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Table of Contents
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Ex-Taliban
ambassador held on US warship
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Dame
Ivy named 1st female govenor general of Bahamas
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Tunisia
Drafts Anti-Terrorism Legislation
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Pakistan
Denies India Downed Spy Plane
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Seized
weapons headed for Gaza
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In
other news
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Question,
Comics, & Quotes
of the Week
Ex-Taliban
ambassador held on U.S. warship
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) The
highest-ranking member of the Taliban under U.S. custody was being
held aboard a warship today, and Afghanistan's interim leader
promised that fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar will be
tracked down and arrested.
Prime Minister Hamid Karzai spoke after Afghan
officials said Omar appeared to have eluded capture in Baghran, a
mountainous region in central Afghanistan where officials claimed
a few days ago that he was surrounded by anti-Taliban forces
negotiating his surrender.
Visiting an orphanage in the Afghan capital
Kabul, Karzai said Omar, a one-eyed cleric who is America's most
wanted man after Osama bin Laden, would be taken into custody.
"We are looking for him, and we will arrest him," he
told The Associated Press.
The United States hopes a pair of high-profile
prisoners will provide valuable intelligence about bin Laden's al-Qaida
network, blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks, and the Taliban movement
that shelters the terrorist organization in Afghanistan.
U.S. Marine Lieut. James Jarvis told a news
briefing that the former Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul
Salam Zaeef, was in U.S. custody on a naval ship in the Arabian
Sea.
Ibn Al-Shayk al-Libi, who ran al-Qaida
terrorist training camps in Afghanistan, was transferred Saturday
from anti-Taliban forces to U.S. authorities at Kandahar airport,
which is controlled by the Marines.
"The big question, of course, is: Will
they talk?" former Central Intelligence Agency terrorism
analyst Stan Beddington said Saturday in the United States.
"If they are able to talk, I have no doubt
whatsoever they will give a lot of information, particularly in
the search for bin Laden."
Jarvis said 25 new prisoners arrived Saturday
night in Kandahar from Pakistan, where they were intercepted
trying to flee, bringing the total to 300. They were being
interrogated for information on al-Qaida in the area.
"We are looking for things we can act
upon," Jarvis said. "We remain active in our quest to
(uncover) al-Qaida and Taliban" warriors.
Last week, marines scoured a former al-Qaida
training camp about 100 kilometres west of Kandahar. They found
documents on weapons systems, chemical formulas for explosions,
and examination papers on how to destroy aircraft.
Zaeef was probably the best-known face of the
Taliban, giving daily news conferences at his embassy in
Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, during the height of the
U.S.-led bombing campaign to topple the extremist Islamic regime.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees rejected
his application for refugee status. Pakistan, the Taliban's
strongest supporter before the Sept. 11 attacks, said Zaeef was no
longer protected by diplomatic immunity after the Taliban
government fell.
President George W. Bush said Saturday that
terrorists cannot hide forever.
"They think they can run, they think they
can hide, because they think this country's soft and
impatient," Bush said. "But they're gonna continue to
learn the terrible lesson that says don't mess with America."
Capturing Omar is proving increasingly
difficult. He had been believed to be hiding in Baghran in Helmand
province, where his close associate, Abdul Wahid, is the tribal
chief.
Afghan officials say they now believe he has
probably fled the area. Reports from some former Taliban soldiers
say Omar and his former intelligence chief, Abdul Razzak, may be
in Zabul province, north of Kandahar. Bin Laden's whereabouts are
also unknown.
Afghanistan is almost as big as Texas and is
criss-crossed by mountain ranges with caves and tunnels deep
within, remnants of the U.S.-backed insurgency against Soviet
occupation in the 1980s. Omar was an anti-communist commander
known for expertise with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
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Dame
Ivy as Governor-General
Released Wednesday, January 2, 2002 at 02:03 am EST
Made history by becoming first
woman Head of State
By LINDSAY THOMPSON
Guardian Senior
Reporter
Barely serving two
months in an acting position, Dame Ivy Dumont, 71, was officially
confirmed as Governor-General of The Bahamas, making her the first
woman to hold such a high office.
The Cabinet Office
announced the confirmation of Dame Ivy on Monday, which also made
her the sixth Governor-General since The Bahamas became an
independent nation on July 10, 1973.
Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth II, acting on the advice of the Prime Minister, has
appointed Dame Ivy as Governor-General of The Bahamas with effect
from Jan. 1, 2002.
Dame Ivy succeeded the
highly celebrated Governor-General Sir Orville Turnquest, 72, who
retired from the office, which he held since January 1995.
Prime Minister Ingraham,
commenting on Dame Ivy's confirmation as Governor-General, noted
his deep satisfaction at her continued willingness to serve the
Bahamian people.
He said that Dame Ivy,
a gentle and kind spirited woman, with keen intellect and a
tremendous drive to see good done for the maximum number of people
possible, had served as an important positive influence upon his
political life during the past decade.
Dame Ivy was sworn in
as the Acting Governor-General on 13 November 2001 in a ceremony
in Rawson Square witnessed by hundreds and carried on television
and radio via live broadcasts.
At that historic
occasion, the Prime Minister revered her as "a true
representative of Bahamian womanhood at its best."
Also at that time, Dame
Ivy pledged to perform her responsibilities in a manner to which
The Bahamas has not been accustomed, not having previously had in
the office, a woman.
She also vowed to
discharge her duties in a fashion to make all Bahamians proud at
all times, and God willing, in a style which will inspire young
Bahamians to continue to search for excellence in areas of service
to God and country.
Dame Ivy, a wife and
mother, has had a number of successful careers prior to her high
appointment as representative of The Bahamas' Monarch. A teaching
career was followed by a career in public administration from
which she retired following thirty years of service. Her career in
human resources development in the private sector ended in a
second retirement from which she emerged to enter front-line
politics as Secretary General of the Free National Movement and
later, Senator and Cabinet Minister between 1992 and 2000. Dame
Ivy retired from her position as Chairman of the Public Service
Commission on 31st December 2001.
A founding member of
the Bahamas Union of Teachers, Dame Ivy is a devout Christian
whose beliefs strongly influence her interaction with people from
all walks of life.
Ivy Leona Turnquest's
education started in her hometown in Roses, Long Island, and
continued in the United States. She obtained a doctorate in public
administration in 1978.
She is married to
Reginald Dumont; the couple has two children, Cheddi and Edda.
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Anti terrorism legislation being drafted
Tunis 18 December (Tunisiaonline)
An anti-terrorism legislation is being drafted by the ministry of
justice, it was announced today in Tunis.
According to the official news agency, Tunis Afrique Presse, the
bill is being drafted "in the light of pertinent
international agreements and United Nations resolutions."
This initiative "confirms Tunisia's steadfast rejection of
terrorism in all its shapes and forms, and its continued endeavor
to thwart the dangers faced by all the international community
because of this scourge", commented TAP.
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Pakistan denies India downed spy plane
JAMMU, India (AP) Indian soldiers shot down
an unmanned Pakistani spy plane that intruded into Indian air
space in disputed Kashmir today, military officials said.
Pakistani officials denied this.
The drone, which takes aerial photographs, was
flying nearly four kilometres inside Indian territory in the
Poonch sector along the India-Pakistan border when troops fired at
it, an Indian army official told The Associated Press on condition
of anonymity.
In Islamabad, Pakistani military officials said
no Pakistani spy plane had been shot down.
(continued on top of the next column)
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(from bottom of column I)
"No Pakistani spy plane has been shot down
by India in the Himalayan region of Kashmir," a senior
military official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Another Pakistani military official suggested that India may have
shot down a child's remote-control drone.
In Islamabad, Pakistani military officials said
no Pakistani spy plane had been shot down.
"No Pakistani spy plane has been shot down
by India in the Himalayan region of Kashmir," a senior
military official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Another Pakistani military official suggested that India may have
shot down a child's remote-control drone.
Pakistan's state-run news agency reported that
"an aerial vehicle of India crashed in the Jammu sector and
the military officials of India are indulging in baseless
propaganda to hide this loss."
The claims and counterclaims came on the same
day Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pakistan's
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf met and exchanged pleasantries at
a regional summit in Nepal.
Since a Dec. 13 attack on the Indian Parliament
in New Delhi, India and Pakistan have amassed thousands of troops
along the 1,770-kilometre border between the two nuclear-armed
countries and are in a state of preparedness for war.
India has accused the rebels of staging
terrorist attacks elsewhere on its soil. It blamed two
Pakistan-based groups for the Parliament attack, which killed 14
people including the five assailants, and claimed they were backed
by Pakistan's intelligence service. Pakistan has denied it.
An Indian army spokesman said that the border
had been quiet most of the day, but that after the drone was shot
down, heavy mortar and artillery fire by both sides began along
the border. The spokesman said there were heavy casualties on the
Pakistani side.
Islamic militants, some based in Pakistan, have
been fighting Indian forces and carrying out attacks in the
Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir for 12 years, hoping to end
Indian rule. The attacks and fighting have killed tens of
thousands of soldiers, rebels and civilians.
In 1999, Indian troops shot down an unmanned
Pakistani surveillance plane in the western Gujarat state, soon
after the Kargil armed conflict. The Atlantique aircraft had
surveillance and strike capability. There were no casualties and
the debris landed in Pakistan.
Poonch, where the drone was said to be flying
Sunday, is about 240 kilometres northwest of Jammu, the winter
capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.
The Indian official said the plane was seen
going down Sunday and soldiers were scouring the mountainous area
to locate the debris. It was also possible that a part of the
debris could have fallen on the Pakistani side of the border, he
said.
Eyewitnesses who saw the UAV unmanned aerial vehicle flying
overhead said there was panic among Poonch residents, who thought
war had broken out.
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Seized weapons headed for Gaza, Israel says
JERUSALEM (AP) Israel offered a detailed
account today of its seizure of a shipload of Iranian-made arms
travelling through the Red Sea, saying the evidence proves the
weapons were intended for the Palestinian Authority.
Israeli naval commandos stormed onto the vessel
Karine A early Thursday, seizing 50 tonnes of weapons and
arresting 13 people onboard. Israel said the weapons were to have
been delivered to the Palestinian Authority in the Gaza Strip.
"This is an extremely grave incident which
exposes the true face of the Palestinian Authority, an authority
which is totally contaminated with terrorism," Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon told a cabinet meeting today.
The Palestinian Authority denied any connection
with the weapons and accused Israel of making accusations in an
effort to undermine the current visit of U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni.
Today, an Israeli military official who spoke
on condition of anonymity said the Karine A was purchased in
Lebanon by Adel Mughrabi, who it said buys arms for the
Palestinian Authority.
The ship sailed to Sudan, where it picked up a
cargo of ``innocent merchandise" that it took to Yemen, the
official said. In Yemen's port of Hudayda, the original crew was
replaced by a crew headed by Omar Akawi, a colonel in the
Palestinian naval police, the official said.
Last month, on orders from Mughrabi, the vessel
sailed to a point near the island of Qeys, off the coast of Iran,
to a prearranged meeting with a ferry that had brought the weapons
in about 80 large crates, the official said.
The arms included Katyusha rockets, guided
anti-tank missiles, mortars, anti-tank mines, machine guns,
assault rifles, explosives and large quantities of ammunition.
Inside the crates the weapons were packed in
watertight plastic cylinders that were manufactured in Iran and
can be set to float at whatever depth is desired, the official
said.
One crew member, a Palestinian diver, had been
trained by the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon
on how to operate the cylinders, the official said, adding that a
Hezbollah instructor was on board the ferry and gave the diver a
last-minute refresher course.
The Karine A was to have passed through the
Suez Canal and was to have transferred the arms to three smaller
vessels in the Mediterranean, the Israeli official said.
Those vessels were to have lowered the
cylinders into the sea at a spot off the Gaza coast to be picked
up by the Palestinian naval police, the official said.
A U.S. official, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said in Washington that the United States had no
conclusive evidence that the arms were intended for the
Palestinian Authority, and suggested that they may have been
destined for Hezbollah or the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
An Israeli official challenged the U.S.
statement today.
The United States has "precise information
on what was on that ship and for whom it was intended," said
Gideon Meir, deputy director general of the foreign ministry.
"Therefore it will be very hard to refute the information
that the ship was intended for the Palestinian Authority."
Israel planned to display the munitions Sunday
afternoon at a press conference in the Israeli Red Sea port of
Eilat, with Sharon among those in attendance.
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In
other developments:
A British newspaper, the Mail on Sunday,
reported that three men claiming to be British citizens were
captured at Tora Bora, a mountain stronghold of al-Qaida and
Taliban die-hards that U.S. and anti-Taliban Afghan forces overran
last month.
Two, identified as Shakir Abdul Rahim and Nabil
Said, were reported to be under interrogation in Kabul. The third,
identified as Mohammed Amin, was too badly wounded to be
questioned. They are believed to be of Saudi, Indian and Pakistani
extraction.
The Saudi newspaper Okaz quoted Pakistani Interior Minister Moin
Haidar as saying that Pakistan has recently detained 240 Saudis
and will extradite any who are believed to be affiliated with bin
Laden to the United States. They were said to have entered
Pakistan from Tora Bora and Afghan cities in recent weeks. The
newspaper said they were being questioned by U.S. and Pakistani
investigators.
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Quotes
of the Week
"Rarely
is the question asked: Is our children learning?" (George
W. Bush)
"
No man is justified in doing evil on the ground of expediency. "
(T. Roosevelt)
"If
I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I would spend six sharpening my
ax." (Abraham Lincoln)
"Our
greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we
fall."
(Confucius)
"
Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to
negotiate."
( J.F.Kennedy)
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Question
of the Week
What animal is on the tails side of the Canadian
Quarter?
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