Al-Qaeda defies Saudi manhunt with high web profile

DUBAI, Nov 16: Al-Qaeda militants have defied a crackdown and the loss of senior leaders in Saudi Arabia by using the internet to win over new recruits in Osama Bin Laden’s birthplace.

Despite the killing of top contributors, including one of its leading web magazine editors Issa Saad Bin Oshan, the group has continued to publish its two widely distributed magazines regularly for the past year.

"It’s testament to the strength of Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia that they’ve been able to bring out the magazines twice a month for a whole year despite very heavy losses," said Paul Eedle, a London-based analyst who closely follows Qaeda sites.

"This shows how a small group can continue a campaign using the internet. Before the days of the internet a group would pretty much fade from view if they were reduced in numbers like Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia," he said.

Oshan Ran Sawt Al-Jihad (voice of holy war) — the most important vehicle for disseminating the group’s ideas in which he detailed how saudis could take up the armed struggle. He called on Muslims to evict "crusaders" from the cradle of Islam and praised comrades fighting pro-US rulers.

Another key publication is Muaskar-al-Battar (battar camp), an Al-Qaeda guerrilla manual named after a favourite sword of Prophet Mohammad which disseminates knowledge about the use of arms and explosives and how to kill officials.

Oshan was killed in a raid by Saudi security forces on a hideout that led to the discovery of the head of Paul Johnson, the American hostage who was killed by his Qaeda captors in Saudi Arabia in June.

Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia has waged a massive manhunt, killing or arresting some 17 of the 26 most wanted militants.

"I have been astonished by the magazines’ continuity, even though their content has suffered lately. This is one of the best media campaigns by a terrorist group," said an analyst from a European defence studies institute who declined to be named.

London-based Islamic activist Yasser-al-Sirri said a small group of followers may be helping publish the magazines under the control of Saudi Al-Qaeda leaders. The magazines often carry interviews with senior militants vowing to fight until death.

Authorities have tried to block access to the magazines and other Islamist sites to curb the spread of extremism.

But analysts say the ability of the magazines in actually mobilising Al-Qaeda sympathisers is debatable.

"It’s a very big leap from reading militant texts, posting messages and sympathising to actually acting. I think that leap normally requires a personal contact," Eedle said.

The defence analyst added: "The internet may seem as a fantastic virtual meeting place, but it cannot replace a training camp."

The magazines prompted alarm among some security experts, who say militants were turning the web into a virtual classroom. One posting showed how to use a mobile phone in a bomb attack, a method used in blasts that killed 191 on Madrid trains in March.

Israeli analyst Reuven Paz said Islamists had more success in winning over youths than Arab nationalists or socialists.

"The Islamists create through the internet a ‘culture of the oppressed’," said Paz, an expert on Islamist movements.

But other analysts said the fears may be exaggerated and that most of the material was propaganda. (AGENCIES)

Conservationists meet to plan global green agenda

BANGKOK, Nov 16: More than 5,000 scientists, conservationists and politicians meet in Thailand over the next week to hammer out a blueprint for saving some of the world’s most endangered species and fragile ecosystems.

The Iucn World Conservation Union, which is hosting the four-yearly world conservation Congress, is billing the eight-day Bangkok convention as the one of biggest environmental meetings in history.

"This sends a very powerful message that conservation is not a marginal issue in the year 2004," said Achim Steiner, Director-General of the Geneva-based organisation. "There has been a record level of interest."

One of the gathering’s top events will be the unveiling of the iucn’s "red list" of endangered animals, the most comprehensive scientific assessment of species at risk of dying out, and concrete measures to slow or reverse their extinction.

The prognosis is not good.

"Despite all our efforts in the conservation community and in Governments, we have not really succeeded in stemming the loss of species," Steiner told .

"The number has now risen to over 15,000 threatened species on our planet — and this is just the number we have been able to assess so far."

Threats to the environment from rapid economic and population growth — a major issue in Asia, home to half of humanity — will also feature prominently at the forum, which includes names from the world of big business.

Oil giants bp and Royal Dutch/Shell, mining conglomerate Rio Tinto and insurer Swiss Re are among multinationals putting in an appearance, reflecting the growing prominence of green issues in the boardroom.

"There has definitely been a shift in the big corporations, who now realise the importance of biodiversity," said Iucn spokesman Deric Quaile. "Most of big business now incorporates this as part of their strategic planning."

The theme of the Bangkok meeting, which opens tomorrow, is "people and nature — only one world", to emphasise that conservation and the environment should not be at the expense of human development, and vice versa. Founded in 1948, the Iucn is the world’s largest conservation organisation, bringing together more than 80 governments, over 800 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and 10,000 scientists and experts from 180 countries.

It says its unique "union" structure adds to its effectiveness because it bridges the public and private sectors.

At the last Congress, held in the Jordanian capital Amman in 2000, environmentalists said a lack of political will was hampering efforts to preserve threatened species and ecosystems such as coral reefs.

Given the continued decline visible in the past four years, the time for talking was over, they said.

"What we are documenting today is an extraordinary loss of wealth, not only in biological terms, but also in historical terms and in financial terms," Steiner said.

"Every day that passes when we do not take the threat of losing species more seriously will cost us more and more." (AGENCIES)

Market days in Sudan’s Darfur draw militia raids

EL-FASHER, SUDAN, Nov 16: Arab militias in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region often attack African villages on market days, when the stalls are full and the looting is good.

The town of Tawilla, a strategic transit point about 70 km west of El-Fasher, the capital of north Darfur state, was one of the latest targets.

Ekhals Abuaker, a 26-year-old woman, was shopping for food when a gun battle broke out in the market after a dozen militiamen entered the bazaar and began looting last Tuesday.

"When the shooting started, I just ran," said Abuaker, who fled on a battered cargo truck to El-Fasher with her infant son.

At least four militiamen died in the Skirmish, according to the United Nations, though villagers said they killed six of the attackers by fighting back with guns, sticks, knives and clubs.

While relatively minor, the clash is typical of Darfur’s simmering insecurity, where tit-for-tat cattle raids, attacks and revenge killings have fuelled a long-running cycle of ethnic violence that exploded into full-blown war last year.

An African Union (AU) force has been deployed to monitor an April ceasefire that has been broken repeatedly by all sides. But even when the force strength rises to more than 3,000 from 700, it faces a daunting task policing an area the size of France.

In Tawilla, residents fearful of a retaliatory militia attack scattered into the desert towards overcrowded camps where people seek a slim measure of security no longer present in their villages.

Towns are supposed to be protected by police and Government troops, but Tawilla villagers from the Fur tribe say authorities side with the roaming Arab militias known as janjaweed.

Only the rebels who roam the deserts surrounding the towns are willing to help them, villagers said.

"Tawilla remains a point of concern for humanitarian operations because of the proximity of the belligerent parties around the town and its importance as a (trade route)," said a UN security report obtained .

The area around Tawilla has been declared a UN "no-go zone" because of the risk of fresh violence, the report added.

Agreements signed by the Government and rebels at Sudan peace talks in the Nigerian capital Abuja last week offer a glimmer of hope, but few people in Darfur believe that distant talks will soon improve security in the vast desert region.

"Three or four rounds of negotiations have not resulted in an agreement that worked, so why should this time be any different?" asked Adam Bishara, a 47-year-old tribal leader living in a hut made of rags and sticks at a camp near El-Fasher.

The AU mission in Darfur faces financial and logistical obstacles in policing the lawless area where communications are poor. Many people say the force of more than 3,000 will not be enough.

"The problem is complicated. The Government alone cannot find a solution. It needs more help from the international community and the UN," said Bishara, repeating a common request that the United Nations send a strong peacekeeping force.

"Tribal fighting makes (bringing peace) difficult because of counter-attacks and revenge," Jan Pronk, the top UN official in Sudan, said last week during a visit to Darfur.

"I am told that this is the nature of the people here. Well, if that’s the case, then the nature of people has to change," said Pronk, condemning the lawlessness that has engulfed Darfur.

Arab nomads and African farmers have fought over scarce resources in the deserts of Africa’s largest country for decades, but in early 2003 African rebels launched a war against the Government, accusing it of neglecting their region.

Fighting since then has driven some 1.5 million people from their homes and the United Nations has said about 70,000 people have died since March from violence, malnutrition and disease.

The rebels accuse the Government backing the Janjaweed, Arab militias who have conducted a campaign of killing, raping and looting against African villagers in what the United States has called genocide.

Khartoum denies the accusations, calling the militiamen bandits.

Tawilla residents who fled to El-Fasher said the police helped the Janjaweed to escape the town after the market crowd got the upper hand in last week’s skirmish.

"When the police came, they stood beside the Janjaweed and shot in the air to disperse the crowd," said a Fur tribesman who fled to a camp near El-Fasher and who asked that his name not be used for fear of retribution.

The man and several other villagers said the police and army promised to protect the town, but that the militia crept back the same night, looted more shops and shot two people.

"Now Tawilla has no people because we are afraid to go back," said one former resident now at a camp in El-Fasher. (AGENCIES)

UK house prices fall at fastest pace in 12 yrs: Rics

LONDON, Nov 16: British house prices fell at their sharpest rate since the recession of the early 1990s in the three months to October, a survey said on Tuesday, the latest solid evidence that the housing boom is over.

The royal institution of chartered surveyors said 41 percent more of their members were reporting house price falls than rises, pushing down their seasonally adjusted house price balance to -41 in October from -30 in September.

That was the lowest balance since December 1992 when the last British housing market bubble burst, trapping millions in negative equity. It was also below economists’ expectations for a more modest fall to -35.

The survey is also one of the clearest signs yet that five interest rate hikes in a year and tough talk from the Bank of England have stopped the housing boom in its tracks, and will likely solidify the view that rates may have peaked at 4.75 percent and may even fall next year.

"The weakness of the market has become broad spread as a quick succession of interest rate rises over the spring and summer months have taken their toll on buyer affordability," Rics said in the report.

The number of new buyers also fell off sharply and the number of sales were down by a whopping 25 percent over the past year to their lowest level in nine years.

"Surveyors have commented that additional uncertainty has been injected into the market by continued speculation over the potential for more serious declines in prices," the report said.

The report comes just days after the Bank of England altered its view on the housing market from a slowing in house price inflation to zero to expectations that house prices will fall over a period —Albeit modestly.

Reports from big mortgage lenders also showed house prices falling in October. The Halifax bank said that house prices in October saw their biggest monthly fall in four years.

Rics said, however, that surveyor confidence in the market, while still negative, had plateaued.

And while surveyors are now expecting price falls in most regions over the next three months, they are predicting for the first time in six months that prices will remain stable in London rather than fall, Rics said.

British house prices have experienced double-digit inflation since the late 1990s, which has more than doubled the average price of a home. They are a closely-watched indicator in a country where two-thirds of households own their home.

The housing boom has heavily indebted many Britons taking out large mortgages to buy property and has led many homeowners who bought early to see sizeable capital gains. But it has also priced out many would-be first-time buyers.

"Buyers are still nervous which is not surprising given the quick fire interest rate rises over the summer. This is clearly reflected in the current strength of the lettings market," said Jeremy Leaf, housing spokesman for Rics.

House prices in the southeast of England are falling most sharply, Rics said. Prices were falling modestly in Wales and northern England while scotland is the only location reporting that house prices are still rising, Rics said. (AGENCIES)

Security in Sudan’s Darfur a farce: rights group

NAIROBI, Nov 16: Security in Sudan’s Darfur region is a "farce" with the Government engaged in ethnic cleansing and rebel groups looting and abducting civilians in violation of an April ceasefire, a rights group said.

Human rights watch said Sudan will take it as "an all-clear sign" to keep attacking and uprooting villagers if the UN Security Council does not force Khartoum to improve security so 1.5 million people displaced by fighting can return home.

"The danger now is the ethnic cleansing will be consolidated," human rights watch’s Jemera Rone told reporters in Nairobi yesterday. "The current situation where the Government says it is providing security is a farce."

The head of the UN refugee agency, Ruud Lubbers, echoed the concern about Darfur.

"We indeed see the very complex human rights situation that human rights watch is signaling," Lubbers, the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees, told during a visit to Mexico city.

The Security Council, which holds a special session on Sudan in the Kenyan capital on Thursday and Friday, had threatened sanctions earlier this year if Sudan did not improve security.

But since then, Sudan has violated the terms of the cease-fire and the spirit of Security Council resolutions that urge greater security in Darfur, human rights watch said in a report released yesterday.

"The Government in particular has continued to use helicopter gunships in bombing attacks on civilian objects. Fighting and displacement continue, particularly in south Darfur," the report says of attacks as recent as October.

Khartoum has defended more recent attacks as legitimate responses to the insurgency.

The report says ethnic cleansing in Darfur consists of "forcibly displacing people, then preventing them from returning home safely" and says Government forces raided camps with tear gas to force the displaced to relocate to areas other than their homes. Sudan has denied it used force in two camp raids this month.

The report also criticized the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) saying they "have abducted civilians, attacked police stations and other government institutions and raided and looted substantial numbers of livestock and commercial goods".

The SLA is also using male soldiers under the age of 18, but the group told rights investigators they are only used for sentry duty and not combat.

"The people are scared, they have totally lost the confidence in the local authority," Lubbers said.

He said it was unclear when the UN refugee agency would be able to send back its three international staff to south Darfur. The UNHCR said last week they were being temporarily withdrawn because of restrictions imposed by Sudan.

Any UN resolution must be backed up by concrete enforcement that can be carried out against Sudan and the rebels, the New York-based human rights watch said. Six other aid groups also joined in the call yesterday.

"Previous UN resolutions on Darfur have amounted to little more than empty threats, with minimal impact on the levels of violence," said a statement from care international, Oxfam International, Christian aid, save the children UK, tearfund and the international rescue committee.

The civil war in Darfur erupted in 2003, when two rebel groups of mostly black Africans rose up against the Government they said neglected the vast west of Sudan. Government attacks followed and critics say Khartoum armed nomadic Arab tribesmen to put down the rebellion by proxy.

Peace talks to end the humanitarian crisis the United Nations calls one of the world’s worst broke off last week in Nigeria after Sudan and the rebels signed security and humanitarian protocols. (AGENCIES)

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