To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] China Smashes Islamic Militant Group
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2001 13:07:04 -0500

China Smashes Islamic Militant Group, Amid Report of Executions

BEIJING, Jan 12, 2001 -- (Agence France Presse) China has smashed an
armed Islamic group responsible for a wave of terrorist attacks in the troubled
northwestern region of Xinjiang, state media said Friday.

Meanwhile, in a separate report Amnesty International said China had
executed two men accused of terrorist offenses in Xinjiang after "grossly
unfair judicial proceedings based on confessions extracted through torture".

The People's Court Daily said a "group of separatists" had been tried at a
court in the town Korla in Xinjiang recently and their leader Alerken Abula
had been sentenced to death.

The paper said Abula set up a group in 1993 that came to be known as the
Eastern Turkestan Islamic Party of God and which had recruited 113
members across Xinjiang.

The report said the group bought explosives and weapons, as well as a
printing press, and was responsible for "a large number of terrorist actions."
It did not give details.

It said the group's aim was to set up an Islamic state in Xinjiang, a majority
Muslim region, and that a hit list of 32 mosque officials with allegiance to the
government in Beijing had been uncovered.

The report said Abula and an unspecified number of accomplices had been
arrested and had later admitted their guilt in police interrogation.

Xinjiang separatists -- mainly ethnic Uighur Muslims -- have been involved in
frequent and bloody clashes with the Chinese authorities in recent years.

Uighurs, who speak a Turkic language and make up a large part of Xinjiang's
population, have been linked to deadly bombings as well as riots, most
notably clashes in January 1997 in the frontier town of Yining, which
according to independent sources left as many as 100 dead.

The Chinese authorities have launched a major crackdown on separatism in
Xinjiang since the riots, recruiting the help of neighboring central Asian
republics, and announcing scores of executions.

Amnesty said the latest executions were carried out on Tuesday in Yining.

The international rights watchdog said Jur'at Nuri, 27, and Abduhalik
Abdureshit, 24, had been sentenced to death in July 1999 on charges of
"splittism" and "illegally carrying and keeping arms, ammunition and
explosives."

"Official documentation received by Amnesty International shows that the
accusations against the men were largely unfounded, and that the sentences
were passed after grossly unfair judicial proceedings, based on confessions
extracted under torture," the group said in a statement.

"At the trial Abduhalik Abdureshit is reported to have said that anybody who
had been tortured as severely as he had would have confessed to anything,
and that not even a dog could tolerate the torture he had endured."

Amnesty said relatives of the two men, who had been given no information
about their fate for a year, had been allowed to see them briefly before they
were executed.

It said the pair were among 11 people detained in April 1998 in Yining after
six Uighur youths were killed in a clash with the security forces.

Court officials in Yining denied any executions had taken place or even that
the two men had been in custody.

Tensions between the majority Muslim population, most of them Uighurs,
and the ruling Han Chinese government have long plagued Xinjiang. Tensions
increased in the early 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

China also keeps a tight rein on the practice of Islam in the country, as it
does with all religions, demanding devotees worship in state-controlled
mosques presided over by state-approved imams. ((c) 2001 Agence France
Presse)

http://www.insidechina.com/news.php3?id=252472&brief=text

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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] (Fwd) LAW: Another Death Sentence Issued
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2001 13:09:10 -0500

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Sat, 13 Jan 2001 11:33:00 -0500
From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: LAW: Another Death Sentence Issued By The
           PNA State Security Court

LAW: Another Death Sentence Issued By The PNA State Security Court

January 12 2001

Yesterday evening, 11 January 2001, the State Security Court in Rafah in th=
e
Gaza Strip sentenced Majdi Muhammad Ahmad Makawi (27) to death by firing
squad. He was found guilty of collaborating with Israel and endangering
national security. The defendant was tried in a court which does not meet
minimum standards for fair trial. The sentence was based on articles 77 and
88a of Order Number 555 of 1957 (Egyptian legislation for the Gaza Strip).

The Court was headed by Colonel Abd'al Aziz Wadi with the assistance of
military judge Colonel Muhammad Farhat and Major Jamil Abu Kashif. The
prosecution charged the defendant with collaborating with Israel,
endangering State Security for the sake of foreign parties, breaking the
people's will in opposing the Israeli occupation and causing the deaths of
four Palestinians fighting the occupation during the current Intifada,
namely Awni Ismail, Sami Abu Laban, Nael Alidawi and Jamal Abed al Razeq, a
well-known Fatah leader and a relative. All four men were killed on 22
November 2000 when Israeli soldiers stationed at the entrance of the Morag
settlement in the Gaza Strip opened fire at their cars (see LAW press
release of 22 November 2000). Makawi was charged with helping the Israeli
security forces kill the four men.

The State Security Court was established in 1995 as a special court with
jurisdiction over security offences. As such, it functions outside the
Palestinian civil court system in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The
State Security Court provides no right of appeal and thus operates in
contravention of international fair trial standards. Sentences issued by th=
e
State Security Court, including life imprisonment and death penalties, are
only subject to ratification by the President of the Palestinian National
Authority.

LAW condemns acts of collaboration with Israel causing harm to the
Palestinian struggle against the Israeli occupation. However, LAW demands
that individuals suspected of acts of collaboration be tried according to
internationally recognized fair trial standards and opposes the death
penalty as the ultimate violation of the right to life.

Since February 1995 Palestinian courts have issued 33 death sentences, 13 o=
f
which have been issued by the State Security Court. To date three people
have been executed in the PNA after grossly unfair trials.

LAW urges President Arafat not to ratify any of the death sentences issued
by Palestinian courts.

LAW calls for the abolition of the State Security Court and the prohibition
of the death penalty in the PNA.

LAW calls on President Arafat to order a retrial for Majdi Muhammad Ahmad
Makawi before a court operating in accordance with international fair trial
standards.

LAW - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the
Environment is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to preserving huma=
n
rights through legal advocacy.LAW is affiliate to the International
Commission of Jurists (ICJ), F=E9d=E9ration Internationale des Ligues de Dr=
oits
de l'Homme (FIDH), World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and Member of
the Euro- Mediterranean Human Rights Network.

law@lawsociety.org

--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il

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========
To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Daily World Affairs Report items (1/12/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2001 13:19:42 -0500

VATICAN'S JUBILEE GIVES THE CHURCH MARKETING LESSON=20

The 550-year-old Vatican Library was until recently a highly restricted=20
scholarly repository of ancient scrolls, maps, coins, artworks and priceles=
s=20
illuminated manuscripts. Now, through a new licensing agreement, it sells=20
reproductions of celestial charts by Ptolemy, hand painted with 22-karat=20
gold leaf, for $1,400. The Vatican Library Collection's online shopping sit=
e=20
also offers ceremonial baby clothes, including a tiny white $105 polyester=
=20
matte satin tuxedo from a "Boy's Christening and Bris" collection.=20

The licensing agreement between the Vatican Library and a California=20
retail company called 1451 International Inc. is only one sign of a new=20
strategy in the Roman Catholic Church. Throughout the Holy Year, St.=20
Peter's Square teemed with pilgrims but also with Jubilee Internet stations=
,=20
satellite hookups, corporate sponsors' symbols and Jubilee souvenirs. The=20
marketing was so successful that when Pope John Paul II formally ended=20
the Holy Year by closing the Holy Door to St. Peter's, he announced that=20
profits earned by the Jubilee organizing committee would be donated to=20
charity. "It is important that such an important religious event be complet=
ely=20
disassociated from any semblance of financial gain."

The Jubilee was a spiritual high point for the church, but it also inspired=
=20
state-of-the-art technology and modern merchandising techniquesthat will=20
remain long after the Holy Year recedes. The library deal arose last year=20
from the ashes of a disastrous 1988 licensing agreement with a California=20
businesswoman that embarrassed the Vatican and cost the library millions=20
of dollars in lawsuit settlements and legal fees. Like the Jubilee, that fi=
asco -
 and this new licensing agreement, which was meant to salvage it -=20
illustrates both the growing sophistication of Vatican officials and their=
=20
lingering na=EFvet=E9.

Financial pressures, and occasional missteps, have always played a role in=
=20
the Vatican's long history. The medieval practice of selling papal=20
indulgences, a remittance on punishment for sins, was one of the activities=
=20
that drove Martin Luther to start the Reformation. And the scandal in the=20
early '80s over the murky collapse of Banco Ambrosiano, which had strong=20
ties to the Vatican Bank, tarnished the church, cost the Vatican hundreds o=
f=20
millions of dollars and prompted an internal reform effort on church=20
finances. Vatican merchandising and marketing are not so much new as=20
newly refined for the 3rd millennium.=20

"I do not want to commercialize the Vatican," said Cardinal Edmund Szoka,=20
a former archbishop of Detroit who now governs the Vatican city-state.=20
Cardinal Szoka, who in 1990 was asked to straighten out the finances of the=
=20
Holy See, returned it to profitability in 1993 after decades of deficits. H=
e=20
oversaw the Vatican Library's licensing agreement with 1451 International.=
=20
"I only want enough income to cover expenses and provide for a reasonable=20
reserve."=20

That frugal philosophy seems to have guided the planning and financing of=20
the Jubilee itself, which drew millions of Catholic pilgrims to Rome. Almos=
t=20
all the major expenses were paid by the Italian government, which=20
earmarked $3.25bn for renovations and public works projects throughout=20
Italy, almost half of it spent on Rome. The Vatican's main expense was half=
=20
the cost of a $40mn underground parking lot to serve St. Peter's.=20

The Jubilee attracted the kind of corporate endorsements usually associated=
=20
with the Olympics or a World's Fair. Gruppo Telecom Italia, the Italian=20
telephone company, was a major sponsor, and in exchange for exclusive=20
rights and a Jubilee logo, the company spent more than $80mn to provide=20
telephone and Internet services, including installing a secure Internet lin=
k=20
between the Holy See and its embassies in 120 countries. Some 70,000=20
volunteers, with Telecom emblems on their shirts, hats and umbrellas,=20
helped shepherd pilgrims throughout the year. Telecom's cell-phone=20
affiliate, TIM, provided a host of services, including free cell phones for=
=20
Jubilee church officials and volunteers.

To help finance the poorest pilgrims, the Vatican sold 30 licenses for=20
souvenirs and religious items with the official Jubilee logo, ranging from =
a=20
$17,500 platinum watch sold at branches of Banca Intesa, an official=20
sponsor (and the successor to Banco Ambrosiano) to Jubilee=20
commemorative rosaries, T-shirts, coins, watches, pens, bottle-openers and=
=20
ashtrays. Over the Internet and in shops around St. Peter's, merchants sold=
=20
special parchment papal blessings, decorative Jubilee editions that ranged =
in=20
price from $20 to $48.

The Vatican museums drew a record 3.5mn visitors, and thanks to a $22mn=20
renovation of the museums completed in 1999, many people were able to=20
stroll through the expanded Vatican museum shops, which sell more than=20
1,000 items from art reproductions to $125 Ferragamo scarves in the papal=20
colors to $20 Vatican City sweatshirts. Francesco Riccardi, administrator o=
f=20
the Vatican museums, said sales figures were confidential but=20
acknowledged that they went up during the Holy Year. "The sum was=20
respectable, but not compared with our expenses." (Int'l Herald Tribune)=20

GERMANS SIGN PACT TO UPGRADE MIGS=20

Germany teamed up with Russia on Thursday to help states in Central and=20
Eastern Europe modernize their fleets of Soviet made MiG jet fighters. The=
=20
2 signed an agreement to upgrade the region's MiG-29s and provide=20
logistical and technical support, the German Embassy here said. The 3-year=
=20
agreement also provides for training of technicians and delivery of spare=20
parts. Germany inherited 23 MiGs that East Germany bought in the '80s=20
before the collapse of the Communist government. (Int'l Herald Tribune)=20

MICHAEL TURNER =0F
(mykelturner@airmail.net)=20

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========
To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] (Fwd) URGENT: Israel deploying tanks toward Lebanon; more det
From: <owner-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2001 21:55:40 -0500

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Send reply to: <benyosef@torahvoice.org>
From: "ben Yosef"
To: "ben Yosef"
Subject: URGENT: Israel deploying tanks toward Lebanon; more details about Tikkun tour, E-mail problems and web SABOTAGE FROM PRO-ISRAEL, ANTI-CLINTON SITES
Date sent: Sat, 13 Jan 2001 19:45:51 +0200

Shalom,

We have just about an hour before I need to close it down for Shabbat
and my email server is so busy right now I don't know if I can get
this message to you before Shabbat begins or not. But because I
thought the news below needs some urgent prayer attention, I'm trying.

But I wanted to let you know that in planning the Tikkun tour, (see
below), I spoke with a friend who was up near Tel Dan earlier today
and who told me that Israel is bringing in tanks, trucks filled with
army personnel and other armored vehicles toward the northern border
with Lebanon.

His words: "It looks to me like they are preparing for something
massive. I counted at least 50 tanks but there may be more."

We have known for several months that the Hizbullah has been
accumulating weapons of war, mostly rocket launchers that could strike
as far south as Haifa and which could be equipped with chemical
warheads, but also heavy mortars which could make life HELL for the
cities in the north.

More than 30 such fortifications along the Lebanese border have been
reported. It NOW appears that Israel is taking seriously the threat
of some kind of attack from the north. The added patrols also are
designed to deter infiltrators. An intelligence report this past
week, which was reported in the Israeli media (things are getting
serious when the media is given access to intelligence reports which
are usually censored), indicated that Syria was behind the build-up,
and that Iraq stood ready to "aid and abet" the Hizbullah should
Israel retalliate. The Israeli forces are also on a "hang-glider"
alert.

In the past, infiltrators have flown across the border on
hang-gliders, wreaked their havoc and escaped. The most infamous such
attack occurred in 1987, when Syrian hang-gliders flew into Kiryiat
Sh'mona (a city in the north) and killed six Israelis before escaping
back across the border.

My source, who has reliable contacts in Lebanon among the UN
Peacekeeping Forces, said that the UN observers are powerless to stop
the Hizbullah from deploying these weapons. Earlier last week, Lebanon
made a half-hearted effort to deter an infiltration attempt. My
source says things are FAST getting out of hand and the residents in
the north don't know what to make of the "mixed signals" being
reported from Jerusalem. On the one-hand,the build-up is very real but
the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee reported earlier
this week that other Defense intelligence find no reason to suspect
that the Arab countries bordering Israel -- Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and
Egypt -- are planning a war.

This could be typical Arab double-speak. If Hizbullah is planning the
war then of course the border nations are completely innocent!! (I
still have that property in Arkansas if you believe that).

So, if you get this message before Shabbat, please think of the
defense of Israel in your prayers over Shabbat.

[.. snipped..]

Also, I need to alert you to another virus problem which has been
encountered here in Israel on MINE AND OTHER email servers, which you
may need to keep an eye out for in the States (ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE
DOWNLOADING "PRO-ISRAEL, ANTI-CLINTON" MAIL FROM ISRAEL or other
WEBSITES FROM ISRAEL).

It is called a "Back Door Subseven Trojan" which means WHILE YOU ARE
ONLINE WITH YOUR EMAIL PROVIDER OR A "PRO-ISRAEL, ANTI-CLINTON" WEB
SITE THAT "SOMEONE" IS TRYING TO LOAD A VIRUS INTO YOUR COMPUTER.
AGAIN, IF YOU HAVEN'T DONE SO YET, YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST GET SOME VIRUS
SOFTWARE PROTECTION. NORTON'S ANTI-VIRUS SHIELD AND FIREWALL HAD NO
PROBLEM DETECTING THIS ATTEMPTED SABOTAGE!! THE LATEST MCAFEE VIRUS
DEFINITION FILES ALSO WILL HANDLE IT, BUT I HAVE ONE FRIEND WHO DID
NOT UPDATE HIS MCAFEE FILES AND GOT BURNED!! SO REMEMBER TO UPDATE
THOSE VIRUS DEFINITION FILES. IT MIGHT BE GOOD TO INVEST IN A PERSONAL
"FIREWALL" ALSO. THE NORTON FIREWAL IS VIRTUALLY TRANSPARENT AND HAS
SAVED ME AT LEAST A HALF-DOZEN TIMES FROM INFILTRATORS. SOMEONE IS
MAKING A CONCERTED EFFORT TO HIT "CERTAIN" COMPUTERS AND THEY ARE
SOMEHOW BEING ALERTED WHEN YOU ARE ONLINE AND WHAT SITES YOU ARE
VISITING WHICH THEY WANT YOU TO KEEP FROM VISITING.

Now we are going to forget about all of that and find the peace of
Shabbat.

Hashem's love & blessings and Shabbat Shalom to all of you from
Jerusalem, ben Yosef & family

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