[Peace-discuss] News notes, 1/27/02 (Part 1 of 2)

[C. G. Estabrook]

	NOTES ON THE NEWS OF THE WEEK'S "WAR ON TERRORISM,"
	FOR AWARE MEETING, 1/27/02 (Part 1 of 2)

[On January 26, 1784, Benjamin Franklin wrote a letter to his daughter in
which he complained about the choice of the Bald Eagle as the national
symbol of the United States.  Franklin would have preferred to see the
turkey chosen as the national bird.  He wrote:  "...He is a Bird of bad
moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly...Besides he is a
rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him
boldly and drives him out of the District...The Turkey is in Comparison a
much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of
America...He is besides, though a little vain and silly, a Bird of
Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British
Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on."
--G. Keillor]

Our current American eagle, Secretary of War Rumsfeld, screeched for the
continuation of the war: "If we have to go into 15 more countries, we
ought to do it to deal with the problem of terrorism." --NY Times 1/16/02

[In general, it's been a week of attempts to suppress embarrassing
testimony -- I think because the consensus in favor of the War on
Terrorism ("a mile wide, but an inch deep") is crumbling -- as Rumsfeld et
al. recognize.  See Jeremy Brecher's article at the end of Part 2 of these
notes. --CGE]

The most direct examples of attacks on witnesses benefitted the PM of
Israel and the ex-CEO of Enron:

[1] Elie Hobeika - a former Lebanese militia leader scheduled to testify
against the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, in a human rights case
in Belgium - was blown apart by a car bomb in Beirut yesterday. From the
front page, the Independent loudly and clearly accuses Israel of
assassinating Hobeika, who was involved in the slaughter of up to 1,700
Palestinians in the Sara and Chatila refugee camps in 1982 ... Belgian
senator Vincent van Quickenborne very clearly said on BBC that he found
the timing of the assassination very meaningful. Hobieka's testimony would
have probably supported that of the survivors of the Israeli roundup at
the stadium. He would supply the facts about what happened after the
Israelis took people out of the stadium and disappeared them ... if
Hobeika thought he could prove he was just "following orders", who could
concievably be giving those orders besides the Israelis? The Druze? The
Hezbollah? The Syrians? This assassination isn't just about Sharon, it's
about Israel's occupation of Lebanon. So nobody has as strong a motive a
Israel to eliminate Hobeika, nobody would risk the Phalangist backlash and
civil war just for account-settling, and nobody else could pull off
something like this in Phalangist west Beirut.

[2] John (Clifford) Baxter was found by police on a routine patrol in the
affluent Houston, Texas, suburb of Sugar Land at about 2.30am yesterday
morning. He was alone in his Mercedes and a suicide note was found.
Baxter, 43, Enron's former vice-chairman, was said to have "complained
mightily" about transactions which hid its vast debts in offshore ventures
and eventually led to the company's collapse ... Baxter had been
identified by congressional investigators as a potential key witness in
the efforts to uncover how the spectacular collapse of Enron, once ranked
the seventh largest company in the US, came about. He had reported
directly to Kenneth Lay, the former chairman and chief executive of Enron
who is a friend and financial backer of President Bush. [Man those Houston
forensics experts are fast. They find the body at 2.30 and file a report
the same day. Of course we can trust the totally corrupt state of Texas to
fully investigate this, right?]

SUNDAY, JANUARY 20, 2002 

The United States will pledge $290 million in reconstruction assistance
for Afghanistan, a Bush administration official said Monday. The figure
was to be announced at an international conference on rebuilding the
war-torn nation. More than 60 countries are gathered in Tokyo for two days
of talks on ways to rebuild Afghanistan after 23 years of devastating
warfare. The United Nations, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank
have said $1.7 billion would be needed for the first year. The US pledge
represents about 17 percent of that total. Among those attending is
Afghanistan's interim leader Hamid Karzai, who along with Secretary of
State Colin Powell was to address the gathering. At a briefing Sunday, US
officials, speaking on the condition they not be identified, said the
American efforts in Afghanistan would focus on rural development,
education and removing land mines. Afghanistan is one of the most heavily
mined countries in the world. While US officials said the $290 million
figure may not seem generous given Afghanistan's need, they pointed out
that the United States has spent $4.5 billion on the war effort in the
country since early October. Powell is on the final leg of a five-nation
tour that included a five-hour stop in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he
promised Karzi that America's commitment to the country is longterm.
Powell's diplomacy also included a major effort at easing tensions between
Pakistan and India, nuclear powers on the brink of war. He also made a
stop in Nepal before traveling to Japan. The United Nation says the cost
of rebuilding Afghanistan's infrastructure and getting the government up
and running could reach as much as $15 billion over the next 10 years. Top
priorities including returning law and order to the largely lawless
country and getting farmers back into their fields. Health care,
education, infrastructure and clearing land mines are also expected to
head the agenda at the conference, organized by Japan, the United States,
Saudi Arabia and the European Union. The meeting is seen as a test of the
world community's commitment to helping in Afghanistan's recovery. [AP]
[Note: the amount pledged by the US for a year = 15% of Japan's total, or
about what one week of the cost of the war, according to the minimizing US
government estimates.] 

MONDAY, JANUARY 21, 2002 

THE treatment of al-Qaeda suspects at Camp X-Ray in Cuba was threatening
last night to provoke the first split between America and Britain since
the start of the war against terrorism. Jack Straw demanded a guarantee of
humane treatment for the prisoners in the face of growing alarm from MPs
and senior clergy over the way the suspects were being handled ... the
Foreign Secretary had earlier said that he was "seeking information" about
the circumstances of photographs published at the weekend showing the
prisoners bound, gagged and blindfolded ... The Right Rev Michael
Turnbull, the Bishop of Durham, said: "There are indications that the
treatment of the prisoners is less than the desired conditions. Some of
these people are British subjects after all. If this was in Britain there
would be an outcry" ... These remarks followed the disclosure that a
front-runner to become Archbishop of Canterbury believes the military
action in Afghanistan is "morally tainted". The Most Rev Rowan Williams,
Archbishop of Wales, is publishing a book this week which calls the
campaign an embarrassment. [GUARDIAN UK] 

"STOP THIS BRUTALITY IN OUR NAME, MISTER BLAIR THIS is what is being done
in the name of humanity, civilisation and the British people. These
prisoners are trapped in open cages, manacled hand and foot, brutalised,
tortured and humiliated We are assured they are cruel, evil men, though
not one has been charged, let alone convicted, of any offence. Yet that
does not justify the barbaric treatment they are receiving from US forces.
Barbarism which is backed by our Government. Tony Blair says he is
standing shoulder to shoulder with President Bush. Not on our behalf, he
isn't. Mr Bush is close to achieving the impossible - losing the sympathy
of the civilised world for what happened in New York and Washington on
September 11. Today he celebrates a year in office. He came to the
presidency after a squalid vote-fix, yet in the aftermath of the
destruction of the World Trade Center, he achieved enormous popularity
among the American people. The treatment of the prisoners in Cuba is no
more than a sick attempt to appeal to the worst red-neck prejudices. The
pictures showing how these men are being abused were actually taken by an
official US photographer. The President and his head-banging associates
are proud of them, proud of the cruelty inflicted in their name, proud of
the vengeance they are taking. What the American President does is his
business. But what our Prime Minister does is ours. Tony Blair has played
a unique role in the war on terrorism. He persuaded Mr Bush to calm down
in the days immediately after September 11. He has done more to forge and
hold together the great alliance of nations which is dedicated to ridding
the world of terrorism. Today he should be playing another leading role.
He should be telling George W. Bush that the treatment of the prisoners in
Cuba is not acceptable. If Mr Blair thinks it is, he should have a word
with his wife, Cherie. She is a leading human-rights lawyer. His Foreign
Secretary, Jack Straw, said last week that the prisoners should be treated
humanely. They clearly are not. Once again, Mr Straw has failed to make
the slightest impact. Even if these men had been found guilty, they should
not be treated like this. It is not doing anything to help the war on
terrorism. These pictures will do the opposite - inflame the belief among
some young Muslims that America is their enemy. Anyway, who are these
prisoners? It is said that some may not belong to Osama bin Laden's
al-Qaeda at all, but were members of the Taliban. That was a horrific
regime and the Afghani people are delighted to be rid of it. But it
achieved power with the help of the United States and the UK. Since
September 11, America has walked a fine line between fighting for humanity
and lusting after revenge. The treatment of these prisoners shows how far
the balance has tilted the wrong way. If Mr Bush insists on following this
path, the rest of the world should leave him in no doubt that he walks it
alone. And Tony Blair should be leading the protest. What is happening at
Guantanamo is a disgrace. It must not be done in our name, Mr Blair."
[MIRROR UK] 

After taking up positions outside Yasser Arafat's headquarters in
Ramallah, Israeli tanks occupied the centre of the West Bank town of
Tulkarem as troops swept houses for suspect militants. A 19-year-old
Palestinian was shot dead while another man aged 42 was pronounced
clinically dead after being hit by bullets in the Tulkarem refugee camp.
Eight other Palestinians were injured as clashes flared across the town.
Israeli troops occupied buildings and rounded up suspects in the self-rule
Palestinian town the Israeli army said was used as launching pad for
bloody attacks in Israel, just across the Green Line. The operation was
one of the largest launched by Israeli against a single town since the
start of the Palestinian uprising which began 16 months ago. [AFP] A
massive Israeli incursion into Palestinian territory is a "dangerous
escalation" which will lead to more deaths, the United Nations Middle East
envoy has said. [BBC] 

US and UN officials say they have intelligence indicating that "large
amounts of explosives" (WSJ words) are being smuggled into Kabul in
preparation for an attack on international forces or aid workers. The
officials believe that the attacks are being planned by regional Afghan
leaders angry that they haven't received aid and aren't being courted by
the central government. The paper says the attack that resulted in the
death of a US soldier earlier this month was probably perpetrated by a
disgruntled warlord. Meanwhile, Afghanistan, says the Journal, is actually
becoming more dangerous. "Overall, the trend in the last week has been
very bad," said one UN official. "There have been lots of reports of
trouble throughout the country." According to the paper, US officials are
worried that the man who controls a large part of western Afghanistan,
Ismail Khan, "seems to be building a large cache of arms with the aid of
Iranian officials." Khan has not been very supportive of the central
government in Kabul. [WSJ via SLATE] 

The Colombian Government has reached an agreement with leftist rebels to
keep the country's beleaguered peace process alive. The agreement was
reached only hours before a government deadline of midnight on Sunday
(0500 GMT Monday). According to the 12-point communique, the sides agreed
to "immediately" launch talks aimed at signing a ceasefire deal by 7 April
- three days before a new deadline for the army to retake the rebels' safe
haven in the south of the country. It says the rebels of the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) will try to stop roadside kidnappings and
that the government will take tough action against right-wing militias ...
The agreement was reached after days of talks between Colombian officials
and FARC representatives, facilitated by foreign envoys, at Los Pozos in
the rebels' safe haven. (The diplomats represent:  Canada, Cuba, France,
Italy, Mexico, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UN, the Vatican and
Venezuela.) After it was announced, government and rebel negotiators and
foreign envoys toasted the accord with a drink of rum and cigars handed
out by the Cuban ambassador ... At least 47 people had been killed in
clashes around the country since President Pastrana announced a lifeline
for peace talks a week ago. (Safe haven Created in November 1998 / Size of
Switzerland / Population at least 100,000 / Has its own FARC-run courts
and radio station.) [BBC] 

TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2002 

For the "first time in 16 months of fighting, Israeli forces occupied a
major Palestinian town." Israeli tanks and soldiers entered Tulkarm, which
they contend has been the launching pad for a number of recent terrorist
attacks, and seized the mayor's home as well as "dozens" of other
buildings. The Post says the action is "among Israel's most ambitious
military operations in the Palestinian territories since the Middle East
war of 1967." [WASH POST] The NYT reports that Israel says it's already
pulling out of Tulkarm. 

Four members of the radical Islamic group Hamas were shot dead by Israeli
troops in Nablus during the second major incursion into an autonomous
Palestinian city in 24 hours. Israeli radio, quoting military officials,
said two of the men killed in the swoop were expert Hamas bomb makers who
figured high on Israel's list of wanted suspects. [They were apparently
shot indoors, at close range, in the head; pone of the bodies was burned.]
The raid on Nablus, the largest city in the West Bank, came just as
Israeli forces were pulling out of Tulkarem, where for the first time
since partial Palestinian self-rule was granted in 1994 they had
reoccupied a whole Palestinian town for a day. [AFP] 

The Los Angeles Times leads with a good, enterprising piece examining how
energy industry lobbyists are trying to make sure that the Enron fiasco
doesn't cause lawmakers to re-regulate the industry ... Congress was, and
perhaps still is, considering further deregulating the energy industry.
Yesterday, one lawmaker labeled such a bill the, "One Last Gift for Enron
Act." [SLATE] 

The NYT implies that earlier this month, the US bombed an arms cache that
Iran gave to Ismail Khan, an anti-Taliban leader and the governor of
Herat. [SLATE] 

The first legal challenge to the detention of America's captives from
Afghanistan at a naval base in Guantanamo Bay is due to be heard in a Los
Angeles court on Tuesday. ("Someone should be asserting their rights under
international law." -Petitioner Erwin Chemerinsky.) The challenge, which
has been filed by a number of civil rights activists, demands that the US
Government brings the suspects before a court and defines the charges
against them. Backed by a former attorney-general, it alleges that the
prisoners are being held in violation both of the Geneva Convention and
American law ... Correspondents say that what worries Washington the most
is that if the detainees were classed as PoWs, the Geneva Convention would
entitle them to refuse to give their interrogators any information other
than their names, ranks and serial numbers.  

WEDNESDAY 

CONGRESS RETURNS.  The observation, "No man's life, liberty or property
are safe while the Legislature is in session" -- is attributed to Gideon
J. Tucker, a 19th century American judge, and to Mark Twain.  But doesn't
that attitude encourage people to ignore their remaining democratic
instruments? 

In another astonishing demonstration of the profound commitment to
democracy on the part of the USA's coalition partners in the war on
terrorism, the Turkish government brought charges against Istanbul's Aram
Publishing for printing a translated Noam Chomsky essay collection,
entitled "American Interventionism." The book includes a lecture Chomsky
gave at Ohio's University of Toledo last March, in which he said the
Turkish government had "launched a major war in the Southeast against the
Kurdish population," and described the conflict as "one of the most severe
human rights atrocities of the 1990s." Aram director Fatih Tas faces a
year in prison if convicted on charges of "conducting propaganda against
the state." The trial is due to begin in Feb. The indictment issued by
Istanbul's State Security Court said passages in the book constitute
"propaganda against the indivisible unity of the nation." Chomsky said the
lecture was based on material from "the leading human rights
organizations...the most respected standard scholarship, and official US
government documents." Turkey's government has been fighting a war against
Kurdish rebels demanding autonomy in the southeast for over 15 years. The
conflict has eased since the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) announced a
unilateral cease-fire in 1999. But the government rejected the cease-fire,
and sporadic fighting continues. About 37,000, mostly Kurdish rebels and
civilians, have been killed in the fighting since 1984. Dozens of Turkish
writers and intellectuals have been jailed under strict laws forbidding
criticism of the war. [A-INFOS NEWS SERVICE] 

THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 2002 

US President George W Bush has announced plans for a $48bn increase in
defence spending to fight the war on terror. The increase - of nearly 15%
- will be the largest rise in US military spending in 20 years, he said in
a speech to military reserve officers. It will include salary increases
for military personnel as well as money to buy the latest precision
weapons, missile defences, unmanned vehicles and hi-tech equipment for
ground troops. He said that his proposals were non-partisan, stating that
there were no differences between the White House and Congress on the
issue ... "There is no daylight between the executive and the legislative
branches," he said ... A White House official said the increase included
$38bn for the pay rise and weaponry and $10bn in "war reserves". The total
defence budget will be $379bn. Mr Bush was giving details of the $2
trillion budget that he will submit to Congress on 4 February ... Mr Bush
said that the war on terror had started in Afghanistan but it would not
end there. He spoke of the "shadowy enemy dwelling in dark corners of the
earth" ... Republican Senator John Warner of Virginia, who is on the
Senate Armed Services Committee, said he expected Congress to support the
defence budget increase. "In my opinion the Congress is going to be
supportive of the president," Senator Warner told reporters. "The people
of the United States are prepared and ready to support an increase of this
size."  

More than 200 Afghan asylum-seekers - dozens of whom have sewn their lips
together - refused food for the eighth day yesterday, while 40 people
tried to poison themselves by swallowing shampoo and painkillers. Seven
were taken to hospital, while there were reports of self-mutilation by
children and adults. The actions are the culmination of months of turmoil
at the isolated, swelteringly hot camp, which was recently described as "a
hellhole" by the former Liberal prime minister Malcolm Fraser. There have
been riots, arson attacks and mass escapes by the 900 immigrants
incarcerated behind high, metal fences ... Yesterday one of the
government's most senior advisers on immigration resigned, citing its
vilification of "boat people" and the xenophobia that has swept Australia
since the Tampa [ship] affair last August ... Philip Ruddock, the
Immigration Minister, on Monday told Afghans to go home if they did not
like Woomera. He has admitted that conditions at the country's six
detention centres are kept deliberately bleak, in the hope of deterring
more boat people from making their way to Australian shores. Delays in
processing refugee claims mean that some detainees at Woomera - who are
mainly from Afghanistan and the Middle East - have been at the camp since
it opened two years ago ... the Tampa, a Norwegian freighter, rescued 434
Afghans from a sinking boat in the Indian Ocean last year and attempted to
deliver them to Australia ... the government refused to accept the Tampa's
passengers, shipping them instead for assessment to New Zealand and the
remote Pacific island of Nauru ... Despite the noisy approval of much of
Middle Australia, which voted John Howard back into office last November,
a substantial minority of people are horrified by the events of the past
five months. In a letter to the Sydney Morning Herald, a Catholic priest,
Peter Dresser, wrote: "Whenever I see a photograph of the self-righteous
Philip Ruddock, I feel a great sadness for him and his government
policies, but a greater sadness for the demise of the compassionate heart
of Australia I once knew and loved." Mr Ruddock said yesterday that five
children under 14 were to be removed from Woomera to prevent them from
being coerced by adults into joining protests. Three boys were taken to
hospital to have stitches extracted from their lips . Like many children
at the camp, the three were not accompanied by parents when they arrived
in Australia. The incarceration of children in such circumstances has
attracted bitter criticism, and the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities
Commission plans to investigate Woomera. A veil of secrecy shrouds Woomera
and the other detention centres, with only a handful of lawyers and church
groups allowed in. The media is denied access except on stage-managed
visits during which it is forbidden from talking to detainees. The refusal
to open up the centres to scrutiny means, among other things, that the
public is dependent on the government's version of events. Last year the
government claimed, without checking, that a boatload of Iraqi
asylum-seekers intercepted by the Australian Navy in the Indian Ocean had
thrown children into the water to avoid being turned back. When it later
received evidence to the contrary, it did not release it. One recent
visitor to Woomera was Michael Dudley, the chairman of Suicide Prevention
Australia. He said people were introduced to him by number rather than
name, and related "evidence of violence and despair in the filthy and
blood-stained toilets". He said: "There was not shade or a blade of grass
in the compound. Younger children asked us why there are no flowers in
Australia." [INDEPENDENT UK]  These detention centers are run by
Australasian Correctional Management, a fully owned subsidiary of giant US
corporation Wackenhut, which holds tens of thousands of prisoners behind
bars world-wide. It operates 42 prisons in the USA and has private prisons
in Puerto Rico, England and New Zealand. Wackenhut works closely with the
FBI and CIA and this year became the first private prison operator to take
over a federal prison, a facility that houses many of the 25,000
undocumented immigrants in the US. Eleven Wackenhut guards are currently
awaiting trial on charges of bashing and raping women at its Travis County
Community Justice Centre in Texas. [GUARDIAN UK] 

More than 200,000 people, both supporters and detractors of Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez launched twin marches in the capital amid high
security. The marches, marking the 44th anniversary of the fall of
Venezuelan dictator Marcos Perez Jimenez, were held streets apart
Wednesday, with a strong police presence for the opposition group, and
some 150 military police and detectives guarding the presidential parade.
[AFP] 

At a forum Thursday hosted by former President Clinton ... he conceded in
discussion with Muqtedar Khan, of Adrian College in Michigan, that America
hasn't done enough to support democracy. "I agree with you. I didn't do as
good a job as I should. But I couldn't figure out how to do it," he said.
"Tell us how to do it." Attended by about 200 invited guests, the daylong
conference was the first public event held by the Clinton Presidential
Foundation. Raghida Dergham, a <US-based> diplomatic correspondent for the
Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat, said America must change its foreign policy if
it wants to defeat Muslim radicals. She said a central problem is
"America's unqualified support of Israel" despite its "illegal occupation
of Palestinians." Muslims, she said, "feel a great injustice was done to
them, not only by Israel but by the United States." Clinton responded that
the Palestinians rejected a deal with Israel, brokered by his
administration, that would have given them a state covering Gaza,
virtually the entire West Bank and all but "a few blocks" in East
Jerusalem. He said US financial aid goes to Egypt as well as Israel, under
terms of a peace treaty America was committed to. [AFP] 

The police department has refused to direct traffic at a YMCA triathlon
because it says the club promotes witchcraft by reading Harry Potter books
to children. Penryn Fire Police Capt. Robert Fichthorn said the
eight-member force voted unanimously to boycott the 20th running of the
triathlon, scheduled for Sept. 7. "I don't feel right taking our
children's minds and teaching them (witchcraft)," Fichthorn said. "As long
as we don't stand up, it won't stop. It's unfortunate that this is the way
it has to be." The Lancaster Family YMCA began reading chapters of the
Harry Potter books to children enrolled in an after-school program in
November. In a letter to the township and the YMCA, Fichthorn challenged
the religious integrity of the YMCA, and questioned whether it was
"serving the will of God" in using the books. The wildly popular
children's books by J.K. Rowling chronicle the fictional adventures of the
young Harry Potter as he attends a boarding school for wizards and battles
his nemesis, the evil sorcerer Voldemort. The YMCA's executive director,
Michael Carr, said he was disappointed by the department's decision, but
doesn't expect it to stop about 600 triathletes from participating in the
race. Township Supervisor Ronald Krause said the YMCA may have to hire
police from another community to direct traffic for the race. The course
includes a one-mile swim, a 25-mile bicycle route and a 6.2-mile run.
About 200 volunteers are needed to run the event, which passes through
Penryn, a small community about 66 miles west of Philadelphia. [AP] 

Pope John Paul and religious leaders including Muslims and Jews, Buddhists
and Hindus, committed themselves on Thursday to work for peace and shun
violence. Christian monks in brown woolen habits, saffron-robed Buddhists,
black-cloaked Muslims, Sikhs wearing turbans, white-bearded Orthodox
patriarchs and rabbis traveled together on a peace train to pray near the
tomb of St. Francis. ``Violence never again! War never again! Terrorism
never again! In the name of God, may every religion bring upon the earth
justice and peace, forgiveness and life. Love,'' the Pope said. He spoke
at the end of an emotional day in which some 200 religious leaders
representing a dozen faiths made pledges in the city of the 13th-century
saint most associated with peace. Wearing his traditional white robe, the
Roman Catholic leader sat on a red stage flanked by religious figures as
they each addressed a crowd of 3,000 people in a white tent. Solemn
commitments to work for peace were read in 11 languages including Hebrew,
Arabic, Farsi and Punjabi. "We commit ourselves to proclaiming our firm
conviction that violence and terrorism are incompatible with the authentic
spirit of religion,'' said one read by Konrad Raiser, secretary-general of
the World Council of Churches. The Pope, who lit peace lamps with other
participants, said they all wanted to "do our part in fending off the dark
clouds of terrorism, hatred, armed conflict, which in these last few
months have grown particularly ominous on humanity's horizon.'' The Middle
East crisis came to the fore when Rabbi Israel Singer of the World Jewish
Congress departed from his prepared address and alluded to the conflict
with Palestinians. ``You should tell your people, and we should tell ours,
all of us, all of us, to question whether land or places are more
important than people's lives. And until we learn to do that there will be
no peace,'' Singer said, raising his voice ... Geshe Tashi Tsering,
wearing a crimson and saffron robe, began his time on the center stage
with a Buddhist chant. Chief Amadou Gasseto, of the traditional Vodou
animist religion of the West African nation of Benin, said the occasion
taught "the art of knowing how to respect one's adversary, of tolerating
differences and understanding others' convictions.'' It was the third such
day of peace led by the Pope, who has said he hopes the meeting will
promote relations with Muslims ... After a morning session, the religious
groups went off to pray in various rooms before sharing a vegetarian lunch
and returning to the tent for the final pledges ... outside Assisi, not
everyone was happy with the events. ``To pray with heretics, schismatics,
rabbis, mullahs, witch doctors and various idolaters creates confusion
among Catholic believers,'' Federico Bricolo and Massimo Polledri, members
of an Italian government coalition party, said in a statement. [REUTERS] 

FRIDAY JANUARY 25 

Just 10 weeks after the Taliban fled Kabul city, Afghans are already
starting to say they felt safer under the now-defeated hardline militia
than under the power-sharing interim administration that has replaced it.
Murders, robberies and hijackings in the capital, factional clashes in the
north and south of the country, instability in Kandahar and banditry on
roads linking main centres are beginning to erode the optimism that
greeted the inauguration of the interim administration on December 22.
Senior United Nations official Francesc Vendrell said there were "reasons
for concern" over the security situation in Afghanistan. "There are
hundreds of thousands of people with weapons," said Vendrell, deputy to
the UN special envoy to Afghanistan, Lakhdar Brahimi. "There are various
armed groups who do not respond yet to central command. There are forces
from various commanders facing each other in places such as the north." He
said the situation in the south of the country was still "unclear" and it
could take up to 30,000 international troops to secure the main towns and
cities and the potholed tracks that pass as highways in the war-battered
country. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is limited to
4,500 troops and restricted to the Kabul area to protect the new interim
government during its six-month lifespan. In Kabul, where a night-time
curfew is still in place, shots and explosions are often heard after dark.
Residents reported three people murdered on Wednesday alone. Last week "an
incendiary device" exploded against one of the walls surrounding the
tightly guarded United States embassy in Kabul, spokesman John Kincannon
said, adding that no damage was caused. The owner of a jewellery store in
the city centre told AFP he did not feel safe at night as armed men allied
to one or other of the many military commanders who fought against the
Taliban are wont to take over the streets after dark. "We cannot sleep
well during the night, fearing someone may enter the house," said the
jeweller, who would not be named. "The only good thing about the Taliban
militia was that they provided us with security," he said. Madena (eds:
one name), an Afghan woman buying gold earrings in the jewellery store,
said her brothers and cousins had taken to standing guard at their house
at night, something they never did during the rigid rule of the Taliban,
which held public executions and amputations to deter crime. She blamed
the insecurity on the presence of armed men working as private soldiers
for the military commanders, the poor state of the economy and lack of
punishment for culprits. Diplomatic sources in Kabul said there was a
definite increase in instability in Kabul. "This is clear," said one
diplomat, who added that there are around 700,000 armed people in
Afghanistan. "They have the culture of the Kalashnikov. They don't want to
lay down their arms." [AFP] 

[continued in part 2]