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King Fahd buried in Riyadh
2 more held in London for July 21 attacks
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London bomber loved beer, dancing
Bush appoints controversial envoy to UN
Pakistan to get largest supply of F-16s
42 killed in Sudan riots
6 Marines killed
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Riyadh, August 2 In keeping with the kingdom’s austere Islamic tradition Fahd, who in life enjoyed enormous wealth and privilege, was laid to rest in a sprawling Riyadh cemetery alongside hundreds of other unidentified dirt graves. Fahd died yesterday after 23 years ruling the strategic Gulf state which is both the world’s biggest oil exporter and the cradle of Islam — drawing more than a billion faithful to turn five times a day toward Mecca in prayer. In the Imam Turki bin Abdullah mosque in the capital, Muslim leaders from across the world joined ordinary Saudis to offer condolences to Fahd’s successor and half-brother Abdullah, and performed Muslim prayers for the dead. The brief afternoon ceremony was devoid of pomp. Fahd’s body, wrapped in a brown shroud and laid on a bier, was carried out of the mosque and driven to his final resting place in an ambulance. Hundreds of security forces mixed with mourners in the mosque and snipers were posted around the cemetery. A wave of attacks by supporters of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden had clouded Fahd’s final, ailing years after his stroke in 1995. An official said security forces were taking the same precautions ‘’that any other government would take to secure a huge event like this with very high-profile guests’’. Fahd’s reign was marked by several regional wars, wild fluctuations in oil prices and a crisis in relations with Saudi Arabia’s key ally, the USA, after the September 11, 2001, attacks carried out by mainly Saudi suicide hijackers. Abdullah hasrun day-to-day affairs since Fahd’s stroke and is expected to maintain Saudi Arabia’s commitment to stable oil markets and its close alliance with the West. Unlike many Muslim states, Saudi Arabia has set no mourning period, in keeping with Wahhabi acceptance of God’s will without question. Saudi flags, emblazoned with the proclamation of faith ‘’There is no God but Allah’’, flew at full mast. Shops and businesses opened as usual in the capital on Tuesday, though the mood among ordinary Saudis was subdued. Ordinary Saudis gathered at the funeral with leaders including Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf and Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and Afghanistan’s Hamid Karzai. ‘’He was a great man, a leader of the Muslim nation. I’ve come here to pay my respsects,’’ said Saleh Khalifa, a 50-year-old resident of Riyadh as he entered the mosque. “He was a great king, may God have mercy on him,’’ said wheelchair-bound Pakistani Liqat Ali, crying as he pushed himself purposefully towards the funeral.
— Reuters
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2 more held in London for July 21 attacks
London, August 2 The police said they were being questioned at a central London station on terror charges. The identity of the arrested persons was yet to be disclosed. In the fast-moving probe, the police has now made 20 arrests in connection with the July 21 attacks. Meanwhile, 27-year-old Osman Hussain, a key suspect in the London bombings, has been charged in Rome with international terrorism act and for possessing false documents. The move allows the authorities to continue holding Hussain - also known as Hamdi Isaac - even as Britain is trying to get him extradited. Earlier, 24-year-old Yasin Hassan Omar, wanted over bomb attempt on a Tube near Warren Street, was arrested in Birmingham while Muktar Said Ibrahim, 27, suspected of attempting to bomb a bus in Shoreditch, was taken into custody in north Kensington, London. Ramzi Mohammed, wanted over failed attempt to bomb a Tube near Oval, was arrested in North Kensington in London. Two of Hussain's brothers have also been arrested and questioned by the police in Italy.
— PTI |
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London bomber loved beer, dancing
As a teenager, Hussain Osman was an ardent admirer of American culture,a big fan of hip hop and liked dressing like a rapper and drinking beer on dates with his middle-class Italian girlfriend, she recalled on Monday.
"We called him Bambi because of his doe-like black eyes and long, full eyelashes," she told La Repubblica newspaper, which gave her an assumed name, Murielle, to protect her privacy. "We went to the disco together every Saturday afternoon. He had a fixation with America, it was his dream —the music, hip-hop. "He dressed like a rapper in baggy trousers and basketball T-shirts. He drank alcohol, beer, he danced really well," she recalled. "Murielle," now aged 26, said she met the Ethiopian, also known as Hamdi Isaac, a decade ago among a crowd of teenage friends who used to hang out each afternoon after school on and around the walls next to Rome's Piazzale Flaminia square at the edge of the Villa Borghese park. "He was not a suspicious character. I got a shock when I saw him on television," she said."My best friend introduced me to some friends of his. It was hard not to notice Hamdi because he was kind as well as good looking—the photographs handed out to the media don't do him justice." Before leaving Italy to seek asylum in Britain, Mr Osman gave few signs he would drift into the world of Osama bin Laden's recruits, she added. "He worshipped American rappers, Tupac, the Afro-American ghetto culture of the Bronx. He and his friends added the letter "g'' to the end of their names, "g" for gangster, or rather "gangsta" as in "Gangsta Paradise," a successful song at the time but Hamdi was not a violent person. "He was a good person, he never mixed in bad company. If there was ever a brawl where we hung out, he would always be a peacemaker. He enjoyed picking up girls. "We knew he was a Muslim but he never talked to me about that.He had no problem going out with us non-Muslims ... friends who saw him in London two years later told me he forced his partner to wear a veil. "Basically he wanted to have fun, which is why it still seems strange that he should end up on the Tube with a fake bomb." By arrangement with The Independent, London. |
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Bush appoints controversial envoy to UN
President George W. Bush on Monday bypassed the US Senate and appointed John R. Bolton, a controversial neo-conservative, to serve as the country’s ambassador to the United Nations.
“This post is too important to leave vacant any longer, especially during a war and a vital debate about UN reform. So today I’ve used my constitutional authority to appoint John Bolton to serve as America’s ambassador to the United Nations,” Mr Bush said on Monday. “I’m sending Ambassador Bolton to New York with my complete confidence.” Under the US Constitution, the President has the power to make temporary appointments without Senate’s confirmation when the Congress goes into recess. Lawmakers went on their annual month-long recess on Friday. “I chose John because of his vast experience in foreign policy, his integrity and his willingness to confront difficult problems head-on,” Mr Bush said. Mr Bolton will serve at the world body until January, 2007 when a new Congress takes office. In New York, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he looked forward to working with Mr Bolton. “We will welcome him at a time when we are in the midst of a major reform,” he said, later noting that the appointment was the “President’s prerogative”. “He’s very able and he’s very bright,” Mr Annan said of Mr Bolton. Mr Bush nominated Mr Bolton, a former Undersecretary of State for Arms Control, to the UN post nearly five months ago. The nominee’s confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill have been acrimonious and often marked by partisan sniping. The President noted that the Senate held “thorough confirmation hearings, and a majority of United States senators agree that he is the right man for the job.” Yet, because of “partisan delaying tactics by a handful of senators, John was unfairly denied the up or down vote that he deserves,” he said. “As a result, America has now gone more than six months without a permanent ambassador to the United Nations,” the President said. Although the split in the Senate was largely along party lines, one Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen George Voinovich of Ohio, joined Democrats in opposing Mr Bolton’s nomination. Sen Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, on Monday criticised the recess appointment. “The abuse of power and the cloak of secrecy from the White House continues,” Mr Kennedy said in a statement. “It’s bad enough that the administration stonewalled the Senate by refusing to disclose documents highly relevant to the Bolton nomination. It’s even worse for the administration to abuse the recess appointment power by making the appointment, while the Congress is in this five-week recess. It’s a devious maneuver that evades the constitutional requirement of Senate’s consent and only further darkens the cloud over Mr Bolton’s credibility at the UN.” The Former Democratic presidential candidate, Sen John Kerry of Massachusetts, said the recess appointment “only diminishes John Bolton’s validity and leverage to secure America’s goals at the UN. This is not the way to fill our most important diplomatic jobs.” Sen Richard Lugar, Indiana Republican, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, noted that Mr Bolton had failed to receive a vote from the full Senate but said the appointment “was necessary to ensure our representation at the United Nations and to provide momentum to the vital process of UN reform.” Charles J. Brown, president and CEO of Citizens for Global Solutions, said Mr Bush “chose politics over principle today when he sent an ambassador to the UN who does not have the support of the Senate or the American people”. “Mr Bolton chose ambition over integrity today when he refused to step aside in light of reports that he failed to disclose information to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,” he added. Mr Bolton’s supporters call him a bright, hard-working realist — whose skepticism about the UN’s role makes him an ideal envoy at a time the world body contemplates reform. On Monday, he pledged to “work tirelessly to carry out the agenda and initiatives that you (Mr Bush) and Secretary (of state Condoleezza) Rice direct.” Mr Bolton once observed that the “Secretariat Building in New York has 38 stories. If you lost 10 stories today it wouldn’t make a bit of difference. “Those comments came back to haunt him during his confirmation hearings in Washington. |
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Pakistan to get largest supply of F-16s
Islamabad, August 2 Asked if the government was disappointed at the Bush Administration’s decision to provide only two F-16 jets to Pakistan at this stage, he said: “No we are not disappointed. We are getting two F-16s as a first step but Pakistan’s request is there with the American side for additional supply of F-16s.” In reply to a related question, he said: “Please understand these aircraft are just the beginning and this does not in any way mean that Pakistan is being looked down upon or there is something wrong with the relationship.” He then said the process was on for the ‘largest supply of F-16s’ to Pakistan and added: “When this process will be completed everybody would know that the number (of F16s) is quite large." The spokesman rejected allegations by the Indian leadership that Pakistan was sponsoring cross-border terrorism. Pakistan’s commitment to counter-terrorism, he asserted, was ‘complete and unquestionable’ and that Pakistan had done more than any other country in this regard. “Criticism of Pakistan comes only from two quarters: one, those who are ignorant of Pakistan’s contribution to fighting terrorism and, secondly, those who are motivated to malign Pakistan.” Mr Khan said Pakistan and India would hold talks on nuclear confidence-building measures (CBMs) in New Delhi on August 5-6 to be followed by meetings on conventional CBMs on August 8. |
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42 killed in Sudan riots
Khartoum, August 2 “We have received 26 bodies” said Uqail Sawar al-Dahab who heads the morgue at Khartoum’s general teaching hospital. A medic in Khartoum’s suburban al-Burri police hospital said they had 16 dead bodies in the morgue.
— AFP |
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6 Marines killed
Baghdad, August 2 It was not immediately clear if they were killed in a single attack or if they died in a series of clashes. There have been frequent insurgent attacks in the area around Haditha in the violent Anbar province.
— Reuters |
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