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. . . Day by Day with VOA .. . Human Rights Group Accuses Suicide Bombers of War Crimes . Larry James Jerusalem 01 Nov 2002, 11:13 UTC   .  Listen to
Larry James' report from Jerusalem (RealAudio) James
report - Download 243k (RealAudio) .
The 170-page report says the Palestinian leadership bears much of the responsibility for the suicide attacks. The report did not directly link the Palestinian Authority to the bombings but criticizes its leadership for not taking action against those responsible, especially in 2001, when they were most capable of doing so.
Human Rights Watch says those who carry out or plan suicide bombings are war criminals, not martyrs, and that attacks against civilians are prohibited by international law. And, it says, even though Jewish settlements in the occupied territories are illegal under international law, the settlers are still entitled to protection as civilians. The report singles out several leaders of militant Palestinian groups, including Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin and Islamic Jihad leader Ramadan Shalah, as individuals who should face criminal investigations. Human Rights Watch has criticized the Israeli army in the past for abusing the rights of Palestinian civilians. Friday's report says that Israeli attacks that have killed Palestinian civilians are not justification for suicide bombings. Since the Palestinian uprising began just over two years ago, there have been an estimated 80 suicide bombings in Israel that have claimed the lives of some 294 Israelis.
. Al Qaida Said To Be Building Base in Karachi, Pakistan . VOA News 01 Nov 2002, 19:23 UTC . The Al Qaida terrorist network is reported to be trying to establish a base of operations in Pakistan's largest city, Karachi. A New York Times report from Karachi quotes Pakistani officials as saying that Al Qaida, which enjoys widespread support from local people, has been renting apartments for its operatives in many parts of the city. The Times says that among the Al Qaida agents believed to be in Karachi is the reputed mastermind of the September 11th attacks in the United States, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. On September 11, the anniversary of the attack, another suspected Al Qaida terrorist, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, was arrested in Karachi. In the raid, Pakistani police found five lap top computers and three satellite telephones, as well as hundreds of computer discs they said apparently where used by the terrorists for recruiting purposes. The Times article quotes the officials as saying the terrorists appear to have no shortage of money and weapons and that they take elaborate precautions to avoid being detected. Some information for this report provided by AFP.
. Australian Police Say Expert Made Bali Bomb Last Month . . .
Australian forensic experts say a highly skilled bomb maker used chlorate to build the explosives. In September a large amount of chlorate was stolen on Indonesia's Java island and the theft is being investigated. Indonesian officials, however, think other materials were used in the bomb. Graham Ashton from the Australian Federal Police thinks two bombs were set off by remote control. The first ripped through an Irish pub seconds before an explosion destroyed the Sari club on the opposite side of the road, in Bali's popular Kuta entertainment district. "The bomb was planted immediately prior to its detonation so somebody has planted that bomb there and a very short time later the bomb was detonated," he said. Australian investigators say the bomb was in a van outside the Sari Club. It was, investigators say, placed to create the most possible casualties. About 120 Australian police and intelligence officers have been working in Bali with investigators from Indonesia, the United States, Britain and Japan. The Australian team is heading home but will continue to help the investigation by using revolutionary laser technology. It has developed a virtual map of the Sari club's interior using a three-dimensional computer image, to allow detectives to re-create the events of October 12. At least 180 people were killed in the blasts in the Kuta beach district on Bali. Most of the casualties were foreign tourists, and least 90 Australians are among the dead and missing. Indonesian police say they have identified one of three men wanted for questioning in the bombing. The men were spotted near the scene of the explosions and drawings of them were released to the public this week. Australian authorities suspect the Southeast Asian group Jemaah Islamiyah in the bombing. The homes of suspected sympathizers of the hard-line Islamic organization were raided across Australia earlier this week in a nationwide sweep. The group has been linked to the al-Qaida terror network. The raids have drawn criticism from civil libertarians, but the government says they were necessary and will continue if needed.
. Denmark Delays Russian Bid for Chechen Envoy . . Denmark says it needs more evidence from Russia before it can agree to extradite Chechen envoy Akhmed Zakayev to Moscow as a terrorist. Danish Justice Minister Lene Esperesen late Friday said she had informed Moscow that the evidence against the envoy was "insufficient to meet international conventions for extraditions." She said she sent a letter Friday to Russian authorities requesting additional information. Mr. Zakayev was detained Wednesday by Danish police acting on a Russian arrest warrant accusing him of involvement in last week's hostage siege by armed Chechen separatists. He is the main envoy of rebel Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov and had just attended a conference in Copenhagen attended by Chechen rebels and human rights activists. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said earlier Moscow has provided Danish authorities with documents proving that Mr. Zakayev is a terrorist and should be extradited to Moscow. More than 800 people were held captive in a Moscow theater for almost 60 hours before before Russian special forces stormed the building. All the Chechen guerillas were killed during the operation and more than 100 hostages died, mostly from a gas intended to incapacitate the rebels. A Chechen website has published what it says is a statement from Chechen guerrilla leader Shamil Basayev, claiming responsibility for the hostage-taking in Moscow. The statement attributed to the guerrilla leader also apologizes for not informing Chechen separatist president Maskhadov in advance about the Moscow theater takeover. On Thursday, the Kremlin ruled out any peace talks with Chechen separatists after accusing Mr. Maskhadov of being behind the hostage crisis. Russia's Itar-Tass news agency reports the Kremlin is dismissing the Basayev statement as an effort to take the pressure off the Chechen separatist administration. Mr. Maskhadov has condemned the hostage taking, calling it a dishonorable way to win Chechen independence. Some information for this report provided by AFP and AP.
. Bush Urges Americans to Vote Republican . Scott Stearns White House 01 Nov 2002, 21:02 UTC . Listen
to Scott Stearn's report (RealAudio) Stearns
report -Download 270k (RealAudio) .
In a campaign push to election day, President Bush is visiting 17 cities, before voting next Tuesday near his home in Crawford, Texas. The president is hoping his high approval ratings help reverse a trend that usually shows the party in control of the White House losing seats in mid-term elections. Mr. Bush wants to maintain a Republican majority in the House of Representatives and regain a majority in the Senate. Between campaign stops Friday in the eastern state of Pennsylvania and the southern state of Kentucky, the president rallied Republicans in the northern state of New Hampshire, where Congressman John Sununu is battling Democratic Governor Jeanne Shaheen for a seat in the U.S. Senate. "We have got a lot of hurdles that we have got to cross here in America, but there is no question in my mind that we can cross them," said Mr. Bush. "That's what I want to talk to you about. Part of it depends on who you elect to the Senate. Part of it depends on the will and desire of the American people." It was the president's standard campaign speech, promising better education and health care, lower taxes, and a continuing fight against terrorism. Mr. Bush regularly draws the biggest cheers on the campaign trail by calling for action against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Friday, he again urged the United Nations to pass a tough resolution on Iraq, saying he will lead his own coalition against Baghdad, if the Security Council does not. "If the United Nations will not act, if Saddam Hussein will not disarm, in the name of peace, and in the name of freedom, the United States of America will lead a coalition to disarm him," said Mr. Bush. The president is not alone in his push toward election day. Vice President Dick Cheney Friday campaigned in the states of Indiana, Minnesota, and Colorado. First lady Laura Bush spoke for Republican candidates in North Carolina. Mrs. Bush and Vice President Cheney both will campaign over the weekend in South Dakota, where Republicans are close to picking-up a Senate seat in the home state of Senate Majority Leader Democrat Tom Daschle.
. Florida's Governor's Race Draws National Attention . . .
President Bush has many hopes for the 2002 elections, including that his brother, Jeb, will win a second term as governor of Florida. "Anything I can do to help Jeb stay in the governor's office, I will do," said President Bush. Since becoming president, George Bush has visited Florida more often than any other state in the nation, almost always with Jeb Bush at his side. Florida International University political scientist Kevin Hill says the president is not just looking out for his younger brother; he is looking out for himself, as well. "If Jeb Bush were to lose this governor's race, it would not reflect well on his brother's chances of winning Florida in 2004. It certainly would not be good for President Bush," said Kevin Hill. Two years ago, President Bush won the state of Florida by less than 1,000 votes after five contentious weeks of ballot recounts and court battles. To this day, many Democrats dispute the final outcome in Florida. African-Americans are particularly bitter, as studies have shown that balloting problems were most prevalent in predominantly black and other minority districts.
It was Governor Bush's Secretary of State, Katherine Harris, who ultimately certified the 2000 election results in Florida. Democrats say they would love to extract revenge by defeating the president's brother. They hope that lingering anger over the 2000 election debacle will help propel their party's candidate, Bill McBride, to victory in the governor's race. But political scientist Kevin Hill says that scenario is more fanciful than plausible. "The fact that Democrats are angry about 2000 is pretty much irrelevant," he said. "I am sure they are mad, but what can they do about it other than vote? I mean, they cannot vote twice."
But the race has taken an unexpected twist. Last Tuesday, exactly one week before the election, more than 200 Haitian boat people landed near Miami and were promptly detained by federal authorities. Haitian-Americans have loudly protested the treatment of the new arrivals and called on Governor Bush to appeal to his brother, the president, on their behalf.
As a general rule, immigrant groups tend to vote Democratic. But one powerful immigrant group in Florida is solidly Republican. Public opinion polls show Governor Bush enjoys 90 percent backing among Cuban-Americans, like Juan Garau. Mr. Garau says he will vote for Jeb Bush, because he feels the governor will take a harder line when it comes to dealings with Cuban President Fidel Castro. Political observers say it is virtually impossible for a Democrat to win statewide office in Florida with less than 25 percent of the Cuban vote. Thus, Bill McBride's single-digit approval rating among Cubans is a sign of trouble. Statewide, recent polling data show Mr. McBride trailing Governor Bush by 7-8 percentage points.
. Ivory Coast Government, Rebels Sign First Agreement . . .
The agreement announced late Friday in the Togolese capital, Lome, commits the government to push through laws granting amnesty for renegade soldiers who are imprisoned or in exile. The head of the West African team of mediators who brokered the talks, Mohammed Ibn Chambas, said the accord is a major breakthrough in the effort to end the six-week-old insurrection in Ivory Coast, which has killed hundreds and displaced thousands more.
"The trigger of this crisis was the grievances that the military had over their professional service [working] conditions," he explained. "We have reached agreement on these issues, satisfactory to both sides. We have made a huge step toward peace." A communiqué issued by mediators on Friday said the government agreed to present a law granting amnesty to renegade soldiers for passage in Ivory Coast's National Assembly. The government also agreed to reintegrate rebels into the army. For their part, rebels agreed to open a humanitarian corridor through areas of north and central Ivory Coast that are under their control. Discussions in Lome did not touch on the rebels' key political demands, which include the resignation of President Laurent Gbagbo and the holding of new elections. Mediators say these issues, along with the government's demands for the rebels' disarmament, will be taken up on Monday when talks are due to resume.
. Peres Vows to Strive for Peace in the Middle East . . Two days after resigning from the Israel's hardline Likud government, former Foreign Minister Shimon Peres says his center-left Labor Party will keep working for peace in the Middle East. Mr. Peres says it is hard to judge whether the break-up of the Likud-Labor coalition has hurt the chances for an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement. He says success depends heavily on progress by by the so-called Middle East quartet - the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia. And he said that for now, the situation is overshadowed by "the very serious issue of Iraq," and the energy given to resolving that by the United States. Mr. Peres made the comments after meeting with Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat at a political seminar on the Spanish island of Majorca. Mr. Peres later had lunch with Mr. Erekat and the speaker of the Israeli parliament, Avraham Burg. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has offered the foreign minister post to a right-wing political rival, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who says he is considering the offer. The two men will meet again Sunday. Mr. Sharon has been working to rebuild his government since Wednesday, when ministers of the center-left Labor party resigned over a proposal to increase funding for settlements in the Palestinian territories. Prime Minister Sharon now controls only 55 seats in the 120-seat parliament. He plans to hold talks with small, right-wing parties in a bid to keep his majority. If his efforts to build a new coalition fall short, he could call new elections. Thursday, Mr. Sharon offered the post of defense minister to retired Lieutenant General Shaul Mofaz, a move criticized by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat because of the general's hardline reputation. General Mofaz, former chief of staff of the Israeli defense forces, has tentatively accepted. Some information for this report provided by Reuters.
. Project to Identify Genes For Common Illnesses Launched . . .
The international Human Genome Project produced a genetic road map unveiled two years ago, describing the arrangement of chemical building blocks in each cell that regulates how humans function. But because the genome, or collection of genes, is so vast, researchers can only guess where to look within the blueprint for proteins that may play a role in illness. The $100-million International HapMap Project, described as the next phase of the Human Genome Project, is a refinement. Fifteen teams of researchers in the United States, China, Canada, England, and Japan will attempt to identify so-called haplotypes, or groups of genes that are passed from one generation to the next. David Altshuler of the Whitehead Center for Genome Research at Harvard Medical School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, heads one of the research groups working on HapMap. Dr. Alschuler says one of the main goals of the Human Genome Project is to help understand the inherited basis of human disease, that is, why some people get diabetes or heart disease and others do not. That means cataloging the minute genetic differences between individuals. Researchers think there are about ten-million genetic differences throughout the human genome that play a role in disease. One way to find the haplotypes is to search for them individually, an extremely time-consuming and expensive project. Or Dr. Altschulter says researchers can look for clusters or blocks of haplotypes and construct a map. "The people who would get one particular variation would have a whole series of variations next to each other called a haplotype that they would inherit in common," he said. "And so in a sense the haplotype map is just a way to simplify this process of genetic studies." Experts say that 99.9 percent of the population is genetically identical, having emerged from Africa between 10,000 and 100,000 years ago. It's the .1 percent difference in our DNA, or genetic material, that researchers focus on to learn more about disease. Researchers think they will be able to create a map of all ten million haplotypes in the human genome testing between 200 to 400 blood samples drawn from Europe, Africa and Asia. Tom Hudson, the head of Montreal's Genome Center at McGill University in Canada, which will analyze ten percent of the data for the HapMap project, says researchers will pinpoint blocks of haplotypes, or genetic markers, that disease researchers can consult once the map is finished. "What we're going to identify is the right set of markers which can be used to test every block across the genome," he said. "So, if someone works in hypertension or diabetes, they need to go and test these markers that we've developed in terms of this project in their cohorts of people with hypertension compared to people without hypertension, and the same thing for diabetes and cancer and so on." The Whitehead Institute's David Altschuler would like to see peoples' genetic susceptibility to disease put on the same mantle as the risk due to environmental factors, such as the increased likelihood that they'll get lung cancer if they smoke cigarettes. Dr. Altschuler thinks HapMap will do that. "What we're talking about here actually is genetic exposure," he said. "That is, in addition to the environmental exposures that people have studied and will continued to study, we're saying here are the common genetic variations that might influence disease. And they'll be used in the same kind of association studies, epidemiologic studies, to ask are any of these variations correlated with disease. And if they are, then they become important targets for developing diagnostics and new therapies." The HapMap project is scheduled to take three years to complete, although researchers hope to finish it sooner.
. Second Strong Quake Rattles Italy . . . Another earthquake has struck the tiny Italian village of San Giuliano di Puglia, where at least 28 people are dead after an earthquake Thursday. Three people were injured by the latest tremor.
This latest quake was nearly as strong as Thursday's, which reduced to rubble a primary school were 56 students were attending classes. Officials say most of the victims were sitting at their desks as the roof caved in on them. Nearly all those killed by the quake have been children, though two women who lived near the school were killed when their homes collapsed.
Dr. Ghebre, the deputy commissioner of the Italian Red Cross, is coordinating relief efforts. He said destruction is widespread and many of the people are going to need basics such as food, water and electricity. "As you know, not only the school but many other buildings have been damaged," he said. "We are estimating from 1,000-3,000 people to be out of their houses. So we have moved the field [of relief operations] to host them, about 10 kilometers from San Guiliano, a place called Ranestro." Luca Malagnini, a researcher at Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology in Rome, said the series of earthquakes have come as a surprise because fault lines in the area have been dormant for many years. He warned that other quakes and aftershocks could be on the way. "When you have a large earthquake, you increase the probability that you'll have another one of a significant size at close distance," he explained. Mr. Malagnini said scientists are finding it hard to predict the possibly of future quakes because there is little historical information on the area.
. UN Security Council Closer to Agreement on Iraq Weapons Inspections, says Ivanov . . .
Significantly closer is how Mr. Ivanov describes the five permanent council members' positions on weapons inspections in Iraq after nearly seven weeks of intense negotiations. But the foreign minister, while optimistic that diplomats could be on the brink of an agreement, acknowledged serious differences remain. He said the differences continue to center on possible consequences for Iraq, if it does not fully comply with the new resolution. Mr. Ivanov said Russia continues to believe that if problems come up during the inspections, the issue should be returned to the Security Council.
Earlier this week, Mr. El Baradei and chief U.N. Arms Inspector Hans Blix met with President Bush and other top U.S. officials. The United States is seeking a more toughly worded resolution that veto-holding council members Russia, China and France fear could be used to justify a military strike on Iraq, without specific Security Council endorsement. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has indicated President Bush is willing to compromise, but not so much as to, in his words, be handcuffed and unable to take whatever action is necessary to find and destroy Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Iraq, says it is ready to allow weapons inspectors to return after a four-year absence. But it says no new U.N. resolution is needed.
. UN Study Finds Violence Against Women Widespread in Conflict Areas . . . A new study commissioned by the United Nations Development Fund for Women finds violence against women is widespread in areas of conflict. U.N. peacekeeping troops themselves contribute to the grim statistics. 24-year old Johanna tells how she escaped rebel fighting in Sierra Leone in 1997. She found refuge as a domestic worker but was repeatedly raped by her employer, who threatened to kill her if she informed authorities of the crime. Johanna's story is one of many documented in the new report that followed a year of research in fourteen nations, including Bosnia, Colombia, East Timor, Cambodia, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone. Independent expert, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is a former presidential candidate in Liberia who also serves on the African Unity Panel investigating the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, which also brought the rape of as many as 500,000 women. She said that although the circumstances differ, horrific crimes committed against women in areas of conflict are very much the same. "Their experiences are real. We were very shocked ourselves. We were not prepared for the intensity of the suffering to which women are subjected in times of conflict," she said. Ms. Johnson Sirleaf said that, despite the hardships they endure, women make remarkable contributions to rebuilding communities struggling to overcome violence and war. The report notes that some progress has been made by the United Nations and non-governmental organizations in improving the health and security by women. But it says perpetrators of crimes against women are rarely brought to justice. Ms. Johnson Sirleaf said the report also documents how peace-keepers from several countries may have engaged in sexual misconduct and spread AIDS and HIV. "I hope that governments that contribute to peacekeeping forces, having read the report, will do something about ensuring that their troops will abide by the court of conduct that has been prepared to guide troops that serve in this capacity," she said. "We also hope that governments will act quickly to nominate women to the Secretary General for positions so we can see the number of women representatives increase." The report calls on the United Nations to increase the role of women in international peacekeeping.
. US Rules Out Talks With North Korea . . . The Bush administration is ruling out talks at any level with North Korea until it agrees to dismantle the covert nuclear weapons program U.S. officials say Pyongyang admitted to last month. The diplomatic freeze applies even to technical discussions with the North Koreans. Mid-level diplomats of the two sides met at least once on the sidelines of the United Nations after North Korea acknowledged the uranium-enrichment project to visiting U.S. envoy James Kelly in early October.
This week's New York meeting, to which the United States would have normally sent State and Energy Department experts, was organized by KEDO, the international consortium helping to implement the 1994 U.S.-North Korean "agreed framework" nuclear accord. Under terms of that deal, North Korea agreed to shut down suspect nuclear reactors in exchange for the building, by KEDO, of two western-designed nuclear power plants and interim supplies of fuel oil. While the Bush administration considers Pyongyang's uranium-enrichment effort to have violated the 1994 framework, its implementation at least for the time being continues, with North Korea receiving its scheduled fuel-oil deliveries this month. At the same time, however the United States has said North Korea can expect no new benefits from the west for stopping the enrichment project, a point underlined again Friday by spokesman Reeker. "North Korea must understand that we will not bargain, or offer inducements to convince the regime there to live up to the existing international commitments and agreements that they've already signed," he said. The State Department's arms-control chief, John Bolton, said earlier at a Washington policy seminar that the North Korean nuclear project is a "cause for grave concern" and a problem with global, and not just regional, implications. However, Mr. Bolton said that the Bush administration wants to resolve the matter peacefully through, as he put it "the exertion of maximum diplomatic pressure."
. Washington Pressures France to Support UN Resolution . . Washington is increasing pressure on France to support a tough United Nations resolution that demands Iraq disarm or face "serious consequences." Secretary of State Colin Powell telephoned the French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin on Friday to push the U.S.-sponsored resolution. Three permanent Council members with veto power - France, China and Russia - argue that Iraq should be given a chance to cooperate with U.N. inspectors searching for banned weapons, before military action is approved to force cooperation. Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Security Council members are close to agreement on some resolution issues, but that serious differences remain. He did not name the issues of agreement or those still unresolved. Secretary Powell also spoke by phone Friday with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge Castenada and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal. Mexico, one of 10 non-permanent members of the Security Council, has also opposed a resolution calling for force against Iraq. Britain is taking the hardline approach on Iraq backed by the United States.A vote on a resolution could be held next week. Wednesday, Mr. Powell also said the Security Council is moving toward a compromise agreement. He also said the United States will not let itself be "handcuffed" by the United Nations in dealing with Iraq. Some information for this report provided by AFP and AP.
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. . . Day by Day with VOA .. . . African Leaders to Discuss Increasing Investment, Debt Relief . Luis Ramirez Abidjan 03 Nov 2002, 14:30 UTC . Listen
to Luis Ramirez's Report from Abidjan (RealAudio)
Ramirez
Report - Download 214k (RealAudio) . Leaders of 20 African nations are meeting in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, for discussions on how to implement the economic development plan known as the New Partnership for Africa's Development, or NEPAD. The one-day summit seeks to put the NEPAD initiative into its practical phase. The plan's aim is to draw added investment and debt relief from wealthy nations in exchange for guarantees of good governance on the African continent. NEPAD has drawn praise and support from the West because, in return for aid and investment, African nations agree to promote good governance by putting in place a peer-review mechanism. According to the plan, African nations would monitor each other to ensure that they observe basic rules of democracy and respect for human rights. Members of the G8 group of industrialized nations have agreed to increase development aid and debt relief to nations who abide by NEPAD principles. At the top of the summit agenda in Abuja were discussions on how to put the peer review mechanism in place to comply with the G8 partners' expectations. But on Friday, South African President Thabo Mbeki, a member of the founding committee of NEPAD, said he disagreed with the terms requiring governments to submit to the peer-review mechanism. An Mbeki statement said the peer review mechanism is contrary to the original agreement signed by the founders of NEPAD. A European Parliament official visiting South Africa, Deputy Michael Gahler, said that removing the guarantees for good governance from NEPAD could put in danger the G8 support for the initiative.
. ASEAN Meeting Focuses on Mekong River Area Development Issues . . . In Cambodia, Asian leaders have begun the first of three days of summitry dealing with terrorism, regional security and economic integration. Sunday's meeting focused on development issues in the Mekong River region. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen opened Sunday's meeting here in Phnom Penh noting that the Mekong River Sub-region, or GMS, was formed 10 years ago amidst conflict and cross-border tensions. Since then, he said, the group has made great progress in bringing peace and development to the quarter-billion people living there. But speaking through an interpreter, the prime minister said major challenges remain. "We have a clear, undeniable obligation to promote sustainable development and poverty alleviation across the GMS," he said. The group has focused for the last decade on providing roads, telecommunications and electrical power to the region. Now, the Cambodian leader notes more attention must be paid to protecting the environment and providing jobs and social services. Across town Sunday, several hundred activists representing the underprivileged people of Southeast Asia gathered for an alternate meeting, called the Southeast Asia People's Festival. One of the organizers, Toni Kasim, said the region is rich in resources, yet its people face increasing suffering because of the loss of natural resources and government policies that favor big business. "Our policies continue to be dominated by international agreements, which our governments enter into with little regard for the adverse effect that it has on the people of Southeast Asia. And we're tired of the situation. We're tired of the poverty. We're tired of the violations and, most of all, tired of being ignored by policy makers." This group has drafted a document called the Mekong Declaration that calls on the region's leaders to address poverty and the lack of civil and political rights for many people in the region. While expressing sympathy for the victims of recent terrorist attacks, the document also calls on governments to refrain from using the war on terrorism as an excuse to restrict individual freedoms and repress political dissidence. Organizers say they want to present the document to ASEAN leaders Monday, but have been refused. In addition, they say a rally for their cause was cancelled by local authorities who cited security concerns. The three days of summitry move into high gear Monday with the opening of meetings between Southeast Asian leaders and China, Japan, and South Korea. Summits with India and South Africa are set for Tuesday.
. Chechens Down Russian Helicopter; Moscow Launches New Offensive . . . The Russian military says Chechen rebels have shot down a Russian helicopter in Chechnya, killing nine servicemen. Moscow said its forces had launched a new offensive in the breakaway region following a recent hostage-taking staged by Chechen militants in Moscow. The Russian military said the helicopter was brought down by a rocket fired by rebels on the edge of the Chechen capital, Grozny, not far from the main Russian military base in Chechnya. Earlier, Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov announced that Russian forces had launched a major new operation in Chechnya. Mr. Ivanov said troops have started a broad-scale and targeted offensive throughout the breakaway republic in southern Russia. The Defense Chief added that intelligence r |