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Thursday,
February 13, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Laden asks Iraqis to launch attacks USA for Chalabi as Iraq’s President N. Korea sees UK role in resolving crisis
Pak backing groups in Kashmir: CIA |
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Sinha to visit Russia on Feb 19 India visit will improve ties: Khan
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Laden asks Iraqis to launch attacks London, February 12 Laden’s message, broadcast by the Al-Jazeera satellite channel last night, suggested that any country supporting a US war on Iraq would be vulnerable to attack. “We stress the importance of martyrdom operations against the enemy. These attacks have frightened Americans and Israelis like never before,” the tapped voice, identified as of Laden said. The Al-Qaida leader said that “socialists are also unbelievers,” in an apparent reference to President Saddam Hussein’s secular Baath party. Directing his remarks to ordinary Iraqis, he said it “doesn’t matter if the Communist party of Saddam disappear”, adding Iraqis should launch ‘jihad, or holy war’ against “the crusaders”. They should “try to extend the war”, and to “fight city war because they (US forces) will have big casualties. If we are in the trenches they cannot get us. The enemy is going to waste its ammunition.” Laden also warned neighbouring Muslim countries not to help Washington. “Anyone who helps America, from the Iraqi hypocrites (opposition) or Arab rulers, whoever fights with them or offers them bases or administrative assistance, or any kind of support or help, even if only with words, to kill Muslims in Iraq, should know that he is an apostate.” US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the tape proved the Al-Qaida is still a threat. Yasser Thabet, a broadcast editor of Al-Jazeera, said the voice on the tape sounded like Bin Laden and they assumed it was authentic because it was obtained in the same way as previous Laden tapes. Laden said the USA was waging a psychological war against Iraq and warned Iraqis to expect massive bombardment from the air. “Don’t worry about the American lies and their smart bombs and laser ones, they look for only the clear obvious targets,” he said. Laden also called on true Muslims to rise up “incite and mobilise the nation ... to break free from the slavery of these regimes who are slaves of America.” He singled out Jordan, Morocco, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. The tape was broadcast as security forces on both sides of the Atlantic gave warning that the Al-Qaida was plotting imminent attacks against the West. Troops and tanks were ordered to Heathrow airport here yesterday after a specific threat to Britain - possibly ground to air missile attack on an airliner. Intelligence chiefs in the USA also reportedly warned of a radiological or chemical attack on the USA or the Arabian Peninsula within days, possibly to coincide with the end of the Haj pilgrimage. PTI KARACHI: Calls on an audiotape purportedly by Laden urging Muslims to wage holy war in defence of Iraq were justified, the head of Pakistan’s Islamic party alliance said on Wednesday. “If a Muslim state is facing aggression from any non-Muslim state, then that Muslim state and Muslims all over the world are justified in launching holy war against the infidel forces,” Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) President Shah Ahmad Noorani said. “Muslims would be fully justified by reacting in whatever way they feel is right to defend (a Muslim state).”
AFP |
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USA for Chalabi as Iraq’s President
London, February 12 57-year old Chalabi, a Shi’ite exile who fled Iraq with his family when he was 12 and attended a British boarding school, is currently in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. “It’s pretty clear it’s going to be Mr Chalabi, (barring) some dramatic developments during the war,” a senior Bush administration official told a daily. “We will try to get him and the other Opposition leaders back into Baghdad as quickly as possible and set up an interim authority on the pattern of Afghanistan that can pick up the pieces of government,” ‘The Daily Telegraph’ said. At the same time, he made it clear that “no final decision” on Mr Chalabi had been taken because “it would be a mistake to reach any firm conclusions before the military stage is over.” According to the report, State Department desk officers have described Chalabi as corrupt, citing his 1992 conviction in absentia in Jordan for embezzlement and theft, Mr Chalabi, who has survived at least nine assassination
attempts, says he was framed after his Petra Bank, the third largest in Jordan, collapsed.
PTI |
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N. Korea sees UK role in resolving crisis Pyongyang, February 12 A senior Foreign Ministry official told Reuters that North Korea had no intention of producing nuclear weapons despite its withdrawal from a key global nuclear treaty and a move to restart a reactor capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium. ‘’We think because the UK has a special relationship with the USA, we expect the UK can play a certain role in relations between our country and the USA,’’ Ri Hui-chol said. ‘’The best solution is to solve all problems through dialogue in a peaceful way. But the problem is, the USA will not talk with us. So the UK can influence the USA to talk and agree to a non-aggression treaty,’’ he said. Ri expressed the North’s frustration with Washington for refusing direct negotiations to hammer out a non-aggression treaty to resolve the crisis. ‘’Our army and the people will retaliate if the USA infringes even an inch on the territory, the water or the air of our country,’’ he said. The official characterised Pyongyang’s withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in December as a self-defensive measure against US hostility and what it perceived as the bias of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Reuters |
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Pak backing groups in Kashmir: CIA Washington, February 12 “Pakistan continues to support groups that resist India’s presence in Kashmir in an effort to bring India to the negotiating table,” CIA Director George Tenet said at a Congress briefing on “Evolving dangers in a complex world.” Giving credit to New Delhi for reducing tension on the Indo-Pak border, he said “India’s recent military redeployment away from the border reduced the danger of an imminent war.” In a scenario where India and Pakistan “continue to develop and produce nuclear weapons”, any dramatic provocation — like the attack on the Indian Parliament — “runs a high risk of sparking another major military deployment”, Mr Tenet added.
PTI |
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USA again harps on Indo-Pak talks Washington, February 12 “Tensions between India and Pakistan remain high. We continue to believe both countries should restrain rhetoric and actions that heighten these tensions,” State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said yesterday. “The only way the differences between India and Pakistan can be resolved is through dialogue,” he said. Boucher said the USA and others in the international community would continue to encourage dialogue and confidence-building. On the mutual expulsion of diplomats by New Delhi and Islamabad, he said: “India and Pakistan, like all countries, have a sovereign right to determine which diplomats of other states might be accredited to them.” However, Boucher said, the expulsion of diplomats and rhetoric raise tensions, “and we think these kind of actions should be restrained.”
PTI |
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Sinha to visit Russia on Feb 19 Moscow, February 12 Government sources said Mr Sinha, who has been invited by his Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov, is expected to exchange views on key global and regional issues, including anti-terror combat, Iraq, West Asia and North Korea, which have a direct bearing on long-term security concerns of both Russia and India. A special focus would be on the situation in South Asia in the context of cross-border terrorism against India from the Pakistani soil, they said. Mr Sinha is also scheduled to discuss Indo-Russian trade, economic and military cooperation with Industries and Science Minister Ilya Klebanov and Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov.
PTI |
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India visit will improve ties: Khan Dhaka, February 12 “We have to work with our neighbours and resolve all the differences through discussions with sincerity,” Mr Khan, who leaves for India on Thursday for a four-day visit at the invitation of External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha, told the official BSS news agency in an interview. Expressing hope that his India visit would help improve ties between the two sides, he said Bangladesh and India in their own interests have to live as good neighbours, adding “Bangladesh believes in peaceful co-existence”. Referring to the porous borders of over 4,000 km between the two countries, he said “there is a need for ensuring peace along the frontiers”. Asked about the recent comments by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee that reports suggest that Pakistan’s ISI is using Bangladeshi territories to pursue anti-India agenda, he said “any political rhetoric which may be detrimental to relations between the two neighbours should be avoided.” Describing the remarks by Mr Vajpayee as “unwarranted”, he said such comments were not expected to help build closer relations, adding that “this may be intended for domestic compulsions.”
PTI |
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London, February 12
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