US lawmakers for aggressive probe into Saudi terror funding

NEW YORK, Nov 25: US lawmakers, cutting across party lines, are demanding "aggressive" investigations into the allegations that Saudi money funded the hijackers of Sept 11 terror attacks on America, unmindful of offending the Al-Saud royal family.

Asking Saudi Arabia to stop coddling terrorists, the legislators in various television interviews yesterday also demanded a probe into whether FBI and CIA failed to pursue leads about the funneling of funds.

FBI must pursue the investigation aggressively despite the risk of offending the Saudis, important allies with whom relations have already been strained, lawmakers said.

Saudi Arabia denies the charge but it is proving embarrassing for the Bush administration which needs Saudi help in any war against Iraq.

At issue is whether money from the wife of Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the US ended up in the hijacking.

Senator Joseph Lieberman said US President George W Bush’s post-Sept 11 warning should apply to "our friends like Saudi Arabia" and not just to Iraq or Iran.

A link between the Saudi Government and the hijackers, if true, "raises the stakes substantially of what the threat is in the US," said Democratic Senator Bob Graham of Florida, the outgoing chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Such a network could "facilitate the next wave of terror," he warned.

"If it’s the royal family, (that) needs to be brought out," said Alabama Senator Richard Shelby, top republican on the intelligence panel.

Saudi officials, despite their alignment with the US, have promoted shady charities and fundamentalist strains of Islam that are hostile to America.

With the latest allegations, "they’ve got a lot of answering to do," said Shelby on NBC’s "Meet the Press."

Republican Sen John Mccain of Arizona, who helped create an independent commission that will investigate the causes of the Sept 11 attacks, said he doubted the princess meant to help terrorists.

"But facts are facts," he said, turning to what he sees as Saudi complicity in the rise of anti-American radicalism."

"The Saudi royal family been engaged in a faustian bargain for years to keep themselves in power," he added.

Graham said the potential involvement of a foreign Government in terrorist financing raises the question: "is there, inside the US, an infrastructure that provides support, financing and logistics for the next generation of hijackers?" (PTI)

Singapore to use Indian technology for water treatment

SINGAPORE, Nov 25: A water filter technology developed by an Indian Government Laboratory in Hyderabad is set to play a significant part in Singapore’s efforts to supply clean water to its three million people.

Singapore which consumes 300 million gallons of water per day depends on Malaysia for almost half its water requirement.

It is seeking to reduce its dependence on its neighbour by recycling wastewater and desalinating seawater.

A stainless steel water filter developed at Advanced Research Centre International (ARCI) for powder metallurgy in Hyderabad is expected to contribute to this effort.

ARCI is run by the Indian Department of Science and Technology. It has transferred its technology to Hyflux Limited of Singapore — a young and dynamic company that is already offering products and services in raw water treatment, purification, wastewater treatment and water recycling to industries in Singapore and China.

ARCI’s technology in stainless steel filters is being taken up in our committed program on water treatment, a senior official of Hyflux said in a telephone interview.

He said his company would shortly start manufacturing these filters in-house using the Indian technology.

R Sundaresan, Deputy Director of the Hyderabad Lab told PTI that the process being transferred to Hyflux covers production of long, slender stainless steel porous tubes made by cold isostatic pressing followed by sintering in vacuum or under hydrogen.

The pores in these filters are so tiny they can filter off particles (or microbes) as small as five micrometers or five thousandths of a millimeter, he said.

Much of the raw water treatment in Singapore is currently based on separation technology using polymer membranes, while wastewater treatment calls for more rugged stainless steel filters. Apart from being rugged, stainless steel offers a possibility to clean, with appropriate solvents, thereby prolonging the life of the filter, unlike membranes, which have to be discarded, Sundaresan said.

The Hyflux official said sintered stainless steel porous parts developed at Arci have the distinct advantage of higher resistance to corrosion and heat.

He said that his company will have to carry out further research and development work before the Arci Filters can be turned into a commercial product.

Singapore and Malaysia have long bickered over the water supply agreements signed in 1961 and 1962. Malaysia that is selling its water to Singapore at 3 sens (Rs 4) per 1000 gallons is asking for a price review but Singapore says Malaysia has no legal right for price revision.

To reduce dependence on Malaysia, beginning next year, Singapore Government intends to mix two million gallons a day of recycled water — dubbed newater — with water in reservoirs before being treated and piped to homes.

The island state has built two water recycling plants and will build two more to meet the target of producing 55 million gallons a day of newater by the timesia expires in 2011. (PTI)

‘Mousetrap’ marks 50 years as longest-running play

LONDON, Nov 25: Queen Elizabeth and "the mousetrap" get together tonight for a double celebration — both have enjoyed half a century at the top in Britain.

In her golden jubilee year, the British monarch is off to to the theatre to see the Agatha Christie Whodunnit on the night that performance number 20,807 marks its 50th anniversary as the world’s longest-running play.

"The mousetrap" ranks alongside Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace as one of Britain’s must-see tourist attractions and it shows no signs of running out of steam. "I don’t see why it should ever come off," said its producer, Sir Stephen Waley-Cohen.

Oscar-Winning Director Richard Attenborough, who was in the original production, agrees: "It is like a London institution —like the ravens in the tower of London."

Attenborough, who will be making the curtain call speech after tonight’s Gala performance, said: "You must view the play as a classical piece of theatre. That is why it has run so long."

And for the queen, it offers a chance to celebrate another great British icon after her attendance last week at the world premiere of the latest James Bond movie marked the 40th anniversary of the world’s most famous secret agent.

Buckingham Palace said it believed the monarch was seeing the murder play for the first time. "She doesn’t know Whodunnit," a spokeswoman said. "So yes, she’s looking forward to seeing it".

"The mousetrap" was originally called "three blind mice" and was written by Agatha Christie in 1947 as a 30-minute radio play to celebrate the then Queen Mary’s 80th birthday.

It took to the London stage the year that Queen Elizabeth took to the throne. Both have survived a rollercoaster half century since then. Fashions have changed but they have both survived. The play has been seen by over 10 million people and performed in 44 different countries. "The mousetrap" has three different entries in the Guinness Book of World Records.

It is the longest-running theatrical show in the world.

It boasts the world’s most durable actor - David Raven played the role of Major Metcalfe for 4,575 performances.

Nancy Seabrooke can lay claim to being the world’s longest-serving understudy for 6,240 performances over 15 years. She would sit patiently out in the wings doing embroidery and crochet.

One item still remains from the 1952 set — the clock on the Mantelpiece. The revolver from the original production is now in London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.

Christie, one of the world’s greatest thriller writers, gave the stage rights to her grandson Mathew Prichard on his ninth birthday.

Still sworn to secrecy on who the killer is, he said: "The enjoyment of the audience watching it is transparent. I saw it once with a group of japanese and they had a great time and hissed the killer at the end."

The play has rewarded its original investors 1,000 times over but not everyone has been so lucky.

Two British producers bought the film rights for 5,000 pounds on condition that they could not make the movie until six months after the theatre production closed. The play has long since outlived them. (AGENCIES)

Israel drafting convention against suicide attacks

JERUSALEM, Nov 25: Israel’s Foreign Ministry said today it was drafting an international convention on fighting suicide bombers, hoping to counter criticism of its tough military measures against the Palestinians.

"Until now the only attention has been on Israel being accused of war crimes for fighting suicide terrorism," Alan Baker, Legal Adviser to the Foreign Sinistry, told newsmen.

The draft would aim to set down some rules of warfare against suicide attackers and boost Israel’s image, tarnished by military action against the Palestinians during a two-year-old uprising for statehood.

Dozens of Israelis have been killed in suicide bombings that have led to crushing Army offensives in the West Bank and the reoccupation of Palestinian cities.

Baker said the Foreign Ministry realised it would have a hard time winning support from Israel’s critics in the United Nations for an international convention against suicide bombings.

"It’s one thing to prepare a draft convention and another thing to push it through the international community," he said.

Possible clauses in the convention could ban financial support, such as Iraq has been providing in the West Bank and Gaza, for families of suicide bombers and outlaw incitement to carry out suicide attacks, Baker said. Palestinian militant groups say suicide attacks, which have drawn condemnation from the Palestinian authority and international censure, are the only tools they have to offset Israel’s military superiority.

Colonel Daniel Reisner, head of the Israeli military’s International Law Department, said there was no international legal rulebook on how to deal with suicide attackers.

"The (current) rules of warfare differentiate between combatants and civilians...The law breaks down when civilians take up weapons," Reisner said at a briefing for journalists and foreign diplomats.

This reality has complicated Reisner’s job of advising Israeli Army Chiefs — who could face the prospect of prosecution in international war crime courts — on how military action against Palestinian militants would stand up to legal challenge.

Reisner said there were grey areas not covered by international rules of law, such as whether troops could legally shoot dead a would-be suicide bomber after spotting his explosives belt.

Baker said the Foreign Ministry might try to persuade countries friendly to Israel adopt its draft convention and sponsor it at the United Nations. He said the United States, Russia, India and Turkey had already shown interest.

At least 1,6O8 Palestinians and 662 Israelis have been killed since the Palestinian uprising began in September 2000. (AGENCIES)

4 provincial Governors in Pak sworn-in for fresh terms

ISLAMABAD, Nov 25: Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf today further consolidated his hold on the administration as Governors of four provinces appointed by him were sworn-in for fresh terms, while two of the new provincial Assemblies met to begin the process of electing regional Governments.

The Governors of Punjab, Sindh, North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Baluchistan took fresh oath of office under the Constitution. They were administered the oath by Chief Justices of the respective High Courts.

Those who were sworn-in were Mohammed Mian Soomroo of Sindh, Lt Gen (retd) Khalid Maqbool of Punjab, Justice (retd) Amirul Mulkh of Baluchistan and Lt Gen (retd) Syed Iftikar Hussain Shah of NWFP. They all were appointed by Musharraf and have been serving as governors under the military regime for some time.

Meanwhile the legal validity of Musharraf’s presidency as well as Legal Framework Order (LFO), incorporating his amendments, came under attack in both Punjab and NWFP Assemblies, which met today to administer oath of office to its members.

As the two Assemblies met, members from former premier Benazir Bhutto’s PPP, religious party alliance MMA and deposed Premier Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N raised the issue of Musharraf’s presidency and LFO, saying they would not recognise them.

Like their party members in the National Assembly, they took oath under the 1973 Constitution without the amendments of Musharraf.

The two Assemblies would elect Speaker and Deputy Speaker on Wednesday, followed by election of Chief Minister of their respective provinces.

Pro-Musharraf PML-Q is expected to have a smooth sailing in the 297-member Punjab Assembly as it has nearly won majority there by forcing defection from 63 PPP members. The PML-N has 39 seats in the Assembly.

In contrast, MMA along with its allies has got simple majority in the NWFP, bordering Afghanistan. If everything works out well, pro-Taliban MMA would form Government in NWFP by this weekend.

The Sindh and Balushistan Assemblies have been summoned to meet on November 28.

MMA too has substantial presence in Baluchistan Assembly and could stake its claims to form the Government there.

Meanwhile PPP is struggling hard to keep its flock together in Sindh as MQM and PML-Q have made a joint bid to form Government there.

The PPP accuses the newly-elected Jamali Government at the centre of deliberately convening the Sindh Assembly late in order to pressurise its elected members to defect. (PTI)

UN arms experts vow to operate like "detectives" in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Nov 25: UN experts said on their arrival here today they will operate "like detectives" in inspecting suspected Iraqi arms sites under a UN resolution threatening Iraq with war if it fails to cooperate.

"We operate like detectives and when we have clues, we have to be flexible and change our plans," said Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

"One of the most important points of our strategy is the ability to conduct unannounced inspections, we will never reveal where we are going," she told reporters upon her arrival at the hotel housing the inspectors in Baghdad.

The 11 inspectors from the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and six from the IAEA are due to start work on Wednesday.

Fleming warned that "we are here just to test cooperation on the ground. We do not believe any words of any Government ... We believe actions, we believe what we can see with our own eyes.

"We have no expectations, we come in here with hope that things will go well this time, that we will get what is required of Iraq," in line with terms of UN Security Council resolution 1441.

"We have had a lot of promises of cooperation, we believe that this is a good start, but we have suspicious minds, we are here to test cooperation among other things," said fleming, a US national. (AFP)

Top Al-Qaida operative for Africa killed by Algerian military

ALGIERS, Nov 25: An Islamic militant killed by Algerian security forces in a raid more than two months ago has been identified as a top Al-Qaida operative for Africa, Algeria’s official news agency reported today.

Emad abdelwahid Ahmed Alwan, alias Abu Mohammed, was shot and killed in a Sept. 12 raid in the Eastern Batna region, about 450 kilometers East of the capital Algiers, the official APS news agency reported.

Ahmed Alwan, a native of Yemen, was identified after a two-month investigation by Government experts, the report said. He was a leader of Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaida terrorist network for Northern and Western Africa, it said.

Ahmed Alwan, 37, had played a central role in setting up an organization in Yemen of Arab militants who had fought against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s, the report said.

He had been active in Northern Africa since June 2001, APS said, and traveled extensively throughout the region, visiting Algeria, Chad, Niger, Nigeria, Mauritania and Mali.

According to the report, Ahmed Alwan acted as an adviser for militant groups in the region and a liaison with operatives in Yemen. He was especially active in Algeria, where Islamic insurgents have fought with the Government for 10 years.

In Algeria, Ahmed Alwan worked with the 4-year-old Salafist group for call and combat, a militant group suspected of links to Bin Laden, APS said. (AFP)

Indian Embassy denies plans to grant asylum
to Nepal’s Maoists

KATHMANDU, Nov 25: The Indian Embassy in Kathmandu today denied that New Delhi was about to offer political asylum to Maoist rebels from Nepal.

The Embassy issued a statement in response to several local reports earlier this month that suggested India was considering granting political asylum to some Maoists.

But the Embassy stressed that it wanted to work alongside the Nepalese Government in defeating the "terrorist" movement.

"Doubts have been raised by certain quarters about Indian `enigmatic’ or `opaque’ or `dual’ policy concerning the Maoist insurgency in Nepal," the Embassy statement said.

"There is no ambiguity in India’s policy. As has been noted by the critics of India themselves, the Maoists were declared `terrorists’ by India even before Nepal did.

"The Government of India is therefore, committed to cooperating with Nepal to deal with this challenge."

The Embassy admitted that some Maoists could have crossed back and forward across the porous 1,040-kilometre-long border but officials were under orders to arrest any insurgents.

"On the Indian side, additional security personnel have been deployed to improve our ability to intercept any hostile elements from crossing the border either for sanctuary or for indulging in activities inimical to the interest of both our countries," the statement said. (AFP)

Gunmen in Pak kill member of Bhutto’s party, 3 others

LAHORE, Nov 25: Gunmen opened fire on a vehicle carrying a local official of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s party, killing him, his two bodyguards and a bystander, police said.

"It seems to be politically motivated," said Saoud Aziz, police chief at Gujranwala, about 65 km North of the Eastern City of Lahore.

Khalid Hamayun, the President of the local division of Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party, was traveling from Gujranwala to a nearby town when an unknown number of attackers opened fire on his car, Aziz told reporters.

The victims, including one bystander, were rushed to a Government Hospital in Gujrawanla, where they died from loss of blood, he said.

Aziz said police believed they knew the identities of some of the attackers and were searching for the suspects. (AFP)

2 European journalists detained in Bangladesh

DHAKA, Nov 25: Two European journalists were detained today in Western Bangladesh as they were about to cross the border into India, police and sources here said.

An officer in Dhaka confirmed the arrests of British national Zaiba Makhi and Italian Leo Tarantino and separate cases have been filed against them, but he could not give further details.

Both were still being held at the Benapole border crossing, he added.

A source in Jessore said that the pair had been detained at Benapole as they were about to cross the border.

Government officials in Dhaka could not be reached for comment.

The two were thought to be working for Britain’s channel four television channel. (APF)

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