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Friday,
February 14, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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Tape terror haunts USA, UK Move to repeal Iraq war authorisation More troops deployed in Gulf ‘Gulf forces will not attack Iraq’ ‘N. Korea can hit all US targets’
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‘Brahmos test will lead to fresh arms race’
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Tape terror haunts USA, UK
London, February 13 With the Bush administration denouncing an “unholy partnership” between Osama bin Laden’s shadowy network and Iraq, soldiers joined the police yesterday at likely targets, with tanks and armoured cars deployed at London’s Heathrow airport. US defence officials said jeep-borne Stinger anti-aircraft missiles had been deployed around Washington this week after reported threats from sources with ties to the Al-Qaida triggered an orange alert, the second-highest level. CIA Director George Tenet, speaking after a tape attributed to Laden, urged Muslims to fight the “allies of the devil”, told Congress an attack could come in the USA or on the Arabian Peninsula as early as this week. “He’s obviously raising the confidence of his people, he’s obviously exhorting them to do more, whether this is a signal of impending attack or not is something we’re looking at,” Mr Tenet told the Senate Armed Services Committee, referring to Laden. In London, Prime Minister Tony Blair told Parliament the security measures were “necessary in order to give people the protection and security they need’’. Home Secretary (Interior Minister) David Blunkett said the government had even considered closing Heathrow airport, among the world’s busiest. “This is not a game. This is about a threat of the nature that massacred thousands of people in New York,” said John Reid, Chairman of the Labour Party. In New York, swarms of the police circled Grand Central Station, stopping and searching vans. Extra police patrolled streets and bridges, in subways and near power stations. Heat-seeking Stingers were spotted around Washington on “Avenger” systems carrying firing and guidance units. Each system has eight launch tubes and is operated by a two-member crew. Defence officials said F-16 fighter jets had been placed on 24-hour alert in Washington and additional detection radars had been deployed in the city. They also cited improved communications between military and civilian agencies. Laden’s whereabouts are unknown but Mr Tenet said “multiple sources with strong Al-Qaida ties” had reported threats. “It points to plots timed to occur as early as the end of the Haj, which occurs late this week, and it points to plots that could include the use of radiological dispersion devices as well as poisons and chemicals,” he added. A British-based Islamic news agency said today it has a new audio recording of Laden in which he predicts he will die as “a martyr” this year in an attack against his enemies. The Al-Ansaar news agency said the 53-minute tape was allegedly recorded this month and acquired from a seller who advertised over the Internet. Imran Khan, who runs Birmingham-based agency Al-Ansaar, told The Associated Press that he translated the tape, describing it as poetic with several verses from the Quran. Bordeaux (France): Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an interview to be published on Thursday, dismissed a tape said to carry the voice of Laden, saying it cannot be proved that the Al-Qaida leader is still alive. “And his relations with Baghdad cannot be proved, either,” Mr Putin was quoted by the daily Le Telegramme as saying in the interview given on Wednesday, the last day of a three-day state visit to France that ended in Bordeaux.
Reuters & AP |
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Move to repeal Iraq war authorisation Three bills, two in the US House of Representatives, and one in the Senate, have been introduced seeking repeal of the broad delegation of authority the Congress had given President Bush in October last to launch military action against Iraq. The move assumes significance in the context of what is being seen by many lawmakers on Capitol Hill as a rush to war. Under the bill introduced jointly by democrat congressman Peter DeFazio and Republican Ron Paul, the President would have to return to Congress to seek authority to launch a preventive attack on Iraq. Some 30 House members have co-sponsored the measure. A similar bill has been introduced by Sheila Jackson and seven other co-sponsors. The milder Senate resolution introduced by Mr Edward Kennedy suggests that before the President uses military force against Iraq without the support of the international community, he should obtain the approval of Congress “authorising the President to use all necessary means, including the use of military force, to disarm Iraq.” In a statement, Mr DeFazio discounted the evidence Secretary of State Colin Powell had given before the UN Security Council in justification of the use of force against Iraq. “Americans want the President to lay a clear case for immediate military action in Iraq, but the Administration’s message keeps changing. Six months ago, their case hinged on regime change, three months ago it was Saddam thwarting inspections, three weeks ago it was possible possession of chemical weapons, today its tenuous terrorist links. If the case was clear, it would have been clear from day one,” the congressman said. |
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More troops deployed in Gulf Washington, February 13 In Kuwait, the main staging area for ground troops massing for an invasion of Iraq, the size of the US force jumped to 70,000 from over 55,000 at the weekend, a defence official said yesterday. “There are 150,000 in the region,” said the official, who asked not to be identified. The Pentagon, meanwhile, announced that nearly 40,000 more National Guard and reserve soldiers were put on active duty over the past week, bringing the total activated for missions at home and abroad to more than 150,000.
AFP |
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‘Gulf
forces will not attack Iraq’ Dubai, February 13 “These forces will not take part in any military Cooperation against Iraq,” Prince Khaled bin Sultan, deputy minister of Defence, was quoted as saying that by the Saudi Okaz newspaper today.
PTI |
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‘N. Korea can hit all US targets’
Pyongyang, February 13 “In case there is a self-defensive measure, the attack can be taken to all military personnel and all military commands of the USA in the world,” senior foreign ministry official Ri Kwang Hyok told AFP in an interview in the North Korean capital. “Wherever they are we can attack them. There is no limit to our attack ability. The strike force of the Korean People’s Army will take on the enemy wherever he is.” Asked if that meant North Korea had missiles capable of reaching Washington, the official replied: “I’m not an expert so I am not sure but we have long range missiles and our people have the ability of striking enemies far away.” Defence analysts say North Korea has long-range Taepodong-2 missiles which could be capable of reaching parts of the continental United States. Yesterday, CIA chief George Tenet said the North Korea could already have the capacity to target the US west coast with a nuclear capable missile.
AFP |
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‘Musharraf could face a coup’ Washington, February 13 Deposing before a Senate Committee on Intelligence, Director of the US Defence Intelligence Agency, Vice Admiral Lowell E. Jacoby said, “Popular hostility to the US is growing and Islamist opponents of the current government could try to instigate a political crisis through violent means. “Coup or assassination could result in an extremist Pakistan,” he said. In his deposition, the Director also supported India’s contention that cross-border infiltration continued from Pakistan and warned of increasing potential of hostilities breaking out between the two countries “in the wake of some violent triggering event.” General Musharraf, he said, claims little influence over militants in Kashmir and other religious extremists, and Pakistan does not completely control areas in the northwest where concentrations of Al-Qaida and Taliban remain. On Indo-Pak relations, he said, “With Kashmir situation still unresolved and with continued cross-border infiltration from Pakistan, the potential for miscalculation between the two countries remains high, especially in the wake of some violent ‘triggering event’ such as another spectacular terrorist attack or political assassination.”
PTI |
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‘Brahmos
test will lead to fresh arms race’ Islamabad, February 13 “The missile test will usher in a new era of arms race that will further add to tension in the region,” Pakistan’s Minister for Information and Media Development Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said yesterday. “This test comes at a time when the world is facing a serious crisis and all countries are looking towards Iraq. India has chosen this time deliberately, but it cannot take mileage by doing so,” Rashid was quoted by the official media as saying. “Neither it can provoke us nor deter us by such deceptions,” he said, adding India is gravely mistaken that it can achieve hegemonic designs through such acts.
PTI |
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