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Politics : War -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: PartyTime who wrote (18656)	12/30/2002 12:44:17 AM
From: calgal	Respond to of 23908

White House Prepared to Put Economic Pressure on North Korea URL:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,74080,00.html Saturday, December 28, 2002 WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is prepared to dramatically intensify economic pressure on North Korea through that nation's Asian neighbors and the United Nations unless Pyongyang stops its nuclear weapons programs, U.S. officials said Saturday. The strategies, emerging from several days of escalating tensions, are aimed at confronting North Korea with the prospect of economic collapse if it continues to seek new atomic weapons on top of the one or two Kim Jong Il's government is believed already to have. Neither that ultimate goal nor the tactics themselves are dramatically different from the administration's approach since the fall. But administration officials, eager to show they're responding to North Korea's defiance, are recasting their policies with an emphasis on the economic impact of U.S. actions. If North Korea does not change course, the administration could find it necessary to encourage Pyongyang's neighbors to reduce economic ties with Pyongyang, officials said on condition of anonymity. Thus far reluctant to take such steps, South Korea, Japan and China may be willing to do so if North Korea pursues nuclear weapons, officials said. They said the administration is even considering asking South Korea to break all ties to the North if the situation does not improve. Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly is expected to visit the region next month to sound out the countries involved and encourage a united front. Lawmakers urged the Bush administration Saturday to form a united front with North Korea's neighbors to pressure Pyongyang. The administration is also quietly encouraging the U.N. monitoring agency to take the crisis to the Security Council, where economic sanctions could be threatened. U.S. officials said they were not campaigning for the move overtly because they fear backlash from allies already dubious about Bush's use of the U.N. to pursue a tough line against Iraq's Saddam Hussein. Anyway, the officials said, some of the toughest talk on the situation already is coming from South Korea's new president, Roh Moo-hyun. The U.S. policy reassessment came after North Korea announced in a flash of defiance Friday that it would expel U.N. nuclear inspectors and reopen a laboratory for the production of plutonium. White House officials are trying to paint the dispute as North Korea versus the world, rather than Washington versus Pyongyang. Toward that end, the administration does not plan to respond to every development, declining comment Saturday when the U.N. agency said it would leave North Korea on Tuesday. As part of President Bush's policy, dubbed "tailored containment," the U.S. military might intercept missile shipments to deprive North Korea of money from weapons sales. The U.S. intercepted a shipment bound for Yemen recently, but let it continue after Yemen assured the administration it was a legitimate sale. Rep. Jim Leach, chairman of the House International Relations subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific, said in an interview Saturday that the United States needed to intensify talks with nations surrounding North Korea in formulating a response to Pyongyang's announcement Friday. "Part of the whole North Korean equation is keeping policy consistent with China, Russia and Mongolia, as well as with South Korea and Japan," said Leach, R-Iowa. "Any policy toward North Korea could have tremendous implications for South Korea." Leach's comments were echoed by another Republican on the House International Relations Committee, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y. King said North Korea is surrounded by strong nations who could help isolate the regime. "Economic and diplomatic pressure can work," King said. "It's up to us diplomatically to put pressure on (North Korea) to convince them that they have more at stake than we do." Some Democrats have said the Bush administration deserves some blame for the current crisis. When he took office, Bush ordered a reassessment of Clinton administration policy that had traded energy supplies for a freeze on North Korea's nuclear program. Others including Leach say that despite the review, the policy remains unchanged. King said he wouldn't rule out attacking North Korea if diplomacy should fail. "That strengthens our diplomatic hand, that we always retain the possibility of military action," King said. The White House has said military action is not being contemplated. Bush has refused to allow U.S.-North Korean talks until the regime stops its nuclear weapons programs, saying any concessions would be tantamount to paying blackmail. ------ AP White House Correspondent Ron Fournier contributed to this story from Crawford, Texas, where Bush is vacationing. On the Net: House International Relations Committee: house.gov (Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

To: PartyTime who wrote (18656)	12/30/2002 8:58:57 AM
From: Carolyn	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23908

No. But that is not the issue in this case.

To: PartyTime who wrote (18656)	12/30/2002 11:18:54 AM
From: lorne	Respond to of 23908

Scared Pakistani Christians Avoid Church December 29, 2002, 10:27 AM EST CHIANWALA, Pakistan -- Frightened Christians stayed away from Sunday services in this tiny Pakistani village after a deadly Christmas Day attack here killed three girls and wounded 13 others. Many said they were too traumatized to return to their church. "There are no Sunday services in the church because people can't bring themselves to visit it," said the Rev. Rehmat Asim, head of the Protestant congregation, outside his simple, cottage-sized church. "They're in shock." Two assailants in burqas -- the all-encompassing garment worn by women in some Islamic countries -- burst into the white cement church Dec. 25, tossing grenades at about 40 worshippers. Four days later, blood still stained the church floors and walls. "Nobody has visited it after the attack and I do not have the courage to wash the church because it was such a big tragedy," Asim said. Six people have been arrested and five others are being sought. One of those detained was local Islamic cleric Mohammed Afzar, who had allegedly told his congregation to kill Christians just days before the attack in Chianwala, about 40 miles northwest of Lahore. The suspects are believed to be affiliated with the outlawed organization Jaish-e-Mohammed, or Army of Mohammed, which is known to have links with al-Qaida and to have trained its operatives in neighboring Afghanistan. No charges have been filed and police Sunday didn't sound optimistic. "There is no major breakthrough yet, but we are still investigating," said Shahid Iqbal, chief of police in Sialkot, the district headquarters for Chianwala. Arif Masih, a 26-year Pakistani Christian in this dirt-poor village that is home to mainly Muslim farm workers said she has been frightened for months by Afzar, the cleric. "He had been announcing since the Sept. 11 attacks in the U.S. that it is religiously rewarding to kill Christians and it is obligatory for every Muslim to eat a Christian for breakfast every day," she said. She says Christians are now more afraid than ever. "Most members of the Muslim community here are hard-liners," she said. "We had been feeling insecure already. But now the insecurity has increased many-fold." There are 3.8 million Christians in this predominantly Muslim nation of 140 million people. The government has condemned the attack. Saleema Bibi, 90, whose 9-year-old granddaughter Najma was killed in the attack, said she could still hear ringing in her ears from the powerful blasts of the grenades. "It is all still painful and unbearable for me," she said, adding her granddaughter was "laughing and frolicking" on her way to church the day of the attack. Others in the village recalled the horror immediately after the assault. "People shouted that somebody had attacked the church," said Ferozan Bibi, whose 15-year-old daughter Razia Bibi was killed. "I ran and found the church and the girls engulfed by smoke and dust. Razia was laying at its doorsteps." The government said Thursday it would pay $1,700 to relatives of each of the three girls killed, and $430 to each of the wounded. newsday.com