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Annan: Iraq Talks Hinge On
Inspections
VOA
News 23
Jul 2002 23:49 UTC
 
U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan says he will hold no more talks with Iraq until it
indicates U.N. arms inspectors can resume checking for weapons of mass
destruction.
Mr. Annan made
the comments late Tuesday in an interview with the CNN program
"Moneyline."
Mr. Annan held
three recent rounds of talks with Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri over the
inspection issue, including a session earlier this month in
Vienna.
The U.N.
Security Council says inspectors must verify that Iraq has no chemical,
biological, or nuclear weapons, or the means to produce them, before U.N.
sanctions against Iraq can be lifted.
In Tuesday's
interview, Mr. Annan said he has deliberately refrained from setting a date for
more talks until Iraq gives him reason to meet again. He says if Iraqi
officials do not give him the indications he is looking for, he and Foreign
Minister Sabri are not going to meet.
The U.N.
sanctions were imposed after Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Iraq has kept
the arms inspectors out the country for the past three-and-a-half
years.
The United
States has been skeptical of the talks between Mr. Annan and Mr. Sabri.
President Bush has made it clear he believes Iraq is trying to acquire weapons
of mass destruction. Mr. Bush has also made it clear he wants Iraqi leader
Saddam Hussein removed from power.
Some
information for this report provided by Reuters.
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Bush Condemns Israeli Attack As 'Heavy-Handed
Action'
Paula Wolfson White House 23
Jul 2002 16:21 UTC

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President
Bush has condemned the Israeli air strike in Gaza that resulted in the deaths
of a leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas and 14 other Palestinians,
including nine children. The president said he is concerned that the Israelis
hit a building knowing innocent people would likely be
killed.
White House
Spokesman Ari Fleischer said President Bush has long said the Israelis have a
right to defend themselves. But he makes clear this time the president believes
Israel went too far.
"The
president has said repeatedly that Israel has to be mindful of the consequences
of its actions in order to preserve the path to peace in the Middle East. The
president views this as a heavy-handed action that is not consistent with
dedication to peace in the Middle East," Mr. Fleischer
said.
Mr. Fleischer
said the president is a friend of Israel but feels it is important to speak out
now because of the circumstances surrounding the Israeli action. "In this
instance in Gaza, this was a deliberate attack against a building in which
civilians were known to be located," he said.
His brief
comments to reporters were unusually strong, focusing on the civilian
casualties. Mr. Fleischer said the president's views were passed to Israeli
officials by U.S. embassy personnel.
"This message
has been conveyed to the prime minister's office through the embassy. Included
in the conveyance of the message and the president's thoughts about this is the
regret of the innocent lives including the children's lives that have been
lost," Mr. Fleischer said.
The target of
the attack was a Hamas leader at the top of Israel's most wanted list. Israeli
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called the operation a success, though he said he
regrets the civilian casualties. Other Israeli officials said they had no
intention of hitting innocent people.
The White House
spokesman rejected that claim, noting they attacked apartment buildings in a
densely populated area. "This president has been and will continue to be a lead
defender of Israel around the world and will speak out about Israel's right to
self-defense. This is an instance in which the United States and Israel do not
see eye-to-eye," Mr. Fleischer said.
The White House
spokesman was then asked if any comparisons can be drawn between the Israeli
air attack and American efforts to track down terrorists still in Afghanistan.
He said U.S. policy is to avoid civilian casualties, though there have been
accidental losses.
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Human Rights Groups Say Russian Troops Kill Dozens of
Chechens Each Month
VOA
News 24
Jul 2002 00:14 UTC

The head of the
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights says Russian military forces
are continuing to abuse and kill large numbers of civilians in
Chechnya.
Executive
Director Aaron Rhodes says that between 50 and 80 Chechen civilians are killed
every month in security sweeps by Russian troops. He says the scale of killing
in the breakaway republic borders on genocide.
Mr. Rhodes
spoke Tuesday after returning from a three-day visit to Chechnya and
neighboring Ingushetia, where he headed a mission that visited camps for
displaced residents of Chechnya.
The Helsinki
Federation also called on Russia to refrain from actions that would force the
displaced people to return. The group says Russian authorities are planning to
shut down services at camps housing 50,000 displaced people, which would in
effect force them to return to Chechnya where security is not
adequate.
The Prime
Minister of Chechnya's Kremlin-backed government, Stanislav Ilyasov disputes
Mr. Rhodes' charges. He says that it is true that people are dying, but mostly
at the hands of criminals, and not on a large scale.
Russian troops
retreated from Chechnya in 1996 after a peace agreement with local authorities
ended a two-year conflict. But they swept back in October, 1999, to put down a
separatist insurgency in what Moscow has described as an anti-terrorist
operation.
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Iranian President: US on 'Frightening Path' Towards
War
Alisha Ryu Hong
Kong 23
Jul 2002 14:20 UTC

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Iranian
President Mohammad Khatami said he fears the United States is steering the
world toward war in its fight against terrorism. His remark follows U.S. media
reports that the Bush administration is scrapping a five-year effort to engage
the moderate Muslim cleric.
On the
second day of his four-day visit to Malaysia, President Khatami told reporters
that Iran considers the United States to be on a "frightening path" toward
war.
He said while
he agrees that terrorism is a horrendous and dangerous phenomenon, he thinks
U.S. actions in the aftermath of last September's terrorist attacks have
created an environment of war and fear throughout the
world.
Mr. Khatami
said Iran is particularly concerned about reports that the United States may
launch an attack on neighboring Iraq to oust President Saddam
Hussein.
He warned that
such an attack would only destabilize the region and anger the world's one
billion Muslims further. He said Iran which fought a bitter eight-year war with
Iraq in the 1980s - condemns any foreign interference in
Iraq.
The Iranian
leader's remarks come on the heels of a report Tuesday by the U.S.-based
newspaper, The Washington Post.
The paper said
that Mr. Bush is ready to abandon efforts to work with President Khatami and
his reformist allies in the Iranian government. Mr. Bush wants to instead focus
on appealing directly to democracy supporters in Iran.
According to
the Post newspaper, the shift follows an intense debate within the
administration over whether to adopt a harder line against Iran. Mr. Bush
accuses Iran of developing weapons of mass destruction and has labeled it part
of an "axis of evil," along with Iraq and North Korea.
Mr. Khatami in
office since 1997 was reelected last year by a wide margin. But hard-line
clerics have consistently blocked his efforts to reform the government. The
Washington Post quotes a senior Bush administration official saying the
United States has lost faith in Mr. Khatami and his allies to deliver on their
promises.
Washington cut
ties with Tehran after radical Iranian students seized the U.S. Embassy in 1979
and held dozens of people hostage for 444 days. The United States has tried to
engage Iran in official talks since Mr. Khatami came into office, but Iran has
rejected the offers.
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Israeli Air Strike in Gaza Kills Top Hamas
Commander
VOA
News 23
Jul 2002 22:09 UTC

Funeral
marchers in Gaza City have demanded revenge for an Israeli airstrike that
killed a leading Palestinian militant and 14 others, including nine
children.
The late-night
attack Monday killed Salah Shehade, head of the military wing of Hamas. But
air-launched missiles also destroyed several buildings in a crowded Gaza City
neighborhood. Mr. Shehade's wife and three children were among those killed,
and more than 150 Palestinians were wounded.
Tens of
thousands of Palestinians turned out for Tuesday's funeral procession. Hundreds
fired gunshots into the air as the crowd chanted anti-Israeli
slogans.
Israel is being
widely condemned for the attack. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called it one of
the Jewish state's "biggest successes," though he expressed regret for the loss
of innocent lives.
Mr. Shehade was
at the top of Israel's most wanted list. Israeli officials say he was behind
hundreds of attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians in the past two
years.
President
Bush's spokesman criticized the attack as heavy-handed action that does not
contribute to peace.
Officials from
Europe, the Arab world and the United Nations also condemned the Israeli
action. Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher accused Israel of carrying out a
war crime. The European Union called the Israeli attack disproportionate and
said it could not be justified in any circumstance.
Elsewhere, five
armed Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli troops Tuesday. The
Israeli army says it killed three Palestinians wearing military garb in a
gunbattle near the West Bank city of Nablus. Israeli forces were searching the
area for suspects involved in last week's ambush of a bus carrying Jewish
settlers. Two members of Islamic Jihad were killed during another exchange of
gunfire on the edge of the Gaza Strip.
Some
information for this report provided by AFP and
Reuters.
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Karzai Attends Graduation Ceremony of New Afghan
Soldiers
Michael Drudge Kabul 23
Jul 2002 13:49 UTC

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Afghanistan army
trainees VOA
photo - M. Drudge |
 |
The first
battalion of U.S.-trained Afghan soldiers graduated from basic training
Tuesday, ready to take up their duties in the new Afghan national army. The
freshly minted troops are being assigned to the presidential palace, where
concerns about the security of the Afghan president have been running
high.
Afghan
President Hamid Karzai led a high-level delegation at the graduation ceremony
at a former military academy on the eastern edge of Kabul.
About 300 men
completed the 10-week course, taught by members of the U.S. Army's special
forces. Two other battalions are being trained, one of them by French
instructors.
Afghan military
leaders said they would like to form an army of 200,000 men, if they can get
enough financing for the effort.
 |
 |
| AP |
 |
| Hamid Karzai reviews new Afghan
troops |
 |
After a
review of the troops, President Karzai called the emerging national army the
backbone of Afghanistan. He told the soldiers they will protect the territory,
independence and national security of Afghanistan and all of its
people.
The defense
minister, Mohammed Fahim, said the army is being built from nothing, and that
many officers are being recalled who had left the service during Taleban
rule.
Mr. Fahim said
he wants an army that is trusted and respected by all Afghans. And he pledged
that the army will not interfere in the political affairs of the country. His
words are closely followed, as political observers have said Mr. Fahim could be
a rival to President Karzai.
Commanders at
the military training center said the new troops are being deployed at the
presidential palace in Kabul. That announcement comes one day after U.S. and
Afghan officials confirmed that U.S. Army soldiers, including special forces
troops, are providing security for Mr. Karzai.
Security
concerns for the president have heightened since the July 6 assassination of
Vice President Abdul Qadir.
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Many US Investors Decide to Stay in Market Despite
Price Drop
Jenny Badner New
York 23
Jul 2002 20:07 UTC

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As the U.S.
stock market continues its downward tumble, individual investors faced some
difficult questions. Should they sell now or risk devastating financial loss
while waiting for the market to recover?
Many of 85
million American investors say they are waiting out the
storm.
Kathy Renaud,
61, decided to travel to New York City, as planned, during her summer vacation.
The school teacher from the Midwestern state of Ohio says she is spending her
money in the city, on taxi cabs, at stores and in restaurants, to help the
city, still suffering financially from the September 11
attacks.
Back home, Mrs.
Renaud is cautious with her money. She and her husband are starting to put more
dollars in savings accounts rather than in stocks. Mrs. Renaud is worried about
her retirement plan, which is plunging with the stock
market.
"It is going to
change my retirement style," she said. "I have to retire in five years and at
that rate I might not have very much. But I did not have that much in [the
market] to begin with. I am just reluctant. I do not want to be one of the ones
that causes a crash."
For now, Mrs.
Renaud is waiting for the stock market to recover and has decided not to sell.
Economist William Dudley of the New York investment firm Goldman Sachs says
most individual investors are acting the same way, despite the wild
market.
"Most people
seem to have a view that they are in the stock market for the long haul. And I
think if you are investing in the stock market, I think that is the healthy
attitude to have, and [do] not change your game plan based on some weakness in
the stock market, which could very well turn out to be temporary," he
said.
Not everyone is
waiting patiently though. A series of corporate scandals, including the most
recent declaration of bankruptcy by telecommunications giant WorldCom, has
caused a two-week selling frenzy on Wall Street. Investors are unloading more
shares and the Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen to its lowest level in
four years.
Lou Colasanti,
who currently works for the City of New York, says he lost confidence in the
stock market long before the latest crisis. "I have gotten rid of most of my
stock, pulled it all out a few months back. I have worked for the brokerage
companies. I saw this coming again so after 9-11, I figured, that is it," he
said.
A clerk named
George who works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange was not so lucky.
George is relaxing in front of the landmark building, eating a cup of vanilla
ice cream during a five minute break. He says he is no longer worried about the
plummeting market since he has nothing left to lose. The 28-year-old lost
$100,000 in technology stocks. He has one piece of advice for investors. "Play
the market. Do not play greedy. Get out when you can," he
said.
Expert William
Dudley of Goldman Sachs say investors, such as George, failed to follow the
first, most important rule of the stock market. "Portfolio diversification is
one of the things that is always very important in investing," he said. "You do
not want to have all your eggs in one basket," he said.
Secondly, Mr.
Dudley says, look at your retirement portfolio as a long-term investment that
could go up and down with the market. Some investors point out that rule only
applies to people who are far from retirement age.
One investor on
a trip to his hometown New York from South Carolina says that he is not
watching his losses or his retirement fund, much of which has been invested in
the stock of his employer, American Airlines.
"I do not
follow it very closely, to be honest with you," he said. "I just figure it is
going to come back eventually and I just leave it the way it is instead of
running around scared."
Many investors
say that while they wait for the stock market to rally, they are grateful to
have their jobs at a time when a lot of people are nervous about the U.S.
economy.
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NYSE Chairman: Bad Corporate Practices To Be
Amended
Barbara Schoetzau New
York 23
Jul 2002 18:03 UTC

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| The tote board at the New York Stock
Exchange reflects the drop in the Dow Jones |
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U.S.
stock markets have been seesawing during the day, despite showing early signs
of a slight rebound. Investor confidence shows little sign of returning.
Concern about fraudulent accounting practices continues to roil U.S. markets.
Day after day, Wall Street investors ask how low can the market tumble before
it starts to recover?
Shares of the
two largest U.S. banking companies, Citigroup and J.P. Morgan, dropped after a
report in The Wall Street Journal newspaper that the firms may have
devised for other companies the same type of deceptive transactions that caused
difficulties for the now-bankrupt Enron Corporation. Investor concern about
bank loans to WorldCom, which declared the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history
Sunday following an accounting scandal, also contributed to losses in the
banking sector.
Congress,
federal government regulatory agencies and the equities industry are
undertaking initiatives to restore public confidence in the markets. The
government is insisting that 1,000 corporate chief executive officers certify
the accuracy of their companies' financial statements by August 14. The
chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, Richard Grasso, said these measures
should end what is being called the crisis in investor
confidence.
"I
believe there is a powerful platform of reform that has been proposed. The
pubic will then return to looking at the marketplace from the standpoint of
fundamentals. How is the economy doing? Answer is: strong. Where are interest
rates? Answer: 30-year low. Is there inflation? Answer: non-existent. So I
think we are going to put the bad people out of the system. Bad practices are
going to be amended. We are going to get back to business," Mr. Grasso
said.
Mr. Grasso said
further investigation may expose more wrongdoing. He said the challenge for the
business community is to remove the perpetrators from the
system.
"I cannot tell
you the amount of anger that exists in the corporate community over the
misdeeds of those who have misled the public and their investors. We are going
to root them out and punish them. I cannot say that there will not be others to
come. I can tell you, please remember, there are 15,000 publicy traded
companies in America, the best capital markets in the world. Are there some bad
apples? Clearly,yes," Mr. Grasso said.
Most
importantly, Mr. Grasso said, investors should remember the vast number of U.S.
companies play by the rules.
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Pope Arrives in Canada
Barry Brown Toronto 23
Jul 2002 21:56 UTC

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Pope John
Paul II Tuesday arrived in Toronto at the start of a three-nation tour of the
Americas by holding up Canada as a model of tolerance and justice for the
world.
The frail,
82-year-old leader of the world's 1 billion Roman Catholics arrived in Canada
for World Youth Day - a six-day celebration of faith for young people. Speaking
to a gathering of dignitaries and invited guests in an airport hangar, the Pope
praised Canada as a champion of human rights and human
dignity.
"In a world of
great social and political extremes, and confusion about the very purpose of
life, Canadians have an incomparable treasure to contribute on condition that
they preserve what is deep and good and worthy in their own heritage," he
said.
This is the
pope's third trip to Canada, and his arrival comes at a time when the Catholic
Church, particularly the American church, is embroiled in scandals. Organizers
say those scandals are one reason this World Youth Day event will likely be the
smallest ever - with just 200,000 people attending.
Despite this,
the theme of this event that Catholic young people represent the "salt of the
earth and light of the world" has attracted participants from 100
countries.
The pope's
11-day trip, which includes stops in Guatemala and Mexico, is likely to be his
last overseas mission. The effects of Parkinson's disease have left the pontiff
physically weak and struggling when he walks and speaks. Still, as he walked,
almost unaided, down the steps from the airplane that carried him to Canada,
Pope John Paul II showed his incomparable willpower has not been
diminished.
The pope's
Toronto trip culminates on Sunday with a mass at an old military airport. But
before he attends any events, he will be flown to a Catholic retreat on
Strawberry Island, about 100 kilometers north of Toronto.
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UN Report: Democracy Sometimes a
Disappointment
Lisa
Schlein Geneva 23
Jul 2002 23:54 UTC

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A United
Nations report says some democratic countries are sliding back toward
authoritarianism because of rising economic and social problems. The report by
the U.N. Development Program also includes the agency's annual ranking of
countries based on their levels of human development.
The report says
that, in theory, the world is more democratic than it has ever been. One
hundred forty of the world's nearly 200 countries now hold multi-party
elections.
But, in
practice, the report says only 82 countries are fully democratic in
guaranteeing human rights, a free press and an independent judiciary. It says
some countries that embraced at least some democracy at the end of the last
century have returned to authoritarian rule, including Burma, Pakistan, and
Zimbabwe.
The chief
author of the report, Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, noted that there is a growing sense
in many countries that democracy has not delivered on its
promises.
"I think there
was an expectation that people fought for and won democracy in the hopes that
this was really going to improve their lives," she says. "But, in fact, the
record of the last decade is that alongside democratization, you have also had
a lot of reversals on the social and economic front."
The report says
52 countries, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa and the nations of the former Soviet
Union, ended the past decade poorer than they began. Ms. Fukuda-Parr says many
people disillusioned by what they consider the failure of democracy are urging
a return to authoritarian rule. But she points out this is both dangerous and
misguided.
"The prolonged
economic and social decline under authoritarianism definitely beats any decline
or economic catastrophe under democracy," said Ms. Fukuda-Parr. "Democracy
basically does protect people against the extreme excesses of arbitrary rule of
authoritarian regimes."
The report's
annual Human Development Index shows East Asian economies have made major
advances, but countries in Africa and the former Soviet Union have
slipped.
Norway tops
this year's rankings as the best of 173 countries around the world in terms of
life expectancy, education, and income per person. The United States comes in
sixth. Sierra Leone had the lowest score.
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US Charges Philippine Rebel Leaders With Murder of
Americans
Nick
Simeone Washington 23
Jul 2002 21:47 UTC

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The U.S.
Justice Department has announced charges against five alleged leaders of the
Abu Sayyaf rebel group in the Philippines, in connection with the death last
month of a kidnapped American missionary.
The alleged
commanders of Abu Sayyaf are charged with conspiracy and hostage-taking for
crimes that have led to the deaths of Americans. The latest was Martin Burnham.
He was killed last month, along with a Philippine nurse, during a rescue
attempt by the Philippine military. His wife suffered an injury but was
freed.
The missionary
was among a group of Americans kidnapped more than a year ago by Abu Sayyaf
rebels who have been fighting for a separate Islamic state. A year ago, the
group claimed responsibility for beheading another kidnapped
American.
Deputy
U.S. Attorney General Larry Thompson announced the indictments in Washington.
"With today's indictment, the United States sends a signal: We will work to
track down and prosecute all those who commit barbaric acts of terrorism
against Americans, here at home and abroad," he said. "The Justice Department
is committed to working with the government of the Philippines to bring the
leaders of the Abu Sayyaf group to justice."
None of the
alleged Abu Sayyaf leaders charged is in custody, but this indictment allows
the United States to seek their extradition if they are captured. About a
thousand American soldiers are in the Southern Philippines helping the
Philippine military in counter-terrorism and to wipe out a rebel group that the
United States considers a foreign terrorist organization with ties to Osama
bin-Laden's al-Qaida network.
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US Commander Says Controversial Raid Tied to Omar
Search
VOA
News 24
Jul 2002 00:52 UTC

The commander
of U.S. forces in Afghanistan says a U.S. airstrike that killed civilians in
central Afghanistan earlier this month was connected to the hunt for fugitive
Taleban leader Mullah Mohamed Omar.
Lieutenant
General Dan McNeill was quoted by the Washington Post on Tuesday as saying the
operation in Uruzgan province was carried out, in part, to find out more about
Mullah Omar's whereabouts.
The operation
involved several hundred U.S. and coalition troops, as well as Afghan forces.
U.S. officials have acknowledged that civilians died in the airstrike that took
place during the mission, but this is the first time they've publicly said the
raid was connected to the hunt for Mullah Omar.
Uruzgan is
Mullah Omar's home province and Lieutenant General McNeill told the Post the
fugitive Taleban leader may still be in the area.
The
controversial July first airstrike is under investigation, but U.S. military
officials say it was prompted by anti-aircraft fire aimed at American planes.
Afghan officials said almost 50 civilians were killed in the
incident.
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US Indicts Abu Sayyaf
Leaders
VOA
News 24
Jul 2002 00:25 UTC

The U.S.
Justice Department has indicted five leaders of the Abu Sayyaf Muslim rebel
group in the Philippines for kidnapping and murdering American
citizens.
Deputy Attorney
General Larry Thompson announced the indictments in Washington on Tuesday. None
of those indicted is in custody.
Mr. Thompson
said the charges relate to the kidnapping of a U.S. businessman and two
American missionaries in May of 2001. The three were among a group of 20 taken
by the Abu Sayyaf from a diving resort in the southern
Philippines.
The
businessman, Guillermo Sobero, was beheaded in June of 2001, and missionary
Martin Burnham was killed during a May gunbattle between rebels and Philippine
troops. His wife, Gracia Burnham, was rescued.
Mr. Thompson
said the indictments will send a signal to would-be terrorists at home and
abroad who seek to harm Americans and others. He said the U.S. Justice
Department is committed to helping the Philippine government bring Abu Sayyaf
rebels to justice.
Earlier this
year, President Bush sent more than one thousand U.S. troops to help train
Philippine soldiers in fighting the extremist group. In May, the United States
offered a reward of up to five million dollars for information leading to the
arrest or capture of the same five Abu Sayyaf leaders named in the
indictment.
The new
indictment is a follow-up to one that was issued secretly in February. At that
time, Martin and Gracia Burnham were still being held in Abu Sayyaf
custody.
One of the
indicted leaders, Abu Sabaya, was reported killed in a sea battle with
Philippine government troops last month. His body has not been
found.
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US Reviews Israel's Proposed Sale of Missiles to
India
David Gollust State Department 23
Jul 2002 22:01 UTC

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The Bush
administration says it is considering an Israeli request to sell India its
Arrow anti-ballistic missile, a system developed in partnership with the United
States. The issue is expected to figure in Secretary of State Colin Powell's
visit to India this coming weekend.
The State
Department says no final decision has been made on whether to allow the deal to
go forward. But officials here are none-the-less emphasizing the potential
destabilizing effects of such a sale for South Asia, and the possibility it
might violate the 1987 international accord that seeks to limit the spread of
missile technology.
Israel is
seeking approval from the Bush administration to proceed with the sale to India
of its Arrow-Two missile, which is designed to intercept short-to-medium range
ballistic missiles like the Scuds fired against Israel by Iraq in the Gulf
War.
Israel would
need Bush administration approval for the India sale since the Arrow project
has been largely financed by the United States and the system incorporates U.S.
technology. At a briefing here, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said
the matter is under discussion with the Israelis and that an inter-agency
debate on the merits of the sale is also underway in
Washington.
"We have
discussed with them some of the issues that arise in our consideration of the
request," he said. "I think we're all concerned about stability in South Asia.
We're all concerned and emphasize the importance of the Missile Technology
Control Regime. So these are issues that we've been discussing with the Israeli
government. At this point we have not given a definitive answer to the Israeli
request, but we continue to discuss the issue in
Washington."
A Washington
Post newspaper report Tuesday said senior State Department officials are
"united" in opposition to the sale to India because of, among other things,
concern it might prompt Pakistan to respond by seeking its own missile defense
system, or by increasing its offensive missile capability to counter Indian
defenses.
The deal is
reported, however, to have the backing of senior Defense Department officials
and supporters at the Pentagon and elsewhere of the administration's own
ambitious missile-defense program.
A final U.S.
determination on the Israeli request is expected, as one official put it,
"fairly soon" though it is unlikely to be made before Secretary of State
Powell's talks in India and Pakistan Saturday and Sunday.
The debate over
the sale to India is similar to an episode two years ago, when Israel bowed to
U.S. pressure and called off a sale to China of its Phalcon airborne
early-warning radar system.
The Clinton
administration argued at the time that the $250 million deal might shift the
military balance in the Taiwan straits.
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White House Flatly Denies Change in Policy Toward
Iran
Scott Stearns White House 23
Jul 2002 18:20 UTC

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Scott Stearns' report (RealAudio)
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The White House
Tuesday denied a published report that it is abandoning efforts to work with
reformists in Iran. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer says there has been no
change of policy on Iran.
He is denying a
story in The Washington Post that says the Bush Administration has
concluded that Iranian President Mohammad Khatamai and his reformist allies are
too weak. Quoting unnamed U.S. officials, the newspaper says President Bush
believes those leaders are "ineffective and not serious about delivering on
their promises" of establishing a society less dominated by religious
hard-liners.
Because of that
assessment, the newspaper reports the Administration has decided to abandon a
five-year-old effort to encourage the reform agenda and will instead appeal
directly to democracy supporters among the Iraninan people. "That's not the
case," Mr. Fleischer told reporters. He says the United States "will continue
to engage Iranian officials when useful," in multilateral settings on issues of
political concern.
For example,
Mr. Fleischer says U.S. officials dealt with their Iranian counterparts last
year at an international conference on the political future of Afghanistan.
President Bush says Iran is part of an "axis of evil" along with North Korea
and Iraq, that could help terrorists acquire weapons of mass
destruction.
In a statement
earlier this month, Mr. Bush said a "vast majority" of Iranians have voted for
political and economic reform, but, he said, their voices are not being
listened to by what he called "the unelected people who are the real rulers of
Iran."
Mr. Fleischer
says the president remains concerned about what he calls "destructive Iranian
behavior" and again called on the country's leaders to end their support for
Hezbollah and other groups opposed to Israel.
Speaking in
Malaysia Tuesday, President Khatami accused the United States of steering the
world along a "frightening" path toward war in its fight against terrorism. He
said any U.S. military action against neighboring Iraq would threaten regional
stability.
He added that
Tehran would have "no problem" with Washington if it abandoned what he called
its "humiliating policies" toward Iran.
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Corporate Fraud Bill Goes to Bush Following
Overwhelming Congressional Approval
VOA
News 25
Jul 2002 21:34 UTC

The U.S. Senate
and House have overwhelmingly passed legislation to crack down on corporate
fraud that President Bush says he is eager to sign into
law.
The Senate
approved the measure by a vote of 99 to zero just hours after the House of
Representatives passed it 423 to three.
Legislative
leaders and the White House have called for strong action against corporate
fraud in light of a recent rash of accounting scandals and embezzlement
cases.
The compromise
bill passed Thursday was hammered out by House and Senate leaders
Wednesday.
The bill
increases penalties for corporate executives convicted of fraud and gives
defrauded investors more time to file lawsuits.
Some
information for this report provided by AP.
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. Greek Terror Suspect Possibly Involved in 1975
Killing of CIA Athens Station Chief
Roger Wilkison Brussels 25
Jul 2002

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| AP |
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| Pavlos Serifis, escorted outside
courthouse, 25 July 2002 |
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Greek
police say a suspected member of the November 17 terrorist organization they
arrested this week took part in the 1975 killing of the CIA's Athens station
chief, the first assassination carried out by the group. Police say 46-year-old
Pavlos Serifis is a long-standing member of November 17 and was involved in
planning several of its attacks.
Mr. Serifis,
the 12th suspected November 17 member to be arrested since Greece began its
crackdown on the shadowy terrorist group, was picked up by police on
Wednesday.
Greek
authorities say he played a role in the assassination of Richard Welch, the
CIA's top official in Greece, 27 years ago. Mr. Serifis is the only suspect so
far to be linked to that murder, the first of 23 carried out by November 17
over a 25-year period.
Mr. Welch was
gunned down in an Athens suburb in December, 1975 by a three-man hit squad that
surrounded his car.
November 17,
which was named for the day in 1973 when Greece's then-ruling military junta
quashed a student rebellion, has killed American, British and Turkish diplomats
as well as Greek politicians, businessmen and prosecutors. It has also carried
out bombings, rocket attacks and bank robberies.
Other suspects
in custody have confessed to taking part in attacks that occurred from the
mid-1980's up until the year 2000, when November 17 killed its last victim,
British defense attache Brigadier Stephen Saunders.
Until now,
police had little information about the radical Marxist group's early years.
They say they hope Mr. Serifis can shed light on the origins of one of Europe's
most elusive terrorist organizations.
Mr. Serifis, a
telephone operator at a children's hospital, has denied belonging to November
17. So has Aleksandros Giotopoulos, a university professor now in custody whom
police have identified as the group's mastermind.
November 17
operated with impunity for more than a quarter of a century until a botched
bomb attack last month at the port of Piraeus unleashed a wave of arrests.
Police said Thursday they have detained a 13th suspected member of the group, a
man they identified as Patroclus Tselendis.
Greece has been
under pressure to stamp out terrorism before it hosts the 2004 Olympic Games in
Athens. Greek authorities say they believe they have virtually smashed November
17 and seized most of its weapons.
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Greeks Nab Another November 17
Suspect
VOA
News 25
Jul 2002 21:51 UTC

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