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. Zimbabwe: 6 White Farmers Appear in Court for Failing to Quit Land VOA News 16 Aug 2002 16:20 UTC  
Six white farmers in Zimbabwe have appeared in court to face charges of defying government orders to vacate their land. They are the first of thousands of white farmers to face prosecution for refusing to quit their farms by the August 8 deadline imposed by President Robert Mugabe's land reform act. The court in the southwestern town of Gwanda Friday, released the farmers on bail, but ordered them to return to court in September. Lawyers for the farmers said they will contest the constitutionality of the eviction orders. Last week, Zimbabwe's High Court ruled the government can not seize mortgaged land unless it has notified the lending bank. Those who appeared in court today were not asked to enter a plea. If convicted, the farmers face two years in prison or a heavy fine. Meanwhile, nine other white farmers were arrested Friday in Matabeleland province and are in prison. There are also reports Zimbabwean police have visited other parts of the country looking for farmers who are still defying the order to vacate, either to warn them or serve warrants for their arrest. President Mugabe says his land reform policy in which white farms are to be given to landless blacks, will correct the wrongs of British colonialism, which reportedly gave 70 percent of the country's best farmland to whites, who made up just one percent of the population.
. Blue Crush Pits Girl Against Wave
On the north shore of Hawaii's Oahu island, mountainous waves curl into the classic "pipeline" shape that attracts surfers from around the world for the rides of their lives. "It looks heavy out there. It's fierce!" Conquering the legendary "pipeline" is a personal goal for Anne Marie, a local Hawaiian surfer who dreams of joining the ranks of champion women surfers. To play the role actress Kate Bosworth had to conquer her own fears and get out in the waves.
The southern California native admits she had never before been up on a surfboard so Blue Crush meant a crash course in riding the waves. "Well, we had a limited amount of time to learn, but the training consisted of surfing, weight training, running and something called 'rock running,' " she explains. "You see it in the movie. You hold a rock underneath the water and run as far as you can. It's for lung capacity." The "sports metaphor" drama about achieving your dreams is a Hollywood staple; but Kate Bosworth is pleased that Blue Crush puts a woman athlete in the spotlight. "First of all I'd like to say 'it's about time!' " she exclaims. " I think it's inspirational to see anybody go out and ride waves that big and have the belief in themselves to do the best that they can do out there. I think since they chose to show it through a woman, it obviously empowers women in general. [As the character,] I want to be able to pay the electricity and phone and the rent all in the same month," she adds. "I want to be on the cover of Surfer magazine. It would be great if that girl were me, but any girl will do. And I really, really, really want to win 'pipe masters' tomorrow. That's what I want." John Stockwell co-wrote and directed Blue Crush to showcase the sport he passionately enjoys. Amazing camera angles from above, on and beneath the waves put the audience right on the surfboard with his star; but Stockwell found filming much more challenging than it looked on the drawing board.
What director Stockwell says is not a problem, however, is making Blue Crush and its arcane surfing world come alive for audiences in places like landlocked Nebraska, far from any ocean. "Part of this movie is 'girl against wave' or 'girl against monster.' I could have made a movie that was more about ' wow, look at that cutback. I can understand why they got a 6.3 as opposed to a 6.1,'" he explains. "But we really upped the stakes, I think, and made it such a life or death experience and actually transported them. I think the movie will play better in Nebraska than it will in San Diego, in some respects, because it really is an exotic experience for them and it truly takes them to a place they've never been before. You don't have to have ever been on a wave or a surfboard to appreciate what the girls go through in this."
"We've always dreamt of showing women's surf in its true form, and I think this is the first time that's happened," she says, "and I think it's great that this movie has been able to express women's surfing and surfing in general the way it has, because it's a unique thing." Blue Crush was filmed on location on the Oahu north shore. The cast also features Michelle Rodriguez and Mika Boorem. The eclectic soundtrack ranges from hard rock to rap to reggae.
. Elvis Remembered 25 Years After Death Twenty-five years ago August 16, the "King of Rock and Roll", Elvis Presley, was found dead at his Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee. Since his death, Elvis' popularity has continued to grow, attracting a new generation of fans. VOA's Bernie Bernard tells us about the activities in Elvis' hometown of Memphis and the new albums that have been released to honor "The King's" anniversary.
"I've experienced a lot of the different phases of life. I've experienced happiness and loneliness and the wealthy side of life and tragedy, like losing my mother while I was in the army," Elvis said. "Although, I think things like that, as tragic as they are, can make you a better human being, really." Hundreds of performers have been influenced by Elvis in some way, whether it's singing style, stage presence, dress or attitude. New Orleans singer Aaron Neville, who has one of the most distinctive voices in pop and R&B, cites Elvis as an inspiration. "I think Elvis influenced just about everybody that was into music, because he was like an entity in the music business," says Neville. "He broke a lot of ground. He got songs played [on the radio] that ordinarily wouldn't have gotten played, for one thing. He opened doors for other people, whether they know it or not."
After watching fans come and go for many Elvis Week celebrations, Graceland spokesman Todd Morgan describes the scene as a type of family reunion.
This week, several events have been organized to mark "The King's" 25th anniversary, including parades, dance parties, fan club gatherings, tours of Graceland, auctions of Elvis memorabilia, charity events, concerts with former Elvis bandmates, and, of course, performances by Elvis impersonators. A traveling exhibit called the Mobile Graceland Tour was unveiled, which will visit 31 cities across the U.S. Housed in an 18-wheel truck, the show will feature memorabilia and artifacts that have never been displayed outside of Elvis' Graceland home. Fans from around the U.S. have their own special reasons for making the pilgrimage to Memphis. "I've liked Elvis ever since I can remember and I always wanted to go to Graceland," admits one fan. "Being here on the grounds, it's exciting," says another fan. "You kind of get an Elvis fever thing." "I love the way he sings. His voice is beautiful. It just kind of touches me in the heart," adds a fan. "He's the greatest that ever was and the greatest there will ever be," says another fan. "Years after his death, how many people still love him and cherish him and still worship 'The King?' It's a phenomenon. He'll never die," says another fan. This week, Tomato Records is releasing Elvis Presley/Roots Revolution: The Louisiana Hayride Recordings, which feature some of "The King's" live radio performances from the mid-1950s. RCA Records has already put out the box set, Elvis: Today, Tomorrow and Forever, and will release Elvis 30 #1 Hits on September 24. For the soundtrack of the recent film, Ocean's Eleven, producer David Holmes re-mixed an obscure Elvis tune with an added hip-hop rhythm track. Disc jockey JXL's Elvis remix A Little Less Conversation is already number one in the U.K.
Floods Afflict Eastern Germany The rain-swollen Elbe River in eastern Germany is rising to record levels and authorities say the floodwaters are now threatening several of the region's largest cities. Rescue teams have evacuated about 30,000 people from the city of Dresden. The river there has risen above nine meters, flooding much of the historic city center and shattering a 157-year record. Authorities say they expect the Elbe to crest by tomorrow Saturday, putting Magdeburg, Dessau and other eastern German cities at risk. Floods are receding in the Czech capital, Prague. The capitals of neighboring Slovakia and Hungary - Bratislava and Budapest - remain on alert. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has invited the heads of government of Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia and the head of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, to a meeting in Berlin Sunday to discuss the situation. Flooding caused by heavy rains over the past 10 days has killed about 100 people across Central Europe and Russia and destroyed billions of dollars of property, infrastructure and crops. The International Red Cross is appealing for more than $1 million to help flood victims in the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia. A Red Cross spokesman said Friday in Geneva the donations will help 450,000 people, a little more than half of whom live in the Czech Republic.
. Human Rights Groups Criticize Acquittal in E. Timor Violence Case Patricia Nunan Jakarta 16 Aug 2002 10:41 UTC  Listen to
Patricia Nunan's report from Jakarta (RealAudio)
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On Wednesday, the court convicted East Timor's former governor, Abilio Soares, of crimes against humanity and sentenced him to three years in jail. Roughly 1,000 people died and hundreds of thousands were forced to flee when militia groups rampaged through East Timor in 1999, as the territory voted to break free of Indonesian rule. Human rights groups charge that the Indonesian military organized the militias and helped carry out the violence. Christian Ranheim, of the Judicial System Monitoring Program, a non-governmental organization in East Timor's capital Dili, said Indonesian prosecutors had ample evidence to prove that the militias and General Silaen were linked, but they failed to introduce it in court. "Whether they withheld the evidence or whether it was incompetence or political interference, I really can't comment on that. I really don't know," he said. Indonesia set up a special human rights court in response to international pressure to hold its officials accountable for the violence. But human rights groups argue that the court's mandate was flawed from the very beginning. Mr. Ranheim said the court is not investigating many of the atrocities seen in East Timor. "It was only allowed to try cases from three districts out of the 13 districts in East Timor and also for only two months in 1999, while actually a lot of violations happened throughout that year in all districts," Mr. Ranheim noted. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan also reacted to General Silaen's acquittal, by endorsing the statement from the High Commissoner for Human rights. A spokesman for the secretary general rejected allegations made in Jakarta that the United Nations played a role in East Timor's destruction. Some Indonesian officials argued that irregularities in the way the United Nations ran East Timor's independence ballot fueled what they said was a conflict among local groups.
. Israel Destroys Palestinian Militants' Homes
Israeli forces have destroyed the West Bank family homes of two Palestinian militants blamed for attacks against Israelis. One of the houses belonged to an Islamic Jihad member who Israel says helped plan a suicide bus bombing that killed 17 people at Meggido in northern Israel in June. Israeli officials say the suspect remains at large. Soldiers also took down the home of a Palestinian man who wounded two Israeli security men in a suicide attack in January in the Israeli Arab village of Taibe. Israeli forces have destroyed more than 20 Palestinian homes in similar actions over the past month. Israel says the house demolitions are aimed at deterring would-be attackers by showing that their families will also pay a price. Palestinians and rights groups condemn the tactic as collective punishment. On Thursday, Palestinian officials said Israeli soldiers shot and killed a five-year-old Palestinian boy and wounded two men in the Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis. The Israeli army says soldiers were responding to Palestinian gunfire. Elsewhere in Gaza, the Israeli army said it killed two Palestinian men trying to sneak under a border security fence with a bagful of explosives. Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
. Israel Tells US Delaying Strike on Iraq is Dangerous VOA News 16 Aug 2002 14:02 UTC
Israel is warning the United States that delaying military action against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein would be dangerous. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon recently sent a message to the Bush administration saying that any delay in dealing with Saddam Hussein will only give him more time to develop weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Sharon's spokesman, Ra'anan Gissin, says Israeli intelligence officials also believe the Iraqi leader is stepping up efforts to produce biological and chemical weapons. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres told the American cable television network, CNN, that a military operation against Iraq would be dangerous, but that postponing such action would be even more dangerous. Mr. Peres said he believes it is just a matter of years before Saddam Hussein has a nuclear weapon, a situation Mr. Peres said would be terrible. President Bush has labeled Iraq a rogue state intent on acquiring weapons of mass destruction that would pose a threat to the United States and its allies. He has made clear he wants to see a regime change in Baghdad. But the president says he has not decided on any specific course of action or timetable. Thursday, U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice told British radio there is a very powerful moral case for toppling Saddam Hussein. She said he would be a real danger to his own people and the rest of the world if allowed to stay in power, especially if he gets his hands on weapons of mass destruction. Some information for this report provided by AP and Reuters.
. Israel Urges US to Take Action Against Saddam Sonja Pace Jerusalem 16 Aug 2002 12:42 UTC
Sharon spokesman Ra'anan Gissin said Israeli intelligence officials believe the Iraqi leader is stepping up efforts to produce biological and chemical weapons. In an interview with the American cable television network, CNN, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres had much the same message. Mr. Peres said a military operation against Saddam Hussein will be dangerous, but he said it would be more dangerous to postpone such action. President Bush has labeled Iraq part of an "axis of evil," a rogue state intent on acquiring weapons of mass destruction and thus posing a threat to the United States and its allies. Mr. Bush has since made it increasingly clear that he wants to see a change of government in Baghdad. The president says he has not decided on any specific course of action or timetable. There is also considerable international opposition to any possible American military action against Baghdad. But, there is still increasing speculation that an American military strike against Iraq might come soon. Israeli officials have long said they see Saddam Hussein as a threat. They are also concerned what might happen if the United States does attack Iraq. During the 1991 Gulf War when a U.S. led international coalition drove Iraqi forces out of Kuwait, Iraq launched several dozen Scud missiles against Israel, causing extensive damage, but few casualties. At American urging, Israel did not respond. Israelis now fear that if attacked again, Saddam Hussein might launch missiles armed with chemical and biological weapons. Israeli military officials have said recently that this time Israel would respond to such any such attack.
. Near-Earth Asteroid Show Amateur stargazers and professional astronomers alike are in for an unusual treat later this week. This weekend, an asteroid named 2002-NY-40 will hurtle past the Earth, a relative hair's-breadth away in astronomical terms, on its three-year long orbit around the sun. The close fly-by means the tumbling asteroid a small chunk of the planetary debris that litters our solar system, will be bright enough to see from earth using only a small telescope. Scientists are hopeful they'll glean useful knowledge from this rare brush with an asteroid, and they are confident the space rock poses no threat to Earth at least not anytime soon. Asteroid 2002 NY40 measures about 800 meters across and will soar past earth Saturday at only one point three times the distance of the Moon, making it visible to an earth-bound observer with the aid of a small telescope or even binoculars. According to officials at the U.S. space agency, NASA, these kinds of visible fly-bys are extremely rare. By their records, the last near-Earth passage of a large asteroid was in 1925. Because of the lack of asteroid chasers back then, the fly-by wasn't discovered until this year. Grant Stokes is the principle investigator for LINEAR, the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research project at MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in Cambridge. Mr. Stokes' group is responsible for identifying a great majority of the larger near-earth asteroids for NASA. Mr. Stokes is excited about the possibility of seeing NY40 up close. "[From] the estimates that I've seen, it's certainly not going to be visible to the naked eye, but with a relatively small telescope, if people are persistent I think they can go find it. If you go out on the web there are a couple of places that show anticipated spots of where it will be as a function of time. The other thing that will be interesting about it is, the signature will be just a little dot in the sky, but it will be moving and I think it will move in a perceptible way so you can actually tell the difference between it and the stars." Astronomers will be studying the shape and motion of NY40 so they can better track its orbit. NASA will also be able to better understand the asteroid's composition using a radio telescope. Mr. Stokes believes increasing our knowledge of an asteroid's makeup is also an important goal. Most are believed to be rich in iron ore "By understanding what they're made of, you learn a lot more about how the solar system is composed and potentially how things got the way they are," he says. "And there are certainly people that think that, in fact, if you go out to them, you could mine interesting things. Also, in the unlikely event you find one that's going to crash into the earth and you want to take some kind of a mitigation action, then it becomes very critical what it is." Most scientists now believe a large asteroid perhaps ten times the size of NY 40 struck the earth about 65 million years ago, devastating the global environment and wiping out a large percentage of the plants and animals on Earth, including the dinosaurs. NASA stresses that while such large asteroid impacts are potentially very dangerous, the chance of such a collision is extremely remote. On July 24 of this year, the British Broadcasting Corporation's online news service raised public concern over another asteroid named 2002 NT-7 that some scientists believe has a slight chance of colliding with earth in the year 2019. The headline ran Space Rock on 'Collision Course'. Jon Giorgini is a senior engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. He says that after more research was conducted, it became quite apparent that NT-7 was not likely to collide with earth: "Additional observations have really shrunk that risk down," he says. "Those initial reports don't reflect the current knowledge of the asteroid. We've learned more about it. Well when you look at the surface of planets such as Mars and Venus or Mercury or even the earth's moon, you see that they're just littered with crater sites. It's pretty good evidence that planets are hit by asteroids. The time scale though is often very large compared to normal human time scales." As for asteroid NY40, Dr. Giorgini says that while it will come relatively close to earth this week, it poses no danger now or within the next few decades. "It's really just a science experiment that's going to be conducted. It's interesting. We'll probably learn a lot about it. All these asteroids, when we turn the radar on them and we see their shapes, every one is unique and different. Each one is a strange little world out there spinning in space," he says. "I think it's an interesting thing that will happen, but it's certainly nothing to be worried about. It's just a science experiment." But NASA scientists, as well as a team of astronomers at the University of Pisa, continue to study the possibilities of a future collision between NY-40 and the Earth. They say long-term projections of NY-40's solar orbit show a number of very close encounters. But according to Sky and Telescope Magazine, both the U.S. and Italian teams have concluded there is only a remote chance that NY-40 will hit the Earth anytime this century. In the meantime, for information on where you might see asteroid 2002 NY 40 in the night sky August 17 or 18, visit NASA's Internet site, NASA.gov. Information on the LINEAR project can be found on MIT's website, MIT.edu.
. Pope Arrives in Homeland for Sentimental Journey Roger Wilkison Brussels 16 Aug 2002 16:32 UTC Listen
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This is his ninth trip to Poland as leader of the Catholic Church. But many Poles are afraid it could be his last. John Paul is suffering from Parkinson's disease, severe arthritis, and a speech impediment. According to a public opinion poll, 86 percent of Poland's people consider a papal visit an important personal event. The pope's trips to Poland have always been filled with historical import, emotional content, and foreboding. This one is no exception.
Lech Walesa, the former leader of the independent trade union Solidarity, and, later president of Poland, says that the pope accelerated the resistance to communist rule but made sure it was peaceful. "We, without him, would have started much later, with a lot of blood," he said. But Jacek Wozniakowski, a retired university professor who worked with the pope when he was still archbishop of Krakow, says John Paul was less interested in a confrontation with the regime than in inspiring Poles to yearn for spiritual and personal freedom. "It wasn't at all a strategy of struggle with communism. The strategy concerned the spiritual development of his flock," he explained. Even Wojciech Jaruzelski, the communist general who imposed martial law in 1981 in a vain attempt to crush Solidarity, calls John Paul "the most illustrious Pole of the 20th Century." He told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera this week that the pope was a wise adversary, worthy of respect. Poles are again looking to the pontiff to guide them through what continues to be a difficult economic transition from communism to a free-market system. Many people are being left behind as the country undertakes harsh reforms to qualify for membership in the European Union. Although the pope has always felt Poland's heart and soul lie with the West, he knows capitalism has its problems and is expected to speak out in defense of people left out of his country's growing prosperity. Pope John Paul is also worried that Poland is becoming more secular and that it has distanced itself from the Christian values he believes provided the moral ammunition to topple communism.
. Pope
Arrives in Poland for 9th Visit Pope John Paul II is in Poland at the start of his ninth visit to his homeland since his election to the papacy in 1978. Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski and Krakow's Cardinal Fanciszek Macharski greeted the ailing 82-year-old pontiff at Krakow airport. Thousands of people, waving Polish and Vatican flags welcomed the pope with songs and hymns. Their enthusiasm appeared to buoy and strengthen the pope. The pontiff earlier walked down the stairs from the aircraft with the assistance of aides. Authorities had used a lift to help the pope enter the plane in Rome. Pope John Paul will spend four days in and around Kraków, where he served as bishop, archbishop and cardinal. Saturday, the pontiff will consecrate the Shrine of Divine Mercy just outside the city. Sunday, he will celebrate an open-air Mass in a Krakow park. He will also pay a private visit to the tomb of his parents. Before returning to Vatican City, late Monday, the pope is to celebrate Mass to honor the 400th anniversary of a monastery and shrine (Kalwaria Zebrzydowska) near Kraków. The pontiff suffers from arthritis and symptoms of Parkinson's disease, and he now finds it difficult to walk, a sharp contrast from the robust health he displayed in 1979 during his first visit to his homeland as pope. Many Poles revere the pontiff as the man who inspired the nation to throw off Soviet-backed Communist rule during the 1980's.
. Record Floods Threaten Several German Landmarks Stefan Bos Budapest 16 Aug 2002 09:02 UTC Listen
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Record water levels have forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes across Eastern Germany, as rescue workers desperately try to protect the historic center of Dresden against the biggest flood in 150 yeas. Several landmarks are threatened and other central European cities are yet to be effected by the rising waters.
Thousands of emergency workers and volunteers worked through the night to stack sandbags around the city's restored center, which boasts architectural gems. Emergency services officials said another 35,000 people in the cities of Bitterfeld and Magdeburg, in the neighboring state of Saxony-Anhalt, were also on stand-by to abandon their homes.
Authorities in the Slovak capital, Bratislava, where a state of emergency has been declared, still hope the town will not experience the same damage as in Prague. In the Hungarian capital Budapest hundreds of people have been evacuated, and main roads closed. The Hungarian Government met in an emergency session late Thursday, as soldiers and rescue workers shored up dikes along a stretch of the Danube river, which is expected to rise to its highest level in decades. The Hungarian government and other authorities across Central and Eastern Europe have come under pressure to do more for the millions of people effected by the historic floods, including many who have no flood insurance.
. Red
Cross Appeals for $1 Million to Help European Flood Victims
The International Red Cross is asking for more than $1 million to address immediate emergency needs, while Red Cross delegates assess the full extent of the disaster. The appeal comes as floods continue to ravage Central Europe.
He says 250,000 of the victims are in the Czech Republic, the others are in Slovakia and Romania. He says an extensive network of Red Cross volunteers will carry out the operation. Of the three countries, he says the Czech Republic has the strongest organization. "In Czech Republic, we have something like 20,000 active volunteers. And, many of these volunteers are engaged in these floods," he explained. "Unfortunately, many of them are engaged because their own homes are flooded...So, the structure is in a sense good, but then the structure is very vulnerable, because the members of those groups, they have suffered themselves, and they are taking care of their own families. "
"Even if we have learned how to protect against the floods and we have learned that we have to start operation and assistance activities very fast, this time the sheer amount of water and the impact of flooding, I think, was so overwhelming that all the organizations and authorities and civic society - we were not well enough prepared to respond," Mr. Loovi said. Floods across Central Europe reportedly have caused billions of dollars in damages, killed around 100 people, and shut down the big tourist attractions.
. Zimbabwe Farmers Released on Bail; Lawyers Prepare to Take Case to
Highest Court A court in Zimbabwe has released on bail several white farmers charged with defying orders to vacate their land before a government imposed deadline, but other farmers have been arrested. At the Magistrate's Court in Gwanda, south of Zimbabwe's second city Bulawayo, six white farmers, mainly ranchers, appeared Friday and were charged with violating a section of the Land Acquisition Act by staying on their farms beyond the deadline. They were released on $5,000 (Zimbabwe) bail and remanded until September 6, when their lawyers are hoping to get the matter referred to the country's highest court, the Supreme Court, which deals with constitutional matters.
There have also been reports that the police have visited many farms in different parts of Zimbabwe looking for white farmers in order to warn them, in some cases, that they shouldn't be there; in other cases to ask them their future plans; and in some cases with warrants for their arrest. The situation appears to be treated differently from province to province. It seems that the farmers in southern Matabeleland have been targeted probably because those farmers are very, very independent minded, and many of them publicly supported the opposition Movement for Democratic Change in the last elections. And also, the particular governor in that province is a very strong militant and loyal to President Robert Mugabe, much more so than some of the other provinces. Lawyers for the farmers are contesting the constitutionality of the August 8 eviction order. A precedent was set a few weeks ago when a farmer challenged his seizure of his farm and his imminent eviction, and he won that case in the High Court. The High Court has a mixture of older judges and new appointments. The Supreme Court itself has never yet had a case testing the constitutionality of the Land Acquisition Act and the aspects of it. There is one long-standing judge, Wilson Sandura, and there are four new appointments who were appointed by President Mugabe to replace other judges who were chased away from their jobs or who quit in disgust. So it remains to be seen whether or not the new judges in the Supreme Court are going to interpret the precedent set in the High Court, and certainly whether or not it is constitutional to deprive these farmers of their property and livelihood.
. Afghan Defense Minister Denies Rift with President
Afghan Defense Minister Mohammad Qasim Fahim insists there is no rift between himself and President Hamid Karzai. In a hastily arranged news conference Saturday, Mr. Fahim said the two men are a team. He also told reporters that the working relationship among cabinet ministers is "close and positive." He also criticized Washington Post newspaper articles earlier this month as "irresponsible" and "propaganda" for saying relations with Mr. Karzai had soured over the use of U.S. Special Forces troops as presidential bodyguards. President Karzai, an ethnic Pashtun, dismissed Afghan military guards loyal to the ethnic Tajik defense minister after Vice President Abdul Qadir was assassinated last month outside government offices in Kabul. Western military instructors have since trained more than 300 Afghan soldiers as presidential palace guards. Mr. Fahim also confirmed that he supports U.S. forces remaining in Afghanistan until the threat from al-Qaida terrorists and Taleban holdouts is eliminated. Reuters news agency quotes the Defense Minister Fahim and Foreign Minister Abdullah as saying al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden and former Taleban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar are still alive. The two officials offered no evidence to support the statement. Dr. Abdullah also expressed confidence that the two fugitives will be found. Meanwhile, British military officials in Kabul say two British soldiers on peacekeeping duty in the capital were shot and killed Saturday. A spokesman told reporters no one else was involved in the incident, but declined to provide further details of the incident. Some information for this report provided by Reuters.
. Bush Declines Invitation for World Summit on Sustainable Development David Gollust State Department 16 Aug 2002 21:13 UTC Listen
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The World Summit on Sustainable Development opening August 26 in Johannesburg is being billed as the largest U.N. summit ever and will draw leaders and top officials from more than 100 countries along with an estimated 50,000 participants. Administration officials say Mr. Bush will not attend, in part because he plans a major trip to Africa early next year.
Mr. Powell is expected also to visit at least two other African countries on a trip spanning five days, though details of his itinerary have not been announced. The president's decision not to attend the summit has been widely anticipated, and has drawn criticism from environmentalists. But U.S. conservatives have been urging the president not to attend, contending that as the leader of the world's biggest economy he would be a convenient target of political attack from anti-Western delegations and globalization opponents. About 30 conservative groups sent the president a letter earlier this month urging him to decline the invitation to Johannesburg. Among the signatories was Fred Smith Jr., president of the Washington-based Competitive Enterprise Institute, who told VOA a U.N. theme conference is not the way to deal with the complex problems of development and the environment. "Environment is a serious issue, as is economic development," he said. "And yet in economic development, we've painfully learned that centralized political approaches aren't very effective. They aren't very useful in making the world's economy work better in making people less poor. The same thing is true with environmental issues, but that lesson, unfortunately, is not yet learned." Environmentalists say Mr. Bush's absence represents further back-pedaling on environmental policy after the U.S. decision last year to reject the Kyoto accord on global warming. Stephen Mills, international program director of the Sierra Club, says the White House decision is unfortunate. "This is the largest environmental conference ever held. And unfortunately, we believe that it will be seen as another attempt by President Bush to withdraw from global cooperation," he said. "Americans want to be part of a country that acts as a responsible neighbor. They know we need to cooperate with other nations to protect the environment if we expect them to cooperate with us." More than 40 Democrats in the House of Representatives sent Mr. Bush a letter saying they were "deeply concerned" by the prospect he will not attend, saying his absence will "reinforce the perception" that the United States has become "selective" in its multi-lateral activities and participation in global agreements.
. Bush
Promotes No-Deficit Theme in Weekly Radio Address
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