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Politics : Foreign Policy Discussion Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (4848)	3/1/2003 1:50:35 PM
From: lorne	Respond to of 15987

Saddam's chemical belt: report 01mar03 IRAQI President Saddam Hussein has considered surrounding Baghdad with a "belt" of chemical weapons that could be activated during a war, a dissident Iraqi exile said on CNN television today. "There was a report from the resistance groups inside Iraq that Saddam has considered setting up a chemical belt around Baghdad, entrapping about 4 million residents in the city and using them as a human shield," Hussein Al-Shahristani told the network. "That is what I heard from some political activists inside the country recently." CNN described Shahristani as a former nuclear researcher who left Iraq after spending 12 years in prison, from 1979 to 1991. The chemical weapons would be shallowly buried, spaced about 100m apart, and linked to detonators at Saddam's command centre, he said. "Whenever he decides the time is right, he will try to detonate it so as to entrap the people inside the city and also to hinder the advancement of the troops to the city," he said. Sharistani said he was "sure" Saddam would want to build the chemical weapons belt but that many of his soldiers might turn against him before it is done, the network reported. He said UN weapons inspectors had not been able to detect the regime's neurotoxic agents because they are hidden in secret tunnels. heraldsun.news.com.au

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (4848)	3/1/2003 1:53:48 PM
From: KLP	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 15987

Breaking News: Turkish Vote on US Troops Nullified VOA News 01 Mar 2003, 17:47 UTC voanews.com The speaker of the Turkish parliament has nullified a vote approving the use of Turkish bases by U.S. troops for a possible war with Iraq. Speaker Bulent Arinc said the vote is not valid because a majority of legislators present at Saturday's vote did not approve the motion. Earlier reports said parliament approved the U.S. request 264 to 251, with 19 abstentions. The United States wants to use Turkish bases as a northern front in any war to force Iraq to disarm. One report says the Turkish parliament will take up the issue again on Tuesday. About 60,000 U.S. troops and thousands of tons of military hardware are aboard U.S. naval ships in the Mediterranean waiting for permission to disembark in Turkey.

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (4848)	3/1/2003 2:07:12 PM
From: lorne	Respond to of 15987

Suspects acquitted of murdering Christians Court in Egypt lets 92 connected to deadly violence off the hook March 1, 2003 A court in Egypt has acquitted nearly all 96 suspects charged with atrocities in connection with violence that left 21 Christians and one Muslim dead in January 2000, reports Assist News Service. Citing information from Christian Solidarity Worldwide, ANS reports that one man was sentenced to 15 years for killing the sole Muslim victim, an increase of five years from a previous verdict. The other three men, all Muslims, received two-year and one-year sentences for setting a truck on fire. The verdicts came as the result of a retrial of suspects tied to violence that occurred in the Egyptian village of El Kosheh. According to the report, Egypt's Christian minority community is deeply disappointed by the verdicts, having hoped that a retrial would bring different results. Christian Solidarity Worldwide reports that Coptic Bishop Wissa of Baliana Diocese, which includes El Kosheh, articulated the dismay of many in the Christian community. He told CSW: "If those accused are really innocent, where are the real killers? The 21 Christians who were so brutally murdered in January 2000 did not kill themselves." Added Wissa, "If the perpetrators of the murders are allowed to walk free, it will be seen as a green light to kill Christians." According to the ANS report, attorney Mamdouh Nakhla spoke of police negligence and complicity, from the outbreak of violence itself to withholding vital evidence during the trials. "The killings occurred 48 hours after the police had imposed a curfew and 10,000 policemen were stationed in and around El Kosheh at the time," Nakhla told CSW. "Moreover, during the trials, the police suppressed vital evidence such as fingerprints and suspected murder weapons." Mervyn Thomas, chief executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, said: "We are shocked and dismayed at the latest turn of events. It is unacceptable for such brutality to go unpunished. We stand with the Christian community of Egypt in calling for the murderers of the 21 Christians to be found and brought to justice." The violence reportedly erupted due to a dispute between a Muslim trader and a Christian shop-owner on Dec. 31, 1999. Muslim-owned kiosks and Christian-owned shops were damaged or destroyed that day as the violence escalated, reports ANS. On Jan. 2, 2000, the violence resulted in the deaths of 22 people. Said CSW: "The Egyptian government tried to hide the sectarian nature of the incident. Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak blamed subversive foreign elements for instigating the fighting, saying that the culprits behind the clashes were 'pushed from abroad.'" The retrial, which occurred last year, was ordered after the first trial similarly resulted in a nearly mass acquittal. According to CSW, the El Kosheh massacre was Egypt's worst clash in decades between the country's predominantly Muslim citizens and Coptic Christians, who comprise approximately 10 percent of the population. worldnetdaily.com