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Monday,
January 20, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Global
protests against Iraq war After
Iraq, Pak could be target: Musharraf Name
‘Muhammad’ can cause problem Al-Qaida
terrorists in UK
2 children killed in
Nepal blast |
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10
rebels killed in Philippines SA
hostage drama claims one life
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Global protests against Iraq war
Washington, January 19 The police said 30,000 protesters, part of a much larger crowd that packed the east end of the National Mall and spilled onto the Capitol grounds, marched through the streets. “We stand here today, a new generation of anti-war activists,” Peta Lindsay from International Answer, the main organisers of the protest, told marchers shivering in biting cold. “This is just the beginning. We will stop this war.” The Bush Administration appears to think that if it is a short war with not many casualties, the protests will die down. If the war lasts long and there are too many soldiers arriving in body bags, the mood will change. Polls show that though 62 per cent of Americans are for war, the number reduced to 42 per cent if the USA goes to war without the sanction of the United Nations. The White House did not seem to be worried about the demonstrations. “Protests are a time-honoured American tradition,” White House spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo said while press secretary Ari Fleicher said the protesters did not represent the majority of the Americans. “We don’t want this war and we don’t want a government that wants this war,” anti-war activist Brenda Stokely said. Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson said: “We march today to fight militarism and racism, sexism and anti-semitism and Arab-bashing.” Those who supported plans for war, said the protesters did not understand the threat of Saddam Hussein. “It is a war of liberation for people,” they claimed. LONDON: In the biggest day of protests the world has seen so far against a possible US-led war on Iraq, hundreds of thousands of demonstrators across the globe took to the streets. There were a series of anti-war demonstration yesterday in the UK, including a two-hour protest outside the permanent Joint Headquarters of the British Armed Forces in north London. There were anti-war rallies or vigils in Bradford, Bristol, Hereford, Liverpool and Glasgow. There were similar demonstrations across France and Germany, Russia, Ireland, New Zealand, Japan, Pakistan and in the Middle East. One of the largest was in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
PTI |
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After Iraq, Pak could be target: Musharraf
Islamabad, January 19 Addressing a meeting of businessmen and industrialists in Lahore yesterday, he said it was being speculated that Pakistan would become the target of “western forces” after the Iraq crisis and there were chances of such an eventuality. “We will have to work on our own to stave off the danger. Nobody will come to our rescue, not even the Islamic world. We will have to depend on our muscle”, he was quoted as saying by The News today. The statement was seen here as an “extraordinary observation” as he spoke not only of a crisis similar to Iraq but even expressed doubts about the “western forces”. On the Taliban and the Al-Qaida regrouping, he said: “Some foreigners in Pakistan are harming US interests here though we take them as brothers.” He also appealed to Pakistanis to shun extremism. “Muslims are suffering everywhere but in the hour of the need no one would help us because everyone has his own interests. We will have to be a very moderate country not with a confrontationist approach but with a liberal mind.” He said he wanted US troops to stay in Afghanistan to improve the security in that war-torn country. “I think the USA for the time being should stay for the stability of Afghanistan which would ultimately benefit Pakistan. All gas and oil pipelines would pass through Pakistan once peace was restored in Afghanistan”, he said.
PTI |
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USA deports 1,000 Pakistanis Islamabad, January 19 About 1,000 detainees have already been deported by the authorities in the USA, the Dawn reported, quoting Pakistan’s deputy chief of mission in Washington Mohammad Sadiq. Pakistanis living in the USA were required to register with the Immigration and Naturalisation Service ((INS), along with their photographs and fingerprints, from January 13 to February 21. So far only six Pakistanis had been detained during the registration, the newspaper reported.
UNI |
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Name ‘Muhammad’ can cause problem in the USA WHAT is in a name? William Shakespeare may have exclaimed, but in the present-day panic stricken USA, some names can cause problems. A national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group in Washington has called on the Western Union, to clarify its policy on racial and religious profiling after receiving a report that the money transfer service demands to know the national origin of any customer named “Muhammad”. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said a Muslim by that name recently attempted to send $ 80 to relatives in Connecticut from a Western Union site in New York. After returning home, the African-American customer reported that he received a call from Western Union’s main office demanding that, because of his name, he must provide photo identification and state his country of birth, otherwise the money would not be delivered. When the customer protested against the policy and requested a refund, he was told that the funds would not be returned unless he met the company’s demands. “Western Union must clarify whether this incident truly reflects company policy or is merely the product of individual prejudice and stereotyping,” CAIR communications director Ibrahim Hooper, said in a letter to Western Union President Michael Yerington. “To single out customers transferring funds within the USA based solely on a religiously-specific name, and then to demand that they reveal their national origin, violates basic principles of equality that all Americans hold dear”. According to CAIR, a year ago, Western Union had to apologise for freezing funds of a Muslim family apparently based on religious and ethnic profiling. In that incident, an African-American Muslim was informed that the money his family sent him from Virginia was not in Western Union records. When his mother called to see what had happened to the money she transferred, she discovered that the money was frozen until her son provided further documentation of his US citizenship. There is an estimated 7 million Muslims in the USA and some 1.2 billion
worldwide. A. Balu What is in a name? William Shakespeare may have exclaimed, but in the present-day panic stricken USA, some names can cause problems. A national Islamic civil rights and advocacy group in Washington has called on the Western Union, to clarify its policy on racial and religious profiling after receiving a report that the money transfer service demands to know the national origin of any customer named “Muhammad”. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said a Muslim by that name recently attempted to send $ 80 to relatives in Connecticut from a Western Union site in New York. After returning home, the African-American customer reported that he received a call from Western Union’s main office demanding that, because of his name, he must provide photo identification and state his country of birth, otherwise the money would not be delivered. When the customer protested against the policy and requested a refund, he was told that the funds would not be returned unless he met the company’s demands. “Western Union must clarify whether this incident truly reflects company policy or is merely the product of individual prejudice and stereotyping,” CAIR communications director Ibrahim Hooper, said in a letter to Western Union President Michael Yerington. “To single out customers transferring funds within the USA based solely on a religiously-specific name, and then to demand that they reveal their national origin, violates basic principles of equality that all Americans hold dear”. According to CAIR, a year ago, Western Union had to apologise for freezing funds of a Muslim family apparently based on religious and ethnic profiling. In that incident, an African-American Muslim was informed that the money his family sent him from Virginia was not in Western Union records. When his mother called to see what had happened to the money she transferred, she discovered that the money was frozen until her son provided further documentation of his US citizenship. There is an estimated 7 million Muslims in the USA and some 1.2 billion worldwide. |
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Al-Qaida terrorists in UK London, January 19 Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens said a large number of people were being watched and “a number” were yet to be arrested. “But I think, very cleverly, what bin Laden and others have done is actually lock into established terrorist groups to see if they can use their potential”, he said. “There's still a large number of people we are watching, there's still a number of people who have yet to be arrested, but as I said we are working very, very closely with the security services,” he said today in an interview to Sky News. On being asked if people were linked to the Al-Qaida, he said: “I think there's no doubt they are and we know that there's certain links with the Al-Qaida and, of course, the link with North Africa is proven with other groups as well.” The Commissioner said it was not known whether weapons of mass destruction were falling into the hands of terrorists from rogue states. “We know these people are quite prepared to give their lives, they are extremely ruthless and they are prepared to use weapons which perhaps people who have been involved in domestic terrorism have not been prepared to use, so therefore there is a need for us to up our game and we are doing that,” he said. His message comes after police operations in north London where officers discovered the toxic agent ricin and in Manchester where an officer was killed. Terrorists linked to the Al-Qaida remain in Britain and are using the resources of “established” terror groups, UK's seniormost police chief has said. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens said a large number of people were being watched and “a number” were yet to be arrested. “But I think, very cleverly, what bin Laden and others have done is actually lock into established terrorist groups to see if they can use their potential”, he said. “There's still a large number of people we are watching, there's still a number of people who have yet to be arrested, but as I said we are working very, very closely with the security services,” he said today in an interview to Sky News. On being asked if people were linked to the Al-Qaida, he said: “I think there's no doubt they are and we know that there's certain links with the Al-Qaida and, of course, the link with North Africa is proven with other groups as well.” The Commissioner said it was not known whether weapons of mass destruction were falling into the hands of terrorists from rogue states. “We know these people are quite prepared to give their lives, they are extremely ruthless and they are prepared to use weapons which perhaps people who have been involved in domestic terrorism have not been prepared to use, so therefore there is a need for us to up our game and we are doing that,” he said. His
message comes after police operations in north London where officers
discovered the toxic agent ricin and in Manchester where an officer
was killed. PTI |
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2 children killed in Nepal blast
Kathmandu, January 19 The children, aged eight and 11 years, were blown up at Jumla yesterday, where Maoist rebels, during an attack on the district headquarters some time ago, had left behind the explosive, according to The Kathmandu Post. Meanwhile, security forces gunned down nine rebels in separate encounters in Salyan, Humla, Taplejung Sankhuwa Sabha and Ilam districts during the last 48 hours, according to official sources. Besides, the Nepal Human Rights Organisation held a peace rally in Gorkha district with a view to pressurising the Maoists and the government to end the seven-year conflict through peaceful negotiations. According to the organisation’s president Sudeep Pathak, also the convener of the Maoist-government peace talks facilitation committee, “There is a need for restoring peace by forging a consensus among the King, political parties and the Maoists”. Meanwhile, Maoists yesterday freed a former MP belonging to the CPN-UML and three other workers of the party, who had been kidnapped from Bhojpur district a few days ago.
PTI |
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10 rebels killed in Philippines Manila, January 19 The soldiers were on patrol in the town of Dinalongan in Aurora province, 150 km northeast of Manila, when they encountered about 40 guerrillas. Colonel Jovenal Narcise said the rebels were securing a training camp, which had been under surveillance by the military for the past month. “At least 10 Communist terrorists were killed in the hour-long firefight,’’ he said.
DPA |
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SA hostage drama claims one life
Cape Town, January 19 The drama started at around 5.15 am (8.45 am IST) when a sergeant pulled out a gun and started shooting at the Philippi police station, about 40 km southeast of Cape Town, spokesman Billy Jones said. “He shot dead a student constable and wounded another student constable in the leg, before holding five colleagues hostage,” Captain Jones told AFP. Police sent hostage negotiators as well as members of its crack task Force to the station. After about three-hours, the policeman told his colleagues he wanted to give himself up. “He told the negotiators over the radio he wanted to come out. Before he walked out of the station he put his weapon down,” Jones said. The sergeant was arrested and would be charged with murder and attempted murder, Jones added.
AFP |
10 KILLED IN CHINA BLASTS STALLONE’S MENTOR DEAD OVERCROWDING MAY LEAD TO INCEST: FIRST LADY MAN HELD FOR THREATENING PM BAN ON PLASTIC BAGS OPPOSED NORTH
KOREA REJECTS UN INTERVENTION BUSH'S POPULARITY TAKES BEATING |
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In video: Anti-US protest
rallies and demonstrations held for the second consecutive day across
Pakistan. (
