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Monday,
May 20, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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Al-Qaida planning massive strike: FBI
Coalition
forces deny Afghan tribe charges Tension:
Pak may approach UN |
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Benazir
blames Musharraf for war-like situation Tigers
seek mediator at peace talks Myanmar
faces US sanctions Indian
firm indicted in Viagra racket
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Al-Qaida planning massive strike: FBI Washington, May 19 The announcement came yesterday as US intelligence analysts reported increased communication mong Al-Qaida cells around the world, which they said could be an indication that preparations for a new terrorist attack against the USA could be under way. The FBI has received information Al-Qaida leaders had discussed a possible plan to rent apartment units in the USA and plant explosives there, FBI spokeswoman Debra Weierman said here. “We have no indication that this proposed plan went beyond the discussion stage,” she said. “But in an abundance of caution, we notified our field offices and the Joint Terrorism Task Force last week,” she added. Ms Weierman described the reports about Al-Qaida’s possible plans to attack apartment complexes as unsubstantiated and uncorroborated and said they gave no clue where the targeted building were located. While there are no known recent cases of terrorist
bombings of apartment buildings in the USA, they are very well-known in Russia. Nearly 300 people were killed in a spate of bomb blasts, blamed on Chechen separatists, that rocked multi-apartment housing projects in 1999. Al-Qaida and the Chechen rebels maintain close ties, according to US officials, with the two group providing each other military assistance. The US officials and counter-terrorism experts denied that the administration of President George W. Bush had planned to raise the national security alert level, which currently remains at “yellow,” or elevated. But they warned the suspected new attack could be even more devastating than September 11 suicide strikes with hijacked airliners against the twin towers of the WTC New York and the Pentagon building near here. “There are serious threats that remain,” said White House spokeswoman Anne Womack, adding that, “We doing our best to collect the information.”
AFP |
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Coalition forces deny Afghan tribe charges Kabul, May 19 A delegation from the Sabari tribe met with US officers at Khost Airport in eastern Afghanistan to demand an explanation for the bombing, which killed at least nine of its members, and to explain its version of the events, said Khost security chief Sur Gul yesterday. The coalition says the planes struck Taliban and Al-Qaida forces that opened fire on an Australian patrol in the Khost region on Thursday. But the Sabari said their fighters were in a land dispute with another tribe when the planes bombed them. In a separate version of events, a press report said the victims were wedding guests whose celebratory gunshots into the air were misinterpreted by coalition forces as an attack. A US military spokesman denied both accounts. “I have no reason to believe that,” said Maj Bryan Hilferty. “They were shooting heavy machine gun and mortars at us. That is known Al-Qaida and Taliban area.” CANBERRA: Defence force officials here have dismissed reports from Afghanistan that Australian SAS troops were accidentally involved in a clash with warring tribesmen rather than Taliban fighters. Far from being an error, or that the Australians “blundered” into a dispute between warring Afghan factions as has been reported by the BBC, officials say heavily outnumbered Australian troops were involved in one of the toughest engagements of the war.
AFP |
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Tension: Pak may approach UN Islamabad, May 19 “Informed sources did not rule out the possibility of Pakistan asking the UN to invoke Security Council resolution No 1172 passed in 1998 when Pakistan and India had tested their nuclear weapons as this resolution specifically mentions Kashmir as the source of tension between India and Pakistan,” Pakistan daily Dawn said. Quoting sources it said Pakistan kept the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan informed on a daily basis on India’s “warlike actions” and on the ongoing heavy shelling across the LoC. “We have also asked all our High Commissioners and Ambassadors to keep the host governments posted on the developing situation and brief them on our position with regard to India’s accusations” of Islamabad’s support to cross-border terrorism,” the paper quoted sources as saying. They said Islamabad has asked the international community to use its influence with India and dissuade it from escalating tension with Pakistan. “Pakistan has not ruled out the possibility of India declaring an all-out war against it and, therefore, has taken all required steps to defend its borders and the Line of Control,” they said. The paper quoted “knowledgeable sources” as saying that India might even cut off all trade links with Islamabad. The Indian Army chief has already said that “time for action has come and most of the Indian leaders who spoke in the Lok Sabha on Friday while discussing the Jammu killings have supported this line of action”, the sources said. Meanwhile, Pakistan said it believed India might not launch a full-scale war against it but could attack Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
PTI |
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Benazir blames
Musharraf for war-like situation Islamabad, May 19 In a statement issued by her Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) here, Ms Benazir said tensions at the Indo-Pak borders threatened to get degenerated into a war for the third time since General Musharraf became army chief in 1999. “Latest tensions on the border and the threat of a potentially nuclear war emphasised the need for a political change in Pakistan so that our people can once again walk with pride on the road to progress and peace,” she said. The statement was issued before New Delhi asked Pakistan to withdraw its High Commissioner to India yesterday.
PTI |
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Tigers seek mediator
at peace talks Colombo, May 19 “The Tamil Tigers have placed a brand new demand, saying that they will call for third-party mediation for the upcoming talks,” the independent Sunday Times newspaper said, quoting the Voice of Tigers radio. The peace talks, expected to be held in Thailand, were to be directly between the government and the guerrillas. The LTTE did not specify any possible mediator, the newspaper said. The Tigers’ official Internet website, their usual means of releasing news, did not mention the new demand. There was no immediate comment from the government. After two years of attempts, Norway in February brokered historic ceasefire agreement aimed at ending the conflict between the government and the rebels. An official at the Norwegian Embassy in Colombo said today that it had not been decided whether the Norwegians would be present at the planned talks in Thailand.
AP |
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Myanmar faces US sanctions Washington, May 19 urged the ruling military junta to take substantial reform-oriented steps. “The crisis between the USA and Burma, constituted by the actions and policies of the Government of Burma, including its policies of committing large-scale repression of the democratic Opposition in Burma, that led to the declaration of a national emergency on May 20,1997, has not been resolved” said US President George W. Bush in his six-monthly report on Burma to Congress. Mr Bush extended sanctions against Myanmar for one year, insisting that Yangon’s generals must bring in reforms before they can expect concessions from Washington. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said “we are encouraged that the regime is living up to its commitment to allow Aung San Suu Kyi freedom of movement”. “We urge the regime to continue the progress by scheduling substantive talks soon with Kyi and with the National League for Democracy to move forward in political reform and national reconciliation.” Mr Boucher added. The sanctions include investment restrictions, a visa ban and a ban on lending by international financial institutions.
PTI |
Indian
firm indicted in Viagra racket New York, May 19 Prosecutors said Girish Vishwanath, director of exports for Benzo Chemical Industries in Mumbai, was among those charged with manufacturing and selling bogus Viagra pills over the Internet. Undercover investigators bought 25,000 pills for about $ 38,000 during the investigation lasting 17 months and seven arrests.
PTI |
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