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Politics : WAR on Terror. Will it engulf the Entire Middle East? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Scoobah who wrote (584)	11/25/2001 9:49:51 PM
From: Scoobah	Respond to of 32591

Jordan arrests Iraqi attempting to smuggle arms into PA By The Associated Press AMMAN - Jordanian authorities have apprehended an Iraqi truck driver who allegedly smuggled hand grenades destined for the Palestinian territories, government officials said Sunday. Jaafar Mansoor Ali, 45, was caught after he drove his oil truck from Iraq with 40 grenades concealed in a compartment in his vehicle, the officials said on condition of anonymity. Ali has confessed to the Jordanian military prosecutor, Lt. Col. Mahmoud Obeidat, that he had earlier smuggled through Jordan 13 Russian-made Kalashnikov riffles - also destined to the Palestinian territories, the officials said. They said the suspect had been planning to hand over the grenades to an unidentified Jordanian contact in an eastern Amman suburb to whom he had made the earlier delivery. The arms were to be re-smuggled into the Palestinian territories, Ali has told his interrogators, according to the officials. Ali was expected to go on trial in Jordan's military court soon, but no date has yet been set, the officials said. No other details were immediately available. There was no indication the Iraqis government was involved. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been vociferous in his support of the Palestinians in their clash with Israel. Earlier this year, he called on Iraqis to join the so-called Jerusalem Army to liberate Palestine - Iraqi television has shown volunteers training for the force, but it has been dismissed as a propaganda ploy. The report of the weapons smuggling arrest come amid plans by the military court to put five men on trial for allegedly planning attacks from Jordan on Israeli targets in the West Bank, court sources have said. The three men have been in detention since June, while the remaining two are at large, the sources have said. Those in detention are Jordanians of Palestinian origin who had received weapons smuggled to Jordan from Syria to attack Israeli military targets in the West Bank, the sources have said. Jordan, which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, has been active in foiling arms smuggling into the Palestinian territories.

To: Scoobah who wrote (584)	11/25/2001 9:54:27 PM
From: Scoobah	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32591

Monday, November 26, 2001 Kislev 11, 5762 Israel Time: 04:52 (GMT+2) Last update - 14:42 25/11/2001 Petrol bombs hurled in fresh N.Irish violence BELFAST - Street violence erupted in a flashpoint area of Belfast on Sunday, just two days after Protestant hardliners suspended their controversial blockade near one of the city's Roman Catholic schools. Petrol bombs and other missiles were thrown during the disturbances at North Queen Street - where Roman Catholics who want a united Ireland and Protestants who want the province to remain in the United Kingdom live cheek-by-jowl. Police and British soldiers came under attack as petrol bombs, bottles and other missiles were thrown during the rioting, which started at 4:30 a.m., and several police vehicles and windows of nearby houses were damaged. A police spokesman said they were investigating reports that a man had been injured. The spokesman said calm had been restored to the area. The clashes occurred less than five kilometers from the Ardoyne Road, where Protestant hardliners on Friday suspended their sectarian blockade of a school run to the Holy Cross Girls' Catholic Primary School. Dozens of young girls, some as young as four years old, have endured a daily torrent of insults and obscenities from Protestant adults for the past 12 weeks as their parents led them to the school in Belfast's Ardoyne district. Following talks by the province's First Minister David Trimble and his Catholic deputy Mark Durkan with both sides, Protestant residents called a halt to their protest after a package of community safety measures was put to them. Among the measures they want to see addressed is closed circuit television and more police patrols in the area. Another Catholic primary school was badly damaged in an arson attack on Sunday, a local priest said. Catholic priest Monsignor Thomas Bartley, who lives in the grounds of St Anne's Primary School in Dunmurry on the outskirts of Belfast, said he raised the alarm around 7:30 A.M. "They drove a car in, put it beside the building, set the car alight, and put part of the building on fire," he said. "One block has about four classrooms and it is utterly destroyed." Police said they had not established a motive for the attack. Optimism felt in London, Dublin and Washington about the Irish Republican Army's agreement to put its arms out of use has failed to quell the rancour that has haunted Northern Ireland for generations of sectarian feuding.

To: Scoobah who wrote (584)	11/26/2001 12:26:53 AM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (6) \| Respond to of 32591

Steve, what do you think of this intelligence assessment from today's Haaretz? Intelligence sources: Arafat era nearing end By Aluf Benn Intelligence analyses presented recently to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon claim that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat does not appear to be part of the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and that the Palestinian political system is now talking about the post-Arafat era. Senior intelligence sources have recommended to the political level that they devote their efforts to creating connections with the "next generation" of the Palestinian leadership. The sources said that Arafat is currently subject to heavy pressure from several directions: Internal pressure from the Palestinian street as a result of increased support for the Islamic organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad. This is seen as the most serious threat to Arafat's rule. Pressure from the senior Palestinian leadership, which believes that Arafat is leading the Palestinians to a dead end. They say so quite openly both to Arafat himself and to foreign diplomats and statesmen. However, these leaders still depend on Arafat and are not trying to replace him. Military pressure by Israel, which is carrying out damaging operations in Palestinian-controlled areas and enjoys the relatively broad diplomatic and military maneuvering room allowed it by the U.S. Insufficient international pressure. The Europeans believe Arafat is irreplacable and this makes him even more stubborn. However, recently the Europeans have balanced their field reports, which for a long time reflected the Palestinian position. Israeli sources say that the European position changed after it became clear that Arafat had lied to them when he claimed that Tanzim militiaman Atef Abayat was in prison. Abayat was killed by IDF fire while traveling in his car. According to intelligence analyses, the Palestinian intifada reached a dead end even before the September 11 attacks on the United States. The international community grants basic legitimacy to the Palestinian position through United Nations resolutions, but it is not prepared to back acts of violence and terrorism and has sent the Palestinian leadership a clear message that terrorism and diplomacy do not go together. The Arab states, headed by Egypt, have given the Palestinians rhetorical - but not practical - support, and Arafat has not managed to enlist significant Arab pressure on the United States on his behalf. A senior security source said yesterday that the U.S. now clearly sees Arafat's role in terrorism and know that he is not doing a thing to fight it. The downturn in the number of terrorist events in recent weeks is the result of Israeli preventative actions and not of any effort by Arafat. The source said that Palestinian "fatigue" from the intifada has not brought about a concrete decision to stop terrorism and commence preventive measures, such as arrests, investigations and intelligence connections with Israel. "The Palestinians have no such intention," the source added. The source believes that the aim of the new American emissary to the region, retired general Anthony Zinni, will be to "reduce the level of violence in order to afford the U.S. freedom of action in its operations against terrorism." "Arafat has not changed his strategic goals, such as the right of return. He will not give up [on these goals] and therefore the chances of reaching an agreement with him are very low," the source said