Deutsche Welle
English Service News
October 3rd, 2001, 16:00 UTC
Germany today celebrates the 11th anniversary of re-unification.
During a multi-denominational service in Mainz, leading German
politicians, and church leaders called on Germans to practice
tolerance, solidarity and justice. An estimated 100,000 people have
visited the some 1300 Mosques in Germany, during a full day open
house, to offer Christians a personal view of Islam and its house of
worship. Meanwhile, in Berlin, thousands of police officers were
deployed to keep about 1000 neo Nazi marchers and 5000 counter
demonstrators apart. Only minor skirmishes were reported with a
handful of arrests.
An explosion at a busy intersection in downtown Skopje this afternoon
has killed at least one person and injured a woman bystander.
Witnesses said the explosion seemed to have come from beneath the
driver of a vehilce, who was killed instantly. The Macedonian
capital, Skopje has been hit by a dozen bomb blasts in recent weeks,
which have caused damage but no deaths as most have come during the
overnight hours.
The former National Liberation Army (NLA) brigade commander known
only as Leka who led rebels in the Tetovo Valley on Wednesday said
war would resume in Macedonia if state police re-entered areas where
rebels have disarmed before an amnesty is declared. He spoke after
being told of an announcement by Skopje's nationalist interior
minister Ljube Boskovski that police would start returning to former
guerrilla areas on Thursday without prior agreement with Western
peace monitors. The NLA voluntarily surrendered its declared weaponry
to NATO last month and formally dissolved under an August peace
settlement that promised an amnesty and better civil rights for
minority Albanians in return. But former rebels are believed to
have hidden arms in case the peace accord broke down.
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Wednesday said his trip to
the Middle East and Central Asia is aimed at shoring up support for
the United States' declared war against terrorist networks. During
the next three days, Secretary Rumsfeld will hold talks with the
political and military leaders in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Egypt and
Uzbekistan. During his visit to Saudi Arabia, Rumsfeld said he would
not be pressing the Saudi government to be any more than a silent
partner in the war on terrorism. He said the United States is
respectful of the political circumstance of the countries of the
region. Rumsfeld added what the United States wants from its allies,
especially those bordering Afghanistan, is "intelligence," which he
said is the key to getting Osama bin Laden. He also hinted that the
United States might not be completely in the dark about bin Laden's
whereabouts, saying "I've got a bit of a handle but no co-orindates".
The European Union and Russia pledged closer security co-operation on
Wednesday by agreeing to hold monthly consultations on foreign and
defence policy. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who met with EU,
NATO, and Belgian leaders in Brussels, said Russia would reconsider
its opposition to further NATO expansion if Moscow were more directly
involved. The 15-nation EU and Russia issued a joint statement
reaffirming full support for the United States in bringing to
justice the perpetrators of the September 11 attacks on New York
and Washington.
The United States presented its first list of requests for practical
assistance to NATO on Wednesday. Alliance spokesman Yves Brodeur
declined to give details except to say the requests were part of the
campaign against international terrorism and it was up to each of the
18 allies to decide how to help. The request was made within the
framework of the mutual defence clause which became fully operational
on Tuesday after Washington presented evidence that the attacks were
initiated from abroad.
For the third time in the past six days, American and British
warplanes have attacked Iraqi anti-aircraft artillery sites in
southern Iraq. A Pentagon spokesman precision said guided missiles
destroyed two triple 'A' sites near Shahban some 225 miles southeast
of Baghdad.
The Arab League on Wednesday hailed remarks by U.S. President George
W. Bush that a Palestinian state was part of his country's vision for
the region. Washington has been pressuring both the Israelis and
Palestinians to halt violence and resume talks. The Arab League's
Secretary-General Amr Moussa said the situation in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip was "very unstable" and still caused "anger and
frustration" in the Arab world. On Tuesday, Israeli forces killed at
least six Palestinians during a tank incursion into a Palestinian
ruled area of the Gaza Strip after a deadly raid by Islamic militants
on a Jewish settlement.
10 people are dead after a passenger on a Greyhound bus in the US
state of Tennessee, slashed the driver's throat crashing the bus into
a ditch. Hospital officials confirmed nine people had been admitted
with one person in critical condition. FBI and Tennessee Bureau of
Investigation officers told reporters that the perpetrator had a
Croatian passport but did not offer a motive for the attack. As a
precaution the company has suspended service across the United
States.
Belgium's national airline, Sabena on Wednesday filed for protection
from creditors after money due from its partner SwissAir Group failed
to arrive. The petition for Judical Composition in the Brussels
Trade Court buys the airline some time to re-organize its financial
affairs. An airline spokesman confirmed the company's cash position
will allow them to operate normally for the time being after the
Belgian government supplied the airline with a months' financing.
The Swissair Group continued to search for cash on Wednesday to try
to get its planes back into the air. Swissair's shares resumed
trading on Wednesday and were down 85 percent, reflecting investors'
assumptions that the company's equity had been wiped out. Swissair
had planned to seek protection from creditors before it suspended
operations, and investment bank J P Morgan said other could follow
suit. Airlines around the world have taken steps to shave over
capacity and trim costs as passengers cancelled en masse travel
reservations following the September terrorist attacks in the United
States.
Serbian News Network - SNN
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