US steps up on military campaign before oncoming winter
October 22, 2001
However, bringing the current phase of the military operation by the time winter sets in may prove problematic. The Muslim holy month Ramadan begins around November 15.
U-S officials must now decide whether to continue the air attacks during Ramadan. "It would be in our interest to see this matter resolved before winter strikes and it makes our operations more difficult," US Secretary of State Colin Powell said. However, the US had to be "respectful to that very, very religious period".
Meanwhile the US is pushing forward on its short-term goals - removing the Taliban government from power and wiping out terrorist training camps. The U-S campaign is now in its third week. Heavy bombing was reported in the western city of Herat. US warplanes carried out air raids on Taliban frontline positions outside the capital Kabul on Sunday.
Pentagon officials predict that over the long term, the war on terrorism may prove to be the most complex joint military operation since World War Two. US General Richard Myers did not rule out that the campaign could stretch on over several years.
Putin rules out Taliban participation in future Afghan government
President Vladimir Putin says Russia will continue its military and political support of the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. On a visit to Tajikistan on Monday, Putin met with Burha-nuddin Rabbani, the leader of the Northern Alliance, who was ousted as the elected Afghan president in 1996.
Together with Tajikistan's president Imomali Rakh-monov, Putin and Rabbani pledged to stabilize the situation in the region and provide aid for Afghan refugees. Putin spoke out against including members of the Taliban in any future broad-based coalition government in Afghanistan.
Speaking at a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Colin Powell last week, Pakistan's military leader General Pervez Musharref called for a "broad-based, multiethnic government freely chosen by the Afghans without outside interference." This could also include moderate Taliban leaders.
International efforts to end West Bank violence
Israel is maintaining its positions in six Palestinian towns in the West Bank which were occupied last week after the killing of a Israeli cabinet minister on Wednesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the forces would only withdraw when the Palestinian Authority had banned and handed over the militant group responsible for the assassination of Israel's Tourism Minister, Rehavam Zeevi last week.
Zeevi was shot on Wednesday by radical members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, PFLP. The Palestinian Authority said it has now outlawed the military wing of the PFLP. But Palestinian officials also said that no-one would be handed over to the Israelis.
Violence has increased sharply since the assasination. Four Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops in the West Bank on Sunday as fighting continued. Israeli soldiers fought armed Palestinians close to the Jewish settlement of Gilo for the third day running on Sunday.
International efforts are now under way to try to bring an end to the recent outbreaks of violence, in which more than 20 Palestinians and one Israeli have been killed.
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana is visiting Israel in an attempt to revive a ceasefire agreed last month. Solana is also hoping to persuade Israel to withdraw from Palestinian areas.
"Only German anti-war party" winner in Berlin election
The Social Democrats triumphed in Berlin yesterday. 29.7% voted for the Social Democrats and their leading candidate, Klaus Wowereit.
However, perhaps the biggest winners in Sunday's election were the reformed communists, who took 22.6% of the vote, compared with 18% at the last election in 1999.
The Party of Democratic Socialism, successor to the party that ruled former East Germany as a totalitarian state, made large gains in the eastern districts, where some 48% voted ex-communist. But it managed to gain a foothold in the western parts of the city. "It's a clear signal for participation in government," the PDS's leading candidate, Gregor Gysi said.
The outcome in Berlin may be a reflection of public approval of the PDS' handling of the post-September crisis.
The PDS was the only parliamentary party not to support the US-led military campaign in Afghanistan. The PDS' pledge for peace was a central focus point of the party's election campaign in the past weeks.
PDS leader Gregor Gysi criticized the attacks in Afghanistan, saying they would lead to an "uncontrollable escalation of violence". In a resolution which was passed at a party conference in Dresden earlier this month, the PDS declared itself the "only anti-war party in the German parliament".
At current, the Social Democrats are keeping their options for a future government open. Wowereit, said he would talk first with the Greens, his coalition partner in a minority government since June. The Greens' share of the votes dropped from 10% to 9.1% in Sunday's election. A partnership with the Green Party would also imply support from the Free Democrats, who achieved 9.9% of the ballots.
Wowereit could also seek support from the city's controversial former communists. A Social Democrat-PDS alliance, with a forecast of 87 seats in the state's 130-seat assembly, would be more firm than an alliance between the Social Democrats, the Free Democrats and the Greens, which would only make an 84-seat coalition possible.
Wowereit has ruled out a coalition with the Christian Democrats, who were dealt a major blow in the election. The CDU's share of the votes fell sharply from around 41% to 23.7%.
Security was tight at the polling stations due to the worldwide anthrax scare. Some 3, 000 election workers were given protective gloves and breathing masks for handling postal votes
Chaos at Pakistani border
Around 9,000 Afghan refugees have crossed into Pakistan at the border town of Chaman in the two days before the post was closed on Sunday.
Futher 10, 000 refugees are reported to be still behind the border, attempting to get in to Pakistan.
Border guards refused to let more refugees in. Their refusal led to chaos, with desperate Afghans throwing stones at Pakistan border security.
Afghan aid threatened
United Nations humanitarian agencies say their aid effort is becoming increasingly threatened by the outbreak of chaos and the collapse of law and order in Afghanistan. UN spokesman Antonio Donini said UN ability to operate was "diminishing day by day".
Various UN aid agency offices are reported to have been looted. Guards have been beaten up and food and vehicles stolen.
With the oncoming winter, the situation is becoming desperate.
Many Afghans do not have the means to leave the country, and try to avoid the bombing by fleeing from the cities to more rural areas. However, these areas are only more inhospitable - and more difficult for aid workers to reach.
According to the World Food Programme, 52,000 tonnes of wheat must be distributed in Afghanistan each month in order to avoid mass starvation. Since the start of the aid programme on September 25 only 20,000 tonnes have been supplied and 15,000 distributed.
The United Nations is set to issue an appeal to the United States and its coalition allies to stop the attacks on Afghanistan in order to allow time for a huge relief operation.
UN aid officials estimate that up to 7.5 million Afghans might be threatened with starvation this winter.
Further traces of anthrax in Capitol Hill
Further traces of anthrax have been found in the US House of Representatives. The finding follows the first discovery of anthrax in Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's office at Capitol Hill earlier this week. On Wednesday, most parts of the Capitol Hill complex were closed for further investigations.
Saturday's new finding is the first time anthrax has been found on the House side of the complex. The discovery was made in the Ford Office building, from where post is delivered to both the House and the Senate.
Friday saw the eighth case of anthrax infection. A postal worker in New Jersey was infected with skin anthrax while handling mail. He is thought to have handled the letters sent to NBC in New York and to the Senate Majority Leader's office in Washington.
All three major TY networks are now sites of anthrax infection, as well as the tabloid newspaper New York Post and the Capitol Hill complex in Washington.
The anthrax scare is now a global problem. Spores of the bacteria were found in in a letter sent from the US to Argentina. This is the second conformation of contamination outside the US, following the discovery of anthrax in a letter in Kenya.