Energy Secretary Ernesto Martens has admitted that it is unfeasible to guarantee the flow of revenues to the government if the Finance Secretariat maintains its estimate that the crude export platform in 2002 will average 1.825 million barrels per day, at a price of $17.00 per barrel. "One would have to talk in depth with the Finance Secretariat's people to hear the criteria that they used to establish that benchmark," he claimed, declining to give details on the manner in which the federal government's secretariats establish the price of crude in the General Criteria for Economic Policy. In fact, Martens admitted that this volume of crude exports has not been achieved this year. According to Pemex [Mexican Petroleum] figures, between January and September the daily exports of barrels of oil did not exceed an average of 1.71 million. During September alone, this average dropped to 1.64 million. In the General Preliminary Criteria for Economic Policy 2002, the final text of which is being presented to Congress by the government today, the Finance Secretariat estimated an average price of $17.00 per barrel for the crude mixture, and predicted that the export platform would be 1.825 million barrels per day. The volume appears large in the current economic context, when oil prices have fallen back to 1999 levels. Hence, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), will decide at its meeting on Wednesday whether or not to cut its worldwide crude production in an effort to shore up energy prices. Traditionally, Mexico has supported the OPEC cutbacks; however, analysts agreed that it will now tend to support the United States, the main world consumer, and the one that would be adversely affected by a possible increase in crude prices. George Baker, director of Mexico Energy Intelligence, expressed this opinion: "In the event that the Mexican Government gives priority to its relationship with the United States, it will not be a game without risks. And it is possible that, at some given time, OPEC may hand it the bill for not collaborating in the reduction of the oil supply." He noted that the Mexican economy is very closely linked to that of the United States, and hence no oil producer, whether a member of OPEC or not, is in such a disadvantageous situation. Frederic Lasserre, an energy sector analyst for the firm Societe Generale, held the view that Mexico's close relationship with the United States prevents it from becoming more committed to OPEC. "The US authorities would not like to have it (Mexico) as a trading partner and, at the same time, close to OPEC," he observed. With regard to prices, he gave a reminder that the reason that prompted Mexico to collaborate with OPEC in 1998 was, in fact, the decline in them. But Ken Miller, from the firm Purvin & Gertz, included an additional factor. "Mexico sought out the leading producers: Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, not only for the prices, but also because of the competition on the crude oil market (in US territory)," he claimed, pointing out that prices have not yet fallen as low as they did then. In 1998, the Mexican oil mixture averaged $10.17 per barrel: now, the lowest levels have reached $14.00 per barrel. Miller remarked that the worldwide economic slowdown has shrunk the demand for energy sources, which could lead the independent producers, including Mexico, to operate in coordination with the oil cartel. Nevertheless, according to the researcher from the UNAM [National Autonomous University of Mexico] Economics Department, Angel de la Vega, since the Fox administration does not have the security of a fiscal reform available, it cannot be ruled out that Mexico might collaborate with OPEC in the event of a more serious reduction in oil prices. Miguel Garcia Reyes, a specialist in petroleum geopolitics at the College of Mexico, claimed that Mexico's distancing from OPEC has become more intensified since the attacks on the United States. He emphasized: "Now Mexico is positioned between two fronts: it recognizes the need for reducing the supply on the market, but the policy is to support the United States and supply it with more crude if it should become necessary." In terms of market, the Mexican exports do not play an important role, but the support for OPEC on the part of Mexico, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia in 1998 and 1999 lent credibility to the policy of cutbacks, and achieved the recovery of prices. Promises Are Cheap The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has agreed on three cuts in its production thus far this year, for the purpose of preventing the crude prices from becoming weaker. Nevertheless, it has not kept its promises. Crude Production Quotas (figures in thousands of barrels per day) Current Production Quota Real Production Difference OPEC* Mexico** OPEC* Mexico** OPEC* Mexico** 01 Apr 00 24,692 1,675 24,600 1,534 -92 -141 21 Jun 00 25,392 1,750 25,280 1,684 -112 -66 01 Oct 00 25,892 1,750 26,360 1,720 468 -30 31 Oct 00 26,192 1,750 26,450 1,549 258 -201 01 Feb 01 25,201 1,750 26,800 1,750 1,599 0 01 Apr 01 24,201 1,710 25,670 1,757 1,469 47 01 Sep 01 23,201 1,640 24,745 1,649 1,544 9 "Without counting Iraq/** Export platform Source: Reforma Analysis Department, based on data from Middle East Survey and Pemex. Document 0010020 ends. [Computer selected and disseminated without FBIS editorial intervention] Taipei, Jan. 23 (CNA) -- Republic of China President Chen Shui-bian expressed the hope Wednesday that the United States will help Taiwan's bid for observer status in the World Health Organization (WHO), following its assistance to Taiwan's World Trade Organization (WTO) membership bid. Chen made the remarks while meeting visiting U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Market Access and Compliance William H. Lash, III at the Presidential Office Wednesday. Lash arrived in Taipei Tuesday for a four-day visit. Chen also expressed hope that the United States will negotiate with Taiwan to sign a free trade zone agreement between the two countries so as to help Taiwan's internalization and to give it more international responsibility. He also expressed gratitude and admiration to the United States for its firm support for Taiwan, especially in maintaining the security of the Taiwan Strait and peace in the Asia-Pacific region. He pointed out that U.S. President George Bush's decision to sell arms to Taiwan last April was made to avoid an imbalance of cross-strait military force by 2005 on the one hand and to further safeguard Taiwan's democratic achievements on the other. Touching on Taiwan's WTO entry, Chen said Taiwan could not have smoothly entered the WTO if the United States government and Congress did not render their firm support to Taiwan's bid for membership. Taiwan's WTO access has given Taiwan a window to the world, a window to the century and a window of opportunity, he went on, adding that it will allow Taiwan to upgrade its competitiveness and help U.S.-Taiwan trade relations. Lash in return congratulated Chen on Taiwan's WTO entry and said that his visit shows that the United States attaches great importance to U.S.-Taiwan trade relations. Taiwan's WTO entry is not a conclusion of its goal but the beginning of its chance to play an important role in the world, Lash said, adding that the United States will continue to help Taiwan realize all its WTO expectations. He congratulated Chen on the ruling Democratic Progressive Party becoming the biggest political party in the Legislative Yuan with last December's legislative election. Lash also expressed gratitude to Chen for the assistance rendered by Taiwan to the United States in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States and for its participation in the post-war reconstruction of Afghanistan. Document 0010021 ends. President Pervez Musharraf will pay a state visit to China from 20th to 24th of this month at the invitation of the president of China, Mr. Jiang Zemin. The visit will mark the climax of the events organized in connection with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The President will hold bilateral talks with the Chinese leaders, including President Jiang Zemin, Premier Zhu Rongji, and Mr. Li Peng, chairman of National People's Congress. The President and Chinese leaders will review Pakistan-China relations with special focus on bilateral economic cooperation, regional issues including Afghanistan and Kashmir. Bilateral agreements regarding the Saindak copper and gold projects, Thar coal mines development, technical and economic cooperation, and a joint revolving fund for scientific research, and other hydroelectric projects are likely to be signed during the visit. The annual trade between Pakistan and China hovers around $1 billion. Over the years, China has emerged as a key economic partner and an important source of external assistance for Pakistan. Document 0010022 ends. Israeli Parliament Speaker Slams Zionist Occupation TEHRAN TIMES INTL. DESK TEHRAN In a rare move on Tuesday, Israeli Parliament Speaker Avraham Burg condemned the Zionist regime's occupation of Palestinian territories. In an interview with the Qatari Al Jazeera television network, Burg denounced the policy, much to the displeasure of Israeli officials and right-wing MPs. He repeatedly said that the occupation of the Palestinian territories could lead to corruption in Israel and would only create scandals for the regime. Earlier this week some 50 Israeli army officers were reported to have been on strike and refused to attack Palestinian ruled areas in protest of the occupation policies of the Zionist regime. They said fighting for the settlers who had occupied the Palestinian lands was by no means a defensive act, and was merely part of the criminal policies of Israel. Document 0010023 ends. No one expected the Israeli Government to issue its latest decision restricting President Yasir Arafat's movements and confining him to the city of Ramallah. This is especially true after the Palestinian Authority [PA] carried out the difficult Israeli demands and arrested three individuals whom Israel accuses of assassinating Israeli Minister Rah'avam Ze'evi despite the ramifications that these arrests could have led to on the internal Palestinian arena. However, the awareness, the challenges of the current stage, and the sense of responsibility overcame all the temporary factional considerations. It is to be noted that over the past five days, the Palestinian side demonstrated clear self-restraint and abidance to the cease-fire despite Israel's provocations and the bloodbaths that the Israeli army committed against the Palestinians during this period. So far, Israel's provocations have led to the slaughter of more than 50 Palestinian males and females and injured scores of others. Moreover, the attacks are continuing on the Israeli military checkpoints even against vehicles transporting pregnant women in labor and against unarmed citizens trying to cross these checkpoints that have been erected between the beleaguered Palestinian towns and villages that are surrounded to the point of strangulation. It is clearly obvious to the international community that the Palestinians seek peace. It is the Palestinians that are calling for the implementation of the agreements, understandings, and recommendations pertaining to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. They believe that these constitute a preliminary step to the resumption of the peace process at the point at which it stopped. They believe that such a step would lead to a permanent settlement of this conflict on the basis of the resolutions of international legitimacy. The Palestinians believe that such a step would realize their national aspirations to full sovereignty despite the perils and implications that such efforts may have on their national unity that puts the higher Palestinian interests above every other consideration. However, it appears as if the international community is tolerating the Israeli campaign of suppression that contradicts the efforts to calm down the situation and the Palestinian hand that is stretched for peace and a settlement. The Palestinians are sending out a clear message of peace that is loud and clear. However, the repeated Israeli message is the resort to all means to impede the march for peace and to consecrate violence and counter violence. This state of affairs provides suitable conditions to Israel to continue its occupation, colonialism, and building of settlements that have been imposed by military force on the Palestinian territories since 1967 to date. These Israeli aims are clear and do not need further clarification or explanation. Israel's impossible terms cannot be met by a nation that is determined to preserve its dignity and national unity. They are no more than frail excuses and pretexts to evade the peace process since this process does not agree with the ideology of expansion and the building of settlements. This ideology was explicitly embraced by the rightist blocs in the ruling Israeli coalition and is implicitly encouraged by Labor Party ministers in the current Israeli Government. Document 0010024 ends. ANKARA, Jan 15 (A.A) - Uzbek general Rashid Dostum will pay a visit to Turkey. Afghanistan`s Embassy in Ankara said Dostum, the Defense Minister of temporary government set up in Afghanistan, will come to Ankara to visit his family. Dostum is expected to leave for Turkey following the inauguration ceremony of Uzbek Consulate in Mazar-e-Sharif. Dostum is expected to reach Ankara in the coming days. It is not definite whether or not Uzbek general will have an official program in Ankara. Document 0010025 ends. okay Ellen what kind of a car do you think you're going to buy well as a matter of fact i was thinking about that the other day and uh i really don't know the answer um i would sort of like to uh think about something in the way of uh uh sort of a sporty car but not any not you know a luxury type sporty one but um yeah something that still has a lots of amenities and you know gadgets and things oh you do want a lot of that stuff yeah well yeah i like i like some of those things they come in really handy what kind of uh things are you going to consider you know what uh you said something about the about the well what do you call them you said amenities amenities that they have but what about um their reputation of the company or the price um well of course i guess uh price is always the big consideration but it is for me other people don't seem to have the same problem yeah well that's that's a big one in my book but uh um yeah i have preferences for uh for some um makers over others um and i would sort of like to buy American yeah but you know i'm not so totally hung up on that that i wouldn't buy something else how about you well um the last car we bought was American because of because of that reason but have not been entirely happy with um several things about the car it doesn't seem like the quality is quite as high as i expected it to be oh really because several things minor things sort of but still they cost us money um that we didn't feel like we should have had to pay on a car that that was that new um-hum you know we bought the car new and after um well well well under two years we had to replace the clutch oh and they just said well you know clutches are disposable and i said since when brake pads are disposable you know we know that but i never thought a clutch was disposable yeah yeah yeah i wouldn't have thought so either yeah so that was that was kind of a shock oh oh yeah i i guess there's a lot to to think about when you're trying to make that decision yeah you know the less actually the less you spend on a car it seems like luxury cars they're called luxury cars even though they're much more expensive like like uh um a Mercedes Benz they don't have the history of breaking down or things like that that would go wrong would definitely not be considered disposable right you would never think of having to replace the clutch in a Mercedes no but then um especially not after two years no but on the other hand i guess too uh whenever you do have to have some major work done on one of those it costs a fortune really oh i don't know yeah i've uh worked with a couple of people who have owned uh various years uh Mercedes and um-hum even though they do a lot of the work themselves then just buying the parts and everything is is pretty expensive but for them it's it's sort of a hobby too to own them yeah what kind of what brand of car are you thinking about buying or like what things are you looking at well i haven't really really gotten that far with it um i've always sort of liked General Motors a little bit better than some of the others but uh um-hum oh i guess i really don't know how come i've been kind of um i guess the commercials are getting to me the Toyota commercials and i know that a lot of people i've i've known that have had Toyotas have been just extremely happy with them that hardly had any problems at all yeah yeah that i think that's i think they have a really good um quality um-hum my uh daughter has owned two different ones and uh you know we've had some work done on them but it's not too bad and the reason one of the reasons we um bought the first one was because a friend of ours had a Toyota that he just really drove for years and years and years and he lived way out in the country so he put a lot of miles on it um-hum and you knew it had had been through a whole lot um-hum and yet you know it it held up pretty doggone good so yeah i thought they would they seem to be really durable yeah so i don't know i'm i'm not ready to buy a new car yet but i don't know if if the next time i'm going to try to to stay with buying something American or if i'm going to go for a little more what i would consider to be a long-term investment yeah well and i guess you know you always have to think about things like your gas mileage and stuff like that you know you oh it's easy to get gas mileage in this car it gets excellent gas mileage yeah yeah that's one of the big throwing cards for some of the foreign ones um-hum well we talked long enough i think so okay well enjoyed it bye-bye all righty thanks bye-bye Document 0010026 ends. When George W. Bush was delivering the State of the Union Speech to both Senate and the House of Representatives of US Congress on 29 January, with unprecedented wordings he lashed out at DPRK (the Democratic People's Republic of Korea), Iran and Iraq, labeling the three countries as the "Axis of Evil". The three countries have reacted strongly, condemned and counter-attacked Bush, and this is only natural and rational. Some senior US government officials and experts and the Western allies of the United States have criticized Bush's speech, saying that the "Axis of Evil" is, more or less, untenable. Albright: First to Launch Attack On 1 February, when interviewed by the American Broadcasting Corporation, Madeleine Albright, former US Secretary of State, described Bush's "Axis of Evil" remark as "a gross mistake". She said that the principle Bush currently uses in handling foreign affairs has caused the international community to think that the United States is doing things "in an utterly disorderly way" and has "lost reason". She said: "putting the three countries together is a gross mistake." She is particularly opposed to listing the DPRK in the so-called Axis of Evil, saying that Bush's way of doing things will possibly cause the United States to lose popular support among the international community. Albright particularly noted that she had contacted and reached agreement with the DPRK. Whereas Bush has "single-handedly destroyed" the initial relationship she had established with Korea during the Clinton age. Albright also pointed out that the situation in Iran at the present stage is very complicated. She said that on the Afghanistan issue and some other questions, the United States still needs the aid of Iran. Carpenter, deputy director of the US non-governmental research organization the Cato Institute, holds that Bush's criticism of Korea by name is really hard to understand. The deputy director said, "It's really strange for Bush to include Korea on the list of these countries, because in recent years Korea has not actively supported terrorist activities. Furthermore, "according to evidence in our hands," he added, "Korea's nuclear project has all along been frozen since the mid-1990s. I don't know why Bush listed Korea as one among the terrorist countries." Some commentaries said that including Korea on the "Axis of Evil" list would irritate Korea and would cause Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) feel disturbed. An analytical article carried in the Washington Post says that including Iran on the "Axis of Evil" list is all the more astonishing. The article says that the United States tried hard to establish a new relationship with Iran last fall and expressed its appreciation for Iran's condemnation of terrorism. Iran also indicated that in case US pilots were hit in Afghanistan and landed in Iran, Iran would give them assistance. The analyst was worried that Bush's attack on Iran would possibly forfeit all recent efforts. Carpenter also said that in this way, the door to improving relations with Iran would be completely blocked. He added that that would be the most unfortunate part of Bush's speech, he cast away the chance for improving relations with Iran. Now President Bush has completely closed the door to improvement of ties with Iran. Difficult for Britain and France To Agree with US After he set forth the "Axis of Evil" theory in his State of the Union speech, Bush met with increasing attacks from the international community. Even US closest allies also thought it hard to agree with Bush's remark. A report carried in British Daily Telegraph on 2 February said that British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw queried the "Axis of Evil" theory set forth in Bush's State of the Union speech, thinking that such a remark of Bush attempts to use the anti-terror war to play with political party politics. Straw added that Britain and the United States had become the closest allies after the "September 11" incident, now they may no longer stand shoulder to shoulder. French President Jacques Chirac does not subscribe to the "Axis of Evil" theory advanced by US President Bush. Chirac's assistant indicated that the good-and-evil view does not conform to the actual conditions in the present-day world. The French presidential office does not make open comments on Bush's statement, it only says that what Bush says is directed mainly to the Americans. At the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum held in New York, NATO Secretary General George Robertson said that in charging Korea, Iran and Iraq with so-called "Axis of Evil", the United States must produce evidence. Observers in Washington maintain that the NATO Secretary-general's statement indicates that the international community feels uneasy about the Bush administration's policy which seems to be determined to expand the scope of the anti-terror war. White House and State Department Hasten to Smooth the Matter Over In a bid to alleviate the sentiments of US allies, a White House official has discretely assured US allies that Bush does not hint to take military actions. Secretary of State Colin Powell admonishes his subordinates that when the mass media discuss the matter, the spirit and literal meaning of Bush's speech must be strictly acted upon to avoid causing doubts in the external world. The State Department said on 1 February that they would collect various statements and send them to US embassies in various countries worldwide, so as to calm down foreign countries' negative reactions to Bush's speech. US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said: "We will send all relevant information and summaries of this information to our embassies in various places around the world to facilitate understanding of the related arguments." An US government official said that US diplomats to countries concerned are authorized to explain to these countries which may have doubts about Bush's State of the Union speech, this is aimed at dispelling various countries' doubt that the United States is about to dispatch troops to Iran, Iraq and Korea. Document 0010027 ends. COOLUM, Australia March 3 Sapa MKAPA SAYS PUNITIVE ACTION AGAINST ZIM PREMATURE Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa joined his African counterparts here on Sunday in rejecting calls from Britain, Australia and Canada for punitive action against Zimbabwe ahead of the presidential elections in that country on March 9 and 10. Speaking ahead of the second executive session of the Commonwealth Heads of government in the Australian east coast resort on Coolum, he said any decision on sanctions or suspension would be premature ahead of the election: "The scene is evolving in Zimbabwe. It is not evolving in Coolum. If we are to make an intelligent, rational decision, then we need to allow the scene to be played out there. The Commonwealth had observers in Zimbabwe, so why don't we listen to them", he told reporters. Mkapa said he has a real problem with the media which assumed that if President Robert Mugabe won the elections, it would not have been a free and fair poll. "That's ridiculous. Let's wait and see...Let the observers give their observation and then we will know if its free and fair." Mkapa reiterated that quiet diplomacy was the correct route to follow, a view shared by his other Southern African Development Community colleagues. Mkapa also indirectly criticised British Prime Minister Tony Blair who is on record as saying that the elections were likely not to be free and fair. "I don't think it has reached a point that we will have alienation because of what is going on in Zimbabwe. I do not like the assumption, that unless Mugabe or Zanu-PF loses the election, it will not be free and fair." Commonwealth leaders on Saturday delayed talks on how to respond to the political crisis in Zimbabwe, opting to do so on Sunday in the privacy of their traditional retreat, away from advisers and officials. Blair has warned that the 54-member Commonwealth's reputation could be damaged if it failed to take decisive action against Mugabe. The BBC reported that Blair was hopeful that if Mugabe did win the election then Zimbabwe's suspension from the h would follow. Source : Sapa /aq/shob Date : 03 Mar 2002 4:09 Document 0010028 ends. March 17, 2000 Name Address City, ST, Zip Dear Name: When Jerry was released from prison, he knew it would take hard work and determination to straighten out his life. He knew he had made a bad mistake, but despite his commitment to rebuilding his life, he just didn't count on the obstacles that would be thrown up in his path. Reality hit when he was unable to reconcile with his wife and ended up on the street. He went to the Center Township Trustee for food stamps until he could find a job and a place to live. The Trustee referred him to the Blue Triangle where he consulted Goodwill's Career Academy staff for job search assistance. Jerry's Goodwill caseworker found him a job immediately. But Jerry's troubles didn't end there. The seasonal construction job he obtained soon ended, and he returned to Career Academy for help once more. Unemployed, homeless and with a prison record, Jerry now faced going back to prison for failure to pay child support. It took some time and hard work, but with the help of Goodwill, Jerry was able to work out a payment plan with the prosecutor's office, find housing and conduct a more thorough job search. With unemployment at its lowest point in years in central Indiana, many people still have a hard time finding meaningful employment. Of the more than 42,000 people Goodwill served in 1999, over 5,000 of them have multiple barriers to finding and keeping a job. Some, like Jerry, are ex-offenders. Some are blind, deaf or have other physical disabilities. More than 100 were homeless. But Goodwill offers hope even to people with numerous obstacles to overcome, like Jerry. With a promising new job at a plastic injection molding manufacturer, his legal troubles in check and a safe place to live, Jerry can get on with the business of building a life for himself and contributing to his community. For as long as he needs it, Goodwill will continue to help. Your support of Goodwill will provide job training and placement services to help the hardest to serve in central Indiana find meaningful employment. And, with your assistance, Goodwill can help employers develop resources to keep workers on the job. Please make an investment in the stability of our community by sending a gift to Goodwill. Your generosity will help people help themselves. Sincerely, James M. McClelland President Document 0010029 ends. Lugano, 8 Jan -- Spanish-Israeli businessman Felipe Turover has denounced the Swiss in front of the European Human Rights Court in Strasbourg for having put his life in danger in its case against [Secretary of the Russian-Belarus Union] Pavel Borodin, former Kremlin senior aid accused of money laundering, according to a communique Tuesday from his lawyer Niccolo Salvioni. According to the communique, received at the Swiss news agency ATS, the 37-year-old M. Turover --considered by the Swiss courts as a key witness -- had asked the Swiss Government and the Swiss Public Ministry that he be put under protection, believing himself threatened by the Russian Mafia because of leaks by Swiss court officials. Pavel Borodin, the former property manager of the Kremlin, is suspected of having laundered some $25 million in secret commissions which came from two Swiss companies headquartered in the Tessin (southeast) region -- Mercata, and Mabetex -- in exchange for being awarded the contracts for the renovation of the Kremlin and the Russian presidential aircraft in 1995 and 1996. At the end of June 2001, the Swiss Public Ministry rejected a complaint from Turover against a former Ministry official, Carla Del Ponte -- today a lawyer with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) -- in which Turover accused her of putting his life in danger during this case; in November the rejection was upheld by the Federal Tribunal, which is Switzerland's highest court. Turover accused Mme. Del Ponte of having furnished -- in 1999 when she headed the Swiss Public Ministry -- confidential information to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera which made numerous revelations about the Mabetex-Borodin affair, including the existence of credit cards in the name of the Yeltsin family. The newspaper presented Turover as a key informer in this affair and the Spanish-Israeli businessman affirmed that these leaks had put his life in danger. Today, Turover is accusing the Swiss authorities of having violated on several occasions the European Convention on Human Rights. The communique from his lawyer affirms that the Swiss authorities, the Federal Tribunal, and the Swiss Public Ministry "have given proof of illegality and political persecution." Mabetex, a construction company, is suspected of having landed public contracts for renovating the Kremlin and other Russian official buildings by offering bribes worth a dozen million dollars in 1995 and 1996 to close associates of former Russian president Boris Yeltsin, including to Borodin. At the request of the Geneva court, Borodin was arrested in the United States January 17, 2001. He agreed to be extradited to Switzerland April 7th. After six days in preventive detention, he was released on bail for $3 million. Document 00100210 ends. Paratroopers return Chavez to power Once again, events in Venezuela have drawn the close attention of the world's media. Hardly had observers even time to get used to the news that Hugo Chavez had lost his presidential post, and then he returned to power. There were already several suppositions that Hugo Chavez may recover the position, but nobody could suppose the recovery would be so quick. The ousted president was freed by paratroopers. Chavez himself used to be in command of a paratrooper unit. He has been patronizing his subordinates during his entire presidency and was finally rewarded for his support: the paratroopers helped him regain power. Protesters, who ousted Hugo Chavez at the end of the previous week, failed to gain the support of the army. The majority of the population, who was not delighted with Chavez, was not on their side as well. Ordinary Venezuelans are even less happy with the generals and local oligarchic elite. Indeed, it was clear since the very beginning that Pedro Carmona, who proclaimed himself interim president would care very little for improving ordinary people's lives. The planners committed one more mistake when they dissolved the National Assembly and Supreme Court right after the coup. Carmona and other generals who participated in the coup are now being questioned by public prosecutors. Hugo Chavez is not the formal president yet, as he had to resign under the pressure of the plotters. Vice-president Diosdado Cabello, a Hugo Chavez supporter, is acting president as of now. Hugo Chavez is very likely to be soon return to the post of president of Venezuela. Chavez supporters say that no witch-hunting will follow and the opposition should not be afraid of persecution. At the same, the Venezuela government declared that participants of the coup will be brought to trial. Vice-president Diosdado Cabello believes that the Venezuelan coup was thoroughly planned beforehand. He showed journalists proof of his statement: a president's belt, a symbol of power that did not belong to Hugo Chavez. The belt had been especially manufactured in Spain and was later left in the Miraflores presidential palace by the plotters. Chavez says that he has learnt a lesson from the events, and he will be more attentive to the opposition's opinion in the future. It is hard to forecast the further development of the events in Venezuela. Hugo Chavez managed to demonstrate astonishing political resistance. There is no doubt that he will dismiss disloyal top officers from the army. Venezuelan paratroopers are evidently to profit from the situation. As for ordinary Venezuelans, they seem to be slightly anxious about the struggle for the presidential post. Neither supporters nor opponents of Chavez could be seen in the streets during the days of the coup. What reforms will be initiated by Hugo Chavez next? Time will tell if the president has really learnt a lesson from the situation. Oleg Artyukov Copyright @1999 by " Pravda.RU ". When reproducing our materials in whole or in part, reference to Pravda.RU should be made. The opinions and views of the authors do not always coinside with the point of view of PRAVDA.Ru's editors. Document 00100211 ends. SOFIA, Sept 26 (AFP) - A Bulgarian businessman claimed Wednesday that aides to Osama bin Laden approached him in April to try to purchase spent nuclear fuel from a Bulgarian plant and that he met with the Saudi dissident. The businessman, who identified himself as Ivan Ivanov and has worked in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates, told AFP that a group of Pakistani nationals introduced him to bin Laden, the prime suspect in the US terrorist attacks, on April 10 in Peshawar. A young Arab chemical engineer contacted him the next day, he said, to ask him to act as an intermediary in the sale of the nuclear fuel from the Kozlodui nuclear power plant. The businessman said he turned down an offer of a 200,000 dollar commission for the sale. The head of the nuclear energy department at Bulgaria's energy agency separately said he could not imagine a terrorist organisation making a bomb out of products from the reactors at the Kozlodui power station. "There is no possibility of legally selling the nuclear waste. They are stockpiled in a secure depot located inside the power station before being sent to Russia to be processed," said Anton Ivanov. Document 00100212 ends. BANGUI, Nov 6 (AFP) - Gunfire broke out for a fifth day Tuesday in the capital of the Central African Republic, after Libyan military reinforcements were flown in to help government forces end a standoff by soldiers loyal to an ousted army chief. Shooting was heard in northern Bangui and near the airport in a neighborhood inhabited by officials in President Ange Felix Patasse's government, an AFP correspondent said. The rest of the city was reported to be calm however, with some schools reopening and authorities anxiously awaiting the arrival of a mediation team from the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The crisis in the Central African Republic began late Friday after soldiers loyal to sacked chief of army staff Francois Bozize exchanged gunfire with presidential guard units and government troops. The shooting began after soldiers tried to arrest Bozize, a former close ally of Patasse who had been army chief since 1996, in connection with large amounts of weapons discovered in the city, amid suspicions of an attack in preparation. The country has been on edge since last May when mutinous soldiers attempted to overthrow Patasse, unleashing 10 days of fighting in the capital that left dozens of people dead and displaced thousands. Bozize was fired last month as part of moves by Bangui to close security loopholes which became evident after the abortive putsch. Defense and security ministers were dismissed in August. Libyan forces helped prop up Patasse at the time, and 100 soldiers have since remained in his presidential guard. On Monday, 80 Libyan soldiers disembarked from an Antonov transport plane carrying military equipment, an African diplomat said. On Tuesday, Bozize was still holed up in his Bangui residence. Document 00100213 ends. Intelogic Trace Inc., San Antonio, Texas, said it bought 2.7 million shares, or about 18%, of its common stock from an unaffiliated shareholder for $3.625 a share, or $9.9 million. The move boosts Intelogic Chairman Asher Edelman's stake to 20% from 16.2% and may help prevent Martin Ackerman from making a run at the computer-services concern. Mr. Ackerman already is seeking to oust Mr. Edelman as chairman of Datapoint Corp., an Intelogic affiliate. The action followed by one day an Intelogic announcement that it will retain an investment banker to explore alternatives "to maximize shareholder value," including the possible sale of the company. In New York Stock Exchange composite trading yesterday, Intelogic shares rose 37.5 cents to close at $2.75. Mr. Edelman declined to specify what prompted the recent moves, saying they are meant only to benefit shareholders when "the company is on a roll." He added, "This has nothing to do with Marty Ackerman and it is not designed, particularly, to take the company private." But Mr. Ackerman said the buy-back, and the above-market price paid, prove that Mr. Edelman is running scared. Document 00100214 ends. Russia needs space tourists If you want a holiday in space and have the means to pay for it, Russia offers you the trip of a lifetime. Yuri Koptev, the director of the Russian Aerospace Agency, Rosaviakosmos, confirmed that Russia is looking for space tourists to visit the International Space Station (ISS) in October. "There is a free place for the flight in October and we are looking for someone who would like to take it", he declared. At present, citizens from Poland, Japan and the United States are being tested by Rosaviakosmos. Russia pioneered space tourism in April, 2001, when the Californian millionaire Denis Tito was taken to the ISS for a ten-day space trip. In April, 28-year-old South African millionaire Mark Shuttleworth will visit the station. Timofei BYELO Copyright @1999 by "Pravda.RU". When reproducing our materials in whole or in part, reference to Pravda.RU should be made. The opinions and views of the authors do not always coinside with the point of view of PRAVDA.Ru's editors. Document 00100215 ends. San Salvador, 17 April (ACAN-EFE) -- Salvadorian President, Francisco Flores, today defended his declaration of support for the interim Venezuelan Government headed by industrialist Pedro Carmona, indicating that the information that he had at the time was that Hugo Chavez had resigned the Presidency. Flores said, in a press conference, that "there is no reason to apologize" to President Chavez, as demanded by Salvadoran opposition parties. "Our position is very clear, our position was that the new authorities had to receive a vote of confidence to lead the Venezuelan process back to the democratic path," he stated. He added "we understood that if there were a civilian who had committed himself to call for elections he should receive a vote of confidence." Flores maintained that "this is a position that is not unique to El Salvador; it is the position of all the European countries, it is the position of the United States; this is in our view totally reasonable when so little information is available." The Salvadorian president considered that the vote of confidence in the provisional government of Carmona will not have any repercussions in relations between El Salvador and Venezuela, which he described as "totally normal, we are not worried in that sense". He explained that "El Salvador took a different position" from that of other Latin American countries because at the present time it presides over the Permanent Council of the OAS. He added that the Latin American countries decided to invoke the OAS Democratic Charter, which implies the investigation all the steps that brought a country to a particular point, and not just simply to determine "if there were a coup d'etat or not." He reminded (the press) that currently there is an OAS mission in Venezuela with those very objectives. The commission is headed by Cesar Gaviria, Secretary General of the OAS. He indicated that the Democratic Charter is a new instrument "and implies that the OAS countries members convene a tribunal" to investigate the case of a country and "decide whether or not to remove it from the international community of which it is part;" something that "is a tremendously serious process". Asked what repercussions an announced visit to Venezuela-by leaders of the opposition party Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN, left wing)-would have for his government, Flores said that "my concern is that they may be seeking to cause damage to the country." The FMLN condemned last Friday the actions against the government of Chavez and celebrated his return to the power on Sunday. They criticized Flores for not condemning the rupture of constitutional order in Venezuela. "There is no international problem, but rather a manipulation of the subject domestically; and once again I want to ask the FMLN that it does not cause damage to this country. And that in trying to hurt me, it ends up causing damage to the country. It is necessary to be loyal to El Salvador," Flores concluded. Document 00100216 ends. Space station's railcar slightly off track CAPE CANAVERAL - (AP) -- Astronauts sent the international space station's new railcar rolling slowly down a short stretch of track Monday, but it quickly hit a snag that interrupted the inaugural run of the first permanent railroad in orbit. NASA blamed the problem on weightlessness. Engineers suspect the one-ton car floated ever so slightly off the rail, causing the magnetic sensors on the bottom of the car to lose contact with a pair of iron strips in the aluminum tracks. The railcar will eventually be used during the next stages of the space station's construction. The track runs along a 44-foot girder that space shuttle Atlantis' astronauts delivered and bolted to the orbiting outpost last week. The problem cropped up after the empty flatcar moved down 17 feet of track at a snail's pace of less than a half-inch per second. Right on cue, the car stopped at a work station and was automatically latching itself down when everything came to a halt. Ground controllers took over manual control and, a few hours later, were able to latch the railcar to the track. Space station astronaut Carl Walz sent another computer command from inside to get the railcar moving again. The railcar smoothly rolled 26 feet to a second work station, where the same thing happened. Again, ground controllers had to take over manual control to secure the car. Later Monday, Walz commanded the railcar to move for the third and final time, back down the same 26 feet of track. ''The train's leaving the station,'' he called out. It got to where it was going, but the automatic latching system shut down again and ground controllers had to step in as before. ''I think what we're finding out as we go through this is how the mobile transporter works in zero-g,'' said Ben Sellari, a NASA manager. Engineers may adjust the computer software sometime if it becomes more of a nuisance, he said. There is no danger of the $190 million railcar rolling off the track because of rings on both ends of the 44-foot girder, Sellari said. The first use of the railcar is set for late summer. The railcar is needed to transport the space station's 58-foot robot arm from one end of the outpost to the other as more girders are installed. Atlantis' astronauts plan a fourth and final spacewalk today to finish installing the girder. Document 00100217 ends. [Computer selected and disseminated without FBIS editorial intervention] Seoul, Nov. 19 (Yonhap) -- The recent settlement of details regarding the Kyoto Protocol is putting local exporters on alert. The Kyoto Protocol was made by members of the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change at its seventh session held in Marrakech, Morocco at the start of the month. If the protocol, which prescribes an obligatory reduction of greenhouse gases, is put into effect, the nation's export will be heavily damaged. The Kyoto Protocol is an agreement to get 30 leading industrialized countries such as Japan and members of the European Union (EU) to lessen greenhouse gas emissions by amounts as high as 95 percent of levels in the 1990's. The government and business circle expect the nation's exports to be damaged in direct and indirect ways from 2008, when advanced nations will begin to be regulated by the protocol. The reason is that South Korea's industrial structure depends heavily on the export of products including not only durable appliances such as air conditioner but also automobiles all of which should meet intensified environmental standards before they can be shipped overseas under the Protocol. Also, advanced nations are likely to make use of the standards as a new trade barrier. Moreover, the pressures from advanced countries to get South Korea to cut its greenhouse gas emissions is expected to strengthen. South Korea ranked ninth on a list of the largest greenhouse gas producers, and Korea's per-capita emissions were also close to those of advanced countries. Under this situation, the nation cannot possibly avoid pressures to match the cuts of advanced nations. In particular, Japan and European countries are likely to persuade developing countries including South Korea to take part in the reduction of greenhouse gases earlier than planned in an attempt to secure the United States' ratification of the protocol. The U.S. backed out of the agreement, saying its industries would be handicapped by stringent rules that developing countries could simply ignore. Even though South Korea declared its intention to discuss its duty to cut down greenhouse gases from 2018, there is little possibility that advanced nations will wait until then. If things go on like this, the government must transform the current industrial structure into an environment-friendly one and minimize industries which use a host of energy such as petrochemicals and cement manufacturing. The government will have to pour a lot of money into businesses to promote energy efficiency. According to an April survey of 416 firms across the country conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), 60 percent of total respondents said the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change will greatly influence local firms But only 28.4 percent replied that they are rushing to conform to the protocol's requirements. "The government should provide domestic firms real aid like tax reductions and environmental technology development rather than abstractly recommend domestic firms promote energy efficiency and lower energy consumption," an industry source said. Unless measures that comply with the Kyoto Protocol are mapped out early, the nation's competitiveness in manufacturing sectors will weaken soon. sunglok@yna.co.kr Document 00100218 ends. LONDON, Jan 18 (AFP) -- British officials have arrived at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and are assessing the conditions of three British prisoners among the 110 suspected al-Qa'ida fighters held there by the US, the Foreign Office said on Friday. A Foreign Office spokesman said: "I can confirm a team of British officials are in the process of visiting the detainees at Guantanamo Bay. They arrived overnight. "They are going about their task that has been set for them, identifying those who claim to be British citizens and reporting on the welfare of those who claim to be British citizens and assisting the US authorities with legal inquiries into the terrorist atrocities." The United States earlier this week said British diplomats could have access to Britons held among the detainees, whose cramped and spartan conditions have caused much criticism among human rights groups around the world. London insists it supports US reassurances that the men are being treated humanely, although there has also been criticism here over why it was taking diplomats so long to see the men. The prisoners are being held at a temporary outdoor detention facility called "Camp X-Ray" where each has a separate cell with a concrete floor, wooden roof and chain-link walls. They have a mat to sleep on and two towels, one to be used as a prayer rug. A four-member International Red Cross team flew into the US navy base on Cuban soil on Thursday and was due to begin interviewing detainees later Friday. A spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair refused to say how many British officials had travelled to the camp. Document 00100219 ends. 2 observer groups funded by EU Herald Reporter - TWO observer groups that have been critical of the just ended presidential election were funded by the European Union, it has been learnt. Diplomatic sources yesterday said the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) Parliamentary Forum observer mission and the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) were funded by the EU, which was kicked out of Zimbabwe and denied the opportunity to observe the election. The two groups have criticised the election process with the Sadc Parliamentary Forum saying it did not meet the regional grouping's standards on elections. But the Sadc Ministerial Task Force said the election was free and fair. The foreign-funded local NGO, ZESN, described the poll as chaotic. According to the sources, the EU which was barred by the Government from observing the election because some of its members were openly supporting the MDC, sent a Ms Maria Macchiaverna to "support the financial management of our assistance" to the Sadc Parliamentary Forum and ZESN. The sources said the EU advised the Government of the arrival of the official in a letter dated March 8, seeking assistance for her to be cleared by immigration authorities. "This explains why the two groups were critical of the election. They were paid and asked to paint a bad picture and they have done it. It is easy to paint a bad picture because one can do it even with eyes closed since one would have been paid to do so," the sources said. Despite these negative reports, most observer groups have declared the election free and fair. The Sadc ministerial observer team yesterday congratulated President Mugabe on his victory. The team met President Mugabe at Zimbabwe House where it briefed him of its opinion that the presidential election was substantially free and fair, despite a view to the contrary by the West. Speaking on behalf of the team, Angolan Deputy Information and Social Services Minister Mr Manuel Augusto said Africa was best qualified to judge the poll because some Western countries had prejudged the outcome. "I don't know of any Sadc country that two months ago already said that X or Y would win the election but we know countries that two months ago predicted the result of the election. "The Europeans have their own views on Africa and we have our own on Africa. We will leave Zimbabwe with a sense of accomplishment after observing the election," he told reporters after meeting Cde Mugabe. He added: "We came to witness the election, to observe. We didn't come to vote and the results of the election were the true will of the Zimbabwean people. We saw the same thing but with different views which is normal." The Tanzanian and Democratic Republic of Congo observer teams also met President Mugabe to congratulate him on his victory and said the election had been free and fair. Document 00100220 ends. Venezuelan military forces President Hugo Chavez to resign after a day of bloodshed Author: JORGE RUEDA CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - President Hugo Chavez, whose social and economic policies polarized Venezuela and whose friendship with Cuba irritated the United States, resigned under military pressure Friday after a massive opposition demonstration ended in a bloodbath. Chavez, 47, presented his resignation to the military after top commanders confronted him at the presidential palace. He left the palace before dawn- wearing military fatigues and red beret, as he did when he led a failed 1992 coup - and was put in detention at Caracas' Fort Tiuna army base. He quit just hours after at least 13 people were killed and a reported 110 wounded during a demonstration by an estimated 150,000 opposition supporters in downtown Caracas. Military officers said Chavez had ordered National Guard troops and civilian gunmen, including rooftop snipers, to stop the marchers from reaching the palace. The gigantic demonstration in Caracas late Thursday was the culmination of a strike called by the one-million-member Venezuelan Workers Confederation and the business association Fedecamaras. The strike was in support of the protesting executives at the state oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela. Opposition to Chavez's three-year presidency had been growing for some time. His one-time 80 per cent popularity ratings plunged to below 30 per cent this year. He accused business leaders of conspiring with major labour groups, the news media and the Roman Catholic hierarchy to overthrow him. The armed forces - which have traditionally strong ties to the U.S. military - resented Chavez's distancing of Venezuela from Washington, including a decision to suspend Venezuela's participation in regional military exercises. Many also resented Chavez's alleged ties with leftist Colombian guerrillas and with Fidel Castro's Cuba. A number of senior officers in the Venezuelan military had fought Cuban-backed communist guerrillas in the 1960s and early 1970s. With Chavez's ouster, jubilant executives at Venezuela's state oil monopoly, who had been engaged in a work slowdown, promised to bring production and exports up to speed as quickly as possible. Venezuela is the No. 3 supplier of oil to the United States and the world's fourth-biggest exporter. Oil prices dipped on news of Chavez' downfall, amid expectations of a production increase. Oil markets have been concerned over supply after Iraq's decision this week to suspend exports to Israeli allies. In London, Brent crude oil opened 44 cents down from Thursday at $24.60 US a barrel. In New York, May contracts of light sweet U.S. crude fell 46 cents a barrel to $24.53 US. Pedro Carmona, head of Venezuela's largest business association, announced he would head a transitional government to be installed later Friday. Chavez was being held at the army base while investigators decide what charges he could face, said army commander Gen. Efrain Vasquez Velasco. Chavez asked to be allowed to go into exile in Cuba, but the military turned him down, army Gen. Roman Fuemayor told Globovision television. "He has to be held accountable to his country," Fuemayor said. In downtown Caracas, streets were littered with debris - and in some places, stained with blood. Shops and businesses remained closed, and most people simply stayed home, stunned and wondering what would come next. Buses were half-empty, and those reporting to work hurried amidst rubble-strewn sidewalks. Thousands of coup supporters celebrated overnight, waving flags, blowing whistles and jamming a main highway in Caracas. Police warned that Chavez supporters reportedly were distributing weapons, especially in the hillside slums surrounding the capital. Officers raided storehouses, seizing dozens of firearms. Chavez remains widely popular among Venezuela's poor, a large percentage of the population. "I urge Venezuelans to maintain calm, to keep faith, to continue working on the road toward democracy, freedom and peace," said retired Gen. Guaicaipuro Lameda, who until February headed the oil company and was a leader of the movement to oust Chavez. The Bush administration said it was closely monitoring the political upheaval in Venezuela. "Our interests are in democracy and democratic institutions," said a senior U.S. official travelling with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in Jerusalem. The wave of protests marked the end for a president whose rule had been a stormy one. Chavez had irritated Washington with his close ties to Cuban President Fidel Castro, visits to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and to Libya, and criticism of U.S. bombings in Afghanistan. And he had alienated many sectors of Venezuelan society, with his attacks on the news media and Roman Catholic Church leaders, his refusal to consult with business leaders, and his failed attempt to assert government control over labour groups. Chavez's government also inherited a staggering $21 billion US in back wages and pensions owed workers by previous administrations - a debt he was unable to pay. Domestic opponents claimed his government was secretly arming neighbourhood block committees known as Bolivarian Circles, named after South American liberator Simon Bolivar, to defend his revolution. The circles were created after Castro urged Chavez's supporters to organize during a 2000 visit. Chavez also exasperated Venezuelans with his frequent use of "cadenas" - hours-long presidential speeches that by law had to be broadcast by all Venezuelan TV and radio stations. The oil executives launched their slowdown last week, cutting production at the Paraguana refinery complex, one of the world's largest, to below 50 per cent capacity. They closed another refinery, disrupted gasoline deliveries and all but stopped loading of oil tankers. Oil generates 80 per cent of Venezuela's foreign earnings. The air force chief, Gen. Regulo Anselmi, said the military urged Chavez on Wednesday to negotiate. He agreed, but by then the Petroleos de Venezuela executives rejected his overtures. After Thursday's violence, the high command decided Chavez had to go, and they confronted him en masse in his offices, Anselmi said. Troops seized the government television station as tanks rumbled on the streets. Copyright @ 2002 National Post Online | Document 00100221 ends. Ministry Criticizes 'Odious' U.S. Report The Foreign Ministry said Thursday that it was "surprised, to put it mildly" by the U.S. State Department's criticism of Russia's human rights record and objected in particular to the "odious" section on Chechnya. "One gets the impression that its writers simply used old drafts, as if nothing had happened in either Russia or the United States in recent years, as if the events of Sept. 11, 2001 had not occurred and the international community had not closed ranks in the battle against terrorism," the ministry said in a statement. The State Department's annual human rights report, which was published Monday, said Russia had a poor record regarding the independence and freedom of the media and in Chechnya. Russian security forces in Chechnya have "demonstrated little respect for basic human rights and there were credible reports of serious violations, including numerous reports of extrajudicial killings by both the government and Chechen fighters," the report said. Russian officials from President Vladimir Putin on down have portrayed the conflict in Chechnya as a war against international terrorists. U.S. officials have partially endorsed that view, pointing to rebel leaders such as Shamil Basayev and the Jordanian-born Omar Ibn al Khattab, who are believed to have financial and other ties to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network. However, U.S. officials also note that some of the rebels do not have international ties, and they have criticized Russian military and police abuse of civilians -- although the criticism was toned down greatly after Russia became an enthusiastic member of the anti-terrorist coalition, sharing intelligence information, opening its airspace to humanitarian flights and giving a green light to U.S. military deployment in Central Asia. The Foreign Ministry said that the State Department pronouncement on Chechnya reflected the efforts of "certain circles" in the United States that object to the new U.S.-Russian partnership against international terrorism. "These circles have persistently tried to reanimate the 'Chechen problem,' and turn it again into an irritant in the Russian-American dialogue," the ministry said. The ministry also suggested that before judging others' rights records, the United States should investigate the situation at home, including the government's failure to ratify some international human rights agreements and the use of the death penalty. Russia introduced a moratorium on capital punishment, a prerequisite for joining the Council of Europe, in 1996. Document 00100222 ends. Text of report in English by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS Tashkent, 14 November: Japanese investment in Uzbekistan in the last 10 years reached 1.3bn US dollars, Uzbek President Islam Karimov said in a meeting with Japanese lawmakers in Tashkent on Wednesday [14 November]. He said this investment was made in various industries, including health care, education, and in improvement of water supplies in the country. Karimov stressed that trade turnover between Uzbekistan and Japan in 2001 is expected to be quite good. In the first 10 months of this year, it was 133m US dollars, which is almost double of the amount of last year when it was 71m US dollars. Document 00100223 ends. [Computer selected and disseminated without FBIS editorial intervention] Islamabad, Oct. 18 (Jiji Press) -- Pakistani Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz will visit Japan as early as late October as a special envoy of President Pervez Musharraf, Pakistani government officials said Thursday. He will be the first Pakistani minister to visit Japan since the United States began air strikes against Afghanistan in early October. Aziz will stay in Japan around five days and meet with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Finance Minister Masajuro Shiokawa, the government officials said. In meetings with Japanese officials, Aziz will explain impacts of Afghan refugees flooding into Pakistan on its economy, they said. He is expected to give Koizumi Musharraf's letter implicitly asking for Japan's debt relief for Pakistan. Document 00100224 ends. China has launched three unmanned spacecraft consecutively and exhibited to the world the capsules recovered. People have seen the true features of these space capsules. What exactly then is a manned spaceship? It is learned that the manned spaceship will have a liftoff weight of about eight tonnes, and is less than 10 meters long and 3.5 meters in diameter. It can carry two to three astronauts and continue to cruise in space for more than 20 days. The spaceship has been designed with comprehensive reference to the Russian spaceship Soyuz. The spaceship is composed of three cylindrical capsules, with the orbiter capsule fitted on the forefront. Its interior is equipped with corresponding facilities for space observation and space drug and microgravity tests. The return capsule, connected to the orbiter capsule, is the cockpit of the astronauts and the only capsule that will reenter the atmosphere for landing. Three reclining seats will be installed in the capsule for astronauts. Instrument panel, control shaft, and optical telescope will be installed below the seats. At the rear of the spaceship is the propulsion capsule to provide thrust to the spaceship in orbital control and return to earth. In accordance with the plan, China's manned spaceship will conduct a series of scientific tests and earth observation after it is launched into space. Space technology will not only be used for civilian, but also for military purposes, and there is no exception for China. It is speculated that the spaceship will almost certainly be equipped with facilities relating to military observation and attack on enemy satellites. Therefore, the manned spaceflight will enable China to have preliminary space combat capability. According to the experience of the United States and Russia, one of the greatest problems of manned spaceship is inadequate power supply. The solar energy batteries usually cannot meet the needs of numerous equipment on a spaceship. However, it is understood that China has successfully resolved this problem to provide sufficient power supply for its spaceship. After completing the orbital flight, the spaceship will adjust itself to the return position by following ground command and ignite the engine to change to the orbit for returning to the earth. Before gliding into the atmosphere, the orbiter and propulsion capsules will be discarded. By referring to the designs of the Russia spaceship Soyuz, it is very possible that China will apply the lift control technology in its manned spaceship. This technology will enable the spaceship to limit its mobility in the atmosphere. In the altitude of about several thousands of meters, the return capsule will eject the parachutes to further reduce the speed. It is reported that in the past China's recovery site for returning satellites was in the mountains of Sichuan Province. To facilitate recovery and rescue in future manned spaceflight, the recovery site will be located in sparsely populated grassland or the wilderness. Judging from the selection of recovery sites for the two previous flights, the site for recovering the manned spaceship may be situated in the grassland of Inner Mongolia. The next step after the land recovery, China may change to recovering the manned spaceship on the sea. An informed source has said that it can be seen that the designs for China's manned spaceflight have taken into consideration future modifications. For the next flight, the top of the spaceship's orbiter capsule may be installed with a docking module for docking tests between two spaceships. The concerned person said that this is a prelude to China's space station development plan. Document 00100225 ends. SARAJEVO, Jan 18 (ONASA) -- The decision on extradition of six Algerians to the United States is in accordance with the responsibility and authorities of the BiH Federation bodies and international obligations, the coordination team for anti-terrorism said in a statement on Friday [18 January]. "One cannot neglect the fact that BiH, as member of the United Nations, is obliged to strictly respect the UN resolution dated September 28 last year, which obliges UN members to cooperate on the plan of exchange of information and cooperation on prevention of terrorist activities," read a statement from the team. Bosnian authorities have handed over to US custody six Algerians detained in October on suspicion of involvement in terrorism but ordered released this week by a local court, the US embassy said on Friday. In Washington, a senior official told Reuters the US military planned to quickly move the six to the American Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where al-Qa'ida and Taliban detainees from the war in Afghanistan are being held. "The plan is to move them to Guantanamo Bay," the US official said, without specifying when. Earlier, the US embassy in Sarajevo said in a statement: "The six Algerian nationals who have been detained by BiH (Bosnia and Herzegovina) authorities since mid-October have been transferred to US custody. "We have taken custody of these individuals due to our concern about their activity in BiH, which both posed a credible security threat to US personnel and facilities and demonstrated involvement in international terrorism," it said. Washington insisted it would not have acted without credible evidence, but the transfer exposed it to more criticism from campaigners who have accused it of disregarding human rights in its declared "war on terror." The six have been accused of having links to the al-Qa'ida network of fugitive Usama Bin Ladin. A Bosnian government official said legal procedures had been respected in the case, but a senior UN human rights officer in Bosnia said they had been "trampled over." Not only had a court ordered their release on Thursday but the state's top human rights body had instructed authorities to prevent four being taken out of the country by force. "It's very disappointing," Madeleine Rees, head of the Bosnia office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said of the operation. "It violates the rule of law." Washington is already under fire from human rights groups for its treatment of prisoners captured in Afghanistan and held at Guantanamo Bay. The United States has not given the captives the status of prisoners of war, which would grant them certain rights under the 1949 Geneva Convention. The Supreme Court of Bosnia's Muslim-Croat federation ruled on Thursday there was no reason to detain the six. All were Algerians, although one also had a Yemeni passport possibly obtained fraudulently, international officials said. Local police arrested them in October, acting on a US tip after threats closed the US and British embassies for several days. International officials said US officials had not been willing to provide Bosnia's justice system with the intelligence information that prompted their detention. Five of the six also held Bosnian citizenship but were stripped of it after their arrest. The men had appealed against that decision, however, and Rees said they should not have been deported until that process was complete. A Bosnian government official insisted the appeal had already been rejected and legal procedures had been followed. He said the government had not been aware of the ruling by Bosnia's Human Rights Chamber that measures should be taken to stop four of the suspects being taken out of the country. "The legal procedure in this case has been fully respected so far," said Jusif Halilagic, a deputy minister who represents the government in the chamber. More than 100 protesters gathered outside Sarajevo's central prison on Thursday night. They tried to block vehicles presumably taking the suspects to hand them over to US forces. US soldiers form a substantial part of Bosnia's NATO-led peacekeeping force. The US embassy said the suspects would be treated humanely and in accordance with international law. Document 00100226 ends. Seeing in believing, and the longer you live the more you see. It was written, the episode was broadcast live, and there was no way that those words from the president of the Republic were adulterated, deformed, or falsified by the hidden agents of the media conspiracy. No. He asserted, in these exact words, this barbarism: "4 February is not just any date, it is a historic date we can well compare to 19 April 1810, when that civic-military rebellion also opened a new path towards national independence." No one had gone so far in the anthology of rhetorical follies, or in falsifying history. No one had ever tried to compare themselves to, and put themselves in the same position, as the founders of the nation, as the thwarted leader of the 4 February 1992 coup has now tried to do. What is there about a coup against the constitutional order that could resemble the most important day in Venezuelan history? In what way can Lieutenant Colonel Hugo Chavez be seen as comparable to Jose Felix Ribas, Francisco Salias, the philosopher Juan German Roscio, or Canon Jose Cortes de Madariaga? No. This is a simple lack of respect, an abuse of history, an unacceptable degradation. Chavez did not try to overthrow Fernando VII, and if it had been up to him we would still be under the domination of the Bourbon dynasty. 4 February is one of the most terrible days in Venezuelan history. If he wants to look for a comparison, maybe he would find one in the likewise thwarted coup by Colonel Pedro Carujo against Jose Maria Vargas. Comparing it with 19 April 1810 is another armed coup and must be rejected with all determination by the academies and by those who in one way or another must preserve our historical legacy from adulteration or deceitful use. 4 February upset the lives of Venezuelans with the ghost of a military insurgency that we had all thought had been overcome, because it belonged to past eras and because the armed forces were fully within the legitimate order, complying with institutional precepts, far from the meddling forbidden by the constitution. In fact, the armed forces made great contributions to the country's stability, because when each sector of Venezuelan society complies with what is set out for it in the legal order, countries are preserved from the vicissitudes of coup plotters. President Chavez himself now boasts of having spent 20 years conspiring -- that is, eroding the armed forces' loyalty -- to achieve his goal of conquering power. This is a great demonstration of political cynicism. 4 February was not only a military failure for Chavez; it was also an episode that caused enormous losses, human and economic, for all Venezuelans. There were numerous deaths, and no one can feel proud of the consequences. 4 February was such a failure that Chavez, even though it pained him, had to accept democratic methods to reach power. That was what happened in 1998, and still today, Chavez gives constant demonstrations of discontent and irritation at having been democratically elected. The reason for this is simple: He has to respect the democratic rules of the game, the freedom of expression that causes him so many nightmares, the presence of the fundamental institutions of the nation whose right to exist he denies. He wants to disguise the failed date of 4 February to create the collective illusion of a military victory, which would permit him to govern us from Miraflores as if he really had reached power that day. Imagine what would have happened to us Venezuelans if in fact on that terrible day the lieutenant colonel, instead of staying in the museum, had advanced on the government building with the vast forces backing him. Once he was taken prisoner, democracy exhausted all its generosity, just as Vargas did with Carujo. Venezuelan democracy has not given anyone as much as it gave Chavez. He should acknowledge these debts and make the effort to learn to live in a democracy, respecting others' rights. This system of freedoms made him president of the Republic. Trying to destroy it now is inconsistent. We must prevent his attempt to exercise power as if he had won on 4 February. This was not the case, and the Venezuelan people rejected him as a coup participant. Today, with this official "celebration," Venezuela is in mourning. Document 00100227 ends. It's not another ice age, but at least it's cooler As countries gear up for battles over ratifying the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, a recent study suggests that the world already has stepped along the path to a future cooler than it might have been. Researchers at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York report that declining greenhouse-gas emissions since the late 1980s have slowed the growth rate of the atmosphere's ability to retain heat. The researchers link the slower rate to implementation of the 1987 Montreal Protocol, in which countries agreed to phase out production of gases that erode the Earth's protective ozone layer. Known collectively as chlorofluorocarbons, these gases also trap heat thousands of times as effectively as carbon dioxide - the main focus of Kyoto. If the rate of increase in greenhouse gases had been maintained at the peak reached in 1980, the climate by 2050 would have reached temperatures not currently anticipated until 2100, when CO 2 concentrations in the atmosphere are expected to have doubled, the researchers calculate. The slowdown also "is due in part to the slower growth of methane and carbon dioxide, for reasons that aren't well understood and need more study," notes James Hansen, the NASA researcher who conducted the study with Makiko Sato, also with the GISS. The slower growth in carbon-dioxide concentrations could be due to increased CO 2 uptake by land-based plants and marine organisms, he suggests. The work grows out of a longer-term effort by the two scientists to explore paths to adjusting the globe's thermostat other than the politically charged effort embodied in the Kyoto Protocol. By focusing on carbon dioxide, the pact sets its sights on curbing the greenhouse gas held most responsible for contributing to the climate's warming during the past century. But curbs on CO 2 mean curbs on burning coal, oil, and natural gas - the fuels of booming economies. Drs. Hansen and Sato argue that policymakers can make significant headway by attacking other pollutants such as black carbon soot, ozone (smog) in the lower atmosphere, and methane from landfills, mining, and oil and gas production. The duo calculates that by reducing methane emissions by 30 percent, for example, the effect on climate would be comparable to the effect from cuts in CO 2 envisioned by the Kyoto Protocol during its first commitment period, which runs from 2008 to 2012. Their study appeared in the Dec. 18, 2001, issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. back to top Untitled Copyright @ 2002 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights reserved. Document 00100228 ends. Kazakhstan's main seaport does brisk business Text of report by Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency Aktau, 22 January. The Aktau Sea Trading Port republican state enterprise (RSE) on the Caspian Sea (situated in Mangistau Region of western Kazakhstan) handled over 116,000 tonnes of cargo between 14 and 21 January [2002]. As Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency learnt at the RSE, a total of 79,000 tonnes of oil and oil products and 37,044 tonnes of dry cargo were transshipped through the port during the quoted period. On the whole, according to the RSE, 343,735 tonnes of cargo were handled through Aktau seaport between 1 and 21 January. A total of 261,841 tonnes of oil and oil products and 81,894 tonnes of dry cargo have been transshipped through the port since the start of January. Aktau seaport is Kazakhstan's only international seaport with annual transshipment capacity of 1.5m tonnes of dry cargo and 8m tonnes of oil and oil products. Document 00100229 ends. Ex. SNO-525 Page 1 of 4 8-20010116-18161105-18200043 1 8-20010116-18161105-18200044 (3:49) 2 [dialing/ringing] 3 RICH: Las Vegas Cogen, this is Rich. 4 BILL: Hey, Rich. This is Bill up at Enron. 5 RICH: Bill. 6 BILL: How you doin', man? 7 RICH: Junior or Senior? 8 BILL: Ha-ha. The Third. 9 RICH: The third! What's happenin' Bill the Third. 10 BILL: Not much , man, I'm givin' you a call, ah - we got some issues for tomorrow. 11 RICH: OK. 12 BILL: You ready for some issues? You just about out of there, aren't you? 13 RICH: Um, I got a couple more hours. I ain't goin' anywhere. 14 BILL: Good. 15 RICH: All right, shoot. I've g - I've got pen and paper. 16 BILL: All right, man. I'm n - this is gonna be a word of mouth kind of thing. 17 RICH: OK. 18 BILL: Um, tonight, ah, when you finish your normal QF, so for hour ending one - 19 RICH: Right. 20 BILL: - it'll actually be tomorrow - 21 RICH: Right. 22 BILL: - ah, we want you guys to get a little creative - 23 RICH: OK. 24 BILL: - and come up with a reason to go down. 25 RICH: OK. 26 BILL: Anything you want to do over there? Any - 27 RICH: Ah - 28 BILL: - cleaning, anything like that? 29 RICH: Yeah. Yeah. There's some stuff that we could doin' tonight. 30 BILL: That's good. Ex. SNO-525 Page 3 of 4 8-20010116-18161105-18200043 1 RICH: Right. 2 BILL: It's supposed to be, ah, you know, kinda one of those things. 3 RICH: OK, so we're just comin' down for some maintenance, like a forced outage type thing? 4 BILL: Right. 5 RICH: And that's cool. 6 BILL: Hopefully. 7 [they laugh] 8 RICH: 'Cause the - the schedule I just got over here - well, you know what it says. 9 BILL: Yes. I'm lookin' right at it. 10 RICH: OK, it's the new schedule. 11 BILL: You just got a new one? 12 RICH: It says 'New Schedule' on the bottom. It's showin' 52 all day. 13 BILL: Oh, right. And so that's the one you're gonna want to ignore. 14 RICH: Exactly. 15 BILL: [laughs] 16 RICH: OK. 17 BILL: Yeah. So - 18 RICH: We'll take care of that. 19 BILL: So you got a - so you're checkin' a switch on the steam turbine. 20 RICH: Yeah, and whatever adjustment he makes today, is probably - tonight, is probably not 21 gonna work, so we're probably gonna have to check it tomorrow afternoon again. 22 BILL: I think that's a good plan, Rich. 23 RICH: All right. 24 BILL: I knew I could count on you. 25 RICH: No problem. 26 [REDACTED] 27 RICH: I'm sure you'll have a good time. All right. So, I gotcha covered for tomorrow. 28 BILL: Thanks a lot, Rich. 29 RICH: All right, I won't even put that in the book. 30 BILL: [laughs] Document 00100230 ends. TAIPEI, Feb 17 (AFP) - Taiwan is keeping a wary eye on US President George W. Bush's China visit despite assurances by Washington that Taipei's interests would not be traded away during the trip. Washington had guaranteed Taipei that it would not dilute its backing for the island in return for better relations with Beijing, Taiwan's foreign ministry spokeswoman Chang Siao-yueh told AFP. "Through some proper channels, we have been told that there should not be surprises" during Bush's visit to China, she said. The top US official handling Taiwan affairs, Richard Bush -- no relation of the president -- also moved to ease Taipei's concerns during his visit to the island last month. "He made it clear that relations between Taipei and Washington are getting better," said Joseph Wu, deputy director of National Chengchi University's Institute of International Relations. Richard Bush is chairman and managing director of the Washington-based American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) -- a body authorised by Washington to handle exchanges with Taipei since it switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. The US president embarked on a week-long tour of Asia late Saturday with stopovers planned in Japan, South Korea and China. President Bush will hold a working summit with Chinese President Jiang Zemin in Beijing on February 21-22. Wu said he believed overall Taiwan interests were protected from knocks by the Bush administration because of the island's "strong support" from decision-makers in the White House, State Department and Department of Defense. Washington announced in April 2001 the most comprehensive arms package to Taipei since 1992, including four Kidd-class destroyers, eight diesel submarines and 12 P-3C submarine-hunting aircraft. The sale infuriated Beijing which regards Taiwan an integral part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. On the eve of his departure for Asia, Bush said he would discuss with Beijing trade issues arising from China's entry into the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the global war on terrorism and the fate of Taiwan. The president has called for a peaceful resolution of the lingering sovereignty dispute between Taipei and Beijing which split at the end of a civil war in 1949. But Taiwanese officials are nonetheless concerned. The foreign ministry has set up an ad hoc group which will monitor Bush's Asian trip around-the-clock and report back to President Chen Shui-bian, Chang said, adding that Taiwan's de facto embassy in Washington had been given a similar task. Compounding fears is speculation that Bush may sign a fresh communique with China in return for Beijing's support on issues such as anti-terrorism and prevention of nuclear proliferation. The two countries have sealed three joint communiques since the end of the 1970s. The first was issued during then-president Richard Nixon's landmark trip to China in 1972 while another one, signed during the Ronald Reagan era, agreed to gradually reduce arms sales to Taiwan. Wu defended the government's cautious approach warning that Beijing could try to use the situation to gain the upper hand. "Taiwan's interest would be harmed if the Chinese leaders took advantage of the occasion by making remarks unfavorable to Taipei and Washington failed to defend Taipei," Wu warned. Taipei was angered when then-president Bill Clinton pledged the "three nos" during his China visit in 1998. Clinton said he did not support independence for Taiwan, the policy of "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan" and agreed that Taiwan should not be a member of any organisation to which statehood is a requirement. Document 00100231 ends. Bush Takes Great Leap Forward In Pledging U.S. Help In Defending Taiwan Honolulu Star-Bulletin March 17, 2002 The Rising East Bush Takes Great Leap Forward In Pledging U.S. Help In Defending Taiwan By Richard Halloran In a closed-door meeting in Florida last week, the Bush administration took a great leap forward in its declared policy that Taiwan remain separate from China so long as the people of Taiwan wish, even if that requires U.S. military force. The host of the three-day U.S.-Taiwan Defense Summit was Frank Carlucci, chairman of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council, onetime deputy director of central intelligence, national security adviser to President Reagan, later secretary of defense and possibly the most secretive official in Washington in many years. Why the meeting was so hidden was not clear, other than to avoid flaunting it in the face of China, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan and protests every American action favoring the island. Even so, enough leaked out to illuminate President Bush's policy, which has been consistent ever since he enunciated it during his campaign for the presidency. The centerpiece was a visit by Taiwan's defense minister, Tang Yao-ming, the first since President Carter switched U.S. diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979. That Tang was invited was more evidence that Bush has adopted the most pro-Taiwan posture of any president in nearly a quarter century; his stance differs distinctly from that of President Clinton, who tilted in favor of Beijing. The senior U.S. official at the gathering was Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, who has written: "It would be a strategic as well as a moral mistake for the United States to ever let China use force to have its way with Taiwan." He has cautioned, however, that the United States expected Taiwan to avoid provoking China. Tang asserted that Taiwan would do no such thing. After talking with Wolfowitz for two hours, Tang said he had guaranteed that his government would "by no means take any provocative step" toward China. The meeting, at an exclusive resort in St. Petersburg, brought out representatives of America's biggest defense contractors -- Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, General Dynamics, United Technologies, Textron, Honeywell International, and United Defense. Among them, they make every weapon Taiwan could possibly want to fend off the expanding might of China. China's military threat to Taiwan is not immediate. Adm. Dennis Blair, who commands U.S. forces in the Pacific, told Congress recently: "The PLA (Peoples Liberation Army) is still years away from the capability to take and hold Taiwan." The admiral cautioned, however: "Continued improvements in Taiwan's capabilities and development of USPACOM (United States Pacific Command) capabilities will be necessary to maintain sufficient defense." Bush began enunciating his policy on Taiwan in November 1999, saying that he would honor "our promises to the people of Taiwan" and "we deny the right of Beijing to impose their rule on a free people." The Republican election platform reflected the candidate's policy: "All issues regarding Taiwan's future must be resolved peacefully and must be agreeable to the people of Taiwan." It said that if China attacked Taiwan, "the United States will respond appropriately in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act." The TRA, adopted after Carter broke relations with Taiwan, commits the United States to provide defensive arms to Taiwan and to view a threat from China with "grave concern." Bush has repeatedly referred to the TRA in a not-so-subtle message to China that the law is the bedrock of his posture on Taiwan. The most succinct statement of the Bush policy came from Secretary of State Colin Powell during his Senate confirmation hearing in January 2001: "We expect and demand a peaceful settlement, one acceptable to people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait." Shortly after Bush took office, he approved the largest U.S. arms sale to Taiwan, allowing Taiwan to buy four destroyers, eight diesel-powered submarines, 12 anti-submarine aircraft and a flock of missiles and other weapons. At the same time, he said the United States would do whatever it takes to help defend Taiwan. He told an interviewer: "China must know that if circumstances warrant, that we will uphold the spirit of the Taiwan Relations Act." Whatever decision Bush makes, a defense official said, the Pacific Command is ready "to respond to any potential crisis, including the use of force against Taiwan by China." The critical question: Will the Chinese, noting American military operations in Afghanistan, heed these warnings or will they miscalculate and try to call Bush's bluff? Richard Halloran is a former correspondent for The New York Times in Asia and a former editorial director of the Star-Bulletin. His column appears Sundays. Document 00100232 ends. TEHRAN -- In a meeting with the head of Foreign Ministry's Representative Office in Mashhad, Khorasan Province, Turkmen deputy foreign minister on Sunday, said that new facilities have been provided for issuing visas for Iranians who intend to visit Turkmenistan. He also called the current restrictions for issuing visas for Iranian and other foreign nationals, temporary arrangements. . Document 00100233 ends. Valley Federal Savings & Loan Association took an $89.9 million charge as it reported a third-quarter loss of $70.7 million, or $12.09 a share. The Van Nuys, Calif., thrift had net income of $132,000, or three cents a share, a year ago. The bulk of the pretax charge is a $62 million write-off of capitalized servicing at the mobile home financing subsidiary, which the company said had been a big drain on earnings. The company said the one-time provision would substantially eliminate all future losses at the unit. Valley Federal also added $18 million to realestate loan reserves and eliminated $9.9 million of good will. The thrift said that "after these charges and assuming no dramatic fluctuation in interest rates, the association expects to achieve near record earnings in 1990." Valley Federal is currently being examined by regulators. New loans continue to slow; they were $6.6 million in the quarter compared with $361.8 million a year ago. The thrift has assets of $3.2 billion. Document 00100234 ends. Uzbekistan raises annual cotton target to 3.75m tonnes - Iranian radio Text of report by Iranian radio from Mashhad on 1|January Uzbekistan is planning to increase its annual cotton target in 2002 despite the fall in cotton prices on the world market, the IRNA [Iranian] news agency quoted an Uzbek Agriculture Ministry department head as saying yesterday. The department head said that Uzbekistan had set its annual cotton target at 3,750,000 t for 2002, which is 14 per cent up on last year. Document 00100235 ends. Beijing, March 21 (XINHUA) -- China urged the United States on Thursday to abide by the "one China policy", warning that any act to trample upon the Sino-U.S. Joint Communiques could result in a "very unfavorable" impact on relations between the two countries. The question of Taiwan, which relates to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, is an essential and most important issue and is at the heart of Sino-U.S. relations, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue. China hopes the United States will not do anything against the spirit of the three Sino-U.S. Joint Communiques, she said. Zhang made the remarks at a news briefing in response to a question about the Taiwan official Tang Yiau-min's recent visit to the United States. Zhang replied that Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing has put forward China's stand on the matter while making strong representations to the U.S. government with the hope that the United States treats the matter seriousness it deserves. She said during the U.S. President Bush's working visit to China last month, state leaders of both countries agreed that Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Vice President Hu Jintao would visit the United States this year. However, within one month of Bush's visit, the U.S. has already done several things which are against the spirit of the three Sino-U.S. Joint Communiques. Zhu said the U.S. side should stop interfering in China's internal affairs by interfering in the Taiwan issue. Document 00100236 ends. HOWDY, WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON AMIGO. I HAVE NOT TALKED TO YOU IN A WHILE. GIVE YOU THE SCOPE OF WHATS BEEN GOING ON WITH ME. I LEFT OILSTATES BACK IN MARCH WITH ANOTHER COMPANY. DID A LOT OF TRAVELING AND THEY (OILSTATES) MADE ME A SWEET OFFER TO COME BACK. SO I AM BACK. WHO'S GETTING MARRIED? SOUNDS LIKE THIS IS GOING TO BE A GREAT BACHELOR PARTY. GIVE ME A CALL SOMETIME CELL: 713 991 - 5621. ROB Document 00100237 ends. [Computer selected and disseminated without FBIS editorial intervention] Seoul, Feb. 18 (Yonhap) -- The government on Monday announced its position on U.S. President George W. Bush's new policy to control greenhouse gas emissions that he wants discussed internationally along with the Kyoto Protocol, an international treaty adopted in 1997 to control greenhouse gas emissions. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement that "the Government of the Republic of Korea appreciates continued interest shown by the Government of the United States in climate change and their efforts in presenting on February 14 a new initiative to address this issue which is one of the greatest challenges humankind faces in the 21st century." The statement was issued by the name of Foreign Minister Choi Sung-hong. "The Korean Government notes that the new U.S. Government initiative adopts a flexible and gradual approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and that it takes into consideration the concerns of developing countries," the statement said. The ! Korean government is of the view that in order for the U.S. initiative to be discussed in more detail in future international fora, greater elaboration is needed, including concrete methods to establish the levels of greenhouse gas intensity, it continued. Parties to the Climate Change Convention have been preparing for the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol since the adoption of its implementation rules last November in Marrakesh, Morocco. "In light of this, the Korean Government believes that consultations amongst the international community are needed to build understanding on the U.S. initiative," the statement noted, adding the Seoul government will actively participate in this process. Over 180 countries, including the United States, have prepared for ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, a framework that requires signatories to gradually reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The U.S. administration led by President George W. Bush rejected the Protocol early last year and recently announced a new policy on climate change which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions relative to Gross Domestic Product or economic activities. Before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, the Bush administration had been severely blamed in the international community for rejecting the Kyoto Protocol. Meanwhile, some other countries, including Japan and Germany, already issued statements on Bush's new climate change policy in rather different tones. yct9423@yna.co.kr Document 00100238 ends. Rally's Inc. said it adopted a shareholders rights plan to protect shareholders from an inadequately priced takeover offer. The plan provides for the distribution of one common stock-purchase right as a dividend for each share of common outstanding. Each right entitles shareholders to buy one-half share of common for $30. Earlier this month, a group led by three of the company's directors, Burt Sugarman, James M. Trotter III and Willam E. Trotter II, indicated it had a 45.2% stake in the Louisville, Ky., fast-food company and that it planned to seek a majority of seats on Rally's nine-member board. The company said it was "concerned about the announced intent to acquire control of the company" by a Sugarman-led group. Document 00100239 ends. Mugabe wins Zimbabwe presidential polls Author: AGENCIES [ WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2002 3:05:34 PM ] HARARE: Robert Mugabe has won Zimbabwe's presidential election, Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede announced on Wednesday. Mudede said on state television that Mugabe was re-elected with 1,685,212 votes against 1,258,758 votes for opposition challenger Morgan Tsvangirai. "I ... therefore declare Robert Mugabe the winner for the office of the presidency of Zimbabwe," Mudede said. Mugabe passed the 50 per cent mark with only six districts left to be declared, official figures showed on Wednesday. Results broadcast on state television gave Mugabe 1,634,382 votes, or 52 per cent of the 3.1 million ballots cast. His main rival Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had 1,185,890 votes, or 38 per cent of the votes cast. Tsvangirai, along with local and international observers, have cited widespread abuses in the electoral process. The MDC leadership was to meet mid-morning to discuss the results. "We have a national executive meeting ... where we will be looking at the figures and give the reaction of the party," said David Coltart, MP for the Movement for Democratic Change (Mdc). "To put it mildly the figures are very odd, with very low turnouts in the cities and massives ones in the rural areas, which is unprecedented in this country," he said. Tsvangirai was due to address the media after the meeting, around noon (1000 GMT). Meanwhile, about 100 soldiers surrounded the offices of the opposition Movement in Bulawayo on Wednesday, a reporter said. Copyright @ 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved. | Document 00100240 ends. Stretching The Case For Inhumanity Washington Times February 6, 2002 Pg. 15 Stretching The Case For Inhumanity Terrorist thugs at Gitmo don't deserve their treatment By Vito Fossella Having had the opportunity to tour Camp X-Ray last week, I offer America's critics a simple piece of advice: Get a life. The chronic complainers are outraged by, of all things, the treatment of the captured Taliban and al Qaeda terrorists being detained at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They have absurdly criticized as "inhumane" the decision to temporarily place prison suits, handcuffs and blindfolds on the terrorists during transfer to protect the military personnel guarding them. They have even demanded upgraded accommodations, seemingly forgetting that these are the leaders of a worldwide terrorist organization who have repeatedly vowed to kill innocent Americans through war or terror. Far from being treated inhumanely, the al Qaeda and the Taliban terrorists are better fed, better clothed and better cared for than they would be if they were still roaming the cold caves of Afghanistan. They eat three nutritious meals a day, including halal, cereal and granola bars. They enjoy their own large cell, talking freely with one another, worshiping with a prayer leader, and writing home. Indeed, the evil-doers at Camp X-Ray are getting far better treatment than they deserve - hot showers, a warm Caribbean climate and access to the exact same medical care as the military personnel who live on the base. It seems our critics would prefer that the Taliban and al Qaeda terrorists instead stay at the Ritz-Carlton. By way of contrast, the men and women of our military who have the extremely dangerous job of guarding these thugs live in 12-person tents, take cold showers using a hose, and often must cope without the benefits of electricity. They have been away from home for months, and they serve our nation with dignity and honor. As I toured Camp X-Ray, I stared into the faces of evil. As I stood just feet away from barbarians who only weeks earlier fired machine guns at American troops, incited bloody prison riots and ambushes and, boasted of plans to kill innocent people, I could not help but feel the grief and anguish of those who lost loved ones on September 11 or during the war in Afghanistan. I have no doubt that, if given the opportunity, any of the detainees would have relished the chance to kill me. Indeed, since their arrival at Camp-X-Ray, some of the terrorists have openly threatened the Marines who guard them and talk anxiously about returning home soon to continue terrorizing the American people. There is a greater purpose behind Camp X-Ray than merely detaining these violent enemies of the United States. At Guantanamo Bay, federal officials are conducting extensive interviews with the Taliban and al Qaeda terrorists, culling information on the terrorist network and the whereabouts and future plans of the tens of thousands of terrorists who were trained in the same camps and who are now living around the world. Already, intelligence gathered from other al Qaeda detainees has uncovered potential plots to attack American embassies, nuclear power plants and public water facilities. In the caves and hideouts of al Qaeda operatives, we have found instruction books on how to build chemical and biological weapons, detailed maps of American cities and descriptions of landmarks. The type of work that is occurring at Camp X-Ray may prove critical to preventing a new attack. President Bush and America deserve appreciation from all corners of the globe for leading the world in the war against terrorism and for making every nation safer. America's treatment of the Taliban and al Qaeda terrorists at Camp X-Ray is appropriate and, in my opinion, too good for these murderous thugs. Instead of lecturing the United States, our critics may better spend their time reminding others that if terrorists don't want to be detained at Camp X-Ray, they should join the civilized world. Rep. Vito Fossella represents the 13th Congressional District of New York, including Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn. Document 00100241 ends. MOSCOW. March 24 (Interfax) - Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov on Sunday evening is beginning a foreign tour, during which he will pay official visits to Mongolia and Vietnam. He will be visiting Ulan-Bator on March 25 and 26, and Hanoi on March 26 to 28. In Mongolia Kasyanov is to meet with Mongolian Prime Minister Nambaryn Enkhbayar, parliament Chairman Timur Ogir and President Natsagiyin Bagabandi. The plan of Kasyanov's visit also included expanded talks and the signing of bilateral documents. The Russian prime minister will meet with Mongolian and Russian businessmen. The main goal of the visit is to broaden economic cooperation between the two countries, whose present-day pace is not fast enough. Russian-Mongolian trade currently amounts to $240 million and makes up only 25% of Mongolia's foreign trade turnover. Mongolia's negative balance in trade with Russia increased from $150 million in 2000 to $160 million in 2001. Russia has proposed improving the situation by increasing exports of Mongolian meat to Russia. In recent years, three joint ventures - the Erdenet mining company, the Mongolian-Russian Non-Ferrous Metals Company and the Ulan- Bator Railways, have accounted for 60% of the Mongolian exports and 40% of the GDP. Russia would like to increase its stake in Erdenet from the current 49%, but Mongolia is also interested in increasing its 51% stake. This issue is likely to be discussed in Ulan-Bator, since the 1991 agreement on this company expires on December 31, 2002. Among other projects which Russian companies would like to implement in Mongolia are the laying of a gas pipeline from Russia to China (Yukos), the gasification of individual districts of Mongolia (Gazprom, Itera) and electricity exports to Mongolia (Unified Energy Systems of Russia.) Mongolia is one of the few members of the former social camp to which Russia does not owe anything. On the contrary, Mongolia's debt to Russia on current operations amounts to $10 million, and its Soviet-era debt to $11.5 billion. Russia is prepared to discuss restructuring and deferment schemes with the Mongolian leadership. Military cooperation, curtailed in the 1990s and now being resumed, will also be on the agenda. The parties are to discuss the training of Mongolian military personnel at Russian military academies and arms exports. Kasyanov will fly to Hanoi from Ulan-Bator on March 26. Document 00100242 ends. Banja Luka, Dec 4 (ONASA) -- Republika Srpska [Serb Republic -- RS] Prime Minister Mladen Ivanic on Tuesday [4 December] departed to an official visit to China, which is to last until December 9, read a statement from the RS government's public affairs bureau. Ivanic is to meet with Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Qian Qichen and discuss possibilities for economic and other forms of cooperation. Ivanic and Finance Minister Milenko Vracar are to meet with the governor of province Hebei Niu Maosheng, who invited them to the visit, and other officials of this province. Document 00100243 ends. Dear Friends of Pleasant Run: The holiday season is the time of year when we're all busy buying gifts, baking goodies, decorating our homes and making arrangements to be with family and friends. This is the time of year when we give thanks for the warmth and love that surrounds us. And this time of year is an occasion to remember those not as fortunate as we are. Pleasant Run cares for at-risk children and families. We do this through a wide range of programs including community- based, therapeutic foster care, group homes and our treatment center. Many of the children are victims of abuse or live in unstable homes. Today we are asking you to take a few minutes to consider making a contribution to Pleasant Run to help the 1,500 children families we care for. Many of the children have no homes; no memories of joy from past holidays. Others are from families that are struggling to provide a healthy, happy environment but don't have the resources to make it possible. Your contribution will make a difference in a child's life. It may help a family stay together. It can certainly make happy holiday memories. A gift to Pleasant Run means the children in our care will have presents to open. A gift means a family will have a holiday meal, cooking utensils to prepare the meal and dishes to serve it on. Your gift will go beyond the holiday season. It can help purchase clothing, school supplies, books and educational tools throughout the year. Please take a few minutes to mail a donation to Pleasant run. Let our families and children know that you want them to have the same kinds of memories of the holidays you will have. We wish you and your family a new year full of joy and love. Sincerely, Mary Roth Executive Director Document 00100244 ends. The U.S. government says that the terrorist attack on New York City was an act of war. Yet it refuses to treat those it has captured in the course of this war as prisoners of war. Instead, it refers to them as "unlawful combatants" not entitled to the protection of the 1949 Geneva Convention, which the U.S. signed and which sets out rules for treating enemy soldiers. It shackles them, houses them in unprotected chain link compounds (in Cuba, of all places) and threatens "intense interrogation." This may be convenient for Washington. But it sets a dangerous precedent for all soldiers who face capture in the so-called war on terrorism, including Canada's. Perhaps it is perverse to have rules for warfare. But the world is a perverse place. And so, since the late 19th century, most nations that call themselves civilized have adhered to such rules. The 1949 Geneva Convention specifies that any belligerents captured in the course of war - be they regular soldiers, militia members or volunteers "operating in or outside their territory even if this territory is occupied" - must be accorded prisoner of war status. The convention exempts only those, such as spies and saboteurs, who do not clearly identify themselves as belligerents. But clearly it was meant to apply to the Taliban and Al Qa'ida fighters captured after vicious battles in Afghanistan, fighters who made no secret of who they were, what they were supporting and who they thought their enemies were. But then, if they were dealt with properly, the U.S. would have less leeway. Under the Geneva Convention, prisoners of war must be treated humanely. Their captors are forbidden from inflicting "outrages upon personal dignity" or "inhumane and degrading treatment." Prisoners of war are not required to give their captors information beyond name, rank and serial number. Under the convention, they must "be quartered under conditions as favourable as those for forces of the detaining power who are billeted in the same area." To be more precise, prisoners of war are not to be treated like those jailed by the U.S. at its Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba. Those detainees, brought shackled, shaved and blindfolded to Cuba, are kept in chain link pens under the constant glare, night and day, of halogen lamps. (The blindfolding, deliberate disorientation, discomfort and constant light are staples of police states all over the world. The idea is to break down the inmate, weaken him from lack of sleep and thereby make him more pliable when the interrogators begin their serious work). Washington is brazen about its flouting of international law, secure in the knowledge that neither its citizens not its allies will complain. Indeed, many Americans (and some Canadians) probably think anyone connected to the Sept. 11 terror attacks deserves whatever he gets. There are, however, a couple of problems with this understandable, if knee-jerk, response. First, it assumes that those selected for Guantanamo are connected to the Sept. 11 attacks. Maybe some are (although the world would have a better idea if the U.S., in line with the Geneva Convention, specified just who it was holding). More likely though, the U.S. is using the broadest of brooms to sweep up detainees for Cuba. American intelligence agencies - doubly embarrassed by their failure to foresee the Sept. 11 attack and their inability to locate Usama Bin Ladin - are probably not picky about who they subject to "intense interrogation." The more fundamental problem, though, has to do with logic. Is the war on terrorism a war or is it not? Many (including me) saw the attacks on New York as a monstrous criminal outrage, rather than an act of war. But President George W. Bush determined otherwise. By treating Sept. 11 as war, Bush was able to call into play the right of self-defence mandated by the United Nations. But if Sept. 11 was an act of war, then it becomes, in a weird way, less monstrous. Both New York City and the Pentagon are legitimate wartime targets - the former economic, the latter military. Anyone waging war on the U.S. would have targeted Manhattan in the hope of damaging the American economy - as the World Trade Center attack did. So if Sept. 11 was an act of war, why are those captured in the aftermath not treated as prisoners of war? It is considered legitimate self-defence for the U.S. and its allies to invade Afghanistan. Why is it not considered equally legitimate for the Afghans and their allies to resist this invasion? These are not abstract questions. Countries sign on to the Geneva Convention not to be altruistic but to ensure that their own soldiers will be well treated if captured. The assumption is that what we do to them will be done to us. Let us hope that, in this instance, the terrible equation does not hold. Document 00100245 ends. The Entrepreneur Is the New Madonna Dear Joe, I know what you mean about being a journalist. Almost every assignment is a challenge in a different way and it never seems to get easier. I often feel as if I only get half the story sometimes, so I typically do a massive amount of reporting that is most often much more than I will ever need. I think that is why I welcomed doing a book--it gives one the ability to use so much of what is left on the cutting room floor of daily journalism. Think of all the good stuff we all collect daily in our reporting that we never add to stories. Most often reporters recount these tales with each other and with their sources rather than share them with the general public. Much of it, of course, using the standards of top newspapers, cannot be used since it is largely gossip we are repeating, although it certainly could make for some very good stories. I often wonder when a really great fictional book will be written about this era (probably decades and decades hence as it is too close). In any case, there certainly is no lack of information available about the moguls of technology now as they all become our current pop icons. I would posit that Bill and Michael and Steve and Jerry have become the Madonnas of the current age of stock market mania and celebration of the entrepreneur. So the shift in the image of Gates has been an interesting one for me to watch. The smart-boy technologist is now being painted as the whiny bully. I personally always thought it was a risk to pin the image of Microsoft on just one man--at AOL, for example, there was a conscious effort to develop other "characters," for lack of a better word. So there, while you think of Case, you also think of Pittman and Leonsis and increasingly a range of other executives. Steve Ballmer, of course, is now getting a lot more attention at Microsoft, but it still seems to be Bill's show over there. While I did not attend the trial--I was lucky to be able to read your highly amusing and informative dispatches, several of which made me spit up my lunch laughing--it certainly seemed as if the image of Bill Gates took a beating and the insular culture of Microsoft did not look so good. That's ironic, since I think it was just that insularity that helped them, much in the same way that AOL has benefited from being in the Virginia suburbs rather than in Silicon Valley. AOL would never have existed if it had been founded here, I am sure, since its employees would have been mocked into obscurity by the digerati. Out in the D.C. area, they looked positively exciting next to all the government-oriented contractors. I wonder if that means geography is destiny, and it's still location, location, location. From where I am sitting, I think the Microsoft trial has been the really obvious turning point between the computer era and the digital age. I think it almost does not matter what the judge does since it's clear that the balance of power is shifting again, although it not clear where it will land. Will the strongman of the era be AOL, AT&T, Microsoft, or one of the big media companies? Or will it be none of them because the Internet allows and encourages a plethora of strong companies and a complex interconnection of businesses where none are allowed to dominate? I always use two simple words when people tell me that one company--whether it is AOL or Microsoft or Disney--is in charge of all our destinies: Babylon was. That incredible empire dominated the world and I imagine it did not seem possible to people living then that anyone could loosen that empire's grip on humanity. But we all know how that story turned out. Now I am getting way too philosophical, but this is my final missive, so why not? Perhaps you could hasten a prediction of where this is all going. As for me, I'll stick with my philosophy of reporting and, I guess, life--nobody knows. Cheers, Kara Document 00100246 ends. As Israeli tanks push their way into one Palestinian population center after another it has become more and more difficult to guess what political objectives might be driving Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. He says he wants to destroy the "infrastructure" behind the suicide attacks against the Israelis. We can understand this as an immediate military objective, but nothing will be achieved by the operation politically. The temporary security it may produce will be lost immediately if the troops are withdrawn. The desperate tableau that has emerged in the last few days is becoming even more dismal, and the administration of President George W. Bush does not appear to have any sort of logical Near East policy. In the past week, the United States has taken a stand in support of the Saudi Arabian peace plan. In the United Nations, it supported [a call for] the removal of Israeli troops from the cities in the occupied areas. Nevertheless, in his subsequent remarks, Bush encouraged Sharon to continue. Suicide attacks do not require an extensive infrastructure. A few kilograms of explosives, a simple detonating fuse, and a desperate hatred are the most important ingredients. The categorical moral condemnation of terrorism is self-evident, but this will not free Israel from the problem it faces. Israeli's own 35-year-old occupation and resettlement policies have created the breeding ground for the terrorism that Sharon is now trying to root out by resorting exclusively to military means. Even if, contrary to all reason, the operation turns out to be successful, the underlying problem would remain the same as before. Israel is responsible for about three million bitter people who lack political rights. The only means of preventing a return to terrorism would be [to launch] a counter-terrorist effort that extends to every village. This would soon erode both what is left of the army's reputation and its military cutting edge. Israel's resettlement policies have been justified on the grounds of security. The last few months have demonstrated that, on the contrary, they have become an extraordinary burden. Traffic to the settlements prevents the effective monitoring of Israel's borders. The high birthrate of the Palestinian population guarantees that it will not be possible to change the population balance of the occupied territories by stepping up resettlement [by the Jewish population]. Since Sharon refuses to offer the Palestinians their own state with acceptable borders and conditions, there are two alternatives left. One would think that no politically prudent Israeli could support either of them. The first would involve continuous occupation and [the development of] an apartheid state similar to South Africa. Terrorism will not be absent from such a country and, in the process, Israel will lose the right to count itself among the world's democracies. The other alternative entails the massive expulsion of the three million Palestinians to neighboring countries with the human and political catastrophe that would accompany this. Sharon, of course, will not admit that he is planning anything like this, even though the idea has been discussed in Israel. The Prime Minister should explain once and for all what third objective he might have for his actions. It is high time for the United States to hurry to offer its assistance. The ingredients for a decision are in large measure in place if they would only be admitted by the two sides. They are the simultaneous ending of the violence and the [Israeli] resettlement policy followed by negotiations on the basis of the recent Saudi Arabian proposal and the earlier results of the talks at Camp David and Taba. By supporting Sharon's irresponsible saber rattling, Washington places strains on its relations with the Arab countries and needlessly puts off a settlement, in which it must some day play the role of midwife. Document 00100247 ends. Rumsfeld Defends U.S. Treatment of Detainees in Cuba WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 - Frustrated by an international outcry over the American treatment of prisoners in Cuba, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld defended the United States' conduct at length today and dismissed the criticism as breathless armchair hyperbole. "I am telling you what I believe in every inch of my body to be the truth, and I have spent a lot of time on secure video with the people down there," he told reporters, referring to the United States naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where 158 prisoners from the war in Afghanistan are being jailed. "I haven't found a single scrap of any kind of information that suggests that anyone has been treated anything other than humanely." Mr. Rumsfeld spoke in an unusual briefing that stretched over an hour in an attempt, he said, to "tap down some of this hyperbole." It was prompted by a rising tide of international criticism after the Defense Department released photographs over the weekend that showed some of the prisoners kneeling before their captors, their legs in shackles, their hands bound in manacles, their mouths covered by surgical masks and their eyes blinded by large goggles with black tape. His comments came as criticism swelled from abroad. Critics said the United States was using sensory deprivation and other psychological control techniques to weaken the prisoners so that interrogations would be more fruitful. The International Committee of the Red Cross, in a rare break with its code of not publicly criticizing detaining governments, said the United States might have violated Geneva Convention rules against making a spectacle of prisoners by distributing the pictures, which were published worldwide. Amnesty International sought access to the prisoners in Guantanamo and said they should be allowed to have lawyers. "Keeping prisoners incommunicado, sensory deprivation, the use of unnecessary restraint and the humiliation of people through tactics such as shaving them are all classic techniques employed to break the spirit of individuals ahead of interrogation," the organization said. Several governments joined the chorus, saying the prisoners should be granted prisoner of war status under the Geneva Convention. Such status would accord them the highest level of protections. Javier Solana, the European Union foreign policy chief, said that despite the Sept. 11 atrocities, "changing our values and our way of life would be terrorism's first victory." The Netherlands also urged Washington to recognize the detainees as prisoners of war, saying, "In the fight, we need to uphold our norms and values." While debate raged elsewhere, Britain and Spain supported the United States. Prime Minister Tony Blair's office said the three British prisoners at the detention center, called Camp X-Ray, "had no complaints about their treatment." Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique said the Spanish government "does not have the slightest doubt regarding the position of the U.S. government." The warden at Camp X-Ray, Col. Terry Carrico, said he was determined at all times to maintain what he called "positive control" over the prisoners. Bill Nash, a retired Army major general and senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, said this amounted to "imposing on them a psychological sense of isolation, domination and futility, and trying to establish the conditions by which you can then reward them for information, as oppose to punish them." Mr. Rumsfeld said it was "probably unfortunate" that the photographs were released, at least without an explanation. He said the prisoners had been photographed in a holding area just before their restraints were removed and they were put in their cages. "If you want to think the worst about things, you can," he said. But he argued that whenever prisoners, especially those who are dangerous and suicidal, are transported, it only makes sense to lock them in restraints. "When they are being moved from place to place, will they be restrained in a way so that they are less likely to be able to kill an American soldier? You bet. Is it inhumane to do that? No. Would it be stupid to do anything else? Yes." It is not clear why the United States has not officially designated the detainees as prisoners of war, especially since Mr. Rumsfeld said they are essentially being treated as such. "They're in legal limbo," said Michael F. Noone, professor of military law at Catholic University. "The United States has to get moving on screening these people and determining whether or not they're P.O.W.'s. There is no explanation for the delay." Mr. Rumsfeld said the Pentagon's clear priority with the prisoners was to extract information from them to prevent future attacks. "These people are committed terrorists," he said. "We are keeping them off the street and out of the airlines and out of nuclear power plants and out of ports across this country and across other countries." And yet, officials at Guantanamo have said that no interrogation has taken place on the base and that the prisoners do not have lawyers. Asked what benefit the United States gets by not classifying the captives as prisoners of war, Mr. Rumsfeld said, "I don't know enough of the legal technicalities to answer your question. I know that the process of gathering the intelligence information has not been concluded." Mr. Rumsfeld said one of the complicating factors was that the Geneva Conventions give protection to prisoners from countries but not from terrorist organizations, like Al Qaeda, to which some of the prisoners apparently belong. "To give standing under a Geneva Convention to a terrorist organization that's not a country is something that I think some of the lawyers who did not drop out of law school as I did worry about as a precedent," he said. Officials have said the prisoners come from a range of countries, - Britain, Yemen, China, Saudi Arabia and Australia among them - and that has also complicated the legal picture. In Los Angeles, a federal district judge questioned today whether he had the authority to consider a challenge to the detention of the prisoners in Cuba. "I have grave doubts about whether I have jurisdiction," said the judge, A. Howard Matz. He spoke at a hearing on a petition filed on Sunday by a group of lawyers, clerics and professors who demand that the detainees be identified, taken before a court and told of the charges against them. Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company Document 00100248 ends. The government is sharpening its newest weapon against white-collar defendants: the power to prevent them from paying their legal bills. And defense lawyers are warning that they won't stick around if they don't get paid. The issue has come to a boil in Newark, N.J., where federal prosecutors have warned lawyers for Eddie Antar that if the founder and former chairman of Crazy Eddie Inc. is indicted, the government may move to seize the money that Mr. Antar is using to pay legal fees. The warning by the U.S. attorney's office follows two decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court last June. In those cases, the high court ruled that federal law gives prosecutors broad authority to seize assets of people accused of racketeering and drug-related crimes, including fees paid to lawyers before an indictment. If the government succeeds in seizing Mr. Antar's assets, he could be left without top-flight legal representation, because his attorneys are likely to quit, according to individuals familiar with the case. A seizure also would make the case the largest -- and one of the first -- in which lawyers' fees have been confiscated in a prosecution unrelated to drugs. "The people who suffer in the short run are defendants, but the people who suffer in the long run are all of the people, because there won't be a vigorous private bar to defend the Bill of Rights," says Gerald Lefcourt, a criminal defense attorney who says he has turned down a number of cases to avoid possible fee seizures. Mr. Antar is being investigated by a federal grand jury in Newark, where prosecutors have told him that they may soon seek an indictment on racketeering and securities fraud charges. Under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law, or RICO, the government has the authority to seek to freeze or seize a defendant's assets before trial. According to individuals familiar with Mr. Antar's case, prosecutors issued their warning this week after one of Mr. Antar's attorneys asked whether legal fees might be subject to seizure. In a letter, prosecutors told Mr. Antar's lawyers that because of the recent Supreme Court rulings, they could expect that any fees collected from Mr. Antar may be seized. Prosecutors have told Mr. Antar's attorneys that they believe Mr. Antar's allegedly ill-gotten gains are so great that any money he has used to pay attorneys derives from illegal activities. Therefore, they said, the money can be taken from the lawyers even after they are paid. Justin Feldman and Jack Arseneault, attorneys for Mr. Antar, both declined to comment on the matter. In Newark, U.S. Attorney Samuel A. Alito said, "I don't think there's any legal reason to limit forfeiture of attorney's fees to drug cases." Mr. Alito said his office "just responded to an attorney's question about whether we would go after attorney's fees, and that is different from actually doing it, although we reserve that right." Mr. Antar was charged last month in a civil suit filed in federal court in Newark by the Securities and Exchange Commission. In that suit, the SEC accused Mr. Antar of engaging in a "massive financial fraud" to overstate the earnings of Crazy Eddie, Edison, N.J., over a three-year period. Through his lawyers, Mr. Antar has denied allegations in the SEC suit and in civil suits previously filed by shareholders against Mr. Antar and others. The SEC has alleged that Mr. Antar aimed to pump up the company's stock price through false financial statements in order to sell his stake and reap huge profits. Mr. Antar, the SEC said, made more than $60 million from the sale of his shares between 1985 and 1987. The Justice Department has emphasized that the government's fee-forfeiture power is to be used sparingly. According to department policy, prosecutors must make a strong showing that lawyers' fees came from assets tainted by illegal profits before any attempts at seizure are made. Still, criminal defense lawyers worry that defendants are being deprived of their Sixth Amendment right to counsel and a fair trial if the government can seize lawyers' fees. They also worry that if the government applies asset-forfeiture laws broadly, the best defense lawyers will be unwilling to take criminal cases unless they are assured of being paid. Document 0010010 ends. Violent protests in Argentina; president Duhalde calls for calm BUENOS AIRES - President Eduardo Duhalde yesterday pleaded for patience as he works on the country's economic crisis. The call came after another night of violent clashes. "We can't solve all of the country's problems in three weeks," he told local radio, hours after tens of thousands of Argentines took to the streets around the country in a pot-banging demonstration. At least 13 people were reported injured in the overnight clashes outside the government palace, known as the Casa Rosada, and dozens of people reportedly were detained. Duhalde, who took office on January 2 as Argentina's fifth president in a month, vowed his government would unveil a new economic program to rescue the country from four years of recession. "I only ask of all Argentines one thing: keep up the hope," Duhalde said. "I'm only here for two years, and my promise is that at the end of my term, I'll leave the country back on track. Daily protests have engulfed Argentina: Popular rage has boiled over against Duhalde's decision to devalue the peso by more than 30 percent and further tighten a banking freeze that has locked most Argentines' savings into bank accounts. The beleaguered president made no mention of the widely despised banking freeze that has presented a nettlesome challenge to his three-week-old administration: how to give Argentines their savings back without prompting an all-out collapse of the financial system. The banking curbs were put in place December 1 by then-president Fernando De la Rua to halt a run on the banks. But after the devaluation of the peso, many banks say they simply don't have the money to return to depositors. Late Friday night, Argentines' impatience peaked, and Duhalde faced the second and most widespread protest since he assumed the presidency after similar protests forced his predecessors from office. Under a driving rain, more than 10,000 Argentines banged pots and pans in the Plaza de Mayo to protest the banking freeze, shouting insults at the country's political leaders, the Supreme Court, and banks - all of whom the Argentines blame for plunging the country into its worst economic crisis in decades. Thousands more crowded street corners and downtown streets in cities around the country, including Mar del Plata, Cordoba, Mendoza, Rosario and Salta. The protest marked the first organized protest, led by labor and neighborhood groups who also called for the protest via e-mail and the Internet. But what began as a peaceful protest in downtown Buenos Aires, later turned violent as riot police riding on motorcycles used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse hundreds of peaceful demonstrators. Rock-throwing youths responded as the rally wound down. Demonstrators lingered in the streets for hours early yesterday before crowds began melting away before dawn. "Get out! Get out!" people chanted, venting their anger at Duhalde's government. artWriter(hight): objectSubHeader(position): objectHeader(hlayer1): objectArtTitle(hlang): --> if (document.layers) document.write("") --> @ CopyRight 2002 Ha'aretz. All Rights Reserved. Document 0010011 ends. For 10 days, the second Belgian astronaut will get to the International Space Station [ISS] on board the brand new Russian Soyuz TMA-1 space ship. On Thursday [29 November] the Belgian Government formally committed itself, vis-a-vis its Russian and European partners (the European Space Agency [ESA]), to pay Frank De Winne's ticket into space. The highway to the stars is looking radiant for the Belgian "cosmonaut." The formal agreement regarding Frank De Winne's flight with the Russians was signed in Brussels on Thursday by Charles Picque, the Minister for Science Policy, and his government commissioner Yvan Ylieff. The document, a letter sent to both the ESA (European Space Agency, to which Frank De Winne currently reports) and the Russian Rosaviacosmos space agency, guaranteed the payment by Belgium of the expenses tied to this space trip. So on 4 November 2002, that is to say, in a little less than one year, the second Belgian to reach space will take off from the Baikonor cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on board a brand new Soyuz space ship: the TMA-1. It is a ship that is more modern and bigger than the current Soyuzes. On it Frank De Winne will serve as the on-board engineer. So he will be the second most qualified crew member on board, behind the on-board comander, who still needs to be appointed by the Russian space authorities. This appointment is not expected for a few weeks. So, if that should prove necessary, De Winne will be able to personally pilot the space ship. This is a first on a "TMA," which attests to the confidence the Russian and European partners have put in him. An example? In Brussels on Wednesday [28 November], the French astronaut Claudie Haignere, who had just completed a flight in space together with the Russians that in every way was identical to the one scheduled for De Winne, could not find enough praise for our fellow citizen, with whom she trained for several months in Moscow. "Frank worked at Star City with much intensity. In several weeks, he learned the indispensable bases of the Russian language. He is making appreciable efforts to meet the other foreign cosmonauts who are in training there and share his experiences. His dynamism is an asset. People there are really unanimous about him," she told us. "This assessment confirms us in our choices," a delighted Ylieff said. Some Particularly Financial Choices As is known, Frank De Winne's taxi flight lasting about 10 days comes with a price tax: some 600 million [Belgian] francs (15.5 million euros). This is an amount that Belgian yesterday pledged to pay to Russia. An initial segment of 2.5 million euros (Frank's training costs) will reportedly be paid in the next few days. Several avenues have been explored to collect the overall amount. The latest, and also undoubtedly the most logical, is internal to the SSTC, the federal Scientific, Technical, and Cultural Services, which, in particular, manage the country's space budgets. The sum in question will come from the SSTC's space budgets and be deducted in several years (two or three). The SSTC's overall budget will not suffer from this. Nor will the space sector's in particular. Cancellation Insurance "Budgets will remain constant," explained Eric Beka, the SSTC's secretary general. The sums obtained will result from the assignment of a portion of the space budget to this mission (and its many related scientific fall-outs) rather than to other optional programs. In a word, De Winne's ticket into space has been financed. And his "parachute" too. "Since there is no other Belgian astronaut at the ESA who is capable of replacing Frank De Winne for this mission if it suddenly proved impossible for him to carry it out, we are also expecting to take out 'travel insurance' for our 'cosmonaut,'" Yvan Ylieff also said. "This should insure that we can recover the sums involved, that in the prospect of another space trip." One million euros will be devoted to this "cancellation" insurance. About 10 years ago, Dirk Frimout was the first Belgian astronaut to go into earth orbit. That was with the US Atlantis shuttle. In a few weeks the second Belgian to go up there will don a Russian cosmonaut's space suit. It will be a mission that will be rich in promises. De Winne will thus qualify technically in space piloting. He will become one of the best elements in the corps of European astronauts. In addition, he will carry the projects of Belgian scientists and industrialists active in the space sector far. As Picque emphasized, "for many years, each franc invested by Belgium in space has brought in three francs." Who said that space investments were not interesting? Document 0010012 ends. This is an employment contract between AL QAEDA and a potential recruit. It contains a definition of AL QAEDA organization, and six main points: 1-Duties. 2-Holidays. 3-Salaries and Travel tickets. 4-Advice. 5-Reward and Punishment. 6-Pledge. In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. (T.C: verse from the Koran) AL QAEDA: An Islamic group with an aim of Jihad. Carrying out Jihad is the main reason the members of AL-QAEDA have gathered , together with performing the different duties of Islam as much as possible, shouldering together the duty of Jihad and preparing the efficient duties during conflicts. Its belief: The faith of Sunna and Jama'a (group) in general, and in detail following the example of the worthy ancestors. Objectives of AL QAEDA: Support God's religion, establishment of Islamic rule, and restoration of the Islamic Caliphate, God willing. AL QAEDA's sphere of activity : International and transitional according to AL QAEDA's policy. Requirements of joining AL QAEDA: 1 -Abiding by AL QAEDA rules, its beliefs and objectives as previously mentioned. 2 -Obedience to the leaders in charge as much as possible, without disobeying Islamic rules. 3 -No connection between AL QAEDA membership and any other Islamic group. 4 -Maintain secrecy in work-related issues. 5- Physically healthy (except in administrative work) 6-The candidate should not be in question when it comes to religion, integrity or his morality. 7-Reciting the pledge of AL-QAEDA. AL-QAEDA's Regulations and Instructions: First: Duties 1- Preserving the unity of AL QAEDA is an important and legitimate goal, which occurs by fearing God in private as well as in public. (Surat 65, 5). This is fulfilled through humbleness and flexibility towards the brothers and the rest of the Muslims, good manners, rejection of disputes, and mutual agreement and settlement of differences. (TC: Koranic verse). 2- Preserving Islamic morals and avoiding means of corruption and bad companions, through verification and confirmation of news. (T.C: Koranic verse) To observe good conduct and filial piety even if they were infidels. 3- Adherence to eating Islamic Halal food (T.C: Koranic verse). 4- Maintaining physical fitness and military exercises as much as possible. 5-Do not talk about work assigned by AL-QAEDA with others, even if they are AL-QAEDA members. The only person you can discuss work with is your direct commander (Amir), unless you are asked to do otherwise or if your work demands participation of others, and then through guidance of the leadership. 6-The call to adhere to Islam in general, and spreading the concept of Jihad specifically, starts with relatives and friends. (T.C: Koranic verse)You may not be able to do this, if your work demands extreme secrecy, like Naeem IBn Mas'uud (May God bless him). 7-Safeguard AL-QAEDA's general funds and do not mishandle these funds. (Albukhairi) 8-Sincerity in providing advice to commanders and to your brethren in AL-QAEDA, without harboring deception. Second: Vacations (T.C: Koranic verse) 1-The married have a vacation by rotation for a week every three weeks, and in certain cases AL-QAEDA may deny this vacation for four months. 2-A bachelor can have a vacation by rotation for five days every month. ALQAEDA may deny his request for vacation in certain cases. 3-Request for vacation travel should be submitted two and a half months before the travel date. The request would only be considered if it had been submitted in a timely manner as indicated, except in special cases. Third: Salaries and tickets (T.C: Koranic verse) 1- The salary of a married Mujahed brother is 6500 Pakistani Rupee, and 500 Rupee for every newborn. 2 Salary of the bachelor Mujahed is 1000 Pakistani Rupee 3- The bachelor Mujahed qualifies for a round trip ticket to his country after one year from joining the organization. He can take a one month vacation. He doesn't get reimbursed if the ticket is not used, but he has the right to change it to a ticket to perform the pilgrimage. This period starts from the date of joining AL-QAEDA. 4-The married Mujahed and his family qualify for round trip tickets to their country of origin after two years, and one month vacation. Tickets can not be reimbursed if unused. 5-The brother who wants to leave AL-QAEDA without a legitimate excuse does not qualify for financial assistance or any of the previously mentioned privileges . Fourth: Reward and Punishment ( T.C: Koranic verse) And accordingly: 1- AL-QAEDA missions and its different plans proceed according to Islamic law provision. 2- Disputes related to AL-QAEDA missions between member brethren should be judged by qualified personnel, which is carried out by the immediate commander (Amir) of the conflicting parties. He must inform the officials to settle the matter. 3- Personal disputes between member brethren could be judged by qualified members of AL- QAEDA or outsiders. Corrupted courts should not judge the matter. All members commanders as well as subordinates must obey these rules. Fifth: Advice A- Maintain provision of legitimate justice, and justice is the establishing the human's behavior in religion. Two points are considered: 1-Piety in religion: Perform religious duties according to certain supererogatory exercises of devotion. Avoid the forbidden, one should abstain from great or minor sins. 2-Practising chivalry: One should adopt whatever makes him look good and avoid what degrades him. (T.C: Koranic verse), (Abu Aldara'). B- Exert your utmost and every conceivable effort for the sake of achieving the rightful objectives of ALQAEDA. (T.C: Koranic verse) The sign of truth is: 1-Your effort in serving your religion is greater than the effort exerted in your worldly matters and your family. (T.C: Koranic verse), (Albukhari). 2-Your effort in serving your religion should be greater than the effort exerted by the infidels to support their lies . C- Thorough study of legal curricula, and utilizing time in doing this, and thereby providing the Muslim brother with an Islamic vision for contemporary events. Knowledge without work is a burden on the person, and knowledge without work is useless. D- If you are a specialist in any field, then you have to master your specialization. If you could serve the objectives of AL-QAEDA through your specialization, than inform your leadership of that. E- The brethren are advised to avoid disagreement and argument in religion, discussing religion without proper knowledge is prohibited , and questions of differences are referred to powerful knowledgeable leaders. (Suraat Alnissa') Six: The pledge Its legitimacy and its purpose: The legitimacy of the pledge: Pledges among Muslims concerning obedience and permissibility is legitimate and conceivable so that every party trusts the other. (Suraat Yuseef) So if a Muslim vows to do something, he must fulfill it. (Suraat Annahl) The purpose of the pledge: Matters subject to pledge are either legitimate or permissible duties, legitimate duties like Jihad and obedience to leaders is first in importance. A legitimate duty for a Muslim and a pledge conforms what is a duty by law, and it is a duty even if it is not subject to a pledge. According to what has been previously mentioned, than AL-QAEDA secures the pledge of its followers, which includes commitment to its policies and objectives preceded by the commander's (Amir) pledge. I pledge by God's creed to become a Muslim soldier to support God's religion, and may God 's word be the most supreme. I pledge to adhere to the holy book and Assuna and commit to the brothers committed with us in this mission, so God is my witness. An oath from the Mujahed brother: In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful. I vow by God's creed to obey those responsible in this mission, in thick and thin, and thereupon may God 's word be most supreme. By supporting God's religion, I am a warrior in this mission regardless of my position, as long as the work is existing. I have to preserve the secrecy of work in AL-QAEDA , so God is my witness. Seven: Breaking the pledge The sin of the Breaker of the pledge (Suraat Alraa'd) (Albukhari) (Fath Albari 418/4) Our last prayer is to thank God the creator of the universe. Document 0010013 ends. Stop the circus 1/24/02 1:26:16 AM (GMT +2) A YEAR after gently attempting to nudge Zimbabwe's government into embracing minimum conditions that allow for a free and fair presidential election, several local and international groups find themselves back to square one, unable to move the Harare authorities even an inch. Several diplomatic missions from organisations such as the European Union (EU), the Commonwealth, the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and Africa's powerhouse Nigeria have come and gone from Harare empty-handed. So have been attempts by Zimbabwe's civic bodies such as the Crisis Group, the National Constitutional Assembly, well-meaning churches such as the Roman Catholics and even the so-called National Economic Consultative Forum. In their own ways, these groups have sought dialogue rather than confrontation to prod President Robert Mugabe to see reason and put his nation first and not to embark on the suicidal path that he has chosen. Predictably, their advice has fallen on stones because, whatever their suggestions, Mugabe could not care less, interested only in retaining power at any cost. With the presidential election only a month away, all these organisations appear not only to have grown too tired of insisting on their initial demands, but of actually scaling them back, frustrated that no one is listening. For example, most of these groups have long urged the formation of an independent electoral commission to take charge of the preparations and conduct of the ballot, but are now reluctantly willing to accommodate Mugabe's partisan Electoral Supervisory Commission. These bodies have long called for the deployment of independent election observers, both Zimbabwean and international, and yet none are in place even a few weeks before the polls. What is clear - if this was not so obvious all along to some of these organisations - is that nothing whatsoever will deter Mugabe from doing anything and everything to claim victory in the ballot, however fraudulent. Therefore the time to stop this tragic circus - many would say madness - is either now or never. For the EU and the Commonwealth, which are due to meet shortly, they should realise that they are running out of meaningful options to influence the course of events in Zimbabwe. Even by the EU's own submissions just two weeks ago, its international observers - and not pliant ones handpicked by the government to validate a sham - should have been on the ground by now, but the 15-nation bloc is still talking to Harare! What is the point of engaging in dialogue with a government that is only interested in buying time while it fervently escalates a campaign of bludgeoning its citizens in the hope of frightening voters into supporting Mugabe? What is South African President Thabo Mbeki's point when he says the SADC must ensure that Zimbabwe has a free election when, as he knows, nothing practical is being done by the regional body to ensure that Mugabe indeed complies? Either the EU and the SADC - as indeed all others - take meaningful action now that will move the Harare authorities or they forever hold their peace. For example, the EU and the SADC - as all others - must refuse to send observers if these are not allowed to be on the ground by the end of this week or early next week at the very latest. It follows therefore that all these groups must reject in advance the fraud that is being staged under the guise of an election, unless Mugabe urgently meets all the minimum conditions that allow for a semblance of a free and fair ballot. And as all must now know - Mbeki included - Mugabe has no chance at all of winning any ballot that is free from intimidation and violence, notwithstanding his desperate last-minute act to try to buy votes using the hurried land reforms. Document 0010014 ends. July 30, 1999 Dear Name: Question What do you get in 987,165 hours with 291people in 15 locations? Answer 34,700 opportunities to change a life! This is exactly what happened in 1997 when Community Centers of Indianapolis provided its comprehensive, neighborhood-based services to individuals and families all over Marion County. And we can do even more in 1999 with your financial support! Just look at the range of services we offer: 70,0001 career assistance for youth Preschool for young children School Age Child Care for and children and youth Access services such as emergency and holiday assistance for all ages Adult Day Care for seniors Senior Case Management Aids Education for youth and adults Senior Social Involvement Computer Training for youth, adults and seniors Senior Nutrition meal program Day Care for young children Social Development and Recreation for children, youth and adults. HIPPY (Home Instructional Program for Preschool Youngsters) for families. Stopover crises counseling for youth. In Home Services for adults and seniors. Transportation for youth and seniors CCI is a federation of 13 neighborhood-based multi-service centers (plus one affiliate) whose mission is to identify and meet the human service needs of the greater Indianapolis community in the most effective, efficient and comprehensive way possible. Better yet, most of these services occur in cooperation with private and public agencies from all over the city - CICOA The Access Network, Goodwill Industries, Indianapolis Housing Agency, City of Indianapolis, Indianapolis Private Industry Council, Family and Social Services administration, OTC, Indy Parks, and numerous community development corporations, neighborhood organizations, and churches, to name just a few. More than 34,000 people benefited from our services in 1997, and the final count for 1998 could be even higher. We're asking for a contribution in the amount of because you can't got a better bang for your buck than to support an organization that impacts so many lives in so many ways. Your gift will enable CCI to provide these and other necessary services at a neighborhood level, face-to-face, where it counts. Please, make a tax deductible gift to Community Centers of Indianapolis in 1999, and know that COMPANY is playing an important part in meeting the needs of its community. If you have any questions, please feel free to give us a call at 638-3360. We thank you for your consideration, and look forward to hearing from you. Sincerely, Earline S. Moore President Valery De Long Director of Development Document 0010015 ends. Canadian to join Endeavour crew SubHead: Steve MacLean will 'ride and fly' Canadarm 2 Author: Rick Mofina OTTAWA - An Ottawa-born physicist will be the next Canadian in space. Allan Rock, the Industry Minister, announced yesterday that Steve MacLean, 47, has been assigned to fly aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in April, 2003. The flight will be his second time in space. He flew onboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in 1992. Dr. MacLean will join the Endeavour crew for the 10-day mission to complete the next stage of assembling the International Space Station. He will join other astronauts in four spacewalks to add trusses to the station and deploy additional solar panels. Two Russians are also among the six-member crew. Canadarm 2, a crane-like device attached to the station, will be used to its fullest extent when Dr. MacLean moves a communication aerial from one end of the craft to the other. "I cannot tell you how pleasing it is to my own ears to hear me say that during my mission I'm going to ride and fly Canadarm 2," said Dr. MacLean. In May, Dr. MacLean will be working at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, during the next shuttle shot to the station. As capsule communicator, Dr. MacLean will relay information between the shuttle crew and Mission Control during flights. Dr. MacLean tugged a red Canadian Olympic hockey shirt over his blue astronaut flight suit yesterday, telling reporters he wanted to get several more for the rest of the Canadian control crew to wear while working on the mission in May. But Marc Garneau, the head of Canada's Space Agency, said how many more international astronauts will follow Dr. MacLean into space is an issue Canada and other nations are facing after the U.S. said last year it will reduce the scope of the space station program. "There will be an impact starting probably in 2004," Dr. Garneau said, adding that the U.S. cuts mean reduced scientific experiments and reduced shuttle flights. Dr. Garneau pointed to the station's rescue vehicle as a key example of the program's reduction. The space station's emergency rescue ship to return the crew is a Russian Soyuz spacecraft that can only accommodate three crew members. U.S. budgetary problems means plans to build a larger craft have been halted. Space agencies from Russia, Japan, Europe and Canada, partners in the space station program, will meet in March to discuss their concerns over its future. "The pressure at this point is to try and get our American colleagues to live up to the obligation that is embodied in the inter-governmental agreements we all signed,"said Dr. Garneau, Canada's first astronaut.When it is fully constructed, the space station's lifespan is 20 years, so it is vital to enlarge the size of the crew, Dr. Garneau said. Construction of the space station began in the mid-1980s. "The clock is ticking. It [the station] has a limited lifetime,"said Dr. Garneau. "So it's very important for us to get back up to that crew size of six or seven. I'm confident that we're going to find a way around it. At the moment it's a challenge." Copyright @ 2002 National Post Online | Document 0010016 ends. ZANU PF readies for war By Basildon Peta Special Projects Editor 10/18/01 9:43:45 PM (GMT +2) ZIMBABWE is amassing huge quantities of arms and ammunition using two African allies in preparation for next year's crucial presidential election, it has been established. Financial Gazette investigations in the past one-and-a-half months have revealed that the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Namibia are helping Zimbabwe circumvent an international arms embargo to buy huge quantities of guns and bullets for next year's ballot. The arms embargo was imposed on Harare last year by Europe and the United States on President Robert Mugabe's government because of its appalling human rights record. The investigations show that Zimbabwe is importing and massing an assortment of guns at army bases around the country in preparation for the poll, which is expected to be violent. Most of the guns have been arriving secretly at Suri Suri airbase in Chegutu before they are distributed to other military bases and some will be sent to farms where self-styled war veterans have established bases to intimidate voters. The bulk of the weapons have arrived from the DRC in that country's military cargo plane. The weapons consist of a significant portion of French-made guns, most of which top government sources say will be distributed to war veterans who are central to the ruling ZANU PF party's re-election strategy in the presidential poll. The sources say Zimbabwe, after the massive depletion of its armoury because of its participation in the three-year-old DRC war, has been finding it extremely difficult to replenish its arms stocks because its traditional and cheaper arms suppliers in Europe are refusing to sell it arms. This had forced the army to implement some unpalatable measures, including the grounding of most of its entire fleet of Hawk fighter aircraft due to Britain's refusal to sell spare parts. Virtually all European Union member states have severed ties with Zimbabwe and imposed an arms embargo on the country. "Although we can still buy a number of arms from countries like Russia and China, a greater part of our fairly priced weapons, ammunition and spares have been sourced from mainly European countries like Britain, Sweden, France and others over the years. We can no longer buy arms from Europe at the moment because of the problems here," said a top Ministry of Defence source. "We have been left with no alternative but to buy some weapons via our allies in the DRC who have access to some of these European weapons that we have preference for." Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi declined to comment on the allegations of sanctions busting and the massing of guns at army bases around the country. "Just avoid that one for now. I am not going to comment on that one," Sekeramayi said yesterday before immediately cutting off his telephone. Asked why weapons of French origin were finding their way into Zimbabwe in an interview last month, Jerome Sautier, the first counsellor at the French embassy in Harare, and Lieutenant Colonel Dault, the defence attache, said France was not selling any arms to Zimbabwe. The two said they had no knowledge of the arrival of French arms in the country but said France sold arms to several African countries which could in turn re-sell them to other countries. They said they did not know whether this was the case with Zimbabwe. "In Africa, we have military relationships with many countries. We have, for instance, sold arms to many French-speaking countries. These arms can in turn be re-sold by those other countries," said Sautier, adding that there was also the possibility of illegal arms trafficking outside the authority of the French government. The first secretary at the Namibian High Commission in Harare, Mati Jose, said he had no knowledge of Namibia helping Zimbabwe to bust the arms embargo while the DRC's ambassador to Zimbabwe Mawapanga Mwanananga could not be reached for comment. Authoritative military sources said the army will be training and arming war veterans to ensure that Mugabe is re-elected in the ballot which must be held by the end of March. A number of bases have been established for the war veterans throughout Zimbabwe, particularly in those areas which did not have army camps. The sources said the war veterans will operate from these bases, their main objective being to make it impossible for the MDC to campaign in rural areas. Opposition supporters would also be harassed and ejected out of the rural areas to disable them from voting in their constituencies. A number of war veterans have in fact already been armed. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said in a statement that ZANU PF supporters who smashed MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai's vehicle and thwarted his planned meeting with his party's structures in Sanyati last week were armed with guns. A senior government official said: "I sympathize with those who want change in the presidential elections but judging by the groundwork that ZANU PF is doing to deal with the opposition, I am afraid to say that I don't see that change coming." Document 0010017 ends. GOODY PRODUCTS Inc. cut its quarterly dividend to five cents a share from 11.5 cents a share. The reduced dividend is payable Jan. 2 to stock of record Dec. 15. The Kearny, N.J.-based maker of hair accessories and other cosmetic products said it cut the dividend due to its third-quarter loss of $992,000, or 15 cents a share. In the year-ago quarter, the company reported net income of $1.9 million, or 29 cents a share. The company also adopted an anti-takeover plan. Document 0010018 ends. Chinese space exploration: When will a Chinese cosmonaut fly into space? Shenzhou-3 orbited the Earth 108 times, and successfully landed on the targeted site in inner Mongolia: the Chinese space program is developing. The 47th congress of the International Federation of Astronautics that took place six years ago in Beijing was remarkable for the large number of cosmonauts who participated. There was even an Austrian there, but the country who organized the forum, the third country on the rating of space explorers, was not represented. This can partially be explained with the third position on the rating. A Czech, Austrian, Bulgarian, or a Dutch citizen is not entitled to give the command "Go!" like Yury Gagarin did if they are only guests on the Russian Soyuz station or American Shuttle. China will not agree to put its citizens on a foreign spaceship, as it must launch its own space vehicle from its own cosmodrome. Mao Tse-tung was passionate about this idea. Here is an interesting detail from his unpublished "Moscow speech" that was delivered to Chinese students studying in Russia. Mao Tse-tung mentioned the fact of the recent Soviet launch of the first ever satellite, weighing 70 kilos; then he turned to the Chinese ambassador and asked him: "Do you weigh 70 kilos, ambassador Liu Xiao? "A bit less than that," was the answer. "There you see! The Soviet Union can launch ambassador Liu Xiao into space! America cannot do it so far." Was it only the wish of socialist propaganda in those words? That speech was delivered on November 15, 1957, and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China authorized its rocket production program a year before that, in October of 1956 (on Mao Tse-tung's initiative). The specialized Fifth Institute of the Defense Ministry was established for that purpose. Two years ago, in October of 1955, Beijing received a person with the reputation of the "Chinese Korolev" Qian Xuesen, who came to China from the USA, where he had settled after graduating from Shanghai university, so it would be better to call him "Chinese von Broun." Xuesen continued his studies at California Technical University, having obtained a Doctor of Astronautics degree, and, as the say, the title of US Air Force colonel. He then was employed at a US Air Force rocket engine lab and succeeded there. In the summer of 1950, he made an attempt to move to Beijing. FBI agents caught him and his wife at the airport of Los Angeles, as well as luggage that contained 896 pounds of books and records. Xuesen was released only after five years only, after the "quarantine" during which he was not allowed access to the secret information. Xuesen became the supervisor of the research works in the field, but the Chinese spaceships of the Shenzhou type looked like the Russian Soyuz, specialists say. At the same time, when the Chinese von Broun managed to reach China, there were other bearers of fresher secrets there from the country, which could "launch ambassador Liu Xiao into space." The Chinese students who graduated from Russian universities and Soviet experts of nuclear and missile technologies. The "elder brother" (the Chinese people used to call the Soviet Union this) was not against helping the "younger brother" in the field of modernization. By the time of Mao Tse-tung's "Moscow speech," the Chinese were actively searching for a site for their rocket range. The committee of the competent departments prepared seven variants with the help of Soviet experts. The choice was made for a site in the Gobi Desert. The construction of the Jiuquan cosmodrome was started there; it was put into operation at the end of 1958. China's three (unmanned) spaceships were launched into space from there: Shenzhou-1 was launched on November 20, 1999; it stayed in the orbit for about 24 hours, having orbited the Earth 14 times. Shenzhou-2 blasted off on January 10, 2001, staying about a week in the orbit, having flown 108 times around the planet. Shenzhou-3 (blasted off on March 25) stayed in space for the same period of time, with the same number of circuits around the Earth. The current goal is to examine the module and its contents (like in the first two cases). However, it is evident now that China has reliable rocket systems; it has mastered the art of space navigation and soft landing of a spaceship. China knows how to build its own spaceships, and there are people who can become cosmonauts. Their training is in full swing (Russia is reportedly participating). As China's experts believe, there should be at least four test unmanned flights performed before they can launch a man into space. Therefore, the "Chinese Gagarin" will probably say "Go!" no later than 2005. China is also working on programs for Chinese cosmonauts to fly to the Moon, as well as a space station. Andrey Krushinsky Copyright @1999 by " Pravda.RU ". When reproducing our materials in whole or in part, reference to Pravda.RU should be made. The opinions and views of the authors do not always coinside with the point of view of PRAVDA.Ru's editors. Document 0010019 ends. Savin Corp. reported a third-quarter net loss of $35.2 million, or 31 cents a share, compared with year-earlier profit of $3.8 million, or one cent a share. A spokesman for the Stamford, Conn.based company said operations had a loss of $5.5 million for the quarter; in addition, the loss was magnified by nonrecurring charges totaling $23.5 million and $8.2 million in asset-valuation adjustments that he described as "unusual." The charges were partly offset by a $2 million gain on the sale of investments of two joint ventures, he said. Revenue declined 8% to $85.7 million, from $93.3 million a year earlier. Savin cited "a general softening in the demand for office products in the market segments in which Savin competes." Document 00100110 ends. KABUL, Feb 10 (AFP) - Interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai is to travel to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, completing visits to the three countries that recognized the Taliban regime before September 11. Kabul announced the Afghan embassy in Islamabad would reopen next week after Karzai's historic fence-mending visit to Pakistan on Friday. He has also made an official trip to Saudi Arabia. In another step to heal festering wounds, Karzai on Saturday pardoned 350 captured Taliban soldiers, saying they were "innocent" and part of a general amnesty that allowed foot-soldiers to go free. But the Afghan interim government branded Mullah Abdul Wakil Mutawakel, the Taliban foreign minister who surrendered to US forces in Kandahar Friday, as a war criminal who should be put on trial. Taliban leaders "created misery for our people. The world has suffered because of what they did ... They deserve justice and to be treated as war criminals because they supported terrorism," Interim Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah said. One of the closest aides to reclusive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, he is seen as a potential source of crucial evidence against Omar and bin Laden, the chief suspect of the September 11 terror attacks who has eluded a US-led manhunt so far. The United States meanwhile brought another 34 al-Qaeda and Taliban captives to a detention camp on a US naval base on Cuba Saturday, bringing the total of detainees held there to 220. The new arrivals were dressed in standard-issue zippered orange jumpsuits. Because each was bound and shackled, the blue jackets they wore on the 27-hour flight were removed by scissors-wielding US troops as the prisoners descended from the plane into the tropical heat. In Geneva the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it and Washington were at odds over Washington's decision not to recognise captured Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters as prisoners of war. "There are divergent views between the US and the ICRC on the procedures which apply on how to determine that the persons detained are not entitled to prisoner of war status," the ICRC said in a statement. "The US and the ICRC will pursue their dialogue on this issue." US President George W. Bush decided Thursday that the 1949 Geneva Conventions would apply to captured Taliban fighters taken from Afghanistan to a US military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, but not to al-Qaeda members there. However, Washington said that neither group would be accorded prisoner of war status. Concern also continued over signs that the US was expanding its war on terror to other countries. While taking care to avoid directly criticizing Bush, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said it was unrealistic to see the world in terms of good and evil states. In an interview published by the Swiss daily newspaper Blick on Saturday, Annan was asked about Bush's statement describing Iran, Iraq and North Korea as part of an "axis of evil." Annan said, without specifically mentioning the US: "You can not divide the world between the good and the evil, because between them there are shades of gray." EU commissioner Chris Patten, also speaking in a newspaper interview, accused Bush's administration of a dangerously "absolutist and simplistic" stance. It was time European governments spoke up and stopped Washington before it went into "unilateralist overdrive", he told the British newspaper The Guardian. In Ottawa, the Group of Seven industrialized nations called for intensified efforts to freeze terrorist financing and reported that at least 100 million dollars had been frozen since September 11. "Significant results have already been achieved," said the final communique of finance ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. "Since September 11, almost 150 countries and jurisdictions have issued orders to freeze terrorist assets and over 100 million dollars has been frozen worldwide," it said after the two-day gathering in Ottawa and in nearby Quebec. In another sign of progress in cracking terrorist networks, court sources in Paris said an Islamic militant under investigation for an alleged plot to attack the French city of Strasbourg had admitted meeting two other terrorist suspects at a training camp in Afghanistan. Yacine Akhnouche, arrested Monday, told police he had met suspected shoe bomber Richard Reid and Zacarias Moussaoui at a training camp in Afghanistan in 2000, during one of several stays in the country. Moussaoui, a Frenchman of Moroccan descent, is the first person charged in connection with the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington. Reid, a British national, was arrested after allegedly trying to light a fuse attached to explosives in his shoes while on a Paris to Miami flight on December 22. Karzai meanwhile continued to wrestle with security problems as rival warlords tried to fill the power vacuum left by the fall of the Taliban. On Saturday he met representatives of two warlords who clashed violently last week over who should be governor in eastern Paktia province. "This is a very serious matter and Karzai wanted himself to be involved in finding a solution," Deputy Border Affairs Minister Mirza Ali told AFP. Fifty people were killed in a two-day battle when Karzai's appointed governor, Padsha Khan, sent his forces to secure the governor's house in the provincial capital Gardez. They were driven out by rival warlord Saif Ullah, who has refused to give up power. Karzai has blamed Khan for the fighting and said it was "one more reason why we should finish warlordism in this country." The clash has called into question Karzai's ability to govern beyond the Kabul area and bolstered his appeal for the deployment of more international troops in his country. The search for kidnapped US journalist Daniel Pearl stretched into its 18th day in Pakistan with no sign of the Wall Street Journal correspondent, who was abducted while researching a story on Islamic militancy. Document 00100111 ends. ["Opinion" U.S. Human Rights Claims Only Empty Rhetoric] The U.S. State Department on Monday published its annual report on the status of human rights in other countries in the year 2001. In this report, when referring to Iran, the United States repeated its allegations against the Islamic Republic but failed to provide any evidence in support of its baseless charges. Among the unfounded allegations was the claim that the Islamic Republic enjoys no social base and is an unpopular system because of its human rights violations. However, the massive participation of millions of Iranians in the grand rallies on Feb. 11 to mark the anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution and defy U.S. threats against this country once again revealed the emptiness of U.S. charges against Iran. It is quite clear that such baseless accusations are only made to tarnish the image of Iran, since it follows an independent policy and refuses to bow to U.S. domination. It is interesting that the U.S. State Department's annual global human rights report came this year at a time when Washington itself is being sharply criticized by most countries and international human rights organizations for the killing of a large number of innocent civilians in Afghanistan and the torture and inhuman treatment of the Taleban and Al-Qaeda prisoners at its military base at Guantanamo Bay. Indeed, the U.S Administration, which claims to advocate international human rights issues and which tries to play the role of a world policeman, is actually condoning the most atrocious human rights violations committed in the United States itself. The ugliest crimes are perpetrated against inmates in U.S. prisons, and the mistreatment of ethnic minorities by the U.S. police is so appalling that on several occasions it has led to massive riots. For instance, a bloody riot was ignited in Cincinnati when an Afro-American youth was shot dead for no reason by police officers. Although the United States claims to advocate human rights, its harsh treatment of its own citizens and its hegemonic and belligerent policy towards other nations prove that the claim is just empty rhetoric. Document 00100112 ends. Zimbabwe vote a test of patience HARARE AND RUSHINGA, ZIMBABWE - Martha's neighbors know her as a high-ranking district official of Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF Party, the woman who drills local children each Friday in the party doctrine. But in her heart, the 38-year-old widow supports the opposition and keeps a Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) membership card hidden in a cooking pot. "We just want someone who can give us food, hospitals, school fees. A better life," says Martha, explaining why she voted for MDC candidate Morgan Tsvangirai. There are many Marthas here, people who marched to ZANU-PF anthems and cheered President Robert Mugabe at rallies, while secretly planning to vote for Mr. Tsvangirai. "People pretend to be ZANU-PF because they are afraid. They wear the T-shirts and go to the rallies, but inside, they don't believe," she says. After months of fear and intimidation, Zimbabweans streamed to the polls this weekend in record numbers to cast their votes in the country's first contested election since independence 22 years ago. Many arrived at overburdened polling stations in the early hours of the morning and waited in the hot sun for the entire day without food. "You see this tarred road and this grass? That was my bed," says Janet, a Harare secretary, who waited for more than 27 hours at a polling station in the impoverished Harare suburb of Kuwadzana. "I wanted to go home, but I have to vote," she says. "This is a crucial presidential election. This is our future." Even as voters went to the polls over the weekend, the intimidation and attempts at rigging continued. The government slashed the number of polling stations in urban areas where the MDC is favored, while boosting the number in rural ruling-party strongholds. In Kuwadzana, there were seven polling stations for about 55,000 people. Rural Bindura had 41 polling stations for a smaller number of people. Now the country's 5.6 million voters are waiting anxiously for the results of the poll to be announced, although the voting, which was supposed to end Sunday, may stretch on for days. The question foremost in the minds of most Zimbabweans is whether attempts to rig the election through voter intimidation, last- minute election-law changes, and outright fraud have succeeded. An increasing number of local election monitors and international observers say the vote rigging has been so thorough that hopes for a free election are dead. "The main cheating took place long before election days," says Brian Murphy of the Zimbabwe Citizens support group, an organization whose members spread around the country this weekend privately monitoring the elections. Mr. Murphy points to the lack of independent voter education, the lack of any independent radio stations, and the ban on holding opposition rallies in many districts as just a few examples. "This is not a fair election," he says. There is a deep faith here, however, in the power of democracy. Edward Murchabaiw arrived at a Rushinga polling station at 6 a.m. in a wheelbarrow, his emaciated frame drowing in a faded blue suit-jacket. Murchabaiw, diagnosed in the last stages of AIDS, does not believe he will live to see the results of this election. But he wanted to sound his voice. "I am happy now," he says with a bright smile after voting. "I have made a difference." In urban areas, lines snaked for more than a mile and angry voters sometimes tried to push their way into polling booths. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at one restless crowd, injuring at least 12 people. Some polls stayed open all night, with people voting by flickering candlelight or under harsh fluorescent bulbs. "The intention, of course, is that you frustrate as many voters as you can. Mugabe is trying to move the goal posts to disenfranchise people, these people he thinks will vote against him," said Tsvangirai, visiting one polling station where thousands waited angrily to cast their votes, waving their hands in the open-handed signal of the MDC. In rural areas, many polling stations stood empty by midday. Lines were not a problem, but transparency was. The MDC says that 52 percent of its rural polling agents were chased away, abducted, or refused accreditation by government officials, leaving the voting process open to widespread abuse. Old and illiterate voters were assisted by ZANU-PF officials who often directed them to vote for the incumbent president. At the Chaparandza Primary School in the rural Rushinga, Mary Mugumira, wearing a wool "USA 1997" hat, a long traditional dress, no shoes, and a confused look, asked the presiding officer to vote for her. He refused, but sent her to talk to the election officers - both of whom represented the ruling ZANU-PF party. A moment later she had decided, and the polling agent, smiling, put an "X" mark on the ballot in the space marked "Robert Mugabe, ZANU-PF." Despite everything, there is still hope in Zimbabwe that this election may bring change. "I am happy because I finally got to vote," says a jubilant Colin Chipepera, after waiting for more than 12 hours in one Harare voting line. "I think this is the final nail on the government's coffin. Even with all their tricks, there are too many of us." Copyright @ 2002 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights reserved. Document 00100113 ends. New Argentine president quits after a week; March vote nixed BUENOS AIRES - Argentina ended 2001 leaderless and penniless yesterday with its new interim president resigning a week into the job and the country fearing more bloodshed and the loss of savings frozen in the banks. Plunged into chaos by looting and deadly riots that forced Fernando de la Rua to resign as president a week ago, Argentina fell deeper into anarchy when interim leader Adolfo Rodriguez Saa quit on Sunday after losing his party's support. But bickering politicians agreed the crisis was too serious to subject Argentina to the pressure of quick elections, which had been scheduled for March, and decided yesterday to choose an interim leader to rule until 2003, when De la Rua's mandate was to end. Argentina's biggest political force, the Peronists, who ruled from 1989-99, withdrew support from Rodriguez Saa, accusing him of being power-hungry, and convinced other parties to accept in his stead Peronist heavyweight Senator Eduardo Duhalde. Governor Carlos Ruckauf of the vast Buenos Aires province said all parties had to "help the Peronists in a national salvation government ... with consensus that the person in charge until 2003 should be Duhalde." De la Rua's cowed Radical Party agreed, with senior party official Federico Storani saying it would be "madness" to hold elections now "because the interim government wouldn't have the power to apply measures to get us over this crisis." Landed with the provisional presidency for 48 hours, the head of the lower house of Congress, Eduardo Camano, called on senators and deputies to hold a legislative assembly today which should rubber-stamp Duhalde's appointment. The country of 36 million people is living in fear of more shop looting and violence that killed 27 people before De la Rua quit, of more riots like those that erupted on Friday and of more misery as a four-year-old recession grinds on. Already, Latin America's third-largest economy has declared a moratorium on foreign debt payments - Rodriguez Saa's first act as leader - and commerce has halted since cash withdrawals were limited to $1,000 a month to stop a panic run on banks. `Shameful' Ordinary Argentines have been pouring into the streets night after hot summer night, banging pots and pans demanding, and eventually receiving, the resignation of De la Rua, his unpopular economy minister and aides to Rodriguez Saa who were suspected of corruption. "It's shameful. Until all those above us stop stealing, Argentina has no way out," said a woman lining up outside a bank in the rain from before dawn to try to get her cash. With New Year celebrations canceled for fear of violence in the worst crisis since the country's last military coup in 1976, security chief Juan Jose Alvarez said the capital had been "strongly reinforced with patrols by the federal police, the coast guard and the border police." "Today we are millimeters away from a civil war," said Leopoldo Moreau, a Radical Party congressman. But despite the heavy guard on the president's Pink Palace and the Plaza de Mayo outside, there were no rumblings of intervention by the military which has been subordinate to civilian rule since 1983. While the moratorium on part of Argentina's $132-billion public debt, heralding the biggest default in history, had long been expected by markets that have dumped Argentine bonds this year, Rodriguez Saa's plans for a new currency caused alarm. He had planned to alleviate the cash crunch by minting the "argentino" to circulate alongside pesos, which have been backed up and pegged one-to-one to U.S. dollars for a decade, providing monetary stability and zero inflation. But the argentino would only be backed by the bricks and mortar of government buildings such as the Pink Palace, and analysts have warned it could devalue and spark inflation. U.S. President George W. Bush said yesterday he was worried about Argentina, but was confident the country would "stay together" until it chooses a new leader while offering help once things stabilized. "Obviously I'm worried. Argentina is a very important part of our hemisphere," Bush said. "Once they come up with a plan to sustain economic growth, we'll work with them." @ CopyRight 2002 Ha'aretz. All Rights Reserved. Document 00100114 ends. [As of filing time, the UK media monitored by FBIS have not been observed to report the statement by UK Foreign Secretary Straw cited below] LONDON, Jan 20 (AFP) -- Britain said Sunday [20 January] that al-Qa'ida suspects held at a US base in Cuba must be treated humanely, following the release of photographs showing prisoners kneeling, manacled, blindfolded and wearing ear muffs. "The British government's position is that prisoners, regardless of their technical status, should be treated humanely and in accordance with customary international law," said Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in a statement. "We have always made that clear and the Americans have said they share this view." He also said Britain was seeking information from the United States about the circumstances in which photographs of the detainees, which appeared on the front pages of British newspapers Sunday, were taken. The 110 prisoners were brought to Camp X-Ray in Guantanamo Bay after being captured during the US-led military campaign in Afghanistan include three Britons. Pictures taken by a US Navy officer and released to the media show a group of prisoners, suspected members of Usama Bin Ladin's al-Qa'ida network, kneeling in orange jump suits and mancled at the waist. They are wearing dark goggles to blot out the light, ear muffs to keep out sound and mittens. The right-wing Mail on Sunday, which could normally be expected to support the United States over its "war on terrorism", ran the photographs under the headline "Tortured". "They (the prisoners) can hear nothing, smell nothing, feel nothing," the middle-market tabloid said. "Manacled hand and foot, they kneel in submission. Is this how (US president George W.) Bush and (British Prime Minister Tony) Blair defend our civilisation?" The pictures of the detainees "shackled like wild animals" were so shocking that they were "certain to intensify the international outrage at the conditions in which they are being kept" the Mail on Sunday said. Straw pointed out the United States had accepted visits to Guantanamo Bay by a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross and by British officials. "I await the British officials' report. As for the photographs of detainees published today, I have asked our officials in Guantanamo Bay to establish with the US the circumstances in which these photographs were taken." The United States says the detainees are illegal combatants, not prisoners of war, and thus do not have rights under the Geneva Convention of 1949, which sets out the laws of war. London has previously insisted it supports US reassurances that the men are being treated humanely. Document 00100115 ends. MMM F_NAME L_NAME TITLE COMPANY ADDRESS CITY,ST ZIP March 4, 1999 Dear LTR_NAME: CCI has come a long way in the last five years. We've worked hard to structrue the organization so that we've ready to move boldly into the next century, and I believe that we have an exciting and successful future ahead of us. One of the areas we've decided to focus on is development. It's clear that if we don't increase our base of private funding, we won't have the kind of control we need to ensure the continued success of our centers and the very important services they offer. In 1998, CCI served 31,484 individuals right in their own backyards. Where else would that many people turn if CCI weren't there to help? The community initiatives committee is working with our development office to put together a long-range fundraising plan that will ultimately bring more money into our centers. This in turn will help us to increase and even improve the services we offer. With this in mind, I am asking each one of you to make a personal contribution of $50, $100 or even $1,000 to show that you believe in the work that we do and are willing to support it with both your time and your finances. This way when we go out to ask for community support and are asked about our board giving level, we can show our in-house commitment through 100% board participation. I also encourage you to seek additional support through your company, church, or service organization. I know that our staff and committee members will be happy to go with you to talk to these group if you need their help. We're at an exciting juncture and it won't be long until we start seeing solid results from our efforts. Your financial support of the development process is just one step in making CCI a stronger, more efficient and ultimately more effective federation of service providers. Please, make your contribution today. Sincerely, J.Chris Graffeo Chair P.S. If you have any questions, feel free to call Valery De Long at CCI, 638-3360 x23. Document 00100116 ends. [Computer selected and disseminated without FBIS editorial intervention] Seoul, Aug. 29 (Yonhap) -- LG Electronics Co. said Wednesday that it has established a code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile phone service system in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to begin service on Sept. 1, Uzbekistan's Independence Day. The opening ceremony for the CDMA system was held there Monday with LG Electronics Co. President Park Chung-gun, Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Anatoliy Isaev, Perfect Mobile President Alexey Martinson and other dignitaries attending, an LG spokesman said. LG signed a contract in March for the shipment of the CDMA equipment with Perfect Mobile, which has the exclusive right to do CDMA business in the central Asian state. LG has established 30,000 circuits of 800 Megahertz CDMA system in Tashkent, the Uzbek capital, and is planning to increase the facility to up to 200,000 circuits by 2004. LG also plans to upgrade the current system beginning 2002. President Park said that the opening of the LG CDMA mobile phone service in Uzbekistan will have an impact on neighboring central Asian states. "We hope that this will serve as an occasion for LG to make inroads into the Central Asian region." Uzbekistan is the largest country in central Asia with a population of 23 million and rich in natural resources. The state-run Uzbektelecom and four private companies offering services in the Global System for Mobile Communications (GMS) has about 100,000 subscribers. hdh@yna.co.kr Document 00100117 ends. Some of the strongest critics of our welfare system are the people who have become dependent on it. Their complaint: the system discourages working because unemployment provides benefits that many entry-level jobs don't include. That's where you --and Goodwill --come in. We help people train for and find jobs that make it possible for them to get off of welfare. Last year, Goodwill placed 511 people in jobs, more than double the number we placed in 1993. While the debate on welfare reform is gathering like a storm at sea, the people who need jobs are floundering. We need your support to continue getting people off of public assistance. Welfare is not the answer. And welfare reform is an uncertain solution with an unknown starting date. Goodwill works. Right now. Please give the largest gift you can to Goodwill today. Sincerely, Jack Dustman Chairman Document 00100118 ends. Military violence constitutes -- in very exceptional circumstances -- a necessary evil in this very imperfect world. That is a bitter pill to swallow in a thoroughly non-militaristic society such as ours, where the clash of weapons provokes healthy reactions of repulsion. But unfortunately there is little one can do about it. Without armed violence the Nazi regime and similar forces that had the wind in their sails in Europe in the 1930s, would not have fallen. In the battle against the new forms of terrorism that reached a tragic culmination on 11 September, a limited form of military violence could also not be ruled out. The many and often confusing reports we have received over recent weeks on who may be responsible for the attacks already allows a clear pattern to be detected. The network with which Usama Bin Ladin and his followers tried to destroy the very foundations of the West has ramifications worldwide, vast amounts of money, and thanks to the Taliban regime in Afghanistan also a number of excellent training and attack bases. The fight against the new, transnational terrorism requires an exceptionally broad and committed strategy. But to build this strategy, targeted attacks on the infrastructure available to Bin Ladin were necessary. The United States and its principal allies have acted with exceptional caution over recent weeks to the unbelievable provocation of the 11 September attacks. They took pains to build a broad coalition, and tried to make it clear to their own population and the international community that the enemy is not Islam but a very well defined and perverse interpretation of this religion. And they placed the stress on the battle of endurance that must follow. The attacks on targets in Afghanistan that began yesterday [7 October], remain a risky enterprise. The coming days will reveal whether or not they were effective, were sufficiently precisely targeted and limited in scope. That is a clear condition for this first, unavoidable phase in the battle against terrorism to be humanly acceptable. But they cannot be any real talk of success until the broad strategy against terrorism begins to bear fruit. A strategy that worldwide must include both a degree of repression but most importantly constructive and positive measures. Whatever the case, we are entering a difficult period. There is a real danger that the wounded but not yet eliminated network will play its "trump card" and commit further acts of terrorism. The economic impact of the 11 September attacks was already disastrous, with clear effects on the world economy, hitting the poorest countries by far the most. The whole operation against terrorism can have positive but also unintentionally negative effects on the international stage. But we had no choice. To have sat back with arms folded would have made us all hostages. Document 00100119 ends. Trustcorp Inc. will become Society Bank & Trust when its merger is completed with Society Corp. of Cleveland, the bank said. Society Corp., which is also a bank, agreed in June to buy Trustcorp for 12.4 million shares of stock with a market value of about $450 million. The transaction is expected to close around year end. Document 00100120 ends. The Fall And Rise Of Hugo Chavez Washington Times April 25, 2002 Pg. 18 The Fall And Rise Of Hugo Chavez In Venezuela, the dust is finally settling after the dramatic turbulence of the past two weeks. President Hugo Chavez is once again at the helm of power, and the military has returned to its barracks. But there are many grieving Venezuelans who aren't quite at peace. Their loved ones were gunned down, first by sympathizers of Mr. Chavez and subsequently by supporters of the short-lived interim government. Mr. Chavez was ousted in a military coup on April 12 after 17 persons were killed during an anti-Chavez protest, apparently by sharpshooters faithful to the president. Pedro Carmona, a powerful businessman, stepped into power on Friday but was forced to resign the next day. Following the coup, 40 persons, mostly Chavez supporters, were killed while protesting. A probe of what transpired should be in the offing. Mr. Chavez has placed his cronies in every democratic institution, from congress to the courts, and is expected to prevent any honest inquiry. So far, Mr. Chavez appears complicit in the initial wave of killings. According to taped radio conversations broadcast yesterday in Venezuela on radio and television, Mr. Chavez ordered tanks and troops to surround the presidential palace, as unarmed civilian protesters marched against him on April 11. The Chavez administration said it ordered the deployment to "prevent public order disturbances." Given the death toll, Mr. Chavez's claims seem rather flimsy. This is most unfortunate. Venezuela is this hemisphere's second-oldest democracy. At a time when democracy is losing currency in many countries, particularly Argentina, coups could be potentially destabilizing to the region. "We are happy to collectively have overcome the era of coup d'etats in the region, and when events in Venezuela took on the appearance of a military coup there was a reaction by everyone," said Brazil's President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Mr. Cardoso's concerns are quite valid, but he has downplayed some of Mr. Chavez's more alarming faults. The Venezuelan leader has struck friendships with Cuban, Libyan and Iraqi leaders with great fanfare, and his open defiance of U.S. interests has wooed Venezuelans wary of U.S. power. Indeed, after all the muscle-flexing, Mr. Chavez has little to offer the Venezuelan people. He has choked off foreign investment by doubling the royalty payments oil companies must pay to the government and by restricting corporate ownership on some oil projects to 49 percent. He has also alienated workers at his country's state-owned oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, by replacing long-serving professionals with his supporters. In fact, Mr. Chavez consolidated his power by rewriting the country's constitution in 1999. Interestingly, Mr. Chavez initially rose to power in the 1990s because of the discontent with former President Carlos Andres Perez, who had ordered the military to shoot at crowds in 1989. And, while only time will tell if he would voluntarily give up power when his term in 2006, one thing is certain: A serious investigation of the massacre of April 2002 is certainly called for. Document 00100121 ends. On their knees during an inspection, and chained up in their orange overalls. With small blue masks over their mouths, ear muffs on their ears, and goggles covered up with sticky tape. Opposite the cages, those cages of theirs not even two meters by three meters -- which seen together look like a chicken farm run by a sadist -- built from wooden beams and sheets of metal, cement, and barbed wire, exposed to the rain and the wind of the Tropics. Their beards shaven off: for hygiene, say the camp's military commanders; to humiliate them in their religion, reply human rights defenders half the world over. That world which had looked in tears at the photos and the pictures of September 11, the Towers collapsing, and the infamy against civilization, and which is now discovering these other photos, the first ones to come out of Camp X-Ray, the open-air prison which the United States has set up at Guantanamo base, their historic outpost on the island of Cuba. One hundred and forty-four is the number, so far, of prisoners captured in the 100 days of the Afghanistan war, and taken here from Kandahar air base on a 27-hour flight, blindfolded, gagged, tied up, and dosed up with sedatives on the C17 cargo planes belonging to the Stars and Stripes air force. They are Taliban, and perhaps members of al-Qa'ida, but nobody can say so with certainty because their names are not known, and there are no formal charges. Their number will rise to at least 1,000 over the next three months. The government has 30 million dollars ready to build in Guantanamo ('Gitmo' to generations and generations of Marines) nine top-security prisons just for them: But up until then it will keep them in the cages. "We could keep some of them for an undetermined period, they are dangerous individuals," announced Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Without a trial, without an attorney. Because they are prisoners, admittedly, but in the view of the Americans they do not have the status of prisoners of war, and the Geneva Convention is not valid for them: "They are unlawful combatants, and we are not running a recreational center. I do not have the slightest concern over their treatment. In any case, they are better off than they were when we caught them," added the Minister. But the photos of 'Gitmo' are now in danger of removing the United States from the niche of affection and solidarity which September 11 had guaranteed it in the hearts of many people. It is hard not to see a desire for revenge in cages which recall 'Hotel Hanoi', set up by the North Vietnamese, or the punishment cells in Japanese camps in the 'Bridge on the River Kawi.' Even its most loyal ally, Great Britian, is showing signs of disquiet in the statements made by its members of parliament, and in the reports carried by its media. The BBC has been posing questions about those photos which "are stirring up protests," and many people believe them to be "a scandal": photos taken in part at the landing of the C17s after the trip from Afghanistan, which already showed the prisoners reduced to objects, with gags, masked goggles, and ear muffs. "Those people were ready to gnaw through the cables of the C17 to make it crash," said Richard Myers, the Chief of Staff. "They are pictures which do not represent everyday life at the camp. They wore the muffs and the goggles during the trip. And the masks are to prevent tuberculosis from spreading," assured the commander of X-Ray, Brigadier General Mike Lehnert. But the head of the medical staff of Amnesty International, Jim West, has claimed that "there is no other explanation for these measures than the attempt to degrade the human condition." "I am shocked -- he said -- because they still wear the ear muffs and the goggles inside the camp. As for the hospital masks, it is highly unlikely that tuberculosis can spread in open places." Other human rights groups have talked in terms of "sensory segregation,'" "In that condition, you suffer from hallucinations," stated Helen Bamber, from the Medical Foundation for Protecting Victims of Torture, on television. Four envoys from the Red Cross arrived Saturday, and will talk with the prisoners. But 'torture' is a word which is now filtering through in insidious fashion. The Americans are issuing denials, saying "There is no inhumane treatment, and we are open, as far as possible, to the suggestions of the Red Cross." As for the rest, they are raising the objection of reason of State, and an emergency which is definitely not over: Since September 11, 1,500 suspected terrorists have been captured in 50 countries, but the intelligence services claim that at least 10,000 affiliates of al-Qa'ida are still scattered across the world, "their network all around us." The inmates at 'Gitmo' must confess, and serve as a warning to their comrades who are still free: This is the unpleasant truth. The status of prisoners of war (which, by law, ought not to be decided on by Rumsfeld, but by a tribunal) would protect them from interrogation, and would guarantee that they get a trial, by court martial, that was much fairer than that of the secret special tribunals which Bush is trying to set up. "Our system will in any event be much fairer than that of the! Taliban, and of Usama," the President said. "But if the yardstick of our juridical civilization is the Taliban, we are ruined," noted one or two commentators. In the camp, life is regulated by prayers (five times a day, the only freedom allowed) and by searches. Three meals (cereal bars, rice, beans, fruit), showers, and medical checks with handcuffs on. A small foam mattress to try and sleep, with the light of the halogen lights on their faces. Around the fenced off area, two acres in size, stand seven towers with sub-machine guns and grenade launchers. And then there are helicopters, patrolling the skies without interruption. Outside the camp, there lies the absurd small piece of the United States which is Guanatanamo on Cuban soil: a McDonald's outlet, the school with its yellow bus for the children of families living on the base, the store windows with the latest roller-blades at 50 dollars, and the cinema, currently showing 'Domestic Disturbance.' And, around this small piece of the United States, the Cuba of old man Castro, who up until now has not batted an eyelid, and has renounced using the scandal of X-Ray and attacking the 'hated Yankees' with his propaganda, relying on the possible end of the embargo against his regime. The 'Gitmo' camp is many things. It is a clash of civilizations, and it is perhaps about to become the first global prison in the new world: Yesterday Stockholm announced that in a cage of Guantanamo there is a Swedish citizen, while the next ones due to arrive are six Algerians, who have nothing to do with the war in Afghanistan, and who were arrested in Bosnia on a tip-off from the US secret services, because they are suspected of preparing an attack against the US embassy in Sarajevo (one of them is said to have phoned a member of al-Qa'ida). A Bosnian judge had ordered them to be released, on grounds of lack of evidence, but the US troops had them handed over, and will soon bring them here. The matter raises major questions of international law. Morton Haplerin, from the Council for Foreign Relations, said: "It is clear that the United States sees Guantanamo as a place where it can gather persons caught in all parts of the world. But it is not clear what they are thinking of doing with these people." Kenneth Roth, of Human Rights Watch, claims that this policy could offer a pretext to less democratic countries among those countries which are allies of the Americans, "to suppress any domestic dissent." If a tip-off truly is enough to end up in a cage on the other side of the Ocean, the new history of 'Gitmo' has only just begun. Document 00100122 ends. Navy Officer Balances Religious Responsibilities Miami Herald January 31, 2002 Navy Officer Balances Religious Responsibilities By Carol Rosenberg GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba -- You're the first-ever American Muslim cleric to minister to a prison camp full of suspected terrorists and one confides he has a weapon. Do you keep the secret? Or do you breach religious confidentiality? If you're U.S. Navy Lt. Abuhena Mohammad Saiful-Islam you search for a third way to resolve the clear conflict of interest between the crescent moon pin stuck in your left lapel and the lieutenant's bars on the right side of your uniform. ``I will say, `Give it to me,' -- and not tell the general who had it,'' he says softly but firmly. ``I'll make sure that he doesn't have it.'' A 39-year-old life-long, practicing Muslim, the soft-spoken Bangladesh immigrant is navigating uncharted waters and juggling complicated loyalties -- all while managing an international spotlight he has never experienced before. As a U.S. military chaplain, his contacts with prisoners are governed by the same confidentiality as that of a priest, minister or rabbi in the clergy corps. Saiful-Islam is by training an imam, or a prayer leader, who guides the faithful in a mosque during the five-times-a-day Muslim prayer. At Camp X-ray, he is also serving the function of a muezzin, the person who announces the call to prayer, commonly from a tower called a minaret. In his case, he is using a public address system and recording the prayer for five-times-a-day broadcast. Sometimes he laughs uncomfortably when questioned by journalists. Sometimes he looks bewildered. But mostly he's a busy man, trying to soothe Muslim sensitivities over the rugged chain-linked-fence cells at Camp X-ray. Advocate Saiful-Islam arrived at the detention center for suspected terrorists on Jan. 24 and made his debut by chanting the pre-dawn call to prayer to wake up alleged leaders of Afghanistan's Taliban militia and members of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network. Since then, he has emerged as their advocate, arguing that the U.S. military can safeguard its soldiers while adding a few amenities of everyday Islamic life. Soon, he says, traditional white knit skullcaps will arrive for the captives to top off their fluorescent orange jumpsuits. Saiful-Islam has also asked for some copies of the Koran, in Urdu, a language of Afghanistan and Pakistan, plus large-type, Arabic copies for those with bad eyesight or those who read like elementary school children. ``These things are hard to find in America, and Gitmo is far, far away,'' says Saiful-Islam, a husband and father of a nearly 2-year-old daughter in California. Until he emerged as the chaplain of choice for this special assignment from among only 14 Muslim clerics in the U.S. armed forces, he was the only cleric specifically assigned to a Marine Corps base -- at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Military recruiters building a Muslim chaplains corps spotted Saiful-Islam in 1993, while he was an enlisted man working as a payroll clerk in the Pentagon and studying part-time to become a Muslim cleric. He was commissioned as an officer in 1998, just a year after obtaining U.S. citizenship and nine years after leaving his homeland to study in America. The first time he was sent to a theater of combat came in October when he served as chaplain at Operation Brightstar, a huge military exercise in Egypt not far from the World War II battleground called al-Alamein. No Answers His role has a curious juxtaposition, which he sums up simply. Captives at Camp X-ray are entitled to spiritual solace, he says, even though he doesn't accept radical interpretations that have led them to an unorthodox battlefield against the so-called Great Satan, the United States. ``I, of course, don't agree with their cause,'' he says, ``and neither does the religion, Islam.'' But after several days of four- and five-hour shifts inside the camp, hearing the prisoners' requests, he said exchanges have not dipped that deeply into the doctrinal. Mostly, they ask about their fate, and when they might go home. ``I don't have any answer for them,'' he says. Conversations between the cleric and the captives have taken place, one on one, in his native Bengali and Urdu. Others require the services of Arabic interpreters -- who, like Saiful-Islam, are U.S. military men in battle dress uniforms. So far no one has asked him how a practicing Muslim can also wear the uniform of the U.S. armed forces. It was a question he had expected. But instead, he says with surprise, ``They all want to speak with me. They all raise their hands'' to catch the attention of the U.S. government's designated spiritual leader. ``If they don't trust me with their needs, they don't get it,'' he says, with a sigh. ``I wish I had more time.'' Document 00100123 ends. CMS ENERGY Corp. said management would recommend to its board today that its common stock dividend be reinstated at a "modest level" later this year. The Dearborn, Mich., energy company stopped paying a dividend in the third quarter of 1984 because of troubles at its Midland nuclear plant. In addition, CMS reported third-quarter net of $68.2 million, or 83 cents a share, up from $66.8 million, or 81 cents a share, a year ago. Document 00100124 ends. ISLAMABAD, Nov 24 (AFP) - Japanese Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka held "warm" talks here on Saturday with a senior UN official on the refugee crisis in Afghanistan and the hazards facing those wanting to return, a Japanese official said. The talks focused on the need to rehabilitate Afghanistan to pave the way for the safe return of the estimated four million Afghan refugees living in neighbouring countries, foreign ministry spokesman Daisuke Matsunaga said. He told a news conference that Filippo Grandi, regional emergency coordinator for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), had thanked Japan for its contribution to international efforts to aid the refugees. "The talks were very warm," Matsunaga said at the end of the meeting. He added that Grandi had outlined to Tanka a four-pronged approach to the crisis -- improving conditions in camps, expanding the UNHCR's ability to deal with any further refugees, assisting non-governmental organisations involved in dealing with the crisis, and encouraging refugees to return to their homes. Returning refugees, however, faced minefields, a lack of educational facilities and ruined irrigation systems. These problems would have to be dealt with under international plans to rebuild Afghanistan, which is estimated may cost 10 billion dollars and may take, Grandi told Tanka, three to four years to achieve. In the meantime, however, the UNHCR, through its Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance to Afghanistan (OCHA), was trying to provide tents, clothing and heaters to returning refugees as well as to displaced people within the country wanting to return to their towns and villages. Tanka, who arrived in Pakistan on Friday for talks on the reconstruction of Afghanistan and to reward Islamabad for its role in the war against terrorism, was due to meet Pakistani counterpart Abdul Sattar later Saturday and President Pervez Musharraf on Monday. Japan has taken a leading role in the international drive to rebuild Afghanistan and in January is to host a meeting of finance and foreign ministers from more than 22 countries to build a platform for commitments to rebuild a country shattered by more than two decades of war. It has offered financial support to Pakistan, including the rescheduling of around 550 million dollars in debt and the provision of about 40 million dollars in emergency budgetary and refugee assistance. Since the terrorist strikes in the United States, more than 135,000 refugees have crossed into Pakistan, but the United Nations says the true figure is much higher. Even before September 11, Pakistan was playing host to an estimated 2.5 million refugees who had fled Afghanistan through 22 years of war and ethnic bloodshed. Document 00100125 ends. XIE20000420.0165 2000-04-20 U.S. Congressman Concludes Landmark Visit to Iraq BAGHDAD, April 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Democratic Party Congressman Tony Hall left here Thursday after concluding his landmark visit to Iraq, which has been under sweeping U.N. sanctions since 1990. In a statement, Hall expressed regret over the negative impacts of the decade-old sanctions on Iraqi people. During his four-day stay, Hall visited hospitals and health institutions in Baghdad and the southern Muthana Province. The U.S. lawmaker got acquainted with the sufferings of the Iraqi children because of acute shortage of food and medicine as a direct result of the embargo, reported the Iraqi News Agency (INA). He also witnessed cases of malnutrition and poliomyelitis that have doubled since 1990, when U.N. imposed the sanctions against Iraq for its invasion of Kuwait, said the INA. Hall said on Monday that he regretted the miserable humanitarian situation in Iraq while visiting a hospital in the Mansour district of the Iraqi capital. Iraq has claimed that over 1.2 million people, mostly children and the elderly, have died during the last 10 years, and blames the deaths on shortages of food, medicine and other essential supplies. Iraq has been accusing the U.S. and Britain of deliberately impeding the implementation of the U.N. oil-for- food deal which allows Baghdad to sell oil under U.N. supervision, thus worsening the humanitarian crisis in Iraq. Hall's landmark visit to Iraq started on Sunday evening when he arrived here by land from Amman, Jordan. Upon arrival, Hall said that his visit, the first of its kind by an American congressman since the 1991 Gulf War, was not political but humanitarian. "There are a lot of issues I want to look at, but the issue of humanitarian concerns is number one," he said. Document 00100126 ends. Zimbabwean presidential vote begins Author: ANGUS SHAW HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - Zimbabweans waited in long lines outside polling stations Saturday, some knitting and playing with their children, while waiting for the chance to vote in elections that present the strongest challenge yet to President Robert Mugabe. Following a campaign wracked by intense violence and intimidation blamed on the ruling party, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said he was pleased to see so many people voting, believing a strong turnout favored him over the man who has ruled this country since independence in 1980. But with voting going very slowly at some stations, Tsvangirai accused authorities of holding things up to hurt his chances in the two days of voting. "The intention, of course, is that you frustrate as many voters as you can. Mugabe is trying to move the goal posts to disenfranchise people, these people he thinks will vote against him," Tsvangirai said, urging voters in line to be patient. At one polling station on the outskirts of the capital, Harare, between 800 and 1,000 people were standing in line, but only about 100 people had voted in 21/2 hours. The number of polling stations in urban areas, considered opposition strongholds, were cut by half by the government. People were also uncertain about where to vote. In what appeared to be a show of force, witnesses in Harare reported unusually large number of soldiers and military vehicles around the capital. Government officials declined to comment on the deployment. Tsvangirai (pronounced CHAN-ger-ai), a union leader, is promising reforms in this southern African nation, which is mired in its worst economic crisis since independence. Inflation is over 110 percent, unemployment at 60 percent, and hundreds of thousands of people are going hungry. Mugabe, whose rule had never faced significant dissent until recent years with the economic troubles, has painted Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change as servants to white interests and Western powers who want to see the country fail. After casting his ballot, Mugabe lashed out at his critics. "They are supporters of the opposition," he said. "It is not only prejudice, it is bias against the (ruling party), bias against President Mugabe, and bias in favor of the opposition." Mugabe's name did not appear on the list at the polling station in the Harare township where he had planned to vote. His aides were informed of the gaffe, and he was whisked to another station, where his name was listed. Human rights groups and many political analysts say that the campaign was too tainted for elections to be free and fair. Police have canceled scores of opposition rallies and Mugabe has used his presidential powers to restore controversial election laws struck down by the Supreme Court that appear to make it easier to rig the vote. The opposition says scores of its polling agents have been detained or harassed The government refused to accredit most independent Zimbabwean voting monitors, but many of them showed up outside of polling stations anyway. In the rural town of Chininga, 12 farmers were arrested after helping election monitors reach polling stations, the Commercial Farmers Union said Saturday. The few pre-election polls reveal voters' fears - with one reporting that 70 percent of people questioned refused to say who they would vote for. "That's my secret, I can't tell you," Ronnie Dube, a 48 year-old carpenter, said when asked how he would vote. "I want to vote for a good future." Lines snaked around polling stations in Harare, one of them more than a mile long. The lines were far longer than during parliamentary elections in June 2000, which saw a strong challenge to Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front party, though it narrowly won. Mugabe, 78, has promised public works initiatives if he is re-elected and has pledged to continue his controversial program of seizing white-owned farms and giving them to landless blacks. Whites make up less than one percent of the country's population but own about a third of the nation's commercial farmland. Tsvangirai, 49, is promising to revive the economy, end corruption and promote a more orderly land reform system. He urged supporters Saturday to vote despite government intimidation. "I know you are tired; I know you are scared and I know you are hungry. But have courage, people of Zimbabwe, the darkest hour is always before the dawn," Tsvangirai said in a statement. Some 150 people have died in politically motivated violence over the last two years, many of them black opposition activists believed to have been killed by ruling party militants. Two weeks ago, Tsvangirai was charged with treason in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate Mugabe. The opposition had asked the Supreme Court to overturn Mugabe's decree restoring the controversial election laws, as well as to resolve confusion over voter registration and the location of polling stations and allow the polls to remain open if long lines made it impossible for some to vote. The court decided Friday night to defer a decision until after the election. Voting went smoothly in the village of Nkayi, one of the communities hardest hit by pre-election violence, about 90 miles north of Bulawayo. But Friday night an opposition polling agent said she was harassed by ruling party militants, who also sat in front of the polling station chanting slogans Saturday morning, opposition officials said. Document 00100127 ends. Six days that shook Venezuela CARACAS (AFP) - Here are the main events of the crisis that shook Venezuela over the past six days, in which at least 41 people were killed and 323 were injured: Tuesday, April 9: Venezuela's largest trade union joins a strike by managers at the country's massive state-run oil company, demanding the resignation of a new board of directors appointed by President Hugo Chavez. Wednesday, April 10: Union leaders extend the strike for 24 hours because of what they call Chavez's `aggressive' and `intolerant' response to their demands. The strike is later made indefinite. - Oil exports, which account for 80 per cent of Venezuela's foreign revenues, are threatened as the strike stops production at the country's major refineries. Thursday, April 11: Some 50,000 people, including business and union leaders, mass to demand Chavez's resignation. The government urges supporters to back Chavez. - Chavez orders a suspension of broadcasts by private television networks opposed to him. - Pro-government and opposition demonstrators face off in Caracas. At least 15 people are killed and almost 100 are wounded. - A group of 10 top military officials declare their opposition to Chavez. - Leading military officials in the Chavez government resign. Friday, April 12: Army commander General Efrain Vazquez announces that Chavez wants to resign. - Business leader Pedro Carmona replaces Chavez as the new President, dissolves the National Assembly, dismisses the Supreme Court, revokes 49 controversial Chavez decrees and announces Presidential elections in one year. - Latin American leaders meeting in Costa Rica for a trade summit denounce Venezuela's breakdown of constitutional order. Saturday, April 13: In Washington, the Organization of American States says it is prepared to apply against Venezuela a charter requiring sanctions for any member that abandons democracy. - Pro-Chavez rioting breaks out in Caracas and other parts of country. - The commander of Venezuela's paratrooper brigade - Chavez's old unit - refuses to recognise orders of the interim government. - Chavez is transferred from an army base in Caracas to the island of Orchila, in the Caribbean Sea. - Thousands of Chavez supporters march towards the Presidential palace. - Carmona takes refuge at Tiuna Fort, southwest of Caracas. - Top military leaders say their support of Carmona is conditional upon his respecting democratic institutions and allowing Chavez to leave Venezuela freely. - Carmona announces the restoration of the National Assembly, as Chavez cabinet members move into the Presidential palace and hold a meeting. - Carmona resigns the interim presidency, and Chavez's vice-President, Diosdado Cabello, takes over as acting President. Carmona is arrested along with his cabinet and general staff. Cabello promises to restore constitutional order. Sunday: Chavez leaves Orchila Island aboard a helicopter and heads to Caracas. - Chavez officially re-takes the presidency in an emotional Presidential palace ceremony at 4:30 am (0830 GMT). He then calls for peace, calm, and `the unity of the country.' - Emergency workers say that in total, at least 41 people have been killed and 323 injured in rioting around the country since Thursday. Document 00100128 ends. Waxman Industries Inc. said holders of $6,542,000 face amount of its 6 1/4% convertible subordinated debentures, due March 15, 2007, have elected to convert the debt into about 683,000 common shares. The conversion price is $9.58 a share. The company said the holders represent 52% of the face amount of the debentures. Waxman sells a variety of hardware products for the home repair market. Document 00100129 ends. General Motors Corp. 's big defense and automotive electronics unit, GM Hughes Electronics, said net income fell 22% in the third quarter, reflecting declining military spending and slumping GM vehicle production. Meanwhile, net at GM's finance arm, General Motors Acceptance Corp., fell 3.1%. By contrast, Electronic Data Systems Corp., GM's data processing subsidiary, boosted net 16%. GM closed down $1.875 at $44.875 in New York Stock Exchange trading yesterday. Earnings for GM common stock, reflecting the performance of GM's core automotive operations, will be disclosed this morning. GM Class H, which represents a dividend interest in Hughes earnings, closed at $29, up 25 cents in Big Board composite trading. GM Class E, which represents a dividend interest in EDS profit, fell 75 cents to $52.25 on the Big Board. The earnings drop at GM Hughes Electronics is a sign of tough times at both the defense operations of Hughes Aircraft Co. and GM's North American automotive operations, which are a primary customer for the Delco Electronics Corp. side of the GM Hughes unit. Profit at the unit fell to $110.6 million, or 37 cents a share, from $142.4 million, or 45 cents a share, largely because of a $24 million one-time charge associated with Hughes's previously announced plan to reduce employment by at least 6,000 people by year end. Even excluding the charge, however, net fell 5%. In addition, GM's North American vehicle production fell 8.4% from a year ago, which hurt Delco Electronic's earnings, a company spokesman said. That decline was reflected in revenue for the GM Hughes unit, which edged down to $2.58 billion from $2.63 billion. In the nine months, GM Hughes net fell 6.6% to $486.6 million, or $1.48 a share, from $521 million, or $1.58 a share. Revenue rose 3.5% to $8.47 billion from $8.18 billion. At GMAC, net dropped 3.1% to $234.5 million from $241.9 million. The finance unit attributed the decline to higher borrowing costs compared with a year earlier. GMAC said its automotive financing and leasing business rose 35% in the U.S., largely because of dealer and customer incentives used to boost sales. GMAC profits are combined with earnings from the rest of GM's operations and attributed to the company's traditional common stock. In the first nine months, GMAC's earnings fell 8% to $859.5 million from $930.2 million. At EDS, third-quarter profit jumped 16% to a record $110.9 million, or 93 cents a share, from $95.9 million, or 79 cents a share. Revenue rose 12% to $1.37 billion from $1.22 billion. In the nine months, EDS earned $315.8 million, or $2.62 a share, up 13% from $280.7 million, or $2.30 a share. Revenue rose 14% to $4.03 billion from $3.54 billion. Revenue from non-GM accounts was 45% of EDS's total business in the latest nine months, compared with 40% a year earlier. The company has said it wants to boost non-GM revenue to at least 50% of its total business by the end of 1990. Document 00100130 ends. Bangkok, Aug. 28 (CNA) -- The Taipei-based Chinese Federation of Labor (CFL) attended the Asian regional meeting of the International Labor Organization (ILO) held Tuesday in Bangkok, mainly because of its work to protect foreign laborers in Taiwan. CFL President Lin Hui-kuan led the Taiwan delegation to the meeting in the name of observer of the International Confederation of Free Trade Union (ICFTU). It was the first time that a Taiwan labor group has been invited to participate in a meeting of the ILO, which is an affiliate of the United Nations. The CFL's participation in the meeting did not meet with any objection from Beijing, as it attended as an observer of a non-U.N. organization. Beijing opposes Taiwan's participation in any international organization in which sovereignty is a prerequisite. Lin told CNA that the CFL gained high appraisal in its efforts to protect the rights of Thai, Filipino, Indonesian and Vietnamese workers in Taiwan. Taiwan is the only country in Asia that allows foreign laborers to enjoy the same salary levels as their local counterparts, which elevates its image in international society, Lin added. He indicated that although Taiwan is not a U.N. member, it has signed two international agreements related to labor affairs and abides by all the regulations stipulated by the ILO. Recently, Lin added, the Republic of China government was about to eliminate the minimum wage requirement for foreign workers mainly due to pressure from the business sector. However, through the protests of local labor groups, foreign laborers' working rights were protected, bringing extra attention to the power of Taiwan labor groups. Lin noted that Taiwan is one of the ICFTU founders and that its participation in the ILO can serve as a model for Taiwan to take part in international activities. Lin and his delegation are scheduled to return home Sept. 1 after the quadrennial meeting. Document 00100131 ends. Many fear violence after Zimbabwe vote HARARE, Zimbabwe Wellington Chinyama sat down in a barber's chair, unfolded his newspaper and without glancing up asked the young man trimming his hair the question that seems to be on virtually everyone's mind here: "So Joseph, have you prepared yourself for Zimbabwe's civil war?" As Zimbabweans go to the polls this weekend to re-elect or oust Robert Mugabe, the only leader the country has ever known, the question of who will win the election seems almost secondary to how the loser and his followers will respond. Surveys show the challenger, Morgan Tsvangirai, a trade union leader, ahead of Mugabe. But a surge in political violence and accusations that the governing party changed election laws to rig the vote have fanned widespread concerns among Zimbabweans, election monitors and foreign diplomats that neither political party nor their supporters are prepared to accept the final tally. "It does not take a vivid imagination to envision a scenario on the ground where either rioters or the military take to the streets in the days to come," an African diplomat said. Most disturbing are pronouncements by senior government officials and military leaders that they would not allow this former British colony to be led by Tsvangirai and his political party, the Movement for Democratic Change. In a television interview broadcast the other day, Didymus Mutasa, a spokesman for Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party, said that he and other veterans of the country's independence war found the prospect of a Tsvangirai government intolerable. "People have said being ruled by the MDC is being ruled by Ian Smith," Mutasa said, referring to the prime minister of white-ruled Rhodesia, as the country was known before gaining independence in 1980. "Under these circumstances, if there were to be a coup, we would support it very definitely." At least 34 people have died in political violence this year, almost all of them supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change. State Department officials this week accused Mugabe's government of numerous human rights violations during the election campaign, an allegation vehemently denied by ZANU-PF officials. A newspaper reported that Mugabe had put the armed forces on "high alert" and had recalled soldiers from neighboring Congo, where they have been deployed in that country's civil war. Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri denied the reports. Many Zimbabweans see this weekend's election as a contest between immovable forces: a 78-year-old autocrat desperate to remain in power and an opposition party dominated by restless young citizens weary of government corruption, food shortages and unemployment. "If Mugabe announces that he has won the election, I think that people will not believe it and will storm the castle," said Sibongile Mbuyiso, an opposition supporter. "But if the MDC wins, I believe Mugabe will announce martial law, throw Tsvangirai in jail for plotting to kill him and send the army into the streets." Government officials last month charged Tsvangirai and two other officials of his party with high treason for allegedly plotting to assassinate Mugabe. That charge is based largely on a heavily edited videotape in which Tsvangirai refers to the "elimination" of Mugabe. Tsvangirai was responding to a question posed by a Canadian publicist with whom he was meeting and who subsequently signed a contract with ZANU-PF. Political analysts say the charges may have laid the groundwork for Mugabe to jail Tsvangirai as a last-ditch effort to stay in power should he lose the election. But that outcome is certainly not a foregone conclusion. Opposition officials say that 22 of their polling agents have been abducted in the past week, and a surge in violent attacks in swing districts could persuade enough opposition supporters to vote for ZANU-PF to ensure Mugabe's victory. In addition, governing party officials have revised election laws and procedures in a manner that could change the outcome of the vote, according to independent election observers. ZANU-PF officials have told election observers that they intend to increase the number of polling stations in rural areas believed to be their strongholds and reduce the number of stations in urban areas, where there is strong support for the opposition. Observers say that could produce long voting lines and discourage some Tsvangirai supporters from casting ballots. ZANU-PF election officials also plan to use civil service employees to monitor the vote-counting and bar independent monitors from nonprofit organizations from assisting in such routine tasks as transporting ballot boxes to counting stations. A residency requirement introduced last month bans registered voters from casting ballots if they cannot provide leases or utility bills in their names. That, according to foreign diplomats and Tsvangirai supporters, could disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of young opposition supporters who live with their parents. "Clearly, Mugabe is doing everything he can to steal this election," said John Makumbe, a political science professor at the University of Zimbabwe. Tsvangirai said at a news conference Thursday night that if he won the election, he would not prosecute Mugabe. That could ease pressure on Mugabe to remain in power to avoid prosecution for his government's attack in the 1980s in Matabeleland, the home of the Ndebele tribe, which at the time posed the most significant threat to his leadership. An estimate of the number of people killed in the operation ranges from 10,000 to 20,000. Copyright @ 2002 the International Herald Tribune All Rights Reserved Document 00100132 ends. JERUSALEM. April 4 (Interfax) - Israeli soldiers will leave the Pilgrim's House in Bethlehem, which is owned by the Moscow Patriarchy, after they fulfil their military tasks. This was the response by the Israeli army to the demand made by the Russian Orthodox Church to leave the Pilgrim's House so as not to undermine the peacekeeping mission of the Moscow Patriarchy in the Holy Land. The press service for the Israeli army told Interfax on Thursday that "now, it is in a state of war, and at such a time, it uses all possible points of observation." The army representatives said "it is necessary to reduce possible civilian casualties, including among the Palestinians." "During the military operation in Bethlehem, a necessity emerged to enter the Pilgrim's House and to use it for surveillance. But once the military tasks are fulfilled, the Israeli soldiers will leave this building," the press service said. The representatives told Interfax that Israeli soldiers "strictly adhere to moral norms, respecting sanctuaries of all religions, and will act the same in the next stages of the war against terrorism." The Israeli army has also strongly denied reports about an assault on the Cathedral of the Nativity in Bethlehem, which allegedly began recently. "Contrary to some media reports, Israeli soldiers are not storming into the church, but they have to respond to continual fire by Palestinian snipers, who have taken positions near the church," the press service said. The representatives of the Israeli armed forces said that "rumors about the assault have been prompted by false information, which is being circulated among foreign journalists by Palestinian sources." [IS EUROPE EEU EMRG RU NEWS] tm tl <> 2036 040402 MSK Document 00100133 ends. A cow grazing near the village of Meresti [Harghita County] was bitten by a fox suffering from rabies. As a consequence, the cow was infected as well. This is the first such case here, and the third one since 1999. The symptoms appeared within a few days. The owner though that the animal was suffering from some intoxication, which was confirmed also by the veterinarian called to examine the cow. Very soon, however, the symptoms indicated that it was suffering from rabies: it was banging its head against the crib and it was very restless. The owner put down the animal, although the vet had forbidden him to do so. The latter took the cow's head to a lab, where they found that it had been suffering from rabies. The owner and a neighbor who had helped him put down the animal were sent urgently to the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Miercurea Ciuc, where they received preventive anti-rabies treatment. The carcass of the cow was burned and buried, and the stable was disinfected.! The Harghita County Sanitary and Veterinary Directorate has started an anti-rabies campaign, in which they are to vaccinate more than 70,000 cattle, horses, sheep, and pigs in 22 localities. Document 00100134 ends. On Tuesday [11 December] Prime Minister Leszek Miller will establish a crisis management staff that is to coordinate the operations of all institutions responsible for state security. Krzysztof Janik, minister of internal affairs and administration, has announced the establishment of a special police task force. According to the minister of internal affairs and administration, the prime minister will personally head the staff. Its members will include the chiefs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration and the Ministry of National Defense. It is to have the status of a ministry and coordinate the activities of ministries and various institutions in crisis situations, for example in the eventuality of a terrorist attack. Minister Janik has said that the state of heightened alert introduced in Poland after the 11 September attacks will be upheld at least until the conflict in Afghanistan ends. Minister Janik has also announced the establishment of a special police task force which is to be a counterpart of the Polish Operation and Maneuver Reaction Group [GROM]. It is to ultimately employ 350 officers prepared to take part in international missions. Moreover, Krzysztof Janik has presented a plan of action to tighten our eastern borders. Document 00100135 ends. BSE case reported in southwestern France Text of report by French news agency AFP Auch, 2 March (AFP): A fourth case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was recently confirmed in the Gers department [of southwestern France], the Gers prefecture announced on Saturday [2 March]. The animal concerned was a milk cow and the farm has not been named. In accordance with the new regulations which came into force last week, all the animals in the herd will be slaughtered except for those born after 1 January 2002, the prefecture said. The first two BSE cases in Gers were detected last August, and a third was confirmed at the end of January in a 6-year-old milk cow. Document 00100136 ends. Beijing, 19 Mar (Wen Wei Po)--In response to the US decision to allow Tang Yao-ming to visit the United States, experts on Taiwan affairs said here in interviews with this reporter that this showed a lack of sincerity by the United States in improving Sino-US relations. If US moves go beyond China's limits of tolerance, it will seriously affect Sino-US diplomatic relations. Yu Keli, deputy director of the Institute of Taiwan Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences [CASS], said that since taking office, the Bush administration has gone farther and farther in "interfering in China's internal affairs and meddling in the Taiwan issue" and has entirely run counter to the aspirations of the two peoples for the healthy development of Sino-US relations. Sun Yan, assistant professor at the International Relations College of the Beijing University, also held that on the issue of international anti-terror cooperation, the United States wanted to rope in China in order to remove obstacles to its next phase of attack against Iraq. This does not mean that China and the United States have achieved any progress on the Taiwan issue. Compared with the Clinton administration, the Bush administration evidently is in retrogression on the Taiwan issue. Li Jiaquan, research fellow at the CASS Institute of Taiwan Studies, said: During his visit to China, Bush steered clear of the Sino-US three joint communiques and one China on two important occasions, his joint conference with Jiang Zemin and his speech at Qinghua University. However, in his meetings with Jiang Zemin and Zhu Rongji, Bush stressed one China and the Sino-US three communiques. The two cases contrast sharply. On public occasions Bush seems to show consideration for the US anti-China forces and pro-Taiwan faction and to even appease Taiwan separatists. "Bush cannot conduct himself in an upright manner and he speaks insincerely!" Li Jiaquan felt that it is very appropriate to quote a line from Guo Moruo, "confounding right and wrong, being kind to the enemy and hard on friends," to describe the United States. Japan's militarism used to be the US enemy, while China used to be a friend of the United States. Now the United States sees her former friend as an enemy and her former enemy as a friend. Document 00100137 ends. US envoy retired General Anthony Zinni is to arrive in the region under circumstances similar to those that surrounded his first visit to Palestine and Israel. The Israeli Government works to abort his mission in advance by storming Palestinian territories, assassinating citizens it alleges have links to security activities, and arresting innocent citizens. The only change is that the Israeli authorities have denied any link between a number of Palestinian martyrs and prisoners on one hand and the armed organizations on the other, saying they were mere unarmed citizens, who were accidentally present near regular Israeli targets. Palestinians, during Zinni's presence in the region, abided by calm and cease-fire and are doing the same now. Meanwhile, Israel provokes Palestinians to draw vindictive reactions in order to win the world community's sympathy, particularly that of the United States, using the international anti-terror war and branding as terrorism any legitimate Palestinian conduct to get rid of occupation and settlements. For that purpose, Israel likens such reactions to what occured in the United States on 11 September. The world community, however, believes that in their struggle for liberation and independence, Palestinians seek negotiations for a peaceful settlement as a strategic option and a legitimate rejection of Israel's colonialism, imposed on the Palestinian people by force for more than 34 years now. Israel's provocation is too harsh to be tolerated. The Israeli Government says it should have a free hand to storm the Palestinian areas; assassinate or arrest Palestinian citizens; demolish homes, headquarters, and establishments; uproot thousands of trees; and besiege cities and villages as it likes. While committing themselves to peace, Palestinians bear this patiently and suppress fury, hoping that the US-dominated world community will acknowledge that Palestinians seek calm and a just peace in order to end occupation and settlement in their territories and to enjoy freedom, dignity, and independence, like other world nations. Past weeks' Incidents, President Arafat's cease-fire declaration, the anti-violence campaign, the other activities that Israel brands terrorism, and Israel's unjustified escalation show that Palestinians are totally committed to the peace process and the previous agreements and understandings. This is because the Palestinians have the goal of peace in mind, while the Israeli Government does its utmost to hamper the peace process, entrench occupation, and step up settlement building. US envoy Zinni is supposed to have realized these clear-cut facts through his reading of the latest developments in the region. Document 00100138 ends. A Brief History Jerusalem' s recorded history begins with its mention in Egyptian court records 4,000 years ago, but there had been human settlements here for centuries, probably millennia, before that. At the beginning of the second millennium b.c. , Jerusalem was a Canaanite mountain stronghold on a secondary trade route, far less important than biblical cities such as Hazor, Megiddo, Beth Shean, and Shechem. The earliest name associated with the city, Ur usalim, perhaps meant ``city of Shalim'' or ``founded by Shalim. '' Scholars speculate that Shalim might have been an ancient Semitic deity of peace, for the name resembles the modern Hebrew and Arabic words for ``peace'' : shalom and salaam, respectively. If true, this is an ironic name for a city that would become one of the most constantly and bitterly embattled places on the face of the earth. Biblical Jerusalem In the Bible, Genesis 14:18 -- 20 records that Abraham visited the city of ``Salem'' in approximately 1800 b.c. and was blessed by the city' s ruler, Melchzedik, who offered him bread and wine. The city is not mentioned again in the Bible until the time of the great poet warrior, King David, who captured the city from the Jebusites in about 1000 b.c. The Bible describes how David' s soldiers conquered Jerusalem by discovering a water tunnel under the walls and using it to take the city by surprise. Warren' s Shaft, part of a Canaanite water system discovered by 19th-century archaeologists and open to visitors, might be the very tunnel infiltrated by David' s army. Perhaps because Jerusalem was in neutral territory not allotted to any of the twelve rival tribes of Israel, David made it the capital of his newly formed kingdom and brought the most talented artisans, dedicated priests, magical poets and musicians, and the most formidable soldiers from each of the tribes to live in his city. He also brought the Ark of the Covenant, the portable tabernacle containing the Tablets of the Law received on Mount Sinai, to the Spring of Gihon, just outside the walls of Jerusalem. There the Ark rested until it was placed in the Temple, built in approximately 960 b.c. on Mt. Moriah, the high point at the northern end of the city. The Temple (today known as the ``First'' Temple) was completed by David' s son and successor, King Solomon. According to biblical tradition, although David bought the land for the Temple and carefully assembled its building materials, he was deemed unworthy of constructing the Temple because he was a man of war with blood on his hands. At the Temple' s dedication, Solomon addressed his God: ``... the Heavens, even the Heaven of the Heavens, cannot contain Thee; how much less this House that I have built? '' The site of the Temple eventually became identified as Mt. Moriah, on which it stood, where Abraham was called to sacrifice his son Isaac. Along with this splendid house of worship, Solomon built a royal palace, mansions for his wives, temples for the foreign gods worshipped by the princesses he had married, and towers for the defense of the capital. Under the wise reign of Solomon, the city flourished as the capital of an empire that stretched from Damascus to the Red Sea and controlled the trade routes from Egypt to Phoenicia. The Temple and royal palace were adorned with gold and ivory from Africa and with cedar from Lebanon; the beauties and glories of Jerusalem under Solomon have captivated readers of the Bible for almost 3,000 years. But with his death the empire collapsed, and the Israelite kingdom was divided into two separate, impoverished, often warring nations: Israel, with its capital at Shechem in the north, ruled by a series of northern dynasties; and the smaller kingdom of Judah, with its capital at Jerusalem, from which the Davidic dynasty continued to rule. The Bible tells us that the cruelty and impiety of the rulers of both kingdoms aroused the fury of the great Prophets. In 701 b.c. the Assyrian armies of Sennacherib destroyed Israel and moved southward to besiege Jerusalem. Thanks to King Hezekiah' s hidden water tunnel, the city narrowly escaped destruction. The end of David' s dynasty came in 587 b.c. , when Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, invaded Judah to lay siege to Jerusalem. When it fell, the Temple and all the buildings were burned. The people of the once-glorious city were forced into an exile known as ``the Babylonian Captivity. '' In time, the kingdom of Babylon was overthrown and the Israelites were permitted to return to Jerusalem in 539 b.c. The city was now under the more tolerant rule of the Persians, but rebuilding was slow work. The Second Temple was finished in 515 b.c. , but much of the city still lay in ruins. Jerusalem submitted peaceably to the rule of the Greeks in 332 b.c. under Alexander the Great and, subsequently, to his Hellenistic successors as well as the Egyptian Ptolomeys and the Syrian Seleucids. When Seleucid rulers outlawed Judaism, Jews led by Judah Maccabee and his brothers staged a revolution in 167 b.c. and, against all odds, restored the primacy of Jewish religious life in Jerusalem. The Macabbees cleansed the Temple of Hellenistic idols and the blood of pagan sacrifices; the eight-day celebration of Hanukkah (Feast of Dedication) commemorates their victory. The Hasmonean dynasty, descendants of the Maccabee family, ruled an independent Jewish Commonwealth that stretched from the Negev to the Galilee. Jerusalem grew, surrounded with a formidable wall and defended by towers beside the Jaffa Gate. The Hasmoneans ruled until Pompey' s Roman legions arrived in 63 b.c. Roman Jerusalem After the initial years of Roman administration and political infighting, Rome installed Herod (scion of a family from Idumea, a Jewish kingdom in the desert) as King of Judea. He reigned from 37 to 4 b.c. , during which time he fortified the Hasmonean wall and rebuilt the defense towers beside Jaffa Gate, the foundation of which still stand. Several palaces were built and a water system installed. Herod also completely rebuilt the Temple, making it one of the most important religious centers in the Roman Empire. The courtyard around the Temple was expanded to accommodate hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, and the Temple Mount was shored up by retaining walls made with great stone blocks. One of these walls, the Western Wall, is today a major reminder of Jerusalem' s greatness under Herod. A massive fortress was built overlooking the Temple Mount, which Herod named ``Antonia'' in honor of his Roman friend and benefactor, Mark Antony. For all his accomplishments, Herod was nevertheless hated by his subjects; he taxed, he tortured, and he ordered the massacre of male Jewish infants in an attempt to do away with the heralded Messiah. When Jesus was born in about 4 b.c. , Joseph and Mary escaped Herod' s paranoia by fleeing into Egypt with the new-born infant. They returned to live in the Galilee village of Nazareth, making pilgrimages to Jerusalem. According to biblical accounts, Jesus spent his life ministering in the Galilee Valley. In about a.d. 30 he and his followers went for Passover to Jerusalem, which was in unrest at this time, dissatisfied with Roman domination. Jesus' s entry into the Temple caused a commotion; after the Passover dinner he was arrested by the temple priests, who were under direct Roman rule. Jesus was put on trial quickly and condemned to crucifixion, a Roman form of execution for political and religious dissidents as well as for common criminals. In a province rife with rebellion and retaliation, the execution in Jerusalem of yet another religious leader from the Galilee did not by itself have an immediate effect on history. After Jesus' s crucifixion, harsh Roman rule continued until a.d. 66, when the Jews rebelled. For four years Jewish zealots fought against the might of Rome. At the end, the Roman general Titus laid siege to Jerusalem in a.d. 70, finally attacking its starved and weakened defenders. Those who didn' t escape were executed or sold into slavery. The Holy City and the Temple were destroyed. The last of the zealots held out for another three years at Masada (see page 76). Half a million civilians died in the Galilee and Judea as a result of this first revolt against Rome, a number unequaled in ancient warfare. Christian and Islamic Jerusalem For 60 years Jerusalem lay in ruins, until the Roman Emperor Hadrian ordered the city rebuilt as a Roman town dedicated to Jupiter. In outrage, the Jews began a second revolt against Rome, led by Simon bar Kochba. The ruins of Jerusalem were briefly liberated, but, in the end, Jewish resistance to Rome was defeated with great loss of life. The planned new Roman city, Aelia Capitolina, was built over the ruins of Herodian Jerusalem, and Jews were barred from residing there for all time. Jerusalem' s physical existence as a spiritual city seemed finished, but its spiritual power for Jews, and for the struggling new Christian religion, remained. For the next two centuries Aelia Capitolina enjoyed an innocuous history. But the Roman Empire became Christian in the fourth century, and Jerusalem became a center of religion once again. Queen Helena, a devout Christian and the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 326 to identify the sites associated with Jesus' s life. She found that the city' s most beautiful Roman temple, dedicated to the goddess Aphrodite, stood on the site of the crucifixion. The temple was demolished and a vast, Classical-style church was built around Golgotha (the hill where Jesus' s crucifixion was believed to have taken place). Throughout Jerusalem, other spots important to Jesus' s life were commemorated with religious structures. Pilgrims came from all over the Roman (and, later, Byzantine) Empire during the following centuries, but the prosperity they brought lasted only until 614, when Persian armies overtook Judea and reduced Jerusalem to rubble again. In 629, Jerusalem was recaptured by the Byzantines. Still reeling from the effects of the Persian devastation, Jerusalem was conquered in 638 by the forces of Islam. The Temple Mount was identified in Islamic tradition as ``the farthest spot'' (in Arabic, el-aksa), the site to which the Prophet Muhammad was transported in one night from Mecca on a winged horse, as described in the 17th chapter of the Koran. From here the Prophet ascended to the heavens and was permitted to glimpse paradise. The rock on the Temple Mount from which he ascended, at or close to the site of the ruined Temple, was commemorated by the construction of the Dome of the Rock in 691. The Dome of the Rock remains Jerusalem' s most striking monument; it is counted among the most beautiful buildings ever created. By about 715, the El-Aksa Mosque, third holiest place of prayer in Islam (after Mecca and Medina), had been built on the southern side of the Temple Mount. Jerusalem continued under Islamic rule for the next four and a half centuries. In 1099, under their leaders Godfrey de Bouillon and Tancred, the Crusaders captured the Holy City for Christendom by slaughtering both Muslims and Jews. Crusaders, Mamelukes, and Turks The Crusaders established a feudal Christian state with Godfrey at its head. They built many impressive churches during the term of the first Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, but in 1187 they were driven out by Muslim forces under the great warrior Saladin. During the Sixth Crusade (1228 -- 1229), the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II managed to secure Jerusalem for the Christians by negotiation. The Christians, however, could not hold the city. After they lost Jerusalem, a Mongol invasion swept through, and in 1244 the Mameluke dynasty of Egypt took control, ruling Jerusalem for the next 250 years. The city struggled to rebuild from Crusader wars and invasions. Much of the best Islamic architecture in the city was constructed in the Mameluke era, but the past thousand years had taken their toll: Jerusalem was unable to regain the prosperity it had enjoyed in earlier times. In the early 16th century, the Ottoman Turkish Empire was advancing through the Middle East. Jerusalem fell to the Ottomans in 1517, remaining under their control for 400 years. Suleiman the Magnificent rebuilt the walls and gates in the form they retain to this day. Fountains, inns, religious schools, and barracks were constructed. But when Suleiman died, his empire, including Jerusalem, began a long period of decline. The Holy City remained a backwater until the 19th century, when renewed interest among Christian pilgrims made it the destination of thousands of travelers each year. 19th-Century Aspirations At the same time, many Jews sought religious freedom and fulfillment by moving to Palestine (as the Holy Land was traditionally called) and especially to Jerusalem. In the 1890s, Theodor Herzl (1860 -- 1904) worked to organize a movement, Zionism, to create a Jewish state. Chaim Weizmann (1874 -- 1952), a scientist born in Russia but later a British subject, did much to put Herzl' s hopes into practice. Weizmann was an important figure in the negotiations with the British government that led to the Balfour Declaration of 1917, supporting the idea of a Jewish ``national home'' in Palestine that also respected the rights of existing non-Jewish people already living there. The problem was that British strategists, who were fighting the Ottoman Turks in 1917, had secretly promised the lands to their World War I Arab allies. In 1922 the League of Nations granted the British a mandate to administer Palestine. Jerusalem flourished during the early years of the Mandate. Modern neighborhoods, hospitals, schools, and the Hebrew University were built in West Jerusalem, the new Jewish enclave. But Arab opposition to new Jewish immigration and construction in Palestine led to increasing strife; by 1946, Jerusalem was an armed camp. In 1947 the United Nations voted for the partition of Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab, with Jerusalem as an international city that belonged to neither. But lacking the means to enforce its decision, the United Nations was powerless to halt the fighting that erupted as the British withdrew their troops in 1948. Modern Israel The State of Israel was declared during this difficult time. In response, member states of the Arab League sent troops to help the Palestinian Arabs. West Jerusalem, separated from the rest of the new Jewish nation, held out under siege for several months until Israeli forces secured a land corridor connecting the city to the coastal areas. Jews were evacuated from the Old City' s Jewish Quarter, and thousands of Arab families fled their homes in West Jerusalem. As a result of armistice agreements in 1949, Jerusalem was divided: West Jerusalem was to be under Israeli control, and East Jerusalem (including the Old City, with its Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Armenian quarters) came under Jordanian authority. Free access to holy sites for members of all religions was guaranteed by the armistice agreements. However, with the city partitioned by fortifications and barbed wire, no Israeli or Jewish pilgrims were allowed to visit the Western Wall or other Jewish sites in East Jerusalem. For the next 19 years, Jerusalem was two cities. Political and religious boundaries were aggravated by occasional incidents of terrorism or sniping until the Six Day War in June 1967. Within three days the city was completely in Israeli hands, and in two weeks it was physically and administratively reunited. Jerusalem' s mayor, Teddy Kollek, spent the next 25 years orchestrating a vast program of development, adding new cultural institutions and parks and instituting neighborhood restoration projects while tirelessly me diating the concerns of Jerusalem' s many communities. Today, as always, Jerusalem is a city of controversies: religious Jews in conflict with secular Jews; Palestinians calling for independence; many residents protesting a wave of high-rise development that many claim will turn the Holy City into a holy megalopolis. But the ideas and mystique that have always made this an extraordinarily special place rise above the ebbing and flowing concerns of present-day Jerusalem as it continues to tug at the world' s attention into the new millennium. Document 00100139 ends. Launching the Electronics Free Trade Zone in Dubai Dubai 01-82 (AFP) - Crown Prince of Dubai Al Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoom crown prince of Dubai launched today, i.e. on Saturday, an electronics free e-trade zone which has been named "Dubai Internet City" The cost in the first stage of this unique project is estimated at 200 million dollars. Sheikh Mohammed, who is also the UAE Defence Minister, said during the launching ceremony "we wish to make Dubai a center of modern economy". The minister who has a personal website on the internet, further said that he wanted Dubai to become the best place in the world for the advanced (hitech) technological companies. He said that it would he possible for the companies working in the electronic trade sector to make Dubai their headquarters, and to establish offices here and provide employment and own machinery in the zone opened to companies fully owned by the foreigners. The electronic trade free trade zone is situated in the north of Dubai, close to the free industrial zone in Jabal Ali Mountain, an area which is considered to be the first in the country, and tenth in the world for transit movement. Launching 'Dubai Internet city ' coincided with the opening of the annual information fair in Dubai which is considered to be the biggest in the Middle East - Gulf Information Technology Getix.' Document 00100140 ends. KABUL, Feb 3 (AFP) -- Fresh fighting has broken out between rival warlords in the northern Afghanistan city of Mazar-i-Sharif, a defence ministry official said Sunday. There was a "one to two hour" battle Saturday between forces loyal to Uzbek warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostam and those of rival Tajik commander Atta Mohammad, defence ministry official Mira Jan said. No one was injured, and the fighting stopped when local authorities intervened, Jan told AFP. "It was a minor clash, but investigations are continuing. We will identify the culprits of these clashes and punish them," he said. It was the second reported clash in a fortnight involving the forces of Dostam, the interim government's deputy defence minister, and Tajik fighters. Dostam's fighters and ethnic Tajiks loyal to former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani previously battled in Kunduz province, east of Mazar-i-Sharif, leaving 11 dead. Dostam and Rabbani's factions are seen as uneasy partners in the fragile Northern Alliance that fought the Taliban militia from 1996 until the hardline Islamic regime crumbled in the face of US bombing in November. Jan called the fighting between local commanders a symptom of the 23 years of war that has devastated Afghanistan. "These battles have always happened in our country. Most of them occur usually for personal interests," he said. The factional infighting has raised fears that long-standing ethnic rivalries could again split the country after the defeat of the Taliban. Document 00100141 ends. Ohio Congressman Arrives in Jordan AMMAN, Jordan (AP) U.S. Representative Tony Hall arrived in Jordan on Saturday en route to Iraq, where he is expected to look into the plight of Iraqis after nearly 10 years of U.N. trade sanctions. Hall, an Ohio Democrat and one of very few U.S. congressmen to visit Iraq since the 1991 Gulf War over Kuwait, is scheduled to embark Sunday the 12-hour overland trip to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. He did not speak to reporters in Jordan, but he told The Associated Press before leaving the United States that he hopes to "separate the humanitarian work from the political issues." During his four days in Iraq, Hall said he wanted to investigate reports from relief agencies that a quarter of Iraqi children may be suffering from chronic malnutrition. He said he would pay particular attention to what happens to food and medicine entering the country under the U.N. oil-for-food program. If supplies are not reaching the people who need them, Hall said, he wanted to find out whether the United Nations or relief agencies needed to handle things differently, or whether "Iraq needs to get out of the way and let us do the job." The Iraqi government blames the embargo for the malnutrition, infant mortality and other hardships. The sanctions cannot be lifted until U.N. inspectors certify that Iraq has eliminated its weapons of mass destruction and the means to produce them. Iraq says it has done so and has barred inspectors since late 1998. At least one other congressman has visited Iraq. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson went to Baghdad in 1995 while a representative for New Mexico. Document 00100142 ends. Beijing, April 9 (XINHUA) -- The Taiwan issue is purely China's internal affair and no other country in the world should interfere, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said in response to claims from a high-ranking US military official that the US would do everything needed to protect Taiwan. The remarks seriously violated the commitments made by the US government in the three Sino-US Joint Communiques, said Zhang, adding that those remarks, out of ulterior motives, interfered in China's internal affairs. Zhang stressed that history had repeatedly proved that US arms sales to Taiwan and its elevation US-Taiwan relations would only incite the separatists in their attempts to split Taiwan from mainland and would lead to the deterioration of Taiwan Straits situation and boiled down to the jeopardy of the interests of the US itself. The spokeswoman urged the US to strictly abide by the serious commitments that it had made to the Chinese government and Chinese people and stop the wrong actions so as to avoid further damage to Sino-US relations. The Taiwan issue was at the core of Sino-US relations, reiterated Zhang, emphasizing that any measures or remarks that ran against the three Sino-US Joint Communiques would undermine Sino-US relations. "We hope US behaves as it says, strictly abide by the three Sino-US Communiques and stop using the Taiwan issue to interfere in China's internal affairs," Zhang said. Document 00100143 ends. Not 'gonna be a long, long time' till you can be a rocket man The International Space Station is not exactly the Waldorf-Astoria. And a Russian Soyuz capsule will never boast the creature comforts of a stretch limo. But that doesn't bother an increasing number of well-heeled executives and celebrities willing to pay millions of dollars and spend a few months training in exchange for a quick trip to orbit. Welcome to the dawn of space tourism, where opportunities to view spaceship Earth from aboveare rare, visions of the future are grand, and Everyman seems willing to shed planet Earth, if briefly. The latest "tour-o-naut" to buckle up and place his tray table in the upright, locked position is South African venture capitalist Mark Shuttleworth. He launched with two cosmonauts on a space-station resupply flight yesterday from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. He is the second fare-paying visitor to the station, following in the bootsteps of Dennis Tito, a US businessman who took that same trip last year. They aren't alone. "Another eight to 10 people have expressed interest" in a Soyuz trip to the space station, notes Tereza Predescu of Space Adventures, an Arlington, Va., company that arranges the flights. 'N space? Russia's next resupply flight is scheduled for October, and two Americans are vying for the passenger seat: former National Aeronautics and Space Administration associate administrator Lori Garver and boy-band 'N Sync's Lance Bass. Aerosmith rocker Steven Tyler also is reportedly eyeing a future flight. "There is a lot of pent-up demand, at least emotionally" among a large number of people to journey into space, says John Logsdon, of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. For example, in 2000, Harris Interactive surveyed Americans' and Canadians' willingness to travel into space as tourists. Overall, 86 percent of the 2,022 respondents would be interested in a trip to space. Extrapolating from the results, Space Adventures, which commissioned the study, estimates that 10,000 people a year would be willing to pay $100,000 apiece for a quick up-and-down suborbital flight, a la Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard. That translates into a $1 billion-a-year business. If they received the trip as a promotion or gift, 80 percent of the respondents said they'd take an intercontinental space-plane, 70 percent would take a space-station tour or an orbital flight, and 74 percent would be willing to take a suborbital journey. For space tourism to truly take off, however, several things must happen, says Frank Sietzen of the Space Transportation Association, an aerospace-industry group in Arlington, Va. "You need a strong, growing US space transportation system, and the federal ... decision that it's in the national interest to fund ... a second generation reusable launch vehicle to supplant the shuttle at a sufficiently low cost that it would be commercially viable," he says. Out of that effort would come the rocket or rockets that would service commercial passenger flights. He likens the effort needed to one the US Air Force undertook in 1951, when it began developing an aerial tanker to refuel jet fighters and bombers. The result, he continues, was the KC-135, known commercially as the Boeing 707, the first commercial jet to be used worldwide. The government is moving in that direction with NASA's Space Launch Initiative. The agency has budgeted $4.8 billion through 2006 for the development of safer, more reliable, and cheaper follow-ons to the shuttle. It looking beyond the SLI to a program designed to develop a third-generation of launch vehicles. Others are not waiting for the government to act. Some 20 companies and groups worldwide are in a competition for a $10 million purse offered to the first firm that can build and fly a two-stage, reusable rocket that can carry three people on a suborbital flight and be refurbished for its next flight within two weeks. Yesterday, a Canadian team paraded a mockup a 60-foot-long "Canadian Arrow" through the streets of Manhattan in a pitch coinciding with Mr. Shuttleworth's launch. Known as the X Prize, the contest is modeled after the prizes that stimulated growth of commercial aviation early in the last century, says X Prize Foundation president Peter Diamandis. Modern barnstormers Noting that Charles Lindbergh's record-breaking trans-Atlantic solo flight was a response to the offer of an aviation prize, he adds that within six years of that flight, commercial passenger flights became common. He expects a similar commercial response after his prize is issued. "People paid what for them were large sums of money" to fly with early-20th century barnstormers "to see the world from 2,000 feet," he says. He expects a similar response when an X Prize winner emerges. Indeed, Space Adventures already has payments from roughly 100 customers willing to fly with astronautical barnstormers once a winner emerges, perhaps as early as 2004 or 2005. The contest already is stimulating a range of related efforts, ranging from states trying to set up space ports for tourism flights, to Federal Aviation Administration development of licensing requirements for private commercial launch facilities and passenger operations. Where Dr. Diamandis sees relatively short-term opportunity, however, others suggest a viable space-tourism industry is still a decade or more away. "It will happen," he says, "but not in the time frame that will please tourism's advocates." Copyright @ 2002 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights reserved. Document 00100144 ends. August 10, 1999 Mr. Caring Philanthropy 01234 Giving Way Contribution, USA 56789 Dear Mr. Philanthropy, "The urgency you feel to make changes is just the extent that change will be made. Do not sit this one out. Do not play it safe. Understand the world and change it where it needs to be changed... Make our society better. Make a world worthy of the children that your generation will bear." -- Carl Sagan You can help make positive changes in the lives of at-risk youth in central Indiana. We often hear about economic poverty, but what some of these young people are growing up with is emotional poverty-they have often given up on hope and the possibility of a successful future. With your help, we can change that. Many Little Sisters are preparing to go back to school this fall full of hope and with a positive outlook. Thanks to our Big Sisters volunteers, these young people are self-confident, believe in themselves and are beginning to realize their full potential. A recent study bypositive Public/Private Ventures (PPV) showed that girls who had a Big Sister for just one year: reduced first-time drug use by 46% lowered school absenteeism by 52% cut violent behavior by 33% enhanced school performance showed improved peer and family relationships Former Little Sister Amy, now 18-years old, is a testament to the Big Sisters program. "I was matched with my Big Sister in June of 1992. Since then, she and I have grown very close and I have been able to experience lots of new things. We go to movies, dinner, concerts, and other stuff like that, but I have also been able to participate in charity events and fundraiser type things. Not only did I have a lot of fun with my Big Sister, but I learned a lot from her too. I have become more open-minded, more responsible, and, most importantly, I have gained a lot more self-confidence. I am very thankful to the Big Sisters program for allowing me this very special opportunity. In 1998, Big Sisters served 972 young people through its many programs. But the need is still great. Over 170 young people are still waiting for a mentor. You are an important part in making sure these young people are matched with caring adult mentors. Will you make a financial gift to Big Sisters in 1999 that will ensure that more young people receive the guidance they need, that more young people stay in school, stay off drugs and make good choices? Your contribution will be used to recruit and retain quality volunteers. It will also be used to help maintain the infrastructure that fosters and supports the development of effective relationships, including volunteer orientation and training and ongoing supervision and support by a professional staff. This year your gift can go farther! Gifts of $100 or more will be matched thanks to a special 25th Anniversary $100,000 Challenge Grant and will be placed in the Growth For Girls Fund. This fund will support the goal of having 550 mentoring relationships by the end of 1999 and 1,200 by the end of 2004. If you would like to find out more about the Big Sisters program, please call us, (317) 634-6102 and ask for Ellen Robinson. Thank you very much for your time, attention and consideration. Sincerely, Andrew T. Burns Patron Relations Chairperson P.S. When you give to Big Sisters, you can get 50% back! For a minimum contribution of $250, you become eligible for a 50% Indiana state tax credit through the Indiana Department of Commerce Neighborhood Assistance Program (NAP). A limited number of credits are available. To receive an application form, check the NAP box on the enclosed pledge card or call us, (317) 634-6102, ext. 20. Document 00100145 ends. Some Israeli officials, particularly Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eli'ezer, have stated that the success or failure of US envoy Zinni's mission hinges on the Palestinians only because they might carry out a suicide or shooting attack that will make Israel retaliate, thus bringing the region back to the cycle of violence. Consequently, Zinni will find it difficult to attain a cease-fire and commence the implementation of the Tenet understandings and Mitchell recommendations. This allegation contradicts the simplest fact on the ground, as Israel is the one that occupies most of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and Israel is the one that possesses vast military power which it uses to make incursions into and raid Palestinian cities and refugee camps; to intimidate women and children; to assassinate innocent activists and citizens; to destroy buildings, facilities, infrastructure, roads, water pipes, and electricity and telephone poles; to attack Palestinian ambulances and kill medical teams; and to carry out other retaliatory, suppressive, and devastating practices. The entire world -- not the Palestinians alone -- is waiting to hear an official Israeli statement regarding its recognition of the Palestinian national rights and its readiness to withdraw from all lands occupied in 1967, put an end to the settlement activity in the West Bank and Gaza, and support the establishment of an independent Palestinian state de facto. Such a statement will actually constitute the beginning of a real era of peace and the end of the era of violence and counterviolence. Clearly, the Palestinian side has acceded to all demands -- even more than that -- when it recognized Israel's right to exist on 78 percent of historical Palestine. It cannot make more concessions. Such an Israeli statement would not only serve Zinni's mission but would also accelerate the attainment of a permanent arrangement in which Israel would gain peace and security in exchange for its withdrawal from the Palestinian lands, the end of its colonialist occupation, and the renunciation of its mentality of domination and expansion, which have caused calamities and catastrophes in the past five decades. The coming days and weeks will show whether Israel is actually ready to positively and objectively deal with the Palestinian national rights without trying to maneuver, place obstacles, or set impossible conditions during Zinni's mission. In any case, Zinni's mission is to make sure that certain measures are adopted as soon as possible to pave the road to a political settlement of the Palestinian question. Israel's compliance with the required commitments will be the real test not only of its readiness to facilitate the US envoy's mission but also its readiness to establish a just peace which is in the interest of all parties concerned. Document 00100146 ends. STAVROPOL. Jan 8 (Interfax-AVN) - Two citizens of Iraq were detained on the Russian border on Monday when they attempted to cross into the country illegally from Azerbaijan, a spokesman for the North Caucasus regional border guard department told Interfax- Military News Agency. The two detainees aged 26 were taken to a picket of the Derbent border guard detachment for a probe into the incident. Servicemen of the Sochi border guard department protecting a section of the Russian-Georgian frontier apprehended another violator on Monday, the spokesman said. A 33-year-old citizen of Romania tried to enter Russia illegally from Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia. According to the spokesman, heavy snowfalls and the risk of avalanches still limit the traffic on the Caucasus highway and Military Georgian highway. The Nizhny Zaramag checkpoint on the Russian-Georgian border is closed temporarily. The Verkhny Lars checkpoint is operating, but the number of people using it is very small. As many as 117 people and 58 vehicles crossed the border through that checkpoint on Monday, the spokesman said. @ 2002 Interfax-Military News Agency, All rights reserved. News and other data on this web site are provided for information purposes only, and are not intended for republication or redistribution. Republication or redistribution of Interfax content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Interfax-Military News Agency. Document 00100147 ends. Italian chemical giant Montedison S.p. A., through its Montedison Acquisition N.V. indirect unit, began its $37-a-share tender offer for all the common shares outstanding of Erbamont N.V., a maker of pharmaceuticals incorporated in the Netherlands. The offer, advertised in today's editions of The Wall Street Journal, is scheduled to expire at the end of November. Montedison currently owns about 72% of Erbamont's common shares outstanding. The offer is being launched pursuant to a previously announced agreement between the companies. Document 00100148 ends. Harare, March 14 (XINHUA) -- Despite the shortcomings of incumbent President Robert Mugabe's rule which has seen Zimbabwe's economic decline in recent years, the 78-year-old leader has carried off the palm in the country's closest-fought presidential election since independence 22 years ago. The nationwide polling results, released by the country's electoral authorities Wednesday, gave Mugabe of the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union -- Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) 1,685, 212 votes, or 56 percent, against his closest rival, Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), with 1, 258,401 votes, or 41.7 percent. "I am 77 years old, but I am still going strong. My fist carries a force, which can make one tumble and roll over 77 times," Mugabe boasted in a recent rally. After defending his "crown" to his last-ditch efforts, the veteran statesman, who bragged him a "young old man" with abundant reserves of energy to continue ruling Zimbabwe, has finally won the political boxing match against Tsvangirai, a more youthful opponent, who celebrated his 50th birthday on Sunday. Analysts said Mugabe, the last of the old African nationalists who rode to power on the colonial winds of change, has won on the strength of the appeal of ZANU-PF's land policy, under which the government was seizing idle farms from white farmers, who own the bulk of the country's arable land, to resettle landless peasants. They said the re-elected president received much of his votes from the rural areas, where voter turnout was considered much higher than that in towns and cities. Their comments were echoed by rural voters, who said the majority of them, who voted for ZANU-PF, were voting for land, and they will get it. "People in the rural areas support the ruling party because our party has been genuine on its policy on land reform. The government has been giving us land and that will win us votes," said Kudakwashe Mapfumo, whose family was among the first beneficiaries of the land reform. "We were given a piece of land which my parents have been able to farm and provide us with food," said Mapfumo, a ZANU-PF activist. Analysts said another reason for Mugabe to win the poll is his wise campaign strategy. Mugabe, whose strongholds are in the countryside, took election campaign to urban areas, where Tsvangirai enjoyed much support among those urban workers. While depending heavily on his rural support, Mugabe told thousands of urbanizers he would focus on housing and job creation if re-elected. "We want to come up with policies that will result in the creation of more jobs for the youths and those leaving school and colleges. The issue of good housing and similar services is also a top priority of the government," Mugabe said in a recent rally held in the capital Harare, the biggest political fortress for the MDC party. Of the 1,685,212 votes Mugabe garnered, there are some more votes coming from towns and cities, which were boosting his lead in the crucial poll. Despite the economic hardships and food shortages currently experienced by Zimbabweans, analysts said there are other major achievements Mugabe's government is credited for. During Mugabe's 22-year-rule, the country used to boast of having a good education system and a good health system, which was to some extent affected by the lackluster economy. However, a large number of middle-aged people, who benefited from Mugabe's reign, are still nostalgic about the lost time and voted for him with a strong hope for economic revival. Although some things have gone wrong under ZANU-PF leadership, Zimbabweans still chose Mugabe, the political strong man, because they said they were lured by his Millennium Economic Recovery Program. Under his blueprint, the government hopes to stabilize the economy through curtailing state expenditure, reforming public enterprises and expanding agriculture. Document 00100149 ends. A.L. Williams Corp. was merged into Primerica Corp., New York, after a special meeting of Williams shareholders cleared the transaction, the companies said. Primerica, which had owned nearly 70% of Williams, will pay about 16.7 million shares, currently valued at almost $472 million, for the rest of Williams. The financial-services company will pay 0.82 share for each Williams share. Williams shares, which were to be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange after the close of composite trading yesterday, closed at $23.25, off 12.5 cents. Primerica closed at $28.25, down 50 cents. Williams, Duluth, Ga., is an insurance and financial-services holding company. Its subsidiaries' services are marketed by closely held A.L. Williams & Associates. Primerica, as expected, also acquired certain assets of the agency and assumed certain of its liabilities. Terms weren't disclosed. Document 00100150 ends. China slams US arms sales to Taiwan Author: AFP [ THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2002 3:21:26 PM ] BEIJING: China on Thursday slammed increasingly close ties between the United States and Taiwan, demanding an end to official exchanges between the two and to US weapons sales. "The continual sale of arms by the United States or upgrading of relations with Taiwan will only lead to tensions across the straits," foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said. "We demand the US strictly abide by the commitments it has made to China, correct its erroneous acts or remarks so as to avoid new harm to China-US relations." Zhang further expressed alarm over Washington's announcement on Wednesday that defense department officials will soon visit Taiwan to discuss the sale of eight diesel electric submarines. "China has always resolutely opposed any form of official exchanges or military intercourse between the United States and Taiwan," Zhang said. "The Taiwan issue is the most important and sensitive issue at the core of Sino-US relations," she said at the biweekly ministry briefing. Military tensions in the Taiwan Strait were "not in the self-interests of the United States," she warned. She refused to confirm an April 26 to May 3 visit by Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao to Washington, as reported in the Hong Kong press. The visit, if Beijing allows it, is widely expected to be centered on China's dissatisfaction over the Taiwan issue. China has considered Taiwan a renegade province since 1949 and has threatened to bring it back by force if it continues to indefinitely refuse proposals for "peaceful reunification." Beijing has also long refused to establish diplomatic relations with any nation that maintains official contact with Taiwan, although it has encouraged economic exchanges between Taiwan and all nations. Zhang also bashed remarks made last month by US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz at a meeting in Florida, attended by visiting Taiwanese Defense Minister Tang Yao-Ming. "The United States is committed to doing whatever it takes to help Taiwan defend itself," said Wolfowitz, echoing President George W. Bush's remarks made when he first took office last year. "Our position is clear," he continued. "We don't support Taiwan independence, but we oppose the use of force." Wolfowitz expressed concern about China's continuing deployment of forces and tactical missiles to areas across the straits from Taiwan. US officials denied Wolfowitz's remarks reflected a change in US policy on Taiwan. Zhang said: "The remarks of the US official are a ... violation of US commitments made (on Taiwan) and interference in China internal affairs. China is firmly opposed to the remarks." Chinese missile tests over Taiwan in 1996 resulted in Washington deploying two aircraft carrier battle groups to the region. Copyright @ 2002 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved. | Document 00100151 ends. The Annual Human Rights Report of the US State Department has been strongly criticized and condemned by many countries. Though the report has been made public for 10 days, its contents, which are inaccurate and lacking good will, continue to be commented on by the world media. Many countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, and Latin America have rejected the content of the US Human Rights Report, calling it a brazen distortion of the situation, a wrongful and illegitimate move, and an interference in the internal affairs of other countries. Recently, the Information Office of the Chinese People's Congress released a report on human rights in the United States in 2001, criticizing violations of human rights there. The report quoting data from the Christian Science Monitor, points out that the murder rate in the United States is 5.5 per 100,000 people. In the United States, torture and pressure to confess crime is common. Many people have been sentenced to death for crime they did not commit as a result of an unjust legal system. More than 12 million children are living below the poverty line. According to the report, one American woman is beaten every 15 seconds. Evidence show that human rights violations in the United States have been ignored for many years. These facts are well understood by the US Administration as human rights violations take place every day. The United States has been preparing annual reports on human rights in 190 countries for 25 years while ignoring the real situation at home. World analysts remarked that the US evaluation of the practice of human rights in other countries depends on the level of political relations between the United States and those countries. This year, the US report devotes many pages to commenting on human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Iraq. The US judgment of the practice of human rights depends on US interests as well. The British News Agency Reuters remarked that in the 2000 human rights report, the United States criticized Egypt for trying suspected terrorists in military courts. However, such a criticism is absent in the 2001 human rights report as the United States is planning to try the al-Qa'ida and Taliban detainees in military courts while refusing to grant them POW status. It is clear that the United States pays no attention to fundamental human rights unless they serve its political purpose. In light of the United States' malicious goals, its Annual Human Rights Report for 2001 is facing strong protest and criticism from the world. Many Americans have given evidence to prove the wrong judgment of their administration against human rights in other countries, especially in Vietnam. The Washington Times last weekend carried an article by Andrew Welsdan, a representative of the US Fund for Reconciliation and Development, rejecting the report's allegation of human rights in Vietnam. The article stressed that people in Vietnam are free to practice any religion, whether they are buddhists, catholics, or protestants. The Annual Human Rights Report released by the US State Department is not convincing as it is inaccurate and fabricated. Document 00100152 ends. Venezuela's new dawn BBC correspondent in Caracas Venezuelans awoke on Friday to a country transformed by the dramatic and violent events of the last 24 hours, which left at least 11 people dead and more than 80 injured. A general strike and an escalating oil industry stoppage that had threatened to cripple the country's economy were no more - and the country not only had a new president, business leader Pedro Carmona, but a new name. The country was no longer the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, in honour of South American independence hero Simon Bolivar, one of former president Hugo Chavez's heroes. Now it is simply the Republic of Venezuela. The name change was Mr Carmona's first act as head of the transition government. His second was to announce the end of the three-day general strike he had called with the head of the Confederation of Venezuelan Workers (CTV) leader Carlos Ortega in support of protesting managers from state oil company PDVSA. Shellshocked Managers were striking because Mr Chavez had filled the company's board of directors with his supporters. Despite the announcement, traffic was lighter than a normal Friday and many Venezuelans did not turn up for work. The country is in shellshock. On Thursday a peaceful rally of more than 100,000 mainly middle class Venezuelans had ended in bloodshed. As marchers called for Mr Chavez's resignation outside Miraflores, the presidential palace, shots were fired into the crowd. Eyewitness Euridice Ledesma said snipers fired on the marchers from rooftops near the palace. Film footage also caught armed supporters of Mr Chavez firing indiscriminately at the marchers. Later army chief, General Efrain Vasquez said some "Bolivarian" groups were indeed armed. "It was horrible. These groups were shooting at defenceless people," said photographer Luis Gomez. Chavez's last day At the time, Mr Chavez was addressing the nation to assure them his government respected people's right to demonstrate and freedom of the press. Moments later he announced that he had taken five national television channels off the air for "telling lies about the government". The shootings were the final straw for the military. A succession of officers filled the TV screens to say they supported the people and that the killings were "not tolerable". As tanks surrounded Miraflores, Mr Chavez was holed up with senior military officers in a bid to save his presidency. In the early hours of the morning, chief of the armed forces General Lucas Rincon held a brief news conference to say Mr Chavez's resignation had been demanded and accepted. Earlier his wife, Marisabel, and children had left Caracas in the cover of darkness on a PDVSA jet for Barquisimeto in western Venezuela. Mr Chavez is currently detained at Fuerte Tiuna army base in Caracas and could face possible charges for his role in the killings. News of Mr Chavez's resignation caused hundreds of flag-waving and whistle-blowing Venezuelans to surround the city's air force base, La Carlota, in the hope of seeing Mr Chavez' departure from the country. Mr Chavez's exit has left Venezuela with a power vacuum and no obvious long-term leader. The challenge now is to heal the deep social divisions that exist within the country. "I think people are happy because Chavez has fallen. But there's also a feeling of uncertainty about how the country's obvious problems are going to be solved," said Ms Ledesma. Copyright @ BBC Document 00100153 ends. Advanced Medical Technologies Inc. said it purchased 93% of a unit of Henley Group Inc. Advanced Medical paid $106 million in cash for its share in a unit of Henley's Fisher Scientific subsidiary. The unit makes intravenous pumps used by hospitals and had more than $110 million in sales last year, according to Advanced Medical. Document 00100154 ends. The tragic and shocking events that shook the United States, destroying a number of its economic, urban, and military landmarks, have aroused grief and sorrow worldwide. This is because the terrorist violence has struck innocent women and children and defenseless civilians. The scenes of destruction reminded the Palestinian people of the ongoing devastation and the Palestinians who are falling victim to the Israeli acts of bombardment, targeted assassinations, and incursions into Palestinian towns and villages, including Bayt Jala, Gaza, Khan Yunus, Rafah, Janin, Tulkarm, Ramlallah, Jericho, Nabulus, and others. Nobody who has a live conscience and human feelings, whether he is Palestinian or otherwise, could not have been moved by these events and expressed sympathy for the families of the US victims, regardless of the US political stances that are totally biased to Israel and Israel's use of the most advanced US weapons to curb the Palestinian intifadah. This is because the Palestinians were, and still are, hoping that the Americans would realize, if they have not already realized, the justice of the Palestinian cause and the enormous injustice suffered by the Palestinians, who were expelled from their homeland, whose land was occupied, and who were deprived of the minimum political and human rights. If any people are going to be moved by the scenes of destruction that involved Manhattan, the World Trade Center, and the Pentagon, it is the Palestinian people. These people saw the majority of their security sites destroyed and the residential neighborhoods and apartment buildings parallel to the combat lines with the Israeli army and settlements in the West Bank and Gaza targeted by the Apaches helicopters and large-caliber artillery and machine guns. However, for Israel to take advantage of the US tragedy to claim that it is standing in one ditch with the United States against the violence of terrorism, this is a twisted logic. This is because Israel is an occupation state, one that is persecuting the Palestinians and denying them the right to exercise their national and sovereign rights. Such a comparison would be theoretically valid if Israel withdrew from the occupied territories but the violence of terrorism against it continued. While the world is busy following the news of the attacks on the US targets and feeling sorry for these acts, Israel carried out an incursion into Janin and the neighboring villages, bombarded more Palestinian internal security sites, demolished more homes in East Jerusalem, and killed an additional number of Palestinian activists and non-activists, including an 11-year-old girl. It is very important for the United States to realize the difference between the US and Israeli cases. The Palestinians want nothing from Washington but to understand their cause and stand beside right and justice. What is required of Israel is to withdraw, both on the military and settlement fronts, from the territories occupied in 1967, and the United States should push its ally Israel in that direction. This would put an end to sensitivities, hatred, and injustice and spread peace in the region and the world. Document 00100155 ends. June 26, 1995 Dear Friend: This is not newsletter. It is a fund-raising appeal. But there's no reason why we shouldn't share good news at the same time. Federal, state and local governments are freezing or withdrawing much-needed funding sources for people who are truly in need. In spite of that, Pleasant Run Children's Homes, with the help of hundreds of volunteers and others who really care, continues to make a significant impact on the futures of families and kids in need of help. We all hear about today's increases in neglect, abuse and abandonment of those who can't fight back: children. Yet few of us hear enough about kids who live through these adversities and do make the grade. The positive side. These are special children. They come into a Pleasant Run program... whether it's for therapeutic help in their own homes (which nurtures whole families), through foster care families or in the familial surroundings of our residential homes. For some, it's a matter of weeks or months; for others, it's years. They leave Pleasant Run, generally, ready and able to contribute to society. We're proud of our children and all that they overcome. We are a not-for-profit, multi-service agency. We wouldn't exist if the need weren't there. The numbers of children who deserve our services are rising... as quickly as our programs can grow to serve them. Please help us help them. Pleasant Run Children's Homes... "where good kids get better." Sincerely, Mary Roth Tom Hirschauer Document 00100156 ends. My name is Bonnie Rindner and I was born in San Antonio, TX, and the story I'm going to tell is about my mother. Um, a little background first. Her, let's see, her mother's family were wealthy people at one time. They owned car dealerships and extensive land. Um, I don't know if they were farmers or not, but I know they were land owners, um, many acres and, um, her grandmother was raised in wealth. Uh, then the Depression came and apparently everyone lost all their money. Um, she was raised in MO, and she married a man, this is my grandmother I'm talking about. And they were very poor by this point, and they had, I think, seven children. And one particular Christmas, things were very, very difficult. There was no money to buy any presents at all, um, for the children, and my grandfather, who was killed when my mother was 16, this was, of course, way before that, um, he must have been a very positive person because what he did with the situation was he, he told the children that there were no presents this Christmas because they had given them all to Santa to take the poor children and this made the children feel happy and proud of themselves and it gave them a good feeling that they had done something very nice for someone less fortunate than themselves. Um, I felt like that was a way to face that situation with such hope and with joy and with love. And although I never met my grandfather, I have never forgotten that story and when I hear of him I think what a wonderful, wonderful person he must have been. And how long have you lived in Charlotte? Oh, I have lived in Charlotte, um, for a year. Um, I lived in Charlotte for five years. We came here in 1986, we lived here for five years, then we moved to Raleigh for seven years and now we've been back one year. Well, good. Document 00100157 ends. COTABATO CITY - An alleged member of Nur Misuari's elite force said Saturday there is a plan to rescue their jailed leader. MacArthur Rasul, who claims to be a spokesperson of Misuari's Mutallah Force, said the group was just waiting for orders to mount the rescue operation. Rasul told Radio Mindanao Network here that some 1,000 members of the Misuari force have been on standby and are prepared to spring their leader from detention in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, at anytime. Misuari, charged with rebellion for the Nov. 19 mutiny staged in Jolo by his followers, is locked up at the Fort Sto. Domingo police detention facility in Sta. Rosa. His pocket rebellion and a subsequent hostage-taking situation resulted in over 100 deaths. "Our field commanders are just waiting for orders from the higher hierarchy," Rasul said. Rasul admitted, however, that even if there was a strong desire among Misuari's followers to free him, the plan would fail if the jailed rebel leader went against it. "If Chairman Misuari would go against (the rescue), we cannot do otherwise (but follow) because he is our commander in chief," he said. But while admitting to the plot, Rasul said Misuari's followers were also appealing to the Macapagal administration to free their leader. "For the sake of peace," he said. Rasul said they could not understand why the government was so hard on Misuari when it was lenient with other leaders who revolted in the past. "If the government was able to extend amnesty to our Christian brothers, like (former renegade Army officer Gregorio) "Gringo" Honasan and others, why can't it accord the same privilege to Chairman Misuari?" Rasul asked. Local Government Assistant Secretary Abraham Iribani called on Saturday for sobriety among Muslim leaders and Moro National Liberation Front commanders amid alleged attempts by certain groups to start a religious war over Misuari's detention. "We should remain calm and let the law take its course," Iribani, designated government spokesperson for Misuari's case, said he told a group of Muslim leaders and MNLF commanders in a dialogue in Zamboanga City. Irabini said he explained to them that Misuari was being held for rebellion, and not because "he was a Muslim, a member of the Bangsamoro people or an MNLF leader." Some Moro groups had claimed Misuari's detention was an affront to the Muslim people and should be cause for a "Muslim war." "I told them the act of rebellion happened in public and the charges were not just fabricated," Iribani said in a phone interview. Dialogue The local government official held a dialogue with the Muslim leaders to officially report to them Misuari's status and answer their questions about his arrest and detention. Iribani also dismissed reports that renegade MNLF commanders were plotting to stage bomb attacks in Mindanao and Metro Manila to protest Misuari's arrest. "That's not true," he said. Iribani said he explained to the Muslim leaders that Misuari's personal demands, including access to the media, could not be granted because these were not within his rights as a detainee. As this developed, the number of lawyers who will defend Misuari grew to 28, after former Davao City Mayor Benjamin de Guzman and two others agreed to serve as his counsel. De Guzman said it was lawyer Macapanton Abbas Jr. who asked him, former vice mayor Dominador Zuno Jr. and city councilor Victorio Advincula to join the team of lawyers that would defend Misuari in court. Misuari's other lawyers warned yesterday the country's judicial system, more than their client, will be on trial because of the legal nuances surrounding his arrest. The deportation of Misuari by Malaysia also drew flak from opposition legislators who warned that it could trigger a reaction in the government's peace efforts. Maguindanao Rep. Didagen Dilangalen said the prosecution of Misuari for rebellion could force the government to revive the cases against other rebel leaders, particularly of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the National Democratic Front. Sen. Aquilino Pimentel expressed the same apprehension. Aside from the sensitive legal questions, Pimentel said there is a growing impression that Misuari could pose a security threat to the country. Among the other members of Misuari's defense team are former Integrated Bar of the Philippines president Arthur Lim, former Court of Appeals justice Omar Amin, former labor relations commissioner Musib Buat, Salvador Panelo, US-based Elly Pamatong and former ARRM solicitor general Jose Lorena. Document 00100158 ends. With international consensus having been reached regarding a treaty to combat climate change, a ``red light'' has been issued to South Korea's heavily carbon-dependent industries. Last Saturday, representatives of 165 countries finally agreed on the rules to implement the 1997 Kyoto Protocol after two weeks of negotiations held in Marrakech, Morocco. According to the accord, about 40 industrialized countries must cut or limit emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases by an average of 5.2 percent from 1990 levels by 2012. Scientists believe these ``greenhouse'' gases (GHG), which mainly result from burning fossil fuels, raise the earth's temperature and change the climate by creating floods, droughts, and other abnormal weather phenomena. As South Korea is not included in the Annex I parties, composed of industrialized countries, the accord, which is expected to go into effect some time next year, is not likely to affect the country for a while. Although a member of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), South Korea is still regarded as a developing country and is not obliged to reduce its GHG emissions under the treaty. But considering that South Korea has the highest growth rate of carbon dioxide emissions in the world, it will not be able to fend off international pressure to join in the global campaign to reduce greenhouse gases much longer, experts note. According to statistics released by International Energy Agency (IEA), a Paris-based agency affiliated with the OECD, South Korea was found to have recorded the highest growth rate of carbon dioxide emissions in 1999, showing a 75.5 percent increase since 1990. In terms of the amount of emissions, South Korea discharged 410 million tons of carbon dioxide in 1999, ranking tenth in the world. If industrialized countries start cutting back on GHG emissions from 2008, when the first target period begins, South Korea will become the seventh most carbon dioxide-producing country in the world, according to IEA figures. But the government has not taken any concrete steps regarding the cutback of greenhouse gas emissions, maintaining a wait-and-see approach instead. ``As South Korea has `developing country' status, we are not in a position to voluntarily express our course of action,'' said Yoon Jong-soo, director of the global environment office at the Environment Ministry. ``We estimate Korea will probably join the countries cutting back emissions no later than 2018. Until then, we plan to step up efforts to gradually change our energy structure and reduce greenhouse gases by promoting research on renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies,'' he said. Jun Mu, deputy director of the industry and environment team at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), said, ``So far, industries have been rather passive in dealing with emission reductions, as is has been something that was considered to lie far off in the future. ``We will first start gathering the opinions of business leaders regarding Korea's ratification of the treaty, while continuing to promote the development of energy-efficient technologies,'' he said, adding a special committee on climate change was formed under KCCI last January. The international treaty to tackle climate change was first envisioned in Kyoto four years ago, but due to the conflicting interests of developed and developing countries as well as other contentious issues such as emission reduction mechanisms and targets, it is yet to go into effect. The protocol faced danger of being shelved altogether, when the U.S, which is responsible for one-fourth of all CO2 emissions in the world, decided to abruptly withdraw from the climate change treaty last March. The Bush administration fears the treaty will have a negative effect on its economy and maintains that developing countries, such as China and India, should also be subject to mandatory emission targets. But due to the strong initiative of the global community, led by the European Union, countries agreed on a set of rules to implement the climate change treaty _ with or without the U.S. In order for the protocol to be implemented, it must be ratified by at least 55 parties, including enough industrialized countries to represent at least 55 percent of the total carbon dioxide emissions in 1990. A total 43 countries have ratified he treaty so far, with Korea yet to ratify. Document 00100159 ends. The Finnish government and major creditors of bankrupt shipyard Waertsilae Marine Industries Oy agreed in principle to form a new company to complete most of the troubled shipyard's backlog of 15 ships. The new company will attempt to limit the shipyard's losses, participants said. "The situation is that the bankruptcy court will get out of the shipbuilding business. Everything will be taken over by the new company," said Christian Andersson, executive vice president of Oy Waertsilae, former parent of Waertsilae Marine. Once its ownership is finalized, the new company will open talks with state-appointed receivers to buy or lease Waertsilae Marine's shipyard facilities. Subcontractors will be offered a settlement and a swift transition to new management is expected to avert an exodus of skilled workers from Waertsilae Marine's two big shipyards, government officials said. Under an accord signed yesterday, the government and Union Bank of Finland would become major shareholders in the new company, each injecting 100 million Finnish markkaa ($23.5 million). Oy Waertsilae is to contribute 200 million markkaa, most of it as subordinated debt, and take a minority stake in the new company. Customers holding contracts for Waertsilae Marine's undelivered ships are expected to subscribe most of the remaining 170 million markkaa in share capital, government officials said. Waertsilae Marine's biggest creditor is Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines Inc. Carnival, which has three ships on order from Waertsilae Marine, presented claims for $1.5 billion damages in the bankruptcy court this week. Waertsilae Marine's bankruptcy proceedings began Tuesday in a Helsinki court. Document 00100160 ends. Kazakhstan's external trade turnover, not counting unregulated trade, reached 11,305,400,000 dollars in January-September 2001, up 14 per cent year on year, the Kazakh State Agency for Statistics has said. The agency said that the trade balance was favourable, at 1.84bn dollars over the period (the balance in January-September 2000 was favourable, at 2.89bn dollars). The CIS countries accounted for 30.9 per cent of total exports over the period (compared with 27 per cent over the same period in 2000). Document 00100161 ends. BAGRAM, Afghanistan, Dec 7 (AFP) - In a foretaste of resistance to foreign peacekeepers by the Northern Alliance, an uneasy atmosphere reigns between US forces and their Afghan allies at the Bagram airbase north of Kabul. Once the main Soviet airbase during Moscow's 1979-89 invasion of Afghanistan, Bagram has now become the hub for flights into the country as Kabul's own airport cannot be used because of unexploded US bombs. Although Northern Alliance control the main entrance to the base, some 60 kilometres (35 miles) north of Kabul, just inside the perimeter there is a checkpoint manned by heavily-armed US soldiers. A few feet (metres) ahead down the road, British commandos are on guard duty. A contingent of the US 10th mountain division has taken up base at Bagram, joining some 150 British Marines, to establish a humanitarian air corridor for international aid but also to ensure security at the crucial airbase. "By no means are we trying to set up a permanent presence here, we just want to help," said US military spokesman Sergeant-Major Ray Cordell. But the ill-disciplined alliance troops showed little-disguised irritation at the Americans' dominant role at Bagram, refusing to allow journalists through to speak to the US soldiers. The top alliance commander in the area, General Babajan, driving out of the base to inspect positions along with some US and British officers, good naturedly shrugged off any problem. "Our cooperation? It is good, you can see they (the Americans) are here," he said smiling. But then asked about permission to visit the base, Babajan replied: "You have to talk to the Americans, they're in charge here." The balance of authority became clear when the general invited journalists to accompany the military convoy, an order swiftly countermanded by the US officers. At the checkpoint, five US soldiers armed with M-4 carbines were manning the post, assisted by a sniffer dog. The US military will not say how many troops they have brought to the base but their presence has already provoked an armed incident. A group of journalists who toured Bagram accompanied by US soldiers on Wednesday were halted in their tracks by a burst of gunfire by alliance soldiers next to their vehicle. "When it gets to the point that Northern Alliance troops start firing in the air just next to a car with reporters, you have to do something about it," said Cordell. He said that Northern Alliance commanders were irritated by images of armed US soldiers on Afghan soil, and so media access to the base had to be temporarily suspended. "They don't want their people to see pictures of foreign troops in Afghanistan," he said. But the spokesman also admitted that the US troops reminded the Afghans of the Soviet military invasion. "We have the same caps as the Soviet soldiers, that brings back bad memories for the Afghans," said Cordell. Ironically, some 200 armed Russians, who appeared to be from the military although they were dressed in uniforms of Russia's emergencies ministry, set up camp 10 days ago in the centre of Kabul. Moscow said they are there to help re-establish its embassy and deliver humanitarian supplies. But Russia, which armed the alliance throughout its five-year civil war with the Taliban, has offered unequivocal political support for the loose coalition of ethnic minorities which swept into Kabul on November 13. Under the power-sharing accord signed in Bonn on Wednesday, which should see a new interim government take power on December 22, a mainly Muslim UN-mandated security force is to be deployed in Kabul. However Northern Alliance defence minister General Mohammad Qasim Fahim said the same day that he had rebuffed a British offer to send troops to Kabul in the coming days and insisted he wants a strictly limited UN force. Document 00100162 ends. GABORONE Sept 17 Sapa SADC, USAID SIGN DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS Executive secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Prega Ramsamy and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on Monday signed dollar-based agreements to up American aid to SADC in three areas. In rand-terms, an additional R7,77-million was committed for drought relief to bring the total to R44-million; R6,48-million to support the objective of achieving an integrated regional market in southern Africa, bringing the total committed to R189-million; and R898560 in support of strengthening regional economies through non governmental organisations, bringing the total committed to the programme to R88,99-million. The three programmes are virtually open ended, being topped up as projects finish and others are initiated. "This signing sends a message to SADC of the importance with which the new US administration views regional integration in southern Africa," US ambassador to Botswana John Lange, who is also the special representative of the US government to SADC, said. "It is US policy to continue this type of cooperation." Ramsamy also condemned last Tuesday's terror attacks in the United States. "The SADC secretariat condemns unreservedly and in the strongest terms this act of terrorism," he said. Replying, Lange said: "The day September 11, 2001 has become one of the worst days in American history. "It was not only an attack on our global village, but the foundations of democracy. We are grateful for the strong support expressed by the international community, particularly the SADC member states." Ramsamy also read a joint statement made on Thursday at the close of a meeting of SADC foreign and finance ministers in Blantyre, Malawi, labelling the terror attacks ghastly and barbaric. "We learnt of the attacks with great shock and sorrow," the ministers said. "We strongly condemn this ghastly and barbaric act of terrorism and wanton destruction of property and the loss of innocent lives. The people of the US are known for their strong sense of justice which will no doubt see them through this trying time and bring the culprits to book." The 14 members of SADC are: Angola, Botswana, Democratic Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Source : Sapa /le/wj Date : 17 Sep 2001 19:53 Document 00100163 ends. BLOCKBUSTER ENTERTAINMENT CORP. said it raised $92 million from an offering of liquid yield option notes. The gross proceeds from the sale of the notes, which will be due on Nov. 1, 2004, will be used to reduce existing debt and for general corporate purposes, the company said. The debt reduction is expected to save the Fort Lauderdale, Fla. home video concern about $2 million a year in interest expense. The zero-coupon subordinated notes have no periodic interest payments. Each note is being offered at $308.32 per $1,000 principal amount at maturity, representing an 8% yield to maturity. In addition, each note can be converted into Blockbuster Entertainment common stock at a rate of 13.851 shares per note. Merrill Lynch Capital Markets Inc. is the sole underwriter for the offering. The notes will have a principal amount of $300 million at maturity. Blockbuster shares closed yesterday at $18.75, down $1.125, in New York Stock Exchange trading. Document 00100164 ends. Poughkeepsie Savings Bank said a plan to sell its South Carolina branch offices to First Citizens Bank, of Columbia, S.C., fell through. Poughkeepsie also expects to post a one-time charge of $8.3 million, resulting in a net loss for the third quarter. The charge represents a write-down of the goodwill associated with Poughkeepsie's investment in the banks it is trying to sell and its North Carolina branches as well. The thrift announced the plan Aug. 21. Among other reasons, high fees regulators imposed on certain transfers of thrift deposits to commercial banks "substantially altered the economics of the transaction for both parties," Poughkeepsie said. Additionally, the bank is increasing its loan-loss reserves for the third quarter by $8.5 million before taxes. In the year-earlier third quarter, Poughkeepsie Savings had net income of $2.8 million, or 77 cents a share. Poughkeepsie said it is continuing to try to sell itself, under a June agreement with a dissident-shareholder group. The bank also said its effort would continue past the Nov. 1 deadline set in that agreement and that the litigation between the two sides might resume as a result. The thrift and the holders had suspended their lawsuits as part of the agreement. Document 00100165 ends. Conseco Inc. said it is calling for the redemption on Dec. 7 of all the 800,000 remaining shares outstanding of its $1.875 Series A convertible preferred stock at $26.805 a share. The insurance concern said all conversion rights on the stock will terminate on Nov. 30. Until then, Conseco said the stock remains convertible into common stock at the rate of 1.439 shares of common stock for each share of preferred stock, which is equivalent to a conversion price of $17.50 a common share. In New York Stock Exchange trading Friday, Conseco closed at $19.50, down 25 cents. Document 00100166 ends. ISLAMABAD, Oct 29 (AFP) - The Taliban on Monday said an unspecified number of Americans had been arrested in Afghanistan. "There have been arrests," Taliban Ambassador to Pakistan Abdul Salam Zaeef told a news conference here when asked if any Americans had been arrested in Afghanistan. "I don't know how many there are or where they are or what their condition is," he said. Document 00100167 ends. Brazil and Germany call for implementation of Kyoto Protocol by September Brasilia, 14 (Agencia Brasil - ABr) - In a document entitled Partnership Brasil-Germany: Action Plan, both countrires have expressed interest in seeing the Kyoto Protocol take effect by the Sustainable Development Summit (Rio+10), that takes place in South Africa, next September. Brazil and Germany also call on other countries to ratify the protocol and work to enforce it. The document also states that Brazil and Germany intend to expand cooperation in the area of environment and sustainable development. Both countries expect to present common positions at the Rio+10 meeting. Finally, the document stresses the importance of the Pilot Program for Protection of Tropical Forests (PPG-7) and German participation in the program. (AB) @ All material may be reproduced as long as the source is acknowledged Document 00100168 ends. [Computer selected and disseminated without FBIS editorial intervention] Tokyo, Oct. 8 Kyodo -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will shorten his one-day visit to China on Monday by three hours due to the launch of U.S. and British retaliatory strikes in Afghanistan for the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States, government officials said. Koizumi left for Beijing on Monday morning an hour after the originally scheduled time and will return to Tokyo two hours earlier than scheduled, the officials said. But, Koizumi has not changed his plan to visit the Marco Polo Bridge, the site of the 1937 clash that led to an eight-year war between Japan and China, and a nearby museum commemorating China's anti-Japanese movement, they said. Document 00100169 ends. Fate of 'detainees' hangs on US wording PARIS - The future of the Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters being held in Cuba is as unclear as the view through the darkened goggles they were made to wear when they stepped off the plane at the US military base in Guantanamo Bay. Already, Washington's refusal to grant them official prisoner-of- war status has sparked protests from human rights groups, and a disagreement with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which oversees the Geneva Conventions. But for the US, the POW designation has little to do with steel manacles or open-air cells. Rather, it appears to be sidestepping the conventions in order to craft an unusual legal strategy that will enable it to try Al Qaeda suspects in special US military tribunals. Fifty men are currently being held in Guantanamo, in six-by-eight foot concrete-floored cells, with wooden roofs and chainlink fence "walls" that leave them open to the elements. US military engineers are preparing to build up to 2,000 such cells, if necessary; more than 400 prisoners are still being held in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told re- porters that "we do plan to, for the most part, treat them in a manner that is reasonably consistent with the Geneva Conventions, to the extent that they are appropriate." But he was careful to refer to the prisoners as "unlawful combatants" or "battlefield detainees," not prisoners of war. That description severely reduces the rights that the men would have as POWs under the Geneva Conventions, and prompted a rebuttal from the International Red Cross. "We say they should be presumed to be POWs, and it is not up to the ICRC or to the US military authorities to decide, but up to the courts," said Michael Kleiner, an ICRC spokesman. He recalled that a US court determined that former Panamanian strongman Manuel Noriega was a POW, despite the government's refusal to classify him as such following his capture. The issue goes to the heart of the US administration's hopes of prosecuting Al Qaeda leaders suspected of involvement in terrorist attacks against US targets. Under the third Geneva Convention, prisoners of war may only be tried in the same courts and according to the same rules, as soldiers of the country that is holding the prisoners. That means the Al Qaeda suspects could not be tried in the special military tribunals whose rules are currently being worked out, but only by regular US military courts using the Uniform Code of Military Justice. That would give the prisoners the right to a three-tier appeal system reaching possibly to the Supreme Court. "This is one reason why the Americans are nervous about applying the POW convention in all its glory," says Adam Roberts, an expert on international law at Oxford University in England, and editor of "Documents on the Laws of War." US Attorney General John Ashcroft said Tuesday that the administration would seek criminal charges in a civil court against the American Taliban prisoner John Walker Lindh, rather than send him to a military tribunal. Mr. Ashcroft said he would not face the death penalty. US officials say that the foreign prisoners captured in Afghanistan are not covered by the third Geneva Convention because they were "bands of people that I don't think would meet the criteria of organized military activity," as Pentagon spokeswoman Susan Hanson put it. The Pentagon has also stressed that the prisoners are being well treated, given three "culturally appropriate meals" a day, and the opportunity to shower, exercise, and receive medical attention. Human rights organizations, however, have raised questions about the prisoners' housing conditions, which according to the Geneva Convention should be the same standard of those enjoyed by their guards. "If US POWs were ever kept under these conditions, the United States would complain, and rightly so," says James Ross, a senior legal adviser with the New York-based Human Rights Watch. The ICRC is to send a team to Guantanamo by the end of this week, US officials have said, to inspect Camp X-Ray. Meanwhile Pentagon legal experts are currently working on a procedure to decide on the prisoners' fate. US policy towards them "is a new construct of the new military situation we find ourselves in," dealing with irregular forces from a variety of countries who are suspected of terrorism rather than traditional war crimes, Ms. Hanson says. Little is clear, however. "There are a bunch of lawyers who are looking at all these treaties and conventions and everything, trying to figure out what is appropriate," Mr. Rumsfeld told reporters last week. "They are a bit of a tangle, these people," says Prof. Roberts. Under the Geneva Conventions, POWs must be returned home at the end of the war. But Saudi or Egyptian detainees, for example, could face mistreatment at the hands of their governments, which means Washington would be forbidden by international law to hand them over. It is also unclear what would constitute an end to the war on terrorism. And if some individuals were found to be a continued danger, the US authorities would be reluctant to release them. "I don't think anything quite like this was envisioned when the Geneva Conventions were drawn up," says Tom Farer, dean of Denver University's Graduate School of International Studies and a former special assistant to the Defense Department's special counsel. "What is worrying," adds Prof. Roberts, "is that by calling these people 'battlefield detainees', the United States seems to be creating a legal limbo where it is not clear what the legal standards are." back to top Untitled Copyright @ 2002 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights reserved. Document 00100170 ends. Shuttle Atlantis thunders toward space station Author: BY PHIL LONG CAPE CANAVERAL - Seven astronauts and a truckload of hardware are racing toward the International Space Station following the successful blastoff Monday of the space shuttle Atlantis. The launch was the first of six scheduled for the next seven months in a flurry of activity designed to get the space station closer to completion. Riding three new main engines that belched an orange pillar of fire, Atlantis thundered off the seaside launch pad at 4:44 p.m. A computer glitch marred the countdown as engineers frantically reloaded software, finishing the job with just 11 seconds to spare. The launch came after a four-day delay caused when a liquid hydrogen vent pipe sprung a leak during fueling on Thursday. ''You spent a few extra days in Florida,'' NASA launch director Mike Leinbach told Atlantis commander Mike Bloomfield moments before liftoff. ``But it's time to take a ride.'' The launch was a milestone in U.S. space flight. Mission specialist Jerry L. Ross, a grandfather, became the first astronaut to make seven space flights. In four space walks during the 11-day mission, astronauts will install the ''keystone'' center support unit for the International Space Station. The 44-foot-long, 27,000-pound ''S-Zero'' structure's first job will be to support a new solar energy array nearly an acre in size, stretching more than a football field in length. Document 00100171 ends. Elaborating on the 'axis of evil' PRESIDENT GEORGE Bush's National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice has recently "defined" the context and scope of the term "axis of evil" that Bush used in his State of the Union address a few weeks ago to describe Iraq, Iran and North Korea. The criteria set by Rice are the following: the three countries in question are repressive and grave human rights violators, and aggressively seeking weapons of mass destruction. By all conservative estimates, there are scores of other countries which can easily qualify as repressive and violating human rights. The rule, as far as human rights are concerned, is that every nation which does not enjoy pluralistic democracy is violating human rights and is therefore oppressive. There are many countries in the world that hardly qualify as pluralistic democracies. On this count, the national security adviser may have erred. As for her wording regarding acquisition of weapons, what is particularly noteworthy is the use of the words "aggressively seeking" nuclear, biological or chemical weapons. In other words, countries which are seeking or developing such arsenal at a slow pace do not seem to come within the scope of the "axis of evil". One can name more than a dozen countries which are contemplating the acquisition of mass destruction weapons at one speed or another. All other countries which are seemingly refraining from acquiring such weapons are doing so not so much to escape being branded as "evil" but rather because they have neither the knowledge nor the money to join the "nuclear club". Come to think of it, acquiring weapons of mass destruction per se may not be a correct basis for judging whether a nation is good or evil. The mere development or possession of mass destruction weapons is not in itself a reason to label a state as evildoer. After all, the US is the first nation to have developed nuclear weapons. Moreover, the US is the first and only nation ever to deploy such weapons. Perhaps the real criterion in this context is whether the nuclear country is democratic in every sense of the word. Washington seems to be particularly disturbed and feel that its own national security is being threatened only when the nations which acquire mass destruction weapons are authoritarian or repressive, irrespective of the pace of amassing weaponry. This is, in fact, the fear of all countries, as they feel that democratic regimes are more restrained and responsible when it comes to resorting to weapons of mass destruction. If this is the case, Rice could have elaborated more precise criteria for membership in the "axis of evil," by establishing more clearly the connection between the nature of the regime and the acquisition of weapons of mass destruction. Document 00100172 ends. Heritage Media Corp., New York, said it offered to buy the shares of POP Radio Corp. it doesn't already own in a stock swap. Heritage, which owns 51% of POP's 3.6 million shares outstanding, said it will exchange one share of a new preferred stock for each POP common share it doesn't already own. Depending upon how many warrants and options are exercised prior to completion of the transaction, Heritage would issue between 1.8 million and 2.35 million preferred shares, a Heritage spokesman estimated. In national over-the-counter trading yesterday, POP plunged $4 to $14.75. The preferred stock, which would have a dividend rate of $1.76 a year, would be convertible into Heritage common at a rate of four common shares for each preferred. New York-based POP Radio provides, through a national, in-store network, a customized music, information and advertising service which simulates live radio. Heritage owns and operates television and radio stations and in-store advertising and promotion programs. Document 00100173 ends. [Computer selected and disseminated without FBIS editorial intervention] Taipei, Sept. 26 (CNA) -- It is unlikely that the Vatican will establish diplomatic ties with mainland China any time soon, judging from their differences on religious issues, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) spokeswoman Chang Siao-yue said Wednesday. Chang's remark came in response to a foreign wire report that mainland China and the Vatican are preparing to bridge their differences and may even pave the way for full diplomatic relations. Beijing authorities are expected to take advantage of a large religious meeting slated for October 14 in Beijing to develop the possibility of setting up formal relations with the Vatican, according to the report. In response, Chang said the Beijing leadership will have chances to boost exchanges with Holy See officials in the next few weeks, including in the religious meeting to be held Oct. 14-18 in Beijing and another one scheduled for Oct. 24-25 in Rome. In addition to Catholic scholars from around the world, former Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti will also take part in the symposium to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the start of Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci's mission to China in 1601, Chang noted. The MOFA spokeswoman affirmed that from the angle of Eastern and Western cultural exchanges, the sponsoring of similar conferences will be instrumental to mainland Chinese people's better understanding of Catholicism and its contributions to Chinese society. As for the development of diplomatic relations between mainland China and the Vatican, Chang noted that differences between the Beijing leadership and the Holy See on religious issues dates from long ago, so it is impossible for the Vatican to broach this issue with Beijing for the time being. Chang also reaffirmed the solid and cordial diplomatic links between the Republic of China and the Vatican. Document 00100174 ends. Khatami congratulates Venezuelan nation for Chavez' return Tehran, April 20, IRNA -- President Mohammad Khatami on Friday evening congratulated the Venezuelan government and nation for the victory and restoration of the legitimate government of President Hugo Chavez after a failed military coup in that country. During a telephone conversation, President Khatami told his Venezuelan counterpart, President Hugo Chavex, that the return of the legitimate president and government to power was a victory of justice and freedom. The Iranian president also expressed the hope that with the return of President Chavez the Venezuelan government would be able to achieve its exalted objectives with the support of the people. Referring to the difficult period the venezuelan nation went through in the past week, President Chavez said the anti-democractic attempts to topple his government failed with the help of the Almighty God and the people. As to the re-establishment of legal order in his country, Chavez briefed the Iranian president on the latest developments in his country. Referring to the objective of those who were behind the military coup in Venezuela, Chavez said they wwanted to have Venezuela come out from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and therefore tried to produce more oil in order to undermine the organization. President Chavez thanked President Khatami for his telephone call and wished success for the Iranian government and nation. The two presidents expressed a mutual desire to meet in the near future. Iran, Sunday last week, sent congratulations to Venezuela on hearing of the return of the rule of law and reinstatement of the legitimate government of President Chavez after the two-day military collapsed. On Saturday it condemned the the ouster of the democratically elected president of Venezuela, saying, "resorting to a coup and the use of force is not an acceptable method to bring about political change and the method is not in conformity with the norms of present human society." Chavez was brought back to the Venezuelan presidential palace early Sunday by helicopter from a Caribbean island where he was detained after the coup and thereafter resumed his functions as president. Chavez, whose mandate was due to end in 2006, was forced out of office by the country's armed forces who blamed him for the deaths of 15 people during demonstrations in the streets of central Caracas against an opposition protest which later became violent. Chavez is a staunch supporter of oil production cuts in order to boost prices in the world market. He initiated a successful Caracas OPEC summit in September 2000, the second in the 40-year existence of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. FS/LS End Document 00100175 ends. CARACAS, Feb 7 (AFP) - Venezuelan Air Force Colonel Pedro Soto arrived outside the presidential residence late Thursday, leading thousands of opponents of President Hugo Chavez calling on Chavez to step down. Tension escalated as around 100 Chavez supporters arrived at La Casona residence, in an exclusive district of eastern Caracas, around 11:30 pm (0330 GMT Friday), provoking fears of confrontations between the two sides. "We are here at the president's house, where a man sleeps every day, and we are waiting for him to tell us when he's going to resign, when he's going to call elections," Soto told reporters, adding that protesters would stay put until Chavez arrived. Chavez's whereabouts were unclear. Soto had urged some 5,000 supporters to march on the presidential palace, in an earlier address from Altamira Square, saying he said he was going to demand Chavez's resignation. But ruling Fifth Republic Movement (MVR) party lawmaker Nicolas Maduro also called on Venezuelans to go out into the streets to defend the Chavez government. "We invite the people of Caracas to go into the streets en masse and defend and support President Hugo Chavez and the revolutionary process," Maduro said, flanked by other MVR deputies. And he accused the opposition of having put on a spectacle using Soto. Earlier in the evening a crowd prevented a group of military police from arresting Soto, hours after he appeared at an event in a Caracas hotel, calling Chavez "undemocratic" and demanding the president's resignation. Television images showed Soto fleeing his home, dressed in a civilian grey suit, in a red military vehicle with a driver. "I'm fleeing from injustice and totalitarianism," Soto yelled to reporters. Moments later the vehicle was stopped by military intelligence agents in Boyaca Avenue. The group of officials designated to make the arrest appeared to have desisted, as dozens of Chavez opponents, including lawmakers, moved in to prevent Soto being taken away. Interior Minister Ramon Rodriguez Chacin late Thursday guaranteed citizens' right to protest peacefully. "There is a right to express oneself and to demonstrate as long as it doesn't put people's property and state institutions at risk," the minister said from government headquarters at the Miraflores Palace. "People have the right to express themselves as long as it is in line with the law," Rodriguez Chacin said, but pointed the finger at Soto as a "traitor" and "opportunistic leader." Shortly before Soto's arrival at the palace, presidential chief of staff Rafael Vargas said that "total calm" reigned in the nation, and underlined his belief that Soto's protest had been planned in advance by oligarchs. "We saw it coming, it's been timed to coincide with the visit by Organization of American States (OAS) representative Santiago Canton, to try and say that in Venezuela there's no freedom of expression," Vargas said. Venezuela's Defense Minister Jose Vicente Rangel insisted there was "absolute calm" in the nation's barracks, denying rumors of mobilizing of troops. However, he added that Soto would receive advice from a military attorney and two civilian lawyers before whom he would have to make a deposition about his critical opinions on Chavez's regime. In a public event organized at a posh Caracas hotel earlier Thursday, Soto said 75 percent of Venezuelan officials and troops shared his view that Chavez should resign as president. "The president must go, he should resign, and before he does so, he should organize elections so that he leaves the country with a democracy, in the hands of a civilian," Soto boldly proclaimed at the "pro-freedom" forum. "A government in which the president controls the Supreme Court, the National Assembly and the Armed Forces cannot be called a democracy," Soto charged. Soto said military discontent was running high because the armed forces were being used to Chavez' political ends. He cited the government's Bolivar 2000 Plan which uses military staff and civilian crews for social projects. Soto called them "outside the scope" of the military's duty "to protect national sovereignty." The harsh criticism of the populist former paratrooper Chavez by Soto came on the heels of an unusually blunt week of US criticism of the Venezuelan president. US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Tuesday questioned Chavez' commitment to democracy and the war on terrorism and criticized his visits to countries like Iraq and Libya. Powell said Chavez was aware of the complaints. And on Wednesday, Central Intelligence Agency director George Tenet told a Senate panel that he was worried about growing unrest in Venezuela, which is the United States' third largest supplier of crude oil. Document 00100176 ends. Despite continuing problems in its newsprint business, Kimberly-Clark Corp. posted a 20% gain in third-quarter net income. The consumer-products and newsprint company said net rose to $108.8 million, or $1.35 a share, from $90.5 million, or $1.12 a share, a year ago. Sales rose 6.2% to $1.45 billion from $1.37 billion. After a flat second quarter tied largely to lower newsprint earnings, Kimberly-Clark attributed the gain to improved results in its consumer businesses in North America, Brazil and Korea. Those gains came from higher prices, particularly for disposable diapers and tissue products, and from increased sales, primarily for feminine-care products, the company said. Newsprint results continued to be depressed, the company added, because of industrywide price discounting. The quarter-to-quarter comparison was also enhanced by charges taken in the year-earlier period, including $11 million related to the modernization of a pulp and newsprint mill in Alabama. In the 1989 period also, interest expense and tax rates were lower than a year ago. In the first nine months, profit rose 10% to $313.2 million, or $3.89 a share, from $283.9 million, or $3.53 a share. Sales rose 6.7% to $4.27 billion from $4 billion. In New York Stock Exchange composite trading, Kimberly-Clark closed at $66.50 a share, up $1.50. Document 00100177 ends. Spanish daily urges caution in judging USA's treatment of suspects Text of unsigned editorial, "Treatment of the prisoners", by Spanish newspaper ABC web site on 22|January The dissemination of some photos taken of a group of detainees in Guantanamo has aroused international controversy. Critics condemn the inhumane nature of the treatment the prisoners are receiving, handcuffed, immobilized with shackles, subjected to sensory deprivation and confined to minute cells. If these accusations are confirmed, the only possible definition will be torture and the violation of human rights. However, we may be witnessing a distortion of reality, and even in some cases pure falsehoods. The photos were sent voluntarily to the press by the American authorities, who clarified that they depicted a group of 20 dangerous prisoners who had recently arrived at the base and undergone a process of identification prior to their confinement. These were in no way their normal living conditions. But the decisive fact is the presence for days of the International Committee of the Red Cross, which is preparing a report and which, as usual, has refused to make any statements. It will speak in its report. Herein lies the difference. In the countries in which torture is systematically carried out, for example Cuba or China, inspection by international organizations is not permitted. The result of the report will have to be taken into account before political and moral judgments of guilty or not guilty are made. For the time being, the members of the British government who interviewed three prisoners of their nationality have received no complaints about the treatment they are receiving. Indications exist that the system to which the prisoners are subjected is excessively harsh. The United States government does not help dispel the suspicions when it refuses to consider them prisoners of war and therefore to apply the Geneva Convention to them. Nor does it seem proper to cite the fact that the base is not on American soil because it is a rented base. Backing from a majority of the public would not serve, either, as justification for the possible excesses and violations of rights. But for the time being, what exist are indications and shadows of suspicion which must materialize or be dispelled through knowledge of the facts from the relevant reports. It is another matter to launch into scandal or anti-Americanism. In any case, the attitude of the American authorities has nothing to do with the one previously and currently displayed by dictatorships and totalitarian systems, including communist ones, which permit neither inspection nor the dissemination of photographs. But this enormous difference is not enough. It must be known as soon as possible whether or not terror has been established in Guantanamo. Document 00100178 ends. HEALTHDYNE Inc., Atlanta, said its subsidiary, Home Nutritional Services Inc., registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission an initial public offering of four million shares of common. The in-home health care services provider said it will sell 1.8 million of the new shares, while Home Nutritional Services will sell the remaining 2.2 million. The company estimates the offering price at between $14 and $16 a share. The company said it expects to use the proceeds to repay certain bank debt and for general corporate purposes, including establishing new operating centers and possible acquisitions. Home Nutritional currently has 10 million shares outstanding. It will have 11.8 million shares outstanding after the offering, with Healthdyne owning about 65% of the total. Document 00100179 ends. US Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph L. Boyce praised the Indonesian government on Monday [18 Mar] for its efforts to protect foreign investors in the country, including Americans, but warned that investors were still concerned about the security of their investments. Boyce acknowledged that the Indonesian government had taken serious steps to ensure the personal safety of American investors and other foreigners, who appeared at risk several months ago during the political tension following the US-led war against Afghanistan's Taliban regime. "We take seriously the government's responsibility to protect Americans -- not only Americans but also other foreigners in Indonesia. We welcome it." But, he said, "Investors will come to Indonesia not based on fears, somehow, that they would be physically threatened, but rather in the hope that the capital invested in Indonesia would be secure and that means transparency, rule of law, protection legally, etc.," Boyce told a press conference. Some local radical groups threatened to attack U.S. interests and citizens in Indonesia following the U.S. government's move to strike at Afghanistan several months ago. Some U.S. companies temporarily closed their offices here following the threats. But the government was quick to give assurances about the safety of foreign workers in Indonesia. Boyce, along with 12 members of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Singapore, earlier met with President Megawati Soekarnoputri and Minister of Trade and Industry Rini M. Soewandi. The AmCham delegation is in Indonesia for a two-day visit to assess business opportunities in this country. The delegation is led by AmCham Singapore president Landis W. Hicks. The delegates include Tan Hup Thye from Refco Singapore Pte Ltd., Stuart Dean of GE International, and Edward Gilbert of Merrill Lynch (Asia Pacific) Ltd. "The Singapore-based members of this mission want to hear from senior members of the Indonesian government about efforts to expand foreign business participation in the economy. We know that Indonesia is a country of enormous potential and believe that now is the time to build our future together," Hicks said in a statement. Meanwhile, Rini said after a meeting with the AmCham delegation that almost all of the delegation members had praised the current security situation in the country. Rini said she had pointed to the Batam and Bintan islands as secure places for doing business, citing the small number of labour disputes in both islands. Document 00100180 ends. Reference: CEP20020521000259 Moscow Interfax in English 1336 GMT 21 May 02 ENERGY INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL MOSCOW. May 21 (Interfax) - Supplies of Russian natural gas to the Romanian market were discussed during a meeting between Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller and Romanian Ambassador to Russia Aurel Konstantin Iliye, the company said in a press release. According the release, the sides also discussed gas storage on Romanian territory and the setting up of a joint venture in this area. Iliye confirmed the interest of the Romanian government in developing more dynamic and broader cooperation with Gazprom. He proposed to Gazprom to participate in a tender for the privatization of petrochemical companies in Romania and also to consider that country "as partner for supplies of oil and gas equipment to Russia," the press release said. The ambassador passed on an invitation from Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase to Miller to come to Romania on a working visit. The press service noted that Miller accepted this invitation. East Europe Central Eurasia Balkan States Russia Romania Russia Document 00100181 ends. The buffer zones that Ariel Sharon intends to establish are an explicit admission that Israelis can no longer live by the sword, that the occupation is not working, and Israeli reprisals are not meeting with success. Thinking of building a Great Wall of China in the Middle East, replete with elaborate fences and tunnels, is conceding that Israel is not safe, not a normal country. It cannot integrate itself into the region, it is an alien seedling and, thus, it is better to isolate and fortify itself as a lowly outpost. A total disengagement from the Palestinians, complete with walls and razor wire, might provide Israel its long-desired security and might free it of the burden of trying to control seven million desperate Palestinians, any number of whom are willing to die in order to end the occupation. But separation will not mean an end to the occupation and no Israeli government can provide security as long as it persists in its efforts to maintain its presence beyond Israel's pre-1967 borders and to retain territories inhabited by millions of Palestinians. By now, it should be clear to everyone that retaliating against every act of Palestinian resistance with Israel's superior ability to punish Palestinians does not provide the security that Israelis are demanding. The only way out of the current spiral of violence is for Israel to limit itself to areas within which it can assume responsibility for its citizens' security. This means a return to Israel's pre-1967 borders. Practically speaking, a buffer zone will be near impossible to erect. A physical border between Israel and a new Palestinian state will be twisted and distorted to accommodate Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza. Unilateral separation without a negotiated agreement could be realized - only if Israel is willing to uproot around 100 settlements. Sharon says flatly he will not withdraw from a single settlement. He thinks that every settlement is important and is determined that Israelis must retain as much land in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as possible. Then there is the eventual goal of the peace process: the coexistence of Israel with the state of Palestine. But Israel has not once deigned to propose that the Palestinians live with the Israelis as full citizens in the same sate. Israel does not want the Palestinians to be part of the same country, or have one of their own. By a margin of 2-1, Israelis think Sharon has no plan to end the violence and the buffer idea buttresses this long-standing view. Sharon has not brought the Israeli public security. With grim determination, he has destroyed the peace process and the Oslo agreements. And now he doggedly continues to demolish and prevent any hope of a road to peaceful coexistence. Israelis do not wonder any longer how to get along with Palestinians but how to avoid the need for it. Sharon has ensured that Israelis are rapidly absorbing the lesson that no place in Israel can be considered safe. A wall and miles of fences is not the best of solutions. Does anybody believe that the intifada can end as long as Israel persists in the occupation of the territories and Palestinians are willing to die in large numbers to deny Israel that privilege? Document 00100182 ends. These days, the Israeli government is adopting a relatively new tactic regarding its plan to withdraw from the Palestinian cities and towns that it had re-occupied more than three weeks ago. It is not implementing an immediate and total withdrawal -- as demanded by the international community as a whole and the United States in particular -- but a phased and partial withdrawal. It does not leave any city or town except after reaching what it calls a security agreement with the Palestinian side for a cease-fire in that particular city or town. The Israeli Government hopes that this tactic would eventually lead to an integrated and total agreement when all its parts are put together to form a map of "cantons" that Israel envisions for the occupied Palestinian lands. Israel says that it carried out this tactic in Bethlehem and Bayt Jala, or so it claims, and yesterday, it claimed that it carried out the same tactic in Qalqiliyah when the Palestinian security forces returned to the three centers that had been re-occupied by the invading Israeli forces. The Israeli press and other media outlets point out that future withdrawals from the cities parts of which are still under Israeli occupation will be carried out in accordance to this tactic of phased and partial withdrawal. Israel seems to think that this tactic will circumvent the Palestinian move toward independence and will put an end to the Palestinian intifadah by surrounding the areas of tension and dealing with them separately. The facts show that this Israeli tactic is new only in execution. Talking about it and about its possible use are several months old and, more exactly, they have been going on since the Israeli Government headed by Ari'el Sharon came to power about nine months ago. This tactic is no more than an improved carbon copy of the style of "divide and rule." It actually reflects Israel's determination not to deal with the Palestinian issue as one united and indivisible whole. The inevitable result of this tactic -- if it succeeds in temporarily calming down the situation -- is that it will take back conditions to their former state of tension after the withdrawals are completed from all the Palestinian cities. The core of the matter is not in the method that Israel is using to crush the Palestinian moves and confiscate the will of the Palestinian people for liberation and independence. The core of the matter lies in a just and acceptable political framework that Israel is supposed to approve and participate in to put a final end to the occupation and to the settlement construction activities. Such a political framework would lay the firm foundations for a comprehensive peace based on justice and recognition of the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people. Only such a peace can bring security and stability to all the parties without exception. This being the case, it would be better for both Israel and the Palestinians to have an immediate and parallel Israeli withdrawal from all the occupied parts of several Palestinian cities. Only such an immediate and parallel withdrawal would expedite the return to serious negotiations between the two sides based on the reference point of ending the occupation, ending settlement construction activities, and restoring the full inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. Document 00100183 ends. Defense Minister Jose Vicente Rangel supports the position established by the Venezuelan foreign ministry to emphasize the government's sovereignty on international issues, referring to the statements given by US Secretary of State Colin Powell, questioning President Hugo Chavez Frias' activities. "I read General Colin Powell's statements and (Venezuelan Foreign Minister) Colonel [Luis Alfonso] Davila's statements, and I endorse Colonel Davila's statements," Rangel expressed. Nevertheless, he wanted to clarify some of Powell's statements. Regarding "Venezuela's friends," Rangel recalled that President Chavez is not the only one who visits those "strange countries." "For example, Mexican President Vicente Fox recently visited Cuba in a friendly manner; the government of Iran has been visited by high-ranking US representatives; and there is a relationship between the United States and Korea. We have yet to visit Korea and the relationship with Iraq and Libya is a result of the fact that both countries are OPEC members." Regarding ties with Colombian guerrilla groups, Rangel warned there "is a clear elucidation; we are implementing a policy that was not even designed by President Chavez Frias. Our position is clear, we support no Latin American guerrilla group, much less the Colombian guerrilla groups, and what we want is for peace to prevail in that country." Likewise, the defense minister reiterated that "the nation's position regarding terrorism is extremely clear, categorical, and decisive: Venezuela repudiates terrorism, not now but always; it does not endorse [terrorism] and considers [terrorism] an aberration that goes against mankind; and this is part of the current Venezuelan Government's ideology, philosophy, and policy." Rangel thinks Venezuela has shown effectiveness regarding issues of interest with the United States, above all regarding drug trafficking issues. "We have confiscated 20 times more drugs in Venezuela than previous governments, and this is attested by the US authorities, with whom we have close contact." Where is the evidence? Moreover, Rangel challenged parliamentary opposition to "present the evidence regarding the purchase of that video," presented by journalists last week. He said that he does not believe DIM [Military Intelligence Directorate] officials sold that video for 40 million bolivares, as stated by Opposition Bloc deputies. Nevertheless, he does not rule out the possibility of going to the National Assembly and presenting a report if this is decided. "Being an old parliamentarian, I love that activity and I would gladly go to Congress to provide an explanation. This is part of the democratic debate and, just as the opposition has rights, the government also has the right to provide an explanation." Consulted about Colombia's position, stating that the video issue has not been clarified, Rangel was emphatic when he said: "The Venezuelan Government will provide sufficient details in a matter of hours." Document 00100184 ends. Di Giorgio Corp. said it's continuing talks with potential buyers of certain units, but has reached no agreement on any deals. Di Giorgio, a food wholesaler and building products maker, is seeking alternatives to an unsolicited $32-a-share tender offer of DIG Acquisition Corp., a unit of Rose Partners Limited Partnership. DIG is the vehicle being used to pursue to acquisition. Robert Mellor, Di Giorgio's executive vice president, said the company stands to reap more money through the sale of individual units to others than by accepting DIG's offer. Document 00100185 ends. Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen (Liberal Party) has voiced his approval of the U.S. treatment of the 144 al-Qaida prisoners at the U.S. Guantanamo military base on Cuba. "The U.S. Government has announced that the United States will respect its international commitments," Fogh Rasmussen said at his weekly press conference on Tuesday [22 January]. He points out that the United States has allowed the Red Cross to inspect conditions at the Guantanamo base. Criticism From the Red Cross He fails to mention, however, that on the international stage the Red Cross has subsequently criticized the U.S. treatment of prisoners. EU foreign affairs spokesman Javier Solana, among others, has also criticized the United States for not recognizing the al-Qaida prisoners as prisoners of war as understood in the Geneva Convention. The Swedish Government has also expressed concern about the prisoners' rights. Fogh: They Must Be Given a Fair Trial "The prisoners must be treated with respect for their integrity and religion, and they must be given a fair trial," Fogh Rasmussen says. On Monday Liberal Party foreign affairs spokesman Troels Lund Poulsen said that the debate on prisoners' rights is "an intellectual discussion." Per Stig Moller: Give Them Rights Foreign Minister Per Stig Moller (Conservative People's Party) is urging the United States to guarantee the prisoners the status of prisoners of war and in consequence protection under the terms of the Geneva Convention. "I expect the United States to satisfy the requirements of the international conventions," Per Stig Moller said at a press conference in Berlin on Monday. " Social Democratic Party: Raise Denmark's Voice The Social Democratic Party takes the view that the Danish Government should raise its voice against the United States. "I do not have all the information, but there are some questionable aspects in the U.S. approach," political spokesman Mogens Lykketoft (Social Democratic Party) told Ritzau Bureau. "Of course the United States has a point when it says that it can be difficult to decide who are terrorists and who are prisoners of war. We must focus on the treatment of them." The Socialist People's Party is sending an "urgent call" to the government to deliver official criticism to the United States. "It cannot be the duty of the Danish Government to applaud everything that the Americans do. Even though we support their action, we should criticize this form of treatment of prisoners," Socialist People's Party Chairman Holger K. Nielsen said. He will now ask the foreign minister to give a written reply outlining the government's position on the issue. Danish People's Party: Are They Danes? The Danish People's Party sees no reason to criticize the United States. "To begin with, I have great confidence that what the Americans are doing in relation to these prisoners is reasonable. I can imagine that the United States has had good reasons for transporting them to Cuba," foreign affairs spokesman Peter Skaarup (Danish People's Party) says. As long as no Danes are involved, the Danish People's Party does not think that Denmark should interfere. "This could of course become necessary if a Dane were involved. Otherwise it must be a matter between the United States and the countries which have citizens who are directly affected," Peter Skaarup said, alluding to the United Kingdom and Sweden. Document 00100186 ends. Amman -- Jordan, bound by environmental clauses in the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the US, is currently mulling over signing the Kyoto Protocol on global warming even though Washington turned down the protocol six months ago. Having clauses on the protection of environmental and labour rights in the body of the FTA does not stop the government from signing environmental agreements refused by the US, according to Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and the Environment Abdul Razzaq Tbeishat. He explained to The Jordan Times that "in Jordan, we conclusively believe that development cannot be achieved unless the environment is protected." Certain steps have to be taken with regard to this objective -- including signing the Kyoto deal, he said. He announced the government's intentions to sign the Kyoto treaty on Sunday during a workshop on climate change, organised by the ministry and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). In 1992, Jordan signed the UN Climate Change Convention that compels nations to curb global warming, which is blamed on gases produced by factories and cars that burn fuel. The Kyoto climate treaty is another international effort to limit greenhouse gases and fight global warming. Asked whether signing the Kyoto Protocol will affect Jordan and US efforts to upgrade the Kingdom's environmental framework, Tbeishat said that signing the protocol will have a "positive" outcome on Jordan. He explained that both the US and Jordan have different issues to deal with on a national level, including environmental issues. "In the US, they have their own circumstances," the minister said. "But here, we are a developing country and we care about having clean industry...the whole world knows our position, [which is] to achieve sustainable development." The Kyoto Protocol was agreed upon by 160 countries under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The convention was created in 1992, and adopted in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997. Under the agreement, industrialised nations must reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases by an average of 5.2 per cent (from 1990 levels) from between 2008 to 2012. After the Clinton administration signed the Kyoto Protocol in November 1998, the new Bush administration overturned the decision last April, as the US was facing a faltering economy and rising energy prices. Document 00100187 ends. Endeavour Shuttle To Return On Monday The Endeavour shuttle is expected to land on the US Cape Canaveral launch site, Florida, at 08:55 p. m., Moscow time, the Russian Mission Control reported. The shuttle will bring back to the Earth its crew, which has spent 7 days on-board the International Space Station (ISS,) and the 3rd long-term expedition to the ISS, namely, American astronaut Frank Culbertson and two Russian cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Tyurin. Back on the Earth, they will report about the results they have obtained since August 13. The primary objective of the shuttle's mission to the ISS was to deliver the 4th ISS crew and research equipment. According to the Mission Control, the shuttle's crew has perfectly accomplished its mission. On its way home, the shuttle launched into space the Starshine micro-satellite, which had been designed by students. According to the Mission Control, the satellite which is no larger than a volley ball, has been made by thousands of students who were polishing small pieces of glass subsequently putting them on its surface. It slightly resembles of these rotating glass balls which are usually used in disco clubs. It is believed that the glass will make it possible to see the satellite at night. Students of several universities, in their turn, will be calculating its speed and its orbit parameters. The 4th long-term expedition to the ISS is led by Russian cosmonaut Yuri Onufriyenko. There are two US astronauts under his command - Carl Waltz and Daniel Bursch. This crew will stay on-board the ISS till May 2002. Copyright @1999 by "Pravda.RU". When reproducing our materials in whole or in part, reference to Pravda.RU should be made. Document 00100188 ends. Moscow, 27 November: Russia intends to modernize and extend the service life of 11 power units in its nuclear power stations by 2005. This is one of the provisions of the federal programme Energy-Efficient Economy that covers the period from 2002 to 2005 and sets guidelines until 2010, the Government Information Department reported on Tuesday [27 November]. The programme calls for the overhaul of nuclear power stations with a view to extending their safe and efficient operation, extending the service life of power units, resumption of the construction of power units and compiling a list of promising sites for future nuclear power stations. Its other provisions include the overhaul and construction of new plants for making fuel elements and the overhaul of "wet" nuclear waste storage facilities. In the next stage, 2006-2010, the efficiency of existing nuclear power stations will be stepped up by increasing the utilization of current capacity, extending their service life and increasing capacity by using new-generation power units In 2005, the capacity of all Russian nuclear power stations should total 25.24 GW. It will increase by 3 GW in 2002-05 and by 4.81 GW in 2006-10 to 30.05 GW. When nuclear power stations account for nearly 20 per cent of total energy generated in the country, nearly 52bn cubic metres of gas will be saved in 2005 and 65.5bn cubic metres in 2010. The construction of nuclear power stations in Iran, China, India, Kazakhstan and Ukraine will provide 42bn dollars in 2002-2005 and 24bn dollars in 2006-2010. Document 00100189 ends. Soldiers Unite To Defend Camp X-Ray London Daily Telegraph January 25, 2002 Soldiers Unite To Defend Camp X-Ray American Marines are bruised by criticism of their treatment of Taliban and al-Qa'eda prisoners, reports Toby Harnden in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba Before dawn, the prison camp echoes to the voice of the muezzin as the Muslim inmates are called to prayer. It is 5.17am and Lieut Abuhena Mohammad Saiful-Islam of the US navy is performing his first duty as Camp X-Ray's chaplin and imam. "God is great, God is great," the officer chants in Arabic through a loudspeaker. "I bear witness that Mohammed is his messenger. Come to pray, come to success." The detainees recite the Koran together, the first of the day's five prayer sessions. By mid-morning, they are lounging on mats on the concrete floors of their 8ft-square cages, the blistering sun beating on the tin roofs. Some hang their towels out to dry in the breeze. A few call to each other. Others stand or pace around before slumping again. A Humvee moves slowly around the perimeter as US Marines, M16 assault rifles at the ready, stand guard. From seven wooden watchtowers, guards train their weapons on the captured Taliban and al-Qa'eda fighters, who are clad in orange jump suits. One man is moved back to his cage, his ankles and wrists in shackles. This is Guantanamo Bay, a sleepy and almost forgotten American outpost of 45 square miles on the eastern coast of Cuba. Seized by 646 Marines in whaling boats in 1898 during the Spanish-American War, it has been in US hands ever since - Gitmo, for short, or the Pearl of the Caribbean for those soldiers with a sense of humour. On entering Camp X-Ray, one inmate vowed to kill an American before he left. Another detainee bit a guard trying to subdue him and, two days ago, another spat on a military policeman. Such incidents have been rare, however, and most of the camp's 158 Muslim fanatics are compliant, the guards say. "They're just chilling out, that's exactly what they're doing," said Staff Sgt Chuck Albrecht. "Our guys are pretty dirty. The detainees are washing every day. They get granola bars, a box of apple jacks and fresh fruit." Like most Marines and MPs making up the 1,200-strong force, Staff Sgt Albrecht is angry at accusations that the detainees have been mistreated. The Marines live in an encampment 100 yards from Camp X-Ray's gates. Some of their tents saw service in the Korean War. There are holes in them, but for now the problem is the stifling heat. "The conditions my men live in are very similar to those of the detainees," said Col Terry Carrico. The detainees may be shackled, even as they are operated on at the Gitmo hospital, but they have brand new copies of the Koran and Lively Salon anti-dandruff shampoo that promises "a gentle formula to restore moisture to your beautiful clean hair". Under the tin roofs, there is wood to absorb the sun's heat and keep them cool. Some of the detainees had wrinkled faces, a Marine officer noted. "We'll probably be giving them moisturiser next." Brig Michael Lehnert said each al-Qa'eda fighter would be given eight to 75 Swiss francs per month - as per the Geneva Convention - if their rank was revealed and PoW status accorded. They get "culturally appropriate" halal meals. So do the American soldiers, at Cuba's only McDonald's restaurant or the all-ranks bars where popcorn and pizzas are the only fare. When the detainees wanted water, they got water, said Staff Sgt Monte Webster, an MP. The camp interpreters had even devised a set of hand signals if a Taliban leader was caught short and needed to use the portable lavatory. There are jokes at Camp X-Ray but the sense of danger is ever present. The detainees' toothbrushes are shortened so that they cannot be used as weapons. During a trial in New York in 1998, an al-Qa'eda suspect used a comb to stab a prison warder through the eye into his brain. "Sometimes you're afraid for your life because these people are trained to kill you," said Specialist Fabian Rivas. "They're willing to give their life to take yours." Newspaper coverage of Camp X-Ray in Britain, as relayed by American television and radio, has come close to eroding morale this week. Specialist Rivas said he ignored the press. "It's propaganda. If I let it get to me I would have a very hard time doing my job." Staff Sgt Webster was frustrated. "It bothers me," he said. "We as well as the British have always been the ones who've been humane. How could anybody say we're treating anybody wrong? They don't live it, they don't see it, so how can they talk about it?" Brig Lehnert accepted that the detainees were living in basic conditions but argued that this would improve once permanent facilities were built. At the camp, Marine engineers saw and hammer away as an interrogation centre and new cages are finished. The target capacity is 2,000. When the detainees look up at a watchtower, they see the Stars and Stripes painted on the front of the sniper's perch. A sign pointing to Mecca has just been erected, but the defeated fighters are never allowed to forget that America, their sworn enemy, now controls them. Document 00100190 ends. Buenos Aires, 22 April (Telam) -- Justicialist Deputy Jose Manuel Diaz Bancalari said today that the IMF "is seeking to create an uncontrollable social situation" with the demands it has made of the government and, on the other hand, he confirmed the PJ [Justicialist Party] bloc's willingness to support approval of the draft law on bonds submitted by the executive branch. "It seems as if they are seeking to create an uncontrollable social situation," the legislator stated this morning, referring to the demands presented by the IMF to the country for reaching a new agreement that would bring in foreign financing for the government's accounts. Analyzing the IMF's responsibility in the complex crisis the country is experiencing, Diaz Bancalari stated his impression that "the IMF members want more money for themselves," without admitting "any degree of co-responsibility their managers have had in the things that have happened in Argentina." He believes that "in any negotiation there may be someone who tries to impose conditions by cheating" and said that in the case of Argentina, "the cheaters were the IMF," who "praised the policies (of the last decade) and held them up as an example" and now "they cannot tell us that they did not know what was going on." "I think there must be reasonable things" in the agreement the country reaches with the IMF, Diaz Bancalari said, and then he asserted that "Argentina is a country in which one can do good business, but what they must know is that there is no more room for shady deals." At the same time, he admitted the political leadership's "own mistakes" and those of his party in particular, acknowledging the existence of a "certain political vision that is infiltrating Peronism, which is a liberal vision." "All the governments are saying that Argentina has to make arrangements first with the IMF before receiving any kind of aid, and they know perfectly well that they are asking us to put 450,000 fellow citizens out of work, and that is only possible with a military government," he asserted. Regarding the draft law from the executive branch on swapping bonds for fixed-term deposits, he believes that if the Senate "debates and approves it today" the deputies can "debate the issue tomorrow and pass it, so that on Wednesday [24 April] the financial system would be open." Although he confirmed the PJ bloc's support for the work of President [Eduardo] Duhalde, Diaz Bancalari expressed his surprise at "the statements by some government officials in which they want to make it seem that there is no will to discuss it in our circles." However, he clarified that the willingness to deal quickly with the draft law "does not mean a desire to approve it, because discussing it in the abstract is not very responsible." The deputy stressed the value of the bonds the government will issue for the depositors, asking who would want "certificates of deposit in bankrupt banks" and saying that instead, "however we move forward into the future, there will always be the state's legal continuity backing the obligation." Document 00100191 ends. RJR Nabisco Inc. said it agreed to sell its Baby Ruth, Butterfinger and Pearson candy businesses to Nestle S.A.'s Nestle Foods unit for $370 million. The sale, at a higher price than some analysts had expected, helps the food and tobacco giant raise funds to pay debt and boosts Nestle's 7% share of the U.S. candy market to about 12%. The candy businesses had sales of about $154 million last year, which was roughly 12% of total revenue for RJR's Planters LifeSavers unit, according to a memorandum distributed by RJR's owner, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., to bankers last December. The Nestle acquisition includes a candy plant in Franklin Park, Ill., which employs about 800 workers. The sale, which had been expected, is part of KKR's program to pay down $5 billion of a $6 billion bridge loan by February. Roughly $2 billion of that debt has already been repaid from previous asset sales, and RJR expects to use another $2 billion from the pending, two-part sale of most of its Del Monte unit. That sale, however, could still fall through if financing problems develop. Thus, it remains crucial for RJR to obtain top dollar for its smaller assets like the candy brands. Louis Gerstner Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of New York-based RJR, called the sale a "significant step" in the company's divestiture program, as well as a "a strategic divestiture." Since KKR bought RJR in February for $25 billion of debt, it has agreed to sell nearly $5 billion of RJR assets. RJR's executives have said they will dispense with certain brands, in particular, that aren't leaders in their markets. "RJR Nabisco and Planters LifeSavers will concentrate more on our own core businesses," Mr. Gerstner said Friday. Baby Ruth and Butterfinger are both among the top-selling 15 chocolate bars in the U.S., but RJR's overall share of the roughly $5.1 billion market is less than 5%. Nestle's share of 7% before Friday's purchases is far below the shares of market leaders Hershey Foods Corp. and Mars Inc., which have about 40% and 36% of the market, respectively. "This means Nestle is now in the candybar business in a big way," said Lisbeth Echeandia, publisher of Orlando, Fla.-based Confectioner Magazine. "For them, it makes all kinds of sense. They've been given a mandate from Switzerland" to expand their U.S. chocolate operations. Nestle S.A. is based in Vevey, Switzerland. The new candy bars, "make an important contribution to our Nestle Foods commitment to this very important strategic unit," said C. Alan MacDonald, president of Nestle Foods in Purchase, N.Y. Document 00100192 ends. Reference: CPP20020517000014 Beijing China Daily (Internet Version-WWW) in English 17 May 02 [Report by Meng Yan] INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC Talks between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) about a free trade area went smoothly, senior officials said yesterday. "We are confident the framework will be ready for Chinese and ASEAN leaders to finalize at their November summit," said a senior official with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation (MOFTEC). But the official declined to disclose details about their two-day negotiations, saying these are just working level talks and more substantial progress will be made at the China and ASEAN economic ministers' meeting in September. The third China-ASEAN Economic Senior Official's meeting, held in Beijing on Tuesday, set up a trade negotiation committee to hold in-depth discussions on the framework of a free trade area in the region. The trade negotiation committee hosted its first meeting in Beijing in the last two days. The committee said in a joint statement at the end of the meeting that it will try to have the framework finalized at the China-ASEAN summit in Cambodia at the end of this year. The framework is expected to cover a wide range of areas of co-operation in goods, services and investment. The framework will contain guidelines, principles, scope and modalities for establishing a free trade area, including early harvest, special and differential treatment and flexibility. It will also take into account different levels of development between ASEAN countries and China. Premier Zhu Rongji and ASEAN leaders agreed at the fifth China-ASEAN leaders' summit in November to set up a free trade area within 10 years. Chinese and ASEAN officials said the decision by Chinese and ASEAN leaders to establish a free trade area is a "historic milestone in economic co-operation between China and ASEAN" and "demonstrates strong commitments by China-ASEAN leaders to regional integration and economic globalization as they pursue peace and stability and prosperity in the region." A study by Chinese and ASEAN experts shows China's export to ASEAN will increase 55.1 per cent to US$10.6 billion and ASEAN's export to China will increase 48 per cent to US$13 billion after the establishment of the free trade area. China East Asia China Southeast Asia China Thailand Philippines Burma Indonesia Document 00100193 ends. U.S. Refuses to Recognize Mugabe Government U.S. President Bush said Wednesday that flaws in Zimbabwe's election will prevent the United States from recognizing the government's claim that incumbent Robert Mugabe was the winner. Bush told a news conference that the United States is consulting with other countries to decide how "to deal with this flawed election." Bush suspended U.S. entry privileges for Mugabe, his family or senior members of his government. He also denied entry to those who received "significant financial benefit" from dealings with Zimbabwean officials who carried out Mugabe's policies. U.S. officials said the administration may freeze assets of Zimbabwean officials involved in the alleged rigging of the democratic process. Another possibility is the banning of commercial export licenses of defense articles and services. Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved Document 00100194 ends. Travelers Corp. 's third-quarter net income rose 11%, even though claims stemming from Hurricane Hugo reduced results $40 million. Net advanced to $94.2 million, or 89 cents a share, from $85 million, or 83 cents a share, including net realized investment gains of $31 million, up from $10 million a year ago. But revenue declined to $3 billion from $3.2 billion. Travelers estimated that the California earthquake last month will result in a fourth-quarter pre-tax charge of less than $10 million. The insurer's earnings from commercial property/casualty lines fell 59% in the latest quarter, while it lost $7.2 million in its personal property/casualty business, compared with earnings of $6.1 million a year ago. Travelers's employee benefits group, which includes its group health insurance operations, posted earnings of $24 million, compared with a loss of $3 million last year. In the first nine months, net was $306 million, compared with a loss of $195 million in the 1988 period. The year-ago results included a $415 million charge in the 1988 second quarter for underperforming real estate and mortgage loans. Document 00100195 ends. SPENDING on information technology in Saudi Arabia is expected to reach over $5 billion by the year 2005, according to Dr Mohamed Al-Amri, managing partner of the Dr Mohamed Al-Amri & Company, provider of auditing, accounting, tax services and IT consulting. He said the bulk of this spending will be on software and services. Saudi businesses today are looking into software applications that will help them retain their clients, expand their market reach and cut down of their operating costs, Dr Al-Amri said in a press statement issued Sunday to the Gazette. He said that growth on Saudi Arabia s IT spending expected to rise by 34 percent in the next four years will bring Saudi-based businesses capabilities to compete on national and international markets. According to Dr Al-Amri, the top priority of Saudi businesses these days is the application of customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities. He said the Kingdom is now part of that increasing global spending on CRM, which is projected to hit the $10 billion mark by the year 2005. Dr Al-Amri said that the growth of Internet in the Kingdom, coupled with the thrust of national companies seeking regional exposure and global competitiveness, is pushing Saudi-based companies to develop web-based strategies for a wider market reach at manageable costs. Software for e-business and e-CRM capabilities are now being applied by many Saudi companies. Dr Mohamed Al-Amri & Company is the first local company, with Kingdom-wide offices, to become a certified e-CRM ACCPAC partner. Worldwide revenues in the CRM services markets will increase to over $126.2 billion in 2004. The e-CRM is the use of technology to support customer interactions with little or no human intermediation from the business side. It consists of the use of direct-to-customer channels, through mainly e-mail and the World Wide Web (WWWW), along with other emerging technologies such as WAP. Document 00100196 ends. The elected president of the people of Venezuela, "Hugo Chavez" [punctuation as published here and throughout], has once more taken up the reins of power at the presidential palace in Caracas. The rapid events and the changing of power in Venezuela indicate that the putschists did not enjoy a popular base and the Venezuelan people as well as the military in the country did not endorse the coup government of "Pedro Carmona" who was being supported by America. America was the only country that came to the support of the putschists immediately after they took power in Venezuela. Moreover, in its posturing with respect to this country, America declared that democracy had been victorious in Venezuela. America called the action of several military generals, who were supported by capitalist as well as bankers, as the victory of democracy in Venezuela under circumstances where Hugo Chavez had come to power in 1988 through a popular process. What is more, the promoting of a constitutional reform plan and carrying out of extensive economic reforms have led to his re-election in July 2000 as the president of Venezuela for a further six year term. A number of observers believe that the reasons behind America's opposition to Chavez and its support for Venezuela under the generals who carried out the coup against him go back to the domestic and foreign plans and policies of Chavez. Following a series of domestic reforms, especially in the agriculture, energy and banking sectors and describing communism and capitalism as futile, Chavez caused the business leaders, bankers and capitalist to distance themselves from him and thus paved the way for their opposition to his power. The new laws were described by leaders of the economy as deviant and unfair and these leaders organised and stage-managed street demonstrations against Chavez with the help of the biggest trade and commercial unions as well as a sector of the army. Outside the borders of Venezuela, Chavez faced America's hostility. This is something that the American officials have acknowledged on many occasions. They had been thinking about ways of ousting Chavez from the presidential palace in Caracas. Ever since he came to power, Chavez had refused to accept America's biding and had called on Washington on numerous occasions to stop intervening in his country. He also accused America of killing innocent children and people during the Afghan war, met with "Mo'ammar Qadhafi" and "Saddam Hoseyn", the presidents of Libya and Iraq and long-term enemies of Washington, and had a very close relationship with the Cuban leader "Fidel Castro". The combination of Chavez's performance and policies brought on the wrath of American President Bush to the extent that he failed to hide his anger during his visit to Peru. During his meetings with Peruvian officials, Bush spoke of America's dislike of Chavez. Moreover, the American Secretary of State "Powell" also has recently announced in his annual report to the American Congress that taking into account Hugo Chavez's closeness to countries that are not dependent on America, he is not considered to be a trustworthy pawn in the Latin American region. Powell had stressed that Venezuela is able to, as in the past, that is to say, the era of the military rule in that country, play an effective role in America's policies in Latin America. Besides these instances of American hostility towards Chavez, mention must be made of his oil policy within OPEC. In recent years, Chavez caused OPEC oil policies to be strengthened in the face of the positions adopted by oil consumers. He has managed to a great extent to adopt policies aligned with other oil producing states whenever oil crises have emerged that led to reduced oil prices in the market. That is to say, he adopted positions where supply of oil by OPEC would be reduced and oil prices supported. This is while before Chavez, Venezuela used to be called the "errant member" within OPEC, a member that would follow less the concerted decisions of OPEC and observe less its own quotas. This is why one cannot dismiss the effects of the intensification of the Middle East crisis, Iraq's initiative in using crude oil as a political weapon against Washington and the debate on an extensive oil embargo against the supporters of Israel on the events of the past few days in Venezuela as well as America's support for the putschists there. America was trying to guarantee the flow of Venezuelan crude oil to itself by overthrowing Chavez and the seizing of power in the Venezuelan presidential palace by the dependent generals. The people of Venezuela thwarted America in this. Finally, America prescribes liberal democracy for others yet fails itself to accord any value to democratic principles in the world. The Bush administration's support for the Venezuelan putschists is testament to this. Attachments: Image-1.gif Image-2.gif Document 00100197 ends. NEW DELHI, April 22 -- INTERNATIONAL call charges have finally started tumbling down, with Bharti Telesonic Ltd -- the long-distance arm of the Bharti group offering tariffs that are up to 40 percent lower than the existing rates. Announcing this at a news conference, Mr Sunil Mittal, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharti Enterprises, noted that the tariffs, which would be made available on its ILD [international long distance] services being launched on May 1, would be revised downwards as and when the market demanded it. "The present rate cut of up to 40 percent on peak-time rates is likely to be lowered after Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL) and the other ILD operators, who are yet to begin services, announce their rates. Unlike the STD [subscriber trunk dialing] services where a further rate cut may not be feasible, in the international services there is scope for more improvement," he said. As per the tariff plan announced by Bharti, peak-time call charges to the SAARC [South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation] region will be offered at Rs 21.18 per minute as against the present Rs 21.82, while for the rest of the world it will be Rs 24 per minute as against Rs 31.30 to Rs 40 that are applicable now. For non-peak hours, the call rates for the SAARC regions are being lowered to Rs 18 from Rs 18.95 per minute and for the rest of the world at Rs 21.18 per minute from the current Rs 27.69 to Rs 36. Mr Mittal noted that although the original plan was to launch the ILD services (IndiaOne) by the middle of this month, the company was still awaiting security clearances and the commissioning certificate from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). Interconnect agreements had already been signed with almost all cellular operators. The agreement with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) would also be signed in the next couple of days. He also said that agreements with as many as nine foreign carriers across the globe had already been signed. They include AT&T, Sprint, Teleglobe, Eteselat, Saudi Telecom, British Telecom and SingTel to name a few. These nine carriers account for 90 percent of the traffic coming to India. "Bharti, after requisite clearances, will offer its network to all carriers on a non-discriminatory basis. Carriers will now connect to Bharti's network and enjoy rates that will enable them to offer deep discounts to the end-consumer. A total investment of Rs 100 crore is planned for the project, of which Rs 75 crore has already been spent," he said. IndiaOne had laid approximately 14,000 km of optical fibre cable covering 90 cities. The company has contracted submarine cable capacity from network i2i, and backed it up with satellite connectivity to build in redundancy. The ILD network is based on IP [Internet Protocol] centric backbone. The multiservices platform comprises TDM [Time Division Multiplexing] switch layer, an ATM [Asynchronous Transfer Mode] and IP layer and intelligent network to offer value-added services, he said. The company, he said, also planned to start offering Internet telephony services in the near future and deploy Voice over Internet Protocol to strengthen its ILD presence. Document 00100198 ends. Stephanopoulos Analyzes His Own Crime There was former Clinton aide George Stephanopoulos on ABC's This Week this morning, furrow-browed and "heartbroken with all the evidence coming out" against the president. Last week, when the Lewinsky story was only a few hours old, Stephanopoulos popped up on Good Morning America to demonstrate his concern. "These are probably the most serious allegations yet leveled against the president. There's no question that, if they're true, they ... could lead to impeachment proceedings." Is Chatterbox alone in thinking there is something strange and even disgusting about Stephanopoulos' eager show of independence from the president? The problem isn't so much his disloyalty. Political figures turn on each other from time to time, for good and bad reasons; we're used to it. Stephanopoulos wants to run for the Senate and doesn't want to seem a Clinton stooge. By lending credence to the Lewinsky charges, and treating Clinton's familiar defenses as the lies and half-lies they seem to be, Stephanopoulos shows he's not a fool. The trouble is that Stephanopoulos himself helped propagate those lies in the first place. During the 1992 campaign, when Gennifer Flowers first brought Clinton's philandering to public attention, Stephanopoulos--as Clinton's chief spinner, distracter, and all-around bullshit artist--played a crucial role in discrediting Flowers and anyone else who tried to point out the truth, namely that Clinton had a disturbing zipper problem. (Don't say Stephanopoulos didn't know. Again, he's not a fool.) Simply put, Stephanopoulos did as much as any man to get the country into the mess he now so telegenically laments. The 1993 documentary The War Room captures some of his efforts on tape. Early in the film, with the Flowers crisis in full bloom, Sam Donaldson interviews Stephanopoulos, who blames it all on the "Republican attack machine." "Gov. Clinton has no character problem," Stephanopoulos declares. Donaldson suggests that on 60 Minutes Clinton had admitted to infidelity. "He said he had problems in his marriage," says Stephanopoulos, correcting Donaldson's deviation from the pre-scripted fudge-phrase of the day. (Today, of course, the president's defenders claim that Clinton admitted infidelity on 60 Minutes and that the fully informed voters simply didn't care.) Near the end of The War Room, Stephanopoulos gets a call from someone who apparently claims to have a list of Clinton paramours, which he is about to publicize. Stephanopoulos skillfully bullies and cajoles him into keeping quiet. "You would be laughed at ..." he tells the caller. "I guarantee you that if you do this you'll never work in Democratic politics again. ... Nobody will believe you and people will think you're scum." You might say that Stephanopoulos helped invent the philander-protection techniques that seem to have made Clinton so overconfident of his ability to not get caught. He was one of Clinton's principal enablers, to use a word employed by Maureen Dowd in today's New York Times . When Democrats wonder why there is so much resentment of Clinton, they don't need to look much further than the Big Lie about philandering that Stephanopoulos, Carville (and a cooperative campaign press corps) helped to put over in 1992. Now the dissembler and enabler has become the scholar and ABC News analyst. It's as if Roy Cohn went on television in the mid-'50s to soberly rue the damage wreaked by Sen. Joe McCarthy, without any apology for his own role. Much has been made of the way famous wrongdoers (e.g.: Dick Morris, Marv Albert) rebound too quickly in our celebrity culture. But usually at least a nanosecond of contrition is required. Stephanopoulos is cashing in without even going through the minimal motions of holding himself accountable for misleading the country. If Clinton, as is now increasingly clear, was a time bomb waiting to explode, then Stephanopoulos helped smuggle him into the White House and muffled the ticking. Document 00100199 ends. JAMMU, India, Nov 11 (AFP) - Indian security forces Sunday killed 11 Muslim militants in Indian-administered Kashmir, police said. The separatists were killed in two separate encounters in the Mandi area of the southern Poonch district, 225 kilometres (140 miles) northwest of Kashmir's winter capital Jammu. Security forces cordoned off two rebel hideouts in the villages of Jalian and Bandi Kama Khan. Police and militants exchanged heavy gunfire, killing six rebels in Bandi and five in Jalian, Jammu police senior superintendent Kamal Saini said. Saini said the rebels, most of them foreign mercenaries, had recently entered the district across the Line of Control -- the de facto border that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan. Police have killed 50 militants in Poonch in the past 15 days, he added. Document 001001100 ends. Text of report in English by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS Moscow, 24 March: Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov is departing for Mongolia on Sunday afternoon [25 March] on an official visit, the premier's press secretary, Tatyana Razbash, told ITAR-TASS. The official programme of Kasyanov's stay in capital Ulaanbaatar will begin with a tete-a-tete meeting with Mongolian Prime Minister Nambaryn Enhbayar on Monday, followed by talks in an extended format and signing of several agreements. Besides this, the Russian prime minister is scheduled to meet with Mongolian President Natsagiyn Bagabandi and the parliamentary speaker, Sanzhbegiyn Tumur-Ochir. On Tuesday, 26 March, Kasyanov will address Russian and Mongolian entrepreneurs and visit Science and Technology University. He is also expected to be awarded the title of honorary doctor of the university. On Tuesday night, Kasyanov will wind up his Mongolian tour and leave for Vietnam for an official visit. The turnover of goods between Russia and Mongolia has reached 240m dollars. Russia exports petroleum products, electricity, machinery and equipment to Mongolia and imports copper concentrate and meat. Moscow has expressed the wish to import more Mongolian meat. Russia's Ambassador to Mongolia Oleg Derkovskiy believes that there are no problems in relations between the two states and the common border stretching for 3,500 kilometres is a border of peace and good neighbourliness. Moscow and Ulaanbaatar are continuing a political dialogue, actively developing bilateral trade, and consulting each other on international problems where their stands coincide or are close. At the same time, the ambassador said in an interview with ITAR-TASS that large Russian capital and businesses "are not active enough in dealings with Mongolia" at the moment. Document 001001101 ends. Tehran, April 13, IRNA -- Police in Iran have recently seized 824 kilos of illegal drugs, mostly opium, during a series of operations in which three smugglers were killed and 18 others injured, police officials said Saturday. The biggest seizure, amounting to 697 kilos, was made in the city of Iranshahr in the Sistan Baluchestan province, where four fire arms were also confiscated. The rest of the hauls were made in the provinces of southern Fars and southeastern Khorasan. Meanwhile, a police head said Saturday that some 877 kilos of narcotics had been seized in the south of the Tehran province in the last Iranian year which ended on March 20, 2001. The bulk of the seizures was opium, weighing 534 kilos, besides 118 kilos of hashish plus other drug assortments. Police dismantled 72 gangs of drug traffickers in the period and arrested 12,910 people on drug-related offenses. An official in the southeastern city of Kerman said Saturday that police in the Kerman province had seized 100 kilos of morphine from drug traffickers in recent days. Iran accounts for 80 percent of the opium and 90 percent of the morphine intercepted in the world, according to the International Narcotics Control Board. The Islamic Republic has launched a relentless anti-drug campaign since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, in which more than 3,100 policemen have lost their lives. Iran's anti-drug campaign costs the country 800 million dollars per year, according to officials. An official said recently that the Iranian police had seized 112 tons of illegal drugs and arrested 306,000 people on drug-related charges during last Iranian year which ended on March 21, 2001. Document 001001102 ends. Joyous South African enjoying view on space station CAPE CANAVERAL - (AP) -- A South African space tourist received a warm welcome aboard the international space station on Saturday and settled in for an eight-day, seven-night stay that cost him $20 million. Internet entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth is only the second person to pay his own way into space, and by the look of it, he considers the money well spent. The 28-year-old smiled broadly as he floated into the space station and was embraced by its three occupants. One orbit, or 1 hours later, South African President Thabo Mbeki called to congratulate the first African citizen in space. ''It's amazingly roomy,'' Shuttleworth told the president. ``Although it's very, very large, we have to move very carefully. As you can see around us, there are tons of very precious and very sophisticated equipment. We hope that we will be good guests.'' As for his liftoff two days earlier from Kazakhstan, ''I had moments of terror, moments of sheer upliftment and exhilaration,'' Shuttleworth said. ``I have truly never seen anything as beautiful as the Earth from space. I can't imagine anything that could surpass that.'' The world's latest space tourist -- dubbed an Afronaut back home -- has generated huge excitement in South Africa. ''The whole continent is proud that, at last, we have one of our own people from Africa up in space,'' said Mbeki, taking part in celebrations for Freedom Day, marking the 1994 elections that ended Apartheid. ``It's a proud Freedom Day because of what you've done.'' Shuttleworth's parents were relieved to see their adventure-seeking son, an entrepreneur who made his fortune off the Internet, safely aboard space station Alpha. They watched from Russian Mission Control outside Moscow as the Soyuz capsule smoothly docked with the space station 250 miles up. ''It was one of the dangerous procedures and my stomach was in a real knot before it started. But I'm feeling much better now,'' said his mother, Ronelle Shuttleworth. The three men who have been living on the orbiting outpost since December, and won't return to Earth until June, were delighted to have company. ''It's always great to see new faces,'' said American astronaut Carl Walz. Shuttleworth and his Soyuz crewmates, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gidzenko and Italian astronaut Roberto Vittori, accomplished their primary job with the successful docking of their spacecraft. It will now serve as the space station's lifeboat. When the three leave next Saturday night, they will use the Soyuz that has been attached to the station for the past six months. One year ago today, California money manager Dennis Tito became the world's first paying space tourist, courtesy of the Russians. NASA opposed Tito's trip, saying he would interfere with space station work and possibly even endanger the crew. The Russians prevailed, however, and the rift between the two countries' space programs lasted for months. To avoid further conflict, NASA and the space agencies of Russia, Europe, Canada and Japan established criteria for future space station visitors. Shuttleworth met all the guidelines and went through eight months of cosmonaut training in Russia and one week of instruction at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Because of his U.S. training, Shuttleworth will have more leeway aboard the space station than Tito did. Shuttleworth is flying several science experiments, including one for AIDS research. He wore a white patch with an embroidered red ribbon on his blue cosmonaut uniform to symbolize the fight against AIDS. He also plans to chat with South African schoolchildren via ham radio over the next week. Long before his flight, he created the ''Hip To Be Square'' campaign -- or Hip2B2 -- to promote science and math education in South Africa. Shuttleworth, who is among the world's younger space travelers, joined his country's president on Saturday in calling for ``a need for Africans to embrace the future and the importance of education, and especially science and mathematics.'' ''I hope that our first steps into space will influence the generation to make that part of their lives, too,'' he said. Document 001001103 ends. ANKARA (A.A) - 21.04.2002 - Foreign Minister Ismail Cem left on Sunday for Spain to attend the Fifth Meeting of Foreign Ministers of Europe-Mediterranean Process. The meeting which will bring fifteen European Union (EU) members countries and twelve Mediterranean countries together will be held in Valencia and start on Monday. An ``Action Plan`` on how the process should function in coming period and which issues that the process should focus on is foreseen to be accepted at the meeting in which political, economic, social and cultural issues concerning the Mediterranean basin will be discussed. During the talks, also developments about the Middle East peace process will be evaluated and Cem will hold bilateral contacts with foreign ministers of some of the participating countries on the Middle East dispute. Document 001001104 ends. Dushanbe, 16 January: The Iranian bank Tijorat will open a branch in Khujand [the centre of Tajikistan's northern Soghd Region]. The press secretary of the Iranian embassy in Tajikistan, Alii Tusi [name transliterated], told Asia-Plus that the decision had been taken at a meeting last week between an Iranian delegation and the administration of Soghd Region and Khujand. The Iranian delegation, including a representative of the Iranian bank, was led by the deputy Iranian ambassador to Tajikistan, Mohammad-Reza Forqani. During the visit to Soghd, the Iranian diplomats visited higher educational establishments and Zafarobod District. The main aim of the visit was to reach agreements on expanding economic ties between Iranian investors and businessmen in Soghd. Document 001001105 ends. On Saturday [13 April]--two days aftr Chavez had been removed from power by a military coup--thousands of supporters of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took to the streets, and after occupying the Presidential palace, they returned him to power. We asked Ali Kianushrad, member of the Majles National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, to state his views on the recent developments in Venezuela, Chavez's removal, and his return to power. Question: How do you assess the sudden downfall and more sudden return of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela? Answer: The Venezuelan experience during the past few days showed that regimes that are based on the votes and support of the masses and adopt relatively independent policies toward the big powers and especially America are not favored by the American leadership. The Americans' hasty and immediate support for the coup shows that the Americans are in no way in favor of national and independent rules coming to power. Also, the Venezuelan President's return to power once again showed that if rulers are endorsed and supported by the people, the people's determination can affect decisions and that the people's presence on the scene can prevent rules and decisions with which they totally disagree. Question: How do you assess Iran's reaction to the overthrow of the Chavez Government and to his return--something on which the Foreign Ministry issued a statement? Answer: We have good relations with Venezuela, and there was no reason for us to be satisfied in any way with the overthrow the rule there, especially when the Venezuelan regime's policies enjoy the extensive support of the Venezuelan people and when there are points un its independent policies on oil that converge with our policies and have been positively assessed by the Islamic Republic of Iran. Question: Did the opposition by the Rio Pact member countries and some other countries play a role in Chavez's return to power? Answer: The incidents and developments in Venezuela and Chavez's return to power were so rapid that the possibility of intervention by other powers in his return to power is very small. But undoubtedly there are basic doubts that exist about the coup and America's immediate support, and what springs to mind is the great possibility of some countries' intervention in Venezuela's domestic affairs. Document 001001106 ends. Military threat persists after events in Venezuela, Spanish daily says Excerpt from unsigned editorial, "Coup against the coup", published by the Spanish newspaper El Pais web site on 15|April It may or may not be to the liking of the Western foreign ministries which shared to some extent Washington's pleasure at the ousting of Hugo Chavez, but the course of events in Venezuela has shown that he has the support of the majority of the population, who want him in the presidency, from which he was deposed and in which he was reinstalled by the military in a confused uprising... Criticisms of Chavez's governance have been widespread in the democratic world, above all in the past year, in which he has taken to visiting dictators like Castro or Saddam Husayn and writing to terrorists like the famous Carlos, instead of meeting his promises of prosperity and fair shares. Debatable decisions of his have caused a deep social polarization and brought him into confrontation with representative sectors of civil society, against which he used more demagogy than arguments. But the latest events reveal that his popularity had not collapsed. The coup misjudged its strength and Carmona remaining in power could have led to a serious division of the armed forces. This possibility and the proliferation of expressions of support for the overthrown leader among the military officers made a change of course advisable, with the forced resignation of Carmona and the even more meteoric period in office of Chavez's vice-president, Diosdado Cabello, who only took up the post in order to give his leader time to reappear. All of this leaves in the air a feeling of military uncertainty, after a two-way trip in 24 hours which will undoubtedly leave deep wounds in armed forces which clearly have not given up their wish to exert a decisive influence in political life. The civilian opposition, which in the absence of political parties was organized around the employers' organization and the trade unions, does not come out of it well either. But President Chavez too is seriously damaged by his links to the groups of armed followers who left a score of dead in Thursday's ! [1! 1 April] crushing of the demonstrations. The today revived president will have to tackle the future with different methods. It is time for the former officer to rethink, to set priorities, to understand that the Cuban model no longer works even for Havana, to give up, as he has promised, revanchism and to understand that Venezuela is a Western country where there is no reason for it to be impossible to improve the fate of the Venezuelans and eradicate the eternal scourge of corruption, within a framework comparable to that of the rest of the world. All of which, incidentally, is something of which Chavez has done very little so far. Document 001001107 ends. One in four children in the KwaZulu-Natal capital of Pietermaritzburg has been orphaned by Aids, and the number is set to rocket in the next 10 years. A study by Dr Neil McKerrow, chief paediatrician at Pietermaritzburg's Metropolitan Hospitals Complex, shows that 50 000 Aids orphans live in the city. The number rises to 100 000 if surrounding areas in the Midlands are included. McKerrow estimates that the number of orphans in the Midlands will top 250 000 by 2010. His figures refer to children under 16 who have lost their mothers, in line with a World Health Organisation definition. According to Statistics SA, the city has 193 000 children in that age group out of a total population of 573 000. Although there are care centres and orphanages in Pietermaritzburg, McKerrow's study found that extended families and the community were willing to take in these children. Six years ago McKerrow and a colleague at the Edendale Hospital, Annelise Verbeek, pioneered a study entitled Models of Care for Children in Distress, a term they coined for abandoned, displaced and orphaned children in the region. They found that 6% of children in Pietermaritzburg were Aids orphans. Six years later, the number has risen to 25%. At an informal meeting three weeks ago, the city council was told that, according to estimates from teachers, there were now as many as 100 000 Aids orphans in the city, but city health officials say these numbers appear to be too high. McKerrow's estimates are based on household counts coupled with mathematical models used by the WHO. KwaZulu-Natal has the highest rate of HIV infection in SA, with 36% of the population infected. McKerrow estimates there are 4.6 million orphans countrywide. Yvonne Spain, the co-ordinator of Children In Distress, a network of more than 50 organisations and people, said communities were absorbing the children, "but the fact of the matter is that, as multiple deaths occur, that safety net will fall apart". The director of the provincial Aids Action Unit, Dr Sandile Buthelezi, admitted the city faced "quite a problem" and suggested this week the figures might even be higher than McKerrow's. He said: "The number of orphans is not a static thing. . . Every day an orphan is being created and I know the problem is enormous in the province." Buthelezi said the provincial health department was working closely with the welfare community and the private sector to secure funding for bodies working with Aids orphans. Document 001001108 ends. U.S. Begins First Airlift of Prisoners WASHINGTON, Jan. 10 - A C-17 Globemaster cargo plane carrying 20 heavily guarded Taliban and Al Qaeda prisoners left a Marine Corps base in southern Afghanistan today on its way to the United States naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the first wave of hundreds of detainees who will be held there. The Pentagon provided few details about the flight, but senior military officials said more than 40 specially trained military police officers guarded the prisoners on the flight, which was expected to make one stop before reaching Cuba, possibly as early as Friday morning. The prisoners, their hands and feet shackled and their heads covered by hoods, were loaded single file onto the plane at Kandahar Airport. Pentagon officials said some prisoners might also be sedated during the more-than-20-hour flight, but it was not clear whether that had happened. A Pentagon official said earlier this week that the United States did not consider the detainees prisoners of war, but that they were still being afforded the protections under the Geneva Convention guidelines. At Guantanamo Bay, the prisoners will be taken to a makeshift detention center known as Camp X- Ray, where they will be locked in 6- by-8-foot cages made of concrete and chain-link fence to await intensive interrogation and, possibly, trial before military tribunals. As workers prepared the camp in Cuba for as many as 2,000 prisoners, search crews in Pakistan continued to comb the wreckage of a Marine Corps tanker plane that crashed on Wednesday in southwestern Pakistan. Seven marines died in the fiery accident. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said today that there was no evidence that the crash had been caused by hostile fire. Pentagon officials also said today that the United States was preparing to send a force of more than 100 soldiers, many of them Special Operations forces, to the Philippines to help train Filipino troops to fight Muslim militants from the Abu Sayyaf group. Though the American forces are expected to be involved initially in advising and training Filipino counterterrorist units, senior American military officials have said they could become involved in direct military action if the Philippine government requested it. Amnesty International issued a statement today saying that sedating prisoners or shackling them for an entire flight would violate international standards prohibiting "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment. Mr. Rumsfeld said today that he did not know how the prisoners would be restrained during the flight. But he defended the use of strong measures, saying the Pentagon had closely studied violent uprisings by Taliban and Al Qaeda prisoners held in the northern Afghan city of Mazar- i-Sharif and in Pakistan. About 20 minutes after the C-17 lifted off from the base at Kandahar Airport, marines came under small- arms fire near one of the runways. No one was injured and the identify of the snipers remained unknown tonight, military officials said. Military officials also said John Walker Lindh, the American who was captured with Taliban forces near Mazar-i-Sharif, was not among the prisoners transferred today. Mr. Walker is still being held aboard the assault ship Bataan in the Arabian Sea, the officials said. American forces in Afghanistan were holding a total of 371 prisoners today, including 351 at Kandahar and 19 at Bagram air base north of Kabul. But the number keeps rising as American military and intelligence officials continue interviewing thousands of prisoners held by anti-Taliban militias. Camp X-Ray has cells for about 100 detainees, and will soon be expanded to hold 220. During the next few months, military work crews will build permanent facilities for as many as 2,000 prisoners. Mr. Rumsfeld declined to discuss details about the growing American involvement in the Philippines, where Abu Sayyaf guerrillas have been battling government troops in the southern island of Basilan. The rebels, who have been linked to Al Qaeda in the past, are holding two American hostages for ransom. But earlier this week, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul D. Wolfowitz said that American Special Operations forces might become involved in "direct support of Philippine military operations," though he added that the government seemed "anxious" to do the job itself. "There's no question that we believe that if they could clear the Abu Sayyaf group out of Basilan Island, that would be a small blow against the extended Al Qaeda network," Mr. Wolfowitz said. In November, President Bush promised to give the Philippines a $100 million antiterrorism aid package that would include weapons, training and shared intelligence. Since then, the United States has sent an array of equipment to the Philippine military, including a C-130 cargo plane, 30,000 M-16 rifles and 8 UH- 1 Huey helicopters. In eastern Afghanistan, American B-1 and B-52 bombers dropped precision-guided weapons on the sprawling Al Qaeda training camp at Zhawar Kili near the Pakistan border today for the sixth time in just over a week. Senior military officials have said they are increasingly concerned that there are other equally sophisticated and well-fortified underground complexes elsewhere in Afghanistan that could become guerrilla bases for remnants of the Taliban and Al Qaeda forces. At the Pentagon, Mr. Bush signed a $318 billion military spending bill today for the 2002 fiscal year. "Today more than ever we also owe those in uniform the resources they need to maintain a very high state of readiness," Mr. Bush said. "Our enemies rely upon surprise and deception. They used to rely upon the fact that they thought we were soft. I don't think they think that way anymore." Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company Document 001001109 ends. Mugabe confident of victory in historic Zimbabwe vote HARARE-Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe predicted victory Saturday as he cast his ballots in presidential and local elections at a primary school in Harare's working-class suburb of Highfield. Asked if he would accept the results of the hotly contested election, Mugabe said: "I will accept it, more than accept it because I will have won." The 78-year-old former guerrilla leader, who has governed since independence in 1980, took another swipe at the former colonial power Britain and other western nations, which he said have prejudged the vote. "They don't want the president of Zimbabwe to remain the president of Zimbabwe," he told reporters outside the school. Mugabe has faced widespread criticism and sanctions from the European Union and the United States over alleged rights violations and manipulation of the election process. Tinkering has left voting procedures so confusing in Harare that even Mugabe and his top aides appeared unsure of where the president was to vote. Mugabe was clearly expected to turn up at Mhofu School in Highfield, where state television had a truck posted and had been broadcasting live since polls opened early Saturday. Several of Mugabe's ministers and senior aides were also on hand to see their leader cast his ballot, as well as a throng of reporters and camera operators. But it turned out the president would perform his civic duty instead at Kudzanai School, also in Highfield. Mugabe had to vote at that particular ward in order to be able to cast ballots both for president and for mayor in Harare, which is holding the two elections simultaneously. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) complained that the set-up was deliberately confusing in a ploy to discourage the urban vote, which is thought to favor Mugabe's challenger Morgan Tsvangirai. -AFP @ Pakistan Observer 1998-2001 Document 001001110 ends. Poll shows more Ukrainians against US campaign in Afghanistan Text of report in English by Russian news agency Interfax Kyiv, 29 December: Forty-three per cent of Ukrainians disapprove of the antiterrorist operation being carried out by the US in Afghanistan, according to a poll of 1,000 Ukrainian citizens conducted by GfK-USM at the request of the Institute of Politics between 25 and November and 5 December. At the same time, over a third - 34 per cent - support America's military campaign. "Afghanistan is a historic memory for a whole generation of our compatriots and that is why they fear being drawn into the conflict. This should be a message for the authorities as concerns the stand the country has taken on this issue," Director of the Institute of Politics Mykola Tomenko told a press conference in Kyiv today. The lower the living standards of those polled, the less frequently they spoke in support of the US campaign, Tomenko said. For instance, 29 per cent of those who consider themselves "poor" support America and 46 per cent do not, while among those with "high" and "average" income levels 39 per cent approve of US policy and 45 per cent disapprove. Document 001001111 ends. Argentina braces for currency fall BUENOS AIRES - Nostalgia runs deep in Argentina. Even before its faltering economy produced an epic-sized default, and the country was thrust into its worst crisis since democracy was restored in 1983, Argentines were obsessed with their past triumphs. But now a different variety of nostalgia appears to be emerging. Some call it the Ford Falcon syndrome, a reference to the classic gas-guzzler that inefficient Argentine automakers continued to turn out in droves 20 years after it disappeared from US showrooms. The man whom some economists say is leading the step backward in time is the country's new president, Eduardo Duhalde, Argentina's fifth in two weeks. After four years of crippling recession, Duhalde and others are questioning whether Argentina's decade-long pursuit of free market reforms is the right solution. With his appointment by Congress last Wednesday to finish the two years left in the term vacated by ex-President Fernando de la R?he Peronist Duhalde is now promoting a number of emergency measures that would turn back the clock on liberal economic reforms. On Friday, President Duhalde asked Congress for broad new powers to end the country's decade-old currency regime that pegs the peso to the US dollar, to intervene in the banking system, to institute price controls, and to protect local industry and jobs. It was approved overwhelmingly by the lower house of Congress late Saturday and was expected to be passed by the Senate yesterday. Everyone from the International Monetary Fund in Washington to the traditional protectionists in Buenos Aires thought devaluation was necessary, if painful. But some analysts are concerned that Duhalde will follow it up with a return to the protectionism and failed policies that dominated the country's economy for half of this past century, until ex-President Carlos Menem changed course last decade and ushered in an era of stability. "He must think he can defy gravity, because he's pursuing the same crash course that Argentines and the rest of Latin America rejected a decade ago," says Christopher Ecclestone, head of investment boutique Buenos Aires Trust. Duhalde's embrace of the past can be partly explained by the nature of the Peronists themselves, whom Argentine literary giant Jorge Luis Borges once referred to as neither good nor bad, just incorrigible. The party, founded by Gen. Juan Domingo Peron in the 1940s, has long dominated Argentine politics, thanks to a deft mix of populist policies, nationalist rhetoric, and political patronage. A weekend poll by Aresco consultancy showed 52 percent of Argentines "highly" in favor of Duhalde's stated economic plans and another 34 percent giving him "medium" approval - an indication of public confidence. But at a time when the country is desperate for investment and international aid to prevent an economic crisis from exploding further, it is unclear how far Duhalde could actually turn back the clock even if he wanted to. For starters, there's a wariness among economists that an expected 30 to 40 percent devaluation could spark a return to the chaotic days of the late 1980s, when 5,000-percent inflation was rampant. Already, everything from bread to computer parts has been marked up by as much as 20 percent in anticipation of the devaluation. To contain inflation and fill an expected $11 billion budget deficit this year, government officials say a rescue package of at least $15 billion is needed from the IMF and other lenders. Otherwise, the country's cash-strapped banks, which are being forced to accept lesser-valued pesos for loans made almost entirely in dollars, will collapse. But few expect the government's plan for reviving the country's moribund economy to elicit much support abroad. In fact, quite the contrary. Already a swarm of powerful lobbies representing foreign companies have descended on Buenos Aires to fight government plans to introduce price and capital controls. The government is also taking heat for its plans to violate privatization contracts signed a decade ago and unilaterally lower the rates mostly foreign-owned utilities can charge for public services like water and gas. "He's not just steering the economy into disaster, but he's breaking fundamental concepts like right to savings and the rule of law," says Abel Viglione, senior economist at local think tank Fiel. "No matter what economic policy is in place, that sort of trust takes several years, if not an entire generation, to rebuild." But the stiffest opposition may yet come from the Argentines themselves. Despite widespread fatigue caused by successive austerity drives, such as limiting bank withdrawals to $1,000 per month, the overwhelming majority of Argentines still prefer the stability of the current economic model - despite its many shortcomings - to the disorder of a closed economy. Surveys show that more than 70 percent of the public opposes any changes to convertibility, as the currency regime is known. "Those who want to devalue are shameless," says Maria Estevez, a schoolteacher who earns $600 a month. "They want to hold us hostage and force us to buy goods that can be bought cheaper and better quality imported." Instead of blaming globalization, most Argentines point to corrupt politicians and indifferent institutions for precipitating the current crisis. For such an ambitious economic program to work requires a strong leader with popular support to implement it. But that's exactly what Duhalde most lacks. Although he's so far successfully rallied the country's political class behind him, Duhalde, a former vice president to Menem and two-time governor of Buenos Aires province, has been dogged by allegations of corruption throughout his career. His reputation as an old-style party boss was behind his defeat at the polls in 1999, when he posted the worst showing ever by a Peronist presidential candidate. Copyright @ 2002 The Christian Science Monitor. All rights reserved. Document 001001112 ends. Ariel Sharon would want the Israeli public to believe that it is a war out there and that the Palestinians are bent on destroying the state of Israel. This is the only way he can keep the support of his coalition government and the general public. Israelis are not expected to abandon their prime minister in the middle of a war! And as long as this pretence of a vicious war against Israel holds, Sharon can keep his waning grip on power for more time. But the truth of the matter is that Israel and the Palestinians are not at war. Palestine is not an independent state with an army that may soon, if unchecked, march into the streets of Tel Aviv or overrun Jerusalem. Israel already occupies the West Bank and Gaza Strip and has done so since June 1967, when Israel and neighboring Arab states fought a six-day war. In October 1973 Israel fought a real war on two fronts, one against Syria and the other against Egypt. In 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon and its troops reached Beirut in a one-sided war that was aimed at destroying the PLO and burying Palestinian claims to their land for good. Throughout these wars and invasions, the West Bank and Gaza Strip and millions of Palestinian inhabitants succumbed under the mighty stranglehold of Israeli occupation. Little has changed since then. Palestinian territories remain under occupation and the political process that was launched in the early 1990's to end it has floundered. The first popular uprising, the Intifada, of 1987 and then the second one, which erupted 18 months ago, were desperate means by conquered Palestinians to end the occupation. They are also legitimate options of national liberation. Those who say the Palestinians had never tried non-violent means of resistance forget that they had endured more than 20 years of occupation pleading their cases before their occupiers and world public opinion. In 1987, they revolted, resorting to stones, demonstrations and strikes, and the Israelis responded swiftly by breaking their limbs and shooting unarmed civilian demonstrators in cold blood. The Palestine Human Rights Information Group reported at the end of 1993 that "since the start of the first Intifada, Israeli troops and settlers had killed 1283 Palestinians. An estimated 130,472 Palestinians had been injured, 481 expelled, 22,088 held without trial, 2533 houses demolished or sealed and, equally important for the eventual division of the land, 184,257 Palestinian trees uprooted." Throughout these years Israel kept on building new settlements or "fattening" existing ones and expropriating Palestinians lands. It is a fact that Palestinians are becoming more militant and that the nature of their resistance to occupation is changing dramatically. But it is not war by any military definition. In the past 18 months more than 1200 Palestinians have been killed, mostly civilians, and mostly in their homes, camps, offices, schools, and factories -- not on the battlefield. Many thousands were maimed and injured, hundreds of homes demolished and thousands of hectares of farmland destroyed. If these statistics amount to anything, they point to the continuing waste of human life and property that millions of Palestinians under occupation endure on a daily basis. Sharon would want to describe his aggression as a war. He would want to show the Israelis that they will not be safe unless his army escalates that aggression to a point where the Palestinians would beg for surrender. But judging from how the cycle of violence accelerated in the past few weeks, the war that the former general wants to ignite is not going to come. Instead, he has invented a reality that is much worse than war. It is chaos bordering on a binge of wanton killing that is achieving nothing in political or military terms for either side. What Sharon has succeeded in doing is to radicalize the Palestinians even further. And by applying the pressure cooker effect he will only reap sporadic but painful retaliatory responses from young and hateful Palestinians who seek liberation in death rather than staying alive under occupation. Sharon is managing and sustaining a pogrom that puts every Jew and every Israeli to shame, because the enemy for Sharon's soldiers is largely invisible. Their shells and bullets are gunning down innocent people on daily basis. Palestinian reprisals also hurt innocent Israelis because Sharon and his policies have made every Israeli an enemy and a target. There is no war other than the blind and murderous rage of a defeated colonial power. Against the backdrop of a brutal occupation, the only war that Sharon is waging is against the only possible salvation, which is an eventual peaceful coexistence between two peoples who will have to learn to accept and to share the same land. Document 001001113 ends. Coleco Industries Inc., a once high-flying toy maker whose stock peaked at $65 a share in the early 1980s, filed a Chapter 11 reorganization plan that provides just 1.125 cents a share for common stockholders. Under the plan, unsecured creditors, who are owed about $430 million, would receive about $92 million, or 21 cents for each dollar they are owed. In addition, they will receive stock in the reorganized company, which will be named Ranger Industries Inc. After these payments, about $225,000 will be available for the 20 million common shares outstanding. The Avon, Conn., company's stock hit a high in 1983 after it unveiled its Adam home computer, but the product was plagued with glitches and the company's fortunes plunged. But Coleco bounced back with the introduction of the Cabbage Patch dolls, whose sales hit $600 million in 1985. But as the craze died, Coleco failed to come up with another winner and filed for bankruptcy-law protection in July 1988. The plan was filed jointly with unsecured creditors in federal bankruptcy court in New York and must be approved by the court. Document 001001114 ends. Africa, West split over Mugabe's win SubHead: Chretien to await observers' report before acting Author: Jan Cienski with files from Jane Taber in Ottawa HARARE, Zimbabwe - As Robert Mugabe moved to consolidate his victory in elections most observers denounced as rigged, an ugly split was opening up in the response from black African nations and the West. Mr. Mugabe, Zimbabwe's leader for all its 22 years of independence, won a fifth term in office yesterday, defeating his opponent Morgan Tsvangirai in an election marred by violence, intimidation and the manipulation of electoral laws. According the Registrar-General's office, Mr. Mugabe received 56% of the 3.1 million votes cast to Mr. Tsvangirai's 41%. The win gives the 78-year-old Mr. Mugabe a six-year term in office and was hailed by Patrick Chinamasa, Zimbabwe's Justice Minister, as a "runaway victory." Mr. Tsvangirai was less complimentary, calling the election "the biggest electoral fraud I have ever witnessed in my life." He said the result "does not reflect the true will of the people of Zimbabwe." The despondent former union boss appeared befuddled by the result, as if he had never expected Mr. Mugabe to pull out a victory using just about every shady tactic in the book. "We foresaw electoral fraud but not daylight robbery," he said during a brief news conference yesterday. George Bush, the U.S. President, led the criticism from the West, saying Washington would not recognize Mr. Mugabe's government. "We do not recognize the outcome of the election because we think it's flawed," Mr. Bush said. "And we are dealing with our friends to figure out how to deal with this flawed election." Colin Powell, his Secretary of State, implied the United States may impose new sanctions in addition to an existing travel ban affecting Mr. Mugabe's inner circle. Jack Straw, Britain's Foreign Secretary, condemned Mr. Mugabe for waging a "systematic campaign of violence." Jean Chretien, the Prime Minister, was more muted in his criticism. Mr. Chretien, who this month headed off a move to suspend Zimbabwe from the Commonwealth in advance of the vote, said the election of Mr. Mugabe "does not look very good" but insisted Canada must wait for the results of a Commonwealth report before acting. "There is a committee made up of three heads of governments and states who will be meeting within two weeks to analyze the report of the observers and render a decision," he told the Commons yesterday. "We have to follow the process of receiving the report from the observers before coming to a definite conclusion." Opposition critics attacked the Prime Minister for not immediately denouncing the election. John Reynolds, the Canadian Alliance leader, said Zimbabwe should be suspended from the Commonwealth and its High Commissioner to Canada "sent packing" until "we straighten this mess out." In contrast with the West, Zimbabwe's neighbours, including regional superpower South Africa, found little to object to in the election. Sam Motsuenyane, head of a 50-member observer mission from South Africa, said the result "should be considered legitimate" and blamed the difficulties faced by some voters on "administrative oversight." The observer team from the Organization of African Unity announced that, "in general, the elections were transparent, credible, free and fair." "The ... team wishes to commend the electoral and polling officers for the able manner in which they conducted the elections," said Gertrude Mongella, leader of the OAU observers. Mr. Mugabe has not been seen since Friday's pre-election rallies and made no appearance or comment yesterday. Mr. Tsvangirai seemed at a loss over what to do next, saying that the leadership of his Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would have to meet to come up with a strategy to counter Mr. Mugabe's victory. The confusion was widespread throughout his party. "We expected we were going to win this election," admitted Hilda Mafudze, an MDC member of Parliament who had been threatened by Mr. Mugabe's toughs and prevented from campaigning in her home riding south of Harare. Mr. Mugabe ended up winning there by more than 6,000 votes. "It's something we were not prepared for," she said. "We have just got to sit down and brainstorm and come with something concrete to do." Although Mr. Tsvangirai said the people were "seething with anger," Mr. Tsvangirai ruled out open rebellion. "We seek no confrontation with the state," said the MDC leader, who is already facing treason charges for allegedly plotting to assassinate Mr. Mugabe, a charge he says was trumped up. Domestic observers tended to side with the MDC, denouncing the election as fraud-tainted and unfair. The Crisis in Zimbabwe Committee, a coalition of church and civic groups, called for Zimbabweans to protest the elections tomorrow in a "constitutionally acceptable" manner. Zimbabwe's security laws make it illegal to call for a general strike. The government was taking no chances of a popular uprising, putting the military on alert and setting up police roadblocks around Harare and other large cities. In the working class suburb of Highfield, a strong MDC zone, a middle-aged street vendor just clucked and shook his head when asked whether people would protest Mr. Mugabe's re-election. "Ahh, this country is going to the dogs. But we are scared. We are not going to go out on to the streets," he said, looking nervously over to where triumphant activists from Mr. Mugabe's Zimbabwe African People's Union - Patriotic Front had ripped up stacks of a pro-opposition newspaper. On the streets of the capital, where Mr. Tsvangirai found his greatest support, there was no sign of revolution brewing. Thousands of voters in Harare were chased away from polling stations on Monday night by police, despite waiting for three chaotic days to cast their ballots. The MDC says the disorganization in Harare was planned by Mr. Mugabe in order to disenfranchise Mr. Tsvangirai's supporters. According to the government, as few as 42% of Harare's 800,000 voters cast their ballots while the rate of participation in Mr. Mugabe's rural strongholds approached 69%, a figure disputed by the MDC. In many cases neither the MDC nor neutral observers were able to monitor voting in more remote polling stations. For South Africa, the main concern is regional stability, not the niceties of participatory democracy. Zimbabwe's economy has imploded, unemployment is near 60%, inflation is running at 112% a year and many people in this former breadbasket are going hungry. South Africa is already trying to stem the flow of economic migrants fording the Limpopo River for a better life south of the border. The last thing South Africa wants is to add thousands of refugees fleeing war and political turmoil. Copyright @ 2002 National Post Online | Document 001001115 ends. [Computer selected and disseminated without FBIS editorial intervention] Tokyo, Sept. 7 Kyodo -- Defense Agency Director General Gen Nakatani left Friday for the United States, Indonesia and East Timor, government officials said. Nakatani is scheduled to attend ceremonies commemorating the 50th anniversaries of the signings of the Treaty of Peace with Japan and the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty in San Francisco on Saturday, they said. Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka will also attend the events. The defense chief will be in Indonesia on Monday flying in via Hong Kong for talks with his local counterpart and other defense officials. He plans to arrive in East Timor on Wednesday for an inspection and to meet with local leaders and United Nations officials to discuss the possibility of sending members of Japan's Self-Defense Forces to a U.N. peacekeeping mission there. The Defense Agency chief will return home on Sept. 15. Document 001001116 ends. SALONICA (A.A) - 15.04.2002 - State Minister Kemal Dervis for Economy arrived in Salonica city of Greece on Sunday to attend a conference to be organized by the Black Sea Commerce and Development Bank, and to hold a series of contacts with Greek officials. State Minister Dervis held a press conference at the Turkish Consulate General in Salonica after his arrival. Speaking at the press conference, Dervis said, ``economic cooperation between Turkey and Greece will make an important contribution to the Balkans, Middle East and the Black Sea regions. I call it as formation of good economic neighborhood. Turkey and Greece can cooperate in many fields like they have been doing so within structure of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). For instance, tourism will become the most rapidly developing field for the next two decades. Turkey and Greece have the opportunity of cooperating in tourism.`` Recalling that the new tender law had enabled everyone to join public investment tenders, Dervis said that Greek investors could benefit from the law. Noting that financial crisis came to an end in Turkey, Dervis said, ``financial crisis and panic ended. However, I do not mean that we overcame all problems. We should act carefully. We envisage a 3 percent growth in 2002. We also plan to decrease inflation from 70 percent to 35 percent.`` State Minister Dervis will deliver a speech at the conference. He is also scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Greek Development Minister Akis Tsokhatzopoulos. After his meeting with Greek businessmen, Dervis will come together with Greek Minister Yeoryios Paskhalidhis for Macedonia and Thrace on Monday. Dervis will depart from Greece later in the day after paying a visit to Salonica Mayor Vasilis Papayorgopoulos. State Minister Kemal Dervis has said that regional cooperation structures like the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) were not the antithesis of globalization. Dervis who arrived in Salonica on Sunday attended the opening of the conference entitled, ``Black Sea Business Day`` which was organized by Black Sea Commerce and Development Bank. Speaking at the opening of the conference, Dervis defined the regional cooperation as formation of good neighborly field and said, ``the success of Western Europe after World War II laid in its creation of the good neighborly field. For example, South America is not a good neighborly field, and therefore, all regional countries are suffering from difficulties.`` Dervis said that regional countries` making investment in any sector was not a loss for the other regional countries, but was a benefit, and stated that the investors who got used to the region would also come to the other countries and this was effective especially in tourism sector. Dervis said that the power of the globalization were stronger than the effects of regionalization. Dervis went on saying, ``for example, the European Union (EU) is a story of success. It is impossible not to wonder at the creators of the EU. Europe should not be considered as a block which has the definite borders. There were earlier iron curtain countries and their borders were definite. Now they are not. We do not know how Europe will develop towards southeast and east 15 or 20 years later.`` Dervis who defined the BSEC bank as an interesting idea, said that he believed that if that bank developed within a few years and entered the international markets, the bank would contribute to the improvement of the region in following years. Dervis stated that Turkey had shown a great economic performance in last 20-25 years, and added that Turkish economy grew by 7-8 percent. He said, ``unfortunately, crises followed those rapid growth periods lasting for 3-4 years. But around 4.5 percent growth was caught. However, it could be better. We have made many reforms in last period. A total of 21 laws prepared. We will have low inflation and a stable economy as of 2003-2004.`` Dervis who touched on the cooperation between Turkey and Greece, said, ``the cooperation between Turkey and Greece also have great importance symbolically. I hoped that Turkish and Greek foreign ministers will visit Middle East jointly. This will show that they can convey the message of peace to the third countries.`` Dervis came together with Greek Development Minister Akis Tsokhatzopoulos following the opening of the ceremony. Document 001001117 ends. Text of report by Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency Baykonur, 15 March: Preparations on the Progress M-1 N257 transport spacecraft, which is scheduled to be launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on 21 March, are nearing completion at the Baykonur space vehicle launching site [in Kazakhstan]. Specialists at the space vehicle launching site told an Interfax-Kazakhstan news agency correspondent that Progress had been filled with rocket fuel components and compressed gases and it had been taken to an installing and testing facility of the Energiya [Energy] Rocket Space Corporation for the final operations to be carried out. The general assembly of the Soyuz-U booster-rocket (BR), which is to boost Progress M-1, is scheduled for 18 March. After the BR has been assembled, the state commission will take a decision to take the rocket to the launching site. A total of six space launches from Baykonur, including four cargo launches, scheduled within the ISS programme this year. Document 001001118 ends. [Computer selected and disseminated without FBIS editorial intervention] Tokyo, Jan. 17 Kyodo -- Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who just completed a whirlwind tour of five Southeast Asian nations, said Thursday he longed for more leisurely trips -- but added that may have to wait until he leaves his post. "I would like to visit various countries at a more leisurely pace -- meet with the people of the land and travel not only to the capital but also to rural cities for sightseeing," the premier told a gathering in Tokyo. "But when I think of my duties as prime minister, I can't visit one country and not go to the other, or stay in one country for three days and stay in the other for only a day. If I am to visit several countries in a limited time, it is always one or two days at best," he said. "Of course, if I step down as prime minister, I can visit one country for a week each," he said. But the premier also said that although short, he thinks his visits to the countries are still meaningful. "There is a saying, seeing is believing. Even if it's only for a day or two, it is significant to visit a country and exchange views with the people of the country in person," he said. Koizumi made a weeklong tour of the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore earlier in the month. He stayed for less than a day in most countries. Document 001001119 ends. [Computer selected and disseminated without FBIS editorial intervention] Beijing, Jan. 12 (Yonhap) -- Criminals have been increasingly preying on Korean travellers and residents in China with the increase of exchanges between the two countries since the opening of diplomatic relations in 1992. Over the past three years, 15 Koreans were murdered, 177 were assaulted, 95 kidnapped or illegally confined, and 64 robbed, the Korean Embassy in Beijing said Saturday. The figures are feared to be higher since many cases were not reported, an embassy official said. The most frequent crimes involved the loss or theft of Korean passports, according to the official. Last year alone, 1,800 Korean passports were reported missing in China -- 1,000 in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, 400 in Beijing and 200 in Shanghai, the official said. Missing passports find their way to human traffickers, he said. "About 90 percent of foreigners' missing passports are Korean's, and the missing passports are being used mostly for crimes like illegal entry, downgrading the nation's credibility in the international community," the official said. The number of crimes committed by Koreans has also been on the increase. Among the crimes are illegal trafficking or forgery of passports, drug production and transportation, smuggling, overstaying visas and drunk driving, the official said. Last year, 1.6 million Koreans travelled to China, up from 1.34 million in 2000, and the number of Korean students in China hit 16,000, more than any other country; Japan trailed with 15,000 students, the official said. hsj@yna.co.kr Document 001001120 ends. Westinghouse Electric Corp., capitalizing on a major restructuring program, expects operating margins of more than 10% and double-digit per-share earnings growth next year, top officers told securities analysts here. John C. Marous, chairman and chief executive officer, also said the company expects sales from continuing businesses to rise 8.5% annually through the next three years. In 1988, the company earned $822.8 million, or $5.66 a share, on sales of $12.49 billion. Since 1983, Westinghouse has shed 70 businesses that it didn't expect to produce 10% operating margins while acquiring 55 businesses. In the past 20 months alone, Paul E. Lego, president and chief operating officer, said the divestiture of $300 million of slow-growth, low-profit businesses has been more than offset by $600 million in profitable acquisitions. Westinghouse expects to meet its corporate goals despite a softening in the economy. Even if the gross national product is either flat or in the growth range of 2% to 2.5%, "we can handle that," Mr. Marous said. GNP is the total value of the nation's output of goods and services. A bright spot is the company's power-generation business, which is experiencing a surge of growth for the first time in years. Mr. Marous said the business will achieve higher sales this year than the company's target goal of 8.5%. While Westinghouse hasn't had a nuclear power plant order from a U.S. utility in about a decade, excess capacity is beginning to shrink. Mr. Lego said the company foresees the need for a major boost in new-generation capability throughout the 1990s. Westinghouse also is well positioned to sell steam turbine and gas turbine plants to independent power producers. The company's ability to respond to energy needs world-wide will be enhanced through a recently announced venture with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Mr. Lego said. He said the independent power segment could grow to provide as much as 50% of near-term generation capacity, adding: "We expect to supply a significant share of this market." Westinghouse also expects its international sales to soon grow to 25% of total corporate sales from 20% last year. The company is negotiating with the Soviets to build a Thermo King truck-refrigeration plant that would produce about 10,000 units annually. Mr. Marous said Westinghouse would own 70% of the facility. The deal, which will involve an initial $20 million investment, was struck with a handshake, he added. Company officials also said that any gain from the sale of Westinghouse's 55% stake in its transmission and distribution venture with the Swiss firm of Asea Brown Boveri will be offset by a restructuring charge in the fourth quarter. The executives didn't disclose the size of the expected gain. Capital expenditure in 1990 will rise slightly, Mr. Marous said, from an estimated $470 million this year. Document 001001121 ends. Sun Microsystems Inc., a computer maker, announced the effectiveness of its registration statement for $125 million of 6 3/8% convertible subordinated debentures due Oct. 15, 1999. The company said the debentures are being issued at an issue price of $849 for each $1,000 principal amount and are convertible at any time prior to maturity at a conversion price of $25 a share. The debentures are available through Goldman, Sachs & Co. Document 001001122 ends. AMMAN -- Authorities on Sunday [24 March] released an alleged business associate of Majd Shamayleh, the prime suspect in a bank fraud case under investigation, on JD1 million bail bond, nearly two weeks after he was detained in connection with this case, judicial sources said yesterday. Munther Halasa was one of the six detainees suspected of involvement in the questionable bank loans case which the government referred to the State Security Court prosecutor for investigation. The sources said Halasa also made a deposit of $6 million at the Central Bank of Jordan. Two other suspects, who are clerks at the HSBC Bank, were released on bail last week. Halasa and the other two suspects are out on bail pending further investigations, the sources said. Fifty-five people, including former officials, businessmen and bankers are believed to be involved in the case. The State Security Court has imposed a ban on news coverage of the investigations, citing Article 38 of the Press and Publications Law. Document 001001123 ends. A group of investors led by Giant Group Ltd. and its chairman, Burt Sugarman, said it filed with federal antitrust regulators for clearance to buy more than 50% of the stock of Rally's Inc., a fast-food company based in Louisville, Ky. Rally's operates and franchises about 160 fast-food restaurants throughout the U.S. The company went public earlier this month, offering 1,745,000 shares of common stock at $15 a share. Giant has interests in cement making and newsprint. The investor group includes Restaurant Investment Partnership, a California general partnership, and three Rally's directors: Mr. Sugarman, James M. Trotter III and William E. Trotter II. The group currently holds 3,027,330 Rally's shares, or 45.2% of its commmon shares outstanding. Giant Group owned 22% of Rally's shares before the initial public offering. A second group of three company directors, aligned with Rally's founder James Patterson, also is seeking control of the fast-food chain. It is estimated that the Patterson group controls more than 40% of Rally's stock. Rally officials weren't available to comment late yesterday. For the year ended July 2, Rally had net income of $2.4 million, or 34 cents a share, on revenue of $52.9 million. Document 001001124 ends. The hero of the Gulf War, Colin Powell, did not exactly cover himself in glory in his diplomatic mission to the Middle East as the US president's envoy. His task was to create "a peaceful environment" in the region currently affected by an unrecognized and undeclared war between Israel and Palestine. The man who defeated Iraq in 1991 in only six weeks issued a message, saying that the most he hoped for was something less than a mutual cease-fire agreement. Another round of talks will be held today between Powell and the chief players in the Middle East. But the current development of events, that is, the standstill situation, makes it clear that US foreign policy has been put to a very serious test in which the United States needs to discipline its decades-long ally, Israel, and not ruin its relations with the Arabs. The impression is that, under US sponsorship, the international community deliberated too long about the violence in the Middle East. The latest round of violence was initiated on the day in September 2000 when Ariel Sharon took it upon himself to provoke his Muslim neighbors by visiting an Islamic religious building. Sharon, who used to be a colonel and who is directly responsible for the massacre in the Beirut camps Sabra and Shatila, used his return to power as an opportunity to settle the accounts with his years-long enemies. Powell's words, "we are working on this plan," are unclear, because he did not say what the plan is, and Israel's call for a conference on the Middle East is also unclear. In relation to the first ambiguity, Powell's words definitely cannot be taken seriously, considering that precisely Washington is the one that has been practicing a one-sided approach to the events in the Middle East for 18 months now and it was the chief opponent of the positioning of peace troops between the two warring sides. With an average $3 billion military aid for Israel and a strong Jewish lobby at home, the Untied States cannot play any other role in the Middle East conflict but protector of the Israeli state. In its warnings and appeals for peace, the United States openly "takes a side" in this conflict, labeling the other side terrorists, similar to those who carried out the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York. It would be entirely improper if, in its defense of Israel, the United States continues to exert pressure on neighboring Arab countries, such as, Syria and Lebanon, which have been accused of supporting terrorist organizations, such as the Hezbolah. It is worrying that among Powell's priorities in Beirut were the talks on the activities of the Hezbolah, with an announcement that terrorists might open a new front. In some circles, these concerns over an alleged new front are seen as an attempt to resolve the smaller Israel-Palestine problem with a bigger one. For example, a new Israeli-Arab war. The international community received a lot of negative points for the Middle East. Maybe Joschka Fischer's plan for suspending Germany's military aid for Israel, that is, possible EU economic sanctions against Tel Aviv is honorable, but it is a late and disturbingly long-term plan. Europe does not have a united stance on the violence in Ramallah, Nablus, Bethlehem, and the Palestinian refugee camps, despite the clear situation that Israel is the only country in the world that secures its borders by occupying territories of another state. The EU's efforts and US President Bush's peace initiative through Secretary of State Powell seem like a late resolution, considering that approximately one month ago the Arab countries participating in the summit in Beirut held out an olive branch to Israel through the plan of Saudi Arabia's heir to the throne, Prince Abdullah, which contained two points: recognition of a Palestinian state [as published] in an Arab neighborhood, in return for recognition of the Palestinians' right to their own country. Israel did not even have the goodness to look at this plan, demonstrating arrogance toward everything Arab. In the same manner Israel asked Arafat to leave Ramallah and Palestine, labeling him a troublemaker and politician incapable of controlling the Palestinian suicide bombers. Document 001001125 ends. Crossland Savings Bank's stock plummeted after management recommended a suspension of dividend payments on both its common and preferred stock because Crossland may not meet the new government capital criteria effective Dec. 7. In composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange Friday, Crossland closed at $5.25, down $1.875, a 26% decline. A spokesman said the savings bank may not qualify for the capital requirements because, under the proposed guidelines, its $380 million of preferred stock doesn't meet the "core capital" criteria outlined under the new Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989. He added that final guidelines to be published in early November will determine whether the bank is in compliance. Crossland said it retained three investment bankers to assist it in developing and implementing a financial restructuring plan. It wouldn't identify the bankers. Additionally, Crossland reported a third-quarter loss of $175.5 million, or $13.44 a share, compared with net income of $27.1 million, or $1.16 a share, a year ago. A major factor in the third-quarter loss was the write-down of $143.6 million of goodwill. The spokesman said that the proposed guidelines caused Crossland to revise its business objectives and, consequently, to write down the asset value of some previous acquisitions. Crossland recorded an additional $20 million in loan loss reserves in the third quarter. Net interest income for the third quarter declined to $35.6 million from $70.1 million a year ago. However, non-interest income rose to $23.5 million from $22 million. Third-quarter loan originations dropped sharply to $663 million from $1 billion a year ago. Standard & Poor's Corp. lowered the rating on Crossland's preferred stock to double-C from single-B-minus and placed it on CreditWatch for possible further downgrade. It also placed on CreditWatch for possible downgrade other securities, including the double-B-minus/B rating of Crossland's certificates of deposit and the single-B rating of its senior subordinated capital notes. About $518 million of debt is affected. Document 001001126 ends. Even More "Proving Rape" Chatterbox feels that the Wall Street Journal editorial page's coverage of Juanita Broaddrick's rape charges against Bill Clinton (see "Proving Rape ," "More Proving Rape," as well as Michael Kinsley's "Readme"column in the current issue) cries out for the introduction of the Scientific Method into the usually mushy business of assessing press responsibility. With that in mind, Chatterbox hereby inaugurates the Intellectual Dishonesty (henceforth to be known as the Indis ) Index . Here's how it works: Publications that refuse to acknowledge (even if to refute the importance of) highly significant but inconvenient facts in their news or opinion coverage of controversial events will score one point for the initial offense. They will then score one point for every subsequent issue or broadcast or Internet posting after the first offense is noted by Chatterbox if they continue not to report said inconvenient fact--and an additional two points on days when the news organization runs a follow-up without making note of said inconvenient fact. Publications receiving a score of 10 will be inducted into the Indis Hall of Fame . Publications that get all the way up to 20 will be faxed a likeness of Joseph Stalin. (Chatterbox would prefer not to invoke the phrase "intellectual dishonesty," because it's pompous and falsely suggests that only intellectuals can be intellectually dishonest. But Chatterbox doesn't know any other easily understandable phrase that describes this particular kind of offense.) For the purposes of this survey, the Wall Street Journal will be counted as a separate and distinct publication from the Journal 's editorial page, because, in essence, it is. The Journal editorial page continues not to acknowledge that Norma Kelsey, the friend and employee to Juanita Broaddrick who is one of two people partially corroborating Broaddrick's rape accusation, is the daughter of a man whose murderer was pardoned by Gov. Bill Clinton. (A responsible account of the whole controversy in today's New York Times reports that Kelsey says the pardon had nothing to do with her corroboration.) The Journal editorial page gets one point for failing to note the pardon in its initial Op-Ed by Dorothy Rabinowitz on Feb. 19. Because it has published three times since the initial omission, it scores an additional three points. And because it published an editorial Feb. 22 taunting the rest of the press for not following it on the story--and still didn't mention the pardon--it scores an extra two points. That comes to a total of six . Chatterbox feels certain that the Journal editorial page will provide some follow-up tomorrow to tonight's NBC broadcast of its own Broaddrick interview, which means that if the Journal editorial page continues to take no action it will be in the Indis Hall of Fame by Monday at the latest! Chatterbox considered but rejected the idea of awarding Rabinowitz bonus points for having "eventually convinced" Broaddrick to grant an interview to the New York Times (as the Times reports in today's story). But the Scientific Method does not permit any tinkering with the Indis Index 's scoring procedures. And besides, Rabinowitz's efforts on the Times ' behalf weren't really unethical, just puzzling, given the two newspapers' intense rivalry. When Chatterbox asked the Journal 's DC bureau chief, Alan Murray, who exercised good judgment in not breaking the Broaddrick story (and--full disclosure-- is Chatterbox's former boss), to comment about a Journal employee's feeding sources to the Times , he replied: "I don't really have any comment on what the edit page did. They do their thing, we do ours." Which is what Journal news employees are instructed to say whenever the editorial page causes them cringing embarrassment. For her part, Rabinowitz explains to Chatterbox that her efforts on behalf of the Times were more indifferent than the Times made them sound. "Ms. Broaddrick told me Sunday that a Times reporter had appeared at the house in the a.m., and that she had refused an interview," Rabinowitz writes in an e-mail message. "I asked her why she had decided to talk to the New York Post 's Steve Dunleavy, and refused a Times reporter. She said Dunleavy caught her by surprise. She asked if I thought it would be all right to talk to the Times reporter. I told her it would be--certainly as all right as talking to Dunleavy. She said, 'Well, I'm sorry I didn't.' She said she would if he called again. I passed this on to [ Times reporter] Felicity Barringer during our second day's interview chat. So--that's how it happens that in the New York Times piece today I'm described--solemnly--as having 'eventually convinced' her to repeat the story to the New York Times." --Timothy Noah Document 001001127 ends. Kim: I have completed the invoices for April, May and June and we owe Pasadena each month for a total of $3,615,910.62. I am waiting to hear back from Patti on May and June to make sure they are okay with her. Do you want me to pay Pasadena on Friday for these months or do you want me to hold off until I finish July and August? Again, I do not have all of the information for July and August, so I cannot give you any numbers. If I go by what is currently in the system as a guide, Pasadena would owe Enron a little over $1 mil. I need to forecast the money today, so please let me know what you would like to do. FYI-I will be out of the office all next week. Megan Thanks you so much for working on these as fast as you have - there was a priority in getting them out. However, as you know, the less cash outlay that we have right now the better. Lets wait and try to offset the amount we owe them with what they owe us - so I say wait until you get July and August done. What do you think the time frame is on this? And when would be the earliest that we would make the payment? Thanks, Kim Kim: I have completed the invoices for April, May and June and we owe Pasadena each month for a total of $3,615,910.62. I am waiting to hear back from Patti on May and June to make sure they are okay with her. Do you want me to pay Pasadena on Friday for these months or do you want me to hold off until I finish July and August? Again, I do not have all of the information for July and August, so I cannot give you any numbers. If I go by what is currently in the system as a guide, Pasadena would owe Enron a little over $1 mil. I need to forecast the money today, so please let me know what you would like to do. FYI-I will be out of the office all next week. Megan Patti is the one with the details, I'm just the deal maker and don't have access to any of the systems. All I know is what fixed priced baseload deals we have. I have no idea what flows. I hope Patti can help you soon. Let me know if you don't hear from her today. Thanks, Kim If I can get all of the information today, I can tell you this afternoon. It doesn't take long to create the calc sheets. I understand from Janine that you or Patti can provide me with the detail that I need. If necessary, I can come pick it up. I have sent Patti a list. For payment, we have to forecast the money two days out. So, if I know today, I can pay on Friday. Megan Thanks you so much for working on these as fast as you have - there was a priority in getting them out. However, as you know, the less cash outlay that we have right now the better. Lets wait and try to offset the amount we owe them with what they owe us - so I say wait until you get July and August done. What do you think the time frame is on this? And when would be the earliest that we would make the payment? Thanks, Kim Kim: I have completed the invoices for April, May and June and we owe Pasadena each month for a total of $3,615,910.62. I am waiting to hear back from Patti on May and June to make sure they are okay with her. Do you want me to pay Pasadena on Friday for these months or do you want me to hold off until I finish July and August? Again, I do not have all of the information for July and August, so I cannot give you any numbers. If I go by what is currently in the system as a guide, Pasadena would owe Enron a little over $1 mil. I need to forecast the money today, so please let me know what you would like to do. FYI-I will be out of the office all next week. Megan thats fine - we can't pay them anyway I'll check with Patti later today. On payment...We are now having to forecast five days out. If I don't know today, I cannot pay Pasadena until next Thursday. Megan Patti is the one with the details, I'm just the deal maker and don't have access to any of the systems. All I know is what fixed priced baseload deals we have. I have no idea what flows. I hope Patti can help you soon. Let me know if you don't hear from her today. Thanks, Kim If I can get all of the information today, I can tell you this afternoon. It doesn't take long to create the calc sheets. I understand from Janine that you or Patti can provide me with the detail that I need. If necessary, I can come pick it up. I have sent Patti a list. For payment, we have to forecast the money two days out. So, if I know today, I can pay on Friday. Megan Thanks you so much for working on these as fast as you have - there was a priority in getting them out. However, as you know, the less cash outlay that we have right now the better. Lets wait and try to offset the amount we owe them with what they owe us - so I say wait until you get July and August done. What do you think the time frame is on this? And when would be the earliest that we would make the payment? Thanks, Kim Kim: I have completed the invoices for April, May and June and we owe Pasadena each month for a total of $3,615,910.62. I am waiting to hear back from Patti on May and June to make sure they are okay with her. Do you want me to pay Pasadena on Friday for these months or do you want me to hold off until I finish July and August? Again, I do not have all of the information for July and August, so I cannot give you any numbers. If I go by what is currently in the system as a guide, Pasadena would owe Enron a little over $1 mil. I need to forecast the money today, so please let me know what you would like to do. FYI-I will be out of the office all next week. Megan Document 001001128 ends. A cargo ship intercepted in the Channel after a tip-off that it might be carrying terrorist materials was today given the all clear, police said. The 450ft long vessel Nisha, carrying 26,000 tonnes [metric tons] of raw sugar, was stopped on Friday morning [21 December] amid fears it could be transporting noxious, hazardous or dangerous substances. But after a detailed examination of the ship, which is currently moored off the Isle of Wight, nothing suspicious was found, police said. Assistant Commissioner David Veness, head of Scotland Yard's specialist operations, said: "New information, combined with the relentless efforts of scientific experts, our detailed knowledge of the ship and its movements, and very careful examination of the vessel over the last three days leads us to be completely satisfied that the Nisha is not a suspicious vessel and does not pose a danger." The Nisha was halted by anti-terrorist police, the Royal Navy and Customs and Excise officials after a tip-off that it contained "terrorist material" and the Royal Navy frigate HMS Sutherland intercepted her in international waters, about 30 miles south of Beachy Head. The MV Nisha is operated by the Great Eastern Shipping Company, based in Bombay, India. It had recently stopped in the east African country of Djibouti, a neighbour of Somalia, which has been linked to Usama Bin Ladin's al Qa'ida terror network. The ship had sailed from Mauritius and was carrying a cargo of sugar to the Tate & Lyle refinery on the Thames at Silvertown in east London, according to the company. Police had earlier indicated they expected the search to take a number of weeks, because of the vessel's size and design, but experts completed the job today. Anti-terrorist officers said they were also satisfied that the ship's crew and owners had not committed any offence. Mr Veness said the ship was now in a position to continue its journey, but completion of the voyage was still subject to consultation with all interested parties. He added: "We have not detected any signs of interference and we do not believe that the seals of the holds have been interfered with. "We had anticipated that detailed examination of the ship might take rather longer. This was to ensure that there was no chance of risk to the public. "The cargo ship Nisha was intercepted and boarded as part of an intelligence-led operation. "This was the right and proper course of action to take. Thankfully, the ship has been proved not to pose a danger to the public." Mr Veness praised the crew and ship's owners for their co-operation and said: "We remain vigilant and are totally committed to ensuring the safety of the public. "We would take similar action in the future if there was a potential risk to the public." The Nisha's cargo of raw sugar is owned by the Mauritius Sugar Syndicate, which had chartered the vessel, and the vessel was due to dock in east London yesterday. The chairman of the British arm of the Great Eastern Shipping Company, Sudhir Mulji, confirmed that the vessel had stopped over at Djibouti before its current journey to drop off American grain as part of a food aid shipment. The ship then went on to Mauritius to pick up the sugar and left on November 20 to transport it to Britain. The Great Eastern Shipping Company, which has offices in India, London, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, is a leading Indian shipping and offshore service provider with a fleet of 38 cargo-carrying vessels. Document 001001129 ends. [Headline of editorial] By Adbolhassan Sobhani "Pot Calling the Kettle Black" Addressing Friday worshippers gathered at Tehran University, Iran's former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Friday criticized the treatment of Taleban and Al-Qa'idah prisoners in Guantanamo military base in Cuba. The former president and current chairman of the Expediency Council said that these prisoners are put in chain, in cages in summer and in winter. He said that the Americans are treating these prisoners like "an ostrich". They neither believe that these prisoners are truly prisoners, nor do they believe that they are "captives." After pointing its finger of blame at tens of regimes and governments around the world for decades. Washington needs to review its own history of crimes against humanity, especially the non-WASP humanity. What is non-WASP humanity? Non-White Anglo-Saxon-Protestant humanity is that part of humanity whose eyes are not bluest of the blue and whose hair is not blondest of the blonde. According to Americans, this sort of humanity does not qualify for any of the laws that have been legislated by international organizations, by any accepted world conventions. (John Walker, "the American Taleban" has not been taken to Guantanamo because he is not part of the non-WASP humanity). The treatment of Al-Qa'idah and Taleban prisoners will go down in history as the most shameful detentions in the history of post-war incarceration in the 21st century. The US President George W. Bush has said that he does not recognize the detainees in Guantanamo military base as war captives, and hence he will not accord them the rights and privileges that they would automatically get under Geneva Convention. The argument by Bush is that these detainees are members of a terrorist group and hence they do not qualify as members of a defeated country or an army. Even if we assume that George W. Bush has a point in making this argument, it is not up to him to decide who is a captive or who is not a captive. An international tribunal consisting of experts on international law should decide on this issue, not Mr. Bush whose knowledge of international law leaves plenty to be desired. The world is watching how the US is treating the detainees in Guantanamo. The world well remembers how the United States has been calling other countries as violators of human rights, while it has been involved in one of the grossest type of human rights violations. The case of the United States is like the case of that pot who called the kettle black. If the United States is truly committed to human rights, it should show it in its treatment of the detainees that it has transported in chain to another side of the globe. This is in no way defending the Taleban or the Al-Qa'idah members, some of whom might be guilty of the most heinous crimes against the poor oppressed people in Afghanistan. The point is that if the United States keeps pontificating and preaching about human rights, it can't suddenly forget about its past lectures to other countries and nations. [end] Document 001001130 ends. Paris -- The French Armed Forces' operations abroad in 2001 will have entailed an overspend of 3.290 billion Francs [Fr]. The expenditure has not increased much from 2000, since during that year it totalled Fr3.255 billion. The financial impact of operations in Afghanistan, which are expected to mobilize some 5,000 men, will not take effect until 2002. Outside Afghanistan, and outside Africa, under the terms of its defense agreements, France has deployed in 2001 some 10,750 members of its Armed Forces and of the gendarmerie, most of the personnel being stationed in Kosovo (5,890) and Bosnia-Herzegovina (2,820.) Document 001001131 ends. Consolidated Freightways Inc. reported a 77% drop in third-quarter net income, citing expected losses in its Emery Worldwide shipping business. The Menlo Park, Calif., company said net was $7.4 million, or 22 cents a share, down from $32.3 million, or 86 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue totaled $1.01 billion, a 43% increase from $704.4 million, reflecting the company's acquisition of Emery earlier this year. Profit also suffered because of "intense" discounting in its long-haul trucking business, the company said. Analysts had expected Consolidated to post a slim profit, and the company's stock was down only 25 cents to $30.25 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading yesterday. "They have to continue to tighten their belts," said Craig Kloner, an analyst at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Document 001001132 ends. Young's Market Co., a wholesaler of spirits, wines and other goods, said it will merge with a new corporation formed by the Underwood family, which controls Young's. Under terms of the agreement, shareholders other than the Underwoods will receive $3,500 a share at closing, which is expected in December. The Underwood family said that holders of more than a majority of the stock of the company have approved the transaction by written consent. Document 001001133 ends. With all the horrific news that has been coming out of the occupied territories recently and now the shocking swing to the extreme right in the French presidential elections with its threat to France's ethic and religious minorities, virtually no attention has been paid to the reported discovery that two serving US Army officers were involved in the recent failed coup against Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez. The White House is said to be embarrassed by the report. That must rank as the understatement of the year. The story could have devastating consequence for the Bush administration. A week ago, after Chavez had been reinstated by his supporters, the White House denied any role in the failed military coup, although it admitted that US officials had met Venezuelan opposition leaders beforehand. But they had been told that Chavez, whose friendship with Libya, Iraq and Cuba has angered Washington, should only be replaced by legitimate, constitutional means; the US would not support a coup. The question now is: Did the White House lie? If it turns out to be true that the two US colonels were involved in the failed attempt, there can be no other conclusion. The two colonels would not have been acting on their own. They must have been under orders -- orders stretching all the way back to the Oval Office. This spells serious trouble for Bush. The whiff of scandal and conspiracy is in the air -- and the American media, ever addicted to conspiracy theories, is not going to let it go. It -- and the opposition Democrats, still smarting at his election victory -- will dig for dirt as long it takes. Even if it finally turns out that the two colonels were operating without the knowledge and approval of the White House, it will be a disaster for Bush. Americans will want to know who exactly is running their country. For the rest of the world, however, the story already confirms the suspicions that the Bush administration is hell-bent on eliminating its enemies by whatever means possible, legal or illegal. The involvement of US military personnel in the putsch suggests a return to the old days when the CIA would organize coups and assassinations to further US interests. The record is long and to Washington's eternal discredit: the CIA's attempts to kill Fidel Castro, its involvement in the coups in Guatemala in 1954 and in Chile in 1973. President Clinton had, it was thought, closed the book on such nefarious activities. Apparently not. The Clinton era turns out to have been merely an interlude. Coup making might have been acceptable during the Cold War. It certainly is not any more. Chavez may be a petty-minded populist who had done great damage to his country's economy; but he is also the legitimately elected president of Venezuela. Any US involvement in the attempt to remove him by force puts Washington firmly on the wrong side of international law. What makes it all the worse at this particular point in time is that it makes a mockery of George Bush's war against international terrorism. The world, he says, has to be involved in the struggle against those who seek to attack and destroy law and order and legitimate government. Yet he throws law, order and legitimacy to the wind when it suits him. Document 001001134 ends. Recently, US President Bush, in the State of the Union address he gave before Congress, recklessly picked on our country, saying we develop and possess weapons of mass destruction [WMD]. He then spewed out all kinds of vicious remarks, picking on a few countries, which included our country, as countries that destroy so-called peace of the United States and the world and that we are part of an axis of evil. This markedly reveals [the United States'] extremely dangerous attempt to link our Republic to terrorism by force and crush us at all costs with military strength and is no more than showing, to the international community, Bush to be the most vicious war maniac himself. As we all know, our Republic is currently exerting every effort possible for peace on and reunification of the Korean peninsula and for the world's peace and security. At the beginning of this year, for instance, our Republic's government clearly conveyed, again, its steadfast position and will to achieve the fatherland's reunification, the greatest ardent desire of the nation, within the first few years of the 21st century at all costs by the united efforts of the nation. It convened a joint meeting by the Republic's government and political parties and organizations and announced the three appeals and three proposals, which reflect the entire nation's unanimous desire and will. This is the fairest and the most realistic and patriotic manifestation for opening a decisive breakthrough in the achievement of the fatherland's reunification cause this year at all costs by the united efforts of our nation under the banner of the 15 June North-South Joint Declaration. It is also a remarkable measure for safeguarding peace and security on the Korean peninsula. In the meantime, our Republic's government has shown our principled position on terrorism on several occasions in accordance with the trend of the international community's opposition to terrorism. We have signed and joined anti-terrorist treaties such as International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. We have thus actively contributed to the preservation of global peace and security. Despite all of this, however, US President Bush linked our country to terrorism by force and spewed out virulent remarks that our country is threatening the world's peace. What a brazen-faced deception of reality and unbearable insult to a sovereign state! What we cannot condone more than anything is that Bush arbitrarily designated our country as part of a so-called an axis of evil. Good and evil are two completely contradictory concepts. In the current international community, promoting peace and stability, safeguarding a country and nation's sovereignty, and protecting people's lives and properties are good. Anything that goes against this can be said to be evil. Our Republic is currently making every possible effort to reclaim national sovereignty by reunifying the fatherland as soon as possible and safeguard peace and security on the Korean peninsula and of Northeast Asia. Our Republic is also fiercely waging a fight against war or the exercise of military force in resolving international issues and is seeking ways to combat terrorism, and the international community is praising these efforts. As can be seen from the aforementioned, there is no real evidence either to link our Republic to terrorism or to designate as an evil country. The real ringleader of evil and the base of evil is the United States. Manifest examples are the following facts. Over the recent 10 years alone, the US imperialists perpetrated open [word indistinct] state-level terrorism against sovereign states, such as Iraq and Yugoslavia, with preposterous reasons and pretexts. They are posing a grave threat to the world's peace and security, blabbing about the establishment of an invasive missile defense system. In reality, the United States is truly a country that has no qualifications and face to take issue with other countries by saying that they are an evil and so on. Nevertheless, Bush is impertinently picking a quarrel regarding our Republic by saying this and that and viciously spoke ill of the DPRK. This is truly a very despicable act. The shabby conduct by the US President Bush is nothing but revealing before the world each and every one of his political immaturity and moral corruption. As soon as the New Year set in, he proclaimed this year as a year of a war and then poured all kinds of abusive words against our Republic. Herein lies his wicked intention. It is to provoke an aggressive war opposing countries that they are not satisfied with, in particular the DPRK, and crush those countries through military strength. Through this, the United States is aiming to move away from the political and economic crisis that it is currently suffering from and continue to realize the policy of hegemony. However, Bush is greatly miscalculating. Just like those who enjoy fire are bound to die by being burnt, the only thing that will be left to war maniacs like Bush, who tries to find a way out of a crisis through aggression and war, is a bitter destruction. Our heroic People's Army and people will never tolerate the US imperialists' reckless military oppressive attempt and will pose a merciless annihilating blow to the aggressors. Document 001001135 ends. KHARTOUM, Feb 13 (AFP) - Sudanese rebels have released a group of fishermen they had held for the last six months after charging that their boat belonged to the Sudanese government army, their employer said Wednesday. Salmah Trading and Investment Company said its fishermen, who were captured last August while fishing in the Fangak area in south Sudan's Upper Nile region, were set free Tuesday by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). "The release was due to tremendous efforts by the citizens who benefit from the company's services," the company said in a statement received by AFP, without elaborating further. The statement did not indicate the exact number of the freed fishermen but an official of the company said they were originally 11 in number. The Sudanese government had always denied that the boat belonged to the army. The rebels released the boat shortly after the fishermen were captured. The private trading company said in its statement that it would continue with its services "for the benefit of the people of southern Sudan." Sudan's civil war has raged since 1983 when the SPLA took up arms in a bid to end domination of the mainly Christian and animist south by the Islamic government in the north. Document 001001136 ends. Excerpt from report by Kazakhstan Today news agency web site The Kazakh Oil national oil company's enterprises produced 4.9m t of oil in the [first] nine months of this year, that is 11.6 per cent up year on year. The extraction of oil over and above the plan - 336,000 t - was possible due to the launching of new wells and measures taken to intensify the production process, the company's press service reports. An increase in the extraction was possible thanks to the company's active investment policy which has been conducted since 2000, the press service says. Capital investments in production increased by 37 per cent in the first nine months of this year compared to the same period of 2000. Capital was invested in renewing the main facilities, increasing volumes of drilling and wells and upgrading them. The company processed 1,697,000 t of oil and fully provided the Atyrau oil refinery [in the west of the country] with oil. Kazakh Oil paid more than 34bn tenge [the current exchange rate is 148 tenge to the dollar] to the budget in the period, that is 60 per cent up year on year... Document 001001137 ends. BEIJING, April 11 (AFP) - China on Thursday slammed increasingly close ties between the United States and Taiwan, demanding an end to official exchanges between the two and to US weapons sales. "The continual sale of arms by the United States or upgrading of relations with Taiwan will only lead to tensions across the straits," foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said. "We demand the US strictly abide by the commitments it has made to China, correct its erroneous acts or remarks so as to avoid new harm to China-US relations." Zhang further expressed alarm over Washington's announcement Wednesday that defense department officials will soon visit Taiwan to discuss the sale of eight diesel electric submarines. "China has always resolutely opposed any form of official exchanges or military intercourse between the United States and Taiwan," Zhang said. "The Taiwan issue is the most important and sensitive issue at the core of Sino-US relations," she said at the biweekly ministry briefing. Military tensions in the Taiwan Strait were "not in the self-interests of the United States," she warned. She refused to confirm an April 26 to May 3 visit by Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao to Washington, as reported in the Hong Kong press. The visit, if Beijing allows it, is widely expected to be centered on China's dissatisfaction over the Taiwan issue. China has considered Taiwan a renegade province since 1949 and has threatened to bring it back by force if it continues to indefinitely refuse proposals for "peaceful reunification." Beijing has also long refused to establish diplomatic relations with any nation that maintains official contact with Taiwan, although it has encouraged economic exchanges between Taiwan and all nations. Zhang also bashed remarks made last month by US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz at a meeting in Florida, attended by visiting Taiwanese Defense Minister Tang Yao-Ming. "The United States is committed to doing whatever it takes to help Taiwan defend itself," said Wolfowitz, echoing President George W. Bush's remarks made when he first took office last year. "Our position is clear," he continued. "We don't support Taiwan independence, but we oppose the use of force." Wolfowitz expressed concern about China's continuing deployment of forces and tactical missiles to areas across the straits from Taiwan. US officials denied Wolfowitz's remarks reflected a change in US policy on Taiwan. Zhang said: "The remarks of the US official are a ... violation of US commitments made (on Taiwan) and interference in China internal affairs. China is firmly opposed to the remarks." Chinese missile tests over Taiwan in 1996 resulted in Washington deploying two aircraft carrier battle groups to the region. Document 001001138 ends. Why Kyoto is a rip-off According to a study released last week by the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, implementation of the 1997 Kyoto global warming treaty would cost our economy 450,000 jobs and as much as $40-billion. But Jean Chretien is not worried. "I don't accept these figures," the Prime Minister said. "There is nothing to be gained by frightening people when all the facts are not known." But the $40-billion figure, far from being conceived to "frighten" Canadians, is plucked straight from government documents. According to a report released in 2000 by the National Air Issues Co-ordinating Committee on Climate Change, a group staffed by officials from the federal, provincial and territorial governments, hitting Canada's Kyoto target may mean "the loss of roughly one year's growth, or, viewed in absolute terms, in 2010, the loss in annual economic output of approximately $40-billion (or $1,100 per capita)." This is not a price worth paying. Governments are expected to protect the national economy, and they should deviate from that mission only when crucial national interests are at stake (fighting terrorism, for example). Yet rising temperatures pose little threat to Canada. In its authoritative Feb., 2001, report on the projected impacts of global warming, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change identified several threats to Canadian ecosystems, but concluded that our farmers would generally benefit from warmer temperatures. (Non-farming Canadians, most of whom spend at least part of the winter months scraping ice off their cars, chopping firewood and shovelling their walks, will profit as well.) As for the globally felt benefits that would follow from Canada's implementation of the Kyoto protocol, they are slight. By 2010, our $40-billion sacrifice would yield an expected reduction in annual carbon and carbon-equivalent emissions of about 46-million tonnes -- just 1/200th of the world's total projected greenhouse gas output. Even if Canada managed to convince the United States and every other Kyoto signatory to ratify the protocol, world carbon dioxide emissions would still soar. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, world energy consumption will increase by about 60% between now and 2020, with most of the upsurge expected to come from developing nations, which are not covered by the Kyoto Protocol. Under the fully implemented treaty, carbon dioxide emissions would grow 26% during the 1990-2010 period. Without Kyoto, the figure would be 34%. The worldwide cost of that 8% dip: about $2-trillion in lost GDP -- give or take a trillion. There are better ways to spend that money. Instead of trying to cap carbon dioxide emissions -- a costly burden at home and an impossible task in the developing world -- we should focus on abating the damage global warming does in at-risk nations. If scientists are correct, higher temperatures and rising sea levels will depress grain yields in Africa and parts of Asia, fuel the spread of diseases, and threaten coastal nations such as Bangladesh and Senegal. But these problems can be abated, or even eliminated, with Western assistance. While helping Third World nations plant new crops, vaccinate people and relocate coastal towns will be costly, the bottom line will likely be only a fraction of Kyoto's 13-digit price tag. RELATED SITES: (Each link opens a new window) Backgrounder on The Kyoto Accord Prepared by Canada's environment minister. Kyoto Protocol Download the full text in pdf here. Climate Change/Kyoto Protocol Activities A list of related meetings, conferences projects and reports on the accord hosted by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. Copyright @ 2002 National Post Online | Document 001001139 ends. The US President is giving two kinds of speeches. The first is improvised and not devoid of slips of the tongue. The second is carefully written and studied from every aspect, and represents the official policy of the country. There is controversy about which type is more credible. Perhaps improvisation is a better indication of the inclinations and personal convictions of the President, because by improvising he is expressing what runs through his mind since the tongue is an extension of the heart. On the other hand, written speeches are more indicative of the policy drafted by the decision-making circles for a final decision by the President. The State of the Union Address, given by the President in a joint meeting of the House of Representatives and Senate every year, is a pre-prepared speech. Every phrase in it was carefully studied, particularly the phrase that referred to Iran, Iraq, and North Korea as an axis of evil. Axis is a term that was created by Mussolini signifying the alliance of Germany, Italy, and Japan. As for evil, it is a term used by former President Reagan to describe the Soviet Union, although its evil was self-destructive, causing the country to collapse from within. The new axis of evil, which Bush has come up with, by combining the words of Mussolini and Reagan, was not a successful choice. If it was viable to describe terrorist organizations as evil, then it is not viable to do the same for countries. Besides, politicians refer to good and evil only for purposes of intimidation and exaggeration. During World War II, the axis countries were very strong and bound by an alliance. The new axis, however, represents small developing countries that are not linked by any alliance or cooperation. In fact, Iraq and Iran were involved in the longest destructive war during the second half of the 20th century. As for North Korea, it is a country living in isolation and is keeping its good and evil from everyone else. Its name was only mentioned in the axis of evil to remove suspicion around the United States' hostility to Islam. As for Iran, the United States is eager to open a dialogue with it, especially since the reform school in Iran is progressing at the expense of the traditional, conservative school. It is very unlikely that the United States would be involved in a war with it. This leaves Iraq, which the Washington circles want to antagonize and to go to war with. If the United States wages a war against Iraq then this would not be out of necessity, like the war against terrorism. It would be a choice that confirms the extremist inclinations of some members of the US Administration. Document 001001140 ends. Taipei, Oct. 8 (CNA) -- The United States military action in Afghanistan will help spur global investment sentiment by brushing aside many uncertain factors, Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) Chairman Chen Po-chih said Monday. Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, investors across the world have been mired in uncertainties, Chen said, adding that should the war against Afghanistan not spread too much, the impact on the global economy will be limited. The CEPD head, however, pointed out that it is still too early to comment to what extent the war would affect the local economy now that it is impossible for it to regain momentum by the end of this year. Wu Hui-lin, a researcher at Change Hua Institution for Economic Research, however, predicted that business conditions in the world market would rebound very robustly in the short term, as the new hi-tech war will not last long and "high-risks will bring about high investment returns." Wu said optimistically that "it is unnecessary to wait until next year for the recovery to take place" on the ground that "vast damage will produce opportunities for construction." Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks against the United States, countries across the world have been closely monitoring subsequent developments and have taken measures to cope with possible situations, Wu said, noting that short-term pains will eventually pass and everyday life will get back to normal soon. Document 001001141 ends. BEIJING, April 16 (AFP) -- China Tuesday welcomed Venezuela's return to political stability and expressed support for President Hugo Chavez's promise for a dialogue on national reconciliation following his return to power after a coup. "We appreciate the return to stability of Venezuela's domestic situation," foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue said. "We believe that under the leadership of President Chavez, the people of Venezuela will devote themselves to political stability and economic development and make more progress in social advancement." Chavez, who returned to power Sunday, promised Monday to invite a broad spectrum of Venezuelan society to participate in a dialogue on the country's problems. As a friend of Venezuela, China hoped to further strengthen friendship and cooperation with the country, Zhang said. Document 001001142 ends. Beijing, December 20 (XINHUA) -- China believes that the Argentine government and people will overcome the current difficulties, revive their economy and maintain their social stability, said Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue here Thursday. Zhang made the remarks at a regular press conference when asked to comment on the current situation in Argentina. Zhang said recently some serious disturbances such as shop robberies and traffic breakdowns occurred in Argentina, and some groceries owned by overseas Chinese as well as Argentine citizens with Chinese origin were among those looted. She added that the Argentine government has declared a 30-day emergency. China is very concerned about this matter, and the Chinese Embassy in Argentina has asked the Argentine government to ensure the life and property safety of the overseas Chinese and Argentine citizens with Chinese origin, Zhang said. Document 001001143 ends. Venezuelan FAN [National Armed Forces] officers, non-commissioned officers and troops point out in a bulletin, which will begin to be circulated today [2 February], that the president seeks to destroy the military and "substitute it with a socialist popular militia similar to that in Cuba." As a decade is about to have gone by since the 4 February [1992] coup attempt, a group of active soldiers requests, through a bulletin, the interdiction of President Hugo Chavez, as well as his immediate trial for alleged crimes against the res publica and the military institution. Circulation of the 18-page document will begin today. It is primarily directed to the Venezuelans and also to "all the free peoples of the world." Its adherents are 3,400 general, high-ranking and subordinate officers, professional career non-commissioned officers and professional military troops, whose signatures -- for their own security and that of their families and properties -- are deposited in the ABN AMOR Bank in Curacao and will be published in the media 72 hours after Chavez has left office. The document indicates that the FAN is an apolitical institution. It is, therefore, believed that the present situation represents a group of departures whose rectification is imperative. Following a brief introduction, it recalls that on 4 February 1992 the now president violated his military oath when he rose up in arms against the democratic institutions. "He was defeated by the institutional Armed Forces, judged and retired (he had to be expelled) with dishonor from these, and the president, Doctor Rafael Caldera, dismissed his trial. This did not annul his expulsion from the Armed Forces through retirement, but it did revoke his legally corresponding sentence," says the bulletin. Changes in the Military The bulletin's authors recall that in 1958 a decentralizing process was begun within the military. This process originated the replacement of the General Staff with a Joint Chiefs of Staff. They point out that the concentration of command into a single entity is obsolete, "it is obsolete, it does not work for deployments or in the preparation for these, nor for operations control, regardless of the area in which they are carried out." "Now President Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias destroys what had been accomplished throughout more than half a century and intends to return to the obsolete military organization, not knowing the meaning of the duties of the organization, control and harmony organisms that military actions must have. The president's actions have no other objective than to destroy our traditional and glorious Armed Forces and, consequently substitute it with a socialist, popular militia, similar to that in Cuba," they add. Further on, they criticize the authorization of Cuban militiamen to parade in the Carabobo camp, when they invaded [Venezuela] in the 1960's and backed an armed rebellion, for which Fidel Castro "never apologized." They revealed that Cuban soldiers piloted the MIG airplanes that flew over Caracas on 10 December. The FN-30 rifle given to Castro, besides constituting a military crime, was seen as an act of submission. The weapon, they maintain, must be returned. Friend of the Guerrillas "Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias is linked to the Colombian guerrillas that have damaged so much of their own country and periodically raid our territory, causing physical and material damages to our population," says the document. Further on, it is stated that Jose Vicente Rangel's appointment was rejected within the FAN, not because he is a civilian, but because of his affinity toward Colombian rebel groups. This official, "expelled US personnel working under the Military Cooperation Agreement, signed in 1951 with the United States, from Fort Tiuna to please Fidel Castro. The agreement had arisen from the incorporation of Venezuela into the Loan and Lease System in 1941," they state. They warn that distancing the United States risks the operational capability of the military units "due to the lack of logistic support in the purchase of spare parts and all kinds of advising." Praetorian Promotion According to the document's signing soldiers, the president is a true oligarch because he has even turned many of the members of his class at the Military Academy into a Praetorian Guard. Chavez, they add, "has demoralized and corrupted the Armed Forces through the prerogatives of an elite that discredits and kills the institution, taking away the will to react and defend institutionality from its officers." "The president boasts that all the officers of the Armed Forces are committed to the 'revolution.' With this he intends to mean that military thought is subordinated to his own personal sentiments and ambition, thus dishonoring the constitution and laws. Furthermore, such boasts constitute a serious insult to the Armed Forces, which are committed only to the Republic and its democratic system." Disqualified The document contends that Chavez's conduct is not in line with the majesty of a president. "His intentions, his actions, his disguises, his demerits, his inability to judge, his changing and contradicting personality disqualify him from ruling over the destinies of the country, because his performances clearly show serious unbalanced states of mind, which expose all Venezuelans to national and international ridicule. "President Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias' is not a military pathology, but that of a man blinded by power, who believes himself to be the incarnation of our Liberator [Simon Bolivar]. The president veils his fears and traumas and seeks to hide behind a military uniform, which to the Venezuelan Armed Forces' misfortune, being dishonorable to it" says the bulletin. Another question refers to the oil supply to Cuba. The president would have exceeded his authority in giving to Cuba the returns from the export of oil. This would set the basis for a preliminary hearing. The President to Court To close, the central ideas of the active soldiers' document are condensed into 18 points. Outstanding among these are: The FAN is apolitical and non-deliberating. This institution does not commit itself to the Chavez 'revolution.' They oppose the commemoration of military uprisings. Soldiers will never point their weapons at unarmed people The FAN is not responsible for the president's excesses. Chavez commits a crime by handling public funds as if they were his own. They will not allow the president to continue using military uniforms and insignia, nor directly [and single-handedly] give promotions. "The Armed Forces of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela order all military personnel that is presently carrying out civilian duties to return to their respective units to carry out their corresponding military duties." "The Armed Forces of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela demand the interdiction of Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias as President of the Republic and thus the immediate cancellation of international treaties made by a disqualified president, in particular the agreements with Cuba, as well as the expelling of all Cubans that are presently working in Venezuela as physicians, advisors, trainers, etc." They demand a stop to all agreements with China and trials for corrupt officers. They maintain that Chavez must be taken to trial for treason, embezzlement and for theft of military weaponry. They call on the civilian society to exercise its rights and kick Chavez out of power. The FAN Is Manipulated According to the bulletin, one of the most serious consequences of the president's attitude has to do with the decrease in the country's defense capabilities. The decision to decommission or relocate numerous Army and National Guard units is related to this. "Military morale is at stake due to a breakdown in discipline and the words and actions of the president in discrediting the officers, even to the point of forcing some high-ranking officers to make statements alien to them," it says. The document warns that the president is not allowed to wear his military uniform. When he does so "he disguises himself because he has ceased to be a soldier of the Fatherland and destroys the fundamental principles of subordination." He humiliates the higher-ranking officers by forcing them to receive him with full military honors under such conditions. This leads "to a lack of discipline of the subordinates and exposure to public despise." Concerning Plan Bolivar 2000, the bulletin points out that Chavez has used the FAN for tasks that are not appropriate or that must only be carried out in cases of emergency. [Chavez] diverts the functions of the Armed Forces with the irresponsible Plan Bolivar 2000, committing them to social action tasks that totally lack planning and administrative control. Corruption in the handling of funds, without audits, control nor sanction, with Mr. President's consent, is a result of his intentions of dismantling, destroying and demoralizing the Venezuelan Armed Forces," maintains the document. We Are Poorly Paid Those signing the document distanced themselves from those that state that Venezuelan society is going through a militarization process. "We ask that the Venezuelan civilian society understand that in our country there is no militarism as such, only the appointment of retired officers that have recovered their civilian rights and under no context represent the Armed Forces. They are only out-and-out followers of President Hugo Rafael Chavez Frias." The authors make it clear that the retired soldiers have left behind their service to the military institution, be it by their own decision or forced by the circumstances. Therefore, they no longer have command. Only the right to a pension, "established according to the earned wages, the obtained rank, the number of active years counted toward such a pension and the contributed amortization." "The country would be badly militarized when 90 percent of the soldiers in public posts of the present administration are retired soldiers who, according to the constitution, have recovered 100 percent of their citizen rights. The rest of us soldiers have such right limited. Some members of the Venezuelan society, historians, philosophers, playwrights, journalists, artists and other free thinkers all think and state that militarism exists in Venezuela. They are so wrong and far from this reality. Nevertheless, it is true that many of these retired officers have dishonored the uniform, have been tried and, unfortunately for the nation, pardoned or their trial was dismissed, or the charges prescribed," they point out. They denied that the FAN is an elitist institution though, according to themselves, about 30 percent of its members have completed at least two careers. "The statements on raises to salaries and wages of members of the Armed Forces by the president are false. The professional troops earn approximately 160,000 bolivars a month, close to the minimum wage. In general, the salaries of all the Armed Forces are the lowest of the civil service." They complained about the deficiencies of the benefits given to them through the National Armed Forces Social Welfare Institute (IPSFAN): insufficient mortgage loans, supermarkets that are not competitive enough in relation to others, etc. "Concerning the allocation of seniority (social benefits), a large proportion of the officer corps has had to request it prematurely to satisfy present needs because the salary is not enough, thus [economically] compromising their old age. There is practically no hospital medical attention for the members of the Armed Forces because military hospitals are being used to give service to the [civilian] population though Plan Bolivar 2000, instead of improving and increasing the capacity of the already existing [civilian] hospitals, clinics and outpatient departments." The declaration points out that the president has developed a sermon according to which the soldiers are the regime's beneficiaries. This is to generate "antagonism" within the public opinion. "This is the major fear that the president has imposed on the population every time he threatens it with the use of the Armed Forces to subjugate it," rounds off the bulletin. They indicated that such a situation "is now intolerable for the dignity of the Armed Forces." Document 001001144 ends. At a Japan-US summit meeting on 18 February, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi expressed some understanding of US President George W. Bush's remarks that Iran, Iraq, and the DPRK (North Korea) are an "axis of evil." This left the impression that Japan stands alone on this issue because European countries have been cool to Bush's "axis of evil" rhetoric. However, it will be difficult for Japan to provide support to the US, as it did when the US attacked Afghanistan, if US forces launch military action against Iraq. It can be said that the Japanese Government has put itself in a difficult position. At a meeting of several officials held at the outset of the summit, the President first took up economic issues and then referred to his "axis of evil" remark. He urged Japan to follow the US by saying: "The international community needs to cooperate to change Iran, Iraq, and North Korea's action pattern (of spreading weapons of mass destruction). All options (including military action) are on the table." European countries are critical of Bush's "axis of evil" remark. French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine criticized the remark as "simplistic interpretation of the world." However, Koizumi said, "I take the remark as the indication of the President's strong resolve to fight terrorism." The US has repeatedly suggested the possibility of its taking military action against the government of Iraqi President Saddam Husayn. It is possible that if the US military attack Iraq, Japan, which has shown understanding of the axis of evil remark, will be asked to provide active support to the US as it did during US attacks on Afghanistan. However, it will be difficult for the Self-Defense Forces to provide logistic support to US forces attacking Iraq under a special antiterrorism law aimed at eradicating terrorism, which was enacted after terrorist attacks in the US on 11 September. "It is also politically very difficult" to enact a new law considering the declining support for the Koizumi Cabinet, said a source within the Prime Minister's Official Residence. If Japan does not give any support to possible US attacks on Iraq despite its understanding of the axis of evil rhetoric, Bush's expectations on the Koizumi administration will certainly change to disappointment. Although the Japanese Government has expressed understanding of Bush's axis of evil remark, it does not hope to see the US taking military action. Because of this, Koizumi noted the need for the international community to cooperate in tackling Iraqi issues and enthusiastically asked Bush to not take the bold course of launching military action. In reply, the President said, "We want to resolve all issues peacefully, and we intend to continue diplomatic efforts." However, it is unclear whether Japan can actually prevent the US from taking military action. Document 001001145 ends. Taipei, Aug. 17 (CNA) -- The Republic of China [ROC] government will push for Chinese language education among the vast number of Chinese communities in Southeast Asia, a high-ranking ROC official said Friday. Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission (OCAC) head Chang Fu-mei made the remarks after concluding a symposium on work in the Asia-Pacific Chinese communities. Chang said after visiting Chinese communities in the United States, New Zealand and Southeast Asia that education and cultural work needs to be further strengthened in the Chinese communities in Southeast Asia. With the limited funding to which her commission is entitled, Chang said, OCAC will focus its educational and cultural work on Chinese communities with the fewest resources, such as those in Myanmar [Burma], Vietnam and Indonesia. The minister went on to say that although mainland China is squeezing Taiwan's development space in the world community with its huge resources and strong diplomacy, the ROC can still break through its difficulties as long as it implements democracy and obtains the support of overseas Chinese communities. A total of 38 overseas Chinese community leaders from nine Asian and Pacific countries attended the symposium, at which the participants also exchanged views on cross-Taiwan Strait relations. Document 001001146 ends. Israel's persistent and deliberate fuelling of the cycle of violence in the Palestinian territories is pushing our already turbulent region towards inevitable chaos and war. This behaviour further confirms what has long been very clear; the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is more interested in pursuing its expansionist designs on occupied Palestinian and Arab land than in engaging in serious peace-making -- a route that would require its unreserved commitment. And therefore, it has blatantly obstructed all international, US, European, and regional efforts to consolidate an Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire as a prerequisite for the implementation of the Mitchell and Tenet recommendations. Many observers inside and outside the region had rightly feared that Israel would callously exploit the Sept. 11 tragedy in the US to intensify and accelerate its aggression against the Palestinians and crush their efforts towards claiming their legitimate rights to freedom and independence. The Sharon government is doing exactly that, in total disregard and utter defiance and disrespect of advice from Washington and London, as well as other governments, for restraint and a quick return to the negotiating table. Instead, it opts for brute force in dealing with a crisis, the exit from which, can only be achieved by the resumption of peace talks on the basis of the Mitchell report and the Tenet understandings. The US expects its friends to provide it with understanding, cooperation and full support in confronting the perpetrators of the devastating attack on its centres of economic and military power. But instead of reciprocating, Israel, the state that since its creation has benefited most from US protection and backing, has turned out to be a fair-weather friend. Its self-seeking manipulation of the tragedy, which, if Tel Aviv has not noticed, has affected every corner of the earth, adds yet another burden upon Washington. Sharon's likening of his invasion of Palestinian territories and the assassinations to the US-led war against the Taleban and Osama Ben Laden is abhorrent. Sharon's deceptive ploys cannot negate the fact that President Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian National Authority have and are still, even while under attack, doing their utmost to demonstrate their unambiguous commitment to stop violence, maintain the ceasefire, and get back to negotiations. As the entire world is engaged in handling one of the most serious crises of our time, it is about time that Sharon and his government realise that predatory behaviour will not be tolerated for long. There is an evident international resolve to put an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict in all its aspects. The calls from Washington and London for the just and legitimate realisation of Palestinian statehood as part of such a settlement, should be viewed by the Israeli leadership as a guarantee of Israel's peace and security, but continued violence and aggression, as history has shown time and again, is a recipe for disaster. Document 001001147 ends. AMMAN -- The government is preparing official replies to two recent international reports on human rights practices in Jordan. The replies to an Amnesty International report issued on Feb. 5 and a US State Department country report on human rights practices in Jordan issued on March 4 will be ready next month, said Ambassador Abdul Latif Bawab. "We have contacted all concerned authorities, starting with the Interior Ministry and law enforcement agencies, to gather comments and suggestions to be included in our replies," said Bawab, who is responsible for the international organisations desk at the Foreign Ministry. In a report entitled "Jordan: New Security Measures Violate Human Rights," Amnesty International expressed concern about laws and amendments introduced to the Penal Code after the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the US as part of an anti-terrorism package. The temporary laws "expand the scope and definition of terrorism and place additional restrictions on freedom of expression and the press," the Amnesty report said. The 12-page State Department annual report on human rights in the Kingdom said there were cases of arbitrary arrests and incommunicado detentions in 2001. Bawab declined to comment on the merits of the reports, saying the government will make its replies to the reports public when they are ready. Ambassador Bawab only said the State Department's report was "repetitive," pointing out that in some cases it contained three or four separate references to the same incidents, some of which were already mentioned in previous years' reports. "Our reply is going to be brief, because we feel that the report is repetitive," Bawab said. According to US official sources, only 10 per cent of the countries on which the State Department publishes human rights annual reports issues official replies. "We do not have to reply, but we have been replying for years, because we believe in our good [human rights] record and feel that we have nothing to hide," Bawab said. On Sept. 25, amendments to the Penal Code stipulated sentences of up to three years in jail and a JD5,000 fine for the publication of reports "sowing the seeds of hatred and malice," or disparaging the Royal Family and heads of state of friendly countries. Another amendment defined terrorism as "any act of violence or use of threat, regardless of reason and aim, executed individually or collectively to disturb public order and endanger public safety and security." According to Amnesty, these amendments "criminalise peaceful activities unrelated to politically motivated violence." The State Department report alleged that "the government restricts freedom of assembly" and "there are significant restrictions on citizens' rights to change their government." It also cited "a lack of transparent investigations into allegations of wrongful deaths that occurred during police detention in previous years." Jordan is a signatory to most rights conventions, from the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights to the Civil Covenant on Human Rights and the more recent Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. The government is currently taking legislative steps for the establishment of a National Centre for Human Rights (NCHR), following recommendations by a Royal Commission on Human Rights established by His Majesty King Abdullah in March 2000 and chaired by Her Majesty Queen Rania. The country's eight independent human rights organisations have welcomed steps to set up the NCHR, which, according to the draft law for its creation, will act as an "ombudsman" office to look into individual claims of human rights violations and abuses. Neither Amnesty International's nor the US State Department's report mention the steps taken for the establishment of an ombudsman office, which would be the first of its kind in the region. According to human rights activist Saeda Kilani, reports by the State Department and other international watchdogs are no longer received with "shock" by public opinion and officialdom alike, thanks to increased public awareness and access to information. "A few years ago, these reports were shocking: It was only from such documents that many heard for the first time about issues such as domestic abuse or honour crimes in Jordan," said Kilani, who is also the Jordan representative of Transparency International. "But now more people know about these issues, public awareness and access to information have increased, and special centres for women and children are being established," she continued. As awareness increases and public institutions start addressing issues that were taboos only a few years ago, additional pressure is on the authors of human rights reports to be more accurate, Kilani noted. "Now more people will be able to judge if a report is not so well sourced, or thoroughly investigated," she said. Document 001001148 ends. GATUNA, Rwanda, July 6 (AFP) - President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni began talks here Friday in a bid to mend soured relations between their neighbouring countries. The two heads of state met under an canvas awning set up for the occasion a few hundred metres (yards) from the Gatuna border post, an AFP correspondent reported. The formerly close allies fell out in 1999, the year after each sent troops to back rebel movements in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, when mounting rivalry lead to violent clashes between their own armies there. Museveni and Kagame have met three times since the fighting broke out in the DRC city of Kisangani, the main town in the northeast of the country, but without patching up their differences. In March, Uganda declared Rwanda a hostile nation because of tensions arising from Kigali's alleged support for a rival to Museveni in a presidential election. The two countries have each accused the other of backing dissidents. Document 001001149 ends. National Roundup FLORIDA ASTRONAUTS REPAIR SPACE STATION WINGS CAPE CANAVERAL -- Two space-walking astronauts went out on a repair job Monday and wrapped thermal covers around a pair of motors that turn the International Space Station's giant solar wings. NASA hopes the covers will shield the motors against the temperature extremes of space and eliminate power spikes and stalls. The motors keep the solar wings pointing toward the sun and generating electricity. Astronauts Linda Godwin and Daniel Tani floated out of space shuttle Endeavour and grabbed onto the ship's robot arm for a 50-foot ride up the side of the space station. Copyright 2001 Miami Herald Document 001001150 ends. Kyle Technology Corp. said a Seattle investor has signed a letter of intent to buy the company for about $3.1 million, or $1.20 a share. The investor, Donald A. Wright, plans to run the company, said a spokesman for Kyle. The transaction has been approved by Kyle's board, but requires the approval of the company's shareholders. Kyle manufactures electronic components. Document 001001151 ends. Iraq clears visit by Ohio official By Scott Montgomery Washington The Iraqi government has agreed to let U.S. Rep. Tony Hall visit the country next week to assess a humanitarian crisis that has festered since the Gulf War of 1990, Hall's office said Monday. The Dayton Democrat, who has traveled to other crisis points including Sierra Leone and North Korea, will spend three days visiting hospitals and other facilities to seek understanding why aid has been ineffective in stemming malnourishment and other medical problems. Iraq has been under economic sanctions since the war ended, which some say have thwarted the country's ability to recover from the devastation of the bombing campaign. The Persian Gulf War destroyed much of the country's medical infrastructure, according to a report by the World Health Organization. In 1996 the WHO found that much of the population existed in a state of ``semi starvation.'' Hall will be only the second member of Congress to travel in Iraq since the war, according to Hall's office. The last visitor was then-U.S. Rep. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, who went to help a pair of U.S. oilmen in diplomatic trouble. Hall flies to Amman, Jordan, on Friday, where he'll spend the night before driving to Iraq. Flights are not permitted into Iraq. Hall is to return to Washington on April 22. Story Filed By Cox Newspapers Document 001001152 ends. I was pleased to note that your Oct. 23 Centennial Journal item recognized the money-fund concept as one of the significant events of the past century. Actually, about two years ago, the Journal listed the creation of the money fund as one of the 10 most significant events in the world of finance in the 20th century. But the Reserve Fund, America's first money fund, was not named, nor were the creators of the money-fund concept, Harry Brown and myself. We innovated telephone redemptions, daily dividends, total elimination of share certificates and the constant $1 pershare pricing, all of which were painfully thought out and not the result of some inadvertence on the part of the SEC. President The Reserve Fund New York Document 001001153 ends. Argentina: Right wing sweeps to victory in face of economic crisis The right-wing Peronist party Partido Justicialista (Justice Party) has won the elections of Sunday 14th October for the Argentine Senate and Chamber of Deputies with an absolute majority. The results of the elections were to be expected in view of the catastrophic economic situation of the majority of the country's citizens. Argentina has an ever-growing rate of poverty, which defies logic given the enormous land/population ratio, with the richest soil in South America. Once again, the governing class of a South American country has proved itself utterly unable to come to terms with the needs of the population, basically because it has become removed from the reality of the country. The more the poles part, the further the political and social distance between the parts. The fact that a right-wing party has conquered an absolute majority in Argentina proves the desperation of the people, although 41% of the population voted with spoiled or void votes. The PJ (Peronist) will receive 39 of the 72 seats in the High Chamber against 25 of the Government Alliance (of President de la Rua). In the Chamber of Deputies, the PJ will have 116 of the 257 members, 17 more than the last election. The Government Alliance lost 14 seats and will end up with 88. The real challenge facing Argentina is how its economy will manage to survive the onslaught of the international credit vultures ready to tear its members apart. Marcia MIRANDA Document 001001154 ends. Any hopes that were raised by the Arab peace plan have been dashed to pieces with Israel attacking the offices of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at Ramallah. Tanks were moved into Ramallah early Friday morning and subsequently these and bulldozers were used to smash through the perimeter of the compound around Mr Arafat's headquarters. The Palestinian leader has been confined here for several months and the buildings in this complex house the bulk of the security forces of the Palestinian Authority. Over the last few months, Israeli forces have been targeting the symbols of authority of the Palestinian administration. Friday's attack strikes at the heart of this authority. As usual, Israel is projecting its attack as a defensive action - a response to two suicide attacks over the last two days at Netanya and a Jewish settlement, which left about 24 people dead. There is a possibility that the attack on the PA's headquarters could expand into a larger operation. Describing ! Arafat as "an enemy" of Israel, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced an extended military operation against "Palestinian terrorism" "everywhere it exists". Israel's attack on Arafat's headquarters deals a stinging slap on the face of ongoing Arab efforts to negotiate a political settlement to the ongoing conflict. The just-concluded Arab summit had unanimously adopted a Saudi peace initiative, which called for full Israeli withdrawal from Arab territory occupied in the 1967 war, the creation of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and a "fair solution" to the Palestinian refugee problem based on UN resolutions. In return, the Arabs had agreed to consider that the Arab-Israeli conflict is at an end, enter into peace treaties with Israel and open normal relations in the context of this comprehensive peace. Israel's immediate response to the peace plan was to dismiss it as a non-starter. The attack on the PA headquarters barely a day after the peace initiative was accepted by the Arabs clearly indicates Israel's rejection of any efforts to negotiate peace through compromise. It has been clear for some time that the Sharon government is planning on settling issues with the Palestinians through invasion and re-occupation of Palestinian land and then offering a settlement based on its terms. As events over the past two years indicate, a strategy based on imposing a settlement through military means will only deepen anger and provoke retaliatory violence from the Palestinians. The attack on the PA headquarters is an explosive move and has put West Asia on the brink of another war. The international community must act immediately to pressure the Israeli government to step back from the dangerous course of action it is determined to pursue. Document 001001155 ends. Srinagar, May 5: With the recovery of the charred remains of three more persons from the debris at Varmul today, the toll in the Syed Karim Sahib encounter has risen to six. Elsewhere in the state, seven militants and a securityman were among 11 people killed since yesterday. A defence spokesman said today the charred remains of three more persons killed in the Varmul encounter on Friday were recovered from the debris of the burnt houses today. He said the recovery of arms and ammunition from the place included six AK rifles, 15 magazines and two radio sets. In an exchange of fire between the militants and troops at Sadnara, Panzalla in Varmul district today, a civilian Fayaz Ahmad Mir was killed. Police are investigating. Two militants were killed in an encounter with the troops/SOG [Special Operations Group] at Dhok Wali (Poonch ) during the preceding night. The identity of the slain militants could not be ascertained. Body of Feroz Ahmad Dar of Gaddapora, Shopian was recovered from village Hajipora today. The deceased, a shopkeeper by profession was abducted by unidentified gunmen from his house during the preceding night. Police have registered a case. A Lashkar militant was killed in an encounter with the security forces at Chor Gali in Shopian area yesterday. Unidentified gunmen forced entry into the house of Sulaiman alias Muhammad Sultan of Khawas (Budhal) of Rajouri district yesterday and shot him dead. Police have taken cognizance. Three unidentified persons were shot dead by the Chola Nallah near LoC [Line of Control] (Poonch) during the preceding night. A soldier sustained injuries in the shoot out. A soldier Ram Karan Singh died in an exchange of fire with the militants at Bhelti (Doda) today. Details are awaited. A militant whose identity could not be ascertained was killed in an encounter with the troops at Mutgala (Gool) today. Document 001001156 ends. [Computer selected and disseminated without FBIS editorial intervention] Kitakyushu, Japan, Feb. 12 Kyodo -- A 3,986-ton Panamanian cargo ship heading to Taiwan from South Korea sank in the East China Sea late Monday, leaving one sailor dead and another of the 20-member crew missing, the Japan Coast Guard said Tuesday. Coast Guard officials said the vessel, Triumph Kaohsiung, sank at around 11:30 p.m. at a point about 110 kilometers west of Goto islands in western Nagasaki Prefecture. Officials said 19 crew members were plucked up from the sea and one died later. According to the Triumph Kaohsiung crew, the vessel was flooded with water and the engine stopped at around 7 p.m. Monday, and the ship sank four and a half hours later. The ship was heading to the southern Taiwan city Kaohsiung with a cargo of steel products that was loaded in the South Korean port Pohang. Coast Guard officials said Japanese coast guard vessels plucked 12 survivors from a lifeboat and seven others from the sea. One of the rescued sailors died later. Japanese coast guard aircraft and patrol boats were in the area looking for the missing sailor. The ship's crew consisted of 11 Chinese, one Taiwanese, two Indonesians and six Myanmarese. Document 001001157 ends. The statement by US Secretary of State Colin Powell about the Venezuelan Government triggered yesterday reactions from members of the ruling party. Mostly, they accused Washington of violating national sovereignty after the US ranking official voiced an opinion about Venezuela's foreign policy and questioned the democratic nature of the administration of Hugo Chavez. Last Tuesday, before the US Senate's Foreign Policy Committee, Powell voiced his concern over "several actions by President Chavez and his ideas of what is a democratic system." He also criticized the visits by the chief of state to countries that are on the black list of supporters of terrorism, published by the administration of President George W. Bush, including Cuba, Libya, and Iraq. Guillermo Garcia Ponce Click here to view picture of Garcia Ponce , chief of the board of directors of the Political Command of the Revolution [CPR], described Powell's statement as "unusual" and added that it does not reflect the friendly relations between Caracas and Washington. He stressed: "Venezuela's domestic policy is the exclusive concern of Venezuelans because of our historical tradition and because it is a constitutional mandate." He added: "There is no reason for any country to request the agreement of others to determine its conduct and adopt its decisions." Garcia Ponce, who said he was speaking on behalf of the entire CPR, pointed out that it would be "truly inconceivable" that the interference of a state to approve or disapprove the decisions of another or other states became a trait of foreign policy. "This is not in keeping with the rules of international law and violates the principle of nonintervention in the affairs of other countries," the top representative of the CPR noted. However, he ruled out that the statement by the US Foreign Secretary will lead to a change in the policies of President Chavez. Deputy Cilia Flores, chief of bloc of the Fifth Republic Movement [MVR], used the same tone to express her opinion. Without mincing her words, she affirmed: "This is an instance of meddling in the policies of this country, which is a sovereign country." She added: "Venezuela designs its own policies in an autonomous manner and, in any event, it is up to Venezuelans to decide them. We respect the sovereignty of all countries and this is why we demand respect for ours." As for the criticisms of the destinations of the presidential trips, she remarked: "In addition to the fact that we do not have to ask anyone for permission to decide where and when we should visit a country, the President has visited countries with which we have direct trade relations, countries that are OPEC members, with the specific objective of strengthening our economy." Noheli Pocaterra, vice president of the National Assembly, stressed that it is up to Venezuela to decide its foreign policy and the United States must respect its decision. According to her, the remarks by the US Government spokesman were uncalled-for. She stated: "We are quite respectful of the decisions made by Washington, even if we do not agree with them. We demand equal treatment for our foreign policy." The opposition seeks intervention or blockade [subhead] MVR Deputy Pedro Carreno went even further and established a direct relation between the concerns voiced by the Secretary of State and the disclosure of a video that presumably confirms relations between the Venezuelan Government and the Colombian rebel groups. Journalists Ibeyise Pacheco, Marta Colomina, Patricia Poleo, and Marianela Salazar disclosed this video in recent days. The deputy said that Powell's remarks did not surprise him and added that the US official's opinion is based on reports published by the domestic and international press, which is waging a ruthless war against the Venezuelan chief of state. He noted: "The opposition is succeeding at portraying an image of Venezuela that scares away investors and triggers domestic turmoil to request the intervention of foreign powers in the country." Thus, Carreno excused the White House official, whom - he argued - was misled by the smear campaign and information sabotage that has been unleashed against Chavez in the country and abroad. He took one further step and invited Powell to visit Venezuela to see what is really happening. He accused the four journalists of plotting with powerful economic groups that presumably contributed the funds to purchase the video from an intelligence agent. He stressed that these journalists should be tried since, according to Article 122 of the Penal Code, any action that instigates interventionist actions is considered treason against the homeland. Carreno said: "This is what they are trying to accomplish through this campaign and their conduct, which is not that of journalists but of opposition activists, prompted the statement." However, he did explain that he is more concerned about reports that Venezuela has relations with organizations categorized as terrorist by the Bush administration than he is about Powell's statement. He indicated: "These reports have tried to suggest the existence of ties between Miraflores [Presidential Palace] and terrorist groups: There are documents presumably drafted by the FAN [National Armed Forces] expressing discontent with the government; the video disclosed by the journalists; and [Justice First Deputy] Gerardo Blyde's remarks on the creation of militia groups trained by the guerrillas. All this has sounded the alarm for the US Executive and suits the opposition's objectives to bring about an intervention or a blockade, which would hurt the people it claims to defend." Oddly, he defended the content of the video by affirming - as the President did - that this is evidence of a humanitarian action. He argued: "When the United States has faced a situation involving extremist groups holding hostages, they have sent intermediaries to negotiate and no one has said that this shows they have relations with those groups." [Caracas El Nacional (Internet version) in Spanish on 7 February carries a related 760-word item that says that some opposition deputies agreed that the government's tactless actions are to blame for the concerns voiced by US Foreign Secretary Colin Powell. The report cites Convergence Deputy Alejandro Arzola saying that Powell's position clearly reflects the concern that exists in the international community and Latin America over the Venezuelan situation: the atmosphere of conflict and the threats against freedom of expression, democracy, and legal security. Arzola stated: "The government's positions are not only harming the country at the domestic level, but also at the international level because thousands of investors are watching on their television sets what is happening in Venezuela, where the rule of law is under fire." Arzola added: Any recommendation by a country friendly to Venezuela, especially a country that is Venezuela's No.1 trade partner, must be heeded, as well as recommendations by the Church and the nation, which is demanding a rectification. The report also cites Democratic Action leader Claudio Fermin, who warned: "When Chavez came to the Presidency, the United States was buying 1.75 million barrels a day. At present, because of the misguided policy of cutting production, we are only selling them 1.1 million barrels. If to this, we add the President's constant aggressive attitude and readiness to establish ties between Venezuela and parasitic economies that give us nothing, but fulfill his political commitments, we will very likely continue to lose our edge in the US market." According to Fermin, the chief of state still does not understand that if there is no confidence, there will be no investments. Movement Toward Socialism Deputy Julio Montoya stated: "The national government has been extremely incompetent in handling relations with the United States. It has been vague about Venezuela's intentions regarding the protection of crude prices and the war on terrorism. Ambiguous situations constitute a breeding ground for bilateral tensions and the fact that currently, we do not even have an ambassador in Washington indicates that we are on the verge of a major breakdown in our relations with our leading trade partner."] Document 001001158 ends. On March 4, the US State Depart-ment released its annual human rights report. Apart from criticizing the "axis of evil" countries for abusing human rights, it also listed abuses in several countries that are members of the anti-terrorist alliance. What is most interesting about the reports is the section on Israel. Since Israel suffers from terrorist attacks, the report says, it has been forced to take counter-terrorism measures, making its rights abuses understandable. What's more, post-Sept. 11 restrictions in the US on entering and leaving the country and on air travel, as well as measures curbing the civil rights of accused persons, are not discussed at all. The report is generally quite frank and its wording strong, but it proposes no corrective action. Consolidating the anti-terrorist alliance and expanding the war against terror are overshadowing concerns about human rights. In exchange for support for its war on terror, the US is tacitly agreeing to ignore abuses by other members of the anti-terror coalition. The most glaring examples are Russia's suppression of resis-tance to its rule in Chechnya, China's suppression of independence advocates in Xinjiang and the Falun Gong movement, and Israel's treatment of Palestinians. US activities, meanwhile, show no sign of promoting the universal values of democracy, human rights and peace. Six months have passed since Sept. 11 and the focus of US anger has turned to countries that have been labeled "rogue nations" and members of an "axis of evil." The US anti-terrorist alliance has become the embodiment of two-sided justice. "If you're not with us, you're against us." The human rights report poses a substantial challenge to the US interpretation of good and evil. Put simply, what we are seeing is the naked pursuit of US interests. No one who has ever studied realist political science will find this surprising. To earn legitimacy, however, US interests must be made to appear just. Even though almost all military mobilizations in history have been motivated by notions of good versus evil or of orthodoxy versus unorthodoxy, efforts to present the naked pursuit of US interests as a battle of good versus evil reflect a lack of understanding and tolerance. Demonizing the enemy will guarantee that peace will not be gained through war. The report expressly points out that, "It is extremely easy for terrorists to find supporters in countries where human rights are not respected and where individual freedom is repressed." To prove that human rights are important ammunition in the battle against terror, then, the US must attack terrorism to make human rights matter to these countries. If, however, US President George W. Bush still believes in the supremacy of human rights, he must not forget the breeding ground for terrorists that exists within the anti-terrorist alliance. The US is planning to extend military aid to several countries in the alliance to enable them to root out terrorists without using US forces. Such wishful thinking risks making the US an accomplice in the destruction of human rights. If the US, which claims to be the world's policeman, is incapable of looking beyond US interests or of practicing the universal values of human rights, democracy and peace, then shouldn't the international community reconsider the role played by the UN, or learn from the way the European parliament works? After all, compromising between the interests of many different countries is much better than succumbing to the interests of a single country. It is also an approach better suited to the new century and its increasing international diversity. Chien Hsi-chieh is a DPP legislator and executive director of the Peacetime Foundation of Taiwan. Translated by Perry Svensson Document 001001159 ends. 1 What kind of victory is it that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon thinks he is achieving with his "total war"? After occupying the autonomous Palestinian city of Ramallah, Israeli tanks are pushing further into the Palestinian autonomous areas, occupying other cities and destroying the established -- EU-supported -- infrastructure. The house arrest, temporarily relaxed only after massive international pressure, imposed by Israel's prime minister on Yasir Arafat follows the siege of the Palestinian president's headquarters by Israeli troops. International journalists are being refused access to the cities occupied by Israel, a group of Arab and Israeli peace activists, who wanted to bring food to Ramallah, is expelled by the Israeli Army. Unimpressed by UN decisions and EU appeals, Sharon is continuing his policy of provocation, which began with his demonstrative visit to the Temple Mount. The last few months have shown that his strategy of suppression has not prevented further suicide attacks, which [attacks] must be emphatically condemned in the strongest terms. On the contrary, it prepares the ground for further hatred and a further escalation of the violence. With his campaign against Palestine Sharon is jeopardizing relations with the Arab states, whose peace offer (Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah's peace plan) he has just turned down. This policy is supposed to guarantee Israel's security? A few days ago the Israeli prime minister himself referred to the Lebanon war, and in so doing voiced his regret that Palestinian leader Arafat was not killed by Israel at that time. Sharon, who as defense minister in 1982 headed the Israeli Lebanon invasion, at that time -- as was determined by Israel's Supreme Court -- shared responsibility for the massacres in the Palestinian Sabra and Shatila refugee camps and therefore lost his government post in 1983. Sharon, who back then caused serious damage to Israel's international reputation, is well on his way to doing so again. Militarily Israel can win the war against the Palestinians because of its strength; politically -- in the eyes of the world's public -- it looks different. The question arises for the Israeli Labor Party of how long it can still justify a coalition with Sharon. It must be clear to all who want peace that it is time for a different policy. Israel must -- as was demanded by the United Nations -- withdraw from the occupied territories; international peacekeeping forces should be deployed. A lasting solution to the conflict can only be achieved with the principle of "land for peace" determined at the Madrid Conference in 1991. In return for recognition of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state, Israel's right to security from its neighbors must be guaranteed. In this context everyone must be aware that the core of the problem is still the illegally established Israeli settlements in the Palestinian autonomous regions, which have steadily been expanded in the last few years. In Israel, 338 who refuse conscription are a sign that increasingly more Israelis feel they are held hostage by 250,000 settlers and are not prepared to go to war for the settlements. All who want peace must be aware that the material basis for a security guarantee for Israel will only be supplied with the withdrawal of all settlers and soldiers from the areas occupied in 1967. The author is the floor leader of the SPOe [Social Democratic Party of Austria]. Document 001001160 ends. JAMMU, India, Jan 12 (AFP) -- Four Pakistani soldiers were killed Saturday in cross-border shelling in Kashmir, Indian officials said. Lieutenant Colonel H.S. Oberoi said Pakistani troops had started shelling Indian border villages in the Krishna Ghati area of Poonch, 255 kilometres (158 miles) northwest of Jammu, Kashmir's winter capital. Indian forces retaliated, killing four Pakistani soldiers and destroying six bunkers, he said. He said there were no Indian casualties, although some homes, which had been deserted by villagers, were damaged. Document 001001161 ends. Prime Minister Hasan Abshir Farah returned to Mogadishu today [9 May], after having been away for a month to receive medical treatment. He told journalists that he had visited the UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain where he held talks with leaders of those countries as well as Somali nationals there. He said Somali nationals in Kuwait and Bahrain had expressed their satisfaction and support for the interim Somali government. Speaking to Radio Dalmar on arrival at No 50 airstrip, the prime minister said his health was now good and that he would soon resume his national duty. Document 001001162 ends. November 15, 1994 Dear , Think of your greatest accomplishments. Think of the joy and success they bring to you and your loved ones. Michael Sims felt that way at age 39 -- the day he earned a job. Michael was born with cerebral palsy. Upon entering the work force, he discovered few job opportunities that seemed to match his abilities. For several years he performed packaging and clerical work. His most recent job lasted only a year before cut-backs eliminated his position. For 18 long months Michael could not find a job. He resorted to public assistance dollars to survive. Finally, Michael called Goodwill. At Goodwill, Michael's counselors felt that his personable demeanor could be a major attribute and identified for him a possible job-match where his people skills could shine. After three interviews, Michael proved that he was the right person for the job. As the Clubhouse Monitor at Bent Tree Apartments, he now provides customer service for 50 to 60 tenants each night. At last, he has found success in a job that he loves. Now his goals are set on moving up in the company. Every year, thousands of people come to Goodwill. Like Michael, they share two common characteristics. They face some barrier to employment and they want to work. With support from people like you, they can overcome their barriers and earn success and the self-sufficiency that comes with it. And then the pay-off begins for the entire community. Individual successes at Goodwill mean fewer persons receiving public support and more paying taxes. Last year, participants in Goodwill programs earned --and paid taxes on -- wages of nearly $3.5 million. Their successes at work also saved taxpayers more than three-quarters of a million dollars in public assistance. The savings are counted in more ways than dollars and cents, however. The families of the new wage earners may feel the accomplishment in terms of a house to live in, money to purchase food -- without food stamps -- and the beginning of a family focused on success, not hopelessness. Won't you help make all of these successes possible? Please send the largest contribution you can comfortably make. Your gift will help give new meaning to the word success -- for people who have seldom had reason to use the word. Sincerely, James M. McClelland President P.S. Your gift will make a difference. For every dollar of public support Goodwill received last year, we returned $1.59 to the community in the form of earned wages and reduced public assistance payments. Document 001001163 ends. RMS International Inc., Hasbrouk Heights, N.J., facing a cash-flow squeeze, said it is seeking other financing sources and waivers from debenture holders. The company said that because of softening sales it isn't in compliance with requirements that it maintain $3 million in working capital. RMS distributes electronic devices and produces power supplies and plastic literature displays. RMS said it had a loss of $158,666, or 10 cents a share, in the third quarter, compared with a year-earlier loss of $26,956, or two cents a share. Sales rose to $3 million from $2.9 million. For the nine months, the company reported a net loss of $608,413, or 39 cents a share, compared with year-earlier net income of $967,809, or 62 cents a share. Sales rose to $9.8 million from $8.9 million. Document 001001164 ends. New crew settles in at space station CAPE CANAVERAL -- (AP) -- Two American astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut moved into the International Space Station on Saturday, settling in for a half-year stay. The three men arrived aboard space shuttle Endeavour the day before, but did not have time to trade places with the space station crew that has been on board since August. The new residents' form-fitting seat liners for the lifeboat had to be carried over and installed, and their space suits tucked away, before they could call space station Alpha home. Russian Yuri Onufrienko couldn't wait to take over as space station commander from American Frank Culbertson. The cosmonaut kept peeking through a small window before the hatch finally swung open between the docked spacecraft. Onufrienko will remain on board until May, along with astronauts Daniel Bursch and Carl Walz. As gear moved back and forth across the threshold, Endeavour's astronauts used the ship's robot arm to lift an Italian-built cargo carrier from the shuttle and attach it to the station. The carrier, named Raffaello, is loaded with three tons of food, clothes, science experiments and spare parts. Once emptied, it will be filled with dirty laundry, trash and used equipment and put back on Endeavour for the ride home. The space station's new residents also packed some personal items, reflecting their hobbies. Onufrienko, a fisherman, took material to tie flies. Bursch has weaving material to make small baskets, while Walz has a five-octave keyboard that he calls a ``psychological support device.'' By the time Culbertson and his Russian crew mates, Mikhail Tyurin and Vladimir Dezhurov, return to Earth in another week, they will have spent 128 days in space. Copyright 2001 Miami Herald Document 001001165 ends. AYDIN, BODRUM, AMASYA Nov 23 (A.A) - Security forces intercepted on Friday 129 people in Didim township of western province of Aydin and in Bodrum township of western province of Mugla as they were trying to proceed to Greece illegally. There are 56 Iraqis, 34 Moroccans, 11 Pakistanis, 8 Afghans, 7 Turks, 5 Palestinians 8 Iranians among those who were detained for violating Turkish borders and passport law. Security forces also confiscated six lorries and two automobiles in the operations. The foreigners will be deported once the legal proceedings are completed. Meanwhile, police on Friday intercepted 40 Iranians and Iraqis who entered Turkey through illegal ways. Teams of Security Department who made road control, stopped a lorry driven by Nizamettin Tas. A total of 40 Iraqis and Iranians, who entered the country through illegal ways, were captured in the trunk of the lorry. The foreigners, who were interrogated at the Amasya Security Directorate Foreigners Department, will be deported. Document 001001166 ends. Following the presidential vote in Zimbabwe, there is just one thing Robert Mugabe cannot be reproached for, and that is having made a secret of his determination to stay in power by every possible means. The electoral hijacking had been announced, prepared, and organized. It has now taken place. Should one be surprised? Since he nearly lost his parliamentary majority in June 2000, the head of state has stated and restated to his supporters that the presidential election was going to be a "war." He was as good as his word. The "war for land" continued, at the risk of causing famine. The army swore allegiance to the "father of independence," regardless of the verdict at the ballot box. The independence of Zimbabwe's justice system was compromised. The local press was harassed. The opposition MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) was the victim of "state terrorism" that its candidate Morgan Tsvangirai rightly condemned after being beaten in an election loaded against him from start to finish, from drawing up the electoral lists to counting the votes. The real secret of the ballot box will never be revealed. This "fait accompli" in Zimbabwe is a challenge for the international community. It can only rise to meet it by making some radical changes. Indignant protests apart, nothing was done to prevent the disaster awaiting one of the key countries in southern Africa, seen as the continent's growth pole. The weapon of so-called "intelligent" sanctions proved ineffective, especially as the punitive measures were taken too late and only served to deny Robert Mugabe and his associates trips abroad and access to the funds they have spirited away. They amounted to no more than a ban on holidays and a golden retirement. Finally and most importantly, Great Britain remained locked in the familiar psychodrama between the former colonizer and colonized. Africa, with its own "observers," has just ratified a shameful electoral sham. Kenya and Tanzania even "congratulated" Robert Mugabe on his re-election after the first round. It is time to speak the language of truth. Either the absence of democracy in Africa is no longer any more of a problem for Europe than the lack of development, or it is time to get serious about "good governance" as a condition for aid. Either the New Partnership for African Development (Nepad) is merely to entertain the international gallery during the occasional conference on "sustainable development" or Africa must itself impose a minimum of probity and respect for fundamental liberties. It has the means. Robert Mugabe remains in power thanks to the maize, oil, and electricity he supplies to South Africa. In Zimbabwe it is better to have an end to the torment than torment without end. Fortunately, Europe is no longer "Africa's policeman." But it must demand that the countries of Africa put their own house in order. Document 001001167 ends. Geneva Convention applies to Taliban, not Al Qaeda: US WASHINGTON, Feb 7: The White House on Thursday declared that the Geneva Convention applies to Taliban forces in the Afghanistan phase of the war on terrorism, but not to Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda followers. "President Bush today has decided that the Geneva Convention will apply to the Taliban detainees but not to the Al Qaeda international terrorists," Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters. The move comes after fevered criticism - including from key US allies - stemming from alleged mistreatment of Taliban and Al Qaeda detainees the United States is holding at "Camp X-Ray" in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. "It will not change their material life on a day-to-day basis: they will continue to be treated well because that's what the United States does," said Fleischer, who noted neither group would be granted prisoner of war status. And, "Al Qaeda is an international terrorist group and cannot be considered a state party to the Geneva Convention. Its members therefore are not covered," by the accord, said the spokesman. DETAINEES ARRIVE IN CUBA: A new group of 28 prisoners captured in Afghanistan arrived by air on Thursday, bringing the total number of detainees to 186. Six of the detainees were transported on stretchers aboard the C-141 cargo flight that left Kandahar, Afghanistan on Wednesday for the 25-hour flight. Earlier on Wednesday, the US military resumed controversial flights of heavily guarded Al Qaeda and Taliban captives from Afghanistan to a naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a senior US official said. The official, who asked not to be identified, told newsmen that the first flight of captives in more than two weeks had left Afghanistan late on Wednesday and was to arrive at the isolated prison camp late on Thursday. The official did not say how many prisoners were on the flight. Flights carrying up to 30 of what the Pentagon calls "detainees" were suspended on Jan 23 by defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld pending expansion of outdoor jail facilities at the American base. A total of 158 captives, whom the Pentagon has refused to classify as prisoners of war, are already being held and interrogated at Guantanamo amid criticism they have not been treated properly under the Geneva Convention. None has yet been charged with a crime, but Washington has maintained that the prisoners are being treated humanely. The shackled and blindfolded captives are being flown to Cuba from Kandahar in southern Afghanistan under tight guard and are being housed at the base in 8-by-8-foot cage-like outdoor cells. The detainees at "Gitmo," as US soldiers call the base, are of various nationalities. Saudi officials have said that 100 are from the Gulf kingdom and have demanded they be returned to face justice at home. Bush said last week he was willing to consider Saudi Arabia's request on a case-by-case basis but U.S. officials doubted it would happen any time soon.-AFP/Reuters @ The DAWN Group of Newspapers, 2002 Document 001001168 ends. BRUSSELS, June 29 (AFP) -- Nearly 100 donor countries and international organizations opened their checkbooks here Friday to bail out struggling Yugoslavia after Slobodan Milosevic's lightning transfer to the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague. "Nobody is happy when a former president is taken before the tribunal in The Hague, but it had to happen and the sooner the better," Yugoslav Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus told reporters on his arrival here. The donors' conference, co-sponsored by the European Commission and the World Bank, was hoping to raise 1.25 billion dollars (1.47 billion euros) for Yugoslavia this year for urgent repairs to infrastructure and salaries to teachers and other civil servants. By midday, the conference had garnered pledges totalling some 1.37 billion dollars in grants and low- or no-interest loans over the next three years, against the target figure set by the World Bank of 3.9 billion dollars for what Belgrade would need for the three-year period. The European Commission anounced it had pledged a financial package of grants and loans totalling 530 million euros (450 million dollars). "This pledge is in addition to the pledges of individual EU member states that will be made separately at the conference," said Gunnar Wiegand, spokesman for External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten. Labus said the United States, which had until the last minute been uncertain of attending the conference, contingent on Milosevic's extradition, pledged 181.6 million dollars during the morning session. A German source said Germany had pledged 153 million marks (66.32 million dollars). Japanese Ambassador to the EU Takayuki Kimura said his country had pledged 50 million dollars, in addition to technical assistance and another 10 million dollars to the whole of southeast Europe, most of it to Yugoslavia. Johannes Linn, World Bank vice-president for Europe and Central Asia, said the bank had pledged 150 million dollars for the current calendar year and "over the next three years we expect to support Yugoslavia to the tune of about 540 million US dollars in concessional loans." Linn said that as a result of recent changes in Belgrade, including the Milosevic extradition, "we will now be talking about Yugoslavia as an integral part of the successful formula of trust for economic recovery in the region." Aside from the financial assistance, said Labus, "this conference is symbolic for us. We are now fully back into the international community, politically, diplomatically and financially, and that's very important for us. "We decided to make some bold decisions," he said. "We decided to take the fast track to Europe and implement directly the international rules." Labus said Milosevic's extradition "is of course a part of the equation," but added "broad economic reforms and democracy that we introduced into the country" had played a major role. "The fact that Milosevic is on the way to be brought to justice is just a signal that my country is ready to respect all international obligations." Labus recalled that his country was recovering from "a decade of dramatic economic decline, including trade isolation and sanctions... "We are in the middle of a very complicated process of changing almost completely our political and economic system...This process is long and painful, but we are determined to win." Infrastructure, including power, water, rail and roads, he said, were "suffering from many years of decay, mismanagement and the consequences of the NATO 1999 bombing campaign" that ended Belgrade's repression of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority. "A Yugoslavia that has a firm and decisive program of economic reforms in place is and is increasingly integrated into the wider international community is no longer a dream, it is now a reality." "There is no quick fix" to the Yugoslav problem, the World Bank's Johannes Linn said. "But the costs of failing to support Yugoslavia as it struggles to break with the past would surely be higher still. "The possibility of a democratic, stable and prosperous Yugoslavia moving toward integration with Europe is something which we dared not hope for only eight months ago." In Berlin, Bodo Hombach, coordinator of the Balkans Stability Pact, said several delegations to the Brussels conference told him it was now "easier and more motivating" to supply Belgrade with the aid it desperately needs. The Stability Pact was launched two years ago to rebuild the region after years of war and communism. Document 001001169 ends. Spanish daily blasts "meaningless" US announcement on Guantanamo detainees Text of unsigned editorial headlined "The USA tramples on the rights of all the Guantanamo prisoners" published by Spanish newspaper El Mundo web site on 9|February The White House spokesman announced the night before last that the Taleban prisoners being held in Guantanamo will enjoy the treatment envisaged under the Geneva Convention, but not the foreign prisoners from Al-Qai'dah, who the Bush administration considers terrorists. The Geneva Convention is the international treaty signed in 1949 by the USA and other countries, which regulates the treatment of prisoners of war and grants them a set of legal and humanitarian rights. Bush's spokesman added that none of the 158 detainees in Guantanamo is going to be given prisoner-of-war status, which makes the apparently positive part of the White House statement meaningless. The USA refuses to admit that these detainees are prisoners of war because, under the Convention, they would have the right not to answer any questions except to give their name and rank, they could not be tried except for war crimes and they would have to be repatriated after the war ends. So when the White House says it is going to treat the Taleban in accordance with the Geneva Convention, it is pure rhetoric, nothing other than a public relations exercise and will be meaningless in practice. The key issue is not so much whether they are treated humanely and their beliefs respected, but their legal status. If they don't enjoy the advantages of being prisoners of war and do not have the right to be tried under US criminal law, what jurisdiction will be used for these men being held incommunicado in a place that isn't the USA or Cuba? Nobody in the US government has answered this question, even though international organizations like the Red Cross and Human Rights Watch have denounced the defenceless situation of these prisoners, who have no access to lawyers and do not enjoy the minimum guarantees for judicial proceedings which, in their case, do not exist. Donald Rumsfeld and other senior Washington officials have tried to justify what is happening in Guantanamo on the grounds that the detainees are dangerous terrorists. That may be the case, but even the worst criminals have the right to a lawyer and to know the charges against them. It can only be paradoxical that a supposedly model democracy like the USA can trample on the law to such an extent. Document 001001170 ends. WASHINGTON -- The ground must be shaking under the feet of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, even as his admirers in the United States, George W. Bush et al, are sabre-rattling about America's new-found "axis of evil". The news from Israel is almost earth-shattering. Over 20,000 Israelis -- a record number -- rallied for peace in Tel Aviv last Saturday, the biggest demonstration by the reawakened peace camp since the current Intifada was unleashed in September 2000. Organisers were the Israeli Peace Now movement and the Israeli Peace Coalition. But what was most interesting is that, for the first time, a Palestinian Arab, Dr Sari Nusseibeh, the top Palestinian National Authority official in Jerusalem and president of Al Quds University, addressed the Israeli pro-peace rally. Speaking in halting Hebrew, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, Nusseibeh said: "I am here to tell you that there is no one to speak to, except Abu Ammar (Yasser Arafat) ... we want a warm peace, not a cold peace, between our nations." Other participants in the rally were some of the roughly 250 Israeli army reservists who have refused to serve in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories, Green Line: Students for Borders, the Meretz Party, Labour Party doves, the Kibbutz Movement, Netivot Shalom, the Bereaved Family Forum, Rabbis for Human Rights, Ta'ayush, Yesh Gvul and Gush Shalom. Equally significant was the news that the Israeli Council for Peace and Security, a group of 1,000 top-level reserve generals, colonels and Shin Bet (security intelligence) and Mossad (military intelligence) officials are reportedly planning a public campaign for a "unilateral" Israeli withdrawal from all Gaza and much of the West Bank. The organisation, according to the Israeli paper Haaretz, is calling for "evacuating Gaza, dismantling 50 settlements, the immediate establishment of a Palestinian state, and immediate peace talks with Palestinians, whether there is a ceasefire or not". As these developments were signalling what one prominent Reform rabbi described as "the resurrection of the moribund peace movement," Israelis were struck, in the words of The Guardian of London, by "a devastating wave" of Palestinian attacks last weekend on "the symbols of Israeli military occupation -- a Jewish settlement, an army base and a road block, (thereby) badly shaking (their) faith" in Sharon, who had promised them peace and security when he came to office a year ago. "Ariel Sharon's strategy is collapsing," said the influential Ma'ariv newspaper. "At this stage, as difficult as it may be to say so openly, the Palestinians are losing the battles to a superior force, but Israel is losing the war." In Ma'ariv's weekend opinion polls, some 49 per cent of Israelis agreed, saying the "national leadership has lost control of the security situation". Internationally, there has been commendable movement to find a new beginning, now that the Oslo peace process is certifiably dead and the American ideas limited to the so-called Tenet and Mitchell plans are stuck for 18 months on ground zero. Although the French have not been able to win approval from their fellow-members in the European Union for new Palestinian elections and the establishment of a Palestinian state, the Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Pique, whose country holds the EU presidency, acknowledged that "we are still debating a number of ideas". Whether there is merit in all these activities and ideas -- some seem doubtful -- the event that must have rocked the halls of power in Israel and the United States were the bold views of Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah were heard. What the effective ruler of Saudi Arabia had in mind, he told the New York Times on Sunday, was to offer Israel, in an address at next month's Arab League summit in Beirut, "full withdrawal from all the occupied territories, in accord with UN resolutions, including Jerusalem, for full normalisation of relations" with the Arab world. Crown Prince Abdullah's purpose was "to make clear to the Israeli people that the Arabs don't reject or despise them but the Arab people do reject what their leadership is now doing to the Palestinians, which is inhumane and oppressive". But he told the paper's columnist Thomas L. Friedman, who has been very critical of Arab governments for sitting on the fence during the 17-month Palestinian uprising, that he has now changed his mind about his prepared speech "when Sharon took the violence, and the oppression, to an unprecedented level". This Arab position is actually not new. The key party to the conflict with Israel, the Palestinians, have long argued that they were ready to accept the occupied territories, which amount to only 22 per cent of historic Palestine, as their own independent state. But what makes this offer exceptionally generous is the readiness of a key Arab leader to take this stand at the highest Arab political forum and campaign for it. The Arab argument of yesteryears was that peace could be established between Israel and the "front-line" states -- Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and the Palestinians -- but the remaining Arab states are not obligated to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. This time around, the tide has changed and the Saudi leader's willingness to take this unprecedented step merits more than positive responses from Israel and the United States. It demands immediate action. Document 001001171 ends. [Computer selected and disseminated without FBIS editorial intervention] Nagoya, Feb. 15 Kyodo -- Romanian President Ion Iliescu toured a Toyota Motor Corp. plant in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, on Friday, the last day of his four-day stay in Japan. After holding talks with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in Tokyo on Thursday, Iliescu traveled to the central Japan prefecture to inspect the facility. The plant produces 14,000 units monthly of Toyota's Crown and other luxury cars, as well as hybrid electric-gasoline autos including the Prius. Iliescu met with Shoichiro Toyoda, honorary Toyota chairman, and Fujio Cho, president of Japan's largest automaker. The Toyota executives briefed the Romanian leader about the mechanism for hybrid cars and the firm's efforts to develop a fuel-cell vehicle, the company said. It is Iliescu's second trip to Japan as president and his third overall, including a private visit in 1999. Document 001001172 ends. Hanoi, May 13 (VNA) -- Vietnam has produced a variety of drugs to control HIV/AIDS in patients suffering with the disease. These include Lamivudin 100mg and Lamizidivir (Lamivudin 150mg and Zidovudin 300mg), according to the Public Health Ministry. The medicines, jointly produced by the Pharmaceutical Company MST and the Pharmaceutical Plant MST in Ho Chi Minh City, are made of Zidovudine and Lamivudine substances of GMP standards imported from the Republic of Korea and India. The first Lamizidivir tablets have been sold for VND 19,500 ($1.2) since May of this year, under the permit from the Vietnam Pharmaceutical Control Department. The department said that it will cost $600 for an HIV/AIDS patient per year at this time, and the following years this cost is expected to stand at just $400/year for one patient as the production of such drugs becomes stable. Currently, the producer is able to process about 10 million tablets per month to meet the demand for domestic consumption and export as well, according to the Public Health Ministry. In the near future, the ministry added, more kinds of such drugs including Nevirappine, Afaviren and Abavir will be available. As of March, 2002, 47,514 HIV carriers were discovered across the country, with 6,831 developing full-blown AIDS. As many as 3,780 died of the disease. Document 001001173 ends. Tomorrow the government will announce a comprehensive economic and social plan based on the complete elimination of the dollar as a monetary standard through the conversion of deposits and loans into pesos. For those owing less than $100,000, the conversion will be done at the rate of one to one. For those who owe between $100,000 and $300,000, the conversion rate will be 1.2 to 1, with the government making up the difference between this rate and that of the official dollar. It will help out the banks, as El Cronista reported, by giving them a bond or certificate against future revenues from the tax on crude oil exports (5 billion) and with part of the assistance that the IMF will reportedly provide (4 billion). Debts of more than $300,000 will continue to be converted at 1.4 to 1. Barring last minute changes, no announcement is expected about allowing the peso to float freely, as the IMF would like, or about changes in the timetable for easing bank withdrawal restrictions. Under these restrictions, which were established by Domingo Cavallo and tightened by his successor, Jorge Remes Lenicov, the country's savers are barred from accessing more than 65 billion (pesos and mainly dollars) that they have on deposit. This constraint, combined with the difficulties of even withdrawing money for daily use from salary direct-deposit accounts, has heightened social unrest, as people have staged marches, banging on pots and pans, and other demonstrations to protest the prevailing economic situation. Some analysts feel that the fledgling Duhalde administration is making a mistake by ending convertibility without first resolving the problems that will arise from this decision, which was a foregone conclusion here in Argentina and the rest of the world. What is more, the IMF tried to convince Cavallo to abandon the one-to-one peg in an orderly fashion. The fact that the former minister and President Fernando de la Rua, who later stepped down, were opposed to such a move drove the IMF even further away from lending any support. Its last show of support was the $8 billion in aid to support the "zero deficit" tactic. Such budgetary discipline turned out to be impossible, thus shattering the rigid convertibility system and putting entire sectors of the economy out of commission. Lack of confidence led to massive withdrawals of savings into safer places. The outflows forced some banks to ask the government to set limits. Cavallo could think of nothing better than the curbs on withdrawals. According to former Minister Roque Fernandez, it was "the worst mistake in the history of the Argentine economy," while influential businessman Arnaldo Musich (FIEL [Latin American Economic Research Foundation]-Techint) considered it an "inexcusable" mistake. Burdensome Legacy The last of the provisional governments that took over from the abbreviated De la Rua administration decided quickly to end the currency board system. But not until tomorrow, one month after taking office, will it announce a comprehensive plan to overcome the worst crisis in the country's history. Duhalde will confirm that $2 billion will be made available immediately to mitigate the social disaster. This money was approved by the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank. Accompanied by Remes, he will talk tomorrow about what the assistance will be used for: to fulfill the promise to create a million jobs, to provide basic health care, and to undertake small infrastructure projects. The president will also mention imminent political reform, which he will call on Congress to enact. The rest of his remarks will be solely about the economy, about which millions of Argentines have been obsessed for some years now. Mortgage loans, the debts of small and mid-sized companies, and automotive loans under $100,000 will be paid back in the identical amount of pesos. The same will go for secured loans under $300,000 and personal loans of up to $10,000. Debts over these amounts will have to be repaid at 1.4 to 1, although the government will defray 20 cents on the dollar so that debtors will actually pay 1.2 pesos. The banking restrictions will, for the time being, remain unchanged, but the tacit assumption is that the timetable for easing them will be speeded up "as soon as conditions permit." It has been confirmed that there will be "coupons" for savers who want to buy things, with their frozen funds as collateral. The president will also break down the budget for the press and promise to issue currency in a controlled manner (not to exceed 3.5 billion pesos) and to undertake the difficult task of reversing the sudden decline in wealth (4.9 percent) without pushing inflation beyond 15 percent. The dollar will be allowed to float as soon as possible, as the government has promised the IMF. Everything depends on the anticipated aid of between $15 billion and $20 billion, which is what has been requested of Washington. Adjustment Index Will Be New Variable One of the points on which the Duhalde administration's economic plan will be based is a monetary benchmark that will govern the issuance of pesos and the refunding of deposits in dollars that have been frozen in accounts. To this end, Jorge Remes Lenicov's economic team has developed an index or formula including such parameters as projected annual inflation rates, the government's budget, the exchange rate of the dollar, and issuance of money by the Central Bank. This system, which will serve as a financial tool for redrafting most of the contracts involving economic activity in the new, post-convertibility era, is similar to the "Celic" index that Brazil uses or the "Unidad de Fomento" that Chile used until August 2001. The monetary benchmark that Brazil employs and that Chile used to is the most common one in today's world and is based on an inflation target. On the basis of this target a rule is developed to determine the interest rate needed to hit the target for price rises. The amount of money issued thus winds up being a function of these variables, not a target in itself, so that monetary policy can be used as a tool for promoting economic recovery. Until August of last year Chile had an incremental adjustment mechanism that included an exchange rate band with a ceiling and floor. Monetary adjustments were based on what was called the "unidad de fomento," an indexing system that included various price indices and adjusted contracts in accordance with actual changes. Brazil started using an inflation target once its 1999 devaluation stabilized the real and achieved low inflation. The government explained that it theoretically saw tools like the "unidad de fomento" as a way of adjusting the deposits of savers that will remain subject to restrictions until at least next year. The index will persumably not be applied for another two or three months, and it has not been ruled out that it may include loans already converted into pesos. Renes is working alongside a group of technicians from the IMF, World Bank, US Treasury Department, and Central Bank of Brazil, whose services were also used during the crises in Mexico and Indonesia. [Buenos Aires Ambito Financiero in Spanish on 1 February adds the following: "The following are the main measures that will be announced tomorrow: "'Dirty' float for the dollar: The decision has been made to abolish the official exchange rate (1.4 pesos to the dollar) and to move towards a single, floating rate. The Central Bank will intervene in the market, but only to prevent sudden swings. Intermediate solutions have been completely ruled out, such as periodic adjustments of the exchange rate (a crawling peg) or a band, which would oblige the Central Bank to intervene by selling dollars to defend a given value of the peso. The government wanted to wait until it had sealed an accord with the IMF before going to a float. But since the negotiations will take several weeks, as Remes will not be flying to Washington until 14 February, the idea is to move ahead before receiving international aid. Another possibility is to have released at least the $2.6 billion that has been pending disbursement since December in order to bolster reserves before the peso is allowed to float. "Total release of salary direct-deposit accounts: All employees will soon be able to access their entire salary by making cash withdrawals from savings accounts. This will completely eliminate the ceiling of 1,500 pesos per month that had been set in the January version of the banking restrictions. This measure will benefit only the 4 percent of workers who earn more than that amount, which until now was subject to the restrictions. The danger, which the economic team is aware of, is that any additional money withdrawn will go straight into purchases of dollars since this could represent the percentage of income that an individual is able to save. The measure is designed to send a signal so that people gradually regain confidence. Raising the withdrawal ceiling in the case of regular savings accounts to 1,500 pesos a month was under consideration yesterday, but for now the limit of 1,200 a month will continue to apply, with the possibility of gradual increases in the near future. "Deposits to be converted into pesos at 1.4 to 1: Time deposits in dollars will be converted into pesos at the official rate. Once they have been converted, the refund timetable for dollar deposits will initially be maintained. In other words, refunds will not begin until January 2003. If an agreement is reached with the IMF and economic conditions improve, the timetable will likely be moved forward so that people can get cash. The possibility of keeping a portion of a time deposit in dollars, which President Duhalde has requested, has not been altogether ruled out, but there are legal problems with implementing it. In the case of time deposits in pesos, the refund timetable is being maintained; it provides for withdrawals in cash as of March. "Installment checks for time deposits: The money subject to a refund timetable may be used for purchases, but with restrictions. It cannot be credited to demand deposit accounts. Therefore, it can be used only to purchase items such as cars and apartments. The 12, 18, or 24 installments into which time deposits will be divided, depending on their amount, may be endorsed. Transfer of the time deposit will be authorized only in the case of a purchase. But the account holder will not be able to move it from one bank to another. The big drawback to this system is that hardly anyone will be willing to sell real estate for peso-denominated installment checks that can be cashed sometime in the future. They can be used, though, for smaller transactions or to pay for part of a purchase. "Issuance of bonds indexed according to the value of the dollar: The Central Bank will soon start issuing bonds in pesos to offer the public another alternative to purchasing dollars. The idea is to issue very short-term bills (30 days, for now) that will be indexed to any ongoing depreciation. An arrangement with an attractive implicit interest rate could also be devised. It will not be easy, of course, to drum up demand with the country in full-fledged default. "No withholding on oil exports: In conclusion, the government has decided to reverse itself on the 20 percent tax that it was planning to levy on these exports. 'We would not have raised all that much money and would have been sending a very bad signal overseas by discriminating between sectors,' acknowledged a senior source in the Economy Ministry. In any event, the oil industry may be asked for an advance on taxes due, as had been under consideration a couple of weeks ago. If any withholding arrangement is implemented, it will apply to all exports, not just some. "Bonds in dollars to compensate banks: The banks will receive long-term government bonds in dollars as compensation for the losses that will arise from conversion into pesos on their balance sheets. Estimates are that under the arrangement that has been devised the red ink will total more than 12 billion pesos or some $6 billion. The banks have also agreed with this option. They wold rather hold a financial claim on the government than place the entire burden on their debtors, who would be forced to declare bankruptcy if they got no relief. "Phase 1 of the swap remains in dollars: Banks, Pension and Retirement Fund Management Companies, and insurance companies exerted strong pressure to prevent all accounts from being converted into pesos at 1.4 to 1. They managed to keep their bonds in foreign currency and are supposed to start collecting interest this April. It is likely, however, that before that the government will move ahead with a comprehensive debt rescheduling, including international and local investors who were involved in the first phase of the swap."] Document 001001174 ends. Peronist to head Argentina at least till March elections BUENOS AIRES - Veteran Peronist Adolfo Rodriguez Saa was set to become the country's interim president yesterday, taking power after a devastating economic crisis toppled President Fernando de la Rua. Lawmakers meeting in a special session late yesterday were expected to approve the 54-year-old lawyer and provincial governor as president. De la Rua was brought down after violent protests against his economic steps left 27 people dead and more than 200 people injured. Taking on a job many in his own Peronist party spurned, Rodriguez Saa is expected to serve as president at least until new elections, tentatively scheduled for March 3. The leader elected then will finish out the two years of de la Rua's term. A populist who has ruled a western arid province for 18 years, Rodriguez Saa will have to deal with an economy on the brink of defaulting on its $132 billion public debt and struggling with more than 18 percent unemployment. His appointment would restore Argentina's largest party, the Peronists, as the country's dominant political force after the most widespread social disturbances since the late 1980s, when a previous financial crisis rocked this South American country of 36 million. The party also controls Congress. Rodriguez Saa yesterday told the television network Todo Noticias he would announce an economic plan to ease the crisis. "I will work with all my might on behalf of my country. I am going to work hard and with honesty," he said. He has reportedly suggested Argentina will have to declare a moratorium on payments on its crushing debt load and has vowed to leave in place a key economic law pegging the Argentine peso to the U.S. dollar. Polls indicate that a majority of Argentines support keeping the peg in place, despite increased calls from many economists and several political leaders that only a devaluation can help the economy rebound. Argentines wary of surging unemployment, rising poverty, salary cuts and tax hikes are deeply skeptical of more calls for belt-tightening, the centerpiece of policies advocated by De la Rua and his economy minister Domingo Cavallo. "Enough. No more austerity plans!" said Pablo Arteaga, a 36-year-old dentist whose wife is a state worker whose salary has fallen by 13 percent in recent months. "That was the message the people sent to De la Rua and all the other political leaders." De la Rua resigned Thursday, following two days of protests, food riots and supermarket looting. He complained that it was the Peronists who forced him from office by disregarding his call to join a government of national unity - his last-ditch effort to remain in office after the declaration of a state of emergency failed to quell the rioting. Rodriguez Saa is reportedly considering easing banking restrictions imposed by De la Rua, limiting to $1,000 the amount of money Argentines can withdraw from their accounts. A run on the banks had threatened a devaluation of the peso. @ CopyRight 2001 Ha'aretz. All Rights Reserved. Document 001001175 ends. THE ABDUCTION of a French diplomat's wife on Thursday has introduced a political dimension to the kidnap-for-ransom pestilence that has spread dramatically during the past 10 months. The kidnap gang freed her and her driver within two hours of seizure. No ransom was paid. The abduction, however, delivered a more devastating blow on the capacity of the Macapagal administration to crack down on kidnap syndicates than the grim statistics trotted out by Teresita Ang-See, the Chinese-Filipino anti-crime "crusader," who has relished the role of Cassandra to the Philippine National Police under the new administration. Since 1992 when organized crime became a leading preoccupation in the national agenda, the main victims of the predatory syndicates have been Ang-See's compatriots in the Chinese-Filipino community. The conventional explanation is that because of their wealth, they are the logical prey from which to extract ransom money--a perverse form of nationalist racism and redistribution of national wealth. The Abu Sayyaf kidnapping of foreigners in Sipadan, Malaysia, and in Dos Palmas, Palawan, broke this ethnicity pattern. But the seizure of the diplomat's wife and her driver was the first time in 10 years that the gangs struck at members of the diplomatic community, whose immunity has been somehow respected by organized syndicates. The seizure sent alarm bells ringing in the diplomatic community in this country. The repercussions in the home governments and countries are as damaging as the prolonged hostage-taking by the Abu Sayyaf of French, German, Malaysian, Lebanese and Finnish nationals during the Estrada administration. Then President Joseph Estrada had to cancel visits to Paris and other European capitals in 2000 after he was told that he would receive a hostile reception from the European public over the lengthy impasse of negotiations for the hostages' release. From my own sources in the diplomatic community, as well as in the Philippine National Police, the diplomat's wife and her driver went to the French school in Bicutan at around 10 a.m., in response to a call from school authorities who reported that her son had some accident. On the way, a group of about six armed men in uniforms blocked her brand-new car (which had no diplomatic plate) at Better Living Subdivision, Paranaque, and boarded it. The gang drove the car around the vicinity while they interrogated the victims for about two hours. The hijackers asked them for money--one million pesos was mentioned--which she had supposedly withdrawn from the bank. She told them she had not withdrawn such money and that she was the wife of a senior French diplomat. The gunmen let her go. The PNP, which believes it was a case of mistaken identity, could not explain why it took the gang two hours to know the identity of the lady. After detaining them for about two hours, they drove her and the driver to a squatters' area and dropped them off near the Bicutan exit, but not before they took her necklace and wallet. They did not take her ring and other pieces of jewelry. The gang fled with the car, and the victims took a tricycle home. The details of the crime and the swift release are less important than the political implications. Whether the incident was plain holdup, as the PNP would like to see it, the abduction reinforced the growing perception in the diplomatic community and foreign governments that there is a breakdown in law and order and that the Macapagal administration is not in control. This perception is also fueled by the crime statistics of Ang-See, who represents the pessimistic outlook in contrast to the more dismissive outlook of the PNP whose statistics are less alarming than those of Ang-See. While Ang-See's statistics, derived mainly from non-official sources, paint a grim picture, they should not be ignored. At the same time, the PNP can't be burying its head in the sand and offering explanations all the time, rather than check the rise of kidnappings. Ang-See's close collaboration with former PNP chief, now Sen. Panfilo Lacson, is an open secret. Some administration officials wonder whether she paints doomsday scenarios just to embarrass the administration and to portray the contrast in performance between the PNP under Lacson and the current PNP leadership, which has no love lost with Lacson. Since the members of the diplomatic community had previously been immune from the predatory attacks of the gang, the abduction of the diplomat's wife naturally has generated anxieties among foreign governments about how safe their diplomats are in this country. There is a strong perception in the diplomatic community that the abduction was a fake kidnap-for- ransom and was a political act to demonstrate the administration's incapacity to put crime under control. The reasoning behind this perception is that if the gangs were after ransom money, it did not matter whether their victims belonged to the diplomatic community. The perception is that there was a political message in the abductions staged by some groups that are determined to make this government fail. A number of embassies here, including the American, French, German and Japanese, have issued advisories to their nationals warning them of risks when travelling in some parts of the country. The advisories have been prompted by domestic lawlessness and political turbulence rather than by a possible outbreak of insidious terrorist attacks associated with al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden and provoked by the American military action in Afghanistan. At the rate syndicates are abducting targets--regardless of their ethnic identity and their diplomatic status--with impunity, the administration faces a more serious and direct challenge to its capacity to govern from the specter of lawlessness than from the daunting problem of sparking an economic recovery amid the global economic downturn. We don't need al-Qaida terrorist attacks in this country to bring the government down in turmoil, create uncertainties in the business community, and frighten tourists and investors away. The diplomatic community's perception of President Macapagal is that she is organized, knows her economics, does her homework, and has been unscathed by scandals that have been rubbed on her skin by a scandal-mongering opposition. But the downside is that the deterioration of peace and order is her nemesis that is undoing all her diplomatic initiatives in the world stage to project the Philippines as a staunch ally in the US-led coalition in the war on international terrorism. Some diplomats raise questions about her priorities. They think she is travelling too much, while internal problems sap the country's energy, and that she has misplaced strategic priorities in her overseas visits. The fire is raging at home, these sources say, not in the United States, China, Japan or Afghanistan. Her hoses have to be directed at internal terrorism. She has more dangerous enemies at home than elsewhere. Document 001001176 ends. These days, when everything seems to be collapsing in the Middle East, both the Palestinians' chances of finally having a state in which their people would be sovereign, and the Israelis' chances of integrating themselves into a region where -- need we be reminded? -- the Arabs are in the overwhelming majority, we believe it our duty to voice a few basic truths. One of us is a Palestinian patriot (and not a nationalist). The other has no other homeland than France, which does not, however, lead him to deny his heritage from ancient Israel (which contains, like all heritages, the best and the worst) nor to be indifferent to the destiny of those millions of Jews who have something in common with him. We are both historians. However, we will not look back at the entire century that has just passed. There was a quarrel concerning Zionism. Those involved in it had no shortage of arguments, whether Arab, Jewish, or simply clear-headed. Zionism established itself in a sensitive region of the world at a time when nothing seemed more "normal" than to settle in someone else's territory. The United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand were all created at the conclusion of a colonial process. No one today challenges their existence despite the crises arising from this process and which were cited by an Aboriginal athlete at the Olympic Games in Sydney. Likewise, the more recent creation of Israel was accompanied, under the indifferent gaze of the Western and Soviet world, by the forced exodus of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Today, these refugees and their descendants do not call into question the existence of the state of Israel as long as the injustice suffered is recognized and the implementation of their rights is negotiated fairly. Let us content ourselves with reiterating the evidence: Since June 1967, the West Bank and Gaza have been occupied and dominated territories, crushed politically, socially, economically. Despite this, the Palestinian resistance has formally recognized the existence of Israel and begun a peace process in Oslo, while the state of Israel has recognized the Palestinians represented by the PLO and its leader Yasser Arafat. This process has not achieved its goal. On the Palestinian side, feeding on the growing frustration of the occupied population, a wing has broken off, conducting a policy of terror and death that horrifies us. On the Israeli side, despite the process, settlement has increased considerably, eating away at the supposedly autonomous Palestinian territories crisscrossed by "bypass roads." Today, two forms of terrorism fuel each other. Palestinian terrorism, which existed on a very small scale in the time of Yitzhak Rabin, has taken on a dramatic dimension. But the Israeli response, with its "extra-judicial liquidations," is even more dramatic in a certain sense. It now resembles the destruction of the very people, so structured and organized is it. Like any form of state terrorism, it is above all contradictory. Yesterday, Yasser Arafat was being asked to police the area he was supposed to be in charge of, while destroying the instruments of his power. Today, he is being completely isolated and the desire to drive him away is scarcely disguised. Ariel Sharon's immediate exploitation of the 11 September massacres is an unmistakable sign. Sharon compared Arafat to Bin Ladin and Mullah Omar put together. Whom does he think he resembles, if not the perpetrator of the Sabra and Shatila massacres? How to escape from this situation? From the current perspective, three solutions seem "logical." The first is the expulsion of the Palestinians from what is known as Eretz Israel, from all of Mandatory Palestine. A recently assassinated minister favored this solution. Can we seriously imagine the crimes that would have to be committed to achieve this result? Can anyone believe that the Arab world could approve of it? What would then remain of the universal character of the prophets of Israel -- that of the second Isaiah, for example -- and of Israeli citizens' hope of one day living in peace in this region? The other solution is the opposite of the first one: the departure of the Israelis to more hospitable climes, in the United States or Europe. It is absolutely impossible for the time being. But in the future? What would remain of the ideals of those who saw themselves as their liberators of their people and as builders? Asking this question at least serves as a reminder that, although many have already left, thereby reinventing the Diaspora, the Israelis want to stay and do not intend to end up like French Algeria. The third solution consists of coexistence, whether it takes the form of two separate states or a federation or a confederation. Two basic principles could still, perhaps, make it possible. The first is that of not only civic, but also social and economic, equality. This principle applies primarily to the attitudes that must prevail during any future negotiations. It also applies for Palestinian citizens of Israel who, 53 years after the creation of the state, are still far from equal. It furthermore holds for the Israelis who decide to remain in Palestinian territory and who must no longer be encysted there. The second is that of reciprocity. Any renunciation of sovereignty by either party must be compensated by the other. This applies to all the problems under discussion, including, of course, the issue of Jerusalem and of the refugees. It must be acknowledged that the government of Ariel Sharon has so far taken the opposite tack and that, while he has grudgingly recognized the Palestinians' right to a state, it has been under conditions such that this state, reduced to a series of Bantustans, has no chance of living and developing peacefully. Extremists on both sides have clearly understood this and have derived nothing but encouragement from it. The Israeli ambassador in France, Elie Barnavi, recently made two contradictory statements: That all those who, like Nurit Peled, believe that the Sharon government is a "government of death" could easily fit into a telephone booth... and that by their existence they constitute Israel's very honor. We still want to hope that the "rest of Israel," as the prophets called it, is the "mustard seed" another prophet referred to. We do hope so, against all hope. Document 001001177 ends. HONG KONG, March 26 (AFP) - China has disallowed a routine port call in Hong Kong for an American naval vessel, a spokeswoman for the US consulate said Tuesday. "The Chinese government denied a requested visit by the USS Curtis Wilbur, a destroyer, to visit Hong Kong from April 5 to 9," she said adding, "this would have been a routine port call." "No reason was given for the disapproval," the spokeswoman added. The bar on the USS Curtis Wilbur with some 346 crew is seen as reflecting Beijing's anger over Washington's decision to allow Taiwanese Defense Minister Tang Yao-ming to visit Florida for a military conference this month. Beijing has twice summoned the US ambassador for dressings down over the issue, while a state-controlled newspaper reported last week that China was preparing to cancel naval exchanges with the United States in retaliation. The last time such a request was turned down was in May last year following the collision of a US spy plane with a Chinese fighter jet in international air space over the South China Sea on April 1, 2001. However, US naval visits to Hong Kong resumed in July. There were two other similar episodes of permission being denied before that since the 1997 handover of the former British colony to China. One of them was after the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia was bombed, killing three people, in the US-led NATO air campaign three years ago. When Hong Kong was under British rule, the US navy made up to 65 port calls a year and Beijing had agreed the stopovers would continue after the territory returned to Chinese sovereignty. Document 001001178 ends. Mr Jaume Matas, Minister for Environment, Spanish Presidency of the EU Mrs Margot Wallstrom, Commissioner for Environment, European Commission It is clear that the proposals for US action on climate change are domestic. But the EU is concerned that they will not even be sufficient to reduce US emissions. The "intensity target" proposed allows for further increases in absolute emissions and is not sufficient to effectively fight climate change. On the contrary, the Kyoto Protocol requires most industrialised countries to achieve absolute emission reductions, while they still foresee to have growing economies. The Climate Change Convention of 1992, to which the US is a Party, requires industrialised countries to stabilise their greenhouse gas emissions at 1990 levels. Achieving this would only be a first step towards stabilising global greenhouse gas concentrations at a level that would prevent dangerous climate change. This is the ultimate objective of the Convention to which the US has subscribed. However, the new plan does not lead to such a stabilisation, but instead will lead to the increase of absolute emission levels. Over the past years, greenhouse gas emissions intensity in relation to GDP has been falling in the US. The Bush plan is based on a prolongation of this trend thereby in effect foreseeing little more than continuation on a "business-as-usual" path. Current emission projections for the US indicate an increase of 39% above 1990 levels in 2012. While the intensity improvements may reduce this to around 33%, this is still a very substantial increase in absolute emissions. The EU is concerned about the purely voluntary nature of the actions proposed. Furthermore, a review of the effectiveness of the measures will not take place before 2012. It is striking that the approach which is considered beneficial for other air pollutants, namely to implement cap-and-trade programmes, is not extended to CO2 emissions from the power sector. The EU is of the opinion that a cap-and-trade system is a cost-effective measure to reduce emissions which combines a guaranteed environmental result with the flexibility to reduce emissions where it is least costly. By 2005, the EU intends to implement a cap-and-trade system covering 46% of all CO2 emissions in 2010. The EU welcomes the fact that the Bush administration has now completed its policy review and has put forward what the US intends to do in terms of domestic climate change policy. The proposals by President Bush may represent a first step in the right direction, where also economic operators in the US are asked to contribute to emission control. However, mandatory monitoring and reporting of emissions at company level would be necessary to adequately assess whether the proposals by President Bush represent an effort comparable to the ones under the Kyoto Protocol. The EU is determined to proceed with ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by June 2002 in view of entry into force by the time of the World Summit on Sustainable Development. The EU will continue on its current path of emission reduction and is optimistic that other major players, notably Japan and Russia, will join us in these efforts. The EU will further examine and assess the proposals by President Bush in the weeks to come and is willing to continue the dialogue with the US on this basis. Document 001001179 ends. U.S. Tells China Taiwan Remarks a Mistake - Xinhua BEIJING -- The United States told China U.S. President George W. Bush had made a mistake when he called Taiwan a country in a speech last week, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday. Washington told China the U.S. government has not changed its Taiwan policy and said it would not refer to Taiwan in that way again, Xinhua quoted a foreign ministry spokeswoman as saying. Reports in Taiwanese newspapers on Friday said Bush called the island the "Republic of Taiwan" and a "country" in a speech to diplomats and business executives on Thursday. Calling Taiwan a country would threaten to compromise a major pillar of Sino-U.S. relations, which were set up in 1979 largely based on a U.S. nod to the "One China" Principle, which states that Taiwan is a part of China, Reuters reported. Beijing, which regards the island as a wayward province to be reunited with the mainland by force if necessary, asked for an explanation on Saturday of why Bush had referred to Taiwan as a country. Taiwan's ***United Daily News ***quoted a U.S. official as saying Bush's labeling Taiwan as a republic was a "slip of the tongue" and indicated no shift in U.S. policy. Bush was referring to the entry late last year and this year of China and Taiwan, respectively, into the World Trade Organization, reports said. The English-language ***Taipei Times ***newspaper quoted Bush as saying it was "important to recognize and to welcome both countries, both the Republic of Taiwan, and of course China, into the World Trade Organization." The Taiwan issue has often caused rough patches in bilateral ties and U.S. arms sales to Taiwan have angered Beijing. Last month an editorial in the official ***China Daily *** newspaper said Beijing felt "betrayed" after a U.S. decision to allow Taiwanese Defense Minister Tang Yiau-Ming into the United States for talks with Defense officials and warned of a setback in Sino-U.S. ties. But foreign ministry officials later confirmed both sides were moving ahead with plans for a scheduled visit by Chinese Vice-President Hu Jintao to the United States in late April. Document 001001180 ends. Norton Co. said net income for the third quarter fell 6% to $20.6 million, or 98 cents a share, from $22 million, or $1.03 a share. Operating profit for the abrasives, engineering materials and petroleum services concern was $19.2 million, or 91 cents a share, up 3% from $18.7 million, or 87 cents a share. The company had a tax credit of $1.4 million. In the year-earlier quarter, the tax credit was $3.3 million. Sales rose 8% to $368.5 million from $340.7 million. Operating profit in the company's abrasives segment rose 16% while operating profit in the engineering materials segment rose 2%. However, the company's petroleum services segment, while profitable, was hurt by high financing costs associated with the company's buy-out of a 50% stake in Eastman Christensen Co. from Texas Eastern Corp. last June. Norton and Texas Eastern had each held a 50% stake in Eastman in a joint venture. Norton announced earlier this month that it was exploring the possible sale of all or part of Eastman Christensen. For the nine months, Norton had net of $81.2 million, or $3.87 a share, and a tax credit of $4.4 million. In the year-earlier period, the company had net of $77.2 million, or $3.68 a share, and a tax credit of $7.7 million. Norton had operating profit of $76.8 million, or $3.66 a share, up 11% from $69.5 million, or $3.31 a share. Sales rose 8% to $1.15 billion from $1.06 billion. Document 001001181 ends. Hi my name is Sandra Reid and I am part of a family of seven children, um, and my mom and dad have passed away. During our young years we were very poor. We did not have very much but my mom always found a way to keep us busy or keep us entertained, and one of the ways that she kept us entertained was by telling stories, reading poems, and singing to us. One of the stories that I would like to share with you is the story that is pretty scary and it sticks out into my mind, I guess, mostly, mainly because it was scary. Even though my mom told us lot of scary stories she was always there to hold us in her arms and let us know that the story was not true and that it was we were OK. Out of all of my sisters and brothers I was the laziest one of all, as far as working around the house. All of my sisters learned to cook by the age of eight. I learned after I got married so I was a pretty lazy child when it came down to cleaning up and cooking. So one night my mother asked me to go inside and wash the dishes. Naturally, I start crying, and one of my main ways of getting out of work was always saying something hurt me, either my stomach, or that I had a headache, or something was wrong with my leg. Just anything to get out of doing my job. So after she noticed that I was going to be just a little stubborn and not follow, do what she tell told me to do, she asked me to come around in the living room with her and the rest of the family. So she began to tell this story. Once upon a time there was this little girl and her family. And the mother asked the little girl to please go in and wash the dishes so that she could go to bed early and not come up, wake up in the morning and see all those dishes on the table. And her little girl just complained, "I don't want to wash the dishes. I don't want to. My leg hurts, my head hurts. I don't feel good." The little girl disappointed her mother so badly, but her mother said, "How in the world am I ever going to get her to wash these dishes?" So she said, "Little girl, little girl, if you don't go in there and wash those dishes like I asked, you something really, really bad is going to happen to you." So the little girl just said, "OK I'll go in there and wash the dishes." And she was in there stomping and crying and mad and taking all her good time. All of a sudden the butcher knife came out of the drawer and it began to roll around in the air. And before you know it, the butcher knife came around and cut the little girl's head off. And when the little girl went to heaven she was crying down to her dad and saying "Daddy, Daddy! Mama cut my head off with the butcher knife." Now that knife, when I went to sleep it really scared me. But the wonderful thing about it my mom was always there close by to let me know that I was OK. Now after that, my mother continued to tell us many, many scary stories and tell us many, many, many poems. I'd like to tell you about how I got into becoming a teacher's assistant. All my life I always wanted to be a teacher even from the time I started to school. That was my dream, to teach school. As I told you, in the past we were a very poor family and I never got the chance to go to college because of this. Uh, while I was in high school a teacher of mine noticed that I had an extra bone in my foot and she said, "Well now Sandra we can use this as get toward, on your grant to go to college." So she said, "Go home and talk to your mother about it and see if we, you know, can follow through with applying for a grant, scholarship grant for you." So that night I went home and I asked my mother about it and she said, "Baby, I really want you to go to college. It's always been my dream that my children all go to school. But because there are so many children in the family there are other things you're going to have to have to go to school and I just don't have the money." At that time my dad was in prison at the time, so it made it really hard for my mom. I sat there and I cried but I tried to be as understanding as possible because I knew my mother struggled really hard to even keep food on the table for us. So I never got a chance to go to school. Did anybody? Yes, my brother went to school. He went to Livingstone and then to transferred to Johnson C. Smith, so to make it easier on my mom, to, as far as, you know, him staying at home and going to school too. So he graduated from, um, Johnson C. Smith, here in Charlotte. I had another sister who went to Gaston College where she got a business degree there. I, in later years, I went on to college some but I didn't complete the, uh, whole four years. Um, I remember once, when I was working in a mill, and I was spinning yarn, and I was saying to myself, and, I was praying actually, and I said, "God, one day I want to work in the school system. If I could just work, even as a teacher assistant I would be happy." As the years went by my prayer was answered and I got the chance to work in the cafeteria as a cashier and the principal there came up to me and said, "Have you considered being a teacher assistant?" I said, "I would love to." So they told me about some classes that I could take at Central Piedmont. I'd never gone to college before. I was really afraid. But he told me to go ahead and try it, so I took the entrance test, and they accepted me into at the school, and I took some courses there. After a while, the principal said, "I would like for you to bring me your, um, transcript so I can see what your grades are like." Luckily I had all A's. I did very well. And he asked me to be a teacher assistant the next following year. Um, my dream, my prayers were answered. I enjoy my job very much. I can't think of any job that would make me any happier. A few years later, um, I had the opportunity to apply for a scholarship to further my education. At first I didn't want to apply for it, but the principal called me during the summer months and said, "Sandra the time is running out, you need to apply." And he told me I would have to write this paper. Well I didn't like writing at the time but I took it upon myself to go ahead and write a paper. And I went to, um, one of my staff members and I asked her if she would proofread it, and she thought it was an excellent paper. And I went ahead and mailed it in thinking uh I won't get the scholarship. Who cares? I don't, just so I can work in the school I'll be happy. But one day I came in and I looked at my mail and I was accepted. I couldn't believe it. Out of 150 assistants who had applied for this grant only 16 got the opportunity, so I felt very proud of myself. So I went on and took the courses, and as I started I think I was taking economics. I think that was the last class I took. My husband became very ill with cancer and I had to make a decision as to whether I would continue my education or take care of him and I felt like I needed to take care of him because he stood by me so much while I was going to school. But you would have been able to be a, a teacher if you had continued? Yeah, and at the time, I was also working in the classroom. I guess you'd say as a sub because the teacher that I was working with at that time was pregnant and she had to take a leave of absence. And they hired a sub but the sub didn't do that much. I had to take over the classroom. So I worked maybe like four months in the classroom and that highly put a damper on my wanting to be a teacher from all the responsibility along with the fact that I was taking care of a very sick husband. After all of this was, after I, I decided not to continue I've never pursued the fact of going back to school. I just got to a certain age and I said, "No I can't do this anymore," so I never went back. But I love what I do and, uh, anytime I get a chance to teach in a classroom I go for it so. How many different schools did you teach at? I've only worked at two, two schools. The first school I worked at was Enderly Park and then it was closed down. So I was in those situations where I first, come first, transfer last, come first to transfer out. So I had to, I was offered a job at Ashley Park or Berryhill and I chose Berryhill. I didn't particularly want to come here and when I came here everybody noticed that I was really, really sad because I loved being at Enderly Park. But then, after awhile, I fell in love with Berryhill. If I'm not mistaken I think I've been at Berryhill for I think 17 years, 17, 18 years I've been here at Berryhill so and I hope I never have to leave until I retire. And why did the other school close down? Um, the, you know, I really don't know. Um, that, I really don't know why they closed that school down because it was a really nice school and everything, but they eventually tore it down because I was there I think the first year I went there was the year they built a really nice gym, and I don't think they used that gym no more than three years. I really don't, I don't remember why that school was ever closed but it was. And I enjoy what I do. That's it. All right thank you. Thank you. Document 001001182 ends. The great leader [yongdoja] Comrade Kim Chong-il has pointed out the following: "We should conduct proper research work to protect the environment, such as the air and water, in order to maintain people's health and provide them with more hygienic and civilized living conditions." At the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change held recently in Morocco, Japan laid artificial obstacles to the session by seeking its own profit. In discussing the draft regulations to put the "Kyoto Protocol" into force, Japan openly took issue with the draft regulations only because the contents of the regulations were not in its favor. It grudgingly agreed to it only when some countries made concessions and made amendments to the draft. Japan calculated that it would suffer a tremendous loss, if the draft regulations were ever passed intact and would be adopted as a legal document. The session of the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change held this time was to reach on an actual agreement regarding regulatory problems that have to be solved to put the "Kyoto Protocol" adopted in 1997 into force, so that the world may reduce the greenhouse effect and ecological damage, which are becoming more serious with each passing day, protect human lives and health, and provide favorable conditions for the promotion of human civilization. As is feared by the whole world, preservation of the environment is becoming an awfully grave and pressing problem that is linked to the existence of mankind. How the problems of the global warming and environmental preservation are handled today will have a major impact on the lives and health of people as well as the future development of the world. This is the reason why many people of the world today are demanding that the world take concrete measures for protecting the environment, as they have come to realize its importance. However, as was revealed this time, Japan, which was in a position to take the lead to solve the environmental problems, attempted to back away from solving the problems. It is a well-known fact that the "Kyoto Protocol" was adopted at the Fifth Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Japan in 1997. According the "Kyoto Protocol," developed countries are supposed to set goals to reduce greenhouse gases emission and officially put the "Kyoto Protocol" into force by the year 2002. For the "Kyoto Protocol" to enter into force, 55 countries have to ratify it. At the 1997 conference, representatives of many countries of the world supported and welcomed the adoption of the "Kyoto Protocol" as an epoch-making measure to curb the warming of the earth's surface and atmosphere. It was expected that the protocol would be ratified by the countries that signed it and would have a legal binding force. Emphasizing the significance of the adoption of the "Kyoto Protocol," Japan loudly trumpeted at that time that the adoption of the protocol was "produced by the role" Japan had played. Japan even called for working out practical measures to have it enter into force. Nonetheless, Japan, changing its stand this time, opposed the draft regulations to put the "Kyoto Protocol" into force and even called for liquidation of the draft. This shows how capricious Japan is and how frequently it changes its stand when the stakes matter the most. Of course, behind the Japan's behavior lies its stakes. According to the "Kyoto Protocol," by 2008 - 2012 Japan is supposed to reduce its greenhouse gas emission by six percent from the 1990 level. If Japan is to achieve this goal, it will have to put a lot of effort. It has to restructure the plants and enterprises, introduce new technology, and upgrade production lines. To do all these things, it needs a tremendous amount of money for investment. Never doing anything unprofitable is the nature of Japan. Accordingly, Japan would never readily agree on putting the "Kyoto Protocol" into force. In the course of calculating the gains and losses of the "Kyoto Protocol" and trying to figure out what it should do, Japan found a good excuse. The United States, which has to do the most to implement the "Kyoto Protocol," has come out opposing the draft regulations. On the pretext of the US opposition, Japan was attempting to realize its own objective. In the midst of this situation, a Japanese official visited the United States and received the instruction that Japan should avoid inordinate behavior with respect to the issue of implementing the "Kyoto Protocol." That was a hint that it would not be good for Japan to play a leading role in dealing with a matter detrimental to US interests. Since Japan has no spirit of independence and has always acted on US directions, Japan had continued to put off Diet ratification of the protocol and took such an attitude at the UN session held this time, under the plausible pretext that it would be meaningless to put the "Kyoto Protocol" into force, if the United States were excluded. What Japan is doing with respect to the issue of putting the "Kyoto Protocol" into force is tantamount to an act of betrayal against mankind in the effort to protect human lives, health, and the earth's atmosphere. At present, the global warming is a most serious issue, whose gravity is second only to that of a nuclear war. Here, Japan and other developed countries have to assume especially large responsibilities. Nonetheless, Japan is backing away from resolving the issue, although it is in a position to play a leading role. Japan should be condemned by the world for that. Japan will be unable to escape stronger denunciation and more serious isolation from the world, if it continues to seek only its own profit and create stumbling blocks, and does not do what it is supposed to do to prevent the global warming and seek environmental preservation. Document 001001183 ends. VIENNA, Sept 6 (AFP) - The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe agreed Thursday [6 September] to send 25 additional monitors in Macedonia, joining the 26 observers working to prevent a new Balkans war in the republic. OSCE ambassadors from the organisation's 55 member states agreed to send the additional monitors after Russia lifted its objections to the beefed up presence. Russia had slowed the decision, which was expected to have been announced a week before, raising concerns about their mandate in contrast with that of the NATO mission to collect weapons from ethnic Albanian rebels. Macedonia has asked for more monitors, hoping they would help stop the country plunging into civil war between ethnic Albanian guerrillas and the Slav majority of the population. NATO has entered Macedonia to collect weapons from the guerrillas, but its 30-day mission is due to end on September 26. That means Macedonia's stability will depend on other organisations, including the OSCE. But the monitors' mandate, established in 1992, only includes surveying the security situation and the return of refugees, an OSCE official said. The permanent council is still to adopt a new mandate which would make the OSCE, among others, responsible for training a new Macedonian police force, helping to organise a census and new elections, he added. "In the meantime, doubling the number of monitors should help put people's minds at ease," he said. The OSCE comprises 55 states in Europe, central Asia, the United States and Canada. Monitors have been present in Macedonia for some years alongside European Union observers. Document 001001184 ends. Moscow, 6 November: Three spacecraft will be launched from the Baykonur space centre in November. At the present time, units of the Russian Space Forces at Baykonur have begun preparations for the sixth launch of a Proton-K booster this year. The Proton to be launched on 23 November will put a satellite into orbit for the Russian Defence Ministry's needs. Autonomous tests of a booster are under way at an assembly and testing hangar at Baykonur, and the spacecraft is simultaneously being loaded with fuel components, the press service of the Russian Space Forces reported. On 26 November, a Progress M1-7 transport spaceship should be launched from Baykonur to the International Space Station. Its launch will be carried out by a modernized Soyuz-FG booster designed and manufactured at the Progress aerospace centre in Samara. The engines of the rocket's second and third stages have been modernized, and this will be the second launch of the modernized booster carried out by the Russian Aerospace Agency, Rosaviakosmos. The first one took place on 21 May of this year. The launch of a Zenit-2 booster produced by the Dnipropetrovsk Yuzhmash enterprise is preliminarily scheduled for 30 November. The rocket will put a Meteor-3M hydrometeorological spacecraft into orbit. Document 001001185 ends. Taipei, Oct. 18 (CNA) -- The Republic of China government believes in the US commitment to separating its anti-terrorism campaign from the Taiwan Strait issue, a senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official said Thursday. Stanley Kao, director of MOFA's North American Affairs Department, made the remarks amid mounting concerns about the possibility that the United States could compromise Taiwan's interests in exchange for mainland China's cooperation in the current US-led war on global terrorism. Kao said US President George W. Bush's trip to Shanghai is mainly to attend the annual informal leadership meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum to seek expansion of the anti-terrorism coalition. Prior to his departure for Shanghai, Bush said during his meeting with mainland Chinese President Jiang Zemin, he will reaffirm to Jiang the US support for the "one China" policy as well as its desire to see a peaceful solution to all disputes between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. Kao said several senior Bush administration officials, including Secretary of State Colin Powell, has also made reassurances that the United States would not seek mainland China's support for the anti-terrorism campaign at the expense of Taiwan. "We believe in the sincerity of the United States in promising not to mix up its counter-terrorism drive with the Taiwan Strait issue," Kao said, adding that relevant US officials have on many occasions reaffirmed similar commitments to the ROC. Commenting on a Washington Post report that the Bush administration was considering waiving sanctions that bar sales of military-related equipment to mainland China, Kao said MOFA is trying to obtain more information about the report. In his view, Kao said the cross-strait balance of military power is critical to the ROC's national security. Noting that the United States has consistently attached great importance to Asia-Pacific regional stability and security, Kao said the robust US arms sales package to Taiwan struck in April this year signifies that the United States is serious about security in the region. Against this backdrop, Kao said, the ROC government is optimistic about defense cooperation with the United States. Meanwhile, a foreign wire service report from Shanghai quoted a senior US Department of State official as saying Wednesday that the Bush administration has no plans to ease sanctions against mainland China. The US official told reporters traveling with Powell en route to Shanghai for an APEC meeting that he unequivocally denied the Washington Post report that said the Bush administration was considering such a move, specifically to allow sales of spare parts for mainland Chinese-owned helicopters as another weapon in the US war on terrorism. "There's no such sale or waiver contemplated," he said. The Post quoted US officials as saying the White House was considering a waiver of sanctions imposed after the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in Beijing to allow the sale of parts for Black Hawks that Washington sold to mainland China in the 1980s. It said the helicopters were designed for high altitudes typical of much of mainland China, including its Afghan border. Afghanistan is now under US bombardment for refusing to hand over the chief suspect in the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden [Usama Bin Ladin]. Document 001001186 ends. BC-HEALTH-LD-CONGO HEALTH-LD-CONGO KIMBERLEY June 18 Sapa POSSIBILITY OF CONGO FEVER RECEDES: DOCTOR The Kimberley Provincial Hospital said it would probably know by Tuesday whether one of its patients had Congo Fever. Medical Department head Dr Hamid Saeed said the patient's blood had been sent to the Institute for Virology in Johannesburg for analysis and the results of the first two sets of tests -- for illnesses other than Congo fever -- arrived back on Monday night and were negative. A set of tests specifically for Congo fever were still outstanding. Saeed said indications were that those tests would be negative too. He said it was his opinion that the patient -- a woman -- was suffering from tick bite fever. The two have similar symptoms. The woman was admitted to the hospital on Saturday after complaining of severe joint pains. She also had a skin rash and was vomiting. The patient told hospital authorities she became sick after being bitten by a tick about four months ago. Although the woman's condition had deteriorated on Sunday it was showing improvement on Monday. By afternoon she was conversing with her husband after being semi-comatose in the morning. Between one and 10 cases of Congo Fever are reported in South Africa annually, with about 20 to 25 percent of patients dying, according to statistics from the virology institute. A total of 158 cases of Congo Fever were diagnosed in southern Africa between 1981 and the end of 2000. Early symptoms of the disease include severe headaches, red eyes, fevers and cold chills, body pain, and vomiting. The disease can be contracted if a person is bitten by a certain tick or if a person comes into contact with the blood of a Congo Fever sufferer. Source : Sapa /le/am/jje Date : 18 Jun 2001 20:47 Document 001001187 ends. Mugabe wins poll, amid claims of rigging HARARE, March 13 (AFP) - Zimbabwe's long-time ruler Robert Mugabe swept to victory Wednesday in Presidential elections in a vote that challenger Morgan Tsvangirai declared was rigged and unacceptable. Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede announced on state television that Mugabe was re-elected with 1,685,212 votes against 1,258,758 votes for Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). `I ... therefore declare Robert Mugabe the winner for the office of the presidency of Zimbabwe,' Mudede said. Observers had warned that should the outcome be seen to have been rigged, violence could explode across the volatile southern African nation. As the results were being announced, about 100 heavily armed soldiers moved into Zimbabwe's second city Bulawayao and surrounded the MDC offices, where opposition officials had gathered. Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi has put security forces on the highest level of alert, according to state media. Police roadblocks were seen on the main roads leading to central Harare, security forces were patrolling the city and six police officers were stationed outside MDC headquarters. Tsvangirai rejected Mugabe's election victory out of hand. `The election was massively rigged,' he told a packed press conference. `We therefore as MDC do not accept this result.' Foreign governments all but dismissed the outcome even before it was announced, threatening to leave Mugabe internationally isolated despite his victory. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw cited `pretty strong' evidence that Mugabe has `stolen' Zimbabwe's vote, an outcome he said would have `enormous implications for the nature of our relationship with Zimbabwe.' US State Department spokeswoman Lynn Cassel said: `While we must wait for the final results, it is abundantly clear that this was a seriously flawed election.' The MDC leadership was due to meet later Wednesday to discuss the poll results, and Tsvangirai was due to address a media conference afterwards. `We have a national executive meeting ... where we will be looking at the figures and give the reaction of the party,' said David Coltart, an MDC MP. `To put it mildly the figures are very odd, with very low turnouts in the cities and massive ones in the rural areas, which is unprecedented in this country,' he said. Polling stations in Harare were reduced by 32 per cent in favour of an increase of voting outlets in rural areas, considered Mugabe's support base. Of 882,176 people registered to vote in Harare Province, 439,656 or 49.8 per cent actually did so during the three days of polling that began Saturday and saw mile-long queues across the capital. The MDC, charging that the Mugabe government had followed a deliberate strategy of impeding the urban vote, went to the High Court and won an extra day of voting on Monday, but polls opened several hours late, and only an additional 24,000 votes were cast. The election is the hardest fought battle for Zimbabwe's top post since liberation war hero Mugabe took over after independence from Britain in 1980. `The election was preceded by months of government-orchestrated violence meant to intimidate voters (and) the opposition was repeatedly harassed and prevented from campaigning,' she said. Turnout across the southern African country was an estimated 66 per cent in an election fraught by violence, intimidation and intense legal wrangling over civic rights and electoral rules. Even after the polls closed Monday, Mugabe's government kept up the pressure on the opposition by charging MDC Secretary General Welshman Ncube with high treason, which the party dismissed as a smear tactic. Ncube, along with Tsvangirai and four other top party officials, had been accused last month of plotting to assassinate the President. The tumultuous campaign grabbed international headlines and sparked diplomatic rows that landed Mugabe with sanctions from the European Union and the United States. Violence has claimed at least 33 lives, mostly those of opposition supporters, since the start of the year. The influential International Crisis Group (ICG) warned that the `risk of major violence erupting is exceedingly high' if the election was seen to be rigged. Document 001001188 ends. Beijing has completed the afforestation of 4,000 hectares over the past six months, the municipal forestry bureau revealed yesterday. "We planted trees mainly in the major five areas that are severely endangered by sandy wind," said Cai Baojun, an official with the bureau in charge of forest planting. The shifting dunes in Beijing's suburbs and rural areas have been successfully controlled by green barriers of trees and grass, which have also helped upgrade the city's forest proportion to 43 per cent, 23 percentage points higher than the nation's metropolitan average. A 200-metre belt of trees has been planted on each side of the Yongding, Chaobai, Dasha and Wenyu rivers, which was previously the city's most desertificated land. Forestry experts said dry weather and temperature fluctuations were the main cause of sandstorms. The repeated breaching of the embankments of the Yongding and Chaobai rivers also resulted in the desertification of the land with heavy sand being deposited by floods. By 2005, 50 per cent of Beijing's land, including both urban and rural areas, will have been covered with trees. The green belts have helped protect the crops from sand, wind, drought and floods to guarantee grain production, Cai said. Over the next 10 years, China will invest 6 billion yuan (US$720 million) to prevent sandstorms hitting Beijing, according to sources from the State Forestry Administration. Private organizations are also being encouraged to help fight sandstorms, according to the administration's vice-director Li Yucai. Favourable taxation policies will also be given to people engaged in the transformation of desertificated land. Beijing was struck by sandstorms several times this spring. It is believed that sand from northern areas, especially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and floating dust from the city's uncovered construction sites are the main causes. Document 001001189 ends. July 11, 1997 Name Address City, State Zip Dear Mr./Mrs. Name: We need your help in continuing the work of Jameson Camp. Jameson is a not-for-profit agency established in 1928 to serve the youth of central Indiana who have special needs. The camp offers summer residential programs for children from ages 7-17, and continues contact with the campers and their families with special overnight and weekend follow-up events during the school year. All children who attend the camp are referred by social workers, doctors, teachers, counselors, and other professionals. Many of the children have learning disabilities, behavioral problems, or come from economically distressed families. The goal of our organized camping experience is to improve the total health of the children socially, emotionally, and physically. This year Jameson Camp is planning an Inaugural fund-raising event: The Jameson Grill! This event is designed to be fun for campers, their families, friends of the camp, neighbors, staff, and anyone interested in finding out more about Jameson. In short, Fun for Everyone! The family-friendly event, September 20, 1997, will include a hog roast, activities for kids and adults, prizes for activities, and a small raffle. Lucky attendees can go home with a great prize. This is where we need your help. Can you help support this wonderful event by furnishing any type of products or services that can be used as prizes for our activities or as a raffle prize? Your contribution will help with funding so Jameson Camp can continue providing the year-round camping experience that gives kids a chance to create dreams. Enclosed is a form you can complete and return to us in the postage-paid envelope. Or, you can fax us at 241-2760, or e-mail, icfundrzr@aol.com. Your quick response will help us begin organizing our prizes. After we receive your commitment, we will contact you about picking up your contribution. If you have any questions, please call me at 241-2661. We appreciate your support of our first event of this type. Sincerely, Pat Bray Director of Development Help Blaze The Trail -- 1997 Jameson Camp Thank you for your last Annual Fund Gift! Document 001001190 ends. United Nations, November 14 (XINHUA) -- It was unrealistic to envisage that people who were suffering from lack of development, poverty, hunger and poor health could fully enjoy their human rights, several delegations stressed Wednesday to the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, Cultural) of the 56th UN General Assembly. The committee Wednesday opened a formal debate on human rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms. Representatives said that the right to development was one of two major preconditions to ensure the universal protection and promotion of human rights, a press release of the committee said. "The second crucial element, maintaining international peace and security, was also emphasized as the Committee continued its debate on human rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms," it said. Briefing on the remarks by the representative of Thailand, it said: "Human rights and development were two sides of the same coin, and should be addressed in tandem." "People should be at the center of social and economic development efforts. They had to be protected from other scourges and social ills, including disease, narcotic drugs, armed conflicts, terrorism and other types of transnational organized crime," it added. The representative of Eritrea said globalization was not only threatening to further marginalize the developing world and alienate its masses, it was also hampering the ability to exercise the rights and duties enshrined in numerous international human rights instruments, including the right to development. "Narrowing the development gap between countries was crucial to the realization of universal human rights," said the representative of China Shen Guofang. "Underdevelopment had seriously hindered the capacity of developing countries to protect and promote human rights." "With the rapid spread of globalization and economic expansion, the situation for poor countries was deteriorating with each passing day," Shen said. The representative of the United States said that despite the horrors of the terrorist attack, the international community could not truly win the war against terrorism unless human rights were protected. "There could be no expediency, no compromise, no lapse in vigilance," he said. "Promoting and strengthening human rights and democracy throughout the world was an integral part of the multilateral war on terrorism". Also speaking on the debate were the representatives of Cuba, Egypt, Morocco, Japan, Venezuela, Mali, Greece and Indonesia. The committee will meet again Thursday to continue its general debate on human rights questions. Document 001001191 ends. Vietnamese Minister of Science, Technology and Environment Chu Tuan Nha told the first Asia-Europe Meeting [ASEM] Environment Ministers' Meeting [ASEM EnMM] in Beijing recently that Vietnam always values environmental protection, including prevention of pollution or degradation, bio-diversity protection, and improvement of the environment in industrial zones and in both urban and rural areas. He said the Vietnamese Government has mobilized all resources and strengthened its international cooperation in addressing environmental issues. He emphasized the importance of bilateral cooperation between the two continents in dealing with environmental issues, noting that this meeting will serve as a foundation for Asia and Europe's future cooperation. The Vietnamese Minister called for the establishment of a cooperation forum on the environment which will be held every two years within the Asia-Europe Environment Cooperation Program. The forum will facilitate the exchange of dialogues on policy and of information and experts on the environment. The ASEM EnMM concluded in Beijing on 17 January with the adoption of a Statement of the Presidium calling for an early implementation of the Kyoto Protocol as well as cooperation and dialogue between ASEM members. Document 001001192 ends. Chandler Insurance Co. said it expects to report third-quarter net income jumped 97% to $2.8 million, or 51 cents a share. In the year-earlier quarter, the automobile and trucking insurer had earnings of $1.4 million, or 48 cents a share on a restated basis, on revenue of $16.5 million. In an interview, W. Brent LeGere, chairman and chief executive officer, said he expects revenue in the latest quarter to total about $28 million. The earnings-per-share figures reflect a 25% stock dividend in June 1989. Mr. LeGere attributed the earnings increase to growth in the company's longhaul trucking insurance lines and the ability to keep premium rates firm. Document 001001193 ends. Camp X-Ray Time January 28, 2002 Camp X-Ray When is a war prisoner not a POW? When the U.S. brings Afghan detainees to Guantanamo Bay By Michael Elliott It's not going to be a country club," said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld last week, describing the new military detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and nobody ever expected it would be. The 110 al-Qaeda and Taliban prisoners admitted to "Gitmo" by the end of last week are, said Rumsfeld, "the hardest of the hard core," men who had killed "dozens and dozens of people." But though it may lack tennis courts and a putting green, the amenities are better than you'd find in a cave at Tora Bora. True, prisoners are now confined to 6-ft. by 8-ft. chain-link enclosures with concrete floors and tin roofs (Rumsfeld thinks it's "pejorative" to call them cages). But relief will come; in three months, the Pentagon hopes to replace the facility with something more permanent. In the meantime, the prisoners at Camp X-Ray--as the place has been called since the early 1990s when it housed Haitian refugees--have been given thin green mats and blankets on which to sleep and pray, and are allowed to shower and exercise. They are provided with a medical exam upon admission, and their diet (is someone making a point about diversity here?) ranges from bagels and cream cheese to rice and beans--all eaten with plastic utensils--after which the prisoners may clean their teeth with specially shortened brushes. (The caution makes sense; in 2000 Mamdouh Salim, an al-Qaeda operative awaiting trial in New York City for his part in the 1998 embassy bombings, used a comb to stab a prison guard through the eye.) So far, humanitarian groups have been muted in their criticism of the conditions at Guantanamo. Last week a delegation from the International Committee of the Red Cross arrived to inspect the camp and offer private recommendations on its operation. But in the European press, the prisoners' lot has become a public issue of contention among those who demand that U.S. conduct be above suspicion. Three detainees are said to have claimed to be British citizens. Politicians and commentators in London are now clamoring that all held in Gitmo must be guaranteed treatment in accordance with international law. The Daily Telegraph, a paper usually so conservative that it makes Pat Buchanan look vegetarian, warned Washington of the need to draw a "distinction between civilized society and the apocalyptic savagery of those who would destroy it." At the heart of the matter is a question of legality. The Pentagon has resisted calling the detainees prisoners of war, preferring the terms unlawful combatants or battlefield detainees. It's easy to see why. Under the Geneva Convention, those holding true POWs are bound to release them at the end of hostilities; but that is the last thing the U.S. wants to do with men who may be al-Qaeda operatives. Moreover, by convention (though the law seems to be murky here) POWs don't need to tell their captors anything other than their name, rank, serial number and birthday. But for Washington, the whole point of the detention is to conduct interrogations and thus head off new acts of terrorism. The Geneva Convention does contemplate that some irregular forces captured in battle need not be considered POWs. That may well apply to members of al-Qaeda, a free-floating band of terrorists. But not all of those at Gitmo are al-Qaeda men. Some--the Pentagon won't say how many--were members of the Taliban and presumably thought they were part of the Afghan army. Are they POWs? Washington says no, because the Taliban had no clear chain of command and was not a legitimate government. That may be so; unfortunately, as Amnesty International has pointed out, under the Geneva Convention the Pentagon has no business making such a determination. Those who fall into the enemy's hands are entitled to POW status until a "competent tribunal" has determined their status. In the case of those in Cuba, that hasn't happened. More curious still is the matter of the prisoners' ultimate fate. Rumsfeld has laid out four options: a military trial, a trial in U.S. criminal courts, return to their home countries for prosecution, or continued detention "while additional intelligence is gathered." The last seems a distinct possibility; the Pentagon plans to build 2,000 cells at Camp X-Ray. "This will be a big deal down there for at least two years, guaranteed," says Army Lieut. General B.B. Bell, who commands Fort Hood, Texas, the base from which military police have been deployed to Cuba. But it's hard to find a justification for such detention in the Geneva Convention or anywhere else. Leaving the prisoners "indefinitely beyond the reach of any legal regime," said the Economist last week, "would put America--pre-eminently a nation of laws--itself outside the law." Until the Pentagon sorts out the legal issues, criticism from Europe is likely to grow. Still, things could be worse. The prisoners may be in Cuba, but nobody has yet forced them to listen to Fidel Castro's long-winded speeches. Now that really would be cruel. With Reporting by Mark Thompson/Washington Document 001001194 ends. Washington, January 26 (XINHUA) -- US Secretary of State Colin Powell has asked President George W. Bush to reverse the president's decision on al-Qa'ida and Taliban detainees and declare the terrorists as prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention, the Washington Times reported on Saturday. A four-page internal White House memorandum obtained by the Washington Times shows that Powell made the request and that Bush' s National Security Council plans to meet on the matter Monday morning. Bush decided on January 18 that hundreds of Taliban and members of Usama bin Ladin's al-Qa'ida army are detainees, and not prisoners of war, and thus not subject to rights in the Geneva Convention. "The secretary of state has requested that you reconsider that decision," White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales wrote in a memo to Bush. "Specifically, he has asked that you conclude that GPW (Geneva Convention II on the Treatment of Prisoners of War) does apply to both al-Qa'ida and the Taliban fighters." Human rights groups and some European countries have protested Bush's decision, and have been critical of the living conditions for 158 detainees at the US Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Document 001001195 ends. Britain's Prescott Pushes for Kyoto Pact Backing VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The Kyoto Protocol on reducing greenhouse gas emissions must be ratified even without U.S. support, British Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott told an international conference on business and the environment on Friday. Prescott said that while the U.S. decision to reject the Kyoto agreement is a cause for concern, pressure will be maintained on the Bush administration to go further with its current voluntary emission-reduction targets. "This is the world's best chance of dealing with a very serious threat to it," Prescott told delegates from 65 nations at the Globe 2002 conference in Vancouver that ended on Friday. Prescott, Britain's front man in pushing the accord, said the United States until recently was critical of the science that led to the Kyoto pact but has now accepted it, and he remains optimistic that the goals of the United States and of other signatory nations would converge. The Kyoto Protocol calls on countries to reduce emissions of so-called greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, which are blamed by many scientists for global warming, to pre-1990 levels by 2012. Named for the Japanese city where it was approved, the pact was signed by 84 countries, including the United States and Canada. Fifty-five countries responsible for 55 percent of emissions in 1990 must ratify it for it to take effect. Forty-nine countries had done so as of mid-March, according to the United Nations. Europe's environment ministers have agreed that all 15 EU nations should adhere to the Kyoto Protocol. Ratification could win support at an EU summit later this month in Barcelona, Spain. The process is expected to be completed by June 1. Prescott said the British program aims to cut emissions by 20 percent, and the country is now half way to that goal. The issue has pitted business groups, who claim the accord will hurt the global economy, against environmentalists, who warn of the dire effects from global warming such as higher ocean levels and destruction of various plants and animal species. Canada is among the countries that have pledged to ratify the accord. Canada's Environmental Minister, David Anderson, is under pressure from the country's energy producers to follow the U.S. position. Prescott came to Anderson's support on Friday, agreeing that financial figures quoted by Kyoto opponents in Canada about the potential damage to the Canadian economy were "pure fiction." A study by the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association said the accord would cost the Canadian economy up to C$40 billion by 2010, but a Dutch report released earlier this week said it would only be C$727 million. "At the least the difference between some estimates clearly shows a great deal more talking and assessment is needed," Reuters quoted Prescott as telling the delegates, who represented both business and environmental groups. Document 001001196 ends. Spanish daily urges USA to end "inhumane treatment" of Al-Qa'idah suspects Text of unsigned editorial, "Guantanamo: a prison with no law", by Spanish newspaper El Mundo web site on 21|January As Amnesty International has pointedly remarked, the photographs of the detainees in Guantanamo that the US army has unashamedly seen fit to release are reminiscent of the torture centres of eastern Europe in the Cold War. Holding detainees in handcuffs and shackles is not acceptable in a democracy, nor is depriving them of all their senses by putting blindfolds over their eyes, surgical masks over their mouths and noses, and gloves on their hands to disorientate them and subject them to sensory deprivation. The official explanations - they had just got off the plane, the masks are for fear of spreading tuberculosis, they are dangerous - hardly ring true, they discredit the USA and would seem to confirm the prevalent assumption in many allied countries that the superpower has decided to wage war and administer justice all on its own. Proof of that is the refusal to treat the 110 detainees in Guantanamo and the hundreds held in Afghanistan as prisoners of war. For Amnesty International, the Red Cross and any self-respecting democrat, they are prisoners of war and should be treated according the Geneva Convention. In the event of disagreement, as is the case now, with the USA insisting that the issue concerns terrorists who do not belong to any state and who do not have rights as prisoners, the final decision should be left in the hands of "an appropriate tribunal", which must be impartial and independent, as Article 5 of the third Geneva Convention states. Even before these pictures [were released], Human Rights Watch had described the 1.8 by 2.4 metre cages where the prisoners are held as scandalous. The fact that the photographs have been distributed to the press voluntarily by the US authorities would suggest that they aren't even aware of what they are doing or, worse still, that they don't care. "They're terrorists, they're murderers and the USA will treat them as it pleases," is Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's reply to the critics. Fortunately, not everyone in the Bush administration is of the same opinion. Thanks to their efforts and to pressure from allied governments, notably the British government, the commandant at Guantanamo has now allowed the Red Cross into the base with the freedom to interview as many detainees as they please. It's a step in the right direction, but it's only the start. The sooner the inhumane treatment of detainees is put to a end, the better. Document 001001197 ends. Regular British troops will not be sent to fight the Taliban, Robin Cook signalled tonight. His remarks came as the militia began talks on surrendering its spiritual home of Kandahar after Northern Alliance troops finally entered Kunduz. SAS [Special Air Service] soldiers and their American counterparts are fighting alongside the Alliance as they have swept across large swathes Afghanistan. But Commons Leader Mr Cook said: "If you look back over the past month there has been no situation in which we have put British troops into the ground civil war and I don't myself imagine that's going to change." British troops remained on 48 hour stand-by but the situation was "better than anybody could have hoped for", according to Mr Cook. "We will continue obviously to keep the situation under review, but frankly, I think we should welcome the fact that their presence has not been needed in Afghanistan. This is not a reverse, it's actually an advance," he added. News of the Kandahar negotiations came after the Taliban control crumbled in their final northern stronghold of Kunduz following mass surrender. The city's top Taliban commander was among thousands of Afghan and foreign troops who gave themselves up after days of talks interspersed with fighting. However, night fell before the Alliance could secure the city, increasing the danger of militants fighting back. Hours after the vanguard entered from the west, a tank column halted its advance from the east, fearing hostile fire. The surrender took days to hammer out, primarily because hard core Taliban and foreign troops from Usama Bin Ladin's al-Qa'ida terror network did not want to give up. The fall of Kunduz leaves Kandahar as the Taliban's last major stronghold following the rapid collapse of their regime across the majority of the country. Hundreds of foreign fighters captured in the siege of the northern city were killed in a prison riot at a fortress outside Mazar-e-Sharif, the Northern Alliance said. But that did not stop Taliban commanders discussing the surrender of Kandahar, following calls from 70 Afghan tribal leaders for them to avert bloodshed. "There are some talks and negotiations going on there (in Kandahar) with the Taliban to surrender themselves," Gen Mohammed Zaer Azimi said in Herat. Ruud Lubbers, the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees, said Afghanistan was not yet secure for aid agencies to operate in and "not enough" food had been taken into the country. "It is not at all a secure environment," he told the programme. "So although our international staff went back to Kabul and hope to go back to the other places ... one cannot say it is safe in the country and secure enough. "So there is quite a job to be done in creating a secure environment for humanitarian assistance." His concerns echoed those voiced by leading charity Oxfam, which said instability across the country was hampering aid efforts. But the Prime Minister's official spokesman today said Tony Blair was pleased with the progress that had been made on the military, diplomatic and humanitarian fronts. "The situation obviously remains fluid from hour to hour but it seems to be going in the right direction," the spokesman said. The campaign so far showed Alliance military success was the best way of getting food in, he said. He again stressed that Britain would need to see evidence before it became involved in military action in other countries. "In terms of the war on terrorism we have always said this is a multi-faceted campaign but equally we have also said any future military action would have to be based on evidence," he said. "This campaign is not over. We are still in the middle of fighting the war in Afghanistan." Document 001001198 ends. Venezuela's Chief Forced to Resign; Civilian Installed CARACAS, Venezuela, April 12 - A transitional government headed by a leading businessman replaced President Hugo Chavez today, hours after military officers forced him to resign. It was a sudden end to the turbulent three-year reign of a mercurial strongman elected on promises to distance his country from the United States while uprooting Venezuela's old social order. Mr. Chavez, 47, a firebrand populist who had said he would remake Venezuela to benefit the poor, was obligated to resign in a meeting with three military officers about 3 a.m. today after large street protests on Thursday in which at least 14 people were killed by gunmen identified as his supporters. Early this morning, Mr. Chavez, in military fatigues and the trademark red beret of his left-leaning movement, was driven off to the Fort Tiuna army base in Caracas, where he was reported to be in custody. Pedro Carmona Estanga, the head of Venezuela's most important business association, was installed as interim president at a ceremony at 6 p.m. He promised that the new government would adhere to "a pluralistic vision, democratic, civil and ensuring the implementation of the law, the state of law." Elections will be held within a year, officials said. The Bush administration laid the blame for Mr. Chavez's overthrow firmly with the ousted leader. Officials portrayed the ouster as a victory for democracy, even though Mr. Chavez was a legitimately elected president. "We know that the action encouraged by the Chavez government provoked this crisis," said Ari Fleischer, the White House spokesman. The Chavez government, he added, suppressed a peaceful demonstration and fired on unarmed protesters. However, Latin American leaders at a summit meeting in Costa Rica criticized Mr. Chavez's ouster as an "interruption of the constitutional order." A former army paratrooper who won office in 1998, Mr. Chavez presided over a stormy era when he seized control of the legislature, confronted the old-line political elite and steered the country into an alliance with Cuba. Mr. Carmona, the president of Fedeca-iras, a business association, said early today that Mr. Chavez had "presented his resignation." He spoke flanked by military officers who had rebelled against Mr. Chavez on Thursday night, the third day of a general strike called by his opponents. On the streets of this sprawling capital, opponents of the government took to the streets in the early morning hours, honking horns and waving the gold, blue and red of the Venezuelan flag. El Universal, a leading newspaper here, hailed the end with these words, "It's over!" The interim government quickly moved to undo Mr. Chavez's policies, dissolving the National Assembly controlled by his supporters, firing members of the Supreme Court and changing the country's official name back to the Republic of Venezuela. Mr. Chavez had renamed the country the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. In addition, the interim government repealed 49 economic laws passed by the Chavez-controlled National Assembly last year, legislation that business leaders feared would damage the economy. While pledging to hold presidential elections within 365 days, officials said that Mr. Carmona, who had been a leader in the protest movement against Mr. Chavez, will not be able to run. Mr. Carmona named new ministers, including two active-duty military officers who rebelled against Mr. Chavez on Thursday night. He also named retired Brig. Gen. Guaicaipuro Lameda to head Petr?s de Venezuela, the huge state-owned oil company, which exports most of its oil to the United States. Mr. Chavez had fired Mr. Lameda in February and appointed a left-leaning ally in his place along with five board members close to his government, enraging thousands of office workers at the company. Mr. Carmona said that operations would return to normal at the oil company. It had been crippled when office and production workers began staging work slowdowns last week in protest. "Venezuelan society has reached a consensus to find a way forward, a way that necessitated a transitional government that guarantees the reestablishment of democracy," Mr. Carmona told reporters Mr. Carmona said that the transitional government was being formed with "the consensus of civil society and also from the military." Cuba called the change-over a coup and urged other countries to distance themselves from the new government. President Fidel Castro and Mr. Chavez had formed a close friendship. The interim government today ended Mr. Chavez's policy of offering oil to Cuba under terms favorable to Havana. Mr. Chavez's daughter, Mar?Gabriela, speaking in an interview on state television in Cuba, said that her father had not resigned. In a phone conversation Friday morning, just before he fell from power, he told her, "I am a jailed president," she said. The attorney general, Isa? Rodr?ez, also said Mr. Chavez had not resigned, but was forced out by military officers. President Vicente Fox of Mexico took a strong stand, saying his country would not recognize Venezuela's new government until elections were held. Diplomatic relations between the two countries, however, would continue. American officials praised the Venezuelan military and the police for defying Mr. Chavez, as well as television stations and other media outlets that continued to function despite government orders to shut down. "We wish to express our solidarity with the Venezuelan people and look forward to working with all democratic forces in Venezuela to ensure the full exercise of democratic rights," said Philip T. Reeker, a State Department spokesman. For now, the government focused on clearing up the events leading to the violence of Thursday afternoon, remembering the fallen and searching for those who were responsible. Mr. Chavez's interior minister, Ram?odr?ez Chac? was taken into custody, and the police were looking for a strong Chavez supporter, Freddy Bernal, the mayor of a district of Caracas. Security forces, meanwhile, searched the homes of members of the Bolivarian Circles, neighborhood groups that were formed by Mr. Chavez's government and that were accused by the interim government of responsibility in the shootings. Television broadcasts on Thursday showed several men in plainclothes firing semiautomatic handguns from a bridge over a busy street in downtown Caracas. Among the crowd of assailants were people in red berets and T-shirts bearing the name of Mr. Chavez's movement. Mr. Carmona said that "justice must be done" for the families of those killed. He promised that they would receive government benefits. Among Mr. Carmona's most pressing tasks now will be to assuage concerns in other countries about how Mr. Chavez's reign ended and deal with the polarization between rich and poor that divides this country, analysts familiar with Venezuela said. "The goal for his successors is to effectively tackle the pressing socio-economic issues that brought Chavez to power with so much popular support," said Russell Crandall, a Latin America specialist at Davidson College in North Carolina. "Chavez was right about the problems he saw in Venezuela. He was wrong about the solutions and the Venezuelan people made that very clear." Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company Document 001001199 ends. The news leaked from the reoccupied Palestinian cities confirms that Israeli troops have committed dozens of premeditated massacres against the civilian Palestinian population. This carnage is planned and implemented in compliance with decisions from Israeli field marshals. Israel's atrocities are masterminded by high level Israeli officials including Shimon Peres. That's why they declared the reoccupied Palestinian cities closed military areas into which media people are not allowed. What happened in Bosnia Herzegovina is being repeated on a larger scale in various parts of the occupied Palestinian territories. People are being killed in masses and buried in collective graves. It is a crime against humanity. The Israeli government is committing crimes of war against the Palestinians and should be tried by an international tribunal just like the governments of Rwanda and former Yugoslavia. An international tribunal for war crimes has been established in Rome and started its works officially last Thursday with the approval of more than 60 countries. This tribunal will be responsible for trying war criminals. This means we will not need a Security Council resolution to establish the tribunal. The Palestinian people and the entire Arab World are waiting for a proof that international law protects human beings in general regardless of their color, ethnicity and religion. The world community should not tolerate crimes of war. We are waiting to see that international laws are not selective and that they are not applied for political, cultural and ideological considerations. The public opinion in the Arab and Islamic world is following closely what is happening in the occupied Palestinian territories. We expect the World Community to take a step toward referring the Israeli criminals of war to the permanent tribunal for war crimes. Document 001001200 ends. Montedison S.p. A. definitively agreed to buy all of the publicly held shares of Erbamont N.V. for $37 each. Montedison now owns about 72% of Erbamont's shares outstanding. The companies said the accord was unanimously approved by a special committee of Erbamont directors unaffiliated with Montedison. Under the pact, Montedision will make a $37-a-share tender offer for Erbamont stock outstanding. The tender offer will be followed by the sale of all of Erbamont's assets, subject to all of its liabilities, to Montedison. Erbamont will then be liquidated, with any remaining Erbamont holders receiving a distribution of $37 a share. The companies said the transaction is being structured this way because the laws of the Netherlands Antilles, under which Erbamont is organized, don't provide for merger transactions. Document 001001201 ends. DELHI. April 4 (Interfax) - The situation in Central Asia is stable and all threats to its security have been warded off, Russian Security Council Secretary Vladimir Rushailo told Russian journalists in Delhi on Thursday. He said in answer to an Interfax question that "the situation in Central Asia is on the whole stable." "The anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan has lessened threats to regional security, but not removed them completely," he said. Concerning the presence of the U.S. and its NATO allies in the region, Rushailo said that the Russian position on cooperation between the Central Asian states and the anti-terrorist coalition is well known. "We support it. Each state has the sovereign right to determine the forms and methods of its participation in the coalition," he said. "However, this right should not be exercised to the detriment of the legitimate interests of neighboring states. This is one of the most important rules of the international community," Rushailo said. Document 001001202 ends. 5:14pm Sat May 4th, 2002 -- Thirty-two non-governmental organisations [NGOs] today said they have suspended all engagements with the Malaysian Human Rights Commission or Suhakam for 100 days since April 24 - when the latest appointments to the commission took effect. Speaking on behalf of the NGOs , human rights organisation, Hakam president Ramdas Tikamdas said the boycott was to protest the government's poor response to Suhakam's numerous recommendations thus far. "The NGOs note with deep concern that the government has largely ignored Suhakam's maiden report and its freedom of assembly report. "Whereas the Kesas report, submitted after a public inquiry, earned the disdain and wrath of the Prime Minister (Dr Mahathir Mohamad) who summarily dismissed it as a product of `western biased'," he said during a press conference at the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall in Kuala Lumpur. The Kesas report irked Mahathir after it found the police guilty of using excessive force during a mass anti-government gathering along the Kesas highway on Nov 5, 2000. The NGOs stressed the government has also failed to respect or recognise Suhakam's recommendations and also lamented the decline of human rights in Malaysia. Ramdas said the government's failure to adhere to the commission's recommendations creates the impression that Suhakam is nothing but "a mere public relations tool". "Over the last two years, the state of human rights in Malaysia has deteriorated with increasing numbers of people detained without trial under the Internal Security Act, with blanket police ban on assemblies, with restrictions to the right of free speech and expression and with further restrictive amendments to the election laws, all of which have further denied our democratic space," he added. The NGOs also noted that the government has yet to show its commitment and respect for universal human rights principles by ratifying the international instruments of human rights, namely the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Covenant Against Torture. Controversial appointments Meanwhile, another concern raised was Suhakam's independence following the appointment of former attorney-general Abu Talib Othman as its new chairperson and the decision not to renew the appointments of three commissioners, Anuar Zainal Abidin, Prof Mehrun Siraj and Dr Salleh Mohd Nor. Ramdas said it was perceived that Anuar and Mehrun, instrumental behind the scathing Kesas report, were dropped for performing their duties without fear or favour. "The fact that three commissioners have now been axed is a clear signal to other commissioners that their tenure is dependent on whether or not they have pleased the executive. "This clearly undermines the independence of the Commission and will erode public's confidence on it." On the other hand, the NGOs said there is nothing in the public records which shows that Abu Talib was committed to protecting civil liberties and advancing human rights. Claiming that there was "nothing personal", the NGOs said their concern was based on his defense of the 1987 'Ops Lalang' where more than 100 people were detained under the ISA [Internal Security Act]. They added that Abu Talib, during his tenure as AG [attorney general], was also instrumental for the impeachment of then Lord President Salleh Abas and five Supreme Court judges in 1988. The NGOs also expressed concern over the appointment of five new commissioners which has led to Suhakam being made up mostly of retired civil servants. The new commissioners are retired Treasury deputy secretary-general Ramon Navaratnam, permanent representative to the United Nations Hasmy Agam, Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (Ikim) director-general Dr Abdul Monir Yaacob, retired Education director-general Asiah Abu Samah and retired National Population and Family Development Board director-general Dr Raj Abdul Karim. "Our concern is whether persons used to the role of policy implementors can objectively assess and critique executive policies which impinge on human rights," said Ramdas. Elaborating further on the boycott, Ramdas said the NGOs will not hold any dialogues, send any memorandums or complaints to Suhakam. "In the meantime, we will monitor the commissioners in the discharge of their statutory duties in respect of the pending complaints and inquires," he said. "We will also note to what extent Suhakam will monitor the government's compliance with previous recommendations on various human rights issues contained in its maiden report to the Parliament as well as its other reports," he added. Ramdas said Suhakam's performance will be judged not on the number of statements issued or reports produced but on the improvement of human rights in Malaysia. "When the bill (Suhakam Act ) was tabled in the parliament, our Foreign Affairs Minister (Syed Hamid Albar) promised that this would be a positive development in protecting and promoting human rights in Malaysia. "We are now looking at Suhakam as an institution to fulfill this promise," he stressed. According to Ramdas the NGOs will meet again after the 100-day period to review their position. Apart from Hakam, other notable NGOs involved in the boycott are the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC), Suaram, Amesty International's Malaysian chapter, Jamaah Islah Malaysia (Jim) and Sisters in Islam (SIS). Boycott unfair In a related development, Suhakam commissioner Prof Hamdan Adnan told malaysiakini that he was disappointed with the boycott which he described as "unfair". Instead of resorting to such measures, the commissioner said the NGOs should work with Suhakam for the advancement of human rights in this country. He added the boycott could create the impression that the NGOs were acting out of self interest and are not honest about championing human rights. "This action shows that the NGOs themselves do not acknowledge Suhakam and do not want to work with us," said Hamdan. Document 001001203 ends.