Jan 30, 2003 News

More Than 1,000 Historians Announce National Antiwar Network CHICAGO, Jan. 23 (AScribe Newswire) -- At the 117th Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association in January, historians from more than forty colleges and universities agreed to form a new national network, "Historians Against the War." A committee was appointed to draft the following statement, which has been circulated for other historians to sign:

We historians call for a halt to the march towards war against Iraq. We are deeply concerned about the needless destruction of human life, the undermining of constitutional government in the U.S., the egregious curtailment of civil liberties and human rights at home and abroad, and the bstruction of world peace for the indefinite future. Since that meeting, more than one thousand historians, from 250 colleges and universities in 47 states, have endorsed the HAW statement. immediate projects for Historians Against the War include creating a nationwide "virtual speakers bureau" to aid the growing antiwar movement, providing accurate scholarly rebuttals to the mendacious historical distortions of the Bush Administration, and reporting on the growing wave of campus activism.

Participants in the meeting and signers of the statement include many of the United States' leading historians, from Harvard, Yale, the University of Michigan, the University of Chicago, the University of Wisconsin, the University of North Carolina, Stanford, the University of California at Berkeley, and UCLA. Professor Emeritus at Yale University, David Montgomery, a spokesman for Historians Against the War, notes that "What is most noteworthy to me about the signers of the statement is that they represent a very broad cross section of political opinion and styles of historical writing. Long-time activists, people who have done little for decades, and many others who have never been involved can be found among the signers." A complete list of signers of the Historians Against the War statement is available at http://chnm.gmu.edu/rhr/haw1.htm. Coverage of the founding meeting is available on the History New Network website at http://hnn.us/articles/1200.html. For additional information on Historians Against the War, please contact Van Gosse at 717-291-4246 or vangosse@mindspring.com.

The Palestinian American Congress holds its fourth annual convention

By Mae Ramadan, 1/30/03

The Palestinian American Congress held the Fourth Annual Convention on the weekend of Januaery the 24th-26th 2003 at The Wyndham Hotel in Elizabeth, New Jersey near the Newark Airport. This event was filled with workshops, seminars, esteemed guest speakers, and The Grand Banquet. Friday the 24th was the opening day of the convention which was the pre-registration and greeting, on Saturday the 25th the registration workshops and seminars, and of course the grand banquet which was Saturday night, and Sunday concluded the last day of the convention. On Sunday the 26th the new council for the International Palestinian American Congress was chosen.

Among the main speakers and esteemed guests was Anis Barghouti, Deputy Minister for Expatriate Affairs, Ministry of Planning & International Cooperation. Palestinian National Authority, Ramallah, Palestine, Mr. Terry Macintyre, Director of Minority affairs in the NJ Governor’s Office, Ramsey Abdallah, NJ State councilman for the Palestinian American Congress, New Jersey chapter, Maher Abdelqader, Kawther Ramadan, Mr. Quaseem Blan, Dr. Ziad Asali president of ADC( Arab American anti-committee), Mr. Nihad Awad president of CAIR, Richard Fawal Director of Political Department AAI, Prof. Sherry Gorelick, chairwoman, Women in Black, Rutgers, Prof. Avi Bronstein, John Jay University, Counselor Feda Abdelhadi, Palestine mission to the U.S., H.E. Ambassador Dr. Nassar Al-Kidwa, Palestine Ambassador to the UN, Sarah Elshazly, Director , Anti Discrimination against Muslims& Arabs in the state of NJ, Fuad Atteyah, Dr. Najat Arafat, PHD, Joanna Abukartumi, Jehad Abuhamda, Linda Sobeh, Mohammed A. Aburmishan, Dolly Salah- Hishman The president of the Union of Palestinian American Women in California, and Carlos J. Alma councilman for the town of Elizabeth, New Jersey.

The last seminar in which all the decisions were taken started at 6:00pm and ended at 6:30 pm, the main moderator was Mr. Anis Barghouti, the three issues that were the main focus of this meeting was Empowerment, Social Induction, and organization. Some of the suggestions given were to establish ourselves as an organization, reach out to our communities, educate everyone men, women, and children, and the most important and most emphasized was registration for voting, attacking the media, writing articles, rebutting articles that bash Arabs or Muslim but most important the Palestinian cause, and last but not least we have to establish organizational services within schools, campuses, universities to teach the young people who will be the future generation.

When Mr. Barghouti was asked how he felt this convention was going he said “I should say so far so good, I am very happy about it, people came from more then 12 cities from around the U.S., and those people are delegates that were elected by their communities.” Said Mr. Barghouti. “ I want our people to meet together to talk things out, and exchange ideas, we have ideas floating allover the U.S., and some of these ideas need to be coordinated, and we need everyone from their own group to set up their own committee in their own state and to help our communities. Help our children in school.” Said Mr. Barghouti. He went on to explain how we the Palestinians can spread the awareness of our cause “we can get out and vote, we need more media exposure, there are many officials who do know our cause believe it or not, but they can’t really say it because they want to be elected to office.

They say that they know we are just, we know you are right, but we want bonds and money and you guys don’t have money to support us. So we need those wealthy Palestinians to help our cause to have our name out there. Then we get votes, education, and then they will call us to help them in their campaigns and we can be a strong and reach our goals”. Stated Mr. Barghouti “There are a lot of ways to help the Palestinian people, we have messages from President Arafat and from Dr. Ghazi Hananiyah who was unable to be here because the Israelis would not allow him to come, he sent us a message to take care of ourselves and make this work. We have talked to congressman and senators to help give medication, and food and other essentials to the Palestinian people. We should collect money, and send it to Palestine to help with the hospitals and medicine. What we really need is media coverage not so much from the Arab media because we have excellent Arab media, but from the American media.” Stated Mr. Barghouti. Other opinions were similar to that of Mr. Barghouti, “We should make centers for our children in the U.S., we need to educate them more and help our committees, to not be afraid and to vote” stated Professor. Taji Elmor The banquet started of with an introduction of the 4th annual convention, and then was followed by the singing of the Palestinian National Anthem which at that point everyone in the banquet was on their feet and singing. After that there was entertainment by 5 young ladies who danced the traditional debka while wearing thobs from different towns in Palestine, after that the guys danced the debka. The speeches continued after the entertainment.

There were many speakers, Mr. Anis Barghouti who recited a letter from Dr. Ghazi Hananiyah, and a letter from President Yasser Arafat was read and a poem by Abu-Kammal. Among those who spoke was Mr. Terry Macintyre, Director of Minority affairs in the NJ Governor’s Office. For everyone who was their that was the highlight of the night, not only did Mr. Macintyre bring a message from James E. McGreevy the governor of the state of New Jersey who states that he Hereby recognizes and commends the Palestinian American Congress and extends his greeting and best wishes to everyone in the Palestinian committee, but the fact that he said the whole speech in Arabic, and then recited it again in English. Mr. Macintyre then presented PAC with a Proclamation that recognizes the efforts and goals of PAC as an organization that has goals of helping the Palestinian American Community understand the political system as well as understanding their rights in the U.S. After Mr. Macintyre spoke Carlos J. Alma councilman for the town of Elizabeth, New Jersey, spoke as well welcoming the Palestinian American congress to Elizabeth and extending his help and his support to the Palestinian people. When all the speeches were over with, their was a fashion show held, young women came out dressed in traditional Palestinian thobes and each thobe was from a city or village in Palestine. When the thobe from Jenin came out everyone stood up and clapped in honor of that brave refugee camp of Jenin. Overall it was an excellent night, filled with emotions and people who want to help Palestinians both here in the U.S. and in Palestine. It was a night that truly will not be forgotten by people who were lucky enough to attend.

It was a great success to all who were apart of it, and to all who were involved in making it all possible. “We may not see peace now, and may not see peace in our generation, we are doing this for our future generation, we should never be too tired for Palestine, we are all Palestinians” Said Joanna Abukartumi.

US to present proof at UN

Arab News

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, 30 January 2003 — President George W. Bush promised to produce new evidence against Iraq in a bid to convince wary allies that Baghdad is flouting UN demands to disarm.

In his State of the Union address to Congress late Tuesday, Bush also threatened to unleash the full force of the US military to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from power.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell is to go to the UN Security Council on Feb. 5 to present "information and intelligence about Iraq’s illegal weapons programs, its attempts to hide those weapons from inspectors and its links to terrorist groups," Bush said.

Powell will be armed with newly declassified CIA materials when he takes the US case against Iraq to the Security Council, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said. "The Central Intelligence Agency is in the process of developing the final materials that will be used by Secretary Powell and they are in the process of declassifying certain things," Rumsfeld told reporters.

At the United Nations, Russia demanded that Powell provide "undeniable proof" of any Iraqi banned weapons when he addresses the Security Council. Moscow’s UN ambassador, Sergei Lavrov, spoke as Security Council members convened behind closed doors on the Iraqi crisis and the Feb. 5 address by Powell. Several foreign ministers are expected to come to New York for the event, including Dominique de Villepin of France and Jack Straw of Britain.

Lavrov said the evidence Powell would present had to be "convincing," adding, "We would like to see undeniable proof."

He also told reporters Russia was not easing its opposition to a US-led attack on Iraq now, contending comments by President Vladimir Putin had been misinterpreted.

Lavrov said Putin was saying that he believed inspections had to continue unless Iraq "stops cooperating with the inspectors and starts blocking the inspectors." "We believe that inspections must continue, and that if Iraq stops cooperating with inspectors and starts blocking inspections we must look into it," Lavrov said.

Secretary Powell said the United States would help Iraqi President Saddam Hussein find a place to go into exile if he left the country. "If he were to leave the country and take some of his family members with him and others in the leading elite...we would I’m sure try to help find a place for them to go," Powell told a news conference.

"That certainly would be one way to avoid war," he said.

Powell, speaking after talks with Pakistani Foreign Minister Mian Khursheed Mehmood Kasuri, declined to speculate on whether the United States would give Saddam and his followers immunity from prosecution.

In his State of the Union address, Bush warned thousands of US troops massing in the Gulf that "crucial hours may lie ahead". "We will consult, but let there be no misunderstanding: If Saddam Hussein does not disarm, for the safety of our people and the peace of the world, we will lead a coalition to disarm him," Bush said.

The US military said later that it had activated almost 16,000 more reserve troops, swelling the total to almost 95,000, the biggest since the 1991 Gulf War.

Bush also promised to share with allies new intelligence linking the Iraqi regime with the Al-Qaeda network which was behind the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

And in London, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said there are definite connections between Iraq and Al-Qaeda. "We do know of links between Al-Qaeda and Iraq," Blair told Parliament, but added he knew of no evidence linking the two in relation to the Sept. 11 attacks.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz emphatically denied any Al-Qaeda link. "I absolutely deny that," Aziz said. "And I challenge Bush and his government to present any, any, evidence of that."

Working to shore up support in the US Congress, the Bush administration laid out details of its case against Saddam in a closed briefing that some lawmakers said more clearly linked Saddam to the Al-Qaeda network.

But several Democrats said they heard little new in athe hour-long briefing that Powell and Rumsfeld gave members of the US House of Representatives.

"Most of the material is in the public domain that is being discussed in there," said Rep. Earl Pomeroy, a North Dakota Democrat. "The largest impression I drew from it was that we are moving fairly quickly toward conflict."

Lawmakers said they got a partial preview of the case Powell will make in an effort to rally international support to take action to disarm Iraq.

"They have concrete evidence" of a link between Iraq and Al-Qaeda, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat, told reporters. "I became more convinced after this meeting."

But Rep. Tom Udall, a New Mexico Democrat, said, "I didn’t hear anything new."

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Texas Republican, said the secretaries said "they are working on a briefing for the UN that is even more extensive than what we just got, and they expect to show the American people the same briefing."

None of the 15 Security Council nations are defending Saddam but many have misgivings about a US invasion of Iraq, believing the inspections, which just resumed two months ago after a four-year hiatus, need more time.

Iraq’s UN Ambassador Mohammed Aldouri said Baghdad would increase its cooperation with the inspectors. ‘We will go a step further and proactively cooperate with the inspectors to prove that these baseless allegations are nothing but fabrications," Aldouri told reporters.

Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram said Iraq should be allowed to respond to accusations in order to open "possibilities for a peaceful solution." Bulgaria’s Ambassador Stefan Tafrov said he believed war could still be avoided but said he was "very disappointed by the Iraqi cooperation."

And Ambassador Mikhail Wehbe of Syria, Iraq’s neighbor, said he hoped Powell would deliver new information — but give it to UN inspectors to verify, who should have enough time to finish their work. "It is as simple as that," he said.

The Council also again questioned top UN inspector Mohamed El Baradei, in charge of nuclear arms, and Hans Blix, responsible for chemical, biological and ballistic weapons.

Underscoring the tension of an inevitable march toward war, El Baradei said, "We all know that time is running out." But he questioned for the third time Bush’s contention that Iraq had imported aluminum tubes suitable for nuclear weapons production.

"Our primary indications are that they are intended to be used for conventional rockets but we are still investigating that issue, because with modifications they could in fact be used for enriching uranium," he said. (Agencies)

Israeli voters say ‘no’ to peace as Arafat offers talks

Arab News

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 30 January 2003 — After 28 months of Palestinian intifada and with a war in Iraq looming over the region, Israel slid further to the right yesterday after the hard-line Likud party of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon swept to a new election victory.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said he was willing to meet Sharon immediately and to return to negotiations. "Tonight!" Arafat told Israel’s Channel Ten television in an interview when asked if he would sit down with Sharon following his victory in Tuesday’s election. "We insist on returning to negotiations as soon as possible."

Arafat also said, in response to a question, that he was willing to call for a general truce.

A Sharon spokesman said the right-wing leader would meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, his first meeting with an Arab leader since coming to power almost two years ago.

Sharon’s victory was tempered by the difficulties he faces in building a stable coalition with centrist parties, after Labour Party leader Amram Mitzna reiterated his refusal to join a government led by Sharon.

According to the initial count, Sharon’s Likud party landed a whopping 37 seats in Israel’s 120-member Parliament, but a figure well short of a majority. So Sharon will have to enlist the support of the centrist Shinui party, which also made major gains, and other smaller groups if he is to avoid relying on a hard-line alliance of ultra-Orthodox or far-right parties.

Binding himself to the far right, which wants no concessions to the Palestinians, would anger Israel’s key ally the United States. Washington is expected to pressure Sharon to tackle the crisis once it has wound up its anticipated showdown with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

The elections marked a major setback for the Israeli peace camp. The center-left Labour took only 19 seats, down from 25. That was the worst result in its history.

Other smaller left-wing groups also fared badly, as the conflict-seared country turned again to Sharon who has fought in all the Jewish state’s wars since its founding in 1948.

The head of the left-wing Meretz party, Yossi Sarid, announced his resignation after his part scraped only six seats, down from 10.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana called the result a "defeat of the peace camp" but said he would stick to an internationally backed plan to form a Palestinian state by 2005.

Palestinian leaders greeted the poll outcome with dismay. Some said the convincing win could tempt Sharon to reoccupy the Gaza Strip as it has done the West Bank since June.

Palestinian leaders, both within Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Authority and in hard-line groups like Hamas, warned that the election heralded renewed violence in the occupied territories.

But Egypt’s Mubarak, who has tried to carve out a role as intermediary in the conflict despite tensions with Sharon, quickly congratulated him and propose a first meeting once he has formed a government, Israeli officials said.

"We have to deal with the Israeli prime minister in a new way" in order to relaunch the Mideast peace process, Mubarak told Al-Ittihad newspaper in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

As the uphill task of coalition horse-trading kicked off in Israel, the death toll among Palestinians continued to rise.

A Palestinian teenager was killed in the Gaza town of Jabaliya when Israeli forces bulldozing orchards close to the border with Israeli opened fire. (Agencies)

US troops scour Afghan mountains after battle

Arab News

SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan, 30 January 2003 — Hundreds of US troops scoured remote mountain caves in southeast Afghanistan yesterday, searching for survivors of a major battle with rebels that suggested anti-American factions were trying to regroup.

At least 18 fighters said to be linked to renegade warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar were killed in a clash with the largest enemy force the US military had encountered since "Operation Anaconda" last March.

"Enemy casualties are being assessed as the forces sweep this mountainous area searching for more enemy forces, weapons caches and intelligence information," said US military spokesman Roger King at the US Afghan headquarters at Bagram, north of Kabul.

"Operations will continue today as this mountainous area contains at least 160 caves that have been counted so far, quite possibly more than that," he told reporters.

Khalid Pashtun, spokesman for the governor of the southern city of Kandahar, said Tuesday that Hekmatyar’s men were fighting alongside Taleban and Al-Qaeda fighters. Hekmatyar has denied joining forces with the Taleban and Al-Qaeda.

The operation near the Pakistan border coincides with a huge buildup of US forces in the Gulf region readying for a possible attack on Iraq.

US and allied warplanes pounded the cave complex with 2,000- and 500-lb bombs overnight on Monday after a tip-off from a captured rebel, and up to 400 US soldiers and Afghan allies have been searching the area for survivors since Tuesday morning.

King said US forces were still trying to establish how many rebels were in the area after initial information had suggested there were about 80 men in the group.

"People were coming and going out of caves so there is the potential for more people to be there and we may still find them," King said.

In Anaconda, the biggest US ground offensive of the Afghan war to date, about 1,500 US troops tried to flush out a force of some 1,000 Taleban and Al-Qaeda militants from cave hideouts in eastern Afghanistan.

US and Afghan officials suspect the rebels were loyal to Hekmatyar, a former commander with the anti-Soviet Mujahedeen forces who has vowed to fight US soldiers on Afghan soil.

King said a US Special Forces team captured a rebel on Monday after coming under small-arms fire near the border town of Spin Boldak. He told them of the group hiding in the mountains and said he was linked to Hekmatyar’s Hezb-e-Islami faction.

"We had other intelligence that I can’t go into that also indicated involvement of his (Hekmatyar’s) groups," King said.

He added there was "no indication" that Hekmatyar, whose whereabouts remain a mystery, was in the cave complex.

Saif Fazaldeen Agha, a senior government official in Spin Boldak just south of Adi Ghar Mountain where the battle took place, told Reuters that a senior Hezb-e-Islami commander called Abdul Ghani had been detained by US forces.

He said that other people arrested in the operation had expertise in bomb making and mine laying and that an advanced communications system had been found in the cave complex.

Afghan officials say the Taleban were trying to regroup in southern and eastern Afghanistan, and there have been regular small-scale attacks on US and government positions recently.

An Afghan security official in Spin Boldak said yesterday that Afghan troops returning from the mountains had found "secret documents" and lists of hundreds of names including people from Pakistani towns Pishin and Kutchlak, near the Afghan border. (R)

Arab voice is missing, says US politician
By K.S. Ramkumar, Arab News Staff

JEDDAH, 30 January 2003 — Hady A. Amr, an Arab-American political consultant and economist, said it was the US administration and not the American people who shaped US foreign policy and who should be lobbied.

"The American people do not shape the country’s policy, but 10 to 20 thousand key people who occupy six important categories of the policy influencing machinery do," he told a meeting of the Institution of Business Administration here on Tuesday.

"Ninety percent of Americans are good," Amr added. "It’s the remaining 10 percent who influence the policy makers who need to be approached and handled."

"There are 200 countries asking for US attention to various problems. So you need to make your voice heard. And you can do that by greater interaction, investment and involvement among US policy makers," said Lebanon-born Amr, a Democrat and former national director for Ethnic Outreach for Al Gore’s presidential campaign and World Bank economist with extensive experience in the Arab world.

"It’s unfortunate the Arab voice is missing in the United States. You must shed the fear complex and penetrate into the area of policy makers," he said when asked how Arabs or Muslims could approach the US system when fingerprinting and other obstacles made it difficult for them to enter the country.

"Work through the people in the United States that understand the system. Such people include key non-governmental organizations, the business community, politicians and the media, both print and visual."

Access to the media had become easier due to the Internet, he stressed. "Make a point of writing to the editors of leading newspapers at least once a week. Forget the cultural barrier and just concentrate on fixing the problem."

He pointed out that Japan, Korea, Mexico and some other countries had been following the process for 50 years.

Amr said he was pursuing the cause of Arab Americans and Muslim Americans.

"I write to the media and my viewpoints get published. Congressmen read five major US papers. They have their websites. Even a small involvement of a person can help change the process."

He emphasized that Arabs and Muslims were part of American society.

Before 9/11, the three million Arab Americans, who constitute one percent of the US population, experienced no problems in their relationship with other Americans, he said.

Amr left for Syria yesterday after a five-day visit to the Kingdom, during which he visited Riyadh, Eastern Province and Jeddah.

Yassin says US war on Iraq will help Israel

Arab News

GAZA, 30 January 2003 — Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of the Hamas resistance group, said yesterday the United States was planning war on Iraq to perpetuate Israeli control of "the Palestinian homeland". US President George W. Bush raised the prospect of war with Iraq in a State of the Union speech on Tuesday in which he said Baghdad had scorned UN disarmament demands and "crucial hours may lie ahead" as US troops mass in the Gulf region.

"America is implementing Zionist Israeli policy to serve the Zionist project in Palestine," Yassin told Reuters at his Gaza Strip home. "The battle America is undertaking is designed to allow Israel to remain in the Palestinian homeland."

Hamas seeks Israel’s destruction, claiming all territory between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, whereas Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Authority says it wants a state in the West Bank and Gaza, lands Israel captured in the 1967 war.

Hamas, which views Washington —Israel’s guardian ally — as an enemy of Palestinian national aspirations, has been at the forefront of the 28-month-old Palestinian uprising against Israel and has killed scores of Israelis in suicide bombings. The United States and European Union have Hamas on their lists of banned terrorist groups.

Yassin said Bush wanted to launch a "war of crusaders against Muslims that began in Afghanistan (after the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington) and today in Iraq and tomorrow in another country."

He said a US offensive would reduce the threat to Israel from Iraq, which fired 39 Scud missiles at the Jewish state during the 1991 Gulf War and is said by Israeli officials to have funded Palestinian suicide bombing campaigns. "Zionist Israeli and Jewish policy is to strike every power emerging in the Arab and Muslim world because it would pose a danger to the existence of Israel on Muslim land," he said. "Therefore, they want to strip the Arab and Muslim world of any (real) power. Any country that develops power threatening to this entity (Israel), they want to smash it."

Yassin asked why Bush was ready for war with Iraq but not with North Korea, which has admitted having a nuclear weapons program. He complained that Israel’s reputed possession of nuclear weapons was not an issue internationally but Muslim states were not allowed such arms. "Only strong people can be respected."

Palestinians have held rallies in Gaza and the West Bank to show support for Iraq, holding up posters of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein who has sent millions of dollars to support the uprising.

Israel, which at Washington’s request did not retaliate for the Iraqi Scud missiles fired at it in the Gulf War to avoid alienating Arab support for the United States, strongly favors a US-led war to topple Saddam. (R)

Somalis refuse to move talks venue
Compiled by Salad F. Duhul

Arab News, 1/30/03

Somali participants at the Kenyan peace talks have declined to move from Eldoret to Nairobi, the East African Standard newspaper reported yesterday. Earlier reports said that the talks were expected to move from Eldoret to Nairobi to allow the Kenyan government and international community to closely monitor the progress. The paper noted that the Somalis believe that moving the talks would require unnecessary adjustments. The participants, however, said there was a probability that Kenyan Somalis in Nairobi might disrupt the talks, who will sneak in the talks.

A police officer said four Somali delegates were arrested on Tuesday in a fight at the talks. The trouble sprang from differences over plans to move the talks to Nairobi by early next month. Witnesses said a nonmilitary activist sparked the row by supporting the transfer of the talks. The organizers, however, view the role of nonmilitary participants as crucial to the peace settlement.

***

The northern region of breakaway Somaliland’s minister of water and mineral resources, Mahmud Abdi Farah, on Tuesday criticized recent remarks made by Somali faction leaders in Kenya. Speaking at a news conference in Hargeisa, he said the remarks from leaders meeting in Eldoret were the result of ignorance and a lack of understanding. The minister said the people of Somaliland had made their decision, had held free and fair elections and had put in place a constitution which allowed them to govern themselves. He said the remarks would not affect the unity of Somaliland in any way.

***

The authorities in the region of Puntland have lifted the ban on two BBC reporters, media reports said yesterday. The Somali reporters, Ahmad Muhammad Kismayo and Muhammad Khalif Gir, were banned from reporting from the region last year. They were accused of not being objective in their reporting. Abdishakur Mire Adan, the Puntland deputy information minister, told the UN media that Internal Affairs Minister Ahmad Abdi Habsade had made the announcement in a letter to the BBC. Ismail Warsame, the chief of the Cabinet, said that he hoped the two reporters would report events objectively and without bias in future. "Puntland is still waiting for the BBC to send officially accredited reporters to the region."

Jewish state slides even further to right after poll
‘There will only be real change when Israel accepts to establish a fair peace’

Compiled by Daily Star staff, 1/30/03

After 28 months of Palestinian intifada and with a war in Iraq looming over the region, Israel slid further to the right Wednesday after the hard-line Likud Party of Premier Ariel Sharon swept to an election victory.
US President George W. Bush congratulated Sharon.
“He discussed the importance of working for a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, recognizing Israel’s ongoing and vital security needs as well as the importance of the creation of a Palestinian state,” White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters.
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, Sharon’s nemesis for decades, declined to criticize the election results. He told Israel’s Channel 10 TV that he would be prepared to meet Sharon “tonight. If he’s ready, I’m ready.”
Sharon has boycotted Arafat and has persuaded the United States, as well, to ban officials from meeting him. He quickly rebuffed the offer.
In the interview, Arafat rejected the possibility that Sharon might order his expulsion, as some members of the outgoing Israeli government demanded.
“Would anyone accept that he be removed from his nation?” Arafat asked the interviewer. “This is my nation.”
While Arafat has been shunned by Sharon, the Israeli prime minister’s spokesman said the right-wing leader would meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, his first meeting with an Arab leader since coming to power almost two years ago. Mubarak quickly called Sharon to congratulate him, Israeli officials said.
“We have to deal with the Israeli prime minister in a new way” in order to relaunch the Mideast peace process, Mubarak had told Al-Ittihad newspaper in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said he didn’t expect Israel’s policies in the Middle East to change.
“The Israeli position will stay, unfortunately, the same,” he told reporters. “There will only be real change when Israel accepts to establish a fair peace and to treat the Palestinians as partners and neighbors, who have the right to declare an independent state.”
Sharon’s victory was tempered by the difficulties he faces in building a stable coalition with centrist parties, after Labor leader Amram Mitzna reiterated his refusal to join a government led by the hawkish premier.
According to the initial count, Sharon’s Likud landed 37 seats in Israel’s 120-member Parliament, still well short of a majority. So Sharon will either have to enlist the support of the centrist Shinui Party, which also made major gains, and other smaller groups if he is to avoid relying on a hard-line alliance of ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties.
Binding himself to the far right, which wants no concessions to the Palestinians, would anger Israel’s key ally, the United States. Washington is expected to pressure Sharon to tackle the crisis once it has wound up its anticipated showdown with Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
The elections marked a major setback for the Israeli peace camp. The center-left Labor Party took only 19 seats, down from 25. That was the worst result in its history.
Two Israeli political leaders were stepping down after their parties fared poorly.
Yossi Sarid, leader of Meretz, a dovish party associated with peace moves toward the Palestinians, resigned after his party’s poor showing, dropping to six seats from 10.
Natan Sharansky, the former Soviet dissident and leader of the Russian immigrant party, Israel B’Aliya, said he was resigning from Parliament after his party went from four seats to two. Sharansky said he planned to stay on as party leader and work to broaden its appeal beyond the immigrant community.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana called the result a “defeat of the peace camp” but said he would stick to an internationally backed plan to form a Palestinian state by 2005.
The results of Tuesday’s polls were greeted with dismay by Palestinian leaders.
Some said the convincing win could tempt Sharon to reoccupy the Gaza Strip as he did the West Bank in June.
Palestinian leaders, both within Arafat’s Palestinian Authority and in Islamist groups, warned that the election heralded renewed violence in the Occupied Territories. Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin said Sharon had failed during two years in power to fulfill his promises to bring security and economic prosperity to Israelis and there was no reason for Israel to celebrate his re-election.
“He (Sharon) has failed to achieve anything. He failed to achieve what he promised the people and the people re-elected him. This is evidence that it (Israel) has started to collapse and it will end,” he said. “Sharon will be defeated.”
The sentiment was echoed by Islamic Jihad.
“Sharon and his future government should be prepared for new stronger rounds (of attacks) from our armed resistance, and martyrdom operations in all of Palestine,” Jihad said in a statement.
Arafat aide Ahmed Abdel-Rahman said the election crystallized Israeli divisions over peace strategy and the left could rebound if the conflict dragged on under Sharon.
“I do not see Sharon winning as the last word from the Israeli people. What happened was governed by the nature of the moment and will not last long,” he said.
As the uphill task of coalition horse-trading kicked off in Israel, the death toll among Palestinians continued to rise.
A Palestinian youth was killed in the Gaza town of Jabaliya when Israeli forces bulldozing orchards close to the border with Israel opened fire. And 16 Palestinians were wounded, five seriously, when Israeli armored vehicles opened fire in the town of Rafah on the Gaza-Egypt border.
Two Jewish settlers were also hurt, one seriously, in a Palestinian ambush in the West Bank, while a soldier was shot and wounded at a Gaza settlement.
The army said it had also killed three Palestinian gunmen in two separate attempts to infiltrate settlements in Gaza this week.
Meanwhile, a Palestinian wounded in an Israeli Army incursion into Gaza City three days ago died of his wounds.
That raid was in response to the firing by Hamas militants of a dozen home-made rockets from Gaza into southern Israel, which wounded one Israeli, itself retaliation for an Israeli helicopter attack. Agencies

Arab regimes in gloomy mood as hopes fade for Iraq
Diplomats say leaders have lost faith in Saddam’s cooperation

Insiders warn that efforts to find diplomatic solution have fallen flat

Nicholas Blanford
Special to The Daily Star, 1/30/03

KUWAIT CITY: Arab leaders have lost hope that Saddam Hussein will fully cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors and now believe that a potentially devastating war against Iraq is inevitable, Arab diplomats say.
With thousands of US troops deploying in Kuwait in preparation for a possible invasion of Iraq, Arab efforts to find a face-saving diplomatic formula have fallen flat, they say.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he has contacted Saddam Hussein 32 times, warning the Iraqi leader that war will be inevitable if he does not show more cooperation with the UN.
“But he ignored those calls and warnings,” he told Al-Itihad, a United Arab Emirates newspaper, in an interview published Tuesday.
“The strike is coming unless Iraq abides by the resolutions of international legitimacy and ceases to put obstacles in front of the international inspection operations,” Mubarak said.
A senior Arab diplomat in the Gulf said that Arab leaders no longer believe that a peaceful solution is possible.
“I genuinely believe that they have lost faith in a peaceful outcome. Time has run out and it’s clear to them that Saddam is not going to adhere to UN resolutions,” he said.
For much of the crisis, the Arab world has been watching anxiously from the sidelines as Washington and Baghdad dictated the pace of events. Mindful of Arab public hostility to Washington’s Middle East policies, the region’s regimes are unwilling to be seen openly siding with the United States against a fellow Arab leader, even one as unpopular as Saddam. On the other hand, no Arab country can afford to confront the Americans head on over Iraq.
Instead, they have attempted to find a safe middle path, including offering the Iraqi leader exile if he steps down quietly, although few ever expected Saddam to take up the offer.
Abdullah Bishara, a former Kuwaiti ambassador to the UN, said that Arab diplomacy has been inadequate.
“A group of them should go to Baghdad and tell Saddam face-to-face to choose exile or face destruction,” he said. “Instead, they have been using the worn-out argument of not interfering in another Arab country’s affairs.”
Last week, foreign ministers from Arab countries, Turkey and Iran, meeting in Istanbul, implored Baghdad to “assume its responsibilities” and “embark on a policy that will unambiguously inspire confidence to Iraq’s neighbours.”
But regional confidence was dealt another blow when Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz warned Tuesday that Iraq would attack US troops in Kuwait in the event of an invasion.
Kuwaiti Defense Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah said Wednesday that US President George W. Bush was correct in arguing that the Iraqi regime “cannot be trusted.” He added that “any military action (by Iraq against Kuwait) would be suicide.”
Kuwait is the one Arab country that openly expresses support for the removal of Saddam, but other Arab leaders fear internal unrest if war breaks out in Iraq. Earlier this week, tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Arab capitals to protest against US and British threats of war against Iraq.
Egypt, however, has been taking steps to prepare the public for war. Egyptian newspapers have published less than sympathetic editorials and cartoons about Saddam. On Tuesday, the pro-government Akher Saa weekly magazine accused the Iraqi leadership of procrastinating and outmaneuvering the weapons inspectors.
“We wish that the Iraqi leadership would listen to the voice of wisdom in order to clear the dark cloud that overshadows Baghdad and threatens an unpredictable catastrophe,” the weekly wrote.
Cairo also recently refused to receive Ali Hassan al-Majid, one of Saddam’s closest confidantes who was touring Arab capitals to drum up support.
American troops training in the Kuwaiti desert near the border with Iraq say they have been instructed to deploy to Tactical Assembly Areas “launch pads for an attack” by Feb. 5, the same day that US Secretary of State Colin Powell is to disclose new evidence of Iraq’s arsenal of weapons of mass destruction to the UN Security Council.

US pledges last push 'to avoid Iraq war'

Jordan Times, 1/30/03

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich./ BAGHDAD (Agencies) — Washington pledged one last diplomatic push to avoid war against Iraq on Wednesday while Baghdad challenged US President George W. Bush to back his allegation of a link with Al Qaeda.

Following Bush's State of the Union address outlining the case for attacking Iraq, the White House said the standoff with Baghdad was entering a "final phase."

"The president still believes that if diplomacy results in strong and powerful expressions of unity toward Saddam Hussein so that Saddam Hussein sees as powerful message as possible that he needs to disarm, then this can be resolved peacefully," spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters travelling with Bush.

But he said Bush was determined to muster a military coalition to "disarm" Iraq by force if he did not respond.

Bush earlier told Congress Saddam had shown "utter contempt" for the United Nations and pledged an all-out assault if necessary in an address designed to try to extend international and domestic support for a war.

Key allies welcomed the intelligence offer but urged Bush not to attack without backing from the United Nations Security Council, most of whose members have yet to be convinced of any link with Osama Ben Laden's network or need for military action.

While many countries sought more time for the search for a peaceful way out of the crisis, Germany, a leading opponent of any use of force, said it feared diplomacy might not avert war.

"I am worried whether we will succeed in avoiding a war in Iraq," Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder told a conference.

Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz told ABC news he "absolutely" denied any link with Al Qaeda. "And I challenge Bush and his government to present any, any evidence of that."

Iraqi lawmakers also denounced Bush's address.

"There is nothing new in Bush's speech. The new thing is that he reiterates old lies," Abdul Aziz Al Jebouri, a prominent legislator, told Reuters at the parliament in Baghdad.

Bush said the United States would ask the UN Security Council to convene next week to hear fresh intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and links with Al Qaeda network behind the Sept. 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

"The dictator of Iraq is not disarming. To the contrary, he is deceiving," Bush told Congress late on Tuesday, citing UN reports of chemical and biological agents and nuclear weapon components he said Iraq had not accounted for.

Washington says it would prefer the Security Council to back military action against Saddam but that there are ample legal grounds for it to go ahead alone if its allies remain reluctant to explicitly sanction force.

The US military said it had activated almost 16,000 more reserve troops, swelling the total to almost 95,000, the biggest since the 1991 Gulf War over Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

The council met behind closed doors to discuss this week's report by weapons inspectors on what they had found in 60 days of scouring Iraq for banned arms and the obstacles they had encountered along the way.

Russia still sceptical

Russia, one of five countries with veto powers on the 15-member Security Council, said on Wednesday it saw no grounds for the use of force, after earlier signalling it might be prepared to adopt a tougher line against Saddam.

And diplomats in Brussels said the NATO defence alliance remained divided over whether to start planning indirect military support for a possible US-led war, with some countries still worried about the timing.

"They feel we are at a sensitive stage of the UN process and a NATO decision would appear to be support for military action, and could somehow undermine the UN process," one diplomat told Reuters.

European Union foreign affairs chief Javier Solana and Schroeder both hailed Bush's intelligence offer but said the United Nations should be allowed to decide future strategy.

France also reasserted its commitment to finding a political solution to the crisis and Greece said ousting Saddam could splinter Iraq and cause a rise in religious fundamentalism.

In the United States, however, the speech seemed to have convinced more people of the need for war, with a CBS poll showing support for an aggression with the declared aim of removing President Saddam up 10 per cent to 77 per cent.

And Britain, which on Tuesday echoed the US in saying Iraq was in "material breach" of the latest UN disarmament demands, again backed up its transatlantic ally.

"For 12 years Saddam has been saying in effect the cheque is in the post," Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman told a news briefing, saying Bush had set out his case "very eloquently."

On Friday, Bush meets Blair to discuss strategy ahead of another key report by the inspectors on Feb. 14.

Turkey's armed forces said they were building up military supplies near the Iraqi border in case of war in neighbouring Iraq but a Turkish role in any future conflict was not certain.

Bush said Iraq had threatened to kill scientists who fully cooperated with the inspectors and that secret communications and statements from suspects in custody showed Saddam "aids and protects terrorists," including members of Al Qaeda.

"Almost three months ago, the United Nations Security Council gave Saddam Hussein his final chance to disarm. He has shown instead utter contempt for the United Nations, and for the opinion of the world," Bush said.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday the US would try to help find a haven for President Saddam, his family and close aides if he would agree to leave Baghdad.

"That would be one way to try to avoid war," Powell said at a news conference as President George W. Bush, talking tough on Iraq, rejected calls from war opponents to let inspectors deal with Saddam.

Just containing the Iraqi leader could leave that country free to join with "terrorists" to attack America "and never leave a fingerprint behind," Bush said in Michigan.

"In my judgement you don't contain Saddam Hussein," Bush said. "You don't hope that therapy will somehow change his evil mind."

Powell endorsed exile for Saddam but said it would not be up to the US alone to determine whether the Iraqi leader should be granted immunity from "prosecution as a war criminal."

"If he were to leave the country, and take some of his family members with him, and others in the leading elite that have been responsible for so much trouble during the course of his regime, we would, I'm sure, try to find a place for them to go," Powell said at the State Department.

"That certainly would be one way to avoid war, and we

have indicated that before," he said.

Israel shifts to right, but Sharon eyes first meeting with Egyptian leader

Jordan Times, 1/30/03

TEL AVIV (AFP) — After 28 months of the Palestinian Intifada and with a war in Iraq looming over the region, Israel slid further to the right Wednesday after the hardline Likud Party of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon swept to a new election victory.

Despite Palestinian warnings of renewed violence, a Sharon spokesman said the right-wing leader would meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, his first meeting with an Arab leader since coming to power almost two years ago.

Sharon's victory was tempered by the difficulties he faces in building a stable coalition with centrist parties, after Labour's dovish leader Amram Mitzna reiterated his refusal to join a government led by the hawkish premier.

According to the initial count, Likud Party landed a whopping 37 seats in Israel's 120-member parliament, but a figure well short of a majority.

So, Sharon will either have to enlist the support of the centrist Shinui Party, which also made major gains, and other smaller groups if he is to avoid relying on a hardline alliance of ultra-Orthodox or far-right parties.

Binding himself to the far- right, which wants no “concessions” to the Palestinian people living under Israeli occupation, would anger Israel's key ally the United States. Washington is expected to pressure Sharon to tackle the crisis once it has wound up its anticipated war against Iraq.

That confrontation loomed larger than ever after US President George W. Bush's State of the Union address late Tuesday, with the hawkish US leader promising to present what he called “evidence” that Iraq has links to Al Qaeda terror network.

The elections marked a major setback for the Israeli peace camp. The centre-left Labour Party took only 19 seats, down from 25. That was the worst result in its history.

Other smaller left-wing groups also fared badly, as the conflict-seared country turned again to the veteran general who has fought in all the Jewish state's wars since its founding in 1948.

The head of the left-wing Meretz Party, Yossi Sarid, announced his resignation after his part scraped only six seats, down from 10.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana called the result a “defeat of the peace camp” but said he would stick to an internationally backed plan to form a Palestinian state by 2005.

Sharon convinced Washington to postpone the finalisation of the peace “roadmap” until after the elections, and analysts predicted he would try to delay it further while forming a coalition and with an Iraqi war looming.

The results of Tuesday's polls, carried out under tight security amid the threat of Palestinian attacks, were greeted with dismay by Palestinian leaders. Some said the convincing win could tempt Sharon to reoccupy the Gaza Strip as it has done the West Bank since June.

Palestinian leaders, both within President Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority and in Islamist resistance groups like Hamas, warned that the election heralded renewed violence in the occupied territories.

But Egypt's Mubarak, who has tried to carve out a role as intermediary in the conflict despite tensions with Sharon, quickly telephoned Sharon to congratulate him and propose a first meeting once he has formed a government, Israeli officials said.

“We have to deal with the Israeli prime minister in a new way” in order to relaunch the Mideast peace process, President Mubarak had told Al Ittihad newspaper in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

As the uphill task of coalition horse-trading kicked off in Israel, the death toll among Palestinians continued to rise.

A Palestinian youth was killed in the Gaza town of Jabaliya when Israeli forces bulldozing orchards close to the border with Israeli opened fire. And 16 Palestinians were wounded, five seriously, when Israeli armoured vehicles opened fire in the town of Rafah on the Gaza-Egypt border, Palestinians said.

Two Jewish settlers were also hurt, one seriously, in a Palestinian ambush in the West Bank, while a soldier was shot and wounded at a Jewish settlement in Gaza.

The occupation army also told Palestinian security it had killed three Palestinian freedom fighters in two separate attempts to infiltrate Jewish settlements in Gaza this week, Palestininian officials said.

Palestinian medics also said a Palestinian critically injured in a massive Israeli army incursion into Gaza City three days ago had died of his wounds.

That raid was in response to the firing by Hamas militants of a dozen home-made rockets from Gaza into southern Israel, which injured one Israeli.

The raid sparked fears that Israel could be preparing a major reoccupation of the Gaza Strip, which Israel quit in 1994 when partial Palestinian self-rule was established under the now-defunct Oslo peace accords.

But analysts have said any invasion of the densely populated coastal strip, a bastion of Islamist hardliners, is unlikely amid US efforts to win international support for war against Iraq.

And Palestinian rights activist Mustafa Barghouthi accused Sharon of “gradual ethnic cleansing” after the governor of Tulkarem said the army was to build a buffer zone all around the autonomous, but reoccupied Palestinian town on the West Bank's boundary with Israel.

Egypt says UN inspectors' report does not make case for war

Jordan Times, 1/30/03

CAIRO (AFP) — A key report on Iraq by UN disarmament chiefs “does not justify a war” against Baghdad, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said in an interview published on Wednesday.

Iraq needed to improve its cooperation, Maher conceded, but its Western critics also needed to do more to help UN weapons inspectors complete their mission.

“The report of Mr (Hans) Blix and Mr (Mohammad) Al Baradei concludes that the inspectors have achieved many things,” Maher told the London-based Arabic daily Al Hayat.

“Iraq has cooperated in many fields, and at the same time the report indicates that in some cases Iraq's cooperation was not complete,” the foreign minister said in the interview given during a visit to Paris at the start of the week.

“We are calling on Iraq to cooperate more. The inspectors want better cooperation and more time to (accomplish) their operations, and we must give them this time.”

But the foreign minister also had words for Britain and the United States.

“The countries which say they have information must present it. I don't understand that the inspectors are asked to reveal things which are said to exist, without specifying where they are,” he said.

In Monday's report to the Security Council, Blix, who heads the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, listed a series of unanswered questions on Iraq's arms programmes from anthrax to VX nerve agents and missiles.

But he also said that his arms experts had found no banned weapons since they began work last November, despite Baghdad granting them prompt access to all the sites they visited, including President Saddam Hussein's palaces.

Saudi press slams US plans to attack Iraq despite UN report

Jordan Times, 1/30/03

RIYADH (AFP) — The United States is behaving as if the war on Iraq is inevitable despite the UN arms inspectors' report which found Baghdad was cooperating, Saudi newspapers charged Wednesday.

“This (military buildup) gives the impression that the decision to wage war had been taken even before the inspectors ended their work and informed the Security Council of the result,” Al Watan daily said.

“And before the Security Council decides the next step, we see the military buildup (is growing) as if the war is inevitable,” added the paper, warning that the cost of the war would be too high.

Al Madina newspaper said Washington was still actively preparing for war and only searching for justification.

“The US is exploiting time to complete its military buildup and to find political and legal justifications to invade Iraq,” said the daily, adding that Israel was also using the time to install the most extremist government in its history.

Okaz daily noted that the Security Council discussions on the two reports by chief weapons inspector Hans Blix and IAEA chief Mohammad Al Baradei have not slowed down US military plans.

“This has not slowed down the pace of the military buildup of US and British troops, which has reached its peak in the region as if the war is destined to take place today and not tomorrow,” the daily said.

But the paper stressed that Baghdad should not give Washington any justification to attack.

“We openly tell Iraq: Stop provocation and bargaining,” to prevent the United States from having a reason to go to war.

Newspapers in Saudi Arabia normally reflect official thinking.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al Faisal said Tuesday after talks with French President Jacques Chirac a solution to the Iraqi crisis must be found to avoid a “calamity.”

Al Riyadh newspaper accused Washington of trying to revive “direct colonialism” and behaving as if “might is the means to achieve interests,” even if that breaks international law.

Anthrax vaccination day for US Marines in Gulf

Jordan Times, 1/30/03

ABOARD USS TORTUGA (R) — Sailors and Marines of the amphibious asault ship USS Tortuga were inoculated against anthrax and smallpox in the Gulf on Wednesday as the military gathered its forces for a possible aggression against Iraq.

“It makes it very real when they start giving you vaccinations for things you hadn't even heard of before,” said 22-year-old Carrie Cornell, a third class petty officer from Philadelphia, after her smallpox jab.

A medical technician administers the inoculation with a two pronged needle, jabbing the patient's shoulder 15 times to pierce the skin without going too deep.

“I've had three tattoos and this had to be the worst,” said Lance Corporal Kent Jackson who drives an assault vehicle.

The anthrax vaccination, which is said to feel like a bee-sting, is administered three times at two week intervals and then again in the sixth, 12th and 18th month from the first. “It's a little bit scary but dying of anthrax is more scary,” said Ensign Robert Cripps after his vaccination.

The inoculations are part of a range of preparations for a possible war against Iraq which the United States accuses of concealing chemical and biological weapons.

“We're ensuring we'll be able to fight the war on terrorism,” said Lieutenant Browin Richards, the navy doctor on the Tortuga, one of three ships carrying around 2,300 Marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

The Marines on board the three warships could be among the first to be called upon if President George Bush launches a war.

In a State of the Nation speech, Bush said Iraq had shown “utter contempt” for the United Nations and pledged an all-out assault if necessary.

His remarks were dismissed by Iraq as “old lies”.

“The dictator of Iraq is not disarming. To the contrary, he is deceiving,” Bush told Congress late on Tuesday.

“He said exactly what the American public and us overseas needed to hear without giving away plans for the future,” said Marine Sergeant Robert Franks from Maryland, member of a team that wields TOW and Javelin anti-tank missiles.

Captain Paul McElroy, commanding officer on the Tortuga, said he was pleased that Bush had said he would unveil evidence of Iraq's possession of banned weapons and links to “terrorism.” “The American people want a coalition and I think the President wants a coalition,” he said.

“We know all these forces are coming out here. We kind of expect that there's a chance that something is going to happen. It's obvious,” McElroy said.

The Marines on the Tortuga say they are trained and ready for a desert war. Lance Corporal Josiah Noel is a gunner in charge of a TOW missile system mounted on a four wheel drive “Humvee” all-terrain vehicle. He has only shot the missile for real four times in training, though he has practiced many times on a simulator.

“If you're nervous and jerk around you'll miss your target. If you keep calm and do it right and take shallow breaths you'll hit your target,” he said.

“I've fired four missiles so far and I've hit all of them. I'm just hoping when it comes down to it I don't choke.”

Seargeant Robert Franks, 27, from Maryland, said the most important skill was to be able to improvise and adapt on the battlefield. “You can plan and plan and plan but everyone knows the ideal world doesn't happen. Something happens and it just doesn't work out right,” he said.

“War is a nasty business and history has proved that time and time again. However we will do what our country needs us to do, what the president of the United States asks us to do,” Franks said. “We will do that and we will do it to the best of our abilities.”

Arab news highlights

Jordan Times, 1/30/03

Egypt rules out joining military action in Iraq

PARIS (R) — Egypt will not take part in any military action against Iraq even if the United Nations approves an intervention, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Maher told French daily Le Monde on Wednesday. "In principle, if the UN takes a decision... the whole world must respect that. But that does not mean the whole world has to participate in the action which stems from this resolution," the paper quoted him as saying. "We will not engage in any military action. We will continue to participate in an action of peace." Asked if Egypt would allow its airspace and Suez Canal waters to be used during a possible war against Iraq, Maher said the use of the canal was determined by international rules which applied to all. From Egypt's point of view, a possible war would hit tourism and investment, and increase insurance costs on exports and imports, he added. "There will be no winner (in the war). So it is a political, moral and legal responsibility to do everything in our power to avoid it, and for that the cooperation of the whole world is necessary," Maher said.

Only UN must deal with Iraq crisis — Schroeder

BERLIN (AFP) — Germany, which will preside the UN Security Council next month, insisted Wednesday that the Iraqi crisis should be resolved within the UN body "and only there." Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder urged "all political and diplomatic means" to ensure peace, after talks here with visiting Mexican President Vicente Fox. "This question must be treated in the Security Council and only there," he said. He said UN inspectors needed more time to complete their work investigating Iraq's alleged programme of weapons of mass destruction. Schroeder's remarks followed US President George W. Bush's strong State of the Union speech late Tuesday, in which he threatened the Baghdad regime with US-led military action. "We are both agreed that all political and diplomatic means must be used in order to achieve a peaceful resolution to the crisis," the chancellor said. He welcomed Bush's pledge to release intelligence on alleged Iraqi weapons facilities to the inspectors as "the right thing to do."

Egypt court sentences man to one-year jail term for threatening US envoy

CAIRO(AFP) — A private schoolteacher was handed a one-year jail sentence for threatening the US ambassador to Egypt by e-mail, a court source said Wednesday. The state security court in the southern city of Assiut found English teacher Samir Hanna, 42, guilty of "spreading false information with the goal of harming the national interest." Hanna, whose sentencing cannot be appealed, was arrested in January after sending the US Federal Bureau of Investigation an e-mail that warned Ambassador David Welch risked his life if he travelled to Assiut, 380 kilometres south of Cairo. Hanna sent the message shortly before Welch visited his hometown on Dec. 11 and 12.

Arab Gulf defence and foreign ministers to meet early February on Iraq

RIYADH (AFP) — Arab Gulf ministers of defence and foreign affairs will hold a meeting in Saudi Arabia in the first week of February focused on the Iraq crisis, a source at the GCC's general secretariat said Wednesday. Ministers from the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are to "study the political and military situation in the region and consult on measures to adopt to face up the fallout from a possible war on Iraq," the source said. It was decided to hold the extraordinary meeting after General Tommy Franks, the commander of US forces in the Gulf, informed Saudi leaders of "preparations for a strike on Iraq" during a visit to Riyadh last week, he said. The Saudi-owned pan-Arab Al Hayat newspaper, quoting Gulf diplomatic sources, said the meeting would take place on Feb. 8. The efforts deployed to find a peaceful solution to the crisis have failed because of US determination to eliminate the regime in place in Baghdad, the paper cited the sources as saying. The GCC comprises Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Military court upholds death sentence for killer of three Lebanese soldiers

BEIRUT (AP) — A military appeals court has upheld a death sentence against a Lebanese man convicted of shooting and killing three soldiers, judicial officials said Wednesday. It was 25-year-old Badieh Hamadeh's final appeal, the officials said. Hamadeh, with a bullet wound in his shoulder, took refuge in Ein Al Hilweh, a notoriously lawless refugee camp outside the southern port city of Sidon, after a July 11 shootout that left dead three soldiers who were trying to arrest him on suspicion of involvement in bombings of liquor stores in Sidon and his links to Islamic groups in Palestinian refugee camps. A Palestinian group in Ein Al Hilweh delivered Hamadeh to the Lebanese army five days after the shooting. He was convicted and sentenced by a military tribunal four months ago. Lebanese authorities guard the camp's gates but do not enter Ein Al Hilweh, home to 75,000 people and the hiding place for several Palestinians wanted by police. It is the largest of 13 refugee camps in Lebanon, with about 350,000 residents.

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