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. Franco-African summit opens under cloud .

. BBC -- Logged on Wednesday, 19-Feb-2003 4:00 UTC x x

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The annual Franco-African summit is due to open in Paris, with continuing violence in the Ivory Coast and controversy over the attendance of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe expected to dominate the event.

Representatives and leaders from 52 African countries are attending the summit, the official theme of which stresses the importance of the two sides coming together "in a new partnership". 

However the presence of the Zimbabwean president led to several protesters demonstrating outside the hotel in parts of Paris. 

Gay rights activists held a protest on Wednesday outside Mr Mugabe's hotel, while others demonstrated outside the French Justice Ministry, calling on Mr Mugabe to be arrested. 

"Mugabe should not be wined and dined at the (presidential) Elysee Palace. He should be put on trial for the crime of torture," British-based campaigner Peter Tatchell said. 

'Chance for dialogue'

France was allowed to make an exception to an EU ban on visits to members countries by Mr Mugabe and other senior Zimbabwean officials. 

Mugabe's critics say his policies have exacerbated Zimbabwe's troubles

In return, Paris gave its backing to the renewal of EU sanctions against Mr Mugabe, his wife and other government officials. 

But France's stance has provoked fury from several European countries - including the UK, Zimbabwe's former colonial power, and the US. 

The French Government says other African countries had threatened to boycott the meeting unless Mr Mugabe was there, but argues that the summit is a chance to engage in dialogue with the Zimbabwean president over the situation in his country. 

Mr Mugabe has met with international condemnation for his land redistribution policy and for last year's elections in which he was accused of using violence and fraud. 

Zimbabweans are currently suffering from the famine which has swept much of southern Africa and which some say has been exacerbated by Mr Mugabe's policies. 

However BBC world affairs correspondent Mark Doyle says the fact that Mr Mugabe was previously seen as a freedom fighter for his country led powerful African states such as South Africa and Nigeria to encourage France to bring Mr Mugabe, if only briefly, out of his isolation. 

Ivory Coast is also expected to dominate proceedings, as France and its African allies struggle to find a peaceful solution to the once-peaceful French speaking country. 

However Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo's controversial decision to stay away from the talks has dampened hopes that a solution can be found. 

 

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. Mugabe flies into French storm .

. BBC -- Logged on Wednesday, 19-Feb-2003 4:00 UTC x x

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Peter Tatchell has twice tried to arrest Mugabe

Zimbabwe's President, Robert Mugabe has arrived in Paris despite a ban on him travelling to the European Union. 

France was given an exemption from the ban to allow Mr Mugabe to attend a summit of French and African leaders. 

In return, Paris gave its backing to the renewal of EU sanctions against Mr Mugabe, his wife and other government officials. 

Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell has asked French prosecutors to issue a warrant for his arrest for alleged human rights abuses. 

Mr Tatchell has twice attempted to make a citizen's arrest on Mr Mugabe. 

France's stance has provoked the fury of several other European countries, including the UK. 

Direct confrontation

The French Government says other African countries had threatened to boycott the meeting unless Mr Mugabe was there. 

And it says the summit is a chance to engage in dialogue with the Zimbabwean president over the situation in his country. 

Mugabe should not be wined and dined at the Elysee Palace. He should be put on trial for the crime of torture  Peter Tatchell  Mugabe to face court challenge

But the BBC's James Coomarasamy in Paris says many see this as a cynical trade-off at a time when France is trying to increase its sphere of influence in Africa. 

Mr Mugabe has met with international condemnation for his land redistribution policy and for last year's elections in which he was accused of using violence and fraud. 

Zimbabweans are currently suffering from the famine which has swept much of southern Africa and which some say has been exacerbated by Mr Mugabe's policies. 

Summit postponed

British-based gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell led some two dozen protesters outside the French justice ministry, reports the French news agency, AFP. 

Mugabe says his problems are caused by a British-led plot

"Mugabe should not be wined and dined at the Elysee Palace (French President Jacques Chirac's official residence). He should be put on trial for the crime of torture," he said. 

Another summit, planned for Portugal in April, has been postponed because most European countries had said they would boycott the summit if Mr Mugabe was invited. 

African nations had indicated they would stay away unless Zimbabwe was included. 
 

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. US 'plans new nuclear weapons' .

. BBC -- Logged on Wednesday, 19-Feb-2003 4:00 UTC x x

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The new weapons could be used against deep bunkers

A leaked document suggests that Washington is beginning detailed planning for a new generation of smaller nuclear weapons.

The document - published by an anti-proliferation watchdog and confirmed as genuine by US officials - indicates the weapons could be used against targets like deep bunkers that contain chemical or biological agents. 

The Los Alamos Study Group claims the plans would challenge the foundations of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which limits the development of new designs for nuclear bombs. 

'MINI-NUKES'  Could strike deep-underground bunker  Might be used to destroy chemical or biological weapons  Critics doubt weapons could go deep enough to contain fall-out  Click here for Q&A on new generation weapons

The BBC's Justin Webb in Washington says the plans clearly fit in with the wider Bush doctrine of pre-emptive strikes in the future when the US feels itself to be threatened. 

The New Mexico-based Los Alamos Study Group posted on its website what it said were the minutes of last month's meeting in the Pentagon of senior US nuclear scientists. It said the meeting was called to plan a secret conference "to discuss what new nuclear weapons to build, how they might be tested... and how to sell the ideas to Congress and the American public". 

The group said that the conference of senior military officials and scientists would be held in August at the Omaha headquarters of the US Strategic Command in Nebraska. 

The group did not say how it obtained the document, but said it decided to publish it taking into account Washington's "bold sweep of nuclear weapons planning". 

"It's very rare that so many details about the nuclear weapons agenda of the Bush administration would appear in the same documents, in the same place," the group's spokesman, Greg Mello, said. 

The minutes, which Bush administration officials confirm as genuine, also talk of lower yield nuclear weapons being developed with reduced collateral damage. 

One of the principal tasks being considered for such devices is the destruction of deep bunkers where chemical, biological or nuclear weapons are stored. 

President Bush has repeatedly stated that the US would consider pre-emptive strikes in the future if it considers itself to be threatened. 
 

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. Concern at Thai drug crackdown .

. BBC -- Logged on Wednesday, 19-Feb-2003 4:00 UTC x x

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Thai police are accused of operating outside the law

Diplomats in Thailand say there is growing international concern over the rising death toll since the government announced an all-out campaign against drug dealers at the beginning of this month 

It has been three weeks since Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra vowed to stamp out drugs in Thailand, and the killing seems to be getting out of hand. 

Every day newspapers and television programmes show grisly pictures of alleged drug dealers lying in pools of blood, all with guns and bags of methamphetamine pills in their hands. 

Official figures put the death toll at more than 600, although the police say that only 300 of these were on an official black list and that nearly all were killed by their rivals. 

Suspicious

But the striking similarity among the victims- all shot execution-style- and the fact that no investigations of their deaths have taken place, has led many Thais to suspect that there is an official shoot-to-kill policy in place. 

Several ministers have suggested that drug dealers should be wiped out, and local police forces are under strong pressure to show quick results in the fight against drugs. 

International human rights organisations have already expressed their deep concern over the killings, which they say have cast a shadow over Thailand's relatively favourable human rights record. 
 

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. Indonesians get taste for protest .

. BBC -- Logged on Wednesday, 19-Feb-2003 4:00 UTC x x

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The Indonesian parliament this week passed measures designed to reform the electoral system, but regular street protests may be a sign that many people are still not ready to trust their politicians. 

On one recent protest, a group of students, many dressed in uniform yellow jackets and bandannas, occupied part of a park opposite the private residence of President Megawati Sukarnoputri. 

There were perhaps 500 of them, chanting and singing their opposition to the government. 

Some are even paid to take part

The array of loud hailers ensured there was plenty of noise, but the protest attracted little attention from passers-by. 

Demonstrations have become an almost daily occurrence in Indonesia's capital city. 

A few days ago thousands of people took to the streets to call for a peaceful resolution to the Iraq crisis. 

Just last month, a series of protests across the country forced the government to rethink its plans to raise the cost of utilities. 

But why, five years after adopting a democratic system of government, are Indonesians still so eager to take their grievances on to the streets? 

People power

"We've tried other ways, but without any result," said Samsani, a student from the University of Indonesia. 

It's kind of like democratic growing pains  Rizal Mallarangeng, democracy activist

"Direct action is still the most effective. Everybody should come out and protest if they want this country to move forward." 

Not so long ago, expressing sentiments like that in public would probably have led to a lengthy jail term. 

For more than three decades, under the authoritarian leadership of former President Suharto, public protest was dealt with severely. 

But it was public protest which eventually led to Suharto's downfall in 1998. Indonesians, it seems, have developed a taste for people power. 

Impatience

The recent profusion of political demonstrations may in part be an expression of frustrated ideals. 

Rizal Mallarangeng, director of the Freedom Institute, a pro-democracy think tank, believes people have become impatient with the pace of reform. 

"People expected democracy to solve all the country's problems but it's taking longer than they thought. Dissatisfaction is growing and that's why we see so many people joining street protests." 

But that is not the only reason. Sometimes money is also a factor. Although rarely acknowledged in public, it is an open secret that some demonstrators are paid to turn out and protest. 

Adian is a veteran of political protests. He reckons he has been on more than 600 demonstrations, supporting farmers, calling for religious tolerance, criticising the conduct of the military. 

He says there has always been money on offer for those willing to take it. 

"In Suharto's time I was paid not to demonstrate," Adian said. "Now there are groups of people who rent themselves out as professional protestors. I don't approve of it; I think people should stick to their political ideals, like me." 

It is probably true that for every protestor who is simply there for the money, there are far more who take to the streets out of conviction. 

On the right track

Rizal Mallarangeng said that, on balance, demonstrations in Indonesia were a positive sign. 

"It's kind of like democratic growing pains. OK, so because of the traffic problems caused by demonstrations, it might take three hours instead of one to get home from work. But it's part and parcel of democracy, and that's the price we pay." 

Democracy in Indonesia is still in its infancy. But the Indonesian electorate has grasped the fundamental principle of free speech with both hands. 

For the time being, people seem determined to exercise their hard won right to demonstrate whenever the mood takes them. 
 

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. Profits fall at Volkswagen .

. BBC -- Logged on Wednesday, 19-Feb-2003 4:00 UTC x x

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VW car sales fell almost 2% last year

Volkswagen, Europe's biggest car maker, has reported a 10% fall in profits as it battles with weak demand in the fiercely competitive car market. 

VW said profits before tax slipped to 3.9bn euros (£2.68bn) in 2002, which was roughly in line with expectations. 

The German car maker did not give a forecast for this year but said it aimed at selling more than five millions cars in 2003. 

It sold 4.98 million cars last year, a 1.9% drop compared with 2001. 

New models

Volkswagen is betting on its newly-launched Touran minivan to boost sales this year. 

Critics say that VW's top-selling Golf and Passat models have started to look somewhat dated, while the car maker also faces strong competition from rivals like Renault. 

In January, VW chief executive Bernd Pischetsrieder had said he was confident about earnings and sales this year. 

But some analysts were frustrated with the absence of a further outlook on Wednesday, although VW has said it will give the market more details when it holds its annual press conference next month. 

VW's rival PSA Peugeot pleased the market last week with an upbeat forecast. 

VW shares, which have done better than most other automotive stocks, were down just 19 cents at 36.21 euros by 1500 GMT. 

VW shares are up by 5% so far this year. 

Meanwhile, VW's Czech unit Skoda Auto has said it expected to increase car sales this year, following a 3.2% drop in 2002. 

"This year we expect that we should do 4 to 5% more than last year," Skoda chief executive Vratislav Kulhanek told an auto industry conference. 

Car sales at the Czech car maker suffered from the strong Czech crown currency, which made imports cheaper but put a squeeze on export margins. 

Skoda is expecting sales of its top model, the Superb, to take off this year after it was launched last year. 
 

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. Al-Qaeda's logistics man .

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Motassadek looked after the logistics of the 11 September operation in Hamburg

The trial of Mounir al-Motassadek has highlighted the ways the al-Qaeda network operates and how it is organised.

Motassadek was found to be one of eight members of the Hamburg cell thought to have plotted to hijack planes and fly them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. 

He was described as a "substantial cog" by prosecutors who say that he remained in Hamburg to look after the logistics of the operation. 

"Logistics are an enormously important part of al-Qaeda; it is a network rather than a fixed hierarchical structure," Humphry Crum Ewing of the Centre for Defence and International Security Studies at Lancaster University in the UK told BBC News Online. 

"It is a very loose, but very pervasive network. What is significant is that al-Qaeda is so organised," he says. 

Motassadek shared a flat with suspected chief hijacker Mohammed Atta, the wealthy Egyptian who is believed to have been the ringleader of the Hamburg cell. 

In the run-up to the 11 September attacks, Motassadek managed the bank account of one of the hijackers, Marwan al-Shehhi. 

I consider that to pin this individual down and produce a conviction is a very good job indeed  Humphry Crum Ewing Security expert

The account served as a financing pot for the Hamburg cell, which Motassadek used to feed funds to Shehhi to pay for the hijackers' American flight training, German prosecutors said. 

Motassadek was transferring money from Shehhi's Hamburg account via Ramzi Binalshibh, a Yemeni national accused of being al-Qaeda's chief contact in Hamburg and a key 11 September planner, they said. 

Mr Binalshibh was arrested in Pakistan in September. 

Bank records showed Mr Binalshibh had transferred money to a flight school in Florida and to an American bank account of Shehhi, who the US authorities believe flew the second plane into the World Trade Center, the trial heard. 

Mr Binalshibh's payments coincided with withdrawals from Shehhi's account in Hamburg, over which Motassadek admitted he had power of attorney. 

Motassadek also signed Mohammed Atta's will, and had attended al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. 

Key centre

The choice of the northern German city of Hamburg as the location for the cell was a significant one, said Mr Crum Ewing. 

MOTASSADEK GUILTY OF:  More than 3,000 counts of accessory to murder  Membership of a terrorist organisation  Five counts of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm  Click here for Who's Who in al-Qaeda guide

"Hamburg has been important in the chain of communications; it is a good centre because of its large Arab community; it has particularly liberal views and a friendly justice system; it is a natural place to have one of these centres," he said. 

It is also a good place in terms of access. 

"You can get in and out of it by sea and it is near several international borders that people can slip across." 

It was easy for the cell members, who met at the local university, to blend in with the ordinary Muslim population and not come to the attention of the German police. 

"You can't hit the militants until they've done something; you can have suspicions, but you can't move on them until they've done something," Mr Crum Ewing said. 

However, once they were alert to the existence of a terrorist network, Germany's highly organised and efficient intelligence service was able to track down the individuals concerned, he said. 

"I consider that to pin this individual down and produce a conviction is a very good job indeed." 

Mr Crum Ewing compares this with the situation in the UK, where the authorities have been unable to charge anyone in connection with terrorism activities despite many arrests because of lack of evidence. 

 

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. Bulgaria rejects French "emotion" .

. BBC -- Logged on Wednesday, 19-Feb-2003 4:00 UTC x x

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Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov has summoned the French ambassador to object to President Chirac's criticism of EU candidate countries for siding with the US over Iraq.

The French president admitted defeat in his rage  Slovakian daily Sme  Click here for more press reaction

At a meeting in Sofia on Wednesday he expressed concern about "the emotional statement" in which the French president accused future EU members of childish and dangerous behaviour. 

Mr Chirac was particularly irked by statements of solidarity for the US position on Iraq, signed by a number of the countries due to join the EU in 2004, and by five existing members. 

He said that Bulgaria and Romania - currently expected to join the EU in 2007 - had been "particularly thoughtless" and could not have chosen a better way to spoil their chances of gaining entry to the club. 

FEBRUARY LETTER SUPPORTING US  Albania  Bulgaria*  Croatia  Estonia*  Latvia*  Lithuania*  Macedonia  Romania*  Slovakia*  Slovenia*  *EU candidate country

Newspapers in Eastern Europe on Wednesday responded angrily to Mr Chirac's comments, which came too late for Tuesday's editions. 

"Bulgaria insists on mutual respect between EU members and applicant countries, between big and small states," Mr Parvanov told ambassador Jean-Loup Kuhm-Delforge, according to the presidential press office. 

"In this regard, pressure by one state on another should not be allowed." 

Atlanticism

French officials have been reported as saying that Mr Chirac was angry that the candidate countries had been giving higher priority to transatlantic defence ties than political and cultural ties within Europe. 

JANUARY'S OPEN LETTER OF SUPPORT  Czech Republic*  Denmark  Hungary*  Italy  Poland*  Portugal  Spain  United Kingdom  *EU candidate country

Mr Parvanov told the ambassador: "Bulgaria views its European and Atlantic integration as inseparable and would not like to be put in the position to choose between its future allies and partners." 

Bulgaria is one of seven East European countries scheduled to join Nato next year. 

The day after Mr Chirac's outburst, all the 13 EU candidate countries endorsed the common EU position on Iraq hammered out in Brussels on Monday. 

British Prime Minister Tony Blair took the unusual step of writing to the candidate countries hours afterwards, praising their solidarity with the US and seeking to present himself as their closest ally in Europe. 

"I much admire the leadership you have shown on these issues," he said. 

 

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. Norway to expel Mullah Krekar .

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Mullah Krekar is accused of being the leader of Ansar al-Islam

Norway has said it plans to expel Mullah Krekar, the Iraqi Kurd leader of an Iraqi-based militant Islamic group suspected of having with links to al-Qaeda. 

Mullah Krekar arrived in Norway, where he has had refugee status since 1991, two weeks ago after he was ordered to leave the Netherlands. 

At the time the Dutch authorities had decided to expel Mullah Krekar rather than extradite him to Jordan where he is wanted for questioning over his alleged involvement in heroin trading. 

Mullah Krekar - whose real name is Faraj Ahmad Najmuddin - has two weeks to leave Norway after which he will be sent to northern Iraq. 

Security threat

Norwegian immigration officials called Mullah Krekar "a threat to national security" because of the group's alleged links to al-Qaeda. 

His group Ansar al-Islam or the Supporters of Islam is a staunchly anti-American, Islamist group. 

Mullah Krekar denies he is involved in terrorist activities

"Ansar al-Islam is an armed, Islamic, fundamentalist grouping which I believe there is reason to suppose has a connection to the Al-Qaeda network," said Norwegian Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Erna Solberg. 

Ms Solberg, whose ministry is responsible for dealing with asylum seekers, said recent discussions in the United Nations Security Council on preventing terrorist safe havens had prompted her decision. 

Earlier this month United States Secretary of State Colin Powell told the Security Council that Ansar provided safe haven for members of al-Qaeda in the northern Iraq enclave they control and had planned to make chemical weapons. 

Ms Solberg said the decision had been further catalysed by reports from the New York-based Human Rights Watch that Ansar al-Islam had been involved in illegally detaining and torturing people in northern Iraq. 

Chance to appeal

Mullah Krekar has denied that his group has any links to terrorism or to Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network - blamed for the 11 September attack in the United States. 

He also says Ansar has not made chemical weapons. 

Ansar has also been accused of having links to the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein - another charge which Mullah Krekar rejects, denouncing Saddam Hussein as an enemy of the Kurdish people. 

Immigration director Trygve Nordby said Mullah Krekar's frequent visits to the Kurdish regions of Northern Iraq, where his group operates, had forced a reassessment of whether he really was an asylum seeker. 

"There are big differences between the information we have now and what we knew then," Mr Nordby said of the previous decision to grant Mullah Krekar refugee status. 

Mullah Krekar's wife, children and brother all live in Norway too - having moved there under a family reunification programme for refugees. 

Mullah Krekar has three weeks to appeal against the decision. 

 

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. Iran plane crash kills 302 .

. BBC -- Logged on Wednesday, 19-Feb-2003 4:00 UTC x x

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An Iranian military transport aircraft carrying 302 people has crashed in the south of the country, killing all those on board.

The plane was on a flight between the town of Zahedan, near the border with Pakistan, and the central city of Kerman when it lost contact with air traffic control at about 1730 local time (1400 GMT). 

The cause of the crash is not yet known, but air traffic controllers at Kerman airport said the pilot had radioed bad weather and strong winds before losing contact, the Iranian news agency IRNA reports. There has been heavy snow in the region. 

IRAN AIR CRASHES  40 people die when a new Ukrainian plane crashes into a mountain in Iran in December 2002  Russian-made Tu-154 airliner crashes into mountains in March 2002, killing 117 people  80 die when a military plane crashes in north-east Iran in March 1997  Tu-154 crashes into a military plane near Tehran in February 1993, killing 132  Timeline of air disasters

Rescue workers have reached the scene of the crash and have begun sifting through the wreckage. 

Iranian television said there were no survivors among the 284 elite Revolutionary Guards and 18 crew aboard the Russian-made Ilyushin plane. 

The Guard, which was formed soon after the overthrow of the Shah and the creation of the Islamic republic more than 20 years ago, is seen as a staunch defender of Iran's Islamic regime. 

IRNA said that some of the dead were believed to be senior security officials. 

String of accidents

Accordsing to a local official in Zahedan, quoted by the Associated Press news agency, the Guards had been in the city to prepare for a visit by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. 

The Iranian cabinet, in a statement, has offered condolences to the nation and bereaved families over the "tragic event in which a group of IRGC [Revolutionary Guards] brothers" were killed. 

There has been a series of disasters in Iran involving mainly Russian-built planes. 

Up to half of Iran's transport aircraft are believed to be of Russian design, and correspondents say they have a poor safety record. 

US sanctions have left Iran increasingly dependant on an ageing fleet, acquired from the former Soviet Union. 

Three of them have crashed in the past two years, killing an estimated 200 people. 

The most recent disaster was in December when a new Ukrainian plane flew into a mountain, killing more than 40 scientists on board, as it was preparing to land in Isfahan, about 400 kilometres (250 miles) south of the capital Tehran. 

 

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. Military stage set for war with Iraq .

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With the Pentagon talking in terms of a troop build-up now numbering 150,000 across the Gulf, war could just be as little as a fortnight away. 

The complex jigsaw of military components is far from complete. 

Some British heavy armour has not even left Germany, but this is almost certainly misleading. 

The military assault on Iraq could well begin before some units arrive. Military planners call it a "rolling start." 

US forces getting ready in Kuwait

"There's little alternative, if it's to be done before summer," one senior coalition officer said, while activity swarmed around him in one of a host of sandy makeshift camps north of Kuwait City. 

The Pentagon says there are 70,000 US military personnel in Kuwait, including the army's Fifth Corps, 3rd Infantry Division and 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. 

Tens of thousands more are on the way. 

Awesome firepower

At sea two more aircraft carriers will soon join three already within striking distance of Iraq. 

Land-based combat aircraft have also been trickling into bases throughout the region for weeks. An awesome array of firepower is now poised to strike. 

Highway 80, which runs dead straight to Kuwait's northern border with Iraq, has become the almost exclusive preserve of the military. 

Convoys and single vehicles shuttle to and fro, ferrying supplies to vast, sprawling camps just visible behind sand walls on either side. 

Civilian buses, curtains covering their windows, can be seen heading north from the city, escorted by military police, as troops continue to pour in. 

Training with anti-tank missiles

Tanks churn up storms of dust as they exercise day after day, while troops familiarise themselves with this inhospitable landscape, walking for miles under heavy packs. 

While the tanks are wearing their desert colours, much of the traffic here is still in its customary dark green camouflage. Officers say it is unlikely every vehicle will be repainted. It is simply not necessary. 

"It's pretty green where they're going," one spokesman noted, a reference to the fertile valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates that point the way to Baghdad. 

By midweek, the whole of Britain's 3 Commando Brigade will be in place. 

Troops from the other major British formations, 16 Air Assault Brigade and the 1st Armoured Division, have also started to arrive. 

Britain's military contribution is expected to top 40,000. 

Hi-tech war 

Whether it starts on a moonless night in early March or, because of last minute diplomatic manoeuvring, some time later, the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq is expected to be high tech and rapid. 

With vast quantities of "smart" munitions and digital networks enabling near real time targeting and damage assessment, operations will be conducted at a much quicker pace than was possible during the 1991 Gulf War. 

Far from waiting for the results of a lengthy air campaign, planners expect to get "boots on the ground" inside Iraq within hours. 

Behind the invasion, the job of bolstering Kuwait's own defences will fall, in part, to a multinational force from Gulf states known as Peninsula Shield. 

Protecting Kuwait

Around 4,000 troops from the United Arab Emirates arrived in Kuwait on Tuesday. 

Others will follow from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman. 

The force is likely to include Apache attack helicopters and at least one warship. 

Two Kuwaiti brigades have already been deployed to the northern border as the country's armed forces moved to their second highest state of alert. 

Two small northern oil fields close to the border have also been closed for security reasons. 

Preparations will continue until the political process is exhausted. But from a strictly military point of view, the stage would appear to be set. 

 

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. Rocket retaliation for Gaza deaths .

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Anger and grief erupt in Gaza

Palestinian militants have fired rockets on a southern Israeli town in apparent retaliation for an overnight raid in Gaza City which left 11 Palestinians dead.

It was the first rocket attack on Israeli territory for about three weeks. 

Vows of revenge rang out as Palestinians took to the streets of Gaza for a mass funeral for those killed. 

Correspondents say many Palestinians see recent Israeli operations as a precursor to a full takeover of Gaza - a move the Israeli defence minister has said is being considered. 

Frequent target

The Qassam rockets were aimed at Sderot, an industrial town just outside the Gaza Strip. 

Three Israelis were injured, including a man standing at the entrance to a factory, and there was slight property damage. 

The Sderot area, which is on the edge of Israel's Negev desert, has been repeatedly hit by Qassam rockets fired by members of the Islamic militant group Hamas in a 29-month-old Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation. 

The attacks stopped in late January when Palestinian police began to crack down on Qassam squads whose actions had provoked punishing Israeli army incursions. 

But the fact that a rocket attack was launched straight after the Israeli raid is being seen as an act of defiance by militant groups in Gaza, says the BBC's James Reynolds in Jerusalem. 

The Israeli army said it launched the latest operation in Gaza following the deaths of four soldiers, whose tank was blown up by the Islamic militant group Hamas on Saturday. 

Up to four metal workshops - said by Israel to have been used by Palestinians to manufacture the Qassam rockets - were destroyed by troops accompanied by bulldozers. 

At least 30 tanks, backed by helicopters, swept into the Shajaiyeh and Tufah districts - known strongholds of Palestinian militants - after nightfall on Tuesday. 

Israel said it was targeting weapons factories

The incursion was the bloodiest since 12 Palestinians died in an Israeli raid on Gaza City on 26 January. 

Fury erupted in the Gaza Strip during a mass funeral for the 11 Palestinians killed overnight. 

Dozens of militants fired rifles in the air and the crowd chanted "Destroy Tel Aviv!" 

One man, whose house was reduced to rubble in the raid, denied it was a weapons workshop. 

"Israel simply wants to destroy our economy, by using all the tools of its propaganda machinery," Mohammad Abdelhamid al-Qattaa told the French news agency, AFP. 

The Palestinian leadership has called on the UN Security Council to condemn the Gaza raid. 

Car blast

Violence also continued in the West Bank on Wednesday. 

Two Palestinians were shot dead in Nablus, as Israeli troops conducted house-to house searches and reimposed a curfew in the city's old centre, Palestinian witnesses said. 

And in Jenin, a militant from the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades was killed when his car blew up, Palestinian security officials said. 

Three other people were hurt in the blast, which the officials blamed on the Israeli army. 

 

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. Comet returns after 37,000 years .

. BBC -- Logged on Wednesday, 19-Feb-2003 4:00 UTC   Email this to a friend  Printable version  x x

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The comet (right) approaches the Sun

A recently-discovered comet makes its closest approach to the Sun. 

Moments later, it seems to be struck by a super-hot outburst of gas from the star. 

This spectacular image was spotted on Tuesday by a spacecraft, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (Soho). 

The joint European Space Agency/Nasa satellite is designed to give warnings of stormy space weather that might affect the Earth. 

Soho has photographed hundreds of comets around the Sun but this one, known as Neat, has only just been seen. 

It has been hovering in the evening sky for the past few weeks but is hardly visible without a telescope. 

Ancient visitor

The comet, which goes by the official name C/2002 V1, is new to astronomers. 

The comet is putting on a spectacular show

Calculations show it has passed through the inner Solar System once before but this was 37, 000 years ago. 

The comet is unusual in that it is very large and very bright. In fact it is the brightest comet ever observed by one of Soho's instruments. 

Scientists are studying its interaction with the solar wind - the hot, charged particles flowing from the Sun. 

They hope it could reveal new information about what comets are made of. 

 

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End of article 13

. Pakistan rains 'leave 60 dead' .

. BBC -- Logged on Wednesday, 19-Feb-2003 4:00 UTC x x

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Many homes have been destroyed

More than 60 people are now reported to have died as a result of heavy rains and snowfall in recent days in Pakistan. 

Several thousand people have been made homeless. 

But the heavy downpour has also improved the water level in the country's rivers, and may end the drought-like conditions in some of the worst affected areas of Sindh and Balochistan provinces. 

And in Indian-administered Kashmir, where heavy snow has allayed fears of a dry summer, there has been rejoicing. 

Houses destroyed

Pakistan has been witnessing one of the longest spells of continuous rain for several years. 

Hundreds of mud-houses have been destroyed, killing or injuring dozens of people. Many have lost their livelihoods. 

In some parts of Sindh and Punjab provinces, a number of villages have been completely destroyed by gales. Flash floods in parts of Balochistan have washed away large parts of roads and highways, causing widespread disruption. 

Officials say they cannot yet estimate the extent of damage to life and property. 

A senior weather official said the situation had started to improve in southern Pakistan. But scattered rainfall has continued in Islamabad and parts of Punjab, with the country's northern region still getting heavy snowfall. 

The full extent of the damage is not yet clear

Because of the weather conditions, all flights to Gilgit and other parts of northern areas are suspended. Some of these areas have also remained cut-off by road. 

Officials hope the weather will improve by Thursday. 

The BBC's Zaffar Abbas in Islamabad says officials there hope the long-term effects of the rain will be highly positive. 

In parts of Balochistan and Sindh, drought-like conditions had been developing. 

But more importantly, water levels in most of Pakistan's rivers have improved significantly. The snowfall in the mountainous region may help maintain a constant water supply for irrigation purposes in the coming months. 

Kashmir water

The residents of Indian-administered Kashmir have been celebrating an unusually heavy spell of snowfall. 

The snow came so late in the season that many in the Valley of Kashmir were preparing for another spell of dry weather. 

Apart from the southern districts of Anantnag and Pulwama the Valley has received on an average of 3 to 7 feet of snow. 

The ski resort of Gulmarg, which is around 40 kilometres north of Srinagar, has received 6 feet of snow. 

The BBC's Altaf Hussain in Srinagar says few people are complaining, despite disruptions to power supplies, slippery roads and the suspension of air and road traffic between the Valley and the rest of the world. 

Local people are saying that at least the snow ensures adequate supply of water for drinking and irrigation during the coming summer months. 

Water levels on the Jhelum river are high again, making it possible for the region's hydroelectric plants to work to maximum capacity. 

But the snow has taken its human toll, with at least three people reported killed. 
 

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End of article 14

. US to Introduce Second Iraq UN Resolution Regardless of Opposition .

. Scott Stearns White House 19 Feb 2003, 20:05 UTC