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COMMENTARY -- WAR -- (the news is directly below):
You have gone back in time and are standing in the midst of a lush ancient forest. You hear and see some large vegetarian dinosaurs feeding on the moist soft leaves of brush and trees. You also see skulking about like a cat after a mouse, other smaller dinosaurs with a lighter build about them trying to catch and eat even smaller dinosaurs. You also see small dinosaurs feeding on the vegetation. Suddenly you hear a loud screech which terrifies every creature in this setting and sends them running for fear. The screech is coming from a large version of the lighter built and fast moving dinosaur with teeth designed to rip and tear other animal flesh. It quickly moves up on the large vegetarian. It lacks the weight of the vegetarian it is pursuing but has more speed and agility. It's massive and powerful jaws are set into motion as it lunges upon the vegetarian and immediately draws blood as it rips and tears away at a vital spot. The vegetarian tries to defend itself by using its heavy tail to whack the aggressor but it was too slow this time in defending itself and it quickly weakened because of pain and loss of blood. Dizzy and in weakness it dropped to the ground and took its last breath. The aggressor ruthlessly tore away at the most tasty spots and then left the carcass for scavengers.
In the natural world this story describes the "food chain" and the "predatory" character of those creatures at the top of the food chain. The predatory behavior is driven by hunger and the instinct of the predator to feed and care for it's young. Although all animals have some kind of reasoning capability their instincts most often prevail and their reasoning is subordinate to these instincts to make them more effective at surviving.
How does this story relate to war? Is war wrong? Is war necessary? What is accomplished by war?
Mankind is to be above the animals, that is he should be exercising his reasoning capabilities over his instincts. But mankind often does not do that. Tribal behavior is something like wolf pack behavior. There is a kind of civilized order within the pack but anything outside the pack is considered fair game. There is usually a pack leader. In many ways, the societies and cultures and communities of mankind are like the pack where the reasoning capabilities of the individuals in the pack and the consensus of the pack is directed at serving the primitive instincts of survival.
Although man is more technically capable as he sits atop the food chain, many of the nations, societies, cultures, and communities of man are more predatory in character with leaders that know how to control the pack and maintain their control over the pack. If allowed, these predatory packs of mankind will act just like the predatory dinosaur. No amount of talk or reasoning will prevent the attack because the overall social behavior is predatory and reason is used to make the predatory behavior more successful. The only defense against such predators is to be both prepared and more capable if attacked. But often a defensive posture will fail as it did with the vegetarian dinosaur which was no threat to the other dinosaurs. Many animal packs that are vegetarian adopt defensive and preventative postures as a pack to minimize any predatory attack on members within the vegetarian pack. Buffalo, cattle, and many other animals do this.
But only mankind has two things the animals don't have. Man is smart enough to anticipate a predatory attack and respond in a defensive manoeuvre of defense to disable or kill the predatory enemy before the "screech" of death is heard. Man has the means and abilities to develop sophisticated weaponry. Compare this weaponry to the teeth of the attacking dinosaur and the tail of the vegetarian dinosaur.
But if a society or community of man is not aware of such dangers by other predatory type societies and communities then it peacefully and obliviously eats, drinks, sleeps, reproduces, plays, and in other ways occupies itself. When the "screech" of impending death is heard it may be too late. This is especially true if the predatory society has technological superiority and readiness to use that technology in an aggressive manner. This susceptibility scenario is also true if a society or community of man has been deceived into thinking that the predators are their friends or that arbitration, deals, and discourse will stop the aggression. Nothing will stop the predatory nation or community from its behavior other than its own destruction. A predatory human or human society is far more committed to violent aggression than is a predatory animal seeking a prey for a source of food. A predator is ruthless and uncaring whether it be a dinosaur, a wolf, or man. The "whimper" (or dialog to prevent aggression) that precedes death is understood by the predator as victory and the prey can be savaged. There are those that feel that a kind of social remedial exercise involving discourse, and various other forms of reward and penalty administered against the predatory society, by some powerful majority, will cause such predatory communities to change. This is foolishness as long as the pack leader remains leader. The leaders drive the communities. This is true even in western democratic nations. Sometimes leaders reflect the views of the community that elected them and perhaps leaders exploit the community that elected them.
When leaders have control of the key social institutions they can use these institutions to brain wash the community as a whole. If leaders don't have control of the key social institutions then new potential pack leaders can use these institutions to brain wash the community and thereafter supplant the pack leader. For example, often the educational institutions are infiltrated with authority figures that have a profound influence on those they teach. So it is not unusual in just about every society to see social discontent first voiced by universities and institutions of higher learning. The so called media in the form of newspapers, magazines, radio and TV industry, the publishing industry, and the movie industry are powerful means of brainwashing a society and re-engineering the "average" social mentality. A third category is the religious institutions, seminaries, and related organizations. Whoever controls the content of these institutions inevitably controls the pack mentality. Laws and government are derived from this mentality. As the mentality changes so also do the laws and inclinations of government.
As long as the average human being allows himself or herself to be herded along in a pack type social environment there will be predatory societies that feed on the other societies. They will skulk about and wait for their moment. They will form unholy and wicked alliances with each other only to eventually turn on one another. War in this context simply realigns those at the top of the food chain. War is for the purpose of establishing different leaders, it rarely occurs for the purpose of true peace and prosperity directed from a global perspective. Although the word peace is used a lot today its meaning varies depending upon who uses it. Peace as used by world leaders means the establishment of their objectives at the cost of their opponents. World leaders shake each others hands in such deceptive gestures of peace. It is a paradox. It is a horrible dilemma. If any society disarms, adopts arbitration and dialog to effect change then they will be perceived as manipulatable through that dialog. They will also be perceived by the potential aggressor as weak because they rely too heavily on a so called diplomatic solution to disputes. Meanwhile the predatory society or societies will take whatever gain they can through the dialog and when their moment comes, lunge, and with their mighty jaws and sharp teeth rip and tear away at the vulnerabilities of their prey.
Therefore, God must manipulate the devil who influences man towards predatory behavior. The devil incarnate is Anti-Christ. The Anti-Christ or Satan is any human being that uses their reasoning capabilities to serve their primitive instincts. By so doing they have opened up and turned over their mental "real estate" to the spiritual forces of darkness that bring only death. The spiritual force of evil is only able to influence the human mind through the mechanism of our primitive instincts for survival. If we lust and are preoccupied with the things and values of a world driven by such instincts then we have been deceived into a form of mental slavery that brings only hatred and death in its wake.
Jesus Christ is the answer. He is both an example of what we must be like as humans and he is the facilitator/mediator/interface whereby we can all know and experience the love/caring of God.
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. . . Day by Day with VOA .. . As New Year Approaches, Japan's Koizumi Hopes for Rebound . Amy Bickers Tokyo 25 Dec 2002, 11:55 UTC   .  Listen
to Amy Bickers's Report (RealAudio) Bickers
Report - Download 286k (RealAudio) . The government of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi heads into the new year with slumping popularity. Nevertheless, several opposition politicians have announced they will defect to the ruling coalition, saying there is no effective political alternative in the country.
A series of opinion polls released in the last week show that support for the prime minister and his cabinet are at about 50 percent. The most recent survey, in the conservative Yomiuri newspaper, gives no reason for the decline. But many Japanese say they are disillusioned with the country's stubborn economic slump, and believe that creating a financial turnaround should be the government's top priority. Mr. Koizumi has unveiled a series of economic reforms to boost employment and clear bad bank loans. But they have had little effect so far. Unemployment remains near a record high, and the stock market is hovering around a 19-year low. The prime minister's September summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il gave him a temporary lift in the opinion polls. At that meeting, Mr. Kim apologized for the abductions of Japanese citizens by Pyongyang's intelligence agents in the 1970s and 1980s. But the impact diminished, as talks on setting up diplomatic ties with the North stalled over lingering problems concerning the abductees and North Korea's nuclear program. Despite Prime Minister Koizumi's woes, four opposition lawmakers defected Tuesday to the ruling coalition. Hiroshi Kumagai, the most senior of the four lawmakers, says there is a limit to what he and the other politicians can do, if they stay with the opposition Democratic Party. The shuffle will not significantly shift the balance of power in the Japanese Parliament, but the ruling coalition's seats in the powerful lower house will increase to 282 from the current 278. The defections are a blow to the troubled Democratic Party, which has even lower popularity ratings than the Koizumi government. A few weeks ago, the party ousted its president over a controversial proposal to merge with a rival group. The Democrats have never seriously challenged the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which has governed Japan since 1955.
. BBC -- Thursday, 26 December, 2002, 03:50 GMT . Rebels cautious
over Ivory Coast plan
.
The war has displaced
thousands of people The main rebel group fighting in Ivory Coast says it is keen to see
the details of a plan announced by President Laurent Gbagbo to end the civil
conflict.
.The president has sent the 10-point plan to the mediator of the peace talks.
But the BBC's correspondent in the country, Paul Welsh, says that the draft copy of the plan addresses few of the rebels' core demands. Mr Sidiki, speaking from the MPCI stronghold of Bouake, 350 kilometres (220 miles) north of the main city of Abidjan, said his group was "still on the path of negotiation, not on the path of war". The MPCI has been opposed to President Gbagbo since fighting erupted in September, but is currently observing a truce. Two rival rebel factions based in the west have already said they want a ceasefire and have toned down their rhetoric against the military presence of France, the former colonial power, in Ivory Coast. The conflict has left hundreds dead and thousands homeless in this religiously and ethnically divided country, Obstacles The rebels, our correspondent reports, want a change to the controversial system of deciding who is an Ivorian, which decides who can stand in elections or vote.
But only those who are already Ivorians under the present system could vote in that referendum - and that rules out most of the president's opponents. There are two major sticking-points in the peace plan as far as the rebels are concerned:
What the draft presidential plan does address includes:
The last government of unity fell apart when opposition groups pulled out, angry at the way the crisis was being handled and at human rights abuses. The rebels will find little in this document to excite or placate them, our correspondent says, but there is some hope in the fact that the president has made any kind of offer at all. . BBC -- Thursday, 26 December, 2002, 03:34 GMT . UN criticises
Malawi famine handling
.
Food aid distributed
by agencies is not enough
The government sold off its entire grain reserves shortly before the drought struck - it says it was following the advice of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Malawi is one of the seven countries in southern Africa facing critical food shortages and, this month, more than two million Malawians are short of food. Next month the number will rise to three and a half million, according to government figures. Aid agencies are supplying the amount of food they have targeted for the country but it is still not enough. Post-mortem In a place with two thirds of the people living in poverty in normal times, choosing who receives aid and who does not becomes a terrible decision for NGOs and village elders to make. The selling off of the national grain reserves just before the drought has been blamed for seriously deepening the crisis. The government in Malawi blames the IMF and the World Bank for forcing it to sell grain to repay loans. But the money has not been accounted for, and the IMF says it gave no such advice. The World Food Programme is providing the food aid. It says the way Malawi's crisis was handled by the international bodies will be a significant part of the post-mortem when the crisis eventually comes to an end. . BBC -- Wednesday, 25 December, 2002, 19:45 GMT . Freak
snowstorm hits north-east US
.
Few Americans are
used big snowfalls on Christmas Day A huge snowstorm sweeping through the United States is expected to
bring New England its whitest Christmas on record after causing at least 15
deaths in the Mid-West.
By the end of the day at least 30 centimetres (12 inches) is likely to have fallen in a band stretching from north-eastern Pennsylvania to Maine. "This will be the biggest Christmas Day snowstorm on record," said Eleanor Vallier-Talbot, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Taunton, Massachusetts. The north-eastern US is no stranger to snow or freezing temperatures, but storms usually come after New Year. "We don't get a whole lot of snow on Christmas Day, so this is pretty cool," Ms Vallier-Talbot said. Boston, which had a previous Christmas Day record of 8 centimetres (3.3 inches) in 1974, is braced for its heaviest snowfall since records began in 1871. Missouri misery Blizzard conditions are expected from 1700 in New England (2200 GMT), as the storm gathers renewed energy and water off the coasts of New Jersey and Delaware.
Police have warned people not to travel unnecessarily. The National Weather Service urged motorists to carry a winter weather survival kit, including a shovel, food, water and blankets. The storm has already wreaked havoc in the south-western and central United States, causing at least 15 deaths in recent days. It descended from Missouri as far south as Texas, snarling up roads and closing down airports as people headed home for the holidays. Oklahoma, where such weather has not been seen for 25 years, was covered in snow up to 30 centimetres deep in places. Missouri was hardest hit by the storm when it set in on Monday, with five people killed in four separate accidents on the roads. Drivers in the Texas Panhandle found themselves in the novel situation of having to make their way through snow and there are reports of crashes there, too. . BBC -- Tuesday, 24 December, 2002, 21:48 GMT . Guatemala
jail riot leaves 17 dead
.
This was a
particularly bitter and bloody riot Guatemalan authorities say they have regained control of a prison
after a violent uprising left at least 17 prisoners dead and around 30
injured.
Journalists who saw the bodies said many had been mutilated or were badly burned. At least one person was decapitated in the fighting, which officials blamed on gang rivalries among inmates.
The head of Guatemala's prison system, Irma Arriaza, said inmates had now surrendered their makeshift weapons. "But everyone is still very nervous, " she told Reuters news agency. Poor conditions The protest began on Monday when a group of prisoners began calling for the resignation of the prison director over poor food. They were also unhappy about the lack of visiting time at the medium-security jail, which houses some 1,400 prisoners. Some of the rioting prisoners are also said to have demanded that rival gang members be transferred elsewhere. Police tried to quell the violence by repeatedly firing rounds of tear gas canisters into a crowd of about 200 prisoners hurling rocks from the roof. Local television journalist Rolando Santis, who entered the jail with the authorities, described the scenes as "worse than a horror movie". Prisoners held the head of one of the dead inmates like a trophy, he was quoted as saying by the French news agency, AFP. Correspondents say Guatemala's overcrowded and inadequately resourced prisons are often the scene of violent riots. . BBC -- Wednesday, 25 December, 2002, 09:06 GMT . Freed
China dissident defiant
.
Xu Wenli was met
by his daughter at Chicago airport Freed Chinese dissident, Xu Wenli, has dismissed his release as a
token gesture by Beijing, saying that movement for democratic changes was
gathering momentum in China.
He was arrested in 1998 after trying to help set up the opposition China Democracy Party, and was sentenced to 13 years in prison. Mr Xu, 59, suffers from Hepatitis B and was granted "medical parole" following a deterioration in his health, according to US activist John Kamm. Mr Xu and his wife were met at Chicago's O'Hare airport by their daughter, Xu Jin, who teaches in America. They later flew to New York. Defiant "It seems I have become a Christmas gift from [Chinese] President Jiang Zemin to President George Bush," Mr Xu told the AFP news agency.
He said he was used in what he described as the "political game", and insisted that democratic change remained an unshakeable force in China. "People like me in the so-called 'frontline' are really just stepping stones. It is the Chinese people who will make the leap themselves." Although welcoming Mr Xu's release, the New York-based Human Rights Watch welcomed said it was not enough. "No-one should mistake his release as a sign of improvement in China's human rights record," said the head of the group's Asia division, Brad Adams. "This was a token gesture to the Bush administration, and a cynical move by Beijing to head off international criticism." Mr Xu's release comes in the wake of an official visit to China by US human rights diplomat Lorne Craner, who handed over a list of 298 people that Washington believes are being held as political prisoners. As part of the visit, China agreed to invite United Nations experts on torture and religious freedom to visit the country in an attempt to improve its human rights reputation. But in an unrelated move, it signalled it was still not prepared to tolerate dissent by confirming it had detained Wang Bingzhang, another veteran dissident now based in the US, for "spying and terrorism". Exile Mr Xu was one of the founders of the China Democracy Party, which was set up in the hope of introducing multi-party democracy to China and challenging the Communist Party's grip on power. Authorities in Beijing at first appeared to tolerate the threat, before cracking down and arresting all the leaders of the new party, which was branded an "illegal organisation". Following Mr Xu's sentencing, his case has regularly been raised with Chinese authorities by human rights groups and foreign governments. The BBC's Holly Williams in Beijing says the terms of his release effectively mean exile. She says Mr Xu will not be free to live in China or return for visits and will not be allowed to contact other members of the China Democracy Party, most of whom are still in prison. BBC -- Wednesday, 25 December, 2002, 15:18 GMT . Philippine troops
clash with rebels
.
The army is trying to
crack down on the rebels A
Philippine soldier and a suspected Abu Sayyaf militant have died in a gun
battle between government forces and rebels on the southern island of
Basilan.
The clash occurred on Wednesday when army troops investigated a report by residents of armed men in the town of Tuburan.
Separately, the death toll rose to 16 in a bombing that took place on Tuesday on the southern island of Mindanao. Another 15 were injured. Police say they have deployed about 100 plainclothes officers to track members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is suspected of having carried out the bombing. Police in the Philippines are on high alert throughout the Christmas period due to fear of attack by a third militant group, the Communist New People's Army. The government has declared a unilateral four-day truce with the group, but is on alert in case of an attack on Thursday, the 34th anniversary of the founding of the Philippine Communist Party. Mayor killed Mayor Saudie Ampatuan was among those killed in Tuesday's bombing in the town of Datu Piang, where a mortar was detonated by remote control as he walked past.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu denied responsibility for the attack, saying he had relatives among the injured. The army says it has detained a witness who saw a suspected follower of an MILF leader plant the bomb. There are also reports that a suspect is in custody, but the Associated Press news agency said a police official denied that anyone had been detained. "Our investigation is not yet finished," regional police commander Acmad Omar told AP. "We are looking at different angles and definitely the MILP angle is one of them," he said. A family feud has also been suggested as a possible motive. Brother killed The mayor's younger brother, his brother's wife and friend were killed on Saturday following an incident at a disco.
His family is reported to have retaliated against two people related to suspects in the attacks. In addition to the mayor the dead included a town councillor, treasurer and a bodyguard, the army said. Most of the victims were Muslims. The southern Philippines has been a scene of separatist conflict for 30 years, led by Muslim rebels in the predominantly Catholic country. The MILF have signed a ceasefire and peace talks with the government are expected to resume in Malaysia next month. The group denies any connection to Abu Sayyaf, which says it is fighting for a Muslim homeland, but which seems to engage primarily in kidnapping for profit. . BBC -- Thursday, 26 December, 2002, 05:42 GMT . Vietnam hill
tribe men jailed
.
About 1,000
Montagnards fled Vietnam last year
Eight men in Vietnam's troubled Central Highlands region received up to 10-year sentences on charges of undermining national unity. The charges relate to an uprising in the highlands more than a year ago, when about 1,000 ethnic minority people fled to neighbouring Cambodia. It is one of Vietnam's major coffee growing regions and home to many of the country's hill tribe minorities, known as Montagnards. Failed repatriation The man considered the ringleader of the exodus, Y Thuon Nie, was sentenced to 10 years in jail for undermining national unity. Seven others were sentenced to eight years jail in a one-day trial on Wednesday. A court in the province of Dak Lak in the Central Highlands found them guilty of organising illegal migration to neighbouring Cambodia. Most of the 1,000 people who fled the region are being resettled in the United States. Vietnam demanded their return, but only 15 came back before a repatriation programme brokered by the United Nations collapsed, largely due to Vietnam's refusal to allow independent monitoring of conditions in the Highlands. Unrest over access to land and government controls over the Montagnard's Protestant religion erupted in February last year. Allegations Vietnam's Communist rulers believe that dissidents in the US - with links to the United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races (Fulro) which fought alongside the US during the Vietnam War - are inciting the unrest. Vietnam also regards the head of the California-based Montagnard Foundation as a terrorist. International human rights groups have alleged systematic repression of the Montagnards. The Central Highlands region remains off-limits to outside observers, making it hard to verify the allegations. The Vietnamese Government insists that it is working to improve life for some of the country's poorest people. . Wednesday, 25 December, 2002, 22:29 GMT Bombs kill two in
Balkans
Kumanovo saw
fighting during last year's conflict Two separate explosions in northern Macedonia and neighbouring Kosovo
have killed two people and injured four.
The first bomb exploded near a school in the Macedonian city of Kumanovo, killing one man and injuring four other people including a six-year-old girl as children attended classes inside. In the second incident, an explosion ripped through a moving car in the north-west Kosovo town of Pec, killing the male driver. Both Macedonia and Kosovo have seen an uneasy calm since the recent civil conflicts there between their respective Macedonian and Serbian communities and the ethnic Albanian communities. Orthodox Christians in the two territories do not celebrate Christmas until 7 January and Wednesday was a normal work day. There have been no claims of responsibility for either of the attacks. Flash-points Kumanovo was on the front line during the fighting between Macedonia's Christian majority and mainly Muslim Albanian separatists which was brought to an end with a Western-brokered peace deal in August 2001. Macedonian police did not give the identity of the bomb victim but said the bomb had exploded at 1640 (1540 GMT) in a litter bin outside the Goce Delcev high school. The injured girl was transferred to hospital in Skopje, while the other casualties were treated in Kumanovo itself, Macedonian state news agency Mia reported. Police in Kosovo said the explosion in Pec occurred at 1800 (1700 GMT) and named the victim as 55-year-old Adem Zeka, from a neighbouring village, according to the Croatian news agency Hina. "It is still unknown what caused the explosion, a remote control bomb or hand grenade thrown at the car," a spokesman for the local UN mission told the Reuters news agency. No motive for the attack has been established. Pec is the seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church's patriarchate in Kosovo and one of the areas most fiercely defended by Serbs during the fighting with Albanians which ended in 1999 after Nato intervention. . BBC -- Wednesday, 25 December, 2002, 15:21 GMT . Moscow hostage
theatre to reopen
.
More than 100 people
died when the theatre was stormed
In Moscow, the musical Nord-Ost is to reopen. Nord-Ost was the show which was stopped when the theatre where it was playing was taken over by Chechen rebels on 23 October. The siege lasted for four days, and 129 hostages died when government forces stormed the building. Although about a 100 tickets were sold within an hour of going on sale, things were quiet at the box office after this. Psychological fear First in queue for tickets for the reopening of the show on 8 February was one of the former hostages.
Alyona Strikalina admitted that going back to see the show would be an emotional occasion, but that she was not afraid. But not everyone feels the same way. The producer, Georgy Vasilyev, admitted that for many Muscovites, there would be a psychological barrier to be overcome. The Russian authorities are trying to help do this. State institutions have been receiving instructions to choose groups of people to go to the reopening. The lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma, has also allocated a subsidy of over $400,000 for the show. The money will largely go to pay the salaries of the cast and musicians who will have been unavoidably laid off for over three months. . BBC -- Wednesday, 25 December, 2002, 23:11 GMT . Pope warns
against Iraq war
.
The Pope looked
frail as he addressed pilgrims Pope John Paul II has made a Christmas plea to avoid a war in Iraq,
where UN weapons inspectors have carried out more searches of suspect
sites.
In his traditional Christmas Day message, Urbi et Orbi, the pontiff also called for all religions to end the conflict in the Holy Land, describing it as a "senseless spiral of blind violence".
The BBC's David Willey in Rome says there was no mistake about which conflict he was referring to. The Vatican has made clear its opposition to what US officials refer to as a preventive war against Iraq, saying it would not qualify as a just war, our correspondent says. The Vatican also fears that war against Iraq might trigger an anti-Christian backlash in the Muslim world. Inspections UN weapons inspectors visited at least five suspect sites in central and southern Iraq on Wednesday. They included a liquid gas company inspected by biological-weapons experts and a paper factory visited by a team of chemical experts. UN nuclear experts also searched an explosives factory.
"They are in Baghdad to work and they will work their butts off as long as they are there," Reuters news agency quoted him as saying. On Tuesday the Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, used a Christmas message to warn the United States that Iraq was ready to fight a holy war. A day later, he warned the media against reproducing the opinion of "adversaries". After chairing a cabinet meeting on whether to lift the ban on satellite television, the Iraqi leader said: "Quoting the opinion of others and their different points of views while they are in the camp of the adversaries and not the camp of friends is sabotage regardless of the intentions." "America doesn't allow a line from the address of Saddam Hussein in an American newspaper," he added. The United States has deployed 65,000 troops to the Gulf and 50,000 more are due to arrive in January. Washington has threatened to disarm Iraq by force if necessary. Environmental threat The World Resources Institute in the US has also warned of the likely impact of another Gulf war. The Washington-based institute said that if the Americans and their allies did decide to go to war, those in command should be armed with a plan to minimise the likely environmental damage. In 1991, Iraqi troops fleeing Kuwait set fire to hundreds of oilfields, causing enormous damage to the Gulf ecosystem. "Today Saddam [Hussein] could deliberately create another catastrophe if attacked," WRI president Jonathan Lash said. . BBC -- Wednesday, 25 December, 2002, 23:51 GMT . Israel
seeks US anti-missile help
.
No one protects
its airliners more fiercely than Israel Israel is hoping to develop a new anti-missile system for commercial
aircraft jointly with the United States, Israeli political sources
say.
It also recently approached European powers about setting up a security consortium to deal with the threat, following a failed attack on one of its planes in Kenya last month.
It is not yet clear if the Americans have already been approached about the project - they have made no official comment on Mr Sharon's decision. Senior political sources in Jerusalem told Israeli radio that the prime minister had accepted Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz's proposal to "go ahead with a joint US-Israeli project for the production of advanced systems to protect civilian aircraft against missile attacks". General Mofaz recently mooted the idea of installing defence systems on 30 to 40 of the state airline El Al's planes which service international destinations believed to pose the greatest risk to commercial aircraft. Stop-gap systems El Al is believed to already employ such systems on several planes. But Israel has refused to confirm or deny if the airliner which narrowly escaped two shoulder-launched missile attacks at Mombasa Airport in November was among them. According to the radio's sources, the Israeli Government is also considering the use of two other anti-missile systems on airliners as a temporary measure:
Israeli Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, currently touring European capitals, has called for international co-operation on anti-missile systems to bring down the cost of their production. He said that airlines worldwide faced a "clear and present danger" of missile attack. Mr Netanyahu proposed creating an "international consortium... the kind of technology we have perfected in Israel that can protect civilian airlines from incoming missiles". Missile deflection systems currently fitted to military aircraft are considered inadequate for much bigger and less manoeuvrable commercial airliners. . BBC -- Wednesday, 25 December, 2002, 16:06 GMT.
BBC -- Wednesday, 25
December, 2002, 17:09 GMT Syria
rejects Israel weapons claim
.
Ariel Sharon
said Israel was checking the report Syria has rejected an allegation that it is helping Saddam Hussein to
hide weapons, calling the charge "baseless and ridiculous".
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Tuesday that Israel was trying to verify a report that the Iraqi leader "wants to hide chemical and biological weapons that were smuggled into Syria". The Syrian Foreign Ministry dismissed the charge on Wednesday, saying it was intended "to divert attention from the chemical, nuclear and biological arsenal that Israel possesses". Israel is widely believed to have nuclear weapons capability. Unsubstantiated claim Mr Sharon emphasised in his remarks to Israel's Channel Two television station that the allegation had not been verified. In 1991, during the Gulf War, Iraq put planes in neighbouring Iran.
The analyst said any leader would be reluctant to lose control of weapons, especially to a country whose reliability is not guaranteed. Syria sided with the US against Iraq in 1991 and voted in favour of the November's tough UN Security Council resolution requiring Iraq to allow weapons inspectors into the country. Defiant On Tuesday Saddam Hussein, used a Christmas message to warn the United States that Iraq was ready to fight a holy war.
He said the Iraqi people were ready to "deter aggression" by following "the road of Jihad (holy war) and struggle". The United States and Britain have dismissed as inadequate the Iraqi weapons declaration handed over on 7 December. The United States has deployed 65,000 troops to the Gulf and 50,000 more are due to arrive in January. Washington has threatened to disarm Iraq by force if necessary. .
Afghan
warlord threatens foreigners
.
Gulbuddin
Hekmatyar was expelled by Iran in February An Afghan rebel leader, opposed to the government in Kabul, has
warned that a holy war would be stepped up against international troops based
in Afghanistan.
The BBC's Ian McWilliam says the message is part of Mr Hekmatyar's latest moves to win back support for himself. He fled into exile in Iran when the Taleban came to power, but is now said to have returned to rebuild a powerbase in his native country. Security Mr Hekmatyar's message has been distributed among his followers in the conservative tribal lands on the border between Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan.
Mr Hekmatyar also said his fighters were now allied to the Taleban and al-Qaeda - "We are together," the message read. American forces have been continuing to search for remnants of the Taleban and al-Qaeda in eastern Afghanistan, and a 5,000- man international force is ensuring security in Kabul to support the government of President Hamid Karzai. There have been repeated attacks against US soldiers in eastern Afghanistan - one American soldier was killed there after a firefight last week. Scepticism Iran asked Mr Hekmatyar to leave Tehran when the United States launched its war on terrorism and his exact wherabouts are currently unknown. The United States considers Mr Hekmatyar a further destabilising element in Afghanistan's still fragile peace, our correspondent says. But it is not clear how many fighters actually support him now. Many observers are sceptical that he will be able to re-establish his position in Afghanistan, our correspondent says. . BBC -- Thursday, 26 December, 2002, 06:20 GMT . Maoist
attack in eastern India
.
Several
left-wing groups operate in the area Left-wing rebels have killed at least seven people in the eastern
Indian state of Bihar.
Reports quote police as saying that the attack took place late on Wednesday night in a village 40 kilometres from the state capital Patna. The attack comes just days after Maoist rebels killed 18 policemen in the neighbouring state of Jharkhand. The rebels have also been blamed for a train derailment in southern India last week, in which 20 people died. Wednesday night's attacks are said to have been carried out by a breakaway faction of the People's War Group, a Maoist group fighting rich landowners. Police say the attack may have been related to a local dispute. Violent attacks Last week's attack on the policemen in Jharkhand was carried out by the Maoist Co-ordination Centre (MCC) - an extremely violent outfit of rebels fighting for land reforms and the rights of the tenants. The guerrillas also seized more than 50 rifles belonging to the policemen and set three police vehicles alight. The eastern states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Orissa have witnessed increased rebel violence in recent past. Last week, a lower-level forest department official was beheaded, supposedly for his anti-poor and anti-tribal actions. About 24 hours later, the head of a local village was taken from his home and killed in full public view. The rebels are also active in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. . Pope John Paul II Calls for Peace in Holy Land . . .
Despite the gray rainy day, a large crowd gathered in Saint Peter's Square to hear the Pope's words this Christmas. The pilgrims clapped and screamed in delight as the Pope was driven through the square in a white open-top vehicle. The frail 82-year-old Pope addressed the crowd, as millions all over the world followed his words on television. In his annual "Urbi et Orbi" Christmas message, to the city and to the world, the Pope called on believers of all religions to build peace in the Holy Land. He also urged an end to what he described as "the senseless spiral of blind violence" to extinguish a smoldering conflict, which he said, can be overcome. Although the Pope did not specifically mention Iraq, his words were taken to be an appeal to avert a new war. The Pope also spoke of Africa where, he said, devastating famines and tragic internal conflicts are aggravating the already precarious conditions of the people. And the Pope had thoughts for those parts of the world undergoing political, economic and social crises. The Pope made an appeal to the world not to yield to what he described as mistrust, suspicion and discouragement. And he said not to let terrorism feed uncertainties and fears. He then wished the world a merry Christmas in 62 languages.
. African Union Condemns New Congo Fighting . . . The African Union has condemned renewed fighting in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The AU chairman says the new outbreak of violence threatens a peace accord signed just last week. Acting African Union chairman Amara Essy has urged all parties fighting in the South-Kivu and Ituri regions of Congo to lay down their weapons and comply with a peace accord signed in South Africa last week. In a statement issued in Addis Ababa, the AU leader said hundreds of thousands of people have fled renewed fighting between rival factions in the rebel-held areas. He said the violence has hit civilians particularly hard. The African Union statement comes a day after the United Nations Security Council also condemned the renewed hostilities, and called on all parties to implement the power-sharing agreement. The Security Council singled out two minor rebel groups known as the Rally for Congolese Democracy-National and the Rally for Congolese Democracy-Liberation Movement. Both factions signed the Pretoria Accord on December 17.
. Fresh Fuel Moved to North Korean Reactor . . . The International Atomic Energy Agency says North Korea has started moving fresh fuel to a nuclear reactor it recently unsealed. Experts say the fuel could be used to make weapons-grade plutonium. The International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, says North Korea has begun moving fresh fuel rods into the five-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon, about 80 kilometers north of Pyongyang. The IAEA says several hundred rods have been taken there since Wednesday, but that many more would be needed to restart the reactor, which Pyongyang says is needed to generate electricity. The North estimates the reactor could be running in one or two months, but the U.N. agency thinks it will take longer. Japanese government spokesman Yasuo Fukuda says, it is believed North Korea has not yet inserted the rods into the reactor. He says that the United States and its allies need to keep an eye on what further steps the North might take, and they must work together on this issue. This latest move follows a string of recent actions in the past week aimed at restarting North Korea's frozen nuclear facilities, which were shutdown in 1994 under a pact with Washington. Under that "Agreed Framework" deal, North Korea was to receive two light water reactors, considered safer than its old, Russian-designed facilities, and shipments of fuel oil each year, in exchange for freezing the old reactors. But after Pyongyang told U.S. officials in October that it had a secret program to enrich uranium, which could be used to make nuclear bombs, Washington and its allies halted the oil shipments. Pyongyang then said it would resume its nuclear program to generate electricity. North Korea admits it has removed seals and monitoring cameras installed by the IAEA at all four of Yongbyon's nuclear reactors. It has also unsealed a reprocessing plant and a laboratory. The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency warns, there is enough spent fuel stored at Yongbyon to make at least three nuclear bombs within months. North Korea wants the United States to sign a non-aggression treaty, and has accused it of pushing the Korean Peninsula to the brink of nuclear war. The United States says it will not reopen official talks with the North, until it halts it nuclear programs.
. Israeli Troops Kill Suspected Islamic Jihad Military Leader . . Israeli and Palestinian security officials say Israeli troops have killed a suspected Islamic Jihad military leader during a gunfight in the West Bank, near the city of Jenin. Israeli forces shot and killed Hamza Abu Roub after they surrounded his house in the West Bank town of Qabatiya. An Israeli military official says four Israeli soldiers were wounded in the clash. Thursday's shooting comes a day after Israeli soldiers shot and killed a senior Hamas militant in the West Bank city of Nablus. Palestinian officials identified the dead man as Ibrahim Abu Hawash, a member of Hamas' military wing. An Israeli army official says he and a second man fired at Israeli troops patrolling a residential area of Nablus. Israeli forces arrested the second suspected militant following the gunfight. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Tony Blair is working to end the violence, saying a mid-January conference in London on Palestinian reforms can help advance the cause of peace in the Middle East. Writing in the Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram, Mr. Blair says strengthening democracy and rebuilding Palestinian institutions is vital for advancing a peace plan advocated by the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union. The so-called Middle East "quartet" envisions the creation of a Palestinian state by the end of 2005. On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon kicked off his re-election campaign by promising Israelis victory over the Palestinians and then peace. Mr. Sharon says he will form a national unity government to work towards peace with a new generation of Palestinian leaders. In another development, Israeli officials say Mr. Sharon has approved a proposal to work with the United States to develop a system to protect commercial planes from missile attacks. The Israeli Defense Department proposed the project after terrorists fired two shoulder-launched missiles at an Israeli passenger plane in Kenya last month. Al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the unsuccessful attack. Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.
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We are still on the
path of negotiation, not on the path of war 
