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NUCLEAR
UK mulls extending loan to crisis-hit nuclear firm
Children the chief victims of UN sanctions
Where and how much depleted uranium has been fired?
N.Korea Daily Spurns Guns-For-Butter Nuke Solution
White House Rejects North Korean Offer for Talks
7.9 Quake Rocks Rural Alaska
White House to Offer New Iraq Text
MILITARY
Asymmetric warfare and Iraq
Karzai Fires Corrupt Afghan Warlords
U.S. - Afghan Raids Uncover Weapons
Sudan guilty of genocide
ASEAN to Jointly Fight Terrorism
US Fears Iraq Has Smallpox Samples
Blair Says No Plans Yet to Call Up Troops for Iraq
UK-based mafia gangs a legacy of intake of refugees
FEDERAL CONTRACTS
Colombia Takes Aim at Rebels in Its Cities
Victors in Turkey Pledge Big Effort to Join E.U.
Iran Says Not Sure Bin Laden Son Among Deportees
Iraq War Could Unleash Oil Spills, Toxins - Experts
Saddam Hints at Flexibility, U.S. Ships Set Sail
Iraqis: U.N. Sanctions Hurt Children
Saddam Said to Consider Resolution
Saddam Hints at Flexibility; U.N. Deal Close
Israel Committed War Crimes in West Bank, Rights Group Says
Amnesty Accuses Israel of War Crimes in West Bank
Sharon Government Survives No-Confidence Votes
Blast Kills Militant; Palestinians Blame Israel
Saudi Says U.S. Can't Use Facilities for War
After NATO's Year of Identity Crisis, a Defining Meeting
Russians Announce Chechnya Crackdown
As Russia Renews Crackdown, Chechen Fighters Down Copter
Russians Hunt 'Suicide Squads' in Chechnya
CIA Killed Al Qaeda Suspects in Yemen, Official Says
U.S. Missile Kills Al Qaeda Suspects in Yemen
Report Says Terrorism Threats Go Unaddressed
Ex - Spy Convicted of Selling Secrets
Research on Nonlethal Weapons Urged
Russia Sets Media Guidelines After Hostage Siege
POLICE / PRISONERS / COURTS
Vandals target SUVs in Virginia
Interior Department Struggles to Upgrade Its Police Forces
General Takes Control of Cuba Prison
Trio put cash into marijuana initiatives
Bin Laden Associate Is Killed in Yemen
ENERGY AND OTHER
US scientists say fossil fuel alternatives lacking
Pollution-eating microbe may help clean up - US study
World plants near extinction close to 50 pct - study
Mexican agency sues Pemex over toxic waste
ACTIVISTS
Venezuela Marchers Demand Elections
Activist Reported Missing in China
Ex-Sheriff in Calif. Can Be Sued for Pepper Spray
Top Court: Protesters Can Sue over Pepper Spray
-------- NUCLEAR
-------- britain
UK mulls extending loan to crisis-hit nuclear firm
Story by Andrew Callus
REUTERS UK:
November 4, 2002
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/18427/story.htm
LONDON - The UK government was considering this week whether to extend its emergency loan to stricken nuclear firm British Energy for a second time as a four-week countdown began to deciding the company's future.
A 650 million-pound ($1.02 billion) state-bailout loan to the producer of a fifth of Britain's power is due to expire on November 29.
Privatised British Energy cannot make money at current electricity prices, which have dropped below its cost of production after market reforms exposed industry overcapacity.
Other British power generators are in financial trouble too, but ministers happy to let market forces do their work elsewhere have acknowledged that they cannot walk away from British Energy for reasons of safety and security of supply.
Forcing the firm into administration and potential insolvency by withdrawing support at the end of this month will not make the problem go away. Analysts said it could prove even costlier in the long run because the state's own loss-making nuclear fuels arm BNFL depends on British Energy.
But propping it up indefinitely with taxpayers' money is not an easy option either. EU rules against state subsidy are getting stricter and other power producers would have a case for subsidy as well. Meanwhile environmentalists and supporters of renewable energy who want to phase out nuclear power are planning court action against the current loan.
"They (the government) just don't want this thing on their balance sheet," said a senior industry executive involved in wide-ranging talks about the future of the UK's power industry.
"Next year's energy policy review is the key to resolving this whole thing. A debt rollover until the government is clear about where this (policy) is going is where I think things are heading."
A source close to the government said a decision on whether to roll over the loan - extended and increased once already in September - would be taken "very close indeed to November 29".
Ministerial minds have not been made up, he said. "But if there is an extension on November 29 the decision will have been taken that British Energy should survive."
CAPACITY PAYMENTS
According to the industry source, one likely change to energy legislation next year that could alleviate British Energy's difficulties is a return to "capacity payments" - where wholesale power prices include a fee paid to generators for making capacity available.
Capacity payments were abolished with the reforms that introduced New Electricity Arrangements (NETA) last year.
Although regulator Ofgem and many customers are happy with the 40 percent slide in wholesale prices since 1998, generating firms say a power market needs spare capacity, and that there is no longer any incentive to own capacity that is not in use.
They say the situation could end in a capacity shortage. Capacity payment would apply to all types of power producer, so discrimination in favour of nuclear energy would not be an issue.
Another key element to the British Energy puzzle is the future of BNFL, whose contract to recycle fuel costs British Energy 300 million pounds ($469 million) a year.
One neat way to cut the cost of that contract might involve BNFL, which has its own privatisation plans, taking an equity stake in British Energy, possibly swapped for easier contract terms.
Sources have said this is also among the ideas on the table in ongoing talks between industry and government.
Industry sources said Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, who runs the nation's finances, will have the final say on November 29 even though the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is officially in charge.
The DTI said talks were continuing, and the Treasury said British Energy was a matter for the DTI.
-------- depleted uranium
Children the chief victims of UN sanctions; many orphaned, malnourished
DUSAN STOJANOVIC
Canadian Press
Monday, November 04, 2002
http://www.canada.com/news/story.asp?id=%7BF5D39FA3-510C-43DA-92D3-D0188A2CFF65%7D
BAGHDAD (AP) - Emira was a day old when she was abandoned by her parents, who couldn't afford to keep her. She is one of tens of thousands of Iraqi children suffering under UN sanctions and the Arab country's general downslide amid fears of a new war.
Emira was taken from the hospital where she was born Saturday and placed in a drab Baghdad orphanage, one of four in the Iraqi capital which house thousands of children. Many of the orphans have been abandoned by their families while others have lost both their parents, some during the Gulf War.
"We have a dramatic increase in orphans here," said Aneeba Jabar, the director of the Al-Najat orphanage on the garbage-strewn banks of the Tigris River on the outskirts of Baghdad.
She blamed it on United Nations sanctions imposed on Iraq in 1990, speaking as a government official monitored the interview.
"We had two orphanages in Baghdad before the sanctions and the war," Jabar said. "Now, we have four because the old ones became too crowded."
"Emira's mother simply fled the hospital because the family has no money to feed her," Jabar added. She would not provide the exact number of orphans in Baghdad "because their number is soaring daily."
U.S. and UN officials have repeatedly rejected complaints about the humanitarian impact of the sanctions, saying the sanctions could be eliminated if Iraq complies with demands that it prove it has eliminated its weapons of mass destruction.
The United Nations has also criticized Iraq for reportedly spending only a tiny fraction of its UN-approved oil revenues on improving nutrition for children.
However, there was never free and unrestricted purchase of any goods under the oil-for-food program, and the sanctions committee has at times denied or delayed delivery of some foods and medicines sought by Iraq.
Many people in Iraq live below the poverty line, and as a result, families who cannot afford to feed and clothe their children are forced to give them up.
Since 1990, when Iraq was one of the most prosperous Arab countries because of huge oil reserves, living standards have plummeted, and average monthly salaries have dropped from the equivalent of $800 Cdn to $16.
Washington has renewed accusations that Iraq is developing weapons of mass destruction in violation of UN orders and of sponsoring terrorists. President George W. Bush is pushing the United Nations for a tough resolution that would allow an attack on Iraq, but has threatened to act alone if the Security Council doesn't go along.
That is why the basement at Baghdad's Al-Mansour Teaching Hospital for Children is being prepared to shelter 200 young cancer patients, their families and medical staff in case of a new war.
The hospital took similar precautions during the 1991 Gulf War that was launched by a U.S.-led coalition to drive Iraqi forces from Kuwait. The hospital was not hit during that war and is not near any military installations.
But fears of American strikes are not the only problems the Iraqi health system faces.
The hospital's director, Dr. Luay Kasha, said that since the sanctions were introduced, 1.6 million Iraqi children have died, up to seven times more than in the same period before the sanctions. This corresponds with UN figures, which also mention that more than a million Iraqi children are malnourished.
Kasha said the American use of depleted uranium in its munitions during the Gulf War was probably to blame.
"After that there was shortage in supply of proper food and medicines," Kasha said. ". . . After that, epidemics flared up, cholera, virus infections, tuberculosis, chest infections, skin infections, water-borne diseases."
"We are now reporting five to seven times increase of cancer cases among children than before 1990," Kasha said. "Most of the cases were caused by radiation . . . like leukemia."
Washington insists there is no proven link between use of depleted uranium munitions and the diseases.
Emin Fellah, 5, is dying of leukemia, and his mother Fatima watches him with teary eyes.
"If we had proper medicines, he might have had a chance," said Dr. Lana Ahmed. "But with the situation like this, we had to abandon his therapy."
--------
Where and how much depleted uranium has been fired?
March 2001 update of a workshop held at the CADU conference,
Manchester, 4 November, 2000 by:
Henk van der Keur
Laka Foundation, Amsterdam
http://www.laka.org/teksten/Vu/where-how-much-01/main.html
Nuclear fuel chain Depleted uranium (DU) is the by-product of the enrichment of natural uranium. 'Natural uranium' is the concentrated product after mining and refining uranium ore. One kilogram of 'natural uranium' is obtained from 1000 kg of uranium ore. Only half of this one kilogram is actually released for use. The remaining 999.5 kg is considered as radioactive waste.
DU stockpiles United States : 700,000 metric tonnes Currently stored in the form of UF6, stored in cylinders at Paducah, Kentucky, and Portsmouth, Ohio. 160,000 metric tonnes, stored in the form of UO2 and metal Urenco (UK, FRG, NL) : 38,000 metric tonnes Currently stored in the form of UF6 Cogema (France) : 119,900 metric tonnes (dUF6) Stored at Bessines-sur-Gartempe (Haute Vienne) near Limoges
US Proving Grounds with DU Test Firing Ranges
DU Testing Amount of DU
Ethan Allen Firing Range (Vermont) 1969 - 1973 4,500 kg
Lake City Ammunition Plant (Missouri) until 1985 3,500 kg
China Lake Naval Air Warfare Center (California) 10 years 11,300 kg
NM Institute of Mining & Technology (New Mexico) since 1972 ---
Los Alamos National Laboratory (New Mexico) 100,000 kg
Jefferson Proving Ground (Indiana) 1982 - 1988 69,000 kg
Aberdeen Proving Ground (Maryland) 70,000 kg
Eglin Air Force Base (Florida)
- Gunnery Ballistic Facility
- High Explosive Test Area 1973 - 1978 at present 100,000 kg
Nellis Air Force Base (Nevada) since 1982 27,800 kg
Total (known) amount DU fired 386,100 kg
Other test-fires with DU ammunition
???? Panama There are strong appointments that the US Army has trained with DU rounds along the sides of the Panama Channel. No data available.
1995/1996 Japan From December '95 - January '96 the US Navy AV-8B Harriers (aircraft) test-fired 1,520 25mm PGU/20 API rounds 100 km west of the main island of Okinawa. Total amount of DU: 251 kg.
1999 Puerto Rico (Vieques) On 19 February, 1999, two US Marine Corps AV-8B Harriers expended 263 25mm PGU/20 API rounds at Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, North Convoy Site. Between March 10 and 19, 1999, 57 round were recovered. 263 Rounds is equal to 34 kg of DU.
The British Army fired/fires DU ammunition at their test sites near Eskmeals and Kirkcudbright. Recently (f.e.: Independent, 12 Jan. 2001) the British MoD acknowledged that about 6,000 120 mm shells have been fired into the Scottish Solway Firth, close to the village Dundrennan, since 1982. Around 60 will be fired until October. About the French tests there are no data available. US and British tank divisions have trained in Central Europe. There are no data available about firing of DU ammunition.
Taiwanese Navy has used some 60,000 DU rounds in maneuvers over the past years (BBC Monitoring, Jan.17, 2001). The type of these munitions is not mentioned.
Greece has decided to take off all DU shells from their inventory. The Greek Navy has in all about 15,000 shells, which are used in the air defense system Phalanx (Close-In Weapons System). During exercises since 1990, 30,000 rounds of 20mm ammunition were fired. It is not clear where they have been fired. In the nineties Greece rejected a US offer of 100,000 DU tank shells after which they were exported to Turkey. (Associated Press, 8 January, 2001)
DU weaponry used in wars
1973 Yom Kippur War Probably the first war with DU ammunition (prototypes) Probably fired by the M60A1 MBT No data available
1982 Falklands War Possible use of Phalanx CIWS missile defense gun No data available
1982 Israeli Invasion of South Lebanon Use of modified / upgraded M60 (series) M60 MBT No data available
1989 US Invasion of Panama Possible use of DU ammunition No data available
1991 Operation Desert Storm
1994 Bosnia In August US A-10s destroyed a Bosnian Serb mobile 'tank buster'. No data available.
1999 Kosov@ On 7 February 2000 NATO confirmed the use of 31,000 30mm PGU/14A API rounds. Total amount: 8401 kg of DU.
!! When there is solid evidence about the use of DU in (Tomahawk) cruise missiles, the amounts of DU left behind in Iraq and Yugoslavia will be considerably higher. !!
[Charts in original document at http://www.laka.org/teksten/Vu/where-how-much-01/main.html not reproduced here.]
Accidents with DU weaponry
1998 Great Britain On 8 February there was a fire at the Royal Ordnance Special Metal factory at Featherstone in Staffordshire. No data available about the amount of DU which has been released.
1991 Kuwait Munitions fire US Army base Doha, Kuwait (July 1991). Around 3,500 kg of DU was released.
Developments in Israel and Turkey
Outside the US, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) is the largest user of the M60 series. As of 1993, they probably had about 1000 M60/M60A1 tanks and about 600 M60A3s. The Israeli designation of the M60 is the Megach-7. Israel has undertaken several upgrades of its Magach-7 fleet, which includes M60/M60A1s and the M60A3s. The 105 mm M68 rifled tank gun, made by Israel Military Industries (IMI), also fitted to most other Israeli tanks, like the Merkava Mk1. The Israeli made 105 mm tungsten APFSDS-T M111 round is claimed to be superior to the US M735.
The M68 main 105 mm gun is standard on all M60s, but also on the Centurions, and Merkavas Mk I and II of the Israeli tank fleet. Military analysts remarks that although the 105 mm main gun on the M60s was much smaller than the 155-mm gun on the T-62, and the 125-mm gun on the T-72, it was very effective against these targets at both long and short ranges. The M68 gun is locally produced by Israeli Military Industries (IMI), formerly TAAS Israel Industries Ltd.
The Israelis still retain the 105 mm main gun on the M60 series tank, but the turret is modified to be able to take the 120 mm gun if needed. The Israelis have been constantly improving their 105 mm rounds, so they are now almost as deadly as most 120mm rounds. The M111 "arrow " round is constantly being upgraded, and Israel has shown a third generation M111 round recently. Panzergruppe, the monthly newsletter of the Washington Armour Club stated in their first issue of 1996: "Israelis are reported developing a depleted uranium round which will probably be able to defeat the armour of almost any vehicle in any service in the Middle East. To accompany this new and improved gun, a new fire control system has been installed for greater accuracy at both shorter and longer ranges."
On 3 September, 1999, IMI unveiled the "SABRA" - an upgraded M60A3 tank developed for the Israeli Army. The modernisation programme, includes, among others, the following systems:
- 120 mm gun system interoperable with NATO weapon systems and ammunition.
- Passive add-on ballistic protection, providing level against shape charges and kinetic energy projectiles.
On 26 June 2000 Jane's Defence Weekly's correspondent in Ankara reports Turkeys decision to open negotiations with Israel Military Industries (IMI) for the modernisation of its US-made M60A1 MBTs. Which brought Washington to propose that the project could be done by US companies under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme.
"US Deputy Under-secretary of the Army for International Affairs Gayden Thompson has written to Ankara asking that US companies should be able to compete for the project. The Turkish Land Forces Command has also been urged to reconsider the long-standing US government offer to lease 96 General Dynamics Land Systems (GDLS) M1A1 MBTs." A senior GDLS source said "linking the modernisation project with an M1A1 lease would offer training and logistics benefits as its M60-2000 modernisation proposal involves the installation of M1A1 turrets." On 2 June 2000 the Turkish Defence Industries Under-secretariat (SSM) decided that IMI would be the sole source for the M60 modernisation programme. An SSM official stated that although the committee had decided to ask IMI to build a prototype, it did not mean that a decision to award the full contract to the Israeli firm had been made. Besides GDLS, also German firms like Krauss-Maffei Wegmann are competing in the M60 modernisation programme. The requests for proposals call for four prototypes and an initial production batch of 250 vehicles out of a planned total of 1,000.
-------- korea
N.Korea Daily Spurns Guns-For-Butter Nuke Solution
Reuters
Monday, November 4, 2002; 5:49 AM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A501-2002Nov4?language=printer
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-korea-north.html
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea's ruling party newspaper said on Monday international talk of economic benefits in exchange for scrapping Pyongyang's nuclear arms program were an "unbearable insult" to the reclusive communist state.
The Rodong Sinmun daily attacked the United States for bringing pressure to bear on North Korea after the shock October revelation that Pyongyang had been pursuing a clandestine nuclear weapons programme.
The Workers' Party organ took special umbrage at statements by Washington and other Asia-Pacific states that Pyongyang would secure economic benefits if it abandoned the arms project.
"This means that if the DPRK puts down arms, it will receive sugar. This is an unbearable insult to the DPRK," the daily said, using the acronym of the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
"It is the faith and will of the Korean people that they can survive without sugar but not without arms. The DPRK cannot sacrifice its army for a piece of gold," it said.
The editorial repeated Pyongyang's demand, first aired on October 25, that to solve the nuclear weapons problem, the United States must sign a non-aggression treaty with North Korea and guarantee the sovereignty of the isolated state.
In Phnom Penh on Monday, the leaders of Japan, South Korea and China held talks on how to tackle the threat posed by North Korea's nuclear programme, stressing that regional stability and good behavior would benefit Pyongyang.
On Sunday, the White House dismissed a report in the New York Times that carried statements by a North Korean diplomat calling for talks on its uranium reprocessing scheme and offering to consider international inspections of the nuclear facilities.
North Korea admitted on October 4 it had a clandestine weapons programme, putting Pyongyang in violation of at least four international commitments, including the 1994 Agreed Framework under which it promised to halt its nuclear efforts.
--------
White House Rejects North Korean Offer for Talks
November 4, 2002
New York Times
By PHILIP SHENON
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/04/international/asia/04DIPL.html
WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 - The White House today rejected an offer from North Korea to open negotiations over the North's newly disclosed nuclear weapons program, with its spokesman saying there could be no talks until the program was dismantled.
"North Korea knows what it needs to do," said the White House spokesman, Ari Fleischer. "It needs to dismantle its nuclear program and honor its treaty obligations."
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One as President Bush headed to Illinois on a pre-election political trip, Mr. Fleischer was responding to statements made through the North Korean Mission to the United Nations in which the North called for talks on its nuclear program, and said it was open to meeting the Bush administration's demand for an end to the uranium-enrichment program.
In the statements, the North Koreans said they would also be willing to consider international inspections of the uranium facilities.
But Mr. Fleischer suggested that the United States was unwavering in its demand that North Korea must dismantle the program first, before any talks could occur.
"It's not a question of talking," he said. "It's a question of action."
He continued, "North Korea should not have abandoned its obligations, and that's what they've done."
North Korea has acknowledged that the uranium-enrichment program is a violation of a 1994 agreement with the United States, but it has insisted that it was the United States that first violated the accord through a series of actions, including its failure to deliver two civilian nuclear power plants that were promised under the accord.
Mr. Fleischer said today that the United States would continue to try to pressure North Korea through American allies.
"We continue to talk to our allies about the approach to take, so North Korea will proceed to honor their word," he said. "North Korea in 1994 entered into a quid pro quo, and it's inappropriate for North Korea to say that we will walk away from our quid and ask for more quo. They entered into an agreement, they should abide by the agreement, and that's why we're working in concert with our allies."
The North Korean Mission to the United Nations, the North's sole diplomatic post in the United States, had no immediate comment in response to Mr. Fleischer's remarks.
-------- u.s. nuc facilities
[Grant said he received calls from nuclear power facilities in various states -- including Minnesota and Washington -- that reported unusual water movement.]
7.9 Quake Rocks Rural Alaska;
Pipeline Shuts Down
Associated Press
Monday, November 4, 2002; Page A07
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A64061-2002Nov3?language=printer
ANCHORAGE, Nov. 3 -- A major earthquake rocked a sparsely populated area of interior Alaska early this afternoon, triggering an automatic shutdown of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline and cracking highways and roads.
The quake, a magnitude 7.9, centered 90 miles south of Fairbanks and was strongly felt in Anchorage, about 270 miles to the south. It hit at 1:13 p.m., said Bruce Turner of the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center.
One injury was reported; a man in Mentasta broke his arm after slipping on stairs during the quake, officials said. Support structures were damaged on the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, but the pipeline was intact, said Mike Heatwole, spokesman for the Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.
In five locations, vertical support members, the H-shape devices that hold the aboveground portions of the pipeline, were damaged. In eight locations, the "shoes" that connect the pipeline to the vertical support members were on the ground, leaving the pipeline suspended, Heatwole said.
Heatwole said company officials may know by midmorning Monday how long it will take to restart the pipeline.
The earthquake occurred on the Denali Fault and had a shallow depth, said John Lahr, geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo. Shallow earthquakes generally are felt over a wider area.
Numerous roads developed wide cracks, including the Alaska Highway near Northway, 256 miles southeast of Fairbanks.
The Richardson Highway, which parallels the trans-Alaska pipeline between Valdez and Fairbanks, was closed near Paxson after gaps opened that were 2 to 6 feet wide and 5 feet deep, officials said. About 20 miles north, the ground on one side of the highway had dropped more than 2 feet.
The worst reports of damage were along a two-mile stretch of the Tok Cutoff, which leads from the Alaska Highway to Southcentral highways connected to Anchorage. There were hundreds of yards of 6-foot openings in the road and numerous rock slides.
The Alaska Railroad halted trains immediately after the earthquake. Trains were delayed about three hours until track and bridges were inspected.
Fuel tanks were knocked over in Slana, a village with no electric utility; families use diesel fuel to power generators.
Jay Capps, who owns a small grocery store midway between Tok and Glennallen, said he felt a low-level shaking for 15 or 20 seconds before the quake hit.
"It shook so bad you could not stand up on the front porch," Capps said. "It sounded like the trees were breaking roots under the ground." He said nearly everything fell off store shelves.
"My store smells like liquid smoke, picante sauce and mayonnaise," he said.
Effects were felt all over the continent, from Seattle to New Orleans, where boats rocked on Lake Pontchartrain.
"This earthquake was shallow and the energy went directly into the surface, and that is what causes these effects so far away," said Dale Grant, a geophysicist at the earthquake information center.
Grant said he received calls from nuclear power facilities in various states -- including Minnesota and Washington -- that reported unusual water movement.
-------- us politics
White House to Offer New Iraq Text
November 4, 2002
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-US-Iraq.html
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration has completed a new round of negotiations with critics of its tough stand on Iraq and plans to give the U.N. Security Council a revised resolution this week.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Monday the administration hoped for council approval within two days after the resolution is submitted.
At a one-hour White House meeting, Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed the planned revisions with Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and Condoleezza Rice, President Bush's national security assistant.
A senior administration official said the votes of Russia and France remained uncertain. He also said he did not know that anyone was doing a victory dance, yet.
The revisions go a long way toward taking into account the views of other countries, Boucher said. He added that the ``bottom line'' of the U.S.-British draft under discussion for two months had been retained.
France, Russia, China, Mexico and other members objected to threatening Iraq with war at least until after U.N. weapons inspectors have been dispatched to conduct new searches for hidden caches of chemical and biological arms in Iraq.
``We think there's general agreement that there needs to be a strong resolution,'' Boucher said. ``We adhere to our core position that there must be a clear statement of Iraq's failure to comply with its obligations. There has to be a tough inspection regime, and there have to be serious consequences in the event of new Iraqi violations.''
``Serious consequences'' has been a stumbling block so far. France, Russia and some other members fear that the United States would consider the phrase an automatic trigger for military action if Iraq resisted inspections.
The proposed resolution would make clear that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's palaces would not be exempt from the inspection.
At the Pentagon, Rumsfeld said preparations for war could begin soon. He told reporters he met recently with top personnel and military officials to plan for military manpower needs.
``I would expect that there would be guard and reserve call-ups in the immediate period ahead,'' Rumsfeld said. ``It could be any time.''
Meantime, President Bush spoke of war again while campaigning for Republican candidates in Tuesday's elections.
Evidently convinced that threatening Iraq was a winning issue, Bush said in St. Charles, Mo., speaking about the United Nations: ``You have a choice to show the world whether you have the capacity to work together to disarm Saddam Hussein to keep the peace or whether you will be like one of your forerunners, an empty debating society.''
Bush also said again that ``for the sake of world peace, if the United Nations will not act, and if Saddam Hussein will not disarm, the United States will lead a coalition of nations to disarm him.''
At the last of his four campaign rallies Monday -- this one in Dallas -- protesters hoisted a banner that read ``No War in Iraq,'' and shouted at Bush as he spoke. GOP supporters tore the banner from their hands and shouted the demonstrators down with chants of ``USA! USA!''
Boucher did not say how the revisions might be received at the Security Council. He said Powell had engaged in intensive telephone diplomacy over the weekend, conferring with Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin of France twice and with Foreign Minister Jorge Castaneda of Mexico.
Permanent council members China, France and Russia could kill a tough resolution with their veto powers. Mexico, not a permanent member, is aligned with the other three in objecting to threatening force.
In a sign skepticism had not been overcome, Mexican President Vicente Fox called Bush over the weekend and told him the Security Council should look first for diplomatic solutions to the disagreement with Iraq over weapons.
According to a statement by the Mexican government, Fox advocated a two-phase approach in which the council would consider force only after the conclusion of new weapons searches.
In developments Sunday, Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia said the Arab kingdom would not allow its bases to be used to attack Iraq, and Turkey, which also hosts American warplanes, elected a government with an Islamic party at its core.
Rumsfeld brushed off Saud's statement. He said he had not read it and did not ``find it notable in any way.''
On Turkey, a U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he would be surprised if Turkey, a NATO ally, were to scale back its close relationship with the United States.
In Baghdad, Saddam indicated he would not reject outright a new U.N. resolution proposed by the United States but said Iraq would await details and examine the requirements it imposes on Baghdad, Iraqi TV reported.
Saddam's remarks in Baghdad appeared to mark a shift in position by the Iraqi leader, who has maintained that he would accept weapons inspectors only on terms laid down in previous resolutions.
Meanwhile, three large Navy transport ships are on the way to the Persian Gulf, region loaded with equipment that could be used in any possible war with Iraq.
The USNS Bellatrix left San Diego last week loaded with trucks, Humvees and bridging equipment used by Marine combat engineers to clear the way for armored ground forces. Bridging units would be key to an invasion of Iraq because U.S. troops would have to cross the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, perhaps more than once. The Bellatrix, one of the Navy's fastest large cargo vessles, can reach the Persian Gulf in less than 20 days.
The USNS Bob Hope and the USNS Fisher left Charleston, S.C., in the past two weeks. They carried gear such as tanker trucks and bridge sections but not combat vehicles such as tanks, said Marge Holtz, a spokeswoman for the Military Sealift Command.
-------- MILITARY
Asymmetric warfare and Iraq
David C. Isby
November 4, 2002
Washington Times
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20021104-92597034.htm
Asymmetric warfare is a concept - rapidly becoming a buzz word - that describes how the weak can defeat the strong.
The United States, though its statecraft and armed forces are organized to deal with "peer competitors" - countries like us with similar if opposed statecraft and forces - now finds itself having to look at having to deal with a range of potential asymmetric threats that Saddam Hussein will enlist.
In the past, an asymmetric or unconventional threat would often become a conventional one. The victorious Continental Army of 1781, the Chinese People's Liberation Army of 1948, the Viet Minh of 1954 and the North Vietnamese of 1975 had all originated as ragged militias, but used foreign support to become better at conventional conflict than their enemies.
But others saw asymmetric warfare as not a stage in conflict but as its end. Che Guevara became the theorist of Marxist-Leninist asymmetric warfare, believing conventional warfare unnecessary as capitalist states worldwide were ripe for defeat. Che's lack of success and ultimate demise underlines the difficulty of implementing asymmetric strategies. Osama bin Laden tried to apply Che's tactics to an Islamic fundamentalist ideology. Bin Laden did not bring down his enemies, but instead provoked retaliation that defeated his own al Qaeda and sympathizers in Afghanistan, Central Asia, Yemen and elsewhere.
Saddam turned to asymmetric warfare after he failed at conventional conflict in 1991. Asymmetric warfare provided new value to weapons of mass destruction for Saddam (or others that share his goals). Such weapons are intended to deter and prevent regional coalitions being formed to use conventional force against an asymmetric threat. Weapons of mass destruction are thus redefined as those that keep the state supporters of terrorism safe from a conventional challenge (as defeated al Qaeda in Afghanistan), providing the shield while some of the unattributable (and relatively low cost) elements of asymmetric warfare provide the sword. Support for terror, false-flag operations, covert biological warfare release, attempts to use third parties to attack computer and communications networks, internal penetration in the region or even classic guerrilla warfare cannot be cleanly removed by even the most skillful military operations. But while they have the potential to inflict painful losses, it is hard to see how these actions can defeat the United States.
Saddam has demonstrated few successes at asymmetric warfare. The assassination plots in the Gulf, the attempts at political penetration in Jordan both predate 1991. Even if hindsight ascribes what we now see as natural disasters to Saddam, they have all combined done him little good. Yet, Saddam appears to retain an unshakable Osama-like view of the irresolution of his opponents and their fundamental weakness. The Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon is seen as more recent evidence that Saddam's enemies will not stand up to asymmetric warfare backed up by guerrilla action.
Saddam has embraced the rhetoric of popular resistance to direct the nationalist feeling he rallied during the 1980s war with Iran to this new cause. He reviews parades brandishing a symbolic Lee Enfield rifle - one captured from a British battalion defeated by Iraqi rebels in 1920. Saddam will use his own population as hostages - staging a massive "siege of Baghdad" is seen as a likely goal - increasing their own suffering and loss of life in the hope that this will force opponents to change their policies. He will also likely aim to make an invaded Iraq ungovernable, destroying oil and infrastructure as in his retreat from Kuwait in 1991.
Saddam will try and create symbols for resistance and create self-images for his adversaries they will find unacceptable. Eight-year-old boys are likely to be given small-caliber handguns and plastic charms that they will be told will make them bullet-proof. He will only need a few to succeed in using them to produce new hero-martyrs and disturbing images for the television news.
It is hard to see Saddam's asymmetric warfare strategy as more than desperation. Yet, the United States had a difficult time adapting to unconventional opponents in conflicts such as Vietnam and Somalia. Now, we can expect the threat to possess greater sophistication, to use increased sensitivity to casualties - friendly, civilian and enemy alike - and the realities of the globalized economy and its 24-hour news cycle.
The asymmetric warfare challenge remains a real one.
David Isby is a Washington-based author and national security consultant.
-------- afghanistan
Karzai Fires Corrupt Afghan Warlords
November 4, 2002
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Afghanistan-Asserting-Control.html
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- President Hamid Karzai has begun purging high-ranking officials and powerful security and intelligence chiefs across Afghanistan, accusing them of corruption, drug trafficking and abuse of power.
The dismissals are intended as a clear warning to warlords to shape up, but enforcing the orders could be difficult for Karzai, whose government has limited power beyond the capital, Kabul, where security is bolstered by the presence of 4,800 international peacekeepers.
The campaign began Sunday when officials announced as many as 20 civil and military chiefs would be dismissed. On Monday, government officials said more provincial authorities would be fired if they did not fall in line.
``There's been some cleaning up going on, and it will continue as long as it's needed,'' Foreign Ministry spokesman Omar Samad told The Associated Press.
He said the dismissals were not political, but a matter of getting rid of ``bad apples'' and creating a transparent and accountable government.
Stamping out corruption and creating a clean government were key demands of international donors, who in January pledged $4.5 billion to rebuild Afghanistan over the next five years.
About $800 million of the $900 million delivered so far has gone to the United Nations and aid agencies because donors believed the government did not have the ability to use it responsibly. More recently, donors have praised Karzai's government, saying they will route some future aid through his administration.
One of those dismissed was Gen. Sayed Kamel, commander of four northern provinces, whose job was abolished to streamline military administration, presidential spokesman Sayed Fazel Akbar said. Kamel, loyal to warlord Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, is currently receiving medical treatment in Uzbekistan.
In the southern province of Kandahar, provincial intelligence chief Kamaluddin Gulalai also was dismissed -- welcome news to one warlord.
``It's a very good move. He was a very corrupt man,'' said Mullah Naqib, a rival of Gulalai. ``It's very good that Karzai is switching around the people. If he didn't, it would mean he was not in control.''
A Western diplomat, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, said the firings would send a warning to warlords to change their behavior and root out corruption. But enforcing the orders will not be easy, the diplomat said.
Powerful warlords, most with big private militias, control most of the country. Many are tenuously allied to Karzai, who is protected by American bodyguards.
As long as the most powerful warlords -- like Dostum and Ismail Khan in the western Herat province -- keep their jobs, it's doubtful Karzai's government will face any serious problems from the 20 or so officials who were ousted.
``These people are smaller fry. They have some power, but they're not the main culprits,'' the diplomat said.
Karzai's government had exhibited ``a certain amount of muscle flexing, but they're not going after people that can present an existential challenge'' to the central government, the diplomat said.
Samad said the dismissals did not target any particular region or group. Some commanders and security chiefs were in the shakeup.
--------
U.S. - Afghan Raids Uncover Weapons
November 4, 2002
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Afghan-The-Mission.html
NARAY, Afghanistan (AP) -- It was almost dark, and after a day of turning up weapons caches despite denials by villagers, the U.S. Army interrogator was losing his cool.
``Who put this AK in the well?'' he shouted at the assembled men of Naray in eastern Afghanistan, throwing an AK-47 assault rifle in the dust.
``You can hide stuff and you might get away with it, but let me tell you something -- we'll find it and we'll find you. I spit on you and your AK-47.''
Such search and seizure operations are the front line of the war against al-Qaida and the Taliban -- a place where emotions run high, the Afghan government is fighting to maintain control and frustrated U.S. troops play cat-and-mouse with an enemy that lobs rockets at U.S. bases, then dissolves into the hills and villages of Khost province.
Some 400 U.S. troops raided Naray and nearby Kot Kalay over the weekend, acting on tips they are transit points for weapons and pro-Taliban fighters moving across the Pakistani border, just 1 1/2 miles away.
They found 115 107 mm rockets -- the same kind fired almost daily at U.S. bases -- in a stable. They also found 14 rocket-propelled grenades, land mines, detonators and thousands of rounds of ammunition, some of it armor-piercing. Five people were detained for questioning.
Villagers said everyone owns an automatic rifle and the rockets are used in disputes that date back centuries. They denied they were weapons stored by the Taliban or al-Qaida.
``We don't know who has what in this village,'' said Dauli Khan, 60. ``All over Afghanistan, you will find weapons like this. They're all left over from the mujahedeen times,'' he said, referring to the guerrilla war against the Soviets in the 1980s.
Other villagers noted AK-47s are used for household protection in Afghanistan.
``The people who have the rockets have disputes with the Shia, the people across the (Pakistani) border,'' said Soorat Gul, 28. ``The people on the other side have rockets and grenades, too. But never, never would we use them against the Americans.''
He said U.S. troops had passed through the village before and never been attacked.
The raid began with Black Hawk helicopters that thundered into the two mountain towns. In Naray, villagers put up no resistance as troops from the 82nd Airborne Division rounded up men and women, putting them in separate compounds near the mosque.
One boy was found cowering under a bed. An entire wedding party, decked in their best clothes, arrived at the mosque and were told to sit outside. If they moved, the soldiers warned, the Apache gunship helicopters would kill them.
Everyone was frisked. The female soldier assigned to search the women stripped down to her sports bra to prove she was a woman to Afghans unused to seeing a woman in men's clothing.
Teams then moved through homes, pulling clothing from trunks, opening bins of flour and cutting plaster from walls to look for hidden compartments. A trunk of AK-47s and ``toe-popper'' land mines were found under a haystack; other weapons were discovered under beds or wrapped in rugs.
``I hate doing this to their houses, but then you turn a corner and you find AK-47s, or the rockets they keep firing at our bases,'' said Staff Sgt. Matt Chambers, 27, of Spokane, Wash.
Cash, passports and pictures of anyone with a gun were collected in a trash bag.
The village elder and other residents denied having any weapons or links to militant groups, said Col. David Gerard. Some residents said pro-Taliban groups travel the road near the village, but the villagers were not involved.
U.S. commanders were unconvinced, saying some weapons looked new.
``There's no reason for these guys to have this kind of stuff, and when people deliberately conceal things, they're up to something,'' said Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth White, 33, of Atlanta.
Troops found AK-47s in the second town, Kot Kalay, but little else.
As night fell, temperatures dropped and the children detained in Naray began shivering. They looked over the compound wall and watched hungrily as the soldiers ate pre-packaged meals.
Eventually the soldiers moved the villagers into buildings, gave them blankets and food found in the homes.
To discourage attacks, every few hours mortar teams fired illumination rounds over the village or sent explosive shells crashing into an uninhabited mountainside.
Five suspects -- including the village elder -- were kept awake all night and interrogated.
``They talk a lot better after some sleep deprivation; makes them feel sorry for themselves,'' Gerard said.
After a freezing night, bomb disposal experts destroyed the rockets and other munitions in three huge blasts on Sunday morning. Then Gerard told the men of the village:
``We know your history; we know many people came and fought in Afghanistan,'' he said. ``Our goal is peace in Afghanistan, so all these young boys don't have to grow up and carry weapons.''
He urged them to support President Hamid Karzai and Gov. Hakim Taniwal, who is fighting a renegade warlord, Bacha Khan Zadran, for control of the province.
The villagers were then freed, except for the five detainees, who were taken to helicopters with bags over their heads. The troops left the shotguns and long rifles they found, but kept the AK-47s. Gerard warned that if anyone picked up a gun while U.S. troops were on the ground, the helicopters would attack.
Then the troops left in the Black Hawks.
In the village, there was anger. ``They came rushing into our homes, they kept us prisoner all night, and we were cold and hungry,'' said Noorbad Shah, 22. ``We had no bad will against the Americans, but now how are we supposed to feel?''
-------- africa
Sudan guilty of genocide
Nat Hentoff
November 4, 2002
Washington times
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20021104-26222734.htm
On Oct. 21, President George W. Bush signed into law the Sudan Peace Act, which the Senate had unanimously passed, and the House approved 359-8.
More than 2 million black, non-Muslim civilians in the South have died from an ongoing civil war since 1983 in that country. The United States now declares in a law that "the acts of the government of Sudan . . . constitute genocide as defined by the (1948 United Nations) Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide."
The northern National Islamic Front government in Khartoum has enslaved women and children in the south of Sudan; engaged in ethnic cleansing; bombed churches and schools; and prevented food from humanitarian agencies from reaching the black Christians and animists trying to withstand the armed "jihad" forces of the north.
It has taken years of organized pressure to move the Congress and White House. The extraordinary coalition of the New Abolitionists includes black churches around America, white evangelicals, Chuck Colson's Prison Fellowship, the Hudson Institute, Freedom House, the Institute on Religion and Democracy, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Boston-based American Anti-Slavery Group and determined civil rights leaders Joe Madison and the Rev. Walter Fauntroy.
Among other crucial people involved is Barbara Vogel, a fifth-grade teacher in Denver, who told her class that slavery still exists. The children raised money to redeem Sudanese slaves through the Swiss-based Christian Solidarity International. Also pivotal were Republican Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas and U.S. Reps. Donald Payne, Frank Wolf and Tom Tancredo. Eric Reeves, who teaches Shakespeare and Milton at Smith College, took a two-year leave to focus entirely on valuable research and advocacy to illuminate the atrocities in Sudan.
The Sudan Peace Act authorizes $300 million to aid the blacks in the south over the next three years for humanitarian purposes and "to prepare the population for peace and democratic governance." Under the law, the president is to certify every six months that the Khartoum government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army are negotiating in good faith. If he finds that they are not, sanctions go into effect.
As described, for example, by the Freedom House, if there is evidence of "continued bombing of civilians, slave raids, and bans on relief flights," the United States will oppose "international loans and credits to Khartoum," and among other punitive actions, seek "a U.N. Security Council Resolution to impose an arms embargo on Khartoum." The Sudan People's Liberation Army in the south must also not unilaterally subvert peace negotiations.
What gives the Sudan Peace Act particular force is the finding by the United States that the government in Khartoum is guilty of actual genocide. The International Convention on Genocide states unequivocally that the countries signing the convention "confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and punish."
If evidence were to mount that slave raids from the north, accompanied by gang rapes of captured women, have not stopped, and that shipments of food continue to be blocked by Khartoum, Lt. Gen. Omar Hassan Bashir and his chief subordinates in the northern National Islamic Front could be brought before the International War Crimes Tribunal.
I have talked to a number of the principals in the New Abolitionist coalition, and they intend to keep the pressure on the president and Congress to ensure that the provisions of the Sudan Peace Act are carefully and continually monitored. Also, the Africa desk of the State Department must be held accountable for documenting and reporting all violations of the Sudan Peace Act.
According to a report by Christian Solidarity International, quoting the news service Al-Anbara, "the Sudanese charge d'affaires in Washington, Dr. Harun Khidir, blamed 'members of the extremist Christian rights groups, and a group of the black masses' for pushing the Sudan Peace Act through Congress."
And, on Oct. 16, Agence France Presse reported that after passage of the Sudan Peace Act, "Islamist officials organized a mass demonstration in Khartoum in support of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, during which an effigy of President Bush, wrapped in American and Israeli flags and labeled 'the corpse of imperialism,' was torn to shreds and burned."
The Khartoum government will certainly require close watching, and by the press, too. The story of the signing of the Sudan Peace Act was only minimally reported in the New York Times and The Washington Post the next day. A longer piece was published in The Washington Times. None of the pieces mentioned the formal declaration of genocide, the core of the new law. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch did include that news.
Nat Hentoff is a columnist for The Washington Times. His column runs on Mondays.
-------- asia
ASEAN to Jointly Fight Terrorism
November 4, 2002
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-ASEAN.html
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- Southeast Asian leaders agreed Monday to jointly fight terrorism after deadly bombings in Indonesia and the Philippines, but complained that travel warnings issued by many nations were scaring away tourists and hurting their economies.
Instead of the usual genteel rounds of golf and trade talk at their annual summits, the 10 leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations dealt with the seriousness of new terrorist and nuclear threats.
They agreed with leaders of China, Japan and South Korea -- who also joined the two-day conference in Phnom Penh -- that North Korea should scrap its recently revealed nuclear weapons program.
``The fact that everyone shared the same understanding will be a big help in settling the issue in the future,'' Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said.
Security is the tightest ever for an ASEAN conference, with 5,000 military and police deployed. Streets were barricaded around the conference site, a glitzy hotel, to protect the 1,000 delegates -- the largest international meeting in modern Cambodian history.
ASEAN leaders hope to convince the world that they are serious about protecting the region from a growing terrorist threat. The bombings last month on the Indonesian resort of Bali killed nearly 200 people. Separate attacks in the Philippines soon after killed 22.
``We must take joint measures to fight terrorism,'' Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said. ``We cannot allow the evil of terrorism to prevail.''
Wealthy nations, including Australia and the United States, have responded with travel advisories, infuriating many Asian countries who charge they're scaring people away from safe destinations and setting the region up for more losses.
``True, they were a reminder for people to be cautious, but one should not jeopardize the good image of the entire region or country,'' Hun Sen said.
The leaders acknowledged it will be difficult to curtail terrorist activity.
``We have been living in such an easy, comfortable climate for so many years,'' said Ong Keng Yong, the incoming ASEAN secretary-general. ``To get someone to suddenly switch and get very strict and look at every dustbin and parked car is a different culture for us.''
Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri told leaders about steps her government has taken to solve the Bali blasts, diplomats said.
The ASEAN leaders urged Iraq to comply with U.N. resolutions and said the United Nations should have the central role in deciding on any enforcement action.
ASEAN and China signed a nonbinding declaration aimed at preventing armed conflicts in disputed areas of the South China Sea, after failing for three years to agree on a legally binding ``code of conduct.''
They also signed a framework for future talks on an ASEAN-China free trade area that would have a combined market of 1.8 billion people and a gross domestic product of at least $2 trillion.
Earlier Monday, China suggested to Japan and South Korea that they also establish a three-way free-trade zone, and possibility the three agreed to consider.
As the summit opened Monday, military police blocked a dozen activists who wanted to hand a statement to the delegates expressing concerns about human rights. The protesters were forced from the scene and their banners confiscated.
``We are extremely disappointed,'' said Malaysian Irene Xavier, chair of the Committee for Asian Women. ``Definitely they are not interested in what we have to say.''
ASEAN, founded in 1967 to strengthen regional economic cooperation, is made up of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.
-------- biological weapons
US Fears Iraq Has Smallpox Samples
November 4, 2002
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/health/AP-US-Smallpox.html
WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. intelligence has concluded that four nations outside of the United States -- Iraq, North Korea, Russia and France -- probably possess hidden samples of the smallpox virus, a U.S. official said Monday.
Al-Qaida is also believed to have sought samples of smallpox for weaponization, but U.S. officials don't believe the terror network is capable of mounting an attack with smallpox. Evidence recovered in Afghanistan pointed to Osama bin Laden's interest in the disease, the U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
U.S. officials worry that Iraq and North Korea could develop potent biological weapons with their samples, and Russian laxity could allow other nations to obtain the deadly disease for use as a weapon.
The fears that smallpox, declared eradicated in 1980, could again be loose on the world have driven the Bush administration to consider vaccinations for the American populace and prepare emergency plans should an outbreak be detected.
Smallpox kills about one-third of its victims and can be transmitted from person to person, unlike other biological weapons such as anthrax.
Many experts suspected North Korea had samples of the smallpox virus. A Russian intelligence report made public in 1993 accused Pyongyang of having a smallpox weapon, though that has not been publicly corroborated.
A declassified U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency report from May 1994 also quotes an unnamed source saying Russian scientists gave North Korea smallpox samples. That report had not been confirmed either.
Before 1998, U.N. weapons inspectors discovered limited evidence of a smallpox program in Iraq. They found a machine labeled ``smallpox'' and Iraq's experimenting with a related virus that infects camels.
Russia maintains acknowledge samples of the virus, as does the United States. But Ken Alibek, a former top scientist in the Soviet biological weapons program who came to the United States in 1992, claimed the Soviets covertly developed smallpox as a weapon in the 1980s.
The Washington Post, which first reported the intelligence finding on its Web site late Monday, said France's samples are believed to be for defensive research programs aimed at limiting casualties from a smallpox outbreak.
Routine smallpox vaccinations ended in the United States in 1972, and experts believe that those last vaccinated more than three decades ago have little residual immunity remaining. Only Russia and the United States overtly kept samples of the virus.
But the decision to offer the vaccine is a difficult one because the vaccine itself is so dangerous. It is made with a live virus called vaccinia that can cause serious damage both to people vaccinated and to those with whom they come into close contact.
-------- britain
Blair Says No Plans Yet to Call Up Troops for Iraq
November 4, 2002
By REUTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-iraq-britain.html
LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair denied Monday that a decision had been taken to mobilize forces for possible war on Iraq, after a newspaper reported that thousands of reservists were about to be called up.
Blair also said he expected the United Nations Security Council to pass a new resolution on arms inspections soon, although he declined to predict a date for a council vote.
Britain, like the United States, believes Iraq is hiding chemical and biological weapons. Both countries say they would like to see a U.N. response but are willing to wage war to disarm Baghdad without a new resolution if necessary.
London has been reluctant to openly signal war plans as long as diplomatic wrangling continues. But it faces a deadline to begin calling up reservists if it wants to be ready to fight early in the new year, when the weather is best for combat.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper said Defense Minister Geoff Hoon might announce the call-up of about 10,000 reserves later Monday, but when Hoon appeared in parliament he had no announcement to make. Blair said no decision had been taken.
``There are no proposals as yet to call up reservists. If there are any we will announce them in the proper way,'' Blair said in response to a question at a news conference.
The Telegraph said the heads of military units involved in the call-up had been summoned to a meeting Monday at the Ministry of Defense, but a ministry spokeswoman said she knew of no such meeting.
As the window for optimum fighting weather draws near, both Washington and London have signaled impatience with weeks of drawn-out negotiations at the Security Council.
Veto-wielding members Russia and France have so far blocked a tough-worded draft resolution threatening Iraq with ``serious consequences'' if it thwarted inspections, although there were signs last week that Washington and Paris were closer to a deal.
Blair said he was ``reasonably confident'' a resolution would be agreed.
``We are reaching the point of closure, I think,'' he said. ``I don't want to prejudge the negotiations but they are proceeding satisfactorily. The absolutely critical issue for us is that we get an inspection regime in there that doesn't have the problems the last one had.''
The United States and Britain have said they would make several changes in a revised draft resolution this week, taking on board suggestions of other Security Council members.
But diplomats say differences among the five veto-holding members -- the United States, Britain, Russia, China and France -- could still delay a vote until after Tuesday's key mid-term U.S. elections.
CLEAREST SIGN
Britain has already announced plans to prepare Challenger II heavy tanks for desert combat, but an announcement of a British call-up would be by far the clearest sign yet of preparations for war to emerge on either side of the Atlantic.
The Telegraph said the initial call-up would include logistics staff, signals reservists and special forces, followed by up to 10,000 other troops.
It said the government would issue a rare ``Queen's Order'' -- a measure not taken since the Korean War a half century ago -- which limits the rights of reservists and their employers to appeal to avoid the call-up.
Normally reservists are not required to serve more than six months in a two-year period, but the Queen's Order overrides this policy, allowing Britain to recall reservists who were already summoned over the past year for war in Afghanistan.
Britain was the only country other than the United States to contribute a fully-fledged armored division to the 1991 Gulf War, and military experts say it could send about 20,000 men to fight in a second Gulf conflict.
--------
UK-based mafia gangs a legacy of intake of refugees
IAN BRUCE and VICKY COLLINS
Nov 4, 2002
UK Herald
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/archive/4-11-19102-0-27-34.html
WHEN Britain first agreed to receive up to 1000 Kosovans every week in 1999, Balkans experts warned that it might find itself taking in more than just refugees fleeing the war.
Strong mafia gangs originating in Albania had already established bases in Greece, Germany and Italy and used those bases to strengthen existing people and drug-trafficking routes and establish new ones.
The British Helsinki Human Rights Group predicted that UK support for Kosovan refugees would also open it up to offshoots of these criminal gangs and, within two years, that prediction had shown itself to be true.
By 2001, the Albanian mafia had seized the Soho vice trade, according to a Home Office report which said that it controlled 70% of saunas and massage parlours in London.
The sheer scale of the alleged plan to kidnap Victoria Beckham for a ransom of £5m suggests it may be further proof of the strength of such gangs in Britain.
Mafia syndicates from Romania and Albania control the crossroads of crime via the Balkans into western Europe, running Colombian cartel-style empires which are the main conduit for heroin processed in Turkey.
Between four and six tonnes a month is sold on the streets of European cities from Berlin to Glasgow.
The Balkan godfathers also operate the biggest people-smuggling ring in the world, moving illegal immigrants, weapons, drugs and women destined for the sex trade along the same route through to central Europe.
Last year, police estimated that up to 75% of women working in brothels across the UK were either from Albania or were Kosovan Albanians, and that the vast majority were controlled by the Albanian mafia.
Although the alleged plot to kidnap Victoria Beckham would be the first time British-based Albanian gangs had been known to become involved in abductions, they are a very popular means of raising a supplementary income among the mafia and political groups in Kosovo.
The Kosovan Liberation Army, also known to orchestrate kidnappings, has strong links with these criminal gangs.
However, it is unlikely that a plot to kidnap the Beckhams was aimed at raising money for a political resistance in eastern Europe.
There is still an international peacekeeping force patrolling Kosovo, making resistance of a scale that would require such large amounts of money difficult, but not impossible.
But it seems likely that the chance to make money from a couple whose wealth is regularly splashed across the tabloids, rather than politics, was the driving force.
-------- business
FEDERAL CONTRACTS
States News Service
Monday, November 4, 2002
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A64414-2002Nov3?language=printer
Zodiac of North America of Stevensville, Md., won a $145 million contract from the Coast Guard for boats.
Brown and Root Services of Arlington won a $114.99 million contract from the State Department for design and construction of an embassy.
Bionetics Corp. of Newport News, Va., won a contract worth up to $75 million from the Air Force for maintenance, repair and rebuilding of equipment at a precision measurement equipment lab.
Information Management Services of Silver Spring won a $53.33 million base contract with options from the Health and Human Services Department for biomedical computing support of cancer control and surveillance.
Automated Sciences Group of Dahlgren, Va., won a $48.56 million contract from the Naval Seas Systems Command for technical and engineering support for the Submarine Launched Ballistics Missile program.
Network Designs of Vienna won a $33 million contract from the Navy to integrate a primary technology solution for increased security of naval assets.
SURVICE Engineering Co. of Belcamp, Md., won a $25 million contract from the Army Materiel Command for analytical and engineering support services.
Rosettex Technology and Venture Group of Arlington won a contract worth up to $24 million from the Army Communications-Electronic Command to develop advanced communication, command, intelligence and surveillance technologies and systems.
Brown and Root Services of Arlington won a $15 million multiple award task order contract from the Army Corps of Engineers for construction services for projects within the geographic boundaries.
Forrester Construction of Rockville won a $15 million contract from the Army Corps of Engineers for construction services for projects within the geographic boundaries of the Army Corps of Engineers' North Atlantic Division.
Northrop Grumman Information Technology's Defense Mission Systems of Reston won a $9.65 million contract from the Naval Undersea Warfare Center for technical services relative to Naval Undersea Warfare Center analyses.
Executive Personnel Services of Washington won a $9.5 million contract from the General Services Administration for professional, administrative and management support services.
Anteon International of Fairfax won a $9.1 million contract from the Navy for information technology and analytical support services to support warfare analysis.
National Associates of Washington won a $9 million contract from the General Services Administration for professional, administrative and management support services.
Raven Inc . of Alexandria won a $7.84 million contract from the Navy for research and development services related to integrated optical techniques and applications.
IQ Solutions of Rockville won a $7.82 million dollar contract from the Health and Human Services Department for technical support services for research and development activities in technology assessment and technology transfer.
Premier Technology Group of Springfield won a $7.5 million contract from the General Service Administration for logistics worldwide.
Waynesboro Construction of Frederick won a $6.96 million contract from the Army for construction of a pre-engineered metal building to serve as a non-human primate facility at Fort Detrick.
Oracle Corp. of Reston won a $6 million contract from the Defense Energy Support Center for implementation of the fuels automated system Oracle Enterprise architectural platforms.
Quotient Inc. of Columbia won a $6 million contract from the Federal Aviation Administration to provide integrated project management support to the Office of Innovations and Solutions.
Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock of Newport News, Va., won a $5.88 million contract from the Naval Sea Systems Command for aircraft carrier engineering support services.
Advanced Systems Technology and Management of Fairfax won a $5 million contract from the General Services Administration for management, organizational, and business improvement services.
Computer and Hi-tech Management of McLean won a $4.3 million contract from the Commerce Department for network and help desk support services.
Communication Technologies of Chantilly won a contract worth up to $3.92 million from the Agriculture Department for laser printer maintenance.
Duane Morris LLP of Washington won a $3.73 million contract from the Agriculture Department for legal services.
McNeil Technologies of Springfield won a $3.5 million contract from the State Department to expedite Freedom of Information Act requests.
University of Virginia Office of Sponsored Programs of Charlottesville won a $2.63 million contract from NASA for aeronautical safety analytical software tools.
Parking Authority of Baltimore City of Baltimore won a $1.8 million contract from the Treasury Department for lease of parking facilities.
KAIS E Systems of Burke won a $1.5 million contract from the General Services Administration for management, organizational, and business improvement services.
Kenney and Company Staffing of Clinton won a $1.5 million contract from the General Services Administration for professional, administrative and management support services.
Northrop Grumman Information Technology's Government Solutions of Falls Church won a $1.4 million contract from the Health and Human Services Department for research and development services related to phase I of a BioInformatics Integration Support contract.
Global Initiatives of Annandale won a $1.25 million contract from the General Services Administration for management, organizational, and business improvement services.
Puritan Research of Vienna won a $1.18 million contract from the General Services Administration for management, organizational, and business improvement services.
FandM Electrical Services of Upper Marlboro won a $934,750 contract from the Army National Guard Bureau to renovate the D.C. Armory Fitness and the Distance Learning Centers.
Turnaround Factor of Midlothian, Va., won a $500,000 contract from the General Services Administration for management, organizational and business improvement services.
American Technology of Baltimore won a $428,280 contract from the Army Materiel Command for safety and rescue equipment.
Northrop Grumman Systems of Linthicum Heights won a $392,112 contract from the Defense Supply Center for non-crystal oscillators.
Mobile Shelter Systems USA of Williamsburg, Va., won a $383,917 contract from the Defense Supply Center for mobile system shelters.
Intelligent Decisions of Chantilly won a $375,000 contract from the Transportation Department for information technology equipment.
Demaree Inflatable Boats of Friendsville, Md., won a $354,900 contract from the Army Materiel Command for fixed and floating bridges.
The contracts listed were awarded by the federal government to companies and other vendors in Virginia, Maryland and the District. For more information, contact states2001@aol.com, or 202-628-3100, ext. 266.
-------- colombia
Colombia Takes Aim at Rebels in Its Cities
November 4, 2002
New York Times
By JUAN FORERO
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/04/international/americas/04COLO.html
MEDELLÍN, Colombia, Oct. 29 - In Medellín, a city known the world over for its violence, the Comuna 13 district may be the epitome of urban chaos.
A generation ago, Pablo Escobar and other drug lords recruited hit men from the district's clutter of cinder-block homes and dark passageways. Later, leftist rebels established themselves here, using safe houses in Comuna 13 to stash arms, drugs and kidnapping victims.
More recent incursions by right-wing paramilitaries, the rebels' most feared adversaries, helped give Comuna 13 and its 130,000 people a homicide rate 55 times that of New York City.
"The kids were always terrorized," said Gloria Zapata, 37, pointing to bullet holes in the door and walls of the day care center she runs. "Look, shots came through here. Shots would come through the roof."
But now, Colombia's new law-and-order president, Álvaro Uribe, has embarked on a pacification of Comuna 13 that officials say could become a model for other big cities hard hit by a 38-year-old conflict. The operation began on Oct. 16 when 3,000 troops, in what was called the largest urban offensive in Colombia's history, launched an assault that brought Comuna 13 under control in 48 hours.
Days later, with guerrillas striking back with car bombs here and in Bogotá, the army raided poor neighborhoods in Bogotá and in the nation's third largest city, Cali. Similar raids, searching for guns, explosives and rebels melding into the civilian population, continued here this week with the help of paid informants. The United States-backed army, which is receiving training and intelligence information from American forces, is promising future operations.
"This signifies we are conscious of the threats in the cities, where there are militiamen from all the armed groups," Gen. Mario Montoya, who led the operation, said in an interview. "What can they expect now? That we will go after them."
Yet the combat in Comuna 13 raised questions about how successful the Colombian Army, stretched thin and more accustomed to rural operations, will be in rooting out well-entrenched rebels in the cities. The United Nations and human rights groups also worry that more urban combat could lead to greater civilian casualties. At least four people were killed in the operation.
"What this signifies is an urban war," said Fernando Quijano, who runs a group that helps former rebels. "It means the level of violence will step up," added Mr. Quijano, a former rebel himself. "People will not need to see it on television anymore. It will be in front of their doorstep."
The attack on Comuna 13 has also cast in doubt the state's commitment to fighting paramilitary groups. Most of Medellín's slums are controlled by the paramilitaries of the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia, illegal antiguerrilla groups that often work with rogue military commanders.
"This army operation was not evenhanded," said Nacho Arango of the Popular Institute for Capacitation, a human rights group here. "Everybody says everything is fine. We do not see it that way."
Indeed, high-ranking paramilitary commanders from two different groups said in interviews that they welcomed the operation. The absence of the rebels could allow the paramilitaries to control drugs, extortion rackets and corrupt politicians in Comuna 13.
"If the state takes them off our back, we welcome that," said a commander who uses the alias Piolín and controls 300 men. "Let us be frank. For the state, the Self-Defense Forces are not an enemy. We are a friend."
Military officials shrugged off such comments, explaining that the persistent violence and brutality in Comuna 13 made it a natural target. They also pledged a crackdown on paramilitaries.
Before the military incursion, Comuna 13 had grown so violent that taxi drivers who ventured in were often forced, at gunpoint, to take out the bodies of people shot by rebels. Outsiders, residents said, could be killed on sight. Meanwhile, rebels from two insurgencies found Comuna 13 fertile ground for recruiting new fighters, among them children.
"There was gunfire all the time," said Nelly Betancourt, 57. "You had to make sure not to get hit."
Though the presence of soldiers has now given Comuna 13 the feel of a district still at war, there is a sense of tranquillity. Children kick soccer balls in the narrow streets, many residents have put up the Colombian flag and schools have reopened.
Still, worries persist. Rebels continue to hide in the warren of hovels, the military acknowledges. Residents wonder whether the violence will return if soldiers leave, as several army officers acknowledged was possible.
-------- europe
Victors in Turkey Pledge Big Effort to Join E.U.
November 4, 2002
By REUTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-turkey.html
ANKARA, Turkey (Reuters) - A new and untested conservative party with Islamist roots pledged to speed economic reform and moves to join the EU Monday after a spectacular victory in Turkey's general election which swept out the old order.
The Justice and Development Party (AKP), which vehemently rejects the Islamist label but whose victory raised deep concerns in Turkey's secularist establishment, sought to play up its pro-Western, pro-market policies, vowing to send envoys to the European Union and safeguard an economic reform package.
Turkey's closest ally, the United States, will be eager to see a new cabinet in office in about two weeks, the minimum time it will take to form a government. Washington would look to NATO-member Turkey for support in providing air bases and other facilities for any attack on neighboring Iraq.
``We are bound by the U.N.'s decision, we cannot say anything before seeing the U.N.'s attitude toward the issue,'' AKP leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters in the early hours of Monday, referring to moves in the U.N. Security Council to try to agree a tough new resolution on disarming Iraq.
``We don't want blood, tears and death. We hope the issue will be solved peacefully.''
The unexpected scale of the AKP's victory, routing parties blamed by voters for a grueling economic crisis, will test the fabric of the AKP itself. Founded only a year ago, the party has little experience of power, faces a court case to outlaw it and has a leader banned from taking up any government post because of a past conviction for Islamist sedition.
``LIQUIDATION OPERATION''
The Sabah daily called the AKP victory a revolt by Turkey's increasingly impoverished Anatolian heartland. ``Politics has never seen such a widespread liquidation operation,'' it said.
Provisional results gave the party more than 360 seats in a 550-seat assembly. Only one other party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), mustered the 10 percent needed to enter parliament.
Veteran Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, his fifth term in office drawing to a close, saw his party's vote sink from 22 percent in 1999 to little over 1 percent.
Former Economy Minister Kemal Dervis, architect of Turkey's $16 billion rescue program and a CHP deputy, said the election result could provide Turkey with much-needed stability.
``If we can create a constructive, tolerant working environment and if there is respect for the constitution and clear respect for the concept of the secular republic then I think this election will be useful for Turkey,'' he said.
While many were euphoric over the demise of the old order, there were also misgivings.
``The AKP isn't ready to govern Turkey alone and I'm not sure even they wanted that,'' said Rusen Cakir, author of a book on Erdogan, a former Islamist firebrand. ``To govern alone they really need time to prepare, gain legitimacy and stature on the domestic and international stage.''
But the AKP does not have the luxury of time.
Turkey needs to quickly establish market confidence and safeguard the IMF pact. Urgent issues must be tackled in the coming month in pursuit of Turkey's EU membership ambitions.
Erdogan was quoted by one daily Monday as saying he would send envoys to the EU immediately, before forming a government.
The EU welcomed Erdogan's enthusiasm but stressed the AKP would be judged on its actions.
``There is clearly a will to pursue rapprochement with the European Union,'' EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana told the French daily Le Monde. ``We will have to judge the next Turkish government by its acts.''
Ali Coskun, tipped as a possible economy minister, told Reuters an AKP government would complete reforms needed to earn the next $1.6 billion IMF loan payment before discussing possible revisions to the program.
STRAIGHT TO WORK
Party sources said the AKP was drawing up a cabinet list to present to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer as soon as possible. Sezer must await official results in four days before formally inviting the AKP to form a government.
The Turkish lira, down more than 50 percent against the dollar since a 2001 crisis, sank to all time lows of over 1.7 million in early trading Monday before bouncing back, reassured by comments from AKP officials on the IMF program.
The main stock index soared 7 percent in the morning session on optimism a one-party government would be more effective than a string of bickering coalitions in recent years.
``The issue of confidence is going to be a problem,'' said Philip Poole, senior emerging markets economist at ING Barings investment bank in London. ``The issue of bringing down interest rates and attracting investment will be key.''
Kasper Bartholdy, senior emerging markets economist at CSFB, said of the AKP: ``They've made all the right noises to the market in terms of what they had promised to the international community beforehand, that they would give priority to keeping the IMF program going in particular.''
Erdogan will chair a meeting Tuesday to agree a candidate for prime minister, meanwhile Ecevit will lead a caretaker cabinet.
The secularist establishment -- the army, state apparatus and judiciary -- will watch Erdogan's progress keenly for any sign of Islamist tendencies. But the generals, a force in Turkish politics, are unlikely to make any public declarations.
``This result will worry a lot of people. The army will wait and see,'' said one Western diplomat.
The AKP was formed from the ``modern'' wing of a party banned last year for Islamist militancy.
Erdogan has learned from the fate of Turkey's first Islamist government, forced out after a year by an army-led pressure campaign.
The constitutional court is weighing a case to outlaw the AKP on grounds it breached laws on forming parties. Erdogan also faces trial on charges of illegal earnings dating from his days as Istanbul mayor.
-------- iran
Iran Says Not Sure Bin Laden Son Among Deportees
November 4, 2002
By REUTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-iran-binladen.html
TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian officials said on Monday they could not be sure that one of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's sons was among 20 people arrested and deported from Iran two months ago, contradicting previous statements that he was.
Government spokesman Abdollah Ramazanzadeh said the illegal immigrants had been detained in a border security operation in eastern Iran and sent back from where they entered.
``Later we heard gossip that bin Laden's son was among them,'' he told the student news agency ISNA.
``But none of the people who entered the country had identification papers with them... So from our point of view, recognizing their identities was impossible.''
The same spokesman on Sunday had told reporters that bin Laden's son was among the group of 20, although Iran had not been aware of his identity at the time. A government source said the group had been sent back to Pakistan from where they had entered.
Pakistan's Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider said on Monday he had no knowledge of Iran returning one of bin Laden's sons to the country.
One of the sons, Sa'ad bin Laden, who is in his 20s, would be of interest to U.S. authorities, who believe he is active in the al Qaeda organization.
Iran is highly sensitive to allegations that it has harbored fleeing al Qaeda fighters escaping over its eastern borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan.
President Mohammad Khatami has said the Islamic Republic has arrested and deported 250 people with suspected links to Afghanistan's ousted Taliban and al Qaeda. All were sent to their countries of origin, he said.
-------- iraq
Iraq War Could Unleash Oil Spills, Toxins - Experts
By Katherine Stapp
IPS Article
The Black World Today.
11/4/2002
http://athena.tbwt.com/content/article.asp?articleid=1887
NEW YORK - Major casualties of a war with Iraq would be the region's fragile environment and the health of its inhabitants and combatants, if the last Persian Gulf conflict is anything to judge by, arms experts and activists say.
Eleven years ago, both sides in the Gulf War left Kuwait's ecosystems in chaos - Iraq by torching oil wells as its soldiers retreated, and the United States by littering the desert with thousands of rounds of depleted uranium (DU) munitions.
DU is the trace element left over when uranium is enriched; most of the highly radioactive types of uranium are removed for use as nuclear fuel or nuclear weapons.
Deployed in the Persian Gulf in 1991 and in Kosovo in 1999, DU munitions are prized for their high density and ability to punch through walls and armoured vehicles.
According to the Washington-based Centre for Defence Information, the U.S. has four weapons that rely on DU and that could be used in a future war with Iraq: the A-10 Thunderbolt aircraft, the Apache and Cobra helicopters, and the M1A1 Abrams Tank.
''These types of weapons will undoubtedly be used as Washington has made it clear it wants to bomb bunkers and kill as many of the Iraqi government leaders as possible,'' said John Catalinotto of the New York-based International Action Center, a leading critic of DU.
''This would lead to an even greater amount of DU being spread around Baghdad, this time, a city of five million people,'' he said.
Although the Pentagon insists that DU is not toxic or radioactive, many Iraqi survivors of the Gulf War believe differently. The World Health Organisation (WHO) notes that those most likely to be exposed to DU are aid workers and local populations living and working in contaminated areas.
''The Gulf War is the only indicator for the increase of cancer in Iraq,'' Loua'i Latif Kasha, a pathologist and director of Baghdad's Mansour Hospital, told Reuters news agency last week. ''The rate of cancer has risen five- to seven-fold more than before 1991.''
''Radiation pollution from depleted uranium bombs by itself causes cancer like leukaemia and thyroid,'' said Kasha.
Some Desert Storm veterans, who now suffer from disabilities and mysterious illnesses, are leery of sending troops back to the region.
''Science has absolutely shown that the illnesses Gulf War veterans face are not as a result of the stressors of war but as a result of exposures, unapproved vaccines, unapproved pills and a myriad of other things that have not yet been researched,'' said Steve Robinson, executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Centre in Washington.
''Our government has ignored the Gulf War veteran experience of 1991. Will America stand by and watch another tragic event occur that could be avoided?'' he asked.
The Pentagon carried out numerous studies on DU, and concluded that it poses no significant health threat. It has not changed its stance, despite years of complaints from veterans groups.
Other independent experts also believe DU's toxicity has been exaggerated.
''In general, I think that these munitions are dangerous, but not for the reasons many opponents have argued,'' said Stephen Schwartz, editor of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. ''They're not harmless, but the health and environmental consequences of their use in the Gulf War and in Kosovo have been overstated.''
Still, peace groups and veterans' associations point out that no adequate explanation has ever been offered for the cluster of symptoms known as 'Gulf War Syndrome'.
In April, the Veterans Administration released a report that found that one-third of all troops sent to the Persian Gulf in 1991 have filed claims for medical problems. About 9,600 Desert Storm veterans, of a total of 200,000, have died since the end of the war.
''While we were never sure which combination of factors caused the illness of over 100,000 U.S. service people in the Gulf in 1991, many of the same suspected factors will be present (in a future war),'' Catalinotto said.
''DU, widespread vaccinations, exposures to toxic materials destroyed by U.S. bombs will all be there again.''
Aside from DU - and possibly the use of biological and chemical weapons - environmentalists warn of more oil spills should U.S. forces invade Iraq, which is sitting on at least 112 billion barrels.
When Iraqi forces pulled out of Kuwait in 1991, they ignited more than 700 oil wells. Eight months elapsed before the fires could be put out. The resulting 10,000-square-mile cloud of soot darkened the sky to the point that cars had to use their headlights in the daytime.
About 11 million barrels of oil were also deliberately dumped by Iraq into the Arabian Gulf. A decade later, scientists assessing the damage found that while ocean ecosystems had mostly recovered, 40 percent of Kuwait's fresh water reserves were permanently ruined by lakes of oil that had seeped through the sand.
Green Cross International estimated the total environmental damage suffered by Kuwait at 40 billion dollars.
Environmental Media Services, which put out a fact sheet on the subject, says it is unlikely that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would torch his own wells.
But the group notes that the size of the country and its oil wells would make it much more difficult to extinguish burning oil fields there, should they be ignited by a bombing campaign or for other reasons.
Some of the wells contain a significant amount of gas, and fire-fighters have much more difficulty controlling and capping these types of high-pressure wells, the group says.
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----
Saddam Hints at Flexibility, U.S. Ships Set Sail
Reuters
Monday, November 4, 2002
By Samia Nakhoul and Evelyn Leopold
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A3620-2002Nov4?language=printer
BAGHDAD/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said Monday he would consider cooperating with a new U.N. resolution on arms inspections provided it was not merely a pretext for the United States to attack Iraq.
As intense diplomatic wrangling went on among major powers over how to deal with Iraq, there were growing signs that Washington was preparing for possible war. U.S. officials told Reuters three U.S. military cargo ships capable of carrying tanks had left U.S. shores.
"If a resolution is issued which respects the U.N. charter, international law and Iraq's sovereignty, security and independence, and does not provide a cover for America's ill intentions, we will view it in a way that makes us deal with it," official Iraqi television quoted Saddam as telling visiting far-right Austrian politician Joerg Haider.
In separate talks with South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad, Saddam said however: "If American pressures, temptations and threats led to resolutions that contradict the interests of Iraq, its security and independence, we will defend our people."
The first comment appeared to mark a possible shift in Baghdad's stance. Iraqi officials have previously been hostile to the idea of a new resolution governing U.N. inspections of its alleged programs to develop nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.
The United States and Britain say they will make changes this week to a tough draft resolution intended to give inspectors unfettered access to sites in Iraq. The inspectors left Baghdad in 1998 complaining Iraqi authorities had consistently obstructed their work.
"HIDDEN TRIGGERS"
At issue is suspicion by France, Russia and China of "hidden triggers" in the wording of the resolution that would allow Washington to launch a military strike, overthrow Saddam and argue afterwards it had U.N. authorization.
France is lobbying hard to amend the draft resolution.
Diplomats say the differences among the five veto-holding permanent members of the Security Council -- the United States, Britain, Russia, China and France -- could delay a vote until after Tuesday's key mid-term U.S. elections.
Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, the most steadfast of Washington's military allies, said on Monday the five were converging on agreement.
"We are reaching the point of closure, I think," Blair told a news conference. "The absolutely critical issue for us is that we get an inspection regime in there that doesn't have the problems the last one had," he said.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other officials were meeting in Washington on Monday to go over the draft and decide which changes were acceptable.
The United States expected to submit an amended resolution to the Security Council this week, the State Department said. President Bush on Monday lobbied President Vicente Fox of Mexico, considered a key voter on the council.
Leaders of 13 Asian countries, including China, called on Iraq to "fully comply" with U.N. resolutions after meeting in Phnom Penh, the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported.
U.S. SHIPS SET SAIL
The U.S. military cargo vessels, USNS Bellatrix, USNS Bob Hope and USNS Fisher, left U.S. shores in recent days, officials said.
The ships are just short of the length of aircraft carriers, and among the largest transport ships in the U.S. military's inventory. Two have seven decks capable of carrying tanks, helicopters and other heavy armor.
The deployment occurred as the aircraft carrier USS Constellation set sail for the Gulf from San Diego, California at the weekend.
Marge Holtz, director of Military Sealift Command, a branch of the U.S. Navy, declined to comment on the exact destination of the cargo vessels. "It is part of the repositioning of forces and equipment in support of the war on terror. They are en route," she told Reuters.
Iraq applauded key U.S. ally Saudi Arabia on Monday for forbidding U.S. forces to use its soil as a launchpad to attack Baghdad, saying it was "in line with Arab solidarity."
Saudi Arabia said it would not allow the United States to use its facilities to attack Iraq, even if a strike had U.N. sanction -- a pointed sign of how little enthusiasm frontline U.S. allies appear to feel for war.
Kuwait, delivered from Iraqi occupation 11 years ago by U.S.-led forces, said on Monday its bases would be used if a U.N. resolution was issued, but not its own troops.
In Turkey, a member of the NATO military alliance, the seismic election victory of a party with Islamist roots at the weekend added to doubts over how Turkish bases might be used by U.S. and British warplanes stationed there in the event of war.
The U.S. military has already moved large quantities of ammunition, armored vehicles, troops and command facilities to the Gulf region, where Western forces have land bases in several countries. A number of huge U.S. aircraft carriers are in striking distance of Iraq.
The practical support of Saudi Arabia or other individual U.S. allies in the region is not vital to that military buildup, but the lack of it could undermine Washington's claims to international legitimacy for attacking Iraq.
In secretive Iraq there were few visible signs of military activity, but there was other evidence the government was girding itself to deal with a possible attack.
Saddam has ordered double food rations to be provided for the population for two months in the event of war, his trade minister announced this week. Fuel dumps are being restocked and air raid warning sirens tested.
Diplomats say he has also made plans to nip any unrest in the bud to avoid a repeat of the 1991 post-Gulf War revolts by Shi'ite Muslims in the south and Kurds in the north. Saddam has appointed loyal army commanders as provincial governors with orders to respond swiftly to any trouble, the diplomats say.
--------
Iraqis: U.N. Sanctions Hurt Children
November 4, 2002
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Iraq-Suffering-Children.html
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Emira was a day old when she was abandoned by her parents, who couldn't afford to keep her. She is one of tens of thousands of Iraqi children suffering under U.N. sanctions and the Arab country's general downslide amid fears of a new war.
Emira was taken from the hospital where she was born Saturday and placed in a drab Baghdad orphanage, one of Iraqi capital's four which house thousands of children. Many were abandoned by their families while others lost both their parents, some during the Gulf War.
``We have a dramatic increase in orphans here,'' said Aneeba Jabar, the director of the Al-Najat orphanage on the garbage-strewn banks of the Tigris River on the outskirts of Baghdad.
She blamed it on United Nations sanctions imposed on Iraq in 1990, speaking as a government minder monitored an interview.
``We had two orphanages in Baghdad before the sanctions and the (Gulf) war. Now, we have four because the old ones became too crowded,'' Jabar said, as Emira sucked formula from a bottle. She shared her small bed with another, pale-looking infant.
``Emira's mother simply fled the hospital because the family has no money to feed her,'' Jabar said. She would not provide the exact number of orphans in Baghdad ``because their number is soaring daily.''
U.S. and United Nations officials have repeatedly rejected complaints about the humanitarian impact of the sanctions, saying the sanctions could be eliminated if Iraq complies with demands that it prove it has eliminated its weapons of mass destruction.
The United Nations has also criticized Iraq for spending only a tiny fraction of its U.N.-approved oil proceeds on improving nutrition for children. However, there was never free and unrestricted purchase of any goods under the oil-for-food program, and the sanctions committee has at times denied or delayed delivery on some foods and medicines sought by Iraq.
Many people in Iraq live below the poverty line, and as a result, families who cannot afford to feed and clothe their children are forced to give them up.
Since 1990, when Iraq was one of the most prosperous Arab nations because of huge oil reserves, living standards have plummeted, and average monthly salaries dropped from the equivalent of $500 to $10.
Washington has renewed accusations that Iraq is developing weapons of mass destruction in violation of U.N. orders and of sponsoring terrorists. President Bush is pushing the United Nations for a tough resolution that would allow an attack on Iraq, but has threatened to act alone if the Security Council doesn't go along.
That is why the basement at Baghdad's Al-Mansour Teaching Hospital for Children is being prepared to shelter 200 young cancer patients, their families and medical staff in case of a new war.
The hospital took similar precautions during the 1991 Gulf War that was launched by a U.S.-led coalition to drive Iraqi forces from Kuwait. The hospital was not hit during that war and is not near any military installations, but is preparing for a hit by a stray missile.
But fears of American strikes are not the only problems the Iraqi health system faces.
The hospital's director, Dr. Luay Kasha, said that since the sanctions were introduced, 1.6 million Iraqi children have died, up to seven times more than in the same period before the sanctions. This corresponds with U.N. figures, which also mention that more than a million Iraqi children are malnourished.
Kasha said the American use of depleted uranium in its munitions during the Gulf War was probably to blame. ``After that there was shortage in supply of proper food and medicines ... after that, epidemics flared up, cholera, virus infections, tuberculosis, chest infections, skin infections, water-borne diseases.''
``We are now reporting five to seven times increase of cancer cases among children than before 1990,'' Kasha said, an Iraqi government minder also present as she spoke. ``Most of the cases were caused by radiation ... like leukemia.''
The Americans have challenged such claims and insist that there is no proven link between use of depleted uranium munitions and the diseases.
Emin Fellah, a 5-year-boy pale boy of bare bones and skin, is dying of leukemia, and his mother Fatima watches him with teary eyes.
``If we had proper medicines, he might have had a chance,'' said Dr. Lana Ahmed. ``But with the situation like this, we had to abandon his therapy.''
--------
Saddam Said to Consider Resolution
November 4, 2002
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Iraq-UN.html
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- President Saddam Hussein indicated Monday he would not reject outright a new U.N. resolution on weapons inspections, saying Iraq would examine the conditions it imposes before deciding on compliance, Iraqi TV reported.
Saddam's remarks appeared to mark a shift by the Iraqi leader, who had maintained he would only accept weapons inspectors on terms laid down in previous resolutions.
The comments appeared aimed at preparing the Iraqi people for acceptance of a new resolution and at buying time to stave off any American attack.
``Iraq will look into whether it will deal with a resolution after it is issued by the Security Council,'' state-run television quoted Saddam as saying during a meeting with Austrian far-right politician Joerg Haider.
In a separate meeting Monday with South African envoy Aziz Behad, Iraqi television quoted Saddam as saying that ``Iraq will respect any behavior or decision that is issued in accordance with the U.N. Charter and international law.''
However, Saddam made clear he wasn't accepting any resolution unseen.
``If the American pressure, enticements and threats lead to decisions that contradict with the interests, security and independence of Iraq, we will defend our people, Iraq's interests and its security,'' Iraqi television quoted him as saying.
``The most important thing is that we don't let America get the international cover for its aggression. If it unilaterally launches an aggression against us, we will confront it, God willing, although the Iraqis will be subjected to harm because America does not stop at anything,'' Saddam was quoted as telling Behad.
As recently as Sunday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri suggested Baghdad would reject a draft U.S. resolution on U.N. weapons inspections, calling it ``an evil American resolution,'' and that Iraq would not be alone in doing so.
``This resolution is rejected by the international community, and it will never be accepted by anybody,'' Sabri said.
The United States has proposed a new resolution which would strengthen U.N. weapons inspections, declare Iraq in ``material breach'' of its obligations to destroy weapons of mass destruction and threaten ``serious consequences,'' presumably military action, if Baghdad fails to cooperate with inspectors.
Russia, France and China contend the United States could use the resolution to launch an attack on Iraq without getting Security Council approval. They want the possibility of force to be considered in a second resolution only if Iraq obstructs the inspectors. Council members expect a revised American text this week.
The U.S. draft resolution now gives Iraq seven days to accept terms from the day of passage. Iraq would then have 30 days to declare its chemical, biological and nuclear weapons programs plus another 20 days to declare additional chemical stocks.
The resolution has been in the works since Iraq announced Sept. 16 that weapons inspectors would be welcome to return unconditionally after nearly four years.
Saddam also repeated past pledges that Iraq was free of chemical, nuclear and biological weapons and that his country would resist strongly any American strike.
``Iraq will defend itself if attacked by the United States of America,'' Iraqi television quoted him as saying.
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Saddam Hints at Flexibility; U.N. Deal Close
November 4, 2002
By REUTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-iraq.html
BAGHDAD/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - President Saddam Hussein said on Monday Iraq would consider cooperating with a U.N. resolution on arms inspections if it was not just a pretext for a U.S. attack.
At the United Nations, after weeks of wrangling, signs emerged that a compromise resolution may be agreed this week.
``If a resolution is issued which respects the U.N. charter, international law and Iraq's sovereignty, security and independence, and does not provide a cover for America's ill intentions, we will view it in a way that makes us deal with it,'' official Iraqi television quoted Saddam as telling visiting far-right Austrian politician Joerg Haider.
The comment appeared to mark a shift in Baghdad's stance. Its officials have repeatedly insisted there is no need for a new resolution governing inspections of its alleged programs to develop nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.
But diplomats noted the reference to respecting Iraq's ``sovereignty, security and independence,'' saying in the past this meant restrictions on where U.N. arms inspectors can go.
The United States has made several changes in the last week to a tough resolution intended to give unfettered access to the inspectors, who left in 1998 complaining Iraqi authorities had consistently obstructed their work.
The U.S. draft resolution warns that failure by Iraq to make a full declaration of its weapons of mass destruction and related materials or interference in the inspections could amount to a ``material breach'' of the 1991 Gulf War cease-fire pact, a legal basis for war.
Washington was now offering to wait until chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix reported any major problems and then discuss them with the council before determining a ``further material breach'' or launching any military strike.
But the United States still opposed allowing the council to authorize the use of force or to determine what would constitute a ``further material breach'' of U.N. resolutions.
U.S. CONCESSIONS
France, backed by Russia and China, fears ``hidden triggers'' in the wording of the resolution that would allow Washington to launch a military strike, overthrow Saddam and argue afterwards it had U.N. authorization.
In new language, Washington was also ready to give Iraq up to 50 days to prepare parts of a declaration Baghdad has to give on industry-related chemical or biological materials that may have military applications, the diplomats said.
Diplomats say because of differences among the five veto-holding permanent members of the Security Council -- the United States, Britain, Russia, China and France -- the revised resolution was not expected to be presented until late Tuesday or Wednesday.
The United States and Britain hope for a vote by Friday.
Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, the most steadfast of Washington's military allies, said Monday the five permanent members were converging on agreement.
``We are reaching the point of closure, I think,'' Blair told a news conference. ``I don't want to prejudge the negotiations but they are proceeding satisfactorily.
``The absolutely critical issue for us is that we get an inspection regime in there that doesn't have the problems the last one had,'' he said.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other officials were meeting in Washington to decide on the modifications, administration officials said.
U.S. officials said that despite remarks by Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal at the weekend they did not believe that that Riyadh had ruled out the use of Saudi bases in any eventual attack on Iraq.
In an interview broadcast by CNN on Sunday the minister said, ``We will abide by the decision of the United Nations Security Council and we will cooperate with the Security Council. But as to entering the conflict or using facilities ... that is something else.''
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters, ``We looked at the remarks and we talked to the Saudis about the remarks, and I didn't take them, frankly, to be quite as definitive as the way they've been reported.''
MILITARY PREPARATIONS
Kuwait, delivered from Iraqi occupation 11 years ago by U.S.-led forces, said Monday its military bases could be used in the threatened conflict but not its own troops. ``If a (U.N. Security Council) resolution is issued, the bases will be used (by Western forces), but not the Kuwaiti military,'' said Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah.
In Turkey, a member of the NATO military alliance, the weekend election victory of a party with Islamist roots fueled doubts over how Turkish bases might be used by U.S. and British warplanes stationed there in the event of war.
Although the White House insists President Bush has not decided on war against Iraq, the U.S. has been building up its forces and equipment in the Gulf region.
A number of U.S. aircraft carriers are within striking distance of Iraq and a U.S. Navy official said three huge U.S. military cargo vessels capable of carrying tanks left U.S. shores in recent days. The official did not disclose where they were headed.
The ships are among the largest transport ships in the U.S. military's inventory. Two have seven decks capable of carrying tanks, helicopters and other heavy armor.
In Iraq, there were few signs of a military buildup, troop movements or anti-aircraft activity, but there was evidence the government is girding itself for attack.
Saddam has ordered double food rations to be provided for the population for two months in the event of war, his trade minister announced. Fuel dumps were being restocked and air-raid warning sirens tested.
Saddam has also made plans to nip any unrest in the bud to avoid a repeat of the 1991 post-Gulf War revolts by Shi'ite Muslims in the south and Kurds in the north. He has appointed loyal army commanders as provincial governors with orders to respond swiftly to any trouble, diplomats say.
Sunday, Saddam told his air force commanders and pilots that Iraq was ready for war. ``If God wants us to fight, and imposes it on us, we will fight, though we hate it,'' he said.
-------- israel / palestine
Israel Committed War Crimes in West Bank, Rights Group Says
By John Ward Anderson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, November 4, 2002; Page A13
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A64269-2002Nov3?language=printer
JERUSALEM, Nov. 3 -- There is "clear evidence" that Israeli soldiers and their commanders committed war crimes against Palestinian civilians -- including unlawful killings and torture -- during a three-month campaign last spring in two Palestinian cities in the West Bank, the human rights group Amnesty International charges in a report to be released Monday.
In a study of Israeli army operations in the cities of Jenin and Nablus from April to June, the human rights group cites the killing of Palestinian women and children, the "wanton" destruction of houses, the torture of Palestinian prisoners and the use of Palestinian civilians by Israeli soldiers as "human shields" during military operations. The group says in the report these constitute violations of the Geneva Conventions.
The report is the most recent of several new studies by human rights organizations on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Human Rights Watch last week issued a report calling Palestinian suicide bombings against Israeli civilians "crimes against humanity" and asserting that the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, bore "significant political responsibility" for not stopping them. Amnesty, in a July report, also described the Palestinian suicide attacks as crimes against humanity and war crimes.
The incidents investigated for the latest report occurred during Operation Defensive Shield, an Israeli military incursion into Palestinian cities and towns in the West Bank that Israel said was aimed at uprooting an infrastructure of Palestinian terrorism. The Israeli offensive began March 29, two days after a suicide bombing at the Park Hotel in the resort of Netanya, in which 29 Israelis were killed during a Passover celebration.
A spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry tonight rejected the report as "one-sided," saying it "ignores the fact that Israel is in the midst of an armed conflict that was imposed on her."
"Israel is struggling to defend her citizens against the Palestinian terror campaign, which is deliberately being conducted behind the back of the civilian population, including the use of children and the use of ambulances to smuggle arms and explosives," the spokesman said.
The 76-page Amnesty report says that the Israeli government prevented reporters, diplomats and others from visiting Jenin and Nablus to investigate charges of unlawful killings during the first weeks of the military campaign, and that Israel never adequately investigated the charges itself.
"This failure on the part of the Israeli authorities has helped create a climate where some members of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces], aware that no action will be taken against them, continue to carry out unlawful killings," Amnesty International said in a statement.
The report found that more than half of the 54 people killed in Jenin in the opening two weeks of the Israeli campaign were not involved in fighting. They included seven women, four children and six men over the age of 55. In the first three weeks of the Nablus offensive, it says, at least 80 Palestinians were killed, including seven women and nine children.
At least 16 people died when Israeli bulldozers razed their homes without giving them enough time to evacuate, and they were crushed by rubble, according to the report. In the Jenin refugee camp, the homes of 800 families were destroyed -- most after the fighting had stopped -- leaving 4,000 people homeless, the report says.
In August, the United Nations published a report on operations in Jenin, saying that it uncovered no evidence to support Palestinian charges that Israel massacred civilians, but cited allegations that Israeli forces used excessive force and prevented sick and wounded Palestinians from obtaining medical treatment. Twenty-three Israeli soldiers were killed in the fighting in Jenin. Human Rights Watch put the Palestinian death toll in Jenin at 52, including 22 civilians.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon today continued to attempt to reassemble a governing coalition. Former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, a leading hawk in Sharon's Likud Party who has been a tough critic of the Sharon government, agreed today to serve as Sharon's foreign minister, on the condition that new elections are called as soon as possible, which could be by January. Sharon's office said it was studying Netanyahu's terms.
If he assumes the post, Netanyahu would replace Shimon Peres, an architect of the 1993 Olso peace accords with the Palestinians. Peres had served in Sharon's cabinet, but resigned with five other Labor Party ministers on Wednesday.
Sharon has appointed Shaul Mofaz, the army chief of staff during the spring offensive in the Palestinian territories, to be the new defense minister. Officials said they expect Mofaz's appointment to be approved by Israel's parliament on Monday.
The parliament, or Knesset, is also scheduled to vote Monday on three motions of no confidence in Sharon's government. Ultra-nationalist and Orthodox parties in the opposition, whose support is necessary to approve the motions, are not expected to back them. That may provide the parties a week or two to negotiate over joining Sharon in a new, right-wing coalition to replace the government that collapsed last week when the Labor Party quit, leaving Sharon six votes short of a majority in parliament.
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Amnesty Accuses Israel of War Crimes in West Bank
Reuters
Monday, November 4, 2002
By Mark Heinrich
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A1335-2002Nov4?language=printer
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The human rights group Amnesty International accused Israel on Monday of war crimes, saying there had been unjustified killings and maltreatment of Palestinians during an army offensive in the West Bank.
The London-based group said few of the abuses reported last spring had been impartially investigated.
The army reoccupied Palestinian West Bank cities in April with the declared aim of rooting out militants behind a campaign of suicide bombings that have killed scores of Israelis.
"The relationship of the conflict to the deteriorating human rights situation has led to a growing understanding that there can be no peace in the region until human rights are respected," Amnesty International said in a 76-page report.
The report detailed what Amnesty called unlawful killings and abusive treatment of detainees in two West Bank cities where Palestinian militants put up the fiercest resistance to the army crackdown on their two-year-old uprising for statehood.
Cases described included a paralyzed detainee beaten by soldiers, demolitions of homes in which a family of eight and a wheelchair-bound man died, and a woman in labor struggling to walk to hospital after troops stopped her ambulance.
Other incidents reported included released detainees forced to walk home through a battle zone, using civilians as human shields, blocking of ambulances and humanitarian aid even where fighting had ceased, and the destruction of commercial, religious and residential buildings without military necessity.
Amnesty has previously accused Israel of brutalizing Palestinians under occupation, but in July condemned Palestinian suicide attacks on Israeli civilians as crimes against humanity. It has denied Israeli accusations of pro-Palestinian bias.
"Amnesty believes some acts by the Israeli army described (here) amount to grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention and are war crimes," said the report, entitled "Shielded From Scrutiny: Israeli Violations in Jenin and Nablus."
'LACK OF IMPARTIAL INVESTIGATIONS'
"Virtually none of these (civilian) killings has been thoroughly and impartially investigated. The failure to (do so) in disputed circumstances and those that were clearly unlawful has created a climate where members of the Israeli army believe they may carry out such killings with impunity," it said.
The Israeli army said it would comment on specifics of the report after examining them.
But it said its operations aimed to pre-empt attacks from "terror infrastructures situated in the heart of the innocent Palestinian population, which is used as cover for them."
It said 646 Israeli soldiers and civilians had died in more than 14,000 "terrorist attacks" since the uprising began.
"The state of Israel is exercising its basic right to defend its inhabitants," an army statement said.
In the past six months, Israel has denied a barrage of accusations by the United Nations and humanitarian activist groups that it had trampled on human rights in the West Bank.
It has voiced regret for civilian deaths but said they occurred during combat or operations to destroy buildings believed to be booby-trapped or serving as cover for militants.
The army has further denied accusations that houses were razed without adequate checks that occupants were not inside.
The army has said some ambulances were held up because of suspicions they were transporting militants or weapons, or because they refused to be searched. In September, the army said it was prosecuting 18 soldiers for plundering homes.
Amnesty based its new report on petitions to Israeli courts by rights groups, medical files, and interviews with Palestinian victims and their families and local and international officials, with testimony cross-checked for accuracy.
Over four months ending June 30, the period of two army offensives and reoccupation of cities given self-rule under interim peace deals in 1994-95, the Israeli army killed nearly 500 Palestinians, according to Amnesty.
"While many Palestinians died during armed confrontations, many of these Israeli army killings appeared to be unlawful and over 70 of the victims were children," it said.
Amnesty cited cases of several civilians killed when the army used explosives to blast open doors of buildings without adequate warning -- "disproportionate use of force or gross negligence in protecting those not involved in fighting."
It quoted U.N. refugee agency figures that 2,629 homes housing 13,145 people were battered, sometimes by tank shells or helicopter missiles, in a one-month period. This did not include demolished homes of Palestinians not registered as refugees.
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