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FBI admits it has no WASHINGTON, Nov 7: The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has admitted it had no clues on who was behind the scary bioterror attack that.......more US
to give Pak 73 mn WASHINGTON, Nov 7: In an effort to block shipment of arms and manpower to the Taliban, the US will give Islamabad 73 million dollars in......more Bush
warns Bin Laden WASHINGTON, Nov 7: President George W Bush warned for the first time that Osama Bin Laden’s network was seeking nuclear weapons, rallying ......more FBI
grilled on anthrax WASHINGTON, Nov 7: US senators grilled FBI officials over the lack of progress in finding the culprits behind the current anthrax scare, while the....more |
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Bush to announce WASHINGTON, Nov 7: President George W Bush will announce today new steps in his attempt to crack down on the financing of terrorism, aides said. .......more 4th
US ‘terrorist list’ WASHINGTON, Nov 7: The United States has created a fourth list of "terrorist organizations," adding to the confusion about ........more World
population to LONDON, Nov 7: The world’s population could skyrocket to 10.9 billion people by 2050 if women do not gain better access to education and health ....more ‘Attacks reinforced Indo-US solidarity, understanding’ WASHINGTON, Nov 7: The terror strikes in america on September 11 have reinforced the growing solidarity and understading between India and the US .......more |
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FBI admits it has no clues on anthrax source WASHINGTON, Nov 7: The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has admitted it had no clues on who was behind the scary bioterror attack that has left four people dead, more than a dozen infected and the public in a state of near-panic. The admission, coming from FBI Deputy Assistant Director James Caruso at a hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Technology, terrorism and Government information, has triggered a firestorm among lawmakers, some of whom had to evacuate their offices after anthrax spores were detected on capitol hill. "The bottom line is this: As of now you don’t know where the anthrax came from, and you have not been able to identify all the people who may have access to it. Is that fair?" asked democratic senator John Edwards. "That’s correct," Caruso replied. Senator Dianne Feinstein’s question on how many research facilities worked with anthrax bacteria in the United States also left the head of the FBI’s counterterrorism division at a loss. "We do not know that at this time," Caruso acknowledge. "Could you possibly tell me why you do not know that?" the California democrat pressed on. "The research capabilities of thousands of researchers is something that we are just continuing to run down," Caruso said. "I know it’s an unsatisfactory answer and unsatisfying to us as well." (AFP) |
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US to give Pak 73 mn emergency aid to secure its borders WASHINGTON, Nov 7: In an effort to block shipment of arms and manpower to the Taliban, the US will give Islamabad 73 million dollars in emergency aid to ensure the security of its borders amidst reports that the militia in Afghanistan was receiving war material and fighters from Pakistan. However, Washington absolved President Pervez Musharraf of the responsibility, saying he needs time to curb the "rogue elements" in Inter-Services Intelligence helping Taliban. "In response to the events of Sept 11, the US Government will provide approximately 73 million dollars in emergency supplemental aid to Pakistani law enforcement agencies for purposes of border security," US State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher said yesterday. He said "this project, which will be administered by the State Department’s Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL), will provide helicopters, fixed wing aircraft, vehicles, communications equipment, night vision goggles, and other items, as well as appropriate training." An assessment team from INL will visit Pakistan next week to consult with officials there concerning the details and implementation of the project, Boucher said. "This is a high priority for the Government of Pakistan," he said. US Ambassador to Pakistan, Wendy Chamberlin, said the Taliban continue to get armed men and war material from Pakistan but absolved Musharraf of responsibility, suggesting that the border is impossible to control and he needs time to curb any "rogue elements" in the ISI. On whether US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld extracted any guarantees from Musharraf that he "would do all" to try to curb the flow of fighters and weapons crossing the border, Chamberlin replied: "I was not in those talks; I was back here in Washington." "But I understand from reports from Pakistan that this did come up. And let me assure you, Musharraf has been working hard to stop those fighters that crossed the border," she told the CBS-TV yesterday. "But it is a huge border. It is 2,250 km, very porous, very rugged. Most of the tribal people who are crossing the border do so in the north, where the Government has been bedevilled by lack of control, long before even the Pakistan Government was created during the British time. So getting control of that border is not easy," she added. About the demonstrations in Pakistan, Chamberlin insisted that the people who are in the street represent "a very small fringe minority. These are the religious extremist parties. These are not the four major parties who support the president and support his policies, as does the middle class, the intelligentsia, the silent majority and the military." Boucher said it is difficult to determine how much, if any, shipment of war material to the Taliban is occurring from Pakistan. "...If this is taking place, that it is significant enough to affect our efforts to defeat the Taliban." Boucher noted that there is a long tradition of smuggling across the long Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier. "Also, there is currently more confusion than normal along what has always been a lengthy and hard-to-control boundary, given military operations inside Afghanistan and groups of people seeking refuge in Pakistan." (PTI) |
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Bush warns Bin Laden wants nuclear weapons WASHINGTON, Nov 7: President George W Bush warned for the first time that Osama Bin Laden’s network was seeking nuclear weapons, rallying European allies to fight what he called a threat to "every nation and, eventually, to civilization itself." Speaking via satellite to a summit in warsaw, Poland, Bush yesterday told leaders of Eastern European nations, once under the yoke of Soviet domination, that their "freedom is threatened once again" — this time by Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda terrorism network. After meeting with French President Jacques Chirac at the White House, Bush said nations that failed to take action against terrorism would be "held accountable," adding, "you’re either with us or you’re against us." Reaching out to Arab leaders, Bush will huddle with Kuwait’s first Deputy Prime Minister, Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, on Wednesday. He will also meet with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a staunch ally. The United States has accused Bin Laden of masterminding the Sept. 11 hijack attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and believes his Al Qaeda network operates in more than 60 nations, including some in central and eastern Europe. Bush said Al Qaeda’s goal was to "destabilize entire nations and regions" and was "seeking chemical, biological and nuclear weapons." "Given the means, our enemies would be a threat to every nation and eventually, to civilization itself," Bush told leaders from Poland and 16 other states. Asked to elaborate on the nuclear threat after meeting with Chirac, Bush cited Bin Laden’s own statements, adding, "I believe we need to take him seriously." Bush vowed to "do everything we can" to keep Bin Laden from acquiring weapons of mass destruction. If he obtains them, Bush said, "we’ll make sure he doesn’t deploy them." "This is an evil man that we’re dealing with, and I wouldn’t put it past him to develop evil weapons to try to harm civilization as we know it," Bush told reporters at the White House. "That’s why we work hard to keep our coalition bound together, and that’s why we’re going to keep relentless military pressure on him in Afghanistan." White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said it was unclear whether the bombing campaign could keep al qaeda from acquiring a nuclear device. "There can be no such guarantees," he said. Bush yesterday came close to blaming Al Qaeda for a string of anthrax attacks that have killed four people in the United States. US investigators have yet to blame Bin Laden’s network publicly for spreading anthrax through the US mail, and Fleischer said, "we still do not know the source — whether it was foreign or domestic." While appealing to US allies to step up the fight against terrorism, Bush also made a direct appeal to Afghans, fed up with Taliban rule, to help the united states track down Bin Laden, the elusive Saudi-born militant. Bush’s speech to eastern European leaders and his meeting with Chirac were part of a broader diplomatic offensive aimed at shoring up support for Washington’s military campaign in Afghanistan, which has drawn increasing fire in Europe and elsewhere as the civilian death toll has risen. Chirac said afterward that 2,000 French military personnel were already taking part in the US-led operation. Germany has also agreed to mobilize up to 3,900 troops. Bush will meet later this week with leaders of India, Brazil and Ireland in hopes of bolstering support for the war effort. On Thursday, Bush was to reach out to Americans rattled by the anthrax outbreak, with a speech in Atlanta about homeland security. "Our people are responding to this new threat with alertness and calm," the President said. Previewing a speech he will deliver to the UN General Assembly in New York on Saturday, Bush ratcheted up pressure on nations to support the war on terrorism, saying: "A coalition partner must do more than just express sympathy. A coalition partner must perform." In his satellite address, Bush praised european allies for backing the anti-terror drive and called for continued trans-Atlantic cooperation. "For more than 50 years the peoples of your region suffered under repressive ideologies that tried to trample human dignity," he told the summit. "Like the fascists and totalitarians before them, these terrorists — Al Qaeda, the Taliban regime that supports them and other terror groups across our world — try to impose their radical views through threats and violence." "We see the same intolerance of dissent, the same mad global ambitions, the same brutal determination to control every life and all of life," he said. Listening in warsaw were leaders from Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine and Yugoslavia. Bush told the leaders the United States would not relent in its hunt for bin laden and his foot soldiers. "We’re determined to fight this evil and fight until we are rid of it," he said. (REUTERS) |
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FBI grilled on anthrax probe smallpox threat seen WASHINGTON, Nov 7: US senators grilled FBI officials over the lack of progress in finding the culprits behind the current anthrax scare, while the doctor charged with coordinating the national response to public health emergencies expressed concern over a bioterrorism attack involving smallpox smuggled out of Russia. While new anthrax infections have stalled, prompting officials to wonder whether the anthrax threat has subsided, the head of the Government’s new office of public health preparedness said it is too soon to relax. "We’d like to believe it is over," Dr Donald Henderson told reporters yesterday. "But I am afraid ... There is someone out there who had and maybe has material that is clearly potent stuff. What might happen next is anybody’s guess." Several letters laced with the powdery anthrax bacterial spores have been sent through the US mail by unknown perpetrators since the Sept. 11 hijacked aircraft attacks on New York and Washington. Four people have died and authorities say a total of 17 people have contracted anthrax. A senate panel considering legislation that would tighten Government regulation of viruses and bacteria that could be used as weapons heard FBI counterterrorism officials give a grim assessment of their anthrax probe. James Caruso, a senior FBI counterterrorism official, said investigators have been spread thin thanks to a seemingly unending stream of hoaxes and false alarms. Caruso also said a large number of people had passed over the years through US labs and research facilities where they could have learned about or gained access to anthrax. "It’s a very big population and universe to look at," he said, adding that 7,000 agents were spread out across the country investigating possible sources and suspects. "I have been very surprised that the FBI has not made more progress," said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who chaired the senate judiciary subcommittee on technology, terrorism and Government information. Feinstein said Congress needs to do more to prevent people from possessing personal stockpiles of dangerous biological agents such as anthrax. She said the current system was riddled with loopholes, exemptions and areas of "intense sloppiness." "I believe that we should toughen federal laws resulting in the possession of specimens of anthrax, smallpox and other highly toxic biological agents," she said. "Amazingly, until the passage of comprehensive terrorism legislation several weeks ago, the law actually did not prohibit any ordinary citizen from building his own personal cache of anthrax." Henderson, a leading expert on smallpox who headed the global effort that succeeded in eradicating the disease two decades ago, was named last week to coordinate the US response to public health emergencies. In addition to anthrax, Henderson expressed concern about the potential of a bioterrorism attack involving smallpox, a viral disease that killed untold millions of people throughout history before being beaten by mass vaccination campaigns. "This is a disease we need to be concerned about," Henderson told reporters. "It was the worst of the world’s pestilences." He said Soviet weapons experts had succeeded in "weaponizing" smallpox — putting it into warheads that could fit into intercontinental ballistic missiles. Each missile would release melon-sized spheres that would spin as they approached the ground, spewing out clouds of smallpox virus to be breathed in by victims. "The concern is that russian scientists are not being paid at all well," Henderson said. "Most labs are half-staffed at best. Many scientists are desperate for money." He said the scientists could easily be recruited by other countries and there is evidence that Libya, Iraq, Iran and North Korea have done so. Scientists could have smuggled out a few tiny vials of smallpox virus, which could then be easily grown in eggs or tissue cultures. "If material is getting out, it is more likely to get out by that source than by terrorists breaking in," he said. The FBI’s caruso also updated senators on the status of the mountain of mail that has accumulated since an anthrax-tainted letter was opened in senate majority leader Tom Daschle’s office in the hart senate office building on Oct. 15. The mail has been placed in 280 55-gallon (210-liter) drums and taken to a safe location. Each drum is being opened and swabbed for anthrax to prioritize where contamination is most likely. Investigators want to know whether the contamination found at numerous postal facilities and Government mailrooms is all cross-contamination from the powerful anthrax in the Daschle letter, or whether there are other letters in the system. (REUTERS) |
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Bush to announce terrorism financing crackdown WASHINGTON, Nov 7: President George W Bush will announce today new steps in his attempt to crack down on the financing of terrorism, aides said. Bush, in a visit to the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, will announce that the United States has identified a pair of financial networks that have been responsible for funding operations of Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda organization, according to aides who spoke on condition of anonymity. The networks have operations in both the United States and a variety of other nations, and Bush will announce an effort to take action against them, the aides said. The United States has made cracking down on financing of Al Qaeda a major part of its war on terrorism. Washington, which blames Al Qaeda and Bin Laden for the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States, has warned it will take action against foreign banks with US branches that refuse to freeze Al Qaeda-related assets. Quoting unnamed sources, The Washington Post reported today that US officials were investigating several money exchanges with offices in the United States that officials say funnel tens of millions of dollars from the United States and abroad to finance terrorist activities. The post said one of these was believed to be partly owned by Bin Laden. The Post said investigators long have suspected that Bin Laden uses the exchanges to move money and finance Al Qaeda’s operations, but this marks the first time that they have zeroed in on a possible ownership role by Bin Laden in businesses operating openly in the United States. The exchanges, called "Hawalas," are large, global networks that essentially operate as unlicensed banks. In America, immigrants, particularly those from Islamic regions of the Middle East and North Africa, often find these money exchanges easier, cheaper and faster to use for sending money to their homelands than traditional banks, the post reported. A White House task force is examining these exchanges as part of a broader campaign to find and shut down sources of funding for extremist activities. It is unclear how many of these exchanges operate in the United States. (REUTERS) |
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4th US ‘terrorist list’ adds to confusion WASHINGTON, Nov 7: The United States has created a fourth list of "terrorist organizations," adding to the confusion about which groups are subject to which of three categories of sanctions, a US official said. Organizations and other entities on the new list, which so far contains no names, will be subject to immigration restrictions under the USA Patriot Act signed into law on Oct. 26, the State Department official said yesterday. The official was trying to clarify misunderstandings created by Attorney General John Ashcroft’s request last week that Secretary of State Colin Powell designate 46 entities as "terrorist organizations" under the new act. The US congress passed the act to give the administration more powers to combat "terrorism" in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. Diplomats said they had been trying to find out what designation would mean in this case. One of them said that Ashcroft’s list appeared to be cobbled together hurriedly from partial data and without thorough research. The State Department official said that some of the 46 groups may in fact be defunct. "Anyway, we are going to look at his list and we’re going to decide who belongs on that list of terrorist organizations," he said. The four lists are: — A list of 28 "Foreign Terrorist Organizations" (FTOs), a long-standing category. US banks must block the funds of these groups, members can be denied US visas and it is illegal to provide them with funds or other material support. — A list of 88 organizations, entities and individuals on a treasury department list with stricter financial sanctions. All of the 28 FTOs are now on this list, along with individuals and businesses associated with Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden, the man accused of planning the Sept. 11 attacks. They include some unlikely suspects, such as honey shops in Yemen. — A list of 15 "other terrorist groups," as laid out in the State Department’s annual report entitled patterns of global terrorism. The latest version came out in April. These groups are not subject to any particular legal measures. — The newly created list of ‘’terrorist organizations.’’ the USA Patriot Act enables the US Government to prevent those who are affiliated with them from entering the United States and makes it easier to deport aliens who support, give money to or work with these groups. Other groups are mentioned in passing in the text of the annual report and are sometimes confused for groups subject to legal sanctions. Some of these, such as the Breton Resistance Army in France and the free aceh movement in Indonesia, have found their way into the ranks of those that Ashcroft wants to include on the new list. The State Department official said he expected some standardization of the designation process with time. "They’re going to have to look at how the different laws relate to each other to make sure there is a certain consistency," he said. (REUTERS) |
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World population to grow by half by 2050: UN LONDON, Nov 7: The world’s population could skyrocket to 10.9 billion people by 2050 if women do not gain better access to education and health care, a United Nations report said today. Women must receive equal status with men, adequate reproductive health and the right to plan the size of their families if the planet is to rein in a population already expected to grow by 50 per cent over the next half century, the UN Population Fund said. All of the projected growth - from a current 6.1 billion to 9.3 billion - will take place in developing countries, intensifying their battle against poverty and straining the environment worldwide. Increasing population and consumption will continue to alter the planet on an "unprecedented scale," degrading soil, polluting air and water, melting ice caps and destroying natural habits, the "State of the world population 2001" report said. The world’s 49 least-developed countries - already the most severely challenged by soil and water degradation and food shortages - will nearly triple in size, from 668 million to 1.86 billion . As incomes rise in these countries, consumption will grow, placing yet more strain on the earth’s resources, the report said. To feed the nearly 8 billion people expected by 2025 and improve their diets, the world will have to double food production and improve distribution - without relying on specialised fertilisers and pesticides, which would further disturb the ecological balance. (AP) |
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‘Attacks reinforced Indo-US solidarity, understanding’ WASHINGTON, Nov 7: The terror strikes in america on September 11 have reinforced the growing solidarity and understading between India and the US as the two countries jointly strive to combat the menace of international terrorism, the Indian Embassy here said ahead of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s visit to Washington. "The barbaric terorist attacks in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001 proved to be a defining event in the US relations with the rest of the world, including India. "It has shifted dynamic of US foreign policy discourse and has reinforced the growing solidarity and understanding between India and the United States as they jointly strive to combat the menace of international terrorism," the Emabassy said in a briefing paper for correspondents. The brief said the Bush administration has "acknowledged India as a major power and has repeatedly signaled its intention to build further upon recent progress in bilateral relations. President (George W) Bush’s invitation to Prime Minister Vajpayee to visit Washington on 7-9 November 2001 is to be seen in this context." It said the US has "clarified" that its campaign against terrorism would target all terrorist groups, including those active against India, noting that Washington "has unreservedly condemned the attack on the Jammu and Kashmir legislature in Srinagar on October 1." "While the Harakat-ul-Mujahideen has been on the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organisations since 1997, both the Harakat and Jaish-e-Mohammad have recently been included in the list of individuals and terrorist organisations maintained by the office of foreign assets control of the department of the treasury," the Embassy noted in the brief. The pace of bilateral engagement between India and the United States since the assumption of office of President Bush "has been unprecedented," it said. At the same time, it acknowledged that there are unresolved problems in the commercial sphere, including issues such as anti-dumping, US curbs on Indian steel exports and so on. (PTI) |
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