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APEC ‘near
unanimous’ SHANGHAI, Oct 19: US President George W Bush today said Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group members were "near unanimous" in ......more Women
find their ON BOARD THE USS CARL VINSON, Oct 19: Jasmine, named after the fragrant flower, has decided that helping launch and recover jet fighters on ...more Soldiers,
Afghan public ISLAMABAD, Oct 19: The vehicle of choice for Taliban fighters in Afghanistan is a double-cab pickup truck. , ....more Iran
called key to WASHINGTON, Oct 19: More than any other country, iran is in a position to help prevent a "clash of civilizations" between islam and the rest of the world ........more |
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‘Commander solo’
tells WASHINGTON, Oct 19: "When you decide to surrender, approach United States forces with your hands in the air. Sling your weapon across your......more US
says too soon to UNITED NATIONS, Oct 19: Washington’s diplomatic pointman for Afghanistan has said the top US goal was to crush Osama Bin Laden’s Al....more East
Afghan commanders PESHAWAR, Oct 19: A group of veteran Afghan mujahideen, or holy warrior, commanders have challenged the ruling Taliban movement to give ......more Powell
visits to India, WASHINGTON, Oct 19: The United Ntates has rejected suggestions that the recent visit of Secretary of State Colin Powell to India........more |
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APEC ‘near unanimous’ on war on terrorism: Bush SHANGHAI, Oct 19: US President George W Bush today said Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group members were "near unanimous" in their support for the US-led war on terrorism. During a photo-taking session before a meeting with South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung, Bush was asked why a planned APEC anti-terrorism declaration did not mention Afghanistan or Osama Bin Laden, whom Washington says masterminded the September 11 hijack attacks in the United States. "I believe the APEC nations fully understand that not only terrorists should be brought to justice but those who harbour terrorists should be brought to justice as well," Bush said. "I’m confident that we’ve got strong support...With the leaders who are present here at Shanghai." Leaders are scheduled to issue their declaration after their weekend summit in Shanghai. The crisis over terrorism has overshadowed this year’s APEC gathering. "I can tell you that the support is near unanimous not only for the activities that are going on now but for the strategy of fighting terrorism in the long run," Bush said. "These leaders understand that we are in a new type of war. They understand that the evil ones are a threat to established Governments. They understand that for there to be peace throughout the generations that we must be decisive and victorious." Earlier, a Russian official said APEC members were still haggling over the text of the anti-terrorism declaration, which would be the first major political statement by APEC in its 12-year history. It normally deals only with trade and economics. "There is a consensus on terrorism...But there might still be amendments. Every country can have its say," the Russian official told reporters. "The declaration will be in two parts, one a condemnation of terrorism and the second the directions which can be taken by apec to deal with it," the Russian official told reporters. He said that during the course of talks to thrash out the final declaration officials of some Governments had expressed the hope that civilians would suffer as little as possible from the US-led military action against Afghanistan. But he said he would not go so far as to call such statements "concerns", adding it was not only the Muslim members of APEC that had expressed hopes civilians would be protected as far as possible. Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country, and mainly Muslim Malaysia are both APEC members. They have firmly condemned terrorism, but the US strikes against Afghanistan have raised concern in both countries. (REUTERS) |
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Women find their way on US carrier ON BOARD THE USS CARL VINSON, Oct 19: Jasmine, named after the fragrant flower, has decided that helping launch and recover jet fighters on the flight deck of a US aircraft carrier sending air strikes over Afghanistan is not the place for her. "I think girls are too sensitive for this," said the Cheery-faced 20-year-old Assistant Boatswain’s (Bosun) mate from Cincinnati, as she took a break from the flight deck, where the temperature can easily hit 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.33 degree centigrade), in quarters below deck which is like a sauna. "it’s really cool, I wanted to do this. I wanted to be up on the flight deck watching the planes and stuff, " said Jasmine, whose last name could not be used under military rules. But Jasmine says she’s going to move on when her time is up. Jasmine is one of hundreds of women among the 5,500 crew members on board the USS Carl Vinson which for the past 10 days has been launching fighter aircraft into the skies to bomb Afghanistan as part of the US campaign against Osama Bin Laden. "Mumbles" is a 26-year-old F-14 tomcat pilot who got her nickname because she grew up in England and her colleagues say they can’t understand her accent. She is the only female pilot in the black lions squadron but she says the only problem with being a woman pilot is answering the call of nature during a six hour mission. "It’s emergencies only. There is a way but its not user friendly," she said, without elaborating. Brenda, a petite military policewoman from Dallas, Texas, says there are no jobs on board that are not open to women. "The only thing I can’t do is search the men’s berthings," she says with a smile while directing burly firemen around the hangar deck. Kim and Laura are among the five women helicopter pilots on board whose missions include search and rescue, checking out ships that come into the area and transporting supplies on board ship. Their Seahawk helicopters can be armed with torpedoes to seek out and destroy submarines, though they haven’t yet done so on this mission. Kim, from Portland, Oregon, had wanted to fly helicopters since she was six. She says there are probably more women flying helicopters than fixed wing planes just because women were allowed to fly them earlier. "I’ve never been a man in the navy. As far as I’m concerned it’s a day to day job," she said. Sharee, the top administrative officer on ship, agrees that women can cope equally well with the physical demands of the job. "I would say endurance-wise there are gi janes out there. There are women that go out on the seal team and actually kick ass," said Sharee, the only woman to attend cigar nights for top officers. She prefers a vanilla flavoured cigar. The problem is more one of perceptions on shore, she says. "America is not ready to see a woman take a punch — they don’t like to think of us out there on the front lines taking a punch." One of the doctors, a woman who goes by the name doc, says having women on board brings its own problems. "I’m much more interested in combat readiness and the more time I have to deal with illness or pregnancy, that’s taking time away from time to make combat ready," she said. "It’s also unrealistic. Every person who gets pregnant who comes out here has to leave. We lose. It’s a delicate balance." The only way round that is to stick to the military’s strict rule banning all "inappropriate familiarity" on board ship, she says. (REUTERS) |
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Soldiers, Afghan public choose pickup trucks ISLAMABAD, Oct 19: The vehicle of choice for Taliban fighters in Afghanistan is a double-cab pickup truck. But ordinary Afghans also use the same battered Japanese-made trucks as impromptu buses, making it difficult for US forces targeting the ruling Taliban to direct their weapons accurately. Already the Taliban, who have refused to hand over terrorism suspect Osama Bin Laden, have accused the United States of hitting civilian targets. These have included two truckloads of Afghans fleeing air raids, and UN officials have complained after air strikes have hit aid compounds. US officials have said repeatedly that Afghan civilians are not a target but that civilian casualties were inevitable in the campaign to force the Taliban to hand over Bin Laden, the prime suspect behind the attacks last month on the United States. "People need to distinguish between combatants and those innocent civilians who do not bear arms," UN Afghanistan Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid Mike Sackett said after a US bomb struck a UN-funded demining office in Kabul, killing four people. US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld expressed regret for the deaths, but said he did not know if they had been due to US weapons. The Japanese four-wheel-drive trucks are a ubiquitous sight in Kabul and Southern Kandahar, some carrying civilians and others full of Taliban soldiers with guns. The trucks, smuggled from Pakistan or purchased secondhand from Dubai, ferry troops to frontlines or chickens to markets. A growth industry has sprung up in Afghanistan for their repair, with roadside mechanics capable of fixing engines on the spot. The most modern methods are not used, and in winter drivers sometimes build fires under the diesel engines in the trucks to make them easier to start. A Taliban Information Ministry official, Abdul Hanan Himat, quoting officials in Kandahar, said US strikes hit a truck packed with Afghans trying to flee air raids on the town of Chunai near the southern Taliban stronghold Kandahar this week. "Another attack, we don’t know whether it was a bomb or a missile, killed all passengers who were trying to flee from Chunai," he said. That was followed a day later by reports of a similar incident. Education Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, who is also the top Government spokesman, told Reuters the US strikes had hit a truck loaded with residents fleeing an eastern Afghan town. "In Chaparhar district, a truck carrying people fleeing was hit and all people on board died," he said. He did not say how many passengers there were. There was no way to independently confirm the report, which comes as the united states works down a shrinking list of stationary targets and military planners said US strategy has shifted to closer-range air combat in "engagement zones". "We now have the access to be able to do engagement zones that we might not have had with an air defense capability that we’ve recently taken out," said Rear Admiral John Stufflebeem, Deputy Director of Operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But he said the types of targets in an engagement zone are predetermined so the pilots, for example, know they are hunting for tanks or mobile surface-to-air missile systems. "So the sense that there’s any freewheeling or any self-determination is really not correct," he said. In Pakistan, where many people are unhappy after President Pervez Musharraf sided with the United States against the Taliban, concerns have been raised about civilian casualties, especially after US bombs hit warehouses operated by the international committee of the red cross in Kabul this week. "Such inexcusable errors speak very highly of the targeting efficiency of the bombers and more importantly seriously dent the concomitant stress that the war is not against the already suffering Afghan people," The News newspaper said in an editorial. "Military vehicles had been seen in the vicinity of these warehouses," the Pentagon said in a statement after what it called an inadvertent strike destroyed aid supplies intended for internally displaced afghans. "US forces did not know that the ICRC was using one or more of the warehouses." (REUTERS) |
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Iran called key to avoiding clash of civilizations WASHINGTON, Oct 19: More than any other country, iran is in a position to help prevent a "clash of civilizations" between islam and the rest of the world and seems inclined to do so, according to a UN envoy. "Iran is potentially in a position to make a major contribution to avoid this clash of civilizations" that some fear is developing after the September 11 attacks on the United States, Giandomenico Picco said yesterday. Picco, a special envoy to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan for a "dialogue among civilizations" program, said he was not speaking in an official capacity. He was a senior UN official a decade ago and negotiated the release of western hostages in Lebanon. He told the Atlantic Council, a trans-Atlantic group promoting a new US relationship with Iran, that Iranian leaders seem to have decided not to allow extremists behind the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to isolate Iran and other Islamic nations from the rest of the world. "Various power centers (in Tehran) have realized that the greatest danger is marginalization," he said. He called Iran’s offer to cooperate with the United States if any US plane crashes inside Iran during military operations in neighboring Afghanistan a "significant" signal in the diplomatic "ballet" between Tehran and Washington. And implying another positive signal, he said the pro-Iran Hizbollah group, which Washington includes on its terrorism list, "Launched no operation against israel" in the past year — a claim US officials later disputed. Iranian leaders have strongly condemned last month’s deadly suicide attacks in New York and Washington, raising cautious expectations of better relations after 22 years of hostility. But Iran has publicly opposed the u.S.-led military strikes in Afghanistan, where the ruling Taliban has harbored the Saudi-born Islamic militant Osama Bin Laden, the suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks. Picco said the hijackers who slammed commercial jetliners into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were "pushing the Islamic world and in particular the Arab world into a possible ghetto, isolated by everybody else." He predicted one outcome could be that two years hence, China, which has backed the US-led anti-terror effort, would become the ninth member of the group of leading industrial nations while Islamic nations remained on the sidelines. Faced with this, "Iran in my view is now ready to play a role which until now it has not played," Picco said. Iran, which has been trying to integrate with the west and improve its economy, "has no intention of being isolated from the international community ... Has no intention of being taken down by those who hijacked Islam and the Arab world" with the US attacks, he said. Iran could help stabilize the situation in Afghanistan, contribute intelligence to the US-led anti-terror effort and indirectly assist military operations, he said. The United States has not had official diplomatic ties with Iran since the Islamic revolution of 1979 when student revolutionaries seized the US Embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. In recent years, Washington has offered an official dialogue with iran that was not accepted. However, the two sides communicate informally through various channels, including the swiss embassy in Tehran. One obstacle has been a US demand than Iran stop sponsoring groups like Hizbollah waging war against Israel. Picco said "Hizbollah since the beginning of the (Palestinian) Intifada 12 months ago has launched no operations against Israel" and called the past year "the 12 quietest months" on Israel’s border with Lebanon in more than a decade. But US officials said the situation is more complicated. While the border has been quieter, there has been some Hizbollah shelling and with Israel now withdrawn from southern Lebanon, all such attacks should have been ended, they said. (REUTERS) |
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‘Commander solo’ tells Taliban surrender or die WASHINGTON, Oct 19: "When you decide to surrender, approach United States forces with your hands in the air. Sling your weapon across your back, muzzle towards the ground. Remove your magazine and expel any rounds. Doing this is your only chance of survival." Booming down from the sky to the mountains and valleys of Afghanistan, this message, and others like it, are the United States’ new front in its war to bring down Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers and wipe out Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network, chief suspect in last month’s suicide plane attacks on New York and Washington. If there was ever any doubt US ground forces would be used in Afghanistan, the broadcasts end such speculation. Transcripts of the messages were released by the Pentagon yesterday. In them, Afghan civilians are advised what to do when ground forces arrive, how to avoid harm during the present bombing raids and are warned not to stand under food drops the United States is making to feed Afghanistan’s near-starving population. Delivered in an operation named "Commander solo," the messages, broadcast in local Afghan dialects from a slow moving ec-130ce plane, are the center piece of US psychological warfare efforts, along with dropping of millions of leaflets with similar messages. "Stay away from military installations, government buildings, terrorist camps, roads, factories or bridges," warn the broadcasts. They started earlier this week once the United States controlled the skies over Afghanistan and the planes could operate without worrying about anti-aircraft fire. "If you are near these places, then you must move away from them. Seek a safe place, and stay well away from anything that might be a target. We do not wish to harm you." The broadcasts vow to give no quarter to Taliban soldiers and Al Qaeda supporters who do not surrender. "Attention, Taliban. You are condemned. Did you know that? the instant the terrorists you support took over our planes, you sentenced yourselves to death" The messages poke fun at the Taliban’s military prowess and outdated weapons, saying they are no match for the United States "state of the art military equipment." "What are you using, obsolete and ineffective weaponry," the broadcasts say. "Our bombs are so accurate we can drop them right through your windows." "You have only one choice. Surrender now and we will give you a second chance. We will let you live. If you surrender, no harm will come to you." Afghans were advised that once US ground forces arrived, the safest place to be would be in their homes. "Attention. People of Afghanistan, United States forces will be moving through your area .... Please for your own safety stay off bridges and roadways and do not interfere with our troops or military operations," the broadcasts advise. "If you see United States forces, you need to find shelter and not leave it until we have left the area .... Your home will be the safest place." The broadcasts call for passive resistance against bin laden and the Taliban "by not supplying him or his supporters with food, water or lodging." "Small things such as these will make the biggest impact." The broadcasts are scathing about Bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, describing them as "cowards" who do not represent Afghanistan or Islam. "If dying for this form of Islam is noble, why doesn’t Mullah omar go to the front. He is enjoying his luxurious quarters and his wives while you are asked to die." The broadcasts have a warning for Afghans who are too eager to retrieve food and other supplies rained down on Afghanistan from two days after bombing started on October seven. "These bundles may appear small, but they are in fact very large and heavy," the broadcasts warn. "Do not stand directly beneath them" "The United States cannot warn you enough about the danger you will put yourself in if you do not stay away from the bundles until they land." The Pentagon is coy about why the day-and-night broadcasts are named "Commander Solo" but boasts they were highly successful during US military operations in Grenada, Haiti, Panama and during the Gulf war. There has been speculation "Commander Solo" was named after the film character Han Solo, played by Harrison Ford, who was the hero of the hollywood "Star Wars" series. (REUTERS) |
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US says too soon to plan future Afghan Government UNITED NATIONS, Oct 19: Washington’s diplomatic pointman for Afghanistan has said the top US goal was to crush Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network and it was too early to discuss nation-building proposals for the central Asian nation. Richard Haass, named by US Secretary of State Colin Powell as his special representative on Afghanistan, yesterday said after talks with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that he saw no differences between Washington and the United Nations on how to proceed in the central Asian country. "It is too early for people to be presenting plans though we did discuss various aspects of the evolving situation that would have to be addressed," Haass told reporters. Asked whether Washington, in its second week of bombing raids on Afghanistan, could declare victory there or let the capital Kabul fall without a provisional Government in the wings, Haass said it was too early "to get into those kinds of questions about scenarios and how they may unfold." "Our goals in Afghanistan are clear," he said. "We are obviously most concerned about the Al Qaeda network, about making sure that Afghanistan is never again a country that harbors terrorism or provides a sanctuary for terrorists. And that is essentially our focus here." Washington blames Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda network for September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and is bombing Afghanistan to punish its Taliban rulers for harboring them. A senior UN official confirmed the talks between Haass, Annan and Lakhdar Brahimi, Annan’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan, but did not go into specifics. "It’s the first run over the ground and i am sure they will be coming in with much more detail in Washington," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Brahimi was headed to Washington on Friday for more talks with US officials after brainstorming in recent days with European Governments and the 15-nation UN Security Council. US President George W Bush has said he wants the United Nations to take a leading role in helping Afghans form a new Government to replace the Taliban, while Powell has said there would probably be a "role for UN peacekeepers of some kind." Brahimi, however, has discounted the United Nations taking over the country’s administration and cautioned about sending in peacekeepers, questioning whether fiercely independent Afghans would welcome outside troops of any kind. But Haass said in reply to questions, "I don’t see differences between the United States and the United Nations." Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s UN Ambassador, Ravan Farhadi, who represents the nominal Afghan Government headed by Barhanuddin Rabbani, said he had given Haass a note stating the resistance’s outright opposition to Taliban participation in a post-war Afghan Government. Powell has said he would not rule out a Taliban presence in a new Government and some leading figures in the resistance movement or Northern Alliance agree. "We don’t agree with Mr Powell. We think the Taliban leaders need to be tried in a court," Farhadi told reporters. The United States and some of Afghanistan’s neighbors lean toward the exiled former king, Mohammed Zahir Shah, as a figurehead to convene a grand council of elders or Loya Jirga. But Rabbani, an ex-president still recognized by the United Nations, has indicated he would not support the king. Instead, Rabbani wants the Northern Alliance to take Kabul and make sure he is president, a move opposed by many. (REUTERS) |
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East Afghan commanders unite to challenge ruling Taliban PESHAWAR, Oct 19: A group of veteran Afghan mujahideen, or holy warrior, commanders have challenged the ruling Taliban movement to give up power now or face attacks around the main eastern city of Jalalabad. At a strategy session also attended by five fighters linked to the Islamic fundamentalists now ruling Afghanistan, the commanders denounced the presence in Afghanistan of Arab and other foreign Muslim followers of Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, their concluding declaration said. The meeting, at the Peshawar home of anti-Taliban commander Mohammad Zaman on Thursday, was the first open threat of military action posed by a group supporting the return of ex-king Zahir Shah. The commanders also urged the United States to stop its daily bombing raids, saying only Afghans could resolve the crisis brought on by the Taliban’s unswerving loyalty to Bin Laden, Washington’s prime suspect in the September 11 suicide plane attacks in the United States. "We call on the United States to stop its attacks and on the Taliban to quit the Government and transfer power to a loya jirga," their declaration said, referring to the grand assembly that Zahir Shah wants to convene to pick a broad-based Government to succeed the Taliban. "We condemn the activities of foreigners inside Afghanistan," it said, referring to more than 10,000 Muslims —mostly Arabs — who have been trained in Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda camps in Afghanistan. Speaking at the meeting of about 80 commanders, Zaman, who like the others is a veteran of the war against Soviet forces in the 1980s, said the commanders did not want to fight against the Taliban but would do so if needed. "We are asking them to give the Afghans the right of self-determination," a participant quoted him as saying. "We will send a delegation to bring this message to the Taliban. "If the Taliban refuse, we will take any steps necessary to reach our goals," he said. "We will come up with a military strategy." The commanders all hail from Nangarhar, the province at the western end of the Khyber pass whose capital, Jalalabad, has been the target of repeated U.S. airstrikes to flush out Taliban and Al Qaeda bases. Nangarhar controls the main road route from Pakistan to the capital Kabul. One disillusioned Taliban commander told Reuters this week that people in the area were fed up with the hardline movement, which has tried to introduce the world’s purest Islam state with policies that include banning women from work and staging public executions. They were especially angered by the mostly Arab and Chechen fighters who were brought in after September 11 to defend the city and now act as if they, and not the ruling Taliban, were the real masters of Afghanistan, the tribal militia commander Malik Shahzad Khan said. Speaking to Pashto-language journalists at the meeting, Zaman said the commanders from once competing mujahideen parties had now agreed to work together and would accept Taliban turncoats in their ranks. Convincing Pashtun tribesmen to switch loyalties from the Taliban to the movement supporting Zahir Shah is a key element in the opposition strategy of isolating the Taliban Government to ensure it crumbles from within. "I don’t say that all Taliban are terrorists or all Taliban are clean," Zaman said. "Many of them are patriotic and peace-loving. If such people want to join us, we will welcome them." zaman reminded the assembled commanders that the United States was firmly backing their cause, but warned Washington not to use its own troops to fight in the arid mountains that the tribesmen know best. "The American Government should not go for any military adventures in Afghanistan, as this could further complicate the situation," he said. "Ihe U.S. should help the former Jihad (holy war) commanders, tribal chieftains and other Afghans establish a new Government. When this comes about in Afghanistan, it will be impossible for the Taliban to stay in power." In contrast to the Northern Alliance, a coalition of mostly ethnic minorities battling the Taliban north of kabul, the tribes in eastern and southern afghanistan have mostly avoided talking about fighting their fellow pashtuns in the zealous Taliban forces. Their leaders have opted for the traditional tribal method of bribes and bluster to win over Taliban fighters without firing a shot.(REUTERS) |
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Powell visits to India, Pak a success: US WASHINGTON, Oct 19: The United Ntates has rejected suggestions that the recent visit of Secretary of State Colin Powell to India and Pakistan was a failure and denied there was any inconsistency in his remarks on Kashmir. Disputing media reports that the visit was not a success, State Department Deputy Spokesman Philip Reeker said he spoke to officials accompanying powell who told him that the secretary was "very pleased" with the visits. On reports that the statements he made on Kashmir in Islamabad and New Delhi were not consistent, Reeker said Powell only reiterated "the same policies we have followed for so many years, namely that it is an important issue which needs to be resolved between India and Pakistan through dialogue". Asserting that there could be "no military solution" to the Kashmir issue, Reeker said the dispute needs to be resolved on the "basis of dialogue and efforts to reduce tension, avoid violence and respect human rights". "So we call for restraint on both sides in that situation, as we have for many, many years, and we will continue to do so", he told reporters yesterday. The Secretary of State was quite consistent in terms of the campaign against terrorism and he expressed gratitude for the important roles both the countries are playing in the coalition, Reeker said. Both India and Paistan, he said, "are doing the right thing by being on the side of civilization." Reeker said the United States hoped that New Delhi and Islamabad will continue their dialogue. "There have been steps in that direction. But we look hopefully to further steps, and particularly to take advantage of the fact that both countries have acknowledged that terrorism is a great problem in our world and were quite vocal in condemning the terrorist activities that took place in Srinagar", he said, referring to the attack on Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on October one. Reeker said the important factor is that "both sides need to pursue a dialogue, take steps and resolve the Kashmir issue... Through dialogue, through restraint. Ultimately, that is the way we are going to solve this", he said. The October one terrorist attack caused tremendous loss of life, but "it accomplished absolutely nothing, and so i am sure the leaders of both sides need to pursue dialogue. That is the message Secretary Powell gave", he said. (PTI) |
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