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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: BubbaFred who wrote (9773)	2/18/2003 11:54:32 PM
From: Brumar89	Respond to of 25898

"Based on contacts that we are having with the people inside Iraq, who are talking with the military all the time, the general understanding of the population now is that the army is not going to fight," he said. "The army is not going to defend Saddam." I hope this is true. The part about the possible plan to put a chemical belt around Baghdad to keep the people in is chilling.

To: BubbaFred who wrote (9773)	2/19/2003 2:10:36 AM
From: PartyTime	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25898

90 Saudis charged for al-Qaida links Brian Whitaker and agencies Wednesday February 19, 2003 The Guardian Saudi Arabia, which has often denied having an al-Qaida presence on its soil, announced yesterday that at least 90 citizens will be prosecuted for links to Osama bin Laden's terrorist network. Prince Nayef, the interior minister, told Okaz newspaper that a further 250 suspects were still being questioned, though 150 others had been released. The 250 "have links with al-Qaida and other similar networks, but we still need to determine the level of involvement for each one of them", the paper quoted him as saying. One of those released was 21-year-old Saud Abdulaziz al-Rasheed, whose arrest had been demanded by the US on the grounds of suspected links to the September 11 hijackers. The man's father told Associated Press that he had been freed early yesterday "after authorities found that charges levelled against him by the Americans were baseless". Saudi Arabia, which has one of the world's least transparent justice systems, does not routinely announce arrests. In some cases, as has happened with detained Britons, the authorities can delay confirmation for weeks. Public announcements about al-Qaida arrests have often sought to counter US accusations that the kingdom was dragging its feet in the "war on terrorism". Although 15 of the 19 hijackers in the September 11 attacks are believed to have been Saudis, officials in Riyadh initially questioned their identity. Early last year it emerged that about two-thirds of the detainees from Afghanistan who were then held by the US at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba were Saudi citizens. In his interview yesterday, Prince Nayef said the al-Qaida network did not have a major presence in Saudi Arabia, but added there were small groups of youths who supported it. Ali al-Ahmad, of the Washington-based Saudi Institute, told the Guardian that some of the prisoners mentioned by Prince Nayef had already been sentenced to terms of two-and-a-half to three years. Others would probably get heavier sentences of five to 10 years, but none was likely to be executed. Among those detained are 13, including a Sudanese man, who were said to have been involved in firing a missile at an American warplane taking off from the Prince Sultan airbase. There are also about 200 Saudi fugitives from Afghanistan who were deported to the kingdom from Iran in January last year. But Mr Ahmad said the prince's figures include some, unconnected with al-Qaida, who have been arrested "because of their activities, such as religious reasons". "They're not going to try the suspects properly," he said. "It's going to be kangaroo courts and they'll get whatever sentence the ministry of the interior decides." guardian.co.uk