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Wednesday,
September 11, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Missiles
deployed around Washington
‘Worldwide
caution’ UN
chief’s call to defeat terrorism Indian on
UN rights panel Dalai
Lama’s envoys in Beijing for talks |
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Missiles deployed around Washington Washington, September 10 They said the ‘’Avenger’’ systems — heat-seeking Stinger missiles on military jeeps — will be stationed at the bases for at least four days beginning today, including tomorrow’s anniversary of September11 hijacked airliner attacks on America. The officials, who asked not to be identified, said the “Clear Skies2”exercise did not call for the missiles to carry live warheads, although Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld could order warheads mounted on the little Stingers. The exercise, similar to one held in the summers, will test the integration of F-16 fighter jet patrols protecting Washington around the clock and missiles, radar and communications between military and civilian agencies. The military began deploying some of the missile-carrying vehicles around the Pentagon and other bases on Monday. One stood near where an airliner slammed into the Pentagon last September 11. The attacks also included the smashing of two hijacked airliners into the World Trade Center in New York City. A fourth hijacked airliner, believed headed for Washington, crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. Some 3,000 persons died in the devastating attacks, blamed on the Al -Qaida guerrilla network of fugitive militant Osama bin Laden. “The Clear Skies exercise is to test the viability of a multilayered defence of the national Capital region,’’ a defence official said. “It will include the missiles, F-16s, AWACS (airborne warning and control system) radar planes and communications between the military and the Federal Aviation Administration,’’ the official said. Officials said that all of the armed services would be involved, along with the North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD), the air defence network of fighter jets shared by the USA and Canada. With the attack anniversary approaching, the U.S. military last Thursday resumed 24-hour air patrols by fighter jets over Washington and New York. The round-the-clock patrols were resumed a day before hundreds of members of the U.S. Congress flew to New York, meeting there on Friday for the first time in more than 200 years, to mark the anniversary of the attacks. The pilots could be used, with tight restrictions, to shoot down a commercial airliner if it appeared to be headed for a sensitive ground target. But there was nothing specific and nothing to indicate that a terror attack was being planned for the anniversary, a U.S. official said. In March, patrols were reduced over New York City and later over Washington to a mix of regular flights and ‘’strip alerts’’ involving planes standing by at military and civilian airports to be scrambled into the air on very short notice. Patrols have, meanwhile, also been continued on an intermittent basis over other key areas of the country, including other possible targets such as nuclear plants.
Reuters |
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‘Worldwide caution’
Washington, September 10 In a statement termed “worldwide caution”, the State Department urged the Americans abroad to be “especially vigilant during the period around the anniversary of the attacks of September 11.”
AFP |
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UN chief’s call to defeat terrorism United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday urged the world community to get together in defeating the problem of terrorism saying “there could be no greater effort to the spirit and purpose of the UN than the terrorist attacks of September 11.” In his message on the eve of the first anniversary of 9/11, Mr Annan said: “Everything that we work for — peace, development, health, freedom— is damaged by this horror. Everything that we believe in— respect for human life, justice, tolerance, pluralism and democracy— is threatened by it.” He noted that more than 90 nations lost sons and daughters of their own in the 9/11 tragedy. “Today, we come together as a world community because we were attacked as a world community. There have been and will be other occasions to explore the causes of the attacks — and explored they must be. There will be other occasions to debate our response to the attacks — and debated it must be. There will be other occasions to consider how best to maintain the global unity of that day — and considered it must be.”
TNS |
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Indian on UN rights panel
United Nations, September 10 Those re-elected to the 18-person Human Rights Committee yesterday were Mr Prafullachandra Bhagwati of India, Mr Abdelfattah Amor of Tunisia, Mr Nisuke Ando of Japan, Ms Christine Chanet of France and Mr Hipolito Slari Yrigoyen of Argentina. The committee monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, considered by many scholars and international lawyers to be one of the most important international human rights treaties. The newly elected committee members begin their four-year terms on January .
AP |
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Dalai Lama’s envoys in Beijing for talks
Beijing, September 10 The visit by Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari and Kelsang Gyaltsen, who arrived yesterday, reflected a softening in Beijing’s attitude towards Dalai Lama since a major Tibet policy review last year, analysts said. The envoys were expected to discuss about further talks, possibly covering a visit to China by the Dalai Lama, but were unlikely to resolve the main obstacle — Beijing’s demand that he recognise that Tibet and Taiwan are part of China, the analysts said. China said the envoys would survey the changes in Tibet and hold broad-ranging exchanges, but also accused the Dalai Lama of undermining the stability of the region and repeated Beijing’s preconditions for talks on his future. The envoys would travel to the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, and leave around the end of the month, said Tenzin Taklha, deputy secretary to the Dalai Lama. “His Holiness is very pleased that the team is able to make such a visit,” he said from the north Indian town of Dharamsala, where the Dalai Lama has run his government in exile since fleeing from Tibet in 1959 after an uprising against the Chinese rule. “He has always been trying to start some sort of dialogue with the Chinese Government,” said Mr Taklha. “He is not seeking independence. He is seeking the middle way, which is genuine autonomy.”
Reuters |
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