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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neeka who wrote (5134)	10/15/2001 12:10:37 AM
From: HG	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

US, Pak drifting apart, delaying battle for Kabul (London, October 14) A rift between Washington and Islamabad has threatened to weaken the US-led campaign against Osama bin Laden and the Taliban regime in Afghanistan as Pakistan implicitly hinted at cutting off intelligence and airspace clearance in an effort to prevent the Northern Alliance from seizing and taking over Kabul. "American use of Pakistani military bases and airspace is in jeopardy after President Pervez Musharraf objected to any decisive US military support for the Northern Alliance, the rebel group preparing the strike on Kabul," a media report said here today. US Secretary of State Colin Powell is to visit Islamabad this week to address Pakistan's concerns, which threaten to limit the Pentagon's options in taking the war against the Taliban as far as possible before the onset of winter. The setback emerged as Pentagon officials admitted that a precision-guided American "smart bomb" aimed at Kabul airport had gone astray and exploded in a poor residential area in which about four people were killed, The Sunday Times reported. Instead of launching a ground offensive after a week of American air strikes, the Northern Alliance remains stuck on its front lines because the Pentagon has not targeted Taliban positions guarding the approaches to Kabul. "The battle of Kabul is on hold," the report quoted a diplomatic source in Islamabad. "The last thing Pakistan wants is a hostile alliance sitting on its borders," said another diplomat in Washington. US Secretary of State Colin Powell left for South Asia Sunday in an attempt to strike a delicate balance between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan as well as explore options for post-Taliban Afghanistan. hindustantimes.com

To: Neeka who wrote (5134)	10/15/2001 2:48:16 AM
From: Bilow	Respond to of 281500

Hi moenmac; Re Arab states' positions on the Taliban situation: Saddam blasts Arabs over Afghanistan stance Business Recorder, October 15, 2001 Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has criticised Arab leaders who have failed to condemn the US-led military campaign against Afghanistan. "The right stance that should be taken is to condemn the (US) aggression (on Afghanistan)," Saddam said during a cabinet meeting late on Saturday night. "Those (Arab) rulers who do not want to condemn the aggression will not be helped by their weak position," he said. Saddam described the US-led war on terrorism as a "big flood" which would be broadened to include Arab countries whose rulers did not denounce the attack on Afghanistan. Iraq was quick to denounce US-led strikes which began last week against targets across Afghanistan after the Afghan government refused to surrender Osama bin Laden, the alleged suspect behind attacks on New York and Washington on September 11. "The aggression (against Afghanistan) is a show of muscle and an operation to terrorise the whole world not only the Afghan people," he said. US President George W. Bush said on Thursday he was watching Iraq "very carefully" and Saddam should allow international weapons inspectors back into his country. Bush, however, side-stepped a question about whether he might widen the US war on terrorism to include countries like Iraq or Syria, which the United States has long accused of sponsoring terrorism. Some Bush aides have argued for strikes against Iraq.-Reuters brecorder.com -- Carl

To: Neeka who wrote (5134)	10/15/2001 9:57:09 AM
From: Elsewhere	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Very disturbing in that you can find only one article coming out of the Muslim community that condemns terrorism and openly tries to alienate themselves from extremists. Here's an article I posted on Saturday: Muslim Ruling Endorses U.S. Action Friday October 12 5:31 PM ET By RICHARD N. OSTLING, AP Religion Writer dailynews.yahoo.com NEW YORK (AP) - An international Muslim religious ruling endorsed the morality of the U.S.-led military effort against terrorists, a statement important because of the prominence of one of its authors. The ruling, or fatwa, also said American Muslims can participate in the military response to the Sept. 11 attacks. ... #reply-16498663

To: Neeka who wrote (5134)	10/16/2001 5:16:31 AM
From: maceng2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Diplomacy Aside, U.S. Tragedy Strikes a Chord BAKU, Azerbaijan -- The day after suicide bombers hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, I went down to the Hajji Sultan Mosque to find out what people thought of the attacks on America. I didn't expect much of a reaction. Azerbaijan, after all, is a mainly Shiite Muslim country that borders Iran and has little in common with the United States. The day before, I had gone to the U.S. Embassy to find out what was happening. Everyone had gone home for the evening, but there were eight armed policemen outside the building and a pair on every street corner within a two-kilometer radius. Still, when I asked why security had been stepped up, none of the policemen had an answer. I wondered whether they even knew what had happened in the United States. At the Hajji Sultan Mosque, everyone knew about the attacks. And I couldn't have been more wrong about what people were thinking. Aidyn, a carpenter, said he had been stunned by the images that ran for most of the evening on Azeri television. "I just couldn't believe what I was seeing," he told me. "It is just too terrible to think about." Many Azeris I have spoken to say they feel embarrassed and ashamed that the attacks could have been carried out by Muslims. They are as appalled by -- and afraid of -- Islamic fundamentalist groups as any American or West European. On a diplomatic level, Azerbaijan has been quick to side with the United States and its coalition against terrorism. President Heidar Aliyev told U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell last week that he fully supported air strikes in Afghanistan, and Azeri air space has been opened to U.S. military aircraft. Since Sept. 11, there has been a clampdown on Islamic groups operating in Azerbaijan, and on Thursday, an Egyptian national suspected of involvement in international terrorism was deported to Cairo. Aliyev has every reason to toady to the United States. His country's economy depends on foreign investment in its lucrative oil reserves. He is keen to see the embargo on U.S. aid to Azerbaijan lifted. And he wouldn't mind joining NATO sometime soon. He is also desperate to dismiss rumors that Baku has served as a base for terrorist groups in the past. The U.S. Congress has identified Azerbaijan as one of 34 countries with links to the al-Qaida network. But global diplomacy didn't cross anyone's minds at the Hajji Sultan Mosque. Nizher Abasova, an accountant with three daughters, said she wept when she saw the pictures on her television set. "I just keep thinking about all those mothers in America who have lost their children," she said. "I'm a mother, too." Chloe Arnold is a freelance journalist based in Baku, Azerbaijan. themoscowtimes.com