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US under threat of WASHINGTON, Oct 12: US President George W Bush has said the United States was under threat of more terror attacks but that the Government was ........more Taliban
ban English ISLAMABAD, Oct 12: The Taliban regime in Afghanistan has banned the English language from the parts of the country in its control....more Pak
insists on UN ISLAMABAD, Oct 12: Pakistan has said it would not endorse any US-led military campaign against other Muslim countries beyond Afghanistan and ....more UN
releases immigration WASHINGTON, Oct 12: The US Department of Justice has detailed the immigration status of 19 suspects accused of hijacking four airliners in the ......more |
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US stalled move to bring ISLAMABAD, Oct 12: The US had stalled a Pakistani move to bring back king Zahir Shah in Afghanistan in 1994-95 as a result of which Afghanistan.......more Two
U.N. Heads OSLO, Oct 12: Kofi Annan is tipped to become the second U.N. Secretary-General to win the Nobel Peace Prize today — but a long-secret .....more Taliban
ban English ISLAMABAD, Oct 12: The Taliban regime in Afghanistan has banned the English language from the parts of the country in its control.......more Bin
Laden tried to DUBAI, Oct 12: For at least 12 years Osama Bin Laden allegedly tried to quietly engineer a fundamentalist takeover of Pakistan and.......more |
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US under threat of more attacks, says Bush WASHINGTON, Oct 12: US President George W Bush has said the United States was under threat of more terror attacks but that the Government was taking every possible step to protect Americans. "Americans tonight can know that while the threat is ongoing we are taking every possible step to protect our country from danger," Bush said yesterday in opening his first prime time White House news conference since September 11. The President spoke from the ornate east room exactly one month after suicide squads flew hijacked planes into New York and Washington landmarks, killing nearly 5,400 people and hours after the FBI warned Americans they could be hit again. In a stark statement, the FBI said: "Certain information, while not specific as to target, gives the Government reason to believe that there may be additional terrorist attacks within the United States and against US interests overseas over the next several days." Bush said the FBI warning "may not be the last," but urged the public not to cower in the face of threats from "the evildoers" who perpetrated the Sept. 11 attacks. "The truth of the matter is in order to fully defend america we must defeat the evildoers," Bush said as US-led air strikes on Afghanistan continued into a fifth night. The United States blames Saudi-born militant Osama Bin Laden, his Al Qaeda organization and their hosts, Afghanistan’s Islamic Taliban movement, for the attacks. Bush said he did not know if Bin Laden were dead or alive. In giving Americans an update on progress in his war on terrorism, Bush said: "We’ve accomplished a great deal in one month." but he cautioned that victory could be a long time coming. "This battle front will last as long as it takes to bring Al Qaeda to justice," he said. "It may end tomorrow or in a month. It may take a year or two. I am determined to stay the course." "We’re angry ... Yet patient and just in our response." Earlier on Thursday, Bush vowed to destroy terrorism with "every weapon" in the US arsenal as he marked the one-month anniversary at a Pentagon memorial service for the victims. He also announced that the United States and its allies had frozen Taliban and Al Qaeda assets to the tune of 24 million. The assets frozen in the US belonged to those on a list of 27 individuals, groups, charities and businesses believed by the Government to be linked to terrorism. Bush was expected to widen that list on Friday. Standing in front of the Pentagon on a warm autumn day, Bush paid tribute to those killed when four hijacked planes crashed into the defense department headquarters, the World Trade Center in New York and a Pennsylvania field. "Today we are a nation awakened to the evil of terrorism and determined to destroy it," Bush told several thousand people at the service, including most of his cabinet, members of Congress and former President Bill Clinton. "Over time, with patience and precision, the terrorists will be pursued. They will be isolated, surrounded, cornered until there is no place to run or hide or rest," Bush said, as the audience burst into applause. The remembrance ceremony, held on the opposite side of the Pentagon from the gashed facade struck on Sept. 11, included readings from Christian, Jewish and Muslim scriptures and was attended by the families of many people killed at the site. At one point, the names of most of the 189 people who died at the Pentagon were scrolled across large video screens, prompting dozens of people to wipe tears from their eyes and a woman to hold up a photograph and call out "I love you, baby." As a band played the "battle hymn of the Republic," people at the back of the crowd stood and waved small American flags, a movement that rippled through the audience to include Bush, his wife Laura, and his cabinet officers. Bush praised the US armed forces, which on Sunday began bombing Afghanistan to destroy suspected "terrorist" training camps as well as Taliban military installations. "We have one more great asset in this cause: The brave men and women of the United States military," Bush said, again bringing applause from the audience, which included hundreds of people in uniform. "In the missions ahead for the military, you will have everything you need — every resource, every weapon, every means to assure full victory for the United States and the cause of freedom," he said. (REUTERS) |
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Taliban ban English from their territory ISLAMABAD, Oct 12: The Taliban regime in Afghanistan has banned the English language from the parts of the country in its control. Russian news agency Ria Novosti today quoted the newspaper Frontier Post citing the United Nations missions to Islamabad and Peshawar as saying that even United Nations officials, who still remain in Afghanistan, are forbidden to speak English. All negotiations, including rarely occurring telephone conversations, are conducted in Pashto or Dari, usually in the presence of a Taliban representative, the report says. Afghanistan is at present facing United States’ attack as part of its "war against terrorism", launched after the September 11 terrorist strikes in the US, the prime suspect in which— Osama bin Laden — is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan, under the patronage of the Islamic militia Taliban, in control of most of the Afghan territory. (UNI) |
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Pak insists on UN backing for US military campaign ISLAMABAD, Oct 12: Pakistan has said it would not endorse any US-led military campaign against other Muslim countries beyond Afghanistan and asserted that the present operations should be confined to implementation of UN resolutions on the Taliban regime. Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar said Pakistan would follow the UN Security Council resolutions of September 12, which did not permit the US to carry out operations in any other Muslim country. "Our policy is cast in the mould of the UN resolutions", he was quoted by media here today as telling reporters in Lahore. Sattar said "some countries might have apprehended that the US operation would extend to them. There is no evidence of that so far. There is no evidence, whatsoever, the operation would be expanded to other countries." Referring to the outcome of the meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Conference at Doha, Sattar said the meet recognised that the Muslim world needed to be focussed and come out as speedily as possible with a clear position on the issues emerging out of the crisis over Afghanistan. Stating that terrorist Saudi dissident Osama Bin Laden was termed as terrorist by the UN resolutions, Sattar said "it is not only in the interest of Pakistan but also that of Afghanistan to hand over the perpetrators". Afghanistan has become a hostage to foreign terrorists who were a burden on the people of the country, sattar said adding he believed Bin Laden had exposed Afghanistan to the US wrath, and should be handed over for trial. In this context, the Taliban could have negotiated for trial under special international tribunal if not US courts, as in the case of Yugoslavia’s Slobodan Milosevic or the lockerbie trial involving Libyans accused of taking part in the bombing of a US airliner, he said. Sattar said Pakistan had sent delegations to Afghanistan for holding meetings with the Taliban Government to defuse the crisis. The aim was to brief the Taliban on the implications of non-compliance with the UN resolutions, he said. "Taliban, being a sovereign government, refused to budge. So are we, a sovereign country. Both the countries made decision in their national interests," he said. Referring to Pak-China co-ordination in the current situation, he said Beijing was fully supportive of Islamabad’s stand. "When President (Pervez) Musharraf offered to visit China for consultations, Chinese leaders recognised that it was important for him to stay home. They decided to send a high-level delegation to Pakistan for the same purpose". (PTI) |
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UN releases immigration data on supected hijackers WASHINGTON, Oct 12: The US Department of Justice has detailed the immigration status of 19 suspects accused of hijacking four airliners in the September 11 attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center and damaged the Pentagon. Immigration and Naturalization Service Commissioner James Ziglar said yesterday nine of the suspected hijackers appeared to be in the country legally on the day of the attacks, while three were illegal and the status of the others was uncertain. Last month the FBI released photographs and new details about the identities of the suspected hijackers. Following is a compilation of the information: Aboard United Sirlines Flight 175, which struck the World Trade Center: ** Marwan Al Shehi - Admitted as non-immigrant visitor in May 2001 and appears to have been in the United States legally on Sept. 11 - Born May 9, 1978 - Pilot - Possible residence Hollywood, Florida # Fayez Rashid Ahmed Hassan Al Qadi Banihammad (also known as Fayez Ahmed) - No immigration information available - No birthdate available - Possible residence Delray Beach, Florida ** Mohand Alshehri - No immigration information available - No birthdate available - Possible residence Delray Beach, Florida ** Hamza Alghamdi - No immigration information available - No birthdate available - Possible residence Delray Beach, Florida ** Ahmed Alghamdi - Admitted as non-immigrant student, appears to have overstayed visa - No birthdate available - Possible residence Delray Beach, Florida. Aboard American Airlines Flight 11, which also struck the World Trade Center. ** Waleed M Alshehri - Admitted as non-immigrant in June 2000, was illegal at time of attack - Possible Saudi national - Multiple possible birthdates - Pilot - Possible residences: Hollywood, Orlando, and Daytona Beach, Florida ** Wail Alshehri - No immigration information available - Pilot - Birthdate Sept. 1, 1968 - Possible residences: Hollywood, Florida, Newton, Massachusetts ** Mohamed Atta - Admitted as non-immigrant visitor in July 2001, in country legally on Sept. 11 - Pilot - Birthdate Sept. 1, 1968 - Possible residences: Hollywood and coral springs, Florida, and Hamburg, Germany ** Abdulaziz Alomari - Admitted as non-immigrant visitor in June 2001, was legal on Sept. 11 - Possible Saudi national - Possible birthdates: Dec. 24, 1972 and May 28, 1979 - Pilot - Possible residence Hollywood, Florida ** Satam Al Suqami - No immigration information available - Possible Saudi national - PoZssible birthdate: June 28, 1976 - Last known address in United Arab Emirates. Aboard American Airlines Flight 77, which destroyed part of the Pentagon ** Khalid Almihdhar - Admitted as non-immigrant visitor in July 2001, was legal on Sept. 11 - Possible Saudi national - Possible residences: San Diego, California, or New York - No birthdate available ** Majed Moqed - Admitted as non-immigrant visitor in May 2001, legal on Sept. 11 - Possible Saudi national - No birthdate or residence given ** Nawaf Alhamzi - Admitted as non-immigrant visitor in January 2000, was illegal after overstaying authorized time in country - Possible Saudi national - No birthdate available - Possible residences: Fort Lee and Wayne, New Jersey, and San Diego, California ** Salem Alhamzi - Admitted as non-immigrant visitor in June 2001, was in country legally on Sept. 11 - Possible Saudi national - No birthdate available - Possible residences: Fort Lee and Wayne, New Jersey ** Hani Hanjour - Admitted as non-immigrant student in December 2000, immigration status on Sept. 11 was unclear - No birthdate available - Possible residences: Phoenix, Arizona, San Diego, California Aboard United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed into the Pennsylvania countryside ** Ahmed Alhaznawi - Admitted as non-immigrant visitor in June 2001, was in country legally on Sept. 11 - Possible Saudi national - Birthdate Oct 11, 1980 - Possible residence Delray Beach, Florida ** Ahmed Alnami - Admitted as non-immigrant visitor in May 2001, legal on Sept. 11 - No birthdate available - Possible residence Delray Beach, Florida ** Ziad Samir Jarrah - Admitted as non-immigrant in July 2001, appears to have been legal on Sept. 11 - Pilot - No birthdate or residence available ** Saeed Alghamdi - No immigration information available - No birthdate available - Possible residence Delray Beach, Florida. (REUTERS) |
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US stalled move to bring back Zahir Shah in 1994-95 ISLAMABAD, Oct 12: The US had stalled a Pakistani move to bring back king Zahir Shah in Afghanistan in 1994-95 as a result of which Afghanistan slipped away from the hands of a civilian Government, Pakistan’s former president Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari and former Foreign Minister Sardar Aseef have said. The two leaders told ‘The Friday Times’, an influential Pakistani weekly, in separate interviews published today that had the Americans shown some vision then, thing today would have been different. Mr Leghari who played an important role in Pakistan’s politics from 1993 to 1997, said the Americans "soft-pedalled" the plan because they were "never really into it." Sardar Aseef who alongwith with the then Interior Minister Maj Gen Naseerullah Khan Babar, was closely associated with Islamabad’s decision to dump Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and push the Taliban option, had held long parleys with king Zahir Shah in Italy in February-March 1994 for putting in place a broad-based Government in Kabul headed by the deposed king. "If the Americans had shown more vision then, the course of events would have been different. Because of that refusal the initiative on Afghanistan also slipped away from the civilian Government into the hands of the Army establishment." Asked why did not the Americans aagree to the option sardar Aseef said "they did not want peace in Afghanistan," adding that it could have something to do with pipelines. Sardar Aseef told the weekly that Islamabad thought of king Zahir option because Peshawar and Islamabad accords had failed to bring back normalcy in Afghanistan which was in a mess. Sardar Aseef said king Zahir was not interested in returning to Afghanistan to a monarchical system but given an opportunity would like to underpin any reconciliation efforts through a broad-based Government. He said that in 1994 Islamabad asked king Zahir Shah to send an emissary to Pakistan. His son-in-law Gen Abdul Wali travelled to Peshawar and Quetta in November 1995. In Peshawar he was widely welcomed and was asked to go to Afghanistan, mustering support on the way. Gen Wali went to Jalalabad. He also went to Kandahar but could not meet Mullah Omar. He travelled to Mazar and Shibergan and met Gen Rashid Dostum. Dostum welcomed him and said that if the king were to come back, he (dostum) would welcome him. However, by then the Taliban had emerged on the scene and the only adverse reaction was from Ahmad Shah Masoud and Burhanuddin Rabbani. It was around that time that Herat fell to the Taliban. That made the Taliban very strong and there was a general feeling that they could be trusted with delivering goods in Afghanistan. He said he was pursuaded to still pursue the king Zahir option and approach Washington to "take the Americans on board." "The Americans were reluctant to board the bus..." He said the success of the present option of bringing back king Zahir Shah would depend upon how it was exercised. "If the king is seen as a US puppet or if gets too close to the Northern Alliance, he would lose support among the Pushtuns. All the players must be very clear on that. The king should first talk to his people and get their support. If this option is exercised with care, he can play an effective role both symbolically and tangibly," Sardar Aseef said.(UNI) |
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Two U.N. Heads almost won Nobel prize-secret diary OSLO, Oct 12: Kofi Annan is tipped to become the second U.N. Secretary-General to win the Nobel Peace Prize today — but a long-secret diary shows that two other U.N. chiefs came tantalisingly close in the 1960s. Guardians of the prize will announce the 2001 laureate at 1430 IST today from a list of 136 nominees including the Red Cross, the European Court of Human Rights, Pope John Paul, soccer’s governing body FIFA and the U.N. War Crimes Tribunal. Annan, 63, and the United Nations are the nominees most favoured to win on the 100th anniversary of the prize first awarded in 1901 and named after Sweden’s Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite. So far, the only U.N. Secretary-General to win was sweden’s Dag Hammarskjold, awarded the prize posthumously in 1961. But the hitherto secret diary of Gunnar Jahn, a strong-willed head of the five-member committee from 1942-66, shows that both the first U.N. Secretary-General Trygve Lie and Hammarskjold’s successor, Burma’s U Thant, came close to winning. "In 1965 and 1966, a clear majority of the committee clearly favoured giving the prize to...U Thant, and even to the first, Norway’s Trygve Lie, but chairman Jahn more or less vetoed this," Geir Lundestad, the Director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute, writes in a new book. Jahn’s diary has been kept at the institute since he died in 1971. Lundestad admitted to Reuters that his essay in the just published "The Nobel Prize, the First 100 Years", violated a 50-year secrecy rule normally applied to Jahn’s diary. "This has not been known beyond the committee before," he said. "I think that the primary reason for Jahn’s opposition was that he was sceptical to organisations and individuals associated with them." But he said that Jahn’s scepticism did not prevent the committee from making a string of awards to organisations under his chairmanship. At least a dozen prizes have gone to U.N. agencies or individuals linked to the 189-nation group since it was founded in 1946 — making the United Nations the most honoured in the history of the prize. Annan has been extremely popular in one of the world’s trickiest jobs, winning election to a second term unopposed this year. Annan is now trying to make the United Nations the centre of a "global coalition against terrorism". Lundestad declined to say who might win the 2001 prize. "We will be making an announcement on Friday," he said. But the fact that both Lie and U Thant were considered by the committee for the prize could bolster Annan’s own chances. The award is worth 10 million Swedish crowns ( 945,700) and will be presented in Oslo on December 10, when more than 30 past laureates are expected to attend centenary celebrations. Analysts say the committee may want to avoid controversy this year to avoid upsetting the celebrations. U.N.-related peace prizes range from the 1945 prize to former U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull, an initiator of the United Nations, to the UN Peacekeeping forces in 1988. Annan, asked in New York this week about whether he might win the Nobel Prize, replied: "I see you still believe in rumours."(REUTERS) |
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Taliban ban English from their territory ISLAMABAD, Oct 12: The Taliban regime in Afghanistan has banned the English language from the parts of the country in its control. Russian news agency Ria Novosti today quoted the newspaper Frontier Post citing the United Nations missions to Islamabad and Peshawar as saying that even United Nations officials, who still remain in Afghanistan, are forbidden to speak English. All negotiations, including rarely occurring telephone conversations, are conducted in Pashto or Dari, usually in the presence of a Taliban representative, the report says. Afghanistan is at present facing United States’ attack as part of its "war against terrorism", launched after the September 11 terrorist strikes in the US, the prime suspect in which— Osama bin Laden — is believed to be hiding in Afghanistan, under the patronage of the Islamic militia Taliban, in control of most of the Afghan territory. (UNI) |
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Bin Laden tried to engineer an overthrow of my Govt: Benazir DUBAI, Oct 12: For at least 12 years Osama Bin Laden allegedly tried to quietly engineer a fundamentalist takeover of Pakistan and allegedly plotted to assassinate the then Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. The Saudi dissident even shipped huge cash, stuffed in mango crates, to bribe Pakistani officials and twice attempted to assassinate her for being friendly to the west, The Gulf News, quoting Ms Bhutto, said today. In a recent visit to maryland in the United States, she described these efforts as the "creeping revolution", aimed at subverting or destroying her Government at least three times during the 1980s and 1990s. Ms Bhutto said that in 1989 a plane-load of crates labelled "mangoes" landed in Islamabad from a middle eastern country. Upon opening the crates, officials found 10 million dollars in cash. An investigation unravelled a plot to try to bribe some of her allies in Parliament and the military to overthrow her, she alleged. "That was when I heard the name Bin Laden for the first time. He was the man who tried to overthrow my Government," she was quoted as saying. She said fundamentalists make up about 10 per cent of her country’s 130 million people, but the majority like her are moderate Muslims who want a democratic society. But the radicals have some support within the Pakistani military, some of whom fought beside Bin Laden and others in the 1980s during Afghanistan’s uprising against the Soviet Union. The former Pakistan Prime Minister expressed confidence that President General Pervez Musharraf will be stable enough to prevent allies of Bin Laden from taking control of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. Saying that Musharraf’s decision to support the US-led coalition against terrorism was right, although it had been a divisive one, she said she felt further encouraged by Musharraf’s reshuffe of his military leadership this week to isolate generals who might have sided with the fundamentalists. Pakistan is supporting United States’ ongoing "war against terrorism" directed against Afghanistan, which is believed to be harbouring Psama Bin Laden, the prime suspect in the September 11 terrorist strikes in the US. This reshuffle is being seen as an attempt to sideline those generals who might have supported Muslim fundamentalist forces, who are opposed to US strikes. (UNI) |
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