"Iraq is lifting the cult of Saddam Hussein to new heights as the government organises an absolute vote on Tuesday for the president who has ruled since 1979, in lieu of a real referendum. The prospect of a US-led war to oust the Baghdad strongman has crystallised world attention on the Oct 15 referendum and seen the ruling Baath Party and all state organs work for a 100% yes vote," reported the AFP news service.
"Israeli security men guarding the US embassy here captured a Palestinian suicide bomber who bolted from the entrance of a nearby cafe after his explosive belt set off a metal detector alarm, police said. No one was injured in the incident on the busy beachfront esplanade on Friday night, apparently the latest attempt by Palestinian militant groups to avenge recent Israeli army raids in the Gaza Strip which caused Palestinian civilian casualties," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Kuwait has arrested 26 suspects who formed a local al-Qaeda-style cell for allegedly plotting to attack vital Kuwaiti and American targets in the oil-rich state, security sources said yesterday. A senior oil official said the Gulf Arab state had also tightened already tough security for oil export facilities and tankers after uncovering the plot," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Publishers who hit the jackpot last year with volumes on Afghanistan are now scrambling to rush out books on Iraq amid growing speculation of a US-led war," reported the Reuters news agency.
"One of six people indicted last week on terrorism charges considered attacking synagogues or schools on American soil, federal prosecutors said. Assistant US Attorney Charles Gorder told journalists he was ready to play recordings of Jeffrey Leon Battle making violent anti-American and pro-Taliban comments," reported the AP news agency.
"Leaders and peace activists worldwide applauded the award of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to former US President Jimmy Carter on Friday, and some said they hoped it would send a signal to the current US administration," reported the AP news agency.
"Eleven soldiers were killed and 25 people wounded yesterday in military attacks on Abu Sayyaf guerillas and their allies in the southern island of Jolo, sources said. Military officials said Philippine Marines suffered the casualties in an assault on the Abu Sayyaf in Patikul town, one of their strongholds," reported the AFP news service.
"Australia will send its foreign and justice ministers to Indonesia to discuss cooperation in the hunt for the terrorists responsible for the deadly Bali bombing, Prime Minister John Howard said Monday. They will then go to Jakarta for discussions with the Indonesian government regarding cooperation between our two governments in pursuit of those who have been responsible for this outrage," reported the AP news agency.
"On claims the bombing in Bali, Indonesia, could be an act of terror, Syed Hamid, Malaysian Foreign minister, said in view of the crisis facing the world today, any form of violence would be linked to terrorism, even if it was not. He argued that the Palestine issue, and imminent attack on Iraq by the United States have caused dissent, despair and anger throughout the world and this (bombing) may be a form of retaliation," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"In moves suggesting new Pentagon preparations for war against Iraq, key Army and Marine Corps battle staff are being sent to Kuwait and officials said Defence Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld is likely to order extra germ warfare protection for hundreds of thousands of troops. Although no final decision has been made, Rumsfeld is expected to give the go-ahead soon for smallpox inoculations, according to a senior defence official who discussed the matter on condition of anonymity," reported the AP news agency.
"Yemen is now convinced attackers set off the blast that gutted a French supertanker in the Gulf of Aden last week and Western shipping executives said yesterday the assault was probably the work of suicide bombers. Yemen, trying to shed an image as a haven for Islamist militants, had initially said a fire caused the explosion which killed one crewman, but sources close to the government-led probe said the Arab state was now sure it was deliberate," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A judge has cleared the way for a discrimination lawsuit by an Arab-American who was removed from a United Airlines flight three months after the Sept 11 attacks. US District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ruled that although airlines need to remove passengers who pose a security threat, that duty does not grant them a licence to discriminate. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, which the judge dismissed as a co-plaintiff, contends US airlines have subjected Arab-Americans to a new and disturbing pattern of discrimination since the terror attacks," reported the AP news agency.
"In advance of a White House visit, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Monday urged Palestinians to overthrow their leadership, calling it a despotic regime that is leading you from failure to failure. Sharon's unyielding stance with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has won the broad endorsement of U.S. President George W. Bush, who has also called for Arafat to be replaced. But Sharon, making his seventh White House visit in 18 months, could face hard questions from a U.S. administration that has chastised him for failing to follow through with pledges to ease blockades and curfews imposed on many Palestinian cities," reported the AP news agency.
"The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to condemn the bombings on the Indonesian island of Bali in the strongest terms and urged all nations to work together to find the perpetrators and combat all forms of terrorism. A council resolution, adopted by a 15-0 vote Monday night, called the massive bomb attack that killed more than 180 people at a nightclub on Saturday an act of international terrorism that posed a threat to international peace and security," reported the AP news agency.
"Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad has described the Bali bomb blast as very unfortunate but warned that such attacks will go on as long as people harbour hatred. The Prime Minister attributed the terrorist attacks to the fact that no attempt had been made at all to trace the causes of anger which made people even willing to blow themselves up," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"Philippine prosecutors are to file criminal charges against two Malaysians linked to an Indonesian bomb-making member of the Jemaah Islamiya extremist group in custody here. The national police allege Malaysians Faiz Abu Bakar Bafana and Riduan Isamudin, also known as Hambali, were involved in a plot to obtain explosives in the Philippines for use in terror attacks on the US and Israeli embassies in Singapore," reported the AFP news service.
"Just a four-hour flight from northern Australia, Bali’s economy has been built around the idyllic, tropical island’s role over the past three decades as a playground for young Australians. Until now, Australians always thought they were safe Down Under in the peace and isolation of their wealthy South Pacific island nation. That belief was shattered on Saturday night when a car bomb ripped apart a night club packed with tourists on the Indonesian island of Bali, killing nearly 200 people — many of them Australians," reported the AP news agency.
"US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said he had ordered regional commanders to sharpen war plans, according to the New York Times, after Washington dismissed as word play a new Iraqi offer to allow UN inspectors unconditional access to its weapons facilities. The newspaper on Sunday quoted Rumsfeld as saying he ordered commanders to rewrite war plans to make best use of precision weapons, intelligence and swift deployment," reported the AFP news service.
"The upsurge in terrorist attacks around the world over the past month, culminating in the bombings in Bali, has fuelled criticism of the Bush administration that its focus on Iraq has sapped its effort against an undefeated al-Qaeda. Western intelligence services see Indonesia as both a haven and a target of Islamic extremists affiliated to al-Qaeda. However, there was also no immediate evidence that the Bush administration’s current concentration on Iraq had diminished its efforts against al-Qaeda and its supporters in Indonesia," reported the dpa news agency.
"Gunmen fired at US troops in Kuwait yesterday in the third shooting incident involving American soldiers in a week, but no one was hurt, the US embassy said. An official Kuwaiti source said it was unclear whether the shots were fired in the air or at the American soldiers," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Saudi Arabia has adopted new restrictions, including fingerprinting, for US nationals entering the kingdom in response to similar measures introduced by the United States. Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef bin Abdel Aziz told reporters on Sunday that this measure, which includes fingerprinting, came in line with the principle of reciprocity," reported the AFP news service.
"Osama bin Laden is alive and will appear on a videotape soon, a man who identified himself as a senior al-Qaeda member told an Arabic weekly," reported the AP news agency.
"An explosion in a public telephone booth near Bethlehem killed a Palestinian militant and President Yasser Arafat’s Fatah faction blamed Israel for the blast that raised the spectre of revenge attacks. Kamal Ahmed, secretary general of Fatah’s Bethlehem branch, accused Israel of assassinating Mohammed Abayat of the Fatah-affiliated al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in a bid to undermine a security agreement under which Israeli forces withdrew from Bethlehem two months ago," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Israel began smallpox vaccinations on Sunday for several thousand key security and emergency service personnel as part of its precautions against any Iraqi retaliation against the Jewish state for US-led military action," reported the AFP news service.
"Qatar’s Jazeera television broadcast yesterday what it said was a statement by Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden hailing last week’s attacks on US Marines in Kuwait and a French supertanker off Yemen. The statement, which Jazeera said bore Osama’s signature, also urged Muslims to unite against Americans and Jews, expalining that the priority in this war at this stage must be against the infidels, the Americans and the Jews who have not stopped their injustice," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The Washington-area sniper again took the weekend off, adding a tiny trait to the personality profile of an assassin who has killed eight people in 12 days," reported the AFP news service.
"Iraq is neither Afghanistan nor post-war Japan and the United States will not find it easy to name a governor in Baghdad, pundits have warned following disclosures that Washington was mulling the possibility of installing a military occupation government in the country. Mohammad Mesfer, a political science professor at Doha University in Qatar, said they (Americans) may be able to do it on paper, but not on the ground," reported the AFP news service.
"Al-Qaeda and its regional ally may be on everyone's minds in the bombing that killed nearly 200 people in Bali, but anti-terrorism experts list other potential suspects, with the Indonesian army and its former militia proxies in East Timor among them. Ken Conboy, a Jakarta security expert with the Control Risks Group, a London-based consultancy said most fingers will obviously point toward Solo,...but it's more likely that there was a foreign hand in it, given the yield of the blast," reported the AP news agency.
"The current threat of war against Iraq by the United States is part of the latter’s intentions to create an empire and become the most powerful country in the world, two social activists said yesterday. Malaysian Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War chairman Ronald McCoy said a war against Iraq would be a coming out party for the most powerful nation in history which is bent on establishing a Pax Americana, or an American Empire," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"Iraqis voted massively yesterday in a referendum to give President Saddam Hussein, the sole candidate, seven more years in office in defiance of US efforts to topple the regime. A young woman voted with her blood after filling a syringe from her arm and several others followed her example, chanting with our soul, with our blood we will sacrifice ourselves for you, Saddam. Such votes are counted apart to allow the authorities to compensate the people," reported the AFP news service.
"An intercontinental ballistic missile launched from California was successfully intercepted over the Pacific Ocean as part of a new test of a budding US missile defence system, the Defence Department announced late on Monday. US President George W. Bush has made building this system a cornerstone of his national security policy, despite criticism at home and abroad levelled by those who believe the project will be destabilising," reported the AFP news service.
"Police stepped up the search for a sniper in the Washington area yesterday after ballistic evidence confirmed that a 47-year-old woman shot dead in a shopping centre the previous evening was the ninth fatality in the shooter’s spree," reported the AFP news service.
"Conspiracy theories abound in Indonesia, with stories in one widely read daily suggesting Washington planned the Bali bombings. In another newspaper, a Muslim leader wrote in a column that suspicions are strongly directed to foreign parties, in particular the US. To explain why Washington would attempt to destabilise a country of great strategic interest, while it makes a difficult transition from authoritarian rule to democracy, he said the United States aims to create an opinion that it was true that Indonesia is a terrorist base and was a safe haven for these terrorists. While the vast majority of Indonesian Muslims are moderate, many fear the war on terror serves as an excuse to attack Islam in general. Their suspicions are reinforced by what many see as fabricated US evidence to justify war against Iraq. A senior Western diplomat said it would take a major effort from the very top of the Indonesian government, either in public or behind the scenes, to turn perceptions around," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Flags flew at half-mast, security was tightened in major cities and demands for justice rang out as Australia began to digest its own Sept 11 after the deadly bomb blasts in Bali. Flags at federal government buildings were lowered to mourn the dozens of Australians who died when car bombs ripped through popular beach bars packed with young revellers on the Indonesian resort island over the weekend, killing more than 180 people," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Australians vented frustration at their government in letters to newspapers yesterday, blaming Prime Minister John Howard’s close relationship with the United States for making their country a target for the bombing in Bali. A Melbourne doctor in a letter to the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald challenged the government to think about ... why would terrorists want to target Australians? and to get the message: ...don’t ... suck up to George Bush," reported the AFP news service.
"Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday he is considering banning an organisation suspected of causing the deadly blast in Bali, but there is not any proof yet linking the group to the attack. Australian Prime Minister John Howard said his government would call on the United Nations to list Jemaah Islamiyah as a terrorist organisation," reported the AP news agency.
"President George W. Bush says he is confident the United States can, if need be, wage simultaneous war against Iraq and Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network. The recent upsurge of apparent al-Qaeda attacks, in Yemen, Kuwait and Indonesia has raised questions about whether the US has the muscle to defend against such attacks while engaging in a possible military action against Iraq," reported the AFP news service.
"Military planes will join the massive hunt for the sniper whose random attacks have claimed nine lives and traumatised the Washington region, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld planned to announce yesterday. A senior defence official said the US military crews would relay surveillance information obtained with sophisticated sensors to help civilian law enforcement more quickly track the killer," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The Pope will today give the rosary – the most distinctive prayer tool in Catholicism – its first makeover for 900 years in his latest attempt to increase the devotions of the faithful. Although the rosary has fallen into some disuse particularly in the west, the Pope appears to be keen to restore it to devotions," reported the Guardian news service.
"No direct connection has been made – or at least made public – to date between Iraq and Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network, French President Jacques Chirac said in an interview published yesterday. Chirac’s comment came one day after France’s Roman Catholic bishops warned that a US attack on Iraq could fan the flames of Islamic radicalism and widen the gulf between Western countries and the Muslim world. In Ankara, Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit was quoted yesterday as saying the United States would be unable to carry out an attack on Iraq without Turkish support and that he was advising Washington to drop the idea," reported the news Agencies.
"British public support for military action against Iraq has surged after Saturday’s bomb attack in Bali, in which at least nine Britons were among the 181 dead, according to a poll published yesterday," reported the Reuters news agency.
"US Central Command chief General Tommy Franks arrived in Amman on Tuesday for talks with top Jordanian officials expected to focus on contingency plans for a possible US war on Iraq. King Abdullah has denied US media reports that Jordan, a US regional ally wedged between Israel to the west and Iraq to the east, would offer facilities for US troops in any Iraqi conflict. But officials privately say Jordan, which has been rewarded with hefty economic and military aid for its pro-US policies, could be used as a search and rescue base in any future military operations in eastern Iraq," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The spiritual leader of an Islamic extremist organisation filed a US$107.6mil lawsuit yesterday against Time magazine for a report alleging his links to terrorism. The lawsuit was filed as Indonesia comes under increasing pressure to arrest the cleric, Abu Bakar Bashir, on suspicions that his group, Jemaah Islamiah, was involved in Saturday’s deadly blast at a Bali nightclub," reported the AFP news service.
"A US government travel advisory that urged US citizens in Indonesia to leave will be softened to recommend only that Americans consider leaving, a senior US diplomat said yesterday. It was a rare bit of good news for Indonesia as it struggles with the impact on its international image of devastating bomb blasts on the tourist island of Bali that killed more than 180 people," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Students at the Ngruki Islamic boarding school, Abu Bakar Ba’asyir’s home base in Solo, 400km east of Jakarta, have threatened to become syahid (martyrdom) bombing if the Indonesian government, which has vowed to crack down on terrorism, arrests charismatic cleric Abu Bakar Ba’asyir. The Suara Merdeka daily quoted Solichin, a close assistant to Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, as saying that many of Abu Bakar’s students and followers would consider the arrest as not merely an individual action against Abu Bakar but against Islam. Indonesia’s top security minister Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono claimed yesterday that as an organisation, Jemaah Islamiah doesn’t exist in Indonesia," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"Australia posted a A$2mil reward in its hunt for those responsible for the Bali nightclub bombing and Prime Minister John Howard denied claims that he failed to act on a US intelligence report last month that warned of terrorist threats to tourist spots in Asia. Opposition Labour leader Simon Crean asked Howard in Parliament yesterday if the government received the report and why it did not act on it. Senator Bob Brown of the left-wing Greens party has called for a Senate inquiry," reported the AP news agency.
"Authorities here have stepped up security, especially in nightspots popular with westerners and expatriate workers following the bombing incident in Bali, Indonesia. Police had been visiting nightspots in Wanchai and Lan Kwai Fong where they urged staff to report suspicious people in their establishments or if any strange objects were left nearby. Meanwhile, Security Secretary Regina Ip stressed that there was no intelligence report that Hong Kong was the next target," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"Iraq said on Tuesday that US and British warplanes hit civilian targets in the south, but the US military said the planes attacked an air defence command centre after threats against allied aircraft. An Iraqi military spokesman said one civilian was wounded in the attack which destroyed two houses," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Iraqi President Saddam Hussein won a perfect 100% of votes in a referendum for a new term in office," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Prime Minister John Howard warned Friday that more terrorist attacks in Asia were likely. On Wednesday, Howard denied suggestions that his government had failed before the Bali attack to advise Australian travelers adequately about warnings contained in U.S. intelligence reports of heightened threats against foreigners in Indonesia. On Friday, he rejected criticism that the government was now overreacting," reported the AP news agency.
"Security was tightened in Makati, the Philippines' main financial district, after a grenade exploded on an elevated highway after midnight Friday and police found another unexploded grenade nearby. No one was reported hurt. One vehicle was damaged," reported the AP news agency.
"US Ambassador to Malaysia Marie Huhtala described as outrageous suggestions that her country might have had a hand in Bali’s Oct 12 bomb blast. Among those who suggested possible American involvement in the bombing of a nightclub on the Indonesian resort island, which killed nearly 200 young people, mostly tourists, were several newspapers and Indonesian Parliamentarians," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"Malaysia has expressed its outrage over a UN Security Council report implicating Barisan Nasional with the al-Qaeda terrorist movement. Besides the country’s ruling coalition, PAS, Abim and three other Islamic groups - Islamic Front of Malaysia (IFM), Malaysian Islamic Youth Movement (MIYM) and the Front Malaysian Islamic Council (FMIC) – were also named in the report, which was released on Sept 26," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"South Africa, head of the 130-member Non-Aligned Movement, yesterday set the tone for a marathon UN debate on the Iraq crisis, saying UN inspectors had to be given a chance to do their work before any military action," reported the Reuters news agency.
"More than two dozen nations — including Iraq’s closest neighbours and key US allies — refused to endorse the Bush administration’s demand for a new UN resolution that would authorise military force if Baghdad fails to co-operate with UN weapons inspections. They said Iraq must be given a chance to completely disarm without the imminent threat of military action," reported the AP news agency.
"Facing strong opposition from dozens of nations, the United States has backed down from its demand that a new UN resolution must authorise military force if Iraq fails to co-operate with UN weapons inspectors, Western diplomats yesterday. Instead, the United States is now floating a compromise that would give inspectors a chance to test Baghdad’s will to co-operate on the ground. The new compromise also drops tough wording explicitly threatening Iraq upfront, said the diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity," reported the AP news agency.
"Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon winds up a three-day visit on Thursday, laden with US pledges to protect Israel from Iraqi missile attack in the event of a US offensive against Saddam Hussein and taking home a ringing endorsement from President George W. Bush of Israel’s right to defend itself," reported the news Agencies.
"Finally acknowledging what French and US officials have been saying for days, Yemen said that a blast on a French oil tanker on Oct 6 was caused by a terror attack in which an explosives-laden boat rammed the vessel as it approached a Yemeni port," reported the AP news agency.
"Conflicting witness accounts have stymied investigators as the massive hunt for the Washington area gunman who has killed nine and badly injured two others entered a frustrating third week yesterday. Though several people said they saw the sniper who struck last on Monday in the ninth deadly shooting to rock the capital region, police said the descriptions were inconsistent, making it impossible to develop a composite sketch," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Noelle Bush, a niece of US President George W. Bush and the daughter of Florida Governor Jeb Bush, was sentenced yesterday to 10 days in jail for failing to meet the conditions of a drug treatment programme," reported the AFP news agency.
"Everyone here has been talking about nothing else but the Bali bombing — from well-groomed TV hosts in their studios to street vendors in the crowded streets of Jakarta. But what was surprising – or perhaps unsurprising — was that many of them subscribed to the conspiracy theory that the bombing was done by American agents. Others said it was a great design to break up Indonesia and to pit the majority Muslims against the minority non-Muslims. The word rekayasa, which in Bahasa Indonesia literally means engineering, is widely used in these discussions on the streets and on the air," reported the Asia News Network.
