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Friday,
February 15, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Al-Qaida
remnants plan fresh attacks on USA
Milosevic
in no mood to give in
Arafat
owns up arms shipment Saddam is
Bush’s next target |
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30 EU
observers allowed but not head
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Al-Qaida remnants plan fresh attacks on USA
New York, February 14 Abu Zubaydah has been linked directly to the planning of the September 11 strikes, and tied to plans for a wave of attacks in Europe that were to occur last year, including plots to blow up the American embassies in Paris and Sarajevo, The Times said, citing US officials. American investigators said they were convinced that Abu Zubaydah was now trying to activate Al-Qaida sleeper cells for new strikes on the USA and its allies, the daily reported. Investigators are eager to apprehend Abu Zubaydah because he is one of the few Al-Qaida leaders believed to know the identities of the thousands of trainees that passed through the network’s camps in Afghanistan and could still be awaiting instructions, it said. American intelligence agencies believe that he was at Osama bin Laden’s side in Afghanistan in the first weeks after September 11, and Bush administration officials say there is fragmentary evidence that he escaped to Pakistan, it reported. Abu Zubaydah first came to the attention of American counter-terrorism experts as a major Al-Qaida figure after they received reports that he had coordinated plots to attack Los Angeles International Airport and tourist sites in Jordan in December 1999. Abu Zubaydah travels the world using false passports and multiple aliases, it said. His full name is believed to be Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn Abu Zubaydah. The newspaper said Abu Zubaydah, reportedly born in Saudi Arabia, has taken over the job of Muhammad Atef, who is believed to have been killed in a US bombing raid in Afghanistan. WASHINGTON: Unidentified assailants fired on a US base in Kandahar yesterday, triggering a firefight and a search that netted seven armed Afghans who turned out to be "friendly" troops contracted to provide security, a US military spokesman said. The US troops detained the armed Afghans in an area outside the base perimeter where the shooting had occurred, said Navy Commander Frank Merriman, a spokesman for the US Central Command. The incident began when unidentified assailants fired at US positions on the perimeter of the Kandahar airfield where more than 2,000 troops from the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division are based, he said. The US troops responded by firing mortar rounds to illuminate the area and then opened fire with machine guns, he said Two soldiers suffered scrapes and bruises. AH-64 Apache helicopter gunships were also sent aloft to search for the assailants, he said. The seven persons detained by the US troops turned out to be members of an Afghan security force that had been contracted to patrol the area outside the base perimeter, Mr Merriman said.
Reuters, AFP |
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US tip-offs on Al-Qaida ‘wrong’ Teheran, February 14 Iran had challenged the USA earlier this month to produce evidence that members of Osama bin Laden’s network were inside Iran. The agency said US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad told the BBC that Washington had passed the information to Iranian diplomats during multilateral talks on Afghanistan. “That information is old, wrong and imprecise,” it quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi as saying during a visit alongwith Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi to Bangladesh.
Reuters |
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US planes rain dollars, not bombs
Chaman, Pakistan, February 14 Some of the envelopes were carried by the wind and fluttered to the earth over the Pakistan border town of Chaman, sending people scrambling for the cash. “C-130 planes dropped white-coloured paper envelopes with a photo of President Bush and two bills of $100 each,’’ said Abdul Hadi, a resident of Chaman on the border with southern Afghanistan. “They are actually dropping these over areas across the border but a few were carried away by the wind to this side,’’ Hadi said. “People pushed and fought with each other to get their hands on the envelopes.’’ The envelopes bore no message, the witnesses said.
Reuters |
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Milosevic
in no mood to give in
The Hague, February 14 After nearly two days of the prosecutors’ opening statements, Milosevic was given a chance to speak. But with less than 30 minutes left before a scheduled adjournment, he declined to begin his formal statement. Instead, he demanded that the trial judges respond to his motions during pre-trial hearings that the court was illegal and that his arrest and transfer to The Hague violated the Serb and Yugoslav Constitutions. He accused chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte of already proclaiming his guilt and his sentence by conducting “a parallel legal process” in the media. Presiding judge Richard May rejected his charges, and said the court had already ruled on its own legality. Milosevic’s first words of the trial reflected the same defiant and belligerent tone he adopted in his five earlier pre-trial appearances since he was brought to The Hague from Belgrade last June 28. BELGRADE: Milosevic would have stopped atrocities in the Bosnian and Croatian wars if he had been in a position to do so, his daughter was quoted as saying. Marija Milosevic, who fired off pistol shots in anger when the ex-president was arrested last year, told Belgrade daily national yesterday she watched her father’s trial at the UN War Crimes Tribunal — ‘’the nonsense from The Hague’’ — all day on Tuesday. She said it was illogical to try him for crimes committed in Croatia and Bosnia when he was not even Yugoslav President. Milosevic held the powerful post of Serbian President from 1990 to 1997 before becoming Yugoslav head of state. “I can’t believe he’s being tried for women and houses being burned in Bosnia and Croatia in 1991 and 1992,’’ she added. “Dad would certainly have prevented that if he could, by any means.’’ She also said she was shocked to hear the Yugoslav Army’s shelling of the historic Croatian city of Dubrovnik in 1991 being cited in the prosecution’s case against her father.
AP, Reuters |
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Arafat owns up arms shipment
Washington, February 14 “He wrote me a letter three days ago on the Karine-A accepting responsibility — not personal responsibility, but as chairman of the Palestinian Authority,” Mr Powell told a House of Representatives sub-committee. The USA has been pushing the Palestinian leader to crack down on militants and find out who was behind the Karine-A vessel caught in the Red Sea loaded with 50 tonnes of weapons including Katyusha rockets and explosives. Israel blamed Mr Arafat for the shipment, which it said came from Iran, but the USA has not accused him personally, saying there is no proof that he knew about it. Iran has denied any involvement. Meanwhile, the Bush administration had kept its distance from Mr Arafat, declining to send special mediator Anthony Zinni back to the region — a visit sought by the Palestinians who are infuriated by Israel’s virtual confinement of their leader to the West Bank town of Ramallah. Mr Powell said Mr Arafat’s rule was not over and that Israel and the USA had kept in contact with his close associates. “No, we are not there, and I don’t know when it will arrive,” he said when asked if the post-Arafat era had come. “All of us are mortal. But Chairman Arafat remains the elected leader of the Palestinian Authority,” he said. Mr Powell said Mr Arafat was working on “a couple of lists” of people the USA and Israel wanted to see behind bars. Keeping in step with the US ally Israel, Mr Powell said violence had to be reduced and expressed understanding for Israel’s position that talks could not begin until it had. “He (Sharon) owes his people security, and until he can get some level of security when bombs are not going off and they’re not spending their days going to funerals, he is unable and unwilling, for quite understandable reasons, to pursue negotiations of a political nature,” Mr Powell said.
Reuters |
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Saddam is Bush’s next target
New York, February 14 During a joint press conference with Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf yesterday, Mr Bush said: “I’ll keep them close to my vest. Saddam Hussein needs to understand I’m serious about defending our country”. “How to achieve regime change through opposition activity, military activity, other kinds of activity, all of those options are under consideration,” Secretary of State Colin Powell told the budget subcommittee at the House of Representatives. But analysts say it does not mean immediate attack on the country as the plan could encompass several elements, including arming and training of opposition in neighbouring countries, including Turkey and Kuwait, provided they agree. The USA would initially make efforts to get the UN weapons inspectors back in Iraq with the support of its allies, many of whom are at present averse to any action. If all other efforts fail, the conventional US force could move in, ABC television network reported. However, in case Washington decides to send troops, the administration would have to consider the issue of casualties and its impact on the public opinion at home, the analysts say. ABC reported that CIA was again spending money trying to encourage insurrection from within Iraq with the aim that, like Afghanistan, locals bear the brunt of fighting. MOSCOW: Russia stepped up its criticism today of possible US military action against Iraq, saying unilateral strikes could jeopardise the global coalition against terrorism formed after September 11. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told Interfax news agency that military strikes alone could not defeat terrorism, and any use of force must first be sanctioned by the UN Security Council. On Monday Russian President Vladimir Putin told the Wall Street Journal in an interview that there was “no excuse’’ to use force against Iraq, Iran or North Korea. Military action would be “an extreme measure’’, Ivanov said, but it was “absolutely clear’’ that the problem of international terrorism cannot be solved by the use of force alone, even if its use is really necessary.’’ PARIS: France’s Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine has said his government opposed both the idea of a US military campaign against Iraq and of continuing tough sanctions against Baghdad. “Iraq is under UN regulations requiring it to submit to arms inspections. It has not respected them, so we should maintain pressure on this country, but we think an embargo touching the whole population is not the best solution,” he said on LCI television. “Neither is a military offensive a solution,” he said.
PTI, Reuters, AFP |
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30 EU observers allowed but not head Harare, February 14 Swedish diplomat Schori said the European Commission in Harare was still negotiating with Zimbabwe's government for his accreditation, but that most members of the 30-strong EU team in Harare had been registered as observers. "We had about 30 accredited today and tomorrow we will be deploying about 12 teams around the country. I haven't sought accreditation yet for obvious reasons," Schori told newsmen. But he said would press on for official clearance as the EU team leader. "We have a mission to do here," he said. The 30 were from the nine EU countries Mugabe's government had invited to observe the poll, he added. Schori was also leader of the EU observer delegation to Zimbabwe's parliamentary election in 2000. But international criticism has increased since then with the invasion of white-owned farms by Mugabe supporters. Mugabe's government at first banned citizens of former colonial power Britain from the EU team. It later failed to invite representatives from Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. Most are known as generous aid donors but they have also been outspoken critics of Mugabe's land seizures and human rights record. With only 23 days to go before Zimbabwe's presidential election, analysts say Harare's fencing with the EU and delays in getting observers on the ground mean their impact on ensuring a free and fair poll is likely to be marginal. Zimbabwe's refusal to accredit Schori, chosen to lead the 150-strong European Union team sent to observe the March 9-10 vote, has added to opposition fears that the electoral process is being rigged. Mugabe is seeking to extend his 22-year rule but is being strongly challenged by opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai. The MDC said a video broadcast on Australian television which alleged Tsvangirai had discussed a plot to assassinate Mugabe was part of a smear campaign by the government. It strongly denied that Tsvangirai was involved in any plot against the veteran President. Australia's Special Broadcasting Service screened a video on Wednesday which it said showed Tsvangirai at a meeting in Montreal with political consultants discussing a plot to assassinate Mugabe. A Canadian political consultancy firm issued a statement on Wednesday saying it had secretly filmed the video. On Thursday, Zimbabwe's privately owned weekly Financial Gazette lamented that it might be too late for the EU observer team to have any impact.
Reuters |
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