"A high-ranking Iranian official in New York for the World Economic Forum said Saturday that Iran was shocked and disappointed by President George W. Bush's comments earlier this week that it is part of an evil axis of terrorist nations. Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Adeli said Bush's comments during his State of the Union speech were inconsistent with the cooperative relationship Iran and the United States had developed in their fight to oust the Taliban from Afghanistan. Bush said Iran, Iraq and North Korea constitute an axis of evil. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the most powerful figure in Iran, denounced Bush and called America the most hated Satan in the world. President Mohammad Khatami, a moderate who has engaged with the United States, said Bush "spoke arrogantly, humiliatingly, aggressively and in an interfering way - and worse than anything, it is an insult to the Iranian nation," reported The Star newspaper of Malaysia.
"Asian leaders questioned US Secretary of State Colin Powell about the axis of evil doctrine on Friday and heard that the United States was serious about dealing with what it considers despotic governments that support terrorism and develop weapons of mass destruction. US President George W. Bush called Iran, Iraq and North Korea an axis of evil on Tuesday, provoking widespread concern that the United States was expanding its war against terrorism into new and dangerous territory," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright blasted Bush for his remarks, calling the description a big mistake. Albright, speaking on the Today show, said many in the international community believed the United States has lost our mind because of the way Bush is handling foreign policy. I think it was a big mistake to lump those three countries together, she said, adding that the remark risked alienating US’ foreign allies," reported the AFP news agency.
"The Philippines has joined Malaysia and Indonesia to fight terrorism in their common seas. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo believes neighbouring Singapore and Thailand would be joining them soon in the fight," reported The Star news agency.
"An Afghan warlord re-armed his men yesterday to mount another assault on a provincial capital where residents don’t want him as governor and are dismayed that US forces operating in the area won’t come to their rescue," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Washington has begun negotiations with former foe Hanoi for access to a key Soviet Cold War naval base on Vietnam’s central coast after the Russian lease expires in 2004, US officials said here yesterday. The US military is seeking an arrangement that will allow it to use the base at Cam Ranh Bay for port calls and support for its operations in south-east Asia, Pacific commander Admiral Dennis Blair told reporters after talks here with Vietnamese officials," reported the AFP news service.
"Israeli helicopter gunships rocketed a Palestinian naval police headquarters in the Gaza Strip town of Deir Al Balah early yesterday, following a Palestinian attack on a nearby army outpost," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Some 600 lawyers, law scholars and students yesterday publicly condemned the government’s policy of locking up asylum seekers in an advertisement in a national newspaper. The circumstances of their detention are alienating, inhumane and contrary to the general international standards of treatment available in other countries. Human dignity for asylum seekers is not negotiable and must be upheld, the advertisement said. Their dehumanising treatment diminishes us all as a civilised society," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"America got a Super Bowl, but it was the most heavily secured Super Bowl in history. The outside of the Superdome looked more like a military compound than a football stadium Sunday, complete with soldiers on the ground and sharpshooters on the roof," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"There is growing concern that terrorists could use a ship as a weapon, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said in its annual worldwide piracy report released here. After the Sept 11 terrorist attacks in the US, there is now a real fear that terrorists could use a ship as a weapon and security should become a top priority for the maritime industry, the bureau said. It is not impossible for hijackers or terrorists to hijack ships, to undergo suicide missions for their cause," reported the The Star newspaper of Malaysia.
"No ifs and no buts: The Primary 1 girls will be suspended if they turn up in school tomorrow wearing the Islamic headscarf, or tudung. Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong made this clear on Saturday in his first public remarks on the issue. He said the girls must comply with the common uniform rule in national schools," reported the Asia News Network.
"The second biggest group in Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organisation suspended its membership on Saturday in protest against his arrest of its leader, piling more pressure on the Palestinian President. The radical Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) announced its decision at a time when Arafat faces demands from various groups to resist Israeli and international demands to clamp down on militants behind a wave of suicide bombings against the Jewish state," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres outlined a possible scenario culminating in Palestinian statehood that could emerge from the latest Israeli-Palestinian talks and said the Palestinians appeared interested in the ideas," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"The US military finished construction of a temporary prison camp on the US Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba on Saturday, and can now more than double its population of Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners, said camp officials," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Warlord factions whose control of northern Afghanistan challenges central government authority have pledged to withdraw from the volatile region's main city and eventually to demobilize their soldiers, a spokesman for one of the parties said. A pull-out by warlords from Mazar-e-Sharif would be an important step in Afghanistan's efforts to restore stability after 23 years of war," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Malaysia is a stable and terrorist-free country and bears no ill will against foreigners, including Americans, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad told businessmen here yesterday," reported The Star newspaper of Malaysia.
"Two Muslim girls whose parents refused to comply with a deadline yesterday for removing their Islamic headscarves were suspended for defying the uniform dress code at Singapore’s national schools. I can’t compromise my religious principles, insisted Mohamad Nasser, the father of seven-year-old Nurul Nasihah. Staff at White Sands Primary said the child, escorted in by her mother, departed shortly after arriving," reported the dpa news agency.
"The International Movement for a Just World has urged the Singapore Government to review its decision to bar Muslim schoolgirls from wearing the tudung (headscarf) to school, saying it should rescind the ban for the sake of harmony and unity in the multi-religious island republic. The International Movement for a Just World has urged the Singapore Government to review its decision to bar Muslim schoolgirls from wearing the tudung (headscarf) to school, saying it should rescind the ban for the sake of harmony and unity in the multi-religious island republic," reported The Star newspaper of Malaysia.
"Thousands of people held rallies in key cities across the Philippines yesterday to protest the presence of US troops in the country for a six-month counter-terrorism training exercise with Filipino counterparts. The demonstrators accused President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of compromising the country’s sovereignty by allowing American soldiers to join in the war against Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels," reported the dpa news agency.
"Four Palestinians were killed yesterday when a car exploded in the southern Gaza Strip, possibly when it was hit by a missile or tank shell, Palestinian security officials said. They said they suspected the blast near Rafah, and about 400 metres from the border with Egypt, was caused by an Israeli missile or tank shell. They did not immediately identify the people who were killed. Witnesses said the bodies were badly charred and the car was destroyed. The Israeli army had no immediate comment," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Pakistani police stepped up their hunt for kidnapped US reporter Daniel Pearl yesterday after a false alarm that his body had been found dumped on the outskirts of a southern city. He is apparently being held by a group that has demanded the release of prisoners from the Afghan war," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Asylum seekers at two Australian detention camps continued a 13-day hunger strike yesterday as cracks appeared in bipartisan political support for mandatory detention of illegal immigrants," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Strident criticism of the United States dominated the World Social Forum’s Peace Conference in Brazil, which drew to a close on Sunday, urging that a democratic mediation mechanism be created to deal with conflicts instead of threats and military attacks," reported the AFP news service.
"Calling on the nation to face up to new realities following the Sept11 attacks, President George W. Bush sent to Congress yesterday a US$$2.1 trillion budget that brings back deficits to fund the biggest military buildup since the Cold War and record spending on security at home," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Malaysia is capable of dealing with any threat and does not need foreign help or intervention, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Malaysia has the know-how to deal with terrorists, be they Muslims or otherwise, reported The Star newspaper of Malaysia.
"Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad visited Ground Zero, the place where the World Trade Centre once stood, on Monday and came away with a feeling that is difficult to describe. I saw it on TV but seeing it here is a different thing altogether. You feel that you are near to the incident and we know that our own people were killed here. We feel very saddened by what happened here, he told reporters at the site," reported The Star newspaper of malaysia.
"Philippine President Gloria Arroyo said yesterday she hoped to recruit former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani as a consultant to repair the country’s image battered by lawlessness," reported the AFP news service.
"The Supreme Court yesterday ordered the Philippine government to defend its decision to hold a controversial joint military exercise with the United States aimed at wiping out an extremist group in the southern Philippines. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has said even a US combat role would be constitutional. But she said she ruled against it because it was better to have Philippine troops do their own fighting," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Pakistani police yesterday named two suspected kidnappers of US journalist Daniel Pearl, as his newspaper appealed for private communication from the captors, 13 days after his disappearance. A senior police investigator said two militants, Mohammad Hashim Qadeer and Mohammad Bashir, were the prime suspects so far believed to have kidnapped Pearl," reported the AFP news service.
"The Enron scandal exploded into open political warfare on Monday as Congress declared its intention to subpoena the bankrupt energy trader’s former chief executive, Kenneth Lay, and the Democrats accused the Bush administration of running a cash-and-carry government on behalf of the disgraced company. Senator Ernest Hollings, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Commerce Committeeaccused Bush and his administration of being in Enron’s pocket, and creating a culture of government corruption," reported the Guardian News Service.
"A Canadian biology teacher was charged with having sex with teenage pupils from the school in southern England where she worked after she had already been branded a risk to children after earlier investigations over child sex allegations," reported the Guardian News Service.
"A 14-year-old Australian boy pleaded guilty yesterday to killing a three-year-old girl last year after abducting and stabbing the sleeping toddler from her bedroom, the court hearing the case said," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Australian Prime Minister John Howard arrived yesterday for a visit aimed at improving relations with Indonesia. Amien Rais, Speaker of the top legislative body, is boycotting a meeting with Howard because of Australia’s stance on asylum seekers and its supposed backing for independence supporters in Papua and Aceh provinces. Akbar Tanjung, the Speaker of the lower house is also refusing to meet the premier," reported the AFP news service.
"US troops are prepared to take casualties in joint operations in the southern Philippines against local allies of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terror network, a US general said yesterday," reported the AFP news service.
"Pakistani investigators said yesterday they had narrowed the search for kidnapped US reporter Daniel Pearl to a banned militant group suspected of having ties to Osama bin Laden," reported the Reuters news agency
"Afghan leader Hamid Karzai said US military mistakes cost innocent lives in raids in southern Afghanistan. In his first interview since returning from a visit to the United States and Britain, Karzai sought to play down the incidents, saying that the Americans apologised for the mistakes and, in some cases, handed out financial compensation," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Captured American Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh was indicted on Tuesday on 10 charges, including conspiracy to kill Americans in Afghanistan, US Attorney-General John Ashcroft announced. It is extraordinary for the United States to have to charge one of its own citizens with aiding and conspiring with international terrorist groups whose agenda is to kill Americans, Ashcroft said," reported the Reuters news agency.
"US President George W. Bush on Tuesday dismissed calls for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate Enron’s scandal-tainted bankruptcy despite charges in Congress that the fallen energy giant exerted undue influence in Washington," reported the AFP news service.
"Influential American novelist and journalist Norman Mailer has criticised the patriotic fever gripping the United States following the Sept 11 attacks. America has an almost obscene infatuation with itself, he says. The right wing benefited so much that, if I were still a conspiratorialist, I would believe they’d done it themselves," reported the Reuters news agency.
"New York City has asked scrapyards not to sell World Trade Centre steel to anyone trying to exploit the Sept 11 tragedy after a company began offering commemorative medallions made from the twin towers’ girders," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"At least five soldiers were killed and one was wounded in an ambush Friday by Muslim extremist guerrillas in the southern Philippines, a military spokesman said," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"US troops are to be barred from combat and unilateral action during joint counter-extremist operations in the southern Philippines, according to a draft agreement set to be signed by the two governments," reported the AFP news service.
"Israeli warplanes attacked a Palestinian Authority headquarters yesterday in response to a raid that killed three Israelis ahead of talks between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and US President George W. Bush. The raid by a Palestinian gunman on a Jewish settlement in the West Bank was likely to add impetus to Sharon’s plans to urge Bush to sever ties with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat during talks in Washington later. In other bloodshed on Wednesday, Palestinian witnesses and hospital sources said an Israeli soldier shot dead a 16-year-old Palestinian as he stood in a crowd watching army bulldozers working on Gaza’s southern border. The army did not comment," reported the Reuters news agency.
"US forces in Afghanistan have released 27 detainees captured in a disputed US raid on Jan 23 after determining they were not Taliban forces or linked to al-Qaeda, the US military said. A US intelligence official also confirmed the CIA had handed out cash to families of victims of the raid, which the Pentagon initially said had resulted in the killing of at least 15 Taliban fighters," reported the Reuters news agency.
"France’s highest court upheld a three-month jail term on Wednesday for Jose Bove, hero of the international anti-globalisation movement, over his ransacking of a McDonald’s restaurant to protest US trade barriers," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Security forces lifted a siege on a mosque in northern India on Saturday following a long-drawn gunbattle that left two suspected Islamic militants and a civilian dead, police said. The militants had sought refuge in the mosque in Tortigun, located in Kupwara district in the northern state of Jammu-Kashmir, a police official said," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"A man in the United States was freed on bail Friday, a day after he was accused of illegally shipping computer goods to three Arab countries. Ihsan Elashyi was arrested Thursday on federal charges of making 12 shipments to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan,"reported the Associated Press news agency.
"A 42-year-old Malaysian has been detained in the Philippines after airport security personnel confiscated more than 100 Malaysian passports in his luggage before boarding a flight to Kuwait, an official said yesterday. Police Chief Supt Marcelo Ele said Azmi Salleh was arrested on Thursday evening at Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport. While authorities here are investigating him of having possible links to terrorist groups, the Malaysian Embassy in Manila said he was a travel agent and was simply seeking to obtain visas from the Philippines to go for the haj," reported The Star newspaper of malaysia.
"US troops have been told not to kiss in public or discuss religion in the southern Philippines, where they are helping in the fight against the Abu Sayyaf. You have to refrain from showing public display of affection by embracing or kissing while strolling along our thoroughfares or in our plazas for this may offend the sensitivities of the people," reported the Associated Press news agency.
"Pakistani police made another arrest in a series of overnight raids but appeared no closer yesterday to finding a US journalist being held hostage over the treatment of US prisoners in Cuba. Police here were tight-lipped about their progress 16 days after Daniel Pearl disappeared in the southern city of Karachi," reported the AFP news service.
"A camel beauty contest, the first of its kind in the United Arab Emirates, was held in Abu Dhabi on Thursday with a bounty of 100,000 dirhams (US$25,000) and trophies at stake, newspapers reported yesterday. Faraj bin Hamuda, a member of the UAE’s National Federal Council, said the aim was to mark the respect and love the UAE people have for camels, their best companion in the pre-oil era, and pass on that feeling to the younger generation," reported the AFP news service.
"A CIA-launched missile strike this week in an area previously occupied by al-Qaeda in eastern Afghanistan appeared to have hit its target a tall man who was being treated with great deference by those around him, a US official said yesterday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the individual was believed to be a senior al-Qaeda official but would not say whether suspicions centered on Osama bin Laden, the 1.93m tall leader of al-Qaeda and suspected mastermind of the Sept 11 terrorist attacks on the United States," reported the AFP news service.
"Israeli forces raided Palestinian-ruled areas of the West Bank yesterday after the United States renewed criticism of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat but ignored Israeli appeals to sever ties with him," reported the Reuters news agency.
"US President George W. Bush, finding his course littered with diplomatic pitfalls after the quick military victory in Afghanistan, sought to defuse one controversy on Thursday by agreeing to apply the Geneva Convention to Taliban prisoners. Britain, a close US ally in the war on terrorism, welcomed the move but human rights groups dismissed it as a hollow word play," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Federal agents will next week begin rounding up thousands of illegal Middle Eastern immigrants who have ignored court orders to leave the country. An internal US Justice Department memo said federal agents were instructed to arrest and interrogate the illegal immigrants and find ways to prosecute any who have ties to terrorism," reported the Reuters news agency.
