Al Qaeda arrest could be used against Musharraf

ISLAMABAD, Mar 5: Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf may have won acclaim for the arrest of the suspected September 11 mastermind, but it will add to his difficulties in dealing with Islamic groups, analysts have said.

The General, who seized power in a coup in 1999, now faces the challenge of reconciling rising anti-US sentiment with his desire to remain a key player in the global "war on terrorism".

Suspected Al Qaeda operations leader Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was arrested in Pakistan on Saturday, the biggest success yet against a network blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks which killed about 3000 people in the United States.

"I think this can be used against Musharraf," security and political analyst Khaled Ahmed told media yesterday.

Ahmed said many Pakistanis were unaware of Al Qaeda activities and thought the group’s members were wrongly targeted by Americans. The possibility of a US attack on Iraq has also fuelled anti-US sentiment.

"Right now the mood in the country is against America because of Iraq and it could be used by the Islamic groups," he said.

Islamic groups are already angry with Musharraf for suddenly turning Pakistan’s Afghan policy on its head after the September 11 attacks by abandoning support for Kabul’s hardline Taliban regime, which Washington said was shielding Al Qaeda.

His crackdown on Islamic militancy and cooperation in hunting remnants of the Taliban and Al Qaeda members has incensed Islamic parties, which view American policies as extremely anti-Muslim.

On Sunday, tens of thousands of Pakistanis rallied in the port city of Karachi in the country’s largest anti-US demonstration for years.

Ahmed said it was significant that some marchers carried not only placards opposing war on Iraq but also pictures of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. "This new wave will create problems for Musharraf," he added. The rally was called by Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, a coalition of rightwing Islamic parties, that made strong gains in October’s elections by riding anti-American sentiment over the US-led war in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Ameerul Azeem, a spokesman for the largest of the parties, Jamaat-e-Islami, told media he considered Mohammed a hero.

"Those who fought jihad (holy war) in Afghanistan...Who refused to be dictated to by the Americans are heroes of Islam," he said.

"These men are the targets of America, but Pakistanis consider them their guests — they are ready to give them refuge," Azeem said.

Mohammed, suspected of a role in virtually all Al Qaeda attacks in the past decade, is now in US custody.

Shirin Mazari, chairman of the Government’s Institute of Strategic Studies, said there were limits to the extent that Mohammed’s arrest could be used to whip up opposition.

She said Musharraf was easily able to control attempts by the religious parties to mobilise people against him when the United States launched its massive military campaign against the Taliban in 2001. There were daily protests in different cities but they were small and largely peaceful.

"On the issue of Al Qaeda and terrorism, there is a general consensus in Pakistan, that no political force could exploit it against him (Musharraf)," Mazari said.

At the same time she said the arrest of Mohammed could suggest to the United States and its allies that militants were operating from Pakistani territory.

"Given the anti-Muslim frame of mind of the US and its allies, they could use the occasion to say that Al Qaeda people are all hiding out in Pakistan and may be tempted to take some action or the other."

"But I think that would be extremely foolish of them because it would make it much more difficult for us to continue tracking down these terrorists." (AGENCIES)

German President favours peaceful resolution of conflicts

HYDERABAD, Mar 5: In an apparent reference to threat of war in Iraq, German President Johannes Rau today said conflicts of interests must be overcome in a sensible and peaceful manner to the benefit of all and political solutions must be found to resolve conflicts.

"Although I am not a pacifist myself, I am convinced that military force is only justified in extreme and exceptional circumstances and only under very strict conditions," he said addressing a gathering at the university of Hyderabad here.

Rau, who is on a two-day visit to the city, did not mention any country by name but said "primacy of politics must apply".

"We must focus once more on global disarmament. In doing so, we cannot neglect the justified interests of nations. Rather, our task must be to overcome conflict of interests in a sensible and peaceful manner to the benefit of all," the visiting President said while delivering a lecture on "science in the 21st century: challenges for liberal democracies in a globalised world".

The primacy of politics prescribes that politicians must decidc in the deployment of military forces and that "we have a perennial obligation to seek and find political solutions to conflicts," he said.

The visiting dignitary also participated in a round table meeting with Indian scholars who visited Germany under Alexander Van Humboldt fellowship and the German academic exchange programme. (PTI)

Letters indicate Bin Laden is alive

ISLAMABAD, Mar 5: Handwritten letters from Osama bin Laden, found on Al-Qaeda terror mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, indicate Bin Laden is alive and hiding "in the region," a Pakistani security official said today.

"There is material like letters and other things, which were in possession of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed that strongly suggest Bin Laden is alive and may be hiding in the region," a senior security official told AFP.

Pakistani and US security agents who led the swoop on a suburban home in Rawalpindi found the letters with Mohammed, along with diaries, a satellite phone, cellular phone, laptop, computer disks and lists of telephone numbers.

Sheikh Mohammed told interrogators that the undated letters were written by Bin Laden himself, the security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"Pakistani interrogators believe that the writing in the letter matches that of Osama Bin Laden," the official said.

Sheikh Mohammed, said he had corresponded with Bin Laden through a complicated chain of messengers, sometimes using email to contact a courier who would manually carry a message to another contact, an official familiar with interrogations said.

Interior Minister Faisal Saleh Hayat, however, said the elusive Al-Qaeda chief was "not in Pakistan".

Shiekh Mohammed, dubbed by US officials "the brains" behind the September 11 terror attacks, was captured in a pre-dawn raid in Pakistan Saturday with a Saudi militant who is believed to have financed the terror operation.

So far Mohammed had insisted he was unaware of Bin Laden’s exact location.

"But we believe he knows it and will come out with the truth during the interrogation by US agents," the security official said.(AFP)

Pak poses greater security threat to US than Iraq: Expert

WASHINGTON, Mar 5: Pakistan has become the new command centre for Al-Qaeda and poses a greater national security threat to the US than Iraq, according to a report by a leading American think tank which said Islamabad should be warned that the US-led war against terror could spread even to its territory.

Washington should be concerned over Islamabad’s proliferation of nuclear weapons and support for terrorist movements affiliated to Al-Qaeda, a report by the Cato Institute said.

Pakistan has become the new command centre for Al-Qaeda and poses a greater threat to the US than Iraq, it said.

The concentration of Al-Qaeda presents the largest risk to US National Security due to the proximity of Al-Qaeda and Jihadi groups to power centres in nuclear Pakistan.

US policymakers "need to be concerned about the Pakistani nuclear arsenal, the level of threat posed to that arsenal by Al-Qaeda and related terrorist groups within Pakistan, the stability of Pakistan’s regime, and the country’s record on nuclear proliferation," analyst, in the report "Extremist, nuclear Pakistan: An emerging threat?"

As President (George W) Bush has been pressuring Iraq to disarm while mulling military action against Saddam Hussein’s regime, the US has ignored the presence of Al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistan, where they fled and re-established themselves following US action in Afghanistan, he said.

The US "should warn musharraf that if Pakistan is unwilling or incapable of cleansing itself of its terrorist infrastructure, the US military will take matters into its own hands and extend the anti-terrorism war into Pakistani territory." (AGENCIES)

UK tank forces not combat-ready until late March

LONDON, Mar 5: British tanks will not be able to take part in any US-led strike on Iraq until late March, military experts said today, potentially delaying a major ground offensive on Baghdad until then.

Defence officials and analysts say many British troops massing in Kuwait are close to operational readiness with most hardware having already arrived in the theatre.

"My understanding is that the majority of stores and equipment are in place or will be in place in the next few days," a Royal Navy spokesman said.

But he said challenger tanks, warrior armoured fighting vehicles and heavy guns belonging to the army’s 7th armoured brigade, known as the desert rats, were still being offloaded from a flotilla of merchant ships.

The 7th armoured brigade is a major element of Britain’s ground force contribution of 26,000 British Army troops.

"It is still likely that it’s some weeks away," said Charles Heyman, editor of Jane’s World Armies, speaking about the brigade’s operational readiness.

He said troops and heavy equipment still needed to be "married up", hardware tested and units briefed.

However, two "lighter" Brigades, 3 Commando and 16 Air Assault Brigade, already in theatre and near combat-ready, could attack much earlier.

Military experts said the lighter British units could be ready to launch the opening shots of any ground war, possibly spearheading an attack on the port city of Basra say, as early as mid-March.

The southern city of Basra is Iraq’s second largest and an important strategic and symbolic objective, experts say.

"There is enough there to go for basra at the moment — they could even go at the end of next week," Hayman said.

Experts are split on whether British and American forces would need to launch an attack at the same time.

"The British don’t have to be there at the beginning necessarily — things could actually start without us. Quite a lot of preliminary operations are going to have to be carried out," christopher langton, head of defence analysis at the international Institute for Strategic Studies in London, said. Combined US and British forces committed to the Gulf region now total more than 300,000 along with dozens of warships and more than 500 attack aircraft. (AGENCIES)

Lankan court orders release of 96 of 117 Indian fishermen

MANNAR, SRI LANKA, Mar 5: The Mannar district court today ordered the release of 96 out of the 117 Indian fishermen, who had encroached into the Sri Lankan territorial waters on Monday, while ordered to keep the remaining 21 fishermen under custody.

The released Indian fishermen had been handed over to the civil authorities tonight to be further handed over to the Indian Coast Guards tomorrow by the Sri Lanka Navy at the Indo-Lanka borders.

The released fishermen include those 12 who are presently admitted to the Mannar Base Hospital for medical treatment.

The fishermen, all from Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu, were taken into custody by Sri Lankan fishermen off Mannar and Vankalai in two separate incidents on Monday and yesterday along with their trawlers.

Indian fishermen admitted to the Mannar base hospital told UNI that they were brutally assaulted by the Sri Lankan fishermen with Poles, Cables, and Swords before being taken into custody. They said the Sri Lankan fishermen were under the influence of liquor at the time of the incident.

Mannar District Government Agent S Vishwalingam said 96 fishermen had been released on humanitarian grounds, while the remaining 21 had been placed under custody, as they are the drivers of the trawlers which intruded into the Sri Lankan waters. (UNI)

US condemns latest attack in Israel

WASHINGTON, Mar 5: President George W Bush today condemned a bus bomb attack in Israel and vowed to keep pursuing peace.

The first Palestinian suicide bombing in two months tore apart a crowded bus in the Israeli port city of Haifa, killing at least 10 people.

"The President condemns in the strongest terms today’s attack against innocents in Israel," White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer said. "The President stands strongly with the people of Israel in fighting terrorism."

"The message to the terrorists is their efforts will not be successful. We will continue to pursue the path of peace in the Middle East (West Asia), and he (Bush) urges all to condemn today’s attack," Fleischer said. (AGENCIES)

Bush denounces Haifa bus bombing

WASHINGTON, Mar 5: US President George W Bush condemns "in the strongest terms" a suicide bombing which killed at least 15 people in a bus in the Northern Israeli city of Haifa, the White House said today.

"The President condemns in the strongest terms today’s attack on innocents in Israel," Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer said, adding that the US leader "stands strongly with the people of Israel in fighting terrorism."

"And his message to the terrorists is: Their efforts will not be succcessful. He will continue to pursue the path to peace in the Middle East, and he urges all to condemn today’s attack."

The bombing, which also left more than 30 people wounded, was the first bombing in Israel in exactly two months. Most of the victims were thought to be students.

Hardline Palestinian Groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said the blast, which created chaos and carnage in the city, was revenge for a string of bloody raids by the Israeli Army into the Gaza Strip in recent weeks.

But the Palestinian leadership condemned the attack, saying it would divert international sympathy away from the far higher Palestinian civilian death toll. (AFP)

US begins sending bombers to Guam to deter N Korea

WASHINGTON, Mar 5: The United States has begun deploying 24 long-range air force bombers to the island of Guam in the western pacific to deter any aggression by North Korea in case of a war in Iraq, defense officials said today.

Officials said the first of 12 eight-engine B-52S departed Barksdale Air Force base in Louisiana yesterday. Twelve B-1 bombers were also scheduled to go to Guam from dyess air force base in Texas.

"Some of our aircraft left yesterday for the western pacific," said Air Force Capt. William Manley, a spokesman for the 2nd bomb wing at Barksdale. There was no immediate word whether the B-1S had begun departing.

US defense officials said the bombers would be sent to guam - located 3400 kms from the North Korean capital, Pyongyang -as a "prudent measure" to maintain peace on the Korean peninsula, where tensions have risen sharply over North Korea’s nuclear weapons ambitions. The defence officials stressed that President George W Bush wanted to settle the crisis on the peninsula peacefully and that the move was not prompted by the Sunday’s interception of an unarmed US Air Force reconnaissance jet by North Korean fighters in international air space over the sea of Japan. (AGENCIES)

30 ships able to hit Iraq with missiles,says US Admiral

ABOARD USS KITTY HAWK, Mar 5: At least 30 warships able to attack Iraq with Tomahawk cruise missiles are now in the area, the Admiral leading this aircraft carrier’s battle group said today.

"The amount of Tomahawks available to General (Tommy) Franks and his organisation is pretty significant," said Rear Admiral Matthew Moffit, whose carrier group, the only one of its kind in the US Navy, became the fifth available for action against Iraq when it reached the Gulf region in late February.

Franks is commander of all US forces, including more than 70 naval ships, massing in the region.

Moffit, 50, told reporters Tomahawks would likely be a crucial element of any initial attack against Iraq.

"Well, as we have employed Tomahawks in the past, I would think so," he said sitting in his office beneath a painting of a carrier in action during the Vietnam war.

The kitty hawk’s nine squadrons of combat and support aircraft are also backed up by the destroyer John S McCain and guided missile cruiser cowpens. Both ships are capable of firing Tomahawks, a weapon first used in the 1991 Gulf war.

Since their arrival in the Gulf, aircraft from the kitty hawk have joined those from two other Gulf-based US carriers enforcing a no-fly zone over southern Iraq. US and British aircraft have stepped up attacks in no-fly zones over both the North and South.

In less than a month, the number of carriers enforcing the southern zone has risen from one to three but Moffit said the strikes should not be seen as preparation for a ground war. (AFP)

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