tasrit

It's pathetic how some people use the second world war to justify the occupation of Iraq. Read some history books!

You never been in this situation, so you can't tell what you would do. How does that look, an Islamic beard?

great article!

no, but that doesn't mean that other women don't have the right to have an abortion. What is this article saying? Women over the 40 musn't have babies and if they do they don't have the right anymore to have an abortion?

and not-americans? Isn't that sadistic and cold?

then quit bitching about the few Muslims that commited terrorist acts

What does this article prove? The only thing you can say is that Bush is like a little boy, but we already knew that.

all that hate and why...because France has his own policy?

The phone in the desert Peter Gould BBC News Online correspondent It was in a sweltering courtroom in Yemen that I first saw the satellite phone that is now a key part of the US case against Abu Hamza. With a flourish, the state prosecutor pulled it from a tatty plastic bag that must once have held groceries. The court was told that the phone demonstrated the involvement of the London-based cleric in terrorism in Yemen. All this happened in 1999 in a small, dusty town called Zinjibar, in the Abyan province of Yemen. In the dock were members of the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army, who stood accused of abducting a group of 16 Western tourists a few weeks earlier. Four of the hostages - three Britons and an Australian - died during the subsequent gun battle between the terrorists and Yemeni forces. I had gone to Yemen to cover a different trial. A group of young British Muslims had been arrested and accused of being part of a plot to blow up Western targets in the port of Aden. After a lengthy trial, they were convicted. Among them was the teenage son of Abu Hamza. The Yemeni authorities were anxious to establish a link between the London-based cleric and the kidnappers, whose trial was taking place separately in Zinjibar. British Muslims It was alleged that the hostages were taken to try to secure the release of the British Muslims. In the gang's camp, they had seized what they regarded as a damning piece of evidence. It was an expensive satellite telephone, allegedly supplied to the terrorists by Abu Hamza. From conversations I had with British diplomats in Yemen, it was obvious that the existence of the phone was of great interest to the police in London. When I called in at the British embassy in the capital, Sana'a, I bumped into two Scotland Yard detectives They would not discuss their mission, but they had clearly been sent out to Yemen to gather evidence. Because of the way the Yemeni authorities were linking the two trials, I decided to go to the court in Zinjibar to see the kidnappers, and hear the case against them. Kidnap threat This expedition was not undertaken lightly. At the time, westerners were being urged to leave Yemen, because of the kidnap threat, and Zinjibar was an area where the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army operated. Not surprisingly, few foreign journalists covered the trial, but I found myself in court when the satellite phone was produced. Witnesses described how the leader of the kidnap gang, Abu Hassan, had used it during the hostage crisis. The person on the other end of the satellite link, according to the state prosecutor, was the man who supplied the phone, Abu Hamza. During a break in the court proceedings, I spoke to the Yemeni prosecutor. He showed me the phone and other evidence, including photographs of the bodies of the four Western hostages killed in the desert. A BBC cameraman filmed the prosecutor holding up the phone, on which the number was clearly visible. The report caught the attention of Scotland Yard. When I returned to London, I was interviewed by an officer from the anti-terrorist branch, and asked to confirm when and where the pictures of the phone were taken. The police later questioned Abu Hamza, but no charges were brought against him. The Home Secretary, David Blunkett, says there was no evidence to support a prosecution. In a case such as this, any intercepts of satellite phone conversations would not be admissible in a British court. Death penalty In the past, the British government has resisted requests from Yemen for the extradition of Abu Hamza, as a conviction in a Yemeni court could result in him facing the death penalty. Abu Hassan, the terrorist with the satellite phone in the desert, was quickly dealt with by Yemeni justice. Before the verdict of the court was announced, I spoke to him through an interpreter. He seemed calm and quite unconcerned about his fate. He said he was engaged in a holy war against the West, notably the United States and Britain. He was upset to discover that my interpreter was from Cairo. "You are an Egyptian, and you work for the British?" he asked incredulously. Although he denied killing the hostages, Abu Hassan had admitted abducting the tourists. So there was no surprise when he was found guilty and executed. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/3757681.stm Published: 2004/05/28 15:14:57 GMT © BBC MMIV

Blunkett defends UK Hamza probe Home Secretary David Blunkett has defended the UK's actions over radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza, who is facing 11 terror charges in the US. The US aims to get the preacher extradited to face charges including hostage taking and supporting al-Qaeda. "Obviously if we had that evidence and it related to our country, we would have been able to take action through our courts," Mr Blunkett told the BBC. He said UK information had led to a bid to withdraw Mr Hamza's citizenship. "There has been controversy about what Abu Hamza has been doing, what he has been up to, what he has been saying in particular," Mr Blunkett told Radio 4's Today programme. That had prompted the withdrawal of citizenship currently being fought by the cleric through the courts, the home secretary said. "I have taken the necessary action that I believe is appropriate to expel him from our country." Mr Hamza has said he will contest extradition, following his arrested at his Shepherds Bush home on Thursday. About 50 of his supporters gathered for Friday prayers outside the Finsbury Park mosque where he used to preach, to express their support. US Attorney General John Ashcroft, announcing the charges in New York, said the cleric could face the death penalty or life imprisonment if found guilty. But under current UK law, Britain must seek US agreement that no death penalty will be sought before any extradition is approved. Former assistant US attorney-general Victoria Tonsing said: "If you ever broke a promise like that, there would never be another extradition." Mr Hamza is accused of acting as an intermediary with a terrorist group which took 16 tourists hostage in the Yemen, six years ago. Three British tourists and one Australian died when they were used as human shields during a shoot-out with Yemen rescuers, it is alleged. The US claims it has linked Mr Hamza to the hostage-taking by monitoring satellite phone calls. It also alleges Mr Hamza provided support and resources for terrorists, particularly al-Qaeda, and attempted to establish a terror training camp in Bly, Oregon. 'Victim of belief' Muslim cleric Sheikh Omar Bakri told Today: "Anybody who looks into the case will see Abu Hamza is a victim of what he believes. The US Government has failed to find al-Qaeda members, they turn against the sympathisers of al-Qaeda. "The British Government and British police never found any evidence against Abu Hamza, who was living on their own doorstep." Mr Hamza gained UK citizenship through marriage in 1981. He regularly preached at Finsbury Park until February 2003 when the Charity Commission banned him for using his position for "personal and political" purposes. But he has continued preaching outside the mosque. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/3756295.stm Published: 2004/05/28 14:06:02 GMT © BBC MMIV

Vanunu: No regrets on Israel leak The former nuclear technician jailed for 18 years for leaking Israel's nuclear secrets has defended himself in his first interview since his release. In an interview for the BBC's This World programme, Mordechai Vanunu said he did not feel he was a traitor. "I have no regrets despite the fact I have paid a heavy punishment, a large price," he said. And he reiterated that he wanted to leave Israel to start "a new life" in the United States, or Europe. Mr Vanunu - who is widely regarded as a traitor in Israel - said of his leaking of secrets: "I felt it was not about betraying, it was about reporting. I have no regrets in spite of the fact I have paid a heavy punishment, a large price - I think it was worth it Mordechai Vanunu Mr Vanunu, 50, spent nearly 18 years in prison for revealing details of Israel's clandestine nuclear arms programme. Supporters welcomed his release in April, calling him a "hero of peace". Under the terms of his release, Mr Vanunu was forbidden from leaving Israel, meeting foreigners and revealing secrets about the Dimona nuclear plant. He was interviewed for This World by an Israeli journalist. "What I did was to inform the world what is going on in secret. I didn't come and say, we should destroy Israel, we should destroy Dimona. I said, look what they have and make your judgement." Mr Vanunu went on to say: "I want to leave Israel, I'm not interested in living in Israel. I want to start my new life in the United States, or somewhere in Europe, and to start living as a human being." Journalist arrested Israel's Deputy Prime Minister, Joseph Lapid, defended the restrictive terms of Mr Vanunu's release. We think he still knows secrets and we don't want him to sell them again Joseph Lapid Israeli Deputy Prime Minister He told This World: "We think he still knows secrets and we don't want him to sell them again. "We think there are things he knows that he hasn't divulged yet. He may do so - he's hell-bent to harm this country, he hates this country." British journalist Peter Hounam, who originally exposed Israel's atomic secrets in a Sunday Times article in 1986 which followed an interview with Mr Vanunu, was arrested in Tel Aviv earlier this week. He was released by the Israeli authorities after a day in custody. Mr Vanunu was kidnapped in Italy by Israeli agents in 1986 following the Sunday Times interview and taken to Israel to stand trial. Israel's Nuclear Whistleblower will be screened on BBC Two on Sunday 30 May at 2245 BST. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/3758693.stm Published: 2004/05/28 23:14:19 GMT © BBC MMIV

Troops Free Bodies in Caribbean Floods U.S.-Led Troops Work to Free Bodies From Submerged Houses in Remote Haitian Villages Devastated by Floods The Associated Press MAPOU, Haiti May 28, 2004 — U.S.-led troops and aid workers carried shovels and saws to free bodies from submerged houses along with food and medicine for survivors Friday in remote Haitian villages, devastated by floods that left at least 1,000 people dead and hundreds missing. Erecting tents for the homeless, more than two dozen French troops from the U.S.-led multinational force in Haiti also hurried to the Dominican Republic border town of Jimani, where another 23 bodies were recovered on the banks of a saltwater lake crawling with crocodiles. An ambulance dropped off one young man who had just returned from the hospital Friday. Juary Cuevas, 18, was swept away by floodwaters before daybreak Monday, carried six miles downriver and deposited just outside Jimani in a lake clogged with dozens of corpses. "I held onto branches. I held on to everything I could," said Cuevas, who suffered broken ribs and deep gashes. He said his father, two siblings and grandfather still were missing. His grandmother was found dead, and his mother has just returned from Spain, where she was working as a maid to support her family, he said. American, Canadian and Chilean troops rushed to the worst-hit southern Haitian towns of Fond Verrettes and Mapou, which were still submerged in 10 feet of water. They arrived in helicopters loaded with water, food, medical supplies, aid workers and inflatable boats to try to reach far-flung villages. With few roads passable and only 14 helicopters, troops were trying to find other ways to reach the needy, said Lt. Col. Dave Lapan, spokesman for the multinational force, which was sent to Haiti after rebels ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on Feb. 29. He said helicopters on Friday also carried shovels and pick axes to try to recover bodies. "It's horrific. People are finding people in very odd and unreachable places even hanging from the tops of trees," said Sheyla Biamby, a spokesman for Catholic Relief Services. Biamby said they believed as many as 1,500 people were dead and some 20,000 affected, and that the death toll would rise with more rain expected over the weekend. In Mapou, 178 bodies have been recovered but other corpses floated near the tops of palm trees and thousands of survivors were isolated by mudslides. The area is on a low-lying plain surrounded by mountains, with fields of corn and vegetables under water and the pigs and goats that people used to help eke out a living apparently carried away by flashfloods. Nearly half the homes in Mapou, some 1,300, have been destroyed, Biamby said. The U.N. World Food Program, which loaded some 8,000 tons of food onto a helicopter bound for Mapou, was considering bringing more food to coastal villages on a barge. "The need is extreme," said Guy Gavreau, a spokesman for WFP. Rains returned Thursday as U.S. Marines delivered drinking water and purifying chlorine tablets to Mapou, which is just 30 miles southeast of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, but totally cut off except by helicopter. If corpses are not recovered soon, they could contaminate the water that most residents get from a wall, warned Michel Matera of the U.N. Development Program. "There is a grave risk of an epidemic," he said. An estimated 10,000 people in 26 villages surrounding Mapou are in urgent need of help, Matera said. The Haitian government's official death toll climbed to 579 on Thursday as some 165 people, including 45 children, were declared dead in Fond Verrettes, population 40,000. Few bodies were found there after floods swept away most houses. At least 442 bodies were recovered in the Dominican Republic, a number of them Haitian migrants who had crossed over to work as sugar cane cutters or market vendors. The floods struck early Monday following three days of heavy rains, triggering torrents that swept away entire neighborhoods. One 18-year-old Haitian, Pepe Dematin, traveled across the border to Jimani searching for his brother's family of five. "I came to find them, but their house is gone," he said. Dominican authorities on Friday were burying more than 275 bodies, some in a mass grave. Officials said they plan to spray disinfectant by plane over Jimani to keep decomposing bodies from spreading disease. Haiti has become a particularly hazardous place for flooding and mudslides because its impoverished people constantly fell trees to make charcoal, removing roots that hold back the soil and leaving the country almost entirely deforested. Associated Press writers Jose P. Monegro and Ramon Almanzar contributed to this report from the Dominican Republic, and Amy Bracken from Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Caribbean flood relief stepped up Rescue teams are scrambling to get food, clean water and first-aid kits to survivors in flood-ravaged regions of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Flash floods have killed more than 900 people in the two countries and many more are missing as rain still falls. The number of dead has continued to rise, with another two dozen bodies found in the Dominican town of Jimani. About 300 bodies have been found in the Haitian town of Mapou, under so much water it has been described as a lake. The race is on to recover corpses floating in the water to stop disease spreading throughout the region. It is impossible to reach that whole area unless you have a helicopter Marko Kokic Red Cross "It poses a grave health risk for the population there," Marko Kokic of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies told the BBC World Service. He told the World Today programme that aid workers were trying to get hold of small boats so that volunteers could help recover the bodies. Another key priority, Mr Kokic said, was to move the survivors out of the danger zones in case there was more flooding, and to send in water purification tablets, shovels, and body bags. Disease fears The flash floods have destroyed homes and washed away roads in towns and villages across Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which make up the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. Two teams of United Nations disaster relief experts arrived on the island on Friday to help local UN relief teams and other aid workers. "They are there to do a rapid evaluation of the situation and the needs on the ground," said Elisabeth Byrs, a Geneva-based spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "We believe there are more than a total of 48,000 people affected in the two countries." The UN's World Food Programme is flying 8,000 tonnes of aid into the region. On Thursday, three helicopters carrying water, chlorine purification tablets and other supplies were sent to Mapou and Fond Verettes, where 165 people are said to have died. Another 100 bodies have been found in the Haitian coastal town of Grand Gosier. Over the border, disinfectant is to be sprayed in Jimani to stop the spread of disease. US-led peacekeeping forces - who were sent to Haiti to help keep order after the February overthrow of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide - have been helping the relief effort. Many flood-hit towns are impossible to reach except from the air. And continuing rain has hampered the access even of helicopters. Even before the flooding, Mapou was said to take three or four hours to reach from Jacmel, the nearest city. Rivers of mud Across the border in the Dominican town of Jimani, rescuers continued to dig through rivers of mud, reported AFP. The town - now a muddy scar in the landscape, after the flood waters drove through - was the worst-hit in the Dominican Republic. At least 329 bodies have been found there, and at least 300 people are missing. Dominican President Hipolito Mejia and the US ambassador, Hans Hatler, have toured the stricken town. Mr Hatler announced $50,000 in aid, saying more would be delivered as soon as possible. Nearly 700 Red Cross volunteers were reportedly in the town, helping those injured and putting up mosquito nets to protect against outbreaks of malaria and dengue fever. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/americas/3756621.stm Published: 2004/05/28 19:04:47 GMT © BBC MMIV

you mean the US as the common enemy? I don't think that arab nationalists see the US and Western-Europe as their enemy. They want to live like these countries. The only common thing these two groups (nationalist arabs and Islamic fundamentalists) have is that they often abuses Islam for their own purposes

I think you want it to be true, so you can justify that the US went to war with Iraq.

What has that question to do with the articles? I'm not pro-UN or anti-US. It doesn't matter who does this abuses and tortures..UN-soldiers or US-soldiers. They're both wrong.

I find this very strange, because Saddam Hussein is an Arab nationalist and Osama bin Laden is a Islamic fundamentalist. Arab nationalist leaders have often oppress Islamic fundamentalists, because they think they're a treat for the Arab nationalist ideology.

Doesn't Bush has an adviser who advise him about his statements? Then shut the fuck up!

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We had already Chalabi, will he be Chalabi II?

I was talking about sexual abuses and tortures. What has "winning a war" to do with that? Or are people only guilty when they lose a war?

fight a war like a soldier or a warrior, not like a coward who goes after civilians, who can't defend themselves

What about the US? You can say the same about the US-troops