable to advance
through the unfamiliar mountains to track down al-Qaeda and Taliban
foes' (27) - the latest contradictory claims in a battle that was
becoming more confusing by the day.

There is little evidence that hundreds of al-Qaeda and Taliban
members were killed

Despite the difficulties, as the Shah-i-Kot battle entered its second
week, US commanders started to claim victory - claiming that about 800
al-Qaeda and Taliban forces had been killed in the aerial bombardments
and ground attacks. Major-general Frank Hagenbeck, leading the US
forces in east Afghanistan, said 'hundreds' were 'confirmed killed',
while defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he didn't want to get
into the 'numbers game', but that 'certainly hundreds' of al-Qaeda and
Taliban forces had been killed by Operation Anaconda (28).

But, as the New York Times pointed out, there was great uncertainty
about the numbers killed: 'The death toll…seems to go up and down like
the fluctuations of a troubled currency: 100, 500, 200, 800, 300.' And
there was the additional problem that, once US troops and Western
journalists finally got into the deserted Shah-i-Kot on 14 March 2002,
there was no evidence that hundreds had been killed.

'There were no dead al-Qaeda fighters', reported a USA Today
journalist from inside east Afghanistan. 'There were no fresh graves….
Just one macabre reminder stuck out: dried blood on a patch of dirt
here in the village.' (29) One US soldier said after searching the
valleys and hills around Shah-i-Kot, 'We have been in this valley for
three days and all we have seen is ourselves and our Afghan soldiers'
(30).

According to the Sydney Morning Herald: 'As a force of 700 United
States and Canadian troops continued to search the battle zone, the
American officer heading the operation said on Saturday that fewer
than 20 bodies had been found on the ridge above the Shah-i-Kot
Valley.... Another mystery has been the whereabouts of fighters who
may have survived the 3250 bombs dropped on the battle zone…. American
soldiers returning from the battlefield 175 kilometres away said that
only about 10 fighters had been seen since the fighting ended.' (31).

Another report claimed that - far from being killed or bombed into
leaving - some of the Taliban and al-Qaeda forces had just moved on
from Shah-i-Kot as Operation Anaconda got under way in a relatively
relaxed fashion: '[Local Afghans] said the Taliban had more or less
come and gone as they pleased, [even] visiting villagers in nearby
towns.'

So what did happen to the al-Qaeda and Taliban forces in Shah-i-Kot?
One report claimed that 'the absence of…any sign of the enemy, dead or
alive, raised suspicions that many fighters had escaped before the
offensive had begun [on 1 March]' (32). So those 3250 bombs might have
been dropped on largely uninhabited territory that may have been
vacated by the enemy two weeks previously? That wouldn't be a first
for the Americans, who spent much of January bombing caves in the
Zhawar Kili region of southern Afghanistan, even though most al-Qaeda
members had left, in an attempt to 'destroy al-Qaeda's infrastructure'
(33).

Were 3250 bombs dropped on territory that the enemy had already
vacated?

There was one last-ditch effort to explain the absence of the
800/600/300 alleged dead al-Qaeda and Taliban members. According to
one Afghan commander, 'Some of the bodies may be in the caves. It is
difficult to tell because they are completely covered over' (34). It
is from these caves that the US military claimed al-Qaeda launched its
attacks and where it retreated at night (that's if al-Qaeda members
hadn't all left before Operation Anaconda even started). But on the
caves question, too, there were contradictory claims.

'As American officials continued to speak about a vast number of
well-appointed caves that served as enemy fortresses', said one
report, '[Afghan] General Haider called this notion "propaganda" and
said he knew of only five or six caverns, none very big' (35). An
Afghan soldier on the ground claimed that all the talk of caves was
'overdone' - claiming that 'they're small and are not army bases'.

We may never know the whole truth about the battle of Shah-i-Kot - but
there are enough contradictory claims and clashing reports to suggest
that it wasn't the 'unqualified and absolute success' claimed by
General Tommy Franks. Did the Americans plan the attack badly, leading
to US casualties? Did they drop thousands of bombs on largely vacated
enemy territory? Did they or didn't they kill hundreds of enemy
forces? And have the al-Qaeda and Taliban members now escaped from
Shah-i-Kot - as leading Afghan and US commanders claim - ready to
fight again in another part of eastern or southern Afghanistan?

The confused battle of Shah-i-Kot is like a murky snapshot of the
USA's confused 'war on terrorism' - a war with ever-shifting aims,
where the US military seems to spend more time displaying its might by
bombing from on high, instead of improving its intelligence and
committing troops on the ground. If this operation was a 'success',
what will failure look like?

(1) Afghanistan: US, Canadian troops reflect on fighting in Operation
Anaconda, Radio Free Europe, 19 March 2002

(2) British troops face upbeat Afghan foe, Guardian, 19 March 2002

(3) Afghanistan: US, Canadian troops reflect on fighting in Operation
Anaconda, Radio Free Europe, 19 March 2002

(4) Large US force battles al-Qaeda fighters, Washington Post, 4 March
2002

(5) Afghan snakes and ladders, Dawn, 21 March 2002

(6) Americans hunt in vain for men of al-Qaeda, The Times (London), 14
March 2002

(7) Details of victory are unclear but it is celebrated nonetheless,
New York Times, 14 March 2002

(8) 'Few bodies found', Sydney Morning Herald, 12 March 2002

(9) Entering its sixth bloody day, the Afghan battle that would be
over in 24 hours, Independent, 7 March 2002

(10) Eight Americans killed in US attack, Fox News, 4 March 2002

(11) US planes pound enemy as troops face tough fight, New York Times,
4 March 2002

(12) US allies in riskier kind of war, Christian Science Monitor, 5
March 2002

(13) US planes pound enemy as troops face tough fight, New York Times,
4 March 2002

(14) US army 'on top' in Afghanistan war, Guardian, 6 March 2002

(15) US army 'on top' in Afghanistan war, Guardian, 6 March 2002

(16) Military officers criticise rush to use ground troops, Washington
Times, 7 March 2002

(17) Military officers criticise rush to use ground troops, Washington
Times, 7 March 2002

(18) Military officers criticise rush to use ground troops, Washington
Times, 7 March 2002

(19) See 'It's about the man next to you', by Brendan O'Neill

(20) Large US force battles al-Qaeda fighters, Washington Post, 4
March 2002

(21) 'Inadequate' US troops pulled out of battleground, The Times
(London), 12 March 2002

(22) Large US force battles al-Qaeda fighters, Washington Post, 4
March 2002

(23) Back at base, US troops sat Afghans failed them, Los Angeles
Times, 11 March 2002

(24) Afghan power brokers deal beyond the gaze of the USA, Washington
Post, 6 March 2002

(25) Large US force battles al-Qaeda fighters, Washington Post, 4
March 2002

(26) 'Inadequate' US troops pulled out of battleground, The Times
(London), 12 March 2002

(27) 'Inadequate' US troops pulled out of battleground, The Times
(London), 12 March 2002

(28) US army 'on top' in Afghanistan war, Guardian, 6 March 2002

(29) No bodies where battle began, USA Today, 14 March 2002

(30) No bodies where battle began, USA Today, 14 March 2002

(31) Few bodies found, Sydney Morning Herald, 12 March 2002

(32) Americans hunt in vain for men of al-Qaeda, The Times (London),
14 march 2002

(33) See They seek him - where?, by Brendan O'Neill

(34) Al-Qaeda fighters evaded US siege, Afghans claim, Guardian, 15
March 2002

(35) Details of victory are unclear but it is celebrated nonetheless,
New York Times, 14 March 2002

+ + + +

[DiMethylTryptamine]

http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/central/04/05/ret.anti.us.campaign/ind
ex.html

[DiMethylTryptamine]

"DiMethylTryptamine" <ax...@amxiom.za.net> wrote in message
news:3caf19ba$0$2...@hades.is.co.za...
>
http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/asiapcf/central/04/05/ret.anti.us.campaign/ind
> ex.html
Watch the word wrap...

[Paul Edwards]

"Rizla Ranger UK" <o...@ziplip.com> wrote in message news:7499a8cd.02040...@posting.google.com...

> But, as the New York Times pointed out, there was great uncertainty

> about the numbers killed: 'The death toll.seems to go up and down like

> the fluctuations of a troubled currency: 100, 500, 200, 800, 300.' And
> there was the additional problem that, once US troops and Western
> journalists finally got into the deserted Shah-i-Kot on 14 March 2002,
> there was no evidence that hundreds had been killed.
>

> According to the Sydney Morning Herald: 'As a force of 700 United
> States and Canadian troops continued to search the battle zone, the
> American officer heading the operation said on Saturday that fewer
> than 20 bodies had been found on the ridge above the Shah-i-Kot
> Valley.... Another mystery has been the whereabouts of fighters who

> may have survived the 3250 bombs dropped on the battle zone.. American

> soldiers returning from the battlefield 175 kilometres away said that
> only about 10 fighters had been seen since the fighting ended.' (31).

Holy cow. Even at 800, that's more than 4 bombs per enemy
soldier killed. No wonder they can't find any remains.

BFN. Paul.

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

A United Nations team has arrived in the central Afghan region of
Bamiyan to investigate the discovery of three mass graves.

The graves are situated near the airport of the provincial capital of
Bamiyan, about 125 kilometres (80 miles) north-west of Kabul.

+ + + +

Foreign peacekeepers have come under rocket attack overnight, with one
rocket exploding near the troops' headquarters in Afghanistan's
capital, Kabul.

No damage was caused. Troops are heading out to an area south west of
the city, where the rocket is thought to have been fired from and are
checking for evidence of other rockets having been fired.

A spokesman for the peacekeeping force told Associated Press news
agency the attack was likely to be linked to efforts to destabilise
the interim Afghan administration ahead of the loya jirga, a national
grand council which meets in June to select a new government.

+ + + +

Reports from Afghanistan say an explosive device has gone off near a
convoy carrying the Afghan defence minister in the eastern city of
Jalalabad.

Local officials said the minister, Mohammed Fahim, was unhurt.

However there are reports that a number of bystanders have been killed
and injured in the blast.

The incident comes a day after foreign peacekeepers came under attack
in the capital Kabul, with one rocket exploding near their
headquarters.

+ + + +

Two bombs have exploded in a busy night-life district of
Villavicencio, south-east of the Colombian capital, Bogota, killing at
least 12 people and injuring more than 70.

No one has so far claimed responsibility for the blast, which took
place shortly after 0120 local time (0720 GMT) as people were leaving
bars and restaurants.

+ + + +

The Ivorian Government has settled a long-running dispute with
disgruntled witch doctors who claim to have had a hand in the
country's only African Nations Cup success.

The witch doctors, from a suburb of the capital Abidjan, were
apparently hired by the sports minister before the 1992 Nations Cup
final against Ghana.

The Elephants won the trophy after beating the Black Stars in a
dramatic penalty shootout in Dakar, Senegal.

But the witch doctors complained that they were never paid for ther
services and threatened to put a curse on the national side.

+ + + +

Madagascar's self-declared president, Marc Ravalomanana, has said the
country is in "a state of war" after months of political division in
the Indian Ocean island.

He issued a "call to the Malagasy people" to fight those blocking what
he believes is his rightful claim to lead the country.

Mr Ravalomanana controls the capital, Antananarivo, but supporters of
incumbent President Didier Ratsiraka have established a rival
power-base in the port city of Tamatave and imposed an economic
blockade.

Mr Ravalomanana's rallying cry - made in a televised address - marks a
dramatic change of tone after months of generally peaceful
demonstrations and political stand-off.

+ + + +

Military authorities in Sudan have issued a nationwide appeal for
volunteers to report to specially set up camps and train to fight
alongside Palestinians against Israel.

The Popular Defence Forces (PDF) called for "all parties,
institutions, trade unions, students and youths, men and women" to
join the camps in a statement broadcast on state television and radio.

The PDF announced the opening of the training camps on Saturday,
saying they had been set up following a directive from President Omar
Hassan al-Bashir as a sign of solidarity with the Palestinian people.

+ + + +

7 April: In the coming week, the protagonists in the current Middle
East crisis will race against time to bring matters to a head before
US secretary of state Colin Powell arrives on his new mission on
behalf of President George W. Bush. The Israelis, the Palestinians,
Syria, Iraq, Iran and the Hizballah, will all try to establish their
mastery of the situation. Israel will do its best to stay in step with
Washington, while all the other parties do what they can to defeat US
goals and Powell's mission.

The events in store in the days to come fall under four headings:
A. The war activity on two primary fronts: West Bank cities and the
Israel-Lebanese frontier;
B. The campaign of terror pursued by the Palestinians and their Arab
allies, principally the Hizballah and al Qaeda;
C. The undercover war waged around the Middle East
D. The slide towards a comprehensive regional eruption

IDF Counter-Terror Operation Chokes off Palestinian Terror – For the
Moment
Israel's tanks, infantry, special forces and air units have in ten
days retaken the West Bank and gained control of major portions of its
seven main towns: Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarm, Qalqilya, Ramallah,
Bethlehem and Hebron. The Palestinian Authority has virtually buckled
as a ruling entity, while its security organs' command centers,
communications, logistics and supply systems have been disabled.

The Palestinian terrorist mechanisms - the Fatah-Tanzim, the al Aqsa
Martyrs Brigades, the Hamas and Jihad Islami - are seriously impaired;
scores of senior terror commanders have been killed and 2000
terrorists and their officers captured. The logistics and
manufacturing facilities that turned out and distributed hundreds of
suicide bomb belts and booby-trapped vehicles, mortars and rockets,
have been wiped out, as have the Palestinian presses that turned out
many millions of counterfeit US dollars and Israeli shekels for
funding terror operations.

Above all, Israel has isolated Yasser Arafat, locking him away with
some of his key security and terror chiefs in his narrow private
quarters in Ramallah. This command structure is therefore cut off from
its lines of communication with the terrorist and military units on
the ground.

The initial result is dramatic: eight consecutive days without
terrorist attacks, after a month of daily suicide bombings – though
this is not for want of trying. The last time the terrorists struck
was Sunday, March 31, when a suicide bomber blew up an Israeli Arab
restaurant in Haifa and a second destroyed the Efrat first aid station
south of Bethlehem.

But it is not over yet. Data gathered by DEBKAfile's military sources
show that Arafat anticipated the crippling effect Israel's
counter-offensive would have on his suicide campaign. He made standby
arrangements that he can activate notwithstanding Israel's military
presence in all the West Bank cities.

His determination to do so was stiffened by the words he heard from
President Bush Saturday, April 6, at his joint news conference with
British prime minister Tony Blair. The president accused Arafat of
failing in leadership, not performing and never living up to the
promises he made in Oslo. Bush added he expects Israel to quit
Palestinian cities "without delay", following which Ariel Sharon
called the president to assure him Israel means to complete its
operation as quickly as possible. However, Powell made it clear he has
no plans to call on the Palestinian leader in the course of his
mission.

Arafat will now go all-out to prove to Bush, as well as to the
Israelis, that he cannot be pushed aside.

His tools for achieving this were assembled in good time.

Israeli military intelligence, the CIA and other Israeli and US
counter-terrorism agencies have discovered, according to DEBKAfile's
military sources, that the six major terrorist attacks rocking Israeli
Mediterranean coastal cities in March (Tel Aviv, Haifa, Netanya and
Ashdod) had a hidden purpose, besides killing a large number of
Israelis. They diverted attention from the rubber dinghies dropping al
Qaeda and Hizballah terror squads, interspersed with Palestinians,
along Israeli beaches.

The discovery was confirmed in the final reports of the investigations
into the two last Netanya attacks: the assault at the Jeremy Hotel on
March 9 and the Passover Seder massacre at the seaside resort's Park
Hotel, 18 days later.
After both attacks, black dinghies were found buried on the sandy
beach, prompting wide-scale searches up and down the Israeli coast
from Rosh Hanikra in the north to Ashkelon in the south.

Ten dinghies turned up in at least three locations: five in Netanya;
the rest in nearby Michmoret and Caesarea. Each dinghy can carry eight
to 10 commandos with their weapons and gear. Tracks in the sand showed
that each toted a heavy pack weighing 40 to 70 kilos (90 to 155 lb),
suggesting large explosive charges or heavy weapons, such as missiles.

The last landing appears to have taken place under cover of the
suicide attack
on the Allenby Street café in Tel Aviv Saturday night, March 30.

For most of Sunday, March 31, Israeli security forces closed the old
Tel Aviv-Haifa highway along a 70-mile (110-km) stretch - from the
Petach Tikva junction just north of Tel Aviv to the southern entrances
of Haifa. The public notice to frustrated motorists and commuters
explained the measure as due to the incursion of Palestinian suicide
bombers from the West Bank. The al Qaeda-Hizballah infiltration from
the opposite direction, the Mediterranean, was not released.

Intelligence agencies and Israeli troops operating in Palestinian
areas this week are actively seeking these intruders before they can
be activated.
In West Bank, Israel Tests New Methods and Weapons Systems for
Capturing Arab Towns

Israel's counter-terror operation in the West Bank is on a scale that
the Middle East has not seen for many years. An extended division has
been fielded - roughly equal to two regular Western divisions. The
massive deployment of tank and armored infantry units under the cover
of warplanes also turns out to be a large-scale experiment in
sophisticated combat means for rapidly capturing Arab cities.
DEBKAfile 's military sources disclose that US special force observers
were almost certainly present in some of the battle arenas. Lessons
drawn from the US-led Afghanistan War appear to be undergoing tests in
practice, together with advanced weapons systems developed especially
for incursions into densely populated urban areas.

The differences between the two conflicts are also manifest. Whereas
the Taliban and al Qaeda effected tactical withdrawals in the manner
of organized armies, the Palestinian forces are falling apart. The
Israeli army is therefore confronted with piecemeal combat against
small bands of terrorists, a complicated and unpredictable challenge
for regular combatants.

In the post-1993 Oslo period, the IDF was often described as past its
peak. This week, barring a few initial slip-ups, the reserve units,
which are the backbone of the IDF, proved themselves capable of
deploying at high speed and functioning effectively in battle.

The call-up turnout was above 96 percent in most units – much higher
than forecast; it took the new intake less than 24 hours to receive
instruction, collect equipment and join their units, although many had
not seen the inside of an army base for years. Morale was unexpectedly
high - even among the many over-40s called away from families, jobs
and businesses, with little advance warning. In short order, the units
began operating smoothly.

This has been an eye-opener with profound socio-political
implications. The typical 35-45 year-old Israeli city-dweller is often
dismissed as a fairly self-absorbed, anti-social axe-grinder. The
military operation to root out Palestinian terror has brought forth an
unsuspected body of men eager to fight for what they regard as the
defense of their homes.

Syria and Iran-Backed Hizballah Open Second Front
Syrian units, Hizballah and other terror bases in Lebanon may very
soon expect to find themselves in Israel's firing line.

One of Israel's primary targets will be the 20,000-strong Syrian
occupation army in Lebanon; another, the 8,000 to 10,000 Hizballah
guerrillas – Iran's proxy terror legion, and a third, units of the
Iranian Pazdaran, the Revolutionary Guards, among them some 300
military commanders and instructors attached to the Shiite group.

In recent weeks, Tehran has shipped to the Hizballah more than 8,000
new missiles and rockets of various types. Aided by Iranian
Revolutionary Guardsmen, the Shiite group has lined them up in central
and southern Lebanon, ready to hit targets as far south as the
outskirts of the central Israeli town of Hadera.

Israel will first and foremost de-activate the Syrian bases in Lebanon
– especially the installations in the eastern Beqaa Valley - and smash
Hizballah missile and Katyusha rocket bases that target Israel
regularly from southern and central Lebanon. The attacking force will
also take the opportunity of wiping out Hizballah and Iranian military
bases in the Beqaa Valley.

Another potential target is the headquarters, docks and landing strips
of Ahmed Jibril's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine –
General Command, a hardline group controlled by Syrian military
intelligence. Israeli forces will also seek out Palestinian camps in
south Lebanon that, according to US and
Israeli intelligence, harbor al Qaeda fighters.

DEBKAfile's military sources expect Israel, in the first instance, to
emulate the American war model in Afghanistan, and employ crushing
might. Syrian targets will be subjected to an aerial blitz and Lebanon
will for the first time experience a surface-surface missile assault,
as well as artillery and ship-launched missile barrages.

Different tactics will be employed just across the border in south
Lebanon. There, large armored columns and mobile artillery will cross
in to destroy Hizballah rocket emplacements.

On the diplomatic front, Sharon made sure of White House approval
before finalizing his war plan for the Hizballah and its patrons, just
as he did with his campaign against Palestinian terrorist strongholds.
DEBKAfile's military sources say the prime minister got the green
light last week, whereupon the army began calling up reservists and
concentrating large-scale forces on the Lebanese border and the Golan
Heights, which is divided between Syria and Israel.

DEBKAfile's military sources point out that the showdown between Syria
and Israel began on March 12, when Israeli intelligence discovered
that the large-scale terror strike on the Matsuba-Kabri highway in
Galilee, in which 7 Israelis died, was masterminded by Syrian military
intelligence fielding a combined Jibril-Hizballah-al Qaeda team.

Twelve days later, on March 24, a mysterious series of explosions
destroyed Syria's subterranean missile and chemical weapons
installation in Homs. The facility produced Scud C and Scud D
missiles, liquid and solid fuels, and was the largest factory in the
Arab world for chemical warheads.

North Korean missiles experts were among the roughly 100 engineers and
technicians killed in the blast

DEBKAfile 's military sources report that Syria suspects an Israeli
commando unit sabotaged the plant in revenge for the Galilee highway
terror attack.

Another theory is that it was the work of American special forces
units based on a US Sixth Fleet Mediterranean carrier, carried out to
punish Syrian president Bashar Assad for affording al Qaeda operatives
free transit through Syria.

Whoever did the job, it struck a central nerve in Damascus. Syria is
left facing a potential war minus the bulk of its missile stocks and
without the fuel for launching the remainder. A key strategic resource
has been wiped out.

At the same time, since August 2001, Syria and Iraq have been bound by
secret military pacts, as DEBKAfile revealed two months after they
were signed. Those pacts assure the signatories of mutual assistance
if the other comes under attack.

Therefore a potential military clash between Israel and Syria in
Lebanon, and possible strikes against strategic targets inside Syria.
may well bring about Iraqi intervention.

This eventuality obliges the Bush administration to think hard about
bringing forward its strike against Iraq.

+ + + +

Pakistan (Online): An American congressional delegation has urged the
apostate Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to allow U.S. forces to
engage in "hot pursuit" of Foreign and Taliban Mujahideen if they flee
into his country from Afghanistan. The suggestion that U.S. troops
might have to pursue fleeing enemy fighters into Pakistan was first
raised March 20 by the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Maj. Gen.
Franklin Hagenbeck. At that time, Pakistani officials neither rejected
nor accepted the idea, even though any strong military action by U.S.
troops here could endanger the Musharraf government by providing a
lightning rod for dissidents.

However, since this issue was first raised, Pakistani officials have
publicly cited the arrest of about 300 suspected Arab and Taliban
Mujahideen, most at the border, as evidence that security in Pakistan
is adequate.

Maj. Gen. Rashid Qureshi, the government's chief spokesman, said last
week that Pakistan had "sealed its border." Other government officials
repeated that view on Monday. At a news briefing, Foreign Minister
Abdul Sattar said, "There has been no need for U.S. forces to cross
from the Afghanistan side into Pakistan territory." U.S. military
commanders in Afghanistan, however, have been frustrated over what
they see as the ability of Taliban fighters and al-Qaeda fighters to
slip across the border at will.

Mujahideen Offer Bounties of up to $100,000 for Westerners

Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan: Taliban and Arab Mujahideen are offering
bounties of as much as $100, 000 for the killing or capture of
American soldiers and other Westerners, U.S. officials said yesterday.
The rewards, offered on leaflets that U.S. officials say are being
passed to villagers in eastern Afghanistan, are among the "credible
threats" against American soldiers and other Westerners in the area,
officials said. Among the others, the officials said, are rocket and
mortar attacks and car bombs.

The Americans are distributing leaflets offering rewards of their own
in the region. Most of the Americans' flyers urge local Afghans to
support the Western-backed government and to help the military forces
capture or kill Taliban and Foreign Mujahideen.

One such leaflet was shown off recently by an Afghan resident in the
southeastern town of Khost. "Dear Friends," the leaflet read. "Islam
is against terrorism. Please try to discover and turn over members of
al Qaeda and get the cash award."

Meanwhile, a Norwegian working at Bagram Air Base was seriously
injured yesterday when an anti-personnel mine he was trying to defuse
exploded. Torbjoern Saeterboe, 30, suffered wounds on his face and may
have been blinded, army officials said.

http://www.azzam.com Daily news, articles and interviews on the Jihad
in Afghanistan

+ + + +

The Monitor (Kampala)
OPINION
March 17, 2002

There are many months remaining in 2002, but there is little doubt
that one of the most striking newspaper photographs of the year will
be of a dead Jonas Savimbi.

It was not just his bloodied, bullet-ridden body. As Timothy Bukumunhe
has pointed out (New Vision, March 14), it was Savimbi's semi-visible
underpants that caught the eye.

They made the image stand out both for photographic and cultural
reasons.

A professional photographer told me:

"Let's forget about the Angolan Civil War and all the history attached
to Savimbi, and just think about the photograph. It is the contrast
between Savimbi's blood-spattered, dusty, green army uniform and those
immaculate, stripey green underpants that make the photograph. The eye
is drawn towards his underpants because they are a piece of clothing
not normally seen and because of the incongruity of those vivid,
horizontal green and white stripes."

The image may have been striking photographically, but culturally it
was absolutely stunning.

A senior Ugandan journalist told me: "Savimbi's killers were keen to
humiliate him. In Africa, we have huge respect for the dead. Even for
someone that we hate, we would not wish to draw attention to a private
part of their clothing."

Mary, a 23-year old business studies student in Kampala, observed:
"The Angolans that killed Savimbi wanted to show their fellow citizens
that they had the power to display his pants, that they could do
whatever they wanted with him. Savimbi was a 'larger than life'
character, but that his killers could show his very private things -
his pants - meant that he was no longer in control. He had lost
control now and for all time."

Knickers and underpants provide interesting material for
cross-cultural comparison.

My wife and I used to share a house with a Ugandan family. Even after
two years of living very closely together I had still not grasped the
different attitude that Ugandans have towards the public display of
knickers and underpants.

Sue and I washed our clothes by hand and then hung them outside on the
hedge to dry.

I never noticed that it was only the O'Connors' underwear on the
hedge, and not that of our Ugandan friends.

In the UK, underwear is always hung outside on the washing line. So,
when our lives brought us to Kampala, we never thought to do it
differently.

A few years later, I know more about the cultural differences
surrounding underwear (though I still have much to learn).

When I enquired with friends about these different attitudes in
Uganda, two explanations were provided.

Firstly, and most simply, that underwear relates to a private part of
the body, and is therefore not for public display.

Secondly, some people do not hang underwear on a washing line because
of their fear of witchcraft/juju.

Brenda, a 29-year old single mother with two children is an S-3
leaver. She explained in Luganda:

"Mugya wange yantuteko empale yange andoge." (My co-wife has taken my
knicker because she wants to do juju on me).

Knickers relate to a very private part of the body as they cover the
sexual organs. Hence Brenda's belief that her co-wife could take her
knickers from the washing line and "do juju" on them. Brenda fears
that such juju would stop her from having children, or even from
giving good sex.

Poverty also affects attitudes to underpants and knickers in Uganda.

Thus, Christine, a 27-years old graduate, said:

"When a Ugandan woman has a limited budget, she has to make some very
hard choices. For instance, during ali mumwezi (menstruation) she
would not buy panty-liners or sanitary pads if it meant her kids going
hungry or not going to school. Her knickers, however well-washed,
would begin to look discoloured after awhile. So she would not dream
of hanging them in public. This also explains why some Ugandan women
prefer black rather than white underwear, though others choose black
because they think the colour is sexy."

I am rather ashamed to admit that I have 15 pairs of underpants in my
drawer. The need to wash a pair for the next day therefore rarely
crosses my mind.

David, a 22-year old newsvendor in Kampala, lives in a different world
from me. He said:

"I just have two pants. When I am wearing one, the other is drying at
home."

Mary commented: "David is lucky. Some poor Ugandans only have the one
knicker or panty. They wash it when they bathe at night, and it dries
while they sleep."

When I compare different cultural attitudes to underwear in Africa and
in Europe I am not saying that one culture is better than the other.
They are merely different.

That difference adds to the wonderful variety and diversity that is
human life.

The difference also provides an explanation as to why Jonas Savimbi's
green and white underpants were put on display in the harsh heat of
the African bush for all the World to see.

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

April 5, 2002

Guerrillas have attacked several government military positions in the
Pool region northwest of the capital, Brazzaville, the government of
the Republic of Congo (ROC) reported on Friday.

The attacks on the Forces armees congolaises (FAC) in the locales of
Intsini, Kindamba, Kingoyi, Louloubo and Mayama are believed to have
been launched by rebels belonging to Rev Frederic Bitsangou's (alias
Ntoumi) "Ninjas", named after the Ninja warriors of medieval Japan.

Humanitarian sources in Brazzaville told IRIN on Friday that "a couple
hundred" displaced people from Mayama had arrived in the capital, and
that an assessment mission of the situation was imminent.

No death toll was available on Friday, although military spokesman Col
Jean-Robert Obargui told AP that army casualties had thus far come to
two dead and many wounded. Obargui added that while there was no firm
word on rebel casualties, he believed them to be high.

The FAC on Wednesday issued a statement accusing Bitsangou of
"violating the ceasefire accords and the truce" [** version originale:
<<de violer les accords de cessez-le-feu et de cessation des
hostilites" **] of November and December 1999, following years of
civil war.

On Tuesday, at least two people were killed and 12 wounded in an
attack on a passenger train traveling from the coastal town of
Pointe-Noire to Brazzaville, said to have taken place in two separate
locations near Kinkembo, some 150 km west of the capital. The route,
Congo's main railway line, has since been shut down by the government
for security concerns. AP reported that the closure has resulted in
gas shortages in the capital on Friday, with long lines forming at
pumps. Food stocks remained plentiful in the city, but authorities
warned they, too, could start running out soon.

Last month, Col Michel Ngakala, the High Commissioner for the
Reintegration of Ex-Combatants in ROC, accused Ntoumi of opposing the
demobilisation of his men and thereby constituting a threat to peace.
Although Ntoumi has expressed willingness to the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Organisation for
Migration (IOM) for his men to be reintegrated, negotiations between
him and the government have thus far been unsuccessful.

Following 1999's ceasefire agreements, the process of demobilising an
estimated total of 25,000 militia fighters has been underway in ROC.
It includes members of the Cobras (loyal to current President Denis

Sassou-Nguesso), the Cocoyes (loyal to former President Pascal
Lissouba), and the Ninjas (loyal to former Prime Minister Bernard
Kolelas).

Since the end of the civil war, many former militiamen have

surrendered their weapons in exchange for civilian jobs. Through the
UNDP/IOM programme for the "Reintegration of Ex-Combatants and
Collection of Light Weapons", which has been operating since November
2000, more than 7,500 ex-combatants have been assisted in the
transition to civilian life through funds and training to start small
businesses. Some 1,800 have been reintegrated by the government,
primarily into the army. The initiative has also collected and
destroyed 12,000 small arms.

Last month, on 10 March, Sassou-Nguesso won a landslide victory in the
Congo's first presidential elections since 1992, with over 89 percent
of the vote. Former Prime Minister Andre Milongo, considered to be
Sassou-Nguesso's main challenger, withdrew from the race on 8 March,
claiming irregularities. Former President Pascal Lissouba, who
defeated Sassou-Nguesso in 1992, and former Prime Minister Bernard
Kolelas were barred from entering the race by the revised
constitution, which requires candidates to have resided continuously
in the country for at least two years before the election. Both are
living abroad in exile, having been tried and convicted in absentia
for crimes allegedly committed during the civil war that plagued the
nation throughout the 1990s.

This was the first time Sassou-Nguesso was elected to the presidency,
an office he first seized in 1979 and held until 1992, and then seized
again in 1997 until this month's elections.

+ + + +

The East African Standard (Nairobi)
April 8, 2002
Xavier Lugaga

The lucrative but illegal business of drug-trafficking is anchored by
a well knit syndicate of police and custom officers who are based at
the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

And our investigations have revealed that the major drug pushers are
West African nationals who are based in the country. They enlist local
agents among them some Kenya Airways employees.

Sources said that syndicate members earn Sh50,000 when a consignment
of drugs goes through JKIA undetected, adding that they are paid on
the spot by agents of the drug pushers.

The sources also said airline cabin crew, who decline to deliver the
drugs, are intimidated with threats of punishment, including death.

Sources at the JKIA said drug-pushers who are arrested are either
betrayed or have already fallen out of favour with members of the
syndicate they are working for because of one reason or another.

The syndicates, the sources explained, have pointmen in various police
and custom officers who work 24 hour shifts and who are well known to
be drug bosses and their agents.

Police sources said the West Africans who enlist local people are also
well known to highly-placed police officers who shield them in case
the drugs are traced to them.

Sources said members of the syndicates on the shift on duty are
informed in advance about the arrival of the plane aboard which the
person who is carrying the drugs is.

Thereafter, arrangements are made by the syndicate members on the
ground who either don't bother to check the baggage's or casually
inspect it and let or see it through.

In most cases, a JKIA source said, the baggage is not inspected. "All
they do is to simply agree with what the owner of the baggage has
declared to be the contents of their bags," our sources said.

They said usually the contents of the baggage are declared to be jeans
trousers and other fabrics being brought in as gifts for relatives and
friends.

The sources explained that it is difficult to eliminate the syndicate
because many police and customs officers are part of it because of the
handsome monetary gains that come with the drugs trade.

The sources said that in some cases the bags containing the narcotics
arrives at the JKIA with labels indicating that they are destined for
neighbouring countries such as Uganda or Rwanda.

The transit labels enable the pointmen to know which bags to inspect
and which ones not to bother with. Alternatively, only officers "in
the know" pretend to inspect the baggage.

In this case they will not be inspected as required, since it is bound
for another country. The baggage is eventually moved to a customs
warehouse commonly referred to as "the cage".

"Once caged then the luggage will not be subjected to inspection and
execution of bond as required by the law," our sources said.

Under the law all transit goods are subject to execution of bond to
secure them lest they are diverted into the local market.

Our sources said this offers a fine opportunity to the drug peddlers
to organise and sneak out the luggage from the cage at odd hours with
the assistance of members of the syndicates.

"The baggage is moved to the cage with the full knowledge of the
syndicate who guard it with instructions not to allow any "stranger"
to touch or inspect it," our sources said.

The baggage will then be moved out of the cage at an opportune time
with instructions that it is headed for its final destination. The
baggage is then handed over to the drug baron.

+ + + +

The East African Standard (Nairobi)
April 8, 2002
Dominic Wabala

In the period between 1996 and 2001, some 16 arrested drug
traffickers, among them one Kenyan, have jumped bail after being
charged in the country.

Asif Saeed Rana (a Pakistani national) arrested at the Jomo Kenyatta
International Airport (JKIA) with 2.38 kilogrammes of heroin hit the
Kenyan headlines two years ago when he mysteriously 'escaped' from
armed Prison warders as he was allegedly being taken to Kenyatta
National Hospital.

Another Pakistani, Gill Mewa, who was arrested with 6.5 kgs of heroin
stashed in 1,716 drinking straws, jumped bail after being arraigned in
court for the offence in 1999.

Other Pakistanis traffickers who have jumped bail after being arrested
with heroin include, Gohar Ali (491 gms), Mohammed AftiKhar Rana (388
gms), Asad Ali (51.7 gms),

Mark Kaliku, a Liberian national arrested with 2.8 kgs of heroin, also
jumped bail as did Rose Gathoni Nguro alias Rehema Wanjiru, Kenyan
arrested with 40 pellets of heroin weighing 400 gms.

Tanzanians form the bulk of foreign drug traffickers who have jumped
bail granted by Kenyan courts.

They include John Peter Mgema arrested with 60 pellets of heroin
weighing 600 gms, Mohammed Bakari Mwaramoyo arrested with 42 pellets
of heroin weighing 420 gms, Joakim Rutengano Mwakabuto arrested with
10 pellets of heroin weighing 100 gms, Michael Gilles Mhino arrested
with 26 pellets of heroin weighing 260 gms, Omar Mohammed Kambo
arrested with 9 pellets of herion weighing 90 gms, Omar Kizindwa
arrested with 6 pellets of heroin weighing 60 gms Juma Mabaruk Abdalla
arrested with 21 pellets of heroin weighing 210 gms and Sais Badi Omar
arrested with 25 pellets of hweroin weighing 250 gms.

Due to the country's lax rules, the defendants' lawyers have, however,
always managed to convince the courts to release them on bail.

Legally, the traffickers if convicted can be fined an amount equal to
three times the street value of the seized drugs making it more likely
for them to jump bail and defeat justice.

A comparison of drug seizures in the country in the last two years
indicates that there have been reduced cases of trafficking.

Last year, there were 160 cases of heroin in which 131 people were
arrested and 20 kilogrammes of heroin seized. Of those arrested 120
were foreigners while 11 were Kenyans.

In comparison, there were 59 cases of heroin intercepted in 2000 in
which 90 people were arrested and 28 kilogrammes of the drug seized.

There were five cases of cocaine detected in the country in 2001 and
five people, including four Kenyans, were arrested. Some 207 grammes
of the drug were seized.

This is in comparison with 2000 when there were four cases of cocaine
detected in the whole country and four people arrested and 4
kilogrammes of the substance seized.

In 2001, there were 4 cases of Mandrax seizures and three Kenyans were
arrested and 52,000 tablets seized compared to 200o when there were no
seizures.

The country recorded the highest number of cases in cannabis cases in
2001 with 3,868 cases detected and 383,253 kilogrammes of the herb
seized and 4,030 people arrested.

Of those arrested, 3,854 were Kenyans and 36 foreigners compared to
3,280 cases detected in 2000 and 4,86 people arrested with 12 tonnes
of cannabis seized.

In 2001, a total of 3,939 cases were recorded and 4,210 people,
including 3,889 male and 289 female suspects, arrested.

In 2000, there were 3,345 cases of cannabis detected and 4,582 people
arrested. This included 4,529 Kenyans and 53 foreigners of which 420
were male and 377 were female.

According to the officer in charge of the Anti-Narcotics Unit (ANU),
Mr Michael Jacobam, the unit has done a superb job as far as
destroying cannabis fields in the country is concerned.

He noted that most of the cannabis grown in the remote sections of
Mount Kenya has been destroyed in a continuous operation by ANU
officers backed by the Kenya Wildlife Society (KWS) personnel.

Jacobam, however, regretfully said that most of the cannabis entering
the Kenyan market originates from neighbouring countries.

He says that Kenyans have as yet not become cocaine abusers despite a
notable seizure of the substance but he added that heroin has become a
problem.

+ + + +

The East African (Nairobi)
EDITORIAL
April 8, 2002

Uganda has in recent months experienced a wave of senseless killings
in the form of mob justice or premeditated murders, leading to the
loss of many lives, particularly of people in their primes, under
mysterious circumstances. Victims are waylaid along highways, outside
banks, or near their residences.

Others are murdered by crowds of frustrated hooligans on mere
suspicion, in total disregard of the law, under which suspects are
presumed innocent until proved guilty.

This is a stain on the image of the Uganda police force, already
marred as it is by the rampant corruption that it is yet to eradicate.
While some attribute this lacklustre performance to inadequate
resources and training, the police rarely handle murder cases with the
diligence they deserve.

Only when a prominent figure is murdered do the police bother to carry
out proper investigations, including offering substantial financial
rewards to informers. Yet, for every high profile murder, hundreds of
ordinary people are killed.

For instance, in the week the famous Ugandan actor Paul Katende of the
Ebonies was killed outside his mistress's residence on March 29,
scores of other murders were committed in mysterious circumstances.
But only Katende's murder is being investigated with any seriousness.

Uganda is beginning to taste the bitter fruits of a liberalised
economy, where people can easily access commodities, including
firearms.

Moreover, now that so many former soldiers are jobless following their
demobilisation in 1993 and 1994, coupled with a poorly paid police
force, it is not surprising that lawlessness is on the increase.

Matters are not helped by the failure of the legal system to
conclusively handle murder cases. Hearings drag on for years, while
adjournments and appeals against sentences ensure culprits never get
punished for the crimes they commit.

The government must begin strictly enforcing the regulations that
guide the process of licensing firearms. It should also start
monitoring the use to which these legal arms are put while
simultaneously sealing the avenues through which illegal firearms
enter the country. This is is the only way to restore the public's
confidence in the country's security organs.

+ + + +

The East African (Nairobi)
EDITORIAL
April 8, 2002

We begin the serialisation of Col BERNARD RWEHURURU's Cross to the
Gun, published by The Monitor of Kampala, with two episodes that show
a professional army being humiliated and led to defeat by incompetent
political appointees Our story opens in 1972; relations between Idi
Amin's Uganda and Julius Nyerere's Tanzania have been steadily
worsening since the January 1971 coup that brought the former into
power and saw the man he had overthrown, Milton Obote, seeking
political asylum in Tanzania. There have been numerous diplomatic
skirmishes and border incidents; suddenly, the tension seems to boil
over, but this is Amin's Uganda...

In September 1972, as Ugandan authorities were putting final touches
to the mass deportation of all British passport holders and Ugandans
of Asian origin, the Kenyan Special Branch announced that it had
received intelligence reports that Tanzanian troops and Ugandan
guerrilla forces were planning an invasion of Uganda. Two days later,
a combined force of guerrillas of Yoweri Museveni's Front for National
Salvation (Fronasa) and the late Oyite Ojok's Kikosi Maalum fighters
invaded Uganda.

Many of the officers had dismissed the Kenyan Special Branch reports
with a contempt that they surely did not deserve. The attack therefore
took many of them by surprise, contributing to the invaders' initial
successes. A combined force of fierce fighters from both Simba
Battalion Mbarara and Suicide Regiment Masaka was later assembled and
placed under the command of Lt. Atanasius. They met the invaders at
Kalisizo and routed them, forcing them to beat a hasty retreat back to
Tanzania.

Amin ordered the airforce to carry out reprisal air raids on Tanzanian
towns. Bukoba and Mwanza were bombarded ferociously, forcing Tanzania
to reach a truce with Uganda. Hostilities ceased and the two countries
agreed to pull back their troops from the border by at least 10
kilometres.

Still, many of us believed that it was only a matter of time before
Amin ordered a full scale invasion of Tanzania. This belief was lent
credence by the fact that word from the Nubian, Kakwa and Lugbara
officers who were close to him, was that he was becoming increasingly
impatient with the numerous real and perceived subversive activities
that were being traced back to Tanzania.

The military planning unit and the army high command were ordered to
work out multiple contingency plans of how best to attack and
neutralise Tanzania. The plans were expeditiously drawn up and the
best fighting units were put on red alert.

Early in 1973, several announcements were broadcast over Radio Uganda
and the Uganda television service, alleging that a combined force of
Tanzanian soldiers and Ugandan exiles estimated to be 10,000 in number
had been assembled for an invasion of Uganda. Troops were deployed
nearer the border and munitions transferred from Magamaga Ordinance
Depot to Masaka, Mutukula and Mbarara in readiness, but the order to
attack did not come.

Early in December 1973, in live television and radio broadcasts, Amin
announced that all military officers were to be subjected to a 150-km
route march. He also ordered all officers attached to Uganda's foreign
missions to return and participate in the route march. While many
thought that it was one of Big Daddy's pranks, another section in the
army thought the time for the planned invasion of Tanzania had indeed
come.

On December 22, all of us, save Brig Shaban Opolot and Lt-Col Oboma,
who had gone on a special mission abroad, assembled at Republic House
for what turned out to be a very hollow briefing about the route march
and told us to report back the following afternoon. When we did, we
were each given new commando uniforms, dry rations, water bottles,
guns and ammunition. These supplies spelt combat readiness. Also, word
had got round that we were heading towards the common border with
Tanzania. This strengthened the belief that we were actually heading
out to war. Officers gathered in small groups and started questioning
the logic behind sending an army of officers to the front without any
men, though none could openly raise the matter.

At around six in the evening, about 30 new unregistered Tata buses
that had just been imported for purposes of beefing up the Uganda
Transport Company (UTC) fleet, were brought to Republic House by Col
Suleman, the company's general manager. We were ordered on to the
buses and other small vehicles, which formed a long convoy commanded
by a colonel. Shortly before 7pm, we set off from Kampala, arriving in
Lyantonde, 210 kilometres away on the Kampala-Mbarara highway, at
around 11 pm. In the middle of a large field, we were served supper
before embarking on the march to Mutukula at midnight the same night.

To begin with, the march was very much the military training exercise
that it had been planned to be. We maintained military discipline by
moving in orderly formations, but by daybreak, most officers were
visibly tired.

At around nine, with the sun beating down on our heads, we marched up
a steep hill. Many of us were by then perspiring profusely. We could
feel the sweat running down our bodies, into our underwear and right
into our boots. By the time we got to the summit, exhaustion had taken
its toll. A series of insubordinate outbursts about the Head of State,
starting as murmurs, soon became audible. Colonel Ozzo, a potbellied
elderly man, fired off the first volley. He refused to move and soon
started openly questioning the motive of the exercise.

"This whole thing is nonsensical. Amin is a fool. What made him think
that things are meant to be like this? I have never committed any
crime in the army, neither have I ever slept with a dog. Even if Amin
decides to throw me out of the army, I will not be ashamed to go home.
I am not moving any further unless a vehicle is brought here," he
declared before sitting down beside the path.

A Landrover was brought and detailed to transport him for the rest of
the exercise.

The next casualty was my company commander, Yakobo Abiriga, under whom
I had been placed as a Company Sergeant Major. He developed breathing
difficulties. We called for a vehicle and he too was evacuated to
Rakai, where we were due to spend the night. A number of other
officers also collapsed in the intense heat and they too were
evacuated to Rakai.

We grew defiant. We sulked. We were on edge. Even those whom we had
always thought to be unwaveringly loyal to Amin, vehemently questioned
the wisdom behind the decision to subject us to a route march on the
eve of Christmas.

Matters were not helped by the fact that there was no one to question,
because all the units had been placed under the command of warrant
officers and non-commissioned officers who were more ignorant than the
men they were leading.

By the time we got to Rakai later that afternoon, the mood was sombre.
We mechanically went about the task of setting up camp, before
descending to the trading centre, where we purchased hens, goats and
plenty of beer and tonto (banana wine).

That night, there was roast meat and drinks doing the rounds of the
encampment, but this did not really help to raise the morale of the
officers, many of whom were bitter with Amin for subjecting them to a
Christmas holiday in the unfamiliar bush of Rakai. On Christmas day,
the Christians went to church. At Rakai Catholic Church, the parish
priest, the catechist and the congregation were clearly uncomfortable
with the presence of nearly 100 men in green battle fatigues, but at
the offertory, we made up for this by offering a record 8,000
shillings. When the amount collected was announced, the congregation
and celebrants alike were rendered speechless, for at no time had the
parish ever realised so much money.

Elsewhere in the country too, Christmas was celebrated unusually
quietly. Like the officers who were holed up in Rakai, the civilian
population could not quite understand why Amin had taken the officers
for a route march.

Consequently, there was no loud music, no drinking in out of town
distant pubs and very few people drove out to celebrate Christmas in
their villages. The fear of being misunderstood by those in authority
robbed that year's Christmas of the usual merrymaking.

Very early on Boxing Day, we resumed our march towards Mutukula.
Halfway through the journey, we ran out of water and dry rations. We
had to turn to the civilian population for assistance, but whoever we
approached refused, saying that Amin had personally made several radio
announcements warning them against offering us any form of assistance.
Tired and thirsty, we marched on.

In the evening, we arrived at Lukoma airstrip where Amin was waiting
for us, but to our consternation, he told us that we were never meant
to have come that far on that particular day and ordered us back to
Kakuuto, where he had made arrangements for us to have a hot meal and
camp for the night.

Very early on the morning of December 27, we started marching towards
Mutukula Hill through Bigada for the last phase of the march. We were
to crown the exercise with an assault on Mutukula hill codenamed
"Attack on Golan Heights." We arrived at the base of the hill at about
10 am. Armed with support weapons and guns and live ammunition, we
shot our way to the top before descending to Mutukula prison where we
had lunch and some entertainment before boarding Kampala-bound buses.

Since the exercise had been conducted less than 20 kilometres from the
common border, so called international observers were sent out to
patrol the area and look for signs of a possible military build up,
but there was none. For some time after that, the two countries
continued playing a cat and mouse game.

Our story now skips ahead to 1978, when things really do start to
happen...

In the middle of 1978, as tension at the border increased, a Tanzanian
spy who was obviously an amateur was arrested at Masaka Technical
School, which overlooks Kasijjagirwa barracks. Among his possessions
was a piece of paper on which he had scribbled a few sentences
indicating that while it would be easy for any invader to make an
entry into the barracks, retreating under fire would be an uphill
task.

Unfortunately, the intelligence collection methods of the SRB boys
(State Research Bureau, Amin's secret police) were not about
collecting intelligence. Instead of using the spy as a source of
information about the enemy, they believed in kumaliza upesi, summary
execution. Before anyone in authority could interrogate him, the SRB
had already battered the spy to death.

Reports that an attack on Uganda was in the offing kept filtering into
the headquarters of Masaka Mechanised Specialist Reconnaissance
Regiment, which was also known as Suicide Headquarters. The reports
incensed the foreign legions, especially the Sudanese and Congolese in
the army high command. Led by Brigadier Malera, Taban Lupayi and Juma
Butabika, they started calling for a pre-emptive attack on Tanzania.
Then, in October 1978, Juma Butabika, with a handful of some of the
Malire troops, left his unit and took command of the troops that had
been permanently stationed at the border before advancing into
Tanzania.

The attack took the few ill-equipped Tanzanian troops stationed at
Mutukula and Minziro by surprise and they fled the area. Encouraged by
the lack of resistance, Butabika who claimed to have been in Masaka by
accident, rang Amin, claiming that Tanzanian troops had made an
incursion into Uganda, prompting him to take command at the border
guard in order to repulse the invaders.

Amin fell for the lie, largely because it presented an opportunity for
him to annex chunks of Tanzanian territory. He speedily sanctioned
Butabika's southward march to Kyaka Bridge through Kasambya. Though
the troops did not cross Kyaka Bridge, they had effectively sealed off
the entire Kagera salient and on November 1, Amin went on air and
announced that his government had annexed the Kagera salient.

Two days later, Butabika and his men, ignorant of military amphibious
operations and the availability of emergency pontoon bridges, asked
Amin to sanction air raids on the bridge. Approval was immediately
given, but the inadequate firepower and poor marksmanship of our jet
pilots meant that it was only after ballistics experts from Kilembe
mines were ordered in that the bridge was finally blown up, sparking
off wild celebrations. Gang rape, murder and the looting of all manner
of goods and household property followed the celebrations.

Quarrels soon erupted between several senior officers and their
subordinates over the loot. Chief of Staff Maj-Gen Yusuf Gowan, aiming
to steal a tractor, was beaten to it by a captain who refused to hand
it over to him. Angered by this, he summarily demoted the man to the
rank of Second Lieutenant. Another major who beat him to a couple of
tonnes of sugar, was demoted to a lieutenant and transferred to
Moroto.

- A FEW WEEKS later, Amin ordered the immediate withdrawal of all
Malire and Suicide regiment troops from the border area. As they
returned to their respective units, he ordered the transfer of army
recruits who had been undergoing training in Masaka to Mutukula.

I had been hearing cases brought before the Economic Crimes Tribunal
sitting in the Governor's lodge in Jinja town, when one day, returning
to the Crested Crane Hotel, I got a call from commanding officer
Masaka, Lt-Col Tom Asiki. Our dialogue was brisk. "Rep to my loc imm,"
he ordered, short for "Report to my location immediately."

"Wilco, " I replied.

The following day when I reported to Masaka, Asiki informed me that
the tasks of guarding and patrolling the border as well as training
the recruits who had been transferred to Mutukula had been placed on
my shoulders and that I was to start at once.

On arrival at Sanje near Bigada parish, where I established my
tactical headquarters, I found everything in a state of chaos. While a
large number of recruits had been transferred there, no training had
been going on. There was no established command structure and no way
of differentiating between recruits and the soldiers who had already
made their bones. To make matters worse, the men and officers mixed
freely with the recruits. Luckily, I found that I had either trained
many of the serving officers and men in Mbarara and Kabamba or worked
closely with them in diverse places. This simplified the task of
regularising the administrative structure.

Barely a week after arriving in Bigada, intelligence reports
indicating that Tanzania was building up positions started trickling
in. We duly passed them on to our superiors in Masaka, but none of
those reports was taken seriously. It was then that I realised that
since the people on the ground were not taking the reports seriously,
the Uganda Prisons Services corporal cum tractor driver who had become
the Chief of Staff would not react to those reports with the
seriousness that they deserved.

A few days later, the Tanzanian troops acquired a BM Katyusha
artillery piece, which later came to be known as Saba Saba in Uganda.
The Tanzanians now began testing deep within their territory. Every
night, the artillery fire drew closer to the border area. We
intensified patrols on the border, dug more trenches and prepared for
a fight.

On the other side of the border, having mastered their Katyusha, the
Tanzanians lifted their range of fire. Rockets rained down on our
defensive positions. A combination of good luck, poor artillery skills
and being well dug in saw us escape the initial wave without any
casualties, but we knew that we wouldn't continue being so lucky.

The shelling went on for weeks, seriously effecting the morale of my
men. It was then we requested air support against the mysterious Saba
Saba artillery, the idea being to locate and destroy it. But the enemy
had acquired SAM7s that harassed and destroyed some of the MIG fighter
jets dispatched for the operation. The mission aborted. We remained in
our trenches, waiting for divine intervention.

By then we had lost touch with what was going on around us. We lost
track of time and went about our duties mechanically. We ate food
without paying any attention to what it was or what it tasted like.

About three weeks before the Tanzanians finally launched an infantry
attack on Ugandan territory, we learnt by a stroke of luck the type of
weapon they were using. One of the rockets aimed at Lukoma airstrip
exploded only partially. We dispatched it to Army Headquarters for
identification, where a Soviet military advisor identified it as a BM
21 Katyusha multi-barrel.

The Soviets offered to deliver superior artillery pieces, but Amin
apparently viewed them with suspicion because of the ideological
similarities between Nyerere's socialist government and that of the
Soviet Union. A few days later, Asiki sent me a message inviting me to
attend a meeting in Republic House. During the meeting, attended by
the Secretary of Defence, Maj. Gen. Emilio Mondo, Isaac Malyamungu,
Lt. Col. Godwin Sule, Gore and numerous others, I briefed the senior
officers about the devastating impact that the Katyusha was having on
troop morale. It was unanimously agreed to purchase powerful support
weapons. Chief of Staff Gowan was requested to get in touch with Amin
immediately and ask him to release money for an assortment of weapons,
but he hesitated, saying he thought there probably wouldn't be enough
money to purchase all the items on the lengthy list, but eventually
called Amin. However, instead of getting to the point, Gowan, talking
in a language most of us could not understand, drew Amin into a
lengthy conversation apparently unrelated to the matter at hand.

The officers started shifting uneasily in their swivel chairs. Then
Godwin Sule brought an end to the Gowan-Amin conversation by barking
at Gowan to seek authorisation for the release of funds. Much to our
joy, approval was immediately given.

That sparked off a flurry of activity. The Bank of Uganda was
contacted and ordered to release the money in different European
currencies. The cash was brought to Republic House. Uganda Airlines
was ordered to reserve seats for an unspecified number of officers who
were to immediately leave for Europe on the shopping trip, and our
embassies abroad were cabled. Another group of officers was dispatched
to Tripoli to collect a consignment of bombs promised earlier by the
Libyan leader. One of our ambassadors also received two million US
dollars to procure more hardware.

When I got back to my unit, news of what had happened at Republic
House boosted the morale of my soldiers. But as the days dragged on
and the Tanzanians continued shelling our positions, the soldiers
became impatient. Talk in the trenches was that I had lied. A few days
later came news that the officer who had been dispatched to Libya to
collect bombs had forgotten to pick up their fuses from Benghazi. We
were told the same officer was making fresh arrangements to travel
back there. With that bit of news, a sense of hopelessness set in.

While I was still contemplating what to tell my sub commanders and the
men in the trenches, the enemy, having shelled Mutukula on a daily
basis for more than two months, decided it was high time they crossed
the border into Uganda.

The attack on Mutukula and Minzilo was a frontal one, coming east of
Mutukula near where the River Kagera joins Lake Victoria. On January
21, 1979, at 10 in the night, in heavy downpour, we started exchanging
fire. It was difficult to distinguish the sound of small arms fire
from that of a Katyusha. One could only distinguish lightning from the
artillery fire - the lightning came zigzagging towards the ground,
while the artillery fire moved through the sky in a huge arc.

As the fighting intensified, I thought it wise to get in touch with
the Chief of Staff, but no one picked up the phone, even when I tried
to get to him at his residence.

Probably out of the fear of a repeat of what happened between himself
and Obote, at no time did Amin appoint an army commander. He merged
into one the offices of the Army Commander and that of the Commander
in Chief. It therefore became common practice for army officers to
directly deal with Amin whenever the Chief of Staff was not available
or even when an officer felt he could not handle the matter. Towards
morning, I rang Amin on 2241 Entebbe.

I explained that the Tanzanian forces had at long last decided to move
across the border into Uganda. Amin did not sound surprised. What
seemed to shock him was that his Chief of Staff, who was meant to keep
direct and open communication with the troops, could not be reached.
He promised to get back to me.

In the early hours of the morning, as the Tanzanian troops approached
the forward edge of the battle area, he rang back, and promised to
order heavy air support and an immediate reinforcement of our
position.

The message lifted the spirits of the soldiers. By this time the
invaders, most of them young boys who had reportedly been forcibly
enlisted into the TPDF, had reached the forward edge of the battle
area in the hope of capturing Mutukula Prison. Our troops were more
than ready to give them the bashing of their lives.

Armed with Yugoslav made assault rifles which we fondly referred to as
Yugos, our troops opened fire on the advancing enemy, mowing them down
in their hundreds. But they came on in droves. Their bodies littered
the Mutukua Prison grounds, but their commanders continued pouring
more and more men into the attack.

Though expensive in human lives, the gamble paid off. By the end of
the first battle, which lasted more than six hours, they had overrun
Mutukula.

By eleven in the morning, when the guns fell silent, both sides had
run short of ammunition and the soldiers on either side of the front
line were too exhausted to do any bayonet fighting. The adversaries
stared helplessly at each other in what seemed like an unpronounced
truce. Capt Muzamir Amule, who was in charge of the tanks, was able to
tow away his damaged battle tank because the survivors of the first
phase of fighting were too weak to do anything about it.

A quick assessment after the first battle revealed that we had lost 14
soldiers while two sergeants stationed at the far end of our defensive
lines had been taken captive. Few of our artillery pieces had survived
the long hours of fighting. While some had been destroyed by enemy
fire, a majority had developed mechanical problems. My artillery
commander, Lt Ndugute, who years later became a senior officer in the
Rwandese Patriotic Front, was also injured.

The Tanzanians had suffered more than us. Intercepted messages
revealed that they needed at least 10 lorries to transport the dead
and the wounded, but I could not take advantage of the situation
because I did not have any more ammunition to give to my men and the
reinforcement that Amin had promised had not yet arrived.

Many of us started praying that the Tanzanians would make a tactical
withdrawal. An immediate enemy advance would mean both total defeat
and another perilous drop in the morale of our fighters, whose spirits
had been raised by the high enemy casualties.

Amid the confusion, two of our fighter planes flew over and further
disorganised the surviving enemy at Lukoma near Mutukula, sending them
scampering for cover in different directions.

I convened an impromptu meeting with all the sub commanders and
non-commissioned officers. We unanimously agreed to withdraw to our
tactical headquarters in Sanje and wait for the reinforcements.

At my tactical headquarters, tension was at fever pitch. All eyes were
on me, as though my obviously fatigued troops expected me to conjure
up ammunition and extra men by some miracle. At around four o'clock, a
helicopter carrying Brig Taban Lupayi and Lt-Col Godwin Sule landed at
our position. I sighed with relief when I saw them alight from the
chopper. I inquired about the reinforcement that Amin had promised.

What I got for an answer was amazing. Taban revealed that the force
that had been dispatched to reinforce us was at that material time
conducting a field firing exercise in Lukaya, about 120 km from
Mutukula.

For once I forgot the fact that Taban was my superior and a good
friend to Amin. I asked him why the soldiers were wasting ammunition
on trees when there were hundreds of enemy troops, their proper
recipients, besieging us; but he neither knew who had ordered the
soldiers to go on such an exercise nor the motive behind it.

Sensing the possibility of a mini revolt, Sule ordered Taban to
immediately order the troops to advance and relieve us from the
frontline. Then Taban tried to give the fatigued and angry soldiers a
pep talk. His words fell on deaf ears. Many of the soldiers had come
to the conclusion that their failure to defend Mutukula and the forced
abandonment of Lukoma, Bigada, Kibale, Nazareth and Naluzale, was the
fault of the army top brass, to which Taban belonged.

A warrant officer, who knew how high feelings were running, advised
Taban to forget about addressing the soldiers, saying he feared one of
the men would pick up a rifle and vent his anger on him. Sule and
Taban left hastily; by evening, the First Infantry Brigade commanded
by Lt. Col Abdallatif had arrived at Sanje. Before ordering Suicide
Regiment to withdraw to Kasijjagirwa barracks, we gave Lt-Col
Abdallatif a brief about our tactical position and warned him not to
take the situation lightly.

At the barracks, I found that my family had already left and most of
our fellow officers had also evacuated their families. My wife had
sought sanctuary in a small village located along the Masaka-Kalungu
Road, where I found them at the home of a friend. By then, most of the
Mbarara-Masaka road had already been taken over by the enemy. We
loaded a few household items on to a Tata tipper lorry and told the
driver and his escort to travel home via Fort Portal. Next I told my
wife and children to board a Landrover and tried my luck with the
Mubende route... I spent the night at my home village in Ruhoko, but
it was not like any other night I had spent at home with my family,
everything was so quiet. Everyone seemed lost in thought. We all
seemed to know that hard times lay ahead.

-Meanwhile, at the frontline, having regrouped, the enemy resumed
shelling our positions and advancing towards Sanje, where we had left
the First Infantry Regiment. In Kampala, despite the news that
Mutukula had fallen and that the enemy was advancing deeper into our
territory, members of the army high command, including my commanding
officer, were busy celebrating the eighth anniversary of Amin's rule.

A big parade was held at Kololo airstrip in Kampala on January 25,
where members of the Nubian community led by Lt Col Juma Butabika,
whose actions had actually sparked off the war, joined a host of
others in dancing a traditional Nubian dance, the Duruka. Watching the
live television coverage of the national celebrations at my home in
Masaka, I realised that many of the people there, including senior
army officers who were dancing the Duruka, did not know what exactly
was going on.

All that they were being told was that the enemy was shelling Uganda
with a big gun called Saba Saba, but they were yet to see and feel its
impact.

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

SYSTEM: Attention. Alert registered.
CENTRAL: Alert? Number One, report!
NUMBER ONE: Sir! We're picking up loud music.
CENTRAL: Music? We were just asleep!
NUMBER ONE: Yes sir. Ears report it's "Boyzone"
CENTRAL: Good lord, are we being tortured?
NUMBER ONE: Sir, Eyes are functional and request instruction.
CENTRAL: Tell them to open up and try to find out what is going on.
NUMBER ONE: Scope! Okay, I see darkness... darkness... Wait, there's a
woman sleeping there.
CENTRAL: A woman?
NUMBER ONE: Sir, Libido Station wants to know if it is Anna
Kournikova.
CENTRAL: Forget about Libido. What can you tell me?
NUMBER ONE: Sir, Memory reports a near perfect match to "girlfriend"
sir.
CENTRAL: Well of course. Keep looking.
NUMBER ONE: Sir, urgent report from Stomach on the horn, do you want
to take it?
CENTRAL: Stomach, what's going on?
STOMACH: Sir, we've taken a hit, it... it looks bad, sir.
CENTRAL: Get hold of yourself, man!
STOMACH: Yessir. It looks like a burrito, sir. It exploded at about
1900 hours and we've been out of action ever since. I don't... I don't
know if she can take much more, Captain.
CENTRAL: Stomach! Now you listen to me, son. We're all counting on you
up here. Don't give up now. Remember the chilli of '94? We made it
through that, we can make it through anything.
STOMACH: Yessir. You can count on me, sir.
CENTRAL: Good man.
NUMBER ONE: Sir, I've got a visual on the clock!
CENTRAL: Tell me, Number One.
NUMBER ONE: Oh my God, sir. It's horrible.
CENTRAL: Dammit sailor, get a grip on yourself!
NUMBER ONE: It's... It's six thirty, sir. In the morning.
CENTRAL: In the morning? Not again. I hought... I thought that we'd
had the worst of it yesterday.
SYSTEM: Sixty seconds to consciousness.
CENTRAL: This is madness. Do you know what's going to happen if we go
conscious now, this early?
NUMBER ONE: Work, sir?
CENTRAL: That's right, Number One. It'll be work, all right. I
don't... I don't know if I can live through that hell again.
SYSTEM: Fifty seconds to consciousness.
NUMBER ONE: Sir? Do you have orders?
CENTRAL: Hmmm?
NUMBER ONE: Orders, sir. Do you have orders for us?
CENTRAL: Orders? Orders, Number One? Damn right there are orders!
Let's get ourselves moving.
NUMBER ONE: Aye aye, sir!
SYSTEM: Forty seconds to consciousness.
CENTRAL: Shut that damn thing off, I'm trying to think. Get our remote
stations on line. I want a Search and Acquire on anything that feels
like a snooze button. Tell them to move. Bladder!
BLADDER: Yes sir?
CENTRAL: How are you holding?
BLADDER: All systems are flush and ready, sir. We can go another three
hours, easy.
CENTRAL: Very well, Bladder. Number One, get me Nose on the horn.
NOSE: Sir, Nose reporting, sir!
CENTRAL: Good to hear from you, Nose. How are you doing up there?
NOSE: Sir, ah, we registered cat breath about twenty minutes ago, but
it was pretty faint and I didn't think...
CENTRAL: Steady on, nose. You were right not to trigger an alert.
NOSE:Thank you, sir.
CENTRAL: Nose, I'm afraid I have bad news for you, son. We took a
burrito last night.
NOSE: Oh no, sir, not again!
CENTRAL: I said steady! You're going to have to hold on, you hear me?
Hold on,and it will pass. I don't want ANYTHING getting through to
consciousness.
NOSE: Yes sir. I'll try, sir.
CENTRAL: That's the spirit. Stomach!
STOMACH: Sir?
CENTRAL: How are you doing down there?
STOMACH: We've been breached, Captain. The whole alimentary is in
flames. I'm trying to keep it contained, but I can't promise anything.
CENTRAL: Damn!
NUMBER ONE: Sir, Libido Station reports it is ready for battle!
CENTRAL: Tell Libido to calm down, I'll call him when I need him. Any
report from our search party?
NUMBER ONE: Sir, Fingers report they located and toppled a glass of
water, a pair of glasses, and a box of Kleenex. No luck on the snooze,
sir.
CENTRAL: Number One, I don't mind telling you, if we don't get this
under control we're going to lose her.
NUMBER ONE: Yes sir. Sir, Libido requests positive verification that
the woman sleeping next to us is not Anna Kournikova.
CENTRAL: For crying out loud.
NUMBER ONE: Sir, Ears reports the song is over. It's going to
commercial, sir.
CENTRAL: How much time on the system clock?
NUMBER ONE: Ten seconds to consciousness, sir. We've lost smile
control in the lower facial and we're developing a frown.
CENTRAL: Brace yourself, Number One. I'm afraid we've had it.
NUMBER ONE: Sir! Fingers has located target. Repeat, Fingers is on
target!
CENTRAL: Fire!
NUMBER ONE: Hit! Sir, direct hit!
CENTRAL: Excellent! All Systems stand down! Good job men!

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

An angry crowd has clashed with United Nations police in the
ethnically divided city of Mitrovica in Kosovo, injuring 16 officers
and a number of civilians.

A UN police spokesman said the officers came under attack as they
tried to set up a vehicle checkpoint in the north of the city, which
is dominated by ethnic Serbs.

The police say they were shot at and had two grenades thrown at them -
they returned fire and arrested a local Serb leader. His release is
now being demanded by a self-styled security group known locally as
the Bridge Watchers.

+ + + +

The Royal Marines have gone deep into the Afghan mountains seizing
cave complexes in the Zawa Valley along the Pakistan border.

It was the biggest operation mounted so far by British forces in
Afghanistan.

The aim was to make the area safe for American infantry who are trying
to flush out pockets of Taleban and al-Qaeda resistance.

+ + + +

The Monitor (Kampala)
April 8, 2002
Badru D. Mulumba

Tensions continue to mount between Rwanda Patriotic Army (RPA) and its
former allies the Banyamulenge now fighting the Rwanda backed RCD-Goma
rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Clashes between the two, last weekend, in South Kivu areas of Uvira,
Minembwe, Kamombo, Ndondo, Fizzi and Rwerera are feared to have
claimed 400 civilian lives and eight RPA soldiers, according to Jack
Murinda, one of the leaders of the recently formed Congolese Patriotic
Resistance Movement (CPRM).

Speaking to The Monitor on April 2 in Kampala, Murinda said that
Rwanda sent two helicopters to shell Minembwe on Easter Sunday, and
Banyamulenge soldiers shot down one of the helicopters, killing eight
RPA soldiers.

The CPRM accuses Rwanda of fighting a war by proxy through RCD-Goma.

"Rwanda has launched an attack against us because they want to
repatriate all of us to Rwanda in order to make Mulenge a permanent
operational zone for the RPA," Murinda said. "The other reason is that
Rwanda wants to increase the population of ethnic Tutsi inside
Rwanda."

Murinda claimed that RPA launched the attack under cover of pursuing
the Interahamwe and to arrest Patrick Masunze, the CPRM commanding
officer in charge of operations, whom Rwanda accuses of killing an RPA
brigade commander on Feb.17.

The chairman of the CPRM, Kizehe Verdum, said that they are in Uganda
to talk to "peace loving people and freedom fighters to divert their
attention from the Sun City talks and focus on the dying population."

He said they want to reach President Yoweri Museveni.

The current round of fighting follows tensions that have been going on
between Banyamulenge and the RPA/RCD-Goma since January, Kizehe said.

The clashes first occurred on Feb. 17, but they resumed last week
after the expiry of a seven-day ultimatum given by RCD-Goma to
rebelling Banyamulenge to get back to the mainstream.

Kizehe said he fought for the RPA before they came into government and
that the current crisis dates back to Sept. 28, 1996 shortly before
the war that swept the late Laurent Kabila into power, in which he
also participated.

The military intelligence and politicians of the RPF/RPA reportedly
met Banyamulenge leaders in Butare on this date.

He said Rwanda raised the issue of resettling Banyamulenge in Kibuye
in Rwanda, a request the Banyamulenge refused.

Other sources told The Monitor, Mar.30, that some Banyamulenge leaders
met senior Rwandan officials in Kigali on Mar. 29, 2002.

Rwanda reportedly asked them to decide whether they are Rwandans or
Congolese.

"It is terrible, this new war. Indeed Rwanda is keeping it away from
the international community, which explains why [the UN news agency]
IRIN doesn't say anything," said a source.

However, IRIN quoted RCD Secretary General, Azarias Ruberwa, telling
the Sun City summit on April 3 that the conflict had by Feb.21 left
over 20 dead and 42 wounded.

But Rwanda government spokesman Joseph Bideri denied knowledge of
plans to resettle Banyamulenge or of the said meeting.

"Who chaired it? I am not aware of that meeting," he said on phone
from Kigali before referring The Monitor to RPA spokesman, Jean Bosco
Kazura.

Kazura denied knowledge of the clashes, the loss of RPA soldiers and
the helicopter.

"You might ask those guys who gave you that information," he told The
Monitor. "We don't have any clashes. I can't tell you that we are
[involved in] clashes when we are not."

+ + + +

The Perspective (Smyrna, Georgia)
ANALYSIS
April 8, 2002
Musue N. Haddad

There have been reports of another outbreak of fighting in Liberia.
This time the fighting' took place in Kakata, about 35 miles from the
Liberian capital, Monrovia. The alleged attack on Wednesday, April 3,
2002, left citizens in the capital, Monrovia, panicking. Taxi drivers
refused to reach the outskirts of the city fearing that the close
proximity of Kakata to Monrovia, meant that the ruthless government
security forces would be merciless to the people as they normally are.

Many people are skeptical of the government's claims that Kakata has
been attacked because in the past, Taylor surrogates are known to have
fabricated such attacks - like the ones in Klay and Sawmill. Many
observers believe the Klay attack was planned by the government in
order to use it as a pretext for Mr. Taylor to impose a "state of
emergency", which would then be used to restrict the civil and
constitutional rights of the Liberian people in the name of security.
The alleged Sawmill attack took place when British Prime Minister,
Tony Blair, was visiting the sub-region.

Similarly, the so-called Kakata attack took place as members of the
United Nations' Panel of Experts were in Monrovia to assess Mr.
Taylor's compliance with the UN sanctions imposed on him for his
involvement in destabilizing Sierra Leone. US Congressional Staffers
believed to be associated with the Black Congressional Caucus were
also visiting the country. Few hours after the alleged attack, the
Taylor government took the UN experts and a representative of the US
Congressional staffers to Kakata to observe the damage. This move by
the government made many Liberians as well as some in the
international community to wonder if this was a coincidence or another
gimmick by the Taylor regime.

Most people believe the latter to be the case since LURD, who in the
past had fallen for many of Taylor's gimmicks has not taken
responsibility for this attack. Perhaps, they have caught up with
Taylor's fiasco. It seems that this time LURD does not want to give
the UN Security Council reasons to lift the arms embargo against
Liberia. Recently, the Economic Community of West African States
(ECOWAS) placed a travel ban on LURD for not attending the recent
"Reconciliation Talks" in Abuja, and for the intermittent war in
northwestern Liberia.

There is a common pattern in most of Liberia's rebel attacks. The
Liberian government usually says there is an attack by rebels when
their are visitors from the international community visiting Liberia
or the government uses alleged attacks as a pretext to arrest and
imprison those the government view as enemies - in the name of
"security"- as it has done since the state of emergency was declared
(many journalists and human rights defenders have fallen prey to the
absolute powers claimed by the Liberian ruler).

To fully understand the pattern and purpose of these orchestrated
attacks and events that precede them, let's look at a few examples.
Mr. Taylor's lack of respect for human lives and his determination to
do anything to perpetuate his reign of terror, even if it means
killing innocent people, can be seen in the examples.

Prior to the September 18, 1998 fracas, President Charles Taylor had
his familiar and well publicized fast and prayer service. Few days
after the "fast and prayer", government forces led by his son, Chuckie
Taylor, raided Camp Johnson Road area in downtown Monrovia in their
efforts to capture Roosevelt Johnson, one of Taylor's factional rivals
during the Liberian civil war. Street battle ensued on September 18,
1998, between government security forces and loyalists of Roosevelt
Johnson of the Krahn ethnic group. Several innocent Krahn women, and
children were killed, while many prominent members of that tribe were
imprisoned. The government claimed that "over 45 persons" died, but
independent sources placed the number of persons killed at over 1000.

The government is on record to have described the fracas as a surgical
operation to rid the society of fugitives. It is an open secret that
such operations or if I may use the government's description of the
event - "surgical operation" are not abruptly carried out. Surgical
Operations are planned and reviewed before being carried out. Thomas
Doeway and the ten Liberian Armed forces personnel were arrested,
taken into the Barclay Training Center (BTC) prison and later
murdered.

The government then announced that Thomas Doeway and the ten Liberian
Armed Forces personnel were killed during an exchange of fire between
government forces and a group that wanted to release them. Yet at the
BTC, there was no evidence of fresh bullets anywhere in the vicinity
after the alleged exchange. The government refused to release the
bodies of Thomas Doeway and the ten Liberian Armed forces personnel
that were killed? There are strong indications that Thomas Doeway and
the ten Liberian Armed forces personnel were slaughtered by government
forces, and not killed in exchange of fire as the government claimed.
For several years, Doeway's colleagues, General Joseph Jarlee and the
others who were arrested during the infamous September 18th incident
languished in prison. This act by the government is seen as part of
its ongoing strategy to purge the Armed Forces of Liberia and security
agencies of those it considers loyalists of the late president Samuel
K. Doe. The ongoing elimination process is not limited to rival groups
of the NPFL but extended to all persons in various sectors of the
Liberian society, since Charles Taylor and his cohorts see anyone who
speaks of the shortcomings of his regime as enemy of the state.

Another scheme was staged again in April 1999 while members of an
international humanitarian organization was visiting Lofa County, the
infamous northern part of Liberia associated with instability. There
were reports of fighting in Lofa. During that fight, many persons lost
their lives; "rebels" allegedly took relief vehicles and items away.
Relief personnel fearing for their lives fled from the area.

Later, when the "fighting" subsided, the government said it had gained
control of the area. Sources from Lofa said the looting was carried
out by security forces - some of them were armed and dressed in
civilian outfits; a replica of the National Patriotic Front of Liberia
(NPFL) rebels.

Again in October 2001, few days before the United Nations' Panel of
Experts were due to arrive in Liberia, the government announced that
it was attacked again by rebels in Lofa County. Several persons were
killed, many others were displaced; again, the rebels were "pushed"
away and the government without fear on October 6, 2001, led members
of the United Nations' Panel of Experts to Lofa County to "see the
effects of the fighting" - the area it claimed had been a battle zone
less than a week.

A close confidant of Taylor and the so-called battlefront supervisor,
Lieutenant General Cocoo Dennis stated on BBC news coverage of the
United Nations' Panel of Experts visit that it was easy to identify
the dissidents. "They speak Mandingo (a local language) and French
(the official language of Guinea)". For the Liberian government, the
United Nations team visit was a suitable time to play on their
sympathy. How did Cocoo Dennis determine that the rebels speak
Mandingo and French? Was there an interaction between Cocoo Dennis and
the 喪ebels'? Were any of the 喪ebels' arrested and interrogated to
enable Cocoo Dennis and the government to determine the languages they
spoke? If so, where are the 喪ebels' that were arrested?

The patterns of attacks can be traced to the scheme perfected by the
disbanded National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) led by Charles
Taylor during the civil war. This scheme is one of the numerous
strategies NPFL used in frustrating the efforts of leaders of West
Africa and international organizations, who genuinely intended to
resolve the Liberian crisis in its early stage.

So, the news of Wednesday, April 3rd attacks did not come as a
surprise since another United Nations' sanctions team was in the
country to investigate whether President Charles Taylor is complying
with the selective sanctions imposed on his government for his role in
fueling the crisis in Sierra Leone. To focus the attention on others,
Charles Taylor concocted this scheme like he always does - to tell the
world that similar attacks have killed several people, displaced many
others, destroyed people's properties and left families homeless. The
Liberian ruler believes that the international community will buy that
- thereby lifting the UN sanctions imposed on him

Like in most of the government-orchestrated attacks, few hours after
the attack, with unwavering confidence, the government led a team
including journalists, to Kakata to see the destruction carried out
during the "attack" in which two Lebanese businessmen were killed. How
did the rebels get to Kakata? How many government forces were killed?
How many rebels were killed?

The government claimed the attackers overran the Booker Washington
Institute (BWI) and the students were asked to leave the area.
Citizens fled the city leaving government troops parading in their
usual display of long-range weapons.

As the saying goes, "you can fool some of the people some of the time,
but not all of the people all of the time." This is what the Taylor
government thinks it can do with its latest scheme - in order to gain
sympathy from the international community.

The Liberian government in an April 2nd publication quoted the head of
the visiting UN Panel of Experts, Ambassador Harjit Singh Sandu of
India as saying that " There is evidence that Liberia is complying
with the UN demands."

However, after having being led on a tour of Kakata after the alleged
attack, the Times of India in its April 4th publication on the
coverage said, "One of the UN members declined comment [on the attack]
saying he needed more information from other sources before making a
statement".

The question lingering in the minds of many persons is what kind of
influence such orchestrated attack that killed innocent civilians,
destroyed their properties, leave them homeless, which is perpetrated
by Taylor and his partners-in-crimes will have on the decision of the
visiting UN Panel and the international community? The Panel will
present its findings to the UN on April 11 and the Liberian people are
waiting to see!

P.O. Box 450493
Atlanta, GA 31145
Website: www.theperspective.org
E-mail: edi...@theperspective.org

+ + + +

Concord Times (Freetown)
April 8, 2002
Regina Thomas
Freetown

28 disabled youths and children who were at the International
Organisation of Good Templers (IOGT) Care Centre were reunified with
their parents last Friday, at a farewell ceremony at the CHASL
Conference Hall in Freetown.

The National Secretary John B.S Kamara said the IOGT has been a member
of IOGT International.

He said the IOGT started humanitarian activities in 1857 in the United
States of America. The Chairman Abdulai Kargbo Forut/IOGT said, they
also operate a day care centre.

He observed that many disabled children have been neglected, adding
that, they needed to be cared for.

"We are handing over the children to their parents.

They can do more. Disability is not inability", he said. He however
cautioned the children that: "Disability does not mean that you are
above the law".

The National Director, Mr. A.B.S Kamara said that, some parents had
refused to accept their children.

"We have had them for the past 10 years," he said.

Mr. Kamara said although they encountered many problems, yet they were
able to complete their work.

He disclosed plans to operate a non-residential program for the
children.

The Director of Youths in the Ministry of Education, Mr. Josephus
Williams pleaded with parents to embrace and protect their children,
adding that, they should not ignore them, because they were
handicapped.

"Do not allow them to get psychological problems. The war has ended.
We need to disarm their minds", Mr.

Williams cautioned parents.

The children were given packages of rice, corn flour, bulgur wheat,
beans, oil, used clothing, sugar and salt.

+ + + +

The Monitor (Kampala)
OPINION
April 8, 2002
Karoli Ssemogerere

For all the shortcomings in the Congo, and it appears the gold rush in
Karamoja, the UPDF has reported successes against Joseph Kony in the
lowlands of southern Sudan.

This is good news given that Kony was supposed to have abated more
than 11 years ago yet he has been nearly successful in closing down
the fertile northern Luo belts to development.

It is time to turn a new leaf in the north-south relationship, which
often has been frosty marked by excesses by UPDF who had turned that
conflict into something of a cash cow preferring to spend their ration
cash allowances than end the torture and misery Kony has visited upon
people in the north.

For a man who lived off satanic messages, plucking ears and lips off
innocent people, raping innocents, his time is clearly up.

How long Uganda had to wait to make peace with the Sudan so as to
smoke out Kony is anybody's guess.

But it fits into the scheme of new oil and possibly more oil showing
up in Sudan and possibly closer to Uganda.

It gives an incentive for Sudanese to settle their own internal
problems such as institutional racism against the indigenous people of
the South whose fate has also been worsened by a very opportunistic
leadership of the rebel groups.

There may be structural problems in the two regimes both in Kampala
and Khartoum, but they can be handled politically.

Gen. Bashir is no democrat by any estimation. In fact Sudan has only
had one democratic election since independence in 1956. That was in
1988 bringing in Sadiq el-Mahdi to power with his Umma Party.

Bashir, long considered a figurehead of the intellectual Hassan
Tourabi, eased out the former commissar and high priest of the
National Islamic Front.

Khartoum is considered one of the backward capitals of the world, the
backwater of the Arab world that for years condoned slavery and
attempted to Islamise the non-Arab, non-Muslim south.

Of course, since 1983 Garang and his accomplices turned and twisted
the war to their personal economic benefit, blocking relief supplies
from reaching their people and making alliance after alliance and then
turning guns on each other.

They counted on the unlimited goodwill from men mentored in similar
tactics across the border.

Both the UPDF campaign in northern Uganda and the SPLA resistance in
southern Sudan shared a common vision of lengthy procrastination and
war profiteering.

When Betty Bigombe, then minister in charge of Pacification of the
North, attempted to end the Kony menace, she ran into resistance for
disrupting the big man's club.

Fortunately, new economic avenues opened up in the form of Congo trade
thus reducing pressure on the war in the north.

The people of Acholi should be allowed to return to their homes. Most
of the grievances are legitimate. The sins of hooligans who served in
the Uganda National Liberation Army and Special Branch in Obote II
cannot be visited upon an entire people. Why, when time came to hit
the road the Acholi were abandoned by this leadership!

The brave ones who stayed behind after the UPC flight were harassed
professionally, denied due recognition in their abilities.

The most progressive Diaspora's academia and professionals are not the
Baganda who are far more numerous and had a head-start over anybody
else because political instability began in Buganda in the 1960s but
the Acholi.

While many of them may never return, they can join hands with local
talent and entrepreneurs to transform Acholi land. After all Gulu and
her neighbour to the south Lira already are the fastest growing towns
in Uganda.

A fitting legacy to the fallen sons and daughters of Acholi in this
war of shame should be a new, resilient community.

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

The father of pop superstar Michael Jackson has said he found a hotbed
of acting and musical talent in the African nation of Congo after
making a movie about the country.

Joe Jackson, 79, plays a detective chasing fake diamonds in Diamonds
from the Bantus, his first film role.

"There are problems in Congo, but I am of the opinion that the current
situation inspires people to work and to do big things," he said.

He has a production company that will look for actors and singers in
the country and take US stars to Africa, he said.

+ + + +

Siegfried Sassoon

In Barracks

THE barrack-square, washed clean with rain,
Shines wet and wintry-grey and cold.
Young Fusiliers, strong-legged and bold,
March and wheel and march again.
The sun looks over the barrack gate,
Warm and white with glaring shine,
To watch the soldiers of the Line
That life has hired to fight with fate.

Fall out: the long parades are done.
Up comes the dark; down goes the sun.
The square is walled with windowed light.
Sleep well, you lusty Fusiliers;
Shut your brave eyes on sense and sight,
And banish from your dreamless ears
The bugle's dying notes that say,
'Another night; another day.'

+ + + +

[Paul Edwards]

"Swarvegorilla" <endh...@locall.aunz.net> wrote in message news:newscache$7yzaug$oc9$1...@mars.dataline.net.au...

> President Bush, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, Arafat and Middle
> > Eastern leaders have all suspended their next moves pending the
> > outcome of this clash. Bush, Powell and Rumsfeld are defending the

> > combined operation against critics the world over - some inside Israel
> > too - so as to give Sharon and the US contingent the time it needs to
> > complete its mission.
>
> Ummmm...... I don't know about your corner of the world but Israel is
> copping a beating in our press for defieing the yanks.

I don't know that "copping a beating" is a fair description
of Australia's media coverage. They report that it is in
defiance of US calls, but that is factual, not a beating.

> Damn......
> Using invasion to get peace?
> Hahahahahahahahahaha!
> Peace for what? A year? A month?
> And then war forever.......

Better than just sitting there letting the civilians get slaughtered
without any effective response.

If the peace lasts a month, then go in every month.

> Oh well, let them slip.......

Or let Arafat slip? Hasn't he already slipped, caught funding
the suicide bombers he supposedly condemned, printing
counterfeit currency, caught with illegal weapons, showing
that his signature is worth nothing?

And now that he's slipped flat on his face, now what?

And now that Israel has pulled out of Lebanon, after 20
years, did Israel get peace? Hah, what a joke. Their
occupation of Lebanon was the least worst solution to
Israeli civilians being targets. Now the civilians are
scurrying into bomb shelters.

Not a single European country, US or Australia would
stand for crap like that for one second. The US would
be using B52s over Damascus and Tehran by now,
while the pilots complained about getting the wrong
lunch packs.

I'm pretty sure that Bush is only pushing for a tactical
retreat, I hope like hell he isn't going soft on terrorists.
His country has already earmarked Syria as a terrorist
nation. Bin Laden is going to get his war "against
Muslims" after all. I hope to see Israel and the US meet
at the Syria/Iraq border very soon.

The US is still issuing statements to the effect that they
aren't ready to take on Iraq militarily yet. I haven't seen
them do something like that before a conflict in the past.
So either they're planning a sneak attack soon, or they're
too busy fucking around in Afghanistan.

If Afghanistan is the problem, then it's time to tell the
Europeans and the Northern Alliance to do the job
themselves. Which they can do, albeit more difficult.

BFN. Paul.

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

A long-awaited report into the failure of a Dutch UN peacekeeping
force to prevent the murder of thousands of Muslims in the Bosnian
town of Srebrenica will be published on Wednesday.

The Netherlands is bracing itself for the results of the inquiry into
the worst massacre in Europe since World War II.

The BBC's Europe correspondent says Dutch troops are likely to be
criticised for their part in events leading up to the 1995 slaughter.

+ + + +

Military authorities in the Republic of Congo have appealed for calm
after tens of thousands fled the capital, Brazzaville, following
reports of a major military operation to find illegal weapons.

The southern part of the city is traditionally opposed to the
president

Gunfire was heard on Tuesday afternoon and BBC correspondents in the
region said that soldiers were manning checkpoints in the southern
districts of the capital.

Telephone lines had also been disabled, and entire families were
reported to be crossing the centre of town to stay with friends and
family for safety.

+ + + +

It is a fact that a woman born in South Africa has a greater chance of
being raped, than learning how to read.

One in four girls faces the prospect of being raped before the age of
16 according to the child support group, Childline.

+ + +

Millions of Venezuelans have been told not to go to work on Wednesday
as union leaders decided to extend a 24-hour general strike.

The country's vital oil business has been thrown into turmoil after
the strike was launched on Tuesday in protest at a new board of
directors for the state oil company.

+ + + +

A British peacekeeper accidentally shot in the head while serving in
Afghanistan has died, the Ministry of Defence has said.

The soldier, from the Royal Anglian Regiment, was on patrol in the
capital Kabul on Tuesday morning when the incident happened.

A military spokesman said a gun had gone off accidentally. It is the
first British fatality of the Afghan conflict.

+ + + +

13-year-old girl has been charged with smuggling heroin valued at
almost £1m through Manchester Airport.

The teenager was arrested after stepping off a flight from Pakistan.
Customs officers recovered 13 kilograms of heroin, with a street value
of £910,000.

+ + + +

InPhase Technologies, an offshoot of Lucent Technologies ' research
arm Bell Labs, showed the first commercial holographic video recorder
at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show on April 8 in
Las Vegas. The device uses the company's Tapestry technology to hold
100GB of data on a single CD-sized write-once disc as a succession of
1.3MB holograms. That's enough for 20 full-length movies, or 30
minutes of uncompressed high-resolution video.

+ + + +

Associated Press
Tuesday, April 9, 2002

WASHINGTON –– Pictures from sharp-eyed satellites, once the domain of
the United States and Russia, are becoming so easy to obtain that the
military may have to alter its strategies knowing adversaries with a
minimum of know-how and money can be watching.

Perhaps a half-dozen countries as well as some private companies have
spy satellites that, while not as good as those used by the United
States, are able to supply solid military intelligence.

"The unique spaceborne advantage that the U.S. has enjoyed over the
past few decades is eroding as more countries – including China and
India – field increasingly sophisticated reconnaissance satellites,"
CIA Director George J. Tenet said in a recent Senate hearing.

Tenet said adversaries are quickly learning how to take advantage.

"Foreign military, intelligence and terrorist organizations are
exploiting this – along with commercially available navigation and
communications services – to enhance the planning and conduct of their
operations," he said.

In the past, only Moscow had satellite capability approaching that of
the United States.

Now, with its own spy satellites, China would be able to learn of the
location and composition of a U.S. carrier battlegroup dispatched
during a potential dispute over Taiwan.

Eleven years ago, the United States threatened an amphibious assault
on Iraq from the Persian Gulf before hitting Iraq's army with a "left
hook" from the western flank. If Iraqi President Saddam Hussein had
had access to the kind of commercially available satellite imagery now
for sale, it's conceivable he could have moved his troops to meet the
coalition's surprise land assault.

The latest advances in foreign countries are largely the result of
their research rather than technology purchases or espionage, experts
said. The United States pioneered much of the technology; now, other
countries are replicating it.

"We're losing our monopoly," said James Lewis, a former Commerce and
State Department space policy expert now with the Center for Strategic
and International Studies. "After the war in the Persian Gulf, other
countries figured out it was really good to have space capabilities."

U.S. military satellites remain the best – they can discern far more
detail and collect more images. Their numbers allow them to take
pictures more frequently of a given area. A new generation of spy
satellites, part of a project called "Future Imagery Architecture," is
planned.

But now that other countries have access to high-resolution imagery,
they can count tanks, track fleets and acquire other information
useful in predicting U.S. military moves.

That means the military will have to practice the same "denial and
deception" techniques adversaries have used to avoid detection by U.S.
reconnaissance, experts say. Tanks are camouflaged under trees. Secret
projects are hidden in buildings when a reconnaissance satellite is
overhead.

During the first months of the Afghan war, the United States simply
bought exclusive access to the right parts of the orbit of the Ikonos
satellite, then the best commercial satellite in the skies. This
prevented anyone else from having a look at Afghanistan, and the U.S.
company that runs Ikonos, Space Imaging Inc., was happy to sell.

It's unclear if the U.S. government will do that in future wars. While
it can exercise "shutter control" over U.S.-owned satellites,
foreign-owned satellites are under no such restriction. Foreign
companies also may not want to sell imagery solely to the Americans.

Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, who has studied these issues, suggested
the military develop ways to jam satellite transmissions and prevent
ground stations from receiving the pictures.

"The more information an adversary has, the more vulnerable we are,"
he said. "We have to think about jamming and other capabilities at the
appropriate times."

Both the United States and the former Soviet Union worked on weapons
that would bring down spy satellites in the event of a major war. But
interest in those technologies has waned.

James also said he worries that the United States is losing its edge
in building the best satellites. New restrictions on exports of
satellite components, while slowing the transfer of sophisticated
technology, have also caused U.S. manufacturers to close, he said.
These rules were enacted after an investigation into the Clinton
administration's decision to let two U.S. aerospace companies export
satellites to be launched atop Chinese rockets.

+ + + +

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

April 9, 2002

The leader of a mutiny among Tutsi troops of the Rassemblement
congolais pour la democratie (RCD-Goma) was reportedly surrounded on 4
April at Gasinda in South Kivu Province in eastern Democratic Republic
of the Congo (DRC).

Commandant Patrick Masunzu, who has for two months successfully
resisted attempts by RCD-Goma to suppress the mutiny, would find it
difficult to escape, a spokesman for the Congolese Tutsis in South
Kivu, Enoch Sebeniza Ruberangabo, told IRIN in Sun City, South Africa.
"There was heavy fighting again on Sunday," he said. "Many people have
been killed."

He said there were divisions among Tutsis in the DRC, and members of
some clans were taking advantage of the ongoing insecurity to settle
scores.

Ruberengabo is one of two Tutsi civil society representatives at the
inter-Congolese dialogue in Sun City.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has vowed to crush resistance by
Masunzu's combatants, most of whom are members of the Banyamulenge of
South Kivu, the Tutsi community with the longest history in the DRC -
and a group whose protection is one of the reasons for Rwanda's
military presence in the country.

The Rwandan army was reported to have sent 1,500 soldiers to attack
the mutineers, who originally numbered "hundreds", said Ruberengabo,
but had since been joined by Banyamulenge villagers and other ethnic
groups in Kivu.

Ruberangabo said that while the RCD had spoken of some ex-Interahamwe
Hutu militia joining Masunzu's ranks, the Rwandan president had not
accused the mutineers of an alliance with those guilty of the 1994
genocide.

The security chief of the RCD, Bizima Karaha, has described Masunzu's
followers as "criminals and thugs", but Ruberengabo said Masunzu had
been the best protector of the Tutsis in South Kivu over the past
three years. He added that Masunzu had become the victim of a
defamation campaign after writing to the RCD appealing for a peaceful
resolution to the conflict, and warning that it could add to the risk
of extermination of the Tutsi community in the DRC.

+ + + +

The Namibian (Windhoek)
April 9, 2002
Werner Menges

THE Supreme Court yesterday reserved judgement in a drug-dealing case
which features a quantity of cocaine that allegedly mysteriously grew
in size.

Lawyer Gerhard Barnard argued before the Supreme Court yesterday that
evidence put before the High Court in 1998 during the trial of his
client, John Sam, indicated that the drugs seized by the Police had
been tampered with.

For the State, Public Prosecutor Corelie Barnard argued that the
circumstantial evidence as a whole supported only one inference, and
that was that Sam was aware that cocaine was involved when he helped a
Nigerian citizen, Stephen Shakatimba, collect a parcel sent from
Brazil to Sam's mother's Windhoek post box.

Acting Judge Bryan O'Linn sentenced Sam and Shakatimba to 10 years'
imprisonment each in late October 1998. He had convicted them in the
High Court of dealing in 5,51 kg of cocaine in Windhoek on September 8
1996.

The alleged drugs were seized by the Police's Drug Law Enforcement
Unit as Shakatimba was about to board a bus for South Africa.

The suspected cocaine was found hidden in file covers in Shakatimba's
luggage.

Sam was drawn into the case when it emerged he and his mother had
housed Shakatimba during his stay in Namibia, and that Sam had helped
Shakatimba collect the parcel sent to Sam's mother's address.

Gerhard Barnard told Chief Justice Johan Strydom and Acting Judges of
Appeal Fred Chomba and John Manyarara yesterday that suspicious things
had happened to the suspected cocaine before it reached court.

When it was first weighed by the Police, they said it weighed 4,7 kg.
Some two weeks later, after the substance had been delivered to the
National Forensic Science Institute to be analysed, it was weighed
again.

By then, its weight had diminished by some 100 grams. With the second
measurement, though, the substance was weighed without the envelopes
in which it had originally been.

Some two months later the suspected cocaine was analysed. When it was
weighed this time, it measured 5,51 kg. It had grown by 900 grams.

In the mean time, it had been reported in the media that the Drug Law
Enforcement Unit was investigating the suspected theft of thousands of
Mandrax tablets and 2,4 kg of cocaine from the forensic laboratory.

From these facts, Gerhard Barnard said, it had to be concluded that
the State had not been able to prove that this central exhibit in the
case against Sam was in fact what had been found in possession of his
co-accused, Shakatimba.

Barnard added that there was a "peculiar similarity" between the 910
gram growth in the cocaine, and the 810 grams of "pure" cocaine the
laboratory said it had analysed as being contained in the exhibit.

A reasonable inference that could be drawn from this, he said, was
that the exhibit disappeared, and was replaced by something else - 4,7
kg of a "white powdery stuff" - and an added 800 grams of cocaine.

Public Prosecutor Barnard responded that the State had properly
established the chain of events with regard to the cocaine - how it
was confiscated, how it was sealed before being delivered to the
laboratory, how it was kept in a safe of which only the laboratory
head had a key, and was then analysed.

The fluctuations in the weight of the substance simply proved the
point that had been made to the trial court in evidence - that cocaine
was a volatile substance which over time could increase or decrease in
weight, depending on factors such as humidity, she said.

Judge O'Linn had been correct in his judgement when he attributed
these weight changes to the use of different scales or the volatility
of the substance, she argued.

+ + + +

Weekly Trust (Kaduna)
OPINION
April 9, 2002
Kabiru A. Yusuf

It is clearly not possible to understand the dynamics of any country
in two weeks, let alone two days. But at least one can have a fleeting
impression and this is my quick one of this very strange country,
which is in West Africa but regards itself as Arab; calls itself an
Islamic Republic but maintains strong ties with Israel; which is 90
per cent desert but whose coastal waters contains the richest fishing
areas in the world.

No matter how hard you try to imagine how a foreign place might look,
my experience is that you always end up being surprised. But even with
this in mind, Mauritania is not your typical tourist destination. I
had read very little about it, mostly negative things about slavery
and discrimination against Africans, in a dry and dusty country ruled
by an authoritarian regime. But of course, as ever, I will like to
find out for myself and even a two-day trip to Nouakchott beats
someone's account in a coloured western documentary.

The first surprise was at the airport. How are two obviously African
travellers from Nigeria going to be treated at the immigration office?
Well, exceedingly well as it turned out. Immigration officers were
falling over each other to collect our passports and usher us past
customs and other airports formalities. We thought they were rushing
to take us to the quarantine or some such place for special grilling,
but no, they led us to the main lounge of the airport, carrying our
bags and offering to call a taxi.

At that point, being Nigerians, we understood what the game was all
about. The chaps have reduced themselves to glorified touts in
uniforms and now they wanted to be paid for their services. It was a
bit of a relief but also a let down. Here were these officious looking
Arab youths kow-towing to a couple of travellers from Kano. Where was
the discrimination or slavery! At that point it occurred to me that I
could turn the tables and buy one or two Arab slaves myself!!

Shortly, we were rescued from the fawning airport officials and sundry
beggars by Alhaji Bala Sani, Nigeria's Ambassador to Mauritania. We
drove into a well-lighted city, which is clearly small, but spread
out. Knowing that we had been travelling since lunch, the ambassador
took us straight to one of the best restaurants in town for a dinner.
Again another surprise. The waiters at the restaurant welcomed the
ambassador and his guests rather profusely. Other Arab eaters did not
look surprised that three black men had just walked in to take one of
the tables in the establishment. After dinner we ended up in one of
the best hotels in town and again we were given royal treatment. I
went to bed thinking that one of the rewards of travelling is that it
enables you to explode some of the myth people build about the world.

For the next two days we visited several Mosques and Madrasahs, to
speak to scholars and students on the one area this small desert
country has excelled: Islamic learning. It seems that its very
remoteness had made Mauritania attractive to Saints and Sufis who want
to escape the hustle and bustle of busy places, to seek God and
learning for its own sake. Serious students of course seek them out
wherever they go, recognising their merit and depth of understanding.
Some of these students are from Nigeria, but others came from as far
as America, a country with which Mauritania has excellent relations.

We also visited the market, where those searching for the things of
the world swarm in thousands, selling and buying. Again relations
between Arabs and Africans, and even more surprising, between male and
female, seem easy going. Many women dressed in traditional Arab attire
with layers of upper and lower covering, including head scarves. But
there were few full hijabs (or total covering) as you see in say Saudi
Arabia, Iran or even Sudan. And there were many scantily dressed
African women such as you might encounter in the markets of Bamako or
Dakar.

At the main fishing port in Nouakchott, the trade seems to be
dominated by Africans, including the fish hawkers who were mostly
women. The sea, for me, is always an awesome experience, but to come
upon it in a desert country is doubly so. That is one of the amazing
things about the Mauritania capital: big compounds, wide streets and
open spaces covered by sand, but then a few kilometres away is the
vast Atlantic ocean on the fringes of the city. Many cities are of
course located near an ocean and I have seen several in semi-desert
locations. But Nouakchott must be one of the few where the desert and
the ocean are cheek in jowl.

This is a bit about what the eye can see in about 48 hours. To
understand more about Mauritanian politics and economics, I closely
questioned some of the staff of our embassy in Nouakchott, who have
been there for many years. This is the picture I gathered.

The country

Mauritania, a former French colony, is situated between the 15th and
27th Northern parallel with a surface area of 1,030,700 square
kilometres. It is bordered by the Western Sahara and Algeria in the
North, Mali in the East, Senegal in the South and the Atlantic Ocean
in the West. Mauritania, twice as large as France is mainly desert,
constantly hot, dry and dusty as well as sparsely populated. Prior to
1960, both Mauritania and Senegal have a single colonial
administrative capital in Saint Louis, Senegal.

Following attainment of independence on November 28, 1960, Islam
became the state religion of Mauritania while French and Arabic were
adopted as the official and national languages respectively.

The country constitutes not only a strategic bridge between North and
West Africa, but also serves as a melting pot of their diverse
cultures.

Mauritania's population was estimated at 2.6 million in 2000 with an
average growth rate of 2.9 per cent per year. Majority of its
population lives in urban centres and depends on fishing, subsistence
farming and livestock for livelihood. 30 per cent of this population
are white Moors descended from Arabs and Barbers, another 30 per cent
are black Africans comprising Halpoular, Wolof and Soninke tribes,
while the mixed Moorish and black Africans make up the remaining 40
per cent. Mauritania, though united by the Islamic religion, is
diverse in languages and cultures. There has been persistent tension
between the Moors and black Africans, but the control of the country
by the former seems entrenched. This is partly because the mixed
Arab-African Mulattoes, who actually are the majority, tend to side
with the 'whiter' ruling Moors, rather than their poorer black
relatives. There are some reports about the existence of slavery in
the country, but this must be in remote rural markets. Certainly from
what we can see in the capital, the lighter skinned Moors, are by
virtue of their control of the State rich and powerful. Africans,
whether Mauritania or immigrant, are at the bottom of the social
order. There are complaints about discrimination, but I must say I saw
well-off Africans driving their children to school in posh vehicles.

Politics

Before the military came into the political scene in 1978, Mauritania
was under a civilian President, Moctar Ould Daddah, who ruled the
country for almost 18 years before being overthrown by Col. Mohammed
Khouna Ould Haidallah in 1978.

Since 1991, however, a new Constitution provides for the establishment
of multi-party political system. The incumbent President, Maauya Ould
Sid' Ahmed Taya, who came to power through a military coup in 1984,
won the 1992 presidential elections for a six-year term.

He was re-elected for another six-year term after a landslide victory
in the December 1997 presidential election. There is no limit to the
number of terms the president may hold office and President Taya, who
does not even have a vice-president looks set to remain in office for
a while to come.

The President, who doubles as Head of State and Government, appoints
members of his cabinet including the Prime Minister. He has two other
advisory bodies, namely, the Constitutional Council and the Supreme
Islamic Council. The Constitution empowers the President to set up
also the Economic and Social Council. Like other countries'
bureaucracies, Mauritania has conventional ministries, agencies and
parastatals. The Ministry of Interior is in charge of the country's
regional administration, prefectures and communes modelled on the
French system of local administration. Mauritania is divided into 12
regions, 53 departments and 208 communes.

There are 16 registered political parties, including the ruling
Democratic and Social Republican Party (PRDS). The main opposition
party, the United Democratic Forces (UFD), which represents the
aspiration of the African Mauritanian was banned in 2000 for alleged
anti-government activities. There are some opposition politics in
Mauritania, but the result is not often a happy one.

Economy

The country's economy is dependent on extensive deposits of iron ore
and copper which account for almost 50 per cent of total exports.
Other available mineral resources in commercial quantities include
phosphate and gypsum.

Moreover, the country's coastal waters are among the richest fishing
areas in the world. Mauritania's GDP was $3.9 billion in 1998. The
value of her exports which include fish, iron ore, gold, etc. was
$358.6 million in 1998 while imports which included consumer goods,
especially foodstuff, petroleum products and other capital goods were
valued at $318.7 million. External reserves stood at $202 million in
1998 while external debt amounted to $2.594 billion.

Mauritania's GDP per capita is US$500 ranking 149th out of 174
countries on the UNDP Human Development Index.

Relations with Nigeria

Mauritania established her Diplomatic Mission in Lagos in 1968 at
Charge d'Affaires level and up-graded it to ambassadorial level in
1981 until 8th June, 1998 when the embassy was closed down. In
reciprocity, Nigeria established its own Mission in Nouakchott in 1974
at Charge d' Affaires level until January 2000 when it was upgraded to
resident ambassadorial level.

Hitherto, our Ambassador in Dakar, Senegal had concurrent
accreditation to Mauritania.

At the political level, Nigeria and Mauritania maintain very cordial
and friendly relations. Both countries are members of the United
Nations (UN) and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). Until
December 2000, Mauritania was a member of the Economic Community of
West African States (ECOWAS). It is not very clear why Mauritania left
ECOWAS but one of the reasons must be its desire to look towards the
Arab world rather than Africa for its identity. Another is that with
the potential for conflict between its Arab and African population,
Mauritania may want to avoid the possibility of Ecomog-like
intervention that may be sympathetic to the aspiration of its black
and mixed race citizens.

Nigeria and Mauritania have forged ties in the areas of fishing,
petroleum, cement and minerals development. In 1978, attempts to enter
into an Economic, Scientific and Technical Co-operation Agreement did
not materialise. However, informal trade continues to flourish between
nationals of both countries and Nigerian textiles, cosmetics and
plastics are common phenomena in Mauritania's local markets.
Mauritanian businessmen also engage in informal trade in fish, motor
spare parts and gypsum among others with their Nigerian counterparts.

There are presently about 2,000 Nigerians living in Mauritania engaged
in menial jobs like barbing and shoe-shining. Amongst them, however,
are about 50 students undergoing Arabic/Islamic courses at the
Nouakchott University and other institutions of higher learning. In
January 2001, Mauritania hosted the "West African College of Surgeons"
Conference and Nigeria was represented by a high level delegation of
79 professional medical experts in various fields. The large turn out
of Nigerian medical personnel was highly appreciated by the
Mauritanians. It is not clear whether the country has 79 doctors in
all, so it underlined Nigeria's local super power status that we had
enough money and doctors to send a delegation of 80 people!

+ + + +

Ghanaian Chronicle (Accra)
April 9, 2002
Ebow Godwin

Strange Confessions and penance of military deserters who attacked
Eyadema's Inter-Arms Regiment Camp from neighbouring Ghana.

"On the 23 of March 1993, we secretly entered the Inter-Arms Regiment
Military Headquarters of President Gnassingbe Eyadema under the cover
of darkness in several disguises, posing as regular soldiers,"
confessed Koffi Attiso, spokesman for the group of armed Togolese
military deserters and commandos involved in one of several fierce
cross-border armed attacks mounted against the Togolese Head of State.

"We had our internal collaborators who supplied us with the password
for the night as we drove into the grounds of the Inter-regiments camp
with our Land Rover disguised with a fake Togolese armed forces
vehicle false number plates."

The spokesman who was taking part in a live national Togo television
programme in Lome on Tuesday to commemorate the cross border attack
from Ghana said the group was formed, trained, and armed in various
training camps inside Volta Region in Ghanaian territory "We were
armed with bazookas, self-propelled grenades, deadly infra-red
rockets, fragmentation bombs, Ak 47s, and other types of automatic
machine guns."

ACCOMPLICES INSIDE

Koffi Attiso who claimed he played a very critical role in ensuring
cohesive collaboration with various groups and their accomplices
inside the Togo Armed Forces revealed that "eventually when we
succeeded to enter the Inter-Arms Regiment in Lome on that fateful
night, our main objective, and target was to kill and finish off
President Gnassingbe Eyadema because our information, which we did not
have any reason to doubt, was that the Head of State had actually
entered the camp that night and was already installed in his living
rooms."

Commandant M'beta, a military deserter at the time who claims to have
led the Togolese armed dissidents , told Folli Bazi, a Togolese
journalist who co­ordinated the television programme that "this time
we were very sure that we have got our man (President Eyadema)."

Commandant M'beta then proceeded to describe in minute details how the
harrowing, lightening armed attack which created big confusion and
succeeded to rout all the regular soldiers in the camp was conducted
with military precision, and according to plan. Commandant M'beta said
with the collusion of Colonel Tepe, ex-Deputy Togo army commander, the
attack lasted over two hours.

"Then we mounted the final assault on the residence of President
Eyadema by opening heavy gun fire with our automatic weapons. We open
fire with infra-­red rockets, and threw fragmentation grenades into
President Eyadema's bed­rooms, and later, when all was eerie and
silent, we killed the ex-Togo Army Commander, late General Mawuli
Kplimi Amegi. After that we were cock sure that at long last, we had
accomplished our mission. That we had killed President Eyadema. We all
fell into a rhapsody of jubilation," he said.

Commander M'Beta said later his armed group was terribly shocked to
learn that the earlier vital information which indicated that
President Gnassingbe Eyadema was indeed, in his living rooms during
the attack was false.

"To our dismay, President Eyadema was nowhere to be found. Our dismay
later grew into panic when the alarm bell in the camp began to ring
calling for more reinforcements from the Togo regular Armed Forces."

"At this stage, we knew that we had lost the battle, and had to call
it off, and fight our way back into safety in order to prevent other
support groups which should have come to join us from falling into a
blood-bath," Commander M'Beta revealed.

RECRUITED MERCENARIES

The former military deserter said there were other armed Togolese
insurgents on the ready at the Aflao land border with neighbouring
Ghana, prepared to enter Togo, only waiting to hear that indeed,
President Eyadema had been killed and eliminated.

He said the support groups on stand-by at the land border included
Chadians, Burkmabe, and Congolese recruited mercenaries.

Spokesman Koffi Attiso named their major sponsors to include some of
Togo's current opposition leaders, as well as Kokou Masseme, former
Togolese Minister for the Interior, Joe Degli, ex-Minister for
Parliamentary Affairs in the Joseph Kokou Kofflgoh's transition
government, exiled opposition leader Gilchrist Olympio, late Lawyer
Ocansey, who died in exile in Ghana two years ago, and Issidore Latzoo
who leads a group called the Togo Resistance Committee, CTR based in
Paris. Koffi Attiso said they had a pirate radio installed inside
Ghana at Viepe to support the armed struggle against President
Eyadema.

But said he, "the head of the organisational network was Gilchrist
Olympio while Masseme, and Joe Degli, a lawyer by profession who wrote
the book TOGO, THE LAND OF TERROR were the main co-ordinators."

He named other commanders of the insurgents to include Captain Ogou,
Lt. Tokofai (now dead) Major Kanekaton, and Commandant M'Beta.

He said that they received active support and training from curtain
elements of the Ghana Army in our training camps at Satsimadja,
Klikor, and Viepe based in Ghana's Volta Region. Commandant M'Beta
corroborated a startling disclosure made by spokesperson Koffi Attiso.

According to Koffi Attiso, surprisingly it became apparent that their
sponsors and politicians had a completely different hidden agenda to
eliminate all members of the advance armed group who had been ordered
to kill President Eyadema during the first phase of the assault on the
Inter-Regiments military camp in Lome. He revealed that those who were
sent to kill President Eyadema will have been eliminated later by
another special hit or murder squad.

"I was dismayed to learn that those of us who were sent to assassinate
President Eyadema would have in turn been eliminated afterwards".

Commandant M'Beta lamented, showing signs of deep regrets. The
commandant revealed that, "after certain fetish rituals had been
performed for us by our sponsors, it was decided that only a
northerner from the same Kabye ethnic group can kill President
Eyadema. That was why we were chosen to lead the command of the rebel
assassination squad for this special task.

KABYE ETHINC GROUP

Commandant M'Beta and Kanekaton come from President Eyadema's Kabye
ethnic group.

"While we had joined the rebel group with the genuine belief that we
all shared the same democratic vision, and ambitions, unknown to us,
our sponsors had secretly taken a decision that we were to be killed
because, according to them, no person of northern Togolese extraction
was to be allowed to assume the position of Head of State in Togo
again, whether in any interim or permanent political arrangement".

"Maybe, it was an act of God that we did not succeed to assassinate
Eyadema after all", he mused. Commandant M'Beta and spokesperson
Attiso confirmed that there had been killings of Togolese commandos
suspected of having betrayed the cause of the revolution inside the
training camps in Ghana.

Some of these names were submitted to the International Human Rights
organisations in Europe as if they were victims of atrocities and
Human Rights 'Violations in Togo under the Eyadema regime", Attiso
said.

The spokesman revealed that Zandji Linvingstone, one of the military
deserters who controlled a group of 300 armed commandos and others
were briefly arrested by the organisers of the Togolese armed
insurgents for trying to take advantage of the Amnesty Law promulgated
on September 3, 1993 by President Gnassingbe Eyadema to allow all
Togolese dissidents and exiles to return to Togo without let or
hindrance.

He said the Amnesty law was later approved by the United Nations High
Commission For Refugees (UNHCR), in Geneva which subsequently signed a
memorandum of understanding with the Togo Government to guarantee the
safe return of all refugees and exiles to Togo from Ghana, and
neighbouring Benin. Commandant M'Beta, and other deserters said they
were afraid at first to return to Togo, but having realised that "we
were manipulated by the politicians who were only hungry for power, we
came back to ask President Eyadema for forgiveness, and pardon".

The politicians discouraged us from coming back home As the years went
by, the spokesman said that they realised that the Amnesty Law
promulgated by President Eyadema was a genuine attempt to reconcile
all Togolese. "At first we thought it was a ruse to get us back into
Togo for revenge killings," said Attiso.

"That is why even opposition leader Yaovi Agboyibo walked out of the
National House of Assembly during the passing of the Amnesty bill into
law in 1993," he said.

Independent investigations revealed that the Amnesty bill was passed
into law when Edem Kodjo, now leader of the opposition CPP Party was
Prime Minister of Togo. Koffi Attiso praised President Eyadema for his
exceptional large heart which has allowed him to grant pardon, and
forgive his would-be assassins.

"Thanks to the Togolese Head of State, some of us have come back home
safely, and we are being looked after by him. He has magnanimously
reintegrated some of us into the Togo Armed Forces, like the repentant
Commandant M'Beta. Commandant M'Beta took part in the recent
celebrations marking President Eyadema's 35 years in power during a
big march past on January 13 this year, leading a contingent of elite
soldiers.

Attiso said other colleagues who had personal family quarrels to
settle, or were in debt or involved in cases of armed robberies, have
found it difficult to come back home.

Earlier, at his private residence in Lome, President Eyadema had
looked on amusingly as a group of about 20 Togolese military deserters
and militiamen who went into exile in neighbouring Ghana reeled off
their army recruitment and unit numbers, to the President. They also
identified the units to which they belonged at first.

"I have never seen any living African head of state who is so
forgiving and magnanimous like President Eyadema", an observer said.

"In the country where I come from, such military deserters and
attempted coup makers are rounded up, tied to the stakes and shot at
military firing squads" remarked a West African diplomat who claimed
anonymity.

+ + + +

BOGOTA, Colombia (Reuters) - Attempts to remove a booby-trapped corpse
from a small truck detonated a 110 pound (50 kg) bomb that killed two
police officers in Bogota, Colombia today, police said.

Three smaller bombs exploded in the nation's capital, injuring a young
girl and two adults.

Authorities blamed the blast on Colombia's largest rebel force, the
Marxist-inspired Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, and
police were on alert for more bombs in Bogota.

The explosions came just two days after a powerful car bomb ripped
through the center of a town just southwest of Bogota, killing 12
people and injuring some 70 others in an attack also blamed on rebels
fighting a decades old guerrilla war.

The first of Tuesday's explosions came around 7:00 a.m. some 19 miles
(30 km) south of Bogota, when police tried to remove the corpse of a
farmer, who had been abducted the night before, from the back of a
green Ford truck.

The body of Pedro Nel Camacho was apparently wired to the bomb, and
two police explosive experts died in the blast. One was a 34-year-old
police veteran who had deactivated more than 200 bombs.

Police blamed the bomb on the FARC, who have been fighting for 38
years to impose a socialist state. The United States brands the FARC
drug trafficking "terrorists."

"We are fighting against demented people," said Colombian police chief
Luis Ernesto Gilibert. "They are using macabre traps. This is an
atrocity."

BOMB NEAR PRESIDENTIAL PALACE

Minutes after Gilibert spoke with the press, two small bombs exploded
in downtown Bogota. The first detonated in front of a bookstore,
injuring an unidentified girl and two adults. Minutes later a second
bomb detonated a block away, exploding in a street-side basement
without causing any casualties.

At 11:45 local time police carefully detonated a bomb placed in front
of a local cellular phone company's retail offices. Minutes later, a
third, uncontrolled bomb exploded just two blocks from the
presidential palace, police said.

The attacks come shortly before President Andres Pastrana's April
17-19 visit to the United States, where hopes to raise Colombia's
profile in the expanding U.S. war on terrorism by winning aid to fight
leftist rebels.

Pastrana, speaking to reporters, condemned Tuesday's attacks and
branded the bombers "terrorists."

"The terrorists insist on working against the the will of the people,
against the international community with total disrespect for human
rights," he said.

The increasing sense of insecurity in Colombia has helped hard-line
anti-rebel candidate Alvaro Uribe soar in the polls, as his campaign
pledges of greater security meet a warm welcome in the war ravaged
country.

In the latest opinion poll, Uribe had 51 percent support -- giving him
a 22 percentage point lead over the second place candidate. Elections
will be on May 26.

The police usually blame the FARC for most attacks, kidnappings and
killings in Colombia -- where 40,000 mostly civilian lives have been
lost in just last decade of fighting.

+ + + +

BOGOTA, April 8 (Xinhuanet) -- Five People were shot dead by an armed
group in poor neighbourhood of Medellin, capital of Antioquia state in
northwestern Colombia, the police said.

Two of the victims, who had recently left prison, were shot in a house
by a group of 15 in Bello neighbourhood, at Medellin's metropolitan
area.

The other three were killed outdoors in the same area.

The police have attributed these events to vendettas among criminal
organizations in Medellin.

+ + + +

Twelve people have died in two bomb explosions in the Colombian town
of Villavicencio.

The first explosion killed four people and drew crowds of curious
onlookers into the path of the second device, which exploded under a
car, killing eight people and causing damage in a four-block area.

Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack, but police suspected the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which has been fighting
the Colombian government since the 1960s.

The government recently cancelled peace talks with the FARC rebels and
invaded a rural enclave where the Marxist movement had exercised
political power since 1999.

+ + + +

&#12288;
&#12288;

[DiMethylTryptamine]

"Paul Edwards" <kerr...@nosppaam.w3.to> wrote in message

news:6rPs8.16336$vc3....@news-server.bigpond.net.au...

What? You are an ignorant fool Paul Edwards. You do not know what is
happening in Israel, nor can you learn anything from the news.
I thought I had it all stitched up in my mind. Then I spent a bit of time
there...
I happened to be four blocks away when the dolphinarium bomb went off.
No one ran for bomb shelters prick.

>
> Not a single European country, US or Australia would
> stand for crap like that for one second. The US would
> be using B52s over Damascus and Tehran by now,
> while the pilots complained about getting the wrong
> lunch packs.

And what would you know about ops conducted?
The Israelis have always been secretive about things like that.

[Paul Edwards]

"DiMethylTryptamine" <ax...@amxiom.za.net> wrote in message news:3cb43759$0$2...@hades.is.co.za...

> > And now that Israel has pulled out of Lebanon, after 20
> > years, did Israel get peace? Hah, what a joke. Their
> > occupation of Lebanon was the least worst solution to
> > Israeli civilians being targets. Now the civilians are
> > scurrying into bomb shelters.
>
> What? You are an ignorant fool Paul Edwards. You do not know what is
> happening in Israel, nor can you learn anything from the news.
> I thought I had it all stitched up in my mind. Then I spent a bit of time
> there...
> I happened to be four blocks away when the dolphinarium bomb went off.
> No one ran for bomb shelters prick.

You moron. I'm not talking about bombs, I'm talking about
shelling from Lebanon.

> > Not a single European country, US or Australia would
> > stand for crap like that for one second. The US would
> > be using B52s over Damascus and Tehran by now,
> > while the pilots complained about getting the wrong
> > lunch packs.
>
> And what would you know about ops conducted?
> The Israelis have always been secretive about things like that.

Try learning English. I said the US would be flying B52s
over Damascus by now. B52s aren't very stealthy, unless
the Israelis have a secret version of them.

BFN. Paul.

[Paul Edwards]

"Swarvegorilla" <endh...@locall.aunz.net> wrote in message news:newscache$iwucug$8y9$1...@mars.dataline.net.au...
> Paul. Your still here eh? I love these conversations with you now. I can't
> see what you type back. It's great and you know what?
> I win.

The only way you could of course, when you're so full of shit.

BFN. Paul.

[DiMethylTryptamine]

"Paul Edwards" <kerr...@nosppaam.w3.to> wrote in message

news:1wXs8.18174$vc3....@news-server.bigpond.net.au...

I suggest you try learning english...
The israelis have conducted ops that make B-52 missions kind of useless...
I wasn't referring to Israeli's using them, I was talking of other less
obtrusive means.
>
> BFN. Paul.
>
>

[DiMethylTryptamine]

"Swarvegorilla" <endh...@locall.aunz.net> wrote in message

news:newscache$4cndug$64a$1...@mars.dataline.net.au...
> You may not even hear the bastard who kills you.
> You can't see them.
> I dunno to a grunt on the ground that equals stealth.
> Swarvegorilla
Especially these guys...
www.isayeret.com

[Paul Edwards]

"DiMethylTryptamine" <ax...@amxiom.za.net> wrote in message news:3cb49317$0$2...@hades.is.co.za...

> > > > Not a single European country, US or Australia would
> > > > stand for crap like that for one second. The US would
> > > > be using B52s over Damascus and Tehran by now,
> > > > while the pilots complained about getting the wrong
> > > > lunch packs.
> > >
> > > And what would you know about ops conducted?
> > > The Israelis have always been secretive about things like that.
> >
> > Try learning English. I said the US would be flying B52s
> > over Damascus by now. B52s aren't very stealthy, unless
> > the Israelis have a secret version of them.

> I suggest you try learning english...
> The israelis have conducted ops that make B-52 missions kind of useless...
> I wasn't referring to Israeli's using them, I was talking of other less
> obtrusive means.

I already know English. I'll explain it again.

If the US was under such attack, they would not feel the need
to restrict themselves to covert operations. They wouldn't give
a shit who knew what they were doing, in fact, they'd be proud
of it.

And even if Israel has done some covert operations to blow
up chemical warheads in Syria, it has not taken any Syrian
territory, has not destroyed any Syrian tanks, and has not
toppled the Syrian government.

I'll explain it again.

If it was the US under attack, B52s would be raising Damascus
to the ground, Syria's military would be systematically destroyed,
the government would be changed, and they would make sure
that Syria was unable to pose a threat to them again. Bit like they
did in Japan.

So telling Israel to be restrained is the height of hipocrisy. I will
have to assume that that is being said with a wink.

From various news reports I am hearing two different things:

1. There's 80,000 US troops in the area, Iraq is going to be
taken.

2. The US is still trying to replenish its stock of smart bombs,
and won't be ready for some months.

I'm more inclined to believe that no army is ever 100%
satisfied with its preparations, and that they can take Iraq
on with what they already have. In fact, the tanks could
do the job themselves, so long as the Iraqi air force is not
allowed to fly. It is not strictly necessary for there to be
an infinite supply of smart bombs for the planes.

BFN. Paul.

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

Still no news on the Swarve MRE's, however....

First came the atom bomb, the stealth bomber and the airborne laser.
Now comes the US military's latest fearsome weapon: the indestructible
sandwich.

Capable of surviving airdrops, rough handling and extreme climates,
and just about anything except a GI's jaws, the new "pocket" sandwich
is designed to stay "fresh" for up to three years at 26 °C (about the
temperature of a warm summer's day), or for six months at 38 °C (just
over body temperature).

For years the US army has wanted to supplement its standard
battlefield rations, called "Meal, Ready-to-Eat" (MRE), with something
that can be eaten on the move. Although MREs already contain
ingredients that could be made into sandwiches, these have to be
pasteurised and stored in separate pouches, and the soldiers need to
make the sandwiches themselves.

"The water activity of the different sandwich components needs to
complement each other," explains Michelle Richardson, project officer
at the US Army Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Massachusetts. "If
the water activity of the meat is too high you might get soggy bread."

To tackle the problem, researchers at Natick used fillings such as
pepperoni and chicken to which they added substances called
humectants, which stop water leaking out. The humectants not only
prevent water from the fillings soaking into the bread, but also limit
the amount of moisture available for bacterial growth.

The sandwiches are then sealed, without pasteurisation, in laminated
plastic pouches that also include sachets of oxygen-scavenging
chemicals. A lack of oxygen helps prevent the growth of yeast, mould
and bacteria.

Soldiers who tried the pepperoni and barbecue-chicken pocket
sandwiches have found them "acceptable". They are now planning to
extend the menu to pocket pizzas, as well as cream-filled bagels,
breakfast burritos and even peanut-butter sandwiches.

The pocket sandwiches won't see action until 2004. But like dehydrated
egg, freeze-dried coffee and processed cheese - all originally
developed by the military - the long-life sandwich will probably find
its way into grocery stores.

+ + + +

The military men of the peacemaking contingent in Afghanistan are
ordered to leave their sun glasses in barracks, since some Afghan
people think that the glasses allow the soldiers to look at women
through their clothes.

"At first we thought it was a joke, but then it turned out to be
serious," – the press-secretary of the Spanish contingent in
Afghanistan Manuel Rodriguez said. The sun glasses issue became a
subject for jokes in the peacemaking headquarters, but all soldiers
received the written order not to wear them.

Anthony Marshal, the press-secretary of the British peacemaking force
in Afghanistan said that the order was basically issued for Spaniards
and Iranians, since those glasses "were not to the British taste."
However, despite the new requirement, there were two German soldiers
on duty in front of the entrance to the peacemaking headquarters,
wearing sun glasses.

+ + + +

Ugandan police say a mysterious object which landed in the garden of a
peasant woman in central Uganda is part of a space rocket.

Initially, it was thought to be a meteorite, but further investigation
revealed it to be man-made.

Curious visitors are reported to have flocked to the site where the
object landed at the end of March.

It was dusk when the unidentified object hurtled into the garden of an
elderly peasant woman.

And, astonished eyewitnesses reported hearing a thunderous noise as it
landed.

At first, the villagers thought it might be a bomb, but further
scrutiny revealed something more mysterious. The object is spherical,
like a big pot, and about a metre in diameter.

Ugandan police who removed it from the garden concluded that the
object is a booster for a space rocket.

Experts say it is extremely rare for man-made space debris to fall to
earth - most of it gets burnt up as it re-enters the atmosphere.

But occasionally, perhaps once or twice a year, a big chunk of it gets
through. What is virtually unheard of is for it to land in someone's
garden.

Tourist attraction

Sightseers have reportedly been flocking to the woman's farm. They
have been trampling through the back yard of her mud house to see
where the rocket fragment buried itself in the earth.

Ugandan police say the booster is now under lock and key in their
stores.

They would like its owner, most likely either the American or the
Russian government, to come forward and retrieve the lost property.

+ + + +

One of Colombia's biggest rebel groups has declared that oil companies
working in the country are now "military targets".

Commander Pablo, a representative of the ELN (National Liberation Army
in English), told reporters that Occidental Petroleum from the US,
Spanish-Argentine combine Repsol-YPF and Colombia's own Ecopetrol were
now targets.

The group, he said, reading from a communique, would now resume
bombing a oil pipeline the three operate.

The pipeline is the Cano Limon, the second largest in Colombia with a
capacity of 120,000 barrels a day. It was bombed a record 170 times
last year - by the bigger FARC guerrillas as well as the ELN.

The group is also protesting at $89m in aid included in President
George W Bush's proposed 2003 US budget, to train and outfit troops to
protect the pipeline.

+ + + +

A man wearing electrically warmed shoes has caused a major alert at
San Francisco airport.

Security officials spotted a pair of black slip-on shoes in the man's
carry-on luggage shortly before he was due to board a connecting
flight to New York and on to Shanghai.

The shoes were found to contain batteries, wires and a heating device
designed to keep his feet warm.

The passenger, a Chinese man, was detained. But since he did not speak
English, he could not explain why the shoes had wires hanging from
them or how to disconnect the batteries.

Bomb squad officials then blew up the shoes in a remote corner of the
airport.

The man was later allowed to board a later flight to New York.

+ + + +

Seven Japanese women have made history by becoming the country's first
female soldiers to be on an overseas mission.

They set off on Wednesday from the northern island of Hokkaido for
East Timor, to join Japan's existing contingent of peacekeepers there.

+ + + +

An Afghan working for the United Nations has been murdered in northern
Afghanistan, UN officials say.

A UN spokesman said Shah Sayed of the UN Food and Agricultural
Organisation was shot dead on Wednesday in his home in the city of
Mazar-e-Sharif.

+ + + +

A GOOD Samaritan in Jeddah had given me that long sought-after
journalistic prize: Idi Amin's current telephone number. At about 11am
Saudi time, I telephoned the former Ugandan dictator's home. The phone
rang for two minutes, but the only response I got was a fax tone. So I
sent him a fax, with my full particulars and address.
Unexpectedly, later in the day at about 4.30 pm, I received a call in
my hotel room. As soon as I picked up the receiver a deep voice said:
"Hello, can I speak to Yunusu Abbey?" Knowing the voice to be that of
"Big Daddy", I trembled and answered back in shaky tones: "Speaking,
sir." He immediately switched to Swahili and talked politely. "Habari
gani. Habari ya siku mingi [How are you? Long time no see ... ]."
Later Amin called again to tell me he had checked me out with "his
people" in Kampala to establish that I was not a Ugandan state agent:
"They say they know you, the place you stay and when you get home." We
made arrangements to meet at the Shahen Hotel in the centre of Jeddah
where staff say he is a regular.

Amin's notorious figure is still easily recognisable. His dress style
might have changed — he's decked out in Muslim skullcap and snow-white
tunic, with large maroon boots — but otherwise he is still the same
tall, well-built and dark-skinned general of the 1970s. Although he
has no uniformed escorts or a pistol on his hip these days, he still
walks energetically, with the swagger of a bouncer. But now his left
leg limps slightly, and there are wrinkles above his bulging cheeks.
He looks well fed.

He extends a firm hand grip with its wide, former boxer's palm, and we
go off to talk, hidden in a corner on the second floor of the
building. In a move typical of his heyday, Amin tells me strictly not
to ask about his wife, children and family.

To punish the Ugandan media for running false stories that he eats
dozens of oranges a day, he refuses to have his photograph taken. He
talks endlessly, sipping orange juice and smiling as I ask about his
love of sport, Islam and the accordion he used to enjoy playing. But
he hardly gives me the chance to interject. He speaks the
old-fashioned army-style Swahili of Uganda in the Seventies, gesturing
a lot and shifting in his seat while illustrating a point. He points a
great deal with his right hand and, when he mentions God's name, turns
his face upwards.

The former president likes talking about food. He says he prefers
Ugandan-grown food. He reveals that he gets most of his supplies from
Uganda, particularly cassava and millet flour (his favourite dish
these days is goat meat with millet bread). His contacts in Uganda
send him the flour from his home town of Koboko. His latest wife, who
has just had a baby, also has matooke (green banana) sent from Masaka.
The food parcels from Uganda are ferried through Nairobi or London.
Sources say he is always on hand at King Abdulazizi International
airport to receive them personally.

Amin has now moved from his former house near Jeddah city centre to a
more exclusive area. His new residence, in an area mainly occupied by
powerful oil sheikhs, is about 8km from the Jeddah city centre. Amin
says that during his leisure time, which is most of the time, he
recites the Qur'an, reads books, plays his old accordion. He likes
playing a World War II song: "Neyagalira ono omutono wange eyava
mulutalo, neyagalira ono omutono wange eyava mulu talo [I love the
slender one from the war ...]." To show he still has a seductive
voice, he sings it for me.

He also goes swimming and fishing in the Red Sea shores near the
Saudi/Yemen border and watches TV. With his hefty monthly stipend from
the Saudi government, the ex-field marshal proudly talks about the
five satellite dishes installed at his new house.

A new hobby is fishing, which he has just taken up "because of the
delicious fish species in the Red Sea waters". The one-time
heavyweight boxing champion of Uganda still likes football, boxing and
tennis. He spends his free time glued to TV sports channels. He also
spends a great deal of time watching news programmes. His favourite
stations are CNN, BBC, Saudi TV Channel One, and Lebanese and French
TV stations. He boasts that he now speaks a number of languages
fluently, including Arabic, English, French and Lingala, the Congolese
language.

Nowadays, Amin usually drives a white Cadillac, although sources say
he has several cars. During the Seventies, he liked to drive in
rallies in his Maserati with Sarah, then the youngest of his wives. He
dislikes motor rallies now, he says, because "they cause death through
accidents".

Asked about his favourite car today, he says the issue of cars is not
important. Pointing out of the window at a fleet of mainly United
States-made cars, he says: "These days there are so many models. I can
drive any type of car if I wanted."

Amin separated from Sarah more than 10 years ago. She now lives in
London where she runs a café. He still has fond memories of Kampala,
and misses his favourite "night grounds" where he used to go without
the public knowing, to meet only those he knows.

But further talk about Uganda makes him wear a grim face. His former
boxing team-mate Tom Kawere and ex-national soccer star Kalibbala are
among those he misses. He tells me to send his regards to Kawere,
saying that Amin misses him. He is grief-stricken when we talk about
some of his former officers, now dead from violence or old age.

Amin is reluctant to disclose his age, saying only that he was born on
"Eid Day" in the month of January, but declining to give the year:
"Let those who think they know my age better say whatever they wish.
They can say I am 60, 70 or 100 years old. Shauri yao. Mi si fikiri
[It's up to them. I am not bothered]."

The former Conqueror of the British Empire still brags about the
number of friends he has worldwide, especially in Arab countries. But
now, he says, he avoids his old US friends like Louis Farrakhan, who
leads the Nation of Islam, because of his movement's anti-US
government policies. And, again unlike in his olden days, Amin avoids
making negative comments about the US and Britain — he does not want
to "mess with a superpower".

He sounds well informed about world events and seems to be keenly
following what is happening in Uganda, the Great Lakes region and
other places. He dwells a lot on political issues, like the war in
Congo and the activities of rebels in northern Uganda.

He pours scorn on the current Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni —
saying he is bitter that the new government had taken or destroyed
five of his houses. "By now those houses would have earned me monthly
rent which would have helped my relatives in Uganda."

He cautions Museveni against constantly insulting him, warning that he
will offer special prayers which will bring misfortune on him. And he
attacks corruption, insisting that "unlike some African heads of
state, I never fled Uganda with any money and nor did I have any
business outside". He castigates Ugandan Muslim leaders who embezzled
millions of dollars meant for the construction of the mosques in
Uganda. When the late king Faisal bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia
visited Uganda in November 1972 (when Amin was the darling of the Arab
world), he donated funds for their construction.

Amin says he does not want to recall the 1979 liberation war which
toppled his government, referring to it as "history". He does not
blame anyone for his defeat. Instead he hails his army, mainly the air
force, for putting up a gallant fight against the Tanzanian invaders.
Although his soldiers had the potential to raze Kampala to the ground
before fleeing, he claims he discouraged them. "I ordered the Uganda
army to withdraw because a big number of people would have died in the
fighting. I did not want Africans to kill fellow Africans."

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

A habit of conversation conducted as a form of Twenty Questions is
becoming a fad in Washington. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is
probably the most famous user of the Twenty Questions style of
talking.

You've probably heard him say something like: "Do we know where Bin
Laden is? No. Are we searching for him? Yes. Will we eventually find
him? You bet. But do I wake up every morning worrying about where Bin
Laden may or may not be? No."

Maybe all Americans should adopt this habit. Imagine going to a
restaurant, and the waitress says, "What'll you have?"

And you reply: "Do I want fried chicken? No. Do I like fried fish? No.
Would I prefer to have a plain steak and baked potato? You bet."

Then the waitress says, "And what would you like to drink?"

You reply: "Should I drink coffee this late in the day? No. Does Coke
have a lot of caffeine in it, too? Yes. Would I prefer just a plain
glass of water? I think so."

And the waitress would say: "When I return with your order, will I
dump it on your head? Wait and see."

I much prefer the old-fashioned way of direct speech, such as, "We
don't know where Bin Laden is, but we'll find him eventually, and in
the meantime, I have more important things to think about."

The Twenty Questions style seems patronizing to me, as if the person
believes his audience is so ignorant that everything has to be
explained to them in kindergarten language. Rumsfeld is by no means
the only political figure to use this technique, but behind his facade
of affability and humor, he is an arrogant man. It does no credit to
the Washington press corps members that they like Rumsfeld just
because he knows how to refuse to answer their questions and to make
them laugh at the same time.

Years ago, I covered a politician who had a different style of dealing
with questions. Suppose I asked him a simple question: "Are you going
to vote for or against the road bill?" This guy, who was earnest
sincerity personified, would begin with the history of road building
just before the Roman Empire, carry you forward to the 19th century,
then start to talk about Indian trails and early road-building efforts
in the North American wilderness. Finally, he would arrive at the 20th
century, after which he discussed previously passed laws about road
building, carefully dissecting each law into pros and cons. By this
time, your eyes had glazed over, and you were trying not to topple
over, fall on the floor and snore. You dreaded asking him another
question, and before you could regain full consciousness, he was gone.
It usually took a few minutes to figure out he had never answered the
question.

We need to pay more attention to language, how our leaders use it, how
journalists use it, and how we use it. Human civilization literally
rests on three pillars — the ability to communicate, knowledge, and
the ethic of telling the truth. If even one of those pillars rots,
then the civilization will collapse. Most empires die of their own
corruption. Ours is not exactly what any careful observer would call
in perfect health.

I cannot think, for example, what a politician could do that would
cause his constituents to vote him out of office, short of child
murder. Lying and cheating and thinking nothing of it seems to be on
the increase. Simple good manners seem to be vanishing.

Hasn't America always produced great leaders to get us out of the
soup? No. Can people lower their own standards so much that they can't
recognize greatness? Yes. Will they lose the ability to recognize even
mediocrity? You bet. Where do people led by mediocrity end up? On the
trash heap of history.

- Charley Reese

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

11 April 2002

KABUL(Monitoring Desk) : A martyrdom bomber Mujahid blasted a US
checkpost in Gardez, killing at least nine American soldiers and
injuring others. The Afghan Defence Office confirmed this incident and
said that one American soldier was killed and several others were
injured. However, eyewtinesses at the scene counted at least nine
bodies of American soldiers that were being loaded in green body bags
onto American vehicles. Although there have been several martyrdom
operations of this kind against Coalition troops before, this is the
first one to be acknowledged by the Afghan Defence Office.

Leaflets Warning Afghan Residents Distributed in Afghanistan

CHAMAN (Islam News): In Kandahar and some Northern areas of
Afghanistan, unknown men have distributed leaflets to Afghans, warning
of dire consequences to those who assist the Americans and their
allies against the Foreign Mujahideen. The leaflets said that those
responsible for handing over or killing Foreign Mujahideen will be
held accountable. They said that the Americans will leave sooner or
later, but the Afghans will remain and those assisting the
disbelievers are being marked and will be brought to account as and
when. The leaflet also said that the incident in which 24 Arab
Mujahideen were slaughtered near Kandahar Airport (including the seven
injured ones that were martyred in the Chinese Hospital of Kandahar)
will never be forgotten, even for a thousand years.

Who Should Attend Demonstrations for the Palestinians?

LONDON (Special Report): The recent fortnight has seen numerous
demonstrations in the Muslim world against Israel and, in some cases,
America. Unfortunately, most of these demonstrations have been
state-sponsored, whereby Government officials have also been
accompanying the shouting and screaming crowds. These demonstrations
have been allowed in otherwise strict countries as a means to allow
the Muslims to vent their anger and feel that they have done something
to help their fellow Muslims in Palestine. It is also to give them the
false impression that if they shout and scream loud enough, George
Bush and Ariel Sharon will all of a sudden, sit down and stop, saying,
"Oh my god, look how loud these demonstrators are shouting! We had
better pull out of the Palestinian territories, release all the
Palestinians, give Palestine back to the Palestinians and go back to
America where we belong."

For those who intend to participate in these demonstrations,
especially in the Western countries, they should be aware that
Intelligence and Police agencies openly film the demonstrators,
obtaining clear image of the faces of the demonstrators. In some
countries, it is even an arrestable offence to cover one's face at a
demonstration. Therefore, only those should attend demonstrations who
never intend to go for Jihad in their life, nor assist the Mujahideen
in any land, in any meaningful manner, with their individual persons.
Once a person's facial image has appeared on Intelligence databases
around the World, it then becomes difficult for him to actually go for
Jihad. For example, if such a person was to apply for a Pakistani visa
in order to go and fight in Afghanistan, the visa may be refused on
the basis of this information. It is advisable that only women, the
elderly and permanently sick or disabled should attend these
demonstrations because it will give them a sense of solidarity with
their fellow Muslims in Palestine and they cannot (and nor are they
expected to) provide physical help. Any that do attend these
demonstrations should consider them as a show of solidarity and should
not be under any illusions that these demonstrations will cause
governments to change their policies. Governments do not change their
policies on the basis of a few demonstrations, some shouting and
slogans. They do, however, change their policies as a result of
physical or economical damage caused against them.

http://www.azzam.com Daily news, articles and interviews on the Jihad
in Afghanistan

+ + + +

10 April: Thirteen Israeli reservists, members of the same paratroop
unit, were killed during a house-to-house search of the Jenin refugee
camp for terrorists Tuesday, April 9. A bomb factory under a block of
residential buildings was rigged to set off a chain of explosions.
Dozens of Palestinians died in the same blast. The rescue team, which
arrived to dig out the victims, then came under heavy fire from the
rooftops. Aerial bombing of the camp, the main bastion of Jihad
Islami, Fatah and Hamas, suicides, was ruled out because the
terrorists hide in civilian homes. The IDF is therefore rounding them
up on foot, while also eradicating vast dumps of explosives and
weapons, which are also concealed in residential areas.

Maj. Oded Golomb, 32, from Kibbutz Nir David;
Capt. Yaacov Azulai, 28, from Migdal Ha'emek;
Lt. Dror Bar, 28, from Kibbutz Einat;
Lt. Eyal Yoel, 28, from Kibbutz Ramat Rachel, Jerusalem;
1st Sgt.-Maj. Yoram Levy, 33, from Elad;
1st Sgt.-Maj Tiran Arazi, 33, from Hadera;
1st Sgt.-Maj. Avner Yaskov, 34, from Beersheba;
1st Sgt.-Maj Menashe Hava, 23, from Kfar Saba;
Sgt.-Maj. Eyal Zimmerman, 22, from Raanana;
1st Sgt.-Maj. Ronen Al-Shohat, 27, from Ramle;
Sgt.-Maj Danny Meislish, 27, from Moshav Hemed;
Sgt.-Maj. Amit Bosidon, 22, from Bat Yam
Sgt.-Maj. Eyal Azouri, 27, from Ramat Gan

+ + + +

9 April: The battle raging in the northern West Bank town of Jenin,
the most savage and costly in life waged thus far in the
counter-terror offensive Israel launched on March 29, will also
determine its outcome. It will also decide if Yasser Arafat is doomed
to stay locked in his two rooms in Ramallah.

DEBKAfile's military sources cannot give full details of the Jenin
confrontation, but they report the IDF has thrown its ablest fighting
units into the fray. This is an all-out effort to stem the bloodshed
and snatch the advantage in a relentless standoff.

If the Palestinians win the day in Jenin, the Israeli army faces
defeat at the end of its full-scale assault against their terror
strongholds in seven West Bank cities – a failure that will gravely
affect the Sharon national unity government's chances of survival.

Outside forces are already riding on the back of the Israeli ordeal in
Jenin. First in line are the Americans. They are turning the screw
relentlessly the closer secretary of state Colin Powell advances
through Arab capitals towards Jerusalem, ordering Israel to remove its
forces from Palestinian territory forthwith and begin lifting its
siege on Arafat. Washington is also pushing hard for a US observer or
peacemaking force to come in as a buffer between Israeli and
Palestinian forces.

If this happens, many of Israel's dilemmas will be taken out of its
hands. It will be spared negotiations with Palestinians on national
boundaries, the borders of Jerusalem and the Palestinians right to
repatriate 1948 Arab refugees. The internal debate over the Jewish
settlements will no longer matter because the foreign observers and
peacemakers will simply dismantle them as "obstacles to peace". The
other fateful decisions will be settled by the American government
along with the European Union and Arab governments.

Israel's final frontiers will be drawn according to the locations of
the foreign observers' positions. The Israeli government will be
relieved of responsibility for anything happening across those
frontiers, including decisions to pump terrorists and suicides into
Israeli towns.

The Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon on Monday, April 8, expanded
his national unity government and delivered a fighting speech on the
moral justification of Israel's campaign to root out terrorists and
suicides in their lairs. The same night, he began falling back in the
face of US demands – Qalqilya and Tulkarm were evacuated within hours
and Arafat was permitted to receive his top advisers, Abu Ala, Abu
Mazen, Muhamed Dahlan and Saeb Arikat.
This may be no more than a tactical retreat. Tuesday noon, April 9,
the prime minister's office in Jerusalem announced the inner defense
cabinet of three (Sharon, defense minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer and
foreign minister Shimon Peres) was dissolved and replaced with the
expanded defense forum, including the three new ministers.

DEBKAfile's political sources report that the prime minister did not
receive the backing he expected from the two Labor ministers. He is
therefore counting on the new ministers to support him in the
prosecution of measures for bringing the costly Jenin battle to a
successful conclusion, while standing up to mounting pressure from
Washington.

With the Jenin battle still in the balance, foreign minister Shimon
Peres took to the airwaves to say he was worried about its effect on
world opinion after the fighting was over – especially of the
Palestinian bodies strewn in the streets. Clearly conscious of the
effect their dead comrades would have on the world's TV screens, the
Palestinians refused to allow rescue vehicles to remove them. Some
media also likened the stand taken by Jihad Islami fighters in Jenin
to the last Jewish stand against the Romans at Massada, forgetting
that less than two weeks ago members of this fanatical group stormed
Israeli cafes with bomb belts strapped round them.

Since the Israeli military thrust into Palestinian cities, the threat
of suicide terrorists that poisoned the air has been lifted. However,
Tuesday, Israel is again beset by the traumas of rumor and unconfirmed
reports.

To all the many worried phone callers, DEBKAfilesays that no reliable
information is as yet available on Israeli casualties or missing men
in Jenin.

We shall release any information as soon as it comes in. The
government and army command are strongly advised to scotch the wild
rumors and dissipate their demoralizing effect with a timely word from
official sources.

+ + + +

[S.A. Airborne]

DMT, haven't you kill-filed the knuckle-head yet? You've got more patience
than me, mate

"DiMethylTryptamine" <ax...@amxiom.za.net> wrote in message

news:3cb49317$0$2...@hades.is.co.za...

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

Financial Gazette (Harare)
April 11, 2002

Madagascar's political crisis is likely to turn increasingly violent
as frustrated supporters of the island's two rival leaders resort to
war tactics to break the deadlock, analysts said this week.

The vast Indian Ocean island off southeast Africa is divided between
two presidents, two cabinets and a split military.

Self-declared President Marc Ravalomanana, who says he won December
elections but was cheated out of victory by vote rigging, controls the
capital. Veteran President Didier Ratsiraka, who says no one won the
poll and wants a second round of voting, retains considerable support
in the provinces.

Until recently, the conflict was predominantly peaceful but as the
standoff drags on, people have become impatient and are starting to
take matters into their own hands.

Supporters of Ratsiraka recently blew up bridges and reinforced
barricades on roads leading to Antananarivo to besiege the city,
draining fuel stocks almost dry and severely restricting supplies of
sugar, salt and oil. The houses of two ministers were raided this
week, cars set on fire.

There are constant rumours, unproven but provocative: Algerian
parachutists descend into Antananarivo by night, foreign mercenaries
fly in to back embattled Ratsiraka, coup attempts are plotted.

About 25 people have already died in clashes between the two camps,
the two leaders appear increasingly belligerent and participants say
the deadlock could well boil over.

"The people are fed up, and they want to act," Elie Rajaonarison, an
adviser to Ravalomanana, said.

"For now, we are calming people down, but how long can that last? It
is not a political crisis any more, we have to look at this in terms
of war in Madagascar. The international community needs to see it like
that - once it erupts, it will be too late."

Throughout his campaign to have the results of December 16 polls
recounted, Ravalomanana enjoyed huge support from the people of
Antananarivo, joining a general strike and demanding Ratsiraka to step
down.

Though this support has not yet wavered, analysts said it was being
increasingly tested by the lack of supplies. People are frustrated
that Ravalomanana, who they saw as a virtual messiah, has been unable
to return life to normal.

"I think violence is going to be on the increase," Christopher Eads, a
London-based analyst with the Economist Intelligence Unit, said. "As
Antananarivo deteriorates more and more - and it's already in a
horrible state - desperation breeds acts of violence."

With frustration mounting, Ravalomanana last week urged the country to
stay united. "The nation is under threat," he told national
television, announcing the formation of a national security council to
protect against "acts of terrorism".

But Francis Soler, editor of the Paris-based Indian Ocean Newsletter,
said he was pessimistic about the outlook in Madagascar given that
neither president was prepared to give an inch.

"I can't see how it can't get more violent," he said. "I can't see any
other solution. There's no dialogue possible any more.

"There is not necessarily going to be a military clash . . . sbut if
on a barricade pro-Ratsiraka soldiers are on one side and
pro-Ravalomanana people on the other, there will be clashes, there
will be pockets of civil war in the country."

Most analysts concur that, though the crisis is likely to go on for
months, it is Ratsiraka who is gradually losing ground and is likely
to emerge the loser.

A former socialist general, he has ruled Madagascar for more than 20
years. Opponents say his regime's deep-rooted corruption has ravaged
the island of 15 million.

His bid to impose martial law on the capital was ignored by residents
and unenforced by the general appointed to enforce it.

At least three of his ministers have resigned, one telling Reuters at
the time there was no cohesion in the country's "official" cabinet.

A spokesman for Ratsiraka's cabinet, Pierre Holder, said there was no
question of civil war, but added that the situation was totally
blocked.

"Ratsiraka's government is cornered," he said. "Ravalomanana has
absolute control of the capital. On the other hand, Ravalomanana is
stuck too, because though he has people in the ministries, they can't
do anything because (due to the blockades) there's no money."

+ + + +

http://www.techtv.com/callforhelp/howto/jump/0,24331,3379935,00.html

+ + + +

BOGOTA: Nine provincial lawmakers were taken hostage Thursday in the
southwestern Colombian city of Cali by an armed group that burst into
the legislature, military officials said.

Among those taken hostage was assembly speaker Juan Carlos Narvaez,
according to an official with the army's Third Brigade, who requested
anonymity. Officials initially reported that six lawmakers had been
kidnapped. A police officer died on the way to the hospital after
being seriously wounded in a shoot-out with the assailants.

Local radio reports said armed men in military fatigues hustled the
lawmakers into an all-terrain vehicle destined for a rural area of
southern Cali. An abandoned vehicle thought to have been used in the
abduction was found by authorities in Pinchinde, the military official
said. A military plane and ground-based troops have since swept the
area, searching in vain for any trace of the kidnapped legislators.

Though Colombia is no stranger to abductions, Cali is especially
notorious for the sheer number and size of abductions that occur there
annually. Rebels with the leftist National Liberation Army (ELN)
engineered the snatching of some 80 tourists from a resort near the
city in September 2000.

A local official said the army and police were investigating whether
Thursday's kidnapping was the work of the ELN or the larger
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia -- both of which operate in
Cali and other parts of Valle department.
But the official said no group has claimed responsibility for the
attack.

+ + + +

Israel Defense Forces officers did not bother last week to inform
Ramallah residents about the hours when the curfew was temporarily
suspended. So, not knowing about the break in the curfew, many local
residents lost a precious opportunity to stock up on provisions. Many
storekeepers did not know that they could open their shops; others
lacked fresh products. The IDF also forgot to tell the people of
Ramallah about another minor point: It is forbidden for residents to
roam near the city's central Manara Square, even when the curfew is
not in effect. The IDF shoots at anyone who goes near the square.

As soon as he heard that the curfew had been suspended, R., a Haifa
resident, excitedly telephoned his sister, N., who lives in Ramallah,
to tell her the news. R. told his sister that she had two or three
hours to take care of urgent matters in the city. "Really?" she
responded incredulously. N. looked out the window, and saw no one in
the street. Interesting, the siblings concluded: In Haifa, people know
that a curfew recess is in effect in Ramallah; but in Ramallah, nobody
knows anything about it.

This happened last Tuesday, April 2. The echoes of shells fired all
night long against the Palestinian Preventive Security compound in
west Ramallah no longer reverberated; by the time of R.'s call, PA
security men in the compound had already turned themselves in.
Silence, and a thick fog, enveloped Ramallah.

R. knew that his sister was not under curfew restrictions from 2 P.M.
to 6 P.M. Israeli time (in the PA, the hours were 1 P.M. to 5 P.M.).
The IDF spokesman's announcement about the curfew recess was carried
by the Israeli media. But N. and her fellow Ramallah residents didn't
know about the IDF announcement because nobody bothered to tell them.
Not a single IDF or police jeep drove between the tanks and rubble in
the city's neighborhoods to inform residents that they had a few hours
to take care of errands and shop. Such direct, on-the-ground
announcements are needed to allay local apprehensions - information
conveyed by the media does not suffice. After all, what guarantee is
there that IDF sharpshooters in well-placed positions on tall
buildings have heard the news reports, and know that the curfew has
been lifted for a few hours?

One car with a yellow Israeli license plate decided to test the IDF's
responses, and traveled from a neighborhood in the northeast section
of the city to Ramallah's center. An army jeep drove by this car
without displaying any signs of nervousness. The car's driver took
this as a sign that the curfew had in fact been eased. Yet the
fog-shrouded streets were still deserted; Ramallah remained a ghost
town. It was as though the houses and the toppled electricity poles
and ruptured water pipes were props for a movie set to which the
actors had not yet arrived.

Inscrutable messages

The top of a tank suddenly popped out of the fog. Had the tank crew
heard that the curfew had been lifted for the afternoon? Apparently it
had: The crew stood still as the vehicle drove about. Normally, a
soldier springs out like a jack-in-the-box whenever a civilian car or
journalists or an ambulance approach. Those are moments of true dread:
the mouth at the top of the tank hangs open, like a ferocious animal
licking its lips in anticipation. You never know what to do: stop dead
in your tracks in front of the tank, drive slowly backward, open the
car door a little in an effort to show the tank crew that the car
really is an ambulance, or really is being used by journalists. Or
will opening the door frighten those who are ensconced in the tank?

Each tank, it turns out, has its own language. One turns its turret
right and left, in some inscrutable message. Does the turret turning
from right to left mean "no"? Does it mean "yes" when the tank-top
nods backward and forward?

Sometimes a hand reaches out from the tank, as though to help the
comprehension-impaired grasp the meaning of the tank-talk. The hand
waves. What does this human gesture mean? Move backward? Or, perhaps,
get out of the way? One small mistake, one tiny misunderstanding, and
something is liable to come firing out of the mouth of the tank, out
of its mounted machine guns.

When the hand fails to convey the tank's meaning, some crews rumble
their armored cars this way and that in an effort to get their point
across. Other tanks emit a human voice, yelling angrily in Hebrew or
Arabic. When none of these communication accessories works, a helmet
pops out of the tank - you can never really see the human face below
it. The soldier clutches the mounted machine guns, and warns sternly
that if you don't move, you're going to be shot. Ambulances and
electricity and water maintenance crews that have tried to negotiate
with the tank crew member have been unable to get their points across,
and the tanks have responded to their entreaties by firing in their
direction. Bullets are a readily comprehensible language. There's not
much hope of arguing with them.

But last Tuesday at 1 P.M., PA time, one hour after the curfew recess
went into effect, the tank turret did not move. Nor did a voice come
from it; nor was there a hand waving in the air. One young man, who
heard a car spinning around the wreckage on the street, hastily ran
out of his house, and signaled the vehicle, asking it to stop.
"They've suspended the curfew?" he asked, elated. "I can tell the guys
that they can go out and buy some cigarettes?"

Some young people in a nearby house opened the front door and pounced
happily upon the woman who came into the house, congratulating her for
making it safely. Everyone looked out to the street: still, there was
no human movement. People simply didn't feel safe enough to go
outside. Suddenly a muffled voice could be heard from a loudspeaker.
An unseen jeep was spinning around the streets, announcing some
garbled message to Ramallah's residents. If you really strained, you
could hear it say that residents were allowed to go out until 4:30 (PA
time).

Slowly, some hardy individuals began to slip out into the streets.
Such departures were cautious and well-planned. A father would stand
by the front door of a house; the eldest daughter would go to look for
vegetables; a younger daughter would stand with the father; the mother
would check out some matters at a local office where she works, a
facility where - judging by some explosions and clouds of smoke heard
and seen a few days earlier - the IDF had conducted searches.

Slowly, the number of people on the streets increased. They greeted
one another warmly, but also in disbelief. They embraced, but also
could not ignore the evidence of rampant destruction. Tall commercial
buildings on Al Irsal street had taken a beating - their windows were
shattered, elevators had been blown up; IDF soldiers had entered and
searched many offices. In some cases it appeared as though soldiers
had tried unsuccessfully to rip open the Israeli-made locks. Some
offices had been ransacked during searches; in other cases, soldiers
had entered, but had done little damage.

Shooting in Manara

People walked carefully in the streets, as the heavy fog gave way to
small, stinging drops of rain. They skirted the toppled electricity
poles and hanging electricity cables, the sleeping tanks, and the
empty bullet casings. Some found the remains of their cars on the
sides of the road; some didn't even look for their vehicles. Many
stores remained locked - proprietors didn't know that they could open
them and work for a few hours. Fresh produce was nowhere to be found.

Suddenly somebody screamed: they're shooting at Manara, at the square.
The news was difficult to take in: it's impossible to go from one side
of Ramallah to the other without going near the square. It can't be:
it's just a rumor, many believed.

Then the shooting became audible and steady. One shot after the other;
12 rounds of shooting in eight minutes. The IDF spokesman had trouble
believing the reports about Manara Square - the spokesman promised to
look into the matter. Subsequently the army claimed that there had
been disturbances at the square, so the soldiers were forced to open
fire. People who were at the square at the time utterly denied this
contention.

Knesset member Yael Dayan (Labor) made some inquiries, asking her IDF
sources how it came about that a curfew was lifted for a few hours,
but IDF soldiers fired shots anyway. Initially Dayan was told that the
curfew had remained in effect at Manara Square. Later, when it was
reported that a 14-year-old had been injured by the shooting, Dayan's
IDF sources said that the closure was lifted until 5:30 P.M. (Israel
time) throughout the whole city, and so no teenager could have
possibly been wounded at the square. Maybe the 14-year-old fell down,
Dayan was told.

The youth who "fell down" was wounded by shrapnel as he walked from
his home along Ramallah's main street toward Manara Square. He had
gone out to buy bread. Pedestrians took him to his home near the
city's Anglican church, bleeding and crying; somebody called an
ambulance as his parents used rags to stop the bleeding. Neighbors
forgot about what they had intended to purchase in the two hours that
were left before the closure was to resume. They all waited anxiously
for the ambulance to come.

On Friday, April 5, the curfew was suspended again for a few hours.
This time shop-owners and truck drivers were informed in advance about
the recess between 8:30 A.M. and 10:30 A.M. Later, the recess was
rescheduled for 1 P.M. to 4 P.M. Gradually, carefully, residents left
their homes. At 1:02, shots were fired by IDF soldiers at pedestrians
in the Manara area. Once again, residents retreated in confusion and
alarm. The IDF spokesman told Ha'aretz that the curfew recess had been
deferred . The spokesman refused to divulge specifics about this
deferral and rescheduling. At the same moment, Arabic language
broadcasts on Israel Radio announced that the curfew in Ramallah was
being lifted temporarily. Yael Dayan made some more inquiries with her
IDF sources; they insisted that a curfew recess was in effect.

IDF soldiers kept shooting above the heads of people who tried to
cross Manara Square. Soldiers stood behind an IDF ambulance and four
armed personnel carriers and aimed their rifles. They threatened and
yelled some garbled messages. They kept yelling and brandishing their
rifles until an IDF jeep rolled up, and soldiers took out some barbed
wire to fence off the Manara Square area. At last, shots would not be
needed to inform residents on Ramallah's main road where they can walk
when a curfew is lifted temporarily.

+ + + +

more L8R

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

A Canadian Roman Catholic monk has been killed as forces loyal to
self-declared President Marc Ravalomanana try to seize control of
Madagascar's third town, Fianarantsoa.

Troops backing the town's incumbent governor in his hill-top residence
exchanged fire with the attackers.

+ + + +

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is being held at a military barracks
in the capital Caracas after being forced to resign by the country's
military.

+ + + +

One of the most wanted Serbian war crimes suspects, former Serbian
Interior Minister Vlajko Stojiljkovic, is in a critical condition in
Belgrade after shooting himself late on Thursday.

+ + + +

Yugoslav Health and Labour Minister Miodrag Kovac has committed
suicide by hanging himself in his hotel room in Madrid.

+ + + +

anyone see a pattern here?

+ + + +

A telethon in Saudi Arabia has raised more than $55m for the
Palestinians - almost half given by one donor, the billionaire
businessman, Prince al-Walid bin Talal.

A Saudi official said that a convoy of 100 vehicles carrying aid would
be sent to the Palestinian territories via Jordan.

+ + + +

Maoist rebels fighting Nepal's constitutional monarchy have attacked
two key police posts in the west of the country, killing dozens of
officers.

The raids in Dang district left at least 55 police officers and 12
rebels dead while six civilians were also killed in an attack on a
bus, officials said.

+ + + +

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) is calling for an
investigation into whether President Bush and other government
officials had advance notice of terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 but did
nothing to prevent them. She added that "persons close to this
administration are poised to make huge profits off America's new war."

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

Criminals are inventing ever more ingenious methods of relieving you
of your cash.

The latest scam involves thieves putting a thin, clear, rigid plastic
'sleeve' into the ATM card slot. When you insert your card, the
machine can't read the strip, so it keeps asking you to re-enter your PIN
number.

Meanwhile, someone behind you watches as you tap in your number.
eventually you give up, thinking the machine has swallowed your card
and you walk away.

The thieves then remove the plastic sleeve complete with card, and
empty your account.

The way to avoid this is to run your finger along the card slot
before you put your card in. The sleeve has a couple of tiny prongs
that the thieves need to get the sleeve out of the slot, and you'll
be able to feel them.

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

The East African Standard (Nairobi)
April 15, 2002
Amos Kareithi

Two brothers were shot dead on Saturday night and several women
gang-raped when six armed gangsters terrorised a village in Laikipia
District.

The gangsters invaded Thiru village in Marmanet location and unleashed
terror for more than eight hours as they clobbered, harassed and stole
from fear-stricken villagers.

And the thugs stormed a wedding reception where they snatched valuable
gifts given earlier to the just-married couple.

Simon Murage Wachira, 30, a father of three and his brother, Paul
Karuri, 22, were felled by the gangsters' bullets. The thugs also held
hostage the former's wife for more than two hours.

According to the father of the victims, Samuel Macharia, 60, the thugs
were armed with two guns which he identified as an AK 47 assault rifle
and a short-gun. They struck at his home at around 8.00 pm.

The same gang had earlier descended on the home of Mr Mwangi Mwaniki
where they interrupted a wedding reception. They snatched the gifts
given to the stunned newly-weds by the equally uncomprehending
well-wishers at gun-point.

Macharia said that his son Murage was shot inside his three-roomed
house as he tried to keep the thugs out.

They demolished part of the timber wall, stormed into the house and
shot Murage at close range as he desperately held to his door.

His brother Karuri, who was attracted by the powerful blast, was
felled by a single bullet as he ran to the rescue of his sibling.

Macharia said that after the gangsters killed his sons and robbed them
of Sh15,000, they then held hostage Alice Njoki and inflicted head
injuries on her.

Another family member, Alice Warukira, a schoolgirl, was also captured
by the gangsters who released her two hours later with hand injuries.

Another victim, Julius Mwangi, recounted how the same gang robbed him
of Sh180 but later returned Sh30 after learning that his child was
sick and had no more money to take him to hospital.

Shocked villagers recounted how the thugs terrorised their victims as
they went from house to house.

In some cases the helpless victims were told to pray before the thugs
carried away whatever valuables they could lay their hands on.

As the news of the raids spread, local politicians, including the area
MP, Chege Mbitiru, former minister G G Kariuki and James Githire went
to the ill-fated village to console the victims.

Mbitiru petitioned the Government to ensure the security of citizens.
He sent a message of condolence to the bereaved families and wished
the injured a quick recovery.

The bodies of the two brothers were ferried to Nyahururu District
Hospital mortuary by the police while the injured were treated at
Rumuruti Dispensary and discharged.

Irate villagers re-grouped in the ill-fated homesteads and marched to
Maili-Saba junction where they held demonstrations to protest the
killings.

The angry politicians said two weeks ago, at least 10 women were raped
by gangsters who descended on the same neighbourhood.

Among those people whose homes were raided are Morris Simiyu, Peter
Githinji, Mwangi Mwaniki, Julius Mwangi and Kamau Waweru.

G G Kariuki claimed that there has been a systematic plot to evict
members of one community from the area, adding that the number of
those killed in recent attacks was alarming.

+ + + +

The East African Standard (Nairobi)
April 15, 2002
Tom Mosoba

Another Kenyan male was stabbed 11 times in Tanzania's border town of
Sirare and his body dumped in a trench by unknown assailants. The
death, last Friday, of 30-year-old Chacha Nsongo brings to four the
number of Kenyans who have died this year in the town mysteriously.

All the deceased were allegedly found stabbed or strangled near busaa
clubs which are legalised in Tanzania and where the victims were
frequent revellers.

Tanzania police are reportedly holding a local woman who operates one
of the clubs and a Kenyan male patron.

During Nsongo's burial on Saturday at his Nyamaharaga home, Bukira
West Chief, John Getangita, cautioned Kenyan residents against
patronising the foreign clubs at night.

Getangita noted that all the victims were residents of his location.
Some mourners attributed the influx of cheap busaa and changaa
revellers from Kenya to Tanzania to the banning of the brews in the
country.

Separately, All Saints Cathedral Provost, Rev Peter Njoka, has asked
the Government to provide adequate security for Kenyans both in rural
and urban areas, reports Judith Akolo.

Njoka said the death of the mother of newly appointed University of
Nairobi Vice-Chancellor, Prof Crispus Kiamba, Mama Maria Kiamba at the
hands of ruthless thugs depicts how bad the security situation in the
country is.

Rev Njoka dedicated a prayer to the Kiamba family.

+ + + +

The Perspective (Smyrna, Georgia)
DOCUMENT
April 15, 2002
Jesse B. Ghoah

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am writing to the collective leadership of LURD because I don't know
anybody in LURD. Additionally, I want to assure you that it is not the
intent of this letter to criticize LURD or the activities of LURD. I,
like members of LURD, and many other concerned Liberians, am opposed
to Charles Taylor's leadership in Liberia and would like to see him go
one way or the other. However, to see that happen, one has to have an
agenda and strategies to accomplish it.

Therefore, not being a member of LURD, but a concerned Liberian, I
would like to know what is LURD's agenda. I am fully aware of the fact
that LURD doesn't owe me any explanation of its agenda; but again, I,
like you, and most other concerned Liberians, we are all in the same
boat. Now, for those of us who are not members of LURD, might be
supportive, if we are convinced that your style and method of ridding
Liberia of Charles Taylor are the best ways to go. It is in that
spirit of oneness that I am writing this open letter to the leadership
of LURD to explain your agenda to those of us who do not know what it
is. You can explain your agenda by answering the following questions:

1. What is the numerical strength (No. of members) of your
organization?

2. How much grassroots (ordinary Liberians) support do you have to
conduct your war?

3. It has been almost two (2) years since you took up arms against
Charles Taylor's government. What gains or successes have you made
within that time period?

4. How are you financing the war?

5. Have you thought about the fact that if you are successful in
getting rid of Charles Taylor militarily, that you would be continuing
the same precedent that Charles Taylor put in place with Doe? That is,
any group can take up arms against any Government that it doesn't
like, and overthrow it.

6. If you are successful in removing Charles Taylor by force, is there
any one individual amongst you who will assume the presidency of
Liberia or is it going to be governance by committees?

7. I understand there are many smart and educated people amongst you.
If this is true, how is it that Charles Taylor has made you look like
jackasses? You have fallen in every trap that he has set for you - you
accept credit for crimes you did not commit, why? For most of us, such
act is considered to be an intellectual dishonesty.

8. Do you believe that your credibility with the Liberian people is
enhanced when you claim responsibility for things you did not do? (The
Klay incident, which led to the emergency declaration, and the Kakata
incident recently, where it is alleged that two Lebanese citizens were
murdered by your organization).

9. Do you realistically believe that you can remove Charles Taylor
from power by force? If yes, any idea how long it will take to
accomplish that?

10. How would you feel if Charles Taylor should decide to postpone or
cancel the election scheduled for 2003, if the so called war between
you and his government is still on?

11. I understand there are 12 or 13 political parties in Liberia.
Isn't there a single one of those parties that your organization has
common ground with?

12. You organization did not attend the recent Abuja reconciliation
conference. Your excuse was your invitation did not arrive in time. Is
that the real truth or could it be because you did not have any good
ideas to bring to the table?

13. Have you done any assessment of your organization standing with
the Liberia people? Do you think that most Liberian people believe in
your organization's war activities?

14. Do you think that Charles Taylor respects you as a worthy
opponent?

15. Last but not least, do you think that you owe the Liberian people,
the very people you are trying to liberate, the truth? Tell them the
truth about the Klay incident as well as the Kakata incident. Did you
have anything to do with those incidents?

In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, I hope that this letter will not
be considered as being adversarial; instead, I hope you will look at
it as a letter coming from a concerned Liberian who wants to see
improvement in the lives of the Liberian people. I want to assure you
that by answering the questions I posed above will enlighten me and
other Liberians. I am also sure that the answers to these questions
will not only educate us but also tell us what your organization is
about; and maybe even change some minds to be supportive of your
organization.

P.O. Box 450493

Atlanta, GA 31145

Website: www.theperspective.org

E-mail: edi...@theperspective.org

+ + + +

U.S. Department of State (Washington, DC)
DOCUMENT
April 11, 2002
Washington, D.C

Statement By Philip T. Reeker, Deputy Spokesman

The United States is heartened that President Wade of Senegal has
offered to help resolve the political impasse in Madagascar. The
United States urges both Mr. Ratsiraka and Mr. Ravalomanana to accept
President Wade's invitation to go to Dakar this weekend, and to engage
in constructive talks there. The United States remains deeply
concerned about the deteriorating political situation in Madagascar,
and about the violence and human rights abuses that have ensued.

The United States deplores the formation of militias, attempts to cast
the political dispute in ethnic terms, the imposition of blockades
around Antananarivo and the wanton destruction of the nation's bridges
and transportation infrastructure.

We urge Mr. Ratsiraka and Mr. Ravalomanana to restrain their
supporters from taking further violent actions. We call upon the two
leaders to put national interests and the public welfare above their
personal interests, and to resolve the dispute peacefully.

+ + + +

P.M. News (Lagos)
April 15, 2002
Lagos

Grim statistics on the operations of the Anambra Vigilante Services
(AVS) a.k.a. Bakassi Boys has been revealed with report indicating
that the dreaded crime outfit has killed more than 1000 people since
it came into existence in the state two years ago.

This was contained in the latest report by the international human
rights organisation, Amnesty International. The report detailed how
Amnesty officials watched a band of Bakassi Boys trying to burn a
suspected robber alive outside the office of the Anambra State
Governor, Chinwoke Mbadinuju, in Awka.

According to the report, the unidentified victim was doused with
petrol and tied with his hands at the back.

+IBggGA-The Bakassi Boys were pouring petrol on the man+IBk-s body
with the clear intention of setting him on fire+IB0, Amnesty stated in
the report. +IBw-The man was on his knees, his arms tied behind his
back and his face disfigured by recent beatings. He was bleeding
profusely+IB0, it added, saying when the Bakassi Boys realised there
were strangers watching the scene, they bundled their victim into a
van, loaded the vehicle with machetes and guns and drove away.

The attack, the report stated, took place very close to the Anambra
State Government House. The Bakassi Boys, the crime outfit that has
vowed to tackle common criminals, receives funding, vehicles and
weapons from Anambra State government.

Amnesty stated that it decided to raise an alarm over the issue
because it feared that extra judicial killing by Bakassi Boys and
other militias could be manipulated by politicians in the run-up to
the presidential and legislative elections in 2003.

Anambra officials were not immediately available to comment on the
report but the state government has previously denied knowledge of any
killings or other abuses by the Bakassi Boys.

Some Nigerians have praised the AVS and other vigilante groups for
being more effective in fighting crime than the country+IBk-s
under-funded and often corrupt police force. Others criticised the
extra-judicial group+IBk-s brutal methods.

Interestingly, in one of the controversial media tour awards which
were handed out early this year by the Federal Ministry of
Information, Anambra State won an award for security, due largely to
the exploits of the dreaded Bakassi Boys.

It would be recalled that President Olusegun Obasanjo has warned of
increased political violence between supporters of rival candidates in
the months leading to the next ballot and has proposed a legislation
to ban vigilante groups.

+ + + +

12 April: Israeli security foiled a Palestinian terrorist attempt to
hit the motorcade driving US secretary of state Colin Powellfrom Ben
Gurion Airport to Jerusalem Thursday night, April 12, shortly after he
landed. The Secretary was accompanied by Israeli foreign minister
Shimon Peres and heads of the US embassy.

Just before 9 pm IT, two hours before the US Secretary arrived, a
Palestinian Red Crescent ambulance was stopped by a hidden Israeli
security patrol near the gas station on the Modi'in-Jerusalem Highway
443. The driver and his mate had all the necessary permits for
transporting a dead Palestinian policeman to the Gaza Strip. However,
since Yasser Arafat's confinement in Ramallah, security has been
intensified on all traffic coming from the direction of the
Palestinian town, in case of an attempt to smuggle him out. In any
case, in a war situation, in which passage from the West Bank to the
Gaza Strip has been suspended, all permits are checked for forgeries.

The ambulance was therefore opened up and searched carefully. Hidden
under the corpse was a large supply of explosives and a suicider's
bomb belt.

According to some of DEBKAfile's sources, the two Palestinians
admitted under questioning that they had planned to pull the ambulance
up on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv expressway, the route taken later by the
Powell motorcade. One of the men was to stay in the vehicle, while the
other strapped on the bomb belt and hid in some roadside bushes. When
the secretary's car drove by, the ambulance was rigged to explode. The
second bomber was then supposed to leap into the milling crowd of
officials and security men and blow himself up.

At 22:07 IT, the booby-trapped Red Crescent ambulance was blown up in
a controlled explosion, creating a bang loud enough to frighten
dwellers in a broad radius and start the rumor of a rocket attack.
Israel security is now investigating the provenance of the Red
Crescent ambulance and the official permits.

+ + + +

At least three US soldiers have been killed while blowing up
unexploded ordinance near the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.
One report put the death toll at four and added that "several" others
were wounded or missing.

"It doesn't appear to be hostile fire - it is related to ordnance,"
said Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Dave Lapan.

+ + + +

Children in war-torn regions across the world share haunting stories
of living among constant warfare and ethnic violence in the world
broadcast premiere of A Child's Century of War on Monday, May 6 at 9
p.m. ET/PT. The feature-length documentary, by Toronto's Emmy
Award-winning filmmaker Shelley Saywell, airs as part of History
Television's 20th Century Mondays.

A Child's Century of War travels to three contemporary war zones --
Chechnya, Sierra Leone and the West Bank -- to document the impact war
has on children. Children in each of these regions reveal their own
interpretations of war, exposing emotional and physical scars many
will carry for the rest of their lives.

"What these children live through defies imagination," says Sydney
Suissa, Senior Vice President of Programming for Factual Networks,
Alliance Atlantis Broadcasting. "Seeing their faces and hearing them
speak so honestly captures the true tragedy of warfare."

The children featured in A Child's Century of War include a group of
Chechen orphans whose parents were killed by Russian soldiers; two
schoolgirls, an Israeli and an Palestinian, growing up on one of the
most dangerous streets in the West Bank; and a group of former
soldiers in Sierra Leone -- all of whom are under the age of 15. Their
voices are joined by child victims of earlier wars, through diary
entries penned by children in England, Germany, Japan, Vietnam and
Armenia. The film's narrator is Christopher Plummer -- who provides
the only adult voice in the film.

"The resilience of these children is as heartbreaking as their
distress," says Shelley Saywell, who produced directed and wrote A
Child's Century of War. "Unfortunately with the world's current
political climate, children will continue to be the ones who suffer
the most during times of war and insurrection."

A Child's Century of War is an official selection at this year's Hot
Docs International Documentary Film Festival. For more information on
History Television's upcoming programming visit
www.HistoryTelevision.ca.

www.allianceatlantis.com

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

The stock price of the company that owns one of the industry leaders,
MPRI, has doubled since 9/11.

+ + + +

U.S. Companies Hired to Train Foreign Armies
By ESTHER SCHRADER
TIMES STAFF WRITER
April 14 2002

WASHINGTON -- When the Pentagon talks about training the new Afghan
National Army, it doesn't mean with its own soldiers. The Green Berets
and other elite U. S. troops are needed elsewhere. Instead, the
Defense Department is drawing up plans to use its commandos to
jump-start the Afghan force, then hire private military contractors to
finish the job.

It would be the most vital role yet taken on by a somewhat clandestine
industry accustomed to operating on the fringe of U. S. foreign policy
by training foreign armies. As the United States pushes its
antiterrorism campaign beyond Afghanistan, the role of these private
companies promises to grow right along with it.

"The war on terrorism is the full employment act for these guys," said
D. B. Des Roches, spokesman for the Pentagon's Defense Security
Cooperation Agency. A little-known but increasingly essential addition
to the modern battlefield, the firms, studded with retired American
generals, have been training the world's more ragtag armies since the
1970s when a group of Vietnam veterans discovered that there was money
to be made marketing military expertise--and sold Saudi Arabia on a
plan to teach its army how to guard its oil fields.

Business has burgeoned in the messy post-Cold War world. The
firms--modern-day mercenary companies armed with Powerpoint
presentations instead of weapons--operate today in more than 40
countries, often under contract to the U. S. government.

For the Pentagon, with one-third fewer soldiers than a decade ago but
a growing number of entanglements in unlikely places, hiring out the
training of foreign armies has become indispensable. Every U. S.
military operation in the post-Cold War era has involved significant
levels of support from private military firms, from the Persian Gulf
to Somalia, Zaire, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo and Croatia.

But the industry has met with growing criticism by military experts
who charge that the firms work with little oversight and less
accountability, particularly when hired by foreign governments.

Plans to use the firms in Afghanistan are still preliminary. Although
training of an Afghan military force has begun, there is no timetable
for turning the task over to contractors. With Afghanistan still
volatile, Pentagon officials are grappling with just how private
trainers, who typically do not carry weapons, should be employed.

Since Sept. 11 and the Pentagon's launch of the war on terrorism, the
stock prices of the publicly traded contractors have soared. Already,
trainers from private military companies are in the former Soviet
republic of Georgia, where Al Qaeda operatives are believed to be
hiding. Executives of several private military companies have met with
Pentagon officials about training other armies in Central Asia.

"A lot of people have said, 'Ding ding ding, gravy train,' " Des
Roches said. "But in point of fact, it makes sense. They're probably
better at doing these sorts of missions than anyone else I could think
of."

Boasts retired Army Lt. Gen. Harry E. Soyster, an executive at MPRI,
the most prominent of the private contractors: "We've got more
generals per square foot here than in the Pentagon."

Although the most successful of the U. S. firms carefully screen their
employees, prohibit them from carrying arms and generally reject
contracts with governments the U. S. considers unsavory, they operate
in a world populated by a darker breed of ex-soldiers who serve as
guns for hire to thugs throughout the world. Competing military
companies in Britain and South Africa have hired out their employees
as combatants in Angola and Sierra Leone. And employees of the U. S.
companies have sometimes taken up weapons themselves, employees of the
firms say.

"We're talking about places where the governments have very little
control over their territory . . . where our government has no control
over what these firms tell the sometimes very questionable people they
work for about how to fight," said Deborah Avant, professor of
political science at George Washington University and an authority on
the role of the private sector in war. "The more and more we put these
people in riskier and riskier areas, the more they have to make these
judgments on their own."

The U. S.-based companies say their goals dovetail with a long-held U.
S. policy of encouraging military-to-military ties worldwide in the
hope that professional armies can help stabilize fragile democracies.

MPRI, founded in 1988 by former Army Chief of Staff Carl Vuono and
seven other retired generals, has trained militaries throughout the
world under contract to the Pentagon. It counts 20 former senior
military officers on its board of directors.

The firm operates from a bland office building in Alexandria, Va., its
halls as hushed as those of an insurance firm. But the decor betrays
the tough credentials of its founders. A statue of a knight in armor
stands in a corner of the lobby. MPRI's emblem is an unsheathed sword.

"These guys are not about to destroy reputations they've spent 30
years building just for a buck," said Soyster, who once headed the
Defense Intelligence Agency. "We go someplace because we are either
sent there by the U. S. government or we're contracted by another
government. We do it for the money, I'm not ashamed to say. But we do
it right."

The financial rewards presumably beat Pentagon salaries. Since Sept.
11, the per-share price of stock in L3 Communications, which owns
MPRI, has more than doubled.

The top five executives at Science Applications International Corp. of
San Diego made between $825,000 and $1.8 million in salaries in 2001,
and each held more than $1.5 million worth of stock options.

Revenues from the global international security market, of which the
firms are a part, are expected to rise from $55.6 billion in 1990 to
$202 billion in 2010, according to a 1997 study by Equitable Services
Corp., a security industry analyst.

The renting out of trained killers dates back hundreds of years, and
privately recruited regiments were common in the U. S. Civil War. But
selling military expertise has its roots in Vietnam, when commercial
teams funded by the Pentagon provided military and police training to
South Vietnamese forces.

In 1975, McLean, Va.-based Vinnell Corp. won a $77-million contract to
train Saudi Arabian infantry and artillery battalions to defend oil
fields. It was the first time that American civilians had been
permitted to sell military training directly to a foreign military.
The job was controversial, and Senate Democrats held hearings. But the
contract stuck. And other similar firms began to emerge.

The end of the Cold War led to dramatic growth. Suddenly, there was a
pool of skilled former officers, some from Special Forces units, eager
to sell the expertise they had developed as relatively low-paid
soldiers. They found a ready market at the Pentagon, and in dozens of
countries in Africa, Asia and the former Soviet sphere eager to
professionalize their militaries.

The major U. S. firms in the field include MPRI, Vinnell, BDM
International Inc. of Fairfax, Va., Armor Holdings Inc. of
Jacksonville, Fla.; DynCorp of Reston, Va., and SAIC. Armor Holdings
was among Fortune magazine's 100 fastest-growing companies in 1999 and
2000, one of the few firms on the list not related to technology.

The people they hire are hardly soldiers of fortune.

They are generally former military officers with 20 to 30 years of
experience, generously pensioned retirees for whom the money is just
part of the allure. Many describe their work as public service, a way
to practice military diplomacy. Often they freelance, taking on
contracts that send them abroad for a year or so.

They train armies how to use such complex hardware as armored
personnel carriers, surface-to-air missiles, shoulder-fired antitank
missiles, ships and aircraft, and other equipment typically sold to
foreign armies by the United States. They prep officers in military
strategy, run battle simulation centers, and have helped support
peacekeeping efforts in troubled regions under contract to the
Pentagon and the State Department.

MPRI has trained military forces in dozens of countries, including
Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia and Colombia. DynCorp trained the Haitian
police force after the 1994 U. S. intervention in the island nation.
And MPRI and several other firms, under contract to the State
Department, established the African Center for Strategic Studies to
teach fledgling democracies how to run professional armies.

In other words, the French Foreign Legion they are not.

"One leitmotif of the business is how boring the individual jobs can
be on almost all of the contracts that the big U. S. firms have. It is
like being in the peacetime Army, Navy or Air Force," said one former
member of Special Forces and airborne infantry units who for more than
two decades has trained foreign militaries in Indochina and the Middle
East.

"I'm not a mercenary," this trainer said. "I like excitement, but I
have to be on the side of angels. Do not look for me to look for
excitement [by] working on the side of vicious people."

But even the most polished of the firms have blemished histories.
Employees of DynCorp were fired after being accused two years ago of
keeping Bosnian women as concubines. Companies hired by the CIA in the
1980s trained foreign fighters later charged with atrocities in El
Salvador and Honduras.

When the firms are hired by the Pentagon or State Department, as they
would be in Afghanistan, their work is audited and sometimes
supervised by U. S. military personnel, a process the State Department
says helps prevent abuse.

But when they sell their services directly to other countries, there
are minimal controls.

The only U. S. regulation of such foreign contracts is through the
State Department, which issues export licenses under the Arms Export
Control Act. The law regulates the sale of military services just as
it does the export of a crate of guns. The department reviews
applications to ensure that no sales are made or services performed
that would "undercut U. S. interests," spokesman Jason Greer said.

The firms say this prevents them from working with governments that
the U. S. disapproves of. When MPRI tried to get a license to train
the Angolan army in 1994, for example, the State Department turned it
down.

But Congress is notified only of contracts worth more than $50
million. Sometimes there are conflicting views of what is in the U. S.
interest. And once a license is granted, there are no reporting
requirements or oversight of work that typically lasts years and takes
the firms' employees to remote, lawless areas.

In 1998, MPRI applied for a license to help the government of
Equatorial Guinea build its coast guard. The tiny African country is
run by a military dictator who has been implicated in human rights
abuses. It has no U. S. Embassy.

The contract was initially rejected by two State Department desks,
according to a department official and Soyster. But the decision was
reversed two years later after MPRI lobbyists argued that if it was
not allowed to do the job, a competitor from another country would.

"There are people who think you should not help people, that they
don't deserve to be helped, even though they want to make a change,"
Soyster said. "We say, don't let past mistakes get in the way of doing
something that should be done today."

Even when doing the job they describe, the firms' role is sometimes
cloudy.

In 1995, during a U. N. embargo on arms sales to Croatia,
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Yugoslavia, MPRI persuaded the State Department
to grant it a license to train Croatia's military, pledging that it
would teach only leadership skills, budgeting and military ethics.

When the Croatian military, in a highly effective offensive called
Operation Storm, captured the Serb-held Krajina enclave later that
year, there were suspicions that MPRI instructors must have been
directly involved. The operation played a key role in reversing the
tide of war against the Serbs and, consistent with American policy, in
bringing both sides to the negotiating table. But the same Croatian
military was subsequently implicated in uprooting more than 150,000
Serbs from their homes.

The company denies that its employees played any direct role in the
Croatian army's sudden transformation into an effective fighting
force.

"I can assure you if we had the capability to train an army in a month
to turn it around that fast, I wouldn't be talking to you, I'd be
flying you over to the Riviera on the way to see it for yourself,"
Soyster said. "If we could do that to Croatia, we could straighten out
Afghanistan in a couple of months."

But critics charge that the help MPRI provided the Croatians may have
allowed the U. S. to secretly influence events in the war while
maintaining its neutral posture and without sending U. S. troops,
advisors or trainers.

"MPRI had all these different meetings with top Croatian defense
officials right before the offensive. It's inconceivable that they did
not have some kind of impact," said one military analyst who has
followed the company's involvement in the Balkans. "It was followed by
massive ethnic cleansing. Now, had American troops been on the ground,
we would have been held accountable for that. The fact that it was a
private company made the connection a lot less clear."

In this murky world, the line between training foreign troops and
fighting with them sometimes blurs.

When Saddam Hussein's army invaded the Saudi Arabian border town of
Khafji in February 1991, Vinnell employees accompanied Saudi national
guard units into combat, according to two employees of Vinnell and an
employee of another private military company who was in Saudi Arabia
at the time.

The Vinnell employees had been stationed in the region to instruct
Saudi soldiers in operating heavy weapons systems.

"Their job was to teach those guys, not to fight with them, but sure,
the Vinnell instructors accompanied those units into combat," an
employee who witnessed the counterattack said. "Under extraordinary
circumstances, but very, very rare circumstances, you will see
employees of the MPRIs of this world get into a circumstance where
they can't say no. . . . Let's face it, they're human beings."

Said Vinnell spokesman Kevin O'Melia: "I'm not aware that that
happened, and our company policy is that they not be directly
involved. They're hired as advisors only . . . and that's the capacity
in which we expect them to act."

In Afghanistan, the plan is for up to 150 U. S. Special Forces troops
to begin training Afghan recruits, then to turn the effort over to
private U. S. contractors. Defense officials have said for months that
only by having an army of its own can Afghanistan hope to create the
stability that is critical if the country is to avoid remaining a
haven for terrorists. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has said he
might seek money from Congress and other foreign governments to
finance the army.

Some basic training of several hundred Afghan recruits is already
underway, led by British and German members of the international
security force there.

But thousands of other potential Afghan soldiers have yet to be
tapped, and international financial support for building Afghanistan's
army has been slim.

It is unclear how large an Afghan force would be needed to suppress
factional conflicts and patrol the country's borders. But some defense
officials have put the number at more than 20,000.

"I think we'll start off with our own guys because the Afghans are
more comfortable at this point with people in uniform who they know,"
said a senior defense official familiar with the plan. "But at some
point down the pike, we will move to contractors. We have to. We don't
have the people to do it all ourselves."

And if the corporate warriors succeed in Afghanistan, the Pentagon
will be eager to send them elsewhere, defense officials said.

"This is big business among these companies. They are furiously
bidding on involvement in Afghanistan and the war on terrorism," said
P. W. "Pete" Singer, an Olin Fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies
Program at the Brookings Institution in Washington. "The minute the
Pentagon started to use the phrase 'a program to train and equip the
Afghan army,' buzzers went off."

+ + + +

PSSST! WANNA BUILD AN A-BOMB? GO TO BRITAIN FOR A GUIDE

Despite the widely advertised success in the struggle with terrorism,
many countries are still apprehensive that even greater acts of
terrorism may occur. As soon as the hysteria with white powder in
envelopes ended, one more threat, more awesome than anthrax, appeared.

The other day, Britain's Ministry of Defense admitted that an A-bomb
guide was available in Great Britain. A spokesman for the ministry
said that a detailed description of how to build an atomic bomb, to be
more precise, Britain's first atomic bomb code-named Blue Danube with
the power of 15 kiloton, was declassified seven years ago and is now
being stored in the public archives. The bomb was added to the
military arsenal in 1953.

No surprise that the opposition conservative party jumped at the news
at once, as the party considered it to be "a monstrous free gift to
terrorists." The party declares that now the government will have to
explain the reason for declassifying of such dangerous documents. At
that, the Tory did not mention the fact that the declassifying of the
A-bomb guide took place at the time when conservative John Major was
Britain's prime minister (Anthony Blair was elected to the post in
1997 for the first time).

It is interesting that Great Britain (following the USA) likes to tell
terrifying stories about Russians, who hardly manage to control their
nuclear reserves, and that terrorists may easily obtain these weapons
of mass destruction. The security of Britain's control over its
nuclear reserves was undoubtedly considered strong. Is it in fact
faulty?

On the other hand, the fear of nuclear weapons being used has lessened
in the world. The USA and Britain announced several times already that
they are ready to use small nuclear weapons in local conflicts. In
fact, nuclear weapons today prevail more than they did ten years ago.
Many countries, such as India and Pakistan, have already declared they
possess nuclear weapons. It is quite logical to suppose that Israel
and Iran also have nuclear weapons in their arsenals.

The removal of the fear of weapons of mass destruction entail
unpredictable consequences. Certainly, the production of an A-bomb is
a technologically complex process. However, how can we be sure that,
in the nearest future, terrorists will not find some detailed
descriptions on the Internet and invent something awful to kill tens
of thousands of people?

Oleg Artyukov
PRAVDA.Ru

+ + + +

Further violence has flared in Madagascar as the island's rival
leaders prepare for renewed mediation efforts to end the political
crisis.

Three people including an army general were killed in the second city,
Fianarantsoa, which has become a serious flashpoint in recent weeks.

+ + + +

A man convicted of murdering 16 prostitutes in the north-eastern
Iranian city of Mashhad has been hanged after the Iranian Supreme
Court confirmed his death sentence.

Saeed Hanaie, a 40-year-old builder, had confessed to killing the
women, all aged between 25 and 50, but said he was carrying out the
will of god.

+ + + +

http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news?p=Jenin+Refugee+Camp&c=news_photos

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

Damien McElroy
LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH

PYONGYANG, North Korea — If President Bush's "axis of evil" has a
watering hole for its arms dealers, it is the circular bar on the 44th
floor of the Koryo Hotel in Pyong-yang, the most isolated — and
perhaps the most mysterious— of the "axis capitals."

As dusk — and the latest electric-power cut — shrouds the North Korean
capital in socialist gloom, the bar bustles to life, its
black-and-yellow, floral-pattern capsule chairs filling up with
Iraqis, Somalis, Libyans and other patrons from Middle Eastern and
African nations.

This nameless institution, renowned as the meeting place of choice for
arms traders in the Far East, buzzes with intrigue, if not necessarily
romance, every night.

Wandering past a low-slung plastic-topped table opposite the bar moves
a man named Udai, who claims to be from Baghdad. A reporter asks if
he's in Pyongyang to purchase arms, missile parts, components —
anything that would break the arms embargo against his country.

"Maybe, maybe not," he says with a smile. "I come to Korea often but I
cannot say why. It's a secret." He quickly returns to a whispered
conversation with his Korean companions.

Arms sales are a sensitive subject in Pyongyang. Foreign diplomats in
the North Korean capital estimate that each year Pyongyang sells at
least $500 million worth of weapons parts, mostly components for
short-range missiles and guidance systems, to pariah regimes, often in
the Middle East.

As bar patrons down tumblers of Johnny Walker and the local firewater,
the discussions around the tables seem somewhat more furtive than
Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. national security adviser, recently
proclaimed. "Let's just say that the North Koreans have been known to
go around with glossy brochures about their ballistic missiles," Miss
Rice said. "They are stocking a lot of the world right now."

The country's contribution to international weapons proliferation
earned it a place, alongside Iran and Iraq, in the "axis of evil"
denounced by Mr. Bush in his State of the Union address in January.

Pyongyang's lucrative arms exports are the result of its tinkering
with Scud missiles supplied by the Soviet Union almost two decades
ago. Its spare parts and re-engineered launching systems are sent
across the Third World on cargo ships that have been chartered for
legitimate trade.

Firms that charter ships in Southeast Asia say that North Korea
frequently commissions vessels to take a commodity such as sugar from
the Far East to Europe, but the boats go missing for days while making
unscheduled stops in places such as Libya.

"Every flight into Pyongyang from Beijing carries businessmen from the
Middle East and Africa," says a diplomat who is a frequent visitor to
the country. "Not all of them are arms dealers, but apart from weapons
exports the country doesn't really have much to interest people from
that region."

+ + + +

[DiMethylTryptamine]

"Rizla Ranger UK" <o...@ziplip.com> wrote in message

news:7499a8cd.02041...@posting.google.com...

> + + + +
>
> Damien McElroy
> LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH
>
>

> PYONGYANG, North Korea - If President Bush's "axis of evil" has a
////Snipped
Interesting story...
Wonder if it has any coincidence to the strange little eastern men one sees
upon one's travels across Africa.
More often than not they are generally business men. But in some places one
sees strange things...
Can't help but wonder.

On another note. I may be resuming my travels into the areas North of Beit
Bridge. *sigh*.
Negotiations are on going.
Oh for a nine to five that pays what I earn...

[Rizla Ranger UK]

LOL!

great camo on this helo!

http://www.ehowa.com/
then go to "pictures"
for the picture archive

then check the 53bodyart files

claaaaaassic!!

[Rizla Ranger UK]

Beijing
SatireWire.com
;P

— Bitter after being snubbed for membership in the "Axis of Evil,"
Libya, China, and Syria today announced they had formed the "Axis of
Just as Evil," which they said would be way eviler than that stupid
Iran-Iraq-North Korea axis President Bush warned of his State of the
Union address.

Axis of Evil members, however, immediately dismissed the new axis as
having, for starters, a really dumb name. "Right. They are Just as
Evil... in their dreams!" declared North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
"Everybody knows we're the best evils... best at being evil... we're
the best."

Diplomats from Syria denied they were jealous over being excluded,
although they conceded they did ask if they could join the Axis of
Evil.

"They told us it was full," said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"An Axis can't have more than three countries," explained Iraqi
President Saddam Hussein. "This is not my rule, it's tradition. In
World War II you had Germany, Italy, and Japan in the evil Axis. So
you can only have three. And a secret handshake. Ours is wicked cool."

THE AXIS PANDEMIC

International reaction to Bush's Axis of Evil declaration was swift,
as within minutes, France surrendered.

Elsewhere, peer-conscious nations rushed to gain triumvirate status in
what became a game of geopolitical chairs. Cuba, Sudan, and Serbia
said they had formed the Axis of Somewhat Evil, forcing Somalia to
join with Uganda and Myanmar in the Axis of Occasionally Evil, while
Bulgaria, Indonesia and Russia established the Axis of Not So Much
Evil Really As Just Generally Disagreeable.

With the criteria suddenly expanded and all the desirable clubs
filling up, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, and Rwanda applied to be called
the Axis of Countries That Aren't the Worst But Certainly Won't Be
Asked to Host the Olympics; Canada, Mexico, and Australia formed the
Axis of Nations That Are Actually Quite Nice But Secretly Have Nasty
Thoughts About America, while Spain, Scotland, and New Zealand
established the Axis of Countries That Sometimes Ask Sheep to Wear
Lipstick.

"That's not a threat, really, just something we like to do," said
Scottish Executive First Minister Jack McConnell.

While wondering if the other nations of the world weren't perhaps
making fun of him, a cautious Bush granted approval for most axes,
although he rejected the establishment of the Axis of Countries Whose
Names End in "Guay," accusing one of its members of filing a false
application. Officials from Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chadguay denied the
charges.

Israel, meanwhile, insisted it didn't want to join any Axis, but
privately, world leaders said that's only because no one asked
them....

"DiMethylTryptamine" wrote

[ScottCovey]

Yeah I hear what you say!

I am south, west of Mutare in four or so weeks. Beira corridor near the
famous bridge! Then back to the Avendia or Rovoma in the capital.
Perhaps drinks if it blows up like I am hoping!
Cheers\

[DiMethylTryptamine]

"ScottCovey" <scott...@uniserve.com> wrote in message
news:B8E3BC22.9762%scott...@uniserve.com...

> Yeah I hear what you say!
>
> I am south, west of Mutare in four or so weeks. Beira corridor near the
> famous bridge! Then back to the Avendia or Rovoma in the capital.
> Perhaps drinks if it blows up like I am hoping!
> Cheers\

Good to see you lurking still...
Makes me all warm and fucking fuzzy it does... ha.
Anyhow. Watch your back up their, I don't quite like the goings on in
Southern Africa at the moment. Proverbial quiet before the storm...
Or maybe I am just paranoid.

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

KABUL (Online): The former King of Afghanistan, King Zahir Shah,
returns to Afghanistan after 29 years of exile in Rome. A traitor to
his people, Zahir Shah left Afghanistan in 1973 and remained away from
it during the first Soviet-Afghan war from 1979 to 1989, the
subsequent anti-Communist war from 1989 to 1992 and now the latest
Jewish-Christian Crusade against Afghanistan. Whilst the men of his
country were being slaughtered, the women raped and thrown off
helicopters, the children orphaned, the livestock killed and houses
razed to the ground, King Zahir Shah was living an opulent life of
luxury in Europe. This is the individual that the International
Community has chosen to unify the Afghans and lead them. Afghans have
a long history of remembering betrayal and those who sided with the
enemy against them. When taking revenge, the Afghan Muslims do not
care about anyone, just as President Najibullah, the former Communist
President of Afghanistan who sided with the Soviet Union, was dragged
out of the UN compound in 1996 when the Taliban captured Kabul, and
hanged from a noose in the centre of the city for all to see. The
statement of the noble Sheikh Abdullah Azzam suffices our comments on
his return:

"By Allah! If the heavens were to meet the Earth, we will never accept
the puppet government. Those who paid the price of victory with the
blood of their martyrs, they are the most worthy to rule the land. As
for all those sitting in the West, who neither did expend a single
drop of blood for Allah's sake, nor did a drop of sweat trickle down
their face for Allah's sake, whilst our people were being mercilessly
slaughtered for centuries, what right do THEY have to come and rule
Afghanistan?

US and Britain Directly Responsible for Jenin Massacre

JENIN (Special Report): The last few days have seen the uncovering of
the greatest massacre of the 21st Century thus far, in the town of
Jenin, Occupied Palestine, by the US/UK/Israeli forces. The Muslim
Ummah must not make any mistakes as to who was responsible: American
and British weapons were used by Israeli forces to massacre men, women
and children in Jenin under America's 'War Against Terrorism.' Unlike
America, whose open support for Israel is clearly apparent, Britain is
very cunning and sly in their war against Islam. Openly, British
ministers condemn Israel, but hiddenly they continue to supply arms
and ammunition to the Israeli Government with which to kill Muslims.
This allegation was confirmed by Jack Straw on Wednesday. Such a
stance is not surprising from the British Government, since MI6 has
been supplying arms to Rwandan rebels for several years now, via a
series of bogus, front companies in order to hide the true origin of
the arms.

Ariel Sharon is similar to a vicious dog which is let loose by his
masters whenever they went. The dog is the one that does the barking
and the biting, but it is its owners that hold or release its leash
and set it loose upon targets. One cannot blame the dog if it barks at
or bites anyone, since this behaviour is in its nature. One should
blame the owner, who stands back saying, "Don't worry, he won't bite.
He's only playing." Therefore, the Muslims should not condemn or say
anything about Ariel Sharon or the Israeli Government. The owners of
the Israeli Government, i.e. America and Britain, are the ones who the
Muslim Ummah should hold directly responsible for their war crimes in
Israel, which should be referred to as 'American and British War
Crimes in Jenin.'

Yet, do we have any statements of condolences or sorrow from
apolegetic Muslim organisations? Do we have any messages of sorrow on
the web-sites of defeatist Muslim organisations? Do traitorous groups
such as the American Muslim Council or the Muslim Council of Britain,
refuse to shake the hands of the war criminals, George Bush and Tony
Blair? Do these organisations urge their people to give blood to the
Palestinians, leading by example themselves? Where lie the loyalties
of these individuals? It is obviously not towards the Muslims in
Palestine. War Against Israel Crosses Borders after Blast at Jewish
Synagogue in Tunisia

TUNISIA (Online): Resentment of the Muslims against Israeli actions in
Palestine reached new proportions last week following an explosion at
a Jewish synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia, killing 16 Jews (mostly German
Jewish tourists) and injuring several others. Unfortunately, when the
international community gives the Israeli Dog a free rein to kill
Muslims in Palestine as it pleases, this will be the consequences of
this freedom as disgruntled and upset Muslims will strike back at what
they perceive to be Israeli targets. It is widely believed by
Americans and the Arab World that the 11 September attacks on America
were a direct consequence of US foreign policy in the Middle East,
specifically in Palestine. When 16 Jews are killed, it is a terrorist
attack, but when over 1000 Muslims are killed in Jenin, it is an
account that 'cannot be independently verified'. In the same way, one
can say that since the 11 September attacks cannot be independently
verified, then they did not take place but it was just a publicity
stunt, rather it was a set-up and thousands of actors took part in a
costly US Government exercise to extract support for a war against
Islam. If anyone was to say this, he would be condemned. When Muslims
are massacred, you need to 'independently verify' the reports. When
Americans or Jews are killed, it is an outrage.

US Soldier Shot Dead in Kandahar

KANDAHAR (Special Report): An American soldier has been shot dead near
the Governor's residence in Kandahar. Earlier on Wednesday, unknown
attackers drove up to the soldier and shot him in the face at
point-blank range. As usual, the Pentagon announced that he was
injured, which is rather strange. What they should have said is that
because he was an American soldier playing 'god' mode in a computer
game, the bullet bounced off his face and killed his attacker instead,
without a scratch on the soldier. The World should know by now that
bullets bounce off American soldiers and whenever they are killed, it
is an accident or friendly-fire. They have taken tablets which mean
that they cannot be killed by enemy fire, especially Taliban or
Al-Qaida fire.

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg)
April 19, 2002
Gregory Mthembu-Salter

Government forces in Congo (Brazzaville) loyal to President Denis
Sassou-Nguesso and assisted by Angolan government troops are engaged
in a deadly battle with dissident factions of the Ninja militia in and
around the capital Brazzaville and the surrounding region of Pool.

The leader of the main dissident Ninja faction is a pastor named
Frédérik Bitsangou (alias Ntumi), who acting Defence Minister Pierre
Oba said he intends to "crush" once and for all.

The latest fighting erupted in late March - following the presidential
elections on March 10 - and is devastating the civilian population.
More than 60 000 Brazzaville residents fled their homes when the
fighting broke out, but many are now heading home as the situation has
calmed down.

However, the fighting is apparently worsening in rural Pool where
almost 10% of the region's population has been displaced and,
according to a humanitarian worker, where the government forces'
military operation "is only now beginning to get going".

Humanitarian agencies in Brazzaville have had little access to the
people, most of whom are reported to be in dire need of aid. On
Wednesday, however, a United Nations humanitarian evaluation mission
was given permission by the military to fly to Kindamba, 170km
north-west of Brazzaville where about 5 000 people are reported to
have been displaced into camps with no water, food or sanitation.

In the interim an increasing number of reports are filtering through
of atrocities committed against civilians by both sides, and
particularly by government forces.

Bill Paton, the UN's humanitarian coordinator in Congo (Brazzaville)
says he is appealing to the international community to pressure the
combatants to "respect the rights of civilians not to be killed, raped
and looted, and their right to remain in their homes and not be forced
into camps".

Sassou-Nguesso first became president of Congo (Brazzaville) in 1979,
but was defeated in the country's first multi-party elections in 1992.
He came back to power with Angolan assistance in a coup in 1997. More
than 10 000 people were killed and 800 000 displaced in the civil war
that followed. Most of the fighting was in Pool, pitting
Sassou-Nguesso 's Cobra militia against the Ninjas, who were loyal to
former prime minister Bernard Kolelas.

The war slowly diminished during 1999 and there followed a faltering
peace process involving prolonged talks between Sassou-Nguesso's
government and civilian opposition parties, and a partially successful
disarmament and demobilisation campaign among the Cobras and the
Ninjas.

The peace process culminated in the March presidential election,
commandingly won by Sassou-Nguesso, who registered 89% of the vote.
Most opposition parties had, however, earlier pulled out of the poll
citing bias and leaving Sassou-Nguesso to run almost unopposed. The
election attracted little international criticism, mostly owing to the
heightened focus on Zimbabwe's presidential election.

The international community has never displayed much interest in Congo
(Brazzaville), partly because conflicts in the Democratic Republic of
Congo and the Great Lakes region have tended to steal the limelight,
but also because the conflict around the capital has rarely spread
far, and has left untouched the richly endowed oil-producing coastal
region of Koilou.

Sassou-Nguesso 's main allies are the governments of Angola and
France, with the latter being among the first to congratulate
Sassou-Nguesso on his electoral victory.

Until now France has also persuaded the European Union to overlook the
brutality of Sassou-Nguesso's regime in the interests of "stability",
in marked contrast to its approach in Zimbabwe.

The recent violence and the threat of more to come puts
Sassou-Nguesso's ability to maintain "stability" in grave doubt, but
so far there has been no comment from the EU. Humanitarian agencies
are desperate for someone in the international community to take the
initiative and at least send envoys to inspect the latest carnage and
show Sassou-Nguesso's government that the world is watching him.

So far their requests have met with a deafening silence.

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

Two Palestinian birds walking down Jerusalem High Street
in their long flowing gowns.

Shaz turns to her mate and says, "Here .. does my bomb look big in this?"

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

The NEWS (Monrovia)
April 19, 2002
A. Wehdoe Sloh
Grand Kru County

Two children of Behwan, Grand Kru County were narrowly rescued from
"heartmen" who attempted taking the kids away.

The mother of the children, Beatrice, said while taking her bath at
about 8:30pm on April 6, 2002, a man grabbed her children without
knowing that she was in the dark taking her shower.

She said when the man caught one of her children, she shouted for help
from some neighbors. Beatrice noted that after she called for help,
the man dropped the child he attempted taking away for unknown
reasons.

Beatrice told her neighbors that her two kids (name undisclosed) were
sitting near to where she was taking her bath when the heartman
attempted abducting them.

"The heartman hurriedly dashed the child on the ground and rushed into
the bushes when he saw the crowd coming on the scene with cutlasses
and other instruments," she told our correspondent.

A resident of the area was heard saying that they will always be on
the watch for would-be heartmen and will make sure that those involved
in such acts will be caught one day.

Residents of Grand Kru County are living in fear as a result of
heartmen activities. Our correspondent said there has been no news of
arrest regarding the matter.

+ + + +

Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg)
April 19, 2002

Jane Flanagan

Home for Johan and Kirsty Fourie is a leaking tent, two hours' drive
down a potholed dirt track in war-ravaged Mozambique. They have no
electricity, their toilet is a hole in the ground and their water
supply is a walk away in a field pitted by landmines. Even this, they
say, is preferable to living on a farm in President Robert Mugabe's
Zimbabwe.

The Fouries are among a new generation of pioneer white farmers who
are fleeing the devastation of Mugabe's land-grab policy to make a
fresh start across the border in Mozambique.

"We are starting from scratch and things are far from easy, but at
least we can work and make some progress," says Johan Fourie (28), who
left his family's farm in Masvingo last August after the "war
veterans" moved in and began burning the land.

"At home, people are not doing much except waiting to see what happens
next. Anything has to be better than that. At least there is some sort
of future here and you know that you're still going to be farming next
year."

The couple, who married a year ago, are among 20 white farming
families who have settled in the central Mozambican province of
Manica, right on the Zimbabwean border.

Up to a dozen more have made their homes in the northern Tete
province, and since last month's disputed Zimbabwean presidential
elections the Mozambique government has received around 100 more
applications from farmers eager to start again. Delighted by the
response, the authorities are preparing packages of leased land and
tax-free incentives to persuade many more to cross the border.

For Mozambique the farmers offer a chance to help galvanise the
country's almost non-existent agricultural industry. Less than 5% of
its arable plots are cultivated and years of fighting - first for
independence, followed by a 16-year civil war - have left the land
strewn with landmines and farm buildings devastated by bullets and
bombs. Large swathes of the population have never had a job.

"We welcome the farmers," José da Graça, the provincial Director of
Agriculture and Rural Development, said. "We are keen for foreign
investment and there is no reason to discriminate against the
Zimbabwean farmers. They will open up the land and the local community
sees benefits from that, in terms of employment, roads and bridges. As
long as they abide by our laws and respect our culture, we have no
problem with them."

Tungai Sagwate is among those who have found work with one of the new
settlers. He fled Mozambique's civil war for Zimbabwe 15 years ago,
but is one of many thousands who decided life is better at home.

"I never dreamt that I would think life in my own country was better
than in Zimbabwe. We are so happy these people are coming here to grow
food and provide jobs," he said.

His employer Brendon Evans brought his family, a small herd of cows
and a large satellite dish over the border six months ago. Their dairy
and maize farm, just outside Harare, was one of the first to be
invaded by government-supporting thugs. The squatters have since gone,
and for a while the Evans's had some hope of returning until Mugabe
"stole the election".

"Like a lot of people in Zimbabwe we had our lives on hold, but once
the election was over there was no going back," Jenny Evans (28) says.

They live in a stark, unpainted, concrete house at the end of a
five-mile dirt road. They are taking lessons in Portuguese and have
begun a weekly study group for fellow Zimbabweans new to the area.

They meet over beer and a braai to air problems and share information
about the labyrinth of rules surrounding the licensing of new
companies. They complain of corruption among officials who handle the
applications and the lack of financial aid available to help them get
started.

Although Mozambique has begun to embrace market reforms, land still
cannot be bought or sold. New farmers can apply for 50-year leases but
are limited to 2 470 acres each for which they pay about R8 080 a
year.

Kirsty Fourie says: "Zimbabwean farmers are used to owning their land,
not leasing it, so we have to change our way of thinking. To me it is
a bit of a relief, because at least if it is taken away from us, our
life savings don't go with it, which is what has happened to our
parents' generation at home."

However, not everyone has welcomed the arrival of these pioneers.

For some blacks, the new white communities trigger memories of
hardship under Portuguese rule and the part the white governments of
South Africa and Rhodesia, as it then was, played during their long
and bitter civil war.

Da Graça says: "There are many who are worried that violence will
start again. People here have had enough of war, they want to live in
peace."

+ + + +

Standard Times (Freetown)
EDITORIAL
April 19, 2002

Code named 'Delta,' the Special Security Division (SSD) to say the
least, is a force to reckon with.

Though established under the One Party reign of the APC led by the
late Siaka Stevens, the SSD has not only changed its name from ISU to
the current one, the institution has always remained loyal in serving
succeeding governments including the incumbent, in an admirable and
credible way. Their latest remarkable contribution was the fine
gallantry they displayed in containing and removing the AFRC/RUF
coalition from power.

Sadly however, certain ill intentioned elements are bent on destroying
the good record of the force, even at a time when the general police
force is witnessing a wind of change. Perhaps capitalizing on the fact
that SSD personnel do not carry tags that would make them easily
identifiable to the public, they some times take the law into their
hands by intimidating members of the press and conspiring with
unscrupulous business men in perpetrating nebulous practices in
society.

On two occasions, early this week, SSD personnel have insulted and
obstructed pressmen from performing their duty.

The latest of such incidents took place at Portee when, working on a
tip off, two journalists trapped a group of about six SSD personnel
giving protection to one Alusine alias Senie, a clandestine fuel
trader, who is in the habit of contaminating petrol with kerosene.

Caught red handed, the said SSD so-called patrol team physically
prevented the journalists from taking a snap shot of the scene which
would vividly show their conspiracy to the crime.

According to our information, tanker drivers from the Kissy terminal
would usually divert their mission to Senie's place, located by the
sea side at Portee, where drums of petrol are pumped out and replaced
with Kerosene provided by the latter, before delivering the
consignment to the appropriate filling station. Through this rather
devilish practice, the unsuspecting public risks the danger of
consuming polluted petrol, thereby causing untold damage to the
transport sector. Whether the deal is shared with insiders at the
Kissy Terminal remains unclear. What is however undisputed is that,
the tanker drivers, the police and Senie work in tandem, in the
execution of their filthy game.

In a rather fortunate coincidence for the journalists, a team of SSD
personnel attached to the 'D' Division Kissy, appeared on the scene of
operation which development was questioned by the journalists, by way
of interrogating them and taking a snap shot of their land rover. An
attempt by the journalists to snap the vehicle got the officers mad,
threatening to smash the digital camera and the micro-recorder being
used by the former. An argument ensued between the fearsome officials
and fearless journalists.

The crude arrogance put up by the officers, encouraged Senie's boys to
fall on the journalists using all forms of abusive language against
the latter, supported by the officers in question.

In this vein, we are calling on the leadership of the SSD which we
hold in high esteem, to caution his boys from indulging in practices
and behaviour that would dent the good image of the force.

We know Mr. David Sesay to be a well groomed and fine officer, whose
doors are always open to the press.

Emulating his good example would be of essence in maintaining the good
image of his institution.

Meanwhile, the matter has been taken to the CPO and his 2i/c. With
photos and recording of the scene already displayed to these
authorities, it is our fervent hope that ASP Kalia Sesay would live up
to expectation and bring the culprits to book.

A word to the wise is sufficient.

+ + + +

20 April: By any military standards, the large-scale offensive Israel
launched on March 29 against seven Palestinian cities and their
satellite villages and camps, is a victory and a resounding
Palestinian defeat. All the Palestinian groups, including Yasser
Arafat's Fatah al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, tried desperately to keep the
suicide offensive alive – and still do. But the crippling of their
terror machine soon showed dramatic dividends: In three weeks, their
suicide offensive tapered off conspicuously – down to four, in which
28 Israelis died – mostly bunched together at the tail end of the
dread Passover offensive that left 52 Israelis dead in seven days -
and triggered the massive Israeli assault.

The operation owes its success to four men: US President George W.
Bush, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, Israeli chief of staff
Lt.-Gen Shaul Mofaz and his deputy and designated successor, Maj.-Gen
Moshe Yaalon.

Credit for the Palestinian defeat belongs to two individuals and one
international organization: Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and his
two leading sponsors, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz and
the European Union, notably its foreign affairs executive, Javier
Solana, who chose to anchor Europe's Middle East policy on Arafat and
his Palestinian Authority. Both encouraged Arafat to believe he would
come out on top in his confrontation with the Israelis. He therefore
toughed it out with Israel and the Americans – and lost.

No one stopped Israel's armed forces from going ahead and crushing
Palestinian terrorist strongholds the length and breadth of the West
Bank. Although, Gaza Strip Palestinian institutions of government and
security were left intact, no one today questions the completeness of
Israel's success, to the extent that Washington, Jordan, Israel itself
and to some extent, Egypt, have taken the military achievement and
turned it into a fulcrum to advance their plans for a new Middle East.

One caveat and two points are important to note:

1. Israel's war on terror is not yet over. The Palestinians have not
conceded defeat and will keep on trying their suicide tactics, however
diminished their capabilities.

2. The effect and long-term consequences of this Israel victory
against the Palestinians may be compared to those of its 1948 War of
Independence and 1982 Lebanon War, both head-on military clashes with
Palestinians.
3. The Battle of Jenin was the decider of this round, as DEBKAfile
maintained at the fiercest moment of combat. Had Israel broken off the
engagement – or even retreated – the offensive a a whole would have
crumbled and Israel faced defeat.

Some parties have labeled this heroic battle – in which both sides
fought valiantly – a massacre, and often-tried stratagem for
transforming an Arab battlefield defeat into a diplomatic victory - as
students of past Israel-Palestinian and Israel-Arab conflicts will
quickly recognize. While this ruse has often worked in the past, the
chances of the truth outing this time are good, thanks to the United
States and its president throwing their wholehearted support behind
the Israeli government and its stand. The White House came to
appreciate why Arafat needs to be locked up in his Ramallah compound
and ended up applauding the outcome of the Jenin battle.

DEBKAfile's Washington sources report that, for the present, the Bush
administration has determined not to let Israel be robbed of the
fruits of this victory, but rather to make it a stepping stone for
Washington's next Middle East moves. Whatever the ups and downs in the
relationship – and the recriminations heard from time to time – the
American people and the Bush government's backing for Israel and the
Sharon government's objectives is a fact of life to a degree never
enjoyed by any previous Israeli government.
There is nothing sentimental about this support. It is predicated on
Bush's fundamental campaign against world terror. The US president has
affirmed outright - in deeds and not just words - that Yasser Arafat
is an integral part of global terror. This is a historic first that
Bush could not duck away from without cutting the moral and
ideological ground from under his global war on terror.Condoleezza
Rice put the problem succinctly when she said Arafat could not send
suicides killers while posing as a man of peace.

After finishing with Arafat, Bush means to start on the Arab leaders
who espouse the use of suicides for what the White House has come to
call homicidal attacks. He has put Arab rulers, who prefer the term
martyrs, on notice to stop glorifying and funding this form of
terrorism.

These developments have set the following trends in motion:

1. Up until Operation Defensive Shield, Arab rulers were wont to use
the Palestinian problem as a standard pretext for their refusal to
cultivate normal relations with Israel. By branding Arafat a
terrorist, Washington has stripped this argument away and forced them
to confront the hard choice it posed friends and allies after
September 11: Either join America's all-inclusive campaign against
terror or support the other side.

2. Torn by this dilemma and the mounting pro-Islamic, pro-Palestinian
pressure at home, the Saudis, like other Arab leaders, are bidding for
third-party help against Washington's demands. Understanding that the
White House, by its backing for Ariel Sharon, had dealt a death blow
to his peace initiative and foreign policy, Crown Prince Abdullah sent
his foreign minister Saud al-Faisal to Moscow on Sunday, April 18, for
urgent talks with President Vladimir Putin. Abdullah hoped for some
good news before he visits the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas on April
24.

DEBKAfile's Moscow and Gulf sources report that Putin was surprised to
hear al Faisal explaining bluntly and agitatedly that the Americans
were pushing Riyadh into irrational and radical positions regarding
their campaign against terror, so undoing the close affinity binding
them as allies for decades. What the Saudis were therefore seeking was
an ally or allies to offset American pressure. They could either turn
to Russia or to the Iran-Iraq axis. The Saudi foreign minister said
his government preferred Moscow and offered to coordinate its oil
policies with the Kremlin and buy Russian arms.

Our sources say Putin was not over-impressed by the Saudi minister's
plea. The Putin-Bush political, military and economic pact generated
by America's global war on terror stands out as the most robust
feature bar none against the current diplomatic landscape. Al Faisal
did not stand a chance of driving a wedge between the two world
leaders. The Russian president also knew that the Saudi minister's did
not exactly come with clean hands; Riyadh's pact with Baghdad and
Tehran was no longer an option but an accomplished fact. (Our
intelligence newsletter, DEBKA-Net-Weekly, exposed this pact last
February.) It is therefore not surprising that Saud al Faisal came
away from Moscow empty-handed.

3. A third world power, China, is bent on capitalizing on these
shifting trends. President Jiang Zemin and prime minister Zhu Rongji,
both of whom are near the end of their terms in office, are making the
rounds of Arab and Gulf Emirate capitals and Iran. Posing as the only
power siding with the Arab-Muslim camp, the Chinese leaders are
offering largesse in the form of military assistance, including
Chinese arms, and cooperation in oil strategy.

DEBKAfile 's sources report that China is buying up shares in
oilfields and oil resources, to fill in the projected shortfall
between its own oil production and the requirements of its burgeoning
economic development. In three to five years' time, China will be
supplying no more than two thirds of its energy consumption from home
production. To raise the billions for buying stakes in foreign fields
and paying for new pipeline and maritime transport routes, Beijing
hopes to sell large quantities of military hardware to Arab states and
Iran. Beijing's new policy turn will have a cooling effect on its
relations with Washington relations, as well as with Israel.

+ + + +

The authorities in Nepal say United States military officials have
been visiting the country to advise the government on how to end a
longrunning Maoist insurgency.

The junior home minister, Devendra Raj Kandel, said the advisers, who
arrived last week, would visit the north-east of the country, where
the rebels have been particularly active.

Mr Kendel said the advisers would assess the situation, but he said it
was not yet clear what military assistance they would provide.

Correspondents say this is the first time foreign military experts
have been allowed to visit areas affected by the rebellion.

The visit follows a trip to Washington earlier this month by the
Nepalese Foreign Minister, Madhu Raman Acharya, who requested American
military aid to combat the Maoists.

Maoist rebels have been fighting for a communist republic in Nepal and
the abolition of the monarchy since 1996.

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

22 April 2002

KABUL(Islam Corresponent) : At least one French soldier was seriously
injured due to firing on a unit of french troops by unknown assailants
in Kabul on Friday. According to a spokesman of the peacekeeping
forces, Captain Surgi Khoon, the French troops were on regular guard
duty when unknown attackers, apparently fully equipped, fired over 80
rounds of machine gun fire. French troops retaliated where it is
believed at least one of them was seriously injured and then
transferred to the French medical camp in Kabul.

Kyrgyzstan Air Base to be Used for U.S. Air Strikes on Afghanistan

BISHKEK(Islam News) : The latest and most sophisticated U.S. F-8
D-Hornet warplanes will now participate in air stirkes over
Afghanistan from air bases in Kyrgyzstan. F-8 warplanes are believed
to have already arrived in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek's Minas Airport,
which is already in use by the coalition forces.

The Coalition troop spokesman at Minas Airport, William Gray, said
that U.S warplanes have already completed several training exercises
and are now ready for action upon the order of the High Command. These
warplanes can strike in any climatic condition and are on 24-hour
standby, ready to target at a moments notice. It is believed that the
Crusading Coalition have spent over 2 billion dollars in repairing
Minas airport, whereas the Muslim Ummah continues to be miserly and
untouched by the suffering and oppression of Disbelief that will not
rest until the Muslims become one of them.

Mossad Ordered by Ariel Sharon to Assassinate Killers of Daniel Pearl

KARACHI (Dawn 04 April 2002): After the murder of supposedly
'innocent' journalist, Daniel Pearl in Karachi, Pakistan, in January
2002, there was outrage amongst many ignorant Muslims. Some of them
condemned the killing of an innocent journalist, whilst others even
emailed around petitions. This incident shows the power of the Zionist
controlled World media in that it even manages to convince some
practising Muslims on lies. The Muslims are encouraged to distribute
this news piece widely, via their web-sites, emails and discussion
boards, especially to those who mourned and lamented at his death.

The truth is that Daniel Pearl was a Jew employed jointly by the CIA
and Mossad, who held dual US-Israeli citizenship. A report given by
the Pakistani newspaper, Dawn, on 04 April 2002, states:

NEW DELHI, April 3: Israel's foreign intelligence service, the Mossad,
has been ordered to kill those responsible for the death of US
journalist Daniel Pearl, The Hindustan Times said on Wednesday,
quoting a published report.

The newspaper quoted the Jane's Information Group as saying that
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called in Mossad director Ephraim
Halevy in the third week of February and issued "a precise
instruction" to "get the assassins of Danny Pearl". It said Indian
intelligence sources accepted the credibility of the report.

Though a US resident, Pearl held US-Israeli dual citizenship, the
report said. His father, Yehuda Pearl, was a well-known Jewish
academic born in Tel Aviv. His grandmother still lives in that city.

Sharon issued the order after Pearl's kidnappers released a video
recording of Pearl's execution, with Pearl saying, "I'm a Jew, so is
my father", before he died.

The report says Sharon's instructions to the Mossad followed the
assumption that Pearl was killed for his religion rather than
nationality.

The Hindustan Times quoted Israeli officials as saying that the Jane's
report was incorrect. They said such rumours had arisen just after the
video recording had been released but had died soon after.

"Intelligence analysts say denials would be routine if such an order
were given," the Times said. "Sharon would be just the type to give
such an order," one source told the Hindustan Times.

Further proof that Daniel Pearl was not just an innocent journalist is
given by the response of both the US Government, including the
President, and the Israeli Government, as mentioned above. Many
journalists, from Western countries, are killed every year whilst on
duty, but there is not an international outrage or efforts to find
their killers. If Daniel Pearl was just an ordinary journalist who was
following a story, why would the US President speak personally to the
Pakistani President about extraditing his killers to the US? Why would
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon order Mossad to assassinate his
killers? It is because Daniel Pearl was a senior-ranking CIA and
Mossad intelligence officer, who was investigating militant groups in
Karachi, under the guise of a journalist.

+ + + +

21 April 2002

KHOST(Monitoring Desk and Special Report) : A massive explosion has
rocked a shopping centre in the eastern Afghan district of Khost,
killing three men instantly and injuring scores of others. According
to the Afghan Islamic Press, the explosion occurred just 300 metres
away from the main military hospital situated in the centre of the
city. This was the third such explosion in Khost since the fall of the
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. It is unclear whether this recent
bombing was the work of Mujahideen and if so, their intended target is
not entirely clear.

Allah, Glorious and Most High is He, Has Ordered us to Strike Terror
Upon the Oppressors – Sulaiman Abu Gaith

WASHINGTON (Islam News): The Middle East Broadcasting Corporation
(MBC) broadcasted a recently received foreign Mujahideen videotape,
which was released despite great opposition on Thursday. The video had
statements of Usama Bin Ladin, who seemed to be expressing his
pleasure to the fact that just one attack had and continues to inflict
much damage to the US economy. He added that the U.S. in its history
had never experienced such an economic blow, with over a
trillion-dollar deficit and a 16% fall in stock exchange markets. He
further went on to say that over 70% of the American people had become
victims of depression and live a life of fear and paranoia.

Sulaiman Abu Gaith, who is referred to as the spokesman of Al-Qaida
was also shown and affirmed that all that the Mujahideen had done was
by what Allah, Glorious and Most High is He, had ordered them to do.
He said that the Muslims were ordered to fight and struggle in the way
of Allah and so we fought the oppressors. That they were ordered to
help and support those of the people who were oppressed and helpless
in the world, so we did that by helping the Muslims of Palestine and
Chechnya. Allah ordered the Muslims to strike terror upon the
oppressors and we did that so as to teach a lesson to the enemies of
Islam and initiate their inevitable demise. Allah promised us as a
result that we would either gain victory or achieve martyrdom and in
either we are happy with.

+ + + +

20 April 2002

CANADA (Online): A series of new web-sites have sprung up within the
last few months, giving an alternative view on the current Crusade
against Islam. A list of some of these web-sites are given here, some
of which are not new, but nevertheless recommended. For the Muslims
who are confused as to what to do and where to start, they can start
by letting everyone know about the web-sites below, taking articles
from them and emailing them around to their friends, and printing
selected articles and interviews to paste on their mosque and prayer
room noticeboards. In this way, the Muslims can easily counteract the
American-Zionist controlled media via word of mouth over the internet,
which is the most effective means of mass communication. However, it
requires a collective effort. One person printing and putting up
articles on their noticeboards is not the same as 100 people doing it,
which is not the same as 1000 people doing it, etc. Be sure to put the
reference of the web-site whenever distributing the articles.

1. Kavkaz.org: An excellent site from the long established Kavkaz
Centre, providing news, articles and interviews primarily on Chechnya,
but also editorials and comments on Palestine and Afghanistan.

2. Jihadunspun.net: A new site, very nicely put together, by a group
of independent experts providing a comprehensive archive on the
current 'War On Islam'. A lot of effort has been put into this site
and the articles are well-researched and well-written.

3. Taliban-news.com: Another very good site containing some unique
articles and an interesting portfolio of images from Palestine and
Afghanistan. There is also a link to a discussion board where
interested parties can exchange news and views.

4. Khurasaan.com: A web-site named after the region of
Persia/Afghanistan/Central Asia mentioned by the Prophet (SAWS) in
hadith. Contains a series of postings by various individuals.
Non-Muslims certainly will not feel comfortable here! Exercise caution
if intending to post threatening or provocative comments here, since
authorities can easily trace you via your IP address.

5. The Palestine Information Center: The English web-site of the
Palestine Information Center containing a detailed history on the land
and conflict of Palestine, together with news and images. However,
there are some humiliating appeals calling for petitions and
demonstrations for non-Muslim governments to assist the Palestinians.

Arabic Web Sites

6. Alneda.com: The offical web-site of the Institute for Islamic
Studies and Research, source of the latest statements and interviews
from the Mujahideen in Afghanistan. There is also an excellent
audio-video section that contains a video featuring the original,
unreleased interview with Usama bin Ladin, as well as clips of the
recent martyrs in this Crusade thus far. Though the picture quality on
the video is poor, the audio is very clear. The site also contains a
comprehensive archive of fatawa by contemporary Islamic scholars from
the Arabian Peninsula and elsewhere.

7. Jehad.net: Another new site in Arabic containing news and articles
relating to Jihad.

8. Qassam.org: The official web-site of the Hamas Izzideen Al-Qassam
Brigades, containing photographs, biographies and wills of all the
Izzideen Al-Qassam martyrdom operation martyrs since the early 1990's.
It also contains an excellent image and video archive showing
real-life operations against Israeli targets, including the real-time
destruction of an Israeli Merkava tank.

9. Qoqaz.com: The official web-site of the Sawt Al-Qoqaz (Voice of the
Caucasus) containing news and articles on the Jihad in Chechnya,
although it has not been updated very regularly, recently.

US F-16 Bombing Error Attributed to Loss of Canadian Soldiers in
Shahi-Kot Battle

KANDAHAR (Special Report): Analysts are sceptical about whether or not
an accident took place in the early hours of Thursday morning,
involving a US F-16 fighter dropping bombs on Canadian troops in a
friendly-fire incident, killing four and injuring eight. Reports from
Kandahar say that there have been no fighter or bomber sorties in or
around the area, for over a month now. The only planes seen in and
around Kandahar are supply and transport planes. Furthermore, this
would be the first time that American fighter jets have been
participating in live-fire exercises with their Canadian counterparts
in Afghanistan. Training is expensive, time-consuming and normally
carried out when troops have nothing else to do. Why would the
Americans engage in live-firing training when they have yet to achieve
any of their war objectives since toppling the Taliban administration?

The question then arises that why does the Pentagon have to lie about
an incident killing Canadian soldiers? The answer is very simple: to
account for the heavy casualties suffered by the US and Canadian
forces in the Shahi-Kot battle near Gardez, early in March, when
several US helicopters were downed. Sooner or later, families of
soldiers have to be notified of their deaths or absences and the
easiest way to do this without inflaming public opinion, is to say it
was an accident. When Mujahideen are martyred, they do not dismiss it
as friendly-fire incidents or accidents, they accept that they were
martyred in battle, by enemy action. For example, the recent message
from Al-Qaida said that 1500 Mujahideen had been martyred, including
about 150 Arabs. They did not say that 1499 of them were martyred due
to friendly-fire accidents and only one was killed by the enemy. The
world must ask itself, who is telling the truth here?

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

The governor of the northern Colombian state of Antioquia has been
taken hostage by left-wing guerrillas, according to the interior
ministry.

A former defence minister and a chaplain were also reported to have
been abducted with Governor Guillermo Gaviria.

Mr Gaviria was trying to mediate with members of the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) for the passage of hundreds of peace
marchers through rebel-held territory.

The demonstrators were held up on Sunday by rebels on their way to the
north-eastern town of Caicedo in Antioquia.

The march had left the city of Medellin on Wednesday to promote
non-violence and reconciliation.

Government officials say they have not heard from Mr Gaviria and the
other two men since Sunday.

Colombian rebels are holding hundreds of people, including the
presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt.

+ + + +

http://www.etherzone.com/2002/jenin.shtml

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

People in northern Liberia are running away from a new upsurge of
fighting between government troops and rebels known as Liberians
United for Reconciliation and Democracy (Lurd).

Over 6,000 displaced people fled from camps in the town of Belefanai,
in Bong County, over the weekend due to fears of rebel attack.

The displaced people, who are originally from nearby Lofa County, had
been living in two camps near Belefanai after fleeing previous clashes
between Lurd rebels and government troops for control of Lofa County.

+ + + +

Nepal ground to a halt on Tuesday as citizens observed a five-day
national strike ordered by Maoist rebels fighting to overthrow the
king and government.

Normally bustling streets and shops in Kathmandu are deserted by
people reluctant to defy the rebels, and businesses, schools and
offices have shut down across the country.

People who have dared to go out were forced to walk or cycle as
national transport has been halted.

There were reports in the south western city of Nepalgunj that police
had tried to force shops to open and break the strikes but there was
no one on the streets.

+ + + +

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks
April 22, 2002

The Comoros Electoral Commission has declared last week's presidential
poll invalid and ordered a revote.

In addition, Sunday's planned election for the presidency of the
island of Grand Comore was postponed until the outcome of the bid for
presidency of all three islands was clarified.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) representative in the
Comoros, Andre Carvalho, told IRIN on Monday that the electoral
commission last week passed the decision on the endorsement of the
election to a follow-up committee.

However, the committee, whose broad task is to oversee the
reunification of the three islands, sent the decision back to the
electoral commission with a message that a decision had to be made by
Monday.

The formal notice of the commission's finding was not announced by
Monday evening, but Carvalho told IRIN that the news had already
filtered to most islanders.

Carvalho said the atmosphere was peaceful while people waited for an
official announcement, although the latest news had made opposition
candidates Mahamoud Mrandadi and Said Ali Kemal "very smiley".

The poll on 14 April saw unopposed Colonel Azali Assoumani elected
president of the Comoros Union after Mrandadi and Kemal boycotted
withdrew from the race alleging irregularities. In addition to the
withdrawal of the opposition candidates, violence was also reported at
some polling stations.

Assoumani secured over 75 percent of the vote, with a poll reportedly
as low as 44.4 percent of registered voters on Grande Comore, 33.4
percent on Anjouan and 35 percent on Moheli.

A team of international observers stopped short of calling the
election free and fair, but said it had been carried out correctly.
This led a group of arsonists to attack the UN compound in the
capital, Moroni. Carvalho said many people incorrectly thought that
the UN was part of the observer group, when it had in fact only
provided technical support for the election.

The national election monitoring body said it couldn't declare the
election free and fair. Mrandadi and Kemal have already demanded new
elections.

Meanwhile, the Indian Ocean archipelago is being run by an interim
government led by Hamada Madi Borelo. The government was formed in
January when Assoumani stepped down to run for the presidency and will
dissolve when a new president is inaugurated.

Assoumani came to power in the last of over 20 coups the islands have
known since independence from France in 1975.

Under a new constitution, each island should have its own president
and a federal president shall have overall authority. The islands of
Anjouan and Moheli have already elected their presidents, but Grande
Comore, which will have the rotating presidency first, will have to
wait for the outcome of the 14 April election before it chooses its
own president.

+ + + +

The Monitor (Kampala)
April 22, 2002
Badru D. Mulumba

Democratic Republic of the Congo rebel leader, Jean Pierre Bemba
yesterday gave his clearest signal that foreign firms now said to be
exploiting Congo's mineral wealth will be protected when he takes over
the post of prime minister following the Inter Congolese Dialogue in
Sun City Friday.

Bemba also signaled to the press shortly after meeting president
Yoweri Museveni that they will forge ahead even without the Rwanda
backed RCD-Goma rebel group.

"What you should know is that Congo needs to be rebuilt. We need
investors. We need businessmen," said Bemba when asked what he intends
to do about the international uproar over what is termed the
'exploitation of Congo's mineral wealth by foreigners'.

This was during a press briefing at the Nile Hotel last night.

"We don't want those who have invested in our country to go away. We
want to assure them that we will give them security of tenure," he
said.

He added that he will be meeting DRC president Joseph Kabila to iron
out issues concerning his post.

He said that RCD Goma has been given the post of the vice Prime
Minister when pressed over concerns that the accord might not succeed
without bringing Rwanda backed rebels on board.

"We ask Rwanda to believe and to give us a chance to secure peace
within their borders," he said.

Bemba also said that the second phase starting this week is to write a
constitution, form a joint military commission and a cabinet.

+ + + +

Trafford Publishing (St. Victoria)
PRESS RELEASE
April 20, 2002
St. Victoria

A book that provides descriptive and compelling accounts of the
Liberian Civil War, one of Africa's most brutal and devastating civil
wars which spilled over into neighboring countries, has been
published.

The book, authored by Liberian journalist Gabriel I.H. Williams, is
titled, LIBERIA: THE HEART OF DARKNESS ­ Accounts of Liberia's Civil
War and its Destabilizing Effects in West Africa."

To read more about the book or to place an order on line to Trafford
Publishing in Canada, please check
http://www.trafford.com/robots/02-0107.html>Liberia: The Heart of
Darkness</A>. You can also go through http://www.trafford.com and
click on Search Desk to read about the book or place an order. The
book is 455 pages (perfect bound); price, US$24.95 or C$39.50.

Liberia: The Heart of Darkness explores how Liberia, founded by freed
black American slaves as a land of liberty for people of the black
race the world over, drifted from one of Africa's most stable and
prosperous countries to become a desolate land and a graveyard.

About 200,000 to 300,000 people were killed during seven years of
absolute anarchy that saw the collapse of the central government and
the emergence of seven major armed factions, which partitioned and
controlled various parts of the country.

When the human tragedy began to unfold in Liberia from December 1989,
the United States, Liberia's traditional ally which used the country
as a strategic outpost, serving among other things, as regional
headquarters for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the Cold
War, decided not to intervene to end the bloodshed and destruction.
The country's civil war started as the Cold War was ending, rendering
it no longer vital to U.S.

strategic interests.

The war became so peculiarly horrible that five West African
countries, led by Nigeria, took the unprecedented step in African
history to organize a multi-national military force to intervene and
halt the slaughter of defenseless people and to restore peace. The
other countries that made up the West African force called ECOMOG for
short, were Ghana, Guinea, Sierra Leone and the Gambia. The U.S.,
however, supported the ECOMOG force and the West African led peace
process to restore peace to Liberia, and is reported to have provided
approximately $500 million for emergency relief and the peace process.

The West African countries also acted out of fear that the Liberian
conflict might spill over into neighboring countries and eventually
destabilize the sub-region. The rebel force, whose invasion of Liberia
ignited the civil war, was called the National Patriotic Front of
Liberia (NPFL), trained and armed by Libya, regarded to be a leading
sponsor of terrorism in the world. The NPFL force also included
Libyan-based dissidents from some of the West African countries, who
were planning their own revolutions to seize power in their respective
countries. Some of those revolutionaries had been involved in
unsuccessful military attempts to unseat governments in their
countries of origin. Known for its military adventurism in West
Africa, Libya saw the destabilization of Liberia as an opportunity to
undermine U.S. influence in the region. The U.S. had reportedly
executed plans from within Liberia to destabilize the regime of Libyan
leader Maummar Gadaffi.

The fears of the West African countries that the Liberian conflict
might destabilize the sub-region were confirmed in 1991, when the war
spilled into Sierra Leone. A Sierra Leone rebel group backed by the
NPFL, which styled itself the Revolutionary United Front (RUF),
invaded Sierra Leone from Liberian territory occupied by the NPFL.
Foday Sankoh, leader of the notorious RUF, which amputated the limbs
of thousands of women and children and looted diamond mines, was one
of the Libyan-trained revolutionaries.

Ten years of war in Sierra Leone left an estimated 50,000 people dead,
and the entire country almost completely destroyed. The Sierra Leone
war ended in January 2002, following the disarmament of over 46,0000
combatants.

Liberia's civil war ended in 1997 with NPFL leader Charles Taylor
becoming president of Liberia. Taylor, an ex-Liberian official,
escaped from prison in the U. S. where he was awaiting extradition to
Liberia for allegedly embezzling nearly one million dollars from
public funds, to lead his murderous brand of civil war. Five years
since Taylor became president, Liberia has become an international
pariah and declared a criminal state.

The United Nations has imposed sanctions on Liberia for the brutal
dictator's reported gunrunning and diamond smuggling with the
notorious RUF. The sanctions include a travel ban on Taylor, his
immediate family and senior officials of the Liberian government, as
well as an arms embargo on Liberia.

Meanwhile, former RUF leader Sankoh is in jail and has been charged
with murder along with 49 members of the barbaric armed gang.

LIBERIA: THE HEART OF DARKNESS attempts to present a comprehensive
account of how Liberia and Sierra Leone descended into anarchy and
uncontrollable bloodshed, and how those conflicts also spilled over
into neighboring Guinea. Taylor was accused of sponsoring the campaign
of death and destruction in order to plunder diamonds and other
resources in the region.

Following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in the U.S., Taylor
and the RUF were reported to have been involved in the sale of tens of
millions of dollars worth of diamonds to alleged terrorist mastermind
Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

LIBERIA: THE HEART OF DARKNESS also reports on prevailing anarchy in
Liberia, which forced the Taylor regime to declare a state of
emergency in February 2002. Also reported are the widespread abuses of
human rights, including brutal clamp down on dissent, secret
disappearance and murder of perceived government enemies, and state
coordinated plunder of Liberia's resources.

The author, Gabriel I.H. Williams, was in Liberia for almost the first
four years of the Liberian civil war before fleeing to the U.S. due to
death threats for his journalistic activities. He was managing editor
of the leading independent daily, The Inquirer newspaper. He served
for six years on the executive committee of the Press Union of
Liberia, the national journalist organization that was in the
forefront in advocating for human rights and democratic governance in
Liberia. Williams has served as a journalism scholar at the United
Nations Headquarters in New York, benefited from a number of other
international media education programs, and he is widely traveled.

Williams, who hid at a U.S. diplomatic residence for nearly a year
between 1990 to 1991 from government death squads, also takes a story
telling approach to narrate his personal experiences during the war,
and what it was surviving by the day and conscious that your life
could be brutally taken any moment. His most terrifying experiences
included when he was captured by rebels the first time he ventured out
of his hideout to visit downtown Monrovia, named after U.S. President
James Monroe, during whose administration Liberia was founded. At the
time he was captured, competing factions were fighting for control of
the capital. A rebel commander who recognized him as a journalist put
a pistol to his head and almost blew it off. Williams believes that he
was saved from possible death by divine intervention.

The book also includes three chapters dealing with historical and
contemporary developments relating to the Liberian media, and a
chapter on US/Liberia relations. It took Williams eight years to
complete the book, which also contains nearly 100 photographs of the
death and destruction and many of the major players during the civil
war.

To place an order, please contact Trafford Publishing at the above web
site/link or call toll-free (888) 232-4444 (US & Canada only). Those
outside the toll-free areas can call (250) 383-6864. You can also mail
your check or money order. The mailing address is:

Trafford Publishing

Suite 6E, 2333 Government St.,Victoria, B.C. V8T 4P4 Canada. Please
indicate the title of the book.

If you have questions about ordering, feel free to send an email to
the Orders Department at ord...@trafford.com.

The author can be contacted at (916) 362-9551 or email
yar...@pacbell.net.

+ + + +

Like so many other remote Colombian towns, La Cruz, in the rural
south-west, lies in ruins after an attack by the Revolutionary Armed
Forces of Colombia (Farc). But residents are directing their anger and
frustration not just at the leftwing rebels but at the army as well.
Military units took nearly two days to relieve an embattled group of
policemen.

"If they don't want us, then we don't want them!" yelled one man into
a television camera. "Out of La Cruz with the police and the army!"

The episode shows that in spite of substantial improvements over the
past four years, Colombia's armed forces still lack the efficiency
needed to tackle effectively the hemisphere's largest guerrilla army.

But it also indicates, perhaps for the first time in Colombia, that
the issue of the military's performance - and the politically
sensitive question of how improvements can be paid for - is now of
wider public interest, even taking centre-stage in the campaign for
next month's presidential elections.

Alvaro Uribe, the independent candidate who promises a tough line
against the guerrillas and fresh military spending, is well ahead in
the opinion polls. Mr Uribe, who narrowly survived an assassination
attempt earlier this month, has been critical of the army's
performance, arguing that there has been "a lot of nice noise but very
little action".

In some ways this is surprising. Over the past four years Colombia has
more than doubled the numbers of professional soldiers to 54,000 and
military spending in general has risen. However, many of the increased
resources have been spent on wages and pensions. Even after the
increase, Colombia's defence spending - at less than 2 per cent of
economic output - is among the lowest in the hemisphere.

Spending and resources pale even further in comparison with other
countries that have fought guerrilla wars. For example, Colombia is
fifty times bigger than El Salvador and faces an insurgency that is at
least three times as large as that which was fought in Central America
during the 1980s. But it has only twice as many troops as El Salvador.

The reasons for that are complex. Partly it reflects a historical
weakness of the Colombian armed forces, which have never enjoyed the
power and prestige as their counterparts elsewhere in Latin America.
But it is also because the long-running conflict has been fought in
rural areas well away from the urban homes of Colombia's well-to-do
elites.

In Washington, too, there is growing acknowledgment that Colombia
needs more military support but must increase its own spending first.
The Bush administration wants Congress to agree a request to remove
restrictions on the use of helicopters and other hardware made
available to Colombia as part of the Plan Colombia anti-narcotics
campaign.

But Peter Rodman, a US assistant secretary of defence, said that
Colombia had to "shoulder more of the burden by funding its security
structure . . . at levels that are more appropriate for a wartime
footing". The US criticises the fact that wealthier Colombians can
easily dodge army call-ups.

How to find extra money is another matter. Colombia's economy is
growing at an anaemic 2 per cent or so annually. It has bee n pressed
to improve its low tax-collection rates and the finance minister, Juan
Manuel Santos, has said he will try to raise taxes if the military
does need to spend more.

In any event, raising the size of the army quickly is not just a
question of resources. Training enough officers and building enough
barracks is also a slow business, says a senior defence ministry
official.

Furthermore, these strategic challenges are likely to become even more
complicated as the Farc prepares to take the war to the cities. For
example, within the past month 12 people have been killed in a bomb
blast in the city of Villavicencio, a dozen legislators have been
kidnapped in the city of Cali and there has been a series of small
explosions in the capital, Bogota.

Military sources say the Farc has improved its bomb-making skills with
help from foreign organisations. Three suspected IRA members are
awaiting trial in Bogota, accused of having given lessons to the Farc.

Much of the recent strengthening of the army has been directed towards
improving mobility and communications to fight a rural conflict - even
though for La Cruz that new mobility was not much in evidence.

Fighting this new kind of war, however, is likely to rely a lot on
intelligence. Worryingly, analysts agree that shortcomings here - a
result of inter-force rivalries and widespread guerrilla and
paramilitary intimidation - are one of the armed forces' biggest
weaknesses.

+ + + +

A Canadian woman filled a strip club with tuna after being fired from
it.

She reportedly swore revenge after being sacked from Fanny's Cabaret
in Ottawa.

The unnamed woman left bags full of the fish on tables, chairs, next
to walls and in coat and champagne rooms.

The 34-year-old then emptied two small canisters of pepper spray near
the bar causing former colleagues and customers to evacuate.

She was arrested at the scene and charged with assault, theft,
administering a noxious substance and possession of a prohibited
weapon.

The Ottawa Sun says many people complained of burning eyes and upset
stomachs, but no one had to be taken to hospital.

The club reopened after a team of steam cleaners spent five hours
clearing the air.

+ + + +

THE military has been ordered to slash spending on equipment repairs
and stop buying pens and paper as the war on terror continues to bite
into defence spending.

A leaked memo released by the federal opposition today revealed that
the cost of overseas operations in Afghanistan and East Timor had
drained defence funding at an alarming rate.

But the government said the memo was out of date, having been prepared
before the department received an additional $343 million in
additional Budget submission in February.

The memo, dated February 13, was authorised by the military's Chief of
Joint Logistics Major General Peter Haddad.

It said the increase in overseas operations since the September 11
terror attacks had placed the defence budget under significant
pressure.

"Therefore, with immediate effect, addressees are to take action to
ensure that further commitment and expenditure against the operating
budget is limited to direct support of ADF operations," the memo said.

"This will mean cessation of procurement and repair and overhaul
activities not directly supporting operations and other planned
activities.

"This includes training, travel, consultants, professional service
providers and office requisites."

The government has promised to make defence spending a top priority in
the May 14 federal Budget, with Defence Minister Robert Hill hinting
at an increase of around $300 million to $400 million.

That is on top of $1 billion already allocated for costly equipment
purchases such as attack helicopters, new patrol boats and Airborne
Early Warning and Control aircraft in the 2000 Defence White Paper.

Labor defence spokesman Chris Evans said the leaked document confirmed
a funding crisis in the military.

"The document bluntly states that defence is not getting the funding
it needs and must find savings by cutting back on repairs and
maintenance, even office stationery and training," he said.

He said the government must come clean on the defence budget to allow
a proper debate about long-term spending in the military.

But a spokeswoman for Senator Hill said the leaked memo was out of
date due to the additional $343 million given to defence in February.

"Joint Logistics Command has confirmed today that this additional
money has enabled all discretionary elements of logistics support to
be met," she said.

AAP

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +
23 April 2002

Names of 40 U.S. Soldiers Killed During the War in Afghanistan
Disclosed Officially

WASHINGTON (International Desk): The American government recently
released the names of forty of its soldiers killed during the war in
Afghanistan. The real fact is that more than 1000 soldiers have been
killed and injured by the Mujahideen in the ongoing U.S. War Against
Terrorism in Afghanistan. Due to cover-ups and media restrictions by
the U.S. government on the American and international media, only
forty deaths have so far been confirmed. Interestingly, almost every
official casualty has been the result of either an accident or a case
of friendly fire. Mujahideen and local eyewitness reports, however,
indicate that more than 1000 U.S. troops have been killed thus far in
the conflict.

All Preparations to Shift Cuba Mujahideen to New Delta Camp Have been
Completed

CUBA (Internet News): The Mujahideen being held in Camp X-Ray will
soon be shifted to Delta camp near the seashore. All construction and
security preparations have been completed, according to the report.
According to details, Delta camp was constructed on the appeal of
International human rights organizations. Reports say this new prison
is more comfortable and humane than Camp X-Ray.

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

The government of the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal has offered $64,000
each for the capture or killing of three senior Maoist rebels.

The reward will go to anyone who can hand them in, dead or alive

The bounty has been offered on the heads of Maoist supremo Pushp Kamal
Dahal, alias Prachand, Mohan Vaidya, alias Kiran, and Baburam
Bhattarai.

This is the first time Nepal has fixed prices on the heads of Maoist
rebels.

+ + + +

meanwhile, the rebels are at this moment
burning down the Nepalese Prime Ministers home...

+ + + +

The American oil company ChevronTexaco has said that 43 of its workers
are being held hostage on an oil rig off western Nigeria by local
youths.

Company official Dick Filgate said that about 40 youths had stormed
the rig, originally holding 88 workers captive, including 22
foreigners.

However, 45 were released on Tuesday and negotiations were taking
place to free the others. It is not known how many foreign workers are
still on the rig.

The hostage takers are demanding contract jobs.

The incident happened on Sunday, although details have only just been
released.

The rig is about 8km (5 miles) off the town of Escravos.

"They mobilised a bunch of boats and people, and occupied one of the
drilling rigs," Mr Filgate said.

"The people on board the rig went inside and locked their doors."

He said the youths did not appear to be armed and the workers did not
feel threatened.

ChevronTexaco spokesman Fred Gorell, speaking from San Francisco,
said: "We are encouraged by an agreement that was reached today for 45
workers on the rig to leave.

"We hope negotiations will bring swift and peaceful resolution to the
occupation."

Nigeria is the world's sixth-largest oil exporter.

Oil installations are often subject to hostage taking and acts of
sabotage in Nigeria, where local communities feel they have been
exploited by oil companies and successive Nigerian governments

Workers are rarely harmed by kidnappers, who usually demand jobs or
other compensation.

In March 2000, 32 Shell workers at a natural gas plant in the Niger
Delta were held hostage for five days by youths demanding the company
improve a local road.

+ + + +

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

April 23, 2002

Two people were killed and four wounded during an attack by rebels on
Biniganyi camp in Nyanza Lac, southwestern Burundi, an official from
the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
in Burundi told IRIN on Tuesday.

According to the official, 40 to 60 houses were burnt in the attack,
which took place on the night of 17-18 April. "From mid-April, groups
of rebels started by initially looting from the displaced people's
camp. On the night of 17-18 April they actually attacked the camp," he
said.

"There is no information whether the families attacked were targeted,"
the official said. The camp is host to between 800 and 1,000 people.
He said, however, that returnees still continued to arrive in the
camp.

An analyst on Burundi affairs told IRIN on Tuesday that Nyanza Lac was
one of the areas where a lot of returnees were expected. "It seems
like this attack was carried out to detabilise the process of the
refugee return," he said.

Unverified reports have been circulating that as many as 60 people
were killed in this attack.

+ + + +

UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

April 23, 2002

The entire Pool region of the Republic of Congo (ROC) remains
inaccessible, even for humanitarian missions, with Congolese
authorities stating that access will not be possible until at least 25
April, the office of the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in
the ROC reported on Monday.

The situation "remains tense" in various localities of the Pool
region, although there are no reports of fighting this weekend,
according to the report.

However, humanitarian sources did note that a build-up of military
forces in the Pool region was continuing. Political opposition parties
have alleged that the ROC government is recruiting mercenaries, as
well as additional Angolan forces. Since 1997, Angola has had a
military contingent in the ROC, where it supported President Denis
Sassou-Nguesso's forces during the 1997 and 1998-99 civil wars.

In Kinkala, located in the Pool region some 79 km west of the ROC
capital, Brazzaville, three internally displaced person (IDP) sites
harbouring a population of about 3,500 appear to have been
spontaneously deserted over the weekend after more than 30 young men
were taken from the camps by government forces and did not return. The
whereabouts of the 3,500 people is unknown.

As a result of humanitarian evaluation missions, information thus far
suggests that only 10,000 of Pool's 220,000 inhabitants have found
refuge outside the region, in IDP sites in Brazzaville, Lekoumou,
Bouenza and Plateaux regions. "The condition of those persons who
remain within Pool is cause for serious concern," the UN reported. The
UN and its partners would continue their dialogue with government
authorities to obtain access to this region, it said.

Humanitarian sources reported they were currently working on the basis
of two scenarios. In one, it was envisaged that the situation in Pool
might calm down this week, enabling people to resume normal lives. In
the other, it was envisaged that fighting could escalate throughout
Pool, in which case the population risked being trapped in the
conflict zone.

A humanitarian evaluation mission planned last week to Kindamba, about
170 km northwest of Brazzaville in the Pool region, had to be aborted
due to reports of fighting in the area. According to government
sources, over 5,000 IDPs have found refuge in Kindamba, a small and
isolated town of 5,000 inhabitants. "The presence of 5,000 displaced
over the last week and a half is believed to have led to dire
humanitarian circumstances," the UN reported.

The situation in Brazzaville is reported to be calm, although not all
who fled their homes in the southern neighbourhoods on 9 April have
returned. The UN Children's Fund has identified 18,945 IDPs living
with families in the capital. Distributions of basic non-food items
for these IDPs have begun.

In Zanaga, in the Lekoumou region northwest of Brazzaville, a joint
humanitarian mission to assess the situation of IDPs found that only a
few people had found refuge in neighbouring villages, and that all
were well integrated within host families. The mission concluded that
no immediate assistance was required in this area.

In Djambala, in the Plateaux region north of Brazzaville, another
mission confirmed the presence of 217 IDPs living with families. While
no immediate humanitarian needs were identified, some assistance, such
as the vaccination of children, will be delivered.

"Humanitarian agencies are desperate for someone in the international
community to take the initiative and at least send envoys to inspect
the latest carnage and show Sassou-Nguesso's government that the world

is watching him," a recent article in the Mail & Guardian of
Johannesburg, South Africa, stated. "So far, their requests have met
with a deafening silence."

Meanwhile:

* AP reported on Tuesday that Ninja militias had been holding a French
Roman Catholic priest since 31 March. Father Jean Duth has reportedly
suffered a bullet wound to his shin.

* The government reported that 12 soldiers had been dismissed from the
army for looting in Brazzaville's southern neighbourhoods of Bacongo,
Kissoundi and Makelekele on 9 April, taking advantage of an army
crackdown on alleged Ninja militiamen to loot shops and houses
abandoned by fleeing owners.

* The government stated that a call by the opposition politician,
Andre Milongo, to postpone upcoming legislative elections would have
"no chance of success" since elections had already been postponed for
two weeks. Legislative and local elections are scheduled for 26 May.

Hostilities first erupted in the ROC at the end of March, when several
government military positions in Pool region were attacked by Ninja
militias, according to official sources. Ninja representatives have
countered that the clashes were provoked when they discovered
government plans to arrest their leader, the Rev Frederic Bitsangou
(alias Ntoumi).

+ + + +

The Nation (Nairobi)
April 24, 2002
Wahome Thuku

Three witnesses yesterday gave an account of how a middle-aged woman
was allegedly tortured to death by police.

They were among suspects who had been locked up at Ongata Rongai
Police Station, Kajiado district, on April 5 when 30-year-old Naomi
Nyambura was allegedly beaten to death.

A matatu tout claimed Miss Nyambura was taken to the station at dawn
by two men, with one carrying a bottle of beer. She had left her
mother's home in the Kware slums to join friends at a party in Ongata
Rongai town.

"We only saw them through gaps on the door," the tout said.

The three, who declined to give their names, said all female suspects
were moved from the cell to an office and Miss Nyambura was locked up
alone.

"We heard her wailing throughout, telling some people to leave her
alone," the man recalled.

When a new team of police officers reported on duty the following
morning and decided to take the suspects back to their cell, they
realised it was locked from inside.

"I heard one policeman exclaim that the stubborn woman had locked
herself from inside," another witness said.

The officers forced the door open and Miss Nyambura collapsed on the
floor.

The suspects' story contradicted the police version that the woman had
not been booked into the cell.

Kajiado police boss James Omiya said Miss Nyambura died on the way to
hospital after she fell ill at the station.

+ + + +

EVIDENCE continues to mount that the US may have had a hand in the
coup that briefly toppled Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, although
Washington continues to insist that it played no role.

A week of Washington denials was capped by weekend comments by US
Secretary of State Colin Powell, who reiterated US claims that it was
not involved in the April 12 ousting of democratically elected Chavez.
"I know of no basis for a report that we were trying to get (Chavez)
out," said Powell on ABC's This Week programme.

"We support democracy, we support the community of democracy that
exists in our hemisphere."

President George Bush said on Thursday that Washington told coup
plotters "that we support democracy and did not support any
extraconstitutional action". Chavez was ousted on April 12 after three
days of upheaval, including a nationwide strike. That day the US state
department decried "undemocratic actions committed or encouraged by
the Chavez administration" as having "provoked" the crisis.

Less than two days later, the interim government of businessman Pedro
Carmona buckled under pressure from other Latin American nations for
dissolving the national assembly and supreme court.

Powell said that, far from trying to unseat Chavez, the US was
interested in constitutional rule in the region. "Clearly we had
disagreements with Chavez in the past and we may well have them in the
future. But what we are interested in is the constitutional process,
and it was followed and we are supporting it."

A Venezuelan diplomat wrote in the Ultimas Noticias newspaper on
Sunday that, despite those disavowals, Washington was sympathetic
towards the shortlived Carmona presidency. Venezuelan charge
d'affaires in Washington, Luis Herrera Marcano, wrote that on the
morning of April 12 after Chavez's fall but before Carmona was sworn
in the embassy had a call from Phillip Chicola, the state department's
point man on Venezuela, saying that Washington "understands and
sympathises" with changes in the country.

Marcano wrote that Chicola told him that Washington believed it was
necessary for the national assembly to ratify Chavez's resignation and
for the Venezuelan supreme court to give "its stamp of approval".

Newsweek reported yesterday that, months before the coup, dissatisfied
Venezuelans visited Washington for closed-door talks with US
officials. Investigators at the US senate believed that Bush officials
did not forcefully quash coup plans despite ample warning.

The senate foreign relations committee planned to look into what role
Bush officials may have played in the aborted coup, the magazine said.

Newsweek wrote that those suspected of financing the plot included
Gustavo Cisneros, a Venezuelan media tycoon and fishing companion of
former president George Bush. Cisneros denied it.

Otto Reich, the top US official handling Latin America, said he had
spoken with Cisneros "two or three times" during the coup, according
to Newsweek. But Reich said he was only using the businessman as a
source of information.

"We had absolutely nothing to do with this," Reich told the magazine.

A military source in Venezuela said earlier that US army Lt-Col James
Rodgers, an aide to the US military attache, was present at Fort Tiuna
in Caracas from before Chavez was taken there after the coup until the
self-proclaimed provisional government fell apart.

Some Venezuelan military officers saw his presence as a green light
from Washington to unseat Chavez. "They were assured that the movement
had the full support of the US and that was why they participated." A
US embassy spokesman repeated previous state department denials that
Rodgers was at Fort Tiuna at that time.

+ + + +

22 April: Israel's month-long offensive to smash Palestinian
terrorists strongholds in the West Bank has had a side effect worth
noting: some ordinary Palestinians are no longer afraid to speak out
and admit their distress – in front of television cameras.

In the Jabalya camp of the Gaza Strip, the local correspondent for
Israel's Channel 2, Seliman a-Shafi, gave Sunday night viewers a rare
glimpse into the mind of a would-be suicide killer - a terrified
adolescent aged 14 who freely told his story. Sent on a suicide
mission against an Israeli military position – he did not say by which
group - he set out with another boy in the dark of night. Halfway
there, he stopped. "I didn't want to die," he said, tears rolling down
his face. "I wanted to go back to my family." He tried to persuade his
friend to return home with him. The friend refused. The boy turned
back alone and a few minutes later heard an explosion. Filled with
fear, he ran hard until he reached the safety of home.

The boy's family took part in the interview, led by his comfortably
ample mother surrounded by her large brood. "They take our children
when they are too young to understand, to decide if they want to die.
Why don't the take the louts hanging round the markets? My boy is in
shock. He can't stop weeping. He doesn't know whether he did right or
wrong. We don't let him out of the house without his father – in case
he changes his mind again, or they catch him. We are all in shock."

In a strong, assertive voice, she told the interviewer that she was
not the only mother in this situation. The Gaza Strip is full of women
keeping a tight hold on their young sons.

"All of us here are badly traumatized. But there is not a single
psychologist in the whole territory to help us."

The boy from Gaza was not by any means the youngest child to be marked
out as a "martyr". In Jenin, where the walls were plastered with large
posters depicting dozens of dead youths, Israeli soldiers learned to
beware of innocent-looking 10- and even 7-year olds with hidden bombs.

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

It must be one of the most written-about army actions of all time, yet
it was brief and of no military significance. It was a cock-up that
cost the lives of three SAS men, yet the codename of the mission -
Bravo Two Zero - has become a byword for heroism in the face of
insuperable odds. The British have always been adept at turning
disasters into triumphs, and Bravo Two Zero has been added to a
lionised list of crazy endeavours - a 20th-century Charge of the Light
Brigade.

In January 1991, during the Gulf war, eight SAS men were dropped 200
miles inside Iraq to set up an observation post and/or destroy Scud
missile launchers. They were discovered, lost contact with their
helicopter support and had to flee through hostile territory. Three
died; four were captured; one escaped into Syria. Using the pseudonyms
Andy McNab and Chris Ryan - the one who got away - two of the
survivors wrote accounts of the mission. An estimated three million
people bought their books, and millions more watched the TV
adaptations.

A third of the five who made it back, Mike Coburn (also a pseudonym),
is currently in court trying to win the right to publish his account.
The public's desire to read about these events is apparently
inexhaustible. There is just one problem, according to Michael Asher,
whose own book on the mission has just appeared: the accounts
published so far are not true.

Asher, a former member of the parachute regiment and ex-SAS
territorial, has embarked on a mission of his own - to debunk these
British heroes, first in his book and next month in a Channel 4
documentary. They were there, and he wasn't, so his conclusions had
better be sound. Rather, he was there, but 10 years after the event.
Last year, with Iraqi permission, he retraced the steps of Bravo Two
Zero, and talked to the Iraqis who had confronted the patrol. The
accounts of these eyewitnesses varied significantly from those of
McNab and Ryan.

It was the differences between the two books - Bravo Two Zero and The
One That Got Away - that aroused Asher's suspicions. "I was impressed
by the books initially," he says, "but then compared them and found
glaring discrepancies on almost every page. For example, McNab claims
they hijacked a taxi, came to a vehicle checkpoint, waited until a
sentry came to the window, then shot him, jumped out of the car, shot
three or four more sentries and ran off into the desert. Ryan says
that they simply got out of the car before the checkpoint and
disappeared into the desert. I've been to Iraq, I've talked to
eyewitnesses, I've talked to somebody who was at the checkpoint on
that day, and he confirmed that there was no firefight."

There was one other factor that worried Asher - the degree of blame
that McNab and Ryan attached to Vince Phillips, one of the men who did
not return. "Right from the outset," he says, "I couldn't believe that
an experienced soldier like Vince could have behaved in the cowardly
and incompetent manner that Ryan in particular describes. He was a
senior NCO in 22 SAS, one of the finest regiments in the world, and
you don't get in that position if you're incompetent. One of the
reasons I went to Iraq was to find out the truth about Vince, and I'm
satisfied that I've exonerated him."

McNab, who was leading the mission, claimed in his book that they
killed or wounded 250 Iraqis before they were overwhelmed. Asher says
this is nonsense, a Ramboesque account that might shift books but has
no basis in fact. "I followed the footsteps of the patrol and talked
to many eyewitnesses," he insists, "and I found no evidence that the
patrol killed or wounded anybody. Not a scratch." One of the patrol
was killed by Iraqi civilians; the other two died of hypothermia.
Theirs was an extraordinary attempt at escape, but it was not the
Alamo.

Asher, a bearded, wiry 48-year-old who fell in love with the desert
more than 20 years ago and now lives in Morocco, is aware that his own
account may in turn be rubbished. Unprompted, he says that he is not a
mouthpiece for the army or the SAS, who have not been best pleased by
former personnel discussing operations. Nor, he says later, is he
offering a sanitised, anti-heroic, Iraqi view of the mission.

"I was aware from the beginning that this could be seen as an Iraqi
propaganda exercise," he says, "and I was wary about that. When I was
travelling in Iraq, I made it clear to them from the first day that if
they were going to try to show me where I should go or introduce
witnesses to me, then that would be the end of the story. I found my
own witnesses, I went where I wanted to go in the footsteps of the
patrol, and they never tried to interfere."

The Bravo Two Zero patrol, says Asher, was extraordinarily ill
equipped for its mission. "They made basic mistakes. They took
equipment to dig an observation post in sand, but it was a rocky
desert. What they needed was a JCB. Second, they thought the desert
was going to be hot. But I've seen snow in this part of the desert."

Asher has no desire to belittle what they did. They faced terrifying
dangers and were heroes; this was a remarkable story which, he says,
did not need the Rambo relish. "Most of the Bedouin I talked to said
these guys were really tough and courageous: to come out here 200
miles from their own lines in Saudi Arabia. Ryan's escape into Syria
was an epic journey of almost 300km in a week, virtually without food
or water. Their story was fantastic, so why embellish it with bits
about killing sentries and blowing up Land Rovers? And why did he have
to denigrate a colleague who couldn't speak back?"

Asher is, in part, inclined to blame publishers looking to conform to
Hollywood's image of war. "I didn't set out to debunk Bravo Two Zero,"
he says. "I merely set out to find the truth. If I'd discovered that
what McNab and Ryan had written was the truth, I would have been the
first to say it. I still admire them and I still think they were
heroes, but when they came to write up their stories they did what TE
Lawrence did - they exaggerated their accounts and failed to tell the
truth." It seems that the desert does odd things to people -
especially authors.

· The Real Bravo Two Zero is published by Cassell (£16.99). The
documentary based on Michael Asher's research will be broadcast on
Channel 4 on May 13.

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

A BRITISH Muslim is among the Royal Marines set to hunt down remaining
al-Qa'ida fanatics in the Afghan mountains.

Ghazanfar "Gaz" Hussain, 22, prays to Mecca, carries the Koran in his
battledress, eats only halal food — and is proud to be a member of
tough 45 Commando.

Yorkshireman Gaz insists he has NO qualms about killing those fighting
for fundamentalist warlord Osama bin Laden.

He said yesterday: "If I have to kill another Muslim, it will be
because he is a terrorist. An enemy is an enemy. If they start
shooting at me, I'll shoot back.

"I won't be taking their side — it's a totally committed job for
Britain. I was up in the mountains last week and I've got no
hesitation about going back to have another go."

Gaz added: "Al-Qa'ida are using my religion for all the wrong reasons.

"It made me angry when they used it to justify their actions of
September 11.

"These people are just simple terrorists. They are no more than that
and their faith is false.

"Nothing in the Koran gives suicide bombers or anyone else the right
to kill people to further their cause.

"You just can't go around killing people in their thousands like they
did on September 11."

Brave Gaz is the only British Muslim at Bagram airbase. Operation
Enduring Freedom is his first combat mission.

His dad is a Pakistani migrant and Gaz has three brothers and three
sisters born in Britain.

He joined 45 Commando 18 months ago after completing the fearsome
30-week training course, and says his comrades have made him very
welcome.

When they realised Gaz's religion dictated his diet, the rest of his
Whisky Company pals switched to the same halal meat, specially
slaughtered to follow Muslim laws.

Gaz said yesterday: "It's all halal food now. At first they had to
prepare special meals for me, but now everything is halal and
everybody seems to enjoy it.

"Everyone has to give and take a little to ensure a smooth company."
In Britain, Gaz — who also speaks Urdu and abstains from alcohol and
smoking — goes to a mosque regularly.

But the stocky young commando says his mates in the field have no
problem with his different faith.

He said: "There's been no jokey or cynical remarks about me being here
— and I wouldn't expect it.

"They treat me as an equal, like they would treat all their mates.

"Even my non-forces pals who come from Pakistani backgrounds are happy
for me to be here fighting al-Qa'ida.

"They didn't know I was coming to Afghanistan — and nor did I, come to
that.

"But I think there have been a few educated guesses."

Gaz blasted the dozens of British Muslims believed to be among the
al—Qai'da fanatics lurking in the Afghanistan and Pakistan mountains.

He said: "These young bloods have nothing better to do.

"I just wish they could have the opportunity to do something
worthwhile with their lives to distract them from terrorism."

He chose a career in the armed forces after being bored by a string of
menial jobs in fast-food restaurants.

Gaz said: "I liked the challenge and I went for it — and it was the
best thing that I've ever done."

He has only one regret — he didn't see pop babe Geri Halliwell sing
for the troops while they were on exercise in Oman because he was in
hospital.

"I would have enjoyed seeing her," he grinned. Commandos demonstrated
their awesome machine-gun arsenal on a range near Bagram yesterday.

They plan to hammer al-Qa'ida remnants with a torrent of fire from
their most powerful weapons yet.

The intention is to smash the enemies' morale before going in to mop
up any survivors.

The 50-calibre Browning and General Purpose guns were shown off
alongside new Minimi fast-firing automatic weapons favoured by the
SAS.

Members of X-Ray Company demonstrated how the fire can be channelled
into "killing zones" from 1½ miles.

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

DEBKAfile's Exclusive Military sources:

Saudi Brigades Massed on Jordanian Frontier – Response to Iraqi,
Israeli Movements

24 April: Saudi Arabia denies it has massed 8 brigades on its
Jordanian border following secret intelligence reports of Israeli
troop concentrations on its frontier with Jordan. (The Kingdom of
Jordan is wedged between Saudi Arabia, Israel, Iraq and Syria.) Israel
denied the Saudi claim Tuesday, April 23. The comeback was fast: "A
responsible source" at the kingdom's defense and aviation ministry
stated that Saudi armed forces units are merely conducting "routine
exercises" in the northwestern region, not beefing up their troop
presence there.

The next step in this unfolding exchange of claims and denials was
another report from Riyadh on Thursday, April 24, that Israeli jets
were flying over Jordan's border with the oil kingdom. Saudi air
defenses were said to be under orders to shoot down any intruding
craft.

DEBKAfile's military analysts have taken due note of Riyadh's public
admission that it fears an Israeli invasion of Jordan. Even more
noteworthy is its timing: 48 hours before Crown Prince Abdullah bin
Abdulaziz travels to President George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford,
Texas.

Here, then, is a transparent Saudi gambit, based on the cynical
exploitation of the Israeli military bugbear. This gambit, in the view
of our analysts, is employed by Riyadh for three purposes:

First, to manufacture tension on the Saudi-Jordanian-Israel borders in
order to back up Abdullah's attempt to railroad Israel as the
generator of military escalation in the region.

Second, as a device to cut short the Saudi crown prince's American
visit. Riyadh-Washington relations have never been so bad. (Read
earlier DEBKA report on this page: Bush-Abdullah talks: To Paper over
Cracks?) Since the Saudi ruler could not wriggle out his American
trip, he needed a pretext for an early departure for home.

Third, Saudi rulers have been forewarned of impending Iraqi troop
movements focusing on Jordan and are taking military precautions to
keep the coming military exchanges from spilling over into home
territory.

Riyadh, while attempting to fabricate a crisis around Jordan's borders
– and pin it on Israel – knows exactly what is really going on. The
Israeli troop presence along the border of the Hashemite kingdom –
which Israeli spokesmen consistently deny – is there with Amman's
consent for the sole purpose of deterring Saddam from invading Jordan.
The Saudis are also perfectly aware that Iraq led the way in kicking
off this round of military moves and that Israel countered with a
blocking tactic.

DEBKAfile 's military sources provide details of the Iraqi troop
movements.
The force Iraq started massing some weeks ago consists of 3-4 of its 7
crack Republican Guard divisions, which are stationed in the center of
the country opposite the Jordanian frontier. They are fanned out
across a 300-sq.km stretch of land, bounded by four bases: H-3 Main,
H-3 Southwest and H-3 Northwest – 350 km. west of Baghdad - and the
big al Baghdadi ground and air base west of the town of Rutbah.

The Iraqi high command reckons the first American strike, carried out
under the cover of a bombing and missile barrage, will try and capture
this area and take over the four bases - much in the way a main US
base was set up in Kandahar, Afghanistan. From there US forces will
threaten the capital, Baghdad.
The Iraqi response will be to divide their strength into two
contingents. One, led by Saddam Hussein's son, Qusay, will fall back
toward Baghdad; the other will push into Jordan and seize its eastern
region, ready for an eventual move into the capital, Amman.

The Israeli troop concentration the Saudis are referring to – whose
presence Israeli spokesmen deny – is poised to defend Jordan against
this very Iraqi assault.

By his pincer movement, Saddam hopes to crush the American force,
trapping it in an isolated pocket, vulnerable to a blitz of missiles
carrying chemical and biological agents. Simultaneously, Iraqi missile
barrages will be aimed at Israel and US military targets in the Jewish
state, as well as American militaryfacilities in the Gulf, Kuwait and
Qatar.

Iraq is also getting set to counter alternative US tactics. This week,
Baghdad deployed heavy reinforcements of anti-air missile batteries in
the southern and northern no-fly zones patrolled by US and British
allied planes. This move was a preventive measure against a possible
US attempt to seize Iraq's northern and southern oilfields. The
batteries are aimed not only against bombers but also large-scale
helicopters squadrons flying US and British Marines in from Kuwait,
Oman or Turkey.

All these plans are still on American and Iraqi drawing boards. Saudi,
Jordanian and Israeli military planners are also working hard on
contingency plans.

The Americans therefore have no reason to expect a short campaign. Our
military experts estimate the first stage alone will last between one
and two months. Saddam will certainly wield oil as a weapon. The
Saudis have taken steps to reassure Washington that they have no
intention of joining Baghdad in an oil embargo. On Tuesday, April 23,
the Saudi oil minister promised a group of American businessmen in
Washington that his government would continue to keep oil prices
stable and make up for any production shortfall developing on the
world market.

Simultaneously, the Saudi investment authority in Riyadh finally,
after long delays, approved a partnership transaction between American
Chevron-Phillips and the Saudi industrial investment authority,
entailing a $1 billion investment in a new petrochemical plant in the
kingdom.

But these gestures can no longer paper over the deep rift between
Riyadh and Washington, or the inevitability of any major war
confrontation driving the two to opposing sides - with lasting effect
on the region as well as world oil and financial markets.

Already the Saudis are operating on two levels – one reassuring
Washington and other, laying their military cards out on the ground.
The second is bound to cancel out the effect of the first.

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

WELCOME TO DANGER ISLAND

For the first time in history a television show will take you to a
place where even the Gods themselves fear to tread...a place where
some of the most clever criminals in the world will compete against
the best trained Manhunters on earth for the only thing that really
matters...redemption. Pull down the shades...bolt the door...and strap
yourself in for the television event of a lifetime.

We're going to place twelve real life convicted felons (six men and
six women) on a deserted tropical island and have them compete for one
million dollars ($1,000,000 U.S.). The prize will be given to the
victim of the winner's last crime.

All their lives these felons have behaved like predators as they
victimized innocent men and women. Now they'll become the prey as they
compete in extraordinary physical and psychological contests designed
to let them know what it feels like to be stalked through the jungle.

Professional Manhunters will be brought in from all over the world to
try and catch the felons before they are able to complete each
episode's contest. If they complete the contest before they are caught
then they move onto the next round... but if they're caught then
they're removed from the show. Some episodes will conclude with a
group of actual crime victims voting one criminal off the island.

"Danger Island" is a cutting edge next generation reality television
show. We believe there's nothing more compelling than seeing some of
the greatest criminal minds in the world competing with some of the
top Manhunters from the military and law enforcement.

It will be the first show in entertainment history to take actual
criminals, turn the tables on them, and show them what it feels like
to become the hunted. We're also going to do something that no
judicial system on earth has ever done...we're going to give an actual
crime victim
a check for $1,000,000.

http://www.dangerisland.tv/manhunter_applications.php

[Max Camirand]

On 25 Apr 2002 02:48:42 -0700, o...@ziplip.com (Rizla Ranger UK) wrote:

>+ + + +
>
>DEBKAfile's Exclusive Military sources:
>
>Saudi Brigades Massed on Jordanian Frontier – Response to Iraqi,
>Israeli Movements

This is looking like the shit storm of the century... Will be even
worse if Arab leaders fat with oil cash start losing control over
their populations.

Fuck fuck fuck.

-max taps a mag on his helmet. Born to kill.

-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_-~_

Money doesn't grow on trees; it's alluvial.

[Loner]

Hey Max it gets better,
Meanwhile here in good ole 'Satanic' America, some building just magically
blew up in Manhattan. Then we have SF and Delta pursuing al Qaeda and
Taliban into Pakistan, and they just brought out 2 Muslim stiffs + 6 other
wanna B martyrs from Bethlehem. Sharon is continuing his recon by force and
pissing off more Arab oil producers by the minute. And we wanna go after
Iraq just 2 liven things up a bit more. No shiite it's stating 2 look hairy
out there. Think I'd feel safer on Riz's island. At least they ain't
giving the hunters or prey NBC weapons. Don't even want to turn the friggin
T.V. on anymore! Missing the Cold War,

Loner

---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.351 / Virus Database: 197 - Release Date: 4/19/02

[Flash]

Pick me Pick me I havent hunted dangerous game for ages .

"Rizla Ranger UK" <o...@ziplip.com> wrote in message

news:7499a8cd.02042...@posting.google.com...

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

All the usual
doom, gloom and boom,
people still killing,
people still dying...

what else is there to say?

Lisa is dead

http://www.eyenetics.com/

>sniff<

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

Life is like
Life is like a park
Seesaws, merry-go-rounds
And though you may swing high
Sometimes you may even fall down
And though you may get stuck
You must get back up

Now see if you went through life with your eyes closed
You never would've known there was a high road
Let people get the best of you and get mad at them
Instead of bein' mad at yourself

You're only number one in your life
And you will decide if it goes right
Every time you digress
Defeat your progress
Feed you lunch, but you must digest
The controversy yo can get personal
They don't understand it's the role reversal
Seekin' fame, play their games
Gave a whole lot for a whole little game

When push comes to shove
Do you push or shove?
When the choice is yours
Do you leave with love?
All the tears you cried, you're dyin' inside
When will you decide to survive

Think about it

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

Ruskies are reporting that
Commander Khattab is dead..

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

The Ugandan army has accused rebels of carrying out a gruesome attack
on civilians in southern Sudan, leaving up to 60 people dead.

An army spokesman, Major Shaban Bantariza, told the BBC the attack
took place on Friday in the Agoro Mountains, close to the Ugandan
border.

He said members of the Ugandan rebel group, the Lords Resistance Army,
attacked a group of Sudanese mourners on their way to bury a relative.

Before shooting the mourners, the rebels forced some of them to cook
and eat the dead body of their relative, he said.

The Ugandan army signed an agreement last month with the authorities
in Khartoum to allow it to operate against the rebels inside Sudanese
territory.

The Lord's Resistance Army, led by the self-styled prophet, Joseph
Kony, has been terrorising Ugandan villagers from bases inside Sudan
for more than ten years.

+ + + +

MOSCOW (AP) - Alexander Lebed, the tough-talking former general who
emerged as a strong challenger to former Russian President Boris
Yeltsin and was credited with ending Moscow's 1994-96 war in Chechnya,
was killed Sunday in a helicopter crash. He was 52.

Lebed was governor of the huge Krasnoyarsk region of Russia, and was
considered a key regional leader. But his popularity went far beyond
military and regional circles: His honesty and willingness to confront
the Russian establishment made him a hero to millions of ordinary
Russians.

The Mi-8 helicopter he was on hit a power line amiPresident Mikhail
Gorbachev, coup leaders ordered Lebed's troops to surround Yeltsin's
Moscow stronghold. But Lebed refused to send in his forces.

Praised by reformers when the coup collapsed, Lebed quickly
disappointed his admirers, saying he ``could not care less for
democracy,'' but also could not bring himself to kill Russians.

In 1992, Lebed was sent to command Russian troops in Moldova's
breakaway region of Trans-Dniester, the scene of ethnic conflict
between the Moldovan government and mainly Slav separatists. He was
widely praised for ending the bloodshed and became the darling of
hard-liners and the embittered, cash-strapped army.

In 1995, after a dispute with the defense minister, Lebed was forced
to retire from the military after 25 years of service. He turned to
politics full-time, being elected a member of the lower house of
parliament, the State Duma, in December 1995.

Riding a wave of popular discontent, he came in third in the 1996
presidential elections, pulling in 15 percent of the vote. Communist
Party head Gennady Zyuganov came in second, and Yeltsin, though
ailing, won the election.

Yeltsin made Lebed head of his presidential security council, and
during his four-month term there before the president sacked him,
Lebed brokered an end to Russia's war with separatist Chechnya.

He later used his contacts and experience in that peacemaking effort,
founding a non-governmental organization called the Peacekeeping
Mission in the North Caucasus. The mission is credited with
negotiating freedom for scores of soldiers and others taken hostage in
the volatile region.

In May 1998, Lebed won election as governor of Siberia's Krasnoyarsk
region, a region four times the size of France. Many saw the post as a
possible springboard for the 2000 presidential campaign, but Lebed
declined to run.

Lebed is survived by his wife Inna and three children, Alexander,
Yekaterina and Ivan, as well as five grandchildren.

+ + + +

Off on holiday, so today'll be the last
day of posting for about three weeks
(hurrah shout the lurkers!)

Stay Seguro all!

Max Res!

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

What Non-Palestinian Hand Carried out Adora Attack?

27 April: Saturday morning, April 27, two terrorists burst into the
Jewish settlement of Adora, west of Hebron on the West Bank, shooting
their way into one home after another. They killed four Israeli
civilians, two of them young children, and wounded 13, 7 seriously.

Two hours later, Ms Anat Harari, 41, waiting at Barzilai hospital,
Ashkelon, for surgery on the bullet wounds that smashed her arm and
shoulder, gave a calm yet strange account of her experience.

From behind the window of her home, she saw a young man in Israeli
military fatigues and flak jacket approaching with an M-16 rifle. He
looked just like an Israeli soldier. When he was only a meter and a
half away, he raised his rifle and quite deliberately began shooting
into the window at which she was standing. He then went round the
house, firing through more windows with the same slow deliberation. Ms
Harari was absolutely sure of his light skin and non-Arab appearance.

A neighbor, a policeman from the Israeli station in Hebron, came
running out when he heard the gunfire. He was so certain the two
gunmen he found were Israelis that he addressed them in Hebrew. Only
when they shot him did he realize they were terrorists.

DEBKAfile's military sources add these fresh accounts to the evidence
gleaned from certain terrorist strikes in the last two months –
starting with the Kharmiyeh roadblock attack north of Ramallah in
early March, in which 10 Israelis were killed. The shadow of an
active, experienced non-Palestinian presence has been discerned at
work in subsequent Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets.

Although there are theories about this alien identity, Israeli
military chiefs do not know for sure who they are. An exhaustive
investigation following the Kharmiyeh attack defined the three expert
marksmen who executed the deadly assault as professional enough to
wipe out every clue to their identity before disappearing without
trace. The meager clues discovered do not point to Palestinian hit
men.

In certain subsequent shooting and bombing attacks in other places,
the execution was Palestinian, but not the way they were organized,
the types of explosives and other features.

Ms Harari is the first close-up eyewitness to testify to a
non-Palestinian presence in the Palestinian terror machine.

Israel's military and security authorities prefer to keep the issue
low-key so as not to frighten the public. They are also reluctant to
tip their hand. Two of the possibilities floated are Hizballah and al
Qaeda. Another is European mercenaries – underworld contract killers,
or European-trained commandos. Some weeks ago, The London Daily
Telegraph reported a request from the Israeli Mossad to the British
MI6 to find out if one of the marksmen at Wadi Kharmiyeh was an Irish
Republican Army operative. The question was put in light of the
tactics employed in the assault, including farsighted intelligence and
efficient escapes routes. The killers also had the foresight to strew
at the scene misleading evidence of weapons - other than those
actually employed.

This calculated pre-planning is a far cry from slipshod, hotheaded
Palestinian tactics.

Saturday's Adora raid was carried out coolly and in broad daylight,
the settlement chosen is small and isolated, surrounded only by a
plain mesh fence with no Israeli military nearby and the killers made
a clean escape - leaving only the imprint of ___ professional killers
___ at work.

+ + + +

Accra Mail (Accra)
April 29, 2002
A Correspondent

Alfred T. Glay, a Liberian political dissident opposed to the
government of Charles Taylor, was assassinated Thursday, April 25,
2002, near Kasoa in Ghana.

The accused assassins, now in custody in Ghana, are both Liberians
from Monrovia having arrived three days before in a Liberian taxi
after passing through Cote d'Ivoire.

They had continued to operate the cab while in Ghana, and offered
General Glay a ride from a wake he had attended.

After killing Glay they dumped his body beside the road.

A huge outcry from the Liberian exile community caused the Ghanaian
police to detain the two men, one named Charles [surname unknown at
this time], and one named C. Wesseh.

Both of them, according to the exile community, have long been
connected with Charles Taylor, and at least one of them fought
alongside Taylor in his war against the previous government of
Liberia.

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

Command Headquarters of the Chechen Mujahideen forwarded the official
information to Kavkaz-Center about the death of Amir Khattab. The
death of the Chechen Commander has been officially confirmed in
accordance with this information. Some details of the death of
Commander Khattab and how the tape ended up in the hands of the
invaders are pointed out in the report.

According to the information from the Headquarters of the Chechen
Mujahideen, Amir Khattab was poisoned on March 19 by a letter that was
brought to him by a messenger. As the Headquarters claim, it was
established exactly that Khattab was poisoned by that letter. Khattab
knew the messenger who brought the letter. Nothing was reported about
the fate of the messenger. But according to some information he is now
with the Russians. The report that came from the Mujahideen's
Headquarters did not specify who the letter came from. Kavkaz-Center
was unable to get that information either.

The report further says that Amir Khattab was buried in the mountain
regions of Chechnya and only a narrow circle of the individuals who
were close to him know where it is. Amir Elsi (radio call sign
«Gardez») from the town of Gekhi, his bodyguard and his right hand,
was one of them. His face was occasionally slipping through when
Khattab was being filmed. Elsi had the tape with the video recording.
Several days ago, on April 23 to be more exact, Esli was killed in the
shooting with the invaders. Thus, the tape with the recording ended up
in the hands of the invaders only on April 23.

The Command Headquarters of the Chechen Mujahideen reported that the
information about the death of the Chechen Commander was secret for
some time in order not to encounter any obstacles while burying Amir
Khattab and to avoid possible defiling of his grave by the invaders.
The report also pointed that the sub-units that Khattab was in charge
of, are now headed by his assistant Amir Abu-Walid.

Let us remind that this is the official version of the death of Amir
Khattab, that was spread by the Command Headquarters of the Chechen
Mujahideen on Saturday, April 27.

There is also information that the temporary secrecy about the death
of the Chechen Commander was connected to the fact that his body was
secretly transported back to his homeland, Saudi Arabia. That's why,
allegedly, there were no reports of Khattab's death for the time
being, so that his body could be delivered to his relatives without
hindrance. However this version is least likely, because it
contradicts all the Laws of the Shari'ah. According to the Shari'ah,
Shaheed's grave is where he died.

Kavkaz-Center Agency has also received more detailed information about
a meeting between Amir Khattab and President Maskhadov, about which
our agency reported earlier referring to the sources in Chechen
Leadership. Let us remind that according to that information, the
meeting between Maskhadov and Khattab took place on April 12-13.
However according to the detailed information, that meeting took place
much earlier. On April 12 an audiotape with Khattab's speech was
forwarded to Shamil Basayev, where he reported to Basayev about the
meeting that was held. That information allows us to say that the
meeting between President Maskhadov and Khattab took place in April.
These clarifications were made by Shamil Basayev himself, who reported
it to Kavkaz-Center Agency through a mediator.

Biography Information:
Kavkaz-Center Agency has some not numerous facts of Amir Khattab's
biography.

Amir Khattab – was originally from Saudi Arabia. His father – is a
Saudi Arab who belongs to one of the oldest clans of Arabia. His
mother is a native of Turkey, of Turkish background. Khattab has many
relatives. In his homeland his family is known to be respectable and
quite affluent. According to some information, Khattab has 8 brothers.
When he was 15 years old, his family decided to send him to study in
the US. However, the juvenile left the house by motivating his
decision to independently choose to take part in the Jihad, according
to the Shari'ah. Even though his older brother tried to talk him out
of it, Khattab went to Afghanistan as a volunteer. For several years
he was fighting against the troops of Soviet invaders. He was wounded.
After Soviet troops withdrew, Khattab returned home. However, he left
for Afghanistan again, where he started to help Tajik and Uzbek
refugees. According to Khattab himself, in December 1994 he found out
about the war in Caucasus from CNN reports. Before that, he knew
nothing about Chechnya except stories about Imam Shamil who is buried
in Medina. Khattab said that he made a decision to go to Chechnya when
he saw on TV how Chechen Mujahideen were proclaiming «Allah-u Akbar!»
(God is Great!). Khattab arrived in Chechnya with his companions in
1995 and had not left Chechnya ever since.

Starting from March 1995 until March 2002 Amir Khattab was an active
participant in combat operations against the troops of Russian
invaders. In 1996 he was appointed the Chief of Military Training
Center of the Central Front of Chechen Armed Forces by President of
Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Military Amir of Majlisul Shura of the
Mujahideen of Ichkeria and Dagestan. Deputy of Shamil Basayev, Amir of
Majlisul Shura. Commander of the Islamic International Brigade.
Honored by the highest awards of the Chechen State. Amir Khattab's
wife is a Darginian, native of the village of Karamakhi, Dagestan.
Khattab has two children.

Department of Strategic Information, «Kavkaz-Center»
2002-04-29 01:35:22

+ + + +

The Chechen Press Agency reported that on April 16, 2002, in a suburb
of the city of Dzhokhar at 5:00 AM in the town of Katayama at the
«Sovetskaya» bus station Russian invaders shot down a man age 30. The
invaders that arrived in jeeps (the UAZ make, «Tabletka» - «Pill»
model, manufactured in Ulyanovsk, Russia), put the man against a tree
at the bus stop, and then, as residents of nearby houses witnessed,
during a short period of time they were shooting at the guy with heavy
fire from machine-guns. Right after that a powerful explosion was
heard. Then people heard the rumble of driving off vehicles. By 8:00
AM combat engineers and collaborators of the invaders' authorities
started to arrive at the scene of the crime.

By that moment residents of the nearby houses were gathering the
remains of a human body in the radius of 200 meters. Thirteen-year-old
juvenile brought a fragment of larynx from the end of Stanislavsky
street. A man of an old age brought pieces of human meat in a metal
cup. Residents of the Zavety Ilyicha Street («V.Ilyich Lenin's
Testaments Street») also brought pieces of meat in scoops (see photo).
The arms of the man that was shot and then blown up have not been
found. In the moment when several women, lamenting and appealing to
Allah to punish the Russian criminals, were brining the man's remains
in one place, two grey jeeps (same UAZ «Pill» model) drove up. About
10 Russian invaders in special uniforms jumped out with weapons in
their hands. All their actions were testifying that they were there
for a reason: they skillfully imitated a special operation. The
dramatization was filmed by them after which they left, accompanied by
combat vehicles, - Chechen Press reported.

According to the information by human rights organizations, on April 3
in Staro-Promyslovsky district of Dzhokhar local residents witnessed a
fact of execution without trial conducted by Russian military.
According to the eyewitnesses, this event happened during the lunch
hour. Military truck «Ural» model with invaders aboard, that was
passing on the highway, pulled near a residential block. Russians
threw two young men out of the vehicle and shot them on the spot, and
then they left as if nothing happened. Later we found out that one of
those killed was identified by his relatives. It was Ruslan Akhmadov,
resident of the town of Sobachovka, Staro-Promyslovsky district of the
city of Dzhokhar.

According to the relatives, Ruslan Akhmadov did not participate in any
military operations, which was also confirmed by the town's residents.
As the locals think, the only reason to detain Ruslan was his last
name. As it is known, the Akhmadov brothers, residents of Urus-Martan,
are active members of the Resistance. However, even of you assume the
fact that Ruslan Akhmadov allegedly participated in military
operations, still his execution remains a heinous crime, a war crime
and the most brute violation of the norms of humanitarian rights.

04-11-2002 Russian invaders entered the village of Kulary from several
directions and started the «cleansing» (the purging campaign) of that
village. During the punitive raid three young men were captured and
taken away in an unknown direction - the Jamaldinov brothers - Vakha
and Ruslan and Khizir Khakalov. In the center of the village the
invaders were beating the elderly who without using force were trying
to oppose the abduction of their fellow villagers. The wife of Vakha
Jamaldinov was also beaten, when she was throwing herself at the
soldiers' feet and begging them not to take her husband away. As to
4:00 PM, April 16, 2002 the location and the fate of the captured
young men is still unknown.

The same day leaving from Kulary towards the village of Lermontovo,
the invaders sitting on a combat vehicle opened fire on Mr.Muslim
Zalikhmanov for no apparent reason, when he was sitting on a bench in
his yard. Mr.Zelikhmanov suffered shot wounds and was hospitalized and
taken to the emergency reanimation room. As for April 16, 2002, the
doctors estimated that he is in a extremely serious condition and
there are practically no chances for survival.

Interestingly, that in response to some reminders by Kulary residents
about the so-called order of General Moltensky according to which all
military vehicles involved in special operations must have readable
license plate numbers, and the «purging campaign» itself must be
conducted under observation, the invaders were answering with the
following phrases: «We don't give a damn about that order! Who is
Moltensky to us?»

Certain details of what has happened on April 4, 2002,(which was
reported by human rights organizations) became known. Around 6:00 PM a
group of Russian invaders, who were intoxicated, left the headquarters
of the town of Sernovodsk in a combat vehicle, with mud over their
license plates, towards the center of the town. Driving on the central
street where the market was located, they ran over several counters
and crushed them along with the products; then along their way they
knocked down a telephone pole. Near the School No.2 one of the combat
vehicles almost ran over school children that were walking along the
road. Driving about 500 meters away from the school, near the Central
Mosque, the crew of one of the vehicles fired point-blank at a green
car «Zhiguli» model (Russian copy of Fiat), plate number 216/95,
killing three civilians. One woman that was killed was later
identified - it was Umarova, Madina Rusumbekovna, born on 04-07-1973,
mother of three, resident of the village of Dubovskaya who was on the
way from Dzhokhar to her sister's house. An old taxi driver and a 50
year-old woman were also killed.

Incidents in Sernovodsk (besides the shooting of a car on April 4
another shooting took place, shots were being fired on the windows of
temporary quarters of refugees from the building of invaders'
headquarters) caused a big public resonance. The fact of resignations
by several officials of the invaders' administration of the Sunzhen
district - the head of invader's administration of the village of
Assinovskaya Mr.Nazarbek Terkhoev, Director of the Technical School
No.16, town of Sernovodsk, Mr.Salman Gazmogamaev, and manager of
Chilayev Farm Mr.Isa Chilayev - are an unprecedented facts as a
protest against military tyranny.

+ + + +

The staff of the command of Chechen mujahideen reports that in the
populated area Nizhny Kurchali of Nozha-Yurt district fierce military
clashes occurred with Russian occupational forces, supported by combat
helicopters. According to Chechen sources, local clashes with the
enemy occurred throughout the last 24 hours. During the course of
these clashes, at least five invaders were killed, and one BRDM was
destroyed. From the Chechen side, several mujahideen were wounded
non-seriously.

Correspondent of «Kavkaz-Center» reports the death of two mujahideen
in the settlement of Alkhan-Kala. The Chechen mujahideen before their
martyrdom killed four invaders and wounded several others seriously,
reported amir Murad. One of the martyred mujahideen was the commander
of saboteur party. There are reports of clashes in the outskirts of
Dzhokhar, where two aggressors were killed. During the course of the
offensive actions, a UAZ jeep with two OMON special police on board
was destroyed and a BTR vehicle was seriously damaged in the
Staropromyslov district of the capital.

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

+ + + +

April 29, 2002

At Fox News, the Colonel Who Wasn't
By JIM RUTENBERG

Joseph A. Cafasso knows people — retired admirals, generals,
government officials. More to the point, he has said, he knows his way
around the netherworld of counterintelligence through contacts he
built during a sterling career as a lieutenant colonel in the Special
Forces.

The Fox News Channel thought it had found an asset when it hired the
gruff, barrel-chested former military man as a consultant to help in
its coverage of the fighting in Afghanistan. He claimed to have won
the Silver Star for bravery, served in Vietnam and was part of the
secret, failed mission to rescue hostages in Iran in 1980.

For more than four months, Mr. Cafasso assisted and shared tips with
reporters, producers and on-air consultants. Then on March 11, he
abruptly left Fox amid complaints that he had overstepped his bounds
and had become an annoyance. Soon afterward, Fox News, and many
associates of Mr. Cafasso, learned that his office style may have been
the least of his problems. The real story, many people say, was that
he was not who he said he was.

He released a statement on Sunday in which he said he was the victim
of a "gossip campaign" by "self-centered individuals with their own
political agendas."

People at Fox News had taken his credentials at face value. So had the
presidential campaign of Patrick J. Buchanan, for which he was an
organizer; WABC radio in New York; and several representatives,
military officials and activists to whom he had sold himself for
years. But records indicate that his total military experience was 44
days of boot camp at Fort Dix, N.J., in May and June 1976, and his
honorable discharge as a private, first class.

Mr. Cafasso had promised to appear at The New York Times to provide
documents contradicting records that he only served in boot camp but
never appeared. Military officials said they had no record of anyone
named Joseph Cafasso retiring as an lieutenant colonel.

Mr. Cafasso, it appears, has used his story of battlefield glories to
make friends, find work, and perhaps most importantly, find acceptance
among people who walk the fringes of Washington's power corridors,
networking his way through a community of retired military officers to
arrive at Fox News.

Fox News would not be the first news organization to be deceived. The
New York Times in March reported the account of a former Russian army
officer who said he fled the fighting in Chechnya in 1999 to escape
pressure to kill civilians. On Saturday, The Times quoted Russian
officials and acquaintances as saying he was not serving in the army
at the time.

Fox News executives acknowledged that they now think that Mr. Cafasso
was not who he said he was. But they said that the information he
gathered never led to any known mistakes and that he had a network of
military sources — built, apparently, on the strength of his stories.

Whatever the case, Mr. Cafasso seemed to have contacts where network
reporters had few, they said, and he worked long hours, often helping
the network penetrate the secrecy that shrouds the Pentagon.

Mr. Cafasso was introduced to the network shortly after the start of
the military campaign in Afghanistan by retired generals whom he
accompanied to Fox's offices in Washington, where they appeared as
commentators. Executives said Mr. Cafasso seemed to be a consultant,
briefing the generals on developments in Afghanistan. As he spent more
time at Fox deciphering military movements, the executives eventually
felt compelled to hire him as a consultant for $200 a week.

One senior Fox executive said Mr. Cafasso was so convincing and seemed
to have such respected patrons at the Pentagon that there was no
reason to question him. "He was so confident," the executive said.
"The sheer brazeness of it is just remarkable."

The executive added that Mr. Cafasso was hired because of his
contacts, not necessarily his military background. "Joe was just
plugged in everywhere," the executive said. "He appeared to be able to
call almost any military base and have a friend there."

Executives at Fox said Mr. Cafasso often worked late hours chasing
leads through his sources, setting up interviews with military
officials and offering guidance to producers trying to understand the
foggy Afghan battlefield. He developed skills on the network's
graphics computer — used for on-screen maps — and prepared briefing
packages with news clippings for commentators.

"He knew more about the military and the Pentagon than most reporters
we deal with," said a military officer at the Defense Department who
was surprised to hear that he was not a decorated veteran.

He also had a good sense of military spin, counseling the Fox staff to
be cautious about Pentagon claims in December that troops had Osama
Bin Laden cornered. He quoted sources as telling him that Mr. Bin
Laden could easily escape through the mountains, which has been raised
as one possibility of what may have happened.

Fox executives conceded that one piece of advice from Mr. Cafasso
could have saved the network considerable embarrassment, if it had
acted on it. In February, Fox and ABC erroneously reported that the
body of the Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl had been found,
based largely on information from a police official in Karachi,
Pakistan.

Mr. Cafasso had, correctly, told Fox that his contacts were telling
him the report was bogus. Yet Mr. Cafasso's information could
sometimes be flawed. He would often make mistakes on the names of
people and places, people at Fox said. Once Mr. Cafasso alerted the
staff that black helicopters were descending on the State Department,
apparently to battle a terrorist threat there. Fox staff in the
building ran outside to find blue sky, a person close to the incident
said.

Either way, as policy, Fox executives said, producers and
correspondents were required to verify information offered by Mr.
Cafasso.

Some doubted his credentials. In November, an executive asked a
private security consulting and training firm to look into Mr.
Cafasso's service record. The firm, called the Spartan Group and made
up of Special Forces veterans, concluded that Mr. Cafasso was lying
about the hostage mission in Iran and said it could find no service
record for him.

+ + + +

[Max Camirand]

On 29 Apr 2002 02:34:35 -0700, o...@ziplip.com (Rizla Ranger UK) wrote:

>
>MOSCOW (AP) - Alexander Lebed, the tough-talking former general who
>emerged as a strong challenger to former Russian President Boris
>Yeltsin and was credited with ending Moscow's 1994-96 war in Chechnya,
>was killed Sunday in a helicopter crash. He was 52.
>
>Lebed was governor of the huge Krasnoyarsk region of Russia, and was
>considered a key regional leader. But his popularity went far beyond
>military and regional circles: His honesty and willingness to confront
>the Russian establishment made him a hero to millions of ordinary
>Russians.
>
>The Mi-8 helicopter he was on hit a power line amiPresident Mikhail
>Gorbachev, coup leaders ordered Lebed's troops to surround Yeltsin's
>Moscow stronghold. But Lebed refused to send in his forces.
>

Anyone know where I can see this article? It seems to have a piece
missing in the above paragraph.

Cheers.

-m

[ScottCovey]

If you can't trust the Journos then what?
No more rubbing elbows with the likes in Washington.
Which should have been the first tell tail sign in the first place!
Hanging with the Tardo's and a player?
Well Just a thought. From a photographer...
Scott
AKA Captain
Cheers

[Max Camirand]

On 29 Apr 2002 02:34:35 -0700, o...@ziplip.com (Rizla Ranger UK) wrote:

>+ + + +
>
>Off on holiday, so today'll be the last
>day of posting for about three weeks
>(hurrah shout the lurkers!)
>
>Stay Seguro all!
>
>Max Res!
>
>+ + + +

Have a good one mate.
Down a few for the team!

[DiMethylTryptamine]

"Rizla Ranger UK" <o...@ziplip.com> wrote in message
news:7499a8cd.02042...@posting.google.com...

> + + + +
>
> Off on holiday, so today'll be the last
> day of posting for about three weeks
> (hurrah shout the lurkers!)
>

Lucky Bastard
Have a good time.

[Rizla Ranger UK]

apologies for the previous snippage
as the vaesectomy doc said to the patient

+ + + +

I've always thought Lebed
was one INTERESTING mofo!

+ + + +

Russian Gov. Alexander Lebed Dies
By JIM HEINTZ
Associated Press Writer
April 28, 2002, 3:53 PM EDT

MOSCOW -- Alexander Lebed, the gruff former general who helped defeat
the 1991 hard-line Soviet coup, stave off a Communist challenge to
Russian President Boris Yeltsin five years later and end the 1994-96

war in Chechnya, was killed Sunday in a helicopter crash. He was 52.

Lebed was fatally injured when the Mi-8 helicopter he was riding hit a
power line and crashed in foul weather in Krasnoyarsk, the austere and
gargantuan Siberian region he had governed since 1998. At least seven
others aboard were killed.

Lebed was as complex and contradictory as his country: a warrior
praised for peacemaking, who once sneered at democracy but later
lauded generals who embraced it -- such as Dwight Eisenhower -- and a
tough guy whose graceful surname means swan.

A paratrooper with a pugilist's face, he was widely admired by
Russians for his patriotism and for his no-nonsense remarks, delivered
in a bass voice so deep it seemed to come from the earth below him.

"He who laughs last is the one who shot first" was characteristic of
the remarks that charmed many and chilled others.

Lebed was born in the blue-collar southern city of Novocherkassk on
April 20, 1950. In 1962, he saw troops shoot striking laborers there.
His father had been incarcerated in Josef Stalin's prison camps for
being late for work.

Lebed entered a paratroopers' academy in 1969 and was a battalion
commander in 1981-82 during the Soviet war in Afghanistan, where he
won a top medal. In 1990, he reached the rank of major-general.

During the August 1991 hard-line coup against Soviet President Mikhail
Gorbachev, coup leaders ordered Lebed's troops to surround the Moscow
stronghold where Yeltsin, the Russian president, was defying the coup.

But Lebed refused to send in his forces.

Praised by reformers when the coup collapsed, speeding the breakup of
the Soviet Union, Lebed quickly disappointed his admirers, saying that

he "could not care less for democracy," but also could not bring
himself to kill Russians.

Later, when running for the Krasnoyarsk governorship, he answered
critics who portrayed him as an incipient dictator by saying his
heroes were Eisenhower and Charles de Gaulle, military men who became
democratic leaders.

Boris Nemtsov, leader of the liberal Union of Right Forces party, said
on Ekho Moskvy radio after Lebed's death that he had governed
Krasnoyarsk democratically, allowed an active opposition and steered
clear of the corruption endemic in Russian politics.

In 1992, Lebed commanded Russian troops in Moldova's breakaway region
of Trans-Dniester, the scene of conflict between the government and

mainly Slav separatists. He was widely praised for ending the

bloodshed and became the darling of Russia's hard-liners and the
embittered, cash-strapped army.

In 1995, after a dispute with Yeltsin's defense minister, Lebed was
forced to retire from the military. He was elected a member of the
lower house of parliament later that year.

Riding a wave of popular discontent with an ailing Yeltsin and the
ruling elite, Lebed came in third in the 1996 presidential elections
with 15 percent of the vote -- and then helped Yeltsin win the runoff
against Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov by offering his
support.

Yeltsin made Lebed head of his presidential security council, and

during his four-month term before the president sacked him, Lebed
brokered an end to the devastating and unpopular war against
separatists in Chechnya.

Although the pact left Chechnya in near-anarchy and the Kremlin
resumed the war in 1999, the agreement was highly popular at the time
among Russians appalled at the slaughter of their soldiers by ragged
guerrillas.

Lebed later used the contacts and experience from that peacemaking

effort, founding a non-governmental organization called the

Peacekeeping Mission in the North Caucasus. It is credited with

negotiating freedom for scores of soldiers and others taken hostage in
the volatile region.

In May 1998, Lebed was elected governor of Krasnoyarsk, a region more
than three times the size of Texas. Many saw the post as a possible

springboard for the 2000 presidential campaign, but Lebed declined to
run.

Lebed died in a hospital after the helicopter crash near Abakan, about
2,100 miles east of Moscow. He was on his way to the opening of a new
ski trail in the mountains, NTV television reported.

Seven of the 18 other people aboard were killed and the rest were in
critical condition, the Emergency Situations Ministry said.

Lebed is survived by his wife, Inna, and three children, Alexander,
Yekaterina and Ivan, as well as five grandchildren. His brother Alexei
is governor of the Khakassiya region in southern Siberia. Funeral
arrangements were under discussion.

+ + + +

Pravda.RU
11:45 2002-04-29
ALEXANDER LEBED KILLED IN AN AIR CRASH

Yesterday, the list of Mi-8 helicopter crashes grew by one. Alexander
Lebed, governor of Krasnoyarsk Region, died. Together with his
deputies, he set out to fly to the opening of a new ski line in
Yermakov district, in the south of Krasnoyarsk region.

The Mi-8 helicopter, which belonged to Yeniseisky Meridian air company
fell from a height of 30 m, hitting an electricity transmission line.
The accident took place at 10.25 (local time). The witnesses of the
tragedy were workers of transport police, who passed the scene while
traveling along the Abakan-Kyzyl highway. According to the witnesses,
there was no fire. In thirty minutes, they reached the spot and
managed to render medical assistance to the victims. All of them were
alive at that moment. A bit later, another Mi-8 helicopter reached the
spot, carrying the second half of the delegation.

The injured people were transported to the Yermakovskoye settlement
and, afterwards, to the city of Abakan. However, at 13.00 (local
time), the medical staff of the airport pronounced Alexander Lebed
dead.

According to the latest information, as a result of the catastrophe,
nine people died. There was a total of 21 people onboard. The victims
were mainly the passengers who set near the cockpit: Alexandr Lebed,
workers of the regional administration, and journalists.

A special commission for investigating the accident was created, which
headed by emergency minister Sergei Shoigu.

According to the wish of Alexander Lebed's family, the governor will
be buried in Moscow, in the cemetery of the Novodevicy Convent (New
Nunnery of Maiden).

Oleg Artyukov
PRAVDA.Ru
Translated by Vera Solovieva

+ + + +

http://www.cs.indiana.edu/hyplan/dmiguse/Russian/albio.html

+ + + +

[Rizla Ranger UK]

Hehehehehe, well, just goes to show
that there's a time and a place for
the Wilkes Style o' Bee's Knees :D

one for your garage, companero!
http://www.speedracer.la/

My holiday photo's
http://www.talula.freeserve.co.uk/clichekitty/
(can you spot Chuckle's new Zim Lim in the background?)

Stay Seguro!!

Don't let the board
become netsect food,
upon the floor of
the usenet jungle!

;)

Scott wrote

If you can't trust the Journos then what?
No more rubbing elbows with the likes in Washington.
Which should have been the first tell tail sign in the first place!
Hanging with the Tardo's and a player?
Well Just a thought. From a photographer...
Scott
AKA Captain
Cheers

> From: o...@ziplip.com (Rizla Ranger UK)
> Organization: http://groups.google.com/
> Newsgroups: alt.war.mercenary
> Date: 29 Apr 2002 07:53:04 -0700
> Subject: Re: SITREP - One For Wilkes!
>

[DiMethylTryptamine]

"Rizla Ranger UK" <o...@ziplip.com> wrote in message
news:7499a8cd.02042...@posting.google.com...

> Don't let the board
> become netsect food,
> upon the floor of
> the usenet jungle!

Usenet to catch insects

[Max Camirand]

On 29 Apr 2002 12:35:13 -0700, o...@ziplip.com (Rizla Ranger UK) wrote:

>apologies for the previous snippage
>as the vaesectomy doc said to the patient
>
>+ + + +
>
>I've always thought Lebed
>was one INTERESTING mofo!
>
>+ + + +

Cheers mate.

:)