"Singapore yesterday suggested the setting up of a common centre to counter terrorism to collect and exchange information on terrorist groups," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper..
"Despite White House avowals that it would have been impossible to conceive before Sept 11 of a hijacked plane being used to attack US targets, a 1999 report for the CIA envisioned a very similar threat. It predicted Islamic militant Osama bin Laden would retaliate in a spectacular way against Washington for US cruise missile strikes in 1998 against training facilities of his al-Qaeda network in Afghanistan. But its on-target prediction prompted new questions on Friday over how much the government knew about potential threats, in the wake of disclosures that President George W. Bush was alerted in his daily CIA intelligence briefing last August to the possibility of a hijacking by al-Qaeda," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Pilots and flight attendants were unaware of the vague government advisories to their carriers about possible hijackings and other threats in the months before the Sept 11 attacks, labour groups said on Friday. But the security director of North America’s largest pilots union said he reviewed the five Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) security bulletins sent between June and August, and judged the material not detailed or urgent enough to pass along to crews," reported the Reuters news agency.
"India expelled yesterday the Pakistani high commissioner in New Delhi in retaliation for this week’s bloody militant attack in Kashmir which it blames on Pakistan-based Islamic guerillas. The recalled diplomat said he has been given a week to leave India and warned his expulsion could heighten friction between the two nuclear rivals, who came to the brink of war following an attack by militants on the Indian parliament in December. He further said that his expulsion will not help to alleviate the situation and we hope this step will not be followed by more negative steps which will further exacerbate the situation," reported the AFP news service.
"The private Afghan Islamic Press reported on Friday that US planes pounded Bul Khil village in Khost province for several hours on Thursday night, after a US helicopter crew mistook traditional firing at a wedding for an attack. Meanwhile, the world’s most wanted man, Osama, is still alive, said another top fugitive, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar in remarks published by a leading pan-Arab newspaper on Friday. Mullah Omar, as The London-based Ashraq al-Awsat reported, said that Sheikh Osama is still alive, praise to God, and this is causing anguish to (US President Geroge W.) Bush, who promised his people to kill Osama, not knowing that lives are in the hands of God. He further warned the war that Washington had waged against his country was not over and that its fire will reach the White House, the headquarters of injustice and tyranny," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The United States said late on Friday it had information that an unknown group may be planning an attack in Turkey over the next few days. The only largely Muslim member of Nato, Turkey is a close ally of the United States and has given full support to Washington’s so-called “war on terrorism” since the Sept 11 attacks," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Singapore has acquired the first of 20 Apache LongBow attack helicopters ordered from US manufacturer Boeing, giving it a combat-tested aircraft for modern battlefield needs, officials said yesterday. Singapore has one of the most modern armed forces in Asia and devotes a large part of its budget to security," reported the AFP news service.
"US intelligence officials have detected enhanced activity that points to a potential new attack against the United States or American interests abroad, a White House official said on Saturday. The FBI also warned of a possible plot by Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network to detonate bombs in apartment buildings in the United States. The comments came as The New York Times reported that US intelligence agencies had intercepted a series of messages among al-Qaeda operatives indicating the group is attempting to launch an attack as big as or bigger than the one on Sept 11," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A video featuring al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden uncovered in Britain has sparked new claims that the suspected mastermind of the Sept 11 terrorist attacks is still alive, the Sunday Times reported. If that is true, the film would be the first hard evidence that the chief suspect for the attacks on New York and Washington survived the US-led military assaults on the Tora Bora in eastern Afghanistan," reported the AFP news service.
"New Yorkers took an emotional battering after the Sept 11 terrorist attacks, said a study which suggested more than 400,000 city residents have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder. The number of residents who have experienced post-traumatic stress disorder since Sept 11 related to the attacks was put at 7%, or 425,000. The estimate of people experiencing the disorder related to the attacks over the last month was 140,000. Post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms include nightmares, anxiety, irritability or outbursts of anger," reported the AP news agency.
"Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres has unveiled a peace plan calling for the centralisation of Palestinian security forces immediately followed by the establishment of a Palestinian state in areas under its control. Peres, a leading dove, said in a radio interview yesterday that he is trying to get Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the international community to support the plan. Sharon has accepted a Palestinian state in principle but says it can only be established after a long interim process; yet his Likud party last week adopted a resolution ruling out a Palestinian state altogether," reported the AP news agency.
"The European Union said yesterday it had agreed on how to accommodate 13 Palestinians who were deported from Israel under a deal to end a five-week siege at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. The Spanish Foreign Ministry said that following telephone discussions between EU capitals late on Saturday, three each would be taken in by Spain and Italy, two each by Greece and Ireland, while Portugal and Belgium would each accept one," reported the AFP news service.
"A suicide bomber detonated his explosives yesterday in a fruit and vegetable market in this coastal city killing himself and injuring at least 28 people," reported the AP news agency.
"Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh yesterday announced a significant military change for troops in disputed Kashmir, with paramilitary forces there being transferred from the command of the Interior Ministry to the army. He also announced, at the end of a two-hour meeting between Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his security Cabinet, that the coastguard had been placed under the command of the Indian navy," reported the AFP news service.
"Meanwhile, analysts and reports here said yesterday that by expelling Islamabad’s high commissioner, India risks cutting lines of communication with Pakistan and increasing the likelihood of a military option in the fast deteriorating relations between the two nuclear rivals. A report published in The Hindustan Times yesterday hinted at India’s military action plan in Kashmir. An influential separatist leader in Indian administered Kashmir, Omar Farooq, urged India to give up its confrontationist attitude and resume dialogue with Pakistan," reported the AFP news service.
"Citing increased security, authorities in the former Taliban stronghold of southern Kandahar lifted a night time curfew for the first time since the former Soviet Union invaded in 1979, a US military spokesman said yesterday. Meanwhile, British forces said three more soldiers suffering from the winter vomiting bug - officially known as Norwalk-like virus after the Ohio town where it was first identified - were evacuated to Britain yesterday. Eight others have already been evacuated, seven to Britain and one to a US military hospital in Germany. Some 333 British troops remain under quarantine," reported the AP news agency.
"Asean cannot waste time coming up with a common definition of terrorism and has to act together now to check terrorism and find its root causes, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said yesterday," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"Efforts to fight terrorists will not be hampered by the lack of a universally accepted agreement on a definition of terrorism," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"US President George W. Bush is rejecting pleas from former president Jimmy Carter and others to ease a 40-year-old trade embargo against Cuba and is instead setting detailed conditions for loosening the ban. But Bush also proposes to improve the plight of Cuban people with an array of initiatives meant to bolster humanitarian assistance and communication with the island nation," reported the AP news agency.
"US Vice-President Dick Cheney said on Sunday that a new attack on the United States was almost certain as US intelligence officials picked up signals that a fresh al-Qaeda strike could be in the works. Speaking in two television interviews, Cheney also sought to blunt criticism the Bush administration failed to pick up hints last summer that critics believe might have helped prevent the Sept 11 attacks," reported the AP news agency.
"The elder son and heir apparent of hardline Palestinian militant Ahmad Jibril was killed yesterday in a Beirut car-bombing here which his group promptly blamed on Israel and vowed to avenge. Jihad Jibril, a senior leader in Lebanon of his father’s Syrian-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, was blown to pieces when he started his car, detonating explosives under the seat. Ahmad Jibril, at his headquarters in Damascus, referring to the Israeli intelligence service, said that Mossad managed this time to assassinate his son after having tried in vain four times to do it, as he received condolences," reported the AFP news service.
"Indian and Pakistani forces traded fire across their frontier for a fourth day yesterday, raising fresh fears hostility between the nuclear-armed neighbours could drag them into war. Financial markets in both countries were badly hit by war fears but despite signs India was preparing for conflict, most analysts said India was likely to exhaust all diplomatic channels before taking a military option," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself to pieces in northern Israel early yesterday, injuring no one except himself but raising fears of a renewed wave of attacks less than a day after another kamikaze killed three Israelis in a Netanya market.The Palestinian leadership on Sunday condemned what it termed a terrorist operation in Netanya, while in an unusual declaration, US Vice-President Dick Cheney said Arafat was unable to prevent all attacks," reported the AFP news service.
"A US Special Forces soldier was killed in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan during a skirmish with fighters believed linked to al-Qaeda and the deposed Taliban militia, military officials said yesterday. At least one opponent died as American forces returned fire. Members of the Sabari tribe said their fighters were skirmishing with the Balkhiel tribe in a dispute over a stand of trees near their villages 48km north of Khost when the bombs fell. Sabari elders denied firing on the Australians or the US aircraft or having links to al-Qaeda or the deposed Taliban militia. However, Hilfert, said he had no reason to believe the tribe’s account that is in a known al-Qaeda and Taliban area," reported the AP news agency.
"Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Tuesday he will visit India and Pakistan, where growing tensions over Kashmir make the possibility of war between the two nuclear powers real and very disturbing," reported the AP news agency.
"Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, enemies for decades, find themselves facing similar challenges - internal crises over their leadership," reported the AP news agency.
"Asean countries have agreed to the possibility of working together towards having a common legislation to fight terrorism in the region, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. He said a sub-committee would undertake a study to list down references on laws and legislations pertaining to terrorism that were in place in other Asean countries," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"British Prime Minister Tony Blair urged politicians on both sides of the Atlantic yesterday to stop trying to divide America and Europe, as US President George W. Bush prepares to embark on a difficult European tour," reported the Reuters news agency.
"US Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Robert Mueller said on Monday he feared suicide bombings that wreaked havoc on Israel could come to the United States," reported the AFP news service.
"Some 1,200 World Bank employees were advised to stay home from work yesterday after inconclusive tests detected anthrax contamination on mail bound for their building, a World Bank spokesman said on Monday," reported the Reuters news agency.
"An investigative report released on Monday found widespread failure by the US Immigration and Naturalisation Service in giving two Sept 11 hijackers student visas and approving them months after they had already carried out an attack on the World Trade Centre," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama said yesterday the use of force by the United States in its international relations was out of date and there was a risk its war on terror could spiral out of control. The Dalai Lama said the United States, which valued democracy in its domestic policy, was not promoting it in its international dealings, but was instead using military might," reported the Reuters news agency.
"North Korea is guilty of a troublesome and disappointing effort to combat terrorism, the United States charged yesterday, also criticising Indonesia’s slow moves to rein in Islamic extremism," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Spain said on Monday a deal had been reached on the fate of 13 Palestinian militants taken temporarily to Cyprus to end the siege of the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem. Speaking at the sidelines of a Mediterranean conference on the island of Mykonos, Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique said 12 of the 13 would be taken by Spain, Italy, Greece, Belgium, Ireland and Portugal and one would stay on in Cyprus," reported the Reuters news agency.
"US commercial airline pilots will not be permitted to carry firearms in the cockpit, Transportation Security Administration Director John Magaw told a Senate committee yesterday. Despite pressure from the nation’s largest pilot unions to arm aviators following the Sept 11 hijacking attacks, Magaw rejected pleas for firearms in the cockpit as a last line of defence," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Abdul Ghani Lone, a senior Muslim separatist leader who was seen as a moderate voice in Indian-Kashmir, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen yesterday, witnesses said. It was not known who was behind Lone’s killing, but Farooq Abdullah, Kashmir’s Chief Minister immediately blamed it on Pakistan," reported the AFP news service.
"Shelling between Pakistani and Indian troops intensified in disputed Kashmir yesterday as the Indian premier prepared to visit the region and the international community urged Islamabad and New Delhi to end war mongering.
Fears the two nuclear powers are lurching towards all-out battle sparked selling yesterday morning on the Bombay Stock Exchange, with share prices falling 3.4% by noon," reported the AFP news service.
"Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s government was plunged into crisis yesterday after he kicked ministers of the lynchpin Shas party out of his government for voting against an emergency economic package. He faced the challenge of governing with a narrowed parliamentary majority and the possible threat of new elections. In a stinging defeat for Sharon, parliament voted 47-44 on Monday against a 13-billion-shekel (RM10.2bil) package aimed at reining in swollen budget deficit created in part by higher defence spending to cover the army’s offensive in the West Bank," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Iran’s Islamic version of Coke has hit the shelves of Bahrain’s supermarkets as residents of the Gulf kingdom increasingly express their frustration at US policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by boycotting American products," reported the AFP news service.
"Temperatures as high as 43°C killed at least 20 people during the past three days, officials said yesterday. In India, a similar heat wave killed 638 people this month where temperatures reached 51°C," reported the AP news agency.
"The death toll from a heat wave that has gripped southeastern India rose to 1,030 as reports trickled in from remote rural villages. Most of the dead were older people unable to bear temperatures that reached 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit). Officials were still adding up the toll in Andhra Pradesh state on Wednesday, but it was already the highest one-week death count on record for any Indian heat wave," reported the AP news agency.
"New York City was on guard on Tuesday after the Federal Bureau of Investigation warned of a possible terror threat here, as well-known landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty emerged as potential targets. Meanwhile in Washington, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told a Senate panel that terrorists were sure to acquire weapons of mass destruction, the third dire prediction by a high-ranking US official of impending terror strikes," reported the AFP news service.
"US President George W. Bush flew to Europe to sign an arms control treaty with Russia and to hash out differences with US allies over Iraq, the war on terrorism, the Middle East and trade. Many in Europe have spoken out against perceived American unilateralism - such as pulling out of the Kyoto global warming treaty a year ago and just this month, abandoning a treaty setting up an international criminal court over fears it may be used against US military service personnel. European allies are also concerned about hefty US tariffs imposed on steel imports and a pro-Israeli Middle East policy, and they are questioning the US long-term commitment to Nato, the 19-nation Western security alliance. Bush is expected to address some of these concerns head-on in a speech in Berlin today to the German parliament," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A senior Russian army commander said yesterday he believed that top Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev had been killed in battle but that firm proof of the feared commander’s death may be difficult to produce. Gen Gennady Troshev, the commander of Russia’s North Caucasus district that covers Chechnya, told RIA Novosti that he was completely certain that Basayev was dead," reported the AFP news service.
"Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said yesterday on the battle-scarred Kashmiri front lines that the time had come for a decisive fight, as missile-carrying Indian navy warships steamed towards Pakistan. Amid international concern the two nuclear-armed neighbours are lurching towards war, Pakistan hit back, saying that although it wanted peace, it was ready to fight if attacked," reported the AFP news service.
"Israeli forces killed a leading West Bank militant and two other Palestinians yesterday in a refugee camp, residents and the military said, after troops rounded up hundreds of men in a West Bank village and cut the Gaza Strip in half by blocking the main north-south road," reported the Reuters news agency.
"US President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a landmark treaty yesterday that requires the United States and Russia to make the largest reductions ever in their nuclear arsenals," reported the AP news agency.
"The US Department of Transportation has issued a warning about possible attacks on rail and transit systems across the country, law enforcement officials said on Thursday. The department’s warning was sent out on Wednesday and was based on unconfirmed and uncorroborated information," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Israeli and West Bank doctors have condemned rubber bullets fired by Israeli forces to control protestors, saying the weapons have potentially lethal design flaws and are often misused, resulting in deaths and critical injuries," reported the AFP news service.
"In a fresh twist for Israel’s peace movement, thousands of young people put on their dancing trainers in Tel Aviv on Thursday night for the first rave to protest against the occupation of Palestinian lands. The dance party at the plaza of the city’s art museum drew more than 3,000 people, mostly twenty-somethings who want a peace between Israel and the Palestinians, but find the usual slogan-shouting protests too boring," reported the AFP news service.
"A Palestinian, apparently on a suicide mission, was shot dead in his car which blew up outside a nightclub in Tel Aviv early yesterday in the fourth such incident since Sunday, as the Middle East slid back toward its desperate cycle of violence. Israeli troops meanwhile made a brief incursion into Gaza City, destroying three factories," reported the AFP news service.
"Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee headed to the hills for a brief vacation yesterday as fears of immediate warfare between India and Pakistan began to recede under intense international diplomatic pressure. Vajpayee’s decision to take a three-day break in the Himalayan holiday resort of Manali is seen by analysts as a signal that war is not imminent, despite the government facing severe internal pressure to launch military strikes on Islamic groups based in Pakistan," reported the AFP news service.
"A US poultry rights campaigner decried on Thursday an Israeli scientist’s creation of a bio-engineered featherless, ready-to-cook live chicken. US chicken rights campaigner, United Poultry Concerns, said the plan was cruel and immoral. The Israeli research was enough to turn people off meat altogether, the group said," reported the AFP news service.
