Deutsche Welle
English Service News
October 6th, 2001, 16:00 UTC
Intense anti-aircraft fire erupted briefly over the Afghan capital,
Kabul, as gunners tried to bring down two aircraft. The country's
ruling Taliban said they had fired on a U.S. aircraft flying over,
but not attacking the capital. Sources from Afghanistan's Foreign
Ministry said the plane was flying out of range of fire and was not
hit. The exact type of aircraft remained unknown, but there was
specualation that one of the planes was an unmanned drone spy plane.
There has been no comment from the Pentagon in Washington.
The spiritual leader of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban has ordered
the release of a British reporter detained over a week ago for
illegally entering the country. Mullah Mohammad Omar said that
Yvonne Ridley, a reporter for the London-based Sunday Express, should
be released this weekend. Ridley, 43, was picked up along with her
two Afghan guides while disguised in an all-enveloping Afghan burqa,
the cover worn by most women in Afghanistan. The Taliban had been
investigating whether Ridley was really a journalist or a spy. She
was being held in Kabul along with eight foreign aid workers who have
been in detention in the Afghan capital since August on charges of
spreading Christianity. Meanwhile, in another development involving
the eight aid workers, the Taliban sought to use their release as a
bargaining chip to deflect U.S. anger, saying that if the U.S. gave
up its threats against Afghanistan, the Afghan government would take
steps to release the detained foreigners. Washington quickly
rejected any attempt to make a deal.
In a radio address, U.S. President George W. Bush has warned the
Taliban that time was running out for them to turn over Islamic
militant Osama bin Laden or face the consequences of harbouring the
world's most wanted man. The Taliban's supreme leader has refused to
hand over bin Laden without evidence of his involvement. The United
States has said it would not do so and would not negotiate.
A brief verbal dispute between Israel and the U.S. ended after
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon retreated from suggestions that
Washington was appeasing the Arabs at Israel's expense. After a rare
rebuke from the White House, Sharon changed his tone and praised U.S.
President George W. Bush's anti-terrorism drive, which includes
efforts to rally Arab states behind a coalition to respond to last
month's attacks in the United States. On Thursday, however, the
Israeli Prime Minister spoke harsh words and vowed not to accept the
fate of Czechoslovakia, sacrificed by the Western powers for a brief
peace with Nazi Germany. He told Washington not to "appease the
Arabs at our expense". The blast came after Bush had said that part
of his long-term vision for Middle East peace was a Palestinian
state. Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said on Friday it was
time the allies put the dispute behind them.
The head of Russia's Security Council said on Saturday that some of
the debris collected from the Black Sea crash site of a Russian
airliner could not have come from the aircraft itself. Speaking at a
news conference, Vladimir Rushailo said objects had been found which
were not related to the plane. He also said investigators had
confirmed their belief the disaster was caused by an explosion.
Washington has said it believes a missile fired off target during a
Ukrainian military exercise downed the plane. Ukraine has conceded
that theory was a possibility. A commission is continuing the
investigation of Thursday's crash which killed up to 78 people.
Austalian Prime Minister John Howard has announced that Australia
will hold a general election on November the tenth. The conservative
Prime Minister who heads a coalition of his Liberal party with the
rural based National party will seek a third term in office. Mr.
Howard's popularity has soared recently thanks to his tough stand
over a group of Afghan immigrants seeking to claim asylum in
Australia.
Emilie Schindler, who with her husband Oskar helped hundreds of Jews
escape Nazi death camps during World War Two, has died in Germany at
the age of 94. Her husband's life inspired the book "Schindler's
List" as well as the movie of the same name, which won seven Academy
Awards. According to a biographer, Emilie Schindler worked alongside
her husband at his crockery factory in Krakow, Poland, helping save
over 1000 Jews from gas chambers at nearby concentration camps.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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