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News Roundup -- Reading The Middle
Eastern And South Asian Press
By Sandip Roy, Pacific News Service, Dec 17,
2001
http://www.pacificnews.org/content/pns/2001/dec/1217roundup.html
Fallout from the war in Afghanistan is strongly felt in
the countries of the Middle East and South Asia. Western media often overlook
important stories from these nations. This roundup assembles from regional news
sources a collage of headlines and viewpoints that have gone missing in action.
PNS Associate Editor Sandip Roy ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) is host of "Upfront" --
the Pacific News Service weekly radio program on KALW-FM San Francisco.
Al Qaeda's Chief-in-Waiting
A 30-year-old former resident of Gaza and head of al Qaeda's
international operation could become al Qaeda's new leader, should Osama bin
Laden and his top lieutenant Al-Zawahari be killed. Zein al-Abideen Muhammad
Hassan, aka Abu Zubaiyada, was based in Peshawar, Pakistan, and was the
principal contact for all Arabs reaching the country on their way to fight in
Afghanistan. Some 2,500 al Qaeda agents have allegedly escaped from Afghanistan
with specific instructions to settle scores with Washington. Though al Qaeda's
international network remains largely intact, it faces financial hard times.
This is the first Ramadan since the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan that bin
Laden has not received mammoth donations from wealthy Arabs. --News
International, Karachi, Pakistan, Dec. 14, 2001
Blackhawks Spotted in
Somalia
American Blackhawk helicopters have been spotted near
Mogadishu in Somalia. An eyewitness said the helicopters flew at a very low
level and were photographing the region. The Blackhawks are well known in
Somalia from U.S. operations in 1993 that left 18 Americans and over 300 Somalis
dead. Sources close to Somali leaders said American military officials had also
recently visited Mogadishu for talks about new targets in next phase of the war
on terrorism. --Al Jazeera Television, Doha, Qatar, Dec. 13, 2001
Beijing: Return Chinese Taliban to China
The Chinese
government has said that any Chinese Muslims caught fighting with the Taliban
should be returned to China. The Foreign Ministry said about 100 fighters from
the Uighur community in China's northwestern Muslim region of Xinjiang were
believed to have received training in Afghanistan. Anti-Taliban forces said they
had captured a handful of Uighurs. The Chinese government has long accused the
Uighurs of anti-state activities such as bombings and assassinations. --The
Dawn, Karachi, Pakistan, Dec. 12, 2001
Saudis Pass on Vacations in
America
Wealthy Saudis who used to holiday in Europe and America are
now turning to vacations in Asia. One Saudi doctor working in the United States
was taken into custody because his name resembled the name of one of the
hijacking suspects. "If there is one country in the world which I have always
liked to visit, that was America," the doctor said. "But now this is the only
country I would never like to turn to." Beirut and Egypt, followed by countries
such as India and Malaysia, have now become the most popular destinations.
--Gulf News, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 12, 2001
Yemen to
U.S.: We're Cracking Down on Terrorists
As the war winds down in
Afghanistan, Yemen is working overtime to prevent any perception that it harbors
terrorists. Yemeni police are hunting down two or three tribal sheikhs in the
Marib region who are accused of running an al Qaeda cell. Yemeni President Saleh
said the FBI provided him with the names. Saleh's son is now in charge of Yemeni
special forces responsible for fighting terrorism. This is quite an about-turn
for Yemen, which had supported Iraq during the Gulf War. --Al Jazeera
Television, Doha, Qatar, Dec. 14, 2001 & Yemen Times, Sana'a, Yemen, Dec.
10-16, 2001
Muslim Postage Stamp a Victim of 9-11
Sales
of America's first-ever Eid stamp, commemorating the two most important annual
Muslim festivals, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, may be a victim of the terrorist
attacks on the United States. A five-year lobbying campaign by Muslims resulted
in the U.S. Postal Service issuing the Eid stamp on Sept. 1. Seventy-five
million of the stamps, designed by classical calligrapher Mohamed Zakariya, were
issued with hopes that the stamp would sell out. If it does, it will be made
into a permanent American stamp. But Sept. 11 and the anti-Muslim feelings it
sparked have negatively affected promotion and sales of the stamp. --ArabNews,
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 12, 2001
Libya Seeks Evacuation of Arab
Afghans
At least 1,000 young men from all over the Muslim world,
loosely dubbed Arab Afghans, may remain trapped in Afghanistan. But their
countries of origin remain tight-lipped about their fate. Only Libya has taken
an initiative to save the Arab Afghans. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son,
Seif-Ul-Islam, is pushing for the evacuation of the fighters and their families,
especially after massacres in Mazar-i-Sharif and Kabul. But Washington has
little interest in the initiative, and most Arab governments consider the
fighters political liabilities. --Al Ahram Weekly, Cairo, Egypt, Dec. 13-19,
2001
Taliban Splits in Two
Soon after the fall of
Kandahar, the Taliban suffered a major split, with some leaders reviving a
dormant organization in Islamabad, Pakistan, called the Khuddmul Furqan.
Khuddmul Furgan is a reformist movement started in 1966 and regarded as
precursor of the mujahideen groups that fought the Soviets. Pir Ahmed Amin
Mojadeddi, a respected religious leader, was elected president of the group, and
several Taliban deputy ministers as well as the Taliban representative at the
U.N. were named as leaders. However, none of them has openly criticized Taliban
leader Mullah Omar yet. --The News International, Karachi, Pakistan, Dec. 10,
2001
Australian Dad Calls Taliban Son "Indiana Jones"
"We
call him Indiana Jones. He's been a handful, a rebel, but not a troublemaker,"
said Australian Terry Hicks about his son David, who became the second Westerner
after John Walker to be captured with pro-Taliban forces. Hicks, a school
dropout, converted to Islam after fighting with the Kosovo Liberation Front. He
then trained with the Lashkar-e-Toiba, which is fighting against India in
Kashmir. Now Australian opposition leader Simon Crean wants to extradite Hicks
before he ends up in a U.S. military tribunal. --The Frontier Post, Peshawar,
Pakistan, Dec. 14, 2001
Businessman With Alleged Al Qaeda Links Gets
Chance in Court
Prominent Saudi businessman Yassin al-Qaidi, whose
assets were frozen because of alleged links to al Qaeda, has been given
permission by the High Court of London to challenge the freeze in court. The
High Court found the order against al-Qaidi "draconian." Now the Saudi Treasury
will be forced to disclose why al-Qaidi's name was on the list, and he can use
that information to prove his innocence. --Arab News, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Dec.
11, 2001
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