Al-Qaeda number two lashes out at Bush, pope, West
By Sharon Gorani,WNS UAE Bureau ChiefDUBAI - Ayman al-Zawahiri, the Al-Qaeda number two, on Friday called US President George W. Bush a liar who had "failed in his war against Al-Qaeda", and launched a scathing verbal attack on western targets including the pope and the United Nations. The Qatar-based Arabic-language satellite station Al-Jazeera said that in a video posted on the Internet, "Zawahiri called Bush a liar and said he had failed in his war against Al-Qaeda". On Thursday, Islamist websites on the Internet had said there would be a new video message posted by Zawahiri entitled " Bush, the pope, Darfur and the Crusades." Al-Jazeera said that Zawahiri branded Pope Benedict XVI an "imposter for his attitude to Islam and the Arab world." Zawahari was referring to the pope's recent speech in Germany in which, critics say, the head of the Roman Catholic Church seemed to link Islam and violence. The pope's September 12 speech in which he quoted a medieval Christian emperor who equated Islam with violence has touched off a furor in the Muslim world. Also in the video message, the righthand man to Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden called for a holy war in Sudan's Darfur region against the "crusaders... of the UN," according to Al-Jazeera. Zawahiri called for "Muslims to join a jihad in Darfur against the forces of the crusaders related to the United Nations," the television station cited him as saying. The United States has been leading international efforts to force Sudan to accept the deployment of a 20,000-strong UN peacekeeping force to halt ethnic violence in its western Darfur region. At least 200,000 people have died and some 2.5 million others have fled their homes because of the unrest which began in early 2003 when African rebels launched a revolt to gain more autonomy from the Arab-dominated Khartoum government. The UN Security Council passed a resolution last month mandating deployment of the peacekeepers, to replace an underfunded and ineffective African Union force in Darfur, but Sudan has rejected the demand. In a previous video posted on the Internet to mark the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Zawahiri warned that the Gulf and Israel would be the next targets of Al-Qaeda. "You should worry about your presence in two areas," he said in a message to Western powers. "The first is the Gulf, from where you will be expelled, God willing, after your defeat in Iraq, and your economic ruin will be achieved. "And the second is Israel, because the jihadi reinforcements are getting closer, with God's help and power, and your defeat there will put an end to the superiority of the Zionists and Crusaders." The Egyptian-born Zawahiri is regarded as the ideological powerhouse behind the terror group and carries a 25-million-dollar US bounty for information leading to his arrest or death.
US Senate passes controversial terror detainee bill
By Joan Warrack,WNS US Senior CorrespondentWASHINGTON - The US Senate passed controversial new rules on interrogating and prosecuting "war on terror" suspects, despite opponents who said the measure seriously curtails detainees' rights. The vote was 65 to 34.
The Senate action, a day after its approval by the House of Representatives, came after US President George W. Bush personally appealed to lawmakers on Capitol Hill for the swift passage of the legislation. In a statement, Bush welcomed the vote, saying the legislation would "provide our men and women in uniform with the necessary resources to protect our country and win the 'war on terror.'' He said,"As our troops risk their lives to fight terrorism, this bill will ensure they are prepared to defeat today's enemies and address tomorrow's threats.'' Senator Majority Leader Bill Frist earlier Thursday said Bush would likely sign the measure early next week.The legislation had become a major battleground in the national debate, pitting measures to safeguard the country from terrorism against the need to protect civil liberties, just weeks ahead of November legislative elections. Republican Senator John McCain said the bill was a compromise between competing interests, but one which, crucially, maintained the US commitment to adhere to the Geneva Conventions governing the treatment of foreign combatants. "The United States should champion the Geneva Conventions, not look for ways to get around them lest we invite others to do the same," McCain said minutes before the vote. "America has more personnel deployed in more places than any other country in the world, and this unparalleled exposure only serves to further demonstrate the critical importance of our fulfilling the letter and the spirit of our international obligations," he said. The US House on Wednesday passed its version of the bill in a 253-168 vote.
Girl dies, gunman kills himself in bloody end to Colorado school siege
By Jennifer King,WNS Western US CorrespondentDENVER, Colorado - A schoolgirl hostage was fatally wounded before a gunman killed himself as armed police stormed a high school in the western state of Colorado, police said Wednesday. Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener said the unidentified gunman turned his weapon upon himself after shooting one of two girls being held hostage at Platte Canyon High School in Bailey, 35 miles (56 kilometres) south of Denver. The man, believed to be in his 30s, opened fire as police entered a second floor classroom after the gunman -- who claimed to be carrying a bomb -- broke off contact with hostage negotiators. "Entry was made, the suspect shot one of the hostages and then shot himself, that's what it looks like at this time," Wegener told reporters. The second hostage escaped unharmed. The critically injured girl was airlifted to St Anthony Central Hospital in Denver but died later Wednesday. "I can confirm the girl has died," hospital spokeswoman Bev Lilly told AFP, refusing to give any more details about the victim. The drama immediately evoked memories of the 1999 Columbine high school massacre in neighbouring Jefferson County, when 13 students were gunned down by two teenage pupils who then killed themselves. Wegener, who has worked in the small community of Park County for 36 years, said police were struggling to come to terms with the latest school shooting tragedy to hit Colorado. "We're just shocked this has happened in a rural county," said Wegener, his voice trembling with emotion. "I don't know the identity of the gunman, I don't know why he wanted to do this and hopefully the investigation will reveal who it is," he told reporters. "I have not yet been able to talk with the family of the female student that was shot but my prayers are with them," Wegener said, speaking before the hostage's death was confirmed.
Bush, critics brawl over Iraq-terrorism link
By Lucy Huff,WNS Washington CorrespondentWASHINGTON - President George W. Bush and opposition Democrats traded blows in a bitter brawl over Iraq, set off by an explosive intelligence assessment which warned the war was fuelling terrorism. Each side accused the other of exploiting national security in a grab for votes in the fierce heat of the campaign for November's congressional elections, which will shape Bush's last two years in office.
The president blamed political motives for weekend media accounts of a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) -- the consensus of all 16 US spy agencies -- that found that the Iraq war was swelling the ranks of global terror groups. Meanwhile, one senior Democrat accused the White House of suppressing a separate intelligence assessment focused solely on the unpopular war, which Bush's Republicans fear could cost them dearly on November 7. Bush fumed over the media reports about the NIE, which seemed to undermine his central political argument that the US-led March 2003 invasion of Iraq has made the US public safer from terrorism. "Somebody's taken it upon themselves to leak classified information for political purposes," said Bush, who charged that the purpose was "to create confusion in the minds of the American people."Later Tuesday, he declassified portions of the report, which declared Iraq had become a "cause celebre" for global terror, "breeding a deep resentment of US involvement in the Muslim world and cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement." But the assessment also appeared to back up Bush's contentions that US troops must stay on in Iraq. "Should jihadists leaving Iraq perceive themselves and be perceived to have failed, we judge fewer fighters will be inspired to carry on the fight," the assessment said. Bush denied claims by critics that America was less safe since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. "My judgment is, if we weren't in Iraq, they'd find some other excuse," said the president, who said releasing portions of the report would "stop all the speculation" and "gossip" linking Iraq and terrorism. Opposition Democrats had demanded the White House must release the entire document and other recent intelligence briefings on Iraq and the war on terrorism.
US safer despite Iraq terror : US Intelligence chief
By George Dave,WNS US Bureau ChiefWASHINGTON - US intelligence czar John Negroponte admitted the Iraq war was shaping a new generation of terrorists, but denied claims that a secret report said America was in more peril than in 2001.
Negroponte stepped into the furore over a leaked intelligence estimate which ignited a new row over President George W. Bush's claims ahead of November's congressional elections that the Iraq war has made the United States safer. "The Iraq jihad is shaping a new generation of terrorist leaders and operatives," Negroponte said, using a previously scheduled dinner speech at the Woodrow Wilson Center to discuss the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE). "However, should jihadists leaving Iraq perceive themselves, and be perceived, to have failed, fewer fighters will be inspired to carry on the fight," Negroponte, the Director of National Intelligence, said. "These stories left the incorrect impression that this NIE dealt principally with the relationship between Iraq and international terrorism," he said.The New York Times Sunday quoted an official familiar with the report, entitled Trends in Global Terrorism: Implications for the United States, as saying that "the Iraq war has made the overall terrorism problem worse." But Negroponte argued the report did not say the threat to the United States had increased. "We are certainly more vigilant, we are better prepared, in that sense I think we can safely say that we are safer. "The threat to the homeland itself has if anything been reduced since 9/11."
Judge throws Saddam out of court
By Nicholas Brown,WNS Iraq Bureau ChiefBAGHDAD - The newly-appointed chief judge in the trial of Saddam Hussein on charges of genocide threw the former dictator out of the court, the second time in as many days. Waving a yellow paper, Saddam had said to the judge, "I have a request here that I don't want to be in this cage any more" he said referring to the court. The judge Mohammed al-Oreibi al-Khalifah responded saying "I am the presiding juge, I decide about your presence here, get him out," after which the baliffs took Saddam out of the courtroom. The trial had resumed without Saddam's defence team which is boycotting the proceedings in protest at what it branded government pressure on the court.Saddam and six of his former colleagues face charges including genocide for spearheading a military campaign against the Kurds in 1987-1988 that prosecutors say left 182,000 people dead. They face the death penalty if found guilty. Saddam and seven former cohorts are also awaiting a verdict due in October in a trial over the killing of 148 Shiite villagers after an attempt on the ousted Iraqi leader's life in 1982.
Saudi govt disassociates itself from French report on bin Laden
By Mark Chris,WNS Washington CorrespondentWASHINGTON - The Saudi government has pulled the rug from under a French newspaper report about the alleged death of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, saying in a statement that it "has no evidence to support" the contention. "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has no evidence to support recent media reports that Osama bin Laden is dead," the Saudi Embassy here said in a statement. "Information that has been reported otherwise is purely speculative and cannot be independently verified."
Earlier Saturday, a French regional newspaper, L'Est Republicain, published a report based on a French foreign intelligence service document, which alleged that Saudi intelligence service had concluded the mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States had succumbed to typhoid fever -- sometime between August 23 and September 4 -- while hiding in Pakistan. French President Jacques Chirac as well as US, Pakistani and Afghan officials sought to distance themselves from the account, saying that it could not be confirmed. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, when asked before meeting in New York with Sri Lanka's foreign minister whether she gave the report any credibility, said only: "No comment, and no knowledge."Afghan President Hamid Karzai said the report would be welcome if it turns out to be true. "It would be a good news, but it's just speculation," Karzai told Radio-Canada television during a visit in Montreal. "Let's see if it's true or not true." Pakistan's interior minister, Aftab Sherpao, told AFP in Islamabad: "No, we do not have any such information with us." Security officials hunting Al-Qaeda in Pakistan rejected the report. "There is an excellent cooperation between Pakistani and Saudi intelligence services and no such information has been shared," a senior security official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official said it was "inconceivable that an event of this nature would remain unnoticed in Pakistan where we are constantly on the Al-Qaeda hunt."European officials tracking bin Laden's whereabouts told AFP, also on condition of anonymity, that the report could not be seen as reliable.
Hezbollah won't disarm, has 20 000 rockets: Nasrallah
By Andrea Doucet,WNS Israel Bureau ChiefBEIRUT - Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah made his first public appearance since the war with Israel at a huge "victory" rally, rejecting calls to disarm and saying his guerrilla group still had 20,000 rockets. Nasrallah, 46, emerged from more than two months in hiding to address a rapturous crowd in Beirut's shattered southern suburbs which his Lebanese Shiite Muslim militia said numbered in the hundreds of thousands. "We are celebrating a great divine, historic and strategic victory," the charismatic, bearded cleric told the sea of supporters waving thousands of yellow flags, the color of Hezbollah. "The resistance is stronger today than on July 12," Nasrallah said, when Hezbollah fighters seized two Israeli soldiers along the Israeli-Lebanese border, triggering a month of fierce clashes."The resistance today has more than 20,000 rockets," he added, rejecting Israeli claims to have inflicted heavy damage on the guerrilla group. One of Israel's stated aims in the offensive which ended in mid-August was to eliminate Hezbollah's capacity to fire rockets, thousands of which were launched at the Jewish state during the conflict, killing dozens of civilians. UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which halted the war, demands the disarmament of all militias in Lebanon. But Nasrallah said his movement would not give up its weapons as long as there was a weak Lebanese state incapable of defending itself from Israel. "We do not want to keep our arms for ever," he said. "But disarming the resistance ... under this state, this authority, this regime and in this current situation means keeping Lebanon at risk of having Israel kill and bombard at will," the Hezbollah leader said. "Let us build a strong and just state," he said, calling for a new government of national unity.
Abbas say new Palestinian government will recognise Israel
By Susan Fay,WNS New York CorrespondentUNITED NATIONS - Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas told the UN General Assembly that any new Palestinian government will recognise Israel. "I would like to reaffirm that any future Palestinian government will commit to all the agreements that the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority have committed to," he said in a speech to the assembly. Abbas referred to letters exchanged by the late Palestinian and Israeli leaders, Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin, in 1993, which contained historic mutual recognition statements. Abbas, who has been negotiating with the Hamas group over a national unity government, also said: "Any future government will commit to imposing security and order, to ending the phenomena of multiple militias, indiscipline and chaos, and to the rule of law."
Recognition of Israel and renunciation of violence have been among key conditions set by the international community -- led by the diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East -- to assist any Hamas-led government in the Palestinian territories. Hamas currently rejects both conditions. Hamas, which won landmark elections in January, and Fatah, the party led by Abbas, have agreed to set up a unity government, based on a national reconciliation document drawn up in June which implicitly recognises Israel. Hamas leaders say, however, the accord does not include recognition of Israel and Abbas froze negotiations with the rival group before leaving for the UN General Assembly where the Middle East peace process has come under a renewed spotlight.
Ousted Thai PM urges new polls, says will take rest
LONDON (AFP) - Ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra has called for new general elections to be held in his homeland quickly, but said he would be taking a "deserved rest" from politics, a statement said. "We hope the new regime will quickly arrange a new general election and continue to uphold the principles of democracy for the future of all Thais," said a statement distributed by Thaksin's aides in London on Thursday. "Dr. Thaksin as of now will take a deserved rest," added the statement, adding that he plans to carry out development and "possible charitable work for Thailand".
Shuttle Lands in Florida
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - The U.S. space shuttle Atlantis landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday after the first construction mission to the International Space Station since the 2003 Columbia disaster. Atlantis and its crew of six touched down before dawn following a 12-day mission that saw astronauts complete three spacewalks and install a new solar power module on the half-built, $100-billion orbiting outpost.
By Sharon Gorani,
