World News
4/22/02 - 4/28/02

Sunday 4/28/02

Torture en masse  4/28/02 Al Ahram: putting the Israeli War College's study of German tactics in the Warsaw Getto into context: "Leo Yavner, of the Israeli human rights organisation B'tselem, said: "Many of the former detainees we have talked to say they have been beaten, apparently just for the amusement of the soldiers. We are now compiling cases and will then file complaints to the Israeli authorities."

Why Israel dreads a full investigation  4/28/02 Arab News, Saudi Arabia: "In a deserted road by the periphery of the refugee camp, we found the flattened remains of a wheelchair. It had been utterly crushed, ironed flat as if in a cartoon. In the middle of the debris lay a broken white flag. Durar Hassan told us how his friend, Kemal Zughayer, was shot dead as he tried to wheel himself up the road. The Israeli tanks must have driven over the body, because when Hassan found it, one leg and both arms were missing, and the face, he said, had been ripped in two."

Israelis dub Jenin probe 'anti-Semitic'  4/28/02 Guardian, UK: this excuse is starting to sound like "the dog ate my homework."

Israeli terrorists murder Palestinian boy near al-Khalil  4/28/02 IRNA, Iran

The Phantom Link to Iraq  4/28/02 Newsweek: but they will attack Iraq anyways, their blod lust not satisfied with the many hundred thousands of deaths so far from "collateral damage" due to deliberate genocidal policies, such as the destruction of the water supply, something that is also being achieved slow motion in Cuba.

VENEZUELA INVESTIGATES COUP KILLINGS; CHAVEZ THANKS FMLN FOR SUPPORT  4/28/02 Radio Havana: "The country's National Assembly reportedly has asked local human rights groups to propose six representatives to sit on the nine-member Truth Commission by next Tuesday. The remaining seats will include human rights experts from the Central and Catholic Universities and one representative designated by the National Council of Churches. The Venezuelan people have reportedly accused the local police of carrying out some of the killings during the 48 hours of the coup headed by entrepreneur Pedro Carmona." That would be the Caracas police, known to be right wing.

Tribal clash hints at Bin Laden hideout  4/28/02 Sunday Times: "The incident illustrates both the ease with which large groups of Al-Qaeda fighters can escape American clutches and the difficulties of establishing who may be hiding in the anarchic Pakistani tribelands of northern Waziristan. Yet many local leaders seem convinced that Bin Laden is hiding in the area. “Everybody believes he is already here,” said Mohammad Ashraf, a tribal leader in the Kurram area. “He may be confined to a house in the Tirah valley or north Waziristan. Where, we don’t know, but he is somewhere near us.”

IRA 'is teaching Palestinians how to blow up Israeli soldiers' in West Bank  4/28/02 Telegraph, UK: "As The Telegraph disclosed last month, the Israeli intelligence service Mossad asked British security agencies to check on the movements of known IRA killers to help identify a sniper who shot dead seven soldiers and three civilians in 25 minutes - using 25 bullets from a bolt-action rifle."

Sharon's plan is to drive Palestinians across the Jordan  4/28/02 Telegraph, UK: this is in a pro-Israel UK paper. If the US allows this to happen, it will never know peace again. "Two years ago, less than eight per cent of those who took part in a Gallup poll among Jewish Israelis said they were in favour of what is euphemistically called "transfer" - that is, the expulsion of perhaps two million Palestinians across the River Jordan. This month that figure reached 44 per cent."

Islamic charities prosper despite US terror talk  4/28/02 Times of India: "Rulers and citizens of the oil-rich region donated tens of millions of dollars worth of cash and goods to the Palestinians after Israel stepped up its military campaign against the Palestinians last month. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar held telethons to collection donations that yielded around $100 million in just a few hours."

Saturday 4/27/02

AP: 176 Priests Removed in 28 States  4/27/02 AP

WWIII is coming, 'I'm sure,' high-level Sharon aide says  4/27/02 Arizona Star: "The terror attacks on Sept. 11 and extreme turmoil in the Middle East point to one thing - World War III, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Friday during a visit to Tucson." Thus endearing himself to the Christian fundamentalists who seek the end times and the Apocalypse.

Evangelical Christians and the Sharon lobby  4/27/02 Asia Times, Hong Kong: "The strategy worked so well that many political analysts credit Carter's defeat by Ronald Reagan with Carter's loss of evangelical Christian support three years later and the forging of an effective alliance between neo-conservative US Jews and the Christian right that has grown more and more powerful over the past two decades."

What Non-Palestinian Hand Carried out Adora Attack?  4/27/02 Debka, Israel: the Israeli psyops site detects white boys lending their cold killer abilities to the "hot blooded" Palestinians: "From behind the window of her home, she saw a young man in Israeli military fatigues and flak jacket approaching with an M-16 rifle. He looked just like an Israeli soldier. When he was only a meter and a half away, he raised his rifle and quite deliberately began shooting into the window at which she was standing. He then went round the house, firing through more windows with the same slow deliberation. Ms Harari was absolutely sure of his light skin and non-Arab appearance...The shadow of an active, experienced non-Palestinian presence has been discerned at work in subsequent Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets. Although there are theories about this alien identity, Israeli military chiefs do not know for sure who they are. An exhaustive investigation following the Kharmiyeh attack defined the three expert marksmen who executed the deadly assault as professional enough to wipe out every clue to their identity before disappearing without trace. The meager clues discovered do not point to Palestinian hit men. In certain subsequent shooting and bombing attacks in other places, the execution was Palestinian, but not the way they were organized, the types of explosives and other features...Israel’s military and security authorities prefer to keep the issue low-key so as not to frighten the public. They are also reluctant to tip their hand. Two of the possibilities floated are Hizballah and al Qaeda. Another is European mercenaries – underworld contract killers, or European-trained commandos."

Missourian played key role in old-time eugenics movement  4/27/02 Kansas City Star: the Eugenics laws were used to sterilize many people of color, such as Abnaki in Vermont. "With the passage of its law came similar laws in 35 other states, sterilizing 40,000 to 60,000 Americans…. And in 1933, Nazi Germany used Laughlin's sterilization law as the blueprint for the Nuremberg Laws under which 350,000 "unfit" German citizens were sterilized." Just as Hitler was a great admirer of the American Indian policy, which the Israeli are attempting to implement in Palestine, with the backing of an America still nostalgic for its colonial past. Not just the so-called feebleminded, but alcoholics and paupers, prostitutes and hobos, common criminals, hemophiliacs, diabetics, epileptics, the mentally ill, the physically deformed, the blind, the deaf, orphans -- people who, it was determined, should be sterilized, lest their children inherit their "degenerate weaknesses" and further drain society."

I Met Her in Venezuela  4/27/02 Lew Rockwell: "The National Endowment for Democracy has spent to date, as far as we know, $877,000 on a variety of activities in Venezuela that increased as the situation deteriorated, including a $154,377 grant to the American Center for International Labor Solidarity, the international arm of the A.F.L.-C.I.O. to assist the main Venezuelan labor union, the Confederation of Venezuelan Workers, in trying to overthrow Hugo Chavez, the elected president. So much for democracy. This is not news. If anyone has bothered to read Ted Morgan's biography of Jay Lovestone, A Covert Life, they would know that Lovestone, for years the head of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.'s international division, was a CIA operative working under James Angelton, who was his case officer."

Forces on alert as 20 child bombers thwarted  4/27/02 Sydney Morning Herald

Protesters Detained in Milwaukee: Are You on the No Fly List?  4/27/02 The Progressive: "Twenty of the 37 members of the Peace Action Milwaukee group--including a priest and a nun--were pulled aside and questioned by Milwaukee County sheriff's deputies. They were not cleared in time for takeoff and had to leave the next morning, missing many of the events. What tripped them up was a computerized "No Fly Watch List" that the federal government now supplies to all the airlines. The airlines are required to check their passenger lists against that computerized "No Fly" list… Sarah Backus, a coordinator for SOA [School of the Americas] Watch Wisconsin, says she was told by one of the sheriff's deputies: "You're probably being stopped because you are a peace group and you're protesting against your country."

What are these 'other threats' to Colombia's Security?  4/27/02 Z Mag: "In April 10, 2000 the US senator Coverdell said that it would be necessary to intervene militarily in Colombia-- to control Venezuela! It's highly likely that this 'mico' added on to the law was added in order to prepare a military aggression against the Chavez government. If the war against drugs was a pretext for a war against the insurgency, now the armed conflict in Colombia has become a pretext for an attack on Venezuela and against the Chavez government."

They are coming - Gaza braces for Sharon to send in tanks in next phase of war  4/27/02 Zmag: "We heard what happened to women in Ramallah who had thousands of dollars of jewellery stolen by the Israeli troops who entered their homes,'' a middle-class married woman in Gaza City said without emotion."

Friday 4/26/02

Priestly Sin, Cover-Up  4/26/02 ABC News: "The accusers say Vatican-based Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who heads the Vatican office to safeguard the faith and the morals of the church, quietly made the lawsuit go away and shelved it. There was no investigation and the accusers weren't asked a single question or asked for a statement. He was appointed by the pope to investigate the entire sex abuse scandal in the church in recent days. But when approached by ABCNEWS in Rome last week with questions of allegations against Maciel, Ratzinger became visibly upset and actually slapped this reporter's hand. "Come to me when the moment is given," Ratzinger told ABCNEWS, "not yet." "Cardinal Ratzinger is sheltering Maciel, protecting him," said Berry, who expressed concerns that no response was being given to the allegations against the man charged with sex abuse. "These men knelt and kissed the ring of Cardinal Ratzinger when they filed the case in Rome. And a year-and-a-half later, he takes those accusations and aborts them, just stuffs them."

Israel accuses Palestinians of moving bodies into Jenin  4/26/02 AFP: "The Israeli army accused Palestinians of piling bodies from an old cemetery into a mass grave in the Jenin refugee camp ahead of the eventual arrival of a UN fact-finding mission. The army, quoting military intelligence sources, said in a statement posted on its Internet site that the "Palestinians are performing false manipulations in order to show greater damage than was actually inflicted."

Nuevas presiones de EE.UU. a Chávez  4/26/02 BBC

What Happened in the Jenin Refugee Camp?  4/26/02 David Chandler: "Abstract: Israeli aerial photographs posted on the Internet to show that there was no massacre actually support claims by Palestinians (and many international observers) that hundreds of people were killed."

Those who misuse law enforcement computer system won't be traceable  4/26/02 Detroit Free Press: "LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- The names of those who abuse a confidential police computer system will be deleted after each case is investigated because state officials voted to change the current policy."

Saudis threaten 'oil weapon' in talks to pressure Bush  4/26/02 Independent, UK: "Most alarming, if interviews and reports from the region are taken at face value, the Saudis have already more or less concluded that no amount of pressure from the Crown Prince, the de facto ruler of the Kingdom, will induce Mr Bush to change his mind. The pessimism was reflected in the extraordinarily menacing language of a senior unnamed Saudi representative, who warned in The New York Times that if the worst came to the worst, Riyadh and other Arab states might use the "oil weapon" against Washington and – far from supporting a US attack on Saddam Hussein – demand the closure of US military bases in the region."

Military manoeuvres in the dark  4/26/02 IntelBriefing: "There are now a large number of reports emanating from Middle East sources which if true would suggest that major military re-deployments are under way and perhaps even preparations for a wider conflict. On closer examination some reports only appear to provide evidence of a prudent attempt to prepare for the unexpected, while others remain only the product of the Middle East's famous rumour mill. Strangely only Israel would seem to benefit from this surfeit of alarmist reporting as any suggestion of a build-up of Arab military power would only serve as an excuse for Israel maintaining an ultra-tough line on any negotiations with the Palestinians and further encourage support from the United States."

Venezuelans linked to coup attempt said to be in Miami  4/26/02 Miami Herald: "Venezuelan military investigators raided his Caracas home Wednesday and seized several guns and boxes of ammunition in a basement shooting range. It was not clear if the guns were illegal or part of a Pérez Recao-owned firm that sells Israeli weapons in Venezuela." Could this be the source of the "foreign weapons" from a non US country mentioned by Chavez? And just what would an Israeli role be in a coup where one of the first acts of the new rulers was to try to take Venezuela out of OPEC?

Israel's Historic Miscalculation  4/26/02 NYT: "Just as terror is the greatest Palestinian threat to Middle East peace, so are settlements on territory captured in the 1967 war the greatest Israeli obstacle to peace. They deprive the Palestinians of prime land and water, break up Palestinian geographic continuity, are hard to defend against Palestinian attack and complicate the establishment of a clear, secure Israeli border."

Washington channelled funds to groups that opposed Chavez  4/26/02 Sydney Morning Herald: democracy at work, hard: "The funds were provided by the National Endowment for Democracy, a non-profit agency created and financed by Congress. As conditions deteriorated in Venezuela and Mr Chavez clashed with various business, union and media groups, the endowment quadrupled its budget for the country to more than $US 877,000 ($1.6million)."

US base in Afghanistan under rocket attack  4/26/02 Times of India

Unions urge SA to cut Israel ties  4/26/02 Ummah News

Ex-CIA chief revitalizes 'truth serum' debate  4/26/02 Usa Today

A concerned US reader has told VHeadline.com that US Senate Venezuela Caucus' Cass Ballenger (Rep.) may be "a wolf in sheep's clothing" during Caucus meetings with the Venezuelan government this weekend.  4/26/02 Vheadlines: "When Chavez and the coup was mentioned, he had this evil look of glee in his eyes and denounced Chavez for all he was worth ... it was pretty sickening, and I'm sure that the USA isn't done with Chavez yet!"

Interior & Justice (MIJ) Minister Ramon Rodriguez Chacin reveals that he has been investigating the conspiracy against the government  4/26/02 Vheadlines: "for some time and was aware that businessman Isaac Perez Recao’s involvement."

OFF THE RECORD from "a source close to Washington"  4/26/02 Vheadlines: "That he (Venezuelan Defense Minister Rangel) reviewed some of the evidence already compiled of US involvement in the sniper attacks and other dirty little deeds and said to [US Amabassador] Shapiro, "okay, here it is, your own (USA) Congress is breathing down your neck ... could we have a little bit of cooperation please on the ongoing issues before we send little brown envelopes to John Kerry and Chris Dodd?"

Reich denies coup endorsement  4/26/02 Washington Times: thus spake Otto von Reich, de la Mas Fea. See Otto Reich's page.

The coming crisis of American imperialism  4/26/02 Yellow Times: interesting analysis published 3/26/02: "Now to the crux of the matter: no matter what ensues, the bad blood between the United States and the world is going to hurt American business interests. As America contracts behind its night-vision goggles, the spread of market capitalism is bound to lose steam. That will cause a split between American capitalism and Bush's imperialism. The coming split could be glimpsed at the recent World Economic Forum (WEF) convention in New York City. Colin Powell and Paul O'Neill had to sit through listening to none-too-subtle criticism from both foreign diplomats and corporate magnates. Some of the criticism surprisingly echoed the posters protesters carried at the demonstrations outside. Even American energy companies, Bush's staunchest support base, cannot be amused by the growing coziness between the Iranian government and Europe."

French Election Has Lessons For Us All  4/26/02 Zmag

Thursday 4/25/02

'US troops fighting al-Qaida in Pakistan'  4/25/02 Ananova

Aid boost for Palestinians  4/25/02 BBC: "We are sending a clear message that they [Israel] must not destroy the investment that we are financing," said Norwegian State Secretary Vidar Helgesen.

Saudis issue blunt warning to Bush  4/25/02 BBC

Judge orders torture probe  4/25/02 Chicago Sun Times: "Jon Burge has been called "torturer" virtually as long as he's been called lieutenant. On Wednesday, a Cook County judge took steps that could finally shine light into the shadows of the police interrogation room where critics say Burge repeatedly shocked, beat and suffocated confessions out of suspects starting in the 1970s."

BioWarfare, Terror Weapons and the US - Home Brew?  4/25/02 Counterpunch: "Last fall we saw an anthrax attack on the United States government that obviously was designed to shut the government down at a very critical moment in our history as a republic, that is immediately after September 11 when Congress should have been in session, making very critical decisions on oversight of the executive branch of government. This did not occur because of these anthrax attacks."

HOW THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (AP) GUTTED ITS OWN SCOOP ON THE VENEZUELAN COUP D'ETAT  4/25/02 Emperors Clothes: TOOTHAKER DISPATCH: "He didn't know who shot [Luis]. Police fired repeatedly at protesters in various Caracas slums Saturday and hospitals throughout the city's poorest areas were inundated with victims on Saturday." SELSKY DISPATCH: "He didn't know who shot Luis, and probably never will. Like most violent demonstrations here, gunfire can erupt from any side, at any time." Quite a difference. "

Saudi prince to tell Bush of Arab ire  4/25/02 IHT: said prince is the actual ruler of Saudi Arabia.

Call for halt to EU trade with Israel  4/25/02 Irish Times: "The labour MEP, Mr Proinsias De Rossa, has called for the suspension of the EU's trade agreement with Israel in protest against Israel's military action in the West Bank. Speaking in the European Parliament on his return from a visit to the refugee camp at Jenin, Mr De Rossa said that suspending the agreement would be a measured response to Israel's actions."

French FM: US Jewry more 'intransigent' than Sharon  4/25/02 Jerusalem Post: "In order to pressure Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to show more flexibility, the EU should try to whittle away at American Jewry's support for the prime minister, French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine said in a closed meeting Monday."

Le Pen and his women  4/25/02 National Post, Canada: "Where, the potential voter might ask, are the pictures of the former wife posing in Playboy? Where is the story of the daughter who betrayed Daddy for love and extreme right politics? What about Jany, the current Mrs. Le Pen, and her mysterious visits to see Saddam Hussein?"

Israelis Kill Five Palestinian Police Near Hebron  4/25/02 Reuters: a variation on "shot while trying to escape," as if 5 policemen in a car are going to go up against the Israeli Army.

Marines set pace at base in Uzbekistan  4/25/02 Stars and Stripes

Chavez's hold on power still tenuous  4/25/02 Stratfor

Jenin refugees turn away US relief trucks  4/25/02 Times of India: ""The camp's inhabitants are refusing help provided by the US because of its foreign policy concerning the Palestinian question and because the camp was destroyed by US-made weapons," Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member for Jenin, Jamal al-Shaati, said."

'Terror pilot' case dismissed  4/25/02 Times, UK: would this have happened in the USA?

Chávez’s Overthrow Was Clearly Predictable  4/25/02 Trinicenter, Trinidad & Tobago: "In my thesis, both Venezuela (having the largest oil reserves outside of the Middle East and world’s 4th largest exporter of crude) and Trinidad and Tobago ( supplying 52% of US LNG imports and having enormous oil and gas potential) had been targeted as key players in the Post September 11 US Strategic Energy Security Plan."

Just get out!  4/25/02 Yellow Times: "The suicide bombs are the mutant flowers of Israel's brutalizing occupation, springing from the seeds of the 54-year-long dehumanization of Palestinians. They are the ghosts of your brutality coming back to haunt you, the mementos of your war against memory. The massive and deliberate destruction of Palestinian civil records in the West Bank in the last weeks is but the most recent chapter in a war against Palestinian memory that began in 1948, with the annihilation of 400 Palestinian villages. But you seem to learn nothing from history, indeed from your own history: ghosts always return, each time more violently. For those ready to die, their spiritless hatred towards you is what remains after you have bulldozed their past and their future. Whether you like it or not, they are your bastard offspring. Everything they know about hate, you taught them. Everything they forgot about humanity, you made them forget. Give them a hug now, as they have proven themselves worthy of their parents – you."

Wednesday 4/24/02

Our Own Worst Enemy?  4/24/02 American Prospect: "In fact, the FBI has hired some 20 expert consultants to assist with the anthrax investigation, and most of them belong to the government bio-defense establishment. One measure of how very close the investigators are to the investigated is the fact that in March, those consultants were asked to take polygraph tests. "Did you do it?" the experts were reportedly asked, and, "Do you know who did it?" Likewise, even as some FBI investigators set up shop at USAMRIID, working side by side with scientists to trace the source of the anthrax, another FBI team descended on Fort Detrick in February to question lab employees about suspicious activity they might have seen -- and to administer polygraph tests to those with access to suites where anthrax and other deadly germs are handled."

Israel Begins West Bank Construction  4/24/02 AP: hopeless recidivists.

Crown Prince arrives in US on historic mission  4/24/02 Arab News: “Crown Prince Abdullah will seek to impress on Bush that Arab public opinion is angry at the United States because of its support for Israel and urge him to end Washington’s alignment with Sharon’s policies,” says another Saudi official." - so angry most adults support bin Laden, according to polls…

Chief's Statement to Press on Luis Alfonso Torres Case  4/24/02 Baytown Police: killed for being a drunken Mexican through the use of pepper spray and excessive force.

Final Solutions  4/24/02 Cleveland Free Times: "IBM and the Nazis jointly designed, and IBM exclusively produced, technological solutions that enabled Hitler to accelerate and in many ways automate key aspects of his persecution of Jews, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and others the Nazis considered enemies. Custom-designed, IBM-produced punch cards, sorted by IBM machines leased to the Nazis, helped organize and manage the initial identification and social expulsion of Jews and others, the confiscation of their property, their ghettoization, their deportation, and, ultimately, even their extermination."

Jenin: the Propaganda Battle  4/24/02 Counterpunch: "Apparently, no one in Israel was particularly concerned then about issues of international law, mass graves, etc. So ample further information was provided on TV news the evening before about the preparations: Special refrigerating trucks were shown waiting to transfer the bodies to "terrorist cemeteries" in the Jordan valley." Ah, those refrigerator trucks…

Chávez afirma que los golpistas querían sacar a Venezuela de la OPEP  4/24/02 El Universal, Venezuela: "En una entrevista emitida hoy por el canal catarí de televisión por satélite Al Yazira, Chávez acusó a ''otros países'' de haber participado en el golpe de Estado para derrocar a su Gobierno, pero no precisó cuáles. Según el Presidente venezolano, la ''primera intención'' de los golpistas durante su período de algo más de un día en el poder fue excluir a Venezuela de la OPEP, ''decisión que habría hecho bajar los precios del petróleo''.

PM suspends agreement to cooperate with UN Jenin mission  4/24/02 Haaretz, Israel

Muere mexicano al ser detenido con violencia en Houston  4/24/02 La Jornada

HAVANA'S AMBASSADOR TO CARACAS DENOUNCES FASCIST ATTACK AGAINST EMBASSY  4/24/02 Radio Havana: "The Cuban ambassador strongly denounced the use of Venezuela's right-wing media to incite the mob to violence. Sánchez specifically pointed to Marta Colomina, a journalist and vehement critic of Hugo Chavez, as well as retired Vice Admiral Ivan Carratu, who served as an assistant to former Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez. Havana's ambassador to Caracas also accused attorney Ricardo Koesling and Cuban-born counterrevolutionary Salvador Romani of being the main organizers and promoters of the mob violence outside the embassy."

Seattle protest shuts down I-5 after police kill Black motorist  4/24/02 San Francisco Bay View

Not a holocaust, just ethnic cleansing  4/24/02 The Age, Australia: Zionism as Nazism - "[Zionist] Revisionism's founder, Vladimir Jabotinsky, laid down the basis of the argument in the 1920s. To clear Palestine of Arabs he wanted a Jewish army, and he founded a series of Zionist youth militias across Europe - groups which leftwing Zionists charged had more in common with farright militias than with the Zionist project. Jabotinsky made some efforts to discipline his more effusive followers (though he never expelled those such as Abba Achimeir, who suggested that Hitler's "renewal" of the German people was something Zionists could follow by example), but by the 1940s they had blossomed into the Irgun and the Lehi. These gangs terrorised Palestinians after World WarII, rolling bombs into Arab markets and massacring people in villages such as Deir Yassin."

Venezuelan coup plotter 'in Miami'  4/24/02 Times, UK: joining up with their buddies from La Mas Fea - "They include Isaac Pérez Recao, 32, a reputed arms-dealer and heir to a Venezuelan oil fortune. With a group of armed bodyguards, Señor Pérez Recao played a highly visible role in the April 12-13 coup, according to reports in Caracas. As the coup unraveled, he is said to have jumped into a private helicopter and escaped to the Caribbean island of Aruba."

Israel murders three children in Gaza Strip, hints at invasion  4/24/02 Ummah News

April 11 coupsters wanted to take Venezuela out of the Organization of Oil Producing Countries (OPEC)  4/24/02 Vheadlines: "Speaking to Qatar’s El Jazeera 24-hours news outlet, President Hugo Chavez Frias has accused “other countries” (?) of involvement in the failed coup d'etat. Taking Venezuela out of OPEC, he says, would have lowered oil prices (just as the United States has been pressuring!) and broken the OPEC “fair prices” agreement to keep a barrel of oil between $22-28…. When quizzed over allegations that Israeli Mossad agents had taken part in the coup, President Chavez Frias said he preferred to answer by saying that weapons used by the coupsters were NOT Venezuelan military stock and their provenance indicates who had taken part in the coup attempt."

Libertador (Caracas) Mayor Freddy Bernal has shown photos of fully-armed Metropolitan Police (PM) officers  4/24/02 Vheadlines: "Other photos show police officers wearing plastic medical gloves to avoid paraffin prints showing up in any post-march investigation."

Movimiento Quinta Republica (MVR) politicians have accused the USA of direct involvement in the failed April 11 coup d'etat  4/24/02 Vheadlines: "MVR politicians add that US Ambassador Charles Shapiro’s credentials are "highly suspect" since he was US military attache in Chile during the decisive coup against Salvador Allende, the Contras war in Nicaragua and El Salvador."

Tuesday 4/23/02

Man arrested for Tunisia blast  4/23/02 BBC

Israel accused over Jenin assault  4/23/02 Guardian: "The International Red Cross yesterday accused Israel of breaching the Geneva conventions by recklessly endangering civilian lives and property during its assault on the Jenin refugee camp, and by refusing the injured access to medical personnel for six days. Amnesty International concurred and called for an investigation on the same basis as the war crimes inquiries in the Balkans."

Ben-Eliezer, Peres to Annan: Israel unhappy with Jenin delegation  4/23/02 Haaretz, Israel: "UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed a three-member fact-finding team led by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari to determine what happened during Israel's military assault on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank."

Chechens Report Abuses Despite Safeguards  4/23/02 LA Times: "Moreover, Umazheva said, she was manipulated into signing a document certifying that there had been no human rights violations, and that once the document was signed, the abuses intensified. At least two residents were reported shot and killed in the operation, which began April 11."

Les anti-FN entendent investir la rue jusqu'au 5 mai  4/23/02 Le Figaro: conservative newspaper on youth street demos - the numbers are significantly lowere than those reported in other media.

La gauche bat le pavé pour battre le FN  4/23/02 Liberation: 10,000+ demonstrators in each of many French cities, mostly young, protest rght wing extremist Le Pen: "a colère de la jeunesse a éclaté dans la rue. Après les manifestations de la nuit de dimanche à lundi, près de 150 000 personnes ont défilé hier dans une trentaine de villes, dont des dizaines de milliers de lycéens et d'étudiants qui avaient déserté leurs établissements. Souvent spontanées, les manifestations se sont succédé tout au long de la journée, rapidement grossies par des militants d'extrême gau che, mais aussi Verts, communistes, socialis tes, syndicalistes et membres d'associations (Ligue des droits de l'Homme, Attac, Ras l'Front, SOS racisme). Partout, rythmée par les tambours et parfois accompagnée par des cracheurs de feu, la foule a scandé des slogans hostiles à Jean-Marie Le Pen et au «F-Haine» : «A bas le Front» ou «F comme fasciste, N comme nazi», «Votez escroc, pas facho». De source policière, ils étaient à chaque fois plus de 10 000 à Nancy, Rouen, Lille, Strasbourg. Autant à Paris, où quel ques centaines de personnes ont bloqué la circulation sur le boulevard périphérique dans la soirée pendant quarante minutes, avant l'intervention des forces de l'ordre. Dans le quartier de la Bastille vers 22 heures, quelques jeunes ont lancé des barres de fer et des bouteilles de bière sur le cordon policier qui leur barrait le passage. Des incidents rapidement contenus par l'intervention d'autres manifestants."

Pentagon to Investigate Its Role in Venezuela  4/23/02 NYT: "The Pentagon confirmed last week that Rogelio Pardo-Maurer, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Western Hemisphere affairs, met with the chief of Venezuela's military high command, Gen. Lucas Romero Rincón, on Dec. 18. General Rincón announced Mr. Chávez's resignation in the early hours of April 12 after apparently refusing to fire on anti-Chávez protestors the day before. " From a bio of Rogelio Pardo-Maurer: "Between 1986 and 1989, he was chief-of-staff to the representative of the Nicaraguan Resistance in Washington D.C. (who subsequently served as Nicaraguan Ambassador to the United States in the Administration of President Violeta Chamorro)."

Bush's Master Oil Plan  4/23/02 Pacific News Service

FURTHER PROOF REVEALED ON US INVOLVEMENT IN VENEZUELAN COUP  4/23/02 Radio Havana: "Venezuelan members of parliament have accused the United States of actively preparing and participating in the April 11 coup that attempted to topple President Hugo Chavez. Juan Barreto, Pedro Carreño and Jorge Rondón presented the press with recordings made during the coup of security police naming some of those involved. Rondón also confirmed that one of those arrested who had fired upon demonstrators -- the excuse used to carry out the coup -- is of US nationality."

Venezuelan Legislator Says U.S. Involved in Coup  4/23/02 Reuters: "Rondon also accused U.S. Ambassador Charles Shapiro of involvement in the coup, saying he had met with businessman Pedro Carmona, the interim president who briefly replaced Chavez, at the Miraflores presidential palace April 12. "We saw him leaving Miraflores Palace, all smiles and embraces, with the dictator Pedro Carmona Estanga," Rondon told reporters."

The real war on terrorism  4/23/02 Salon: great interview with Robert Young Pelton

Cities left under blockade in the line of Israeli fire  4/23/02 Sydney Morning Herald

Le Pen sends Europe reeling a little more to the right  4/23/02 Sydney Morning Herald

British troops in secret hunt for Taliban  4/23/02 Telegraph, UK: "So far, apart from the seizure of weapons, the operation has had limited success. Only two suspected Talibs have been captured and taken to Bagram for interrogation."

America forces out UN arms director  4/23/02 Times, UK: "The United States had co-sponsored Senhor Bustani for re-election, but the change of Administration in Washington led to a swift reappraisal. The Bush Administration, determined not to be bound by multilateral agreements, has resented the restrictions of the Chemical Weapons Convention. It was particularly angered by Senhor Bustani’s moves to woo Iraq, which Washington hardliners believe will make any military attack on Baghdad more difficult. Senhor Bustani accused the White House of trying to push him out because of his independence from Washington. He said that he had been blamed for seeking Iraq’s membership of the Chemical Weapons Convention, even though that was in full accordance with the United Nations Security Council decision."

Analysis: Front against the Front  4/23/02 UPI

Monday 4/22/02

Inflation soars in Israel  4/22/02 AFP: "Consumer prices in Israel rose sharply over the first quarter of 2002, putting the annual inflation rate at 6.3 percent, the Central Statistics Bureau said Sunday. Inflation stood at 2.7 percent in 2001 and zero in 2000. The Palestinian intifada or uprising against Israeli occupation started that year. At the same time, Israel's Gross Domestic Product has nose-dived since September 2000, under the combined effect of the intifada and the global slump of the technology market."

THE MEANING OF JENIN - Is Israel still part of the West?  4/22/02 Antiwar.com

Defence costs bloat Israeli deficit  4/22/02 BBC

Pride high at reunion of Black Panthers  4/22/02 Chicago Tribune

U.S. conservative groups unite to support Israel  4/22/02 IHT

The Middle East According to Robert Fisk  4/22/02 LA Weekly

Casa Blanca no ha dicho todo sobre asonada en Venezuela  4/22/02 Prensa Latina, Cuba

AT WASHINGTON'S BEHEST, LONDON SAVES KISSINGER FROM INTERROGATION  4/22/02 Radio Havana

THE GHOST OF HITLER STALKS EUROPE  4/22/02 Radio Havana

Weekly downtown protests are just a portion of anti-war activists' efforts  4/22/02 San Diego Union Tribune: and in a Navy town.

US Fingerprints on Venezuelan Coup  4/22/02 Straight Left: "For several months, the coup plotters had been making secret trips to the White House to meet with Elliot Abrams, the head of the National Security Council, and Otto Reich, the key policy maker for Latin America. Both men are veterans of Reagan's "dirty wars" of the Eighties and were linked to the death squads in Central America."

What Is The Real Story Around The Church Of Nativity?  4/22/02 The Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation

Shots fired as MSP attempts to enter Arafat HQ  4/22/02 Times, UK: "A SCOTTISH politician said last night that Israeli soldiers had fired shots over his head and struck a colleague with a stun grenade as they attempted to enter Yassir Arafat’s compound in Ramallah. The Nationalist MSP Lloyd Quinan said he and 15 other members of the International Solidarity Movement had effectively been “ambushed” as they responded to an invitation to visit the Palestinian leader’s headquarters."

Fox News Follies, Continued  4/22/02 Tom Paine Common Sense

On Soft Sea Breeze, Terror War Arrives - U.S. Probes Arabs on Venezuelan Isle  4/22/02 Washington Post

Israeli Spies Exposed  4/22/02 Weekly Planet, Tampa, FL: Now we know why the DEA was a primary target: "The document also links the Israelis to possible drug investigations. The report states: "DEA Orlando has developed the first drug nexus to this group. Telephone numbers obtained from an Israeli Art Student encountered at the Orlando (district office) have been linked to several ongoing DEA MDMA (Ecstasy) investigations in Florida, California, Texas, and New York." It is well known that Israeli gangsters control worldwide Ecstasy distribution. This raises the spectre of situations similar to Coca Contra and the numerous documented CIA collaborations with narcoterrorists.

Evidence of possible US hand in Venezuela coup mounts, Washington denies  4/22/02 Yahoo: "Newsweek wrote that among those suspected of financing the plot is Gustavo Cisneros, a Venezuelan media tycoon and fishing companion of former President George H.W. Bush. Cisneros has denied any role."

Political bombshell as Le Pen wins spot in French presidential final  4/22/02 Yahoo: "The 73-year-old leader of the National Front (FN), widely condemned for his hardline views on immigration, won over 17 percent of the vote, and will now confront his arch-rival President Jacques Chirac in the deciding second round on May 5, according to provisional results."

World News

"There is one safeguard known generally to the wise, which is an advantage and security to all, but especially to Democracies as against despots: suspicion." -- Demosthenes

Qawafil-ush-Shuhadaa http://www.shuhadaa.com [ARABIC]

Islam Question & Answer - Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid

Islaam Homepage

Islamic Assembly of North America [IANA on LINE]

Jam'iat Ihyaa' Minhaaj al-Sunnah Homepage

Nida'ul Islam/ The Call of Islam Magazine Online

Words Written in Blood. Arabic book collection of Shaheed Sheikh

Abdullah Azzam [ARABIC]

Maps & Weather

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/

A number of maps here
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/afghanistan.html

http://www.weatherhub.com/

Estimates of the total number of Muslims range from 0.7 to 1.2 billion worldwide and 3 to 6 million in the U.S. About 20% of all people on earth follow Islam. The religion is in a period of rapid growth.

Christianity is currently the largest religion in the world. It is followed by about 33% of all people -- a percentage that has remaind stable for decades. It is expected that, if current trends continue, Islam will become the most popular religion sometime in the mid-21^st century.

-- http://www.religioustolerance.org/islam.htm

Death from America

Iraq news: Soaring death rates among Iraqi children, 1999 BBC, UNICEF 500,000 child deaths

Ramsey Clark: Report to UN Security Council re: Iraq, 1/26/2000
1.5 million deaths

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