Deutsche Welle
English Service News
October 7th, 2001, 16:00 UTC
Afghanistan's Islamic Taliban rulers, facing the threat of an
U.S.-led military assault, have offered to put Osama bin Laden on
trial. Washington has rejected the proposal saying President George
W. Bush's original four demands,- that the Taliban surrender bin
Laden and lieutenants in his al Qaeda network, close bin Laden's
training camps, allow international inspections, and release detained
aid workers,- were not subject to negotiation. The Taliban said it
was ready to try under Islamic law the Saudi-born militant accused of
masterminding last month's attacks on the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon, which killed nearly 5,600 people. It marks an abrupt
turnaround by the Taliban, which has been diplomatically isolated and
is now almost encircled by hostile military forces ready to mount an
assault. Kabul has again stressed that Afghanistan had yet to see any
evidence from the United States as to bin Laden's involvement.
Meanhwile the Taliban said an extra 8,000 troops were being sent to
its northern border with Uzbekistan to join several thousand already
there. The United States has sent 1,000 soldiers to Uzbekistan, which
shares a border with Afghanistan and reportedly the first planes have
landed. U.S. and British aircraft carriers, more than 300 warplanes,
ships armed with cruise missiles and special forces troops have
gathered within striking distance of Afghanistan. Some 30,000 troops
have also been deployed.
Afghanistan's ruling Taliban have said they would release journalist
Yvonne Ridley to British authorities on Monday, freeing her from more
than a week in prison. The reporter for London's Sunday Express was
arrested in eastern Afghanistan last week for entering the country
illegally. The decision to release her came a day after British Prime
Minister Tony Blair made a brief stop in Islamabad for talks on the
Afghan crisis and the global war on terrorism with Pakistan's
military ruler General Pervez Musharraf.
In other developments around the world, Philippine troops backed by
bomber planes have reportedly killed 15 Muslim guerrillas and wounded
25 in fighting with a separatist group linked to bin Laden. Ten
soldiers were wounded in the clashes with the Abu Sayyaf group, which
has been holding two Americans and 16 Filipinos hostage for months on
an island. And in Saudi Arabia, authorities said two foreigners,
including an American, were killed and four wounded in a bomb blast
in the eastern Saudi city of Khobar on Saturday. U.S. officials said
they saw no immediate connection between the explosion and the U.S.
military buildup.
A Palestinian suicide bomber has killed an Israeli, dealing a further
blow to a fragile ceasefire as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
tried to mend a rift with the United States by saying he regretted
the dispute. In the latest violence, Israeli police said, a
Palestinian blew up himself and a local man at a farm just outside
the West Bank's Jordan Valley. Imn another development about 1,000
demonstrators protested in the West Bank over the arrest by
Palestinian police of Abbas al-Sayed, spokesman for the militant
group Hamas, which has killed dozens of Israelis in suicide attacks.
The Palestinian police also said three other activists were arrested,
including a Islamic Jihad activist.
The Group of Seven finance ministers have said they were confident
about future prospects for the global economy despite the Sept. 11th
attacks on the United States, and have promised an unprecedented
assault on the funding of terrorism. The ministers, seeking to calm
the global economy, said the devastating impact of the attacks had
heightened short-term uncertainties, but that they would work in
concert to boost global growth prospects. Since the attacks, central
banks around the world have slashed interest rates and more cuts are
expected in the weeks and months ahead. One of the major aims of the
Washington meeting was the financial war against terrorism,- an issue
on which the G7 laid out a specific plan of action.
An Australian frigate has repulsed a boat of around 200 asylum
seekers who in their desperation threw several children into the sea
and jumped in after them. The group of mainly Iraqis is the latest in
a stream of predominantly Muslim boat people whose fate has turned
illegal immigration into a major issue ahead of Australia's November
general election. A spokesman for the Defence Ministry said the
intended next destination of the boat people was not known but they
were steaming slowly north, possibly headed for Indonesia.
Ships have trawled Black Sea waters searching for evidence of what
downed a Russian airliner, as suspicions grew that a misfired
Ukrainian rocket hit the plane killing up to 78 people. A scientific
research vessel equipped to explore to depths of over 1,000 metres
joined boats battling stormy seas to haul debris and bodies from the
water. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov has meanwhile asked
Ukraine for information on a specific missile fired in military
exercises on Thursday when the Sibir airline plane, en route to
Siberia from Israel, exploded and crashed into the sea.
Salvage teams have made their final preparations to lift Russia's
Kursk submarine from the Arctic seabed, more than a year after the
nuclear vessel sank in mysterious circumstances, killing all 118
crew.
A spokeswoman for the Dutch company contracted by Moscow to lift the
submarine from the bottom of the Barents Sea, said the lift was
expected to begin in a few hours if all went to plan. The Kursk, one
of Russia's most advanced submarines, plunged 100 metres to the
seabed after two explosions ripped through its bow in August 2000.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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