WORLDHOTNEWS

Fourth session of COMEST in Bangkok (March 23 - 25)

2005-03-16T23:55:00.000+06:00

16-03-2005 4:00 pm The World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST) will hold its fourth session in Bangkok, Thailand, from March 23 to 25. Jointly organized by UNESCO and the Government of Thailand, the session will enable UNESCO to promote ethics of science and technology within the Asia-Pacific region and to take stock of regional views on related issues. The COMEST session will be opened by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, the Prime Minister of Thailand, Thaksin Shinawatra; the Minister of Science and Technology of Thailand, Korn Thapparansi; the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura; and the Chairperson of COMEST, Jens Erik Fenstad (Norway). Keynote addresses will be given by Mr Matsuura and Yongyuth Yuthavong, former President of the Thai Academy of Science and Technology.

The following issues will be addressed during the session: ethics education; and environmental ethics (both on the afternoon of March 23); good governance of science and technology; benefit sharing and international cooperation in research; animals and ethics; and human rights and ethics (March 24). Every session will be co-chaired by a member of COMEST and a Thai expert.

March 25 will be dedicated to a youth forum on the ethics of science, to a round table debate one the ethical use of Genetically Modified Organisms, and to a second round table on ethics and technological innovation.

Also on that day, the Director-General of UNESCO will award the 2004 UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education to Vitit Muntarbhorn, Professor of Law at Chulalongkorn University (Thailand).

In another event held on the margins of the COMEST meeting, science and technology ministers from the region will hold a private meeting (March 25). The ministers are expected to adopt a declaration on ethics of science, the Bangkok Declaration, which will be presented by the Minister of Science and Technology of Thailand during the closing session of the COMEST meeting.

The closing session will also feature presentations of reports on the debates and youth forum. Closing addresses will be delivered by the Minister of Science and Technology of Thailand, Assistant UNESCO Director-General for Social and Human Sciences of UNESCO, Pierre Sané, and the President of COMEST, Prof. Fenstad, who is concluding his mandate. At this occasion the new president of COMEST will be announced. Link

Japan Appeals For Help to Free Sailors Abducted by Pirates

2005-03-16T23:35:00.000+06:00

By Steve Herman

Tokyo is asking Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore for help in freeing two Japanese and a Filipino captured in an attack on a Japanese-registered tugboat by armed pirates in the Malacca Strait.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi urged his cabinet Tuesday to work to rescue the three. Japan's coast guard was standing by to dispatch vessels to the Malacca Strait if the Malaysian government requests help.

Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura on Tuesday established a crisis task force to oversee efforts to rescue the boat's Japanese captain and chief engineer, and a Filipino engineer. Pirates attacked their tugboat on Monday, taking the three and letting the boat, with 11 other sailors aboard, sail on.

He says that Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore are "doing their utmost" to free the abductees.

The foreign minister says it is not known where the pirates took the three.

Mak Junam is a piracy expert at the Institute of Southeast Asian Security in Singapore.

"They have probably fled into Indonesian waters, somewhere in Sumatra and they are well ensconced in some hideaway," said Mak Junam.

Mr. Mak says such attacks for ransom occur several times a year - some ending with the hostages being killed by their captors - but the incidents get little publicity. He says Japan's appeal for help from Southeast Asian nations is a good strategy to try to free the hostages.

"I do believe the Malaysian marine police have a good intelligence unit and they keep track of all these people, but ultimately it is up to the Indonesians to act because it is within their national sovereign territory," he said.

The narrow Malacca Strait in Southeast Asia is one of the world's busiest waterways - and most of Japan's vital oil imports travel through it. Japanese politicians are calling for Tokyo to work more closely with nations in the region to prevent piracy.

Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia last year began coordinated patrols in the Strait after Japan and Western countries expressed concern that terrorists could hijack a tanker to use as a floating bomb or to block the Strait.

Mr. Mak says most of the pirates are part of a sophisticated criminal network, with middlemen arranging for ransoms to be paid into bank accounts. He says the only way to eliminate the attacks is to go after the pirates' bases and infrastructure on land. Link

Brazil launches alcohol powered plane

2005-03-16T23:02:00.000+06:00

A Brazilian firm has delivered the world's first ethanol-burning production aircraft to a crop-spraying company and it sees a booming market for alcohol powered planes.

The single-seat EMB 202 Ipanema is the first production-series model approved by aviation authorities to run on ethanol produced from sugar cane.

Its makers, Neiva Aeronautic Industry, said it had orders for 70 of the single-engine planes this year.

The Ipanema is a new step forward for Brazil's pioneering national ethanol fuel program, launched in response to the 1970's oil crisis.

Drawing on its world-leading sugar cane production to produce the alternative to petroleum-based gasoline, by the 1980's ethanol was the dominant fuel for automobiles.

Today, under a flexibility program, roughly a third of all cars sold are adapted to use both ethanol and regular gasoline.

"Ethanol fuel is less polluting than gasoline, is renewable, and is about five times less expensive than gasoline," Neiva director Acir Padilha Junior said.

Already 300 to 400 small aircraft in Brazil fly on ethanol, but most are adapted from using aviation gasoline and are not certified for commercial production. Link

Driving on sugar cane juice

2005-03-16T22:58:00.000+06:00

By PHOOLO DANNY-MAHARAJ

Wednesday, March 16th 2005

WHEN Sugar Manufacturing Company Limited chief executive officer Andre Guyadeen returns form Brazil later this week, he will be armed with information about the feasibility and other technical knowledge of ethanol production from sugar cane.

Guyadeen is attending a conference organised by sugar and ethanol producers in Brazil. Brazil is the world's leading country in both sugar and ethanol production.

Guyadeen said: "If we lose the price differential that we have with the European Union, we will have to sell sugar at market prices, but that would not be economical for us. That means we will have to find some options."

One such option is ethanol as a choice for fuel.

This option has been taken up years ago by several countries worldwide, among them, the USA, Brazil and India, Guyadeen noted.

That has not been lost on the SMCL. Guyadeen's attendance at the Brazil conference provided him with an opportunity to visit plants, look at their facilities and also the technical aspects for Trinidad and Tobago to produce ethanol. This does not mean that Trinidad must diversify, but if it does not meet the EU quota which is 45,000 tonnes of sugar a year, then the SMCL will have to look for alternative use of sugar cane or close down the industry, it was pointed out.

The announcement of SMCL's involvement in the production of ethanol was made by Trade and Industry Minister Kenneth Valley last week at the formal opening of the Trade and Investment Convention at Hilton Trinidad.

Guyadeen said the SMCL still "has to work out the economics of ethanol production. If it is viable, we will get into it, if it is not, we will not get involved."

"We have to look at the plants and machinery to convert sugar cane to ethanol, and the cost to produce one tonne of sugar cane," he said: "The world is going this way, we too have to go this way to survive."

Guyadeen described ethanol as a clean-burning renewable fuel made form corn and sugar cane. But the move has caused some concern among cane farmers.

Seukeran Tambie, secretary general of the Cane Producers Association of Trinidad and Tobago , asked: "what's in ethanol production for the farmers?"

He said: "If ethanol is going to fetch an enhanced price on the market, then it will mean that new systems of payment will have to be worked out with the farmers and the various organisations." He added that CPATT had not been approached by anyone from Government or SMCL to talk about plants to produce ethanol form sugar cane.

Raffique Shah, president general of the Trinidad Islandwide Cane Farmers Association, said the critical question to be considered if Government decides on ethanol production will be: "Is ethanol going to be profitable? What will be the returns to the farmers per acre of sugarcane production?"

He said ethanol was being used as fuel in many parts of the world and there was a growing market for it, partly because the product was more environmental friendly than gasoline. "If we go into ethanol that's fine, but as a farmer I would want to know what am I getting a tonne for my sugar cane? Will it be more than the $180 I am getting now? If not, then it would not be worth it."

Shah, however, admitted that there could by multiple uses for the sugar cane plant. "If we can use the entire cane plant, that will be ideal." Guyadeen on the other hand is optimistic about the shift from sugar to ethanol. "The world is going this way with ethanol for fuel. We have to go this way, if necessary, until somebody finds something wrong with ethanol. "

The World Wide Web says there are currently 83 ethanol plants in the US with another 16 under construction. The US produced 3.4 billion gallons of ethanol in 2004, and it is blended in about 30 per cent of the nation's gasoline.

In South Dakota, on March 3, the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) announced its intention in 2006 to have the Indy Racing League's series fuelled by a blend of 90 per cent methanol and ten per cent fuel, while the 2007 series will be powered by 100 per cent ethanol. Link

Banks 'allowed Pinochet to hide $16m'

2005-03-16T22:57:00.000+06:00

Citigroup, Bank of America and seven other banks enabled former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and members of his family build a sprawling secret network of accounts to conceal his wealth, Senate investigators charge in a new report.

One of the institutions, Washington-based Riggs Bank, had a relationship with Pinochet that was far more extensive and long-standing than previously believed, the report finds.

The banks allowed Pinochet to use phoney account names, offshore accounts and other deceptions to hide an estimated $US13 million ($16.46 million) or more from US examiners and international prosecutors seeking to seize his assets, according to the report by the staff of the Senate Governmental Affairs investigative subcommittee.

Some banks, including Riggs and Citigroup, had a relationship with Pinochet and his family going back 24 or 25 years, the investigators found.

The accounts have since been closed. The investigators said all the banks cooperated with their inquiry.

Their findings raise questions about the oversight of the banks by federal regulators, who already have been faulted for failed supervision of Riggs's operations in the face of repeated lapses.

The findings illuminate "another chapter in a very tawdry episode in American banking", Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, the subcommittee's senior Democrat, said on Tuesday.

Riggs pleaded guilty in January to a criminal felony charge of failing to report suspicious transactions to authorities, including those in Pinochet's accounts, and has agreed to pay the US government $US41 million in civil and criminal fines.

The handling of Pinochet's accounts by Riggs managers came to light last July after an earlier, year-long investigation by the Senate investigative panel. It found that managers at the Washington institution, working with Pinochet from 1994 to 2002, set up phoney offshore companies to hide his assets.

The new report, based on an additional five-month investigation, says Riggs' relationship with Pinochet and his family stretched from 1979 to 2004 and included 28 Pinochet-related accounts and certificates of deposit at the bank - rather than the nine previously reported.

Riggs spokesman Mark Hendrix said the new report "underscores that many of the problems depicted as unique to Riggs unfortunately appear to be systemic in the banking system today".

When the first report was published, he said, Riggs investigators "took the initiative to pursue unresolved issues that the report raised ... [and] found significant information not previously known to exist, all of which it provided" to the subcommittee staff.

Riggs has agreed to be acquired by Pittsburgh-based PNC Financial Services Group for $US643 million in cash and stock. The deal is scheduled to be completed by the end of this month.

Citigroup, the largest US financial institution, opened 63 accounts and CDs for Pinochet and 19 for family members, arranged international wire transfers, set up offshore companies and made large loans for Pinochet and his relatives, according to the report.

In addition, it said, New York-based Citigroup provided some Pinochet family members with accounts, CDs and lines of credit in other countries, including Argentina, the Bahamas, Britain, Chile and Switzerland.

In a statement, Citigroup said its accounts for Pinochet, "which he opened with false documentation using pseudonyms, were shut down nearly a decade ago".

The bank said it began closing remaining accounts for the Chilean's children in 1998.

Bank of America maintained three accounts and as many as six CDs for one of Pinochet's daughters, Ines Lucia Pinochet, according to the 83-page report.

"Bank of America cooperated fully with the subcommittee in its investigation, conducted a thorough internal investigation and submitted documents as requested," the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank said in a statement. It said the accounts in question were closed last year.

The others named in the report are Banco de Chile in the United States; Espirito Santo Bank, Ocean Bank and PineBank in Florida; Banco Atlantico, now part of Spain's Banco de Sabadell; and Coutts & Co (USA) International, now part of Spain's Banco Santander.

Officials at the Miami offices of Ocean Bank and PineBank didn't immediately return calls seeking comment.

Spokesmen for Espirito Santo in Miami, Banco de Chile, Banco de Sabadell and Banco Santander couldn't be reached after business hours on Tuesday. Link

KMT LAWMAKERS REGRET PASSAGE OF ANTI-SECESSION LAW

2005-03-15T23:53:00.000+06:00

Taipei, March 15 (CNA) Opposition Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers expressed Tuesday their regret and worry that China has "willfully" enacted the Anti-Secession Law against Taiwan despite objections by Taiwan politicians across party lines.

A statement released under the name of the KMT legislative caucus said that cross-Taiwan Strait peace and prosperity is the expectation of people in the Asia-Pacific region and on both sides of the strait and that the caucus firmly opposes any military threat against Taiwan, a cross-strait arms race and the use of force.

The caucus pointed out that cross-strait confrontation and conflict could intensify tension between the two sides, which it said is in violation of the interests of the people on both sides.

Taiwan and China should instead interact based on goodwill, resume dialogue, promote economic, sports and agricultural exchanges and work to open direct cross-strait transportation links, the caucus proposed.

Saying that Taiwan people are not equal to pro-independence activists and that the Taiwanese consciousness does not equal independence consciousness, the caucus urged the Democratic Progressive Party government to pay attention to what it claimed is a mainstream "anti-independence" public opinion in Taiwan.

It asked the government to stop any provocative move such as promoting a referendum on a new constitution and a campaign to change the official name of the country from Republic of China to "Republic of Taiwan" so as not to create any excuse for China to invade.

It said the government should abide by the Constitution and uphold the sovereignty of the ROC to safeguard the well-being of the country and its people. Link

DPP ORDERS PARTY MEMBERS TO ATTEND ANTI-BEIJING PROTEST

2005-03-15T23:39:00.000+06:00

2005-03-15, Taipei (CNA) The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ordered all of its party members Tuesday to attend a party- initiated March 26 protest to show Taiwan's resentment of Beijing's Anti-Secession Law.

As a part of its all-out efforts to ensure a good turnout at the protest, the party's Central Standing Committee brought out a most urgent party decree to make sure that all its members show up and stand alongside the rest of the public in the protest.

In order to meet the party's goal of mobilizing at least 200,000 of its people March 26, the decree assigns party lawmakers a quota of demonstrators they are supposed to bring to the protest.

The quota varies according to the distances of the lawmakers' constituencies from Taipei where the protest will be held. For each lawmaker elected from Taipei County and Taipei City, the quota is 2,025 people, for lawmakers from northern Taiwan, it is 1,350 people, and for lawmakers from Hualien and Taitung in eastern Taiwan, it is 900 people.

Together with members of other private organizations that have signed up to join the protest, the organizers predicted a record 1 million people will be brought together for the protest.

The DPP Central Standing Committee also unveiled TV and radio commercials that will be played on local TV and radio stations in the lead-up to March 26 to encourage people to join the protest.

The commercials are compilations of films of Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing's bitter criticism of Taiwan, Hong Kong's march for democracy July 1, 2004, and a human chain formed in Taiwan as a symbol of its defense Feb. 28, 2004.

The theme of the protest is defined as "peace and democracy, " which are universal values. Other political calls, such as renaming the country, are not included, according to DPP Secretary-General Lee Yi-yang.

The protesters will be led through downtown Taipei along 10 different routes and will converge in the square in front of the Presidential Office, according to the DPP.

A DPP official said his party will meet with other sponsors of the protest, all private groups, on Wednesday to work out further details. Link

Head of top Chinese bank sacked over probe

2005-03-15T23:37:00.000+06:00

March 15, 2005

Beijing - The chairman of the China Construction Bank (CCB) has been sacked and is being investigated for graft in the latest scandal to hit China's corruption-ridden major lenders, a report said Tuesday.

Exact reasons for Zhang Enzhao's removal remain unclear but sources said he was implicated in a scheme to solicit huge kickbacks in return for approving bank loans on favourable terms, the South China Morning Post said.

The bank is one of China's top four state-owned commercial banks which are being restructured and groomed for eventual stockmarket listings, with CCB expected to debut in Shanghai and Hong Kong later this year.

The central government was set to announce Zhang's sacking later this week, the report said, citing sources close to the bank.

Wu Xiaoling and Su Ning, both deputy governors of the People's Bank of China, are strong candidates to replace Zhang, the report in the Hong Kong-based newspaper said.

Officials at CCB could not immediately be reached for comment. Other employees refused to say whether Zhang was still working.

An official from the China Banking Regulatory Commission also declined to comment.

Zhang, 59, ironically became CCB president in 2002, replacing Wang Xuebing, who was sacked and later jailed for corruption. Zhang became CCB chairman last year.

The dismissal of Zhang could deal a major blow to the bank's efforts to sell a strategic stake to international banking giants before its initial public offering aimed at raising up to $5 billion, the SCMP said.

The CCB is also investigating the disappearance of at least $8 million from a branch in northeast Jilin province, reports said last month.

The scandals are likely to spark more debate over the rush to list state banks, which the government hopes will make the banking system more competitive ahead of liberalisation of the sector in early 2007.

However, some mainland officials are concerned the rush to list could be counter-productive and risks damaging investor confidence.

The scandals underline the weak supervision plaguing China's banking system, which allowed 4 000 officials to flee with $50 billion in cash as of this year, state media said Friday.

The Bank of China, another listing candidate for this year with CCB, is also investigating the disappearance of around $120 million from a branch in Harbin, northeastern Heilongjiang province. Link

US warns China over latest challenge towards Taiwan

2005-03-15T23:33:00.000+06:00

By Rupert Cornwell in Washington

15 March 2005

China's new "anti-secession" law authorising the use of force against Taiwan has sent ripples of alarm throughout the region and beyond, drawing a stern reaction from the US, and casting new uncertainty on European plans to resume arms sales to Beijing.

The measure, passed unanimously yesterday by the rubber-stamp Chinese parliament, says that the mainland should use force against Taiwan if the island secedes or "if possibilities for peaceful reunification are completely exhausted".

Even though the text does not specify exactly what China would consider as "secession", the law drew an angry response in Taipei, where President Chen Shui-bian said it would create a backlash, and "only end up driving both sides of the straits further apart".

Already it has prompted a rare show of unity between the Taiwanese government and the feuding opposition parties. The law, said Joseph Wu, chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council and Taiwan's top China policymaker, "violates our fundamental rights" and had caused "utter resentment".

Taiwan separated from China when the Communists took power on the mainland in 1949, but Beijing insists that the island, with a population of 23 million, is part of its territory. Although the US recognises only the government in Beijing, it sells arms to Taiwan, and is committed to defending it against outside attack.

In Washington, the Bush administration issued a sharp warning that the move threatened to undo recent improvements in relations between Beijing and Taipei, and reiterated its opposition to the use of force to resolve the issue.

Scott McClellan, the White House spokesman, described the adoption of the law - which states that mainland China will use "non-peaceful means and other necessary measures" to protect national sovereignty - as "unfortunate". The US opposed any attempt to change the status quo unilaterally, he added.

The worry in Washington is that Taiwan will retaliate, perhaps by edging closer to formalising a de facto independence that already includes separate elections, its own constitution and diplomatic relations with some countries. This in turn could be the trigger for a Chinese military move, leading to a showdown between the US and Beijing.

"We don't hope for foreign intervention, but we are not afraid of it," Wen Jiabao, China's Prime Minister, said after the law was passed, by a majority of 2,896 to nil, with two abstentions.

Such a prospect horrifies a region already on edge over North Korea's nuclear programme. In Tokyo, the Japanese Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, urged both sides to work for a peaceful solution of their disagreement, to avoid "negative impact".

A showdown between the US and China would oblige Japan and other countries, such as Australia, to choose between the US, their traditional ally and military guarantor, and the local economic superpower with whom they have ever more important trading ties.

If China attacked Taiwan, and the US replied with military force, Australia would consult with the US, as stipulated by the 1951 Anzus treaty. "But that's a very different thing from saying we would make a decision to go to war," Alexander Downer, the Foreign Minister, said in Canberra.

The "anti-secession" law may also prompt the European Union to reconsider its controversial plan to lift the arms embargo against China imposed after the Tiananmen Square bloodbath in 1989. Even before the law was passed yesterday, the US was pressing the EU to drop the plan. Link

Citigroup wins injunction to stop Brazil unit sale

2005-03-15T22:56:00.000+06:00

SAO PAULO, Brazil, March 15 (Reuters) - Citigroup Inc. (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Tuesday said it had won an injunction barring the dismissed administrator of one of its Brazilian venture capital funds from putting up for sale the fund's stakes in two mobile phone companies.

The injunction, issued by a federal court in New York on Friday, blocks CVC/Opportunity Equity Partners Ltd and its ousted manager, Daniel Valente Dantas, from putting Telemig Celular (TMCP4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research) and Amazonia Celular (TNCP4.SA: Quote, Profile, Research) up for sale until a hearing on March 17, Citigroup said in a statement to the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange.

CVC/Opportunity Equity Partners Ltd was the administrator of Citigroup's 2 billion real ($724 million) private equity fund CVC/Opportunity Equity Partners LP until last week, when Citigroup dismissed Dantas and his company Opportunity as the fund's managers.

Previously, Opportunity had said it would place CVC/Opportunity's controlling stakes in Telemig and Amazonia, which is also known as Tele Norte Celular, on the auction block.

Local media has reported Dantas is fighting the dismissal.

Citigroup had no comment on whether Dantas is fighting his and Opportunity's ouster. Opportunity officials were not immediately available for comment.

Analysts believe Citigroup is likely to eventually sell its stakes in Telemig and Amazonia despite the current suspension. ($1 = 2.762 reais) Link

Trade initiative in Chile

2005-03-15T22:47:00.000+06:00

Kentucky has been selected as one of eight states to participate in a trade initiative with Chile. The U-S Chamber of Commerce and the U-S Commerce Department will conduct seminars and arrange contacts, especially for smaller companies and those owned by minorities, with Chilean importers and companies interested in foreign trade.

Governor Ernie Fletcher and Andres Bianchi, the Chilean ambassador to the United States, along with chamber and federal officials made the announcement today at the Capitol. Seminars will be conducted in Ashland, Paducah, Henderson, Somerset, Louisville and Fort Mitchell through April first. Officials said Kentucky exports could range from professional services to ice cream. Link

ROC VP ARRIVES IN EL SALVADOR FOR OFFICIAL VISIT

2005-03-14T23:50:00.000+06:00

San Salvador, March 14 (CNA) Republic of China Vice President Annette Lu arrived in San Salvador Monday after a three-day transit stop in Houston, Texas.

Lu received a red-carpet welcome complete with full military honors upon her arrival in the capital city of El Salvador for an official visit aimed at cementing diplomatic relations with the Central American ally and boosting bilateral trade and economic exchanges.

ROC Ambassador Hou Ching-shan, Salvadoran Vice Foreign Affairs Minister Eduardo Calix and many other officials greeted Lu and her 152-member entourage at the airport.

During a dinner with Taiwan expatriates in El Salvador, Lu said she is hopeful that Taiwan businessmen at home and in El Salvador can join forces to build an industrial park in El Salvador to accommodate Taiwan-funded firms, facilitating bilateral trade and economic cooperation. "The planned park should meet what she called the 'Three P' goals, namely, the park should be productive, environmentally protective and have perspective, " Lu said, adding that the park is expected to begin operation before the end of President Chen Shui-bian's presidential term in May 2008.

Lu will attend a meeting Tuesday to discuss details regarding the planned park with Salvadoran officials and business representatives, as well as inspect the planned site of the park.

On the last day of her transit stop in Houston, Lu paid a visit to NASA headquarters, where she received courteous treatment befitting a visitor of her status. She was granted the privilege of entering the Mission Control Center -- NASA's nerve center.

NASA sent a Taiwanese-American astronaut, Edward Tsang Lu, to guide Lu on a tour of Mission Control. Lu was also welcomed onto the flight deck of a space shuttle to get a rare glimpse into the interior of the spacecraft. The vice president also invited Edward Tsang Lu to visit Taiwan to help inspire local youths' interest in space technology.

Aboard the charter flight from Houston to San Salvador, Lu was interviewed by the Central News Agency, in which she said she had yet to decide on whether to take part in a large street parade to be organized by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party March 26 to protest China's newly enacted Anti-Secession Law targeting Taiwan. "It depends on the development of the situation across the Taiwan Strait. At the moment, the most important thing is to calm down and consolidate domestic unity. We should refrain from excessively emotion-charged reaction and instead pool our wisdom to work out appropriate response measures," Lu said.

China's rubber-stamp National People's Congress (NPC) on Monday passed the Anti-Secession Law that authorizes the use of "non-peaceful means" to stop Taiwan from seeking formal independence.

Noting that the law is in stark violation of the United Nations charter, the United Nations declaration on world peace and human rights and the United States' Taiwan Relations Act, Lu said the international community should now come to understand that China is a real troublemaker.

Major countries around the world, including the United States, Japan and the European Union, have voiced opposition to China's new law, Lu said, adding that she believes Beijing will have to pay a heavy price for its "ill-intentioned" legislation.

El Salvador is the first leg of Lu's current Central America diplomatic tour that will also take her to Guatemala.

According to Lu's itinerary, Lu will attend a regional meeting of the Democratic Pacific Union (DPU) in America in Guatemala. Representatives from six Central American allies and five non-allied countries in North, Central and South America will attend the meeting, which will be a warm-up to a DPU regional organization to be established in Taipei Aug. 14.

During her diplomatic tour, Lu will meet with Salvadoran President Elias Antonio Saca and Vice President Ana Vilma De Escobar, as well as Guatemalan President Oscar Berger. She will also deliver speeches at the two countries' parliaments. Link

Next of kin hold service in Argentine Memorial

2005-03-14T23:00:00.000+06:00

A delegation of Argentine next of kin and close friends held this Tuesday, under persistent rain, the first service ever at the recently built Argentine Memorial in the Falkland Islands Argentine Darwin Cemetery.

The service was held shortly before noon in front of the cross that overlooks the cenotaph built in Argentina, assembled in the Falklands but still to be officially inaugurated.

The delegation of twenty two next of kin includes a Catholic priest, an interpreter and the architect of the monument to the Argentine dead in the South Atlantic conflict of 1982.

One of the younger members of the group and Treasurer of the Families Commission, Leandro Martin de la Colina whose father was among the crew of a Lear Jet shot down on Pebble Island explained that the main purpose of the visit was to check that the cenotaph commissioned had been constructed to specification.

Among the next of kin arrive yesterday a pilot Roberto Curilovic who was involved in the bombing and sinking of the Atlantic Conveyor with his Super Etandard and the mother of one of the first Argentine soldiers to die during the shooting at Government House.

The Argentine Memorial estimated cost of a million US dollars was financed by businessman Eduardo Eunerkian, besides the delegation a small group also arrived Tuesday morning at Mount Pleasant airport on a private Gulfstream Jet having flown directly from Buenos Aires in three hours together with members of his staff and invited media.

Mr. Eduardo Eurnekian is involved in the air terminal business and his company Aeropuerto 2000 manages most of Argentina’s main airports, Carrasco airport in Montevideo and Milan’s Malpensa, with Italian partners.

Tuesday’s simple but highly emotive ceremony is the option found to the controversy surrounding the Memorial inauguration date and program which has been bogged down by disputes over air links with Argentina.

Flying in to the Falklands the relatives of all the Argentine servicemen buried in Darwin would demand charter flights which Islanders will not accept until President Nestor Kirchner administration lifts the ban on summer charter flights from Chile, which are hindering the local tourism industry.

A further problem is that Argentine officials refuse to have their diplomatic passports stamped in the Falklands and Mr. Kirchner insists on a direct air link between the Islands and Argentina with an Argentine flag carrier.

The next of kin delegation which arrived last Saturday in the weekly Lan Chile is scheduled to return this coming Saturday. Link

Kuwaiti Government against publishing baseless charges -- ambassador

2005-02-23T22:13:00.000+06:00

23 Feb 2005

BEIRUT, Feb 22 (KUNA) -- Kuwait's Ambassador to Lebanon Sulaiman Al-Saeed affirmed on Tuesday that not all reports published by Kuwaiti newspapers represent the stand or view of the government and emphasized that the state is against publishing baseless charges that may strain the Kuwaiti-Lebanese ties.

Al-Saeed, speaking after a meeting with Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hamoud, said he met the minister in response to an invitation by the latter for sake of informing Kuwait about repercussions of the recent tragic death of the former prime minister, Rafic Al-Hariri.

Asked about reports recently published by a Kuwaiti newspaper, charging some ranking Syrian and Lebanese security figures with masterminding the dealy bombing that took the life of Al-Hariri and several other people, the ambassador plainly affirmed that reports published by Kuwaiti newspapers do not reflect the opinion of the Kuwaiti government.

"This issue should be clear and the Kuwaiti Government disapproves addressing charges randomly against personalities and officials of sisterly states and such accusations may strain the good ties with these sisterly and dear nations," the diplomat pointed out.

The Kuwaiti Government, in line with the democractic system in the country, does not censor the reports of the press, "but if some newspapers publish materials that harm the relations with the sisterly states, the government certainly interfers and takes the necessary measures in line with the publishing law," he said. (end) sm-aim. Link

Indonesia to increase oil price by 29%

2005-02-23T22:11:00.000+06:00

2005-02-23, JAKARTA, Feb.23 (Xinhuanet) -- The Indonesian government will increase oil price by 29 percent on average this year.

Chairman of Commission Nine on economic affairs of the Indonesian House of representatives (DPR) Paskah Suzetta made the statement on Wednesday, just after a hearing between the DPR and the government Tuesday evening.

"The rise of oil price reported by the government in the hearing yesterday was 29 percent on average," Suzetta who was quoted by the Kompas Cyber Media as saying.

The chairman said that the rise includes 22 percent for kerosene and 47.44 percent for fuel oil.

He said that the rise would allow the government to allocate some 4.4 billion US dollar funds from state budget to education and health sectors.

Suzetta said that the lawmakers suggested the rise to take affect in March as the inflation rate now begins to decrease.

He cited that the increase of 1 percent in oil price could trigger the rise of 0.03 percent inflation rate, meaning the increase of 29 percent would result in the 1 percent rise in inflation.

With the assumption of 35 US dollar per barrel oil price in the world market, the Indonesian government has to subsidy 39.8 trillion rupiah (some 4.4 billion US dollar) in the oil sector under the current oil price. Link

Canadian dollar gains

2005-02-23T22:04:00.000+06:00

By TAVIA GRANT
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
The Canadian dollar rose along with other major currencies after South Korea's central bank said it plans to diversify its reserves away from the U.S. dollar.

The U.S. dollar had its biggest one-day drop in more than four months against the yen. South Korea's $200-billion (U.S.) in reserves are the world's fourth-biggest, behind Japan, China and Taiwan, Bloomberg News said.

The Canadian dollar rose to a four-week high, although the reaction was muted by a consumer price report showing inflation remains tame. The Canadian dollar closed at 81.64 cents (U.S.), up 0.59 of a cent from Monday's Bank of Canada closing price of 81.05 cents. Slow inflation indicates the Bank of Canada won't be in any hurry to raise interest rates, thus making the Canadian currency less attractive.

The South Korea central bank announced its plans in a Feb. 18 report to a parliamentary committee. However, the report has not yet been published. Analysts and traders said it remains unclear whether South Korea will try to reduce the size of its U.S. currency holdings, or perhaps add other, higher-yielding papers to its existing holdings.

The Korean central bank said it's considering moving into other more flexible currencies, thus giving a lift to the Canadian, Australian and New Zealand dollars.

Speculation is mounting that other central banks will begin to offload the U.S. currency in favour of euros, Canadian dollars and other currencies. The U.S. dollar weakened to $1.3249 per euro from $1.3068.

“It's almost like a pyramid scheme to some extent,'' said Andrew Busch, foreign exchange strategist at BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. in Chicago. “Once someone decides to pull out, it impacts everyone else who's in the game. It's a huge signalling effect for the rest of the market.”

Canada's abundance in raw materials, the “superiority” of its court system along with its role in international trade will continue to make Canadian securities attractive to Asian buyers, said economist Dennis Gartman in The Gartman Letter.

Gold futures for April delivery rose $7.40, or 1.7 per cent, to $435.80. Link

China reports January saw lowest consumer price increase in 12 months

2005-02-23T22:03:00.000+06:00

Tuesday, Feb 22, 2005

SHANGHAI (AP) - China's main measure of consumer prices rose 1.9 per cent in January over the same month a year earlier, the smallest increase in more than a year, the government said Tuesday.

The report by the National Statistics Bureau suggests China's economic planners have made progress in curbing inflation, which hit a seven-year peak of 5.3 per cent in July but has since subsided.

The 1.9 per cent January increase in the consumer price index, China's main barometer for inflation, compared with a 2.4 per cent year-on-year increase in December and a 3.2 per cent on-year rise in January 2004.

It was the smallest increase since a 1.8 per cent increase in October 2003 versus a year earlier.

Meanwhile, the head of China's central bank said the government would closely monitor price changes to determine its monetary policies.

The People's Bank of China boosted interest rates for the first time in nine years in October, seeking to curb investment that authorities say was fueling inflation. But it has been wary of further increases that might crimp consumer demand.

Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, also said Beijing would keep the value of the Chinese currency, the yuan, steady.

The comments, posted on the central bank's Web site, suggest no imminent changes in the country's foreign exchange policy despite international pressure on China to revalue its currency. The United States and other countries say the yuan is being held at an artificially low level, resulting in a flood of inexpensive Chinese products in overseas markets.

The consumer price data for January was somewhat distorted by the fact that the Lunar New Year fell in January in 2004 and in February this year. Consumer prices tend to surge due to strong demand before and during the holiday.

Though the moderation in price rises was good news, higher producer costs and strong investment demand could still push inflation higher later in the year, economists warned.

China's consumer price index rose 3.9 per cent on-year in 2004. Price hikes partly reflected a shortfall in grain output and also surging international crude oil and commodity prices.

The government has said it hopes to limit inflation to no more than 4 per cent in 2005.

Overall, food prices rose 4.0 per cent on-year in January, while prices for grain jumped 14.2 per cent on-year and meat prices rose 9.3 per cent, the report said.

Prices for clothing, household appliances, medical care, transportation and telecommunications fell, it said.

Rate hikes for water and power pushed utilities prices up 10 per cent on-year, while housing costs rose 5.5 per cent, the report said.

The producer price index, a leading indicator for inflation, rose 5.8 per cent on year in January after reaching a near nine-year peak of 8.4 per cent in October, as oil prices slipped, the government reported Monday. Link

6 Iraqis Killed in Multiple Attacks

2005-02-23T21:57:00.000+06:00

February 23, 2005

A car bomb has exploded in the northern Iraq city of Mosul, killing two and wounding 14 others.
"Insurgents continue to disregard the safety of their fellow citizens during their attacks," the US military said in a statement.
"Insurgents have killed two and injured 20 Iraqi citizens during attacks in the last three days."
"A police officer was killed and another wounded this morning at 6:00am (local time) when an unknown person opened fire on them in a restaurant in the centre of Kirkuk," police Colonel Adel Zin al Abidin said.
Two suspects have been arrested.
Two Iraqi civilians have also been killed and another has been seriously wounded when a rocket-propelled grenade hit the car they were travelling in near Kirkuk, a key oil city. Link

Man charged in alleged plot to kill President

2005-02-23T21:54:00.000+06:00

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A Virginian who had been detained in Saudi Arabia as a suspected terrorist was charged Tuesday with conspiring to assassinate President Bush and with supporting the al-Qaida terrorist network.
Ahmed Omar Abu Ali, 23, a U.S. citizen, made an initial appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court but did not enter a plea. He contended he was tortured while detained in Saudi Arabia since June 2003 and offered through his lawyer to show the judge his scars.

The federal indictment said that in 2002 and 2003 Abu Ali and an unidentified co-conspirator discussed plans for Abu Ali to assassinate Bush. They discussed two scenarios, the indictment said, one in which Abu Ali "would get close enough to the president to shoot him on the street" and, alternatively, "an operation in which Abu Ali would detonate a car bomb." Link

The White House had no comment on the indictment.

Abu Ali was born in Houston and moved to Falls Church, Va., a Washington suburb. He was valedictorian of the Islamic Saudi Academy in Alexandria, Va.

Federal prosecutors say Abu Ali joined an al-Qaida cell in Saudi Arabia in 2001. The alleged Bush plot occurred while he was studying in that country.

His family contends that U.S. officials were behind his detention by Saudi authorities and wanted him held in that country so he could be tortured for information. A lawsuit brought on their behalf in U.S. District Court in Washington seeks to compel the government to disclose what it knows about Abu Ali and his detention.

Abu Ali's appearance in federal court here was a surprise because the government never publicly disclosed that he had left Saudi Arabia.

According to the indictment, Abu Ali obtained a religious blessing from another unidentified co-conspirator to assassinate the president. One of the unidentified co-conspirators in the plot is among 19 people the Saudi government said in 2003 was seeking to launch terror attacks in that country, according to the indictment.

More than 100 supporters of Abu Ali crowded the courtroom Tuesday and laughed when the charge was read aloud alleging that he conspired to assassinate Bush.

When Abu Ali asked to speak, U.S. Magistrate Liam O'Grady suggested he consult with his attorney, Ashraf Nubani.

"He was tortured," Nubani told the court. "He has the evidence on his back. He was whipped. He was handcuffed for days at a time."

When Nubani offered to show the judge his back, O'Grady said that Abu Ali might be able to enter that as evidence on Thursday at a detention hearing.

"I can assure you you will not suffer any torture or humiliation while in the (U.S.) marshals' custody," O'Grady said.

Abu Ali is charged with six counts and would face a maximum of 80 years in prison if convicted. The charges include conspiracy to provide material support to al-Qaida, providing material support to al-Qaida, conspiracy to provide support to terrorists, providing material support to terrorists and contributing service to al-Qaida.

Majority back Syrian pullout; Doubt cast on blast origin

2005-02-23T21:51:00.000+06:00

23rd Feb 2005

BEIRUT, Lebanon (Agencies): From traces of explosives allegedly found on airline passengers to recent Beirut road works in which a bomb may have planted, the mystery surrounding the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri continues — and so does the speculation — over the identity of the assassins and whether a suicide bomber or explosives hidden under the street destroyed Hariri’s motorcade. The Lebanese government and its Syrian supporters have been under intense domestic and international pressure to apprehend those responsible for attack.
“The bomb was placed underground, especially (since) the crater was so huge,” said Hisham Jaber, a retired brigadier general and former professor at the Lebanese Military and Staff Command College. “Even a car with 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds) of TNT wouldn’t create such a crater.” Jaber, who inspected the assassination site but is not part of the investigation, said a suicide attack was the least likely cause of the explosion. He noted the crater was near the middle of the road, indicating the bomb was likely placed under the street and not in a parked car. Suspicion that the bomb was under the street increased Friday when the chief military investigator demanded that police investigate recent road works in the area.
Jaber said that although Hariri’s motorcade had equipment to jam electronic transmissions, the device could have been circumvented by a wire-triggered bomb or a counter-device placed in a nearby vehicle. Besides foreign prodding, the government is pressured from many of its own citizens who have little confidence in authorities who were unable to solve a string of assassinations during its civil war. The government has promised a thorough investigation and has condemned the attack.
Pullout
More than three quarters of respondents in an opinion poll carried out and published Sunday by the website of Qatar-based Al-Jazeera news channel favor an immediate withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. Over 77 per cent of 111,589 participants in the poll answered “yes” to the question: “Do you favor an immediate Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon?” The rest replied “no” to the question, posted since Thursday on www.aljazeera.net. The website did not identify the participants, either in terms of age range or nationality, but said the results did not express the opinion of Al-Jazeera. Website managing editor Mohammad Daoud told AFP that Aljazeera.net does not usually require identification in the regular opinion polls it conducts on different topics every three days. However, he said the website has a technical “protection system” to try to prevent multiple voting by the same individuals. The Lebanese opposition’s demand for the withdrawal of 14,000 Syrian troops has been echoed by hundreds of thousands of people who took part in the funeral of former prime minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed last week in Beirut.
Inquiry
Lebanon will cooperate with a UN commission of inquiry into the killing of former prime minister Rafik Hariri to find those responsible and try to ease tensions provoked by the murder, the pro-Syrian speaker of parliament, Nabih Berri, said on Sunday. The decision, taken amid opposition accusations of Syrian involvement and open defiance of the Damascus-backed government, reversed an earlier statement by a minister that Beirut was set to snub the probe.
“President Emile Lahoud received a letter from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on this subject and replied on the basis of cooperation,” said Berri. “There are clarifications (that we will be seeking) but on that basis we’re going to cooperate, because it’s in the interests of the Lebanese state that the truth will out within the framework of respect for its sovereignty.” Opposition parties in Lebanon have been galvanised by last Monday’s killing, in a huge bomb blast, of the five-times former premier, into increasing demands that Syria pull out its 14,000 troops and lift its political grip off its tiny neighbour.Internationally, France and the United States, which co-sponsored a UN Security Council resolution last September demanding the withdrawal of foreign troops from Lebanon, have been the most vocal in insisting on a UN inquiry. Damascus has refused to take the blame for Hariri’s killing.
“Syria is the main loser … and (Hariri) was the most pro-Syrian” among Lebanese leaders, the Syrian ambassador in London, Sami al-Khiami, told the BBC on Sunday. Syria’s government daily Tishrin accused Washington and Israel of leading a “campaign of intimidation” against Damascus and its backers in Beirut since Hariri’s murder. Berri told journalists: “Unmasking the circumstances of this crime is our number one priority, not only because it is a national duty but also to calm people’s spirits and put a stop to the false accusations being bandied about.” Opposition parties have accused the government and Syria of being behind the bomb blast on the Beirut seafront, which also killed 14 other people.
Lebanon’s Interior Minister Suleiman Frangieh, who earlier rejected the idea of an international inquiry commission, said on Sunday on television: “If people want to help us, all right, but this is a sovereign state. Lebanon is capable of leading an inquiry; there is no question of giving up our sovereignty.” A meeting of pro-Syrian Lebanese political leaders on Sunday rejected calls for the government to quit. In a statement read by Berri they said a committee had been formed “charged with making contact with all parties, without exception” to bring about dialogue. But Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, viewed as the main opposition leader in Lebanon, rejected calls for dialogue and said only talks directly with Damascus could help resolve the crisis caused by Hariri’s killing.
A large demonstration called by the opposition for Monday, in defiance of government warnings, is to coincide with a Brussels summit between the US and French presidents. The mounting war of words has prompted another call for calm from Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, spiritual leader of Lebanon’s Maronite Christians, the community from which much of the longstanding opposition to Syria’s influence is drawn. “This catastrophe … has stirred emotions. But national issues should not be handled with emotional reactions, but with moderation, planning and dialogue,” he said. Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern announced late Friday that police Deputy Commissioner Peter Fitzgerald had been made available to the United Nations to head the probe into Hariri’s killing.
Thousands of people continue to converge each evening on Martyrs’ Square where Hariri was buried, to shout “Syria Out” and “Down with the government,” despite warnings from the authorities that they will start enforcing a ban on illegal gatherings. Defence Minister Abdel Rahim Mrad has vowed that the authorities “will not allow any security breaches” after the mourning period which officially ended on Friday. He had also said that the government was poised to boycott the probe decided by the UN Security Council. The deteriorating situation in Lebanon has apparently convinced Arab League chief Amr Mussa to bring forward a visit to an increasingly isolated Syria which had been planned for Wednesday.
He was expected to travel to Damascus Sunday evening for talks the following day with President Bashar al-Assad and Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara. Jordan’s King Abdallah believes the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri was too sophisticated to have been the work of terrorists, the monarch told Spanish newspaper El Pais. “We have to be careful with accusations. What I can say is that because of the sophistication of the attacks, as well as the means used, I don’t believe it was a terrorist group,” Abdullah said in an interview published on Sunday. He gave no further hints as to who he suspected in the Feb 14 attack. Link

Earthquake levels Iran villages

2005-02-23T21:49:00.000+06:00

Death toll at 420; no final count yet from isolated villages.

SARBAGH, Iran (AP) -- Under a cold, driving rain, survivors wailed over the bodies of the dead and dug through the ruins of mud-brick houses searching for their loved ones after a powerful earthquake flattened villages in central Iran on Tuesday, killing at least 420 people.

The toll was expected to rise, because rescue teams did not have a final count from the three most isolated villages in the mountainous region. About 30,000 people were affected, many left homeless when some villages were reduced to piles of dirt and stone by the magnitude-6.4 earthquake. The number of injured was estimated at 900.

Some 40 villages were damaged in the quake, which struck a region 150 miles from Bam, site of a devastating earthquake in December 2003 that killed 26,000 people and leveled the historic city.

At dusk, temperatures fell and rain turned to snow in parts of the mountains, and survivors huddled around fires to keep warm, covering themselves in blankets and sipping hot soup. Some 1,500 workers from the Iranian Red Crescent fanned out in teams, bringing tents and tarps.

Heavy rain and bad visibility hampered relief efforts. But Mohammad Javad Fadaei, deputy governor of Kerman province, said the search would continue through the night in Hotkan and two other villages, Sarbagh and Dahoueieh, which emergency crews had had the most difficulty reaching. Rescue efforts were finished in other villages, he told The Associated Press.

The quake was centered on the outskirts of Zarand, a town of 15,000 people in Kerman province about 600 miles southeast of Tehran, Iran's geological authority said.

Though comparable in strength to the 6.6-magnitude Bam quake, Tuesday's temblor hit a more sparsely populated area and was centered far deeper -- some 25 miles, compared with six miles for Bam -- limiting the damage.

Still, the tiny villages that dot the central mountains -- most of them made in fragile mud brick -- were hit hard. In Douheieh, every building except a mosque with a golden dome had collapsed. At least 80 percent of the buildings in Sarbagh were leveled.

Fadaei said the death toll stood at 420, with some 900 injured.

Residents of Khanook village carried bodies to the morgue for washing before burial. Others crowded around lists of the dead posted on the morgue's wall, breaking into cries if they found a relative's name.

Residents dug with bare hands and shovels in the hope of finding family members alive. Bulldozers moved in later, along with rescue teams and helicopters, but most of those uncovered were already dead.

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards and Red Crescent teams provided the survivors with bottled water, bread and canned food.

The Iranian Red Crescent told international relief officials it did not need outside aid, said Roy Probert, a spokesman for the Geneva-based International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Fadaei said Iran will not issue a plea for aid, but "if foreign countries volunteer their help, we'll take tents, blankets, cash and earth-moving machinery."

Iranian relief officials said they were benefiting from their experience in the Bam quake, which prompted one of the biggest international relief efforts ever.

"The earthquake in 2003 gave us a very good experience of how to deal with such a natural disaster. Despite the rain, relief operations are going smoothly. Relief teams have reached the villages and are helping the survivors," said Mostafa Soltani, a spokesman for the Kerman government. 23.02.2005 Link

At least 20 killed, 900 hurt in earthquake in Iran

2005-02-23T21:46:00.000+06:00

Tehran, Feb 23,05, Kyodo/OANA/IRNA -- A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 shook southeastern Iran Tuesday morning, killing at least 420 people and injuring 900, state television reported.
Iran`s Islamic Republic News Agency, quoting lawmaker Hossein Amiri, said the death toll could rise to more than 500.
The death toll in the town of Zarand in Kerman province alone has risen to 300, said the lawmaker from Zarand. He said Zarand residents are in urgent need of tents, oil and gasoline, IRNA reported.
The news agency said the earthquake destroyed some 40 villages in the southeastern province.
More than 50 relief teams from the Red Crescent of Kerman province were sent to the quake-battered regions, IRNA quoted Mehdi Abna, managing director of Kerman`s Red Crescent Society, as saying.
The US Geological Survey said the epicenter of the 5:55 a.m. quake was about 60 kilometers from Kerman, the capital of Kerman province, and 740 km southeast of Tehran.
In the ancient city of Bam in the same province, more than 40,000 people were killed in a magnitude 6.3 earthquake in December 2003. Link

Bush Wins Token NATO Pledge of Iraq Aid

2005-02-22T22:17:00.000+06:00

Tue Feb 22, 2005
By Mark John and John Chalmers

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - President Bush won a largely symbolic pledge from NATO allies, including Iraq war critics, to help train Iraqi security forces Tuesday at a summit staged to showcase resurrected transatlantic partnership.
But U.S.-European differences over China and Iran resurfaced with Bush voicing concern at European Union plans to end an arms embargo on Beijing, and France pressing Washington to offer Tehran incentives to curb its nuclear program.
And France and Germany renewed calls for a reform of transatlantic relations that would give greater weight to the emerging, enlarged EU as the key U.S. partner, challenging the primacy Washington accords to NATO.
Bush told reporters after a summit of the 26 NATO leaders that the Cold War defense alliance remained the central security organization binding Europe and the United States.
"I think it is the vital relationship for the United States when it comes to security," he told a news conference. "It is a relationship that ... has worked in the past and is adjusting so that it works in the future."
French President Jacques Chirac said he sensed in talks with Bush Monday night that the U.S. leader understood what he called the new European reality, in which the EU was taking on ever greater weight, including in defense.
"Europe and the United States are real partners. So we need to dialogue and listen to each other more," he told the summit.
"We must also, as the German chancellor has underlined, continue to take account of the changes that have occurred on the European continent," Chirac said.
IRAQ TRAINING
NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer trumpeted the agreement of all 26 allies to make some contribution to the Iraq training mission as a sign of the alliance's rediscovered unity.
But that boast masked wide divergence in the level of help on offer. France, the most virulent European critic of the war, agreed for just one of its officers at NATO headquarters to help coordinate offers of equipment to the Iraqi military. Link

EVENT LISTING FOR FEB. 23 IN TAIWAN

2005-02-22T22:10:00.000+06:00

2005-02-22

Taipei, Feb. 22 (CNA) The following are important events scheduled to take place Wednesday, Feb. 23:

09: 00, The weekly Cabinet meeting will be held at the Executive Yuan.

09:00, The Taiwan Solidarity Union's legislative caucus will hold a breakfast meeting with officials of the Mainland Affairs Council at the Legislative Yuan.

09: 30, An international seminar on eradicating poverty will be held at the National Taiwan Normal University main campus in Taipei.

09: 30, A group advocating the employment of middle-aged workers will present petitions to the Executive Yuan.

10:00, President Chen Shui-bian will receive the foreign minister of St. Tome and Principe at the Presidential Office.

10: 30, The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) will hold a news conference at the party's headquarters on its opposition to Beijing's proposed anti-secession law.

13: 20, National Cultural Association Secretary-General Tchen Yu-chiou will address a rally in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Rotary International at the Howard Hotel in Taipei.

14: 30, Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh will hold a news conference on activities of the 2005 World Year of Physics at the Science Education Center of National Taiwan Normal University.

15: 30, A seminar on the mission-oriented National Assembly will be held at No. 9, Fl. 8, Aikuo West Rd., Taipei.

18: 00, Premier Frank Hsieh will meet members of the TSU legislative caucus at his residence.

18:20, President Chen Shui-bian will attend the opening ceremony of the 2005 Taiwan Lantern Festival in Tainan City, southern Taiwan.

19: 00, Vice President Annette Lu will attend a rally in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Rotary International at Keelung City's cultural center.

21: 10, Opposition Kuomintang Chairman Lien Chan will return to the Chiang Kai-shek International Airport from an overseas trip. Link

Brazil Steel Shares Slump On Japan Iron Price Hike News

2005-02-22T22:08:00.000+06:00

Tuesday February 22, 2005, SAO PAULO -(Dow Jones)- Shares of leading Brazilian steel companies slumped early Tuesday after Japan's top steelmakers agreed to pay 71.5% more for iron ore supplied by Brazil's Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (RIO), or CVRD, this year.

CVRD, the world's biggest iron ore producer, supplies virtually all iron ore consumed by local steelmakers like slab exporter Companhia Siderurgica de Tubarao (CSTB4.BR), long-steel maker Gerdau SA (GGB) and flat-steel maker Usiminas (USIM5.BR). The exception to the rule is local flat-steel maker Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (SID), or CSN, which has its own iron ore mine in Southeastern Brazil.

The 71.5% price hike, announced earlier Tuesday by Nippon Steel (5401.TO) in Japan, was smaller than the 90% raise CVRD said it wanted a few weeks ago but still bigger than expected by markets. The rise will take effect April 1 and remain valid for one year. CVRD shares jumped 5.7% on the news to 73.70 reals ($ 1=BRL2.59) in early trade on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange.

In the steel sector, Usiminas tumbled 2.2% to BRL62.99 and Gerdau slipped 1.2% to BRL45.20. CST, which is majority controlled by European steel titan Arcelor ( 5786.FR), fell 2.5% to BRL155.04. Only CSN gained, rising 0.8% to BRL61.50.

All price quotes refer to preferred shares except CSN, which trades only ordinary stock. Link

A risky road

2005-02-22T22:07:00.000+06:00

Tue, Feb 22, 2005

Last week the Kyoto Protocol went into effect. More than 140 nations agreed to reduce their emissions of pollutants that are causing global warming. I am grateful to those nations, especially considering the announcement that in 10 years we will pass the point of no return if we don't address global warming.

We know where the president stands on this issue. He stands squarely behind our being the largest emitter of global warming pollutants. Good thing for us, as we live in the state ranked 38th for polluting our country.

I ask our leadership in North Carolina to guide us away from this road we are on and and guide us to a way to be good stewards of our Earth. Please, before it's too late. Link

Schroeder confident EU will lift China arms ban despite US opposition

2005-02-22T21:58:00.000+06:00

2005-02-22
BRUSSELS (AFX) - German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder reiterated his confidence that the European Union will lift an arms embargo on China despite US opposition, saying he hopes the US Congress can be swayed.

His comments came after US President George W Bush voiced "deep concern" at European plans to lift its 15-year arms embargo on China, slapped on Beijing after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

"We believe it is justified to trust in the new (Chinese) leadership and give them this possibility," he told reporters after a European Union (EU) summit with Bush in Brussels.

"The European position has been clarified. We will do it, I think," he said.

Bush, speaking before the EU talks, reiterated Washington's worry that lifting the EU ban will disturb the military balance of power between China and Taiwan.

"There is deep concern in our country that a transfer of weapons would be a transfer of technology to China which would change the balance of relations in between China and Taiwan," he said.

The European Union imposed a ban on exports of military hardware to China back in 1989, to protest a brutal crackdown on weeks of pro-democracy protests against the Communist leadership.

But now the EU wants to lift the embargo with an eye firmly on the booming Chinese economy, as China continues its moves to open up to the West, which have already seen it win a seat on the World Trade Organisation.

The US leader said that any EU agreement to end the ban would have to be politically acceptable to the US Congress.

Schroeder voiced hope that this could be done, pointing out that: "We hope that . it will be seen in the US Congress that the embargo was not imposed due to the security situation, but .. was imposed as a reaction to the massacre" on Tiananmen Square.

EU leaders have indicated that the arms embargo is likely to be lifted under the bloc's current Luxembourg president, which ends in June. Link

Syria Must End Occupation of Lebanon, Bush Says

2005-02-21T21:55:00.000+06:00

Mon Feb 21, 2005

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Syria must end its occupation of Lebanon, President Bush said on Monday, branding Damascus an "oppressive neighbor" to a once-thriving nation.

"Just as the Syrian regime must take stronger action to stop those who support violence and subversion in Iraq and must end its support for terrorist groups seeking to destroy the hope of peace between Israelis and Palestinians, Syria must also end its occupation of Lebanon," Bush said in a keynote speech in Europe.

Washington, which suspects Syria had a role in last week's killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, has piled pressure on Damascus and Bush said before his visit that he would press European leaders to follow suit.

"Our shared commitment to democratic progress is being tested in Lebanon, a once-thriving country that now suffers under the influence of an oppressive neighbor," Bush said on his first day in Brussels, where on Tuesday he will meet European Union and fellow NATO nation leaders.

Although the EU is also pressing for a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, it favors more of an "engagement" approach.

Despite U.S. objections, the EU initialled a trade and cooperation agreement last year intended to boost ties with Syria but it has yet to sign or implement the accord. Link

Videotape shows al-Qaeda deputy denouncing U.S. calls for reform in Middle East

2005-02-20T22:20:00.000+06:00

By Salah Nasrawi

February 20, 2005

CAIRO, Egypt – Al-Jazeera television aired a videotape Sunday purporting to show al-Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri denouncing U.S. calls for reform in the region and urging the West to respect the Islamic world.

Al-Zawahri, who appeared sitting on the ground and in front of a brown background, said the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, "explains the truth about reforms and democracy that America is allegedly trying to impose in our countries."

"Reform is based on American detention camps like Bagram, Kandahar, Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, it will be based on cluster bombs and imposition of people like Karzai and Allawi," he said, referring to Afghan President Hamid Karzai and interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

"Real security is based on mutual cooperation with the Islamic nation on the basis of mutual respect and the stopping of aggression."

Al-Jazeera reported that the excerpt was part of a longer videotape, but it did not indicate the length of the entire tape. The station did not say if it would air the rest of the video.

In Washington, the CIA said it was looking at the tape in an effort to determine its authenticity.

Al-Zawahri was wearing a clean and well-pressed white and brown robe and traditional headdress in the tape. A Kalashnikov assault rifle was leaning behind him against the backdrop.

"Real security is based on mutual cooperation with the Islamic nation on the basis of mutual respect and the stopping of aggression," al-Zawahri said in the tape.

He warned that "the new crusade is doomed to fail" and said it would result in "tens of thousands of fallen victims and the destruction of your economy."

"If you, the Western nations, think that these cardboard governments can protect you, you are wrong," he said in the tape about governments in the Middle East. "Your real security is through cooperation with the Islamic Nation."

Like al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, the Egyptian al-Zawahri is believed to be on the run in the mountains along the Afghan-Pakistani border.

But Pakistani officials have said there is no evidence either man is in their territory, and both Pakistani and American generals agree the trail has gone cold more than three years after the Sept. 11 attacks. Link

World Hot News Exclusive

2005-02-15T22:08:00.000+06:00

Monday, February 14, 2005
The 47th Annual Grammy Awards
Grammys can't stop loving legendary Ray Charles
The late singer wins big for his posthumous album, 'Genius Loves Company,' in Sunday's awards show.
Norah Jones collaborated with Ray Charles on "Here We Go Again" to win two Grammys.
By Adam Graham
Next up for Ray Charles: the Oscars.
Continuing his awards season dominance, the late, legendary singer's final album "Genius Loves Company" won eight awards at Sunday's Grammys. The album, the best-selling effort in Charles' storied career, was released in August, two-and-a half months after his death at age 73.

"Genius Loves Company" won Grammys for Album of the Year, Best Pop Album and a number of technical categories; while "Here We Go Again," Charles' collaboration with Norah Jones, won Record of the Year and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

And the hits will likely keep on coming. Jamie Foxx, who performed Charles' 1960 hit "Georgia" at the Grammy ceremony with Alicia Keys, is considered a frontrunner at the Academy Awards for his portrayal of Charles in the film "Ray."

In a year where hip-hop and hip-hop-influenced artists dominated the nominations, Chicago producer-turned-rapper Kanye West, the evening's leading nominee, owned the evening's emotional highlight.

After a triumphant performance of his evangelical crossover hit "Jesus Walks" (which bagged him a trophy for Best Rap Song), West won the Best Rap Album Grammy for his debut album, "The College Dropout."

"When I had my accident, I found out at that moment nothing in life is promised except death," West said, referring to a near-fatal car accident in 2002.

"If you have the opportunity to play this game of life, you need to appreciate every moment.

"A lot of people don't appreciate their moment, until it's past... Right now, it's my time and my moment.

"I plan to celebrate and scream and pop champagne every chance I get, because I'm at the Grammys, baby!"

West, who was vocal after losing Best New Artist at the American Music Awards in 2004 to Gretchen Wilson (he lost the New Artist Grammy to Maroon 5), teased about his comments during his speech.

"Everybody wanted to know what I would do if I didn't win," he said, smiling. "I guess we'll never know."

Soul princess Keys won four awards, including one for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for "My Boo," a duet with the year's best-selling artist, Usher. Usher walked away with three awards, including Best Contemporary R&B Album for his "Confessions."

Loretta Lynn and the White Stripes' Jack White -- whose long, stringy mane and scruffy facial hair, made him look like Kid Rock -- picked up a Grammy for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for their single "Portland, Oregon," and Lynn won Best Country Album for the White-produced "Van Lear Rose."

When accepting the latter award together, the unlikely duo seemed only a few steps away from earning their own reality show.

"This is what this business is all about, ain't it?" said the Coal Miner's Daughter, acting as mother to White, while he seemed bashful in the presence of the country icon. "Me and Jack, we cut an album together. Do you want to tell them about it?" she said, passing the microphone to White and all but telling him to stand up straight and enunciate.

"In between songs, she told me, 'You know what, Jack? Fourteen of my songs got banned by country radio, and every time they wouldn't play it, it went number one.' Well, country radio wouldn't play this record either, and we're number one now.

"You're an American treasure, Loretta," White said. "God bless you."

Bay Area rock trio Green Day, who hadn't won a Grammy since 1994, picked up a statue for Best Rock Album for "American Idiot."

"Rock and roll can be dangerous and fun at the same time," lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong said when accepting the award for the politically-minded rock opera.

He later proved how dangerous it could be, by slipping a six-letter slur for homosexuals past the network censors during an energetic performance of the album's title track.

Still, the evening's most inappropriate moment came when U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr. addressed a recent snafu with pre-sale tickets to the band's upcoming tour as it were a human tragedy on par with a tsunami.

Yes, it's still called the Grammy Awards, but the awards took a backseat to the bombast of the telecast, which included a jaw-dropping 24 live performances.

Lifetime achievement awards were given to Jerry Lee Lewis, Pinetop Perkins, Led Zeppelin and others, but the presentations were carelessly rushed through with little regards to the honorees. Meanwhile, presenters such as Adam Sandler and Nelly were given plenty of time to plug their upcoming remake of "The Longest Yard."

The performances were a mixed bag and didn't include any barnburners like Prince's showstopper last year, though Joss Stone and Melissa Etheridge's electrifying tribute to Janis Joplin came close.

The show clearly stressed quantity over quality, as the free-wheeling tribute to southern rock seemed like nothing more than an excuse to get country stars Gretchen Wilson, Tim McGraw and Keith Urban all on stage together at the same time.

The bloated, off-key rendition of "Across the Universe" that featured Norah Jones, Bono, Stevie Wonder, Brian Wilson, Billie Joe Armstrong, Tim McGraw and Steven Tyler -- all backed by walking rock punchlines Velvet Revolver, no less -- resembled a "Saturday Night Live" sketch gone terribly awry, and represented over-the-top Grammy overkill at its worst.

And if Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony's melodramatic, overwrought duet or U2's labored performance of the downtempo "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" made you feel like channel surfing, the opening medley of Black Eyed Peas, Gwen Stefani and Eve, Los Lonely Boys, Maroon 5 and Franz Ferdinand was so-thrown together it felt like the show's producers were channel surfing for you.

On their dueling red carpet arrivals telecasts, Star Jones made nice with the likes of Christina Milian and Maroon 5's Adam Levine, while Joan Rivers did her share of name-botching, calling "Scrubs" star Zach Braff "Jack" and referring to '90s throwback MC Hammer as "M.J. Hammer."

Demonic mask-wearing two-time nominees Slipknot were the red carpet's scariest presence.

In non-televised ceremonies, Bill Clinton was awarded a Grammy -- his second -- in the spoken word category for his reading of his best-selling memoir, "My Life," while Jon Stewart took home a trophy for Best Comedy Album.

Britney Spears won the first Grammy of her career for "Toxic," which was awarded Best Dance Recording. Link

Bangladesh

2005-02-13T02:41:00.000+06:00

2 AK47s with bullets seized from hotel

Bangladesh Army seized two AK47 rifles and 150 bullets from a hotel in the town and arrested an indigenous man and three others in this connection on Friday night.

Tipped off, an army troop in plain cloth led by Bandarban Sadar Zone Commander Lieutenant Colonel Iftekhar raided the hotel at 8:30pm, said Bandarban army camp spokesman Major Humayun.

As the army encircled the hotel, two Myanmar citizens who are thought to be the actual arms smugglers, managed to escape while the army arrested Ang Thoai Ching and three others and seized the two rifles.

One of the rifles is made in Russia and the other in China.

The army are now quizzing Ang while they released the three others after a short interrogation, authorities told journalists.

Ang Thoai said former members of a Myanmar criminal gang Kaw Hla Ang and U Sui Chai booked a room for him in hotel Pru to stay a few days, promising to give him Tk 10,000.

Three arms traders of Chittagong also booked a room in the same hotel that day, he said, adding that the leader of the traders is Nurul Islam.

Another source said a leader of Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO) named Nurul Islam stays at the Chandgaon residential area in Chittagong. However, it could not be known if these two are the same person.

Rapid Action Battalion seized an M16 rifle from one Abdul Gafur in Bandarban in August last year. They also arrested La La Bom from a Bandarban hotel and four indigenous people including a woman from Uzanipara in the town in this connection. Link

WHN B4U

2005-02-13T02:36:00.000+06:00

Munna dead
By UNB, Dhaka
Feb 12, 2005, 12:56

Former National Football Team captain and soccer manager of Abahani Ltd. Monem Munna died of cardiac-respiratory arrest at an early age at Bangladesh Medical College Hospital on Saturday morning. He was 39.

Munna could not celebrate his 12th marriage anniversary on Saturday, as his life was cut short through renal failure.

He left behind his wife, nine-year-old daughter Isra Monem Dania, six-year-old son Azman Salid, parents, host of friends and relations, and admirers to mourn his death.

A celebrated defender of the national football team during the 1986-96 period, Munna was admitted to the hospital on January 26 with serious kidney complications.

He had undergone kidney transplant in Bangalore, India, in March 2000.

Monem Munna was the sports secretary of Awami Jubo League and football manager of the Abahani football club for four years.

The Bangladesh national football team became champions in the international four-nation soccer competition in 1995 under Munna’s captaincy.

Awami League President and Leader of the Opposition, other political leaders and sports organisers paid their last respects to the sports celebrity as his body lay in state on the Abahani club premises.

The first namaj-e-janaza for Munna was held at the Abahani club at 2PM, second one was to be held on the Awami Jubo League office premises at 3PM, third at the Bangabandhu Stadium at 3:15pm and the last janaza in the capital at Sonali Ateet Club at Motijheel at 3:30PM.

Funerals for Munna will also be held twice at his native place Narayanganj before his burial at the Bandar graveyard beside his grandparents after magrib prayers.

Qulkhwani for the soccer talent will be held after Asr prayer at his Narayanganj residence on February 16 and Abahani Club on February 17.

A black flag was hoisted at half-mast atop Abahani Club on Saturday for next seven days.

A condolence book will be opened in the club tomorrow on Sunday to record condolences for next seven days.

Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia on Saturday expressed deep shock at the premature death of former national football captain Mohammad Munem Munna.

In a condolence message, the Prime Minister recalled the contribution of Munna to country’s sports arena.

Begum Zia prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul and conveyed sympathy to members of the bereaved family.

Awami League President and Leader of the Opposition Sheikh Hasina expressed deep shock at the death of former National Football Team captain Monem Munna.

In a condolence message, Sheikh Hasina said, ”Our sports arena suffered an irreparable loss in the premature death of Monem Munna.”

She prayed for the departed soul and conveyed sympathy to members of the bereaved family of Munna, also sports secretary of Awami Juba League.

In separate messages, General Secretary of Awami League Abdul Jalil MP, former State Minister for Youth, Sports and Culture and Awami League Joint General Secretary Obaidul Kader, former Cricket Board President Saber Hossain Chowdhury and Awami League Youth and Sports Secretary Dewan Shafiul Arefin Tutul also expressed condolences at the death of Munna. Link

WHN B4U

2005-02-08T21:15:00.000+06:00

Risk of Cancer May be Determined at Birth

2/8/05- Researchers say a person's risk of certain cancers could be partly determined at birth. A new study found women larger than average at birth had a sharply higher rate of breast cancer before age 50.

The study also found higher rates of digestive cancer and lymphoma in adults who were heavy at birth. Researchers are not sure why cancer and birth weight might be related. Link

Birth Weight May Be Linked to Cancer Risk in Adults
Written by Miguel Sanchez | 07 February, 2005

Babies who weighed more at birth had higher rates of digestive and lymphatic cancers in adulthood -- as well as breast cancer in women under age 50 -- according to a new study published February 7, 2005, in the International Journal of Cancer, the official journal of the International Union Against Cancer (UICC).

The study, available at Wiley InterScience, also found that women who weighed more at birth had significantly higher rates of breast cancer before age 50, though much lower rates of endometrial cancer at all ages.

Studying Trends in Sweden : To examine proposed associations between birth size and rates of adult cancer, researcher Valerie A. McCormack and colleagues at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the Universities of Uppsala and Stockholm investigated overall and site-specific cancer incidence in relation to birth characteristics in a Swedish population-based cohort.

The cohort included 11,166 babies born between 1915 and 1929 at Uppsala Academic Hospital in Sweden. At birth, detailed obstetric notes were taken on maternal age, gestational age, birth order, birth weight, placental weight, birth length and head circumference. Follow-up of the cohort was done through linkages to the Swedish Cancer Registry, national censuses and the Swedish Register of Deaths and Migration.

Reproductive vs. Non-Reproductive Cancer Links

With 2,685 people (24 percent) in the cohort diagnosed with cancer between 1960 and 2001, larger birth size was associated with an increased risk of certain adult cancers.

A standard deviation increase in birth weight (which was 450g at 40 weeks gestation) was associated with a 17 percent increase in lymphatic cancers, and a 13 percent increase in digestive cancers -- including stomach, colorectal and pancreatic -- though no association was seen between higher birth weight and five other non- reproductive-related cancer sites.

Reproductive-related cancers accounted for nearly half of all cancer in women and nearly a third of all cancer in men. For women, a strong association was found between larger birth size and breast cancer in women under age 50. Women in the highest category of birth weight (4kg or greater) were four times as likely to get breast cancer before age 50, compared with women in the lowest category (less than 3 kg).

On the other hand, women who were large at birth were only half as likely to get endometrial cancer compared to their smallest counterparts. For men, the most common reproductive-related cancer -- of the prostate gland -- was analyzed, but no association to birth factors was found.

Accuracy a Bit Shaky

While the researchers note that some of their findings may have arisen by chance, it is plausible that the associations between birth weight and adult cancer are related to some aspects of the fetal environment or the number of cells at risk of carcinogenesis.

"We have found some evidence supporting the hypothesis that larger birth size is associated with increased risk of certain adult cancers," the authors report. "However, our findings suggest that positive associations were not uniform across all cancer sites, but were particular to just a few sites. Furthermore, our findings generate the hypothesis, which merits further study, that rates of endometrial cancer are lower in women who had higher birth rates."

Since previous studies have found associations between smaller birth size and increased risks of adult heart disease and diabetes, the authors conclude, "[b]oth circulatory disease and cancer need to be considered in determining the net effect of prenatal influences on adult morbidity and mortality." Link

Iraq News

2005-02-08T02:40:00.000+06:00

Thune Spends 13 Hours Visiting Voters And Soldiers In Iraq
By DORIS HAUGEN
Monday, February 7, 2005, SIOUX FALLS -- Republican Sen. John Thune met with U.S. soldiers, visited a military hospital and talked to voters during a weekend trip to Iraq with two other members of Congress.
Thune, who traveled with Sens. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and James Inhofe, R-Okla., said the group spent 13 hours in Baghdad with their time divided between the Camp Victory command center and the Green Zone, the heavily-fortified compound that includes the U.S. Embassy.
South Dakotans and all Americans can be proud of the work U.S. soldiers are doing in Iraq, Thune told The Associated Press in a telephone interview on Sunday as he flew back to Washington.
"You take the best technology and couple it with the best soldiers and we've got a tremendous operations machine there," said Thune. "They really are doing an extraordinary job."
Among the military leaders Thune and his colleagues met was Army Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, who oversees recruiting and training of Iraq's security forces. Thune said Petraeus told the group he is upbeat about the progress that has been made.
During Iraq's historic election last Sunday, the Iraqis provided most of the security, said Thune, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. They protected thousands of polling places and were the first line of defense when trouble came up, he said.
In some cases, Iraqi solders died defending people who were trying to vote, said Thune.
"They did a really good job and I think what that suggests is that we may be turning a corner," he said.
Thune said it was a thrill to talk to Iraqi citizens who for the first time were able to vote. A week after the election, their fingers still are stained with the ink used to mark their ballots, Thune said.
"They're just incredibly proud to have had that opportunity."
Thune said one of his most memorable conversations was with a woman who went to the polls with her sister against the advice of their father who thought it was too dangerous. But when they came back, the father was so inspired by their courage that he went as well, said Thune.
While much work remains in Iraq, the election and other indicators show much is being accomplished in Iraq, he said.
"This could be a very decisive year in the cause for freedom in Iraq. And I hope it leads to some very positive things in the future."
Thune's group left for Iraq on Thursday. They met with European military commanders on Thursday night in Germany, went to Amman, Jordan and then entered Iraq.
After their time in Baghdad, the group went back to Germany and visited soldiers at a military hospital in Landstuhl.
Thune said the trip left him optimistic about Iraq's future, but he said the United States still has work to do there.
While some have suggested that a timeline be set for ending U.S. involvement, Thune said many military leaders made it clear to him they disagree with that approach.
"Our generals don't believe that is an appropriate course of action. They believe that this needs to be a conditions-based approach as opposed to a specific time line. When the conditions are right, they'll know that. But they want to make sure we complete our mission." Link

Insurgent attacks continue throughout Iraq, at least 35 dead
BAGHDAD, Iraq Two U-S soldiers and at least 33 Iraqis have been killed in a string of attacks throughout Iraq.
The U-S military said today that the soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing yesterday in a town about 155 miles north of Baghdad.A similar attack killed four Iraqi National Guarsdmen today in Basra. Gunmen killed five police officers in Mosul, where the brother of the city's police chief was kidnapped and later rescued in a raid.The bodies of eight Iraqis who some say worked for American or Iraqi security services were found today in Anbar province. Insurgents assassinated a member of the Baghdad city council and a member of Iraq's intelligence service in separate drive-by shootings.Bombs and clashes killed seven Iraqis in Samarra and Tal Afar, north of Baghdad, and in Ramadi, to the west. Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Link

Me, gloat? Never. But I was right about Iraq
Tim Hames
February 07, 2005-- It is ridiculous to hail these elections as a triumph for democracy. They are the first steps on a long, hard road
THE VOTING may have be completed in Iraq, but the gloating shows no signs of ceasing. Mere details, such as which side has the most ballots are, apparently, irrelevant. The victors, it has already been noted, are the Iraqi people and, by implication, those who supported the overthrow of Saddam. It is as if a returning officer had announced: “Here is the result from Baghdad South: Pro-War, Bush/Blair, Men of Principle Party, 1,333,206. Anti-War, BBC/Foreign Office, Snivelling Wimps Party, 3 (each one a former member of Saddam Hussein’s Cabinet).”
All of which I find troubling. Which is, perhaps, a strange outcome. For if there were a “For the war from 2002” ribbon, I could wear it.
It’s not that I am, in principle, hostile to gloating. Far from it. But not now. In this instance the old warning that pride comes before a fall should still have resonance. Others might be willing to declare that the noble act of conducting an election that attracts a very respectable number of people to the polls is in itself justification for the Iraq conflict and its testing aftermath. I do not. And there are three compelling reasons why a more humble tone would have been better.
The first is that it is rarely wise to fight glib slogans with glib slogans. The argument that many of my comrades in ink have made to their opponents this week is “are you for or against democracy?” It is a nice line, but it makes about as much sense as the “are you for or against peace?” gibe of the anti-war mob two years ago. The intellectually robust answer to these trite questions would be “it depends”.
Am I for democracy? Yes. So would I urge the Pentagon to march on Beijing? Er, no. Or how about the Ministry of Defence pushing en masse to Harare? Not so wild about that one either, actually. Should we encourage thousands of people to move to the South Pole so that Antarctica can enjoy its first free-and-fair elections? I am not sure that the experience of the franchise would be worth the relocation expenses.
It is far too crass to engage in such posturing. It might be the style of the demonstration-and-badges brigade and the UN über alles, Yankees Go Home, let’s-hold-hands-and-sing-Kumbaya crowds, but it should not be adopted by those who like to pride themselves on a more realistic view of human nature. Others can taunt Robin Cook, Douglas Hurd and the entire workforce of the BBC if they wish, but not it my name.
Secondly, it is grotesquely early to hail Iraq as a democratic beacon on the basis of one round of the first stage in establishing a constitutional settlement. That country did, after all, have parliamentary polls in the 1950s and it did not lead to the Garden of Eden. It will be a decade before we know the fate of the experiment.
The early returns this time indicate that the religious-inspired list is set for a landslide triumph in Shia areas, marginalising the more secular faction led by the interim Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi. This will trigger prolonged bargaining over the precise relationship of Mosque and State and might well make it more awkward to incorporate the bruised Sunni minority more awkward. Personally, I remain a relative optimist. Yet the notion that trouble in Iraq is destined to disappear is ridiculous.
Finally, there are the weapons of mass destruction, or rather there are not. Such has been the bitter divide over Iraq that it is has come to be regarded as virtual treason for anyone in the pro-war column even to hint that WMD, not human rights, was the principal assertion made for military intervention. Many of my colleagues have simply airbrushed this out of history, insisting that the struggle was about human rights from the very start and the fact that Saddam Hussein fooled us into assuming that he had an advanced programme of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons fully excuses the intelligence community and their political masters for a flawed analysis.
This will not do. An honest hawk should admit that the failure over WMD in Iraq is a political catastrophe of the highest order. It has made future pre-emptive strikes against dangerous regimes virtually impossible. If George W. Bush were to address Congress tomorrow and claim that action must be taken against North Korea because of new data gathered by the CIA, he would be laughed at. If Tony Blair were to stand up in the House of Commons and give warning that Iran should be dealt with because of the reports compiled by MI6, he would be howled down. Indeed, we have today reached a point where, when the Home Secretary identifies a small number of militants as a threat who, on the basis of intelligence, must be kept under house arrest, people scoff at him. The secret service was once thought of as James Bond. It has become Carrying on Spying.
The day after his re-election Mr Bush intoned: “This is not a time for gloating, it is a time for leadership.” The same should apply after the Iraqi votes are tallied. That leadership will be a hard ordeal. It will not be made any easier by gloating. Link

Israel/Palestine

2005-02-07T14:15:00.000+06:00

Israel, Palestinians agree on joint committee to decide on prisoner release

A Palestinian youth plays the role of prisoner in a symbolic cage during a demonstration calling for the release of prisoners being held by Israel in Gaza City, Gaza Strip. In a gesture and the run-up to Tuesday's Israel-Palestinian summit in Egypt, Israel has announced it intends to release several hundred Palestinians held in Israel. AP
JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel on Sunday signalled it will consider freeing some Palestinian prisoners involved in attacks on Israelis, defusing a crisis with the Palestinian Authority ahead of a historic Mideast summit.
Israel initially said it would not release those involved in attacks, prompting Palestinian complaints that a planned release of 900 prisoners, meant as a gesture toward Tuesday's summit in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik, was not far-reaching enough.
The dispute overshadowed summit preparations. However, late Saturday, the two sides agreed to form a joint committee to review files of additional prisoners, including those who were involved in attacks.
The formation of the committee will be announced at the summit.
The Palestinians want to have a say in which prisoners are released and seek freedom for large numbers of inmates, including those involved in attacks, said Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian Cabinet minister involved in the talks.
Erekat said among the first candidates for release should be those jailed before 1993, when Israel and the PLO signed a mutual recognition accord.
Hisham Abdel Razek, Palestinian Cabinet minister in charge of prisoner issues, said that if Israel will not ease its criteria for release, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, widely known as Abu Mazen, will not be able to persuade armed groups to halt attacks.
"It will not allow him to succeed in the Palestinian street," Abdel Razel told Israel Army Radio. Israel's deputy defence minister, Zeev Boim, said Israel would not agree to a mass release, but also signalled flexibility. Link

Dirty Secrets of the Gaza Expulsion!?
Feb 07, '05 - A document making its rounds on the internet says that Sharon's forces are going to beat you up, and even shoot you in the head if you resist the Jewish ethnic cleansing of Gaza. Tamar reads from this "document" the evil and horrid plans possibly awaiting any people who resist.
Plus: Prof. Paul Eidleberg speaks about: “Disengagement: A Question of Treason”
The Tamar Yonah Show airs LIVE now. (7am-8am Israel time / 12 midnight EST New York time) Learn what's really going on in Israel. Call in with your questions or make your comments.
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US to transfer $50m of Palestinian aid to Israel for building new transit points
US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is expected to announce tomorrow that the US will immediately transfer $41 million to the Palestinian Authority.
Globes' correspondent
6 Feb 05 - The US will transfer to Israel $50 million of the $350 million President George W. Bush promised the Palestinians in last week's State of the Union Address to Congress. Israel will use the money to build modern transit points for the rapid checking of persons and goods, thereby helping the Palestinian economy.
"Ynet" news website reports that Foreign Ministry director general Ron Prosor and Israel Ambassador to the US Daniel Ayalon submitted the request for the aid at a meeting at the White House two weeks ago.
During her Middle East trip, US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is expected to announce tomorrow that the US will immediately transfer $41 million to the Palestinian Authority. The money had previously been budgeted for improving living conditions in the Gaza Strip, but was frozen due to the terrorism that raged during Yasser Arafat's reign. Link

Israeli mobsters smuggling in meat from Palestinian areas
By Haaretz Service
07/02/2005 - Israeli underworld figures have begun smuggling large quantities of livestock, eggs, and meat packed in "black market slaughterhouses" from Palestinian areas for sale within Israel, the Agriculture Ministry said Monday.
Over the past year, ministry officials intercepted and foiled attempts to smuggle thousands of sheep, goats, and cattle into Israel, as well as large quantities of eggs, fish and meat slaughtered in unsupervised plants set up near the Green Line border with the West Bank.
"We are seeing crime families from the north and the Dan [greater Tel Aviv] region moving more and more into areas of activity such as smuggling meat and eggs, showing the very high profits they can make in these fields," a ministry official told Israel Radio.
There is also a large traffic in counterfeit veterenary medicines, he said.
The total worth of seized smuggled goods originating in Palestinian areas in 2004 was a half-billion shekels. Link

Condoleezza Rice Meets With Sharon, Abbas

07.02.2005 -- In her first visit to the Middle East as secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice arrived in Israel Sunday for talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
Rice, who is scheduled to meet separately Monday with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, says both sides have work to do to bring about peace, the BBC reported Sunday.
Sharon and Abbas are to hold talks in Egypt on Tuesday in the highest-level meeting between the two sides for four years.
The region's political landscape changed drastically with the death of Yasser Arafat in November and last month's election of Abbas. Sharon and the United States saw Arafat as an obstacle to peace and refused to negotiate with him.
Rice's visit to the region followed a stop in Turkey as part of her seven-day tour of Europe and the Middle East. Link

World Hot News Exclusive

2005-02-07T14:06:00.000+06:00

More strangeness from the Occupation in Palestine

07.02.2005 - Friday January the 7th”. I am in Hebron on the eve of the Jewish Shabbat two days before the Palestinian elections.
We have decided to patrol the old city late on this Friday because traditionally on Shabbat eve, the Settlers parade along Shahuda street to Ibrihimi mosque to taunt Palestinians at prayer and according to Art Gish of the Christian peace maker team in Hebron, to sometimes go on the rampage vandalising Palestinian homes in the name of ‘a land for a people for people without land’, Zionism.
Shahuda Street has been completely closed to Palestinians since the Barrach Goldstein massacre when acting on a message from God, he fired a machine gun into a congregation of men and boys praying at Ibrihimi mosque, killing 29.
Following this incident the army helpfully welded up the front doors of Palestinian homes facing onto Shahuda Street So that now their only way in and out is across the back yards and through the back facing windows which are up on the first floor. One afternoon watching from the roof of the CPT building I saw a mother and her two small boys, laden with shopping bags negotiate this difficult route into their home.
We slip out late on this Friday, night, down the uneven stone steps leading from our apartment. We split into two groups so as to approach Ibrihimi mosque from different directions. It is so quiet that our every noise resounds through the ancient streets. We take the passage way at the end of the market through to the mosque, the arched alley ways are variegated between the sodium orange street lights contrasting with the shadows crouching in doorways like decay in a molar. Overhead the rubbish dropped from the settlements hangs rotten in the protective mesh.
At the end of the alley our way is blocked by a heavy iron gate we had never noticed in the day time. We retrace to find the other group, this whole scene, the stillness; the ancient walkways could have been artificially generated for a computer game.
We meet the others, and trek across a grave yard, over an area of bulldozed earth and onto worshippers’ way where its’ start is manned by a sentry box. There is much hurried rustling as we approach, we hear the soldiers fumbling with their clothes and they appear at the window looking guilty, they quickly wave us on with a breathless “whose there?”

As we look across at the hills surrounding Hebron, we see figures under the pale street lights on the walk way from the settlement connecting Worshippers way, they are carrying guns. We move on towards the Mosque an injured kitten cries from a rubbish dump and two armed settler boys cross behind us but leave us be.
At the Ibrihimi mosque by the tourist café (for non Palestinians only) the army shifts are changing over, a huge truck brings in the new team of soldiers. They think we are settlers so smile and wave at us; we turn away and watch two large white dogs dive in and out of a skip full of rubbish. A few settlers are out walking on Shahuda Street but they seem peaceful so most of our group return to the apartment but a few of us decide to carry on wandering the streets.
Back in the winding ways of the old city we run straight into a patrol of soldiers lurking in the shadows with their guns aimed. We Jump and they jump. We walk way from them; they follow us after we have turned a corner. They are trying to move silently but we can hear their uniforms creaking as they walk, they are standing near our apartment, and we do not wish them to see exactly where we are based so we walk down another alley. The alley way broadens into a road and a car pulls up, two men get out, one man puts a knife into his boot as we hiss “jesh“(army) at him, he makes a gesture as if to say ‘so what !’
We walk together through the dark streets. The men show us a stable with a sickly Arab mare huddled up on dung. I feel sorry to see the mare kept in such a bad way, we leave and say goodnight to the men. When we return to the apartment we find that mobile phones and money have been stolen from the main room that faces out onto the market. Our guess is that children could have climbed in through the window and taken the most obvious things lying around. Some days later the phones are returned with apologies and offers of free fruit. Hebron is truly a strange place.

Sunday 9th of January Palestinian Election Day in Jerusalem or Al Quds
Have returned to Jerusalem to cover the elections, my initial plan was to cover the situation in Gaza but Gaza is now closed to journalists. We have left it too late to enter.
Of the 27,000 East Jerusalem based Palestinians eligible to vote only 5000 were allowed, due to Israeli registration complications. At the Jaffa Gate polling station a paltry 8 people managed to cast a ballot, with those arriving to vote being sent away to polling stations outside of East Jerusalem. Some settler children, wearing yellow stars, were harassing voters and electoral observers outside the Jaffa gate post office.
I went to the media centre at the Peoples Palace in Ramallah, everything was very quiet. An emergency press conference announced that the polling stations would remain open a further three hours due to the difficulties people had faced trying to vote.
As we left Ramallah a few fireworks were being let off outside a roadside café as the results for Abu Mazan came in. When we arrived at the check point near Jerusalem the soldiers were very cheerful upon seeing a crowd of European journalists.
“Sorry for the hassle guys “they said as they handed us back our pass ports. I felt sickened by their friendliness as I recalled one occasion, whilst accompanying a family with their sick child to a doctors in the neighbouring village after dark. At the check point the soldiers made us all get out of the vehicle; they made me stand on one side of the car and the family on the other. The soldier kept demanding, why the fuck was I in Palestine? He then insulted my appearance and insulted the family I was with. Israel routinely dehumanises Palestinians and this chirpy attitude to the journos on Election Day only served to illustrate this more clearly.
13th of January 2005 Jenin Olive Planting at Arab As Suweitat Farm
Four of us have travelled up to Jenin from Nablus because a farmer at Arab As Suweitat Farm, who has had his land commandeered by the illegal real estate carve up that is the security fence, needs to plant olive saplings on his remaining dinums which border the fence. Previously he has had problems from both the settlers and the army so we invited to attend the planting to report on any intimidation that he might incur whilst working his own land.
It is the situation here that if a farmer does not keep his land productive it can be requisitioned by the Israeli state for settlements so it is crucial that his trees are planted.
We arrived at the farm early in the morning, shivering in blue dawn light, after chai to warm us up; we made our way over stone walls towards a pile of little olive saplings. The workers, the farm children and ourselves each grab a couple of baby trees and then scramble over the bumpy ground to the planting point. The men quickly dig the land while we watch the settlement and the road which stretches for eternity alongside the cursed razor wire fence. The settlement opposite looks like a scene from the Walton’s with its neat white houses fronted with homey looking porches just waiting for a grey haired grandmother to sit and rock the little ones to sleep in her big comforting arms. Instead of granny though, some men appeared and seeing us planting trees fetched a chain saw and tore down some graceful pine trees surrounding the settlement. An army jeep drove past us, backwards and forwards as the trees were put into place. The soldiers were obviously bored with nothing better to do then to keep staring at us. What a waste of British tax payers’ money I thought as I remembered the support Britain gives to this regime.
There is no escape from tea and coffee in this culture two tiny girls came scrambling over the rocks bearing a tea pot and little tea glasses. We all sit together in the morning sun singing songs with the kids, and then return to the farm for lunch and even more tea.

15th of January 2005 the great road block Mistake at Izbet At Tabib.
“And your mission if you choose to accept it is to travel to Izbet At Tabib where the Israeli army have bulldozed the main access road which has cut off the water supply to 40 houses in the village.”
So we are back in a service heading south of Jenin in the pouring rain to a small cluster of houses a few kilometres from Jayyous to negotiate the removal of great piles of concrete and rocks dumped by the army across the villages’ main access road which has smashed the water pipes underneath, before they can be fixed this huge heap of rubble has to be cleared. We clamber over this quagmire of mud and rock that has cut the village off and are then taken inside a house to be updated on the situation.
We are told that on Friday the 14th of January a D9 bulldozer loomed over the horizon of At Tabib and then churned up its main access road piling up three road blocks aprox 2.5 metres high about 100m apart which have smashed water pipes severing the supply to forty houses in At Tabib.
Phone calls are made to human rights groups who have the ear of Knesset (the Israeli Parliament) and soon we learn that someone from the DCL (the administrative branch of the army will come out to assess the situation. In heavy rain we wait by the side of the road for Captain Ohar of DCL to appear. An army jeep and hummer eventually arrives, four soldiers escort Captain Ohar towards the road blocks. I am not sure what the difference is between the admin branch of the army and the army branch of the army, as they all have massive guns. Captain Ohar (it is hard to type ‘Ohar’ without imagining a trumpet resounding ‘Ohar! Tadah!’) Demands proof that the village is without water. We enter the court yard of a house nearest the road block I wonder how the people feel on seeing the army at their door. Captain Ohar!! Trumpet resounds! Sees that yes indeed there is no water and explains that these road blocks were just a mistake.
Er a mistake? Tonnes of rubbish and massive boulders on the main access road a mistake?
What?
Yes apparently they had to clear a road block from a neighbouring village( which had in fact never had a road block) but by accident they had made three road blocks in At Tabib whilst clearing away a road block some where else but hey! Don’t worry we will clear these ones up tomorrow!
Watch out the next village along in case the army decides to add four road blocks instead of clearing away At Tabib’s three road blocks.
I get captain Ohar to repeat three times that if the army do not come in the morning as promised it is ok to call him and demand to know where the army is. He says it is ok to call him.
16th of January 2005
Out comes the sun and dries up all the rain and a great big Caterpillar D9 bulldozer comes along the next day and shovels the boulders and road blocks to one side. The At Tabib children sit up on the piles of rocks watching this lumbering machine responsible for demolishing so many Palestinian homes, roads and lives in the quest for the Zionist dream. The road blocks cleared I ask the villagers if the army will fix the broken water pipes but the men say that no they will have to do it and they seem to prefer this to having the army hanging around and I can’t say that I blame them.
Yanoun 18th to 21st of January 2005

Evening of 17th of January
My telephone rings and I am asked if I would like to work with the International women’s peace service (IWPS) to watch Yanoun an ancient and remote village south east of Nablus facing the Jordan valley, so that the regular observers can take a break.
It is essential for internationals to maintain a presence in Yanoun at all times as the surrounding hills are populated with settlers of the Itamar settlement who continually harass the people of Yanoun. In October 2002 armed men from Itamar evicted the entire village at gunpoint. Following this, Israeli peace groups and International observers moved into deserted Yanoun to prevent settlers from taking over the village. The local people returned feeling a degree of protection from the international presence. However it is now necessary to keep internationals permanently in the village to monitor and act as a deterrent to future settler violence and invasions.
I look on the map for the location and groan when I see it means yet another trip back to Beit Tiba and then a lot of car and bus changes until the final destination is reached but hey, a good excuse to see more beautiful country side.
18th and 19th January 2005
I am alone in Upper Yanoun in the international house; Yanoun is divided into upper and lower areas and is over 2000 years old. The encircling hilltops are under the control of the Itamar settlers and if any one other than then these vigilantes of Zion visit, then they risk a bullet in the bum. Quote by Leah Goldsmith of Itamar settlement “We, the local settlers are inquisitive about any vehicle that is not a bullet proof bus on these roads” www.shechem.org/itamar/eindex.html
Very nice! The only vehicles I have seen here so far are two small ford fiestas!! The horizon is ringed with sentry towers stood next to prairie style bungalows and caravans. Upper Yanoun’s slopes are ridged with, beautiful dry stone walls and ancient gnarled olive orchards.
So I sit here on this grey rainy day awaiting the arrival of more internationals F of IWPS with whom I traveled here is in lower Yanoun visiting families before she returns to the IWPS house.
Meeting up with her yesterday in Hares after the trip south from Jenin was a complex process. I arrived at the madness that is Beit Tiba checkpoint and as usual the sunshine yellow services are parked at crazy angles with their engines running, and the drivers touting for business are crying “Ramallah! Ramallah! Ramallah!” over the continuous blaring of horns. Dust from the quarry blows everywhere creating a khaki fog to match the APC’s and hectic crowds cross the check point in a stop go, motion regulated as the army likes.
To reach Hares I was advised to take a service to Fouldoon for five shekels and then another onto Hares. At first nobody understood where I wanted to go as I had pronounced Hares “Harris” in a very English way. I soon realized it is pronounced Kharese, this misunderstanding sorted I then received the wise words “take a service to Fouldoon.”
In the service a serious young woman traveling with her little sister offers me chewing gum, and told me that she was at university studying mathematics and computing.
Fouldoon, I am told that services do not go to Hares but they can do a special for 20 Shekels I say no thank you and am then advised to take a bus. Some one else tries to sell me a special for 20 acting as if buses are a legend from the distant past, three minutes later I am on a bus whizzing through stunning mountainous lands. The bus stops and one man gets out, I carry on sitting waiting for the bus to continue, the driver raises one eyebrow at me in the mirror. “Hares” he says, I smile as I think that London bus drivers would just leave me sitting there taking me miles out of my way.
I climb up onto a pile of rocks to wait for the arrival of F, she appears a south African activist of Muslim Indian origin, she is used to being in command and wants to know that I am self sufficient and independent. I do my best to appear so. We then take another bus to a checkpoint situated in some hills between two main roads. I have no idea where we were, and then it’s into a Taxi to Aqraba (a good Arabic name) from where a lift is arranged onto Yanoun. At Aqraba a white transit van pulls up, the driver, a smiley man with his two children in the back, bumps us up the mountains to Yanoun, past olive trees so old their thick rugged trunks are three feet wide and date back to the Roman times.
International House is bright and cheery the walls painted spring green with colourful knitted patchwork blankets thrown over chairs. A welcoming destination to arrive at. Next to it is a tiny cave like shop where we met three old wise women, who sell handmade olive oil and goat’s cheese. They serve us tea and hand us little chocolate sweets as we leave, like everyone else here they find my attempts to speak Arabic hilarious but are patient and encouraging. They are very beautiful in that same way the ancient olive trees are. Their skin is shiny brown, lined and leathery, their eyes twinkle beneath bright hijabs.
We leave them to go to meet the mayor of Yanoun, Rashid, who serves us chai and lets us sign the Yanoun visitors’ book. The book dates back to 2002 and it was good to see names from so many lands that have come to this remote and wonderful place because of their concern about the villagers’. Rashid’s four children play peacefully together in front of a small wood burner in the middle of the room. I notice children here are not spoiled with tonnes of toys, I have seen a few that have marbles or toy guns but other then that they play very creatively with each other, telling stories or running about in the streets.
I then recalled a few days before walking in the Arab As Suweitat district of Jenin, we stumbled on a decayed fair ground with a rusted old Ferris wheel, at the centre. The proprietor his hands grimy with oil offers us tea from a giant gold urn. The tea ritual is everywhere, as we stand sipping from little plastic cups, crowds of small boys gather. “What’s your name? Where are you from?” The boys have a manic energy on which they can barely keep the lid and they are about to spill over.
“You yahoodi? You Israelian?”
“La Israeli” we say
“Israelian Israelian!” they chant following us to the remains of a demolished house, they crowd us, half friendly, half threatening.
One boy keeps hitting my sheet of Arabic verbs from out of my hands; I chase him, catch him and swing him around. He laughs, for a moment pacified. The other boys still cannot make up their minds about us. We leave them for they are just a bit too boisterous. Small stones come flying towards our ankles, and they run behind us crying out “Jahudi! Jahudi!”
Some adults try to contain them but the boys are too hyped up at the sight of us to listen, hurt by the violence of the occupation it comes as no surprise that they see every outsider as a threat.
I have played with many children here and they often mime throwing stones when faced with a pretended danger. Their instant response is to pretend to throw stones, acting out the boy David archetype facing the bogey Goliath a heroic role play of children growing up surrounded by military oppression.
F has headed off into lower Yanoun beret on head looking very Che Guevara and I am alone waiting for more internationals to arrive, wondering what on earth I will do if something does happen with the settlers I just pray that nothing does I play the guitar and sing to distract myself.
It is peaceful here despite the situation, unlike my last night in Jenin, which was stressful. The flat below the apartment was a kind of computer store. At about 20.30 some men came and banged loudly on the door and then tried to smash it down. They were shouting, in a paranoid moment I thought that they might be looking for us incase they thought we were Israeli collaborators and had the wrong flat. The wind was howling around the apartment block I was totally alone without phone credit, the other ISMers were at the internet café. BANG! BANG! BANG! SHOUT! SHOUT! SHOUT!
I sneak a look through the door and see that the two men are angry. They are still shouting like crazy, my paranoia has peaked and I am ready to run down the stairs into the street or to start shouting from out of the window. I crouch in a dark corner clutching my out of credit phone poised to start screaming if anyone bursts into the apartment. The phone rings and my saviour from madness is my wondrous telepathic sister who I have not heard from since I left England. “How are you?”
“Er I am hiding in a corner terrified, how are you?” She calms me and the banging downstairs continues for just a little while longer and then the men leave and drive away in a van with bars on the back window. In Yanoun it was great to sleep peacefully despite the fact that the settlers might turn up at any moment with their guns and supremacist bigotry. Link

World Hot News Exclusive

2005-02-06T13:30:00.000+06:00

1. Fakir Lalon Shah

For Bangladesh the year 1991 passed uneventfully in with our willful exclusion of an epochal event of historical significance. It was the death centenary of the agnostic sage Fakir Lalon Shah, whose date of birth while a mystery, it is said that at the time of his departure from planet earth he was well over 100 years of age. In as much as proofs of physical dates, place of birth and his ‘religion’ are concerned, Lalon Shah remains enigmatic and many mysteries surrounded him them, as much as they do now.
A lack of detailed accounts, verifiable or reliable published documentation about him or of the times he lived in, in his entirely private, controversial and secretive quest for a union with the Maker of the Universe, that went public with its wide acceptance, it is not surprising that every aspect of his life has been up for scrutiny, and resultant curiosity have led to myths, half-truths and unfortunate fabrications about the message he wished to convey, is what we are faced with today. Ironically more than his message and its interpretation in the way he lived his life, the persona of Fakir Lalon Shah has become of sole importance to many.
In Seuria, Kushtia, Bangladesh where Lalon Shah’s body was interned without any religious ceremony, his legacy has been one of diabolical ignorance straddled in a struggle to assign him an Islamic identity by Bedounist mainstream fanatics, which lay directly in confrontation with the dominant city bred middle-class precepts of the ill defined Brahminist supremacist ‘secular’ Bengalee culture; matters thus remain complicated in the understanding of the great man and his vision.
The ingrained communal hatred espoused by extremists of both end of the spectrum, stirred by no end of senseless debates as to who’s “God” is the better or more powerful, made a small yet significant part of the thinking population to move away from the dichotomy of it all, to examine, identify and try to grasp the aspirations of our ancient Baul heritage. The author of this writing is one among many of them.
There were valid reasons for these individual quests. The philosophy, poems or reading into the life of this world class sage is absent in any Bangladesh educational curriculum, while more banal and under-average personalities have been ‘respectably’ accommodated.
However even before we start discussing the Baul’s, a word of caution here: contrary to popular misconceptions, synonymity with Lalon Shah, and inference of him being a Baul ‘guru’ borders on middle class fascination for tokenistically tagging philosophical quests of the marginal, to a particular human ‘avatar’ over a period in time. The truth is Baul’s existed hundreds of years before Lalon Shah not only in Bengal, indeed similar lifestyle and expressions can be identified in other parts of the world. It is a rarely ‘advertised’ global concept of the alternative, and thus appropriates that we have used the term “Bauliana” in context of this book. 05.02.2005 Link

2. The Messages from the Messenger

Music was the vehicle of Lalon Shah’s message, and no matter how esoteric the contents were, it never failed to find a ready audience as the natives of Bengal had a natural inclination and talent for the art form.
Fakir Lalon Shah was exceptional in that he personified what the Baul’s ascribed as a ‘belief system’ and saw huge numbers of them flocking in admiration of the great man. Lalon Shah gave a voice to the Baul’s struggle in the poems set to music, something that was sadly lacking at the crossroad of our socio-political-spiritual struggle that started ions ago. For Bauls, Fakir Lalon Shah (as is the popular misconception among urbane enthusiast) was never a ‘guru’, for they were never a ‘community’ or clan, nor were they a mutual admiration society, and to suggest that any of it makes us question: Why then do Bauls reject any ‘home’ greater than the body that houses our unanchored and restless souls?
Rejection of the inevitable self then, as much as it is today, as an extension to the ‘inquiry of the self’ was never so obvious, for within the prevailing dogma it elevated anybody with a sense of mission and purpose, to a pedestal for worship. On the contrary Lalon Shah worshipped man in that he did not subscribe to the prevalent hub and spoke notion of Man on Earth and his ‘almost humanoid’ resembling Maker, trillions of kilometers up away in some celestial Heaven – where HE apparently resides!
Removed from society, and in grief and tragedies Lalon Shah evolved: his depth came not from wallowing on the periphery of mainstream beliefs, indeed his protracted period of isolation forced upon by the dominant clergy of the day, were harbingers for his immense understanding into the intricacies of life, and passing the Message on in the simplest of couplets for the average person to understand was his mission. Life’s complex equations explained in the simplest of term were his forte.
It is therefore not unusual that the word ‘Fakir’ precedes his name, a title and a derivative from the Arabic word Fiqh meaning someone who has acquired deep insight and knowledge through practice, patience, inquiry and sacrifice.
There was no less attempts to make a Hindu or Muslim out of him as he lived and the century since he died - but to no avail. The sage during his lifetime steadfastly repudiated any attempts to be branded a ‘follower’ of an organized religion. Till this day for his followers unwilling to infer religiosity on Lalon Shah, he is thus ‘Shai-ji’ and Bauliana is no religion but a quest, in small insignificant ways, perhaps even a permissible way of life. Lalon Shah did not believe in looking UP for inspiration, but looking within. Importantly he did not imply that looking within, meant worship or the deification of one man – but MAN, the creation of the Maker. 05.02.2005 Link

WHN Before You

2005-02-02T13:45:00.000+06:00

Meningitis outbreak 'Controllable'
By Liu Weifeng and Cao Desheng (China Daily)
2005-02-01- The current meningitis outbreak in parts of China is of a reasonable size and controllable, officials said.
No new infections or deaths were reported yesterday.
Sixteen people have been confirmed dead from the disease since January.
"It's not necessary to panic," said Deng Haihua, a Ministry of Health (MOH) official.
Cerebral-spinal meningitis, an acute infectious disease that spreads through the respiratory system, is not as contagious as the flu or the common cold, which usually occur during winter and spring, he said.
The deaths of five students in East China's Anhui Province caused by the disease last month, has attracted intense attention from officials and the public.
The tested group C bacteria from the Anhui cases, which is responsible for the fatalities, has increased among the general public, officials said. Meningitis is easily spread among children, who are among the most vulnerable people in society.
Vaccinations injected to guard against the epidemic have been widely carried out throughout China since 1984. But the vaccine being adopted for decades to fight against group A bacteria, the leading cause of meningitis in China, is not effective on group C bacteria which has a higher contagious possibility than group A.
The disease caused by group C bacteria is also characterized by a quick and acute ability to spread, quickly develops and carries a high death rate.
Vaccine to group C bacteria is available in China, produced by a pharmaceutical manufacturer in Lanzhou, the capital of Northwest China's Gansu Province.
All the provinces, except Southeast China's Fujian Province, Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region and the tropical Hainan island in South China, have reported cases, according to an MOH statement.
Statistics indicate that meningitis sufferers numbered 2,250, 2,551, 2,535 and 2,698 cases, from 2001 to 2004, a slight increase on a year-on-year basis.
In Beijing, the first batch of vaccines to help prevent group C bacteria are expected to arrive in the capital in the next two days, said Li Guoying, an official with the Beijing Municipal Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
"This is a new vaccine to Beijing," Li said. The city is still a disease-free place entering this winter.
With the impending of the Spring Festival, the MOH has issued an emergency notice for a general appeal to fight possible further development of the disease.
Because the Lunar New Year involves such fluid population movement across China, transportation departments are on the alert.
No meningitis cases have been found to be travelling this year, a press official surnamed Li from the Ministry of Railways said.
"We have urged local railway administrations to organize disease prevention squads to strengthen decontamination measures in railway stations and trains," Li said.
Every year in peak travel seasons such as in Spring Festival holidays, railway departments will start emergency plans for epidemic prevention, she said, adding no special measures have been taken so far to target meningitis.
In the next 30-plus days, about 145 million people are expected to travel by rail for family reunions.
Responding to the Ministry of Health, the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China yesterday urged airlines and airports to take concrete measures to prevent the disease from spreading via air transport.
The Ministry of Education has urged local education departments to take actions to prevent the disease from spreading among students. Link

Edogawa TV neutrality in doubt
Yomiuri Shimbun
01.02.05- The political neutrality of Edogawa Cable Television Inc. has been questioned following its broadcast of a golf tournament in early January named for a Tokyo metropolitan assemblyman. The tournament was organized by a group to support the assemblyman, sources close to the group said Sunday.
Though the cable channel began airing the annual golf tournament about seven years ago, new concerns over the station's intentions have been raised in light of the metropolitan assembly election set for July.
The cable television broadcast law requires cable television stations to air politically neutral programs, but the program in question repeatedly mentioned the name of the tournament and included the assemblyman's personal greeting.
The station produced a two-hour special New Year golf program, comprising a charity golf tournament to support the assemblyman, a ward residents' tournament and the Edogawa Ladies Cup for amateur and professional players.
The program was aired four times between Jan. 2 and Jan. 6.
The charity golf tournament was held at a golf course in Togane, Chiba Prefecture, with about 400 members of the support group attending.
The program spent about 40 minutes covering the assemblyman's tournament, and during that time, the tournament title--a charity golf tournament to support assemblyman X--was shown in the bottom left corner of the screen.
At an award party after the tournament, the assemblyman delivered a speech, saying he was grateful for the tournament as it was designed to help the needy and give him support.
Because Edogawa Cable Television airs the golf tournament as a New Year program every year, the support group calls on its members to participate because their presence will be shown, the sources said.
Officials of the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry's Regional Broadcasting Division, which supervises the cable television broadcast law, said it was up to the broadcasters to decide whether their programs were politically fair.
"It's hard to say broadcasting a tournament with the name of a lawmaker violates the law," they said.
However, several cable television stations told The Yomiuri Shimbun that they made programs on the basis of their own standards to ensure political fairness.
They said they would broadcast politicians speaking at events organized by municipal governments, but would not broadcast events held by politicians' support groups.
In addition to the assemblyman in question, Edogawa has four others, but Edogawa Cable does not broadcast events held by the other politicians' support groups.
Shunichi Yunoki, Edogawa Cable's general manager in charge of programming, said his company only continued what had begun seven or eight years ago, denying any intention to give the assemblyman political support.
"We didn't broadcast programs featuring other assemblymen because they didn't ask us to do so," he said.
The assemblyman in question said a request for him to give an interview started his appearance in the tournament and he never asked the cable television station to do anything for him.
Edogawa Cable Television Inc., which has about 70,000 subscribers in Edogawa Ward, Tokyo, has become an affiliate of a cable television company in Minato Ward, Tokyo.
Until December, Edogawa Ward owned 1 percent of Edogawa Cable's shares.
The cable television company still broadcasts the Edogawa Ward's public television programming.
An official of the ward's public relations division said the ward was not in a position to judge whether a program was good, but if many residents of the ward appeared in a program, there would be no problem. Link

More clashes in Bangladesh strike

Tensions have soared after a bomb attack on an opposition rally
At least 50 people have been hurt in clashes between police and protesters on the third day of a general strike in Bangladesh, the opposition says.
The stoppage closed the stock market, and shops and schools nationwide.
The main opposition Awami League party called the strike in protest at a grenade attack last Thursday, which killed one of its leaders.
No arrests have been made. Awami League supporters blame the government for the death - a charge it denies.
Baton charges

Mr Kibria died of injuries after the attack
The 60-hour strike began on Saturday morning and was due to end on Monday evening.
On Monday, security forces used batons to disperse opposition demonstrators at various places in the capital.
Most businesses were closed and vehicles were off the otherwise busy streets in Dhaka, a city of nearly 10 million people.
Protesters chanted anti-government slogans and demanded the immediate arrest of those who carried out the grenade attack on the opposition rally in north-eastern Habiganj district.
The blast killed former Finance Minister Shah AMS Kibria, and four other Awami League officials.
FBI help requested
Opposition leaders say the three-day strike was observed in all cities and towns across the country as a mark of protest at the killings of the opposition leaders.
Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina, who herself escaped a grenade attack last August, has blamed the government for the killings - a charge dismissed by the authorities.
The government has asked the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to help find the killer.
But the US authorities say they would consider sending investigators only if measures were taken to ensure they had access to all the evidence. Link

A great day for Bangladesh cricket
Feb 01, 2005 - Bangladesh of late rose like a colossus. They first handed fancied India a defeat in one of the three ODIs last December. Many a critic did not hesitate to term it as a fluke. But finally they became compelled to shut their murmuring...
Inspired by maiden success in the Test series last month, hosts Bangladesh came back strongly yesterday from a 0-2 near defeat to convincingly win the ODI series also against Zimbabwe in the home ground. Monday's landmark victory at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, after years of successive defeats, will surely be written at long last in golden letters in the cricket history of Bangladesh. The well-deserved two successive series wins against Zimbabwe has galvanised the whole nation and of its cricket potentials in particular. Surely it will give a very big boost to the country’s game of cricket, which suffered many humiliations since gaining Test status in 2000. The young generation in particular will also be encouraged to play cricket more and more leaving behind the days of defeats and disappointments. Our big kudos to great Tigers and the organisers also for their unlimited patience and perseverance against heavy odds and humiliations. They finally presented the nation long-awaited and pleasant New Year gifts of series wins.
Bangladesh of late rose like a colossus. They first handed fancied India a defeat in one of the three ODIs last December. Many a critic did not hesitate to term it as a fluke. But finally they became compelled to shut their murmuring.
The toss was the key factor in the first four ODIs. Team winning the toss eventually won the match. But Habibul Bashar, captain of the home team, painted a different story in the fifth one-day international. He said the day before the final ODI, “The toss has undoubtedly been a factor in this series. But it is not all over. To win a match by chase is also possible.” The home captain was true to his promise. He properly guided his team to win the decisive ODI by seven wickets.
Though Zimbabwe’s total of 198 was not enough to contain the opponents of the same strength, yet none expected to sail home so easily as they did on Monday. The Bangladeshi batsmen never allowed the opponents bowlers to settle down and dominate all through. Good planning and combination of qualities reaped harvest. Presence of qualities is not enough if those are not applied. Bangladesh Cricket team exercised before all the necessity of unity, discipline and self-confidence. As a nation, we have almost forgotten the need of unifying ourselves in time of need. We may learn something from our cricketers. Link

WHN Before You

2005-02-02T12:44:00.000+06:00

Sixteen people have been confirmed dead from the disease since January.
"It's not necessary to panic," said Deng Haihua, a Ministry of Health (MOH) official.
Cerebral-spinal meningitis, an acute infectious disease that spreads through the respiratory system, is not as contagious as the flu or the common cold, which usually occur during winter and spring, he said.
The deaths of five students in East China's Anhui Province caused by the disease last month, has attracted intense attention from officials and the public.
The tested group C bacteria from the Anhui cases, which is responsible for the fatalities, has increased among the general public, officials said. Meningitis is easily spread among children, who are among the most vulnerable people in society.
Vaccinations injected to guard against the epidemic have been widely carried out throughout China since 1984. But the vaccine being adopted for decades to fight against group A bacteria, the leading cause of meningitis in China, is not effective on group C bacteria which has a higher contagious possibility than group A.
The disease caused by group C bacteria is also characterized by a quick and acute ability to spread, quickly develops and carries a high death rate.
Vaccine to group C bacteria is available in China, produced by a pharmaceutical manufacturer in Lanzhou, the capital of Northwest China's Gansu Province.
All the provinces, except Southeast China's Fujian Province, Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region and the tropical Hainan island in South China, have reported cases, according to an MOH statement.
Statistics indicate that meningitis sufferers numbered 2,250, 2,551, 2,535 and 2,698 cases, from 2001 to 2004, a slight increase on a year-on-year basis.
In Beijing, the first batch of vaccines to help prevent group C bacteria are expected to arrive in the capital in the next two days, said Li Guoying, an official with the Beijing Municipal Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
"This is a new vaccine to Beijing," Li said. The city is still a disease-free place entering this winter.
With the impending of the Spring Festival, the MOH has issued an emergency notice for a general appeal to fight possible further development of the disease.
Because the Lunar New Year involves such fluid population movement across China, transportation departments are on the alert.
No meningitis cases have been found to be travelling this year, a press official surnamed Li from the Ministry of Railways said.
"We have urged local railway administrations to organize disease prevention squads to strengthen decontamination measures in railway stations and trains," Li said.
Every year in peak travel seasons such as in Spring Festival holidays, railway departments will start emergency plans for epidemic prevention, she said, adding no special measures have been taken so far to target meningitis.
In the next 30-plus days, about 145 million people are expected to travel by rail for family reunions.
Responding to the Ministry of Health, the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China yesterday urged airlines and airports to take concrete measures to prevent the disease from spreading via air transport.
The Ministry of Education has urged local education departments to take actions to prevent the disease from spreading among students. Link

Edogawa TV neutrality in doubt
Yomiuri Shimbun
The political neutrality of Edogawa Cable Television Inc. has been questioned following its broadcast of a golf tournament in early January named for a Tokyo metropolitan assemblyman. The tournament was organized by a group to support the assemblyman, sources close to the group said Sunday.
Though the cable channel began airing the annual golf tournament about seven years ago, new concerns over the station's intentions have been raised in light of the metropolitan assembly election set for July.
The cable television broadcast law requires cable television stations to air politically neutral programs, but the program in question repeatedly mentioned the name of the tournament and included the assemblyman's personal greeting.
The station produced a two-hour special New Year golf program, comprising a charity golf tournament to support the assemblyman, a ward residents' tournament and the Edogawa Ladies Cup for amateur and professional players.
The program was aired four times between Jan. 2 and Jan. 6.
The charity golf tournament was held at a golf course in Togane, Chiba Prefecture, with about 400 members of the support group attending.
The program spent about 40 minutes covering the assemblyman's tournament, and during that time, the tournament title--a charity golf tournament to support assemblyman X--was shown in the bottom left corner of the screen.
At an award party after the tournament, the assemblyman delivered a speech, saying he was grateful for the tournament as it was designed to help the needy and give him support.
Because Edogawa Cable Television airs the golf tournament as a New Year program every year, the support group calls on its members to participate because their presence will be shown, the sources said.
Officials of the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry's Regional Broadcasting Division, which supervises the cable television broadcast law, said it was up to the broadcasters to decide whether their programs were politically fair.
"It's hard to say broadcasting a tournament with the name of a lawmaker violates the law," they said.
However, several cable television stations told The Yomiuri Shi

Iraq Election

2005-01-31T13:30:00.000+06:00

27 killed in Iraq election attacks

Jan 30 2005 - Iraqis turned out to vote on Sunday in their country's first free election in a half-century, defying insurgents who launched deadly suicide bombings and heavy mortar strikes at polling stations.
By midday in Iraq (9am GMT), at least 27 people were dead but the violence had slowed and voting picked up.
Casting his vote, interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi called it "the first time the Iraqis will determine their destiny." The head of the main Shiite cleric-endorsed ticket, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, told reporters: "God willing, the elections will be good ... Today's voting is very important."
Despite heavy attacks that began two hours after polls opened, turnout was brisk in some Shiite Muslim and mixed Shiite-Sunni neighbourhoods, both in Baghdad and in southern cities like Basra.
Even in the small town of Askan in the so-called "triangle of death" south of Baghdad -- a mixed Sunni-Shiite area -- 20 people waited in line at each of several polling centres. More walked toward the polls.
In one potentially troublesome sign, the polls at first were deserted in mostly Sunni cities like Fallujah, Ramadi and Samarra around Baghdad, and in the restive, heavily Sunni northern city of Mosul. By midday (9am GMT), however, several dozen people were voting in Samarra and several hundred -- mostly Kurds -- were voting on Mosul's eastern side, witnesses said.
There were still big pockets with little turnout. In Baghdad's mainly Sunni area of Azamiyah, the neighbourhood's four polling centres did not open Sunday, residents said. In Beiji, a Sunni insurgent stronghold in northern Iraq, polling centres were all but deserted.
The chief UN adviser to Iraq's election commission, Carlos Valenzuela, said turnout seemed to be good in most places, although he cautioned it was too early to know for sure. He said there were lines at polls in Mosul, and some voters in Fallujah and Ramadi.
Across Iraq, joy broke out as the day went on. At one polling place in Baghdad, soldiers and voters joined hands in a dance. At another in eastern Baghdad, an Iraqi policeman in a black ski mask tucked his AK-47 assault rifle under one arm and held the hand of an elderly blind woman to guide her to the polls.
A driving ban seemed to discourage car bombs. But the insurgents improvised and in one of the most deadly attacks, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a polling station in western Baghdad, killing himself, three policemen and a civilian, officials said. Witness Faleh Hussein said the bomber approached a line of voters and detonated an explosives belt. Link

Attacks Everywhere on Iraqi Election Day, January 30, 2005

The Islam Memo Report for Sunday, January 30, 2005, 5:30 AM ET
1. The Iraqi resistance renewed its attacks on the US Embassy in the Baghdad Green Zone with 12 Katyusha rockets.
2. Iraqi resistance fighters downed a US Copra helicopter in the village of Deeb, near the city of Al-Hilla, using a Strilla missile.
3. 30 election employees in Samarra were abducted by Iraqi resistance. Samarra officials announced that elections are impossible to be held in the city today or tomorrow.
4. No voters voted in the city of Hitt and a group of Iraqis burned their ID cards in front of US soldiers to show them that they would not vote at all.
5. Two election centers in Abu Ghraib were attacked by explosives planted earlier inside them.
6. A Ukrainian soldier was killed when his vehicle was damaged by a roadside bomb in Al-Suairah, south of Baghdad.
7. Three US soldiers were killed in Al-Ta'mim neighborhood, east of Al-Ramadi, when their Hummer vehicle was destroyed by a roadside bomb.
8. A car bomb exploded in an election center in Al-Bat'ha, east of Baquba, killing five Iraqi national guards and one US soldier.
9. Nine Grad rockets were fired at the US base in Al-Warrar, west of Al-Ramadi. A number of US soldiers were killed and injured.
10. The election center in downtown Kirkuk was attacked with explosives early on Sunday. The explosion resulted in killing three Iraqi soldiers and three Kurdish voters.
11. A suicide attack in the Askari neighborhood, east of Al-Falluja, fighting resulting in killing 14 US soldiers and 10 Iraqi resistance fighters.
12. US base east of Al-Qaem was attacked with 11 rockets.
13. One British soldier was killed and three were injured when their vehicle was hit with a roadside bomb in Basra, south of Iraq.
14. A suicide bomber detonated his explosive belt in an election center in Al-Ramadi, killing three US soldiers and injuring two others.
15. In Al-Thawrah neighborhood, an explosion in the election center killed four and injured 13.
More attacks on election centers in Central and southern Iraq were also reported. Link

Violence

2005-01-31T12:27:00.000+06:00

Violence mars Bangladesh strike

DHAKA (Reuters) - Police have beaten back opposition activists with tear gas and baton charges in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka as a nationwide general strike enters a second day. At least 20 people have been injured, witnesses say.
Hundreds of opposition Awami League activists were dispersed after they took to the streets on Sunday, chanting slogans and many pelting stones at security personnel, the witnesses said.
"At least 20 people were injured, including former Home Minister Mohammad Nasim. Protesters set fire to a bus and damaged several other vehicles," one witness said.
Police detained dozens of activists, including women, and dragged them into police vans.
More than 70 people were injured in clashes between protesters and police on the first day of the three-day stoppage on Saturday.
One rickshaw driver was killed late on Saturday night in Dhaka after he was hit by a bomb, which police believed was thrown by strike supporters.
The Awami League called the strike after a grenade attack at a party rally in the country's northeastern Hobiganj district on Thursday killed a senior leader and four other people.
Hundreds of angry Awami activists attacked a police station in Hobiganj, 250 km (150 miles) from Dhaka, on Sunday. Police detained 10 activists, local reporters said.
Thursday's blast -- the latest in a series to rock the country over the last year -- killed key Awami leader Shah Abu Mohammad Shamsul Kibria, 73, a former finance minister, U.N. official and diplomat. Kibria's nephew was among four others killed.
Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia condemned Kibria's death and vowed to bring his killers to justice.
But Awami chief Sheikh Hasina, who herself narrowly escaped injury in a grenade attack at a rally in Dhaka last August, said the government was not "sincere in its commitment to punish the perpetrators. Instead, it is trying to protect them."
State Minister for Home Affairs Lutfuzzaman Babar told reporters late on Saturday that the government had asked the U.S. government for help in investigating the attack.
"We are expecting a response by Monday," Babar said.
He added that the government had also sought help from Interpol and Scotland Yard.
On Saturday, Hasina threatened to launch "more actions" following the current strike to force an early parliamentary election, which need not be called until October 2006.
The strike, backed by several smaller opposition parties, drove most transport off Dhaka's usually teeming streets and closed shops and schools.
It also disrupted activities at the country's main port in Chittagong and shut stock exchanges.
Authorities have deployed hundreds of police, paramilitary troops and auxiliary forces in Dhaka and other main cities trying to keep order. Link

Israel/Palestine

2005-01-31T01:44:00.000+06:00

Israel to Transfer West Bank Security

By PETER ENAV, Associated Press Writer

TEL AVIV, Israel - Israel will transfer security control over several West Bank towns to the Palestinians in coming days, Israel's defense minister said Sunday, hours after meeting with a top Palestinian negotiator to work out the details of Israel's troop redeployment.
A senior Palestinian security official said control of the first four towns — Ramallah, Tulkarem, Qalqiliya and Jericho — would be handed over Wednesday, the latest sign of rapid change on the ground after more than four years of fighting.

Israel informed Palestinian officials it was ready to withdraw from all West Bank towns "within a very short period of time" and return to positions it held before the outbreak of fighting in September 2000, said Hassan Abu Libdeh, a senior Palestinian official.

Such a pullback is part of the long-stalled, U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, which both sides now say they are ready to implement.

Abu Libdeh said the pullback would include removing some of the roadblocks now ringing Palestinian towns and severely disrupting daily life in the West Bank.

Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat, meanwhile, said Feb. 8 is emerging as a target date for a summit between Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, a crucial step toward ending hostilities and resuming peace talks. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will arrive in the region two days earlier for talks with both sides.

Abu Libdeh said the summit would be prepared in detail, and a decisive meeting of Abbas and Sharon aides would be held later this week.

"We want a very successful summit that will end with results," he said.

Palestinian officials said they expect a wide-ranging agenda that will include the declaration of a formal truce, a large-scale release of Palestinian prisoners and the resumption of peace negotiations.

Israel, however, appears reluctant to move from security concerns into political matters.

The renewed peace hopes came after a sharp drop in violence. Abbas has obtained a promise from armed groups to halt attacks on Israel and has deployed Palestinian police across the Gaza Strip.

In response, Israel's army chief said he would halt military operations in Gaza and scale them back in the West Bank.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia met on Sunday with leaders of militant groups in Gaza. Participants affirmed their agreement to suspend attacks on Israel.

Also Sunday, a Palestinian man was killed by Israeli army fire along the Gaza-Egypt border, Palestinian officials said. The military said the man was deep inside a no-go zone, close to an Israeli army post along a patrol road near the border, when troops shot him.

Late Saturday, Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz met for nearly five hours with a Palestinian security chief, Mohammed Dahlan, at a Tel Aviv hotel to work out the details of a West Bank redeployment.

"We talked about handing over responsibility, as has started in the Gaza Strip. We believe that in the next few days they will get responsibility over other towns in the West Bank," Mofaz told Israel Army Radio.

Mofaz also said the Israeli military has changed its rules of engagement.

"Wherever the Palestinians operate, and operate effectively, there will be no need for our counter-terrorist activity," he said.

The minister later told the weekly meeting of Israel's Cabinet that the number of Palestinian attacks had dropped by as much as 75 percent in the past few days.

Both sides said Mofaz and Dahlan held their talks in a good atmosphere. Dahlan left without speaking to reporters.

Qureia described the meeting as "constructive."

"We hope that when it comes to implementation, it will be positive," he added.

Palestinian officials said security commanders will meet Monday to work out the details of the handover. A second Mofaz-Dahlan meeting is tentatively set for Tuesday, Palestinian officials said.

The two sides also discussed the return of 39 Palestinian militants deported from the West Bank in 2002 after a monthlong siege at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Most of the deportees will be allowed to return, said a Palestinian official involved in the negotiations.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said Saturday that Abbas was "very close" to a political agreement with the militants that would include a cease-fire, but he added that a formal halt to violence would depend on Israel.

He said Israel must formally accept a cease-fire, withdraw troops from West Bank cities and release some of the 7,000 prisoners it is holding to move forward with the accord.

"There is a temporary cease-fire and we are waiting for an Israeli response," Shaath told The Associated Press by phone from Syria, where he met government officials and the leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas. "If Israel reciprocated, the cease-fire will turn from a temporary into a permanent one."

Shaath said Egypt, a key mediator, invited representatives of militant groups to Cairo next week to continue the efforts. Four top Egyptian security officials will visit Gaza on Thursday to review the Palestinian police deployment and meet with leaders of militant groups. 30.01.2005 Link

World Hot News Exclusive

2005-01-29T12:28:00.000+06:00

Former Bangladeshi finance minister killed in blast
28/01/2005 - A grenade that exploded at an opposition rally in north-eastern Bangladesh killed a former finance minister and at least four other people while wounding about 100 others, police and doctors said today.
Ex-Finance Minister Shah Mohammad Ciboria, who had just finished giving a speech at the rally, was hit by yesterday’s blast and died while on the way to a hospital, doctors said.
The attack occurred at an opposition Awami League rally in Habiganj district, 75 miles northeast of the capital Dhaka, said the area’s police chief Fakhrul Islam Khan.
Khan said three people, including a nephew of Kibria, died at the scene, while a fifth victim died en route to a hospital.
Kibria, a 73-year-old diplomat-turned-lawmaker, died of bleeding from serious wounds to the head, stomach and legs, said A.K. Azad, a doctor at a private hospital in Dhaka.
“Kibria was already dead when they brought him here,” Azad said.
President Iajuddin Ahmed condemned the killing as ”cowardly” and “barbaric”.
“His great contribution will remain memorable to the nation,” Ahmed said.
Kibria served as Bangladesh’s top foreign ministry official and head of UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific before joining the main opposition Awami League in 1992. He was elected an MP in 2001.
Hundreds of riot police have been deployed in Habiganj after angry opposition members smashed vehicles and attacked shops to protest the attack, Khan said.
In Dhaka, security forces went on alert as thousands of people joined a funeral prayer for Kibria at Dhaka’s Baitul Mukarram mosque today. Later, his body was taken to Dhaka University to allow the public to pay their respects before his burial.
The Awami League and its 13 political allies have called for a three-day nationwide general strike starting tomorrow to condemn the attack.
No arrests have been made and no one claimed responsibility, police said.
The Awami League blamed the government for the attack.
“The attack was part of a blueprint of the government to kill top leaders of my party,” former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, head of the Awami League, said.
Hasina recalled a similar attack on her party’s rally in Dhaka in August that killed 21 people and injured more than 300. Hasina, who was at the rally, escaped unhurt.
The government denied involvement and condemned the August attack – but failed to make any headway in catching those responsible.
Government leaders were not immediately available for comment but authorities have rejected such allegations in the past as political mudslinging.
Junior Home Minister Lutfozzaman Babar told Dhaka’s New Age daily that the government has ordered a probe into the blast. Link

U.S. Helicopter Crashes in Southwest Baghdad
Jan 28, 2005 — BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A U.S. Kiowa observation helicopter crashed in southwest Baghdad on Friday, and there was no immediate information on casualties, the American military said.
A spokesman said the Kiowa, which usually carries a crew of two, crashed on Friday evening. There was no immediate information on whether the crash was an accident or the result of an insurgent attack.
On Wednesday, 30 U.S. Marines and a sailor were killed in a helicopter crash in western Iraq, the deadliest single incident of the war for the U.S. military. Link

Israel/Palestine: How to get peace
Submitted on 28 January, 2005 - On Thursday 13 January a suicide bombing killed six Israelis at a Gaza border crossing. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, formally tied to the Fatah movement, claimed responsibility. Afterwards, the Israeli government of Ariel Sharon broke off all contact with the newly-elected Palestinian government of Abu Mazen (Mahmud Abbas).
Sharon has used the bombing as an opening to adopt a hardline attitude to Abu Mazen, demanding he enforce a ceasefire on the Palestinian side immediately. Sharon has also ordered the Israeli army to attack “militants” in Gaza, and resume the tit-for-tat killings of the Israelis and Palestinians. Since the suicide bombing, 20 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including civilians.
In this article Israeli peace activist and socialist Adam Keller describes what he thinks is necessary for a peace process to get back on track.
Numerous commentators, in Israel and abroad, speak of “a window of opportunity” and a unique chance to restart the peace process. But for that to be true, quite a few steps are needed — in the first place, on the part of the occupier who has the overwhelming power on the ground:
• Complete cessation of the settlement construction and extension going on throughout the West Bank, and dismantling of all the “unauthorised settlement outposts”, which the government promised more than a year ago;
• Achieving an agreement on an immediate, bilateral ceasefire, including an end to all violent acts by the IDF on the one hand and all Palestinian organisations and armed groups on the other;
• Total cessation of the manhunt against the “wanted Palestinians”, their assassinations and detentions and the nightly invasions of the Palestinian towns and villages;
• Removal of all the roadblocks which deny free movement to the Palestinians and strangle the Palestinian economy;
• Release of the Palestinian political leaders imprisoned in Israel, such as Marwan Barghouti and Husam Hader, members of the Palestinian Legislature;
• Widespread release of Palestinian prisoners, including those sentenced to long terms and those defined as “having blood on their hands” (most decision-makers on both sides, Israelis as well as Palestinians, are people bearing direct responsibility for killings, including the killing of civilians);
• The return of Israeli forces to the positions held on September 2000, at the outbreak of the present intifada, and restoration of the status of the “A” areas as sovereign Palestinian territory, to which Israeli armed forces have no access;
• A stop to the construction of the “Separation Wall” and immediate dismantling of the wall sections which penetrate into the West Bank territory and deprive Palestinians of land and livelihood — in accordance with the verdict of the International Court at the Hague;
• Resuming the negotiations between the state of Israel and the Palestinian Authority/Palestinian Liberation Organisation, on all issues including and especially the definite agreement between these two parties.
Negotiations should be conducted on the basis of the following principles:
• The withdrawal of the Israeli armed forces and settlers from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank must be conducted under a detailed agreement between the two sides, rather than as a unilateral Israeli act;
• Occupation in the Gaza Strip must be ended completely, with all parts of its territory evacuated including the area of the Egyptian border (“Philadelphi Route”), giving the inhabitants free access to the outside world by land, sea and air.
• Third parties, such as Egypt and/or an international force, can be involved in the Israeli evacuation of the Gaza Strip and stabilising the situation during and after the evacuation, with the dispositions and authority of such forces defined in an Israeli-Palestinian agreement.
• Houses and public utilities in the evacuated Israeli settlements would not be demolished but handed over intact to the Palestinian side, with their value enumerated by an agreed international agency, to be reckoned in future negotiations.
• It should be explicitly agreed that Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank would not be a final step, but a prelude to a process aimed at a definite peace agreement between the State of Israel and the State of Palestine, resuming implementation of the “Road Map”, to be defined by the international community.
• As stipulated in the “Road Map”, the international facilitator and arbiter in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations should be the international “Quartet” in its entirety, rather than the United States alone — which is manifestly unable and unwilling to act impartially.
• The border between Israel and Palestine would be based on the borders of 5 June, 1967, with the possibility of mutual border rectifications being agreed upon.
• United Jerusalem shall be the capital of both states, West Jerusalem the capital of Israel and East Jerusalem the capital of Palestine.
• There shall be a fair and agreed solution to the problem of the Palestinian refugees.
Obviously Ariel Sharon, Prime Minster of Israel, is completely unwilling to accept even a small part of these principles, as it is not at all his aim to end Israeli occupation on most of the West Bank. In the short range, Sharon may pay lip service to “the new chance for peace” but in practice he does all in his power to cause the failure of the newly-elected Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazen) — as he did in 2003, when Abbas was Prime Minister.
Knowing the above full well, Nobel Prize Laureate Shimon Peres led his Labor Party to enter the Sharon Cabinet, take up portfolios, and assume full legal and moral responsibility for its acts. Yossi Beilin, architect of the Oslo and Geneva Accords, saved the Sharon Government from falling and made his Meretz/Yahad Party into one of the main pillars ensuring its continued existence. Also, Knesset Members Dahamshe and A-Sana of the United Arab Party followed suit to a certain degree — by abstaining in the Knesset vote.
These parties and leaders, who got the confidence of hundreds of thousands of voters on the basis of opposing the occupation and declaring their adherence to peace, have assumed a grave responsibility. However sincere their motives might be, they risk going down in history as having helped to perpetuate the occupation and bloody conflict. The very least which can be expected of them, in this precarious situation, is not to confine themselves solely to ensuring implementation of the Gaza Disengagement but rather use in every possible way the leverage they now possess over Sharon, to push towards a total end of the occupation. Link

Sudan Aerial Bombing Causes Casualties
JASPER MORTIMER
Fri, Jan. 28, 2005, CAIRO, Egypt - A Sudanese air force bombardment of villagers in Darfur this week killed or wounded almost 100 people, a U.N. spokeswoman said Friday, calling the bombing a major violation of a fragile ceasefire in the conflict-torn region.
The bombardment at the village of Shangil Tobaya, which took place Wednesday, forced "thousands" of people to flee, spokeswoman Radhia Achouri said in a phone interview from Khartoum.
Achouri said African Union observers at the scene had reported "almost 100 casualties" but did not specify how many were dead and how many wounded.
"But 100 casualties is 100 too many, be they wounded or dead," she said. "It is definitely one of the most serious violations of the cease-fire" signed by the government and the Darfur rebels last year.
The United Nations mission in Khartoum spoke to Sudan's Foreign Ministry about the bombardment, but has received no reply.
NGO field workers based in Shangil Tobaya, 40 miles south of El Fasher, reported witnessing bombs exploding on the ground and an air force Antonov circling overhead on Wednesday afternoon. Later the same day, the African Union, which has 1,400 cease-fire monitors and protection troops in Darfur, confirmed there was an aerial bombardment and called it a "major violation" of the cease-fire.
The Sudanese government has issued no statement on the report. On Thursday its deputy information minister declined to comment, saying a call from The Associated Press was the first he had heard of the matter and he was on vacation.
"The Government of Sudan always says aerial bombardments are not government policy and that President Omar el-Bashir has issued firm instructions that there should be no use of Antonovs for aerial bombardment," Achouri said.
The Sudanese government has often been accused of employing its air force against civilians in Darfur, and it has usually denied the allegations. It is rare that an aerial bombardment is confirmed by the African Union.
The Darfur conflict, which the United Nations describes as the world's worst humanitarian crisis, began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Army and allied Justice and Equality Movement took up arms against what they saw as years of state neglect and discrimination against Sudanese of African origin.
The government responded with a counterinsurgency campaign in which the Janjaweed, an Arab militia, committed wide-scale abuses against the African population. An estimated 1.8 million people have been displaced in the conflict. Link

Willbros Unit Pres Resigns After Tax Irregularities Found
HOUSTON (Dow Jones)--Willbros Group Inc. (WG) said Wednesday a top executive in its international unit resigned after irregularities in certain tax return filings were discovered by tax authorities in one of its South American operating locations.
In a press release, the independent contractor said J. Ken Tillery, who was promoted to president of its international division in September 2004, left the company after tax authorities assessed the unit $2.5 million on a completed project.
Willbros Group, which is currently reviewing the facts and circumstances from the allegations, expects a settlement in the near future and said the assessment figure could rise.
Any effects on financial results haven't been determined yet, the company said.
Willbros named R. Clay Etheridge as Tillery's replacement. Etheridge joined the company in September and served as senior vice president of its international unit.
The company hired outside legal counsel as well as forensic accountants to begin an investigation. The company has also made the appropriate voluntary disclosures to federal law enforcement officials and agencies and said it's cooperating fully with them. 28.01.2005 Link

Uruguay Mineral H1 pretax loss widens, says progress 'constrained' by mill buy
28.01.2005, LONDON (AFX) - Uruguay Mineral Exploration Inc pretax loss for the first half ended Nov 30 widened considerably as the company was constrained by the need to focus on the San Georgio mill acquisition.
The group said it bought the mill before it had fully evaluated Arenal, and as a result was forced to develop the deposit the "wrong way around".
"Put simply, your company has made a significant discovery, and brought it into production, not only very cheaply, but within eighteen months, a process that would normally take up to 5 years," chairman Tony Shearer said.
He warned, however, that as a result of the discovery, some of the "comfort factors" that one would normally expect for that kind of operation, were still being generated.
For the 6 months ended Nov 30 2004, Uruguay's pretax loss surged to 2.35 mln usd from 343,610 usd in the year-earlier period despite an increase in sales to 12.4 mln usd on the previous year's 2.5 mln.
Uruguay Mineral will make the first disclosure on its reportable reserves base in mid-2005. Link

Anti-globalization forum starts
28.01.2005, Brazil, Jan 27 - More than 50,000 anti-globalization activists took to the streets Wednesday in Porto Alegre in a gathering meant to counter the Davos summit of political, financial and business heavy weights.
Children from five continents held aloft a banner that proclaimed: "another world is possible," as militants marched through the southern Brazilian city, marking the start of their six-day World Social Forum (WSF).
The eclectic gathering of Pacifists, environmentalists, libertarians, trade unionists and anti-establishment militants was timed to coincide with its nemesis, the world economic forum held thousands of kilometers (miles) away in the Swank Swiss mountain resort of Davos.
The more than 50,000 demonstrators set off in Porto Alegre just a few hours after the opening of the Davos summit, which anti-globalization activists denounce as a celebration of crass capitalism. Link

Illegal drug use in Japan expanding
Friday, January 28, 2005, TOKYO — The number of people apprehended in marijuana cases came to a record 2,209 in 2004, up 8.7% from 2003, the National Police Agency said Thursday. A record 418 people were arrested or questioned last year in cases involving illegal drugs in tablet form, such as MDMA, better known as Ecstasy, up 63.3% from the preceding year, according to the NPA.
The NPA said that drug abuse among youth is expanding, and that youth seem to have a preference for marijuana and MDMA over stimulants. The agency said it will cooperate with teachers and education experts to curb drug abuse. Link

Indonesia, rebels talk peace for tsunami-hit Aceh
By Peter Starck and Raj Rajendran
January 28, 2005, HELSINKI – Indonesian officials and separatist rebels, brought together by the tsunami that devastated Aceh province, met for the first time in nearly two years on Friday to try to forge a deal to end 30 years of war.
Exiled leaders of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) and senior Indonesian negotiators began by discussing the humanitarian crisis in Aceh, where 230,000 people died or disappeared in the Dec. 26 tsunami and more than 400,000 were left homeless.
"They are discussing the humanitarian crisis in the region following the tsunami," said Pauliina Arola, executive director of Finnish ex-President Martti Ahtisaari's Crisis Management Initiative, which is mediating between the two sides.
The first face-to-face talks between GAM and Indonesian government ministers, taking place out of earshot of the media in a manor house near Helsinki, would continue on humanitarian issues on Friday and early Saturday before tackling "other issues," she said. "The mood is constructive and positive."
It is unclear what will be on the table when the talk turns to GAM's demands for independence for the gas-rich province at the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where about 12,000 people have died in the fighting since 1976.
AUTONOMY OR INDEPENDENCE?
Peace efforts were disrupted 21 months ago but after the tsunami, which hit Aceh harder than any other spot in the Indian Ocean, both sides made ceasefire offers. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Jakarta was offering "special autonomy status" – which GAM has previously rejected.
Yudhoyono, who pledged in his 2004 election campaign to end the conflict, spoke in Jakarta of the "great momentum" towards ending the conflict and uniting the two sides "as brothers to further rebuild Aceh after being hit by the tsunami."
He expected a "positive response" from GAM, represented by its Sweden-based exile government in exile. Jakarta's team was led by chief security minister Widodo Adi Sutjipto.
But Prince Hasan di Tiro, the man GAM considers the rightful head of state of Aceh, told Reuters at his home in exile in Stockholm late on Thursday that his aim was independence for the Acehnese population of four million, who are devout Muslims.
"We have nothing to do with Java (Indonesia), Aceh is different," said the ailing octogenarian, who fled after declaring Aceh independent in 1976.
Finland's Ahtisaari, who helped broker peace in Kosovo, has been involved since late last year in efforts to restart a peace process which collapsed in 2003 after both sides complained about each other's interpretation of a 2002 truce.
That prompted the Indonesian military's biggest offensive so far to crush GAM and martial law, which was replaced a year later by a civil emergency.
Before the tsunami the province was off-limits to foreigners and non-governmental organisations reported human rights abuses by both sides in the conflict. Now there are thousands of U.S. and other foreign military personnel there delivering aid.
The Indonesian government wants them to leave by the end of March. Link

Pathfinder Forms Syndicate to Explore for Uranium in
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(CCNMatthews - Jan. 27, 2005) - Pathfinder Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:PHR) reports the creation of a strategic energy syndicate ("the Syndicate") to explore for uranium in Central America. The Syndicate consists of Pathfinder Resources Ltd, Gold-Ore Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:GOZ), and Santoy Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:SAN), Vancouver-based exploration companies.
The Syndicate was formed to take advantage of extensive data obtained by Gold-Ore covering exploration studies conducted by international aid programs funded by the United Nations and foreign governments. A recently completed due diligence property review by the Syndicate has confirmed uraniferous outcrops and boulders documented in the reports.
"The information on known uranium occurrences allows us to target our exploration efforts," states Vic Tanaka, President of Pathfinder. "The Syndicate provides cost-effective participation in uranium exploration in relatively unexplored territory and makes our group an early player in what we hope will become another significant region for uranium deposits."
Under the terms of a letter agreement, Pathfinder and Santoy can each earn a 33.33% interest in an emerging land package by spending CDN$500,000 each over a 4 year period. Gold-Ore holds 100% interest and is carried until the CDN$1,000,000 is spent and then a joint venture will be formed. Gold-Ore will act as operator for the Syndicate and all programs will be subject to approval by a management committee.
The geologic model being employed is the sediment-hosted type of uranium deposit. This style of mineralization is well known in the Southwest
United States and Australia. These deposits are often amenable to in-situ leaching which significantly decreases the cost of production and environmental impact of mining. More property information will be available upon completion of land acquisition.
Glen Dickson, Chairman of Gold-Ore states, "We look forward to combining our operating skills in Central America with the proven track record and expertise of Santoy and Pathfinder." 28.01.2005 Link

WHN B4U

2005-01-29T05:30:00.000+06:00

Females used sexual tactics against Muslim detainees
Guantanamo translator describes how female interrogators used sexual tactics to weaken Muslim detainees
By Associated Press
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Female interrogators tried to break Muslim detainees at the U.S. prison camp in Guantanamo Bay by sexual touching, wearing a miniskirt and thong underwear and in one case smearing a Saudi man's face with fake menstrual blood, according to an insider's written account.
A draft manuscript obtained by The Associated Press is classified as secret pending a Pentagon review for a planned book that details ways the U.S. military used women as part of tougher physical and psychological interrogation tactics to get terror suspects to talk.
It's the most revealing account so far of interrogations at the secretive detention camp, where officials say they have halted some controversial techniques.
"I have really struggled with this because the detainees, their families and much of the world will think this is a religious war based on some of the techniques used, even though it is not the case," the author, former Army Sgt. Erik R. Saar, 29, told AP.
Indonesian government offers separatist rebels in tsunami-hit Aceh autonomy, the brightest hope for peace in years
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) Indonesia's president Thursday offered rebels in tsunami-hit Aceh province autonomy and an amnesty in exchange for a cease-fire, the brightest hope in years of ending a three-decade separatist conflict that more recently has threatened to disrupt massive relief efforts.
Moves were also under way in Sri Lanka to ease tension between Tamil Tiger rebels and the government. The two sides agreed to meet to resolve disagreements over the distribution of aid to rebuild tsunami-damaged areas under guerrilla control.
Japan, meanwhile, kicked off its largest ever relief effort as two of its military's hovercraft arrived in Aceh, bringing a water purification unit and medical supplies. The Japanese troops will try to fill the gap left when U.S. forces scale back their relief operations. Indonesia was hardest hit by the tsunami with close to 100,000 killed, followed by Sri Lanka where more than 30,000 died.
AP Interview: Ashcroft says nuclear threat remains greatest danger from global terrorism
WASHINGTON (AP) The possibility that al-Qaida or its sympathizers could gain access to a nuclear bomb is the greatest danger facing the United States in the war on terrorism, Attorney General John Ashcroft said Thursday.
U.S. officials "from time to time" uncover evidence terrorists are trying to develop nuclear capability, Ashcroft said without providing any specifics. It is not clear whether they have made any progress, but the United States must take the threat seriously, he said in an interview with The Associated Press.
"If you were to have nuclear proliferation find its way into the hands of terrorists, the entire world might be very seriously disrupted by a few individuals who sought to impose their will, their arcane philosophy, on the rest of mankind," he said.
Ashcroft, 62, is ending four years as the nation's chief law enforcement officer, much of the period devoted to a war on terrorism that began with the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Urban Meth: Drug with rural ties becoming 'major threat' in some cities
CHICAGO (AP) Already known as a rural scourge, methamphetamine is becoming a problem in a number of U.S. cities.
Meetings of the 12-step group Crystal Meth Anonymous have increased in Chicago from one night a week a few years ago to five a week. In the Atlanta area, methamphetamine users account for the fastest-growing segment of addicts seeking treatment. Rehabilitation centers there are seeing an uptick in the number of women meth addicts, while officials in Minneapolis-St. Paul say they're treating an alarming number of meth users younger than 18.
"Most people just think it happens in the farmlands and the prairies or out back behind the barn," says Carol Falkowski, director of research communications at the Hazelden Foundation in Minnesota. But that's not the case anymore.
Falkowski found that meth addicts now represent about 10 percent of patients admitted to drug treatment programs in the Twin Cities, compared with 7.5 percent a year ago and about 3 percent in 1998. About a fifth of those meth users who sought help in the last year were minors. 28.01.2005 Link

Stricter rules for cosmetic surgery
28 January 2005 - Tougher standards and regulations for the cosmetic surgery industry will be outlined by the Chief Medical Officer.
Sir Liam Donaldson will unveil the strict new measures in response to two reports looking at cosmetic procedures, the popularity of which has surged in recent years.
One report by the Healthcare Commission called for more scrutiny of currently unregulated cosmetic procedures such as Botox, chemical peels and injectable fillers.
Another report has been compiled by the Expert Group on the Regulation of Cosmetic Surgery.
Improved training, stricter registration procedures for those carrying out cosmetic treatments and better information for patients will form part of the tough new standards.
Earlier this week figures showed that cosmetic surgery operations in Britain rose by more than half last year.
The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons said its members carried out 16,367 procedures last year compared with 10,738 in 2003.
The most popular procedures among women were breast surgery, facelifts and eye surgery, and for men a nose job.
But several high profile cases have shown how procedures can go wrong when not carried out by properly trained practitioners.
Simon Gillespie, head of operations at the Healthcare Commission, said: "Cosmetic and aesthetic procedures to improve appearance are far more accessible and affordable than in the past. These procedures, if properly conducted, are safe but there are risks." Link

Automatic Number Plate Recognition was praised at the launch of a new Government strategy for policing the roads.
A key element is increased use of new technology such as ANPR, according to Home Office Minister Caroline Flint. She said: “Officers using ANPR make nine times the number of arrests and contribute to three times the number of offenders brought to justice compared with a conventional officer. But, technology is not the whole picture - the strategy will ensure that there is an adequate police presence on the roads to deal with significant problems which cannot be detected by technology, including drink and drug driving, and to help wider crime reduction. We are committed to challenging unlawful and unruly behaviour on the roads as we do on the streets and in other public places.”
At the recent launch were Alistair Darling, Secretary of State for Transport, Home Office Minister Caroline Flint and Richard Brunstrom, Head of Road Policing for the Association of Chief Police Officers. The joint strategy identifies the following policing priorities: denying criminals use of the roads by enforcing the law; reducing road casualties; tackling the threat of terrorism; reducing anti social use of the roads; and enhancing public confidence and reassurance by patrolling the roads. Caroline Flint added: "Roads policing is an important and valuable part of day-to-day policing. It not only helps reduce deaths and injuries on the roads, but reduces anti-social and criminal misuse of vehicles and provides a reassuring presence to the public. Link

Tribalism
by Mauro Calleja
Friday, 28 January, 2005 - I met Ren-D on Thursday for the sake of helping me out with understanding what Tribalism is all about. And besides discussing in our terms the status of the scene both in the clubbing sense and party sense, he explained the idea of his event.
"It's basically a night dedicated for those who really are into quality percussive music. It will be a very rhythmic experience as the theme recalls: Rio, Brazil. Actually it's been some time now that I've been playing and promoting this kind of tribal progressive sound, call it whatever you like... But not many people have realized that it cheers a dancefloor in some way or another. Not many have underlined the importance of the style...
To help you understand better by practical numbers I play for approximately 800 punthers at Red Square every Saturday, and at 4 in the morning it's fully packed, if you know what I mean! It's Steve Lawler to give some examples, Danny Tenaglia, Satoshi Tomei, and it's impressive how many people enjoy the sound! I would like to emphasise through the event this tribal music but in an underground manner. This will be a private party for the few, a celebration of tribal percussion and a sort of pre party for 9th February's James Zabiela event Journey into Sound".
Please don't hesitate to send your feedback and comments on koncept@di-ve.com
Official Ren-D site: www.djren-d.com
Watch out for Ren-D's new radio show which is planned to start soon on one of the most established local radio stations. More info soon.
Tribalism will be held at Castille Wine Vaults Valletta on Carnival Friday 4th February. Price Lm3.50 includes a free mix CD by DJ Ren-D himself on first come first serve basis. More at the door.
This evening Jes returns with Lift playing some of the best soulful house tunes all night long at Misfits. Link

World Hot News Exclusive

2005-01-26T11:34:00.000+06:00

Iran's Nuclear Activities
Dr. Frank Barnaby
Download Iran's Nuclear Activities (pdf)
The major powers - particularly, Europe, Japan, Russia and the USA - suspect that Iran is clandestinely developing nuclear weapons. Firm evidence for this suspicion comes mainly from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Nuclear-weapon activities in Iran are not new - in fact, they date back to the days of the Shah who had ambitions to acquire a nuclear force. But today's Iranian government insists that its nuclear activities are solely related to its civil nuclear programme and that it is not developing nuclear weapons.
The IAEA has announced that Iran is building two plants at Natanz to enrich uranium and is constructing a heavy-water reactor in Arak. The Iranian government has acknowledged the existence of these two previously secret facilities but claims they are part of its civil nuclear programme and not part of a military nuclear-weapon programme. The Iranian government, however, admitted to these activities only after the National Council of Resistance, an Iranian opposition group, announced that they were underway.
Both of the uranium enrichment and the heavy water production plants raise concerns. A heavy-water reactor is a particularly efficient way of producing plutonium for use in nuclear weapons. A uranium enrichment plant can produce the highly enriched uranium needed for nuclear weapons.
Many argue that because Iran has enormous reserves of oil and gas it does not need nuclear energy and that its nuclear programme demonstrates ambitions to produce nuclear weapons. Iran claims that it needs to export as much of its oil as possible to earn much needed foreign currency, that its oil reserves are finite and that nuclear power is a sensible investment for the future.
Iranian Nuclear Activities
Apart from the heavy water and uranium enrichment plants, there are other Iranian nuclear activities that raise suspicions. These include:
the development of uranium mines;
the construction of a uranium conversion facility at the Esfahan Nuclear Technology Centre (ENTC) to convert uranium ore (yellow cake) into uranium hexafluoride gas, suitable for use in gas centrifuges for the enrichment of uranium; and the operation of a laser enrichment facility.
The IAEA has also discovered that Iran has in the past:
imported uranium hexafluoride gas to test gas centrifuges at the Kalaye Electric Company, thereby producing some enriched uranium; imported uranium metal for use in laser enrichment; produced uranium dioxide, uranium hexafluoride, and a number of other uranium compounds using imported uranium dioxide; and
produced uranium dioxide targets at ENTC and irradiated them in the Tehran Research Reactor (TRR). The targets were then processed in hot cells to separate the plutonium.
Iran violated its Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA, required by the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), by failing to report many of these activities to the Agency as the Safeguards Agreement requires. Disclosures by Iran of its nuclear programme show that it had concealed many of its nuclear activities, and consequently violated its obligations under the Safeguards Agreement and the NPT.
Iran has signed an Additional Protocol to its Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA but the Iranian parliament (the Majlis) has not yet ratified it. The Additional Protocol permits the IAEA improved access to Iran's nuclear facilities, including the collection of environmental samples.
These violations are the basis of the international suspicions that Iran is secretly developing nuclear weapons. None of these activities are in themselves illegal; it is the failure to report them to the IAEA that is illegal.
Because of its long experience in nuclear physics and engineering and because it has been operating nuclear research reactors for decades, Iran has a cadre of trained personnel that could be switched to a nuclear-weapon programme. If it produces the fissile material - highly-enriched uranium or plutonium - needed for nuclear weapons it could fabricate them in a relatively short time.
Iran's Current Nuclear Activities
It is common knowledge that Iran has a civilian nuclear-power reactor under construction. The Russians are building the 1,000 megawatt-electrical light-water reactor at Bushehr. It will use low enriched (about 3.5 percent in uranium-235) as fuel. Under the contract Iran has with Russia, Russia will provide the fuel for the lifetime of the reactor and will take back to Russia the spent fuel for storage and possibly reprocessing.
This power reactor is, according to Iran, the first of a series of power reactors planned to generate 6,000 megawatts of electricity. Iran explains that it is interested in establishing a capability to produce low-enriched uranium so that it has an indigenous supply of nuclear reactor fuel.
Iran operates four research reactors, three at the Estahan Nuclear Technology Centre and one at the Nuclear Research Centre in Teheran. Two, at Estahan, are sub-critical assemblies used for training nuclear physicists and technicians; they have both been operating since 1992. The third at Estahan is a 30-kilowatt research reactor used for research purposes; it has been operating since 1994. The fourth is a 5 megawatt-thermal reactor also used for research; it has been operating since 1967, an indication of the length of time during which Iran has been interested in nuclear technology.
The two facilities suspected of being part of a nuclear-weapon programme are: a plant to produce heavy water, located near the town of Arak, about 250 kilometres from Teheran; and two gas centrifuge plants under construction at Natanz, 40 kilometres from Kashan. One is a Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant (PFEP) and the other is a large commercial-scale Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP). Iran has acknowledged that components for gas centrifuges have been produced in the workshop of the Kalaye Electric Company in Tehran.
PFEP will apparently contain about 1,000 centrifuges and may already be completed. Iran plans to install more than 50,000 centrifuges at the commercial scale FEP; installation of centrifuges is scheduled to start in early 2005.
Uranium hexafluoride gas was introduced into the first centrifuge at PFEP in June 2003 to test a single centrifuge. In August 2003, Iran began testing a ten-centrifuge cascade with uranium hexafluoride gas.
Heavy water production
Heavy water (water in which the hydrogen is the deuterium isotope) is an excellent moderator and coolant for a reactor fuelled with natural uranium. Such a reactor is excellent for the production of plutonium of a grade suitable for use in very effective nuclear weapons (so-called weapon-grade plutonium). The Dimona reactor used by Israel to produce plutonium for its nuclear weapons is a heavy water-natural uranium reactor, as is the Cirus reactor used by India produce plutonium for its nuclear weapons.
Heavy water and enriched uranium can both be used in a civil nuclear-energy programme; they are dual-purpose materials. For example, the Candu-type nuclear-power reactor developed and used by Canada uses heavy water and a gas-centrifuge plant can produce the low-enriched uranium needed to fuel civil nuclear power reactors.
Iran claims that it wants to replace the aged (35-year old) Tehran Research Reactor and plans to do so by building a new heavy water reactor, called the IR-40, at Arak. The IR-40 will be a 40-megawatt (thermal) reactor cooled with heavy water. According to the IAEA, Iran plans to manufacture the fuel (uranium dioxide) elements for the IR-40 in the Fuel Manufacturing Plant (FMP) to be built at the Esfahan establishment. Iran says that the purpose of the IR-40 reactor is the production of radioactive isotopes for medical and industrial uses.
Iran says that about 85 tonnes of heavy water will be initially required for IR-40 and less than 1 tonne will be need annually. Iran is constructing a heavy water plant at Khondab near Arak with an initial capacity of 8 tonnes of heavy water per year. Apparently, a second production with a similar production capacity is under construction.
Uranium enrichment using gas centrifuges
The production of heavy water on a reasonable scale is a much easier task than producing significant amounts of highly enriched uranium in a gas centrifuge plant. The capacity of a gas centrifuge is measures in separative work units (SWUs). A reasonable estimate is that each centrifuge of the type that Iran is likely to produce (most likely made from carbon fibre) would have a capacity of about 2.5 SWU per year. That this is likely is indicated by the example of Iraq. In 1991, Iraq had a prototype centrifuge with a carbon-fibre rotor spun at up to 60,000 rpm (a wall speed of roughly 450 meters per second). The enrichment capacity during the best test run reached 1.9 SWU per year. IAEA inspectors estimated that an output of 2.7 SWU per year could have eventually been achieved.
An Iranian facility containing, say, 3,000 centrifuges could produce 7,500 SWU per year or about 40 kilograms of highly enriched uranium per year. It would take this facility at least 5 years to produce enough highly enriched uranium for the nuclear force of six nuclear weapons. With sufficient expertise in HEU-based nuclear weapons, 40kg per year could provide two nuclear weapons.
Assuming that about 60 per cent of the centrifuges have to be rejected as sub-standard, a reasonable assumption, Iran would need to produce about 5,000 centrifuges for the facility. Moreover, gas centrifuges break down frequently because of the mechanical stresses they are under. A steady supply of replacement machines must, therefore, be produced.
A facility operating a cascade of 3,000 centrifuges would use as much energy, electrical power, as a largish city - approximately 200 kilowatt-hours per SWU or roughly 1,000 kilowatt-hours per gram of highly enriched uranium. It would, therefore, be impossible to operate such a facility clandestinely. Building and operating effectively a gas centrifuge facility of a useful size is not a trivial task - it is an industrial undertaking. It would probably take Iran at least four or five years to build such a facility and begin producing significant amounts of highly enriched uranium.
For use as the fissile material in nuclear weapons, uranium must be enriched to more than 90 percent in the isotope uranium-235. Iran claims that its needs uranium enriched to between about 3 and 5 per cent for use in its civil nuclear power programme. But most of the energy needed to achieve enrichments of more than 90 per cent in uranium-235 is used to reach an enrichment of up to about 5 per cent. It is, therefore, very advantageous to use low-enriched uranium as the feed material to produce weapon-grade uranium. The low enriched uranium would simply be passed a few times through the enrichment plant.
Laser isotope separation (LIS)
Uranium can be enriched using a laser method called laser isotope separation (LIS). LIS separates uranium isotopes more efficiently than gas centrifuges because it is based on the fact that each isotope of an element has a unique set of electronic energy states. Consequently, electrons of atoms of each isotope will absorb light of a specific colour (i.e., of a specific energy level). If illuminated by a laser beam containing light of this precise colour, electrons of atoms of the selected isotope will absorb photons and become excited. An atom may give up its excited electron, and become a positively charged ion. The atoms of the other isotopes will not absorb photons, because they do not have the 'right' energy, and will not be ionised. The ionised atoms can be separated from the neutral ones by an electromagnetic field.
The Iranians have experimented with an Atomic Vapor Laser Isotope Separation (ALVIS) system that consists of two main units - a separator and a laser. When used to separate uranium isotopes, natural uranium metal is vaporised in the separator, using an intense electron beam that creates a uranium vapour stream in a vacuum chamber that rapidly moves away from the uranium metal. The vapour contains atoms of U-235 and U-238.
The laser unit uses powerful copper-vapour lasers that emit beams of green-yellow light. This light energizes (excites) 'dye' lasers that emit beams of red-orange light of precisely the right colour (i.e., frequency) to photoionise preferentially U-235 atoms. The red-orange beams are passed through the vapour of uranium atoms. U-235 atoms absorb photons of the red-orange light whereas U-238 atoms do not. The excited U-235 atoms eject the excited electrons, becoming ionised; the U-238 atoms remain untouched. An electromagnetic field moves the positively charged U-235 atoms to a collecting plate where they condense. The enriched U-235 can then be removed. The remaining uranium vapour, containing a much greater proportion of U-238 than natural uranium, flows on through the separator chamber and is removed.
The ALVIS photoionisation process has an atomic selectivity of more than 10,000 - only one ion of U-238 is produced for every 10,000 ions of U-235. This high enrichment efficiency, combined with the fact that relatively little energy is needed to operate the separator and laser systems, makes the operating and capital costs of the ALVIS process relatively low. This makes laser-isotope separation appear more attractive than other enrichment technologies.
Iranian laser enrichment research and development and the manufacture of copper vapour lasers have been undertaken in a laboratory located at Lashkar Ab'ad. A pilot plant for laser enrichment was established at Lashkar Ab'ad in 2000 and, the Iranians claim, dismantled in 2003.
Plutonium production
The Iranian government has acknowledged to the IAEA that it has irradiated uranium dioxide targets with neutrons in the Tehran Research Reactor and subsequently chemically separated the plutonium produced in the targets. According to the Iranians, only a small amount of plutonium was separated.
If the heavy water reactor being constructed at Arak is used to produce plutonium for use in nuclear weapons, it will be necessary to chemically separate the plutonium from the irradiated reactor fuel elements. The experiments performed by the Iranians in plutonium separation are, therefore, significant.
Conclusions
Iran is developing a number of nuclear technologies that are duel purpose - they could be used for civil or nuclear activities or in nuclear weapon programmes. These technologies are associated, firstly, with the enrichment of uranium and, secondly, with the construction of a heavy water reactor. The enrichment activity may lead to the production of low enriched nuclear fuel suitable for use as nuclear fuel in the civil nuclear-power reactors that Iran intends to operate and/or the production of highly enriched uranium for use as the fissile material in nuclear weapons.
The IR-40 heavy water reactor being constructed by Iran will, it says, produce radioactive isotopes for medical and industrial uses. But the reactor could also be used to produce effectively plutonium that could be used to fabricate nuclear weapons. IR-40 could produce about 8 kilograms of plutonium a year, enough to produce two nuclear weapons a year.
Iran has been involved in nuclear technology for a long time - 40 years or so. It therefore has a strong cadre of nuclear physicists and engineers that could be diverted to design, develop and fabricate nuclear weapons if Iran's political leaders took the decision to do so. What Iran does not have today is significant amounts of fissile material - highly enriched uranium or plutonium - needed to produce nuclear weapons.
The activities now underway in Iran could, however, eventually provide Iran with such fissile material. Iran would then be able to deploy rapidly a nuclear weapons force if it takes the political decision to do so. Iran has ballistic missiles that could deliver nuclear warheads. Hence, the international concern about Iran's current nuclear activities.
Are these activities explicable as part of a civil nuclear programme to generate electricity and produce isotopes for peaceful purposes? The only other explanation is that they are part of a nuclear-weapon programme.
It should, however, be emphasised that there is no firm evidence that Iran intends to fabricate nuclear weapons. As reported in the International Herald Tribune on 6th November 2004, Mohamed El Baradei, Director General of the IAEA, said: "We haven't seen any concrete evidence that points to a fact that Iran has a nuclear weapons program" although he went on to say: "We have seen Iran experimenting with all aspects of the [nuclear] fuel cycle".
Three European major powers - Britain, France and Germany - are currently trying to persuade Iran to give up some of those dual nuclear activities that they suspect may be being used by Iran in a nuclear-weapon programme. In particular, they seek suspension of all Iranian activities related to uranium enrichment until a long-term agreement is negotiated on Iran's nuclear programme as a whole. Iran wants any suspension to be limited to six months and for some enrichment activities to be exempted from suspension.
In return for a suspension of its whole enrichment programme, the European countries are, in the latest negotiating move, offering Iran some civil nuclear technology and materials, including a (light-water) research reactor and a supply of nuclear fuel, as well as increased trade and assistance with reductions of Iran's regional security concerns. The Bush Administration would prefer that the nuclear activities in Iran be referred to the UN Security Council for discussion. Time will tell whether or not the negotiations succeed. 25.01.2005 Link

UK

2005-01-25T13:06:00.000+06:00

Teenager in crossbow killing jailed
Jan 24 2005 - A 15-year-old boy who killed a father by shooting him through the heart with a crossbow has been jailed for seven years.
Daley Bibby armed himself with the lethal weapon and sought out 30-year-old Wayne Philips after he tried to interfere in a row between the teenager and his ex-girlfriend.
A 17-inch bolt went three-and-a-half inches into Mr Philips' chest, piercing his heart, when he was shot during the ensuing confrontation outside flats in Dartford, Kent.
He was taken to hospital following the incident in the early hours of March 26 last year, but died shortly afterwards.
Bibby, now aged 16, of Welling, south-east London, was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter and affray by a jury at Maidstone Crown Court last month.
He stood hunched and grim-faced in the dock at the same court as Judge Warwick McKinnon condemned his "terrible crime".
"It's a fantastical proposition to accept that the crossbow went off by accident."
The judge said he believed the jury had decided that father-of-one Mr Philips had "provoked" Bibby's anger during a series of rows that had taken place the previous night.
"This was a jury's merciful finding in what otherwise would have been a clear case of murder."
Bibby was told he would serve a seven-year sentence for manslaughter, and a 12-month term for one count of affray which would run concurrent. Link

Man's body discovered in his home
A murder investigation is under way after the discovery of a man's body at his home in south-west London.
Luke Rees-Pulley, 30, was found with stab wounds at Heron Court, Hampton Wick, on Friday morning.
He was last seen on Thursday evening when a friend dropped him off at a bus stop in Teddington High Street.
It is believed he went to the Astoria nightclub in central London before returning home on Friday morning. A man has been arrested and is in custody.
A post-mortem examination revealed he died from a stab wound to the neck. 24.01.2005 Link

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See the sights of Rio
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Sunbathe in Abu Dhabi
A suntan is guaranteed on a luxury three-night break at the five-star Le Meridien hotel in Abu Dhabi. The deals, through Bridge the World (0870 814 6318, www.bridgetheworld.com), cost from £375 per person and include return flights and B&B accommodation. You can travel any time between now and March 18, but to qualify you must book by February 28.
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Three coins in the fountain
Explore the glories of Rome on a two-night break to the Eternal City, on offer through Flight Centre (0870 499 0042, www.flightcentre.co.uk). For just £189 per person, you get flights from Heathrow and B&B accommodation at the two-star Bianca hotel in the city. Departures are between now and February 26. 24.01.2005 Link

Tracing the last WWII heroines
24.01.05 - Former Commons speaker Betty Boothroyd launched the appeal on Sunday, five months before the £1m monument is installed on London's Whitehall.
While no female George Cross holders are still alive, there were nearly 40 women who won the George Medal.
Former Special Operations Executive (SOE) agents who were parachuted into occupied France are also being sought.
The 22ft (6.7m) high monument by sculptor John Mills shows the uniforms and working clothes women wore hanging side by side.
Lady Boothroyd, who is patron of the Memorial to Women in World War II Fund, launched the "Hunt the Heroines" appeal on Sunday. Link

Actor Christian Slater escapes knife attack in London
24/01/2005 - Christian Slater, the American actor, has escaped a knife attack after a performance in London's West End.
Slater, 35, has been starring in a stage version of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" at the Gielgud Theatre, which ended a three month season on Saturday.
Reports said Slater's bodyguard took the brunt of the knife attack, which occurred outside the theatre.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said police were called to Shaftesbury Avenue in the heart of London's theatreland at 11 pm on Friday after reports of an attempted stabbing.
"A 44-year old man was attacked by a knife which luckily did not penetrate his skin but only his clothes," she said, adding that a knife was recovered from the scene and that police are continuing to investigate.
The New York-born Slater, star of films "True Romance" and "Interview with the Vampire", made his UK stage debut last August when "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" played during the Edinburgh Film Festival, before moving to London. Link

USA

2005-01-25T12:41:00.000+06:00

Barricaded in the White House
By Jane Stillwater
Jan 23, 2005
Barricaded in the White House, GWB discovers that Election Fraud is still the issue....
Can you imagine George Washington's inaugural parade? Bet he didn't have a whole battalion of snipers on the roofs of the parade route to protect him from irate citizens! Bet he didn't have to wear a bullet-proof vest because he was terrified of American voters. Bet he didn't have to pay 2,500 troops and officers from 70 police departments to keep hundreds of thousands of unhappy citizens subdued.
I bet that George Washington didn't have to cancel tours of the presidential residence because he was afraid of American tourists.
We've come a long way, Dubya!
No matter what the Republicans tell us or who they claim is the president, it is obvious to the average US citizen that Bush is NOT popular here -- and election fraud is still the issue.
Speaking of election fraud, I had lunch the other day with an expert on voting machines. "Diebold and ES&S used several techniques to steal the election," he said, "but the most obvious one was the use of batteries. How can Americans put a man on the moon yet not be able to invent a battery that lasts more than six hours?" Huh?
"According to this ES&S brochure, their voting machine batteries need to be changed every six hours. This is really convenient. It means that ES&S technicians are required to come in and fiddle with the machines."
Why after six hours? "If the votes are tampered with earlier, it won't look realistic. With 8% more Democrats in America than Republicans, a landslide would look suspicious. So the votes must be tampered with AFTER a certain amount of votes have already been cast. It was easy to doctor three million votes. They just turned a switch at the end of six hours." Interesting. Where was the Energizer Bunny when we needed him?
The expert showed me the ES&S brochure. It read, "Up to six hours of continuous precinct counter operation is delivered by a maintenance-free, sealed battery charged by an internal power supply." Makes it sound really good, doesn't it?
Then the expert pulled out some statistics. You can't be a REAL expert without statistics. "In Florida, 1,845,866 voters were registered as Republicans and 1,982,210 were registered as Democrats." And yet Bush won? Yeah right.
"But here's how you can prove that the crime actually happened. The expected Republican vote was 1,337,242. The actual vote was 1,950,213. The expected Democratic vote was 1,432,425. Their actual vote was 1,445,675. How come the Democratic estimate was essentially correct but the Republican estimate was some 600,000 votes wrong?" How can you explain this, given the data? "Even with issues like abortion and gay marriage thrown in, it doesn't explain the discrepancy."
The expert and I finished our lunch. It was a great lunch. Broiled tuna and lamb meatballs and date and almond ice cream. Lunch was finished. But election fraud continues. And Bush knows about it. He knows he did wrong. How does he know? If HE ever wanted to go to a restaurant or even run down to the 7-11 for ice cream, he couldn't. Not without a panzer division to protect him. Because a whole bunch of Americans know that their votes were stolen and they are angry about it. And true Americans are NOT about to give George Bush a free lunch. Link

Travellers grounded by snowstorms in US
24/01/2005 -- Severe blizzards on the east coast of the US affected hundreds of British travellers today as more than 35 flights to and from the UK were cancelled.
Flights in and out of London Heathrow and Manchester were hit as airports in New York, Boston, Newark, Baltimore, Washington DC and Philadelphia fell victim to the paralysing snowstorm.
Meanwhile Britain was also bracing itself for wintery weather, with snow expected to hit the east coast tonight, eventually spreading from Northumberland as far south as Kent.
Up to 5cm of snow, together with hail and sleet, is expected to fall on areas including the North York Moors, Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. There is also a smaller chance of some snow showers in London.
Flights with British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, United Airlines and American Airlines were disrupted by the American weather problems.
Around 2,600 British Airways customers were affected yesterday when the airline cancelled a total of 18 flights in and out of Heathrow.
Heathrow said 44 flights in and out of the airport had been cancelled today. Link

Traveling Arkansas
24.01.2005-Lovers ’ Festival slated for Feb. 12 in Eureka Springs Eureka Springs will host the Chocolate Lovers’ Festival from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 12 at the Inn of the Ozarks. Festival attractions include a wide array of candy, cakes, brownies and other confections, including light, milk, dark, bittersweet and every other flavor of chocolate imaginable. Festival highlights include tastes from purveyors of fine chocolates, chocolate and wine pairings, displays of chocolate items with a romantic theme, an auctioning of the winning cake and chocolate sculpture entries, and drawings for prizes such as lodging, dining and merchandise. There will also be a live judging of the "best of" confections in five categories: cakes, decorated cakes, chocolate candy, chocolate sculptures, and unique use of chocolate in a nonfood item. Local musicians will provide romantic music. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children. Tickets can be purchased online at www. eurekachocfest. org or by calling (479) 253-7888. Proceeds benefit Clear Spring, a nonprofit, independent, accredited grade school. Get romantic
during Petit Jean State Park’s Hikes, Hearts & Hugs Let Cupid’s arrow find you and your sweetheart at a romantic hideaway in the woods during Hikes, Hearts & Hugs on Feb. 12-13 at Petit Jean State Park in Morrilton. Be treated to a romantic, guided tour featuring the legend of Petit Jean or take part in guided trail hikes with your sweetheart. The event’s highlights will be dancing and a romantic, candlelit dinner for two. There is a fee for the dinner and dance, but other programs are free. Call ahead for reservations at Mather Lodge or one of the cabins. For details, call (501) 727-5441 or visit www. petit jeanstatepark. com.
Blanchard Springs
Photo Tour
set for Feb. 27 Amateur and professional photographers will have a rare opportunity to capture the beauty of Blanchard Springs Caverns during the semiannual Photo Tour on Feb. 27. The special four-hour tour is open to the first 10 photographers who make reservations, according to Tony Guinn of the U.S. Forest Service. Blanchard, often ranked among the most beautiful caverns in North America, was developed and opened for public tours in 1973. It is located north of Mountain View in the Ozark National Forest. For details, call 1-888-757-2246 or visit www.fs.fed.us/oonf/ozark/eve nt. html.
Little Rock’s historic homes featured in new
driving tour A driving tour of historic homes in Little Rock’s oldest neighborhood, the Quapaw Quarter, is now available in three brochures produced by the city’s convention and visitors bureau and the Quapaw Quarter Association. More than 100 historic homes are showcased, including several of Little Rock’s better-known structures, such as the 1874 Villa Marre, the exterior of which served as the Sugarbaker House on the television sitcom, "Designing Women," and the 1843 Walters-Curran Bell House, which is now the Little Rock visitors’ center.
Also featured are historic churches, schools and other public buildings, including the 1889 Winfield Memorial Methodist Church; the 1895 Kramer School and the 1905 Little Rock High School, both of which have recently been renovated to serve as loft apartments; and the 1842 U.S. Arsenal Building, which now houses the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History. The 1880 Dickinson House, which since 2000 has served as the Rosemont Bed and Breakfast Inn, is also on the tour and was selected by President Bill Clinton in 1992 for his morning-after election celebration. Maps, photographs and historical information about each structure, as well as interesting historical facts are included in the brochures. For details, call (501) 376-4781. Link

American Fork Band Gets Long Trip Home
Jan. 24, 2005, AMERICAN FORK, Utah (AP) -- The American Fork High School marching band's trip to Washington D.C. for President Bush's second inauguration was extended, although it wasn't by choice.
Last week's blizzard along the East Coast caused major transportation problems and left the American Fork students, teachers and parents who made the trip a lengthy journey home.
The return trip was scheduled for Saturday, but turned into Sunday because of the weather. Two of the six flights carrying members of the American Fork party were delayed and one was canceled. Everybody was home by late Sunday, a bit weary from the travel.
American Fork was one of only 21 high school marching bands to march down Pennsylvania Avenue for the inauguration. Link

Sri Lanka

2005-01-21T07:50:00.000+06:00

Murali to unleash doosra in World XI series
CHRISTCHURCH (AFP) - Sri Lankan spin star Muttiah Muralitharan promises to unleash his full repertoire, including the infamous doosra, in the one-day cricket series between a World XI and New Zealand here.
"Nobody from ICC (International Cricket Council) has told me not to bowl it. I can bowl whatever I want, but if I get reported again I will have to go to another hearing," he said on arrival here Thursday for the series which does not carry official one-day international status.
Last March, he was reported for chucking his doosra -- a legspinner bowled with an offspinner's action -- and warned he could be banned for a year if he continued to bowl the ball with a 14 degree bend in the elbow, well above the permitted five degrees for spin bowlers.
The ICC meanwhile looks set to change the rules which could see the doosra permitted once again with a meeting next month expected to approve a recommendation that all bowlers be allowed a 15 percent bend in the arm.
Muralitharan welcomed the move.
"Not only me, I think most of the bowlers will look forward to that," he said.
"Always I bowl well with the doosra."
Muralitharan, the former world Test wicket recordholder who is returning after six months recovery from surgery, will bowl in tandem in the three-match series with Australia's Shane Warne, the man who overtook his haul.
Muralitharan had surgery on his bowling shoulder last August, which ruled him out of international cricket until last week's tsunami relief match in Melbourne where he took three for 59 off 10 overs.
Muralitharan, who has 532 wickets from 91 tests and 369 wickets from 238 one-day internationals, said his shoulder was still sore and he remained one or two months away from his best form.
Having been deeply affected by the tsunami tragedy in his homeland and played a significant role in the relief effort, he was determined to give a good account.
He said he enjoyed the tsunami relief match and the response he received from the Australian public made him rethink his stance on not touring Australia.
He opted out of a tour of Australia last July due to the heckling he received from crowds on previous tours. 20.01.2005 Link

LTTE makes offer of assistance to Sri Lanka for tsunami relief
Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka have made an offer of assistance through peace broker Norway in the government's efforts to provide relief to survivors of the devastating tidal wave that lashed the Indian Ocean, but said they were yet to receive a response.
The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) told Canada's envoy in Colombo, Susan Blankhart, that they were willing to cooperate in the country's biggest relief operation in the aftermath of the December 26 tsunami disaster.
Blankhart met LTTE officials at the rebels' headquarters in northern Kilinochchi, one day after the rebel leader Velupillai Prabhakaran made his first public appearance after the disaster.
Over 31,000 people were killed in most of the island's coastal belt, including areas in the northeast within the LTTE's control.
Despite an initial thaw between the government and LTTE soon after the tsunami calamity, the two sides were soon hurling accusations at each other over the distribution of aid to the afflicted. 20.01.05 Link

18 people undergo treatment at Russian hospital in Sri Lanka
20.01.2005, MOSCOW, January 20 (Itar-Tass) - Eighteen people are currently undergoing medical treatment at the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s mobile hospital set up in Sri Lanka two days ago.
The hospital was delivered to Sri Lanka by Emergencies Ministry planes on January 15. They also brought doctors, medics and epidemiologists to this tsunami-stricken country. The hospital can accommodate 50 patients, and can work in an autonomous mode for two weeks.
The hospital started operating on Wednesday in the settlement of Tangalla on the southern cost of Sri Lanka. Local police protect the hospital round-the-clock, a spokesman for the ministry told Itar-Tass on Thursday. It is open eight hours a day, while a doctor and a nurse are on duty the rest of the time.
There are 15 medics in the hospital, including surgeons, therapists, infection disease doctors, paediatricians and anaesthesiologists, as well as 15 nurses and medical assistants.
It has an intensive therapy ward, an operating room, an X-ray room, as well as different laboratories.
On the first day of its work the hospital attended to 183 people, including 46 children. On the first day, two people were operated on, eight people, including two children, were put in the inpatient department, and eight more people were moved to the intensive care unit.
This is the second Russian hospital in Southeast Asia that suffered from a devastating tsunami at the end of December 2004. The Russian Defence Ministry’s field hospital has been operating on Sumatra for more than a week. Link

Police arrest two Sri Lankans for snatching gold chain off tsunami victim
18 January 2005, COLOMBO - Police have arrested two men accused of snatching a gold chain off the body of a woman washed ashore after last month’s tsunami, police said Tuesday.
“They are in custody and were being questioned,” said D.W. Prathapasinghe, police chief of the southern Galle district where the arrests took place Monday.
Over the weekend, the Daily Mirror splashed photographs of two men carrying the lifeless body of a woman after the first wave struck the port city of Galle, one of the hardest hit by the tsunami.
The series showed the men yanking the gold chain from her neck and then fighting each other for the jewelry. They fled before the second wave struck.
Prathapasinghe said the photos helped track down the suspects, who were residents of Galle.
“We also found in their possession gemstones, gold bangles, chains and an iron safe,” he said.
Investigations were under way to determine if there was a wider organized crime ring plundering tsunami victims, Prathapasinghe said.
Since the Dec. 26 disaster police have arrested dozens of people looting damaged areas, some making off in trucks carrying refrigerators, washing machines and furniture from coastal homes and hotels hit by the tsunami.
Nearly 31,000 people were killed in Sri Lanka, while more than 6,000 others still remain missing. Link

Colombo Bourse records 40% growth in 2004, attracts world attention
By Chittaranjan de Silva
Publication Date : 2005-01-20
The Colombo Stock Market has gained international recognition as one of the most attractive, consistent and best performing stock markets in the world by registering capital gains of over 30% since 2001, the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) sources said. The average price appreciation at CSE in 2004 has exceeded 40%, in a record year in which many new records were established.
The CSE is a member of the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE) and has both a well developed regulatory framework and infrastructure to meet the demands of investors.
In an effort to promote the Colombo Stock Market among the Sri Lankan expatriates and the international community, the CSE has organized Road Shows in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Director General of the CSE, Hiran Mendis said yesterday. The responses to these shows were very positive, he said adding that promotional activities were likely to attract more investment.
The road shows were not intended to attract the bigger funds but were targering the individual and intitutional investors, Channa Amaratunga, Economist, Asia Securities, who was a member of a team of analysts who visited the CSE’s road shows said.
He explained that one of the drawbacks of the Colombo market was that its a releatively smaller in size and low liquidity when compared to some other markets in the region and added that the CSE’s efforts were helpful in creating awareness among potential investors.
At the end of September 2004, the All Share Price Index (ASPI) had gained 36.6% from January 1, figure. ASPI peaked in July to September 2004 recording a market capitalization of Rs.357.9 bn compared to Rs.262.8 bn recorded in the beginning the year. Records tumbled at CSE as the Bull Run continued in from October to December 2004, with the ASPI recording peak value of 1,580.7 on December 22, which was an all time record. being the first trading day of CSE’s largest IPO, IOC Lanka, the market capitalization exceeded Rs.400 bn for the first time on Dec 22, according to the CSE.
Even though the Tsumani disaster on Dec 26 reduced the momentum at CSE, with the ASPI declining to 1506.9 at the end of the year, the Colombo Stock Market had grown by 41.9% in 2004, which has placed it as one of the best performing, attractive markets in the world.
The two road shows held in Dubai and Abu Dhabi were mainly to showcase its potential, CSE said.`A0 The Dubai road show was held in association with the Sri Lanka Consulate for Dubai and the Northern Emirates and the Sri Lanka Business Council in Dubai.`A0 The Abu Dhabi forum was conducted in association with the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Sri Lanka Embassy in the U.A.E.
A delegation of 35 stock and debt brokers from 13 firms of the CSE participated at the road shows. The CSE was represented by the Chairman, Eraj Wijesinghe and Director General, Hiran Mendis and other CSE officials. The road shows were held for the benefit of the large number of Sri Lankan professionals in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and also for the benefit of other investors having an interest in investing in international capital markets.
The presentations made at the forums by research analysts focused on Sri Lanka’s macro economic environment and investment potential.
The research analysts pointed out that Sri Lanka’s economy was resilient to setbacks as proved by the performance of the market after the tsunami. The analysts pointed out that Sri Lanka’s stocks were relatively cheap and attractive when compared to stocks in international markets and thus has the potential of enhancing value for investors.
The demonstration of the capabilities of the internet trading systems available to investors who wish to access the Colombo Stock Market attracted a great deal of interest among the participants present at the road shows.
The road shows were well attended with the participation of over 140 Sri Lankan professionals in Dubai and over 100 participants in Abu Dhabi.
The Dubai event was graced by Lalith Hettiarachchi, the Ambassador for Sri Lanka in the U.A.E and the Consular General for Duabi and Northern Emirates, P.D Fernando.
The Abu Dhabi investor forum was held under the patronage of His Excellency Mohamed Omar Abdullah Director General of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Link

Colombo starts $3.5b tsunami recovery drive
20 January 2005, HAMBANTOTA — President Chandrika Kumaratunga yesterday launched Sri Lanka’s ambitious $3.5-billion tsunami recovery drive from this devastated coastal town with an appeal for unity.
Government and opposition politicians showed rare unity at the official ceremony to build 6,000 houses here, one of the most devastated regions where 4,500 people were killed in the December 26 tsunami.
“We do not want any of us to draw personal or political advantage from this situation over the dead bodies of our people, over their tragedy and their tears,” Kumaratunga said here, 240 kilometres south of Colombo.
She said Sri Lankans were known for their relaxed attitude to work, but had put in extra effort to clear the debris and disposed of “about 30,000 bodies” within four to five days of the tragedy.
Kumaratunga said she was on holiday in London when giant walls of water lashed much of the island’s coast, but even before she returned within two days the entire country had responded magnificently to help survivors.
“We have started the reconstruction process in three weeks. Today, all main political parties are here ... This is a good omen for rebuilding a new Sri Lanka,” she said. “The unity demonstrated here should be carried forward.”
“We need to rebuild our infrastructure — roads, bridges, schools, power, telecom, water — all these things must be restored.”
The foundation stone for a housing scheme was laid by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse at the astrologically auspicious time of 10.39am at a ceremony attended Buddhist, Hindu, Christian and Muslim clergies. “Let the tsunami tragedy be the start of a new beginning to rebuild our nation,” Kumaratunga said.
Kumaratunga made no direct reference to the conflict with Tamil Tiger guerrillas, but said nature had taught a lesson — to shed ethnic, religious and political differences and work for the good of the nation.
“We are a country blessed with so many natural resources and we have not made use of them fully. Instead, we have been squabbling, fighting,” Kumaratunga said at the southern town of Hambantota.
“So nature itself must have thought enough is enough and whacked us from all sides and taught us a lesson to be together.”
However, she said the disaster had also brought out the best in Sri Lankans.
“People say Sri Lankans are not efficient. We wait till everything is given to us ... that is true to some extent. But, when tragedy struck, all Sri Lankans rose in a way that was unbelievable.”
She said she received accolades from world leaders for the manner in which Sri Lankan handled the unprecedented calamity and credit should go to the ordinary people who chipped in what ever way they could to help survivors.
Local political leader Chamal Rajapakse said most of those who were left homeless after the tragedy had gone back to their damaged homes. Link

Myanmar

2005-01-21T06:30:00.000+06:00

Myanmar open to aid after tsunami
AYEYARWADDY DELTA, Myanmar The waves that killed more than 160-thousand people in nations around the Indian Ocean are opening a window into the closed country of Myanmar (mee-an-MAWR').
The country didn't suffer the staggering loss of life experienced by some of the tsunami's other targets, but the waves did destroy many people's lives.UNICEF is giving a rare look into the isolated society ruled by a repressive military junta. The international aid group has delivered more than 650 emergency family kits to help children and their families recover from the tsunami.The kits include blankets, clothing, utensils, mosquito nets and other essentials. UNICEF is also fixing clean water systems in remoter areas.An estimated 90 people died from the tsunami in Myanmar. Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 20.01.2005 Link

Myanmar to try senior intelligence officers
01/20/2005, Bangkok (VNA) - More than 300 Burmese, including 26 senior intelligence officers who were dismissed following the ousting of Prime Minister Khin Nyunt last year, will be brought to trial as of Jan. 21 at special court hearings inside the country's largest prison.
Of the indicted, some are likely to face subversive charges while the majority may be sentenced to a maximum seven years in prison on charges of corruption, bribery and illegal possession of foreign currency.
Former PM Khin Nyunt may be charged with treason, abuse of power and bribery. However, he will not be tried this time. Link

Bangladesh

2005-01-20T12:20:00.000+06:00

Bangladesh Finds New Gas Field
01.19.2005 - A state-owned company in Bangladesh has found natural gas in a new field in the country's southeast with the reserve estimated at 200 billion cubic feet (6 billion cubic meters), an official said Wednesday.
The reserve at Srikail in Comilla district was struck Tuesday by Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited, or BAPEX, after more than a year of prospecting, said its managing director M.A. Baset.
"We are expecting a daily output of 30 million cubic feet of gas in the field for at least 20 years" - or 900,000 cubic meters - Baset told reporters in announcing the discovery 88 kilometers (55 miles) southeast of Bangladesh's capital Dhaka.
Baset said commercial production in the field may start in six months.
The find raised the number of natural gas fields in this impoverished South Asian country to 24.
Bangladesh has a proven reserve of more than 15 trillion cubic feet (450 million cubic meters) of gas, but its current daily output of 1.35 billion cubic feet (40 million cubic meters) can't meet the demand.
Bangladesh uses natural gas for producing electricity and fertilizer and cooking. Link

Iqbal's ton lifts drab Dhaka Test
Second Test, Dhaka, day five (tea): Bangladesh 211 & 196-3 v Zimbabwe 298 & 286
Bangladesh opener Nafis Iqbal compiled a maiden Test century as they settled for grinding out a series win over Zimbabwe in Dhaka.
The home side, already 1-0 up in the two-match series, opted for safety first instead of trying to achieve a victory target of 374.
They were 196-3 at tea, with Iqbal unbeaten on 121.
The 19-year-old, whose previous best was 56, hit 14 fours but took 309 balls to reach three figures.
Resuming on 98-0, the home side only added 37 runs during the morning session for the loss of Javed Omar.
He and Iqbal shared a Bangladesh record opening stand of 133 before he was caught off leg-spinner Graeme Cremer for 43.
Zimbabwe picked up two wickets in quick succession soon after lunch as Habibul Bashar fell to Tinashe Panyangara for two and Mohammad Ashraful became Cremer's second victim, departing third ball for three.
Having reached 90 not out, Iqbal wasted no time in progressing to his century with two successive fours and then a tuck off his hip for two runs.
Bangladesh: Habibul Bashar (captain), Khaled Mashud, Rajin Saleh, Nafis Iqbal, Javed Omar, Mohammad Ashraful, Aftab Ahmed, Mohammad Rafique, Mashrafe Mortaza, Tapash Baisya, Enamul Haque Junior.
Zimbabwe: Tatenda Taibu (captain), Stuart Matsikenyeri, Douglas Hondo, Brendan Taylor, Christopher Mpofu, Elton Chigumbura, Graeme Cremer, Hamilton Masakadza, Tinashe Panyangara, Dion Ebrahim, Barney Rogers. Link

New Bangla hospital eyes millions spent on overseas healthcare
1/19/2005, DHAKA: Bangladesh’s first private multi-speciality hospital is to tap into the estimated $330m spent annually on overseas medical treatment, officials say.
The 450-bed hospital will be a franchise of the India-based Apollo Hospitals Group which already has more than 30 other hospitals in South Asia, including one in Sri Lanka.
“Private healthcare is already available in Bangladesh but it not all under one roof and even what there is is not enough to meet demand,” said Abu Taleb, chief executive of franchise holder STS Holdings.
“Many Bangladeshis would prefer to stay at home but feel they have no choice but to go to Singapore, Bangkok or (New) Delhi which is very expensive because on top of the treatment patients have to pay for hotels, flights and for someone to accompany them,” he added.
Due to open on March 30, the $35m Apollo Hospitals Dhaka will offer more than 30 different specialities.
A staff of 250 doctors and 450 nurses was being recruited from all over the world, Taleb added.
Fees had yet to be finalised, but would represent “significant” savings when set against the cost of overseas treatment, he said.
Ten per cent of beds would be reserved for free care for patients unable to afford to pay for treatment. “It is very difficult to say how much the total market is worth but from various studies that have been carried out we estimate that Bangladeshis spend about 330 million dollars annually on medical treatment abroad,” Taleb said.
He said the hospital would have its own blood bank with all donations screened for the HIV virus and other diseases.
“We are aware that this is one of the big concerns patients have about receiving treatment in Bangladesh but we give them a 100 percent guarantee that the blood used at this hospital will be safe,” he said.
Bangladesh’s health minister, Khandoker Mosharraf Hossain, appealed to doctors in December to ensure adequate blood screening to curb the spread of the HIV/AIDS.
Economist Moinul Islam, of Chittagong University, warned the growing private healthcare sector in Bangladesh would lead to worst services for the poor.
“Government run hospitals are getting worse because the doctors and nurses move to the new private hospitals and clinics,” he said.
“In addition we have a long-term brain drain problem. Ninety-five percent of students who go abroad for medical training never come back and we have lost many of the best nurses and doctors trained here to Gulf states, the United States and Britain,” he added.
The Bangladeshi government said this week it would provide funding for 3,000 new doctors. It had also taken steps to recruit doctors, nurses and hospital managers to fill some 2,000 vacant posts.
Private clinics, nursing homes and small hospitals targeted at Bangladesh’s small but growing middle class have proliferated since the early 1990s when the country firmly committed itself to a free market economy.
Most are small, however, and offer a limited range of services especially in specialities such as cardiovascular disease.
Although nearly half Bangladesh’s 140 million population still lives on less than a dollar a day, economists point to the growing number of mobile phone users as evidence of the expanding middle class.
At the end of 2004, the country had 3.6 million mobile phone users, two million more than the previous year.

18 Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims die in Saudi Arabia
Eighteen Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims have died of various diseases and in road accidents in Saudi Arabia.
They are Abdul Matin of Karimpur village in Begumganj upazila of Noakhali, Delwar Hossain Pramanik of Khalifapara in Sadar upazila of Rangpur, Abbas Hossain of Patia Mathkhola in Kishoreganj, Shamsul Islam of Talipara in Thakurgaon, Tofailuddin of Toftibag village in Nabiganj of Habiganj, Abdun Noor of Tatikona village in Biswanath and Maolana Abdul Wahab of Balinga village in Bianibazar of Sylhet, Abdul Shukkur of Baksunagar in Bayejit Bostamati and M Lokman Sowdagar of Nimtoli village under Bandar Police Station of Chittagong, M Shahidul Haq of Horinamari in Polashbari of Gaibandha,
M Sadek of Sadar upazila in Feni, M Yusuf Ali of Salamitila village in Sadar upazila of Moulvibazar, Ali Ahmed of Hazrat Alipara village in Pekua of Cox's Bazar, Ibrahim Khalil of Charfashion in Bhola, Nurul Karim of Dharmapur village in Laxmipur and Ali Ashraf Patwari of Khilgaon, M Nuruddin Bhuiyan of Sutrapur and Dost Mohammad of DC Roy Road in Dhaka.
In separate messages, State Minister for Religious Affairs Mosharref Hossain Shahjahan and Religious Affairs Secretary Rafiqul Islam expressed deep sorrow at the death of the pilgrims, according to a PID handout. 19.01.05 Link

$25,000 Citibank grant for Brac schools
Citigroup Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Citigroup, contributed 25,000 US dollar to Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (Brac) to support the reconstruction of schools under Brac's 2004 flood rehabilitation programme in Bangladesh, says a press release.
The flood in 2004 had caused extensive damage to educational infrastructures and educational materials disrupting the education of hundreds of thousands of students.
A total of 9,855 Brac schools and 1,799, Kishori Kendros got severely affected in this catastrophe.
Mamun Rashid, chief executive officer of Citibank Bangladesh, presented the grant to Fazle Hasan Abed, Chairperson of Brac.
Brac Executive Director Abdul Muyeed Chowdhuiry was present. 19.01.05 Link

Nepal

2005-01-20T12:10:00.001+06:00

Opposition strike closes Kathmandu
KATHMANDU: A strike called by Nepalese opposition parties brought the capital Kathmandu to a virtual halt on Monday in protest at a steep hike in the price of petroleum products.
Schools, business houses and nearly all shops were closed leaving most streets deserted, witnesses said, but government employees were seen cycling or walking to their offices. Eight people were arrested for setting fire to a bus full of people breaking the strike action at Gwarkhu on the southern outskirts of Kathmandu, police said.
Apart from the movement of the Nepalese security forces, roads were quiet.
Four parties, led by the Nepali Congress headed by former prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala - asked people in the three main cities of the Kathmandu Valley - Kathmandu, Bhaktaur and Lalitpur - to protest against last week’s hike in petroleum prices by as much as 29 percent. The government said it raised prices in line with higher international prices and to stop smuggling to India where kerosene, gasoline and diesel are 10 to 18 percent more expensive than in Nepal. Nepal Oil Corporation officials said the state-run company was losing 9.9 million dollars a month.
Students and residents of Kathmandu staged protests against the price rise last week including burning tyres and ransacking government offices.
Maoist rebels, fighting to overthrow the monarchy, have also organised frequent road blockades in the past three months causing fuel and food costs to soar. In December, Nepal’s government invoked anti-hoarding and price control laws to stem rises. The Maoist rebels have been fighting for a communist republic in Nepal since 1996 and the uprising has so far claimed more than 11,000 lives. 19.01.2005 Link

Nepal India's Himalayan blunder?
NEW DELHI: Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs have claimed that the shootout in Indian Embassy in Kathmandu was a fall-out of personal enemity between the Central Industrial Security Force personnel.
They also maintain it has no links with India's troubles in Nepal.
The shoot-out comes just a day after India opened its consulate in Birgunj, and two days after 14 Indian soldiers of Nepali origin taken hostage by Maoists were released.
However, the shoot-out may be symbolic of the complex challenges that India faces in the Himalayan Kingdom, observers say.
Nepal's democracy is in tatters, major political parties are yet to agree to election proposals and Maoists are spreading their bloody grip across the country-side.
Major political parties are demanding that the House of Representatives which was dismissed by the King be reinstated before polls, but Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba is yet to agree to it.
Caught between this internal conflict is India. The political parties in Nepal view India with increasing suspicion. In fact, anti-India agenda is a major plank for various political parties during elections in the Himalayan kingdom.
Whichever party comes to power in Nepal, India will have a tough time negotiating its way through. It may find it difficult to regain its old influence in Nepal politics.
The Atal Behari Vajpayee government's tactical support to King Gyanendra and feeble protests when he subverted democracy has seriously eroded India's position among Nepal's political parties.
This lack of trust comes just 14 years after India tactically helped establish democracy in the Himalayan Kingdom.
But the immediate troubles for India may not be from political parties per se.
The Maoists, who have unleashed a bloody war for overthrow of the King and with various other demands including better life for the poorest of the poor, have very serious problems with India.
A senior Army officer in New Delhi told timesofindia.com that the kidnap of the 14 Indian soldiers could be a tactical warning to India.
New Delhi is the biggest supporter of Nepal's anti-Maoist operations and has also provided sophsticiated weaponry and counter-terrorism training to the Nepali Army.
There are over 30,000 Nepal citizens serving in the Indian Army and several times that number are retired from Indian Army in Nepal.
In Nepal, a sizeable number of traders are from India and a large number of expatriates are living there.
There are also increasing reports from intelligence agencies that Pakistan-funded anti-India activities and propaganda are also gaining currency in the world's only Hindu kingdom. 19.01.2005 Link

Soldiers and rebels brace for confrontation in Nepal
Nawa Raj Joshi was a teacher for more than 30 years in a small village in western Nepal, until one day Maoist rebels decided they didn’t like his politics. “They beat me with rifle butts and kicked me, and forced me to flee,” he said. “But my wife and two sons were not allowed to leave.”
A few years later, the rebels came back, this time for his son. “They asked him to accompany them, and he couldn’t say no. We think they are trying to force him to join them.” Joshi’s story is an every-day one in the Himalayan kingdom, where an increasingly ugly civil war is playing out against some of the world’s most stunning mountain scenery.
This month, the conflict, which has already killed more than 11,000 people, took another turn for the worse, with both government and rebels bracing for further violent confrontation. Last Thursday, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba turned up the heat on the Maoists by announcing plans to push ahead with elections they oppose and at the same time intensify a crackdown.
The Maoists have vowed to “shatter” the vote, and are thought to be planning a major attack against the government to underline their point and mark the ninth anniversary of the start of their struggle in February, according to Nepal’s army. Most worrying, is the state’s utter inability to unite in the face of the Maoist threat. Political parties spend most of their time squabbling amongst themselves or with the autocratic and increasingly unpopular king, who has dismissed three governments in the past two years.
“The country is sliding off the edge of a cliff,” said Kunda Dixit, editor of the Nepali Times weekly. “The political forces and the monarchy are at each other’s throats and, most unfathomably of all, they don’t seem to know who the real enemy is.” To the casual observer, Nepal’s war seem strangely low-key. Tourists still come in their tens of thousands, though fewer than before, and have never been targeted. Kathmandu itself seems peaceful and safe to outsiders — but not necessarily for locals. Rights groups say hundreds of suspected Maoist sympathisers “disappear” every year into notorious army or police detention centres. Maoists tend to simply kill their opponents. But the outside world is gradually being forced to wake up to the war, looking on with increasing frustration and concern.
Giant neighbour India knows well the risks of a failed state on its porous borders and is stepping up support for the Nepali army, as well as efforts to arrest Maoist leaders on its soil. The United States and European nations are providing more discrete assistance, but are equally determined to prevent a Maoist takeover, not least because of the signal it would send to other rebel movements around the world. “We simply don’t want to see an old fashioned Communist dictatorship taking over in the 21st century,” one diplomat said, defending his country’s assistance to an army accused of increasing human rights abuses. “However bad human rights are now, they would be worse under the Maoists.”
In India, concern is mounting about the rebels regional ambitions. They have established formal links with Maoist groups in India and say they aim to set up a “Compact Revolutionary Zone” throughout Nepal and northern and eastern India. Rebels in India’s troubled northeast are also thought to be supplying the Maoists with arms, says Nepali magazine editor Yubaraj Ghimire. “The government of India always seemed to ignore the presence of Nepali Maoists in India, but now they are taking the threat much more seriously.”
But there are other risks, too, not least early signs of fragmentation within the rebel movement itself. Not only is there division between hardliners and moderates, but there are warning signs that an ideologically driven movement could be gradually turning into an extortion racket. “Quite a few Maoist area commanders seem intent on enriching themselves,” the diplomat said. “There are incipient signs of warlordism.”
Comparisons with Afghanistan may be premature, but the risks are there for everyone to see. It is possible, although unlikely, foreign terrorist groups could be tempted to hide in an anarchic Nepal. 19.01.05 Link

Troops on full alert along Nepal border
1/19/2005, GUWAHATI: India has put its soldiers on “full alert” along the border with Nepal after intelligence reports that Maoist guerrillas were seeking to set up bases in revolt-hit northeast India, a minister said yesterday.
“We’ve got some very disturbing reports about Maoist insurgents trying to establish links with militant groups from Assam and then penetrating into the region to create terror by setting up bases,” junior home minister Sriprakash Jaiswal told reporters in Assam state’s main city of Guwahati.
The minister did not say when the troops were placed on alert.
But he cited intelligence reports that some Nepalese Maoist leaders were in touch with the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), a rebel group fighting for an independent homeland in Assam.
“We’ve put our soldiers on full alert all along the border with Nepal and have also decided to double the strength of border guards and increase the number of checkposts to prevent infiltration of guerrillas from that country.”
Assam, where separatists have been battling Indian rule for more than a quarter of a century, does not share a border with Nepal.
But the minister said Maoists could reach the area through the neighbouring Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal.
India’s remote northeast is home to dozens of rebel groups fighting for causes ranging from secession to independence. They accuse New Delhi of exploiting the region’s natural resources and neglecting the local economy.
India and Nepal share a 1,800-km open border across which thousands of people cross daily.
The Maoists in Nepal have been waging an increasingly deadly battle since 1996 to topple the monarchy and install communist rule in the poverty-stricken nation.
The minister said the “disturbed situation” in the Himalayan kingdom could also have some “adverse impact” on border states such as Sikkim, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
“There are plans by the Maoists to try and enter our territory in an attempt to destabilize internal security and hence we’ve cautioned all state governments sharing a border with Nepal to be vigilant,” the minister said.
Nepal has long been urging India to increase surveillance along the open border to stop the movement of the rebels.
Last August, Nepalese Maoists raided a police post in the lawless eastern Indian state of Bihar, leading to the arrest of some of their comrades by Indian authorities.
The raid heightened concern that Nepal’s Maoist revolt could spill over into India. Analysts have long said Nepal’s revolt could pose big security problems for India which is also battling leftwing radicals. Link

India

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India

2005-01-20T11:50:00.000+06:00

Does India need a National Security Advisor?
January 18, 2005 - Should India have a National Security Advisor or a National Security Coordinator?
Should the National Security Adviser focus only on national security issues or should s/he also be involved in issues relating to diplomacy?
These were some of the issues that were discussed on January 15 at a seminar on national security organised by the association of retired senior police officers in collaboration with the India International Centre, New Delhi. Link

Accidental firing in Indian embassy; 2 die
January 18, 2005 - Two security guards were killed and another injured in a firing incident in the Indian embassy premises in Kathmandu early on Tuesday.
The cause of the firing has not been ascertained and details are awaited.
The victims were Indian nationals, embassy sources said, adding that preliminary probe pointed to accidental fire.
"Two guards belonging to the Central Industrial Security Force were killed and another injured in an accidental firing that took place at the barrack within the embassy premises at 5am today (Tuesday)," Sanjaya Verma, counsellor, Press and Information, said.
The injured guard has been admitted to the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital at Maharajgunj for medical treatment.
However, the names of those killed and injured in the incident are not yet known.
The embassy is carrying out further investigations into the matter. Link

SC rejects Jaya’s plea against trial at Bangalore
Posted online: Wednesday, January 19, 2005 , NEW DELHI, JANUARY 18: Leaving no option for Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa but to face trial at Bangalore in the Rs 65 crore disproportionate assets case, the Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed her petition seeking stay on the trial and permission to argue for transfer of the case outside Karnataka.
A five-judge bench comprising Chief Justice R.C. Lahoti, Justice N. Santosh Hegde, Justice Y.K. Sabharwal, Justice S.N. Variava and Justice H.K. Sema dismissed her curative petition against the court’s November 18, 2003 order, transferring the trial from Chennai to Bangalore for holding a ‘‘free and fair’’ trial.
The November 19 order was passed by a bench comprising Justice Variava and Justice Sema on a petition filed by DMK leader K Anbazhagan, seeking transfer of the case outside the state alleging ‘‘undue haste’’ shown by prosecution to complete the trial against the Chief Minister.
The same bench had on February 17 last, dismissed an application seeking modification of the order on the ground that the situation in Karnataka was hostile to her in view of her stand in the ongoing Cauvery water dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
It had on April 28 dismissed her petition seeking review of the November 18 order and transfer of the case outside Karnataka to any other state including Pondicherry.
Jayalalithaa exercised her last option in August last year by filing the curative petition. The five-judge bench today dismissed it saying ‘‘no case was made out’’ according to the parameters fixed by the apex court for entertaining her curative petition. Link

India, Nepal seek ways to contain Maoist conflict
By Sanjeev Miglani
Wed January 19, 2005, NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India and Nepal were close to finalising a treaty on Wednesday for faster extradition of terror suspects to help tackle a Maoist insurgency in the Himalayan kingdom that is threatening to spill into India.
Officials said the two sides were also discussing a proposal to introduce identity cards for people crossing the 1,580-km long open border to stop the free movement of the Maoists who have developed links with underground left-wing groups in India.
"Both our nations are concerned about the security situation, and the threat from these terrorists," said an Indian interior ministry official. "We want to quickly put in place a set of measures that will help us deal with this problem."
The Maoists, who are fighting to topple Nepal's constitutional monarchy, control more than two-thirds of the countryside and in recent months have stepped up bombings and blockades of the nation's capital to demonstrate their reach.
India fears the success of the Maoists of Nepal would embolden its own radical left-wing groups. These groups are active in Bihar, which borders Nepal, and the southern states of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
"Make no mistake, this is as serious a threat to the nation's stability as can be," said Ajai Sahni, director of the Institute of Conflict Management, an independent New Delhi thinktank.
"If the Maoists score a great victory in Nepal, and that isn't looking impossible anymore, there is significant potential for the whole region to be destabilised," said Sahni.
Indian and Nepali officials are expected to give new teeth to a five decade-old extradition treaty under which will make it easier to deport people suspected of acts of terror.
The Maoists of Nepal and left-wing organisations in India such as the People's War Group and Maoist Communist Centre were at the moment helping each other with training and some exchange of weapons, officials said.
But it could soon change into joint strikes across the countryside in Nepal and India, an Indian military official said.
"Its an opportunistic alliance at the moment between these groups. You help me with some arms if I need them, and I will help you with training."
"But if the Maoists succeed in Nepal, it could soon become an operational alliance. They are already seen as the most powerful player in this part of the world who have brought the government to its knees," said an Indian army colonel.
An alarmed New Delhi has joined the United States and Britain in pumping military aid to the poorly equipped Royal Nepal Army to help it hunt down the Maoists in the rugged country.
India has also promised to tighten surveillance along the border with Nepal as it presses ahead with plans to hold long-delayed national elections, despite opposition from the Maoists. Link

India's Untouchables Allege Discrimination In Allocation of Tsunami Aid
KEEZHAIVANAGIRI, India -- Muthu Vellaithevan, a farm laborer who is part of India's untouchable caste, lost seven goats and a cow when massive waves lashed at his coastal village on Dec. 26. The water also swept away his thatch-roofed mud hut.
But he said his real problems began after the water receded, when he and his people found themselves the targets of aid discrimination by the fishermen of his village.
"Forty families from my community took shelter in a school building outside the village," recalled Vellaithevan, 35, a father of three. "But in two days, the fishermen's families at the shelter began troubling us. They did not allow us to sleep and eat with them. They did not want to be under the same roof with us. We were forced to leave. Our homes were destroyed and our children were hungry. Where could we go?"
The South Asian tragedy has ripped open centuries-old fault lines of caste in rural India's rigid social hierarchy. In the district of Nagapattinam, where more than 6,000 people died, untouchables from about 10 villages have openly protested what they call discrimination against them in the provision of relief supplies and access to shelters.
The Indian constitution outlaws the country's 3,000-year-old caste system, in which society is organized into groups ranked in a strict hierarchy. But many Indians retain the system mentally. Untouchables are at the bottom of the rural social order; people of other castes often consider them unclean and refuse any contact with them.
The chief of Thirumullaivasal village, Shankuntala Natesan, a woman from the fishing community, denied the charges of aid discrimination.
She said the losses suffered by the untouchables were small because they had little to begin with. She said 90 fishing people and three untouchables died in the village.
"We have lost everything. Our homes, boats and lives," Natesan said, as she showed a television and refrigerator that lay broken in her home. "They lost their thatch roofs, a few goats and maybe a sickle and a spade."
The fishing families lived closest to the sea in this coastal community and appeared to have suffered the most damage, in loss of both lives and livelihood, in this area. The bulk of relief supplies, from the government and private organizations, has gone to them.
"The fishermen have cornered all the relief supplies that come into the village. The whole world thought that only the fishermen are the victims," said Selvi Thangavelu, 40, whose husband washed fish that were brought from the sea and loaded them into trucks. "When we queued up for food or clothes, they said, 'Go away, we have suffered the most because we have lost lives and boats. What have you lost?' Our lives and our work are closely tied to theirs. But nobody paid any attention to us."
When they were thrown out of the school building, Vellaithevan and others went to a marriage hall and lived separately there for 10 days. The government built plastic-roofed tents for 10 untouchable families in the village, while all the fishing families received shelters, he said. Vellaithevan's family now lives by the road in a small tent that he made by tying old borrowed saris to three bamboo poles. He said the seawater flooded several acres of farmland, leaving him jobless.
When the government gave the family the equivalent of $90 and two sacks of rice as immediate relief a week ago, they returned to their village. "Now we cook our own food with the help of the money," he said. 19.01.2005 Link

Vajpayee, Hema to campaign for BJP in Haryana
January 19, 2005 - The Bharatiya Janata Party will use former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, party chief Lal Kishenchand Advani and Bollywood stars like Hema Malini in its campaign for the Haryana assembly election in February.
Polling in Haryana will take place on February 3 alongside first phase of polling in Bihar and Jharkhand. Link

Handwara rape case: Major's DNA test
January 19, 2005 - The DNA test of Major Rahman Hussain, who is undergoing a general court martial and is accused of raping a 30-year-old woman and her daughter in Handwara in Jammu and Kashmir on November 6, 2004, was found negative, a defence spokesman said in Srinagar on Wednesday.
The report of the test, conducted by the Central Forensic Laboratory, Chandigarh, was presented before the general court martial presided over by Brig Syed Ata Hussain at Uri brigade headquarters.
The chief judicial magistrate, Handwara, transferred the report to the GCM on Tuesday, the spokesman added.
According to sources, on November 6, a unit of 30 Rashtriya Rifles entered the residence of Abdul Rashid on the pretext of conducting a search. The personnel then asked Rashid's wife and daughter to show them around the house after asking him to wait outside. Aisha and Shabnum were then raped. Link

Pakistan

2005-01-20T11:10:00.000+06:00

Don't be surprised by Musharraf!
January 18, 2005
Dear Mr Hersh,
I read with great interest your article The Coming Wars: What the Pentagon can now do in secret, in the New Yorker in its issue dated January 24.
The article is about US preparations for a possible covert operation against Iran's suspected military nuclear installations set up with Pakistani complicity.
You have said: 'Some of the missions involve extraordinary coöperation. For example, the former high-level intelligence official told me that an American commando task force has been set up in South Asia and is now working closely with a group of Pakistani scientists and technicians who had dealt with Iranian counterparts.
'In 2003, the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency)disclosed that Iran had been secretly receiving nuclear technology from Pakistan for more than a decade, and had withheld that information from inspectors.'
'The American task force, aided by information from Pakistan, has been penetrating eastern Iran from Afghanistan in a hunt for underground installations. The task-force members, or their locally recruited agents, secreted remote detection devices -- known as sniffers -- capable of sampling the atmosphere for radioactive emissions and other evidence of nuclear-enrichment programs.'
'Getting such evidence is a pressing concern for the Bush Administration. The former high-level intelligence official told me, "They don't want to make any WMD. intelligence mistakes, as in Iraq. The Republicans can't have two of those. There's no education in the second kick of a mule.'
'The official added that the government of Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani President, has won a high price for its cooperation -- American assurance that Pakistan will not have to hand over A Q Khan, known as the father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, to the IAEA. or to any other international authorities for questioning. For two decades, Khan has been linked to a vast consortium of nuclear-black-market activities. Last year, Musharraf professed to be shocked when Khan, in the face of overwhelming evidence, "confessed" to his activities.'
'A few days later, Musharraf pardoned him, and so far he has refused to allow the IAEA or American intelligence to interview him. Khan is now said to be living under house arrest in a villa in Islamabad. "It's a deal -- a trade-off," the former high-level intelligence official explained. "Tell us what you know about Iran and we will let your A Q Khan guys go.'
'It's the neoconservatives' version of short-term gain at long-term cost. They want to prove that Bush is the anti-terrorism guy who can handle Iran and the nuclear threat, against the long-term goal of eliminating the black market for nuclear proliferation.'
'The agreement comes at a time when Musharraf, according to a former high-level Pakistani diplomat, has authorized the expansion of Pakistan's nuclear-weapons arsenal. "Pakistan still needs parts and supplies, and needs to buy them in the clandestine market," the former diplomat said. "The US has done nothing to stop it." Link

Mixed fortunes for Pakistan
Michael Crutcher, cricket
PAKISTAN'S relief at its breakthrough summer win was swept away last night by another injury to Shoaib Akhtar and another report over a spinner's suspect bowling action.
Off-spinner Mohammad Hafeez was reported to the International Cricket Council after bowling 10 overs in Pakistan's slick six-wicket win over the West Indies at the Gabba.
Shoaib Malik, another Pakistan off-spinning allrounder, is already under-going remedial work on his action after he was found to straighten his arm beyond the legal limit.
Hafeez must hope he is cleared by the ICC's testing procedure after he was reported by match referee Chris Broad, who also reported Muttiah Muralitharan and Harbhajan Singh in the past year.
Pakistan was already worried about its bowling stocks because Shoaib Akhtar has a small hamstring tear that could rule him out of the summer. Shoaib had bowled just 2.5 overs and five wides yesterday when he limped off.
The news soured Pakistan's first international win of the summer, built on wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal's maiden one-day century against a weak Windies attack.
Pakistan had three overs to spare when it strolled to 4-274, eclipsing the Windies' total of 5-273. Akmal made 124 from 125 balls.
The win was completed with a professionalism not usually associated with Inzamam-ul-Haq's men.
But some things don't change in Pakistan cricket – such as the sight of Shoaib nursing an injury niggle.
He was off the field by 9.30am yesterday, before most of the crowd had finished breakfast and made it to the Gabba for the early start.
There has already been enough theatre in Shoaib's summer: the usual bowling blitzes and the flamboyant off-field mix of convertible cars, motorbikes and fashion shoots.
Inzamam said Shoaib would be out for up to two weeks, leaving some doubt over his ability to play in the best-of-three finals series against probable opponents Australia from February 4.
Pakistan has taken a huge leap towards the finals because the three matches between the visitors will probably decide which team meets unbeaten Australia.
Kamran, 23, had played only 15 one-day internationals before breaking out yesterday during a 123-run stand with Shoaib Malik (63 from 60) that built Pakistan's win. Inzamam (62no from 51) arrived for an 80-run stand from 73 balls with Kamran.
The pressure is now on the Windies, still without a win, to beat Australia at the Gabba tomorrow but they need a major bowling spark to tame the world champions.
Chris Gayle (82 from 99), Ramnaresh Sarwan (76 from 90) and captain Brian Lara (39 from 30) put on enough runs for the Windies to bowl with some confidence.
But the Caribbean men, with only three specialist bowlers, were out of business when part-timers Marlon Samuels, Wavell Hinds and Sarwan conceded 128 runs from a combined 17 overs.
"We were 30 to 40 runs short of where we should have been," Lara said.
Kamran hit 12 fours in a performance that will satisfy coach Bob Woolmer during his mission to rebuild Pakistan into a consistent international force.
The Pakistan squad heads to Sydney today to prepare for Sunday's day-night clash with Australia.19.01.05 Link

RIOTS IN BALUCHISTAN PROVINCE, PAKISTAN
The Pakistani army might intervene in the coming days in newly-erupted riots in the western province Baluchistan, reports the Emirates daily Al-Khalij.
The riots began when the central government stopped supplying gas to the provinces of Punjab and Baluchistan one week ago, due to a shortage in spare parts for damaged gas facilities, according to official sources. This move was followed by missile attacks on the gas pipelines, carried out by Baluchistani tribes.
Thousands of armed men from the Baluchistani tribes gathered in the city of Dira Bakti, near the home of their leader Nawar Akbar Bakti. The rioters said they are ready to fight alongside Bakti if the situation continues. "We arrived at the point of no return," said leader of the National Baluchistani Party 'Atallah Munghul, adding that he will reject any attempt to negotiate with the central government.
Baluchistan province lies in western Pakistan, on the border with Iran. It became part of the West Pakistan Province in 1955, and was given full provincial status in 1970. Six years later the central government of Pakistan revoked the authorities of the local Baluchistani leaders. This move was followed by a revolt, which continued until the 1980s.
"We will use whatever means necessary to safeguard the gas facilities in this region, which has 18 percent of all the gas reserves in the country," Pakistan's Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad told Al-Khalij.
Two urgent meeting were held on Monday in the presence of Pakistan's prime minister and the country's president. Following these meetings, a formal statement was made by the Pakistani government, stating that the local Baluchistani government asked for the assistance of the central government in keeping law and order in the region, and in protecting the gas facilities. The central government said it hopes to finish repairing the damage done to the pipelines within the next two days.
Ahmad added that the government is determined to proceed with the development projects in the region. Link

Two militants killed while plotting bomb in Pakistani tribal belt ISLAMABAD JAN 18 (KUNA) -- Two suspected Islamic militants were killed Tuesday while plotting a time bomb to target two members of tribal peace committee in the Pakistani tribal region of South Waziristan, said an official.
The militants were planting a time bomb in the Makin area, 80 kilometers from Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan, when it went off accidentally, a security official told KUNA.
He said the two militants die on the spot, adding that their target was two members of the tribal peace committee. He did not say anything about the members.
Pakistani tribal region had been safe haven for hundreds of Taliban fighters. The military has launched several bloody operations against the fighters, killing and arresting more than hundred. (end) amn. Link

Three arrested over 2004 bomb attack on Pakistani PM
18 January 2005, ISLAMABAD - Pakistani police on Tuesday said they had arrested three suspects over a failed assassination bid on Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz July last year in which nine people died.
The three were arrested in an early morning swoop in the garrison town of Rawalpindi and were members of outlawed religious groups, police said.
Aziz survived a suicide attack on July 30 last while he was attending an election rally in Fateh Jang, 50 kilometres southwest of Islamabad. His driver was among those killed in the attack.
Police are searching for some 14 other suspects based on information received from the three arrested.
The latest arrests follow the detention in Rawalpindi during the week of a suspect wanted over a failed assassination bid on President Pervez Musharraf in 2002.
Musharraf also survived two attempts on his life in Rawalpindi in 2003. A total of 18 people were killed and over 50 wounded in those two attacks. Link

Kazakh diplomat shot in Pakistan
A diplomat from Kazakhstan has been shot and seriously wounded in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad.
Sapargali Aubakirov, a deputy counsellor at the Kazakh embassy, was shot in the head at his home on Tuesday night and was in a coma, police said.
They said the wounded diplomat was found on Wednesday morning and that nothing had been stolen from the home.
A BBC correspondent at the scene says police believe the attack was a criminal rather than political act.
'Car missing'
Ehsan Sadiq, superintendent of the Islamabad police, said the diplomat's servant had left the house at 1900 on Tuesday and returned on Wednesday at 0700 to find the house locked.
He contacted embassy officials who broke into the home and found the wounded diplomat.
Senior Islamabad police official, Mehboob Aslam, told the Associated Press that police were investigating whether the diplomat had quarrelled with people who were visiting him on Tuesday night.
Another police official told the AFP news agency a single bullet cartridge was found, but no weapon. The diplomat's car was also missing, they said. Link

Ten journalists injured as religious students raid Lahore Press Club
19 January 2005 - Reporters Without Borders demanded an explanation from the chief minister of Punjab Province after police failed to intervene as young religious militants of the Imamia Students Organisation (ISO) raided Lahore Press Club, injuring ten journalists.
Police stood by on 14 January as the demonstrators, angry at what they saw as inadequate press coverage of the murder in the north of the country of Shiite leader Agha Ziauddin, raided the club beating journalists and stoning and firebombing the building.
The officers took 30 minutes to react and although they eventually made 40 arrests nobody has yet been charged.
Demanding an explanation for the police inaction, the worldwide press freedom organisation said in a letter to the provincial chief minister, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, "Their duty was to protect journalists. We call on you see there is a thorough investigation to find out the exact circumstances of these assaults."
The militants first set upon journalist Asghar Butt, preventing him from entering the club. They then beat and injured nine colleagues who came to his assistance. They were : Amir Mughal, Muazzam Bhatti, Rai Hasnain Tahir, Shadab Riaz, Shujaat Hamid, Abdul Ghafoor, Amir Sohail, Shoib Ahmad and Ijab Mirza.
The militants then streamed into the club's courtyard, throwing stones and firebombs at the building, breaking windows and damaging vehicles parked there.
Police who were on the spot did not react to shouts for help from the journalists only finally intervening to break up the crowd after half an hour of mayhem.
Lahore Press Club president, Arshad Ansari, told Reporters Without Borders on the phone that if nobody was charged he would call for a day of action throughout the country. "This is the first time in Pakistan's history that a religious organisation has attacked a press club in this way," he said.
The Lahore club is the second oldest press club in the country, after that in Karachi. Link

ADB praises economic growth, prudent policies of Pakistan
ISLAMABAD Jan 19 (KUNA) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Wednesday said with the current trend of economic growth and prudent policies Pakistan will achieve the target of eight per cent annual growth soon.
The Country Director of ADB Mr. Marshuk Ali Shah while addressing a news conference here said Pakistan's medium term economic growth prospects are very good and if the process continued, long term prospects in the future will also be brightened which will help reduce poverty with fast speed.
He said Pakistan is set to achieve higher production of cotton this year and there also are bright chances of achieving the wheat production target. The increase agriculture production will have good impact on the socio-economic conditions of the rural masses and will help dent poverty. Marshuk Shah said Pakistan's economy is moving towards right direction and there is need to make more efforts to achieve high growth targets and sustain them. He said due to good economic performance, investment is coming in the country and industry is expanding which has helped bringing down unemployment during the last year.
He said it is the first time in country's history that development expenditure have gone up and a huge amount is being spent in infrastructure development which will further help to give boost economy.
He said further that the feasibility study of Turkmenistan- Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) gas pipeline has been completed and it will be presented in the Steering Committee meeting of the Bank being held next month. He said it is likelihood that the committee will approve the project and informed that a number of companies have expressed their interest to finance the project costing three billion dollars.
Highlighting the ADB's contribution in Pakistan's economy he said the Bank has approved about eight hundred million dollars for eleven projects for the current year which aims at improving governance, education, access to justice, rural, agriculture and industrial development and poverty reduction. Link

Afghanistan

2005-01-20T11:00:00.000+06:00

Taleban reconciliation picks up pace
KABUL (AFP) - The release of some 80 prisoners from US custody in Afghanistan heralds an intensified effort to bring former fighters from the Taleban militia back into mainstream society, officials said.
The move could propel a wider amnesty offer aimed at Taleban foot soldiers, some of whom have waged an insurgency from the hills and caves of Afghanistan since the Islamic regime was ousted by a US-led operation in late 2001.
Chief justice Fazel Hadi Shinwari said negotiations with militants from the fundamentalist movement were continuing and some more moderate Taleban were eyeing the olive branch.
"One category of Taleban want to come back and they have contacted us and the government... and the government is providing them the opportunity to come back," Shinwari said after the detainees were freed by the US military from Bagram air base near Kabul on Sunday before the Muslim festival of Eid.
A remaining hard core of fighters, estimated by government officials to number around 100 and "whose hands are stained with blood, are not eligible for the talks and the government will not reconcile with them," Shinwari said.
Speaking to reporters at the Supreme Court on Sunday, he said the release of prisoners has been instrumental in ongoing talks.
"One prisoner whose name is Mullah Qalamuddin, who was a commander of Taleban from Logar province, was released and then he went to Taleban and came back to us with the idea of reconciliation. There are contacts with the government," Shinwari said, adding that the government was negotiating for the release of more prisoners. Link

One in four Afghan children dies before fifth birthday
By Maxine Frith
18 January 2005 - Afghanistan has one of the poorest records in the world for women and children's health. And despite the grand promises made to post-war Afghanistan, there is no sign of improvement any time soon.
Unicef says 1,600 women per 100,000 die in childbirth in Afghanistan; in the UK, the rate is 16 per 100,000. In the most remote areas the maternal mortality rate is 6,000 per 100,000, meaning that 6 per cent of women die during labour.
Even if mother and baby survive, their prospects are dismal. One in four children dies before their fifth birthday; in most Western countries, the rate is fewer than 30 per 1,000 live births.
The 26 million people have just 900 clinics for reproductive health and childbirth. Charities and aid agencies have been frustrated that the Millennium Development Goals did not directly address the issue of reproductive health.
The US refuses to fund organisations promoting abortion. Lucy Palmer, support manager for the sexual health charity Marie Stopes International in south Asia, said: "Because of the work we do on abortion, we have to rely on European partners.
"The Americans had committed a lot of money to a basic healthcare package in Afghanistan which would have given women better access to services, but just before the elections the cash was diverted to building roads.
"Contraception is not illegal in Afghanistan but women only have access to these services if there is a clinic two or three kilometres away, and for most that is not the case."
Chronic shortages of trained doctors, midwives and hospitals also mean most women who develop complications during labour are likely to die.
Ms Palmer added: "[We] are struggling just to get our teams out there and working. The country needs a national training centre for doctors and midwives." LINK

Turkmenistan unveils plans for trans-Afghan gas pipeline project 2005-01-18, ALMA-ATA -- The Turkmenistan government said on Monday a feasibility study for a trans-Afghan natural gas pipeline has been completed, and the construction of the long-delayed project could begin in 2006.
Turkmenistan's Oil and Gas Ministry said Monday the feasibilitystudy, funded by the Asian Development Bank and conducted by the British company Penspen, "serves to speed up the start of realizing the plan for a trans-Afghan gas pipeline" to the Indian city of Fazilka, near the Pakistan-India border.
The study envisages a 1,680-meter-long pipeline that could carry 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year, the ministry said in a written statement. The 3.5 billion-US dollar pipeline is to run through Herat and Kandahar in Afghanistan, the Pakistani cities of Quetta and Multan and on to Fazilka.
The feasibility study for the project, which is planned to be launched in 2006, was expected to be discussed in February in Islamabad, Pakistan, at a meeting of the project's managing committee, the ministry said.
Gas-rich Turkmenistan has long hoped for a southern pipeline through Afghanistan and Pakistan as a way of reducing dependence on the pipeline network through Russia. But plans were abandoned when the United States fired cruise missiles into Afghanistan in 1998 in pursuit of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.
Since the collapse of the Taliban regime, the project has been revived. The planned pipeline would allow former Soviet Central Asian nations to export energy resources without relying on Russian routes. Link

Instant airstrip airdropped into the middle of Afghanistan
Posted by: Andrew on Jan 17, 2005
It's not about Iraq, but it is prety cool. In the largest heavy drop of equipment since World War II, American engineers have commenced construction of an airstrip in the middle of nowhere Afghanistan, according to The BBC. Dozers, graders and other earth movers were dropped from C-17s launched out of Germany in the hopes of creating a forward operating airstrip to aid in the capture of terrorist suspects in Afghanistan. Link

Troops Bound For Afghanistan To Train At Home
January 18, 2005, FORT BRAGG, N.C. -- Up 10,000 members of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division will spread across Fort Bragg to help a unit train at home before deploying to Afghanistan rather than going to the Mojave Desert to prep for duty.
It will be the largest and most intense exercise held on post in years, said Maj. Gen. Bill Caldwell, the division commander.
"We are going to move the entire 82nd Airborne Division to the field to do the certification exercise for the 1st Brigade," Caldwell said.
At least 3,500 soldiers will deploy to Afghanistan for a year this spring as the 1st Brigade Combat Team, which will be formed around the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment and will include field artillery, engineers and military intelligence soldiers.
In the past, Army units preparing for long rotations in the Middle East spent weeks at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin in Southern California's Mojave Desert.
But the training unit that normally served as the mock enemy, the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, will deploy to Iraq this month.
So, between Feb. 22 and March 3, the entire 82nd Airborne will go to work training the Afghanistan-bound soldiers.
The at-home training also will give deploying soldiers more time with their families, Caldwell said. Instead of being gone for two months before deploying for a year, soldiers will mostly be able to spend weekends at home, he said.
To provide a more realistic training environment, the division will hire about 180 Afghan-Americans who speak the country's languages, Caldwell said.
The exercise will spread from eastern Fort Bragg to Camp Mackall, a satellite training camp west of post. The division will build remote outposts around Fort Bragg that will replicate encampments in Afghanistan.
"So if you want to go see a sister forward operating base, you are going to drive for a couple of hours on a road to get there," Caldwell said.
Along the roads will be role players, as well as traffic and scenes designed to replicate Afghanistan, he said.
The entire 82nd Airborne headquarters staff will set up in various locations around Fort Bragg for the exercise, Caldwell said. The exercise also will provide training for the division staff and support, logistics and aviation soldiers. Link

Afghan women look to jump-start businesses, their homeland
Wednesday January 19, 2005
By MICHELLE ROBERTS
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) Just a few years ago, Kamela Sediqi had to hide her blossoming tile business from the Taliban. She used a false name, worked from home and had to smuggle material under her burqa.
Now she and 14 other Afghan women are participating in a special program to help them expand or build businesses in their struggling nation a kind of refresher course on capitalism.
``Afghan women are fearless. These women are totally fearless and they are ready to move on,'' said Mina Sherzoy, director of Afghanistan's Women's Entrepreneurship Development program.
A businesswoman herself who returned to Afghanistan from San Francisco in 2002, Sherzoy accompanied the women from Kabul to this Phoenix suburb for the program at Thunderbird, the Garvin School of International Management.
The two-week training, which ends next weekend, is a business school overview, covering everything from marketing to accounting and will culminate with the development of business plans. The women have been paired with mentors, who will continue to help them over the next several years.
The Artemis Project named for the Greek goddess of the hunt and protector of women and children was the brainchild of Barbara Barrett, a board member at Thunderbird, a graduate school focused on global business.
Barrett is on the U.S.-Afghan Women's Council and visited Afghanistan about a year and a half ago. There, Barrett said she ``saw the extraordinary courage, resilience and strength of the Afghan women and the extraordinary challenges they face on a daily basis.''
The program targeted at educated, English-speaking women entrepreneurs was funded with private and public contributions, including one from the U.S. Agency on International Development.
The women were selected with help from officials and nonprofits in Afghanistan, said Steven Stralser, the Thunderbird professor directing the Artemis Project. He hopes it will be a prototype.
The 15 women come from a wide range of fields, including medicine, business, broadcast journalism, women's and children's rights, engineering and community development. ``This is arguably an elite segment of Afghan women, but the idea is that they also will share what they've learned here,'' Stralser said.
Under the hardline rule of the Taliban, women were barred from working and girls weren't allowed to attend school. Since the regime's fall, millions of girls have enrolled in school and women have restarted their careers, but it will likely be a generation before they are able to make up for lost time.
Several of the Artemis Project participants were refugees, living in other countries during years of crippling war and the rigid rule of the Taliban. A few operated businesses under the cloak of the burqa.
Sediqi, 28, began a tile business in 1996 as the Taliban was coming to power. It was dangerous and illegal, but she had help from her brother and support from other family members, she said.
``I don't have any money or anything, just the idea,'' she said with a smile.
She borrowed money from a sister and bought equipment. Women, covered from head to toe in burqas, would come to her home, take equipment and supplies hidden in their clothing and do the work at home. They would return the work the same way, and Sediqi's brother would sell it.
Under the disguise of a false name, she worked for years shrouded in the burqa until the Taliban was toppled by U.S. military forces in late 2001. Some business partners didn't recognize her after she shed the burqa, she said.
Today, she employs 270 women who make gabions, large metal cages filled with rocks for flood control projects. Her biggest challenge is being able to expand rapidly enough to meet demand and beat foreign competitors, Sediqi said.
The business is a good one for women, because there is high demand for construction materials and most male workers are trained in other trades, she said.
Sherzoy said it's imperative for women to be mobilized in Afghanistan, where decades of war have left the population skewed. More than 55 percent of the population is now women, and there are more than 70,000 widows in Kabul alone, she said.
``How do you take care of them? It's through these programs,'' she said. ``The only way you can build this country is through women.'' Link

Russia warns about growing Afghan drug traffic
Jan 19 2005, MOSCOW. Jan 19 (Interfax) - Russia wants to see increased international efforts to block the growing drug traffic from Afghanistan.
"Despite all the efforts the international coalition is making, Afghanistan is increasingly assuming the attributes of a drug state," Russian special presidential representative Anatoly Safonov told Interfax on Wednesday.
According to the latest UN data, opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan grew by 64% in 2004, and has spread to the entire territory of the country, Safonov said. Opium poppy is grown on over 130,000 hectares, and the production of raw opium has increased 17% to 4,200 tonnes. The overall revenue from the illegal turnover of Afghan drugs in neighboring countries is estimated at $2.8 billion.
"This is probably a conservative estimate, because not everything lies on the surface," Safonov said.
Moscow highly values a statement by recently elected Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who said the nation's authorities are determined to fight drug dealers.
Afghanistan is the principal source of the drug threat to Russia, Safonov said. "We are making efforts together with our Tajik partners not to allow the border to collapse and be turned into a passageway for drug dealers," he said. Link

ADB to help develop solar energy technologies in Afghanistan
Manila, Jan 19, SPA -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Wednesday it has approved a 750,000-dollar grant to help develop solar energy technology in isolated rural areas in Afghanistan.
The grant will be used to provide solar systems to 10 communities on a pilot basis and train 10 persons from different ethnic groups as solar technicians at a centre in India, the Manila-based ADB said.
"Upon return, they will train 10 additional persons from their communities in installing and maintaining solar systems as energy entrepreneurs," the bank said in a statement.
The ADB noted that estimates indicate that solar radiation in Afghanistan averages about 6.5 kilowatt-hours per square meter per day, and the skies are sunny for about 300 days a year.
"The potential for solar energy development is huge," said Ali Azimi, an ADB senior environment specialist and mission leader for the project.
"Solar energy could also contribute significantly to progress in education, health, agriculture and other income generating activities to reduce poverty," he added.
The ADB said the grant will "demonstrate how solar energy could be used to enhance the quality of life for low-income communities living in remote villages with no prospects for grid electricity".
"It would also show how a community-based approach could lead to the success of such programmes," it added. The Ministry of Water and Power will execute the grant, which is due for completion in December 2006. The Afghan government is contributing 150,000 dollars for the project. Link

Earthquake Shakes in Afghanistan
18 January 2005, Kabul. An earthquake measuring 5,2 on the Richter scale shook Afghanistan, the USA seismological institute announced. The epicentre was 160 km northwest from Kabul. Link

Lithuania sends 17 soldiers to Kabul
18.01.2005, VILNIUS - A group of Lithuanian soldiers has left for Kabul to take part in the NATO-led operations of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), a source at the Lithuanian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.
Upon the arrival of 17 new soldiers in Kabul, Lithuania’s contingent in Afghanistan will be 25-strong. The mission will last for six months. A group of Lithuanian specialists on military logistics will work at the Kabul airport.
Lithuania has been taking part in ISAF operations since 2002. Link

Israel/Palestine

2005-01-19T10:40:00.000+06:00

Abbas orders forces to curb attacks on Israel
Spokesman for Hamas said his extremist group would continue attacks
By Lara Sukhtian
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, under growing pressure to rein in militants, ordered his security forces Monday to prevent attacks on Israel and investigate a deadly shooting of Israeli civilians last week.
But Palestinian security officials were short on details about possible actions against armed groups, and a spokesman for Hamas said his extremist group would continue attacks.
The order by Abbas, approved by his Cabinet, was the Palestinian leadership's first step against militants since six Israelis were slain Thursday at the Karni crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip.
"A decision was taken that we will handle our obligation to stop violence against Israelis anywhere," Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said.
While Israel's government cautiously welcomed the announcement, it remained unclear how far Abbas was willing to go. He has insisted he will use persuasion, not force, to get militants to halt violence.
Palestinian ministers said Abbas planned to travel to Gaza today, a day earlier than initially planned, for talks with two militant groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Abbas' victory in the Jan. 9 election for president of the Palestinian Authority raised hopes for a breakthrough in Mideast peacemaking because he has been an outspoken critic of violence and is eager to resume negotiations with Israel.
But the Karni attack, two days before Abbas was sworn in, swept away Israeli goodwill, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suspended contacts with Abbas.
Secretary of State Colin Powell urged Abbas in a phone call Sunday to rein in the armed groups, Palestinian and U.S. officials said. Powell "emphasized the critical need to take action to stop Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets," U.S. Consulate spokesman Chuck Hunter said.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed regret Monday at the suspension of contacts.
"We were all hopeful that there was a new opening, a new opportunity that should be exploited to re-energize the process," he said.
"And we are all going to do whatever we can with both sides to get the process back on track and to give the new Palestinian Authority as much help as we can with its own reform process, and particularly the restructuring of the security forces."
Israel wants Abbas to overhaul the Palestinians' numerous security agencies and put them under a central authority, accusing the security forces of permitting violence and even collaborating with attackers. Israeli officials say they have indications the gunmen who attacked the Karni crossing left from a Palestinian Authority base.
Israeli soldiers raided several areas in Gaza over the weekend to halt rocket fire on Israeli settlements and border towns, withdrawing early Monday after clashes that killed 16 Palestinians, including seven civilians.
Israel decided to hold off on a major military offensive in Gaza to give Abbas more time to act against militants, a senior government official said Monday.
During Monday's Cabinet meeting, the Palestinian ministers instructed the Preventive Security Service, which controls the Palestinian side of crossings into Israel, to investigate the Karni attack. Three militant groups, including Hamas and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, which has ties to Abbas' ruling Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Raanan Gissin, a Sharon aide, called the Cabinet decision a "small step in the right direction."
"Now we have to see how it happens on the ground, based on things that were said," he added.
Abbas will face a difficult task on his visit to Gaza. Hamas enjoys widespread support in the volatile area, and Hamas spokesman Mushir al-Masri said the group would not comply with the order to halt attacks.
"We consider resistance as a red line, and no one is allowed to cross this line," al-Masri said.
However, Hamas leaders have said they would consider halting attacks if Israel stops military operations.
Since Sharon announced plans to withdraw from Gaza this summer, the area has seen an upsurge in violence, with militants trying to make it look like Israel is retreating under fire.
On Monday, hundreds of people in the Israeli border town of Sderot packed a municipal square to protest the government's failure to stop repeated Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza.
Four residents have died in rocket attacks, and a teenage girl was critically wounded last weekend. Two more rockets fell on the town's outskirts Monday, but caused no injuries or damage. Link

Hamas rejects PLO's call for truce with Israel
2005-01-17 22:52:25

GAZA, Jan. 17 (Xinhuanet) -- The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) rejected on Monday the call of Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on militants to suspend attacks against Israel.
"These calls are only serving the Zionist enemy," Hamas spokesman Abu Zuhri told reporters.
However, he said that Hamas leaders would meet soon in Gaza with Palestinian Authority chief and PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas todiscuss the issue.
"The PLO has been disabling for several years and some people use the name to issue statements which contradicts with our people's consensus," he said.
"Those who stand behind such calls and statements should instead exert efforts to defend our people who are subjected to awful crimes carried out by the Zionist enemy," he added.
"Such statements are encouraging the Zionist enemy and give it the excuses to escalate its military actions against our people," said Abu Zuhri, adding that "such things (ceasefire) can only be decided through dialogue."
Abbas is scheduled to arrive in Gaza either Monday night or Tuesday morning to meet with Hamas and Islamic Jihad representatives at his headquarters in Gaza City.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had ordered to cut ties with Abbas before he stopped repeated rocket and mortar attacks on Jewish settlements in Gaza launched by Palestinian militants. Link

Terrorists Fire at Atzmona School
15:40 Jan 18, '05 / 8 Shevat 5765
(IsraelNN.com) Terrorists in the Tel Sultan area of southern Gaza fired at a school in the Jewish town of Atzmona. No injuries were reported. Link

Most Palestinians, Israelis support two-state solution: poll
18 January 2005, JERUSALEM - A majority of Palestinians support a peace deal under which most Palestinian refugees would return to an independent Palestinian state rather than Israel, a poll published Tuesday said.
Some 54 per cent of Palestinians would support such a peace deal, if it entailed a Palestinian state on most of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and annexation by Israel of its largest settlement blocks on no more than 3 per cent of their land.
Most Israelis - 64 per cent - also back it, said the joint Israeli-Palestinian poll by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) and the Truman Institute for Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The pollsters questioned 1,319 Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza in late December and 501 Israelis in early January. The Palestinian results had a margin of error of 3 per cent and the Israeli one of 4.5 per cent.
One year ago, only 39 per cent of Palestinians and 47 per cent of Israelis supported a peace deal along the same principles.
The poll examined “possible changes in the Palestinian and Israeli public attitudes in the post-Arafat era”.
The peace package on which the participants were asked to give their opinion was based on the Geneva Initiative, a peace plan phrased by intellectuals and moderate public figures of both sides, and proposals put forward by former US president Bill Clinton.
Former Israeli premier Ehud Barak accepted the proposals put forward by then United States president Bill Clinton in late 2000, but late Palestinian president Yasser Arafat rejected them. The current Palestinian Intifada (uprising) erupted in the midst of the stalled negotiations.
Israelis and Palestinians, however, appeared less conciliatory on some key issues when asked to give their opinion on them separately, rather than on the overall package.
Some 54 per cent of Palestinians opposed a compromise in which East Jerusalem would become the capital of the Palestinian state and West Jerusalem that of Israel. About 60 per cent of Israelis also opposed it.
And 46 per cent of Palestinians and 44 per cent of Israelis supported the refugee solution - still a minority, but up from 25 and 35 per cent one year ago respectively. Link

Israelis march to Gaza border to protest rockets
SDEROT, Israel, Jan 18 (Reuters) Hundreds of Israelis marched to the fenced border with Gaza today to demand stronger military action against Palestinian militants who have fired hundreds of rockets into their town.
Carrying mock Qassam rockets and placards telling Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to ''wake up, capture Gaza'', the protesters walked four km (2.5 miles) from Sderot to within a short distance of the heavily fortified boundary with northern Gaza.
Israeli security police prevented the protesters from moving as they had planned closer to the Palestinian town of Beit Hanoun, from where Islamist militants often fire Qassam rockets.
Yesterday, Sderot staged a one-day strike, closing municipal offices and schools to demand a tougher military response to rocket fire. Residents rallied in a central plaza, waving black flags to mourn three townsmen killed in a Gaza border ambush.
Most of the 400 crude rockets fired since 2001 have caused no casualties. But a Sderot man and three toddlers have been killed since mid-2004 and a teenager was critically wounded last week as rocket fire has grown into an almost daily occurrence.
Sharon, who intends to evacuate settlers from occupied Gaza later this year, said at the weekend he had given the army free rein to halt militant attacks. Israeli forces were poised for a major Gaza incursion if the shooting did not stop.
But rocket salvoes have persisted and many in Sderot are worried the attacks could worsen once Sharon carries out the evacuation of settlers and soldiers from Gaza under his plan to ''disengage'' from conflict with the Palestinians.
''We cannot live in a place that is being bombed daily. And it is clear to us that the moment we pull out of Gaza it will get worse,'' resident Mechi Fendel told Reuters. ''The terrorists can't be given prizes for killing us.'' ''Deal with the situation the way the Israeli army knows how to.
This is our call,'' her husband, David Fendel, added.
New moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was heading to Gaza today to try to urge militants to cease fire to help him start peace talks with Israel aimed at a Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank.
Palestinians want all of Gaza and the West Bank -- captured by Israel from Egypt and Jordan -- for a state, and suspect Sharon of cementing a hold on West Bank land under the guise of withdrawing from Gaza. 18.01.2005 Link

Sharon unleashes Israeli army on militants
By JOSEF FEDERMAN
Published: Monday, Jan. 17, 2005
JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told the army to do whatever was needed to end Palestinian rocket, mortar and bomb attacks, and the government dismissed a call Sunday by the PLO leadership for a halt to militant violence.
“Despite the change in the Palestinian leadership, we note that those at the top have not begun any action whatsoever to halt the terrorism,” Sharon told the Cabinet at its weekly meeting. “The situation cannot continue.”
After nightfall Sunday, a tank shell slammed into a house in a Gaza refugee camp across from an Israeli settlement, killing a 28-year-old man and his 59-year-old mother and seriously wounding his father, Palestinians said. The military said there was no tank shelling, but tanks fired machine guns.
The bloodshed has escalated tensions with the new Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, whose election last week had raised hopes for a breakthrough in Mideast peacemaking. Palestinian officials accused Sharon of undermining Abbas’ fledgling efforts to persuade militants to halt the violence.
After Sharon unleashed his military, the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s Central Committee met to discuss the rising tensions.
At the end of the meeting, the powerful PLO body headed by Abbas said the militants were only hurting the Palestinian cause and called on them to “stop all the military action that might harm our national goals and give the Israelis an excuse to obstruct Palestinian stability.”
The statement was the PLO’s strongest language against violence since the death of longtime Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Nov. 11. It did not specify, however, what action might be taken against militants.
Israeli officials discounted the statement and said military preparations for a crackdown were continuing.
Sharon cut off contacts with Abbas after Palestinian militants killed six Israelis at a Gaza Strip crossing Thursday. The attack sparked Israeli reprisals that killed eight Palestinians in Gaza on Saturday.
Defying the Israeli offensive, militants fired homemade rockets from Gaza at the southern Israeli border town of Sderot, critically wounding a teenage girl. Two more rockets landed in Sderot on Sunday, causing no injuries, and Palestinian mortar fire damaged a home in a Jewish settlement.
Israel wants Abbas to crack down on the militants. While repeatedly condemning violence as counterproductive, Abbas prefers to negotiate a truce commitment with the militants. He has been in talks with the Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups.
“The army and the security forces have been instructed to step up operational activity against terrorism, and they will continue to do so, without restrictions, I emphasize, without restrictions, as long as the Palestinians are not lifting a finger,” Sharon told his Cabinet.
Senior military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the army was considering either a major raid or several small operations against militants. The military prefers the second option, fearing a broad operation would ruin Abbas’ chances for success, the officials said. Link

Iraq

2005-01-19T10:30:00.000+06:00

Mass Resignations Before Iraq Vote
(AP) U.S. and Iraqi officials are scrambling to recruit new police and election workers in Mosul after thousands of them resigned in the face of rebel intimidation. A new police chief was appointed a week ago to command a force of barely 1,000 police. Last November the city had 5,000 police.
Similar mass resignations are believed to have occurred in other Sunni Muslim areas of northern, central and western Iraq.
U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz acknowledged that the security threat to the Jan. 30 election was worse than in last October's nationwide balloting in Afghanistan and that it was impossible to guarantee "absolute security" against the "extraordinary intimidation that the enemy is undertaking."
"I would underscore that there was intimidation in Afghanistan — the Taliban threatened all kinds of violence against people who registered or people who voted," Wolfowitz told reporters Sunday in Jakarta, Indonesia. "But I don't believe they ever got around to shooting election workers in the street or kidnapping the children of political candidates."
The Mosul area has emerged as a major flashpoint between U.S. and Iraqi forces and the insurgents, raising fears that the election cannot be held in much of the city, Iraq's third largest.
In the Mosul area, the U.S. Army's Stryker Brigade Combat Team detained 11 suspected insurgents, including an alleged cell leader, and seized weapons and bomb making material in several weekend raids — part of the military's strategy to try to secure the city short of launching an all-out offensive, a military spokesman said Sunday.
East of Mosul, a Katyusha rocket slammed into a home near the Kurdish regional parliament building in Irbil where leaders of the two main Kurdish parties were meeting to discuss the election, a police official said Sunday. In Baghdad, gunmen in police uniform on Sunday ambushed a car carrying a prominent female Shiite candidate in this month's general election, but she escaped injury when her bodyguards returned fire, one of her aides said.
Salama al-Khafaji was traveling in central Baghdad when gunmen opened fire from a car and a motorcycle, according to the aide, Sheik Fateh Kashf al-Ghataa, who riding with her. Their security guards returned fire and the gunmen fled.
The attack was the second attempt on al-Khafaji's life since May, when gunmen ambushed her convoy as she headed back to Baghdad from the holy Shiite city of Najaf south of the capital. Her son and one of her bodyguards were killed in that attack.
Also Sunday, insurgents attacked an Iraqi National Guard patrol south of Baghdad, injuring two guardsmen, one of them critically, police Lt. Adnan Abdul-Allah said.
West of the capital, in the city of Ramadi, five explosions rocked a joint U.S.-Iraqi National Guard base, sending columns of smoke rising above the area, witnesses said. Sporadic clashes were reported in the city center.
Elsewhere, U.S. troops fired on a car that sped toward them near the central city of Samarra on Sunday morning, wounding two people, the military said. A spokesman said ground troops fired warning shots before aiming directly at the vehicle. The driver and a passenger were wounded.
Iraqi police and several witnesses, however, reported that four people were killed and that the vehicle was hit by tank fire.
A major insurgent group claimed responsibility Sunday for kidnapping 15 Iraqi National Guard members who were reported missing last week. The 15 guardsmen had been pulled from a bus near their base in the town of Hit, 90 miles west of Baghdad.
A statement posted on an Islamic Web site took responsibility on behalf of Ansar al-Sunnah.
"Your brothers were able to carry off a well-turned ambush against the crusaders' right hand in Iraq," the statement said, using "crusaders" as a term for Western forces.
It gave no indication of the men's fate. The authenticity of the claim could not be immediately verified.
Ansar al-Sunnah has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks, including a December suicide bombing that killed 22 people, most of them Americans, at a U.S. military dining tent on a base in Mosul.
The group is also blamed in the August executions of 12 Nepalese construction workers and twin suicide bombings in February that killed 109 members of Iraq's assertive Kurd minority.
Elsewhere, about 300 followers of radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr began a three-day sit-in in front of the Oil Ministry in Baghdad to protest gasoline shortages that have caused hours-long waits at gas stations.
About a dozen of them entered the ministry and complained to Minister Thamir Ghadbhan, asking why U.S. troops have fuel for their vehicles and Iraqis don't.
Meanwhile, the ministry announced that Iraq expects to resume pumping crude oil from its northern oil fields to the export terminal of Ceyhan in 10 days.
The flow of oil through the northern pipeline has halted since an explosion caused by saboteurs on Dec. 18.
A ministry statement said repair work on the damaged export pipeline that carries crude oil from Kirkuk oil fields to the Turkish port of Ceyhan was expected to finish in 10 days and exports were to restart immediately after.
Iraq's northern pipeline, the target of repeated insurgent attacks, was pumping around 400,000 barrels a day before the latest attack. The storage facilities at Ceyhan ran dry last month. 18.01.2005 Link

Abductions in Iraq a big business
Groups tied to Abu Musab Zarqawi claim a major car bombing Tuesday, taking Westerners as hostages.
By Howard LaFranchi
BAGHDAD – When a disciplined group of uniformed men kidnapped two Italian aid workers and their two Iraqi assistants from their Baghdad office earlier this month - only to have an Islamic group claim the kidnapping hours later - it confirmed what Iraqi officials say they have suspected for months.
Kidnapping in Iraq has become not only a political tool but big business, with crime gangs often made up of elements from the former intelligence service and military believed to be selling their victims to extremist groups more interested in making an ideological point.
The number of foreigners kidnapped in high-profile cases in Iraq has soared past 100, with two dozen of those having been killed. On Monday, the Australian embassy announced it had received claims of a highway kidnapping of two Australians and two East Asians - with a 24-hour deadline for the 850 Australian troops in Iraq to begin leaving the country.
Tuesday the purported Australian kidnappings - still unconfirmed by press time - were overshadowed by a massive car bombing in central Baghdad that killed at least 47 people. The bombing, outside a police station receiving new applicants, took place on busy Haifa Street - the same street where on Sunday 15 people died after a US convoy was attacked.
The Zarqawi connection
But the recent upsurge in bloodshed on Baghdad's streets and at least some of the kidnappings of foreigners appear to have one thing in common: the Islamic extremist group Tawhid and Jihad, which is affiliated with Al Qaeda's mastermind in Iraq, Abu Musab Zarqawi.
US military officials say that Mr. Zarqawi's operations are headquartered in the Sunni Triangle hot spot of Fallujah - where the US carried out a major airstrike Monday on what it called a Zarqawi meeting. Tawhid and Jihad, on the other hand, has demonstrated pockets of support in parts of Baghdad and in the central Iraq city of Samarra - near where the Australian kidnappings were claimed to have occurred.
Tawhid and Jihad has claimed responsibility for a number of kidnappings, and it also claimed the car bomging Tuesday and the attack on a US Bradley vehicle patrolling Haifa Street that started Sunday's incident.
After Sunday's bloodshed, the yellow sunburst on a black field that is Tawhid and Jihad's banner could still be seen fixed to Haifa Street palm trees. Haifa Street is also the site of an entire quarter built by Saddam Hussein for supporters and friends in his intelligence services and other agencies.
One challenge to addressing the kidnappings is that no one seems to know too much about who's behind them, why, and what the links are among disparate organizations.
"The connections appear in some cases to be strong but also diffuse," says Dan Plesch, an Iraq specialist at the University of London. "Some of the links are well organized while others look to be done on a free-lance basis."
Iraqi officials refuse to discuss publicly connections between specific groups, but the link between Fallujah, Haifa Street, and Tawhid and Jihad looks more suspicious with each additional incident. Privately, some officials say the working assumption is that Fallujah is the center of much of the kidnapping activity, but that proof is scant.
"Without a doubt the vast majority of these cases are carried out for money, it's become the business of organized crime," says Sabah Kadhim, spokesman for the Interior Ministry. "The problem is the more it is discussed, the higher the price goes up."
The Iraqi government has created an interagency working group to focus on the problem. In working with foreign officials, the Iraqis are encouraging as low a profile as possible for the cases - even though that can create political problems at home.
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was harshly criticized for doing too little when an Italian journalist was kidnapped - and later killed - last month. Mr. Berlusconi took a different approach when the two Italian female aid workers were taken, dispatching ministers to Arab countries and asking Muslim leaders to intervene. Foreign Minister Franco Fratini plans to go on Arab satellite TV stations when he visits Qatar Wednesday.
Australian election issue
That approach is more in line with what French officials did after two French journalists were kidnapped south of Baghdad last month. But France's highly publicized efforts have yet to bear fruit, as the two journalists remain captive. "If there's too high a profile to these cases, it can backfire," Mr. Kadhim says. "It needs quiet."
But even without proof of its actually happening, the Australian case has already caused a stir at home. With elections set for Oct. 9, Australia's involvement in Iraq has become a sharp political issue in a tight race.
Prime Minister John Howard said Tuesday: "We do not negotiate with terrorists, we do not bow to terrorists demands or threats."
Labor Party leader Mark Latham, Mr. Howard's chief rival in the election, says he agrees with the government's tough stance on terrorist demands. But at the same time he says Howard's decision to take part both in the Iraq war and in the postwar coalition has made Australia more of a target for terrorists.
Many Iraqis say they are troubled by the kidnapping of foreigners, but they also point out that the kidnapping of Iraqis has become an even bigger problem in terms of sheer numbers in the insecurity of the postwar.
Some of those cases are political - as when the two sons of the governor of Al Anbar governate were kidnapped earlier this summer. The sons were returned when the governor agreed to resign and renounce cooperation with the new Iraqi government.
But most are financially motivated crimes, officials say.
With the rise kidnappings - of Iraqis or foreigners, for political or monetary gain - Iraqi officials are pleading for help from around the world. "We're calling for a meeting of countries with expertise, even the interior ministers of the G-8 countries, to meet and share what they've learned about dealing with this," says Kadhim. "We need the help." 18.01.2005 Link

Al-Jazeera Video Shows Eight Chinese Taken Hostage in Iraq
18 January 2005 | 15:38 | FOCUS News Agency
Dubai. The Al-Jazeera channel on Tuesday aired footage of eight Chinese allegedly kidnapped in Iraq whose abductors are threatening to kill them unless Beijing "clarifies its role" in Iraq within 48 hours, AFP announced.
The kidnappers said that the eight "worked with US forces in Iraq," the Qatar-based television said, showing the Chinese group surrounded by two hooded gunmen.
They are "threatening to kill the eight unless China clarifies what they called its role in Iraq within 48 hours," the television said, without identifying the abductors.

Iraq

2005-01-18T20:27:00.000+06:00

Iraq

2005-01-14T11:04:00.000+06:00

Tens of Thousands Of Iraqis Expected To Vote From Germany
13 January 2005 - Berlin. More than 65 000 Iraqis will be able to vote on 30 January for the elections in Iraq from Germany, AFP told, citing the International Emigration Organization in Berlin. Polling stations are to be opened in Berlin, Köln, Munich and Manheim. Link

Unknown Militant Group Declares War on Extremists in Iraq
11 January 2005 - Baghdad. An unknown militant group Saraya Iraqna has declared war on extremists acting on the territory of Iraq, reported RIA Novosti citing an article published in the Iraqi newspaper Al Ittihad. The first official message of the group says it aims at “a relentless fight against all kinds of terrorists and Wahabits in the country”.
“Our activity will not be selective. It is directed toward all terrorist organizations on the territory of Iraq, no matter what their religion or ethnic origin is”, says the message. The group promises rewards of USD 3,000 to USD 50,000 to people cooperating in the fight against terrorism. Link

Local man to vote in Iraqi election
ALBUQUERQUE -- An Albuquerque man says he will travel hundreds of miles just to cast his vote in the upcoming Iraqi election--and he's not alone.
Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi expatriates living in the United States are eligible to vote in the upcoming Iraqi election. However, they can only vote in five U.S. cities--the closest polling station to New Mexico is in Los Angeles.
Albert Warda says he must make two trips to Los Angeles. Next week, he will fly to meet his family Phoenix from which point they will drive to L.A. to register to vote.
Then at the end of the month, the Warda family plans to repeat the 800 mile journey for the actual election. However, Warda says he doesn’t mind.
"I still think this is an easy task. Look at it this way, if I was in Iraq you have people who have fear of voting.
My people that I left behind I feel obligated to them, and I need to make a difference for them," says Warda.
The election will take place from January 28th through the 30th.
Warda is of Assyrian decent--a Christian minority group in Iraq. He says most of his people are still living in fear and he hopes a free election will bring new freedoms and big change for Iraq.
“I dream one day of going back for vacation, taking my kids to Nineva," says Warda.
Eligible expatriates living outside Iraq could make up almost 10 percent of the voting block. 13.01.2005 Link

Fallujah: The Real Fall
Published: 11-Jan-2005
By: Guardian Films & Channel 4 News
Death stalks the ruined streets of Fallujah: a special report from the city laid waste by war as the people return
It's just two months since the battle for Fallujah: a massive onslaught by the US forces involving air bombardment, tank fire and ground troops.
But what really happened inside the city. Did the US really rid it of insurgents? What became of the people who lived there?
In a special report for Channel 4 News, produced by Guardian Films, a hospital doctor from Baghdad travelled to the Fallujah area to find out.
Dr Ali Fadhil went first to Habbanyah a town to which some of Fallujah's 350 thousand residents fled when the American attack began. He then travelled into the city itself to find much of it had been levelled.
The US launched its assault on November 8th. The stated aim of Operation Phantom Fury: to clear Fallujah of rebel fighters ahead of the January elections.
US forces say they killed 1200 insurgents. There's no official figure of the number of Iraqi civilians killed.
The film, reported by Dr Ali Fadhil and produced by Guardian Films is available on our broadband service. A transcript of the report is displayed below. Link

Sudan Crisis

2005-01-13T23:43:00.000+06:00

Historic Sudan Peace Accord Marred by Ongoing Violence in Darfur
Peace treaty signed Sunday by Sudanese government and southern rebel groups, ending Africa's longest-running civil war, did not cover separate conflict in western region of Darfur.
The Sudanese government and southern rebel groups signed a comprehensive peace agreement Sunday, ending Africa’s longest-running civil war.
Sudan’s First Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha and rebel leader John Garang signed the accord in Kenya’s capital Nairobi, ending a 21-year conflict that has killed an estimated 2 million people mainly by famine and disease.
Under the agreement, the ruling National Congress party and the southern rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement will form an interim coalition government, decentralize power, share oil revenues and integrate the military. Starting in July, the south will be autonomous for six years and will then vote in a referendum to decide whether to remain part of Sudan, or become independent.
The treaty did not cover a separate conflict in the western Darfur region, where almost two years of fighting have created what the United Nations calls one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who attended the signing, urged Khartoum to move quickly toward ending the Darfur crisis which has left 70,000 people dead and 2 million displaced. Link

WFP appeals for $300m food aid for Sudan in 2005
NAIROBI - The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has appealed for $302-million for 3.2 million people facing starvation in Sudan this year, without accounting for Darfur, in a statement received by AFP on Monday.
"Some 268,000 metric tonnes of food will be required for war- and drought-affected people primarily in south Sudan," WFP said, a day after Khartoum and the main rebel group, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), signed an accord in Kenya to end 21 years of war.
"Many of those requiring food assistance also inhabit the so-called transitional areas (in central Sudan) of Abyei, Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile, as well as the chronically food insecure Red Sea State and Kassala State in the east," the statement added.
"The survival of impoverished families is very much at stake, and we hope the donor community will continue to provide funds to keep thousands of Sudanese alive," WFP Country Director for Sudan Ramiro Lopes da Silva said in the statement.
"Hunger and malnutrition are still a daily reality," he added.
The war in southern Sudan erupted in 1983 when rebels from southern Sudan rose up against Khartoum, citing marginalisation and years of underdevelopment.
The conflict and subsequent diseases and famine have claimed at least 1.5 million dead, displaced around four million villagers, and ruined infrastructure.
"In 2005, food production in the south is expected to be particularly poor, due to late and erratic rains and the failure of seasonal flooding to make up for the arid conditions prevalent in the region. As a result, the harvest is likely to be 46%
lower than last year," WFP said.
"Peace brings a whole new set of challenges with it. Many of those who fled their homes during the war have already started returning home, adding pressure to already limited resources available within these communities," Lopes da Silva added.
WFP's appeal does not include the country's western region of Darfur, where 23 months of fighting between the Khartoum government, backed by allied militia and rebels from minority tribes, has claimed around 70,000 people and displaced some 1.6 million others.
"The operation for Darfur is a separate one, we hope to launch its appeal sometimes this week. This $302-million appeal is mainly for eastern and southern Sudan," WFP spokeswoman Laura Melo said. Link

Israel/Palestine

2005-01-13T23:11:00.000+06:00

Palestinian FM urges Israel to abandon "anti-Palestinian" policies
2005-01-13, CAIRO, Jan. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs Nabil Shaath on Thursday said international and regional powers should exert pressure on Israel to force it give up what he called "anti-Palestinian" policies.
Shaath, who is in Cairo attending the extraordinary meeting of Arab foreign ministers which opened earlier in the day, called on Israel to stop "aggressions" against the Palestinian people to show its sincerity about peace.
The top Palestinian diplomat said the last four years of conflicts between the two sides have seen tens of thousands of Palestinians killed or injured, which only leads to a vicious circle of "violence for violence."
He added peace talks with Israel can be started only if Israel withdraws its forces to the borders before 2000 when Palestinians launched the latest round of armed Intifada (Uprising) against Israeli occupation.
International and regional powers have expressed cautious optimism over the prospects for restarting the long-stalled Middle East peace process after moderate Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas won Sunday's Palestinian presidential election. Link

Israel Steps Up Aggressions, Kills More Palestinians
GAZA CITY, January 13 2005 - Israeli occupation forces Thursday, January 13, gunned down a Palestinian as he drove his pregnant wife to hospital in the north of the Gaza Strip and killed another in an incursion into a refugee camp.
The escalation came as a harsh reminder to Palestinians that peace remains a far-fetched dream, with continued suffering at stringent Israeli checkpoints under the shadow of the separation wall, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Alaa Hassuna, 23, was shot dead by trigger-happy Israeli soldiers shortly after leaving his family home in a Bedouin village nearby Beit Lahiya.
He was driving his pregnant wife, who was also wounded in the shooting, to hospital in the north of Gaza Strip.
“He was shot in the right eye and the bullet exited from the back of the brain. There were no scratches to show that he had been in an accident,” Mahmud al-Asali, director of the Beit Lahiya hospital, told AFP.
The pregnant woman, Hanan Ahmed Al-Beshawi, 27, later gave birth to a healthy boy, the hospital said.
The Israeli army initially denied shooting the Palestinian man, claiming the soldiers had only fired warning shots at the car.
However, an Israeli military source later told AFP soldiers had fired directly at the vehicle.
“The vehicle was speeding towards the force, seemingly about to carry out some form of attack,” he claimed.
Few hours later, another Palestinian breathed his last and several others were wounded in an Israeli incursion into the Bereij refugee camp, which lies between Gaza City and Deir al-Balah.
Said Abdesalaam, 22, was shot in the chest by Israeli occupation forces, Palestinian eyewitnesses said.
The latest death brings the overall toll since the September 2000 start of the Palestinian Intifada to 4,686, including 3,638 Palestinians and 973 Israelis, according to an AFP tally.
Far-fetched Dream
Finally managing to cross to the other side of the Qalandia checkpoint after three hours standing in wait, 73-year-old Julia Saabah feels little hope her newly-elected president can do anything to save the Palestinian people from the Israeli separation wall and checkpoints.
“Mahmud Abbas will not be able to get us out of this prison,” she said, glancing up at the towering eight-meter (25-foot) concrete wall looming over the checkpoint.
“The wall only serves to separate Palestinians from Palestinians. I have to cross here if I want to visit my daughter even though both of us live on Palestinian land -- her in Ramallah and me in (occupied) east Jerusalem.”
Walking hesitant toward Israeli soldiers, she stressed that the world “has to understand that this wall is robbing us of any hope of peace.”
Israel claims the wall is necessary for maintaining its security.
Palestinians - backed by international community and the UN - maintain that the wall is nothing but an Israeli land-grab and a bid to pre-empt the borders of their future state.
The Hague-based International Court of Justice, the top UN legal body, ruled that Israel must dismantle the barrier and pay reparations for damages caused during construction.
Palestinian Prison
Like in other parts of the West Bank, the Qalandia section of the separation wall has become a blank page where Palestinians vent their frustration and anger with graffiti.
“The West Bank -- the Palestinian prison” reads one.
“Get out of here” and “We are not terrorists” said others, painted in bold letters just yards from the checkpoint.
The Qalandia checkpoint is the main gateway for the Palestinians between Al-Quds and Ramallah.
However, no one can cross between the two cities without passing the checkpoint, which will soon become part of the huge barrier which Israel is currently building across the West Bank.
“Before, going to Al-Quds took us 15 minutes, now it can take hours and you also need a permit,” said Malah, a Palestinian living in the Qalandia camp.
The Washington Post reported on Monday, November 29, that beatings, shootings, harassment, humiliation in front of children and wives and life-threatening delays are but a few examples of the appalling conditions at the sandbagged Israeli checkpoints. Link

Five Palestinians and two Israeli settlers killed
Palestine-Israel, Military, 1/13/2005
Two resistance men from Saraya al-Quds, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, carried out a military operation against an Israeli settlements and military position in Rafah to the south of Gaza resulted in killing and wounding two Israelis.
While the Israeli forces admitted the killing of one settler and injuring three of its soldiers in the attack, a statement by al-Quds group ( Saraya) announced the killing of four Israeli military men including one senior army officer and wounding many others during a breaking in operation of Morag settlement yesterday morning and blowing up of one explosive in their military vehicle.
The attack resulted in the killing of its executors Shaker Jouda ( 24 year old) and Ala' Shaker ( 23 year old), with one of them able to sneak to the military position and control it for while, and hoist the Palestinian flag over it, before he was killed by the bullets of the Israeli forces.
Sources in the Islamic Jihad movement said that the operation, the first of its kind after Mahmoud Abbas won the Presidential elections, was video taped and a copy of it will be circulated on the media.
Five Israeli soldiers were killed in an explosion by the Palestinians of a tunnel in the same area on December 21, 2004.
The attacks came while the occupation forces announced its detention of four Palestinians in Gaza, one of them described as wanted by it and he is from the Islamic resistance movement ( Hamas).
The detention came in the course of breaking into Sheikh Ajleen area to the west of Gaza and the operation was made under an air cover before the occupation forces were re-deployed outside the area. The incursion came in coincidence with the Israeli planes firing of two missiles on a target whose nature was not disclosed to the south of the city. No news were reported on casualties.
In the west bank, three Palestinians were killed, two of them were members in the Hamas movement by the bullets of the Israeli forces after one Israeli unit broke Farawa town to the north of Ramullah and detonated one of the houses before breaking into it. The occupation forces are imposing curfew on the town and alleged it found a warehouse for weapons and ammunition in the targeted building.
In Hebron, the occupation forces are imposing tightened siege on the two towns of Izna and Tarqomia to the west of the governorate where 12 Palestinians were arrested. N. Link

Islamic Jihad claims to have attacked Israeli troops
Gaza: Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants said they carried out a deadly attack on Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday and Arab television stations said one soldier had been killed and another wounded.
It was the first reported attack on Israeli forces in occupied territories since the election on Sunday of moderate Mahmoud Abbas as Palestinian president. Abbas wants a ceasefire to help revive peace talks with Israel.
An Islamic Jihad spokesman in Gaza said two gunmen from the group ambushed an Israeli jeep outside the Jewish settlement of Morag, detonating a bomb and firing on the vehicle.
One of the militants was killed during the attack, he said.
The Israeli army had no immediate comment. 13.01.2005 Link