Deutsche Welle
English Service News
September 25th, 2001, 16:00 UTC
On the first day of his three-day visit to Germany, Russian President
Vladimir Putin has delivered a speech to the German parliament.
Addressing the Bundestag in German, Putin said the world was in a new
stage of development and needed a sustainable, international security
policy to ensure stability. Earlier in the day, both Putin and
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder together called for an energetic
fight against terrorism. Security in Berlin was tight to ensure the
safety of Putin as well as Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak who is
also in the German capital for meetings with Chancellor Schroeder and
German President Johannes Rau.
U.S. President George W. Bush has briefed leaders of Congress on the
extent of the U.S. military deployment within striking distance of
Afghanistan. He told Congress not to expect conventional warfare
like the 1990-91 Gulf conflict. Bush also identified Islamic
militant Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda's network and the Taliban as the
primary initial targets for the U.S. campaign. In the meantime,
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi arrived in Washington for
talks with Bush, saying Tokyo strongly supported U.S. anti-terrorism
efforts and would lend all-out moral, economic and logistic support
to any related U.S. military operations. In a major crackdown on
security, defense officials have remained quiet concerning
information about the deployment of U.S. forces, including exactly
how many aircraft and elite Special Operations troops are being moved
within striking distance of Afghanistan.
Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it had cut off all relations with
Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement. In a statement issued by a
local news agency, Saudi Arabia accused the Taliban of harboring
criminals who carried out terrorist attacks that "frighten the
innocent" and spread destruction in the world. The Saudi government
also affirmed that it would continue to stand by the Afghan people
and support all efforts for Afghanistan to achieve security,
stability and prosperity. Last week the United Arab Emirates also
severed ties with the Taliban government, leaving Pakistan as the
only country to have diplomatic ties with Afghanistan. Meanwhile, a
high-level U.S. team continued its discussion in Islamabad to get
Pakistan's commitment to fight against terrorism.
European governments and aid groups are stepping up assistance to
Afghan refugees amid fears of a humanitarian disaster of "stunning
proportions". European Commissioner for External Relations Chris
Patten said on Tuesday that Europe saw no price tag on the Afghan
humanitarian crisis. As individual governments prepared to help
Afghans, the European Commission said it had pledged urgent aid worth
just over $3.5 million. The United Nations warned on Monday that
Afghanistan was plunging into crisis after the Taliban crippled U.N.
humanitarian relief operations there. The U.N. estimates that more
than five million of Afghanistan's 26 million people were dependent
on international aid to survive.
Truce talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been rescheduled
for Wednesday. Officials from both sides said the meeting between
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian President
Yasser Arafat would take place at Gaza airport. In the wake of the
devastating attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the
United States has publicly urged Israel and the Palestinians to meet
in an effort to end a year of violence. Israeli sources said Sharon
had agreed to let Peres meet Arafat after the foreign minister came
close to resigning and pulling his Labour Party out of Israel's
"national unity" government. Both Sharon and Peres had demanded 48
hours of quiet as a condition for the talks with Arafat. Three
Palestinians and two Israelis have been killed since the truce was
declared. The latest death, an Israeli woman shot and killed by
Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank, occurred on Monday.
In Macedonia, NATO said its Task Force Harvest had collected more
than its target of total weapons from ethnic Albanian rebels. NATO
Secretary-General George Robertson said weapons collections were
still under way and he expected the final figure to be higher than
the projected goal. NATO had set a goal of collecting 3,300 weapons
surrendered by the rebels during the 30-day Operation Essential
Harvest mission, which is part of international efforts to avert
civil war in the former Yugoslav republic.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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http://www.antic.org/
