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Iranian Students Stage Sit-in Against US Raid on Afghanistan. About 250 Iranian university students staged a sit-in in front of the UN office here in protest of "the US-British invasion against the oppressed Afghan nation," the official IRNA news agency reported Thursday. The protesting students, mostly from Tehran's Imam Sadeq University, started the sit-in Wednesday night. Protesters waved banners that read: "The blood of the Americans is no different from the blood of the Afghans," "The Taliban are the creation of the United States," and "American hands are stained with the blood of Zionist crimes." A representative of the students announced that they were determined to continued the protest for 24 hours. "We strongly condemn the massacring of the innocent Moslem civilians in Afghanistan on the phony pretext of fighting against terrorism," he said. Police sealed off the street where the UN office is located. A police commander said the protesting students staged this "quiet sit-in strike" without getting prior permission from the Interior Ministry, thus the strike is "illegal." The United States and Britain launched military strike on Taliban targets in Afghanistan late Sunday in retaliation for the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. Washington has accused the Taliban of harboring Saudi-born Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect of the terror attacks. Iran condemned the September 11 terror attacks, but is strongly opposed to U.S. military strikes against Afghanistan. China Also Harmed by Separatist-minded Eastern Turkistan Terrorists. Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan talked over the phone with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad of Qatar, the current presiding country of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, and some other foreign ministers Tuesday as previously arranged. Ivanov introduced the Russian stance on the present anti- terrorism fight. He stressed that it is impossible for military action to solve all issues concerning anti-terrorism. More attention should be paid to the role of the United Nations in the regard of international politics and military strikes should have clear targets and avoid action spreading to other countries. He said the international community should support the establishment of a coalition government with a wide-ranging basis in Afghanistan <http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/data/afghanistan.html> . Russia hopes to step up coordination and cooperation with China to jointly safeguard international security and stability. Tang thanked Ivanov for outlining the Russian stance. He said that Russia is being severely harmed by the Chechenian terrorists as China is also harmed by separatist-minded Eastern Turkistan terrorists. China and Russia have the same stance and interest on the issue of anti-terrorism. Tang said China is willing to work with Russia to continue mutual support and cooperation in line with the spirit of the strategic partnership of cooperation. He also said that, as a neighboring country to Afghanistan, China has made unswerving efforts for many years to help peacefully solve the Afghan issue. China has always held that the formation of an Afghan coalition government which can be accepted by all parties and is able to co-operate with neighboring countries in a friendly manner would be beneficial to the Afghan people and conducive to regional peace and stability. When talking with Hamad, Tang repeated China's anti-terrorism stance. He said that over the next two days an urgent meeting would be held in Qatar for foreign ministers of Arabian and Islamic countries. Tang noted that like China, Islamic countries are also victims of terrorism. China is willing to reinforce and broaden consultation and cooperation with Islamic countries in fighting terrorism. He said that China is clearly opposed to associating terrorism with any religion, nationality or region. In striking terrorism, efforts should be made to eradicate its roots. Hamad said that the Islamic world has strong friendly relationship with China, and has always attached importance to consultation and cooperation with China in international affairs. The Islamic world is opposed to any terrorist activities and it is necessary to distinguish between terrorists and Islam, Hamad said. He also expressed full agreement on the stance of the Chinese government on anti-terrorism, and held that the UN is the best mechanism for reinforcing anti-terrorism cooperation of the international community. Tang also talked over the phone Tuesday with Indian FM Singh and Thai FM Surakiat. **** China Vows to Fight Corruption in New Century Anti-corruption is a common task facing the whole world and China will as before conduct a resolute struggle against corruption in the new century, said a senior Chinese official Wednesday in Prague. The pledge was made by Liu Liying, senior commissioner of the Chinese Ministry of Supervision <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/organs/statecouncil.shtml#sup> , at the 10th meeting of the International Anti-Corruption Conference, which opened Sunday evening. "The Chinese Government has always believed that to combat corruption and build a clean government is an important guarantee for the smooth development of reform, opening-up and modernization drive," she said. Liu noted that as China focuses on cracking down on corrupt cases and deterring the trend of corruption, it should also make institutional innovations to reform the old systems, mechanisms and rules in order to prevent corruption from happening and get rid of it from its very source. She stressed that three major jobs in the drive should be done well, namely, educating officials in self-discipline, investigating major cases and correcting the malpractice in various departments and sectors. Liu said though the form of corruption may vary from country to country, the essence was all the same, which desecrates the civilization and harms humanity. "Through bilateral and multilateral exchanges, it is our desire to further strengthen cooperation between us, learn from each other and promote each other's anti-corruption campaign," she added. **** Feature: Angry, Uneasy Iraqis Eye US Attacks on Afghanistan. "I'm very angry at the news that the United States launched aggression against Afghanistan , because this is not only an aggression against Afghans, but also against all Muslims," said Qussay Abdul Ellah, a money exchange dealer in the Iraqi capital. As to the claim by U.S. President George W. Bush that the attacks were against terrorism rather than Islam, Ellah said:" That is what he has to say to win the international opinion." Ellah was echoed by Haider Saad, owner of a computer service shop in Baghdad. "I am angry and sad. These are not only military strikes against Afghanistan, but also against the whole Muslim world," he said. The real motive of the U.S. attacks against Afghanistan, according to Saad, is that the Taliban regime is a Muslim power that rejects U.S. subjugation. Similarly, "Iraq, Sudan, Somalia and other countries which do not bow to U.S. submission could become targets of future U.S. attacks," Saad said, noting that Iraq has been the only country confronting the U.S. in the Mideast. "We Iraqis are not afraid of any fresh U.S. military attacks as it has bombed us many times," Saad said. "We are afraid of nobody but God," Ellah said. Even Ula Sabri, a third-year student at the Baghdad University, said she was "psychologically ready" to face new U.S. attacks. However, an Iraqi government employee, who declined to be identified, struck a worrying note. "I am worried that in the wake of possible U.S. raids, there will be no supply of electricity, water and food and life will be very difficult for us," he said. An equally anxious taxi driver, who just called him Ahmed, feared his means of livelihood would be badly affected if any war broke out. Ahmed said that he, like any other Iraqis, had kept an eye on the latest news of the U.S. attacks, which might once again spread to their once-affluent but now dilapidated country. Iraq has been under sweeping United Nations sanctions since it invaded neighboring Kuwait <http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/kuwait.html> in August 1990. The U.S. has disclosed that it may launch military strikes on other countries and groups beyond Afghanistan and the Al-Qaeda network of Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect of the terror attacks in New York and Washington on September 11. "We may find that our self-defense requires further actions with respect to other organizations and other states," John Negroponte, U.S. ambassador to the U.N., said in a letter to the U.N. Security Council on Monday. Moreover, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has hinted that the U.S. might eventually target Iraq as part of its anti-terror campaign. Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who has survived the Iraq-Iran war from 1980-1988, the 1991 Gulf War, 11-year-old U.N. sanctions and repeated U.S. military strikes, has warned that Iraq could be the next U.S. target. In a statement shortly after the U.S. and Britain started Sunday's air raids on Afghanistan, Saddam said the U.S. "might increase the use of force and spread aggression to other countries." Iraqi Minister of Culture Hamed Yussef Humadi told Xinhua late September that it was "quite possible" for the U.S. to attack Iraq again, as the U.S. has been committing attacks against Iraq for the past 11 years. Meanwhile, Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri Ahmed warned on Tuesday that the U.S. was trying to "settle old scores" with Iraq under the pretext of terrorism. "Should the U.S. and its ally Britain wish to expand the range of the aggression on Iraq under the pretext of terrorism, that means they want to settle old accounts with Iraq," the Iraqi foreign minister said. Nonetheless, Iraq vowed to defend itself by all means. Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tareq Aziz said on October 3 that Iraq would resist any U.S.-led strikes in retaliation for the terrorist attacks in the U.S. one month ago. "If America is preparing another attack under a new pretext, we will face it as we have done in the past," Aziz said. "But why should the U.S. attack us? Where is the evidence? We did not do anything," said an Iraqi Arab Baath Socialist Party official, who refused to be named, in an interview with Xinhua on Tuesday. "Do not forget, they (the U.S.) even did not show clear and convincing evidence (of Osama Bin Laden) to most countries in the world," he said. Senior U.S. officials, including Powell and U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, have acknowledged that so far they found no link between Iraq and the September 11 terror attacks which left thousands of people killed or missing. However, they stressed that once such evidences were uncovered, the U.S. would not hesitate to retaliate against Iraq, one of the " state sponsors of terrorism" designated by Washington. Consequently, anger, hatred and uneasiness are now stalking through Iraq, a country that has been subjected to repeated bombardments by the U.S. and British forces and crippling international sanctions for more than a decade. **** Anti-US Protests Continue in Jakarta Protests over the United States led attacks on Afghanistan continued Wednesday in Jakarta when some 500 Muslim students of the University of Indonesia staged a protest in front of the US embassy. After about half an hour of speeches, the students known by the acronym Salam moved to the presidential palace to protest over what they considered to be the Indonesian government's unclear stance on the US-led offensive. The area in front of the US embassy was heavily guarded on Wednesday, especially after the attempt to break into the compound on Tuesday. The front of the barricade consisted of a line of police motorbikes, followed by razor wire, police armored personnel carriers and finally a joint force of riot police and soldiers. Meanwhile, about 300 students from the Indonesian Muslim Students Action Front (KAMMI) also staged demonstrations in front of the parliament's building, asking the government to sever diplomatic relations with the U.S. On Wednesday morning, Jakarta Police chief Inspector General Sofjan Jacoeb had coffee with outgoing U.S. Ambassador Robert S. Gelbard at the U.S. embassy in Central Jakarta. The U.S. ambassador had expressed his gratitude for police assistance in preventing protesters from breaking into the U.S. embassy compound on Tuesday, Senior Commissioner Beno Kilapong, who accompanied Sofjan in the meeting, was quoted by the SCTV television station as saying. **** Iraq Says It Shoots Down US Spy Plane. Iraqi anti-aircraft forces on Wednesday shot down an unmanned US spy plane over southern Iraq, Iraqi TV reported. **** Taliban Says Bin Laden Free to Wage Holy War Against US. The Taliban said on Wednesday that they had lifted all restrictions on Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the September 11 attacks on the US, and he was free to wage a holy war against the United States, reports reaching here said. Taliban Lifts All Restrictions on Osama bin Laden Afghanistan's ruling Taliban said on Wednesday they had lifted all restrictions on Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect of 9.11 attacks, and he was free to wage a holy war against the United States. Taliban spokesman Abdul Hai Mutmaen told the BBC's Pushto service that "With the start of the American attacks, these restrictions are no longer in place." "Jihad is an obligation on all Muslims of the world," he said. "We want this, bin Laden wants this and America will face the unpleasant consequences of their attacks." This morning U.S. warplanes launched a daylight raid on their southern stronghold of Kandahar, but bin Laden was unharmed, Mutmaen said. **** Peru's Supreme Court Presents Arrest Warrant for Fujimori to Interpol. The Peruvian Supreme Court presented on Tuesday to the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) an arrest warrant against former President Alberto Fujimori on charges of human rights abuses. Judge Jose Luis Lecaros told journalists that on the same day he had handed to the Lima branch of Interpol the file for the arrest of the disgraced president, an action aimed at paving the way for an extradition. Lecaros started actions against Fujimori in September after receiving an official indictment from the Attorney General's office, which issued a constitutional accusation approved by Congress to charge Fujimori with responsibility for the death of 25 people in Lima in the early 1990s. Fujimori fled to Japan in November when his rule collapsed, and was granted citizenship shortly after his arrival. Japanese law prohibits the extradition of its citizens to stand trial for crimes committed in other countries, and Japanese officials have repeatedly said they have no intention to force Fujimori to return. **** Iraqi TV Shows Wreckage of Downed US Spy Plane Iraqi TV Wednesday evening showed the wreckage of the US spy plane shot down by Iraqi air defense artillery earlier in the day. The state-run TV showed footage of the downed spy plane, broken into several parts in an unknown location, with clear English words such as "property of U.S.A.F." This was the third U.S. spy plane that has been shot down by Iraqi air defense forces within three months, the report said, adding that the other two U.S. spy planes were downed on August 27 and September 11 respectively. Earlier, the Iraqi TV said that at 12:42 local time (0942 GMT), Iraq anti-aircraft fire shot down a U.S. spy plane over southern Iraq. The Pentagon has admitted that an unmanned reconnaissance aircraft of the U.S. Air Force was missing in southern Iraq on Wednesday. "We do have a Predator missing," a Pentagon official said, referring to the remote-controlled flying vehicle used for aerial reconnaissance. U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld warned recently that Iraq's air defense capabilities have improved both "qualitatively and quantitatively," while Iraq has vowed to upgrade its air defense system to shoot down more coalition planes monitoring the two no-fly zones in the country. The no-fly zones were set up in the wake of the 1991 Gulf War by the U.S.-led Western coalition with the claimed aim of protecting the Kurds in the north and Shiite Muslims in the south from the persecution of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Iraq has never recognized the air exclusion zones and has regularly fired missiles at the U.S. and British planes enforcing them. _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________
