"Malaysia suspects that a militant group operating in Singapore may have links with a network in Malaysia. The Government has found out that the group also has connections in Indonesia and the Philippines, Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday," reported the Star newspaper of Malaysia.
"After unveiling a plot by al-Qaeda linked militants to set off bombs here, Singapore is moving to ensure it will not lead to racial or religious friction. At the same time, the already-tight security in the republic has been further stepped up. Police set up a roadblock outside the Israeli embassy. Armed Gurkhas elite Nepalese fighters who help maintain security across the region are guarding Singapore’s American Club," reported the Star newspaper of Malaysia.
"Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong yesterday called on Singaporeans to preserve racial unity amid concerns an alleged terrorist plot involving Islamic extremists could undermine the ethnically diverse city state. Goh cautioned Singaporeans against blaming the country’s significant Malay community, most of whom are Muslim, saying that the 13 people arrested for allegedly plotting to attack US targets do not represent the majority," reported the AFP news agency.
"Singapore’s government has released details of what it said was an elaborate plot by al-Qaeda terrorists to blow up Western embassies, US naval vessels and a bus carrying American soldiers. The government late on Friday also made public a videotape it said was found in an al-Qaeda leader’s house. In the tape, a man now in custody described how explosives could be carried on a bicycle without arousing suspicion. Other evidence included Arabic-language handwritten notes, also found in Afghanistan," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Residents of Singapore, long known as one of the world’s safest places said they were both shocked and reassured by government reports of a foiled al-Qaeda plot to blow up military facilities, train stations and American companies in the city-state. Singapore has been widely criticised for limiting political activities and using its secretive Internal Security Department, or ISD, to keep close tabs on people and sometimes detain suspects without trial. But yesterday, after the government revealed chilling details of the alleged plot uncovered by the ISD, some said they felt reassured by Singapore’s tight controls," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Afghanistan will need about US$45bil (RM171bil) to rebuild its war-shattered economy and infrastructure and launch long-overdue development projects, interim Planning Minister Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq said yesterday. One-third of that should finance immediate reconstruction and rehabilitation needs over the next two years, said Mohammad, who took office with the interim administration only three weeks ago. The rest would go for longer-term projects including railway links to Iran and Pakistan and new dams for irrigation that have been lying dormant since the 1978 communist coup that launched 23 years of war and unrest, he said. The US$45 billion estimate is far higher than sums already being discussed, which have ranged from US$3 billion to US$15 billion," reported the Reuters news agency.
"President Gen Pervez Musharraf declared yesterday that he will not permit terrorist activities on Pakistani territory and announced a ban on two Kashmiri groups accused by India of last month’s attack on its Parliament. Musharraf, using a nationally televised address to try to defuse the crisis with India, also announced moves to curb foreign students studying in Pakistani religious schools, long a breeding ground for religious extremism," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Heavily armed police raided religious schools and mosques in Karachi and several other southern cities overnight and early yesterday, arresting at least 150 Muslim extremists, police said. The crackdown came ahead of President Gen Pervez Musharraf’s address to the nation, in which he is expected to announce comprehensive measures to curb religious extremism, terrorism and violence. The arrests were a precaution against any violent reaction by extremist Islamic groups after Musharraf’s speech, said a senior police official, who asked not to be identified," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"At least two persons were killed and about 60 trucks destroyed in a series of explosions in the northwestern Indian state of Rajasthan, reports said yesterday. Two women were killed following the series of explosions and 60 trucks, part of an army convoy of 250 vehicles carrying ammunition, went up in the air," reported the dpa news agency.
"Israeli naval boats shelled the harbour in Gaza City early yesterday, destroying a Palestinian coast guard ship, after the Palestinian Authority ordered the arrest of three of its own officials on suspicion of smuggling arms by sea. The action came amid allegations that the Authority was smuggling arms into the Gaza Strip, after the Israeli navy boarded and seized an arms-laden freighter in the Red Sea last week," reported the AFP news service.
"Thai officials are having second thoughts about introducing mandatory drug tests on all students while a human rights group yesterday cautioned the government about introducing the measure. A Health Ministry survey released last November found that 2.65 million Thais, or 4.3% of the population, were addicted to drugs. Of this 91% were hooked on methamphetamines. But authorities are particularly fearful of ya baa, or crazy medicine, which has created a new generation of young addicts wary of syringe-injected heroin and eager to mimic Western rave culture," reported the AFP news agency.
"Philippine police are on heightened alert against plots to destabilise the government of President Gloria Arroyo ahead of the anniversary of a mass uprising that swept her into power last year, a spokesman said yesterday. Chief Supt Cresencio Maralit said police were closely monitoring all groups planning to hold any kind of activity to commemorate the military-backed uprising last January, which ousted former president Joseph Estrada," reported the dpa news agency.
"A group of 20 al-Qaeda and Taliban 'bad guy' prisoners from Afghanistan, their hands manacled and unable to see through taped goggles, were led one-by-one from a US Air Force transport plane under heavy guard and taken away for an indefinite incarceration in a prison camp at the US Navy base here on Friday. After a plane journey that brought them across the world from the Afghanistan war front to the sweltering Caribbean, they were spending their first night in small cages, open to the elements, in a prison camp dubbed Camp X-Ray," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A US federal judge has accepted a complaint filed by the family of a man killed in the Sept 11 attacks against Osama bin Laden and has ruled that Osama could be notified of the case via print or broadcast media," reported the AFP news agency.
"An Egyptian student who was staying in a hotel overlooking the World Trade Centre on Sept 11 was charged with lying to investigators for denying any knowledge of a radio found in his room that could be used to communicate with pilots. Abdallah Higazy, 30, was denied bail on Friday and held on a federal charge of making false statements. Prosecutors accused him of interfering with the investigation into the attack that killed about 2,900 people," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Britain is mounting a campaign to boost arms sales to India, including 60 Hawk jets worth £1bil (RM5.3bil), despite fears that Delhi’s dispute with Islamabad could spill into war, a British daily reported yesterday. The arms push comes only a week after Prime Minister Tony Blair visited India and Pakistan in an attempt to defuse tensions between the two countries. Sales of arms to India would contravene the ethical guidelines on arms sales adopted by the Labour party soon after it came to power," reported the AFP news agency.
"The Malaysian Home Ministry has not ruled out the arrest of more militant activists and suspected terrorists in the country. It expects that those who have already been detained would co-operate with the police, leading to more targets. The ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Seri Aseh Che Mat said police would follow up on any information revealed by those who give their co-operation," reported the Star newspaper of Malaysia.
The Straits Times newspaper in Singapore and Jane’s Intelligence Review have apologised to the islamic Party of Malaysia(PAS) over an article by the defence magazine which reported that the party has political ties with the al-Qaeda terrorist network," reported the Star newspaper of Malaysia.
"Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak has called on Iraq to comply with UN resolutions to avert any possibility of a US military strike against the country, newspapers reported yesterday. Speaking to a military gathering on Saturday, the president was quoted as saying that aiming any strike at an Arab state would be an extremely grave issue with wide implications. The president also expressed his hope that Iraq comply with UN resolutions so as not to give any pretext that could possibly be used against it," reported the Reuters news agency.
"India’s government said yesterday it welcomed the declared commitment of Pakistan to stop allowing its territory to be used for terrorism, but wants to see the statement translated into action," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo defended her performance in her first year in office yesterday as police stepped up security to thwart plots to destabilise her government," reported the AFP news agency.
"Brussels airport in Belgium was evacuated briefly on Saturday after a man claimed to have explosives in his luggage, but army bomb experts later found nothing and the airport was reopened shortly afterwards. The man, whose identity was not immediately disclosed, went to the ticket counter of Finnish airline Finnair and threatened to detonate explosives in his bag if he did not get a free ticket, said police spokesman Gail Van Hoever," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Britain’s 17-year-old Prince Harry was sent to a drugs rehabilitation clinic after he admitted to regularly smoking cannabis and drinking alcohol, British Sunday papers reported. Harry, is the youngest son of Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and another Labour Cabinet member attacked yesterday the wholesale razing of houses in the Gaza Strip by the army, which left hundreds of Palestinians homeless. The liberal daily Haaretz also called the operation early on Thursday in the town of Rafah near the Egyptian border unwarranted and damaging for the image of the Jewish state," reported the AFP news service.
"A leader of an armed Palestinian group linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s Fatah was killed in a blast in the West Bank town of Tulkarem yesterday, Palestinian security officials said, blaming Israel. Hospital sources in Tulkarem confirmed the death of Raed Karmi, 30, the leader of the town’s branch of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed offshoot of Fatah considered by Israel as the movement’s armed wing," reported the AFP news agency.
"Palestinian gunmen shot and killed an Israeli soldier and wounded another in a retaliatory shooting just hours after a Palestinian militia leader, Raed Karmi, was killed by a bomb as he emerged from his West Bank hideout. The new cycle of violence further threatened U.S. truce efforts, and it was not clear whether U.S. mediator Anthony Zinni would return to the area later this week as planned," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which Karmi led in the town, announced it would resume attacks against Israelis. Those attacks had been suspended following Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Dec. 16 call for a truce with Israel. The so-called cease-fire is a joke and is canceled, canceled, canceled, the group wrote in a leaflet. Revenge is coming," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Pakistani police have rounded up more than 1,200 religious extremists, with hundreds more arrests overnight in a sweeping crackdown against five groups banned by President Pervez Musharraf, officials said yesterday," reported the AFP news agency.
"There will be no de-escalation of India’s troop mobilisation on its frontier with Pakistan until cross-border terrorism stops, Defence Minister George Fernandes said yesterday on the eve of a visit to Washington," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Israeli bulldozers demolished nine partly-built Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem yesterday, four days after Israel provoked international criticism by razing homes at a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip," reported the Reuters news agency.
"US troops are set to begin war games with Filipino troops today on the southern Philippines island where the rebel Abu Sayyaf group operates, an official said yesterday. President Gloria Arroyo has approved a Defence Department proposal to hold the joint training exercise on Basilan island as well as the nearby southern city of Zamboanga in Mindanao island," reported the AFP news agency.
"Indonesian troops have stepped up patrols after issuing shoot on sight orders to foil a planned transport strike this week in the restive province of Aceh, residents said yesterday. They said the military and police are mounting truck patrols in the provincial capital Banda Aceh and other major towns. Six more people have been killed in the latest violence involving government forces and separatist rebels, the army and humanitarian activists said," reported the AFP news agency.
"A military plane crashed in a residential area of a town in the northern Philippines yesterday, killing at least five people and burning more than 20 homes, officials said. The cause of the crash was not immediately known," reported the Reuters news agency.
"US President George W. Bush fainted and fell off a couch on Sunday evening after choking on a pretzel while watching a televised football game, but a subsequent medical examination showed he was fine," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Influential Pashtuns, some of them members of the Afghan interim government, are ensuring that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar continues to elude capture, a leading political analyst claimed. Further hampering intensive efforts to net the one-eyed leader is that some tribal groups in southern Afghanistan where he is believed hiding out do not want to see him apprehended, said the analyst, Faizullah Jalal. Afghan interim leader Hamid Karzai, Faizullah believes, is himself undecided about the issue," reported the AFP news agency.
"US warplanes kept up heavy bombing raids on terrorist hideouts in eastern Afghanistan, hoping to smash Osama bin Laden’s die-hard supporters, while a second batch of prisoners was flown under cover of darkness to Cuba, where they will be interrogated and possibly be put on trial," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Six armed Arab fighters holed up in a hospital here in Kandahar for more than a month have shown no signs of life for 24 hours, Afghan guards said yesterday. The six, suspected to be members of the al-Qaeda terror network who have refused to surrender, were yesterday facing a fifth day without food and a third without water, reported the AFP news agency.
"In a show of support for Afghanistan's new interim government, the U.N. Security Council lifted an international flight ban on the country's airline which was imposed to pressure the former Taliban rulers to hand over Osama bin Laden. Associated Press investigating the whereabouts of four tonnes of explosive chemical stored by militants in the country as reported in Singapore recently. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said police knew the explosive chemical, ammonium nitrate, had been smuggled into the country but it had been removed to some other places," reported The Star newspaper of Malaysia.
"A wave of arrests by Pakistani police as part of a crackdown on extremist religious groups is winding down with the bulk of suspects already in detention, officials said yesterday. The bulk of the suspects have already been rounded up but the process will continue, a senior interior ministry official said. Police in all four provinces have sealed 473 offices of these groups and rounded up around 1,400 suspects," reported the AFP news service.
"Pakistan will seek US help to mediate with rival India over tensions which have brought the nuclear rivals to the brink of war when Secretary of State Colin Powell visits Islamabad, officials said yesterday. Powell is due to arrive here today for talks with President Pervez Musharraf and Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar, before going on to visit Afghanistan and India," reported the AFP news service.
"US officials in Washington said the military was looking for new targets in its hunt for diehard supporters of Osama bin Laden and his Taliban allies after several days of heavy bombing at Zawar in eastern Afghanistan, near the Pakistan border. Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Stufflebeem said that 50 caves had been sealed and every building flattened at the former terrorist camp, but villagers fleeing the area said that many of the structures were their homes and that dozens of civilians had died," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"It is time for the international community to stop talking and start delivering help, Fawzi said on Monday. This country needs millions of dollars tomorrow. Otherwise, there will be no country when the billions are ready. Fawzi said donor nations had agreed to contribute US$20mil (RM76mil) so far, but as of Dec 31 only US$2mil (RM7.6mil) had been handed over. Some 210,000 civil servants and 25,000 police officers have not been paid in months," reported the Associated Press news service.
"The US Central Intelligence Agency has established a presence in major US metropolitan areas, trying to recruit agents among local ethnic communities, The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday. After closing a CIA station in Germany which used to target Iran, the spy agency reassigned several of its officers to Los Angeles in order to work with local Iranian expatriates," reported the AFP news service.
"A Palestinian professor said on Monday he will fight the University of South Florida’s decision to fire him because of alleged links to terrorists. At a news conference attended by supporters from national Muslim and civil rights organisations, Sami al-Arian said he intends to take his impending dismissal to binding arbitration. I am not the culprit here, said al-Arian. Al-Arian has never been charged with a crime and has denied any connection to terrorists," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"The United States is rapidly increasing its military ties with nations large and small, thanks to the war on terrorism. That means more US soldiers will be spread around the globe in coming years, despite President George W. Bush’s warning during his election campaign that the military was stretched thin, with too many overseas deployments. Already, American special forces train armies across Africa. The Defence Department fights war games in the Middle East. US soldiers engage in scores of joint training exercises from South America to South-East Asia. Even before Sept 11, the US military had a presence in 140 countries worldwide," reported the Associated Press news service.
"When Prince Charles opened a drugs rehabilitation clinic in South London three years ago he had no idea that it would benefit his son, Prince Harry who is now 17 years old. Harry is one of the most revolting people I’ve ever met, said one young woman about the antics of the third in line to the British throne. This weekend’s revelations about Harry’s drinking, at times too much, and smoking cannabis when he was 16 raised few eyebrows because that’s what many teenagers are doing every night, up and down the country. The facts are stark: 94% of 15 and 16-year-olds have drunk alcohol; 47% have taken alcohol at least 40 times, and 65% had their first drink at 13 or 14 without their parents knowing. Some 76% of 15 and 16-year-olds have been drunk at least once, and one in 10 of the age group have been in trouble with the police after drinking. The hard drinkers number almost 15%. In short, British teenagers drink, smoke and take drugs more than most of their counterparts in the rest of Europe," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"More than 30 Australian outlets of US fast food giant McDonald’s received suspicious letters, some containing white powder, officials said. The mail, addressed to store managers, prompted the restaurant chain to temporarily close several of the affected outlets and put its 710 outlets across Australia on alert. Hundreds of anthrax hoaxes and scares were recorded in Australia late last year, leading to scenes of evacuated office workers being hosed down by emergency workers," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Malaysia is attracting a lot of interest from other countries because of its success in dealing with terrorism and extremism, says Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar. Malaysia is one of the few countries in the world which succeeded in overcoming militancy and people are interested in finding out how we managed to do this, he said after a function at Wisma Putra here yesterday. He said many countries were also impressed with the way the Government overcame the challenges posed by a multi-racial and multi-religious population and managed to develop at the same time," reported The Star newspaper of malaysia.
"Palestinian security forces said they have detained the leader of a Palestinian group that claimed responsibility for the assassination of an Israeli Cabinet minister a move apparently aimed at reducing tensions in the wake of a spate of killings. Israeli officials said they were sceptical of the detention of Ahmed Saadat, the leader of a powerful Palestinian faction," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian commissioned the last batch of US-made F-16 fighter jets yesterday, bringing into service all of the 150 advanced warplanes purchased in 1992. Chen said Taiwan must keep its air superiority to counter China’s military build-up," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Police drawn from former rebels shot dead three army rangers in the southern Philippines yesterday, taking the toll in two days of clashes to 21 and adding fuel to a revoltthere. Witnesses and local officials said police fired on an army patrol and the bodies of three soldiers were later hacked by civilians. They said the civilians were enraged by a gunbattle on Tuesday in which 18 people were killed and which they blamed on the military," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Violence has left at least 10 people dead as explosions and volleys of gunfire yesterday marked the start of a two-day strike called by rebels in Aceh province. The separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) rebels have called the strike to protest alleged brutality by police and troops and Jakarta’s plan to revive a separate military command for the province," reported the AFP news agency.
"A man who called a Singapore police emergency number claiming to be from Afghanistan and threatening to burn cars, has been jailed for a year, a report said yesterday. Balasubramaniam Somu Pathar, 41, had rung the emergency number from a public phone last year, saying: I’m going to burn all the cars at the carpark within 10 minutes. I am from Afghanistan. As he talked on the phone, police traced the call and arrested him," reported the AFP news agency.
"Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar was offered an amnesty to tempt him to lay down his arms, but he ditched the deal and gave his tribal enemies and their US allies the slip, said the Afghan warlord who negotiated the agreement. The proposed deal was directed by Afghanistan’s interim government leader Hamid Karzai," reported the Reuters news agency.
"John Walker Lindh, the 20-year-old Californian who fought with the Taliban in Afghanistan, was charged with conspiracy to kill US citizens. He will be tried in a civilian court and could face life in prison. After weeks of deliberations, the Bush administration opted against a military trial or charges that would carry the death penalty," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Preliminary forensic tests on suspicious letters sent to McDonald’s outlets in Sydney Australia some containing white powder ruled out any traces of anthrax, police said yesterday," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"The civil rights of homeless Americans are under attack coast-to-coast through laws designed to criminalise homelessness by banning such things as sleeping in public, according to a new report released on Tuesday. The report by two homeless advocacy groups said California was the meanest state to the homeless, while San Francisco, New York and Atlanta tied as the worst cities for homeless residents. Punishing homeless Americans for living in public when thousands literally have no other alternative is inhumane, immoral and unjust and it just won’t work," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A weighing machine that told a woman get off, fat pig, and abused a man who had put on some weight over Christmas has been hastily removed from a busy Australian shopping centre after several customers complained about offensive comments," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Gucci designer Tom Ford on Tuesday heralded Afghan Prime Minister Hamid Karzai as the world’s most chic man. Speaking to reporters ahead of a fashion show here, Ford said the head of the post-Taliban interim government was both very elegant and very proud. Today, the chicest man on the planet is the new Afghan premier," reported the dpa news agency.
Troops will be deployed in a small Pennsylvania community next month to guard a groundhog named Punxsutawney, which each year attracts huge crowds of people who believe the animal can forecast the weather. We just never know what may pop up in these times, so we are getting prepared, said Jamie Levier, a spokesman for the state police of this rural community. A team of state police, bomb-sniffing dogs and National Guard troops will be stationed near the town of Gobbler’s Knob on Feb 2 to ward off possible terrorists at this year’s Groundhog Day festivities," reported the Reuters news agency.
"US soldiers set up camp yesterday on an island in the southern Philippines where they will join operations against Muslim rebels linked to Osama bin Laden, a new phase in Washington’s war against terror. In Manila, a chorus of protests erupted against US troops’ involvement in the battle against the Abu Sayyaf guerillas and an opposition leader said President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo could be impeached," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) is shopping for fighter planes to replace its A-4SU Super Skyhawks," reported the Asia News Network.
"US Secretary of State Colin Powell urged India and Pakistan yesterday to resume a dialogue, but said it was up to New Delhi to decide whether Islamabad had done enough to warrant a change in its no-talks policy," reported the AFP news agency.
"Palestinian President Yasser Arafat accused Israel on Wednesday of seeking to kill all Palestinian leaders, and a top UN envoy warned fresh eruptions of violence in the region were battering peacemaking efforts. The Israelis want to kill all leaders of the Palestinian people, one after another, Arafat said, according to an advance copy of an interview with France’s Le Figaro daily. He cited as proof Monday’s killing of a militant leader linked to his Fatah faction, attributing it to Israel. The Israelis aren’t doing anything to reduce the tension, Arafat said. Our problem with (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon is that in reality he doesn’t want an agreement," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A Palestinian gunman entered a banquet hall in northern Israel Thursday and opened fire with an assault rifle, killing six people and injuring 30, Israeli police said. A Palestinian militant group claimed responsibility for the attack. Police earlier said the attacker threw hand grenades but witnesses and later police accounts said the attacker opened fire with an M-16 assault rifle and was stopped before he could throw a grenade. The Al Aqsa Brigades, a militia linked to Yasser Arafat's Fatah, claimed responsibility in a phone call," according to the Associated Press news agency.
"Philippine police dug up a ton of explosives in a southern city yesterday after receiving information from Singaporean authorities investigating a suspected al-Qaeda terrorist cell. Philippine National Police spokesman Cresencio Maralit said three men with suspected links to the al-Qaeda network were arrested in this southern city. The information was supplied by the Singaporean police," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"A suspended student shot and killed three people at a law school in southwest Virginia’s coal country on Wednesday including the school’s dean and wounded three others, authorities said. Peter Odighizuma, 43, suspended from the Appalachian School of Law earlier the same day, was being held in jail here," reported the Reuters news agency.
"US Secretary of State Colin Powell, on a landmark trip to Kabul yesterday, said Washington would stand by Afghanistan, and vowed to eradicate Islamic extremists in the country. As US warplanes scoured the land for remnants of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network and the former ruling Taliban, Powell told Afghanistan’s new leaders his government planned a significant contribution to the country’s reconstruction," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A major human rights group on Wednesday accused the United States and some of its allies of abusing civil liberties in the name of the war on terror, warning them that they could inadvertently strengthen the ideology that led to the Sept 11 attacks," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A Muslim woman who said she was subjected to a humiliating search at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport filed a lawsuit on Wednesday that asked for an injunction banning searches based on racial profiling. Samar Kaukab, 22, a student from Columbus, Ohio, who is a US citizen of Pakistani descent, said she was singled out at an airport security checkpoint in November by an Illinois National Guardsman and thoroughly searched by security personnel. In front of other passengers, the security guard repeatedly passed a metal-detecting wand over Kaukab, felt around her bra strap, and ordered her to remove her hijab, the Muslim head scarf worn by women. She refused unless it could be taken off in private and was taken to a room where female guards performed an extensive hand search on her body that she said left her frightened and humiliated. No contraband was found," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The running of all Islamic religious schools in Malaysia will be reviewed to prevent deviant teachings of the religion. The Government does not want to see these schools becoming like some in Pakistan which breed terrorists and impart extremist religious views to the young," reported The Star newspaper of Malaysia.
"Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad has advised Malaysians to learn from the Afghan experience if they do not want to see the country in a shambles. The Prime Minister said events that had happened in Afghanistan could happen here if the people were not united," reported The Star newspaper of malaysia.
"Israel sent tanks and soldiers early Saturday to the Palestinian television and radio broadcasting building as it stepped up pressure on Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian Authority, security sources said. Up to 12 tanks surrounded the hilltop broadcasting building, and Israeli soldiers entered the four-story complex before dawn Saturday," reported the Associated Press news agency.
Philippine officials, dismayed by mounting criticism of US troops joining operations against local Muslim guerillas, said yesterday that American troops might not go out in the field at all," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Indonesia acknowledged yesterday that it was under pressure from the United States to join its neighbours and crack down on suspected Muslim terrorists with ties to Osama bin Laden," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"For the first time in the present standoff with India, President Gen Pervez Musharraf said yesterday that he is confident war can be avoided but warned that Pakistan would respond strongly to any attack. I am confident that there won’t be a war. We don’t war, Musharraf told a gathering of Pakistan’s top clerics in the federal capital," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"A videotape and handwritten notes found in Afghanistan have aided Singapore’s anti-terrorism fight, but it was mostly internal intelligence work not evidence from Afghanistan that thwarted an alleged plot to blow up Western interests in Singapore, officials said yesterday," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Saudi Arabia is increasingly uncomfortable with US military on its territory and may soon ask that they leave and devise a less conspicuous form of military co-operation, the Washington Post said yesterday. One reason for ending the US military’s 11-year presence, an unnamed senior Saudi official told the daily, was that top Saudi rulers believed the United States had overstayed its welcome," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"To date, the 'shalwar kameez' with combat jacket look has been Osama bin Laden’s sole contribution to style but that may be about to change. The brother of the world’s most wanted man is to launch a fashion label exploiting the family’s now infamous name," reported the Guardian News Service.
"Delta Airlines president Frederick Reid personally apologised to a Muslim teenager forced to remove her headscarf by airline security officers, an Islamic advocacy group said on Thursday. Reid phoned Enaas Sarsour, 17, after issuing a formal apology for the Dec 18 incident at Baltimore-Washington International Airport just outside Washington. Sarsour removed her scarf, known as a hijab, after military personnel brandishing rifles surrounded her," reported the AFP news service.
