APS Diplomat Recorder articles from February 2002

APS Diplomat Recorder archives from February 2002

ARAB-EUROPEAN RELATIONS - Jan. 27 - Two More Britons Named As Al Qaida Suspects.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... The UK Foreign Office names Asif Iqbal, 20, and Shafiq Rasul, 24, both from the West Midlands, as Al Qaida members. (They are held at the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Feroz Abbasi, 22, from Surrey, was last week the first British...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 27 - Suicide Bomber Kills Two And Wounds 120.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Wafa Idris, a 28-year-old medic from the West Bank Amari refugee camp, triggers a massive explosion in central Jerusalem's Jaffa Street, killing herself and Pinhas Tokatli, an 81-year-old Israeli, and wounding more than 120. (This is the...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 29 - Four Wounded Near Bethlehem.(West Bank)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... The Army backed by tanks raid PA-controlled Artas village near Bethlehem early in the morning and arrest a member of Islamic Jihad, leaving a trail of crushed and overturned cars and four villagers wounded by gunfire. A grenade was thrown into...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 29 - Abdullah Hits Israeli Policy.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Reuters quotes Jordanian King Abdullah as saying Israel has taken advantage of Washington's pre-occupation with the campaign against terror to wreck the Middle East peace process. He also gives his backing to growing international calls against...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Jan. 31 - Sharon Sorry He Did Not Kill Arafat In 1982.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... PM Sharon tells Maariv: "There was an agreement in Lebanon [in 1982] not to eliminate Yassir Arafat. Actually, I am sorry that we did not eliminate him". (An Israeli sniper is said to have had Arafat in his sights when the Palestinian leader...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Jan. 27 - Arab Allies Urge US Not To Abandon Arafat.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt step up consultations to send a common message to the US not to abandon Arafat, with a senior Arab official saying: "The US's three main Arab allies are speaking with one voice and saying to the US that it's...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Jan. 28 - Rumsfeld Defiant Over Detainees In Cuba.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Visiting the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, which houses 158 detainees captured in Afghanistan, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld repeats his earlier remarks that battlefield detainees in US prison camps in Cuba and Afghanistan are not...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Jan. 29 - Bush Outlines Policy.(George W. Bush)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... In his first State of the Union address, Pres. Bush says, "our war against terror is only beginning" and sends new warnings to terrorists around the world and to three nations - Iran, Iraq and North Korea. Using unusually strong language, he...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Jan. 31 - King Abdullah Warns Bush Against Attacking 'Axis Of Evil'.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Speaking before meetings with senior US administration officials in Washington, Jordanian King Abdullah warns that a US attack on Iraq would lead to instability across the Arab world, undermining support from moderate Arab states for the war on...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Jan. 31 - Rumsfeld Says US Must Be Ready To Strike.(Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Defence Secretary Rumsfeld tells the National Defence University in Washington that the US must be prepared to launch pre-emptive strikes against emerging threats including terrorists. He says the Pentagon must shift its priorities to building...

AFGHANISTAN - Jan. 27 - Karzai In Washington.(Interim PM Hamid Karzai)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Interim PM Karzai arrives in Washington. (He is the first Afghan leader to visit Washington in 39 years). Pres. Bush, welcoming Karzai to the White House, announces that the US will help rebuild a national Afghan army and emphasises that the...

AFGHANISTAN - Jan. 28 - US Special Forces Join Afghan Troops In Storming Of Ward.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... About 120 Afghan troops and 20 US special forces soldiers storm Mirwais hospital prison ward in Kandahar, killing six wounded Arab fighters who have been barricaded inside since Dec. 8, 2001. (The assault wipes out the last known pocket of...

AFGHANISTAN - Jan. 29 - Central Bank To Adopt US Dollar.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Central Bank Governor Abdul Qadeer Fitrat says the interim government will decide soon whether to replace the local currency, the afghani, with the dollar as legal tender until it introduces a new currency. The move wins support from the IMF,...

AFGHANISTAN - Jan. 30 - Karzai Calls On Security Council To Extend Peacekeeping Force.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Speaking to a special session of the UN Security Council in New York, Karzai appeals for the international force now policing Kabul to be increased and expanded to other areas of the country. He does not specify how large an international force...

AFGHANISTAN - Jan. 31 - Heavy Fighting In Gardez.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... AFP reports heavy fighting in Gardez, 130 km south of Kabul in Paktia Province, between forces led by Padsha Khan Zadran and a rival warlord Saifullah. (Apart from relatively minor skirmishes, the fighting is the first time since the collapse...

AFGHANISTAN - Jan. 31 - Karzai In London.(Hamid Karzai)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Karzai visits London and holds talks with PM Blair. Karzai says: "We could not have liberated ourselves from the aggression of terrorism... without the help that you gave, the United States gave, other countries gave and the United Nations. We...

BAHRAIN - Jan. 29 - Fuel Leak Of Collided Warship Stopped.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... A US Navy official says in Manama that crew members have stopped a fuel leak from Ogden US amphibious warship that collided with The attack nuclear-powered submarine Greeneville in the Arabian Sea 65 km off Oman on Jan. 27. On Jan. 28, the...

IRAN - Jan. 27 - Khatami Meets Visiting Iraqi FM.(Pres. Mohammed Khatami)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Pres. Khatami meets visiting Iraqi FM Naji Sabri, who arrived in the country on Jan. 25. for a 4-day visit at the invitation of FM Kamal Kharrazi. Khatami points to the religious, historical and neighbourly relations and commonalties between...

ISRAEL - Jan. 29 - Reservists Hit West Bank and Gaza Occupation.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... A report in The IHT, quoting Yedioth Ahronoth, says: "More than 60 Israeli Army reservists... have publicly refused to continue serving in the West Bank and Gaza Strip on the ground that Israeli occupation forces there are abusing and...

KUWAIT - Feb. 1 - Explosion At OilField Kills 4.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Oil Minister Adel Al Subaih says an explosion at a state oilfield, caused by an oil leak, have killed four workers and injured 17. He says the blast has destroyed part of a facility that produces 280,000 b/d but "production will be compensated...

RUSSIA - Jan. 27 - Deputy Interior Minister Killed In Helicopter Crash.(Gen. Mikhail Rudchenko)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Mi-8 military helicopter carrying the Deputy Interior Minister responsible for security in southern Russia Gen. Mikhail Rudchenko and 13 others crashes near Shelkovskaya, north-east of Grozny. (Rudchenko is one of the highest-ranking officials...

RUSSIA - Jan. 28 - Aliyev In Moscow.(Pres. Geidar Aliyev, Azerbaijan)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Visiting Moscow, Azeri Pres. Geidar Aliyev tells a news conference after meeting Pres. Putin: "We agreed to begin work on drawing a median line between Russia and Azerbaijan". He says the talks with Putin helped forge a partnership that would...

RUSSIA - Jan. 28 - Radio Liberty Warned.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Kremlin spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky warns Radio Liberty that its coverage of the war in Chechnya will be closely monitored and the Kremlin may take away its licence if a pro-rebel bias is noticed. He says the government has a "guarded"...

RUSSIA - Jan. 29 - Economic Growth Slowed But Keeps Improving.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... Pres. Putin aide Andrei Illarionov says economic growth slowed in 2001, but the country's financial health can keep improving despite a drop in oil prices. (The GDP grew only 1.8% in 1999 but then expanded 8.2% in 2000. In 2001 growth slowed to...

RUSSIA - Feb. 1 - Berezovsky Accuses Kremlin.(Boris Berezovsky)(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... In an interview in London, exiled oligarch Boris Berezovsky says he is just weeks away from laying out documentary evidence that the Federal Security Service (FSB) were involved in apartment-house explosions in Sept. 1999 that killed more than...

SAUDI ARABIA - Jan. 26 - Prince Nawaf Backs Arafat.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... In a blunt criticism of US Pres. Bush, Prince Nawaf Bin Abdulaziz, director of the kingdom's intelligence service, calls Arafat "a man of peace" and warns that any action by the US to weaken him would destroy prospects for a peace settlement in...

SAUDI ARABIA - Jan. 31 - Guardian Accuses Secret Police Of Torturing Briton.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... The Guardian reports that tax adviser Ron Jones was seized by the secret police in Riyadh in March 2001 after he was injured in an explosion and forced him to confess to the bombing. (He is reportedly the fourth Briton who was tortured by the...

TURKEY - Jan. 29 - Denktash Urges Direct EU Aide.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... The Turkish Cypriot News Agency quotes Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash as saying: "For us direct aid is acceptable, not aid given through Greek Cypriot channels. That is not acceptable". (Senior EU officials say the EU could offer E208m in...

TURKEY - Feb. 1 - Ankara Met Conditions For Receiving $16 Bn.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... IMF representative Odd Per Brekk says Ankara has met all the conditions for receiving $16 bn in loans that the IMF is to approve on Jan. 4. (Ankara said it would close some 900 branches of lumbering state banks in preparation for their...

UZBEKISTAN - Jan. 28 - Karimov Wins Backing For Extended Presidential Term.(Brief Article)
February 2, 2002... The head of the Central Election Commission Abdurafik Akhadov tells a news conference that in the Jan. 27 referendum between 91-92% have voted "yes" to a proposal to extend Pres. Islam Karimov's constitutional term from 5 to 7 years. (The...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 3 - Peres Hits Tehran.(Israeli Foreign Minister)(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... Attending the World Economic Forum in New York, FM Peres says in an interview with The IHT: "Iran has given Hizbollah a collection of 8,000 Katusha missiles with a range of between 20 and 70 kilometres over the last six months, and those...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 4 - Five Gunmen Killed In Gaza.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... Five Palestinian gunmen driving in the Gaza Strip are killed. PA security officials say Israeli helicopters have fired several missiles at the vehicle. The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a radical faction of the PLO, said the...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 7 - Sharon In US.(Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon)(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... Visiting Washington, PM Sharon meets US Pres. Bush, who says he will continue to press the PA to crack down on terrorism but he balks at Sharon's call for isolating Arafat. Bush says Arafat "must do everything in his power to fight terror......

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 7 - Israel Hits PA Compound In Nablus.(Palestinian Authority)(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... Israeli helicopter gunship launches an air strike on a PA compound in Nablus, wounding one person. (The attack appears to be in retaliation for the three Israelis who died on Feb. 6 when a Palestinian gunman raided the settlement of Hamra in...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb. 3 - Powell Welcomes Contacts With PA Officials.(Secretary of State Colin Powell)(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... Declaring that "we can't walk away" from the crisis in the Middle East, State Secretary Powell says on CBS TV he is pleased that PM Sharon has met with top PA leaders and that he intends to do the same in coming days to discuss a ceasefire and...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb. 5 - Powell Defends Hardline Policy On Rogue States.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... State Secretary Powell defends Washington's hardline approach to Iran, Iraq and North Korea as "an axis of evil", but insists that the US remains ready to conduct talks with all three states. He says Bush's approach echoes Pres. Ronald Reagan's...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb. 6 - Tenet Says Al Qaida Continues To Plan Attacks On US.(CIA Director George Tenet)(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... CIA Director George Tenet, 49, tells the Senate Intelligence Committee that Al Qaida is continuing to plan multiple attacks on targets in the US and elsewhere. He says: "We remain a nation at war... American diplomatic and military...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb. 6 - US Set On 'Regime Change' In Iraq.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... US State Secretary Powell tells the Congress International Relations Committee if Iraq does not "let the inspectors in as part of the UN effort, then regime change is something the United States would - might have to do alone. How to do it? I...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb. 7 - Geneva Convention Protection To Be Granted To Taliban Detainees.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... White House spokesman Ari Fleischer announces that the US will grant the protections of the Geneva Conventions to detainees who fought for the Taliban but not to members of Al Qaida terrorist network. (This is in response to protests from US...

AFGHANISTAN - Feb. 3 - Ceasefire In Gardez Agreed.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... Kabul and UN mediators, joined by US officials, extract a conditional ceasefire agreement from the government-appointed governor Padsha Khan Zadran and Pashtun tribal rival Saifullah, who were fighting in Gardez, 122 km south of Kabul, last...

AFGHANISTAN - Feb. 4 - Qanuni Speaks Of Local Security Force.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... Appearing at a press conference with the British commander of the multinational peacekeeping force Gen. John McColl, Interior Minister Yunus Qanuni says: "We need to make the Afghanistan security forces self-sufficient. All the provinces and...

AFGHANISTAN - Feb. 4 - US Killed Innocents In 2 Raids.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... During his interview with Washington Post editors and reporters at the Gulkhana Palace, Interim PM Karzai says: "American military forces killed innocent people in two operations in southern Afghanistan recently, and in one case had been...

AFGHANISTAN - Feb. 6 - Karzai Visits Herat.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... PM Karzai visits the western city of Herat. (This is his first trip outside Kabul since he took office in December. The Herat area has been one of the most troubled over the last two decades). He is welcomed warmly in the city, receiving...

AFGHANISTAN - Feb. 6 - Expanded Security Force Urged.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi calls for an expansion of the international security force, telling UN Security Council: "The visible presence of ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] has led to an improvement in the security situation in...

AFGHANISTAN - Feb. 7 - Karzai Calls For Democracy.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... Inaugurating a blue-ribbon commission that will set the form and rules for a great council to shape the next government, Interim PM Karzai says: "Our people want freedom. Freedom from outside influence. Freedom inside Afghanistan. And freedom...

EGYPT - Feb. 6 - Highest Court Overturns Ibrahim's Conviction.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... The Court of Cassation rules that a 63-year-old American-Egyptian sociologist Saad Eddin Ibrahim and 26 other employees of the Bin Khaldun Centre should be retried by the State Security Court, which convicted them in spring 2002 on charges that...

EGYPT - Feb. 6 - Egypt Claims $10 Bn In Donor Pledges.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... At the conference hosted by the World Bank, Cairo says it has received $10.3 bn in pledges of grants, soft loans and project financing from international donors to be spent over the next 3 years. But an unidentified official, involved in...

IRAN - Feb. 3 - US Sharpens Criticism.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... Top US officials sharpen their criticism of Tehran, with US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice saying: "They [Iraq, Iran and North Korea] are a clear and present threat to us and to all the responsible and civilised world". US Defence...

IRAN - Feb. 3 - EU Rejects Bush's Line.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... EU diplomats say they have no intention of ending their dialogue with Tehran, with a senior EU diplomat saying: "Bush can say what he likes and we listen to him. But we've seen in the past how Washington's policy of containment with regard to...

IRAN - Feb. 7 - Tehran Turns Down British Ambassador.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... Tehran rejects the nomination of David Reddaway, 48, as British ambassador. (The move comes after hardline newspapers accused Reddaway of being "a Jew and a member of MI6" and criticised his Iranian wife). The Foreign Office says the move will...

IRAN - Feb. 8 - Theologians Warn Washington.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... Traditionalist theologians warn the US against attacking the country, with former president Ayat. Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani telling worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran university that a US military adventure will plunge Washington into a...

IRAQ - Feb. 4 - US & UK Bomb Northern No-Fly Zone.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... US and British planes patrolling a no-fly zone over the north of the country bomb Iraqi air defence systems in response to anti-aircraft fire. (This is the first time US and British planes have bombed the north since the Sept. 11 terrorist...

ISRAEL - Feb. 5 - No Plans To Attack Iran.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... Transport Minister Ephraim Sneh says on Israel Radio Israel has no plans to attack Iran. He renews accusations that Tehran is trying to heat up the Israeli-Lebanese border by arming Hizbollah. He says of the Iranians: "That's all they are...

ISRAEL - Feb. 6 - Anti-Missile Drill With US.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... A report in The FT says: "Israeli and US forces have held a joint exercise to test defence systems that would be used to counter an Iraqi missile attack on Israel". US officials say the exercise took place last month and focused on the Arrow...

KUWAIT - Feb. 3 - Police Officer Sentenced To Death.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... Police officer Khaled Azmi is sentenced to death by hanging on charges of killing Hidaya Sultan Salem, a 56-year-old magazine editor who insulted his tribe in an article. The sentence can be appealed in two higher courts.

RUSSIA - Feb. 4 - Seven People Killed By Deserters.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... Two paratroopers, Sergeant Almaz Shageyev, 20, and Private Mikhail Sukhorukov, 20, desert their base and fatally shoot five police officers, who tried to stop them, and two civilians near the Volga River city of Ulyanovsk. Another two people...

RUSSIA - Feb. 7 - Helicopter Crashes In Chechnya.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... A military helicopter crashes while approaching the federal forces' main base in Chechnya, killing at least 7 of the 10 people on board. The Kremlin blamed faulty equipment or crew error for the crash.

SAUDI ARABIA - Feb. 6 - CP Abdullah Urges Good Governance & Hits Overspending.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz issues a circular, in which he preaches good governance and threatens to fire incompetent officials. He says: "We have noticed that many government bodies are requesting financial allocations outside the...

TURKEY - Feb. 3 - Earthquake In ?entral Anatolia.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... A powerful earthquake damages more than 600 buildings in central Anatolia, killing at least 43 people, injuring more than 150. Public Works Minister Abdulkadir Akcan says: "Because today is Sunday and shops are closed, a huge disaster was...

TURKEY - Feb. 6 - Greek Cypriots Accuse Ankara Of Arms Shipment.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... A report in The IHT says: "Greek Cypriot officials have accused Turkey of shipping arms to the northern part of the island, an act that they said undermined peace talks between the island's rival ethnic groups". Ankara and Turkish Cypriot...

YEMEN - Feb. 3 - Foreign Muslims Attending Islamic Centre To Be Deported.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... A security official says Sanaa has begun deporting about 115 foreign Muslims, including British and French nationals, arrested in a crackdown on students attending an Islamic Centre in the Marib region. The official says four British Muslims...

YEMEN - Feb. 5 - Saleh's Control Limited.(Brief Article)
February 9, 2002... The reports in The IHT quotes Pres. Saleh as saying that his security forces are closing in on two suspected Al Qaida terrorists sought by the US, but that he is depending for the moment on tribal chieftains to find the men and persuade them to...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 10 - Two Palestinians Attack Army HQ Killing 2.(Brief Article)
February 16, 2002... Two Palestinians get out of a car and fire at soldiers sitting at Avraham Baldinger's pastry shop outside the Army's Southern Command headquarters in Beersheba, killing two women - Captain Keren Rothstein, 20, and Corporal Aya Malachi, 18 -...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 11 - Paris Offers Peace Plan.(Brief Article)
February 16, 2002... A report in The FT says French FM Hubert Vedrine has presented a Middle East peace plan to his EU counterparts at the weekend in the western Spanish city of Caceres. (The peace initiative is one of the most radical presented by any EU country...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 12 - Incursions Follow Rocket 'Escalation'.(Brief Article)
February 16, 2002... A Palestinian man is killed and 10 other Palestinians are arrested as the Army conducts two separate raids on Halhoul and Ramallah in the West Bank. The Army says the raid on Halhoul early in the morning followed the attack by Palestinian...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 12 - Washington Praises Arafat's Letter.(Yasir Arafat)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2002... Todd S. Purdum of The New York Times reports from Washington that Arafat has sent a letter to US State Secretary Powell, suggesting that he is ready to take a more aggressive stand against attacks on Israelis by Palestinian militants and to...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 13 - Army Raids Gaza Strip.(Brief Article)
February 16, 2002... The Army kills five Palestinians in raids in Deir El Balah, Beit Hanun and Beit Lahiya in the Gaza Strip. The Army says the raids are a response to the Feb. 10 launching of Qassam-2 rockets by Hamas. PA security officials said three policemen...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 13 - Peres' Peace Plan.(Brief Article)
February 16, 2002... FM Peres discusses his new peace plan in his office in Jerusalem, which calls for a ceasefire, immediate recognition of an initial Palestinian state on limited turf and a year-long negotiation over what the final state would look like. On Feb....

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 14 - Sixteen Palestinians Released.(Brief Article)
February 16, 2002... Israel releases 16 of the 18 Palestinians arrested in the Feb. 13 raid in the Gaza Strip. The move stokes criticism that the Feb. 13 mission was a failure. Israeli experts say the militants evidently fled by the time the tanks and armoured...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 14 - Bomb Kills 3 Israelis In Gaza.(Brief Article)
February 16, 2002... AP reports three Israelis are killed and two wounded when a bomb goes off next to a tank in the Gaza Strip. Israeli military officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, say Palestinians have opened fire on a civilian convoy guarded by...

ARABS-ISRAEL - Feb. 15 - Five Israelis Killed.(Brief Article)
February 16, 2002... The commander of the Army's Duvdevan, or Cherry, elite unit Lt. Col. Eyal Weiss, 34, dies early in the morning when an Israeli armoured bulldozer razes the home of Islamic Jihad militant Jasser Abdel Ghadad in Palestinian village of Saida in...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb. 12 - Washington To Topple Saddam.(Saddam Hussein)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2002... In testimony before the Senate Budget Committee, State Secretary Powell says: "With respect to Iraq, it has long been, for several years now, a policy of the United States government that regime change would be in the best interests of the...

ARAB-US RELATIONS - Feb. 15 - Cheney Confident Of Support For Actions Against Baghdad.(US Vice President Dick Cheney)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2002... VP Dick Cheney tells the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington: "If aggressive action [against Iraq] is required I would anticipate there would be the appropriate support for that both from the American people and the international...

AFGHANISTAN - Feb. 9 - Abdullah Cautions.(Brief Article)
February 16, 2002... FM Abdullah Abdullah warns that Taliban leaders are regrouping and could still destabilise the situation despite the surrender of the former Taliban foreign minister and his detention by US troops. He says pockets of Taliban fighters remaining...

AFGHANISTAN - Feb. 11 - Zahir Shah Could Become Head Of State.(Brief Article)
February 16, 2002... A report in The FT, quoting Western diplomats in Kabul, says: "The search for a national figure to lead the country through a dangerous period of transition could result in the return of Mohammad Zahir Shah, the former king, and his appointment...

AFGHANISTAN - Feb. 12 - UK Troops May Stay Longer.(Brief Article)
February 16, 2002... A report in The FT says: "British troops may stay in Afghanistan longer than their planned three months as the US and its allies work out how to address Turkey's concerns over leading the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in...

AFGHANISTAN - Feb. 14 - Aviation Minister Killed.(Abdul Rahman)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2002... Aviation Minister Abdul Rahman is killed at Kabul airport inside the plane bound for New Delhi. Initially witnesses said he was beaten by an agitated mob of Muslim pilgrims angered by delay that threatened their journey to Mecca. He was...

ALGERIA - Feb. 10 - Rebels Kill 6.(Brief Article)
February 16, 2002... Islamic rebels kill six civilians and wound another, all members of the same family, in the Bougara area, 30 km south of Algiers. The killing brings to more than 100 the number of people killed in violence in the past six weeks.

ALGERIA - Feb. 11 - Militant Leader Killed.(Brief Article)
February 16, 2002... A report in The FT says Antar Zouabri, the 31-year-old leader of the Armed Islamic Group, one of two organisations fighting a bloody 10-year campaign against the military-backed regime, and two associates were killed in a shoot-out in Boufarik,...

ALGERIA - Feb. 12 - Raissi Freed On Bail.(Algerian pilot Lotfi Raissi)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2002... Lotfi Raissi, an 27-year-old Algerian pilot once identified by US investigators as the "lead trainer" of the Sept. 11 hijackers, is freed on $14,200 bail from the Belmarsh maximum security prison in south-east London after the US abandoned an...

BAHRAIN - Feb. 14 - Kingdom Of Bahrain Established.(Brief Article)
February 16, 2002... Emir Shaikh Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa announces the establishment of the new Kingdom of Bahrain, declaring himself king and approving a new elected Parliament. He sets an Oct. 24 date for Bahrainis to elect one branch of a new bicameral...

IRAN - Feb. 10 - Tehran Denies Arms Shipment To Palestinians.(Brief Article)
February 16, 2002... Appearing on Fox News, Deputy FM Zavad Zarif says: "I can tell you categorically that all segments of the Iranian government and I mean total government, not simply President Khatami's administration, have had nothing to do with the sending of...

IRAN - Feb. 11 - Millions Voice Anger At US.(Brief Article)
February 16, 2002... Millions of Iranians stream through city streets nation-wide, marking the 23rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution and expressing their antipathy for US Pres. Bush labelling the country a part of an "axis of evil". Cries of "Death to America"...

IRAQ - Feb. 11 - Mavrommatis Visits.(human rights investigator Andreas Mavrommatis)(Brief Article)
February 16, 2002... The special UN investigator for human rights in Iraq Andreas Mavrommatis of Cyprus arrives in Baghdad for a 3-day visit to engage Baghdad in dialogue. (This is his first visit in a decade. The UN Commission on Human Rights appointed a special...