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Wednesday,
September 19, 2001, Chandigarh, India  
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Victims
were from 62 nations
Hijackers
being linked to bomb plot leader FOLLOW UP Arson
attack on UK mosque
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America readies global coalition
for war on terrorism Washington/New York, September 18 Preparing the nation for a long, hard war and vowing justice for those killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon by hijacked airliners, President George W. Bush issued a warning to the ruling Taliban in Afghanistan who regard Osama bin Laden as their “guest.” “All I can tell you is that Osama bin Laden is a prime suspect, and the people who house him, encourage him, provide food, comfort or money are on notice,’’ Bush said, adding later: “And the Taliban must take my statement seriously.’’ “We will win the war and there will be costs,’’ he said, referring to casualties. “I want justice. And there’s an old poster out West that says, ‘wanted: dead or alive.’” Washington has been rallying an international coalition for a war on “terrorism’’ after three hijacked airliners reduced to rubble the twin towers of the World Trade Center, a symbol of U.S. financial might, and wrecked a wing of the Pentagon, headquarters of America’s powerful military. Another plane crashed after passengers reportedly overpowered the hijackers. The toll in the WTC attack stood at 5,422 missing, with 201 confirmed dead, after six days of rescue efforts at the smoking remains of the 110-storey twin towers. Of the dead, only 135 have been identified. Another 188 people died at the Pentagon, and 45 were killed in the crash of the fourth plane in Pennsylvania. A week after the fiery destruction of the twin towers, New York faced the wrenching question of when to call off the search for survivors and focus instead on recovering the dead. At the mountain of rubble dubbed “the pile”, an army of firefighters and other emergency workers toiling through the darkness under giant arc lights today continued to pick cautiously through the debris seeking signs of life. The government is increasing the number of Air Marshals aboard flights and there has been talk of troopers from the elite Delta force riding shotgun on planes. The FBI is following up 47,000 potential leads. Officials have named 19 men they say used knives and box cutters to commandeer the four commercial airliners. The authorities have arrested at least four witnesses with key information about the attacks or who posed a flight risk. They have detained 49 other people for immigration violations in the course of the investigation. With Washington warning the world it was time to pick sides, Britain and Italy said they would contribute militarily if asked to. British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac along with a parade of foreign ministers are due in Washington later in the week. But there were also words of caution. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a key US ally in West Asia, said it was “too early” to speak of a coalition against “terrorism,” while Iran’s supreme leader warned that any attack on Afghanistan could lead to even more problems for America. Bush urged the nation to return to normal. Bush called for an end to violence against US Muslims, which has flared up in the wake of last week’s terror attacks. “Those who feel like they can intimidate our fellow citizens to take out their anger don’t represent the best of America. They represent the worst of humankind, and they should be ashamed of that kind of behaviour,” he said at the Islamic Center in the capital yesterday. Earlier, FBI Director Robert Mueller also Sternly denounced such wrongdoing, saying: “I want to make it very clear: vigilante attacks and threats against Arab-Americans will not be tolerated.” Mueller said the FBI had initiated 40 investigations into reported attacks on Arab-Americans and institutions since the September 11 strikes. Following the attacks, which Bush and other top officials have pinned on Saudi extremist Osama bin Laden, one US Islamic advocacy group said it had recorded several hundred incidents of harassment, threats or violence.
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Victims were from 62 nations Washington, September 18 “We know of 62 countries now who have lost people in the bombings, particularly the World Trade Center bombings in New York,” spokesman Richard Boucher said yesterday. Among those hardest hit was Britain. Prime Minister Tony Blair said that the death toll of Britons, probably 200 to 300, would be the highest in any attack since the end of World War II. Germany said more than 200 of its nationals were missing, while Russian diplomats feared 117 of their nationals died in the attack. “I think everybody recognises that this challenge is one that went far beyond America, far beyond New York City and far beyond Washington,” US Secretary of State Colin Powell said. Many foreign countries had offices in the twin towers, which crumbled after being rammed on Tuesday by hijacked airliners.
AFP |
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Tribesmen deploy ack-ack guns, missiles Khyber Agency (Pakistan),
September 18 According to reports reaching here, the tribespersons, who have their own set of laws and do not always bow to Pakistani authority, have dug trenches all along the winding border. Many tribespersons on the border have kinship with Afghans “and they are ready to fight side by side with the Taliban,” it said. Pakistan has promised help to the USA for its plans to launch air raids on Afghanistan for sheltering Saudi renegade Osama bin Laden, who has been blamed by Washington for the horrific terror strikes in New York and Washington that killed thousands on September 11. Pakistan’s decision has sparked anger in parts of Pakistan, where anti-USA feelings and support for the Taliban militia run high. The Taliban was founded in Islamic seminaries of Pakistan and seized power in Kabul five years ago. Online said the trenches on the border were dug with the help of the Taliban. Taliban soldiers had also taken up positions in the trenches. “Besides surface-to-surface and anti-aircraft missiles, anti-aircraft guns and rocket launchers have also been deployed in these trenches and the (tribespersons) are preparing to target US planes,” a report said. A worried Pakistan Government has tightened security measures along the border and decided to monitor the situation in Peshawar and other areas where thousands of Afghan refugees live and which serve as transit points between Afghanistan and Pakistan. A special cell was monitoring all these areas “to avert and deal with any disturbance or law and order situation in reaction to possible US retaliatory strikes,” Online said. Pakistani religious leaders have come out openly against Pakistan’s backing to Washington. Some have warned that the USA would meet its nemesis in Afghanistan. A cleric, Maulana Abdul Aziz, told protesters in Islamabad that
the USA “would be wiped out from the map of the world” if Muslim religious leaders announced a jehad against it. “If Musharraf fails to show courage, it will be the end for him,” he warned. Chaman (Pakistan): “What’s the fault of our innocent children?” asks a distraught Afghan woman near the Afghanistan border waiting to cross over to Pakistan ahead of feared U.S. strikes. Afghans, particularly women and children, have started swarming the Pakistan border in western Baluchistan to evade possible U.S. attacks in retaliation to the terror strikes, SADA reported. Government sources have confirmed the arrival of more than 20,000 Afghans in Pakistan. Afghan families are flocking to the border to cross over to Pakistan through the less frequented Chaman area in Baluchistan. Most Afghan refugees accuse the USA of moving in haste and without concrete evidence to show the connection between Saudi renegade Osama bin Laden. The grim faces of these Afghans manifest the pains they have undergone during two decades of war: first with the former Soviet Union and then among their own people. The authorities have directed border guards to stem the fresh influx of refugees from Afghanistan into Pakistan, which already houses hundreds of thousands of them. An observer said it would be an uphill task for Pakistan to stop the entry of the Afghans because the porous border stretching over 1,200 km is difficult to seal. Besides, there is congruence of social, religious and cultural values between the locals in Baluchistan and the refugees.
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Hijackers being linked to bomb plot leader New York, September 18 Two of the suspected hijackers, Ahmed Alghamdi and Satam al-Suqami, have been identified by federal agents as being linked to a former Boston cab driver, Hijazi, who is on trial as a suspected ring leader of the millennium bomb plot, which was foiled by the Jordanian authorities, the New York Times reported. That man, Nabil al-Marabh (34), had been linked to Alghamdi and Al-Suqami as part of an earlier investigation by the United States Customs Service, the officials said.
PTI |
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FOLLOW UP THE ideal image of the British police, which generated the confidence of civilians of that of a “friend”, is a myth, when it comes to ethnic minorities living in England. Is this a comment from some ethnic minority political leader? Is it based on some recent developments like Bradford riots? No, nothing of that sort. This aforesaid statement is born out of researching 50 years record of the British police. The first sign of deep rift between the ethnic minorities of England and the British police had appeared in the late 1950s. It was 1948 and the venue, Liverpool. More than 2,000 whites attacked a hostel meant only for the black seamen, who had migrated to England after the end of World War II. The blacks were being abused and brutally assaulted, when the British police arrived. But instead of protecting the trapped and helpless black seamen, the British police had actually joined forces with the white attackers and had indulged in physically assaulting them. Renowned researchers like John Solomos in 1948, Anthony Richmond in 1954 and Peter Fryer in 1984 have all commented on that incident. And that it was the first of its kind that had sowed seeds of racist attitudes in the British police. The same psyche and attitudes germinating in the British police re-surfaced in 1958. This time it was London’s district of Notting Hill and the East Midland city, Nottingham. Once again the British police had joined hands with the white attackers in perpetuating collective violence against ethnic minority residents. In the late 50s and early 60s, the visibility of Asian communities — Indians, Pakistanis, Lankans etc. — was far less as compared to various Africans. Hence much of the racist hostilities against ethnic minorities was targeted against Africans. In the late 60s the British police brought a law called “SUS” into force. This law enabled the British police officers to stop and search people on suspicion. But within two years of the implementation of SUS the racist tendencies of the police were exposed. The number of apprehended African Caribbean youth under this law was so large that the law itself had to be removed in the face of protests. But the racist hostilities of the British police continued to germinate despite many a policy decision at the government level. In 1981 civil disturbances in Liverpool, Manchester and London re-emerged displaying the racist psyche and attitudes of the British police. Interestingly, similar trends and attitudes of the police force is being witnessed in far away USA too. There is no denying the fact that the entire West is ridden with racism and has never been able to wriggle out of these shackles on their souls for centuries. In the aftermath of the aforesaid riots in the USA, a “Kermer Report” (1968) was compiled which concluded: “Police force has come to symbolize white power, white racism and white repression”. It was the Kermer Report, which prompted Scarman to report on trends in the British police. Scarman too eventually analysed that “The spirit of rebellion was essentially an outburst of anger against the British police”. For years after the 1981 outbursts in London, Liverpool and Manchester violent disturbances in Birmingham took place in 1985.At Brixton in London area, the racist British police attitudes resulted in the shooting of a black mother of six. This further generated a series of violent rebellion. It was at this stage that Scarman had recommended that the British police should recruit police officers from the ethnic minorities, “as a matter of urgency”. It was acknowledged that ethnic minorities did not have a fair representation in the police. However, unlike the USA which under Kermer recommendations had instantly recruited ethnic minorities into its police fairly representing their population, the British police continued to ignore the recommendations. The British police attitudes towards recruiting officers from ethnic minorities were exposed in the Macpherson Report of 1999. For instance, in an area of high ethnic minority concentration the Metropolitan Police’s ethnic minority officers accounted for a mere 3.3 per cent of all officers where 25.5 per cent population was that of ethnic minority. Similarly, under-representation existed elsewhere too. For instance, in the West Midlands ethnic minority officers’ percentage was 4.16 (against 16.11 per cent of surrounding population). In West Yorkshire it was 2.64 per cent (9.45 per cent); Greater Manchester, 2.4 (7.58 per cent); Nottinghamshire, 2.64 per cent (3.52 per cent); and Derbyshire, 1.97 per cent (3.28 per cent). Only the area of Norfolk had a percentage of ethnic minority officers, 1.14 per cent, which actually exceeded the one per cent of ethnic minorities in the surrounding population. Six months after the Macpherson Report, the Home Office of England revealed to the media that the number of ethnic minority officers in England and Wales had risen by only 37 in one year. |
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Arson attack on
UK mosque Manchester, September 18 The police said it was treating the fire, which they described as minor and caused no injuries, as suspicious, and appealed for calm. The police said it was investigating to see if the fire was linked to tensions following last week’s terrorist attacks against the USA.
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