"The US military will begin using a new bomb in Afghanistan designed to send a suffocating blast through a cave complex without sealing the entrance with debris. The bomb creates a cloud of explosive particles that blow up with a force stronger and longer-lasting than one created by conventional explosives. While the shock wave is powerful, and the explosion’s heat is intense, it does not collapse a cave or tunnel, but rather reverberates throughout an entire tunnel complex," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Osama bin Laden has not been reliably sighted for the past week and US forces do not know whether he is dead or alive, US Gen Tommy Franks said yesterday. Franks, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan and the region, said here that the hunt for Osama was now focused on three possibilities. He can be in Tora Bora or in that area dead, he can be somewhere else in Afghanistan and still alive or perhaps he may have gotten over into Pakistan, Franks said," reported the Reuters news agency.
"US President George W. Bush has offered military support to foreign nations struggling to rout out terrorists and predicted that next year will be a war year, reported the Reuters news agency.
"Hamid Karzai was sworn in as prime minister of Afghanistan’s new interim government yesterday amid hopes he can help heal a nation torn apart by decades of war. Karzai signed the oath of office before Chief Justice Mohammed Qasim in the country’s first peaceful transfer of power in decades. He then embraced outgoing President Burhanuddin Rabbani to applause from foreign diplomats and tribal leaders who swarmed to the capital, Kabul, from every province. I promise you that I will fulfil my mission to bring peace to Afghanistan, Karzai, wearing a traditional karakoli lambskin hat and an Uzbek robe, said in a speech in his native Pashtu and Dari, Afghanistan’s two primary languages," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Suhaila Sidiq found out from a radio broadcast that she was going to become a minister in Afghanistan’s historic power-sharing government. Political decisions are taken in odd ways in Afghanistan but the nomination of two women ministers in the interim administration is a radical and welcome move after five years under Taliban rule when women were forced to hide in the home or under head-to-foot veils. Suhaila, who will be minister of health, and Sima Samar, who is deputy leader and minister of women’s affairs in the interim government, will be the first women ministers since the fall of Afghanistan’s communist regime in 1992," reported the AFP news service.
"Afghanistan needs about US$9bil over the next five years for reconstruction after two decades of war, an initial report showed on Friday at an international aid conference. The World Bank and the United Nations, authors of the report, said they would present their final assessment at a conference in late January, when major donors plan to announce an aid package for the ethnically divided country. The donors, including the European Union, Japan, Saudi Arabia and the United States, said on Friday their aid would be large and long-term, but would depend on the new Afghan interim government keeping the peace," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Indian and Pakistan troops exchanged small arms and machinegun fire at border flashpoints on Friday as tension mounted between the two nuclear capable neighbours, officials said yesterday," reported the Reuters nees agency.
"India has moved huge numbers of troops to the border with Pakistan and their disputed Kashmir boundary in a very aggressive posture, a Pakistani military official said yesterday. Indian troops in massive numbers have advanced from their peace locations to forward areas during the last 12 hours along the Line of Control and the international border, a military official said on condition of anonymity," reported the AFP news service.
"The militant Islamic Jihad group decided on Friday to suspend suicide attacks against Israel temporarily until it decides whether to halt them for a longer period, a senior member of the movement said. The decision followed an announcement by the militant movement Hamas to suspend attacks inside Israel until further notice after clashes in the Gaza Strip between militants and Palestinian police who are trying to rein them in. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the decision by the militant groups to suspend suicide bombings and mortar attacks in Israel leaves the next step in the quest for Mideast peace up to Israel," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"A passenger on a jetliner bound from Paris to Miami tried to ignite an improvised explosive in his sneakers, but flight attendants and fellow passengers subdued him. The plane, escorted by military jets, landed safely at Logan International Airport here. The suspect, taken into custody by the FBI, was to be charged with interfering with a flight crew, a law enforcement official said after Saturday’s incident. Authorities were investigating whether the man used a British passport with the fake identity, Richard Reid. An FBI official said the man was not of Middle Eastern descent. After the man tried to light a fuse protruding from his shoe, a flight attendant intervened and the 1.93m tall suspect resisted and bit her, authorities said," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Osama bin Laden’s mother was quoted in a British newspaper yesterday as saying she believed a videotape of her son, which the United States says proves he had prior knowledge of the Sept 11 attacks, was a fake. I believe the evidence against him is not solid. I think the video they produced is doctored, Alia Ghanem was quoted as saying by the Mail on Sunday tabloid in an interview conducted by a Saudi journalist. Ghanem said she was convinced her son was not responsible for the attacks but feared he would be killed before his name was cleared," reported the Reuters news agency.
"As wounded from an Afghan convoy attacked in a possible US mishit arrived at Pakistani hospitals for treatment, a tribal elder warned Afghanistan’s new leader Hamid Karzai of an uprising if such incidents recurred. Local Afghans contested US assertions its planes had attacked a convoyof al-Qaeda leaders near Khost in eastern Afghanistan, telling newsmen at the scene on Saturday that the dozens of dead were villagers and tribal elders. Local Pashtun tribal chieftain Gulabdin said Karzai would face an armed uprising if there were more US attacks on Khost, the Afghan Islamic Press(AIP) said. If American warplanes make another aggressive attack on Khost, then we will take armed measures against Karzai’s administration, AIP quoted Gulabdin as saying," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The US government should have worked with the Taliban government to find Osama bin Laden rather than wage a war that is killing Afghan civilians, Muslim leaders in the United States said. By killing civilians, the United States’ bombing of Afghanistan likely is creating a new generation of anti-American terrorists, said Islamic community advocate Yousef Al-Yousef. Al-Yousef aknowledged that the Taliban treated women harshly and executed detractors, but said the orthodox Islamic group also brought stability to the region," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has been named Time magazine’s Person of the Year, the magazine announced yesterday, passing over Osama bin Laden and US President George Bush," reported the AFP news service.
"A rally supporting Afghanistan’s new government yesterday marked the first time since the former Taliban regime captured the city in 1996 that Afghans took to the streets in support of their rulers. Marchers paraded through the city carrying banners proclaiming, We Support the New Government, before despatching a delegation of intellectuals, including three women, to petition the United Nations over the reconstruction of the country," reported the AFP news service.
"Terror suspect Osama bin Laden was not in Pakistan and was probably killed in the US bombardment of caves in eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf told Chinese state television. Maybe he is dead because of all the operations that have been conducted, the bombardment of all the caves that have been conducted, there’s a great possibility that he may have lost his life there, Musharraf said in China on Saturday," reported the AFP news agency.
"The killings of five policemen and a civilian in southern Thailand may have been acts of revenge by a Muslim terrorist group whose leader was killed by police last month, Interior Minister Purachai Piemsomboon said Tuesday. The six were shot and stabbed to death Monday in separate but nearly simultaneous attacks in a region hit by a wave of violence claimed by Muslim separatists. Purachai said he believed the assaults were revenge by members of the Mujahedeen Terrorist Group whose leader Madaree Nijijaehae was killed by police in a shootout in Pattani province 1,050 kilometers (652 miles) south of Bangkok," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"An Indian defence official said yesterday troops destroyed a dozen Pakistani bunkers in an exchange of fire between the neighbours after they strengthened their positions on either side of their border in Kashmir. Tensions between the two nuclear rivals have been running high since a Dec 13 suicide attack on the Indian parliament which killed 14 people, including the five assailants. India has blamed the attack on two Pakistan-based militant groups. Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said he will act against the groups if he has evidence of their involvement." reported the Reuters news agency.
"In a new ultimatum, Israel said yesterday it will only allow Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to attend Christmas Mass in Bethlehem if he arrests the assassins of an Israeli Cabinet minister by sundown. The Israeli military sent reinforcements yesterday to checkpoints ringing the West Bank town of Ramallah, where Arafat is staying, to prevent the Palestinian leader from defying the travel ban. Bethlehem, Jesus’ traditional birthplace, is about 20km south of here," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"In the deserted streets of Bethlehem, once a favourite Christmas destination for tourists and pilgrims, residents are preparing for another gloomy holiday amid strict Israeli closures, with memories of a bloody re-occupation still fresh in their minds. It’s sad and grim, it’s not normal, said Bethlehem mayor Hanna Nasser. He blamed the bleak situation on the Israeli lockdown of the Palestinian territories, the lack of tourists and the collapsed local economy," reported the AFP news service.
"US commandos have arrested a senior Taliban intelligence official in a lightning raid on a central Afghan province, the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) said yesterday. The commandos landed in helicopters in the Muqur area of central Ghazni province, surrounded the house where former deputy intelligence minister Abdul Haq Waseeq, was staying, and took him prisoner, the news agency said," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Sri Lanka expressed serious concern yesterday that a man being detained in the United States for an alleged suicide bombing attempt on a trans-Atlantic flight claimed to be one of its nationals. Deputy Inspector-General of Police G.B. Kotakadeniya said authorities were highly concerned as they had never encountered Muslim militancy on a scale that could lead to a suicide bombing. The suspect, identified by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation as Richard Reid, 28, was caught on Saturday by a flight attendant aboard American Airline Flight 63 from Paris to Miami. Police sources in Paris said Reid also identified himself as Tariq Raja, born in 1973 in Sri Lanka, and as Abdel Rahim, a name reflecting his conversion to Islam," reported the AFP news service.
"Thousands of police and other security officials guarded churches across the world’s most populous Muslim nation yesterday, fearing a repeat of last year’s deadly Christmas eve bombing spree. Many worshippers said they were too frightened to go to church despite the heavy security presence. On Dec 24 last year, bombings in Jakarta and nine other cities and towns killed 19 people and injured dozens. Muslim groups, including include the Front for the Defenders of Islam, will help police safeguard Christians," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"New Premier Hamid Karzai quickly went to work trying to heal Afghanistan’s deep divisions, naming a key warlord as deputy defence minister yesterday in an apparent compromise to unite the country’s often-feuding factions. The appointment of Rashid Dostum brings into the interim government one of its early critics. Dostum, an Uzbek who controls northern Afghanistan’s largest city of Mazar-e-Sharif, had been angry because three key ministries defence, foreign affairs and interior went to the minority Tajik group from the Panjshir valley. A 47-year-old, whiskey-drinking former general in the communist army, Dostum has a reputation for ruthlessness. His men rarely speak out of turn and stories of Dostum’s ruthlessness some apocryphal abound. The stories tell of men whose heads have been chopped off and their wives sold to strangers," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Money worries and the blow of September’s suicide attacks cast a giant shadow over the great US shopping streets, but across the world gift-seekers found some joy on the last weekend before Christmas. Nowhere in Europe, however, did the after-effects of the attacks on the United States seem to have dampened the joy of shopping, said Richard Perks of consultants Retail Intelligence," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad, yesterday dismissed a report in an English language daily newspaper, Tuesday about a plot to assassinate him and his deputy Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Dr Mahathir said he did not know anything about such report but it would not be taken as something serious. The Prime Minister also said he would not allow the report to curb his free movement like going to public functions and meeting the people." reported the Star newspaper of Malaysia.
"U.S. intelligence hasn't picked up any credible signs of Osama bin Laden's whereabouts in about two weeks, and officials on Wednesday scoured a newly aired videotape of him that contains clues suggesting it could have been made around the time he vanished," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad, saddened by a local newspaper report about a plot to assassinate him and his deputy, said such sensationalised reporting could affect the country’s economy. I have no information about it. I am sad that there are people sensationalising news that can have repercussions on the economy, he told reporters when approached after taping his New Year message at the Prime Minister’s Office here yesterday," reported The Star newspaper of Malaysia.
"Raja Kamaruddin Raja Abdul Wahid, also known as Raja Commando, said he had no plans to lodge a report against a newspaper which implicated him as the hired hit-man in the alleged plot to kill Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his deputy Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in its front-page report on Tuesday. According to the report, several politicians had hired Raja Commando to be the hit-man in the assassination attempt expected to take place over the next one or two months. I strongly deny that I had been hired by any local politicians to assassinate the prime minister and his deputy, he stated in a press statement yesterday," reported The Star newspaper of Malaysia.
"Asked about Malaysia being recognised as a model Islamic nation in the eyes of the world, Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, said it was really up to foreigners whether or not Malaysia merited such recognition. But presently many foreigners view Malaysia as a model for other Muslim nations to emulate. This is a recognition. This requires us to preserve such a situation and not to deviate from the teachings of Islam, he said," reported The Star newspaper of Malaysia.
"India said its missiles were in position, air force jets flew near the Pakistan border every few minutes and frontier forces exchanged gunfire yesterday as the two nuclear-armed nations prepared for a war both say they don’t want," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Afghanistan’s four-day-old government held its second cabinet meeting yesterday as new leader Hamid Karzai set about urgently tackling the twin tasks of establishing unity and security in the war-shattered nation. In the short time since he was sworn in on Saturday, Karzai has ordered his defence ministry to begin establishing an army, a process which will involve integrating tens of thousands of fighters from the ranks of ethnic warlords," reported the AFP news service.
"The man arrested in the United States for allegedly trying to blow up a trans-Atlantic airliner using explosives in his shoe is a small-time British criminal who converted to Islam while in jail, The Times reported yesterday. A British daily newspaper said the man, whom it named as Richard Reid, 28, could be linked with alleged terror mastermind Osama bin Laden after it discovered that the would-be bomber was a worshipper at a London mosque also attended by one of the suspected conspirators in the Sept 11 attacks on America. He was born in Bromley, southeast London, in 1973, has a string of convictions for street crimes such as muggings, and is believed to have served time in a number of prisons, the newspaper added," reported the AFP news service.
"The president of an autonomous region in Somalia cited by the United States as a possible haven for Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda militants insisted on Tuesday the area had been free of extremists for almost a decade. Jama Ali Jama, elected in November as president of the internationally unrecognised region of Puntland, made the statement in an interview. Somalia, without a central government since 1991 and controlled by a transitional government and rival warlords, has been named as one of the countries the United States could target in a widened war on terror beyond Afghanistan," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Christmas was no occasion for peace in the Holy Land. The Israeli army arrested 17 Palestinians including five Palestinian Authority security service members in the West Bank village of Azoun overnight, residents said yesterday. According to Israeli state radio, many of those detained were suspected of involvement in attacks on Israeli targets. The arrests were made after about 100 soldiers entered the northern village late on Tuesday, blocked all roads and imposed a curfew," reported the AFP news service.
"Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon handed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat a gold-wrapped Christmas present by refusing to allow him to attend Christmas mass in Bethlehem, politicians and commentators here said. Until the last moment, the international community, especially the Vatican, the European Union and the United States, lobbied Sharon, a hardline former general, to reconsider what would prove to be a costly blunder," reported the AFP news service.
"The Sun newspaper of Malaysia has apologised to Malaysian Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and his deputy Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi for its front-page report on Christmas Day of an alleged plot to kill the two leaders. We have, however, subsequently conducted further investigations and have ascertained and now recognise that there was no foundation to the allegations contained in the article and they ought not to have been published, the front-page apology stated yesterday," reported The Star newspaper of Malaysia.
"The world's most wanted man, Osama bin Laden, appeared in a videotape Thursday, calling for the destruction of the U.S. economy as the surest way to bring down America. Looking gaunt but smiling occasionally, the terrorist leader appeared in front of a brown cloth, dressed in military fatigues. Though thinner than in past tapes, his voice was strong and clear. He spoke deliberately, often leaning into the camera. I concentrate on the importance of continuing holy war actions against America, militarily and economically, and America is retreating with God's help,'' he said in a videotape sent anonymously by air courier from Pakistan to Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television, which aired it in full Thursday night," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"In Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said experts would examine the tape for any valuable intelligence information on bin Laden. He admitted the United States did not know where the al-Qaida leader was. We hear six, seven, eight, 10, 12 conflicting reports every day on bin Laden's location, he said. It was not clear where or when the tape from bin Laden was made. His references indicated it could have been made in the past few weeks. Al-Jazeera began broadcasting excerpts of it Wednesday night and aired it in full Thursday,' reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Our terrorism is against America. Our terrorism is a blessed terrorism to prevent the unjust person from committing injustice and to stop American support for Israel, which kills our sons, Osama bin Laden said. I would like to stress the true nature of the struggle between us and the Americans, which is very important and of grave danger not for the Muslims alone but for the whole world. America is accusing those migrants and holy warriors in God's name (Arab fighters in Afghanistan), but has no evidence. It is mere injustice, aggression and oppression. If America had sound evidence that those who carried out the attacks were Europeans, such as the IRA (Irish Republican Army), then it would possess many ways to solve this problem. But since there was a mere suspicion that indicated the Islamic world, the real ugly face and the Crusader hatred against the Islamic world were revealed.They (19 hijackers) used the enemy's planes and studied at enemy schools, without the need for training camps. But God helped them and taught this cruel lesson to those arrogant people who see freedom only for the white race and keep other nations humiliated and oppressed."We won't stop the attacks until you leave our lands," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"For the first time in months, Israelis and Palestinians have admitted talks touching on political negotiations have taken place, although exactly what the two sides say they are discussing differs greatly. We have considered ... ways of putting the current crisis behind us and returning to the negotiating table, said Palestinian parliament speaker Ahmed Qorei, one of the interlocutors in the tentative peace discussions, during a visit to Cairo to update Egypt on the latest developments yesterday. A Palestinian official said Wednesday that Qorei and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres had reached an agreement on the basis of future peace talks," reported the AFP news service.
"The flow of refugees back to homes in Afghanistan dramatically picked up on Wednesday as thousands of people ignored warnings of lawlessness and threats from al-Qaeda fighters on the run. A UN spokesman said some 31,000 refugees had returned to southern Afghanistan through the Pakistani border town of Chaman since the start of this month. More than 10,000 refugees had crossed back into Afghanistan through Chaman since Sunday alone," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Tribesmen from an eastern Afghanistan province where a controversial US bombing flattened a convoy of vehicles last week pleaded yesterday for an immediate end to air attacks on their territory. The half-dozen tribesmen, from Paktia province, said they made the same demand in a meeting on Wednesday with interim Prime Minister Hamid Karzai. Paktia tribesmen said the United States made a mistake and hit a convoy of tribesmen heading to Kabul to congratulate Afghanistan’s new interim administration. They said Karzai’s brother had been notified of the convoy’s plans to travel to Kabul. They even said someone had contacted US officials in Kabul to notify them about the trip," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"The official number of victims in the Sept 11 attacks on New York's World Trade Centre has dropped further officials said Wednesday, bringing the total dead and missing from the attacks to 3,173," reported the AFP news service.
"United States President George W. Bush has earned the highest rating ever recorded in a Gallup poll asking Americans to name the man they most admire, with 39%, according to the survey released on Wednesday," reported the AFP news service.
"Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he was satisfied with the action of a few top-level executives of the The Sun newspaper who resigned after publishing a front-page story on a plot to kill him and his deputy Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Dr Mahathir said that after reading the report in The Sun, he laughed because he did not expect the report to have far-reaching implications. But when I found that the news was spread to the whole world and had a negative effect on the nation, I had to make a rebuke on how serious the matter was," reported The Star newspaper of Malaysia.
"India’s mounting pressure on Pakistan, unopposed by the United States and Britain, could hamper President Pervez Musharraf’s attempts to curb the country’s radical Islamic groups, diplomats say," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Osama bin Laden warns the United States in his latest video message that it will soon collapse, regardless of whether he lives or dies, as Muslims around the world awaken to its tyranny. It is very important to concentrate on hitting the American economy with every available tool ... The economy is the base of its military power, he explained. The United States is a great economy but at the same time it is fragile," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Afghanistan is demanding the United States halt its bombing, possibly within days, since almost all remaining hideouts of the Taliban and Osama bin Laden have been destroyed, an Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman said yesterday. The request was a sign of potential problems between the new Afghan government and the US military, whose bombing campaign helped to sweep them to power," reported the Reuters news agency.
"An armed Arab-American US Secret Service agent heading to Texas to protect President George W. Bush was barred from an American Airlines flight on Tuesday after the pilot questioned his paperwork, the airline said on Thursday," reported the Reuters news agency.
