Key lawmakers from President Jacques Chirac's party have voiced growing concern over the damage France's anti-war stance is having on relations with the United States and the future of the United Nations. Herve de Charette, a former foreign minister and lawmaker with the ruling center-right UMP party, was the latest to add his voice to a string of warnings about the consequences of an eventual French veto in the Security Council. Saying he believes war on Iraq is inevitable, de Charette told LCI television that any veto blocking a U.S-backed resolution seeking authorization for war "is a decision that has great ramifications, of great gravity." He noted that France, one of five permanent members of the Security Council that holds a veto, has not used one against the United States since the crisis over the Suez Canal in 1956. The UMP's president, Alain Juppe, the party's parliamentary head, Jacques Barrot, and Edouard Balladur, the head of parliament's foreign affairs commission, have also all warned that a veto risks a complete breakdown in relations with the United States and some European countries. They've noticed we're mildly unhappy with them.
France has "avoided committing a mistake, which some are pushing for, that would have left it isolated: wrongly brandishing its right of veto," Juppe told a debate on the Iraq crisis in parliament on Wednesday. "A veto is unimaginable," Claude Goasguen, another UMP lawmaker, told the daily Le Monde in its Thursday edition. "We are not going to break the United Nations and Europe just to save a tyrant," he said, referring to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. "We have taken into account the concern about not uselessly breaking relations with the United States," Barrot also told the paper. "We are not going to get to the point of getting into an argument with Western democracies." I believe you've passed that point, Mr. Barrot.
He said strong trans-Atlantic ties were crucial "to build peace tomorrow." The comments do not indicate dwindling support for Chirac's drive to give weapons inspectors more time and muscle to disarm Baghdad peacefully, and the belief everything should be tried before resorting to war. But it does reflect mounting concern about the direction French foreign policy is taking, and where it will lead â perhaps a sign the pendulum in France may now be slowly starting to shift toward the position of the United States. Addressing Wednesday's parliamentary debate, Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said France would not support the U.S.-backed proposal in the United Nations, and warned that war would be perceived as illegitimate. But he did not say France would use its veto to block military action. Ahead of the debate, an influential pro-American UMP lawmaker Pierre Lellouche told French radio: "We are not going to shoot them (the Americans) in the back." You better not, we don't like that kind of thing.
Toldja they aren't all anti-American goofs. There's just lots of them who are...
Posted by: Steve ||
02/27/2003 10:58:58 AM ||
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A man detonated a bomb he was wearing near a Kurdish military headquarters in northern Iraq today, killing himself and three others in what the authorities described as the first Kurdish suicide bombing. His mom will be so proud!
The authorities said the attack, at a military checkpoint in Zamaqi, was probably the work of Ansar al-Islam, a militant Islamic group that the United States contends has connections to both Al Qaeda and President Saddam Hussein of Iraq. It occurred late in the morning, when a sport utility vehicle used as a taxi was stopped at a checkpoint by Kurdish guards. A Kurdish security official said the guards were suspicious of the taxi's passenger and asked him to leave the vehicle for an inspection. "When he was about to be checked, he pressed the button," the official said. "Papers, please." "OK, I've got them right here in my vest"
The blast, from a bomb made from an estimated 10 pounds of explosives packed with metal shards, killed the taxi driver and one of the guards outright. A second guard died soon afterward, the official said. The checkpoint was on a military road roughly a three-minute drive from a headquarters where Kurdish forces supervise military action against Ansar, which occupies a front and a series of bases in the area. The headquarters has been frequented by American intelligence teams in recent months. The boomer most likely wanted to get into the HQ.
Ansar al-Islam did not immediately claim responsibility for the bombing, although in past actions, including military attacks and the assassination of a Kurdish minister of Parliament, the group has waited a day or two before announcing its role.
If Ansar is responsible, it would be the group's first successful suicide bombing. The authorities here accuse Kurdish Islamists of trying suicide bombings three times last year, all of which failed when the bombers were caught. I'd hardly consider it a success, killing two guards and a taxi driver only put the Kurds on higher alert.
Late last year, a Kurdish security official, Col. Wasta Hassan, said that Ansar had trained 50 men for suicide attacks, and that more attempts were imminent. He said many of the potential bombers had been videotaped preparing for attacks, an activity apparently copied from Palestinian bombers. Maybe that should provide a hint on who trained them.
Dr. Barham Salih, prime minister of the eastern Kurdish zone, denounced the bombing today and offered it as an example of the need for military action against Ansar's bases along the Iranian border. "This ongoing terrorist threat can only be eradicated through a concentrated international response," he said. "It is time for resolute response." It's almost time for a airstrike.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/27/2003 11:59:32 AM ||
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U.S. cargo ship named ''Capella'' continued on Thursday to unload heavy vehicles, tankers and work machines it was carrying, in Iskenderun Port. Seems like the logistics gear is coming off first, makes sense.
Ro-Ro ship named ''Gute'' which is announced to carry military equipment and ammunition is kept waiting in the port to unload the cargo. Waiting and waiting and waiting...
Meanwhile, containers were placed, projectors and generators were brought to a port near Tasucu hamlet in Silifke town of southern Mersin province built by NATO finance. Projectors = portable lighting units most likely.
Tents were pitched near the port. Ambulances and fire brigade are waiting near the port. When you are moving all this heavy sharp stuff accidents happen
Renovation also continues at the Incirlik Base in Yuregir town of southern Adana province. There is heavy lorry traffic at the base while one Awacs and two cargo planes took off from the base in the morning. Busy, busy, busy
Posted by: Steve ||
02/27/2003 10:45:31 AM ||
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Turkey's ruling party has asked parliament to postpone a vote on whether to allow US troops to use Turkish territory to launch an attack against Iraq. Salih Kapusuz, a senior official of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), said it wanted the decision - which had been expected later on Thursday after a string of delays - to be postponed until Saturday. No immediate explanation was given for the request, which came on the heels of an agreement between Ankara and Washington regarding compensation for Turkish military co-operation with the US.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/27/2003 8:45:03 AM ||
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Looks like DEBKA was wrong, again: A senior Iraqi official, whom Iraqi opposition groups said had defected was the picture of confidence at his office at Baghdad's Al Waziriyah district on Tuesday night, posing happily for pictures in a room decorated with larger than life pictures of the Iraqi president Saddam Hussain and his sons, Uday and Qusay. Adeeb Shabaan, who heads the Arab Union of Photographers and is a close aide of Uday, told Gulf News yesterday that the whole story had been a fabrication by western journalists to blacken the name of the Iraqi regime and anyone associated with it. Shabaan said, "I was away for two weeks on an official visit but this was with the full knowledge of the president and his son, Uday who heads the National Olympic Association."
A Kuwaiti newspaper had reported two weeks ago that Uday's aide Shabaan, who had travelled to Saudi Arabia at the head of an Iraqi sports delegation had defected to the West while in a hotel in Beirut. The newspaper quoted a Damascus-based Iraqi exile, as saying Shabaan had slipped away from a car park at the Sheraton hotel, saying he had forgotten his cellphone. He said he had been told about the story when he was abroad, adding he strongly denied it. "It is false, all lies, a complete fabrication," he said.
"This story by the Kuwaiti paper is 99 per cent correct and one per cent false," he said. He said he had indeed headed a sports delegation to Saudi Arabia and that he had visited Riyadh and Jeddah. The Iraqi delegation had also travelled to Beirut, where he stayed on but the story was wrong in one major aspect â it was not a defection. "I had important business in connection with the magazine Al Rafidain, of which I am editor in chief, and to choose a delegate to represent Iraq at the Olympic Association. And therefore I stayed on until my work is complete." He said he had spent 12 days in Beirut and seven days in Damascus. He returned to Baghdad four days ago, he said.
"I returned to my home on Saturday," he said. "If it was otherwise would you see me sitting here in my office, I would be in prison," Shabaan said, adding, "I have been here for four days. If you do not believe me, I am ready to show you my passport, which will prove when I entered Baghdad." The Iraqi official also denied he had been sent to buy jewels worth several millions given to him by the president's son. "The president's son is not a merchant or a trader who buys and sell things in a market, he is the head of the National Olympic Association. He has the wealth and the privileges that go with it. He is the son of our leader."
Adeeb also swore his fealty to the regime saying he was "a soldier" who would back the president as would some 25 million other Iraqis in the event of an attack by the U.S., whom he blamed for concocting the story of his purported defection. "They want to blacken the name of our president and anyone associated with him, he trusts us, we have worked with him for 12 years, so they pick us out and target us," he said, adding "for us there is no Iraq without Saddam Hussain. Guess there won't be an Iraq for you then.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/27/2003 10:04:31 AM ||
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The Patriot air defense systems which were sent to Turkey from the Netherlands by ship to strengthen the defense of Turkey in a possible war and which were landed at Iskenderun Port on Wednesday, were transferred to the regions for deployment on Thursday. During the transfer of the Patriots, 210 Dutch military officials who came to Iskendurun last evening were also present. The Patriots will be deployed in southeastern provinces of DiyarbakÃœr and Batman and totally 360 Dutch military personnel under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Erik Abma will be in charge. The air defense systems were sent to Turkey for a period of six months, but if necessary, this period can be extended. Tip of the hat to the Dutch Forces.
Meanwhile, the unloading from the U.S. Fleet cargo ship ''Cappella'' which started last night still continues. Tick...tick...
Posted by: Steve ||
02/27/2003 7:53:49 AM ||
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The Lebanese Military Tribunal has called for the death penalty against a Turkish man accused in absentia of collaborating with al-Qaeda and planning terrorist attacks in Lebanon and abroad. In a report, Chief Military Investigating Magistrate Riad Talih accused Miglit Ziakar of "creating a terrorist organization in Lebanon and abroad to commit crimes against civilians, undermine the state and carry out terrorist operations." According to Talih's report, the organization's members were from Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Tunis, Yemen, Palestine, and Turkey, worldnews.com reported. "Ziakar, who is also known as Abu Obeida al-Turki, is a top official at al-Qaeda. He runs his operations from Istanbul by facilitating the entry of militants from all Arab and Muslim countries to Afghanistan through Iran to fight with the Taliban," Talih said. He added that Ziakar "collected donations for al-Qaeda and managed its networks and cells in several countries." All that seems to be in the al-Qaeda controller's job description. We don't even have to know anything about the guy, just what position he holds, to know what he does...
Investigations into four individuals, already in custody and suspected of belonging to a cell of Osama bin Laden's terror network, indicated that Ziakar is the main coordinator for smuggling the fighters into Afghanistan, the judge said. Ziakar also allegedly cooperates with a Saudi known as Abu Abdel-Rahman al-Saudi, who lives in the Iranian border town of Zaboul. The four suspects  Mohammed Sultan, a Lebanese, and Abdullah Mohtadi, Khaled Minawi, and Saudi Ihab Dafeh  were arrested in November 2002. Ziakar allegedly met with Sultan, Mohtadi and Dafeh in Istanbul, where he asked them to create a cell in Lebanon. Talih said Sultan was entrusted with recruiting, while Dafeh was seeking the aid of a military expert from a Saudi cell. Ziakar visited Lebanon in 2000 to follow up on work and set up a restaurant with Sultan in Tripoli to host al-Qaeda members wanted in their home countries. The statement added that Ziakar's crimes fell under the country's Terrorism Law and carried the death penalty. Interesting peek at the way the Bad Guys worked it. Lebanon is at ease with its Syrian and Iranian-sponsored terror organizations, like Hezbollah, but doesn't seem to like the interloping Qaeda guys — probably because it's an organization of loose cannons.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/27/2003 10:44:40 AM ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
