Munich plans protest ban
From: Johannes Schneider [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [R-G] Re: Re: Munich plans protest ban Here is an update on the events in Munich last night and yesterday: Confrontations between police and demonstrators continued until late night of Saturday. Since Friday 850 persons have been arrested. Last night 484 were arrested close to the Union House. Initially the police insisted to register every single person, who attented a conference on the 'Perspectives of Resistance' inside the Union House. Not surprisingly union bureaucrats wanted to accept this. Only because of the intervention of the revolutionary left (mainly LRCI comrades) the participants insisted on a complete withdrawal of the police forces. Due to this and the intervention of union colleagues from outside and PDS MP Eva Bulling-Schröter the police was withdrawn after two hours. Johannes, Munich UK Indymedia has been summing up events (quite correctly) until 9.00 pm local time on Feb. 2nd like this: full text at: http://uk.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=21469group=webcast Despite the banning of all today's events about 7000 people demonstrated against NATO, militarism and war. In total there have been at least 700 arrests. The repeated attempts by the police to stop meetings and spontaneous demonstrations in the city centre have continously failed. Police have said there were around 6-7000 people demonstrating today. Many people arrested are still being kept outside awaiting space incrowded cells. The Trade Union House was cut off for 2 hours. ___ Rad-Green mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your options or unsubscribe go to: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Depression and despair in Israel
From: Steve Wagner [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: * Depression and despair in Israel HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- From The Irish Times, Saturday, 2-2-02: http://www.Ireland.com/newspaper/opinion/2002/0124/1730341012OP24LEADER2.htm l Depression and despair in Israel Depression and despair are the dominant sentiments reported by European and United Nations representatives from Israel in recent days. The Israeli media are filled with warnings of imminent all-out war. Prospects of any political progress to arrest or reverse the cycle of violence with the Palestinians are bleak, according to political and diplomatic reports. It is widely recognised that only US and European pressure on the parties can prevent a further escalation; but there is no sign that this is a priority for President George W. Bush, who has supported the Israeli prime minister, Mr. Ariel Sharon's dismissive attitude towards the Palestinian leader, Mr. Yasser Arafat. The Europeans are justifiably furious about Israeli targeting of buildings and facilities supplied to the Palestinian Authority by EU states. These include the airport in Gaza, the official Voice of Palestine radio station in Ramallah, statistics and forensic offices and municipal buildings, costing some 17.3 million Euros. There is a move to seek compensation from Israel for this at the next meeting of EU foreign ministers. This destructive policy appears to be driven by the Israeli prime minister, Mr. Ariel Sharon, who seems determined to undermine Mr. Arafat and the Palestinian Authority. Those in Israel who believe an alternative to him would be worse are very much on the defensive. The policy of maximum Israeli retaliation for each act of individual terrorism is bringing the various groups leading the Palestinian intifada together. These include those close to Mr. Arafat's Fatah organisation, increasingly involved in armed actions and terrorism against Israeli troops and civilians because they do not want to lose influence with the Palestinian population. Mr. Arafat says it is impossible for him to move effectively against armed groups while he remains under Israeli house arrest in Ramallah. Such an escalation is more and more dangerous for the Middle East region, but there is little likelihood that it will be scaled down in the short to medium term. Yesterday's actions involving Hezbollah guerillas on the Lebanese-Syrian border reinforced the Israeli conviction that Iran has decided to arm its enemies. Such a belief could embolden Mr. Sharon's right-wing cabinet colleagues to support an all-out war against Mr. Arafat and the Palestinian Authority and reconquer the West Bank and Gaza in the name of greater Israel. Only the fear that this would be quite unacceptable to the United States and Europe restrains them. There is a widespread feeling that President Bush supports Mr. Sharon's approach and has lost confidence in Mr. Arafat. He may no longer feel the need to cultivate Arab states following military success in Afghanistan and may also believe there is little his government can do while Palestinians and Israelis are so comprehensively polarised against one another. It should fall to the European states to correct that imbalance. But as yet they lack the political will and resources to do so. Hence the widespread feeling that this conflict is rapidly spiraling out of control. _ (c) 2002, The Irish Times http://www.ireland.com/ _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Bush Hires Hard-Liners to Handle Cuba Policy
From: Walter Lippmann [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sun, 03 Feb 2002 23:51:37 +1100 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [CubaNews] Bush Hires Hard-Liners to Handle Cuba Policy Washington's response to Cuba's policy of opposition to terrorism and war, its cash purchases of $40 million worth of agricultural commodities, its quietly non-confrontational stance toward the Talibanishment at Guantanamo is now to ratchet up hostility toward Cuba by every possible step it can take. And these are but a few current examples. This article, which tells a lot, puts the policy of the Bush administration, which was not elected by a majority vote of the people of the United States, in the softest and most sanitized light. Omitted, for example is the massive campaign the US is carrying on against Cuba around the Human Rights Commission at Geneva, for just one single example. Omitted is Helms-Burton and Torricelli, the laws under which Washington openly proclaims its policy goal of the complete overthrow of the Cuban Revolution. Free elections? Like in the US in general and Florida in particular? Pardon me, but I need to barf. Washington is carrying out the policy which has been adopted for the past forty years by successive administrations of both political parties and by overwhelming majorities in the Congress. These foul chickens have now come home to roost. Washington's historic hostility toward Cuba is an albatross which harms the interests of many sectors in business, agriculture and the great majority of the people of the United States. It and and must be ended. Today, as commercial and agricultural interests see the chance to make substantial business connections and money, Cuban Americans have become, by all accounts, the largest group of violators of the travel ban. And after Elian Gonzalez, a Cuban child was kidnapped, held and manipulated by Miami rightists, most people in the US came to understand that Cuba, whatever its problems, is a place where children can and should grow up with their parents. Washington is even more glaringly out of step with the sentiments of a majority of the people in the United States. It's the Bush administration which is out of step and that is the reality it is moving desperately to conceal. Cuba's struggle for national independence and self- determination was going on long before Fidel Castro was born and the Cuban Revolution was successful. Cuba's policy is simple: it want's Washington, like it wants all countries, to respect Cuba's independence. It wants just normalization of relations with the US, something Washington has resisted for all these 40+ years. It's a struggle which can and will be won. Cuba has survived forty years of blockade and the fall of the Soviet Union. It will survive this, too... == February 3, 2002 Bush Hires Hard-Liners to Handle Cuba Policy By CHRISTOPHER MARQUIS WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 - At a time when Cuba is exhibiting increasing signs of reaching out to the United States, the Bush administration is filling its Latin America policy ranks with officials known for a hard-line stance toward Fidel Castro's government. Several incoming officials advocate an unyielding hostility toward Cuba and the maintenance, if not strengthening, of a trade embargo that is four decades old. The policy being promoted by people like Otto J. Reich, a Cuban exile who is the State Department's top policy maker for Latin America, is increasingly placing the administration at odds with farmers, business executives and a growing number of members of Congress - including many Republicans - who have been pushing for trade with Cuba. But the hard line is still an article of faith among many Cuban-Americans. The Cuban-Americans sense the momentum is moving away from their position quite rapidly, and they're trying to put in some fire walls, said Sally Grooms Cowal, director of the Cuba Policy Foundation, a bipartisan group that advocates an easing of sanctions. In recent months, Cuba has made gestures that indicate an eagerness to set relations with Washington on a new track. The Castro government has bought more than $40 million in food from the United States; it has withheld criticism of the use of the United States Naval Station at Guantánamo Bay to house captives; and it has offered to increase cooperation on a variety of issues, including drug trafficking and fighting terrorism. Mr. Castro has invited former President Jimmy Carter, who has been an intermediary between Washington and hostile nations, to visit, said Deanna Congileo, a Carter spokeswoman. He has not decided whether he will go, she said. Taken together, the moves reflect the most significant outreach since 1996, when Cuba shot down two civilian planes flown by Cuban-American activists and the United States responded by tightening sanctions. Yet the overtures have fallen flat with the Bush administration. The State Department spokesman, Richard A.
Resolution Condemning US Axis of Evil Stance Issued by WorldSocial Forum
Published on Sunday, February 3, 2002 by Agence France Presse http://www.afp.com/ Resolution Condemning US Axis of Evil Stance Issued by World Social Forum A strongly-worded resolution condemning the United States for designating Iran, Iraq and North Korea as targets in the US war on terror, was issued here, esteeming war cannot be the way to solve the world's problems. Delegates to the World Congressional Forum, held on the margins of the World Social Forum, condemned Saturday the Bush administration's decision to warn the three countries, termed an axis of evil, they were under close US scrutiny for ties to terror. Opponents of discrimination and violence against women shout slogans during the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Saturday February 2, 2002. The five-day Social Forum is a shadow event to the World Economic Forum that this year brings powerful politicians and businessmen from around the world to New York City.(AP Photo/Dado Galdieri) Five hundred of the 1,155 lawmakers from 40 countries gathered here to support the anti-globalization efforts of the second-annual World Social Forum voted at their final plenary session to state they were convinced that a military escalation will not conquer terrorism and that war cannot be the way to solve the world's problems. Developing nations' foreign debt -- dubbed economic terrorism by Argentine Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel -- remained a major topic of the seminars, debates and panel discussions that make up the World Social Forum, which attracted 10,000 young people among its 60,000 participants, organizers said. So, too, did the current economic crisis embroiling Esquivel's country -- as demonstrators banging their pots and pans to the rhythm of an infectious samba paraded the streets to show solidarity with Argentines enduring nearly four years of agonizing recession. The Forum convened its own court to debate the merits of external debt and after two days of largely ceremonial deliberations, ruled that the debt burden of southern hemispheric countries is illegitimate, unjust and unsustainable because it was ordained outside of national and international law without consulting the people. The defendants, transnational banks and corporations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, northern hemisphere governments were found guilty and ordered to pay restitution for the wealth stolen from the south and the damage they have caused. Earlier Saturday, in the second full day of the six-day conference that gathered social activists from 150 countries for discourse and strategizing to end the disconnect between the northern and southern hemispheres that fuels globalization, activists paraded their causes like models down a runway. In two-hour slots, social concerns like police brutality, feminism, the liberation of Palestine and the electoral campaign of Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva masquerading as citizen advocacy, took to the stage, their proponents blowing whistles, showing off T-shirts and chanting slogans. At its final plenary session, the Congressional Forum's delegates pledged solidarity with the Argentine people, who have, since December, embarked on a popular protest after neoliberal politics that have only aggravated the economic, political and social crisis, a resolution's text read. It's the clearest demonstration of the failure of neoliberalism in Latin America, when politics prevent economic growth, send our countries plunging into debt and menace our sovereignty. Woven through discussions at a Social Forum session devoted to health was the reality that 72 percent of the world's population lives in developing nations that account for barely seven percent of global pharmaceutical sales, with one-third of humanity unable to access medicine. In some parts of Africa and Asia, the toll exceeds 50 percent. Between 1979 and 2002, only one percent of new research was focused on tropical illnesses, said Michel Lotrowska of Doctors Without Borders. For malaria, sleeping sickness, we use drugs from 40 years ago, he said. There are no drugs to treat dengue, which is currently reaching epidemic proportions in Brazil. Noted Belgian activist Eric Toussaint of the Committee to Annul Third World Debt: an outlay of 80 billion dollars over 10 years -- less than one-third of the annual service of external debt -- would guarantee every world citizen access to education, basic health care, adequate nutrition, potable water and sanitation. But while organizers hailed the astounding success of the Forum, attracting 10,000 more participants than planned, uninvited activist Hebe de Bonafini of the Argentine Mothers of May Plaza group, complained bitterly the Forum was caving in, inviting leaders, not fighters. Her remarks might have been due to sour grapes, as her harassment of billionaire financier George Soros during a videoconference at last year's forum kept her off the invite list by organizers
Ireland. Republican Sinn Fein: Defence of nationalist northBelfast continues
From: Stasi [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Peoples War] Saoirse: Defence of nationalist north Belfast continues SAOIRSE (Republican Sinn Fein) Defence of nationalist north Belfast continues Wednesday, January 9, 2002 (continued) As the battle between the nationalist street fighters and the combined forces of occupation and loyalism went on fighting took place at very close quarters, against armoured RUC Land Rovers and Brit armoured cars. The nationalist street fighters by now had forced the occupation forces out of the area and back to the Crumlin Road. Fighters had also taken to the roofs of the Ardoyne shops, attacking occupation forces and causing a number of injuries to the RUC who had to be pulled out of the danger zone. A number of Land Rovers were hit by petrol bombs and were forced to pull back. Hundreds of street fighters were now on the streets. A number of cars and vans were burning across the top of Brompton Park and across Crumlin Road. A Republican Sinn Féin member was badly injured after being shot in the stomach by a plastic bullet fired by the RUC. ON Wednesday, January 9 the nationalist people of north Belfast in Ardoyne were under an unprecedented attack from Brit/RUC occupation forces. RSF members were on the streets of Ardoyne standing side by side and shoulder to shoulder with our people in defence of the nationalist people and community. At around 11pm the hated loyalist paramilitary RUC forced their way into the top of Brompton Park and down Balhome Drive in armoured Land Rovers. The defending nationalist street fighters stood their ground. One very brave action was carried out by a youth who, using a can of petrol, poured petrol over one RUC Land Rover which was set on fire by another youth with a petrol bomb. Petrol bombs rained against the armoured Land Rovers which were moving at 60mph, mounting the footpaths as they tried to knock people down. Three Land Rovers were now on fire. The one hit a burning barricade and jamming itself at Brompton Park. The Land Rover was surrounded by around 500 or more nationalist street fighters trying to make escape impossible. Again more Land Rovers flooded into Brompton Park and Balhome Drive. Fighting was very heavy. It was at this stage that a member of north Belfast Republican Sinn Féin was shot in the stomach by an RUC plastic bullet. The bullet struck the RSF man inches below the heart. Knowing what these weapons can do, it doesn't take much thought on it to know how close to death the RSF man had come. The RSF man was taken out of the area and received first aid locally, but outside the danger zone. The RUC were at the Mater Hospital on the Crumlin Road arresting injured nationalists. It is for this reason, the fear of arrest, that there can never be a true list of wounded or injured. The fact is, many, many people, men, women and children were injured in this combined Brit/RUC/loyalist assault against the nationalist community. The fighting went on into the early hours of the morning, subsiding around 3.30am. Thursday, January 10, 2002. Holy Cross School stayed closed because of the fear of attack on the primary school children. Tension was at an all time high in north Belfast. People were very unsure of what the day may bring to the streets of north Belfast. It wasn't long before the loyalists would let the nationalist community know. Just before 11am at Our Lady of Mercy school, which is about a mile away from Holy Cross primary in the loyalist Ballysillan, petrified school children were witness to two cars full of loyalists coming into their school grounds and wreck up to 18 cars belonging to teachers as two gun men, one with a rifle, the other with a hand gun, gave cover. As news of the attack got to the parents of the children, of whom the writer of this report is one, we made our way to the school. Our only concern was for our children. We had been worried that Our Lady of Mercy School would be a target. The school has been a constant target for loyalists. When we got to the school and witnessed the damage caused by the loyalists and then were told about the gunmen, our only thought was to get the children and to take them home. As the children came out to us they were very upset and just wanted to get home. There was a terrible uncanny feeling. It was very much in our minds that we were in the middle of Ballysillan, a loyalist area, two miles from nationalist Ardoyne. Only a short time before a number of loyalists were standing right where we now were, at least two of them armed. The thought that these gunmen could still be in the area was uppermost in many of the parents minds. The need was to make sure all the children were safe and to get them all out of the area. Many taxi drivers from nationalist areas helped to make sure of this. The morning went on and tension stayed high. About 2pm loyalists once again came out of Hesketh Road and made towards Mercy Primary School on the Crumlin Road where
China. People´s Daily Feb 4
Extracts. Inside Story of Negotiations Between Dalai Lama, Central Chinese Government Revealed. A signed article carried in the latest issue of China's Tibet magazine cited plenty of irrefutable facts to expose Dalai Lama's true intention of separating Tibet from China under the cloak of negotiation with the central Chinese government. A signed article carried in the latest issue of China's Tibet magazine cited plenty of irrefutable facts to expose Dalai Lama's true intention of separating Tibet from China under the cloak of negotiation with the central Chinese government. Entitled Fresh comments on negotiation between the 14th Dalai Lama and the Central Government, the article started with late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping's talks with an AP reporter. On December 28, 1978, Deng Xiaoping, then vice-chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), said when meeting with the AP reporter: The Dalai Lama may come back, but in his capacity as a Chinese citizen. We have only one demand -- being patriotic -- and we put forward the theory that there is not major difference as to when he becomes patriotic, earlier or later. Deng's talks clearly demonstrated brotherly affection shown by the Central Chinese Government toward Tibetan compatriots residing overseas and also showed the Central Chinese Government's attitude toward Dalai Lama. The 14th Dalai Lama sent his private representative back to the motherland on February 28, 1979 for matters concerning the bettering of ties between him and the Central Government. On March 12, Deng Xiaoping met with the private representative and told him: The fundamental problem lies in the fact that Tibet is part of China. It is the yardstick to judge whether things go right or wrong. Now, the problem is whether Tibet is to start a dialogue with the Central Government in its capacity as a country, or for it to discuss things with the Central Government in its capacity as a part of China. This is a realistic question. Deng's remarks broke the 20-year-long isolation between Dalai Lama and the Central Chinese Government, said the article. Pakistan Rejects Reports of Receiving Chinese Aid in Missile Program. Pakistan on Saturday strongly denied reports of receiving any assistance from China in developing missiles, saying its missile program was totally indigenous. Pakistan on Saturday strongly denied reports of receiving any assistance from China in developing missiles, saying its missile program was totally indigenous. This stand was reiterated by Foreign Office spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan in a press briefing Saturday afternoon in Islamabad while commenting on a story published in a section of the press. Khan said similar allegations had been made in the past and were refuted by both Pakistan and China. Commenting on the statement of Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee that India would not enter into dialogue on Kashmir, Khan described it as unfortunate. He said there was a world-wide practice to resolve inter-state problems through negotiations and dialogue. Khan reiterated that Pakistan would like to resolve all outstanding issues with India including the Kashmir dispute through dialogue. Our position remains the same, he added. Roundup: US, Europe Inconsistent Over NATO, Security. Defense ministers and foreign ministers of NATO countries and the foreign ministers of Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic gathered here on Saturday to discuss the global security situation after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. Defense ministers and foreign ministers of NATO countries and the foreign ministers of Tajikistan and the Kyrgyz Republic gathered here on Saturday to discuss the global security situation after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. But it is evident that the United States and Europe differed on matters regarding the development of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the global security. Addressing the meeting, U.S. Senator John McCain said, This campaign for freedom and against terror across the globe is a joint endeavor that will commit the United States and our friends and allies across Europe. But a necessary condition for its success is an assertive, and distinctively American, internationalism that will propel a global campaign to reorder international relations, just as a new, more just order emerged from the ashes of this war-torn continent under American leadership in 1945, McCain said. He noted that American leadership within NATO has been enhanced by its leading role in the ongoing anti-terrorism war. The senator expressed his hope that NATO's European members and the United States could put aside their previous differences over an emerging European security identity in favor of NATO's existing security architecture. However, officials from European countries voiced their dissatisfaction over the current development of NATO and called
Palestine: PFLP Suspends Membership in PLO
From: Stasi [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Peoples War] Palestine: PFLP Suspends Membership in PLO PFLP Suspends Membership in PLO = Xinhuanet 2002-02-02 23:43:45 GAZA, February 2 (Xinhuanet) -- The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) announced on Saturday that it suspended its membership in the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) until the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) release its secretary general Ahmed Saadat. A PFLP statement sent to Xinhua said that the decision of suspension was made after the PNA, arrested Saadat and put him into the Palestinian jail three weeks ago, failed to release the PFLP leader despite its attempts and interventions. Therefore we believe that the decision to arrest Saadat was political, and the PFLP decided to suspend its membership into the PLO executive committee until Saadat is released, said the statement. The PNA security forces arrested Saadat on January 15 in the West Bank town of Ramallah after pressure practiced on PNA Chairman Yasser Arafat by Israel and the United States to arrest Saadat. The pressure also was to make the PNA arrests the assassins of Israeli far right-wing tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi that was killed in October by PFLP militants in a hotel in Jerusalem in revenge for assassinating the PFLP Secretary General Abu Ali Mustafa in August. The PNA security forces said that Saadat, who was believed to be behind the assassination of Ze'evi, would be kept in jail until he reveals the hiding place of the two assassins of Ze'evi. The PFLP is the second Palestinian faction member of the PLO after the Palestinian mainstream Fatah movement that is chaired by Arafat. Arafat is also the chairman of the PLO executive committee. The PFLP gave chance to all the previous faithful efforts to release Saadat. But now after the PNA refuses to release him, we decided to suspend our membership in the PLO until Saadat is released, added the statement. The PFLP is a left-wing party among the PLO and opposed the Oslo peace agreements that were signed between Israel and the Palestinians in 1993. It vowed to continue armed struggle until Israeli occupation of Gaza and the West bank ends. Enditem _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Colombia: ELN to Explore Possibility of Cease-fire - Xinhua
From: Stasi [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Peoples War] Colombia: ELN to Explore Possibility of Cease-fire - Xinhua Colombian Government, ELN to Explore Possibility of Cease-fire Xinhuanet 2002-02-03 16:14:43 BOGOTA, February 2 (Xinhuanet) -- The Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) agreed on Saturday to start exploring the possibility of a cease-fire immediately, the Colombian News Agency (Ancol) reported. This was the first time that the government's representatives and the rebel group exchanged views on a cease-fire. They have decided to submit it for discussion at their next meetings. The agreement was reached by taking into account the will for peace shown by the two sides during a crucial three-day summit in Havana, Cuba. A commission was also formed for drafting a schedule for the cease-fire-oriented discussions and other issues proposed at the summit. The government will be represented by Gustavo Villegas and Juan Ricardo Ortega in the commission and the ELN, by Francisco Galan and Felipe Torres. Peace Commissioner Camilo Gomez told Colombia's RCN radio station that the two sides will meet again from February 25 to 27 in a place yet to be decided, most likely still in Havana. We are going to continue exploring the possibility to reach a cease-fire and to seek humanitarian agreements that were recommended at the summit, Gomez said. The 4,500-strong ELN is the second largest guerrilla group in Colombia after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The talks between the group and the government were suspended last August by President Pastrana, who accused the rebels of lacking the will for peace. Their contacts resumed on November 24. Enditem _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
USA. Notification to Peltier supporters
From: LPDC [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2002 13:11:01 -0600 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: notification to Peltier supporters Dear Peltier Supporters: As some may have already experienced, the LPDC web site (freepeltier.org) is currently inaccessible. This tech issue is due to a server software upgrade and DNS address change. Although freepeltier.org has already been redirected to the new DNS number, it normally takes 24-48 hours from the time of DNS change for domains to become fully available again. Sincere apologies for this unforeseen problem. Unfortunately, because of the DNS change, email sent to the freepeltier.org address may bounce. In the interim, until the DNS change has kicked in, you may direct any urgent email to the LPDC office via their ISP address at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Again, sincere apologies for any inconvenience this has caused. Thank you for your understanding. Dawn Hill LPDC Web Site Mistress Until Freedom Is Won! The New Peltier Justice Campaign Leonard Peltier Defense Committee PO Box 583 Lawrence, KS 66044 785-842-5774 www.freepeltier.org To subscribe, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe, send a blank message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To change your email address, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with your old address in the Subject line _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
AIC: Newsletter of the Anti-imperialist Camp
From: Stasi [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2002 08:05:07 - To: Peoples War [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Peoples War] AIC: Newsletter of the Anti-imperialist Camp 1st of February 2002 1. Defend the right of the Palestinian people to resist occupation! Conclusions of the Anti-imperialist Solidarity Delegation and call for a new one 2. Pakistan: Peasant women fight against forceful eviction from their lands by CMKP, Pakistan 3. Discussion on the Indo-Pakistani conflict over Kashmir 4. Filipino peasant groups cry: Yankees go home! by KMU, Philippines 1.Defend the right of the Palestinian people to resist occupation! Conclusions of the Anti-imperialist Solidarity Delegation and call for a new one From December 30, 2001 to January 6, 2002 an anti-imperialist solidarity delegation travelled occupied Palestine. The purpose of was twofold: On one hand to see with our own eyes, to judge with our own mind the situation and the resistance movement on the ground. On the other hand to express in the strongest possible way our undivided support for the legitimate resistance of the Palestinian people against the Zionist occupation. Both ends of the delegation were met. We were able to touch the hottest spots of the conflict i.e. Hebron and the Gaza strip. We could see the systematic Zionist colonisation projects of Greater Jerusalem, in the West Bank and in Gaza. We passed deliberately destroyed agricultural land and we saw thousands of uprooted trees. We heard about the water shortages while the Israelis are massively pumping and consuming water. We experienced the restriction of the movement of persons and goods by Israeli check-points, road blocks, exclusive settler and military roads. Briefly, we felt the reality of occupation which we can only subsume as Apartheid. However, we were also able to confirm that the Intifada, the popular resistance movement does live and proceed. It has become crystal clear that Israel has never been striving for peace, but for the complete colonisation of the territories occupied in 1967. This plan was designed right after the occupation and has been carried ahead. It includes a scientifically elaborated plan of Zionist settlements. Their construction was not slowed down or even stopped after the Oslo agreements, but it was massively stepped up. A grid of military and settler roads have been built cutting contiguous Palestinian territories and blocking internal Palestinian movement whenever intended. The Palestinians expelled from their lands are being concentrated in densely populated ever tightening zones eventually resulting in internment camps depriving them of the most elementary rights - like the Bantustans during Apartheid. Palestinian resistance resembles the struggle of David against Goliath. While Israel has got the full backing of imperialism, Palestinians will only be able to re-conquer their elementary democratic right if they can secure the support of the popular and proletarian masses of the world struggling against the Western tyranny. Therefore the international solidarity movement must be constituted on the basis of the elementary democratic demands of the Palestinian people : · Immediate withdrawal of the occupation forces · Dismantlement of the Israeli settlements · Right to return for all refugees · For a sovereign state in the West Bank and Gaza with Jerusalem as capital Complete article: www.antiimperialista.com/view.shtml?category=allid=1012581467keyword=+ ** 2. Pakistan: Peasant women fight against forceful eviction from their lands Detailed report about the situation in Charsada (Hashtnagar) by Syed Azeem, Punjab President, Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party During the 1970s a number of peasant struggles started in Pakistan, which were mainly organized by the Communists. The most successful and militant land-grab by the peasants took place in Hashtnagar, an area close to the Pak-Afghan border in the province of NWFP. Organized by the then Mazdoor Kissan Party (MKP), the peasants were able to liberate this area from feudal lords, who brutally oppressed the poor peasants and had the backing of the state. Since those days, Hashtnagar remains to be a liberated area despite several attempts by the feudal lords and state to eject the peasants. Recently, another attempt by the feudals, in connivance with the state machinery, is in progress to forcefully evict the poor peasants from the lands of Charsada (Hashtnagar). Eager to use the so-called War-Against-Terrorism hysteria, the military and feudals are eyeing to not only takeover the lands, but also to reverse many gains made by the peasant movement in Pakistan. On 22nd January, 2002, 3,500 personnel of police and the Frontier Constabulary attacked the village of Charsada. The peasants were unarmed, but organized. The police, on the other hand, was armed with guns, tear-gas shells, armored vehicles and jeeps. The
Colombia: Progress reported in ELN/Govt talks in Cuba - BBC
From: Stasi [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2002 07:40:13 - To: Peoples War [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Peoples War] Colombia: Progress reported in ELN/Govt talks in Cuba - BBC Friday, 1 February, 2002, 16:49 GMT Progress reported in Colombia talks http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1796000/1796005.stm Representatives from the Colombian Government and the country's second-largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army (ELN) have extended talks in Cuba after making progress towards a ceasefire agreement. After a three-day meeting which ended on Thursday, both sides announced they would stay in the Cuban capital Havana for a further round of discussions. They also issued a declaration calling for children to be excluded from the conflict, an end to rebel attacks on Colombia's electricity pylons and measures to stop the use of anti-personnel mines. From the newsroom of the BBC World Service Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Get your FREE credit report with a FREE CreditCheck Monitoring Service trial http://us.click.yahoo.com/ACHqaB/bQ8CAA/ySSFAA/XcSolB/TM -~- PEOPLES WAR ~~~ Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Peoples_War A people who want to win independence cannot confine themselves to ordinary methods of warfare. Mass insurrections, revolutionary warfare, guerilla detachments everywhere - such is the only way. F Engels A revolution is not a bed of roses. A revolution is a struggle to the death between the future and the past. Fidel Castro There is no revolution without violence. Those who dont accept violence can cross out the word revolution from their dictionary. Malcolm X Violence is the universal objective law of all thorough national liberation revolutions. General Vo Nguyen Giap Without a Peoples Army the people have nothing Mao Tse-Tung Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Phillipines: NPA May Have Fired on U.S. Plane: PhilippineMilitary - Xinhua
From: Stasi [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Peoples War] Phillipines: NPA May Have Fired on U.S. Plane: Philippine Military - Xinhua Rebels May Have Fired on U.S. Plane: Philippine Military === Xinhuanet 2002-02-01 15:45:34 MANILA, February 1 (Xinhuanet) -- Members of a rebel group may have fired upon a U.S. military exercise aircraft in the northern Philippines, Philippine military sources said Friday after the Pentagon revealed one of its planes had been hit by small-arms fire. The Philippine Daily Inquirer online news quoted an anonymous military official as saying that the shooting took place in the northern province of Abra where the New People's Army (NPA) rebelsare known to be active. However, the official stressed they were still investigating the incident and trying to determine precisely when and where the shooting occurred and what type of firearm was used. Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis has announced in Washington that a U.S. Air Force MC-130 came under fire Thursday while conducting a low-level training mission of the joint exercises with the Philippine military in a mountainous area on the biggest Philippine island of Luzon. The aircraft, which was hit by at least two bullets, returned safely to Clark Air Base in Luzon and no one was injured in the incident, Davis said. The aircraft was taking part in Balance Piston, a joint U.S.-Philippine military exercise in Luzon, focusing on counter-terrorism, he said. Some 660 American soldiers are arriving the southern Philippines to train local troops to hunt down the Abu Sayyaf kidnapping group that allegedly has links with the terrorist network of Osama bin Laden. The NPA has previously threatened to attack any U.S. soldiers who enter their so-called territories during the joint operations with local troops. The NPA has also originally been suspected of killing an American trekker and wounding his German friend in an ambush near Pinatubo volcano in the northern Philippines on Wednesday. However, police later said there were conflicting accounts thatthe shooting may have been carried out by a local tribesman with ahomemade rifle for reasons that remain unclear. Philippine officials have repeatedly stressed that American soldiers taking part in the joint operations in the south will notengage in actual combat and will only advise and train local troops. Philippine Defense Secretary Gen. Angelo Reyes Friday said Filipino commanders would be running the show in the ongoing jointmilitary exercises in the southern Philippines but said the Americans have the right to defend themselves in an encounter. The right to self-defense is universal, we're talking here of survival, the Philippine Daily Inquirer online news quoted Reyes as saying. They will not get involved in fighting the Abu Sayyaf, he added. The at least six-month military exercise, which entered its first phase Thursday, is aimed at combating the Abu Sayyaf group which is holding two American and one Filipino hostages. Enditem Yahoo! Groups Sponsor -~-- Get your FREE credit report with a FREE CreditCheck Monitoring Service trial http://us.click.yahoo.com/ACHqaB/bQ8CAA/ySSFAA/XcSolB/TM -~- PEOPLES WAR ~~~ Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Peoples_War A people who want to win independence cannot confine themselves to ordinary methods of warfare. Mass insurrections, revolutionary warfare, guerilla detachments everywhere - such is the only way. F Engels A revolution is not a bed of roses. A revolution is a struggle to the death between the future and the past. Fidel Castro There is no revolution without violence. Those who dont accept violence can cross out the word revolution from their dictionary. Malcolm X Violence is the universal objective law of all thorough national liberation revolutions. General Vo Nguyen Giap Without a Peoples Army the people have nothing Mao Tse-Tung Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
South China Morning Post: 'Axis of evil' label upsets mainland
From: Stasi [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: SCMP: 'Axis of evil' label upsets mainland [ HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- South China Morning Post 'Axis of evil' label upsets mainland Foreign Ministry finds Bush's language jarring but welcomes strengthening of Sino-US ties AGENCIES Next Story -- China yesterday berated US President George W. Bush for calling North Korea, Iran and Iraq an axis of evil. The Chinese side does not advocate using this kind of language in international relations, Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said. Mr Bush said in his State of the Union Address on Tuesday that Iran, Iraq and North Korea were attempting to develop weapons of mass destruction and singled them out as an axis of evil. Mr Kong said China believed all countries should be treated equally in international affairs. Otherwise it will damage the atmosphere for seeking solutions to relevant problems and it would not be conducive to world and regional peace and stability, he said. The comments came three weeks before Mr Bush is due to visit Beijing for talks with President Jiang Zemin, who has backed the US-led war on terrorism, launched after the September 11 attacks. Vice-Foreign Minister and former ambassador to the US Li Zhaoxing is scheduled to leave China for the United States today to make preparations for Mr Bush's visit. Observers have expressed doubt that Mr Bush will be able to conduct substantive discussions with his Chinese hosts during his whirlwind two-day stay in Beijing. During the news conference, Mr Kong, however, welcomed another part of Mr Bush's speech - that on strengthening US-China co-operation. But the spokesman repeated Beijing's objection to Washington selling arms to Taiwan and categorically ruled out the need for China and the US to sign a fourth communique on Taiwan. Richard Bush, Washington's top diplomat to Taipei, reiterated earlier this week that the US would continue to provide defensive weapons to Taiwan. Mr Kong repeated that any arms sales to Taiwan would violate Washington's commitments to Beijing and the three communiques signed between the two countries. The spokesman was referring to documents signed between China and the US in 1972, 1979 and 1982 that respectively established official relations, detailed Washington's affirmation that Taiwan is a part of China and pronounced the United States' commitment to reduce arms sales to Taiwan. Mr Kong said as long as both Washington and Beijing adhered to these three communiques, the two sides would not need a new one. We are not in favour of the idea that the three joint communiques are out of date, Mr Kong said. US officials say privately the joint communiques are merely diplomatic documents that do not carry the weight of a formal treaty. Concern has been raised by Taiwan leaders that a fourth communique would put the island at a disadvantage and weaken Taipei's bargaining power in negotiating with Beijing. During his meeting with Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian, Richard Bush reportedly assured his host that Washington had not changed its position on Taiwan. _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Xinhua: U.S. Continues Espionage Against DPRK
From: Stasi [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Xinhua: U.S. Continues Espionage Against DPRK: KCNA HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Friday, February 01, 2002 1:22 PM U.S. Continues Espionage Against DPRK: KCNA -- Xinhuanet 2002-02-01 19:14:42 PYONGYANG, February 1 (Xinhuanet) -- The United States committed more than 150 cases of aerial espionage against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in January with strategic and tactical reconnaissance planes for various missions, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Friday. The KCNA quoted DPRK military sources as saying that involved in the espionage were U-2 high altitude strategic reconnaissance planes, EP-3 special operation planes, E-3 commanding planes, RC-12 and RC-7 tactical reconnaissance planes and EH-60 electronic warfare helicopters. On January 29 the the U.S. sent more than 100 fighter bombers, pursuit and assault planes, transport and reconnaissance planes tothe sky above Tanyang, Wonju and Phyongchange, and on January 24 and 16 the U.S. sent each day more than 150 fighter planes to the sky above Chunchon, Kaphyong, Ryoju and other areas of South Koreato stage war exercises. Such espionage flights and war exercises clearly prove that theU.S. is seeking to achieve its aggressive design at any time as soon as it concludes its war against terrorism in Afghanistan after designating the DPRK as the main target of its next operation, said the agency. Enditem _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Vietnam News Feb 2 - 3
VNA Activities mark Party founding anniversary A showroom entitled The Communist Party of Vietnam with the National Renovation Cause¹ was opened on February 1 at the Vietnam Revolutionary Museum on the occasion of the 72nd founding anniversary of the party. Present at the ceremony were leaders of the Ministry of Information and Culture, representatives from central committees and sectors and localities. The showroom introduces nearly 300 articles arranged into two sections: The CPV initiates, organises and leads the national renovation process and The achievements of the national renovation process in the past 15 years in political, economic, social and cultural, educational, health care and diplomatic fields. On the occasion, the Vietnam Revolutionary Museum has co-ordinated with some localities to organise a showroom in Ho Chi Minh City on Uncle Ho with Ethnic Minorities¹ and another in northern mountainous province of Cao Bang on August Revolution under the Leadership of the Party.¹ The same day, the final round of the contest Hanoi Youth with the Resolution of the Ninth National Party Congress¹ was held with the participation of three colleges: the Teachers¹ Training College, the National Economics University and the Foreign Language Teachers¹ Training College.¹ The three teams are the best among the forty teams of forty universities and colleges that took part in the contest organised by the Hanoi¹s Youth Union over the past two months. The teams had to answer questions relating to the Resolution of the Ninth National Party Congress, and the Resolution of the 13rd Hanoi Party Congress, sang songs and read poems on the Party, Uncle Ho and expressed their feelings about the songs and poems. Finally, the contestants had to come through an rhetorical contest on their understanding of the Party¹s Resolution. The Teachers¹ Training College won the first prize. The second prize went to the National Economics University and the Foreign Language Teachers¹ Training College was the owner of the third prize. Politburo members Nguyen Khoa Diem and Nguyen Phu Trong presented the prizes to the winners. Book exhibition welcomes Party's birthday, New Year The Hanoi Library opened a book and newspaper exhibition to celebrate the Party's birthday, the New Year and the national renovation on February 1. On display are around 1,000 books and 200 different kinds of Tet newspapers and magazines. Books on show feature those on Ho Chi Minh Thought; the history of the Communist Party of Vietnam; achievements of the Vietnamese revolution; the strategic line and leadership of the Party during the resistance war time against the French colonialists, the US imperialists and the national construction; the history of Hanoi's Party Committee and the capital's achievements during the renovation process. Also on the occasion, a war memorial was inaugurated in Ha Long city of Quang Ninh northern province on February 1. The memorial is built on a four-hectare area on the bank of Ha Long bay, Bach Dang ward. Deputy PM meets US Pacific commander-in-chief Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung affirmed that Vietnam pursues an external policy of diversification and multilaterlisation and wishes to befriend other countries in the interests of peace, stability and development in the world. Deputy Prime Minister Dung was talking with the United States Pacific Commander-in-Chief Admiral Dennis Cutler Blair, during a reception in Hanoi on February 1. Mr Dung welcomed Admiral Dennis Blair's visit, describing it as an important step in accelerating the multi-faceted co-operation between Vietnam and the US. Deputy PM Dung said that the two armies can co-operate with each other, particularly in fighting drug trafficking and terrorism, and disposing of mines and unexploded munitions on the basis of mutual respect and benefits, and non-interference in each other's internal affairs. The same day, Admiral Dennis Blair and his entourage paid courtesy visits to Defence Minister Pham Van Tra, Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien, General Vo Nguyen Giap and Deputy Defence Minister Lieutenant General Phung Quang Thanh. The US Pacific Command delegation will wrap up their visit on February 2. (VNA) Foreign minister meets diplomatic corps Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien and his wife received the diplomatic corps in Hanoi on February 1, on the occasion of the Vietnamese traditional lunar New Year Festival. On behalf of the Vietnamese government, Foreign Minister Nien thanked foreign countries and international organisations as well as their ambassadors and chief representatives in Hanoi for their valuable support and assistance to Vietnam, thus positively contributing to Vietnam's development. He said he
Palestine. PFLP Press Release Jan 30
30 January 2002 Press Release Ramallah: The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine has commented on the Zionist government's plan to isolate Jerusalem from the rest of the Palestinian territories. The Popular Front said that these are steps that lead to the practical annexation of the City of Jerusalem. In addition, this plan also involves expanding the area to be isolated in accordance with the old plans for the old, yet new, Greater Jerusalem scheme. The Popular Front pointed out that although this plan is being pursued under the camouflage of its being for security purposes, it nevertheless imposes political facts on the ground that dispel all the prevalent illusions in the policy of the Palestine Authority about Jerusalem being a subject for negotiations with the Zionist government. This plan confirms that the Zionist government is continuing with its plan to gobble up our land, colonize it, and Judaize it, without regard for any agreements. The Popular Front stressed that these steps by the Zionist government must serve as a new lesson for the Palestine Authority about the possibility of negotiating with the Zionists or of even reaching partial agreements on this subject. The Popular Front believes that the Zionist government decision contravenes international resolutions concerning Jerusalem, and it calls on the international community to shoulder its responsibility regarding this matter. The Front also calls on the Arab and Islamic states and their peoples to act, for Jerusalem is not only a Palestinian issue, it is an Arab and Islamic issue. The Front called on the Palestinian masses to hold fast to the choice of resistance and intifada, and to continue with them and not bet on any of the illusions that still find a place in the approach of official Palestinian policy. The Popular Front said that Jerusalem will remain Arab Palestinian land in spite of all the arbitrary steps that the terrorist Sharon government may take. Central Information Department Press Office - Palestine 30 January 2002. _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Radio Havana Cuba-30 January 2002
From: NY Transfer News [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2002 09:12:37 -0500 (EST) To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (CubaNews List) Subject: [CubaNews] Radio Havana Cuba-30 January 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 30 January 2002 . *COLOMBIAN PEACE SUMMIT GETS UNDERWAY IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL *MEXICAN PRESIDENT VICENTE FOX ARRIVES IN HAVANA THIS WEEKEND *POLLUTION REDUCED IN THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS OF SANTIAGO DE CUBA *CUBA TO HELP CONSTRUCT FIRST FOOD PROCESSING PLANT IN EQUATORIAL GUINEA *NEW CD BY PABLO MILANES PRESENTED IN MADRID *PPG ANTI-CHOLESTEROL MEDICATION IN HIGH DEMAND IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC *BUSH STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS CALLS FOR MASSIVE MILITARY BUILDUP *ISRAELI ARMY RESERVISTS REFUSE TO SERVE IN WEST BANK AND GAZA *Viewpoint: JUSTICE IN THE STREETS . *COLOMBIAN PEACE SUMMIT GETS UNDERWAY IN THE CUBAN CAPITAL Havana, January 30 (RHC)-- Cuban President Fidel Castro presided over the inauguration of a Colombian Peace Summit Tuesday evening, which the island's foreign minister, Felipe Perez Roque, described as historic for Colombia, Latin America and the international community. The three-day meeting between Colombian government officials and leaders of the guerilla Army of National Liberation, known by its Spanish acronym as the ELN, is taking place at Havana's Convention Center. It is being attended by some 100 participants from all levels of Colombian society, as well as international observers, and is designed to confront the obstacles to peace in one of the oldest civil conflicts in Latin America. In expressing his hope for a successful outcome to the summit, the Cuban foreign minister also voiced his country's total opposition to any kind of outside intervention in Colombia's affairs and underlined how important it was to respect the South American nation's sovereignty and independence. Felipe Perez Roque said that Colombia could count on Cuba's support and that any foreign intervention would only aggravate the situation and lead to far more serious consequences. ELN spokesperson, Ramiro Vargas, and Bogota's high commissioner for peace, Camilo Gomez, are leading the two delegations. Representatives from France, Norway, Venezuela, Switzerland, Spain and the United Nations are also attending the Peace Summit, which wraps up tomorrow, Thursday. *MEXICAN PRESIDENT VICENTE FOX ARRIVES IN HAVANA THIS WEEKEND Havana, January 30 (RHC)-- The president of Mexico, Vicente Fox, will make an official visit to Cuba on February 3rd and 4th, at the invitation of his Cuban counterpart, Fidel Castro. The visit is designed to increase economic, social and cultural ties between both nations. Mexico is the country that has the longest lasting diplomatic relationship with Havana, going back some 100 years. It was also the only nation in the region that ignored pressure from Washington to break diplomatic relations in the early 1960s. In an exclusive, live interview with Radio Havana Cuba's Barbara Betancourt on Wednesday morning, the Mexican head of state said that he was looking forward to not only tasting Cuban coffee but also the friendship of the Cuban people. He said there was still much to do to bring both nations closer together in economic, commercial, diplomatic and cultural aspects. And the Mexican president added that he wanted to seek common positions with Cuba wherever possible. President Vicente Fox will be accompanied by a large delegation, which will include many trade and commerce representatives. *POLLUTION REDUCED IN THE EASTERN MOUNTAINS OF SANTIAGO DE CUBA Santiago de Cuba, January 30 (RHC)-- Pollution in the eastern mountains of Santiago de Cuba registered a 33 percent reduction in 2001 compared to the previous year thanks to an action plan to preserve and improve the environment. According to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, the surface of forest areas in Santiago de Cuba has increased 1.3 per cent or 1,995 hectares due to the reforestation process taking place in the region. The decontamination of the mountains and the protection of the environment is of great importance for the eastern part of the region due to the fact that the province of Santiago de Cuba represents a third of the mountainous region where some 20 per cent of the population live. The authorities are also educating the population in an attempt to stop people from cutting trees, as well as how to avoid forest fires. *CUBA TO HELP CONSTRUCT FIRST FOOD PROCESSING PLANT IN EQUATORIAL GUINEA Malabo, January 30 (RHC)-- Cuba will help construct the first food processing plant in Equatorial Guinea next month, according to the island's Ministry of Agriculture. A delegation from the Guinean Chamber of Commerce is scheduled to arrive in Havana this week and meet with Cuban authorities on the food processing plant. Relations between Cuba and Equatorial Guinea were suspended in the 1980's and
FW: [CubaNews] Radio Havana Cuba-31 January 2002
From: NY Transfer News [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2002 09:15:50 -0500 (EST) Radio Havana Cuba-31 January 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 31 January 2002 . *WASHINGTON LEANS ON ARGENTINA TO JOIN ANTI-CUBA CAMPAIGN FOR AID *SPANISH UNITED LEFT PARTY LEADER ENDS VISIT TO CUBA *VOLUNTEERS OUT IN THEIR THOUSANDS IN CAMPAIGN AGAINST DENGUE FEVER *FOUR MORE WETLANDS PROPOSED FOR INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION BY CUBA *WORLD SOCIAL FORUM GETS UNDERWAY IN BRAZIL *PROTESTERS GATHER AS RICH AND POWERFUL MEET AT WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM *SHARON SAYS ARAFAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED YEARS AGO *ISRAEL CONSIDERS PLAN TO CLOSE OFF JERUSALEM *INTERVIEW WITH MEXICAN PRESIDENT VICENTE FOX *Viewpoint: TWO WORLD VIEWS . *WASHINGTON LEANS ON ARGENTINA TO JOIN ANTI-CUBA CAMPAIGN FOR AID Havana, January 31 (RHC)-- Argentine Foreign Minister Carlos Ruckauf recently traveled to the United States, seeking economic assistance for his beleaguered nation. But, according to Cuba's top diplomat, Felipe Perez Roque, the U.S. placed conditions on its aid: jump on Washington's anti-Cuba bandwagon at the UN Human Rights Commission. During a roundtable discussion Wednesday evening -- broadcast live on Cuban radio and television -- Felipe Perez Roque and other panelists examined the pressures on Latin American countries, including Argentina, to go along with the annual resolution against Cuba for alleged human rights violations. The Cuban foreign minister noted that his Argentine counterpart spent only 30 minutes with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on Monday -- coming out of the meeting with a statement that Buenos Aires would jointly work with Washington on the issue of human rights in Cuba. Perez Roque asked how it was possible that the Argentine foreign minister could sell out so quickly and come to an agreement on Cuba, when he supposedly met with U.S. officials to secure economic aid for his bankrupt country. Panelists on last night's roundtable discussion agreed that the United States was turning up the heat on Latin American countries -- aimed at getting their support for Washington's resolution in Geneva to condemn Cuba. They pointed out that the Argentine Foreign Ministry has apparently chosen to repeat last year's performance at the UN Human Rights Commission -- when they voted along with the U.S. against Cuba in exchange for Washington's support of a multi-billion dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund. Juan Antonio Fernandez, the Director of Multilateral Affairs at the Cuban Foreign Ministry and one of the panelists, said that Washington's resolution in Geneva is an annual circus, designed to demonize Cuba and provide a rationalization for the U.S. blockade against the island. He reminded the audience that Washington was voted off the UN Human Rights Commission last year and, for the first time in 50 years, does not have a seat on the Commission in Geneva. The Cuban Foreign Ministry official also noted that Argentina is undergoing a severe social and economic crisis, leading to scenes of repression in the streets of Buenos Aires and other cities -- hardly putting that country in a position to criticize anyone for alleged human rights violations. *SPANISH UNITED LEFT PARTY LEADER ENDS VISIT TO CUBA Havana, January 31 (RHC)-- Cuban President Fidel Castro Wednesday met with the coordinator of Spain's United Left Party, Gaspar Llamazares and his delegation who were on an official visit to the island. Llamazares had previously met with Cuban Vice-President Carlos Lage in a general discussion of relations between his party and the Communist Party of Cuba which had extended the invitation for the Spanish dignitary to visit the island. After meeting with the Cuban leader, the delegation accompanied him to the Cuban television studios to attend a round table on the current crisis in Argentina, and Buenos Aires' capitulation to the US government in relation to Cuba, which was attacked in the Cuban daily Granma in Thursday morning's edition. The Spanish politician and his delegation left the island Thursday afternoon. *VOLUNTEERS OUT IN THEIR THOUSANDS IN CAMPAIGN AGAINST DENGUE FEVER Havana, January 31 (RHC)-- In Cuba's massive offensive against the mosquito that spreads the dengue fever virus, the entire student and teacher faculty of a school that trains social workers in the city of Santa Clara have joined thousands of other volunteers traveling to Havana for a weekend fumigation campaign. The campaign to eradicate the Aedes Aegypti mosquito will be concentrating its efforts on Havana's 15 municipalities today, fumigating every single residence for the third time in three weeks. Street fumigation is also taking place. Cuban public health authorities have taken unprecedented steps to prevent the type of epidemic that has hit other nations in the region - especially in Central America - and appear to be gaining ground. The
Radio Havana Cuba-01 February 2002
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2002 09:17:21 -0500 To: undisclosed-recipients:; Subject: Radio Havana Cuba-01 February 2002 Radio Havana Cuba-01 February 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 01 Febuary 2002 . *NOBEL LAUREATES TO ATTEND ECONOMISTS' CONFERENCE IN HAVANA THIS MONTH *WTO RULES AGAINST US IN HAVANA CLUB TRADEMARK DISPUTE *CASA DE LAS AMERICAS LITERARY PRIZES ANNOUNCED *HAVANA TO HOST CUBA'S FIRST INTERNATIONAL REGGAE CONCERT *BRITAIN TO FUND FOUR DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN CUBA *WORLD SOCIAL FORUM OPENS IN PORTO ALEGRE WITH MASSIVE PEACE MARCH *NORTH KOREA FIRES BACK AT BUSH, CALLING SPEECH A THREAT TO WORLD PEACE *THOUSANDS ON VERGE OF DEATH IN AFGHAN PRISON *ARGENTINE DICTATORSHIP'S AGENT RELEASED FROM HOUSE ARREST *CHILD SMUGGLING RING UNCOVERED IN MEXICO . *NOBEL LAUREATES TO ATTEND ECONOMISTS' CONFERENCE IN HAVANA THIS MONTH Havana, February 1 (RHC)-- Four Nobel Prize winners will give masters conferences during the IV Economist's Meeting on Globalization and Problems of Development, which will be held in Havana from February 11th through the 15th. Nobel Laureates for the last three years, Robert Mundel, James Heckman and Joseph Stiglitz will participate in the conference along with Nobel Peace prizewinner, Adolfo Perez Esquivel and some 400 researchers, academicians and professionals from around the world. The organizing committee reports that 160 papers from 37 countries have been received. Esther Aguilera, vice president of Cuba's Association of Economists and Accountants, which is sponsoring the meeting along with the Latin American and Caribbean Association of Economists, announced that World Bank Vice President, Guillermo Perry, and International Monetary Fund official, Claudio Loser would also participate in the five-day gathering. The Inter-American Development Bank, the World Trade Organization, the International Work Organization and the Pan-American Health Organization will also represented. Aquilera told reporters in the Cuban capital that the meeting is unique in the varied schools of thought that will be represented, all concerned about finding solutions to today's pressing problems. The Cuban economist said that in addition to conferences, the meeting would feature round table discussions focusing on the first economic crisis of the millennium, the consequences of the events of September 11 in the United States, the Argentina situation and the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Cuba began hosting economists' meetings on Globalization and the Problems of Development in l999. *WTO RULES AGAINST US IN HAVANA CLUB TRADEMARK DISPUTE Geneva, February 1 (RHC)-- The World Trade Organization has officially adopted the ruling of its Appellate Body report on the Havana Club trademark dispute between the United States and the European Union. The U.S. company Bacardi is illegally using the trademark, arguing that it was confiscated after the 1959 victory of the Cuban Revolution. Havana Club -- jointly owned by Havana Rum and Liquors and the French company Pernod Ricard -- contends that the United States is violating the basic principles of the World Trade Organization. The announcement of the decision was made on Friday by the WTO's Dispute Settlement Body. According to the report, the WTO adopted the appeals decision on the U.S. implementation in the foreign sales corporation dispute with the European Union. In Washington, the U.S. government said they respected their obligation to comply with WTO rules and were working with the EC to resolve the dispute. *CASA DE LAS AMERICAS LITERARY PRIZES ANNOUNCED Havana, February 1 (RHC)-- Writers from Argentina, Spain, Cuba and Guyana are the winners of Latin America's coveted Casa de las Americas literary awards for 2002. It was announced on Thursday night at the cultural institution's headquarters in Havana that the novel Plop by Argentine Rafael Pinedo, had won Casa's top prize. The jury said the work was as strange as it was disconcerting. The first prize for Latin American poetry went to Cuban Luis Manuel Perez Boitel for his Aun nos pretenece el ontono or Autumn still belongs to us. Spain was the winner in the best essay category, with The impure love of cities: Notes on modernist literature and urban space by Alvaro Salvador Jofre. Argentine Carlos Marianidis won the best children's literature award with his novel, Nada detiene a las golondrinas or Nothing stops the swallows. And the Casa de las Americas prize for best Caribbean English language work was awarded to Guyanese, Oonya Kempadoo, for his novel Tide Running. For the second time honorary awards were made, and this time among the winners was late Cuban author Jose Lezama Lima for poetry. Thursday evening's closing ceremony ended the 43rd Casa de las Americas literary awards that were chosen from among 740 works from 28 countries and were presided over by Colombian Culture
China. People´s Daily Feb 3
Extracts. Bankrupt US Energy Firm Silent on Steel Project in Mozambique. The bankrupt American energy company Enron has still not contacted the Mozambican government about the future of the Maputo Iron and Steel Project (MISP), of which Enron was the sole shareholder. The bankrupt American energy company Enron has still not contacted the Mozambican government about the future of the Maputo Iron and Steel Project (MISP), of which Enron was the sole shareholder. The Noticias daily Friday quoted Mozambican Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Salvador Namburete as saying Enron has an authorization from the government to implement the project. The authorization belongs to Enron. MISP is a project to build a factory on the outskirts of Maputothat would produce 2.5 million tons of steel slabs a year, using iron ore from South Africa, and natural gas from the southern Mozambican province of Inhambane. But the spectacular collapse of Enron in December last year, and the subsequent revelations of criminal behavior by its top executives, have left the future of MISP in grave doubt. Even before the bankruptcy, Enron was having difficulty in attracting partners for MISP. Originally Enron had planned to workwith the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) of South Africa,but the IDC pulled out in 1999. Enron then brought in the companies Duferco, of Switzerland, Kobe Steel of Japan, Midrex of the U.S., VAI of Australia, and Techint of Italy. These companies were to hold 50 percent of the equity in MISP, with Enron owning the other 50 percent. But by early 2001, all five companies had withdrawn, apparentlyworried about the future market for steel slabs. Enron spent money preparing this project, said Namburete. It's up to Enron to decide what it's going to do. We don't know whether it's going to sell it or not. We don't know what it's going to do with the authorization it has. Namburete claimed that other companies, whom he did not name, had asked if they could look at the project, to see whether they might be interested in taking it over. We've told them to contact Enron, because the project belongs to Enron, he said. But the project authorization is limited in time. If within that time there is no movement on the MISP site, then the authorization expires. Weapons Purchase Priority of Bush's Defense Budget Proposal. United States President George W. Bush will request 68.7 billion U.S. dollars for buying weapons and other equipment as part of the defense budget for fiscal year 2003, according to documents obtained by local media Friday. United States President George W. Bush will request 68.7 billion U.S. dollars for buying weapons and other equipment as part of the defense budget for fiscal year 2003, according to documents obtained by local media Friday. The amount would be more than 10 percent over the about 60 billion dollars the Pentagon received for weapon purchase last year. Included is 911 million dollars to continue developing the Comanche reconnaissance helicopter, the documents said. Bush will submit to Congress a 2.13 trillion-dollar federal budget on Monday. He will request 379 billion dollars for the Defense Department, a revised increase of 45 billion, or 13.5 percent, over this year's defense total. Putting security on top of his priorities, Bush said he needs to increase the defense budget to cover weapon purchase, missile defense and another military pay rise. With the war in Afghanistan http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/afghanistan.html still under way, it is widely expected that the military spending hike will get a bipartisan approval in Congress. The defense budget also requests 53.9 billion dollars for research and development, almost 10 percent above this year's total. It includes 7.8 billion dollars for national missile defense research and testing procurement, plus an extra 815 million U.S. dollars for development of space-based sensors that can detect missile launches, about the same as this year. It calls for 9.4 billion dollars to be spent on fighting terror,including 3 billion for counter-terrorism, force protection and domestic security; and 1.2 billion dollars to continue combat air patrols over the country, which started after the September 11 terror attacks. The documents say Bush will also propose money for a 4.1-percent increase in basic military pay, a cut in troops' out-of-pocket costs for private housing, and extra spending for training and for the increased military operations after the September 11 attacks. U.S. Leads Comprehensive War Against Islam: Hamas. Palestinian radical Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said on Friday in a leaflet that the United States is leading a war against Arab and Islamic countries and not against terrorism. Palestinian radical Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said on Friday in a leaflet that the United States is leading a war against Arab and Islamic countries and not
3,000 US Troops, German War Planes In Kenya
From: Rick Rozoff [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: 3,000 US Troops, German War Planes In Kenya HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- The start of Edged Mallet follows news last week that Germany wants to station navy planes in Mombasa, Kenya's chief port, to monitor shipping in the Indian Ocean as part of its contribution to the U.S.-led war on terror. 3,000 U.S. Troops Training in Kenya February 2, 2002 7:57 am EST NAIROBI (Reuters) - Three thousand U.S. troops were due to begin a joint military exercise with Kenya in the east African country's coastal region this weekend, a U.S. embassy spokesman said on Saturday. The exercise, known as Edged Mallet, had been planned since before the Sept. 11 attacks rekindled Washington's interest in the region as a whole and Kenya's neighbor Somalia in particular. They've been wanting to do something like this along the beach for a number of years, and they started planning it late last spring, said a spokesman for the U.S. embassy in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. The United States fears the lack of central authority in Somalia could make it an ideal haven for extremists and has launched a series of intelligence operations in the region to assess whether to target Somalia in its war on terror. The embassy spokesman said that Edged Mallet predated Washington's increased interest in Somalia and was part of an ongoing series of U.S.-Kenya military activities designed to help the two countries work together more efficiently. Three U.S. ships, including an amphibious assault craft, will be involved in the exercise, which is due to last several weeks. Kenyan ground forces will join about 1,000 Marines coming ashore for maneuvers in coastal military exercise grounds. Parts of the event will involve wargames-style training with small arms, while others will include humanitarian training such as building bridges or providing medical services, the spokesman said. The start of Edged Mallet follows news last week that Germany wants to station navy planes in Mombasa, Kenya's chief port, to monitor shipping in the Indian Ocean as part of its contribution to the U.S.-led war on terror. _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
List address change.
Dear listmember. The list [EMAIL PROTECTED] will be replaced by the new list [EMAIL PROTECTED] However, because of technical reasons the address change takes some days. So far, the list address [EMAIL PROTECTED] will work normally. You will be informed accordingly when all the arrangements are ready. With friendly regards. Heikki Sipila moderator _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
NATIONAL MARCH IN WASHINGTON AGAINST WAR RACISM!
From: poblachtach dearg [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Peoples War] NATIONAL MARCH IN WASHINGTON AGAINST WAR RACISM! SATURDAY, APRIL 27 NATIONAL MARCH IN WASHINGTON AGAINST WAR RACISM! (preceded by a week of mass actions) -West Coast mobilization in San Francisco- Tell President Bush: * WE DEMAND MONEY FOR JOBS, EDUCATION, HOUSING HEALTHCARE - NOT FOR WAR CORPORATE GIVEAWAYS! * STOP THE RACIST ATTACKS! * DEFEND CIVIL LIBERTIES, CIVIL RIGHTS IMMIGRANT RIGHTS! TO ENDORSE the April 27 National March in Washington DC, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] . The U.S. corporate and banking establishment seeks to maintain U.S. domination throughout the globe for their own benefit. It is these corporate and banking elites who profit from the exploitation of oil and natural gas resources in the Middle East and South Asia, from bloated military contracts and from Bush administration bailouts and tax breaks. With skyrocketing unemployment, evictions, foreclosures, and slashing of welfare and healthcare benefits at home, people in the U.S. need billions to create jobs, improve our schools, and provide quality health care. Instead the Bush administration is spending billions on bombing civilians and military aggression. Record layoffs continue and the U.S. governments response is billions of dollars in bailouts to corporations and insurance companies while cuts in social programs continue. The immediate response of the Bush administration after September 11 was a $15 billion package for major airlines, while they have refused to increase unemployment insurance for 100,000 travel industry employees and 400,000 workers in other sectors who lost their jobs. The Bush-proposed $100 billion economic stimulus package that is under consideration would not only repeal the corporate minimum tax, but would refund to the big corporations of the U.S. fourteen years of taxes, and would provide more permanent tax cuts for the wealthiest individuals. As the U.S. war and occupation in Afghanistan continues and that country lies in ruins, the Bush administration is preparing to widen its war against other countries. Many in the Bush administration would like to greatly intensify their 11-year-long war against Iraq. Eleven years of U.S.-led UN sanctions and bombing of Iraq have already left over 1.5 million Iraqis dead and many more ill and malnourished. Almost 700 special forces and advisers have been sent to the Philippines, and talk continues of military exercises involving 2,000-4,000 U.S. troops. The U.S./Israeli war against the Palestinian people is intensifying as the U.S. continues to give billions in aid and political support to the Israeli government, which is brutally oppressing the Palestinian people. There can be no lasting peace in the Middle East until the Palestinian peoples right to self-determination and a homeland are secured. Other countries targeted for possible attack include Somalia, Sudan, Indonesia, Yemen, North Korea and Cuba. The U.S. is intensifying their aid to countries such as Colombia and the Philippines who are attempting to suppress peoples struggles. At this moment, the U.S. is using Plan Colombia as a wedge to intensify its intervention, threatening a Vietnam-type war in Latin America. As the war abroad threatens to expand, the war at home against Arab, Muslim, South Asian and all working people continues. So-called anti-terrorism legislation has legitimized and legalized racial profiling as more than 5,000 young Arab men have become the targets of FBI investigation, over 1,200 people have been detained and college administrations have been asked by the FBI to turn over names and records of Arab, Muslim and international students. Bush and Ashcroft are reorganizing federal law enforcement into a domestic surveillance police state that gives the government license to listen to the public's phone calls, read the public's e-mail, execute covert searches, and target political and religious groups. On SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2002, tens of thousands of peace activists, workers, students, labor unionists, and others will converge in Washington, DC for a massive march on the White House to say: MONEY FOR JOBS AND EDUCATION NOT WAR! STOP THE RACIST ATTACKS! DEFEND CIVIL LIBERTIES AND CIVIL RIGHTS! *The April 27 national march on Washington against racism and war will be the conclusion of a week of mass actions. We call on people to join the National Colombia Mobilization April 19-22 (http://www.soaw.org/colombiaMobilization.html ).* International A.N.S.W.E.R. Act Now to Stop War End Racism - is a coalition that was formed in response to the headlong rush to war and racist attacks following the horrific events of September 11. A.N.S.W.E.R. has the support participation of more than 500 organizations and prominent individuals and has scores of organizing centers across the U.S. and around the world. TO ENDORSE the April 27 National March in Washington DC, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] (please put
KOREA FRIENDSHIP SOLIDARITY
From: poblachtach dearg [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Revolutionary_Diary] KOREA FRIENDSHIP SOLIDARITY A Reminder of the forthcoming meeting for all activists! KOREA FRIENDSHIP SOLIDARITY CAMPAIGN The Korea Friendship Solidarity Campaign is pleased to invite you to a public meeting. Prospects for Peace and Reunification in Korea Speakers: Councillor Mushtaq Lasharie Chair, Third World Solidarity Dorothy Legg Secretary, KFSC Chris Coleman Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (M-L) Dermot Hudson Society for Friendship with Korea Chair: Keith Bennett, KFSC Plus: Documentary Film on the official visit of General Secretary Kim Jong Il to the Russian Federation. Thursday 7th February Starting at 7.30pm Small Hall, Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL This meeting is in celebration of the 60th birthday of General Secretary Kim Jong Il, this February 16, and is also sponsored by the Juche Study Group of Britain. All welcome. KFSC, BM 1322, London, WC1N 3XX [EMAIL PROTECTED] _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Afghanistan. Tons of money grabbed by Northern Alliance
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sat, 2 Feb 2002 15:10:29 -0600 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Tons of money grabbed by Northern Alliance Tons of money grabbed by Northern Alliance Karzai government deprived of desperately needed cash THE NEWS INTERNATIONAL, January 31, 2002 By our correspondent KABUL: The Russians are believed to have shipped six containers full of currency to Afghanistan, which never reached Kabul and was grabbed by Northern Alliance allies. The NA is apparently busy in fulfilling its own secret agenda, in what appears to be widening gap between the Karzai Administration and its allies, diplomatic sources here said. Reports said General Fahim's brother Yaseen is busy in selling Afghanis recently delivered to the NA through these Russian containers. Yaseen was buying up to $600,000 daily through certain moneychangers. Bags full of Afghanis were also reportedly being sent to the money markets in Peshawar and Quetta to buy dollars. Sources say the Punjsheris of the NA also seem to be unwilling to disperse these freshly printed Afghanis, it is receiving from Germany through Russia. Recently seven container loads of Afghanis had arrived in Punjsher valley and all were kept by the NA and not sent to Kabul's Karzai administration, in spite of the great shortage of funds at Kabul. Intentionally, or perhaps ignorant of such moves, the interim Karzai government has asked UN to provide funds to pay government officials in Kabul. NA leaders and warlords as in the past, are still serving their own as well as foreign interests. Security situation all around Afghanistan is extremely poor, night being the worst time. Looting, massacre, car lifting and war lordism is once again order of the day. Most of the Afghans, have supported NA, only to bring a change. Almost all Afghans remember the atrocities of NA in pre-Taliban era and do not trust them. They also feel that despite presence of coalition troops, the situation will deteriorate and cannot be controlled. The recent infighting at Kunduz between General Rasheed Dostum and General Faheem forces on January 21, 22, 2002 is a point in case. Afghanistan with its peculiar socio-cultural environments has been known for its successful tribal system and Jirga rule for centuries. The main tribal/ethnic composition of Afghan-society has remained approximately 50% Pushtoons, 20% Tajiks, 11% Hazaras (Shias), 9% Uzbeks and 10% others. Pushtoons being in majority have always had an edge over others in ruling Afghanistan. Even before the Soviet invasion in 1979, Afghanistan was ruled by a Pushtoon leader, King Zahir Shah who headed a set-up of balanced representation by all factions/ethnic groups. Today, after two decades of war, the Afghan society totally in shambles, still finds a Pushtoon leader heading the interim Afghan government. However, this time, even with a Pushtoon leader on top, the interim Afghan government seems to be inclined towards Northern Alliance (NA) - a group of Tajik, Uzbek and Hazara minorities. Such a scenario, seems to be augmenting the imbalances and dangers of Afghanistan. On the other hand NA, in spite of occupying/controlling important cities of Afghanistan and holding three most important ministries of defence, Interior and foreign affairs, due to her inherent weaknesses is unlikely to deliver any goods to the Afghan people. Infact, NA is not a well-defined organisation. It was formed in 1996/97 by a Tajik Commander Abdullah Shah Masood in response to a newly emerged 'Taliban' revolution. Comprising of various small political groups like Pushtoon Ittehad-e-Islami (Prof Abdul Rasul Sayyaf), Uzbek Jumbesh-e-Milli (Abdur Rashid Dostum), Jamiat-e-Islami (General Ismail) and Hizb-e-Wahadat (Karim Khalili), NA took the shape of a politico-military organisation headed by Professor Rabbani. However, it never carried a good repute. Its military head, ASM was considered to be a traitor by the Afghans as he entered into a truce with the Russians during Jihad. In addition, various leaders of this alliance were self-styled warlords, playing for their own as well as foreign interests. Most of them gained bad repute due to the lawlessness, looting and atrocities undertaken by them during the early 90s. Mutual distrust, factional divide, lust for power and disunity within NA, were the major reasons for their failure against Taliban. Their survival had mainly depended upon foreign support from Russia, India and Iran. In the post-September 11 scenario, NA had gained much more importance than before. Having assisted US/coalition forces in the ground battle against Taliban, they had been obliged and given a lion's share in the interim Afghan government. However their overt and covert activities in the past 3 months, in collaboration with Russia, India and Iran are intensifying, to gain complete control over Afghanistan/Kabul and serve the vested interests of their own as well as foreign masters. On the diplomatic front, in spite of
Re: List address change. Knights for freedom of speech
on 3.2.2002 02:28, Macdonald Stainsby at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: can you tell us the reason for the change? in struggle as always, Macdonald Thanks, Macdonald, for your message. Some words are really necessary. The list [EMAIL PROTECTED] has been disturbed by different forms of spamming or other methods so that for every sent mail I get some five-six mails back as undelivered mail of quota exceeded or with some other type of arbitrary explanation. There are hundreds of mails in couple of hours on the screen. Difficult to work. Folks ask where are my mails? This is because of outsiders´ mixing up the system. For instance, somebody, obviously some knight for fight for freedom of speech , adds systematically non-existing e-mail addresses to the list [EMAIL PROTECTED]. Those addresses cannot be removed, not even by the server. At the same time, on the yahoo-list [EMAIL PROTECTED] this phenomena does not exist. Maybe yahoo is a bit more difficult to be manipulated in that sense. That is why I thought a yahoo-list might technically work better also with kominform. At least, must try. Yet the transfer to yahoo seems to be a bit complicated and it takes time. Hence, in the meantime the majordomo -list will work normally. If the transfer does not succeed, must, in spite of all, come back to the old list. The heroes of freedom of speech read and control all e-mails anyway not depending of the server or network. They have got quite a lot of work... Is this one way to reduce stupid people´s unemployment...? There is and will be nothing secret on the kominform mailings. In case such information exists, must use fax or latter, even phone. All the troubles began after 9-11. There is no doubt that kominform - among other corresponding mailing systems - is classified as terrorist, like soon all oppositions in the world. In hard struggle... Heikki - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, February 02, 2002 10:51 AM Subject: List address change. Dear listmember. The list [EMAIL PROTECTED] will be replaced by the new list [EMAIL PROTECTED] However, because of technical reasons the address change takes some days. So far, the list address [EMAIL PROTECTED] will work normally. You will be informed accordingly when all the arrangements are ready. With friendly regards. Heikki Sipila moderator _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __ _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
U.S. troops will enter combat zones in Philippines.
http://www.sacbee.com/24hour/world/story/236985p-2265337c.html U.S. troops will enter combat zones in Philippines, commander says By JIM GOMEZ, Associated Press Published 8:50 a.m. PST Saturday, Feb. 2, 2002 ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AP) - U.S. special forces sent to the Philippines on an antiterrorism training mission will enter combat zones but will use their weapons only in self-defense, their commander said Saturday. Brig. Gen. Donald Wurster also rejected comparisons between the American war in Afghanistan and the six-month mission in the Philippines. The comparisons are, I think, not terribly dramatic other than the fact that we have an ally that wants to destroy terrorism, Wurster told Associated Press Television News. We want to destroy terrorism and they've asked for certain kinds of help. We're offering that certain kind of help. That help does not include combat assistance, which was rejected by the Philippines, Wurster said. The U.S. military is providing training and weapons to the poorly equipped Philippine military to help destroy the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group, which is holding Wichita, Kan., missionaries Gracia and Martin Burnham and Filipino nurse Deborah Yap on nearby Basilan island. They are the last of scores of hostages seized since May. Some, including Guillermo Sobero of Corona, Calif., have been beheaded. Others escaped or were freed, reportedly for large ransoms. Abu Sayyaf has been linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network believed to be responsible for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. Although most American troops haven't arrived yet, the training exercise started Thursday. Potentially, about 160 U.S. special forces could be among the 660-strong American contingent accompanying Filipino troops to war zones on Basilan, where the rugged jungles in the southern Philippines have seen frequent bloody clashes with the rebels. Many Filipinos, exasperated with their military's failure to crush the Abu Sayyaf, have welcomed the U.S. troops. But left-wing groups and many intellectuals traditionally wary of Washington have opposed it with small, rowdy protests at the U.S. Embassy and the presidential palace in Manila. Late Saturday, about 200 supporters of the leftist New Patriotic Alliance marched with torches to the embassy, chanting, U.S. imperialist - No. 1 terrorist! The protesters dispersed peacefully. Some question whether the exercise could violate Philippine constitutional limits on the presence and activities of foreign troops. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, whose economic development plans in the impoverished south have been stymied by law-and-order problems, maintains the exercise is allowed under a bilateral 1999 agreement. Wurster said it was important for U.S. soldiers to observe their counterparts in combat, and for both sides to cooperate on intelligence work to support offensive operations. I would not understate the fact that there are going to be American forces that are accompanying Philippine commanders and their units into dangerous places, Wurster said. It's inherent in any military man's frame of reference that the right to defend oneself is assumed. I don't think that should be a point of debate. Wurster also acknowledged that there are many people who would like to hurt us here. On Wednesday, a U.S. Air Force plane sustained light damage when it was hit by gunfire during a training exercise in the northern Philippines. No one was injured and the source of the small arms fire has not been determined, Philippine Air Force officials said. A communist rebel spokesman denied Saturday that guerrillas fired at the plane. The Communist Party of the Philippines opposes the joint maneuvers. Wurster said U.S. planes no longer would fly over that area. Despite the risks, Wurster emphasized the need to immediately end the Abu Sayyaf threat in Basilan because a small number of terrorists hold the entire island hostage. = _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Paraguay: torture of leftist lead to minister resignation
Subject: [Peoples War] Paraguay: torture of leftist lead to minister resignation http://www.misna.org/eng/notizia.asp?id=58628 PARAGUAY, 1 FEB 2002 (16:4) MINISTER OF INTERIOR PRESENTS LETTER OF RESIGNATION FOLLOWING TORTURES AGAINST EXECUTIVES OF LEFT WI (BRIEF, POLITICS/ECONOMY) The Paraguayan Minister of Interior Julio Fanego, presented his resignation to the President Luis Gonzales Macchi, following the incident that involved two executives of the left wing party, abducted and tortured by presumed police agents. The head of State announced the news and specified that he has not yet accepted and is still evaluating Fanegos letter of dismissal, awaiting to receive more detailed information on the episode which pushed Fanego to resign. Juan Arrom, leader of the Marxist Free Homeland Movement was abducted last January 17 and released last Wednesday after being brutally beaten up, together with one of his collaborators, journalist Anuncio Martí, who also object of abuses. Arrom was accused by the police for the kidnapping of Maria Edith Bordon, wife of a well known local businessman, released after 64 days of captivity following the ransom payment of 2 million dollars. The investigators are carrying out further enquiries on what happened to Arrom and Martí, national civil police are thought to be involved. The Free Homeland Movement, which defines itself as an anti-imperialist movement, was founded in 1990 by Arrom and according to local press sources it is ideologically close to the FARC (Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces) guerrillas. (CO) _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
[IAC] REPORT: Thousands protest World Economic Forum in NYC
From: Action Center [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sat, 02 Feb 2002 21:45:56 -0500 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [IAC] REPORT: Thousands protest World Economic Forum in NYC PRESS RELEASE February 2, 2002 THOUSANDS PROTEST WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM Tens of thousands of activists demonstrated throughout midtown Manhattan to protest the World Economic Forum today in protests that show that the anti-corporate globalization movement is alive and well. More than 5,000 people joined a demonstration called by the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition, which began at 9 a.m. in front of the hotel at 50th and Park Avenue, stretching north for five city blocks. Thousands of demonstrators joined to ?meet and greet? WEF delegates who paid $25,000 to attend the gathering of the 1,000 largest transnational corporations. Despite the presence of thousands of armed police officers, protestors were heard clearly within the Waldorf-Astoria. Their message of an end to Bush?s war at home and abroad was carried from the ?streets to the suites? of executives like Bill Gates and Bush officials like Colin Powell. ?The police diverted thousands of protestors who sought to access the demonstration area by establishing checkpoints, barricades and closing surrounding streets,? said Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, attorney for the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition ?Many people who made it through reported it took them at least an hour to navigate through the maze of obstacles set up by the police. Police told people the permit and protest were cancelled, they misdirected others, and diverted a large number of buses away,? stated Verheyden-Hilliard. Undaunted by the paramilitarized police presence, demonstrators concluded the rally by marching to Times Square to protest a showing of ?Black Hawk Down,? denouncing the movie as racist war propaganda. Outside the Waldorf-Astoria, Rev. Graylan Hagler, senior minister, Plymouth Congregational Church in Washington, D.C. said, ?Our detractors say the anti-globalization movement is just rich, white kids. But we are here and clear to say that we will not be separated nor marginalized. The issue we are discussing affects people at home, including people of color and the economic policies of the W.E.F. affect people of color around the world, with whom we have a kindred relationship.? The day before today?s demonstration, the A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition sponsored a day-long teach-in with 500 people at the Community Church in Manhattan. Later that evening nearly 1,000 people packed a standing-room-only indoor rally at the Fashion Institute of Technology auditorium, to hear speakers representing a wide range of struggles affected by U.S. military and economic domination in the world. Included were Palestinian, Korean, Filipino, Somali, Iraqi, Muslim, Mexican, Puerto Rican and other activists who denounced bombings, sanctions and economic devastation caused by U.S. corporate and government policies. A large number of speakers represented labor, immigrant and civil rights, and youth. A special featured speaker was Saikou A. Diallo, the father of Amadou Diallo, who gave a moving presentation. He invited all rally participants to join him Monday evening for a family memorial for his son, killed when New York City police fired 41 shots into Diallo as he stood in the vestibule of his home in Washington Heights. Rev. Lucius Walker of IFCO/Pastors for Peace told the ANSWER teach-in, ?we are asked whether it is inappropriate for us to be demonstrating against the World Economic Forum. We are the only ones who can change the world.? ?The conveners of the World Economic Forum were calculating that the movement for social justice was also a casualty of the events of September 11,? said A.N.S.W.E.R. organizer Larry Holmes. ?The strong protests of this weekend have proven that their calculations are wrong.? Organizers will be returning home from the weekend of protest against the World Economic Forum to start planning for the April 27 March on Washington Against War and Racism. -30- -- Send replies to [EMAIL PROTECTED] _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Colombia: Gov't, Rebel FARC Resume Talks Amid Violent Attacks
From: Stasi [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Peoples War] Colombia: Gov't, Rebel FARC Resume Talks Amid Violent Attacks Thursday, January 31, 2002 10:13 AM Colombian Gov't, Rebel FARC Resume Talks Amid Violent Attacks -- Xinhuanet 2002-01-31 10:16:38 BOGOTA, January 30 (Xinhuanet) -- The Colombian government and the rebel Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) on Wednesday resumed talks on an agreement envisioning a cease-fire and an end to hostilities by April 7. Wednesday's talks were held in the demilitarized zone in southern Colombia as violent attacks on public infrastructure escalated, which were blamed on the largest and oldest guerrilla group in Colombia. During the last 24 hours, FARC rebels allegedly detonated a car bomb in the capital of Bogota and attacked a naval base in the city of Arauca. Meanwhile, their offensives left some 30 casualties in southern Colombia. The situation made Colombian President Andrse Pastrana cut short his stay in Bolivia, where he was attending an extraordinary session of the Andean Community (CAN). Government High Commissioner for Peace Camilo Gomez did not take part in Wednesday's talks, as he was in Cuba for a three-day peace summit with the National Liberation Army (ELN), the country' s second largest rebel force. Enditem _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
WEF PROTEST IN NYC
From: mart-remote [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [pttp] WEF PROTEST IN NYC Forward from mart. PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY. SHUT DOWN THE WEF!! NO TO BUSH, NATO AND THE NEW WORLD ORDER!! - Original Message - From: John Catalinotto [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2002 5:36 PM Subject: New books, World Econom. Forum protests, U.S . militarism, ENRON Dear Friends With the protests against the World Economic Forum set to start soon, I thought I'd get back in touch and send you the following information/articles, which might be useful to you: 1. a listing of urls and websites for information about the demonstrations, at least those coordinated by ANSWER. Please use these sites for breaking news about the protests. 2. an article by Sara Flounders on U.S. military expansion throughout the world. 3. an article by Fred Goldstein discussing the Enron scandal in the light of Lenin's analysis of imperialism. In addition, with the trial of former President Slobodan Milosevic set to start on Feb. 12, the IAC wants to announce the publication of two new books in English, also set for distribution in mid-to-late February. The two books are: I. An English translation of Michel Collon's Poker Menteur, now called Liar's Poker: The Great Powers, Yugoslavia and the Coming Wars. II. Hidden Agenda: the U.S./NATO Takeover of Yugoslavia -- a collection of 40-plus articles showing U.S./NATO war crimes in the 1999 war and its preparation, and handling the coup that overthrew the Socialist Party government of Yugoslavia and the subsequent arrest and kidnapping of President Milosevic to The Hague. Yours in struggle, John Catalinotto 1. ***THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW*** IF YOU ARE COMING TO THE ANTI-WEF PROTEST After you read this email, check out http://www.InternationalANSWER.org for more information; look again before you leave for New York. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1 REGISTER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1 TEACH-IN at http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/anti-wef/teachin-reg.html . The teach-in is from 10 am to 4 pm at Community Church (35th St. between Park and Madison Ave.). *MERGING THE STRUGGLES AGAINST WAR, RACISM AND CORPORATE EXPLOITATION*, 7 pm at FIT Auditorium, 27th St. between 7th and 8th Ave. A FULL SCHEDULE FOR THE FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1 teach-in and evening indoor rally can be found at http://www.internationalanswer.org/news/update/011902f1schedule.html MAPS OF THE AREA AND PARKING information can be found at http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/anti-wef/logistics2.html (scroll down). DIRECTIONS from north, south, east and west can be found at http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/anti-wef/logistics.html#transpo rt SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2 *BUS AND VAN DROP OFF is at 56th St. and Park Ave. *PARKING FOR BUSES AND 15 PASSENGER VANS should be in that area. Cars will have to find their own parking; please note that street parking in Manhattan is hard to find and that lots may be expensive. *ALL VEHICLES MUST HAVE A WHITE SIGN in the passenger side window indicating that they are coming to the ANSWER demonstration at 50th St. and Park Ave. DIRECTIONS from north, south, east and west can be found at http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/anti-wef/logistics.html#TRANS-f 2 When you arrive, an A.N.S.W.E.R. BUS GREETER will board your bus to give you the latest information. We will flow north from 50th St. and Park Ave. so walk south on Park Ave. from 56th St. to the back of the demonstration. The closest SUBWAY is the 51st St. stop on the 4-5-6, which runs on Lexington Ave. The cops say the exit on 51st St. will be open, but if it is all closed, get off at the next stop (59th St.) and walk southwest. You can also take the E or F to Lexington Ave./53rd St. A subway map can be found by going to http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/anti-wef/logistics2.html (scroll down). **BRING DRUMS AND ANYTHING YOU CAN BE BEAT ON, BRING POTS AND PANS - HELP MAKE NOISE AND KEEP EVERYONES ENERGY HIGH!** FOR MORE INFO SEE http://www.InternationalANSWER.org _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Most Dangerous Missions': CanadianLegionaries Off To Afghanistan
From: mart-remote [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: 'Most Dangerous Missions': Canadian Legionaries Off To Afghanistan http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/templates/view.cgi?/news/2002/02/01/troops_depart02020 1 [Ad majorem America gloriam] C B C . C A N e w s - F u l l S t o r y : Troops depart Edmonton base for duty in Afghanistan WebPosted Fri Feb 1 05:33:30 2002 EDMONTON-- Canadian soldiers left for Afghanistan Thursday night after an emotional send-off from family and friends, and a caution that their task would not be easy. The first of an eventual 750-strong group left from Edmonton International Airport to begin a trip that will take several days, eventually bringing them to the other side of the world Before boarding buses for the airport, they said their goodbyes at a military hangar complete with a marching band. Brigadier General Ivan Fenton gave an emotional address to the departing troops. It's up to you now in the months ahead to do what you've been trained to do, and do what you've been sworn to do: serve your country well, said Fenton. He also warned the soldiers that their upcoming job would not be an easy one. Your living conditions will be uncomfortable for a month, if not throughout the tour, and you will be tasked to go after someone who is a sworn enemy to our country and our way of life, said Fenton. BACKGROUND: The Patricias go to war But despite a number of concerns, including the exact nature of their mission, what to do with captives, and even the colour of their dark-green camouflage uniforms, most of the troops were eager to get on with the job. FROM JAN. 19, 2002: Canadian troops not green with envy Sergent Tim Winslow is an 18-year-veteran and has served six missions overseas. He says he's anxious to get going. It's good the hour to leave is finally here. We've been sitting around quite a while, said Winslow. Corporal Johanne Roy is a medical assistant, and will be the first Canadian female soldier on the ground in Afghanistan. She says she's excited, but nervous. It's scary, there's not a day that goes by that I don't think about it. But it's my job and I'm going to go over there, said Roy. Those in command admit it could turn out to be one of the most dangerous missions Canadian troops have taken on in decades. _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
AI: Urgent Action UA 30/02 on Colombia
From: Colombian Labor Monitor [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2002 08:25:49 -0600 (CST) To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: AI: Urgent Action UA 30/02 on Colombia C O L O M B I A L A B O R M O N I T O R http://www.prairienet.org/clm For updates throughout the day visit the most thorough and complete Colombian news service http://www.prairienet.org/clm AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL URGENT ACTION APPEAL Go to http://www.amnestyusa.org/urgent/newslett.html to read this month's newsletter. 31 January 2002 UA 30/02 Fear for Safety/Possible 'disappearance' COLOMBIA Johana Vargas Bustos (f), aged 16 Soldiers reportedly detained 16-year-old Johana Vargas Bustos on 18 January at a checkpoint in El Castillo municipality, in Meta department. She has not been seen since. Amnesty International fears she may have 'disappeared', and is seriously concerned for her safety. The checkpoint, in the Aguas Zarcas area near the town of Dorado, was reportedly run by soldiers of the Alban Battalion, VII brigade. They reportedly forced Johana Vargas Bustos and a young man off a bus at 11:45am. The soldiers reportedly lifted the checkpoint at 4pm, and set free everyone they had detained. Subsequently unidentified gunmen forced Johana and the young man into a car which drove off in the direction of the neighboring municipality of Cubarral. They both apparently tried to escape, but only the young man got away. BACKGROUND INFORMATION The Alban Battalion is carrying out counter-insurgency operations against armed opposition groups in Meta department, who are fighting for control of the area. During one of these operations, on 11 January, the battalion reportedly entered a village in El Castillo municipality, and accused the inhabitants of being guerrilla collaborators. In recent weeks army- backed paramilitaries have reportedly stopped food-deliveries into the municipality of El Castillo and accused drivers of delivering to the guerrillas. In the past those accused of collaborating with guerrilla groups by the security forces and their paramilitary allies have frequently been victim of serious human rights violations by these forces. Paramilitary groups are reportedly maintaining a permanent blockade over deliveries to El Castillo municipality, levying taxes on those deliveries that they let through. Paramilitary groups are able to operate despite the fact that the VII Brigade has control of the area. Guerrilla forces are known to have killed people they consider to be collaborating with their enemies. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible: - expressing concern for the safety of Johana Vargas Bustos, who has not been seen since she was detained at a checkpoint in El Castillo municipality, Meta department, run the by Alban Battalion of the VII Brigade, on 18 January, and urging the authorities to do everything necessary to find out where she is; - urging the authorities to order a full and impartial investigation into her 'disappearance', to publish the results and bring those responsible to justice; - calling for full and impartial investigations into links between the security forces and paramilitary groups operating in Meta, and for members of the security forces responsible for cooperating and operating in unison with these groups to be brought to justice; - calling for decisive action to combat and dismantle paramilitary groups, in line with repeated UN recommendations and government commitments. APPEALS TO: Commander of the VII Brigade Comandante de la VII Brigada Coronel Francisco Pedraza Pelaez Calle 37 No. 33B-33 Villavicencio, Meta, COLOMBIA Salutation: Dear Colonel Pedraza Pelaez Attorney General Dr. Luis Camilo Osorio Fiscal General de la Nacion, Fiscalia General de la Nacion Apartado Aereo 29855, Diagonal 22B 52-01 (Ciudad Salite) Santafe de Bogota, COLOMBIA Telegram: Fiscal General, Bogota, Colombia Fax: 011 57 1 570 2000 Salutation:Dear Dr. Osorio National Advocate for the people Sr. Eduardo Cifuentes Munoz Defensor del Pueblo, Defensoria del Pueblo Calle 55, No. 10-32/46 office 301 Santafe de Bogota, COLOMBIA Telegram: National Advocate, Bogota, Colombia Fax: 011 57 1 640 0491 Salutation:Dear Mr. Cifuentes Munoz President of Colombia Senor Presidente Andres Pastrana, Presidente de la Republica Palacio de Narino, Carrera 8 No. 7-26 Santafe de Bogota, COLOMBIA Telegrams: President Pastrana, Bogota, Colombia Telex:44281 PALP CO Fax: 011 57 1 566 20 71 Salutation:Dear President Pastrana COPIES TO: The Association of Families of the Detained-Disappeared ASFADDES - Nacional Asociacion de Familiares de Detenidos-Desaparecidos AA 011446 Santafe de
Vietnam News Feb 1
VNA Preparations for NA elections get started Preparations for the elections of the National Assembly, 11th legislature, will be carried out nationwide upon a three-day national conference on the issue. Opening the conference in Hanoi on January 31, National Assembly (NA) Chairman Nguyen Van An stressed on key factors to ensure the elections to be carried out in a democratic, legal, safe and economical manner. Chairman An laid stress on election information dissemination, saying that the entire Party, people and armed forces should be provided with necessary information to help them thoroughly understand the significance and importance of the elections which will take place on May 19. Voters should have better understanding of the NA and NA deputies so as to select best representatives to the highest legislative body of Vietnam, Mr An noted. Personnel preparation and consultations play an important role in ensuring that the elected NA will effectively represent the people's great unity block and aspiration. Nominated candidates to the NA must meet the set requirements for an NA deputy, Chairman An told the conference. He pointed out that meetings between candidates standing for elections and local voters should be organised prior to the elections for the candidates to present their action plans. Those meetings aim at helping voters better understand candidates to make right choices. Election campaigning must be carried out in an equal, democratic and legal way to ensure social order and security. Chairman An said that the election results must be determined in a legal, objective, precise and timely way to enable the Election Council to announce the list of elected candidates throughout the country as regulated by laws. The NA Chairman called on relevant agencies, mass organisations, provinces and cities to stay vigilant against hostile forces' schemes and actions to undermine the elections and to do away with activities abusing democracy to foil the elections. Earlier, the Politburo issued an instruction on January 25 on the leadership of the NA elections 11th legislature. Prime Minister Phan Van Khai also issued an instruction on January 30 on the NA elections. (VNA) Determination for drug-free ASEAN by 2015 affirmed Southeast Asian legislators have expressed their resolve to intensify the fight against drug menace toward an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) free from drugs by 2015. The resolve was expressed at the closing session of the first meeting of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organisation (AIPO) Fact-Finding Committee to Combat Drug Menace (AIFOCOM) in Hanoi on January 31. Under the AIFOCOM action plan, AIPO member countries will strengthen the exchange of information and experiences in preventing and combating the drug menace. They also pledged to conduct research on and assessment of the building and implementation of, national drug control policy in their respective countries. AIFOCOM Chairman Bui Ngoc Thanh, who is also a Vietnam's National Assembly deputy, expressed his hope that regional law makers would warn their voters of the drug menace and inform them of regional efforts to combat drug abuse. He also took this occasion to call on international and non-governmental organisations and activists in the fight against drug menace to pay attention, support and establish special co-operation with AIFOCOM. The meeting adopted its final report to be submitted to the 23rd AIPO General Assembly. The participants called at Drug Detoxification Centre No 6 in Ha Tay's Ba Vi district. The centre, established in 1997, is capable of providing treatment to 500 drug addicts. It has applied methods to readjust drug addicts' behavior to help them soon reintegrate into the community. (VNA) War veterans meet in Hanoi The Standing Committee of the Vietnam War Veterans' Association, in co-ordination with the Hanoi War Veterans' Association, held a meeting in Hanoi on January 31 to mark the Party's 72nd anniversary (February 3, 1930-February 3, 2002) and the Lunar New Year. Lieutenant General Tran Van Quang, chairman of the Vietnam War Veterans' Association, emphasised the significant meaning of the meeting and extended greetings from General Vo Nguyen Giap, who is also the honorary chairman of the association, to all members of the association nationwide. Lieutenant General Nguyen Quoc Thuoc, vice chairman of the association, read a report highlighting the achievements of the association in 2001, including an increase of 57,508 members grossing 1,662,523. Many local associations were set up in administration agencies, businesses and schools, focusing on political and ideological training and knowledge improvement for members. In 2001 the local associations contributed a significant part to the success of Party congresses at province and city level, especially the Ninth National Party Congress and prepared for the associations' congresses at local and
China. People´s Daily Feb 2
Extracts. DPRK Says Bush's Accusation 'Little Short of Declaring A War'. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Thursday slammed U.S. President George W.Bush's accusation that the DPRK is part of axis of evil, saying it is little short of declaring a war against the DPRK. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Thursday slammed U.S. President George W.Bush's accusation that the DPRK is part of axis of evil, saying it is little short of declaring a war against the DPRK. This is, in fact, little short of declaring a war against the DPRK, said the Foreign Ministry in a statement. We cannot but take a serious view of the dangerous remarks made by Bush from the outset of the year. In the statement broadcast by the official news agency KCNA, Pyongyang denounced Bush's State of the Union address delivered Tuesday for groundlessly pulling up the DPRK over the development of weapons of mass destruction and labeling it as one of countries threatening the U.S. and world peace and axis of evil. Bush's remarks explicitly seek an ulterior political aim, the statement noted. Since Bush came to power, U.S. friction with other countries has become frequent and international relations have become more turbulent than ever before, the statement said. The statement attributed the current recession in the U.S., the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington and the scandals plaguing the Bush administration to the unilateral and self-opinionated foreign policy, political immaturity and moral leprosy of the Bush administration. It is unprecedented in the history of modern DPRK-U.S. relations that a U.S. president in his policy speech made undisguised threatening remarks against the DPRK, an independent and sovereign state, said the statement. Bush's view clearly shows what a real aim the U.S. sought when it proposed to resume talks with the DPRK recently and why the Bush administration ruled out seeking a negotiated settlement of the nuclear and missile issues created during the previous administration, said the statement. The statement said the U.S. intention to stifle the DPRK by force of arms makes the DPRK realize it is a far-sighted policy to equip itself with powerful offensive and defensive means. The DPRK is watching the moves of the U.S., which has pushed the situation to the brink of war after throwing away even the mask of dialogue and negotiations, added the statement. The Chinese FM Spokesman: China Disagrees with Bush Statements on 'Axis of Evil'. China Thursday expresses disagreement with the comments by US President George W. Bush in his State of the Union speech which defined Iraq, Iran and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as the axis of evil. China Thursday expresses disagreement with the comments by US President George W. Bush in his State of the Union speech which defined Iraq, Iran and Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) as the axis of evil. (In Detail) The Chinese side is not in favor of using such terms in international relations, foreign ministry spokesman Kong Quan said. We always advocate... the principle of equality of all countries when dealing in state-to-state relations, otherwise it can only undermine the atmosphere for seeking resolution and harm the maintenance of world peace and stability, he said. Kong also welcomed another part of Bush's speech which focused on strengthening China-US cooperation. We believe that the exchanges of cooperation between our two countries is in the interest of the two countries as well as for world peace and stability, said Kong. In his address to Congress Tuesday, Bush singled out Iran, Iraq and DPRK as forming an axis of evil, bluntly warning that they could soon become targets in the US-led war on terrorism. EU, Chinese Trade Chiefs Meet on Cooperation. European Union (EU) Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy and Chinese Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Shi Guangsheng discussed the promotion of bilateral trade relations here on Thursday morning at the 17th session of the EU-China Joint Committee. European Union (EU) Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy and Chinese Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Shi Guangsheng discussed the promotion of bilateral trade relations here on Thursday morning at the 17th session of the EU-China Joint Committee. The meeting followed the successful and productive Fourth EU-China Summit, which was held in Brussels last September, when an agreement was reached on expanding EU-China dialogue on a wide range of issues of mutual interest. The Joint Committee meeting serves EU-China relations in three aspects: economy and trade, bilateral agreements and dialogues between the European Commission and the Chinese government agencies, and the EU-China cooperation program. The first Joint Committee meeting since China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) beginning Thursday will tackle all outstanding bilateral trade
Newsletter of the Anti-imperialist Camp
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Newsletter of the Anti-imperialist Camp 1st of February 2002 1. Defend the right of the Palestinian people to resist occupation! Conclusions of the Anti-imperialist Solidarity Delegation and call for a new one 2. Pakistan: Peasant women fight against forceful eviction from their lands by CMKP, Pakistan 3. Discussion on the Indo-Pakistani conflict over Kashmir 4. Filipino peasant groups cry: Yankees go home! by KMU, Philippines 1.Defend the right of the Palestinian people to resist occupation! Conclusions of the Anti-imperialist Solidarity Delegation and call for a new one From December 30, 2001 to January 6, 2002 an anti-imperialist solidarity delegation travelled occupied Palestine. The purpose of was twofold: On one hand to see with our own eyes, to judge with our own mind the situation and the resistance movement on the ground. On the other hand to express in the strongest possible way our undivided support for the legitimate resistance of the Palestinian people against the Zionist occupation. Both ends of the delegation were met. We were able to touch the hottest spots of the conflict i.e. Hebron and the Gaza strip. We could see the systematic Zionist colonisation projects of Greater Jerusalem, in the West Bank and in Gaza. We passed deliberately destroyed agricultural land and we saw thousands of uprooted trees. We heard about the water shortages while the Israelis are massively pumping and consuming water. We experienced the restriction of the movement of persons and goods by Israeli check-points, road blocks, exclusive settler and military roads. Briefly, we felt the reality of occupation which we can only subsume as Apartheid. However, we were also able to confirm that the Intifada, the popular resistance movement does live and proceed. It has become crystal clear that Israel has never been striving for peace, but for the complete colonisation of the territories occupied in 1967. This plan was designed right after the occupation and has been carried ahead. It includes a scientifically elaborated plan of Zionist settlements. Their construction was not slowed down or even stopped after the Oslo agreements, but it was massively stepped up. A grid of military and settler roads have been built cutting contiguous Palestinian territories and blocking internal Palestinian movement whenever intended. The Palestinians expelled from their lands are being concentrated in densely populated ever tightening zones eventually resulting in internment camps depriving them of the most elementary rights like the Bantustans during Apartheid. Palestinian resistance resembles the struggle of David against Goliath. While Israel has got the full backing of imperialism, Palestinians will only be able to re-conquer their elementary democratic right if they can secure the support of the popular and proletarian masses of the world struggling against the Western tyranny. Therefore the international solidarity movement must be constituted on the basis of the elementary democratic demands of the Palestinian people : · Immediate withdrawal of the occupation forces · Dismantlement of the Israeli settlements · Right to return for all refugees · For a sovereign state in the West Bank and Gaza with Jerusalem as capital Complete article: www.antiimperialista.com/view.shtml?category=allid=1012581467keyword=+ ** 2. Pakistan: Peasant women fight against forceful eviction from their lands Detailed report about the situation in Charsada (Hashtnagar) by Syed Azeem, Punjab President, Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party During the 1970s a number of peasant struggles started in Pakistan, which were mainly organized by the Communists. The most successful and militant land-grab by the peasants took place in Hashtnagar, an area close to the Pak-Afghan border in the province of NWFP. Organized by the then Mazdoor Kissan Party (MKP), the peasants were able to liberate this area from feudal lords, who brutally oppressed the poor peasants and had the backing of the state. Since those days, Hashtnagar remains to be a liberated area despite several attempts by the feudal lords and state to eject the peasants. Recently, another attempt by the feudals, in connivance with the state machinery, is in progress to forcefully evict the poor peasants from the lands of Charsada (Hashtnagar). Eager to use the so-called War-Against-Terrorism hysteria, the military and feudals are eyeing to not only takeover the lands, but also to reverse many gains made by the peasant movement in Pakistan. On 22nd January, 2002, 3,500 personnel of police and the Frontier Constabulary attacked the village of Charsada. The peasants were unarmed, but organized. The police, on the other hand, was armed with guns, tear-gas shells, armored vehicles and jeeps. The peasants fought back. The battle continued for seven hours, during which several police officers were injured. The police
Israeli reserves refuse to oppress Palestinians
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Fri, 01 Feb 2002 16:28:14 PST To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [R-G] Israeli reserves refuse to oppress Palestinians http://www.seruv.org/ o We, Reserve Combat Officers And Soldiers Of The Israel Defense Forces, o Who Were Raised Upon The Principles Of Zionism, Sacrifice And Giving To The People Of Israel And To The State Of Israel, Who Have Always Served In The Front Lines, And Who Were The First To Carry Out Any Mission, Light Or Heavy, In Order To Protect The State Of Israel And Strengthen It. o We, Combat Officers And Soldiers Who Have Served TheState Of Israel For Long Weeks Every Year, In Spite Of TheDear Cost To Our Personal Lives, Have Been On Reserve Duty All Over The Occupied Territories, And Were Issued Commands And Directives That Had Nothing To Do With The Security Of Our Country, And That Had The Sole Purpose Of Perpetuating Our Control Over The Palestinian People. We, Whose EyesHave Seen The Bloody Toll This Occupation Exacts From Both Sides. o We, Who Sensed How The Commands Issued To Us In The Territories, Destroy All The Values We Had Absorbed While Growing Up In This Country. o We, Who Understand Now That The Price Of Occupation Is The Loss Of IDF's Human Character And The Corruption Of The Entire Israeli Society. o We, who know that the Territories are not Israel, and that all settlements are bound to be evacuated in the end. o We Hereby Declare That We Shall Not Continue To Fight This War Of The Settlements. We Shall Not Continue To Fight Beyond The 1967 Borders In Order To Dominate, Expel, Starve And Humiliate An Entire People. o We hereby declare that we shall continue serving in the Israel Defense Forces in any mission that serves Israel's defense. The missions of occupation and oppression do not serve this purpose - and we shall take no part in them. _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Rebellion grows among Israeli reserve officers
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Fri, 01 Feb 2002 16:30:09 PST To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [R-G] Rebellion grows among Israeli reserve officers - Independent http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=117594 The Independent 1 February 2002 Rebellion grows among Israeli reserve officers By Phil Reeves in Jerusalem Israel's armed forces are struggling to contain the most serious internal challenge of the 16-month Palestinian intifada after more than 100 combat reservist soldiers signed a petition saying they would not serve in the occupied territories. At least four of the signatories have been stripped of their command positions, and the army's chief of staff, Lt-Gen Shaul Mofaz, declared that there is no place in Israel's military forces for such occurrences. The petition, which by last night had attracted 104 signatures, has prompted a national debate, and a backlash within the army. Another group of several hundred reservists has signed a counter-petition accusing the petitioners of lies, distortions and unbridled defamation of the army. The issue erupted when a group of reservists, led by two young lieutenants, published an indictment of Israel's 35-year occupation in the newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, saying that it was corrupting the entire Israeli society. Some of the signatories are officers and others are from frontline units - the paratroops, infantry and armoured and artillery corps. The petition said soldiers had been issued commands while serving in the occupied territories that had nothing to do with the security of our country, and had the sole purpose of perpetuating our control over the Palestinians. We shall not continue to fight beyond the 1967 borders in order to dominate, expel, starve and humiliate an entire people, it stated. The reservists' protest is the most compelling example of the simmering dissent within Israel over the conflict. In September, more than 65 Israeli teenagers signed a letter to the Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, saying that they would refuse to do compulsory military service because of the aggressive and racists policies of the Israeli government and army. A fortnight ago, an article appeared in the Ha'aretz newspaper by Dr Yigal Shochat, a physician who used to be an Israeli fighter pilot, who called on F-16 pilots to refuse to bomb Palestinian cities. At the same time, the army faced intense domestic criticism for demolishing 60 Palestinian homes in a Gaza refugee camp, while the Israeli left has begun to accuse the army of war crimes. The divided opinion in the military ranks was further exposed by revelations that a group of senior reserve officers, led by a brigadier-general, were planning to present the government with proposals for the reoccupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and the destruction of the Palestinian Authority. Refusals to serve are not a new problem for the Israeli army. There were conscientious objectors in the 1982 Lebanon war and the first intifada, from 1987 to 1992. According to a group that represents Israel's refusenik soldiers, Yesh Gvul (translated as There is a limit), 49 have been jailed this time round for refusing to go to the occupied territories, 14 of them regular soldiers. Most Israeli men and women are conscripted into military service at age 18 -- men for three years, women for 21 months. Israeli men also usually serve up to one month of reserve duty every year until the age of 45. Organisers of the reservists' petition say they want to attract the support of at least 500 reservists. They have declined to speak to the foreign press, for fear of fuelling international anti-Israel sentiment. But the Israeli media has pounced on the issue. Itay Sviresky, a lieutenant in a reserve paratroop unit, told Channel Two TV that, as a human, a citizen and as a Zionist, I feel that there are certain things that I can't take part in. You have to be an occupier -- you can't be an enlightened occupier, you have to be ... a cruel occupier. The Israeli army has countered with a statement saying that the petitioners were unrepresentative, and pointing out that there is no place for soldiers to choose what jobs they do and do not want. A press officer cited the example of a 56-year-old Tel Aviv lawyer, Avraham Dviri, who finished reserve service eight years ago, but volunteered again last year. After several Palestinian suicide attacks, Israelis feel even more embattled than ever. Mr Dviri represented the mood of many when he said he despised the refusing reservists. An officer who says that he cannot serve somewhere should not command other soldiers. He should be dismissed with dishonour, he said. _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
DPRK condemns 'moral leprosy' of Bush
From: Bill Howard [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: DPRK condemns 'moral leprosy' of Bush AFP. 31 January 2002. North Korea says it is powerfully equipped for conflict; Bush attacks hits hopes for talks with North Korea. SEOUL -- The North Korean government on Friday condemned what it called the moral leprosy of US President George W. Bush and said it was powerfully equipped for any conflict. In the first official North Korean reaction to Bush's State of the Union speech this week, a foreign ministry spokesman said: We are sharply watching the disturbing moves of the United States that has pushed the situation to the brink of war. The spokesman said the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington and scandals such as the collapse of the US energy giant Enron were entirely attributable to the unilateral and self-opinionated foreign policy, political immaturity and moral leprosy of the Bush administration. The spokesman, quoted by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), said Bush's acts justified the North's openly anti-US stand. The prevailing situation where the US openly disclosed its intention to stifle the DPRK by force of arms makes us keenly realize once again what a just stand the DPRK took when it has followed the US with vigilance and what a far-sighted policy it has pursued to equip itself with powerful offensive and defensive means, tightening its belt. President George W. Bush's withering designation of North Korea as part of an axis of evil has prompted new doubts over the sincerity of his administration's offer to talk to Pyongyang at any time, any place. Bush's critics seized on that as evidence that, however hardline, inflexible North Korea may be, Bush was unwilling to grasp warnings that the best way to deal with it was by cajoling and creative diplomacy rather than threats. The US president's new tack is far from the face-saving gesture which Kim Dae-Jung this month asked the United States to make to draw Pyongyang back to talks. Despite speculation here that North Korea could be the next target in the war on terror, it is difficult to see what kind of military action is feasible as North Korea, a highly militarised state has a million strong army, and 10,000 artillery pieces positioned to rain death on Seoul at short notice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Colombia. Action required
From: Red Globe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [L-I] Action required Solidarity Action required. +++ Link below +++ PARAMILITARY OFFENSIVE AGAINST CIVIL POPULATION Nizkor Int. Human Rights Team - Derechos Human Rights - Serpaj Europe Urgent Solidarity - 31.Jan.02 PARAMILITARY OFFENSIVE AGAINST CIVIL POPULATION IN THE REGION OF CATATUMBO CONTINUES DESPITE MULTIPLE APPEALS FOR PROTECTION DIRECTED AT THE GOVERNMENT AND THE MILITARY FORCES. The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Colombia. New information: The International Secretariat of OMCT has received new information from a reliable source surrounding recent human rights violations by paramilitaries in the region of Catatumbo, North Santander. According to the information received, despite multiple appeals at the end of December, 2001 on behalf of local authorities and NGOs directed at the government and military forces asking that they take control of this zone and protect the local population, grave acts of violence continue to occur. The following incidents are the most recent acts of human rights violence inflicted upon the civil population: Please find all information under this URL - Alle Infos gibt es hier: http://www.placerouge.info/article.php?sid=31mode=threadorder=0thold=0 Martin Timm Red Globe _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
CP of India, On Bush speech
From: Bill Howard [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: CP of India, On Bush speech HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- CP of India, On Bush speech - From: Communist Party of India, Thu, 31 Jan 2002 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] , http://www.cpofindia.org Communist Party Of India CENTRAL OFFICE Ajoy Bhavan 15 Kotla Marg, New Delhi.110002, Phones:3235546,3235099 Fax: 3235543 Press Release - New Delhi, 31st January 2002. CPI CONDEMNS WAR MONGERING OFUS PRESIDENT BUSH. The Central Secretariat of the Communist Party of India has issued the following statement:- US President George Bush in his 'State of Union Address' has outlined the American strategy to fight terrorism and the future course to be pursued. It is one of belligerence and desperate course to establish American hegemony in the world. For US imperialism, the war against Afghanistan is just a beginning. It has a list of over 12 countries to strike using the plea of fighting terrorism. It is the extension of US policy of war against sovereign nations in the world. It has indicated that DPRK (North Korea), Iran and Iraq would be its next targets. Bush has assumed the prerogative on his own to define the axis of evil and become the spokesman for the so-called 'civilised world'. Yet he could not conceal the real intent. He has admitted that American economy is in recession and it should be overcome. To achieve this objective US needs more wars and aggressions against the developing nations. The American claim of fighting terrorism stands thoroughly exposed. The Communist Party of India warns against US threat of war against other countries. It calls upon the United Nations and all sovereign nations to protest against this war-mongering of US administration. The Party urges upon the Vajpayee government not to be carried away by the American machinations. It calls upon our people to protest against US war mongering and uphold India's policy of non-alignment as one of anti-imperialism and of peace and development. (S.S. Bhusari) Office Secretary. *End* _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
N Korea calls Bush's speech declaration of war
Subject: N Korea calls Bush's speech declaration of war HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from http://www.japantoday.com/ __ N Korea calls Bush's speech declaration of war Friday, February 1, 2002 at 09:30 JST BEIJING - The North Korean government on Thursday denounced U.S. President George W Bush for singling out North Korea as a terror-sponsoring state threatening the United States with weapons of mass destruction, calling the accusation an effective declaration of war. Bush's speech amounts to an effective declaration of war against us, the official Korean Central News Agency said in a statement attributed to a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman. Never before in U.S.-(North) Korean relations in recent years has a U.S. president made such a blatant threat in a policy speech against our country. (Kyodo News) _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Korean Central News Agency Feb 1
TODAY'S NEWS (February.01.2002 Juche 91) [CONTENTS] * U.S. espionage flights against DPRK under fire * U.S. urged to pay for damage * Remarks of GNP president condemned * Fullest play to noble revolutionary trait called for * U.S. germ warfare denounced * Attempt to conclude S. Korea-U.S. agreement on investment condemned * Doctor of paleontology Kwon Jong Rim * Kanggye Chicken Farm * Silk output on upbeat * Cooperation plan between DPRK and Russia signed U.S. espionage flights against DPRK under fire Pyongyang, February 1 (KCNA) -- The U.S. imperialists committed more than 150 cases of aerial espionage against the DPRK in January, according to military sources. Involved in the espionage were u-2 high-altitude strategic reconnaissance plane, EP-3 special operation plane, E-3 commanding plane, RC-12 and RC-7 tactical reconnaissance planes and EH-60 electronic warfare helicopters. On Jan. 29 they sent more than 100 fighter bombers, pursuit and assault planes, transport and reconnaissance planes to the sky above Tanyang, Wonju and Phyongchang and on Jan. 16 and 24 they sent each day more than 150 fighter planes to the sky above Chunchon, Kaphyong, Ryoju and other areas of South Korea to stage war exercises. Such espionage flights and war exercises clearly prove that the U.S. imperialists are working hard to achieve their aggressive design any time as soon as they conclude their war against terrorism in Afghanistan after designating the DPRK as the main target of their next operation. U.S. urged to pay for damage Pyongyang, February 1 (KCNA) -- The committee for unveiling truth about the Rogun-ri massacre said on Jan. 26 that it would bring the Rogun-ri mass killings to the U.N. commission on human rights and strongly demand the U.S. make an apology and compensation for the damage, according to the South Korean newspaper Munhwa Ilbo. This organization urged the u.s. to make an overall reinvestigation and compensation for the damage as BBC confirmed the fact that the mass killings were organized crimes committed by orders. The U.S. forces indiscriminately massacred civilians in Rogun-ri, Yongdong county, north Chungchong Province, in the 1950 Korean War. The committee held that although the U.S. tried to describe the Rogun-ri mass killings as an accidental case the video tape on which what GIs testified to the orders issued to kill civilians is recorded categorically negated it, adding that mass killings of civilians were a wanton violation of the convention on war. Remarks of GNP president condemned Pyongyang, February 1 (KCNA) -- A spokesman for the national alliance for democracy and reunification in South Korea reportedly released a statement on Jan. 26 as regards the remarks made by Ri Hoe Chang, president of the Grand National Party, during his tour of the united states. Under the title Is Ri Hoe Chang a servant of the U.S.? The statement said Ri did not bother to utter words aimed at wrecking peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and perpetuating national division. This is an anti-national act, it said, and went on: Meanwhile, with bush's junket to South Korea at hand, he clamoured about reciprocity and verification of the DPRK. It is typical sycophancy and treachery intended to hurt the fellow countrymen with the help of outsiders. He fully reveals his ambition to become president by courting the U.S. hardliners' support. This is an expression of the willingness to fawn on the U.S. and unhesitatingly work as its servant to seize power, clean indifferent to the interests of the nation. What is more intolerable is that even during his foreign tour he expressed his persistent opposition to the June 15 joint declaration, the statement said, adding: Ri Hoe Chang should stop letting loose such remarks against national interests at once and make an honest apology to the nation. Fullest play to noble revolutionary trait called for Pyongyang, February 1 (KCNA) -- Rodong Sinmun today carries an editorial on the noble revolutionary trait of the Korean people single-heartedly united around leader Kim Jong Il. It says: Our society is a large family that holds Kim Jong Il in high esteem as the father and enjoys the ties of kinship between the army and the people. Ours is the most solid, vital, promising and invincible society where the great idea and spirit and noble revolutionary morality prevail. The whole army and all the people in the DPRK have held and followed him in high esteem as the great father and displayed total dedication in putting his purpose and intention into practice. This is
Japan to send peacekeepers to E Timor Feb 15
Subject: Japan to send peacekeepers to E Timor Feb 15 HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- from http://www.japantoday.com/ __ Japan to send peacekeepers to E Timor Feb 15 Friday, February 1, 2002 at 09:30 JST TOKYO - The Japanese government will hold a meeting of its top national security policy board Feb 15 and plans to approve the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to East Timor, where they will take part in U.N. peacekeeping operations, government officials said. Following the meeting of the Security Council of Japan and cabinet approval of an implementation plan, Defense Agency chief Gen Nakatani will order the SDF to be dispatched to East Timor in March, they said. (Kyodo News) _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
wwnews Digest #379 1/2
WW News Service Digest #379 1) A Centuty of Ruling Class Romps by wwnews 2) Bloomberg Brings Master Spy to NYPD by wwnews 3) Enron Monopoly Capitalism by wwnews From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (wwnews) Date: torstai 31. tammikuu 2002 09:19 Subject: [WW] A Centuty of Ruling Class Romps - Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Feb. 7, 2002 issue of Workers World newspaper - A CENTURY OF RULING CLASS ROMPS By Heather Cottin New York The arrogance of the ruling class is boundless. While increasing numbers of people in this city are forced to depend on soup kitchens and food pantries to stay alive, the leaders of the world capitalist system will be plotting and partying at the elegant Waldorf-Astoria hotel. They will be following a long tradition begun by their class. In the Gilded Age--the late 19th century--the Rockefellers, Carnegies, Belmonts, Morgans and other ruling-class families attended extravagant balls at the original Waldorf, then located on Fifth Avenue and 34th Street. At one party, according to author Matthew Josephson in The Robber Barons, the men were given cigarettes wrapped in $100 bills and the women received 14-karat gold bracelets as favors. There was a terrible economic depression in the period between 1890 and 1900. The annual amount necessary for a family to live was about $500, according to the Historical Statistics of the U.S. In minutes, these industrialists and bankers smoked up what amounted to one- fifth of a family's yearly survival. One night in 1897, at the depth of another economic depression, one of the fabulously wealthy men of the age, Bradley Martin, had the entire lobby of the Waldorf-Astoria transformed into a Hall of Mirrors like that in the French monarchy's palace in Versailles. August Belmont wore a suit of armor marked with gold inlay worth $10,000. Women wore beautiful and expensive jewels as if they were corsages. (From Protestantism in America: A Narrative History, by Jerald C. Brauer) The ruling rich, then as now, were aware of the poverty running rampant through the cities and the poverty that was forcing thousands of farmers off their land. They were the cause of it all. How did the wealthy elite show their sympathy for the plight of the workers? By throwing what they called poverty socials. A Western millionaire had the ballroom in his home decorated as a hobo camp and his ruling-class guests came in rags and tatters. It cost $14,000 to serve them hobo stew on wooden plates. The cost of the party was roughly equal to what it would have cost to feed, house, clothe and provide for 2,800 families for a year. But as the economy declined, working people, immigrants and farmers joined together against the banks, the corporations-- the system workers called wage slavery. Populist leader Mary Lease thundered to a crowd in Kansas in 1890, Wall Street owns the country. It is no longer a government of the people, by the people and for the people, but a government of Wall Street, by Wall Street and for Wall Street. THE BIGGER THEY ARE, THE HARDER THEY FALL The city of New York paid the Astor family $17 million for the land under the original Waldorf-Astoria. The Empire State Building was later constructed on the former site of the hotel. The new Waldorf-Astoria was opened at its present location--with much ceremony as a playground for the ruling classes--in 1931 during the Great Depression. Now the Waldorf-Astoria is host to a new generation of Robber Barons with their global view of manifest destiny. Today's ruling class created the World Trade Organization to assure their global dominance of capital over labor. But they are not like the bourgeoisie of the late 19th century who were mainly concerned with owning the means of production in the United States. These modern-day capitalists are meeting now to plan for further global plunder. They have completed the conquest of the world planned by the Robber Barons of the late 19th century. But, like the capitalists of the late 19th century and the 1930s, they are worried. And for good reason. As the capitalist financiers, corporate moguls and paid policy wonks skulk around the Waldorf-Astoria, they know that the economic crises of the late 19th century have multiplied exponentially. The system is foundering and the World Economic Forum has no idea how to save it. The rich may feel secure in the Waldorf-Astoria. With police between them and the angry protesters outside, they may believe that the horrors of poverty, unemployment, hunger, disease and the myriad ravages of capitalism will be forever accepted by the workers and oppressed peoples of the world. They may think that their armies can help them maintain control of a world capitalist system that the imperialists of the late 19th century could only imagine. They may believe they can wage endless war and workers everywhere will accept it. But if they look outside the
wwnews Digest #379 2/2
4) Bush Says: Let 'em Eat War by wwnews 5) Dangerous Talk of Revolution by wwnews 6) Labor the World Economic Forum by wwnews From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (wwnews) Date: torstai 31. tammikuu 2002 09:19 Subject: [WW] Bush Says: Let 'em Eat War - Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Feb. 7, 2002 issue of Workers World newspaper - PEOPLE WANT JOBS, SOCIAL SECURITY--BUSH SAYS: LET 'EM EAT WAR By Leslie Feinberg New York The bigwigs of big business plan to wine and dine on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange to celebrate the opening of the World Economic Forum. One familiar face at the annual capitalist think tank will be missing, but his presence will be felt like that of an 800-pound gorilla. Kenneth Lay, former Enron CEO and regular at Davos gatherings, has been politely, discreetly, but decidedly disinvited. Lay and his financial empire--now in ruin--were the unmentioned pink elephant in the ornate House of Representatives hall on Jan. 29, too. As George W. Bush, leader of the world's most dangerous regime, armed with the world's most dangerous weapons, strode to the dais amidst pomp and circumstance to deliver his bellicose State of the Union address, his former chief energy advisor was never mentioned and nowhere to be seen. How the mighty have fallen. Enron--the seventh-largest corporation in the world in its glory days--has become a dirty, five-letter word, from Washington to Wall Street. Corruption, greed, hubris, trickery, fraud--the list of charges Enron executives face in six Senate committees, two House committees, an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and a criminal inquiry by the Justice Department, is long. But greed and corruption alone do not cause economic recessions like the one widening and deepening around the world today. This crisis of abundance comes at the stage of history when goliath banks and mammoth corporations have fused into the monstrous entity of imperialist finance capital. They plunder the world's workers, pillage the most oppressed and ravage the planet with only one objective: profits. There is one law to which they must hew: expand or die. But the capitalist market is contracting. And the long shadow Enron casts may be the harbinger of a lengthy season of wintry recession. That makes the imperialist beast even more ravenous and more dangerous. RATTLING THE SABERS Bush's speech aimed to forge economic fear into war fervor. His speechwriters and advisors, who reportedly revised his address at least 18 times, were most certainly mindful of a recent poll by the New York Times and CBS News that showed people are more worried about the economy than terrorism. (New York Times, Jan. 27) So as police ringed the Capitol Building, Bush rattled the sabers: The United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons. Even school children know that the U.S. has the biggest arsenal in the world. He characterized Iraq, Iran and the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea--north Korea--as the axis of evil--meant to equate three small, developing countries with Nazi Germany, imperial Japan and Italy during World War II. Bush's demonization of these developing countries, none of them nuclear powers, may have little to do with Sept. 11. It has a lot more to do with the Pentagon's long term plans, and for a $50 billion increase in defense spending, the biggest leap in two decades, noted the British Guardian Unlimited Online the following day. At a time when his administration is trying to crush Palestinian aspirations for national liberation, Bush made Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad targets of his anti- terror battle. Perhaps most significant was his statement: I will not wait on events, while dangers gather. I will not stand by, as peril draws closer and closer. Osama bin Laden was not mentioned once, al-Qaeda only in passing, observed Guardian Online. The speech was clearly aimed at ushering in a new phase in the anti-terrorist campaign, in which links with the Sept. 11 attacks will no longer be the criteria for U.S. military action. But the countries in the crosshairs stood tall. The world will not accept U.S. hegemony, Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi responded the next day. A statement from the Workers Party in north Korea called for withdrawal of the 37,000 U.S. troops in south Korea. It said The U.S. seeks to unleash a new war with south Korea as a forward base and the U.S. forces in south Korea as the main force, swallow up the whole of Korea and, furthermore, put Asia under its military domination. Even the pro-U.S. government in the south rejected Bush's characterization of the north. In Baghdad, senior Iraqi parliamentarian Salim al-Qubaisi charged, The American administration led by Bush has been threatening Iraq from time to time to prepare world public opinion for a
Czech Banana Republic Forges Police State, Sacks Workers
From: Rick Rozoff [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Czech Banana Republic Forges Police State, Sacks Workers HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- [Turbo-charged NATO integration/subordination, wide-ranging police state powers and mass layoffs all at the same time: The war against terror just doesn't get any better than that.] Czech Defense Chief Calls for Unity in Fighting Terror PRAGUE, Jan 31, 2002 -- (dpa) Czech Republic Minister of Defense Jaroslav Trvdik said the country's police, intelligence and health services should join the military in protecting the country from terrorism. In an address to the Czech Senate, Tvrdik called for parliament to spread the cost of anti-terrorism initiatives to several agencies. The responsibility for the next part of combating terrorism isn't only on the Defense Ministry and soldiers, he said. Funding also is needed, above all, for activities by the Interior Ministry and the Health Ministry. The health ministry, for example, should be prepared to handle domestic threats and emergencies involving biological attacks, Trvdik said. And the interior ministry's intelligence services should be capable of tracking terrorists on Czech soil and cooperating with foreign intelligence agencies. In a related development Wednesday, the defense chief and a trade union representing civilian army workers signed an agreement that will lead to eliminating about 12,000 civilian jobs by 2006 as part of the ministry's reform plan tied to the phase-in of an all- volunteer army. Under the deal, workers will receive hefty severance allowances. (C)2002. dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Back To The Philippines: What To Expect
From: Rick Rozoff [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Back To The Philippines: What To Expect HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://www.inq7.net/brk/2002/jan/30/brkpol_17-1.htm Wednesday Jan. 30, 2002, Philippines US troops violated rules of past war games: ex-official Posted: 7:27 PM (Manila Time) | Jan. 30, 2002 By INQ7.net ABUSES were committed by American soldiers in past training exercises with Philippine troops, a former official of the Visiting Forces Agreement Commission said Wednesday, a day before the two countries launch unprecedented six-month exercises aimed at helping the government crush the notorious Abu Sayyaf bandit group. Facing members of the House of Representatives conducting a hearing on Philippines-US war games that will begin Thursday, former VFA Commission executive director Elmer Cato said American soldiers violated the terms of reference that governed the joint training exercises last year. Cato furnished members of the House defense and foreign affairs committees with a briefing paper for monitoring team for Balikatan 01 which listed the violations. He said the document resulted from his own investigation. Representative Imee Marcos read some of the reported violations, which included alleged displacement of Aetas, Olongapo explosion, shelling of a village in Zambales, beheading of a Marine officer, and the mauling by two US servicemen of a cab driver. Cato said that on two occasions the VFA Commission called the attention of US troops to flying exercises in Clark Field ? a former American air force base in Pampanga province north of Manila ? unaccompanied by Filipino counterparts. Past Philippine-US military training exercises were done in Cebu in the central Philippines and in the Central Luzon region north of Manila. Under the VFA, they should last no more than four weeks. Scheduled to begin Thursday are six-month exercises with about 600 American soldiers and tons of US equipment for training exercises against the Abu Sayyaf bandits in their jungle stronghold on Basilan island in Mindanao. Militant groups have criticized what they call government's lack of transparency on the new exercises, dubbed Balikatan 02-01. Armed Forces chief General Diomedio Villanueva said Wednesday the terms of reference for this year's exercises are expected to be signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo after she returns from the United States on Sunday. _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Latest A_WORLD_TO_WIN_No27 Now available.
From: poblachtach dearg [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Peoples War] Latest A_WORLD_TO_WIN_No27 Now available!! Turkey`s Prisons Shining Trenches of Combat!! The latest issue of A World To Win No. 27 is now available. Contents: - Turkey: Shining Trenches Of Combat Statements : Communist Party Of Turkey ( Marxist - Leninist ) Statements : You have the support of People from around the world A Diary Of Gebze Prison Peru : The Regime changes - The People`s War Fights on! The Unstopable People`s War! The Day Of Heroism, 19th June 1986 This blood that has been spilt shall never be forgotten! Seventh International Delegation to Peru. The Emerging New Waves of Revolution! Statements by the Committee of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement: * Condemn the Israeli Occupiers Support the just struggle of the Palestinian People! * Kabylia Uprising - A Ray of light in Algeria. * Genoa - Throw Oil on the Fire! May Day Statement: Dare to Take our Destiny into our own Hands! Plus reports from around the Globe.. Nepal: Exclusive: A.W.T.W. Interview With Comrade Prachanda of the Communist Party Of Nepal ( Maoist ) Nepal: The future is Bright, The road is Tortuous * Engaging the Royal Nepal Army * The U.S. and India *Steering Revolution to Victory! Document of the Nepalese Revolution: From The Great Leap forward: Inevitable Necessity of History * International Communist Movement and its Historical Lessons * Some Fundamental Characteristics of the International Situation * On the situation in South Asia: Forward to the new Soviet Federation in South Asia!! * Prachanda Path: A Great Achievement * On the Massacre of the Royal Family Statement: From the CoRIM to the CPN ( M ) Glory and Victory to the foundation of the Communist Party Of Iran ( Marxist - Leninist - Maoist ) - Announcement by the founding Congress of the CPI ( MLM ) 1st May 2001 * Speech at the CPI ( MLM ) Founding Congress. * On the present situation in Iran and the Tasks of the Party - CPI ( MLM ), including preperations to launch People`s War! * Message to the CPI ( MLM ) from the CoRIM. * Joint statement of the Maoist Parties Organisations of South Asia. Weapon Of Criticism: The Battlefield Of History... The History Of A battlefield.. Stalingrad!! Art and Politics: * The Inexhaustable Source of Ahmad Shamloo`s Art - The Life Struggle of the People. A World To Win isn`t yet available on web site, but can be obtained from the following address`. * A World To Win, Price: £3:50p. Cheques/Postal Orders payable to `A World To Win` 27, Old Gloucester Street, London, WCIN - 3XX. UK Fax:(44)(20)7 831 94 89 Ref W6787 - Please quote. * For u.s.a. A World To Win, North American Distributors, c/o Revolution Books, 9, West 19th Street, New York 10011, USA Fax: (1) (212) 645-1952 * For South Asia Subscriptions, Rs. 80 for Four issues, write to: A World To Win, A K S, Post Box 9288, Laxmi Nagar, Delhi 110092, INDIA * Juan Lopez Perez, Apdo. 21-098. Coyoacan 04021 Mexico, D.F. MEXICO( Also for Spanish! ) * Hindi Edition!! A K S, Post Box 9288, Laxmi Nagar, Delhi 110092, INDIA Currently available in English, Farsi, Turkish, spanish, Arabic, Italian, French German. Also available from: Housemans bookshop, 5,Caledonian Road, King`s Cross, London, N5 Tel: 0207 837 4473. No copywrite 2002!! For distribution far and wide to the masses! _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Vietnam News Jan 31
VNA PM calls for positive changes in economic restructuring Prime Minister Phan Van Khai on Wednesday urged all ministries, agencies and localities to press ahead with stronger efforts to increase guidance, in order to create positive changes in economic, investment and labour restructuring. In production, more efforts should be focused on raising the competitive edge of Vietnam's commodities, the Prime Minister said at the closing session of the three-day government meeting on the afternoon of January 30. Prime Minister Khai said Administrative reforms should be also promoted in order to streamline the State system and its operations. He laid stress on the formation of policies and legal documents, which, he said, should be done in tandem with decentralising responsibility and authority of each state agency and its staff members. This is the centrepiece of Vietnam's on-going administrative reform programme, Mr Khai emphasised. He also called for bold measures to put an early end to the overlapping power and responsibilities between ministries and agencies, as well as to remove intermediate levels. (VNA) Government debates social issues Government ministers and provincial and municipal leaders were involved in heated debate on social issues presented by Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem on the second day of the on-going government meeting, January 29. Major social issues brought up for discussion included reducing poverty, generating employment, socialising and renewing education and health care services, combating social evils, particularly organised criminal syndicates, and preventing traffic accidents. The participants noted with joy that significant achievements have been made in poverty alleviation, which have also been recognised by the international community. However, they said, employment for people, especially those who live in rural areas, has become a pressing issue. Last year, about 1.4 million people were provided with stable jobs to help reduce the unemployment rate to 6.8% in urban areas and 25.2% in rural regions, according to a government report. It added that further efforts must be made to reduce urban unemployment to 6.2% and rural unemployment to 24% in 2002 by generating an additional 1.4 million jobs. Many participants said poverty reduction should be integrated into the labour and employment programme in order to make better use of capital. They also laid stress on the need to promote labour export and vocational training with soft bank loans or funds from the government. Some proposed that the government should continue to renovate its managerial mechanism in education and health care, saying that school children from poor families should be exempt from paying school-fees instead of paying 50% at present. They also asked the government to tighten its control of non-State educational and medical institutions, saying Last year, 53,840 non-State social institutions were established, including 6,140 in education, 28,000 in health care, 7,700 in culture and 12,000 in sports. All participants resolved to press ahead with continued efforts to fight social evils, stressing all drug trafficking and organised criminal syndicates must be eliminated. Many asked the government to facilitate the expansion of drug detoxification centres mainly run by provinces and cities as well as to give greater funding to expand transport links and facilities in order to reduce traffic accidents. (VNA) Vietnam calls for joint efforts to fight drugs The chairman of Vietnam's National Assembly, Nguyen Van An, has called on all lawmakers and legislative bodies of Southeast Asian countries to further strengthen co-operation in drug control and share experiences among themselves and with countries in other regions. He also warned against increased drug trafficking and abuse in Vietnam in recent years, despite tougher measures already taken to wipe them out of the social community. Like other regional countries, Vietnam's National Assembly, government and social organisations have taken a series of drastic measures to combat the drug menace, but there has been no let-up in drug trafficking and addiction in recent years, he said. Mr An made the remarks while addressing the opening session of the first meeting of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Organisation (AIPO) Fact-Finding Committee to Combat Drug Menace (AIFOCOM) in Hanoi on January 30. He recalled that Vietnam's National Assembly revised the Criminal Code that includes articles covering offences of drug production, transport and trafficking in 1999. It also passed a law on drug control in 2000. More efforts should be made to raise public awareness about drug control, as well as to prevent drug abuse, production and trafficking, said Mr An, who is also AIPO President. Other measures include promoting drug detoxification and community reintegration for drug addicts, building and reinforcing drug laws and
China. People´s Daily Feb 1
Extracts. India, Pakistan Trade Fire Amid Confusing Signals. Indian and Pakistani troops traded small-arms fire on Tuesday along their tense frontier in Kashmir as Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee raised hopes of avoiding an all-out war. Indian and Pakistani troops traded small-arms fire on Tuesday along their tense frontier in Kashmir as Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee raised hopes of avoiding an all-out war. An Indian defence official said both armies -- involved in a powerful buildup along their border -- exchanged machine gun fire in several Kashmir frontier areas overnight and into Tuesday. The two nations have mobilised about a million troops along their border from Kashmir in the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea after a bloody December attack on India's parliament which New Delhi blamed on Pakistan-based Muslim militants fighting its rule in Kashmir. India says it will not scale down its deployment until Pakistan ends support for the militants. Pakistan denies sponsoring the groups and has banned several. In Srinagar, summer capital of disputed Kashmir, Indian forces were locked in a fierce gunbattle with rebels. Police said the clash in a residential suburb began late on Monday night. In October, 38 people died in a suicide bomb attack on the state assembly in the city. Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said late on Monday he did not expect the tensions with Pakistan to boil over into war, adding diplomatic efforts were making some progress. U.S. Still Open to Dialogues with Iran, DPRK: Spokesman. The United States is still open for dialogues with Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) despite President George W. Bush's harsh criticism of the two countries, the State Department said Wednesday. The United States is still open for dialogues with Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) despite President George W. Bush's harsh criticism of the two countries, the State Department said Wednesday. We have said that there are serious issues to discuss with North Korea (DPRK), that we're ready to sit down and discuss those issues at any time, any place, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told a regular briefing. We're prepared to discuss issues with other governments, including Iran, he said, noting that the U.S. has long-standing concerns to address. But he added that the talks would only occur when the two countries were willing to discuss with the U.S. about their weapons program and their support for terrorism. Iraq Rejects US Accusations on Weapons of Mass Destruction. Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan on Wednesday strongly rejected the accusations made by U.S. President George W. Bush who claimed that Iraq has been seeking weapons of mass destruction. Iraqi Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan on Wednesday strongly rejected the accusations made by U.S. President George W. Bush who claimed that Iraq has been seeking weapons of mass destruction. Bush's statement is stupid and improper ... to judge the behaviour or deportment of another country through guessing or imagination, Ramadan told reporters after attending a gathering commemorating the outbreak of the 1991 Gulf War. Ramadan said that Bush tried to demonize Iraq by alleging that Iraq was trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction. However, we think that the U.S. and the Zionist entity (Israel) are the sources of evilness and aggression against Iraq, the Arab nation and the world, Ramadan said. Ramadan's strong remarks followed Bush's first State of the Union address on Tuesday, in which he singled out Iraq, Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea as pursuing weapons of mass destruction and vowed that the U.S. would not permit these countries to threaten it with such weapons. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger, Bush said. Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror ... the Iraqi regime has plotted to develop anthrax and nerve gas and nuclear weapons for over a decade, Bush said. Bush has warned Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to allows United Nations arms inspectors back to his country or face the consequences. U.N. arms inspectors have been barred from re-entering Iraq since the U.S.-British air strikes against Iraq in December 1998. As to the planned visit to Iraq by U.N. human rights investigator Andreas Mavrommatis, Ramadan said that we did not invite him. He wanted to visit Iraq and we accepted that, adding that he can view and give his opinion as he likes. US Says No Imminent Military Action Against Iraq, Iran, DPRK. The White House said Wednesday that a stern warning issued by President George W. Bush to Iraq, Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) does not signal any imminent military action against the three countries. The White House said Wednesday that a stern warning issued by President
New Worker Online Digest - 4/2/2002
From: New Worker Online [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 22:17:53 + To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [New-Worker-News] New Worker Online Digest - 4/2/2002 New Worker Online Digest Week commencing 1st February 2002. 1) Editorial - State of war. 2) Lead story - Rail strike 'rock solid'. 3) Feature article - Bloody Sunday: Who gave the orders? 4) International story - Enron scandal. 5) British news item - CBI attacks public service protection. 1) Editorial State of war. THE WAR against terrorism is just beginning, said President Bush in his State of the Union speech last Tuesday. And he made it absolutely clear that this is far more than just carrying on with the search for Osama bin Laden and his associates. It is a declaration of war upon any state the United States ruling class wants to attack. It appears that all Washington has to do is assert that the countries it puts on its list of targets are terrorists or an harbouring terrorists. So, riding on the back of the emotions aroused by the events of 11 September, the US government has written itself a blank cheque to do whatever it likes to whoever it likes. Bush's list of rogue or outlaw slates changes from time to time. But the latest version now includes: Iraq, Iran, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Somalia. And of course the military action against Afghanistan is still going on. It apparently doesn't matter to the savages who draft US policy that the countries on the outlaw list did not carry out the 11 September attack on the United States nor had any hand in it whatsoever. And as for harbouring terrorists -- was it not the case that those said to have hijacked the planes had actually been living in the US in the run-up to the attack. Bush doesn't care about any of this. He has already moved the goalposts since he first announced the war against terrorism in the immediate aftermath of 11 September. The countries he rants against now were in Wachington's gunsights long before last September and the events of that month have simply provided the US with a pretext for aggression -- even if the arguments used are totally dishonest. All the accusations flung around by the US are supposed to be believed by the American public and the world at large. President Bush said: The United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons. Such lies beggar belief. Not one of the countries named by Bush has threatened the United States or any other state. These countries are not stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. Even years and years of United Nations' inspection failed to find any stocks of such weapons in Iraq and still the US repeated its scandalous claim. In reality the country with the largest arsenal of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction is the United States itself. It is also the only country in the world to have used nuclear weapons and it is today pressing ahead with its star wars plan to militarise and monopolise space. It is trying to scrap the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty and is determined to be unassailable as the most powerful nuclear state in the world. In the case of Somalia it seems that country's great crime was to bravely defend itself from earlier US aggression and, despite being a poor country, gave US much more of a fight than Washington bargained for. There are two issues in all of this. One is the bullying, murderous foreign policy of US imperialism which is now using the Twin Towers attack to cover Washington's ongoing strategy to achieve global domination and control -- it's a strategy that involves the suppression of any state that Washington cannot readily push around. And there is the desire to avenge 11 September and prevent any further attacks against America or Americans. For all the military and political might of the United States, it is unlikely to succeed in either of its aims. It will not be able to prevent further actions against the US because it fails to address the fact that it is years of US imperialist policies that have stirred enormous anger around the world. The very real grevances of millions of people demand justice and without that the United States will be widely hated -- some of that hatred will no doubt find expression in action. And the attempts to suppress other sovereign states will not be met with compliance but by a rising determination to resist -- not all of America's military objectives can be gained from 30,000 feet -- the US will find the price of its brutality is more than money, bombers and technology. Nor are the targeted countries alone. There is growing solidarity around the world, including among the working class within imperialist countries. In this we have a part to play. The opposition to imperialist wars and threats must echo from Downing Street to Pennsylvania Avenue. Workers of all
US going after Iraq, Iran, Korea
From: Media Review [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Fri, 01 Feb 2002 02:39:07 - To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [AM] US going after Iraq, Iran, Korea Bush points gun at Iraq, Iran and North Korea http://www.iol.co.za January 30 2002 at 10:41AM Washington - President George Bush warned in his first state-of-the- union speech that tens of thousands of Osama bin Laden followers were ticking time bombs around the world. He used the address on Tuesday night to chart a path towards winning the war on terrorism and curing the recession-bound economy. In his nationally televised address from the House of Representatives chamber, Bush identified Iraq, Iran and North Korea as attempting to develop weapons of mass destruction, calling them an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. As we gather tonight, our nation is at war, our economy is in recession, and the civilised world faces unprecedented dangers. Yet the state of our union has never been stronger, he said, prompting cheers and a standing ovation from members of the congress, top military brass and other dignitaries gathered to hear the address. Bush's address was an attempt to use his wartime popularity to advance his aims of defeating terrorism beyond Afghanistan and his domestic agenda: a prescription drug plan for senior citizens, patients' rights protections and a stimulus plan to create jobs and jump-start the economy with corporate tax breaks opposed by many Democrats. In an attempt to escape the shadow of the Enron bankruptcy, Bush urged more accountability in corporate America as well as full disclosure and better accounting to avoid a repeat of the collapse that wiped out pensions for thousands of Enron employees. He did not name Enron, which was his biggest campaign contributor. The stock market fell 2,5 percent on Tuesday on fears that other companies might go the way of Enron. Bush cited new intelligence saying tens of thousands of followers of bin Laden had been trained in terrorism tactics in Afghanistan since 1996 and were deployed in more than 60 countries. Thousands of dangerous killers, schooled in the methods of murder, often supported by outlaw regimes, are now spread throughout the world like ticking time bombs - set to go off without warning, he said. As for future threats, Bush said diagrams of American nuclear power plants and public water facilities, detailed instructions for making chemical weapons, surveillance maps of American cities and thorough descriptions of landmarks in America and throughout the world were found in Afghanistan. - Reuters _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
War crimes and Zio-Nazi crimes
From: Mazin Qumsiyeh [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [AM] War crimes and Zio-Nazi crimes 1) LEARNING FROM THE NAZIS?: Gush Shalom ad published in Haaretz, February 1, 2002 2) Haaretz: High Court rejects appeals against assassination policy (i.e. Israel's high court approves contravening the Fourth Geneva Convention and other applicable conventions on war crimes) 3) San Francisco Bay Guardian: Voce President Cheney Made Millions Off Oil Deals with Saddam Hussein (An old article but relevant considering the Enron and other debacles and the rush to tackle Iraq). Web address worth checking: Media Monitors Network (MMN) http://mediamonitors.net or http://216.71.207.129/mmn/ Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD ___ LEARNING FROM THE NAZIS? The following lines appeared last Friday, January 25, 2002, in Haaretz, in an article by the respected military correspondent Amir Oren: In order to prepare properly for the next campaign, one of the Israeli officers in the (occupied) territories said not long ago, its justified and in fact essential to learn from every possible source. If the mission will be to seize a densely populated refugee camp, or take over the casbah in Nablus, and if the commanders obligation is to try to execute the mission without casualties on either side, then we must first analyze and internalize the lessons of earlier battles - even, however shocking it may sound, even how the German army fought in the Warsaw ghetto. If this officer believes that the casbah of Nablus resembles the Warsaw ghetto, who, in his mind, resemble the officers of the Israeli army? Peres: You Bear Responsibility for War Crimes! Today, at 2.30 pm, we shall hold a vigil at the home of the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister in Ramat-Aviv: Short is the Way from Oslo to The Hague! Gush Shalom ad published in Haaretz February 1, 2002 ___ High Court rejects appeals against assassination policy By Moshe Reinfeld Haaretz January 30, 2002 The High Court of Justice yesterday rejected three petitions seeking to stop the government's policy of assassinating Palestinian militants on grounds that the court does not usually render rulings on security matters. The petitions were submitted by the chairman of the Hadash faction, MK Mohammed Barakeh; Siham Thabet, widow of Dr. Thabet Thabet who was assassinated in the West Bank in December 2000; the Public Committee Against Torture and the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment. The petitioners asked the court for a temporary restraining order to bar the government from authorizing executions without trial of Palestinians, arguing that an assassination policy was blatantly illegal. In a sharp exchange with Barakeh's lawyer, Justice Eliyahu Mazza said, There is such a thing called terror, which is the enemy of all of humanity. Who is to determine who is a terrorist? retorted lawyer Naila Atiya. Certainly not the High Court. There has to be cause for us to intervene, he replied. But there is also a right to life, pressed the lawyer. Tell that to all those who send terrorists to pedestrian malls and to the Dolphinarium, interjected Justice Mishael Cheshin, while Mazza added: What do you want, that the defense minister receive authorization from the High Court before every targeted elimination? This matter is not justiciable. The decision not to intervene is in keeping with the traditional stance of the High Court over security matters. The petitioners argued that all those participating in the assassinations are breaking international legal norms and that this policy could rapidly lead to war crimes. They added that the assassinations are carried out based on intelligence information of questionable credibility that is not subject to judicial review. The petitioners added that, as there is no death penalty in Israel, if the Palestinians had been brought to trial in Israel, they would not have been killed, even if convicted of the worst offenses. They also argued that the assassination policy only escalates the level of violence. Barakeh noted that after the killing of Thabet a group of Palestinians decided to seek revenge and shot dead two Israeli civilians. Israel has acknowledged carrying out 21 assassinations. ___ Redux: Cheney Made Millions Off Oil Deals with Hussein http://www.sfbg.com/reality/04.html San Francisco Bay Guardian November 13, 2000 by Martin A. Lee Here's a whopper of a story you may have missed amid the cacophony of campaign ads and stump speeches in the run- up to the elections. During former defense secretary Richard Cheney's five-year tenure as chief executive of Halliburton, Inc., his oil services firm raked in big bucks from dubious commercial dealings with Iraq. Cheney left Halliburton with a $34 million retirement package last July when he became the GOP's vice-presidential candidate. Of course, U.S. firms aren't generally supposed to do
Turkey/EU. DHKC response to remarks by Spanish ambassador
From: bohater1 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Thu, 31 Jan 2002 22:18:51 - To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Peoples War] DHKC response to remarks by Spanish ambassador (Forwarding: the DHKP-C and the PKK are not banned yet in all EU countries, a fact which has annoyed the people who run Turkey.) To the Embassy of Spain On 27 January, on the CNN-Turk Kriter (Criterion) television programme, the Spanish ambassador made a speech regarding our organisation. The ambassador, wanting to gratify the wishes of the murderous authorities, was merely saying things to please them. He said in a rather definite manner that he would expend his efforts to get the DHKP-C placed on the European Union Terror List. 1- The ambassador says in the same speech that we cannot under any circumstances accept those who resort to violence. Taking your words at their face value, we are sending you, as a supplement to this, a report prepared by TAYAD, an organisation of friends and families of prisoners, which wages a struggle for rights and freedoms. Are you speaking of terror and violence? There in the report is a tableau of terror and violence. What you will examine in this tableau could be added to, with hundreds of incidents and thousands of details added as a separate section. If you wish, we can send thousands of documents and other information related to this. It is impossible for an ambassador who has followed events in Turkey to be in ignorance of this tableau. But even if you are, you are not questioning those who have created this tableau. You are making no attempt to punish this tyranny. Nor are you even making the most basic criticism of it. Why is it that you do not turn to the murderous authorities of Turkey and say, if you are practising violence, this violence must also end. 2- We cannot accept those who have recourse to violence, you say: in that case, there you are. Those who resort to violence are the state forces of the Republic of Turkey. Moreover, it is the kind of violence that has cost thousands of human beings their lives. This is the kind of violence in which no questions are asked about executing people, making them disappear or killing them in torture centres. This is the kind of violence in which, without exception, all court proceedings opened against those who carry out executions or belong to death squads acting in the name of the state end in acquittal. As you know, we can send you thousands of pages of information devoted to this. But you are saying that your policies are not measured according to democracy, justice or law but are regulated by the interests of the Spanish monopolies, you are saying that you are not interested in torture and human rights violations. If you were to say that you only engage in politics for your own interests, that would not be different from what you are saying here. But then be honest and candid and do not mention democracy, human rights and law. Do not sacrifice these concepts to the interests of the monopolies. 3- In Turkey, it is the state that uses violence. In Turkey, the fascist authorities are the source of violence. We prefer neither illegality nor violence. There is no other way to oppose a regime based on repression and violence, to use the right to resist those who oppress the people, to develop the struggle for independence, democracy and socialism and to replace the fascist government with people's power. We are defending independence as opposed to imperialism, democracy as opposed to fascism, socialism as opposed to fascism, and people's power as opposed to the oligarchy's government. Where is the crime in this? Where is the illegality? Where is the terror? 4- What will you gain if you put the DHKP-C and the PKK on the list of terrorist organisations? Who will profit, other than the fascist authorities of our country? In our country, there is a FASCIST government. The fascist FRANCO government ruled Spain for years and it is the same kind of people in our country today. Look, you will see this in the supplement. At least look at the prisons in our country. In the past few years dozens of prisoners have been killed and hundreds left handicapped; look at the prisons they call F-Type, where torture and isolation go on without a break; there you will see the true face of our government. Your country has experienced Franco fascism. You will be able to give testimony on how murderous and torturing a state can be. Be a little more prudent; do not be so eager to gratify the fascist wishes of the fascist authorities with regard to this subject. In this framework, here is our appeal to your embassy and your country: you must examine the beliefs and policies of those whom you are trying to place on a list of terrorist organisations for struggling against fascism. Yes, when the ambassador of a country claiming to defend law and human rights and be guided by democracy goes on TV, why does he not talk about the thousands of concrete
CP of Greece, Statements of Athens Meeting Jan. 26-27 2002
CP of Greece, Statements of Athens Meeting 26-27 2002 - From: Communist Party of Greece, Thu, 31 Jan 2002 http://www.kke.gr , mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Dear Comrades and Friends, We forward you: - The Statement of Communist and Workers Parties of the Countries of the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Gulf Region. - The Resolution on the Palestine Issue Both statements were adopted by the participants of the Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties of the southern and Eastern Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Gulf Region, in Athens on 26-27 January 2002 (AKEL- Cyprus, Egyptian Communist Party, Communist Party of Greece, Tudeh Party of Iran, Iraqi Communist Party, Communist Party of Kurdistan-Iraq, Communist Party of Israel, Jordanian Communist Party, Lebanese Communist Party, Palestinian Peoples Party, Communist Party of Sudan, Syrian Communist Party, Syrian Communist Party). Fraternally Yours International Section the CP of Greece - KKE == STATEMENT OF COMMUNIST AND WORKERS PARTIES OF THE COUNTRIES OF THE SOUTHERN AND EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN, THE RED SEA AND THE GULF REGION Communist and Workers Parties of the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean, the Red Sea and the Gulf Region met in Athens on 26-27 January 2002. During this meeting the following issues were discussed: 1. The new international situation after the terrorist attacks in the USA and the war in Afghanistan and their effects 2. The new elements in the struggle of the progressive and anti-imperialist forces in the area; (a) forms of solidarity and co-ordination of the struggle; (b) developments concerning the «Euro-Mediterranean co-operation». 3. Joint-initiatives in order to improve the scientific research activities of the Parties. The participants dealt particularly with the dangerous situation that resulted from the terrorist actions on 11th of September and the dangerous escalation of the aggressive US policy and state sponsored terrorism, which followed, and stated that the threat that a global hegemony of monopoly capital will be imposed under the leadership of the USA is hanging over all peoples and their mass movements. They also stated that the September 11 events provided an excellent justification to launch, under the pretext of the war against terrorism, an unprecedented attack against the freedoms and rights of the peoples. Imperialists consider that any resistance movement fighting against capitalist globalisation and their international organisations (IMF, W.B., WTO), or any anti-imperialist movement fighting against imperialist interventions and war, and against NATO and its actions can now be considered to be terrorist. The same is true for the movements struggling against the anti-popular and reactionary policy of the EU and for any social and national liberation movement. The participants stated and stressed the fact that the struggle of peoples and movements for social liberation and national independence has nothing to do with terrorist methods. Communists, having a long experience, are well aware of the methods used by imperialist and reactionary forces to slander the social and national liberation movement. The participants condemned terrorism. They consider the struggle of the people for their social rights and national independence to be just. They stated that terrorism as a concept and as a political practice is an erroneous and dangerous tactic for the progressive movement. The only ones benefiting from terrorist acts are the most reactionary, brutal and racist forces of the imperialist camp, which are hostile to the peoples. Examining the facts, the participants of the meeting considered that the aims of the offensive of the imperialist forces were not formulated after the 11th of September, but had existed before the terrorist attacks in the USA. The participants considered that humanity as a whole is subjected to the implementation of a particularly dangerous plan that jeopardises security, peace and stability in large areas of our planet. One special target is the just struggle of the Palestinian people for independence and the creation of a state of their own, as well as those struggles of the peoples of the Arab countries and other countries of the Gulf Region and Central Asia. The participants condemned the imperialist war unleashed by the US and NATO on 7th October 2001 against the Afghani people, causing thousands of innocent victims. The real goal of this war was to secure full control over the energy resources and oil and natural gas routes in the strategic region that links the former Soviet republics of Central Asia with Russia, China, India, and the other states in the region. They resolutely opposed any spreading of this war into other
Iran, Iraq accuse Bush of war mongering.
From: Steve Wagner [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: * Iran, Iraq accuse Bush of war mongering * HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- The following is a news item posted on CBC NEWS ONLINE at http://cbc.ca/news IRAN, IRAQ ACCUSE BUSH OF WAR MONGERING http://cbc.ca/cgi-bin/view?/news/2002/01/30/statereax020130 WebPosted Wed Jan 30 21:02:13 2002 CAIRO, EGYPT--Several countries - particularly Iran and Iraq - reacted with anger and dismay Wednesday to U.S. President George W. Bush's characterization of Iran, Iraq and North Korea as an axis of evil in his state of the union address. North Korea has not officially responded. But Iran and Iraq Wednesday lashed out at Bush's accusations. Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said the comments amount to war mongering, and in Iraq - which Washington has hinted could be the next target in its war on terrorism - Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan said the statements were both improper and incorrect. Relations between Tehran and Washington seemed to ease after Sept. 11, when Iran denounced the terrorist attacks. But the relationship between the two countries has become frostier in the past two months, since Bush accused Tehran of trying to undermine Afghanistan's new government. Washington has also accused Iran of complicity in an attempt to smuggle a shipload of weapons to Palestinians in Israel earlier this month. The state of the union address also hit a nerve in Russia, where the chair of the foreign relations committee suggested the remarks were too harsh. Dmitry Rogozin said Bush's tone was reminiscent of World War II, when Nazi Germany, Italy and Japan were referred to as axis powers. He said the comments were a signal that the Bush administration is leaning even further to the right. South Koreans were rankled by Bush's description of their northern neighbour. They say relations between the U.S. and North Korea must improve if there is to be any hope of unifying the two countries - a development that both Washington and Seoul have been working toward. In Malaysia and the Philippines, which have large Moslem populations, leaders were also disturbed by Bush's suggestion that countries must root out terrorists, or the U.S. will do it for them. Philippine Justice Secretary Hernando Perez and Malaysian opposition leader Nasharudin Mat Isa said Bush's comments amount to threats. Copyright ? 2002 CBC All Rights Reserved http://cbc.ca/ _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Korean Central News Agency Jan 31
TODAY'S NEWS (January.31.2002 Juche 91) [CONTENTS] * Spokesman for DPRK Foreign Ministry slams Bush's accusations * Probe into truth about U.S. mass killings called for * Obstructive moves against Mt. Kumgang tourism slammed * Joint New Year editorial of DPRK favored in?@over 60 countries * Book Country of Brilliant Star published in Egypt * King Wang Kon's mausoleum * Greetings to King of Jordan * Credentials presented to Kim Yong Nam by new Algerian ambassador * Senior DPRK officials meet new ambassadors For Spanish-speaking people * poner freno a turismo a monte kumgang?@es acto antinacional * mas de 60 paises apoyan editorial conjunto de periodicos coreanos * reunion nacional de trabajadores de sector de agricultura Spokesman for DPRK Foreign Ministry slams Bush's accusations Pyongyang, January 31 (KCNA) - A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of the DPRK released a statement today denouncing U.S. President Bush for revealing a reckless attempt to stifle the DPRK by force of arms. The full text of the statement reads: U.S. President Bush in a State of Union Address made at the joint session of the congress on Wednesday groundlessly linked those countries that go against the grain with the U.S. with terrorism, openly revealing his dangerous attempt to stifle them by force of arms. Groundlessly pulling up the DPRK over the development and possession of weapons of mass destruction, Bush let loose a string of such vituperation as terming the DPRK and some other countries as countries threatening the U.S. and world peace and an axis of evil. And he blustered that the United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten the U.S. with the world's most destructive weapons. He has been free to make anti-DPRK remarks since he came to power. But his recent remarks explicitly seek an ulterior political aim. It is well known that since he came to power, U.S. friction with other countries has become frequent and international relations have got more turbulent than ever before. The U.S. is in the grip of a serious economic recession that could hardly be seen in the days of the Democratic Party administration, there were large-scale attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the U.S. Department of Defence building in Washington and large scandals related to the administration have been brought to light. This is entirely attributable to the unilateral and self-opinionated foreign policy, political immaturity and moral leprosy of the Bush administration. Herein lie answers to questions as to why the modern terrorism is focussed on the U.S. alone and why it has become serious while Bush is in office. The reality goes to clearly prove that the root cause of all misfortune is the reckless strong-arm policy of the Bush administration. Such being a hard fact, Bush, making a profound confusing of right and wrong, foolishly attempts to ascribe all accusations made against it at home and abroad due to his reactionary and chauvinist policy to terrorism. What merits a serious attention is that Bush disclosed his reckless attempt to stifle the DPRK by force of arms. There has been no precedent in the modern history of DPRK-U.S. relations that in his policy speech the U.S. President made undisguised threatening remarks on aggression and threat against the DPRK, an independent and sovereign state. This is, in fact, little short of declaring a war against the DPRK. Nice words for nice words. We cannot but take a serious view of the dangerous remarks made by Bush from the outset of the year. His remarks clearly show what a real aim the U.S. sought when it proposed to resume the talks with the DPRK recently and why did the present U.S. administration rule out even the possibility of seeking a negotiated settlement of the nuclear and missile issues created in the period of the preceding administration. The prevailing situation where the U.S. openly disclosed its intention to stifle the DPRK by force of arms makes us keenly realize once again what a just stand the DPRK took when it has followed the U.S. with vigilance and what a far-sighted policy it has pursued to equip itself with powerful offensive and defensive means, tightening its belt. We are sharply watching the disturbing moves of the United States that has pushed the situation of the brink of war after throwing away even the mask of dialogue and negotiations. The option to strike impudently advocated by the U.S. is not its monopoly. The heroic Korean people's Army and people will never tolerate the U.S. reckless attempt to stifle the DPRK by force of arms but mercilessly wipe out the aggressors. Probe into truth about U.S. mass
Radio Havana Cuba-29 January 2002
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2002 04:02:23 -0500 To: undisclosed-recipients:; Subject: Radio Havana Cuba-29 January 2002 Radio Havana Cuba-29 January 2002 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Radio Havana Cuba - News Update - 29 January 2002 . *FIDEL ADDRESSES CLOSING SESSION OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS CONGRESS *U.S. PRESSURES LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES TO PRESENT ITS ANNUAL ANTI-CUBA RESOLUTION AT UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION *BLOCKADE OF CUBA COSTS US FARMERS MORE THAN $1 BILLION A YEAR - STUDY *VIETNAM'S AMBASSADOR VISITS SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK IN HOLGUIN *JOSE MARTI REMEMBERED IN HANOI *GENERAL COORDINATOR OF SPANISH OPPOSITION POLITICAL PARTY VISITS CUBA *CUBA REAFFIRMS SUPPORT FOR MEXICO'S SEAT ON UN SECURITY COUNCIL *WHITE HOUSE CONFIRMS DECISION TO REFUSE TALIBAN PRISONERS POW STATUS *ISRAELI TROOPS RAID PALESTINIAN TOWN *Viewpont: CUBA AND HONDURAS RENEW RELATIONS . *FIDEL ADDRESSES CLOSING SESSION OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS CONGRESS Havana, January 29 (RHC)--Cuban President Fidel Castro, Monday, addressed the participants at the closing session of the 10th Congress of the Federation High School Students, which took place over the last three days at Havana's Convention Center. During the conference 1300 delegates representing school children all over the country analyzed and discussed the current educational system in Cuba and proposed solutions to counteract problems relating to lack of materials, school buildings in bad repair and transportation. In his closing address to the students, the Cuban leader told them that they are on the threshold of a new era in Cuban education. Due to the special period, as the country's economic crunch is known, which brought about severe financial curtailment of funds, schools and other institutions suffered from lack of investment. He pointed out that the Cuban Ministry of Education has embarked on a program that will benefit all educational sectors and that they could look forward to better resources and conditions. The Monday plenary session of the 10th congress of Cuban high school children concluded with a commitment that the congress would remain open and at the request of President Fidel Castro, delegates would meet again in three months to review the implementation of new initiatives to improve high school education. In the meantime, the 1,300 delegates were presented with the first volume of a set of history books, written by a group of renowned Cuban professors and signed by Fidel Castro. *U.S. PRESSURES LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES TO PRESENT ITS ANNUAL ANTI-CUBA RESOLUTION AT UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION Havana, January 29 (RHC)--Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque has accused the United States of pressuring Latin American governments to present its annual resolution against the island at the United Nations Human Rights Commission. In an interview with Prensa Latina News Agency, the Cuban foreign minister said that Havana is confident that regional members of the Geneva-based UN Commission will assume a dignified position despite pressures and threats from Washington. The top Cuban diplomat warned that the United States would try to condemn Cuba in Geneva, using all kinds of pressures on Latin American countries to get them to present Washington's resolution -- given that the Czech Republic does not want to sponsor it this year. Felipe Perez Roque said that Prague feels it has already paid its debt to their masters in Washington. Cuba's foreign minister pointed out that despite four decades of accusations of alleged human rights violations, the United States has not been able to fabricate one single case of a disappeared or tortured political prisoner. He also noted that Cuba -- supposedly the great violator of human rights, according to Washington -- has a life expectancy of 76 years, when there are many countries in the Third World with a life expectancy of only 45 years. *BLOCKADE OF CUBA COSTS US FARMERS MORE THAN $1 BILLION A YEAR - STUDY Washington, January 29 (RHC)--A study commissioned by the Washington-based Cuba Policy Foundation shows that U.S. farmers are annually losing more than one billion dollars because of the U.S. blockade against the island. The study, entitled Economic Impacts of U.S. Agricultural Exports to Cuba, was conducted by C. Parr Rosson and Flynn Adcock, professors of agricultural economics at Texas AM University. In a statement released with the report, Rosson said that if the blockade were lifted, the average farmer in the U.S. would feel a difference in his or her life within two to three years. Sally Grooms Cowal, president of the Cuba Policy Foundation, told reporters on Capitol Hill that the U.S. is losing out on as much as 3.6 billion dollars in related economic activity due to the blockade. She said that she hoped the newly released study would help encourage Congress to take steps to end the blockade, if only to help out American farmers. The head of the
WAR TIMES, a new biweekly newspaper
From: Macdonald Stainsby [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: George Snedeker [EMAIL PROTECTED] PLEASE FREELY DISTRIBUTE AND POST January 28, 2002 The pilot issue of WAR TIMES, a new biweekly newspaper opposing the war on terrorism, will roll off the press on February 14. (See the WAR TIMES prospectus and new list of national endorsers below.) Featuring an exclusive interview with Danny Glover and a letter to President Bush from Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchu, the premier of this bilingual, free publication will be distributed in several dozen cities across the country. But we need your help to extend WAR TIMES' reach even further and lay a durable foundation for long-term publication. Please join hundreds of other activists across the country by contributing in one or more of the following ways: ***Volunteer to distribute the pilot issue to your co-workers, friends, classmates, family and/or members of your organization. Contact us at [EMAIL PROTECTED], EBC/War Times, 1230 Market Street, PMB 409, San Francisco, CA 94102, 510-869-5156, to let us know how many copies you would like and make arrangements to get a bundle to you. ***Make a tax-deductible contribution by sending a check to EBC/War Times at the address above, or sign up as a monthly sustainer with a pledge of $10/month or more. ***Volunteer your writing, photographic, or drawing skills when WAR TIMES goes into regular publication. ***Give us feedback on WAR TIMES' pilot issue so we can make changes and improvements for the first regular issue. ***Pass this message on to others who want to see a regular, accessible and hard-hitting anti-war on terrorism message reach hundreds of thousands of people in every community, constituency and region of the country. ***If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area, come to the big WAR TIMES launch party, Saturday, Feb. 16, Noon- 4pm, Mandela Village/Youth Empowerment Center, 1357 Fifth Street, West Oakland, to discuss and strategize about the current educational moment and then fan out to distribute thousands of copies of this free paper all across the northern Ca lifornia (childcare provided but please RSVP; wheelchair accessible). With your help, WAR TIMES can hit the ground with tremendous momentum and make a difference at this perilous time for our country and the world. We hope to hear from you. Organizing Committee (organizations listed for identification purposes only): Jan Adams, former associate director, Applied Research Center Linda Burnham, executive director, Women of Color Resource Center Jung Hee Choi, Women of Color Resource Center Max Elbaum, former managing editor, CrossRoads magazine Arnoldo Garcia, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights Adam Gold, STORM Rebecca Gordon, Seminarians for Peace Felicia Gustin, co-director, Speak Out Van Jones, national executive director, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights Elizabeth (Betita) Martinez, director, Institute for MultiRacial Justice Steve Williams, executive director, POWER Bob Wing, former executive editor, ColorLines magazine Partial List of Endorsers (organizations listed for identification purposes only) Karin Aguilar-San Juan, author and professor, Macalester College Michael Albert, Z/Znet Michelle Alexander, ACLU of Northern California American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, San Francisco Chapter Jane Bai, executive director, CAAAV--Organizing Asian Communities Frances Beal, national secretary, Black Radical Congress Phyllis Bennis, Institute for Policy Studies Larry Bensky, KPFA Blase Bonpane, director, Office of the Americas Paul Buhle, author and teacher, Brown University Douglas Calvin, executive director, Youth Leadership Support Network Sue Chan, M.D., medical director, Oakland Asian Health Services Pamela Chiang, environmental justice activist Noam Chomsky, professor, MIT Kathleen Cleaver, co-director, Human Rights Research Fund Chris Crass, writer and activist Joy Crocker, Church Women United Hunter Cutting, executive director, We Interrupt This Message Malkia Cyril, We Interrupt This Message Barbara Dane, musician Gary Delgado, executive director, Applied Research Center Antonio Diaz, executive director, PODER Junot Diaz, writer Kim Diehl, co-director, Southerners on New Ground Hari Dillon, president, Vanguard Foundation Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, author and professor of women's and ethnic studies Louise Dunlap, Writing for Social Change James Early, board chair, Institute for Policy Studies Michael Eisenscher, Labor Committee for Peace and Justice Kim Fellner, executive director, National Organizers Alliance Bob Forsberg, editor, Sequoia Interreligious Newsmagazine Frances Fox-Piven, author and professor, CUNY Graduate School Joseph Gerson, organizer and educator Fred Goff, Data Center Chester Hartman, executive director, Poverty Race Research Action Council Francisco Herrera, cultural worker, Caminante Phil Hutchings, racial justice activist James Jennings, author and teacher, Tufts University
Vietnam News Jan 30
VNA Party Theoretical Council meets The Theoretical Council of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee held its first session in Hanoi, January 29, in the presence of Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh. The Council consists of 36 members, including five permanent members, with Politburo member Nguyen Phu Trong as Chairman. Speaking at the opening ceremony, Chairman Trong said that the Central Theoretical Council is an advisory agency of the Party Central Committee, the Politburo and the Secretariat. It gives advice on political theory which serves as a basis for the Party to build policies for basic political theory programmes and projects at the State-level, thus directly assisting the Party's leadership. Addressing the meeting, General Secretary Manh praised the achievements gained by theoretical cadres under the leadership of the Party. The Party leader also pointed out weaknesses and outstanding issues theoretical work, including the failure to meet revolutionary requirements of the renovation process. (VNA) NA's standing committee prepares 11th session The National Assembly Standing Committee met in Hanoi from January 22-29, under the leadership of NA Chairman Nguyen Van An. During the meeting, the committee assessed the results of the recent 10th session of the 10th National Assembly and gave opinions on preparation for the coming 11th session. The NA Standing Committee passed a resolution announcing the date for elections to the 11th National Assembly and the establishment of the election council. Under the resolution, the 11th National Assembly election will be held on Sunday, May 19, 2002. The NA Standing Committee also passed a resolution defining the implementation of some points in the resolution on amendments and supplements to a number of articles of the 1992 Constitution. The NA Standing Committee remarked on the application of new education programmes and the use of new text books for the first and sixth grades in the 2002-2003 school-year at the national level. The Standing Committee commented on the draft Law on Organisation of the People's Court (revised), the draft Law on Organisation of the People's Procuracy (revised) and the draft Law on amendments and supplements to a number of articles of the Labour Code. The Committee also gave opinions on the draft Pricing Ordinance. (VNA) More Tet gifts given to poor people Local authorities, organisations and companies throughout the country are conducting many gratitude activities in a bid to bring a joyful Lunar New Year Festival (Tet) for those families enjoying priority policy and for the poor people. The Red Cross Society and the Committee for Population, Families and Children of Quang Ninh northern province have called on businesses to practice thrift during the Tet holiday to spend part of their money for the poor families and Agent Orange victims. Responding to the campaign, many companies have sent their donations to buy Tet gifts for 600 poor children in mountainous and island communes. The provincial Red Cross has given 100 packages of Tet gift to disabled elder people and Agent Orange victims. The provincial People' s Committee has supported poor households and policy beneficiaries with VND 6 billion in total to help them enjoy the Tet holiday. The People's Committee of Nam Dinh northern province has spent VND 400 million to subsidy nearly 6,000 isolated elderly people, orphans, homeless disabled people and over 2,000 poor households. The provincial Fatherland Front has also spent VND 88.8 million to help over 900 disadvantaged people. This year, Ca Mau southern-most province has reserved VND 2 billion to buy Tet gifts for priority policy beneficiaries. The Public Engineering Corporation No 5, on January 29, visited and presented Tet gift to Vietnamese Heroic Mother Pham Thi Nien whose husband and four sons were war martyrs. The corporation built a house of gratitude for her in last September with a capital of VND 25 million. The corporation is taking care of nine Vietnamese Heroic Mothers and has built four houses of gratitude. Women's equality should be ensured: vice presidentVice State President Nguyen Thi Binh has said that the National Committee for the Advancement of Vietnamese Women (NCAVW) should ensure women's right to equality and improve the quality and effectiveness of women's participation in political, economic and socio-cultural activities. Ms Binh told an annual conference, opened in Hanoi this morning, January 29, to review what was done in 2001 and work out directions for this year's action plan. Ms Binh also said that favourable conditions should be created for women to take part in managerial work and policy planning. The NCAVW will give further training to female candidates standing for the coming elections of the 11th National Assembly in 2002. The NCAVW will collaborate with relevant ministries to readjust social insurance policy for women and
Xinhua: China Develops New Army Equipment
From: Stasi [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Xinhua: China Develops New Army Equipment HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Tuesday, January 29, 2002 8:59 PM China Develops New Army Equipment -- Xinhuanet 2002-01-29 21:08:24 BEIJING, January 29 (Xinhuanet) -- For some years the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has been developing weapons and equipment for its land troops in a steady, progressive manner. Advanced technology has been used in the research and development of field army equipment including missiles, tanks, light weaponry, engineering equipment, anti-chemical equipment, and vehicles and ships, according to sources with the PLA General Armament Department. Achievements have also been made in developing technology related to air defense, control and guidance, optoelectronics and information, and comprehensive logistics, the sources say. In recent years, over 140 research projects in the above fieldshave won government or army awards at a national level. Meanwhile, the general department has tried to help field troops deal with difficulties they have encountered when using thenew equipment. To do this 46 training courses have been held and over 50 experts have been sent to assist land force units. Enditem _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Colombian peace talks begin in Cuba
From: Walter Lippmann [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Wed, 30 Jan 2002 23:27:09 +1100 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [CubaNews] Colombian peace talks begin in Cuba Despite Washington's designation of Cuba as a state Washington says is a sponsor of terrorism, Washington's client regime in Colombia travels to Cuba to negotiate a possible peace treaty with one of its two armed revolutionary opposition organizations, the ELN. And not a word of protest out of Washington about this. Notice also two ELN commanders are on a brief furlough from prison!!! for these discussions! Tuesday January 29 10:26 PM ET Colombian Peace Talks Held in Cuba By VIVIAN SEQUERA, Associated Press Writer HAVANA (AP) - President Fidel Castro was on hand Tuesday as two Colombian rebel commanders on a brief furlough from prison arrived for exploratory peace talks with representatives of the Bogota leadership. ``I am convinced that the country needs peace,'' Castro said of Colombia after a hour-long opening session. ``I salute the fact that they have gathered here,'' he added, declining to comment on proposals that were made during first meeting. Castro was joined by his Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque for the start of discussions among leaders from the National Liberation Army, or ELN, and representatives from Colombian President Andres Pastrana government. Pastrana said earlier Tuesday that if Castro attended the event it ``would be an important gesture'' of support for the peace process. Cuba in past decades had backed armed rebel movements across the Americas and in other parts of the world. Colombia's ELN was among groups in the Western Hemisphere inspired by Castro's 1959 revolution. But communist Cuba ended its aid to insurgent groups in 1992 and in recent years Castro has supported peace efforts between the Colombian government and the country's two major rebel groups. The military leaders of Colombia's second-largest rebel group, the National Liberation Army, said they did not expect major accords to result from the three days of talks. But they said the meeting might lead to more substantial negotiations. ``We hope to make a solid step toward continuing the process over time,'' said Felipe Torres, a commander and negotiator for the 5,000-member insurgency, known as the ELN. Torres and fellow rebel leader Francisco Galan arrived Tuesday afternoon after obtaining official permission - for the fifth time - to leave a Colombian prison to participate in peace talks outside of the country. The only alternative to talking ``is more war,'' said Antonio Navarro, an independent lawmaker traveling with about 50 representatives of Colombian labor, business and non-governmental organizations involved in the prickly process since 1998. While hopes were low for significant accords, representatives of civil groups said they would ask the ELN to cut back on armed attacks including the destruction of electrical towers, petroleum lines and other infrastructure. In Bogota, an ELN commander said in a television interview the group would free the last hostage from a group of nine people it kidnapped in June 1999. The commander did not say when the ELN would free Boris Rodriguez, who has been held for 31 months. Earlier in January, government negotiations nearly broke down with a separate guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. The 16,000-member force known as the FARC is Colombia's largest rebel organization. United Nations peace envoy James LeMoyne, who played a key role in negotiations with the FARC, was expected to attend the talks in Havana. Roughly 3,500 people die every year in Colombia's 38-year war, which pits the two rebel groups against the government and an illegal right-wing paramilitary force. Colombia, ELN Rebels Open Peace Talks in Havana Tue Jan 29,11:32 PM ET By Isabel Garcia-Zarza HAVANA (Reuters) - With Cuban President Fidel Castro looking on, the Colombian government reopened formal talks with the country's second-largest rebel army, the ELN, in Cuba on Tuesday. The three-day meeting follows a December 2001 accord in which the National Liberation Army -- known by its Spanish initials ELN -- and the government agreed to resume talks after a five-month breakdown and begin discussions on a cease-fire. We are here because we continue believing in peace. Because we insist that it is our obligation, our only way out to continue betting on it, the government's chief peace envoy, Camilo Gomez, said upon opening what is being called a peace summit. The ELN was founded in the early 1960s by radical middle- class youths inspired by President Fidel Castro's Cuban revolution. The rebel group's 5,000 troops are still capable of inflicting damage on the Andean nation's electric and oil infrastructure with bombing campaigns, though military losses have reduced it to a poorly-equipped ragtag army that experts say
Ireland. Defence of nationalist north Belfast continues (Jan 7-9,02)
From: Magnus Bernhardsen [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Peoples War] Fwd: [ R . S . Fnews] Defence of nationalist north Belfast continues (Jan 7-9, 02) *** Vidaresendt melding *** Den 30.01.02 klokka 12:43 skreiv saoirse [EMAIL PROTECTED] : Defence of nationalist north Belfast continues Note: Members of Republican Sinn Féin were on the streets of north Belfast, alongside the nationalist community. We make no apology for standing shoulder to shoulder with the people who have faced a combined force of Brit occupation forces and loyalism. They have stood up against an onslaught of terrorism and have refused to let this terrorism beat them. They have suffered all kinds of injuries, from Crown Forces batons to plastic bullets. They have been petrol bombed, pipe and blast bombed and faced bullets from loyalist gunmen. Ask any member of Republican Sinn Féin what they think of those people of nationalist north Belfast and they'll tell you that they are proud to be a part of the people, a brave people. Unlike Provisional Brit Crown ministers who sit at the seat of Unionism at Stormont making excuses for the resistance of the nationalist people towards an Orange statelet and Brit occupation, to appease an occupying government, Republican Sinn Féin openly supports that resistance to this Six County statelet and the occupation, loyalism, sectarianism and hate that this unjust statelet nurtures. The Minister of the Crown sitting in Stormont make apologies for this resistance. They tell the world on news reports they couldn't control the situation, always sure not to use that word - resistance. MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 2002. The return to school for the children of Holy Cross is nothing new. As they walked up the Ardoyne Road there were groups of loyalists along the road. Some shouting went on as before, foul and sectarian, but this was just another day of the school walk. There was a lot of tension in the air but the morning passed off with no more than that. Monday afternoon went on the same way and there was a feeling there was a build-up to something more. TUESDAY, JANUARY 8, 2002. Tuesday passed off as Monday with a repeat of the sectarianism seen so often before. There was also a feeling of an uneasy calm but apart from a few minor incidents Tuesday passed off quiet. WESNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2002. Wednesday morning. 8.45am. As the children and parents of Holy Cross walked up the Ardoyne Road to school and passed by the Brit/RUC occupation forces they came face to face with groups of loyalist bigots at Glenbryn. Sectarian and foul catcalls were made against the children of Holy Cross and their parents. The parents were treated the same way as they returned back down the Ardoyne Road again. Around 2.00pm on Wednesday afternoon the parents of the Holy Cross children walked up the Ardoyne Road to pick up their children. Again they were faced with loyalist bigots with their foul sectarian mouths. As they picked the children up and began the walk back down the Ardoyne Road again a crowd of loyalists were now standing in their way. There was sectarian abuse being thrown and the loyalists began bumping into the parents and children as they walked past. At one stage three men (big brave loyalists) set upon a mother and her two young children. The woman was beaten by the men as the children became very scared and upset. With news of the attacks on the Holy Cross children and their parents, hundreds of nationalists made their way to the Ardoyne to make sure all the children were out of the school. Fighting then took place, with the nationalists trying to make it to the school as it became clear that there were still children in the Holy Cross school cut off and unable to get home by the Ardoyne Road. 2.20pm. They Holy Cross primary school was now under attack from loyalist mobs. Nationalists tried to push through RUC/Brit army lines to get to the school. Running battles took place with nationalist street fighters pushing the loyalists down side streets and other nationalist fighters trying to push through Brit occupation forces lines to get to the school. Fighting was now taking place in the Alliance Road. A number of cars were damaged there. These cars were used by the UDA/UFF, UVF to bring loyalist paramilitaries into the area from the Shankill and other loyalist areas. These cars were put out of action and no doubt upsetting the movement of loyalist paramilitary groups within this area for a time. As luck would have it, two cars belonging to Brit ministers at Stormont, David Trimble and his side kick Mark Durkan were also wrecked. Members of these Brit ministers staff were visiting the area as loyalist hate-filled bigots attacked Holy Cross primary school. It should be noted that these people were not visiting the school but loyalist bigots in the area. Around 3.00pm news came out that no children were now in the school. As the children were taken out the back of the school down
Philippines: tripwire to a new Vietnam?
From: mart [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [pttp] Fw: Philippines: tripwire to a new Vietnam? To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2002 5:22 AM Subject: Philippines: tripwire to a new Vietnam? Statement from National Democratic Front of the Philippines A tripwire to a new Vietnam? By sending 650 US combat troops, including 160 Green Berets and Navy Seals, with the approval of the puppet Macapagal regime, into a battle zone in Southern Philippines, U.S. imperialismis deliberately setting up a tripwire to a new Vietnam. The lame excuse is a joint military operation, dubbed Balikatan Exercise, against the CIA and AFP creation, the Abu Sayyaf group. The interventionist troops will be using live bullets, staying for six months up to a year, and authorised to fire back in so-called self-defence. US troops are not only in Mindanao, they are also setting up quarters in Laur, Nueva Ecija in Central Luzon. The advocate of the failed all-out war against Mindanao under the discredited Estrada regime, General Angelo Reyes, let the cat out of the bag by announcing that after the Abu Sayyaf, the New People's Army (NPA) would be the next target. In their arrogance, U.S. imperialism and the Macapagal regime trample on the Manila Government s own constitution that forbids the entry of foreign troops except when a treaty allows it. The puppet Macapagal regime cites the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) as the justification for the entry of the US combat troops. But the VFA, even under the Manila Government s standards, cannot be regarded as a treaty. The US Senate has not ratified it. Moreover the VFA does not allow US troops to join combat patrols. For the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, the ominous presence of the US interventionist troops is a flagrant violation of the national sovereignty of the Filipino people and the territorial integrity of the Philippines. The broadest united front of patriotic and progressive forces in the Philippines and in the international community must be mobilised to vigorously oppose and resist this latest US intervention in the Philippines that threatens to become a US war of aggression against the Filipino people. The American people and their anti-imperialist and progressive organisations, just as during the Vietnam War, must stand up and defy this US imperialist intervention against the Filipino people. Our history is filled with lessons about US imperialist treachery and aggression. On February 4, 1899, the U.S. started the Philippine-American War by initiating an encounter with Filipino revolutionary forces. It used the false allegation that Filipino troops would start killing all foreign residents in Manila on February 15, 1899. US imperialism sent more than 126,000 troops to pacify the Filipino people and caused the death of up to 1.4 million Filipinos from 1899 to 1913. A great number of the Bangsamoro were also killed in Mindanao. US intervention in Vietnam started with the sending of advisers and trainers, followed by combat troops. In the Philippines all these are coming in one go. The US manufactured the Tonkin Gulf Incident to justify its war of aggression. Now it uses the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US to wage a so-called global war on terrorism. The Abu Sayyaf group, their own creation in collaboration with their assets in the Philippine military, is their convenient excuse to intervene militarily again in the Philippines. Whatever US imperialism uses to justify its intervention or aggression, the Filipino people and their revolutionary forces are determined to persevere in their struggle against US imperialism and the local reactionaries in order to achieve their national and social liberation. Luis Jalandoni Chairperson, NDFP Negotiating Panel (This is a slightly abridged version of an NDFP press statement issued on January 19, 2002) _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
German Occupation Of Afghanistan: Willing But Not Able.
From: Rick Rozoff [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: German Occupation Of Afghanistan: Willing But Not Able
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK
---
[The same tone as though Operation Barbarossa had been
postponed.]
http://www.faz.com/IN/INtemplates/eFAZ/docmain.asp?rub={B1311FCC-FBFB-11D2-B
228-00105A9CAF88}doc={255E2F6B-7B67-49C6-A1B1-9C494B5F5E8D}
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
January 30, 2002
Action, Not Words
Berthold Kohler
You really can't have it any better, German Defense
Minister Rudolf Scharping said after he told the
Federal Constitutional Court that the German
government cannot deliver on a promise to its allies.
Even if you do not share Mr. Scharping's logic, it
could not be clearer that the aspirations of the
government coalition of the Social Democratic Party
and Alliance 90/The Greens to play a leading role in
international conflict management is a charade. For on
the same day Mr. Scharping went before the court, the
government announced that it does not want to take
command of the international security force in
Afghanistan. Such modesty is not the result of a
conviction that it would be politically wrong to do
so, let alone of a fear of being called the lead
nation. The reason why Chancellor Gerhard Schr?der's
government has resisted the Afghans' express wish and
ignored alliance considerations that make it seem
advisable to take on this task is much simpler:
Germany is militarily unable to do so.
Given its intention to assume greater responsibility
in international affairs, Mr. Schr?der's government
does not, however, seem to have dismissed entirely the
idea of taking over the lead in Afghanistan from
Britain. The German government is well aware that the
United States would have no objection to Germany
assuming command in Kabul. As far as Germany's current
military capabilities are concerned, the question then
is who is more mistaken: the allies or the German
government. The German military, in any case, is
certainly under no illusions, and those who are able
to say so admit that it is in over its head with its
existing missions. Germany's armed forces are simply
not equipped for a task like the one in Kabul. Yet the
chancellor and his foreign, defense and finance
ministers evidently needed to confer before this
realization prevailed.
But how long will it prevail? And does the government
still believe there is a connection between military
capability and international influence? If it does,
then it ought to step up funding for the military
immediately. It has long ceased to be merely a matter
of the German armed forces' reputation. Germany's
reputation as a reliable ally that can be taken
seriously is also at stake. No matter how many
international conferences Foreign Minister Joseph
(Joschka) Fischer holds in Bonn or how often the
chancellor visits the United States, in the final
analysis, actions, not words, are what count in world
affairs -- and elsewhere.
Jan. 29
China. People´s Daily Jan 31
Extracts. Chinese, Moldovan Leaders Exchange Greetings on Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations. Chinese and Moldovan leaders exchanged greetings on Wednesday on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Chinese and Moldovan leaders exchanged greetings on Wednesday on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. In a congratulatory message to his Moldovan counterpart, Vladimir Voronin, Chinese President Jiang Zemin said the establishment of Sino-Moldovan diplomatic ties on January 30, 1992 opened a new chapter for the two countries in developing friendly cooperative relations. During the past decade, the two countries have understood and supported each other in safeguarding national independence, state sovereignty and territorial integrity and in dealing with other major issues of national interests, said the Chinese president. He said the two countries have maintained close and fruitful exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and they have established a new type of state-to-state relationship based on political equality and mutual trust, mutually beneficial economic cooperation and mutual support in world affairs. Jiang stressed that a comprehensive, lasting and healthy development of bilateral ties can be realized only by adhering to the principles of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, and non-interference in each other's internal affairs. It serves the basic interests of the two countries and two peoples to further Sino-Moldovan ties and enhance bilateral friendship in the new century, he said. In a separate message to Moldovan Parliament Speaker Eugenia Ostapciuc, Li Peng, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, said the Sino-Moldovan friendship, with a wide-ranging social foundation, is supported by the two peoples, and the Chinese people have always regarded the Moldovan people as reliable partners and close friends. In his message to Moldovan Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev, Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji, said that since China and Moldova established diplomatic relations 10 years ago, the two countries have consistently strengthened exchanges and cooperation in such fields as politics, economy, trade, science and technology, culture, education and health care. He expressed the belief that mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Moldova, the two countries which have great potential and broad prospective for further cooperation, will be fruitful through unremitting efforts by both sides. Voronin, in his message to Jiang, said he is pleased to see the smooth development of bilateral relations on the basis of equality, respect and mutual trust since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Jiang's visit to Moldova in July 2001 has further strengthened the friendship between the two countries, he said. Ostapciuc and Tarlev sent messages to their Chinese counterparts separately on the occasion. Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan and Moldovan Foreign Minister Nocolae Dudau also exchanged congratulatory messages. Russia Puts New Strategic Missiles on Combat Duty. The Russian Defense Ministry put six new-type Topol-M strategic missile systems on combat duty as planned in 2001, and is putting more mobile missile complexes in army service this year, Russian Deputy Defense Minister, Colonel-General Alexei Moskovsky, announced Tuesday. The Russian Defense Ministry put six new-type Topol-M strategic missile systems on combat duty as planned in 2001, and is putting more mobile missile complexes in army service this year, Russian Deputy Defense Minister, Colonel-General Alexei Moskovsky, announced Tuesday. Another six Topol-Ms will be purchased by the Defense Ministry and be used in the Armed Forces this year, the general told reporters. It takes 18 months to manufacture one Topol-M missile. The state program on the development of weapons until 2010, which the government adopted days ago, sets the rate of putting missiles on combat readiness, he said. Topol-M is a most up-to-date intercontinental ballistic missile that was developed in 1990s and can be launched from either a silo or carrier. It adopts solid booster fuel, highly precise guiding systems and faster-launching technologies, featuring much higher flight speed than any other Russian strategic missiles. Russian military experts say it can penetrate any missile defense umbrella. In 1998, when 10 such systems were adopted, 40 percent of the governmental spending on arms purchases was channeled to the development of strategic forces, In 2001 and 2002, only 18 percent was assigned to the strategic rocket force, Moskovsky said. Moscow plans to fully equip its strategic rocket force with such missiles by 2010. Arafat Meets With Russian Envoy Over Mideast Situation. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Tuesday
Axis Of Evil: Zimbabwe
From: Rick Rozoff [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Axis Of Evil: Zimbabwe HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- [The North has got to stop it in Harare before it reaches the heartland of America.] Wednesday January 30 7:17 AM ET Britain Presses Commonwealth to Suspend Zimbabwe By Dominic Evans LONDON (Reuters) - Britain urged Commonwealth foreign ministers Wednesday to suspend Zimbabwe from the organization to punish President Robert Mugabe for his pre-election crackdown on the media and political opponents. Suspension would be a largely symbolic gesture of public admonition by a peer group with few practical consequences. Speaking before a meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), the body's democracy watchdog, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he wanted Zimbabwe's immediate suspension from the Commonwealth's main decision-making bodies. He said he would also ask the ministers to recommend formally to the Commonwealth summit meeting in Australia in March that Britain's former colony be completely suspended. ``I will be arguing ... for Zimbabwe to be suspended from the councils of the Commonwealth and for there to be a recommendation to the Commonwealth (summit) for Zimbabwe to be suspended from the Commonwealth itself,?? Straw told reporters. But he said it was not clear if the eight ministers gathering in London could reach the required consensus. Britain, Australia and Canada are Zimbabwe's most vocal critics in CMAG. The other five members -- Botswana, Barbados, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Nigeria -- have been more cautious. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said this week that no action taken by the Commonwealth was likely to influence Mugabe before Zimbabwe's March 9-10 presidential elections, when he will seek to extend his 22-year rule. But diplomats say such moves have been taken in the past only against Commonwealth countries where governments have been overthrown in military coups, and that action against Zimbabwe would send a powerful message about upholding the rule of law. International concern over the two-year wave of seizures of Zimbabwe's white-owned farms has grown in the run-up to the elections as Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party cracked down on political opponents and imposed restrictions on media. CMAG suspended Pakistan and Fiji from the councils of the Commonwealth following military coups. Fiji was readmitted last month but Pakistan has remained on the sidelines since President Pervez Musharraf seized power in October 1999. COMMONWEALTH ``WENT EXTRA MILE?? The Commonwealth meeting comes two days after the European Union (news - web sites) ratcheted up pressure on Mugabe. EU foreign ministers agreed Monday to impose a travel ban on the top 20 individuals in Mugabe's inner circle and their families and to freeze their foreign assets if Zimbabwe prevented the deployment of EU election observers. Mugabe, who has accused Britain of orchestrating a campaign to demonize his country, said he would accept foreign election observers -- except for Britons. Straw said the Commonwealth had already given Mugabe many chances to change course, most recently at a meeting in Nigeria last year. ``We and the rest of the Commonwealth went the extra mile at Abuja in September where Zimbabwe agreed with the rest of the Commonwealth that they would stick to the clear principles of ... freedom of speech, human rights, (and) allowing oppositions to operate effectively,?? he said. ``They have patently failed to do so.?? _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
MOROCCO (sic): POLITICS-MAGHREB - 10-YEAR CEASEFIRE MAY NOT HOLD.
From: Francisco Javier Bernal [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: MOROCCO (sic): POLITICS-MAGHREB - 10-YEAR CEASEFIRE MAY NOT HOLD. HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- 28/01/2002 MOROCCO (sic): POLITICS-MAGHREB - 10-YEAR CEASEFIRE MAY NOT HOLD. By Nizar Al-Aly. MARRAKESH, Jan. 28 (IPS) - The Polisario Front, which is fighting for the independence of the Western Sahara, says it has not ruled out resuming its war against Morocco to achieve the emancipation of the North African desert area. My people are preparing for the resumption of war (against Morocco), if this proves a necessary means to obtain freedom and independence, said Mohammed Abdelaziz, leader of the Polisario Front and President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). The SADR was proclaimed by the Polisario Front in 1976 as the political authority of Western Sahara. The republic was admitted to the Organization of African Unity (OAU) during the 1982 summit of Nairobi (Kenya). OAU founder Morocco quit the pan-African body to protest the admission of the SADR, which it considers a mirage entity. Abdelaziz, who is currently visiting Cuba, one of the SADR's major allies and supporters, insisted we will not allow anyone to usurp the Sahrawis' right to freedom, no matter how high the price that we would pay is and no matter how long this war will take. A cease-fire between the Polisario Front and Morocco has been in effect since 1991, when MINURSO, the United Nations peacekeeping operation in the region, was deployed in the Western Sahara to oversee a process to hold a referendum over the territory. The conflict began in 1974, when Spain first promised the Sahrawis, the indigenous people of Western Sahara, then a colony of Spain, the right to vote on self-determination. However, Spain withdrew from the colony before the vote was held. Meanwhile, Rabat had already objected to a vote on self-determination, claiming the northern portion of Western Sahara as part of Morocco, while Mauritania claimed the southern portion. The Hague-based International Court of Justice ruled that neither Morocco nor Mauritania could claim the territory of Western Sahara and that the Sahrawis had the right to vote on self-determination. On the day of the ruling, Oct. 16, 1975, the late King Hassan of Morocco announced a peaceful Green March of 350,000 Moroccans into the Western Sahara. The Polisario, the political movement formed by the Sahrawis originally to seek independence from Spain, went to war against Morocco and Mauritania when the country was invaded by Moroccan and Mauritanian soldiers. The Polisario defeated Mauritania in 1979, but the war against Morocco continued for many years until the cease fire brokered by the United Nations occurred in 1991. The United Nations established MINURSO to oversee the cease-fire and a referendum allowing the Sahrawis to vote on independence or incorporation into Morocco. With the chances to hold the referendum growing slimmer because of insurmountable differences between Morocco and the Polisario over voters' lists, the United Nations Security Council voted in June 2001 for what it called a political solution to the Western Sahara question. The accord, brokered by former secretary of state James Baker, would confer on the population of Western Sahara the right to elect their own executive and legislative bodies and to run their own local government administration, territorial budget, and basic infrastructure. Within five years, a referendum on the final status of the Western Sahara would be held. Morocco, which considers the Western Sahara a part and parcel of its territory, already okayed the proposed accord on the condition that it maintain the territory under its sovereignty. But the Polisario rejected using a referendum as the sole possible option to settle the issue. The Polisario chief, who was speaking to Sahrawi pupils in Havana, accused Morocco of blocking the referendum process. He voiced confidence that the vote will inevitably lead to the independence of Western Sahara. James Baker, who acts as U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's personal envoy for the Sahara, met last week with King Mohammed VI of Morocco in Marrakesh. No details were disclosed on the meeting, but the Moroccan press said Baker came with new ideas on ways to speed up the materialization of the framework accord. Another U.S. mediator, Lacy Swing, who is United Nations Special Envoy for the Sahara, visited Algeria last week to exchange views with Algerian authorities on the prospects to settle the issue. Algeria, which hosts the Polisario in its southwestern town of Tindouf, is the front's mentor and major supporter. Algiers adopts the same position as the Polisario regarding Baker's accord and sees the referendum as the ideal way out of the conflict, which has raged in North Africa for 28 years now. (c) 2002 Global Information Network. GLOBAL INFORMATION NETWORK IPS NEWSFEED 28/01/2002
Bush asks Daschle to limit Sept. 11 probes - CNN
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [R-G] Bush asks Daschle to limit Sept. 11 probes - CNN http://www.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/01/29/inv.terror.probe/index.html Bush asks Daschle to limit Sept. 11 probes Washington (CNN) --President Bush personally asked Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle Tuesday to limit the congressional investigation into the events of September 11, congressional and White House sources told CNN. The request was made at a private meeting with congressional leaders Tuesday morning. Sources said Bush initiated the conversation. He asked that only the House and Senate intelligence committees look into the potential breakdowns among federal agencies that could have allowed the terrorist attacks to occur, rather than a broader inquiry that some lawmakers have proposed, the sources said Tuesday's discussion followed a rare call to Daschle from Vice President Dick Cheney last Friday to make the same request. The vice president expressed the concern that a review of what happened on September 11 would take resources and personnel away from the effort in the war on terrorism, Daschle told reporters. But, Daschle said, he has not agreed to limit the investigation. I acknowledged that concern, and it is for that reason that the Intelligence Committee is going to begin this effort, trying to limit the scope and the overall review of what happened, said Daschle, D-South Dakota. But clearly, I think the American people are entitled to know what happened and why, he said. Cheney met last week in the Capitol with the chairmen of the House and Senate intelligence committees and, according to a spokesman for Senate Intelligence Chairman Bob Graham, D-Florida, agreed to cooperate with their effort. The heads of both intelligence committees have been meeting to map out a way to hold a bipartisan House-Senate investigation and hearings. They were discussing how the inquiry would proceed, including what would be made public, what would remain classified, and how broad the probe would be. Graham's spokesman said the committees will review intelligence matters only. How ill prepared were we and why? We are looking towards the possibility of addressing systemic problems through legislation, said spokesman Paul Anderson. Some Democrats, such as Sens. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut and Robert Torricelli of New Jersey, have been calling for a broad inquiry looking at various federal government agencies beyond the intelligence community. We do not meet our responsibilities to the American people if we do not take an honest look at the federal government and all of its agencies and let the country know what went wrong, Torricelli said. The best assurance that there's not another terrorist attack on the United States is not simply to hire more federal agents or spend more money. It's to take an honest look at what went wrong. Who or what failed? There's an explanation owed to the American people, he said. Although the president and vice president told Daschle they were worried a wide-reaching inquiry could distract from the government's war on terrorism, privately Democrats questioned why the White House feared a broader investigation to determine possible culpability. We will take a look at the allocation of resources. Ten thousand federal agents -- where were they? How many assets were used, and what signals were missed? a Democratic senator told CNN. -- CNN Capitol Hill Producer Dana Bash and CNN Correspondents Jon Karl and John King contributed to this report. _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
THE WEST WILL PAY DEARLY FOR THE DEVASTATION OF CHRISTIANITY
From: Miroslav Antic [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: S. Trifkovic // THE WEST WILL PAY DEARLY FOR THE DEVASTATION OF CHRISTIANITY HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- http://english.pravda.ru/main/2002/01/30/26099.html 16:09 2002-01-30 SRDJA TRIFKOVIC: THE WEST WILL PAY DEARLY FOR THE DEVASTATION OF CHRISTIANITY. ISLAM HAS A WILD APPETITE. The post-Christian, liberal and egalitarian democracy of the West was trying to neutralize the influence of Islam right up to the tragic events of September 11 in the United States. Washington's strategies of foreign policy were playing up to the geo-strategic ambitions of the Muslims, throwing the small Christian nations (the Serbs, the Greek Cypriotes today, the Bulgarians and the Greeks tomorrow) to be torn to pieces by the Islamites. They were hoping to pay themselves off in the eyes of the Islamic world for the half-century blind devotion of the official America to Israel. They did not realize that such generous help could only stir up wild appetites and pave the way for the clash between Islam and the rest of the world in the new millennium. Now, the West has only one way to avoid a full-scale collision: to pretend that there is no such problem. In other words, to open the gates for the huge waves of immigrants and the so-called searchers for political shelter from the East and to yield without even the slightest struggle. The Islamic preachers of the West have continued to insist after the events of September 11 that their teaching was only a participant enjoying the equal rights in the competition of different ideas and ideologies of the up-to-date Western world. They do not forget their radical ideas at that, not even a bit. As a matter of fact, Islam entered the new millennium being stronger than ever. First of all, this is neither a European nor a Christian teaching, which makes it the natural ally of the reigning cultural elite of the modern West. At the same time, the followers of Islam take the exclusive priority over Bush, Clinton, Blair, Chirac, and Schroeder. These leaders are unable to awake their sleeping masses to fight for their tepid and tasteless ideology of the multicultural society. The followers of the Muslim religion have the advantage over the Christian religion, especially the protestants, the spiritual elite of the modern West, which lost its faith in anything and turned its temples in social employment or group therapy centers. Such churches do not give anything to the soul that is longing for faith and God, and the vacuum that is formed there is filled in the most aggressive way possible. The petrodollars are permanently nurturing Islam, which is now gaining force, and Islam is using the liberal West's own language and symbols to trample it down. It is no use blaiming Islam and the Muslims, because this is absolutely natural for them. Martin Luther would say that they kann nicht anders, which means they can not lead a different life. Islam is growing by millions and millions of people at the moment, while the West is spiritually weak. Many people have already acknowledged the idea fact that European civilization is dying out, breathing its last gasp. Those who do not wish to think this way ought to be more careful regarding the tokens of capitulation from within. It is either stupid or not honest to pretend like Bush and Clinton that Islam does not differ much from Anglicanism or Lutheranism. It is both, taking into consideration the person from whom this assertion originated from. Translated from Serbian by Sergey Stefanov PRAVDA.Ru Translated by Dmitry Sudakov --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Guardian: Challenge in the east
From: Stasi [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Guardian: Challenge in the east HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Challenge in the east The US is using the war against terror to establish new bases around China, its emerging rival in Asia Andrew Murray Wednesday January 30, 2002 The Guardian Ancient Chinese maps invariably placed the celestial kingdom at the centre of the known world. Viewed from Beijing today, the horizon of the map is studded with stars and stripes, fluttering over newly acquired US military bases. Every twist in the war on terrorism seems to leave a new Pentagon outpost in the Asia-Pacific region, from the former USSR to the Philippines. One of the lasting consequences of the war could be what amounts to a military encirclement of China. First there are the new bases being set up in haste by the US military in Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzystan and elsewhere in once-Soviet central Asia. It is curious that, while the Bush administration has repeatedly made it clear that it has little interest in establishing an enduring presence in Afghanistan, and derides any notion of investment in nation-building there, it is at the same time talking of these new bases in the central Asian Stans as being semi-permanent. The US interest in the oil and gas reserves of that part of the world has been well-canvassed, and let no one accuse this Enron administration in Washington of neglecting the interests of Big Oil for a second. But the significance of the new US presence goes well beyond even the signal importance of Exxon Mobil's share price. Who, for example, would have anticipated that the second military front in the war would be opened in the jungles of the Philippines, to which 600 US troops - with promised British support to come - were dispatched yesterday? The Abu Sayyaf Muslim guerrilla movement there numbers only about 500 fighters. It has no prospect of overthrowing the government of the Philippines, a former US colony which has twice required Washington's arms to defeat radical domestic insurgencies since the second world war. Nor is there any suggestion that it has the capacity to organise terrorist attacks on the US mainland (or, indeed, the slightest intention of even trying). What is certain, however, is that the eviction of the US military from the Philippines after the end of the cold war still rankles. A diplomat was quoted in Washington as observing that the Americans have been desperate to get back into the Philippines since their armed forces were kicked out of the Clark and Subic Bay bases in 1992. Why, one might ask? It is not as if the Pacific lacks a powerful Pentagon presence. The US already maintains just short of 40,000 troops in South Korea, a similar number in Japan and additional forces in the US's western outpost in Hawaii - not to mention formidable military guarantees, backed with hardware, for Taiwan, which is regarded by China as a rebel province. But long before September 11, Asia was already seen as the centre of post-cold-war competition - and China as the main potential rival for commercial and strategic influence over the continent and its emerging markets. Not for nothing has Fortune magazine published for the first time a ranking of China's 100 biggest corporations - nor presumably that the Pentagon has itself recently highlighted the risks and rewards of Asia as requiring a bigger US military presence. The Pentagon's Quadrennial Defence Review attracted little attention when it was published shortly after the attacks on the World Trade Centre. However, this official policy document, the first such of the second Bush presidency, identified north-east Asia, and the East Asian littoral as critical areas for US interests which must not be allowed to fall under hostile domination. The review characterised Asia as emerging as a region susceptible to large-scale military competition with a volatile mix of rising and declining regional powers. China is clearly one of the former. Coyly avoiding naming the obvious challenger, the Pentagon warned of the possibility that a military competitor with a formidable resource base will emerge in the region, adding that the lower density of US basing in this critical region places a premium on securing additional access and infrastructure agreements. There is a growing vacuum for the US to fill - the Russians have just agreed to vacate their naval base at Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam. More importantly, there is a real clash of interests developing. Most of the biggest Chinese companies on the Fortune list are in the same energy and petrochemical sectors that appear to drive the Bush administration's international agenda, from Kyoto to Kazakhstan. Money and power are at stake. It would be absurd to suggest that the main purpose of the rolling, open-ended Bush-Blair war on terrorism is to box in China, the one country in the world with the most demonstrable capacity to act independently of the US. But there is
Korean Central News Agency Jan 30
TODAY'S NEWS (January.30.2002 Juche 91) [CONTENTS] * Russian ambassador hosts friendly gathering * Vicious challenge to peace under fire * Appeal of joint meeting supported by foreign public figures * Appeal of joint meeting hailed by overseas compatriots * Books on Kim Jong Il's greatness off the press * Materialization of three appeals and three proposals urged * New universities to be founded in DPRK * Poultry makes rapid progress in DPRK * U.S. state under secretary's remarks blasted For Spanish-speaking people * avicultura de corea * rpdc: nuevos institutos superiores * desafio a paz Russian ambassador hosts friendly gathering Pyongyang, January 30 (KCNA) -- Andrei Karlov, Russian ambassador to the DPRK, hosted a friendly gathering at the embassy yesterday on the occasion of the New Year Juche 91 (2002). Present there on invitation were Mun Jae Chol, acting chairman of the Korean Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, Jon Yong Jin, vice-chairman of the committee who is also chairman of the DPRK-Russia Friendship Association, and other officials concerned. Present there were staff members of the Russian embassy. Speeches were made at the gathering. The participants deepened the friendship, underscoring the need to boost the bilateral friendly relations. Vicious challenge to peace under fire Pyongyang, January 30 (KCNA) -- The United States reportedly plans to reorganise its forces in South Korea and set up and expand the commanding and control, military training and other establishments till the year 2010. it also plans to build apartment houses in military bases on a large scale to accommodate more families of U.S. servicemen. Rodong Sinmun today describes the new military measures as moves to perpetuate the U.S. military presence in South Korea and round off the preparations to provoke another Korean war. The news analyst says: The U.S. loudmouthed threat from the DPRK is sophism intended to justify its military presence in South Korea and persistently pursue the policy of aggression against the DPRK. It is not the DPRK but the U.S. that increases the danger of war on the Korean peninsula. The U.S. forces in South Korea are a U.S. detached force of aggression, not a war deterrent force, as evidenced by the testimonies made by Americans. The U.S. seeks to unleash a new war with South Korea as a forward base and the U.S. forces in South Korea as the main force, swallow up the whole of Korea and, furthermore, put Asia under its military domination. Prompted by this design, it is keen to escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula at any cost so as to perpetuate its military presence in South Korea and invent a new pretext to ignite a new Korean war. The DPRK wants peace, not a war. So, the DPRK strongly demands that the U.S. pull its forces out of South Korea. As long as the U.S. forces remain in South Korea, it is impossible to preserve peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and clear it of the danger of war. The U.S. forces pullback from South Korea is a yardstick showing the U.S. attitude toward war and peace. If the U.S. truly wants to work for peace on the Korean peninsula, there is no reason whatsoever for the U.S. to refuse to withdraw its forces from South Korea. The U.S. should not put spurs to the war preparations, but drop the anachronistic Korea policy and take its hands off South Korea at once. Appeal of joint meeting supported by foreign public figures Pyongyang, January 30 (KCNA) -- An appeal adopted at the joint meeting of the DPRK government, political parties and organizations was supported by Peruvian and Ethiopian public figures. Tani Baler Lopera, chairman of the Peruvian Committee for Supporting the Independent and Peaceful Reunification of Korea who is also international secretary of the national executive council of the new left movement of Peru, in a statement on Jan. 24 said that the appeal is of weighty significance in achieving the reunification of the country by the concerted efforts of the Korean nation. He went on: The June 15 North-South Joint Declaration provided by a bold decision of leader Kim Jong Il is a steadfast landmark for the reunification of Korea. We are convinced that Korea will surely be reunified under the policy of national reunification set forth by President Kim Il Sung and leader Kim Jong Il. We will further strengthen the international solidarity movement for supporting the struggle of the workers' party and people of Korea for national reunification this year. Bewketu Tassew, chief of the Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, group for the study of the Juche idea, in a statement
[ INDIA ] ML Update, Vol.5; No.5; 30 - 1 - 2002
From: cpimllib [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: cpimllib [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2002 15:40:55 +0530 To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;@tonto.eunet.fi Subject: [ INDIA ] ML Update, Vol.5; No.5; 30 - 1 - 2002 ML Update A CPI(ML) Weekly News Magazine Vol.-5; No.-5; 30-1-2002 NOT AN INCH OF AYODHYA FOR THESE SAFFRON THUGS In the midst of all-round apprehension about possible terrorist attacks on Republic Day, a veritable contingent of real terrorists clad in saffron and armed with swords descended on the capital. The organisers - the VHP and Bajrang Dal - called it a 'Sant Chetavani Yatra' or a warning march of the saints! The warning was addressed to the government and the society at large asking for the disputed Ayodhya land to be immediately handed over to the VHP and its Temple Trust to enable construction to begin by March 12. There were no barricades for these terrorists. No tear gas shells or water cannons. And certainly no POTO! Instead the ruling BJP organised a public show for the visiting terrorists in saffron on the Ramleela Maidan. And the Prime Minister and his Man Friday, India's most disgraceful minister of defence, accorded them an official welcome with the guest terrorists doing all the talking and the government only taking instructions! The case has already been referred to the Law Ministry with a brief to expedite the case and 'examine' the legal and constitutional aspects involved in handing over the 'non-disputed part' of the land to the VHP! Meanwhile, the RSS has given a free hand to the VHP and Bajrang Dal to fix the date for launching the temple operation. In theory, the Vajpayee government is still talking of either a negotiated settlement or a judicial resolution of the Ayodhya dispute. But in practice, it has already taken the first step towards construction of a temple. The fig leaf of distinction being discovered between the original 'disputed' land and the land subsequently taken over by the central government in 1993 is a mischievous eyewash. Allowing the VHP to get a foothold on acres 'around' the disputed land and begin construction on it would effectively preclude any possible subsequent court verdict to the contrary. This mischievous move on the part of the government is therefore not just an act of appeasement, the Vajpayee government now officially stands as a co-accomplice of the saffron brigade. The so-called dispute in Ayodhya was created by the RSS. The Sangh Parivar then built up a hysterical campaign around it and in December 1992 the saffron brigade defied every law and norm of a civilised society to translate the campaign into action. Since then Ayodhya has become an open-ended agenda for the fascists. All they have to do to 'turn liberal' is to shelve it temporarily, but it is always there, hanging like a sword of Damocles on the country. And there is always the possibility of the saffron brigade picking up the sword and wielding it against the country at an opportune moment. The UP elections mark precisely such a moment in the saffron calendar. As far as the country is concerned, Ayodhya ceased to be a site of mere 'dispute' on December 6 1992. With the forcible demolition of the Babri Masjid, Ayodhya became a site of crime and disgrace. For every believer in secularism and democracy it has become a crucial site of contention and struggle. After all that happened on December 6 1992, the previous category of the 'disputed site' has become outdated and irrelevant for this country. It is no longer a matter of legal semantics to be left to the mercy of an Arun Jaitley. It is a question of life and death for the future of democracy in India. Secular democracy can have only one battle cry: Not an inch of Ayodhya land for the saffron thugs. CPI(ML) PROTEST AGAINST SAFFRON SUBVERSION OF INDIAN REPUBLIC The CPI(ML) organised human chains, marches, demonstrations, and meetings on 25 January as the concluding part of the first phase of CPI(ML)'s nationwide anti-saffron anti-imperialist campaign in Delhi and several other centers of the country in protest against communal frenzy, war hysteria, and Vajpayee govt.'s abject surrender to the US. In Delhi, hundreds of CPI(ML) activists and supporters formed a human chain near the Shahid Bhagat Singh statue on the Ferozshah Kotla ground. Party Gen. Secy. Dipankar Bhattacharya also joined it. He called upon the ranks to be on the forefront of struggle against what he called saffron subversion and American arm-twisting of the Indian Republic. He said that the nation needs a powerful resistance movement against growing imperialist and communal fascist attacks on its republic. Denouncing the 'Chetavani Yatra' taken out by the VHP he said, We had seen similar communal build-up ten years back which had led to the demolition of the Babri Masjid and plunged the country into the worst communal riots since Partition. Saffron terrorists are at it again, and this time round they must be given a fitting rebuff. He appealed
UK: Now We Are All Terrorists - SLP Youth
From: Stasi [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: UK: Now We Are All Terrorists - SLP Youth HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- A personal account of harrasment and arrest under the auspices of the New Labour PTA from a SLP Youth member, published in the current issue of Spark, journal of the Socialist Labour Youth. www.socialist-labour-party.org.uk Now we are all Terrorists = Fahim Ahmed, Ealing Southall CSLP Since the introduction of the Terrorism Bill in Parliament back in 1999 I have followed the debate surrounding the new legislation with avid interest. As a Marxist-Leninist I have a political interest in the clampdown on Irish freedom-fighters and domestic 'subversives', from liberal peace protestors to anti-fascist, anti-capitalist demonstrators, and as a budding criminal defence lawyer I have a professional interest in the practical application of the law. These two interests converged on 19 December 2001 when I was 'detained' by Special Branch under the new legislation for the purpose of 'examination', arrested, held for 17 hours, interrogated and tortured through repeated forcible attempts at taking my fingerprints. Eventually I was released on bail, to return on 18 February to find out if I will be charged with any offences. The cuff-marks remain on my wrist and the psychological marks remain on my mind as I write this report one month after the actual event. I had been in Belgium attending a massive trade union demonstration against the EU on 13 December, and the latest big anti-capitalist demonstration on 14 December, both in Brussels. I returned on the Eurostar on 19 December and was checked by French customs on the train before it went into the tunnel. There were dark-suited British officers checking people on the train once it was officially in the UK, and I assumed that they were customs as well. An officer approached me, showed me a Metropolitan Police badge and asked to see my passport. I asked him what he was doing and he explained that he was a member of Special Branch and was doing routine anti-terrorism checks. I showed him my passport and he continued on his way. I thought nothing more of it, but when I got off the train at Waterloo at 4.30pm, the same officer was waiting for me before the arrivals area. He approached me and said: Mr Ahmed I'm detaining you under the Terrorism Act, come with me. I could hardly believe it! I had thought about what a fuss I would make if I ever found myself in trouble with the police, but I never imagined I would be targeted as a 'terrorist'. I asked the officer his name and he told me: DS Geoffrey Singleton. I wrote it down immediately and followed him into a room there in Waterloo station. He sat me down and immediately began asking me questions about who I was, where I had been, where I was going and what I was doing. I began answering his questions thinking I was being interviewed under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE), which guarantees criminal detainees rights to legal advice, silence, and a standard of treatment specified in the Codes of Practice. Little did I know I was actually being 'examined' under Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (TA), which I later learnt is a piece of legislation that makes a mockery of the 'rule of law' and civil rights, which exist only in theory. After a few general questions he began asking me about my support for the Intifada - he knew I was a supporter because I was wearing a badge which had a Palestinian flag for a background, and the words 'End the Occupation, Support the Intifada' in the foreground. I explained that I had been active in the Oxford Palestine Solidarity Campaign, having meetings and handing out leaflets (join PSC, go to www.palestinecampaign.org or call 020 7700 6192). Unsatisfied with my answer he asked the question again, at which alarm bells started ringing. I am used to representing people in police stations and when an officer repeats a question which has been answered, it's usually my cue to say, 'You've had an answer officer, please move onto the next question.' But now, here I was, in the custody of Special Branch under the Terrorism Act, being questioned when I had already given an answer. I asked him to clarify what exactly he wanted to know and he repeated the question again, at which point I said: I'm not answering any more questions, no comment. He asked me where I live and I repeated: No comment. He then asked for my passport, which he had already seen on the train. I handed it over and told him that the address on the passport was my address, knowing that refusal to supply an address gives rise to a general power of arrest. I then asked if I had the right to legal advice, I was told that I had none. DS Singleton looked at me scornfully and left the room. I had been there no more than five minutes and things were already getting tense. Another officer came in and began searching my large rucksack. He also searched my jacket.
Washington Post Editorial: Capitalism Is In Trouble:
From: Charles Brown [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [L-I] Capitalism Is In Trouble: Capitalism Is In Trouble: A Deliberate Scandal Washington Post Editorial January 27, 2002 SUMMONING UP contemptuous rage at the Enron hearings last Thursday, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) declared, When the corporate insiders at Enron realized the ship was sinking, they grabbed the lifeboats and left the women and children, their workers and investors, to drown. But this scandal is actually much worse than that. The bad guys did not merely grab lifeboats; they deliberately created the leaks that brought the ship of Enron down. What's more, the bad guys included not just Enron executives and Arthur Andersen's accountants but also, to a different degree, many of Mr. Durbin's own colleagues in Congress. Start with Enron's managers. Until last week, it seemed likely that Enron had taken on too much risk; that it had hidden this risk from shareholders by parking it in secret partnerships; and that senior executives had urged investors to buy stock even when they themselves were selling out. But fresh details suggest worse than this. Enron's executives apparently used the secret partnerships not just to hide risk but also to steal money from shareholders. The small group of financiers and insiders that invested in the partnerships reaped returns higher than ordinary shareholders could dream of; one deal paid out 212 percent in just over three months. This was a way of siphoning money that should have been declared on the company's balance sheet. The money belonged to Enron's shareholders. They were robbed. Next, consider Arthur Andersen. The company claims that one rogue partner was responsible for shredding documents in an apparent coverup. But the supposed rogue, David Duncan, did at least advise Enron against issuing a misleading statement about its earnings; it was Andersen headquarters that recommended he destroy the record of his misgivings. Yet even if other Andersen employees were involved in shredding, that would actually understate the scandal. For Andersen was colluding in a different kind of coverup years before the bankruptcy, starting in 1997 when it signed off on financial statements that it knew to be wrong. What's more, Andersen may well have done the same at other companies; the Securities and Exchange Commission has alleged that the firm's partners saw but failed to prevent problems at two other companies, Sunbeam Corp. and Waste Management Inc. Some Andersen managers seem to have made a business decision to condone misleading financial statements, figuring that it is more profitable to placate top executives than to protect investors. In consequence, shareholders again got robbed. Now consider Mr. Durbin's colleagues. During the 1990s Congress repeatedly squashed attempts to tighten rules on auditors. Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), who chairs the Senate committee that held Enron hearings on Thursday, fought in 1994 against proper accounting for stock options. Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-La.), the chair of Thursday's House hearings on Enron, opposed a plan to bolster auditors' independence from managers in 2000. Sen. Chris Dodd (also D-Conn.), who now proposes reformist legislation, led a battle in 1995 to limit auditors' liability. These and other members of Congress would like you to forget this, or perhaps to believe it was an honest error; we were wrong, Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.) declared on Thursday, in a show of graciousness. But in Congress there was never a fair argument over the merits of audit regulation. The merits by and large were on one side, and the campaign dollars were on the other. Of the 248 members who sit on committees that plan to hold hearings on the scandal, an extraordinary 212 received money from Andersen or Enron. All the players in this scandal -- Enron's managers, its auditors, the lawmakers -- helped to create the conditions for Enron's collapse. That collapse cheated investors of their savings and cost thousands of jobs. It has also called into question the whole premise of stock market capitalism, which is that investors scrutinize honest financial statements and then allocate capital to the companies that will use it best. If financial statements aren't honest, then capitalism is in trouble. Corporate leaders, auditors and lawmakers need to put aside venality-as-usual and start thinking of remedies. The past pattern -- in which audit scandals have yielded brief breast-beating but no action -- must not repeat itself. -- _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Philippines. Communist Party warns US troops they are targets
From: Magnus Bernhardsen [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Peoples War] Communist Party warns US troops they are targets (OK, here is the full story. MB) this story was taken from www.inq7.net URL: http://www.inq7.net/nat/2002/jan/30/text/nat_1-1-p.htm Communist Party warns US troops they are targets Posted:0:15 AM (Manila Time) | Jan. 30, 2002 By INQ7.net, Inquirer News Service and Agence France-Presse THE COMMUNIST Party of the Philippines warned Tuesday that its New People's Army (NPA) would target American soldiers if they go to NPA territory. Should these so-called US military experts wander into an NPA territory, our comrades may not possibly resist the temptation to seize them, said CPP spokesperson Gregorio Rosal, alias Ka Roger. About 600 American military advisers and troops are expected to join in six months of training exercises with t Philippine troops in the southern Basilan island, the stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf Muslim bandit group, with both government link to the al-Qaeda terrorist network of Osama bin Laden. The Balikatan training exercises are scheduled for formal launch on Thursday after a day's delay. The NPA is said to operate in various parts of the country, in varying numbers. Exiled CPP leader Jose Ma. Sison said, however, that Filipino-American members of the US contingent visiting their relatives in the country would not be harmed. The NPA will not fire at or seize my province mates, who joined the US armed forces, if they are just visiting relatives and are not in combat gear, said Sison, chief political consultant of the National Democratic Front. Sison also advised militant groups not to rely entirely on the Supreme Court to resolve the constitutional issue being raised against the presence of American troops in the Philippines. Mass action should still be the preferred option. A petition with the Supreme Court could just result in complacency on the part of those against the presence of US troops. This is the real intention of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and his spokesperson Bobi Tiglao, Sison said in a reply to questions e-mailed to him. The Macapagal administration maintains that the coming of US forces for military exercises with Filipino soldiers in the Philippines is allowed under the Philippine Constitution, and Presidential spokesperson Rigoberto Tiglao has suggested that the only way to end the debate is to take the case to the Supreme Court. Protesters could resort to both mass and legal actions, Sison said, as militant groups vowed to continue their mass protests. The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said it would intensify protests until US troops withdraw from Mindanao. Bayan spokesperson Renato M. Reyes Jr. said his group, the youth group Anakbayan and the League of Filipino Students would hold protest actions this Wednesday in front of the US embassy in Manila. After a last-minute hitch over how many US troops would be involved in the Balikatan exercises, Philippine officials announced Tuesday the formal starting date and some of the ground rules. Filipino training director Brigadier General Emmanuel Teodosio said US troops would be allowed to fire on the rebels primarily in self-defense once they moved to Basilan island. They (Americans) will be under the command of a Filipino officer, but it's an inherent right of an individual to defend himself if threatened, he said. They can fire back primarily to defend themselves. The campaign will see one of the biggest deployments of American troops since the United States began its campaign to wipe out the al-Qaeda terrorist network, which is blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington. Ground rules for the campaign were laid out at a meeting in southern Zamboanga City Tuesday between Teodosio and his US counterpart, Brigadier General Donald Wurster. Teodosio said American troops would train with Filipino units in Manila in the first week of the campaign before moving in on Basilan island. The campaign was initially due to start Wednesday but it was delayed after the US and Philippines negotiated on how many US troops would be involved. Teodosio said the Americans were apprehensive that setting a fixed number of US participants would cause them to lose some flexibility, Teodosio said. Both later agreed to stick to the previously announced number of more or less 600 including 160 Special Forces, plus or minus 10, he added. Wurster, special operations chief of the US Pacific Command, did not speak to reporters. There has been some public anxiety here over the exact role of the US advisers, as well as concern that the Americans could be killed or taken captive by the Abu Sayyaf. The Filipino Muslim gunmen operate in small units on a number of heavily forested islands around Zamboanga City. In Basilan, roughly the size of Los Angeles, the Abu Sayyaf is holding a US Christian missionary couple and a Filipina nurse hostage. An independent
Colombia: On the brink of all-out war
From: Carlos A. Rivera [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Peoples War] Fw: Colombia: On the brink of all-out war GREEN LEFT WEEKLY Australia's Socialist Newspaper E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.greenleft.org.au - Number 478, 30 January 2002 - Colombia: ON THE BRINK OF ALL-OUT WAR BY ALLEN JENNINGS http://www.greenleft.org.au/current/478p24.htm Colombia reached the brink of all-out war as the government threatened to end three-year-old peace negotiations with the left-wing guerilla organisation, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Buoyed by increased US weaponry and funds, Colombia's President Andres Pastrana suddenly announced on January 9 that the peace negotiations had ended. He gave the FARC two days to withdraw its forces from the demilitarised zone that was established in 1998 to foster the peace process. Just minutes after Pastrana's deadline expired, FARC negotiators offered a proposal aimed at defusing the threat. While Pastrana responded almost immediately, saying the proposal was unsatisfactory, he gave the FARC two more days, until January 14, to come back with an alternative proposal that would promise concrete results towards a cease-fire. Meanwhile, some 13,000 army troops, supported by the navy and air force, amassed on the borders of what the FARC call the liberated zone, an area two-thirds the size of Tasmania (42,000 sq kms), with a population of some 100,000. Top Colombian general, Fernando Tapias, announced that the army was ready for all-out war. FARC combatant Mauricio, who lives in San Vicente del Caguan, the principal town in the liberated zone, said that the FARC was pulling back from the towns, but warned that, If the government wants the rural areas, even a place five minutes from here, they'll have to fight for it. With some 35,000 lives already lost in the war over the last decade, the scene was set for a bloodbath. The situation was so serious that Ecuador's President Gustavo Noboa, fearing a massive escalation of the conflict, announced that his troops were reinforcing Ecuador's northern border with Colombia. 'War on drugs' On January 8, the day before Pastrana's announcement, US ambassador to Colombia Anne Patterson handed 14 Black Hawk combat helicopters to the Colombian military. She pledged unfailing support for the country's war against drug producers. Valued at US$14 million each, Colombia now has a fleet of 29 Black Hawk choppers, which can be mounted with machine guns and modified to launch rockets and mortars. For more than a year the US has been funding Plan Colombia, a US$7.5 billion military aid package, which includes the supply of military hardware and more than 1000 US military trainers and pilots. Amnesty International has described Washington's massive military backing for Bogota as the same policy that backed death squads in El Salvador in the 1980s. With 90% of cocaine and some 70% of heroin sold in the US originating in Colombia, Plan Colombia is painted as part of a global war on drugs. On the ground, it is Colombian peasants who are the victims of this war. It devastates their fields with herbicides, poisons their water and drives them into deeper poverty. There is a continual threat of massacres from government-backed paramilitary forces. There are more than 1.5 million internal refugees. Trade union activists face murder, relentless repression and subversion charges. All this is on the rise because of the growing US interference via Plan Colombia. As the BBC News noted, Washington is calling on the Colombian government to take tougher action against the insurgents, yet it is America's own policies that are generating recruits for these movements. 'War on terrorism' Now, on top of this war on drugs comes the war on terrorism. In mid-October, Colombia's General Tapias attended the Inter-American Conference Against Terrorism, at which Washington proclaimed the Latin American chapter of its international war against terrorism. At this conference on October 15, Francis Taylor, the US State Department's anti-terrorism coordinator, stressed that all the resources available will be used in the anti-terrorism campaign in Latin America, including, as we have done in Afghanistan, the use of military force. Taylor stated that the FARC and Colombia's second largest armed insurgent group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), were on Washington's terror list. Taylor declined, however, to differentiate between anti-terrorist and anti-insurgency operations in Colombia, in which Washington has vowed not to become involved. In spite of this promise, the real face of Plan Colombia -- a scheme devised to destroy the left -- has been quickly unmasked since September 11. During the Christmas recess, US President Bush managed, against congressional opposition, to nominate arch right winger
Only goal is global supremacy, not the defeat of terrorism - JohnPilger
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [R-G] Only goal is global supremacy, not the defeat of terrorism - John Pilger The Mirror January 29, 2002 War on terror: Only goal is global supremacy, not the defeat of terrorism By John Pilger Last week, the US government announced that it was building the biggest-ever war machine. Military spending will rise to $ 379billion, of which $ 50billion will pay for its war on terrorism. There will be special funding for new, refined weapons of mass slaughter and for military operations - invasions of other countries. Of all the extraordinary news since September 11, this is the most alarming. It is time to break our silence. That is to say, it is time for other governments to break their silence, especially the Blair government, whose complicity in the American rampage in Afghanistan has not denied its understanding of the Bush administration's true plans and ambitions. The recent statements of British Ministers about the vindication of the outstanding success in Afghanistan would be comical if the price of their success had not been paid with the lives of more than 5,000 innocent Afghani civilians and the failure to catch Osama bin Laden and anyone else of importance in the al-Qaeda network. The Pentagon's release of deliberately provocative pictures of prisoners at Camp X-Ray on Cuba was meant to conceal this failure from the American public, who are being conditioned, along with the rest of us, to accept a permanent war footing similar to the paranoia that sustained and prolonged the Cold War. The threat of terrorism, some of it real, most of it invented, is the new Red Scare. The parallels are striking. IN AMERICA in the 1950s, the Red Scare was used to justify the growth of war industries, the suspension of democratic rights and the silencing of dissenters. That is happening now. Above all, the American industrial-complex has a new enemy with which to justify its gargantuan appetite for public resources - the new military budget is enough to end all primary causes of poverty in the world. Donald Rumsfeld, the Defence Secretary, says he has told the Pentagon to think the unthinkable. Vice President Dick Cheney, the voice of Bush, has said the US is considering military or other action against 40 to 50 countries and warns that the new war may last 50 years or more. A Bush adviser, Richard Perle, explained. (There will be) no stages, he said. This is total war. We are fighting a variety of enemies. There are lots of them out there ... If we just let our vision of the world go forth, and we embrace it entirely, and we don't try to piece together clever diplomacy but just wage a total war, our children will sing great songs about us years from now. Their words evoke George Orwell's great prophetic work, Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the novel, three slogans dominate society: war is peace, freedom is slavery and ignorance is strength. Today's slogan, war on terrorism, also reverses meaning. The war is terrorism. The next American attack is likely to be against Somalia, a deeply impoverished country in the Horn of Africa. Washington claims there are al-Qaeda terrorist cells there. This is almost certainly a fiction spread by Somalia's overbearing neighbour, Ethiopia, in order to ingratiate itself with Washington. Certainly, there are vast oil fields off the coast of Somalia. For the Americans, there is the added attraction of settling a score. In 1993, in the last days of George Bush Senior's presidency, 18 American soldiers were killed in Somalia after the US Marines had invaded to restore hope, as they put it. A current Hollywood movie, Black Hawk Down, glamorises and lies about this episode. It leaves out the fact that the invading Americans left behind between 7,000 and 10,000 Somalis killed. Like the victims of American bombing in Afghanistan, and Iraq, and Cambodia, and Vietnam and many other stricken countries, the Somalis are unpeople, whose deaths have no political and media value in the West. WHEN Bush Junior's heroic marines return in their Black Hawk gunships, loaded with technology, looking for terrorists, their victims will once again be nameless. We can then expect the release of Black Hawk Down II. Breaking our silence means not allowing the history of our lifetimes to be written this way, with lies and the blood of innocent people. To understand the lie of what Blair/Straw/Hoon call the outstanding success in Afghanistan, read the work of the original author of Total War, a man called Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was President Carter's National Security Adviser and is still a powerful force in Washington. Brzezinski not long ago revealed that on July 3, 1979, unknown to the American public and Congress, President Jimmy Carter secretly authorised $ 500million to create an international terrorist movement that would spread Islamic fundamentalism in Central Asia and destabilise the Soviet Union. The
COUNCIL OF EUROPE WILL DISCUSS ON MILOSEVIC.
From: Vladimir Krsljanin [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: COUNCIL OF EUROPE WILL DISCUSS ON MILOSEVIC! HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- A resolution of the Assembly and a process in its Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights have been initiated in the last week session by a group of CPRF deputies, joined by their colleagues of the Left from other six countries. Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Violations of Law in the Case of Slobodan Milosevic 24 January 2002 Motion for the resolution presented by Mr. Zyuganov and others 1. The Assembly notes that new facts have emerged concerning the involvement of Osama bin Laden, leader of the Al Qaeda terrorist organisation, in supporting the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army. This evidence proves the KLA was part of the international terrorist network. This in turn makes it possible to assess the nature of the conflict in Kosovo in 1998-1999 differently, proving that the aim of the Yugoslav leadership was not to suppress a liberation movement but to fight armed separatism and international terrorism. 2. Slobodan Milosevic was arrested on 31 March 2001. But an investigation by the Yugoslav authorities, which lasted three months, resulted only in an accusation of abuse of position. 3. The transfer of Mr. Milosevic from Belgrade to The Hague in June 2001 at the demand of the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY) was carried out in gross violation of the Yugoslav Constitution. This was confirmed by the Yugoslav Constitutional Court decision of 6 November 2001. Thus the unlawful transfer of Mr. Milosevic to The Hague may be considered kidnapping. 4. As a result of the kidnapping of Mr. Milosevic, the Yugoslav State was denied the right to a court examination of the accusations leveled against the former head of state, while Mr. Milosevic was deprived of the right to defend himself against those accusations. 5. The ICTY was created by a decision of the UN Security Council. However the UN Charter does not permit the UNSC to create judicial bodies. Thus the legitimacy of the ICTY is highly questionable. 6. A group of independent lawyers has submitted a complaint to the European Court for Human Rights in connection with the flagrant violations of law in the Milosevic case. However the ICTY authorities prevent free and unmonitored communication between Mr. Milosevic and his lawyers. This violates the generally recognised norms of human rights. 7. During Mr. Milosevic's detention in Holland his rights have been notably violated by the 24 hour a day illumination of his cell and by monitoring him 24 hours a day, using video and infrared equipment. 8. The Assembly calls on the Dutch and Yugoslav authorities as well as the ICTY to work for the return of Mr. Milosevic to Yugoslavia. That would help end the violation of law caused by his transfer to Holland. It would enable Yugoslavia to exercise its right for a court trial of Mr. Milosevic and it would allow Mr. Milosevic to exercise his right to defend himself. Until then the Assembly calls on the ICTY to ensure that the conditions of Mr. Milosevic's detention in the UN Detention Center conform to the generally accepted norms of human rights. Signed Christodoulides Doris (Cyprus), Carvalho Lino (Portugal), Churkin Guennady, Gamzatova Hapisat, Gostev Ruslan, Melnikov Ivan, Zyuganov Gennady, Shaklein Nickolay, Bakulin Vladimir (Russia), Marmazov Yevhen, Oliynyk Boris, Pakhansky Anatoly (Ukraine), Kanelli Liana (Greece), Neguta Andrei (Moldova), Manukyan Yuri (Armenia) Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe 24 January 2002 On Violations of Law in the Case of Slobodan Milosevic Dear Colleagues, Recently new facts have emerged concerning the involvement of Osama bin Laden, leader of the Al Qaeda terrorist organisation, in supporting the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army. This evidence proves the KLA was part of the international terrorist network. This in turn makes it possible to assess the nature of the conflict in Kosovo in 1998-1999 differently, proving that the aim of the Yugoslav leadership was not to suppress a liberation movement but to fight armed separatism and international terrorism. It is necessary to note that former FRY President Slobodan Milosevic was arrested on 31 March 2001. But an investigation by the Yugoslav authorities, which lasted three months, resulted only in an accusation of abuse of position. Later in June 2001 Mr. Milosevic was transferred from Belgrade to The Hague at the demand of the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY). But it was carried out in gross violation of the Yugoslav Constitution. This was confirmed by the Yugoslav Constitutional Court decision of 6 November 2001. Thus the unlawful transfer of Mr. Milosevic to The Hague may be considered kidnapping. As a result of the kidnapping of Mr. Milosevic, the
DIPLOMATIC SCANDAL: US ACCUSES ARAFAT OF BEING MAFIA MAN
From: Miroslav Antic [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: DIPLOMATIC SCANDAL: US ACCUSES ARAFAT OF BEING MAFIA MAN HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- DIPLOMATIC SCANDAL: US ACCUSES ARAFAT OF BEING MAFIA MAN The positions of Zinni and Cheney show a policy which is biased, one-sided, incomplete, wholly tendentious, factious, divisive and intrusive, one based upon self-interest and exclusion of parts. The United States of America is not a peace-maker in the Middle East, but rather, following this policy, takes a position which facilitates the perpetration of violence and a perpetuation of the conflict. The Israeli newspaper Maari quotes Anthony Zinni, the retired General who until now had performed an excellent task in brokering a peace deal in the Middle East, as having made totally unprofessional declarations at a private dinner in Washington DC. The newspaper claims that Zinni called Yasser Arafat capo di tutti capi (Head of all the Godfathers in Mafia Organisations) and an incorrigible liar. Maari adds that Zinni went on to say During my meetings in the Middle East, he told me so many obvious lies that I came to the conclusion that he could not be trusted at all (sic). However, regarding Sharon (currently under investigation for war crimes in Belgian courts), Zinni was more deferential: Everyone had warned me about Sharon but when I got to know him, I discovered a sort of daddy bear, always positive towards me, always ready to help me immediately and always proposing constructive solutions. Meanwhile, Richard Cheney made public statements on the same theme, on ABC TV channel on Sunday. Regarding the incident in the Eastern Mediterranean at the beginning of January, in which 50 tonnes of arms were found about the ship Karine A, supposedly shipped from Iran to the Palestinians, he accused Arafat of being involved in arms trafficking and called him a liar for denying implication in the case. Cheney went further, accusing Arafat of involvement with terrorism. We do not believe him. He is currently involved in an operation which leads him to work with terrorist organisations, Hezbollah, and with Iran, a state which is intent on torpedoing the peace process. That anyone in a United States administration should have the nerve to mention Iran, after the Irangate scandal, when the US itself shamefully involved itself in the Iran-Contra case, in which arms trafficking from Iran to Nicaragua's oppressive fascist regime was undertaken by Washington for use in the civil war, which incidentally cost around 30,000 lives. Whether or not Arafat was involved in arms trafficking or not, and it would not be beyond the realms of the imagination for Mossad or the CIA to stage anything (it would not, after all, be the first time), it appears that certain members of the US administration have yet to understand how simple the situation is to resolve. If the Palestinian Authority does not fulfil its international obligations, then neither does Israel, a State which reaches new lows in world public opinion by the day. The lesson to be learned from September 11, although the methods were totally unacceptable, was that there are two sides to the Middle East story and the USA takes one side (due to the important Jewish lobby in US society). Traditionally leaning more towards the Arab side, contrary to the position of the Democrats, the Republicans now appear to be following the same path and are switching to Israel. A more constructive approach would be for the USA to encourage Israel, using its considerable economic and diplomatic clout, to honour its international obligations, namely respecting the UN Resolutions on the Occupied Territories. Building colonies on stolen lands is only going to exacerbate the issues. This is what Israel does, and arrogantly refuses to leave. That the USA can take this side and not understand that the Palestinians have no other option but to defend themselves, gives the likes of Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein claims to the moral high ground, whether or not they deserve it. Timothy BANCROFT-HINCHEY PRAVDA.Ru --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _
Weekly News Update on Colombia #626, 1/27/02
From: Red Palante! [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Weekly News Update on Colombia #626, 1/27/02 WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE ON THE AMERICAS ISSUE #626, JANUARY 27, 2002 NICARAGUA SOLIDARITY NETWORK OF GREATER NEW YORK 339 LAFAYETTE ST., NEW YORK, NY 10012 (212) 674-9499 [EMAIL PROTECTED] *11. COLOMBIA: PLAN B IF TALKS FAIL On Jan. 22, Colombian president Andres Pastrana called for expanded US military aid to Colombia, including US soldiers to train Colombian troops to protect oil pipelines, bridges and other infrastructure from rebel attacks. At the same time, Pastrana said he hoped the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) would stick to an Apr. 7 target date for reaching ceasefire terms. The deadline was part of an agreement signed on Jan. 20 following talks in the rebel-controlled safe haven in southern Colombia [see Update #625]. [Miami Herald 1/22/02 1/23/02, both from AP] On Jan. 20, the Colombian weekly El Espectador revealed details of the US government's Plan B for Colombia if peace talks fail. The plan would channel US military aid directly to the fight against leftist rebels. [Irish Times 1/21/02] The FARC meanwhile seems to be stepping up its armed actions. Explosives strapped to a bicycle blew up on Jan. 25 in front of a restaurant frequented by police in Bogota, killing four police officers and a child, and injuring several other people. The Josefa restaurant is across the street from the Fatima Police Station in southern Bogota. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but Bogota mayor Antanas Mockus said initial investigations pointed to the FARC. Police also deactivated a car bomb in a residential area near Bogota's El Dorado airport, and another explosive device in the western area of the capital. The FARC has claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks on electricity towers around the country that have caused power rationing in three departments. The rebels also downed towers south of Bogota, causing authorities to announce an electricity rate hike to cover the repairs. The FARC was also blamed for a car bombing that closed a highway briefly on Jan. 24. [MH 1/26/02 from AP; La Jornada (Mexico) 1/26/02 from AFP, DPA, Reuters] === Weekly News Update on the Americas * Nicaragua Solidarity Network of NY 339 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10012 * 212-674-9499 fax: 212-674-9139 http://home.earthlink.net/~nicadlw/wnuhome.html*[EMAIL PROTECTED] === Red Palante! Comunicacion Antagonista y Resistencia Cultural [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://inquilino.net/palante _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Afghanistan. Four US commandos die.
From: Stasi [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Afg: Four US commandos die HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2002 3:26 AM Subject: [Peoples War] Four US commandos die Four US commandos die KANDAHAR (Online): Eye witness accounts state that at least four US commandos were killed during a Mujahideen ambush in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar.The commandos had been patrolling the area. As a result, US warplanes retaliated by heavily bombing this region of Kandahar, known as Lewa. This was followed by a deployment of US troops to carry out a search operation in order to arrest the unidentified assailants. The US Military is believed to have imprisoned approximately 250 Taliban Mujahideen in this region and consequently, US troops are on continuous high alert in fear of possible Mujahideen attacks. PEOPLES WAR ~~~ Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Peoples_War A people who want to win independence cannot confine themselves to ordinary methods of warfare. Mass insurrections, revolutionary warfare, guerilla detachments everywhere - such is the only way. F Engels A revolution is not a bed of roses. A revolution is a struggle to the death between the future and the past. Fidel Castro There is no revolution without violence. Those who don't accept violence can cross out the word revolution from their dictionary. Malcolm X The Marxist-Leninist doctrine on class struggle and the dictatorship of the proletariat affirms the role of violence in revolution, makes a distinction between unjust, counter-revolutionary violence and just, revolutionary violence, between the violence of the exploiting classes, and that of the masses. General Vo Nguyen Giap Without a Peoples Army the people have nothing Mao Tse-Tung --- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Pakistan: The Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party (CMKP) deploresaction against peasants.
From: Magnus Bernhardsen [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Peoples War] Pakistan: CMKP deplores action against peasants http://www.dawn.com/2002/01/29/nat22.htm CMKP deplores action against peasants By Our Staff Reporter ISLAMABAD, Jan 28: The Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party (CMKP) here on Monday condemned district administration's action against the peasants of Charsadda and registration of cases against the party's general-secretary , Afzal Khamosh, provincial president Nisar Khan and about 120 other peasant leaders under Anti-Terrorism Act. In a meeting, Punjab CMKP president Syed Azim claimed that about 3,500 personnel of law-enforcement agencies and Frontier Constabulary surrounded the peaceful peasants of Hasht Nagar and forced them to leave their lands. The police terrorised the peasants as a result of which tension is prevailing in the area, he said adding the peasants resisted the 'police attack' and laid down before the armoured vehicles and police jeeps. One thousand women also took part in the resistance. He said dozens of peasants were injured during the police violence, as it fired about 200 tear-gas shells on the resisting peasants. Member of the central committee Hamid Hashmi expressed the resolve that the party would not leave the peasants of Charsadda alone and would leave no stone unturned in supporting the genuine rights of the peasants. The meeting demanded that the harassment of poor peasants in Charsadda district should be stopped forthwith, SSP Mardan and officials concerned of Charsadda district be suspended and the cases against the party leaders and peasants be withdrawn immediately. _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Korean Central News Agency Jan 29
TODAY'S NEWS (January.29.2002 Juche 91) [CONTENTS] * U.S. use of biological and chemical weapons assailed * KCNA on U.S. futile attempts * Sports contest for Paektusan Cup opens * Bush's projected trip to S. Korea opposed * Japan hit for trying to justify overseas military actions of SDF * Senior middle schoolers' mathematic contest held * Anti-U.S. struggle called for * More dendrolites unearthed * Number of books on steady increase at Grand People's Study House * Full play to advantages of Korean socialist economic management called for * Anecdotes about President Kim Il Sung * Central Youth Hall For Spanish-speaking people * descubiertos nuevos fosiles de vegetales * vana intencion de ee.uu. - comentario de atcc - * rodong sinmun califica de tropas agresivas fuerzas de autodefensa de japon * promotor de amenaza de armas bioquimicas U.S. use of biological and chemical weapons assailed Pyongyang, January 29 (KCNA) -- Minju Joson today carries a signed commentary 50 years after the U.S. full-scale use of biological and chemical weapons in the northern half of Korea during the Korean War. The U.S. imperialists began a germ warfare by spreading contagious bacteria including smallpox. From Jan. 28 to march 1952 they dropped germ bombs and a variety of things carrying germs on over 800 occasions over more than 400 places in the northern half of Korea. The commentary says: The U.S. use of germ and biological and chemical weapons took many lives of Koreans and seriously polluted the picturesque Korean land and its ecological environment. The U.S. has not even admitted its crimes though a half century passed since then. This is little short of revealing its intention to repeat such crimes. The U.S. units for biological and chemical warfare are armed with about 90 types of chemical bombs and have stockpiled more than 3 million chemical shells. All these facts clearly prove that the U.S. is chiefly responsible for the threat of biological and chemical weapons. The U.S. is well advised to officially admit the war crimes committed by it by use of biological and chemical weapons in Korea, make an apology to the Korean people and dismantle as soon as possible the nuclear weapons, biological and chemical weapons and other weapons of mass destruction stockpiled in South Korea and the U.S. mainland. KCNA on U.S. futile attempts Pyongyang, January 29 (KCNA) -- The United States is now seeking to stage such political farces as investigation and hearing over the human rights and religious issues of the DPRK, with the mobilization of Ragtags from the United States, Japan and South Korea, including some parliamentarians and the U.S. commission on religious freedom. It is getting undisguised in its moves to isolate and stifle the DPRK after the emergence of the bush administration. Such hearing and international meeting to be held by the U.S. at the beginning of the new year are intended to escalate its unjustifiable pressure on the DPRK. This is an expression of the anachronistic hostile policy toward the DPRK zealously pursued by the U.S. in a bid to increase pressure upon the DPRK and isolate it by raising even human rights, religious and other minor issues besides nuclear, missile and conventional weapons issues as outstanding ones for discussion between the two countries. In fact, the U.S. has no right to take issue with any other country over the human rights issue. It should look into its well-known worst human rights situation, before talking about other country's human rights issue, and frankly make public its truth to the world. In the United States there are countless people seized with unrest and panic, deprived of elementary human rights and freedom and other vital rights. The U.S., which rose from the graves of Indians, natives of America, has grown fat at the cost of the blood and sweat of African black slaves and through ceaseless wars of aggression. It is still staging aggression and war, terrorism and intervention everywhere in the world, wrecking peace and wantonly violating human rights. This is evidenced by its war in Afghanistan conducted under the pretext of anti-terrorism operation. in this war the U.S. has massacred a large number of innocent civilians in cold blood only to come in for criticism. It is sheer hypocrisy and a foolish attempt of the U.S. to pull up the DPRK over its human rights issue. The U.S. seeks to put pressure on the DPRK, slandering its system where all human rights are fully ensured. But it is a reckless and futile attempt. Sports contest for Paektusan Cup opens Pyongyang, January 29 (KCNA) -- A
Powell on the People's War: Lies in Kathmandu
From: Magnus Bernhardsen [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 11:21:57 +0100 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Peoples War] Powell on the People's War: Lies in Kathmandu http://www.rwor.org/a/v23/1130-39/1137/nepal_powell.htm Powell on the People's War: Lies in Kathmandu By Li Onesto Revolutionary Worker #1137, February 3, 2002, posted at rwor.org It's a pleasure to have you on board for another of our magical mystery tours, Colin Powell told a BBC reporter. The U.S. Secretary of State visited Pakistan, Afghanistan and India. Then he headed for Nepal, where Maoist guerrillas have been leading an armed insurgency since 1996. The country has been under a State of Emergency since November 26. The Royal Nepalese Army has been carrying out search and destroy campaigns in the countryside, killing hundreds of people. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), leading the People's War, has been declared terrorist by Nepal's government. And taking a page from John Ashcroft, the T word is being used to justify a whole slate of repressive measures throughout the country. A high U.S. official like Colin Powell hasn't visited Nepal in over 30 years. So why did the magical mystery tour go to Nepal? Referring to Nepal's Maoist terrorist insurrection, Powell told reporters, You have a Maoist insurgency that's trying to overthrow that government and this really is the kind of thing that we are fighting against throughout the world... The day before Powell arrived, a commentary in the Kathmandu Post observed: Call it the 'September 11 syndrome,' but the fallout from America's global war against terrorism has helped to line up important international constituents behind Mr Deuba's [Nepal's Prime Minister] own war against terrorism. Months of bombing Afghanistan. U.S. troops in the Philippines. Threats aimed at Iraq, Somalia, Indonesia, and Yemen. War-happy Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld says, If we have to go into 15 more countries, we ought to do it. The U.S. is puffed up and swaggering. And Powell's trip to Kathmandu made it clear that this corner of the earth, too, will not escape the hand of U.S. domination. Now, the U.S. can use its global war on terrorism to justify war on any and all insurgencies--including genuine revolutions aimed at overthrowing oppressive governments. Support for a Corrupt Regime Powell landed in Kathmandu on January 17 and in the next two days met with King Gyanendra, Prime Minister Deuba and top officials in the Royal Nepalese Army. While fully backing the corrupt and reactionary Nepalese government, Powell could not ignore the brutal and murderous nature of the State of Emergency. He told the press he hoped the current State of Emergency would be of limited duration and encouraged the government to focus on protecting human rights while dealing with this emergency. But as Powell dined with the king and discussed military aid with Nepal's generals, the Royal Army continued its search and destroy campaign in the countryside. And the whole country remained under a heavy clampdown. Hundreds of people in the countryside are being killed, and many more rounded up and jailed. Constitutional rights--to assembly, information, free speech, and privacy--have been suspended. Searches and arrests can be carried out without warrants; suspects can be detained for up to 90 days. Terrorists and suspected supporters can be given life imprisonment. Doctors have been warned not to treat wounded Maoists, or face punishment. A shoot on sight order has been given for anyone putting up posters or other material sympathetic to the Maoists. The government has cracked down on dozens of groups accused of having Maoist links. The offices of trade unions, student groups and newspapers have been shut down. The central bank in Nepal has frozen more than a dozen accounts of people accused of supporting terrorists. Newspapers sympathetic to the Maoists have been raided, journalists arrested, computers and records confiscated. Strict press guidelines have been issued. Negative coverage of the king, the army or the police is not permitted. Only official news that comes from His Majesty's Government and the official media is allowed. Editors of mainstream newspapers have been hauled in for interrogation after publishing quotes from Prachanda, the Chairman of the CPN (Maoist). What does it mean when the U.S. Secretary of State thanks Nepal for its support in fighting international terrorism--while the Nepalese government is arresting and interrogating people because they are suspected of being sympathetic to the Maoists, or have simply published the words of Maoist leaders. And this is hardly the first time the U.S. has hypocritically mouthed words about human rights while backing a brutal regime. Another example to put on the list of why people around the world hate the U.S. government. A People's War of Liberation The peasants in Nepal, like millions of other people on the
Vietnam News Jan 28
VNA Election of NA deputies to be held on May 19The election of deputies to the 11th National Assembly will be held on Sunday, May 19, 2002, the NA Standing Committee decided on January 26. The National Assembly Standing Committee on January 26 issued decision on the announcement of the date for the elections of deputies to the 11th tenure of the NA and the establishment of an election council. The Standing Committee decided to establish a 21-member election council headed by Nguyen Van An, Politburo member of the Party Central Committee and NA Chairman. (VNA) Vietnamese, Cambodian, Lao PMs meet on development triangle The prime ministers of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos have defined ways to strengthen co-operation in building a 'Vietnam-Cambodia-Laos development triangle,' and stressed the importance of strengthening friendship, considering it an important factor in their countries' stability and development. Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, and his Cambodian and Lao counterparts, Hun Sen and Bounyang Vorachith, respectively, met in Ho Chi Minh City on January 26. This is the second meeting between the prime ministers of the three Indochinese neighbours, the first held in Vientiane, Laos, on October 20, 1999. The leaders discussed concrete measures to build the development triangle, giving co-operation priorities to building and upgrading traffic networks linking provinces in the triangle, carrying out projects on developing trade relations, boosting co-operation in tourism for the idea of three countries, one destination and energy production. They agreed to devise a master plan for socio-economic development, starting with seven provinces - Ratanakiri and Stung Treng in Cambodia, Attopeu and Sekong in Laos, and Kon Tum, Gia Lai and Dak Lak in Vietnam. They also agreed to build mechanisms and develop policies for the master plan. The three prime ministers expressed their determination to build the development triangle to boost socio-economic development in the common border areas, in conformity with the 1998 Hanoi Programme of Action on poverty reduction and bridging the development gap among ASEAN countries. They informed each other of the situation in their respective countries and exchanged views on regional and international issues of common concern. The three prime ministers praised achievements gained recently by each country. They affirmed their determination to develop their internal strength, increase the efficiency of international co-operation and accelerate the process of integrating into regional and international economies, thus contributing to peace, stability, co-operation and development in the region. The three prime ministers agreed to accelerate their countries' close co-operation under the framework of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), with the aim of strengthening solidarity, boosting co-operation and maintaining the basic principles of the association. The leaders pointed to the need to work together in implementing co-operation programmes to develop the Mekong basin in order to ensure the interests of countries lying on the basin with regard to exploitation, utilisation and conservation of the resources; enhance economic co-operation in the Mekong sub-region, especially in transportation and communications, commerce, tourism, environment and personnel training; and promote co-operation programmes under the framework of the East-West Corridor. They exchanged views on concrete measures to boost co-operation in maintaining security and social order along the three countries' borders, preventing and fighting terrorist attacks in each country, and combating trans-national crime and drug trafficking. Prime Minister Khai and his Lao counterpart, Bounyang Vorachith, expressed their support for Cambodia hosting the eighth ASEAN Summit later this year. Vietnam and Laos pledged to co-operate with Cambodia in ensuring the success of the summit. Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen expressed appreciation for that support. The prime ministers unanimously agreed to organise the third conference in Phnom Penh in 2003. The Lao and Cambodian prime ministers thanked Prime Minister Khai, the government and people of Vietnam for their warm welcome. The same day, Prime Minister Khai met with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, discussing issues concerning their countries' bilateral relationship. Also on this occasion, talks were held between Foreign Minister Nguyen Dy Nien of Vietnam, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Somsavath Lengsavad of Laos, and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, Hor Namhong, of Cambodia. In the evening of January 26, Prime Minister Khai held a banquet in honour of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Lao Prime Minister Bounyang Vorachith. The three prime ministers will also visit some cultural sites in Vietnam. (VNA) PM praises efforts of Fisheries Ministry Mr Khai praised the
China. People´s Daily Jan 29
Extracts. Jiang Sends Letter to Arafat Over Mideast Situation Chinese President Jiang Zemin on Saturday showed great concern about the deteriorating situation in the Middle East and voiced support for Palestine's efforts to salvage the peace process in the region. In a letter in reply to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Jiang said the China supports all efforts towards seeking a peaceful solution and wishes the two sides could take effective measures to get back to the negotiation table. Palestine's Bid to Seek Cease-fire Appreciated In a letter in reply to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Jiang said the Chinese government and people are sympathetic with the difficult condition the Palestinian National Authority and its people are facing. China appreciates Palestine's bid to seek a cease-fire with Israel, Jiang said. China Support Efforts Towards Peaceful Solution *Implementation of Military Strikes Opposed Jiang said China opposes Israel's implementation of such measures as military strikes, economic blockade, impairing the life of Palestinian civilians and damaging their property, especially the act of confining the freedom of movement of Arafat. *Effective Measures for Negotiation Urged China supports all efforts towards seeking a peaceful solution to the current Mideast crisis and wishes the two sides could practice restraint and take effective measures to get back to the negotiation table, Jiang stressed. *China to Play Due Role China is willing, in cooperation with the international community, to play its due role in easing the tension in the Middle East, he added. Myanmar Leader Meets Chinese CAFIU Delegation First Secretary of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt met with visiting delegation of the China Association for International Understanding (CAFIU) in Yangon Sunday afternoon. First Secretary of the Myanmar State Peace and Development Council Lieutenant-General Khin Nyunt met with visiting delegation of the China Association for International Understanding (CAFIU) in Yangon Sunday afternoon. Khin Nyunt said at the meeting that Myanmar-China friendship has been long standing and the paukphaw (fraternal) friendship, forged personally by leaders of elder generation of the two countries, is continuously developing. He stressed the need for Myanmar and China to strengthen cooperation in the wake of momentary changes of international situation, adding that the Myanmar side believes only through development of all-sided cooperative ties, can it be able to cope with the new challenge ahead. The Chinese delegation arrived in Myanmar on Wednesday on a six-day goodwill visit. Egyptian FM Blasts Israel for Violating Signed Agreements Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher on Sunday blasted Israel for violating agreements it signed with the Palestinian side every day, urging the international community to help bring the two sides back to negotiations. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher on Sunday blasted Israel for violating agreements it signed with the Palestinian side every day, urging the international community to help bring the two sides back to negotiations. Upon his return from Jordan late Sunday, Maher said that Sunday's suicide bombing attack in Jerusalem and another in Tel Aviv two days ago proved that Israel's suppressive measures against the Palestinians will not lead to security and stability. The Sunday suicide bombing attack in central Jerusalem killed one Israeli and wounded at least 90 others. The only way to realize security for both the Palestinians and the Israelis is to end the current Israeli acts and push forward peace negotiations, Maher said. During his one-day visit to Jordan, Maher met with Jordanian King Abdullah II and other officials on the latest developments of the situation in the occupied Palestinian lands. In addition, Maher conveyed a message from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to the Jordanian king on the Mideast situation. Maher's visit came at a time when the situation in the Palestinian territories worsened in the past few days. Late Friday, Israeli F-16 warplanes fired missiles at Gaza City and the West Bank town of Tulkarm, killing at least one Palestinian security man and injuring about 40 others. The Israeli air raids were in retaliation for a suicide bombing attack in Tel Aviv earlier on Friday, during which 26 Israelis were wounded. Egypt and Jordan, the only two Arab countries to have signed peace accords with Israel, have kept constant contacts on the Mideast situation. Japan to Dispatch New Fleet of Warships to Indian Ocean Japan plans send a new fleet of four warships to the Indian Ocean as early as next month to replace its warships already there to continue providing logistical support to U.S.-led military operations in Afghanistan, Kyodo News reported on Monday. Japan plans send a new fleet of four warships to the Indian Ocean as early as next month
World Economic Forum to Open This Week
From: Macdonald Stainsby [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [R-G] World Economic Forum to Open This Week AP. 27 January 2002. World Economic Forum to Open This Week in New York. NEW YORK -- When the World Economic Forum opens this week, the largest gathering of political and business leaders since Sept. 11 will address a world newly beset by insecurity, conflict and recession. The economic talks are being held in New York instead of the quiet Swiss ski resort of Davos, where the forum has been held for 31 years. Normally little is decided by forum attendees, who swap business ideas, hobnob and party. But as the annual meeting starts Thursday, its 3,000 global leaders - as well as the anti-globalization, anti-war and other protesters on the streets - are seeking relevance in a world profoundly altered by the terror attacks on New York and Washington. Since then, the world has slipped into recession, tolerance for terrorism has plunged and trust in business has been shaken by the collapse of U.S. energy giant Enron. In early November, organizers moved the conference from Davos to the Waldorf-Astoria hotel partly to show solidarity with New York in the wake of Sept. 11, forum spokesman Charles McLean said. Forum organizers threw off former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay, a regular participant, as his company collapsed amid allegations it cooked its books and bought political influence. Nonbusiness groups like Amnesty International want to build support for an agenda that tries to balance human rights with the crackdown on terrorism. Greenpeace decided to boycott the event after it was barred from a panel on the automotive industry, which it has accused of dragging feet on cutting emissions harmful to the environment. President Bush won't attend because of scheduling conflicts, but up to eight Cabinet members are coming, including Secretary of State Colin Powell, said McLean, the forum spokesman. Afghanistan leader Hamid Karzai is set to give opening remarks Thursday. While the five-day forum includes dozens of panels, workshops and speeches, many discussions among business and government leaders occur behind the scenes, in coffee shops and bars away from the public eye. It's such behind-the-scenes networking that riles opponents of global capitalism, who plan marches to bring to the fore their contentions that cozy economic institutions are widening the gap between rich and poor. The WEF is a living symbol of political and business leaders scratching each others' backs, proclaiming that they're meeting to solve the world's problems while in reality they're looking for ways to enrich each other, said Eric Laursen of Another World is Possible, a coalition of anti-globalization groups that plans a march to the Waldorf-Astoria in the city's first mass demonstration since Sept. 11. Drawing from 40,000 police officers, New York authorities are ready to use crowd control tactics on unruly demonstrators honed during practice sessions earlier this month at Shea Stadium. --- Macdonald Stainsby Rad-Green List: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/rad-green Leninist-International list: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international In the contradiction lies the hope. --Bertholt Brecht _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Korean Central News Agency Jan 28
TODAY'S NEWS (January.28.2002 Juche 91) [CONTENTS] * GIs accused of Rogun-ri massacre * Rodong Sinmun on north-south joint declaration * Greetings to Jordanian prime minister * Unity of whole nation called for * Pyongyang and Moscow open friendly ties * Order issued by U.S. forces to kill civilians during Korean War * U.S. use of germ weapons in Korea condemned * Pyongyang fine art festival * Book Geological Formation of Korea published * Anecdotes about Kim Il Sung * Samsong Temple on Mt. Kuwol * Aeguk Moran Garment Factory * Exchange of greetings between DPRK and Kirgyzstan foreign ministers For Spanish-speaking people * ee.uu. no puede librarse de su responsabilidad de guerra bacteriologica * rusia: album de fotos alusivas a actividades revolucionarias de kim jong il * kim kyong ho apoya proposiciones de reunion conjunta de rpdc * establecidas relaciones de amistad entre pyongyang y moscu GIs accused of Rogun-ri massacre Pyongyang, January 28 (KCNA) -- The Committee for Probing the Truth about the Rogun-ri Massacre in South Korea made public a paper Rogun-ri incident: lesson for GIs on January 23, according to the newspaper Hangyore dated Jan. 24. The paper was presented by major Ryu Mu Bong, an instructor at the military staff college of South Korea, in may last year when he was studying at the U.S. military staff college. Ryu in his paper contended that the GIs were responsible for the incident that took place in Rogun-ri, Yongdong county, North Chungchong Province, in 1950 when the Korean War was under way. The U.S. command should have taken those commanding officers concerned to task under the law, the paper said. Describing this paper as very noteworthy, a spokesman for the committee said: its assertion that the U.S. army officers should have been brought to task is very just and objective. Reporting about the facts, the newspaper said the paper is expected to cause a great sensation though it was made public belatedly as it has totally refuted the conclusion made by the South-Korea-U.S. joint fact-finding group in January last year that Rogun-ri incident was accidental. Rodong Sinmun on north-south joint declaration Pyongyang, January 28 (KCNA) -- The June 15 North-South Joint Declaration is a declaration of independence, peaceful reunification and great national unity based on the three principles of national reunification, a landmark of national reunification and a reunification program common to the nation, said Rodong Sinmun yesterday in a signed article entitled declaration of independent national reunification embodying the three principles of national reunification. It went on: Independence, peaceful reunification and great national unity are the three principles of national reunification advanced by President Kim Il Sung in May Juche 61 (1972). The historic north-south joint declaration solemnly says that the Korean nation will solve the issue of national reunification independently by its concerted efforts on the principle of independence, one of the three principles. No foreign forces have a mandate to interfere in the issue of national reunification but the Korean people are entitled to solve the issue with their national will and efforts. The joint declaration indicates a clear way of achieving peaceful reunification, one of the three principles. The joint declaration decided to promote reunification on the basis of the commonness of the north side's proposal for lower-stage federal formula and the south side's proposal for confederation. It clarifies the way of reunification by federal formula on the basis of recognizing and tolerating different ideologies and systems in the north and south and on the principle of co-existence, co-prosperity and common interest, thus providing a solid cornerstone for the north and south to advance toward reunification with confidence with a common design for national reunification. The joint declaration also reflects the principle of great national unity, one of the three principles. When the whole nation unites to form one driving force, it means reunification. Greetings to Jordanian prime minister Pyongyang, January 28 (KCNA) -- Premier Hong Song Nam of the DPRK cabinet sent a message of greetings to Ali Abu al Ragheb upon his reappointment as prime minister of the Hashemite kingdom of Jordan. Wishing him success in his responsible work for stability and development of the country, the message expressed belief that the friendly relations between the two countries would grow stronger in different fields. Meanwhile, DPRK foreign minister Paek Nam Sun sent a message of greetings to
The Nazi regime in America
From: Kaukab Siddiqui [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [AM] The Nazi regime in America
New Trend Magazine {We now have 171 articles on our web site}
{News commentary by But Shikan, Idol Breaker}
{Views not necessarily shared by the editors.}
--
On January 4, according to Urdu Times of January 17, the FBI raided a
mosque,
Masjide Khizra, in New York. According to a report, the FBI went into the
mosque with their boots on and with DOGS. If readers know of details, let us
know.
--
CHECHNYA: RUSSIAN COMMAND HELICOPTER SHOT DOWN
PALESTINE: FIRST WOMAN IN MARTYRDOM OPERATION IN JERUSALEM
KASHMIR: MUJAHIDEEN HIT INDIAN ARMY INSTALLATIONS
AFGHANISTAN: MISLED AMERICAN TROOPS KILL KARZAI'S MEN
IRAQ: PRESIDENT HUSSAIN DEFIES AMERICA, More popular than ever
{Let's get out of the way the only item in this list which is funny
though macabre. For the last three days, the U.S. media have been trumpeting
the story that they hit a Taliban compound, killed 15 Taliban and captured
27
and only ONE of their soldiers was injured (in the ankle). The incident was
described as a firefight. One network went so far as to claim that the
American heroes had fought man to man and killed the 15 Taliban.}
{Today the real story has come out, narrated by America's supporters,
Karzai's men, who pointed out that the AMERICANS KILLED THEIR OWN
SUPPORTERS.
There was NO firefight! The mercenaries were trying to deliver old piles of
ammunition hidden in the mountains (probably from Soviet times). The
Americans thought these were Taliban and attacked them. Fifteen of the
defenseless and surprised Karzai mercenaries were killed. The 27 captured
have suddenly disappeared from the news story.}
{There were NO WEAPONS in the hideout. In any case, the Americans
launched air strikes to blow up the old ammo stock. Must have made quite a
fire display with secondary explosions as Gen. Tommy Franks likes to call
them.}
(On top of it all, one of the American heroes shot himself in the foot.)
{Karzai is the name of a follower of the ex-King who has been brought in
by the Americans as puppet ruler of Afghanistan though he can hardly drive
out of Kabul.}
--
CHECHNYA has again shown that Islamic resistance is very much alive.
January 27, the JIHADISTS shot down a Russian command helicopter in Chechnya
killing two Russian generals (including one in charge of southern command),
the deputy interior minister and 12 other officers.
{Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar, wa lillahil Hamd.}
These men have been engaged in the ongoing Russian genocide against the
Chechen people with the connivance and sometimes open support of the U.S.
Numerous reports of fighting have come in during the last one month. The
Jihad (terrorism in Washington terminology) is gaining new strength. Russian
bombers have carried out air raids in eastern Chechnya without results (a
smaller Tora Bora and as futile).
--
ISRAEL has been trying hard to make Palestinian resistance impossible. The
Warsaw ghetto was nothing as compared to what the Jews have done to
Palestine. The whole nation has been made into a concentration camp. Yet the
human spirit breaks through impossible barriers.
And this time the martyr is a woman. As a Jew commented: How can you stop
people who want to give their lives.
The Muslim world cherishes and honors this blessed sister. O Allah, the
Muslims are praying, accept her martyrdom, forgive the sins of the Muslim
ummah and make the ground shake under the Zionist dogs till they run back to
the European cities they came from to occupy our lands. {Allahu Akbar,
Allahu
Akbar wa lillhil hamd.}
--
AND IN KASHMIR, the Indian occupation army put on the biggest security
blanket of its history to observe India's Republic day (republic of fear,
racism and bigotry).
The mujahideen responded to rapes of five Muslim women by attacking the
Hindu army units in five different areas inflicting a number of casualties.
{It appears now that the attack on the American Cultural Center was carried
out by Bangladeshi mujahideen, nothing to do with Pakistan. But the Indians
have been busy arresting Kashmiris in Calcutta and blaming Pakistan.}
--
IS THERE ANY ZIONIST PROGRAM ON TV ABOUT IRAQ WHICH DOES NOT ATTACK
PRESIDENT
SADDAM HUSSAIN? Muslims should learn a lesson from the Zionist barrage of
hate. Saddam is the defender of the Iraqi people. He is more popular than
ever before.
Iraq is the ONLY ARAB NATION which defies America and does not want to
recognize Israel. Saddam Hussain should be honored for his courage. Let's
not
be taken
Colombia: Seven More Electricity Towers Destroyed in Colombia.
From: Stasi [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Peoples War] Colombia: Seven More Electricity Towers Destroyed in Colombia - Xinhua Seven More Electricity Towers Destroyed in Colombia = Xinhuanet 2002-01-28 09:27:55 BOGOTA, January 27 (Xinhuanet) -- Seven more electricity towers were pulled down in a bombing attack on Sunday at Gacheta in the Colombian province of Cundinamarca, some 100 kilometers east of Bogota. Jose Antonio Vargas, manager of the Bogota Energy Company, confirmed the attacks allegedly committed by members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country's largest guerrilla group. Vargas said the terrorist attacks during the past weeks have caused huge damage to the electricity transmission system throughout the country and energy rationing looms large. Because of the attacks, about 20 towns close to the Meta and Casanare provinces had to adopt energy rationing plans of up to seven hours per day. The rationing has resulted in severe loss in local commerce and industry. So far, a total of 30 electricity towers have been destroyed in the new wave of rebel offensive, according to Vargas. The official said the destroyed electricity towers belonged to the central line of the power plant Chingaza, one of the most important in Colombia. In recent weeks, FARC rebels have carried out a new wave of attacks throughout the country. Some 80 people were killed in the attacks and the country's infrastructure incurred severe damage. Enditem _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
CPUSA. The Enron Collapse.
From: CPUSA Joe Esterby Sent: 26 January, 2002 12:45 PM Subject: The Enron Collapse To all members: This report is available in better, printable form at: http://www.cpusa.org/article/articleview/348/1/3/ REPORT ON ENRON COLLAPSE By Tim Wheeler Enron! Never before, not even during the depths of Teapot Dome and the Watergate, has the scandalous influence of corporate money hung so heavy over Washington. This scandal is exposing in a new way that the Federal Government is bought and paid for and serves the interests of the corporate rich. This scandal is going to keep unravelling for the rest of Bush's term in office. It ranks with the Pentagon Papers, the Watergate, the Iran-Contra conspiracy, and the Savings and Loan debacle in criminality and corporate venality. It could eclipse these previous scandals in its long-term effects on the economy and our monopoly-ruled political system. Bush choked on a pretzel and fell off his couch a few days ago, but he sobered up quick enough to deliver a loud blast against Enron in West Virginia. He bemoaned the $8,000 his mother-in-law lost in the Enron collapse. Extricating Bush from his crony capitalist entanglement with Enron is now the highest political priority of the White House, the Republican Party and the ultra-right. But there are so many smoking guns in this crisis that the White House looks like the O.K. Corral. The suffering and misery inflicted on innocent people by the Enron swindle is already emerging as an overriding issue in the 2002 elections. It has pushed the war on terrorism off the front pages. That war artificially inflated George W. Bush's approval rating. But the Enron scandal comes in the midst of a deepening economic recession. Enron's bankruptcy is touching off a domino effect with creditors burned by Enron rejecting appeals for bailout loans from other troubled companies. K-Mart's filing for bankruptcy is blamed on this newfound wariness on Wall Street. The collapse of Enron and K-Mart will add hundreds of thousands more workers to the ranks of eight million unemployed. As that reality dawns on the people, Bush's popularity could sink as fast as Enron itself. Today, a Senate hearing opens on the collapse of Enron. There are at least eight hearings scheduled before House and Senate committees. The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating, the General Accounting Office. There is a blizzard of lawsuits including one by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and another by the labor-backed Amalgamated Bank of New York on behalf of workers and stockholders whose retirement benefits have been wiped out in the Enron collapse. The Justice Department has set up a Task Force to investigate headed by Deputy Attorney General Larry D. Thompson. All you need to know about Thompson is that he orchestrated the smear campaign against Anita Hill in securing Senate confirmation of his crony Clarence Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court. Thompson belonged to an Atlanta law firm that counted Enron as a client. Thompson was rushed into the breach because Attorney General Ashcroft was forced to recuse himself. Ashcroft received $57,000 from Enron in his unsuccessful run for Senate reelection in Missouri. The entire U.S. Attorney's office in Houston was forced to remove itself from the Enron probe because they are so tainted by ties to Enron. A striking fact of this scandal is the difficulty of finding elected officials without ties to Enron to conduct the investigation. Half the Senate and one third of the House, both Republicans and Democrats, received campaign contributions from Enron. Enron clearly favored the most rabid rightwing Republicans like House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, of Houston, who rammed through Enrons energy deregulation agenda. For the most part, the giving to the Democrats was to buy their silence Now, there is a panicky rush by these politicians to donate their Enron cash to funds that benefit those who lost their pensions in the Enron collapse. The political establishment is so tightly intertwined with Enron that calls for the naming of a special prosecutor are certain to grow -- although we know from the sandbagging of Lawrence Walsh in the Iran-Contra that this is no guarantee of justice. This crisis has also spurred a renewed effort to push through the Shays-Meehan bill to ban soft money to curb the poisonous influence of corporate political action committees. The crimes are legion: massive corporate fraud; insider trading; influence peddling; obstruction of justice; and tax evasion. Enron paid no taxes in four of the last five years and was approved for $278 million in tax refunds despite reports of hundreds of millions in profits. They carried out this massive tax swindle by hiding the profits in their web of 900 off-shore companies, many of them dummy corporations. Enron was so determined to avoid paying taxes that they filed a lawsuit in Texas to win tax relief. Justice Priscilla Owen,
Working Class Crashes Bourgeois Party at the Waldorf.
From: mart [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2002 1:17 AM Subject: Text: Capitalism, World Economic Felons, and the Waldorf HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --- Working Class Crashes Bourgeois Party at the Waldorf: By Heather Cottin The arrogance of the ruling class is boundless. While 20% of New York City residents in 2002 have been forced to depend on soup kitchens and food pantries to stay alive, the leaders of the world capitalist system will be meeting and partying at the elegant Waldorf Astoria Hotel. They will be following a long tradition of the bourgeoisie In the Gilded Age, at the late 19th Century, the Robber Barons, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Belmont, Morgan, and the others attended extravagant balls and parties at the original Waldorf located on Fifth Avenue and 34th Street. At one party, according to Matthew Josephson in The Robber Barons, the men were given cigarettes wrapped in $100 bills, while the women received 14-karat gold bracelets as favors. In the period between 1890 and 1900 there was a terrible depression, and the median amount necessary for a family to live on for one year was about $500, according to the Historical Statistics of the US. These industrialists and bankers must have sniggered as they cavalierly smoked up what amounted to 1/5 of a family's yearly survival. One night in 1897, during the depth of a depression, one of the fabulously wealthy men of the age, Mr. Bradley Martin, had the entire lobby of the Waldorf-Astoria transformed into Hall Of Mirrors from the Palais de Versailles, reflecting the complete disregard that the monarchy had for the poor in the days just before the French Revolution. August Belmont wore a suit of armor marked with gold inlay of ten thousand dollars' value. Women wore beautiful and expensive jewels as if they were corsages (Protestantism in America: A Narrative History by Jerald C. Brauer) The ruling classes, then as now, were aware of the poverty running rampant through the cities, the poverty that was forcing thousands of farmers off their farms. They were the cause of it. It was they who paid the workers their miserable wages. It was they who sent their thugs and Pinkerton rent-a-cops to kill workers, as Carnegie did in the 1892 Homestead Strike. It was the industrialists who paid the farmers so little they were forced to sell their farms. A Populist Leader, Mary Lease thundered to a crowd in Kansas in 1890: Wall Street owns the country. It is no longer a government of the people, by the people and for the people, but a government of Wall Street, by Wall Street and for Wall Street. Mary Yellin' Lease said, The great common people in this country are slaves and monopoly is the master ; . . . We will not pay our debts to the loan shark companies until the government pays its debts to us. . . let the bloodhounds of money who have dogged us thus far beware! The working classes and the farmers were moving fast in those days. As the economy declined, immigrants and native born people joined together against the banks, the corporations, the system the workers called, wage slavery. Eugene Victor Debs led the railroad workers in a strike that stopped the railroads. It took the army to break it up and Debs went to jail. There he read Marx's Das Kapital, and came out months later a socialist. In the South, refusing to be intimidated by the Ku Klux Klan Black and White farmers joined together against the ruling class whites and organized coops. They opposed the dreaded crop lien system, which turned the African American and white farmers into debtors on their own lands. And how did the ruling classes respond to these strikes and acts of defiance? They sent in the police and National Guards against strikers. They funded and armed and encouraged the growth of the Klan. They looked the other way when nightriders and vigilantes mowed down poor people, the majority of whom were Black, throughout the South. The bourgeoisie showed their sympathy for the plight of the workers by throwing what they called poverty socials. A western millionaire had the ballroom in his home decorated as a hobo camp and his ruling class guests came in rags and tatters. It cost $14,000 to serve them hobo stew on wooden plates. The cost of the party was equal to what it would have cost to have fed, housed, clothed and provided for 2800 families for a year. The wives and daughters of the bourgeoisie felt virtuous and noble as they carried baskets of fruit to poor families in the crowded, fetid tenement houses. The bourgeoisie gave occasional charity balls for the poor, just as they do today. As they danced the night away in their satins and diamond tiaras, the men talking business over cigars, their concern for the poor was as cynical as it is today. The City of New York paid the Astor family $17 million for the land and on the site of the old hotel constructed the Empire State Building. The new Waldorf
Update Global Resistance Agenda. All Slated Collateral Damages ofThe World, UNITE !
From: secr [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2002 11:13:41 +0200 To: undisclosed-recipients:; Subject: All Slated Collateral Damages of The World, UNITE ! Update Global Resistance Agenda Alliance with the 40 - 50 Populations destined as COLLATERAL DAMAGE (Premises at the end) 1. Uniting the Post-Sept.11 Peace Movement with the Global Resistance Movement Developed since Seattle. 1.1 Merging the subscriber lists of the listservs of the two movements 1.2 Participating in eachother's arrangements. 2. Vociferously Defining this United Resistance Movement as Anti-Corporate, Anti-Imperialist, Anti-Fascist, Anti-Terrorist and Pro A New Beginning From Scratch. 3. Vociferously Declaring its IMMEDIATE Purpose to be Isolation of the Fascist US Regime from the US People and from the Entourage of Cowed Opportunist/Corrupt 'Allied' Governments, Dismissal of the Illigitimate US Regime and Putting an End to the US/Israel/UK Crusade Violating All Human Rights and International Laws. 4. In US and Each of the 'Allied' Countries a (Caravan) Campaign for Information of the Facts and thereby Forcing these Governments Away from the More or Less Voluntary US Alliance. Among the Most Powerful Arguments are: 4.1 The US regime was complicit in the the Sept 11 Attacks, http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/anti-crusade (e.g. articles nos. 45, 148, 26, 214, 206, 223, 39, 216, 11, 152, 181, 160, 120, 162, 222, 223, 25 ) as pretext for worldwide aggression and repeal of constitutional rights in the Homeland. 4.2 The Americans by now must have become accustomed to the fear intentionately produced by this chock therapy. And they don't even need to fear the Poor Man's only real weapons equalizer that renders Star Wars missiles, etc., meaningless: the non-lethal Electromagnetic Bomb costing $1000 to build, http://popularmechanics.com/science/military/2001/9/e-bomb/print.phtml and http://www.infowar.com/mil_c4i/mil_c4i8.html-ssi Given an adequate warning allowing for securing hospitals, stopping air traffic, evacuating people with pacemakers, pregnant women, etc., only the electrical and electronic installations and devices of the targeted city will be damaged. 4.3. In each country pressure on the journalists' organisations for establishing strikes against the corporate owners of the mass media to end the complicit media bias and silence policy. 5. The Resistance Movement's Solidarity and Alliance with the Peoples Destined as 'Collateral Damage' and Possibly some of the Governments of the 40 - 50 Targeted Countries on the List of the White House Gangsters. 5.1 http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/take_over is hereby offered as forum for development of this alliance. 5.2. For example organizing of a consumers boycott of US/Israel/UK products as a major task for the alliance. 6. Take Over The Corporations ! The root cause of all of the above and other crime and misery being the transnational corporations, the lasting solution is: Take Over The Corporations ! by utilizing the ultimate potential of organized consumers' power in the classical 3-stages operation (Boycott -- Take over -- Buy), see: http://www.group.yahoo.group/takeovercorporations and http://www.unitedpeoples.net When the shareholders of the targeted corporation after a sufficiently long boycott period have seen their profits and stock prices drop, they get positive to our offer of taking over the ownership of the corporation against paying them back their invested money over a negotiated period of 5 -10 years depending on the profit level of the corporation. AFTER the takeover we now ask the consumers to buy ONLY from the acquired corporation. The vociferous heroic confrontation with the police provocateurs in the streets in this way is supplemented with peaceful hollowing of the corporate structure from inside. Self-evidently we don't need to take over all 60.000 transnational corporations of the world. If we just control key players within the most important key areas, the ensuing immense economic and political power will enable us to control the rest by the mere threat of taking over those who don't obey to new revolutionary rules exclusively favouring the needs of the people and the nature. An appropriate corporation to start with is ExxonMobil/Esso. Neck and neck with Monsanto, this most nefarious corporation has a tiny lead over Monsanto because its ultimate goal is the COMPLETE destruction of life on Earth. By bribing and lobbying the various US governments to continue and increase the insane US energy waste, hiring corrupt 'scientists' to put out 'scientific' papers denying the global warming, etc., this world champion polluter has been and is the very most persistent and influential player among the most hideous corporations fighting any progress towards salvation of the planet, thus being THE most harmful corporation in history ! The on-going efficient boycott of this corporation just has to be
April 19 - 22 Washington DC - Close the SOA - US out ofColombia!
From: Red Palante! [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2002 07:05:10 -0500 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: April 19 - 22 Washington DC - Close the SOA - US out of Colombia! April 19 - 22 Washington DC - Close the SOA - US out of Colombia! por SOA Watch 11:57am Fri Jan 25 '02 dirección: PO Box 4566 ~ Washington DC 20017 teléfono: (202) 234 3440 [EMAIL PROTECTED] It is time to take action and put an end to US support of the state-terrorism in Colombia. CLOSE THE SOA! US OUT OF COLOMBIA! Mobilization to Washington DC, USA April 19 22, 2002 Colombia, with over 10,000 troops trained at the SOA, is the schools largest customer. Not surprisingly, Colombia currently has the worst human rights record in all of Latin America, averaging one massacre per day. 2,000,000 people have been killed or displaced by civilian-targeted warfare carried out by graduates of the SOA. Unprecedented US military aid to Colombia is greatly exacerbating a brutal civil war that has been raging in Colombia for decades. Sold to the U.S. public as part of the war on drugs, the aid is actually being used in the same old counterinsurgency warfare SOA graduates have waged across Latin America. Human rights reports clearly document the collaboration between the Colombian military and the right-wing paramilitary forces responsible for an increasing share of the atrocities committed against civilians. As usual, SOA graduates head the lists of perpetrators. Among many others, SOA-trained Gen. Mario Montoya Uribe, identified by Colombian newspapers as the military official responsible for Plan Colombia has documented ties to paramilitary atrocities dating back to the 1970s. It is time to take action and put an end to US support of the state-terrorism in Colombia. CLOSE THE SOA! US OUT OF COLOMBIA! Working in coalition with over 60 solidarity, labor, student, environmental and human rights groups, SOA Watch calls for a National Mobilization to close the SOA and end U.S. support of the war in Colombia. Mobilize your community to come to Washington, DC, USA this spring. Contact SOA Watch for an organizing packet. www.soaw.org Red Palante! Comunicacion Antagonista y Resistencia Cultural [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://inquilino.net/palante _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
Colombia: SINTRAEMCALI Occupation: Temperature Rising on theStreets
From: Red Palante! [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2002 07:02:05 -0500 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Colombia: SINTRAEMCALI Occupation: Temperature Rising on the Streets SINTRAEMCALI Occupation: Temperature Rising on the Streets por Mario Novelli 7:57pm Fri Jan 25 '02 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Eyewitness Thursday 24th of January, 2002 At 6.00 am this morning in the city of Santiago de Cali, the working class movement, shoulder to shoulder with the community, began to raise the stakes and the significance of the occupation of the CAM Tower in defence of public services. Three of the most important roads, which link the city to the rest of the country, were blocked by thousands of workers. The blockades were maintained until 11. 30. a. m, preventing anything and anyone from entering or leaving the city by road. For the first time in this dispute, the commercial life of the city has been seriously affected, a strategy which the union had, prior to today, done its best to avoid. Since the occupation began EMCALI?s services have remained intact, and apart from the marches disrupting traffic, city life has remained fairly normal. Today things changed, and for five and a half hours road links to the rest of Colombia were cut. While serious conflict between the police and the worker/community alliance was avoided, there was tension in all three locations. At 11.30 a.m the workers and the communities, accompanied by convoys of EMCALI trucks and jeeps, marched back in to the centre, reunited in a mass of humanity that filled the streets outside the CAM Tower. The city?s transport system ground to a halt, and traffic jams could be seen in all directions. If the government thought that the occupation was running out of steam and losing community support, today it received a firm and resounding response, and things are likely to escalate further with the build up for the Municipal Civic Strike which is planned for Monday. In the rally that followed, union leaders inside the CAM Tower explained that yet again the government had postponed the negotiations, this time until next Monday: ?If this is how they want to play the game, then so be it. Today is just a warning. If they think that they are going to tire us out, they are wrong. We have now spent 30 days inside this Tower, and if we have to we can spend another thirty more to achieve our objectives, . ? said one of the union leaders from the balcony of the tower, face covered with the balaclava that has become the symbol of the occupation. The governments waiting game is a dangerous one, and they are forcing an escalation of the conflict which threatens to spin out of control. Unemployment in Cali has doubled in the last four years from 12% to 24% and according to CEPAL (Centre for Latin American Statistics) a United Nations research centre, 70% of Cali?s population now live below the official poverty line. This situation has been worsened by the influx of thousands of peasants who live in slums on the outskirts of the city or on the inner city streets. Most were forced from their land by the paramilitaries, others by the economic collapse of the agricultural industry. But not everyone is suffering under neo-liberalism, and this is reflected in the rise in inequality. In 1990 when Colombia began this economic model, the difference in revenue between the poorest 10% and the richest 10% was 1:40, it is now 1:80. Resentment is growing, and I witnessed this in the anger of the march when the crowds began shouting at the residents in the high rise luxury apartments that line the streets of one of the richest parts of the city. Cali is a potential powder-keg, and one serious incident over the coming days may just light the match. Published: 25/01/02 Red Palante! Comunicacion Antagonista y Resistencia Cultural [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://inquilino.net/palante _ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __
ILWU and unions worldwide: 'Release Jailed Korean Leaders!
From: mart [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2002 10:22:53 -0500 Subject: ILWU and unions worldwide: 'Release Jailed Korean Leaders! San Francisco (Local 10) ILWU joins worldwide support movement to demand release of jailed Korean union activists USA: AFL-CIO delegation called on the Korean embassy and delivered a protest letter from President John Sweeney. The IMF affiliate UAW sent a protest letter to Kim Dae-jung. In San Francisco, a labor / community delegation held a protest action at the Korean consulate delivered a protest letters addressed to President Kim Dae Jung. The ILWU Local 10 in San Francisco has adopted a resolution of solidarity with the jailed Korean trade unionists and will be seeking support from the ILWU Coast Caucus of all longshoremen on the West Coast. See below the messages of support for our Korean union brothers and sisters from the AFL-CIO and the ILWU and from others unions and labour organizations, worldewide. Truly, an injury to one is an injury to all and what happens there, could happen here! In great solidarity with our Korean Brothers and Sisters, and working people and unionists in all countries. mart TRUCKERS UNITE! UNION NOW!! ** - Original Message - From: mart-remote To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2002 9:05 AM Subject: Fwd: Fw: World Unions: 'Release Jailed Korean Leaders' ICARUS [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: ICARUS To: MART Subject: Fw: World Unions: 'Release Jailed Korean Leaders' Date: Sun, 27 Jan 2002 01:45:17 -0600 Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2002 9:28 AM Subject: World Unions: 'Release Jailed Korean Leaders' Unions throughout the World Call for the Release of Imprisoned Trade Unionists in Korea January 22, 2002 Trade unions and workers in over 30 countries converged on the Korean embassies and consulates in their respective countries to denounce the imprisonement trade unionists in Korea, to tell the Nobel Laureate President Kim Dae Jung Shame on you!, and demanded the immediate release of KCTU president Dan Byung-ho, KCTU-KMWF President Mun Sung-hyun, and all imprisoned trade unionists. Unionists in Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bangladesh organised protest actions. Hong Kong: Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions (HKCTU) organised a protest demonstration at the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea and delivered a protest letter to Kim Dae-jung asking the Korean Government to Release All Korean Unionists. South Africa: The metalworkers' union NUMSA organised a protest in which more than 500 participated. Click here to read more about their action. India: Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) sent a joint letter of protest to the Korean president. Dozens of protests were organised in different parts of the country, amongst others in Bombay, New Delhi, Calcutta and Bangalore. Pakistan: The Pakistan Metalworkers' Federation and Automobile, Engineering and Metalworkers' Federation handed over a protest letter to the consulate in Karachi. Malaysia: About 70 trade unionists from the four IMF-MC affiliates held a one-and-a-half-hour picket outside the South Korean Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Indonesia: About 1,000 trade unionists took part in a demonstration. Philippines: The IMF-PC handed over a protest letter. Brazil: In Brazil, CUT, together with its (and the IMF's) metal industry affiliates also joined in the international day of action. Japan: Japan Trade Union Confederation (JTUC) delivered a protest letter to the Korean embassy in Tokyo as a part of the international day of action for the release of imprisoned trade unionists in Korea. A delegation of the IMF-JC handed over a protest letter to the South Korean Embassy. Members of the All-Japan Railway Workers Union, Hokkaido Passenger Railway Workers Union, East Japan Passenger Railway Workers Union, JR East Sea Workers Union, JR West Japan Workers Union, JR Kushu Workers Union, JR Freight Workers Union, JR East Japan Workers Union Federation delivered a joint protest letter to the Korean embassy in Tokyo. Members of Japan Trade Union Council (Zenokyo) and the AWC also held protest action at the Korean embassy and consulate in Tokyo and Osaka. Australia: AMWF, CPSU, and other unions (affiliated to the IMF, PSI, ICEM, and IUF), and Korean community organisations organised a protest action at the Korean Consulate in Sydney. In workshops and public places, the AMWU has put up 10,000 posters calling for the release of Dan and Mun. New Zealand: A delegation of members from New Zealand Council of Trade Unions (NZCTU), Service and Food Workers Union, Finsec (Finance Sector), the Manufactuirng and Construction Union, Youth Union Movement, the Auckland womens committee of the NZCTU and Asia Pacific Workers Solidarity Links called on the Korean Consulate in Auckland to present a protest letter demanding the release of the trade unionist in South Korea. Turkey: The
China. People´s Daily Jan 28
Extracts. Top Chinese Leader on Education, Selection of Cadres. Top Chinese leader Jiang Zemin Friday stressed the importance of helping leading cadres all over the country foster a correct notion of power, saying priority should be given to education so as to strengthen the ranks of cadres. Top Chinese leader Jiang Zemin Friday stressed the importance of helping leading cadres all over the country foster a correct notion of power, saying priority should be given to education so as to strengthen the ranks of cadres. This should be taken as the Party's long-term strategic task that needs unremitting efforts to complete, Jiang said while addressing the 7th Plenary Session of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China (CPC), whichconcluded here Friday. Jiang, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, said theParty's discipline inspection work should play a more positive role in carrying forward the Party's fine tradition and style of building a clean and honest government, improving the leadership and governance of the Party, and strengthening the capability of anti-corruption work and risk control. Discipline inspection cadres should constantly improve their work skills through research and study, so as to meet the demands of the changed situation and new tasks, the general secretary said. Jiang stressed the importance of improving the rank of cadres, describing this as essential for the implementation of the Party'sline and policies and for lasting political stability and social and economic development. Education remains the basic work for improving the rank of cadres, and leading cadres should, through education, foster a Marxist outlooks on the world, life and values, and develop a correct view of power, position and interests, Jiang said. Jiang also stressed the need to improve the process of selecting and appointing cadres, calling for an institutionalized system to evaluate the performance of cadres. He said the Party organizations at all levels, especially discipline inspection departments, should improve their supervision of cadres in line with the changed situation, while leading cadres at all levels should improve their sense of self-discipline and conscientiously accept the supervision of the Partyand the general public. The general secretary spoke highly of the progress made by the Party's discipline inspection organizations in improving the Party's style of work, and building a clean and honest government, and in the struggle against corruption. Among other senior Party leaders attending the meeting were Li Peng, Zhu Rongji, Li Ruihuan, Hu Jintao, Wei Jianxing and Li Lanqing. Thailand to Host ASEAN Trade Fair This Year Thailand will host a landmark trade fair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) later this year, according to a report of the Thai News Agency (TNA) Saturday. Thailand will host a landmark trade fair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) later this year, according to a report of the Thai News Agency (TNA) Saturday. Commerce Minister Adisai Bodharamik was quoted as saying that the Thai government would invest 100 million baht (2.27 million U.S. dollars) for the host of the grand ASEAN trade fair, to be held at the Impact Exhibition Center in Muang Thong Thani in Nonthaburi province between October 14 and 20. It will be the first ASEAN trade fair in over a decade. It will be, therefore, a significant event for all ASEAN member countries to join forces to create a new dimension for strengthened trade and investment in the region, which has abundant resources, and is considered an immense market with the total consumers of over 500 million, he stated. Other Asian countries, including India and Pakistan, would also be welcome to join the landmark regional trade fair, he disclosed. Adisai said that the one-week trade fair would also pave the way for the full opening up of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) in the near future. ASEAN is a world major exporter of varied goods and products, and is a global center of skilled labors and innovations. The trade fair will further promote and enhance the grouping's potential and bargaining power against powerful markets, he pointed out. Inter-country trade in the ASEAN region currently grows over 30 percent despite global economic slowdown. This is because the economic downturn, instead, encourages, rather than discourage, ASEAN members to cooperate more closely in trade and investment, which helps boost regional economic prospect and overall bargaining power against markets outside the grouping, the minister said. Forum Marks Jiang Zemin's Speech on Reunification. More than 200 people from all walks of life in Shanghai, eastern China metropolis gathered at a forum Friday to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the Eight-Point Proposals on Peaceful Reunification of the Motherland by Chinese President Jiang Zemin. More than 200 people from all
