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COMMENTARY -- WAR -- (click here for news directly below this commentary):
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.
If you have any comments, questions, or concerns you can email this ministry at thilts@help-for-you.com
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Up to 20,000 people
turned out for the march Thousands of Colombians have marched through the capital, Bogota, to
call for peace after the car bomb attack which killed 33 at an elite city club
on Friday.
Wearing white T-shirts, people from all walks of life turned out to chant "life is sacred" and call for an end to the decades-old civil war.
The bomb attack, which also injured 162 people, was the biggest in Bogota in a decade and shocked city residents more used to a civil war fought in the countryside. "Here we all are, rich and poor, agreeing that there must be peace," said Nora Vargas de Galindo, 66, as she marched with her husband, a retired lorry driver. The demonstrators, who carried bouquets of flowers and Colombian flags, were joined by Vice President Francisco Santos and Bogota Mayor Antanas Mockus. They walked along Bogota's fashionable Seventh Avenue, on which the burnt-out Club Nogal stands. Child victims Luis Eduardo Cubillos, an unemployed accountant, said that no-one had the "right to kill innocent people". The dead at the devastated club include six children.
With tears rolling down his face and clutching the hand of his five-year-old son, Mr Cubillos said: "This country has suffered so much. I brought my son here to help explain the situation in Colombia but also so he sees that most Colombians are good people." The rebels, he added, had lost sight of their original ideal of helping the Colombian people. One man dressed in a white military-style uniform with gold buttons and a badge reading "General of Peace" handed out flyers calling for President Alvaro Uribe to open direct peace talks with the rebels. Other marchers called for the return of the death penalty. The march ended with an open-air Mass in a park at which Roman Catholic Cardinal Pedro Rubiano urged people to continue peaceful protests "in the face of terrorism". The BBC's Jeremy McDermott reports from Bogota that, despite the march against violence, the government is talking of more war, rather then peace. Four bomb technicians from the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms went to work at the scene of the blast on Sunday under an agreement with the Colombian Government. Vice President Santos has already said he is in "no doubt" that the FARC were behind the attack. . End of article 1.
The floods have wrought
havoc in south-eastern Peru
The weather phenomenon El Nino is back and has been hitting Peru hard in recent days.
Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo was due to fly over some of the affected areas at the weekend. More than 6,000 homes have been destroyed, along with huge swathes of cropland in the regions of Cusco, Madre de Dios and Puno. It is estimated that 59,000 people have been affected by this year's El Nino. They have been battered by torrential rain in recent days, as the phenomenon makes its presence felt. A state of emergency has been declared in two regions. Caught out Humanitarian aid, including small donations from the likes of Japan and Spain, has been sent to the affected areas.
But the damage is already estimated in the tens of millions of dollars. Perhaps more worrying still, at least 600 cases of malaria have been reported in the Cusco region, as the hot weather in between heavy rains has created ideal conditions for the mosquitoes that carry the parasite. Last time El Nino struck, in 1997 and 1998, it killed some 200 people in Peru alone and destroyed property worth $3.5bn. This year's is expected to be far weaker. But questions are being asked as to how the rains caught everyone by surprise when the government has been preparing for an impending El Nino for months. . End of article 2.
US forces have trained
on Vieques for decades The United States Navy says it has carried out its last bombing
exercises on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques.
Local protesters say the move is a victory for their campaign against the live-fire exercises which first began in 1947, but the Navy said the decision was not influenced by public pressure. The issue made headlines in 1999 after a stray bomb killed a civilian guard.
Ideal terrain Lieutenant Commander Kim Dixon, a Navy spokeswoman, confirmed that the exercises on Vieques were over and that the warships involved would continue training at sea.
"The training overall went very smoothly," she said. "They accomplished all their missions." Shells fired from the guided-missile cruiser USS Ticonderoga on Saturday marked the island's final use as a test range. Puerto Rico has US commonwealth status, and the island was seen by US military planners as ideal terrain for training in amphibious operations. 'Forced out' Protesters on Vieques drove in a convoy of about 100 cars through civilian areas this weekend, honking horns to celebrate the end of the exercises. "The Navy is not leaving because it wants to but because the people have forced them out," protest leader Nilda Medina said. Campaigners accuse the Navy of polluting the island and damaging the health of its 9,100 inhabitants - a claim the Pentagon rejects. Since 1999, more than 1,000 protesters have been arrested for trespassing on Navy land. The Navy will actually remain on Vieques until 1 May when it turns over the eastern third of the island to the US Department of the Interior. . End of article 3.
The opposition says
many oil-workers are still on strike More than 100,000 people have marched through the capital, Caracas, to
protest against the policies of President Hugo Chavez.
Blowing whistles and banging drums, protesters took to the streets to show solidarity with the 9,000 workers who were sacked from the state-owned oil company PDVSA during the strike.
The strike aimed at ousting the oil-rich country's president has weakened since it began on 2 December - but PDVSA strikers said on Saturday that their action could still bring down the government. "We're convinced that the oil industry cannot work without us," Reinaldo Michelena, one of those sacked, told Reuters news agency. "We'll keep on with this strike because the only way to get rid of this government is hitting at the economy." Marching under the national flag, protesters chanted "Chavez, you're a thief! PDVSA is not yours, it's everyone's!" Currency controls Mr Chavez, in office since 1998, faces a broad alliance of political parties, unions and private businesses who accuse him of authoritarianism and mismanaging the economy.
He says that most of PDVSA's 40,000 employees have returned to work. But the opposition denies this - they say thousands are still on strike in support of their sacked colleagues. The strike has battered Venezuela's economy, slashing its vital crude oil exports and causing severe domestic fuel shortages. The president has brought in tight foreign exchange curbs and price controls to shore up reserves and the national currency, the bolivar. Oil squeeze Announcing the controls on television this week, he waved a copy of Venezuela's penal code at viewers and accused opposition leaders of planning to take hard currency out of the country.
"They wanted to leave us without dollars, so we took away the key," he said. Mr Chavez - a former paratrooper and coup-leader - models himself on 19th Century Venezuelan nationalist hero Simon Bolivar and counts Cuban leader Fidel Castro among his friends. He maintains a base of support among Venezuela's poor but has antagonised nearly every other stratum of society. Government claims that oil output has now reached nearly 2 million barrels a day and exports are at 700,000 barrels per day have been challenged by the opposition. They estimate that output is still at a third of the 3.1 million barrels Venezuela produced in November before the strike. Average exports then were about 2.7 million barrels a day. . End of article 4.
No one is yet sure of
the economic effects of war The Group of Seven leading industrialised countries are drafting a
plan to prepare the global economy for the effects of a war against Iraq,
according to media reports.
The plan is believed to be based on a coordinated surge in government spending, financed by heavy borrowing, in an effort to stimulate economic growth. If true, the proposal would be a significant expansion of efforts taken since Septermber 11, 2001, which have mainly involved repeated cuts in interest rates. Ministers from the G7 - which comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US - is likely to discuss the plan in greater detail at a Paris meeting later this month. High hopes The G7, a loose association of countries rather than a tangible organisation like the International Monetary Fund, exists as a forum to discuss global problems. With the addition of Russia, it has recently become the G8 - but the Russians are generally excluded from their economic deliberations. The G7 has periodically intervened in the economy, most recently in 2000, when members coordinated intervention in the financial markets to bolster the euro and calm the soaring price of oil. The initiative this time seems to be being taken by Germany, whose chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, is a believer in interventionist economic policies. It seems unlikely, however, that G7 members such as the UK and US would buy into a grand unified plan based on increased government spending. Many economists are currently concerned that governments are spending too much, not too little. And the efficacy of such programmes depends almost entirely on how extra government revenue is spent, something that may be beyond the scope of a rapidly-assembled G7 scheme. Pluses and minuses Another factor arguing against a set plan is that no one is quite sure what the worldwide economic effects of war would be on G7 countries. Oil prices may rise, but they would fall just as far if Iraq were occupied quickly. There are fears that consumer and commercial activity would slow, but the present uncertainty is seen a more severe limiting factor than the reality of war. Indeed, many companies may be given a boost, and investors may rush to put their money into the relative safe havens of G7 financial markets. . End of article 5.
Michel says Belgium's
position is settled Belgium says it will block an American request for Nato to start
preparing a deployment of forces designed to protect Turkey in the event of a
US-led war with Iraq.
Members states have until Monday to state formal objections to the US appeal. France has also indicated it will oppose the request and wield its veto, despite pressure from the US The rift between Washington and what US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld termed "old Europe" threatens to do lasting damage to NATO solidarity, according to the BBC's Stephen Sackur in Brussels. 'Inexcusable' "We are going to block it between now and Monday - it is settled," Belgium's Foreign Minister Louis Michel said.
Officials in Paris have repeatedly warned that a Nato deployment at this time would send the wrong signal - namely that war was inevitable. But Turkey is nervous about possible Iraqi counterattacks on its southern flank. Nato's article IV says: "Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence of security of any of the parties is threatened."
The stage is set for a furious behind-the-scenes row at Nato headquarters, our correspondent says. On Sunday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said he found the moves to block his government's request "inexcusable". "I hope they will think differently by the time that they have to make a judgment tomorrow." . End of article 6.
The plan reportedly
calls for more inspectors Russia has said it will support a Franco-German plan aimed at averting
war with Iraq.
The plan reportedly calls for the tripling of UN weapons inspectors in Iraq, banning Iraqi flights anywhere over the country and deploying UN peacekeepers.
The plan seems certain to deepen a growing rift between the United States and European countries over how to ensure Iraq disarms.
Russia and France both possess the power to veto a new resolution, reportedly being drafted by the UK, which would clear the way for military action against Iraq. Russian backing Mr Struck said German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder would discuss the plan with the visiting Russian President, Vladimir Putin, in Berlin on Sunday. He said Germany "could well take part" in a UN peacekeeping force in Iraq reportedly envisaged by the plan. The defence minister said he hoped the plan would be "taken up positively" by the Security Council next Friday. Russia's Defence Minister, Sergei Ivanov, said on Sunday that if the plan was presented to the UN, "I have no doubt that Russia will adhere to it." Belgium also said it was favourable to the Franco-German plan, according to the French news agency AFP. The BBC's Ray Furlong, who is in Berlin, says Vladimir Putin is keen to avoid a war, but at the same time wants to avoid the kind of damaging rows that Germany has had with the United States over Iraq. The Franco-German plan might fit the bill, he says. US anger News of the initiative has been greeted with anger by American officials, who said Washington had not been consulted.
On Sunday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell made a point of saying he had learned about it through press reports. But the administration's real concern is with the substance of the plan - to focus on inspections was to miss the point, said Mr Powell. He said Saddam Hussein was simply not complying with the UN's demands and no amount of time and no increase in the number of inspectors was likely to change that. Mr Powell warned that if the UN did not face up to its responsibilities, America was still prepared to take military action. Differences over how to deal with Iraq have soured relations between Germany and France and the US, which insists diplomatic attempts to disarm Iraq have failed. On Saturday, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned that if the international community showed a lack of resolve, "there is no chance [Iraqi President] Saddam Hussein will disarm voluntarily or flee - and thus little chance of a peaceful outcome". But German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer told Mr Rumsfeld: "I can't go to the public and say 'let's go to war because there are reasons'. I don't believe in them." New voice The Munich meeting also heard from Iran's deputy minister for international and legal affairs, Gholamali Koshroo - the first time Tehran has been represented at the gathering. Mr Koshroo urged Iraq to disarm, but stressed his country's opposition to a war. He also emphasised the need to deal with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Marcus, who is in Munich, says the speech - delivered in English - was measured and moderate in tone, ending with a call for the Muslim world and the West to develop a broader view of each other. . End of article 7.
Putin is capitalising
on anti-war feeling in Europe Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged to work closely with
France and Germany with the aim of achieving a peaceful resolution to the
conflict over Iraq.
"We are convinced that a one-sided use of force would lead to great suffering for the Iraqi population and increase tension in the whole region," Mr Putin said after talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Sunday. France, Germany, Russia and China - all members of the UN Security Council - share similar views on Iraq, Mr Putin said. Mr Putin is on a whirlwind tour of Europe that includes talks with another anti-war voice on Monday, French President Jacques Chirac. Veto fears As permanent members of the Security Council, both Russia and China have the right to veto an unacceptable decision following next Friday's report by UN weapons inspectors about Iraqi compliance with UN disarmament obligations. Mr Putin said any decision about further actions must be made only on the basis of information from the international inspectors. For his part, Chancellor Schroeder told the joint news conference in Berlin: "We want to jointly make sure that there is a peaceful disarmament" of Iraq. Both leaders stressed the Iraq must fully comply with weapons inspection. BBC Moscow correspondent Nikolai Gorshkov says Russia does not want to use its veto at the UN because it would ruin the new-found strategic partnership between Moscow and Washington. . End of article 8.
The talks were
"useful", inspectors said The chief UN arms inspectors have declared that good progress has been
made during two days of talks on arms issues in Iraq this weekend.
While stressing that several important issues were outstanding and that co-operation must still be improved, both Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei said they had seen some positive signs - notably in the provision of documents. "I see this as the beginning of a change of heart on the part of the Iraqis," said Mr ElBaradei - words echoed by Mr Blix. "I think we are leaving with a sense of cautious optimism." The United States has already made clear that it does not hold much faith in inspections to resolve its standoff with Iraq, a stance supported by its close ally Britain. 'Diversion' The US appears infuriated by news on Sunday of a France-German peace initiative, which envisages the deployment of UN troops in Iraq to support an expanded team of weapons inspectors. In Washington, the US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the plan was a diversion and that the real issue was whether Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was prepared to disarm. "More inspectors don't answer the question," he said.
Mr ElBaradei said on Sunday that the Baghdad talks had proved that "an inspection can work and an inspection can provide an alternative to war".
But both he and Mr Blix, who are due to present their report on Iraq to the UN Security Council on Friday, emphasised that progress needed to be quicker. Mr Blix said that while the Iraqis had provided prompt and open access to the sites inspectors wished to visit, which he described as "process", there were still problems with the provision of "substance". One particular issue highlighted was the fact that Iraq has still not agreed to allow surveillance planes to monitor movements in the country, although Iraqi presidential advisor General Amer al-Saadi later told a news conference that Baghdad hoped to give an answer before the report is given on Friday. Interviews with scientists without government monitors present, which Iraq first allowed this week, were to be welcomed, Mr Blix said, but the quality of these meetings had so far been a "mixed bag". More of these interviews need to take place, he said, along with legislation banning the development of prohibited weapons. Analysis needed Mr Blix said Iraq had this weekend handed over more documents to the visiting inspectors with information relating to a number of high-profile unresolved issues about Anthrax, its al-Fatah and al-Sumoud missiles and the nerve agent VX. These papers, he said, would be handed to experts in New York for further analysis. He said Baghdad had constructive propositions on how to check that its unaccounted-for weapons of mass destruction had indeed been destroyed, but it remained to be seen whether these plans would prove useful. Mr Blix also told reporters that Iraq had agreed to form a commission to look for all documents pertaining to weapons programs. Franco-German plans German Defence Minister Peter Struck confirmed on Sunday that new proposals for a peaceful solution developed by Paris and Berlin would be delivered to the UN on Friday - the same day as Mr Blix is scheduled to report. After a press conference with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was "almost completely in agreement" with the plan, adding that his country would work closely with France and Germany at the UN Security Council. Mr Putin said at present he could see no reason to launch a war against Iraq. "We are convinced that a one-sided use of force would lead to great suffering for the population and increase tension in the whole region," he said. Russia and France, as permanent members of the UN Security Council, are in the position to veto any resolution authorising military action, should they wish. Allied air strike While discussions continue, the US is stepping up its preparations for any war with Iraq.
A fifth aircraft carrier, the USS Kitty Hawk, has also been ordered to the region. On Saturday, US and British warplanes attacked what they say was an Iraqi mobile air defence facility 150 kilometres (95 miles) south-east of Baghdad. The US said the target was a threat to coalition aircraft patrolling the air exclusion zone they have declared in southern Iraq. . End of article 9.
Ansar al-Islam is
accused of assassinating Mushir
Kurdish military officials in northern Iraq say one of their senior commanders has been killed by a militant Islamic group suspected of links to the al-Qaeda network. A commander for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Sherkh Jafar said gunmen posing as defectors from the militant Islamic group, Ansar al-Islam, killed Shawkat Haji Mushir, along with five other people in an ambush on Saturday. The Ansar control a small pocket of territory near the Iranian border inside the area of northern Iraq held by the Kurds. The United States also accuses the group of co-operating with the Iraqi Government - charges the group has denied.
He, two of his men and three civilians, including one child, were killed when they were caught in a hail of bullets and grenades. PUK officials say it was a carefully-planned ambush, mounted by the Ansar al-Islam, the radical Islamic faction with which the PUK has been violently at odds over the past two years. A group of Ansar members had signalled an interest in defecting to the PUK and Mr Mushir had been put in charge of the negotiations. 'Risky move' By this account it was a set-up and an extraordinary provocation at a time when the Ansar are under close scrutiny and being dubbed terrorists both by the PUK and the US. The group has already been blamed for an assassination attempt on the PUK's prime minister last year, as well as for killing dozens of the PUK's fighters on the ground. In the wake of Mr Mushir's death, a senior PUK official said it showed, once again, that the Ansar is a terrorist group which has to be eliminated.
The PUK is consulting with the other main Kurdish faction, the KDP, over possible joint action against a group which has caused problems for them both. Although the Ansar are reckoned to number less than 1000 men, eliminating the group is not an easy task. They are entrenched in rugged hills and mountains. Some adjacent territory is controlled by other relatively sympathetic Islamic factions and they have the Iranian border to their rear. . End of article 10.
Powell alleged chemical
weapons were made at Khurmai
Journalists have visited the alleged chemical weapons site in Kurdish-held northern Iraq that US Secretary of State Colin Powell says is run by an Islamic group linked to al-Qaeda. But they saw no obvious evidence of chemical weapons production. The site, used as a base by the Ansar al-Islam, is adjacent to the small hamlet of Sargatt in the hills which run along the Iranian border north of the Kurdish town of Halabja.
When we visited it was crawling with Ansar gunmen but nothing more sinister than small arms was on display. The Ansar commanders said the site, which consists of scattered buildings in a fenced-off compound on a rugged hillside, had been used primarily as a radio and television centre, until Mr Powell's speech this week. We were shown radio and TV studios which had obviously been there for some time.
Other buildings in the compound had apparently been used as residential premises and hastily abandoned because of fears of an imminent American air or missile strike. At the back of a row of buildings there was one drum which had originally contained plastic-related chemicals but it was empty. The Ansar said it had been used to store fuel. Strike fear If the site had been used for producing or experimenting in chemical or biological weapons, there was no obvious sign that that is still the case. By taking the unprecedented step of allowing Western journalists to inspect the base, the Ansar were clearly hoping to forestall an American strike. We were told that fear of such an attack had led villagers in the immediate area to leave. In other nearby villages outside the Ansar pocket, elders also expressed fears that they might be the victims of American attacks gone wrong, like those that happened in Afghanistan. Anxious villagers The people of the town of Khurmal, about five kilometres away to the west are particularly anxious since Mr Powell gave their town's name to the alleged chemical weapons site. The accusations have been levelled both by Mr Powell and by one of the big Iraqi Kurdish factions, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the PUK, which controls much of the area around the pocket held by the Ansar. The PUK and the Ansar have been engaged in violent clashes for nearly two years. Senior officials of the PUK have said that with a western operation against the Iraqi regime apparently imminent, it cannot afford to leave what it calls "a hostile terrorist group" operating behind its back. Some Iraqi opposition leaders are trying to mediate a peaceful solution that would involve the Ansar either dissolving themselves or joining up with other, nearby Islamic groups, which are regarded as legitimate. There is little sign that that bid is making progress. The Ansar commanders themselves also denied Mr Powell's accusations that they have links with al-Qaeda or the Baghdad government. . End of article 11.
Iran is not believed to
have much sympathy for Iraq
The trip was apparently unscheduled and it comes amid strong opposition from sections of the Iranian leadership. The Iranian official news agency said Mr Sabri went straight into talks with his Iranian counterpart, Kamal Kharrazi, as soon as he arrived in the Iranian capital. Mr Sabri's visit follows Mr Kharrazi's recent meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London, where the Iranian politician stressed the importance of avoiding war. Diplomatic efforts Mr Sabri was due to visit Iran early last month, but the trip was cancelled amid strong opposition from reformist politicians. Some MPs had even threatened to impeach Mr Kharrazi if he had invited the Iraqi foreign minister to the country. They said it was against Iran's national interests to welcome a senior official of a regime which in their opinion was soon to be overthrown. The Iranian official news agency said the Iraqi foreign minister's presence in Tehran displays Iran's increasing diplomatic efforts to avert a war in the region. The invitation to Mr Sabri does not mean that the Iranian Government has any sympathy for Saddam Hussain. The two countries fought a bloody war in the 1980s which claimed more than one million lives. While Tehran officially opposes any foreign war against Iraq, it has allowed the Iraqi opposition groups to use its territory for anti-Saddam activities. . End of article 12.
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The army has failed to
wipe out the LRA The Ugandan Red Cross Society has announced that it is suspending its
relief operation in the north of the country, after one of its convoys was
ambushed by the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).
Six Red Cross volunteers were injured - three of them seriously - when they were attacked on Saturday. Their radio equipment and personal possessions were stolen, and their vehicles were damaged.
The LRA is the remnant of a rebellion in northern Uganda which erupted after President Yoweri Museveni seized power in 1986. It has achieved an international reputation for brutality, and for forcibly recruiting child soldiers - although LRA leaders deny doing so. 'Deplorable' The Red Cross in Uganda says Saturday's attack shows that the LRA is changing its tactics and is now viewing relief workers as potential targets. The chairman of the Ugandan society, Tom Buruku, told the BBC that he has now decided to suspend relief efforts until he is satisfied that security has improved in the region.
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This country
has suffered so much
Toledo is aiming to
examine the damage
Satellites spot
changes in sea temperatures
The Vieques issue has strained US-Puerto Rico relations
Chavez describes his
opponents as "coup-mongers" and "terrorists"
Rumsfeld's "old
Europe" remarks have offended many US allies
Fischer said he was
not convinced by the US
America is busy building up its forces in the
Gulf
Mushir's death has caused anger among Kurds
Other officials
were injured in the attack
Ansar al-Islam operate
near Iraq's border with Iran
