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Tuesday,
February 26, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Siege around Arafat’s compound lifted Omar remanded for 14 more days
USA considering indictment in Pearl case |
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Al-Qaida trained recruits from UK Chandrika does it again!
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Siege around Arafat’s compound lifted Ramallah, February 25 Meanwhile, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres apologised to Palestinian Parliament Speaker Ahmed Qorei after soldiers opened fire on his car at a West Bank checkpoint on Sunday. Mr Qorei,
who has held talks with Israeli leaders aimed at halting the 17-month Middle East conflict, stopped his armoured car after troops opened fire at the Qalandia checkpoint outside Ramallah, hitting it with eight bullets. Mr Peres told Mr Qorei that he was very sorry about the incident and that the Army would investigate and draw the necessary conclusions. The Army said in a statement that Mr Qorei's car had approached the checkpoint at a "high speed". "The soldiers were afraid that the car was going to hit them and fired warning shots into the air until the car stopped," the army said. An initial inquiry found that the soldiers didn't identify the vehicle and didn't know that it was "Qorei's car, whose passage through the checkpoint was earlier coordinated. NABLUS
(WEST BANK): Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian man and wounded his pregnant wife and father early on Monday near the West Bank town of Nablus, Palestinian security sources said. Mohammed Hayek, (22), was killed by Israeli troops guarding a road block near the town of Hawwara, not far from Nablus.
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Omar remanded for 14 more days Karachi, February 25 Hours before the appearance of British-born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, dozens of troops and an armoured car were already in position around the Sindh High Court building in central Karachi. Sheikh Omar was today remanded in police custody for another 14 days as investigators pursue evidence in the slaying of US reporter Daniel Pearl, a judicial official said. A judge ordered the new remand and did not pursue murder charges "On the basis that the investigation agencies have to recover the body and further evidence," said Raja Qureshi, Attorney-General of the southern Sindh province. A lawyer for Fahad Naseem, accused of sending e-mails of Pearl in captivity, said Omar told the court he did not want to "make any confessional statement." In his last court appearance, Omar had admitted to masterminding the abduction of the Wall Street Journal correspondent. A videotape surfaced a week later showing Pearl beheaded. His remains have yet to be found. "I don’t want to make any confessional statement. The police has been (trying to) force us to sign blank papers," Omar said, according to the lawyer, Khawaja Naveed. But Mr Qureshi said Omar did not make any statement to the court. Naseem has been sent to judicial custody over the e-mails. He did not appear in court today, officials said. Two other alleged e-mailers, Salman Saquib and police intelligence officer Sheikh Adil, appeared with Omar and were also remanded in police custody for 14 days.
Reuters, AFP |
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USA considering indictment in Pearl case Washington, February 25 The newspaper, which employed Pearl, said US Justice Department officials are considering the possibility of convening a federal grand jury to hear evidence in either the Eastern District of Virginia or in Washington DC. The report said it was unclear whether the USA would press the Pakistani Government to turn over suspects in the case for trial in the USA. The decision would depend on whether the USA is satisfied with Pakistan’s handling of the case and whether President Musharraf’s government will agree to make suspects available to the US authorities, the newspaper said. Pakistan does not have an extradition treaty with the USA. A law enforcement official quoted by the newspaper said a US indictment of Saeed had been issued last November in connection with his role in a 1994 kidnapping of an American and three other Western tourists in India. The sealed indictment was first reported by Newsweek. The USA has said it will pursue the assassins of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl even within Pakistan. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, speaking in an interview on CBS television, however, expressed doubts about the involvement of Pakistan’s ISI in the Pearl assassination. Asked if Washington would be asking for the extradition of Pearl’s murderers, Mr Rumsfeld said, “The US government may very well want to try to extradite the people involved if possible for the killing of an American, which would seem to me as a non-lawyer to be a reasonable thing.” But, he said, President Bush had yet to take a decision on that. Mr Rumsfeld said there was speculation that the Al Qaida network was involved in the Pearl kidnapping on January 23 and his subsequent murder. “That is a matter that needs to be carefully looked at before charges and allegations are made. But I have seen snippets that suggest that that’s the case,” Mr Rumsfeld said about the connection. He conceded that there had been a report that disgruntled Pakistani intelligence agents whom President Pervez Musharraf had ousted may have been behind the Pearl kidnapping and death, but emphasised he had no theory on the killing. Following revelations on the grisly video of Pearl’s death that came to light two days ago, analysts have been predicting Washington is not only re-evaluating its relationship with Pakistan but also putting greater pressure on General Musharraf on implementing the anti-terrorist agenda he announced on January 12. Mr Rumsfeld also indicated that Washington may be looking to the extradition of Omar Saeed Sheikh who is in custody and has admitted to masterminding Pearl’s abduction.
Reuters, IANS |
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Al-Qaida trained recruits from UK London, 25 February Yacine Aknouche, a 27-year-old Algerian, detained in Paris two weeks ago, is said to be `singing like a canary' after seeing a dossier containing detailed surveillance of his movements in the past three years. According to police sources, Aknouche was a key figure in organising al-Qaida cells in France and Germany and has confessed to having met both Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called `20th hijacker' and Richard Reid, the `shoe-bomber', while in Afghanistan 18 months ago. One Middle East intelligence service told The Observer that Aknouche had lived in Britain for several months before moving to France. He had entered the UK on a false passport after being arrested on suspicion of credit card fraud in Germany, the source said. However, the French authorities have yet to make Aknouche available to British investigators for questioning. According to the French Government sources, almost all judicial co-operation on terrorism between the UK and France has stopped, even though relations between the two intelligence services are good. A long-standing quarrel over British tolerance for Islamic militants wanted by Paris has flared over the treatment of Abu Qatada, the British-based cleric known to have strong links to Algerian terrorist groups operating in France. They are furious that Abu Qatada - who was top of a British list of terrorist suspects to be interned under new legislation in December - was allowed to 'disappear'. Some French officials have gone so far as to brief newspapers that Qatada was allowed to escape internment because he was an `MI5 agent'. They also allege that Britain was a 'revolving door' for Islamic militants because of lax asylum policies. Aknouche, a former student of chemistry, is also believed to have worked with Abu Doha, who allegedly arranged the flight training for the September 11 hijackers from West London. Aknouche has named Doha, who denies all charges, as Bin Laden's UK 'recruiter'.
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Chandrika does it again! Colombo, February 25 Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe had planned to promote seven non-Cabinet ministers today, but Chandrika played hard-to-get and put off the official swearing-in ceremony by three days, the officials said. They said the President was also yet to make her stand known on the historic ceasefire agreement which Mr Wickremesinghe has entered into with the LTTE. Ms Kumaratunga has accused Mr Wickremesinghe’s government of violating the Cabinet procedures and rushing to conclude the truce deal. Officials at the President’s office said she would soon make a detailed statement on the ceasefire agreement which went into effect on Saturday.
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