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Politics : America Under Siege: The End of Innocence -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: AK2004 who wrote (19087)	10/12/2002 8:23:28 AM
From: Richnorth	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 27732

Pak religious parties ask US to wind up airbases ISLAMABAD: Muthahida Majlis-E-Amal (MMA), the alliance of six hardline religious parties, has vowed to close down American airbases in Pakistan and ask the US forces deployed in the country to leave. The MMA is all set to form the provincial governments in the key North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Baluchistan bordering Afghanistan and has won a substantial presence in the Pakistan National Assembly in Thursday's polls. American airbases given by the Musharraf government for anti-terrorism operations in the country would be closed down, said Qazi Hussain Ahmad, a key MMA leader, addressing a victory meeting in Peshawar on Friday. "These bases in any form in Pakistan are unacceptable to us. We consider American presence a brazen abridgement of the country's sovereignty and ego and would ask the US forces to leave", Ahmad, also the chief of the Jamat Islami party, was quoted as saying by the Peshawar-based Pakistan newspaper Statesman. Pakistan has given four of its airbases for the US operations against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, to provide logistic support. US forces conducted joint operations with the Pakistan army to hunt the remnants of the Taliban and the al-Qaeda hiding in the tribal areas of the NWFP and Baluchistan.

To: AK2004 who wrote (19087)	10/12/2002 10:26:00 AM
From: lorne	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 27732

Lawyer: Terror Suspect Eyed Schools By ANDREW KRAMER ASSOCIATED PRESS October 11, 2002 PORTLAND, Ore.- One of six people indicted last week on terrorism charges considered attacking synagogues or schools on American soil, federal prosecutors said. Assistance U.S. Attorney Charles Gorder told journalists he was ready to play recordings of Jeffrey Leon Battle making violent anti-American and pro-Taliban comments. Another prosecutor, David Atkinson, said: "Mr. Battle indicates that he considered engaging in some kind of violent episode - perhaps against a synagogue or a school - in which he contemplates injuring numerous people." Gorder said a witness wore a wire during conversations with Battle last spring and recorded menacing comments, including Battle saying he wasn't interested in a suicide attack because he wanted to be around to see the damage. According to court documents, Battle told the informant he "planned to get away so we can survive and do it another time" but would be "willing to get caught or die if we could do at least 100 or 1,000, big numbers." Battle's attorney, Kristen Winemiller, declined to comment. The prosecutor made the comments following a hearing Thursday for October Lewis, another of the suspects charged with conspiring to levy war against the United States. Lewis, Battle's ex-wife, was ordered released from jail pending her trial; the order was appealed and Lewis was still being held Friday. Prosecutors say Lewis allegedly wired money to her husband and four other men while they were trying to enter Afghanistan through China and was aware the money would be used to join the fight against America. The prosecution also revealed several e-mails exchanged between Battle and Lewis, including one that said: "Don't tell anybody else of our plans, we should have learned our lessons about the evil eye by now." Battle also writes that a visa application to Pakistan had been refused, prosecutors said. Jack Ransom, the court-appointed attorney for Lewis, said prosecutors have a weak case. "In none of the e-mails is there any mention of anybody going to Afghanistan to fight against any government," Ransom said. Besides Battle and Lewis, the others charged with conspiracy to levy war were Habis Abdulla al Saoub, 36, who is at large; Patrice Lumumba Ford, 31, who was arrested last week in Portland and has pleaded innocent; Ahmed Ibrahim Bilal, 24, who turned himself in Sunday in Malaysia; and Bilal's brother, Muhammad Bilal, 22, who was arrested last week in Dearborn, Mich., and has pleaded innocent. The group apparently never made it to Afghanistan. lasvegassun.com