Extracts. 40-50 US Troops Killed While Helicopter Crashes in Afghanistan: AIP. A spokesman for the Afghan Taliban claimed Saturday that 40 to 50 U.S. troops were killed while their helicopter was shot down by the Taliban anti-aircraft gunfire, according to the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP). The spokesman, Mullah Amir Khan Muttaqi told AIP that a U.S. helicopter crashed for unknown reasons in Nawur district of Ghazni province and a second gunship was shot down by the Taliban soldiers as it came to rescue the crew of the first. "Pieces of 40 to 50 dead bodies were spread everywhere," he said. According to the spokesman, the helicopter with 40 to 50 U.S. troops on board entered Afghanistan from Pakistan side and was heading toward Dara-e-Souf, the key frontline between the Taliban militia and its opposition Northern Alliance in Samangan province. Early Saturday, a Taliban diplomat claimed that two U.S. aircraft were shot down by Taliban anti-aircraft gunfire in southern Afghan province of Ghazni during the U.S. air strikes Friday night. Najibullah, a senior Taliban diplomat told AIP that the two U.S. aircraft took part in a round of air attacks on Nawar district in Ghazni. One crashed near Hokack village and the other crashed near Hasrat village. In Washington, the U.S. Defense Department announced on Friday that a U.S. military helicopter crash-landed in Afghanistan due to bad weather, injuring four crew members. It said the crash landing, the first reported loss of a U.S. aircraft within Afghanistan since the U.S. and its allies launched military strikes against the Taliban four weeks ago. **** US Delta Force Met Heavy Taliban Resistance. Twelve elite US Delta Force commandos were wounded by Taliban troops in an Oct. 20 raid in southern Afghanistan, and some American officers were angered by the Pentagon's film show of a separate parachute strike that night, according to a report released on Saturday. Despite comments by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that resistance to the two raids was light, author Seymour Hersh wrote in The New Yorker magazine the Taliban surprised US forces with a fierce firefight at one target. Hersh reported in the Nov. 12 issue the fight erupted as members of the elite and secret Delta Force emerged from a house in a compound near Kandahar sometimes used by Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, who was not there. "It was like an ambush," he quoted one senior officer as saying. "The Taliban were firing light arms and either RPGs (rocket-propelled grenades) or mortars." It was "a tactical firefight, and the Taliban had the advantage," the officer told Hersh, who reported that 12 US commandos were wounded, three of them seriously. Defense officials declined to comment on the Hersh report or discuss further details of last month's raids in response to questions from Reuters. But Hersh, who earlier was the first to report that the United States was using missile-armed unmanned reconnaissance drones over Afghanistan, said some US officers were furious because the Pentagon showed reporters dramatic films of a separate parachute raid that night by Army Rangers on an airfield near Kandahar. FILMS VIEWED WITH DISDAIN Some officers and Delta Force troops viewed with disdain showing combat films of the jump and of Rangers on the ground instead of keeping such operations from public view, according to the report. Hersh said the raids prompted bitter internal debate in the US military and caused the Central Command based in Tampa, Florida, to revisit plans for such strikes in Afghanistan. Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters only hours after the Special Operations forces left Afghanistan last month that the raid was a success. "There were casualties on the other side," said Myers, who added that there was only "light resistance" from Afghanistan's ruling Taliban military to the raids. "Special Operations forces including US Army Rangers deployed to Afghanistan. They attacked and destroyed targets associated with terrorist activities and Taliban command and control," Myers said. He refused to say exactly how many troops were involved, but US officials said privately at the time the raids involved well over 100 soldiers. Although the main purpose of the two raids was to seek intelligence information on the Taliban and al Qaeda network of fugitive Osama bin Laden, defense officials later acknowledged privately that documents and other material seized by the American troops provided little of major intelligence value. Hersh noted that Britain's Sunday Telegraph reported on the day after the raids the United States had requested the immediate assignment to Afghanistan of the entire regiment of Britain's elite Special Air Service commandos. Although Britain has openly committed several hundred special forces troops to the region, there has been no indication that such a large contingent might be sent. One senior US military officer was quoted by Hersh as criticizing the planning for the Oct. 20 attacks as "Special Ops 101." "I don't know where the adult supervision for these operations is," the officer added. **** Iranian FM Rules out Meeting With US Secretary of State. Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi on Saturday ruled out any meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell at an upcoming U.N.-sponsored meeting on Afghanistan in New York. The United Nations is to hold a meeting grouping the six countries bordering Afghanistan, and Russia and the U.S.. A U.N. official has reportedly said that Kharazi and Powell would meet on November 12. That would be the first of its kind since Tehran and Washington severed diplomatic relations after Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Speaking to reports upon return from visits to Malaysia, Indonesia and Japan, Kharazi ruled out the possibility of the meeting, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported. But it did not give further details. During his three-day whirlwind East Asian tour, Kharazi focused his visits on consultations over the recent international developments and coordination of stances toward the ongoing Afghan crisis. At a press conference on Thursday in Tokyo, the Iranian foreign minister did not rule out the possibility to normalize the Tehran-Washington ties, saying that Iran can have relations with all countries but the "Zionist regime"of Israel. The New York Times has reported that Iran has offered to provide humanitarian aid to U.S. troops engaging in military strikes on Afghanistan. The U.S. has promised in return that Iran's territorial integrity, including airspace, would be respected during the U.S.-led military attacks on Afghanistan. The U.S. has been pounding the Afghan ruling Taliban militia since October 7 for harboring Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect of the September 11 terror attacks on Washington and New York. Iran has condemned the terror attacks on the U.S., but also denounced the U.S.-led military strikes against Afghanistan. **** Friendship Groups To Expand Bilateral Ties. China and Algeria will further enhance exchange and co-operation between the two parliamentary organs following the establishment Friday of their respective bilateral friendship groups.�� Li Peng, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC ) lauded the China NPC Sino-Algerian Friendship Group as "an important approach for promoting exchange and co-operation between the Chinese NPC and the National Assembly of Algeria.'' Abdelkader Bensalah, the president of the National Assembly of Algeria, responded by stressing the groups should play an active role in the promotion of exchange and co-operation between the two congresses and subordinate departments. The exchange of visits of congress officials will continue and the subordinate departments should also strengthen co-ordination and collaboration on regional and international affairs, Li proposed when meeting Bensalah. Both of them agreed such enhanced co-operation will give fresh impetus to the friendly collaboration in all fields between China and Algeria. On the issue of political multi-polarity and economic globalization, Li said they were irreversible trends of the contemporary world. Li said China regarded global multi-polarity as an important guarantee to world peace and development. China also supports economic globalization, he said, adding the key was how to deal with the benefits and disadvantages brought about by it. Li said that China and Algeria have been collaborating closely in the international arena and supporting each other in the unremitting endeavour to safeguard the rights of developing countries and establish a new political and economic world order. Bensalah said Algeria and China experienced a similar history of fighting against colonial control for national independence. He reaffirmed Algeria's adherence to the one-China principle and support for China's reunification. Li Peng also met Friday with Algerian Prime Minister Ali Benflis. The economies of the two countries are complementary and there is still great potential in Sino-Algerian economic and trade co-operation. China would like to extend economic co-operation with Algeria, said Li. Both nations have carried out fruitful co-operation in all fields, and these have been based on the principle of "equality and mutual benefits'' without any appended political conditions, he added. Benflis spoke highly of the Chinese ventures in Algeria which have earned great respect and popularity in the country. He believed Chinese enterprises using advanced technology would develop quickly in Algeria. **** China Welcomes Establishment of Burundian Interim Govt. China welcomes the establishment of Burundi's transitional government, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said Friday. The founding of the interim government is another important achievement in the Burundi peace process, following the Burundi Peace and Reconciliation Agreement signed in Arusha, a town in northern Tanzania, in August last year, Zhu said. Zhu made the remarks when asked for comments on the establishment of the Burundian interim government on November 1. "We appreciate the joint effort by different parties of Burundi in pursuing national reconciliation and actively pushing forward the peace process," Zhu said. "We also speak highly of the great effort made by the international community, especially by Nelson Mandela, the international mediator on African and Burundi issues, for the promotion of the peace process," he said. Zhu said China has called for the immediate cease-fire and participation in the peace process from the anti-government forces in Burundi, and hopes different parties in Burundi would continue talks to promote national reconciliation for the sake of peace, stability and people's fundamental interests. China hopes the international community to give more support for Burundi's peace process and economic development, he said. **** Reception Marks 30th Anniversary of China-Peru Ties. The Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) held a reception to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between China and Peru Friday. Chen Haosu, president of the CPAFFC, said China and Peru have enjoyed a long history of friendship, especially after the establishment of diplomatic ties. The two countries have conducted increasing communication and cooperation in the political, economic and cultural fields, Chen said. Chen said senior officials of the two countries have had contacts with each other frequently in recent years, and during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders Meeting in October, Chinese President Jiang Zemin met with Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, which will promote the further development of bilateral cooperative relations. Both developing countries, China and Peru are eager to further their economic and social development, Chen said, adding that the bilateral friendly cooperative relations will be advanced in the new century through joint efforts made by the two countries. Peruvian Ambassador to China, Luzmila Zanabria Ishikawa, said the friendship between the two peoples can be traced back to one and a half centuries ago. She said the Peru-China friendly cooperative relations have progressed well since the two countries established diplomatic ties thirty years ago. The Ambassador said the Peruvian people treasure the friendship with the Chinese people, and are willing to strengthen bilateral cooperation and traditional friendship in the new century. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
