Digest Home |
2001 |
May, 2001
INTERNET "WAITING FOR ITS CHERNOBYL," SAYS SECURITY EXPERT
IDENTITY THEFT
MICROSOFT OFFERS NEW VERSION OF ITS OFFICE SOFTWARE
Volcano Sheveluch in Russia erupts high into the sky
AIDS jumping at alarming rates in gays & bisexuals
Israel moves reinforcements into Shaba Farms on Lebanese border
U.S. upset over Syrian cooperation with Iraq
Sharon meets Vatican delegation
Sharansky: 'If violence doesn't end, we'll go to war'
Israel president urged U.S. to cut ties with Arafat
Syria wants Russian multiple-warhead missiles
Arafat's possible first visit to the Temple Mount area
Katsav to Ask Bush to Fix Cease-Fire 'Target Date'
Netanyahu: Swift Military Decision Must Be Reached
Al-Assad Gets A Message From Putin
Washington Links Smart Sanctions to Collaboration From Jordan, Syria and Turkey
Syria's Assad Holds Talks With Jordanian Minister
==========
To: <bprlist@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: [bprlist] (Fwd) new video resources
From: "Beverly"
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 01:32:33 -0400
--------
If anyone on this list orders these let us know how they affect you and
what you think ...OK?
----- Original Message -----
From: <owner-bpr@philologos.org>
To: <bprlist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2001 8:52 AM
Subject: [bprlist] (Fwd) new video resources
------- Forwarded message follows -------
From: Stromwarn@aol.com
Date sent: Wed, 30 May 2001 00:22:59 EDT
Subject: new video resources
To: owner-bpr@philologos.org
Dear Brethren,
I am a Christian film producer, and my company (Ken Klein Productions)
has just recently finished five new titles for release this year.
The most recent:
1. "The Temple Mount Dilemma" - filmed in Jerusalem two weeks before
the intefada broke out explains the real reasons and forces that are
behind the Palestianian and Jewish conflict.
[Unable to display image]
2. Twenty-five Messianic Signs In Israel Today. These are the
prophetic signs that were foretold by the ancient propehts of Israel
that have literally come to pass over the past fifty years.--signs
that signal the return of the Messiah.
[Unable to display image]
These videos will stir your heart and build your faith. Yeshua is
coming soon!!! In addition these videos are a great witnessing tool.
Other Video titles can be viewed at www.kenkleinproductions.com
Please e-mail to obtain copies. stromwarn@aol.com
kkp
------- End of forwarded message -------
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To: bprlist <bprlist@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [bprlist] Memorial Day Asteroid
From: "Patt A."
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 01:58:04 -0700 (PDT)
--------
Memorial Day Asteroid Weekend News
Today Lead: faith Source: Spaceweather.com
Tue May 29,2001
During the the USA's Memorial Day weekend a bright asteroid named 1999 KW4 sailed by our planet just 12.6 times more distant than the Moon. The space rock, astronomers learned just last week, is a binary system. It consists of not one, but 2 asteroids in a mutual orbit separated by about 2 km. Asteroid 1999 KW4 was brightest on May 27th at magnitude 10.7, but it will remain an easy target for modest amateur telescopes equipped with CCD cameras during the next week as it recedes from Earth and slowly fades. 1999 KW4 is a rare asteroid that passes even closer to the Sun than Mercury does. It travels around our star once every 188 days following an elliptical orbit that stretches from 0.2 AU to 1.08 AU. Some scientists think 1999 KW4 might be the nucleus of an extinct comet. Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs) are space rocks larger than approximately 100m that can come closer to Earth than 0.05 AU. None of the known PHAs are on a collision course with our planet, although astronomers are finding new ones all the time. On 29 May 2001 there were now 309 known Potentially Hazardous Asteroids
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] New Scientist Newsletter items (6/2/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 08:57:01 -0400
--------
ELECTION FEVER
Back on Earth, most countries are more preoccupied with conflicts closer
to home. In Britain, for example, political tensions are beginning to
escalate. Despite the sound and fury, however, turnout for next week's
general election is predicted to be spectacularly low. Would online
voting change that? Stephan Shakespeare thinks so. We talk to the man
who believes that the Internet could revolutionise politics and whose
website is the first in Britain to promote political debate between
voters and government.
http://www.newscientist.com/newsletter/opinion.jsp?id=ns22935
RAGING BULL
Weighing half a tonne and said to be capable of hooking a falling leaf
with one of its horns, the adult bull makes a formidable foe. A wise
bullfighter, therefore, will spend the first few moments in the ring
carefully studying the animal's eyes and horns for clues to its
temperament. Research by Temple Grandin and her colleagues at Colorado
State University in Fort Collins suggests that a cautious matador would
also be well advised to take a quick glance at his opponent's hairstyle.
http://www.newscientist.com/newsletter/news.jsp?id=ns229327
BEST THING SINCE...
For fifty years, food scientists thought the "magic ingredient" was a
scaffolding of disulphide bonds, but now Katherine Tilley, a cereals
scientist at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, has found
that it's the amino acid tyrosine. In other words, we've been wrong
about how wheat dough is made. And the implications of Tilley's
discovery? Better cakes and "a more consistent loaf of bread..."
http://www.newscientist.com/newsletter/news.jsp?id=ns229338
FISHY BUSINESS
Terence Painter has a "pipe dream". His ambition is to "sit down and eat
a salmon preserved in peat". The researcher at the Norwegian University
of Science and Technology in Trondheim believes he can save the
Norwegian economy billions of kroner every year by packing the country's
fishing boats with peat moss instead of expensive freezers.
http://www.newscientist.com/newsletter/news.jsp?id=ns229329
STREET LIFE
"Thirty years ago, whenever I met a hedgehog it would curl up and wait
for me to go away. Now it sees me first and runs." J. R. Bibby,
Warwickshire
"Despite the increase in traffic, over the past few years I have seen
far fewer dead hedgehogs on the roads." John Coppinger, Buckinghamshire
New Scientist readers are reliable witnesses - we ignore them at our
peril. So, what exactly is happening to Britain's hedgehogs? Are we on
the brink of a roadside revolution? This week's Last Word section asks
whether years of "road kill" have exerted a selective pressure and
produced hedgehogs with road sense.
http://www.newscientist.com/newsletter/lastword.jsp?id=lw1352
MISSION TO MARS
Take one stick and two giant moths and what do you get? You'll get the
first flying machine to cruise effortlessly through the Martian skies,
according to Bob Michelson, an aerodynamics engineer at the Georgia
Institute of Technology in Atlanta.
http://www.newscientist.com/newsletter/news.jsp?id=ns229330
AND FINALLY...
Here's something Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons and double-glazing
salespeople will find handy when their potential converts are "not at
home". A new invention which uses the Internet to turn a doorbell into a
message service...
http://www.newscientist.com/newsletter/news.jsp?id=ns229339
This way to the future: New Scientist's technology special report checks
out the latest products and innovations that will affect the way YOU
live, in association with HotBot: http://www.newscientist.com/tech/
For people who love ideas, subscribe to New Scientist and have it
delivered to your door every week, at:
http://www.newscientist.com/subscribe/subs_home.jsp?source=newsletter
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] The heavens at war
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 09:00:12 -0400
--------
The heavens at war
Illustration: Simon Emery
The final frontier is set to become a battleground. How
will the superpowers fight it out for space supremacy,
asks James Oberg
IN A remote valley in New Mexico's Manzano Mountains, the
US is tooling up for war. Here, in a four-storey building with
walls more than a metre thick, it runs a secret particle-beam
project. The weapons it's developing will never be used on
Earth because they only work in a vacuum. But that's no
problem--the idea is to fire them in space.
Once, space was empty and there was nothing there worth
fighting for. Now it's teeming with valuable equipment and
tensions are mounting. The US believes a war in space is a
virtual certainty--just last month defence secretary Donald
Rumsfeld announced plans for upgrading its military presence
there. Russia and China are also preparing for combat. And
while there are no offensive weapons in orbit today, there's
nothing to stop nations from putting them there tomorrow.
True, particle beams and other sophisticated weapons are at
least a decade away. But some space weapons are so simple
that dozens of nations are already capable of building them.
Military strategists have been thinking about orbital combat
since the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957. For the first few years
of the space race, their ideas were hopelessly impractical and
neither side sent weapons into space--although cosmonauts
carried handguns in case of an emergency landing on enemy
soil. But soon they began to design, build and test various
pieces of anti-satellite (ASAT) weaponry. The US focused on
guided missiles, launched from the air and designed to ram the
target directly. The Soviets preferred "killer satellites"--orbiting
spacecraft armed with shrapnel charges that could disable
enemy craft. Both sides also dabbled in nuclear warheads. All
were decommissioned without being fired in anger.
The end of the cold war killed off most of the systems, but the
threat of space war hasn't gone away. In fact, it's worse than
ever. Occupation of space is no longer a two-sided affair. Any
government, private organisation--or terrorist group--can buy
off-the-shelf satellites and launch them for a few million dollars
apiece. Space has become valuable territory, both
commercially and strategically. Many nations rely on it for
intelligence, and space is teeming with privately owned
communications satellites. Taken together these have
enormous potential to cause offence. No nation likes to be
spied on, and some governments see TV satellites as a
weapon of cultural aggression against which defensive
measures are justified. Some time soon, someone will be
tempted to have a pop.
Analysts agree that the first move will probably be a
ground-based electronic assault on a satellite. Some say this
kind of attack has already happened. A British military
communications satellite was reportedly kidnapped and driven
off course by hackers, though officials denied it. Nation states
have also been getting in on the act. The pro-government
Saudi newspaper Al-Watan has been running a series of
articles on communications satellites, in which it accuses
broadcasters of spreading "political sedition". The newspaper
advocates silencing the offending satellites. And the
government of Nauru has accused its neighbour Indonesia of
jamming a commercial satellite in orbit over its territory.
Indonesia denies the charge.
Jamming a satellite hardly constitutes an act of war, but a
more aggressive approach is technically possible and also
desirable--the threat of physical damage has always been a
useful negotiating tool. The trouble is there's little to stop
threats from escalating into violence. Just like the high seas,
space is a region beyond national sovereignty. While we have
treaties banning weapons of mass destruction in orbit,
international law has nothing to say about ordinary space
weaponry.
What's more, the fact that space-based technologies are
vulnerable to attack hasn't gone unnoticed. As one Chinese
newspaper commented in July last year: "For countries that
could never win a war by using tanks and planes, attacking
the US space system may be an irresistible choice."
The US certainly expects that to happen. Last year a special
commission on the military aspects of space concluded that a
conflict in space was "a virtual certainty". And during the
intelligence community's annual "world threat" briefing in
February, the heads of both the CIA and the Defense
Intelligence Agency openly voiced their concerns about an
attack in space. DIA director Thomas Wilson warned that
several foreign governments were experimenting with space
weapons. He named China and Russia as the biggest threats
and predicted that by 2015, they would be capable of blowing
big holes in the US space programme.
In January the US even held a war game based in space. The
scenario was set in 2018 and involved an enemy state
attacking US satellites that were supporting a military
operation on the ground. The results are classified, but the
military made its conclusions clear: without more funding for
space defence, the US faces a Pearl Harbour in orbit.
Independent experts believe there are no weapons in space at
the moment, apart from a gun in the Russian emergency kit on
the International Space Station. There's also very little on the
ground that could do harm in space. But the technologies to
make highly destructive weapons already exist or are in
development.
The simplest way to attack a satellite is with
weapons launched from the ground. That's
the principle behind the "poor man's ASAT"
(see Diagram). The idea is to use a small
missile to deposit a cloud of sand, ball
bearings and other hard objects in the path
of an oncoming satellite. The target's own
velocity provides the impact energy. It's
unreliable, but it poses a credible threat. A
dozen countries without space capabilities
could build such a system, although none
claim to have done so yet.
But there are problems with ground-based weaponry. You can
only strike while the target is in range and it takes time for
your missile to climb into orbit. That gives the satellite time to
take evasive action. For this reason, some strategists want to
arm the satellites themselves.
One approach is "parasite satellites"--orbiting limpet bombs
that attach themselves to enemy craft for detonation at a
later date. The Chinese say they can do this already, though
the claim is hard to verify. A simpler method is to disable your
enemy with a high-speed projectile. In other words, shoot at
it. This was tried in 1974 when the Soviet Union launched
Salyut 3, the first crewed military reconnaissance outpost in
orbit. In anticipation of an attack by the US, the Soviets
mounted a modified machine gun on the satellite so they could
greet any hostile approach with a hail of bullets. The attack
never came. Salyut 3 proved to be a white elephant and was
quickly decommissioned, although not without a shot being
fired. After the two-man crew had left, the ground crew fired
a few rounds by remote control. It must have been quite a
sight.
Shooting projectiles is a standard way of doing combat on
Earth, but in space it's a little different. For one thing, there's
no atmosphere or gravity, so the projectile behaves strangely.
In low-Earth orbit, most of your bullets would eventually hit
the atmosphere and burn up, though some would settle into a
stable orbit. Some of these orbits would intercept yours, so
you'd have be careful not to shoot yourself down. The rules of
engagement are also completely different. Satellites circle the
planet at high speeds, which makes it difficult to take on an
enemy craft in a dog fight.
The simplest way to manoeuvre to within shooting distance is
to intercept the satellite "in plane". In other words, approach
it from behind in a lower and faster orbit and then boost
yourself into its path. From the target's point of view, an
attack craft would close in from behind and below, and the
final few hundred metres of approach would be almost a
straight line.
At this moment a burst of cannon fire would be lethal. The
impact would cause a shock wave in the satellite's structure,
pulverising its electronic equipment, shattering the glass in
viewports and solar panels, and cracking open pressurised
propellant tubes. A hit to a compartment containing oxygen
could start a fire and incinerate the contents. But in the
vacuum of space there would be no billowing Star Wars
explosions or shock rings, just an eerie silence and tumbling,
twinkling space confetti.
The victorious craft would then have to avoid the wreckage.
Shooting down a satellite isn't like shooting down an
aeroplane, where the engine or wings are so badly damaged
that it falls out of the sky. Dead satellites continue to circle
the Earth. The same goes for bits of shrapnel.
Debris isn't just a short-term problem. It can stay in orbit for
years. Soviet ASAT tests in the late 1960s left behind a dozen
clouds of metallic shards which are still a hazard today. The
fragments are too small to track and too numerous to dodge,
so all space vehicles have to be armoured against them.
For this reason, the US is reluctant to start shooting at things
in orbit. After the recent war game, General Ralph Eberhart,
commander-in-chief of US Space Command, told reporters he
considered it a last-ditch option. But that's not to say space
war has been ruled out. In the next couple of decades,
projectiles are likely to be replaced by electromagnetic
cannons, lasers and particle beams--high-tech weaponry
capable of inflicting damage without creating debris.
Electromagnetic cannons are
well developed (New
Scientist, 1 July 2000, p 20)
and are probably closest to
being deployed in space.
They fire intense bursts of
radio waves at their target,
jamming or destroying its
electronics. At close range,
they could permanently
cripple a satellite's circuitry.
At greater distances their power may only be enough to
temporarily paralyse circuits.
Prototype cannons have already been built and tested. The
two main types are the high-power microwave (HPM) system
and the ultra-wide-band (UWB) system. HPM weapons fire a
narrow and powerful beam of high-frequency radiation which
can pierce a satellite's armour and fry its circuitry. The UWB
beam is more of a scattergun weapon, with a broad beam and
wide frequency range designed to knock out any electronic
equipment in the vicinity.
Laser weapons dump large amounts of energy onto the
satellite's surface, causing violent thermal expansion and
setting up shock waves that tear components from the interior
walls. People who've seen the damage inflicted by laser
weapons say the effect is like a shotgun blast at point-blank
range. So far lasers have only been used for rangefinding and
guidance, but prototype weapons exist. And if President Bush
goes ahead with his plan to revive "Star Wars", they could be
in space very soon.
For the past 15 years, the US military has been experimenting
with lasers at a test facility in White Sands, New Mexico. This
is the home of MIRACL (the mid-infrared advanced chemical
laser), a powerful deuterium fluoride laser built about 20 years
ago for ships, then transferred to White Sands in the
mid-1980s to study its anti-satellite capabilities. In October
1997, MIRACL was test fired into space. Although not powerful
enough to vaporise a satellite, most experts believe that
MIRACL could disable optical equipment and damage solar
arrays and other delicate structures. There are some problems
with atmospheric interference, but putting the laser into orbit
would solve those.
Particle-beam weapons inflict damage in a similar way. They
emit beams of particles, perhaps hydrogen or deuterium ions,
at near-light speed. Details remain sketchy, but the principle is
essentially the same as in an ion-propulsion system (New
Scientist, 21 November 1998, p 22). A working particle beam is
believed to have been on board the mysterious Soviet
"battlestar" Polyus-Skif, which was launched in May 1987 but
crashed during take-off. Polyus-Skif also carried a prototype
laser for destroying satellites. In the US, research on
particle-beam weapons continues at the High Energy Research
and Technology Facility on Kirtland Air Force Base, New
Mexico.
It all sounds depressingly familiar. Humans have only been
using space for the past 50 years, yet we're already preparing
to fight over it. And having concluded that our present
weapons are too messy, we're building better ones. There's
even the spectre of nuclear arms in space. For rogue states,
the threat of a nuclear detonation in orbit would be a powerful
bargaining chip.
But maybe there's an upside. Space is a long way off, and a
war fought there by remote control would be all but invisible
and harmless to those on the ground. Way above your head,
right now, two nations could be settling their differences in
space. You'd never even need to know.
James Oberg is a space writer and a former space flight
engineer based in Houston, Texas. His new book, Space Power
Theory, can be downloaded at
http://www.jamesoberg.com/books/spt/spt.html
From New Scientist magazine, 02 June 2001.
http://www.newscientist.com/newsletter/features.jsp?id=ns22931
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] PA Intelligence Chief: Mitchell's Report Does not Call for Halting Intifadah
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 09:11:16 -0400
--------
PA Intelligence Chief: Mitchell's Report Does not Call for Halting
Intifadah
Report by Munir Abu-Rizk in Gaza - Al-Hayah al Jadidah May 29, 2001
The General Intelligence Department Director, Maj. Gen. Amin al-Hindi, has
underlined that the Palestinian agreement to the Mitchell Commission's
report does not mean halting the intifadah, noting that the intifadah is a
popular expression and a natural reaction to Israel's intransigence and
evasion of the concluded agreements He said that the Mitchell Commission's
report does not provide for stopping the intifadah when it addresses the
issue of violence, but directly states that the settlements are one of the
main causes for the current events. Maj. Gen. Amin al-Hindi rejected any
attempt to divide the Mitchell Commission's report, saying that the National
Palestinian Authority will deal with the report as an indivisible package.
We will not allow Israel to select what it wants from the report and to
postpone or reject what it does not want in it.
Major General Al-Hindi stressed that the general guidelines of the Mitchell
Commission's report touched on the causes of the problem, that is, Israel's
continued settlement construction and expansion under flimsy pretexts and
labels. He said there is a need for a meeting of the Sharm al-Shaykh
countries, including the Russian sponsor, to work out a mechanism to ensure
implementation of the Mitchell Commission's recommendations.
Major General Al-Hindi stressed the need for the Russian Federation to play
a basic role in the peace process, along with the European Union countries
and the other regional blocs. He called on the United States to give up its
total bias to Israel, pursue a fair and balanced policy in the Middle East,
and pressure Israel to implement the resolutions of international legitimacy
and the agreements concluded with the Palestinian party. He urged Russia
and
the EU countries to play their natural role in the region and to enhance
their efforts in the peace process. He said that former Russian foreign
minister Brimakov's tour of the region is a step in the right direction. He
pointed out that President Yasir Arafat's visit to Moscow is a qualitative
step toward cementing the friendly ties with Russia, particularly amid
Israel's desperate attempts to give Moscow a wrong picture about thee
reality of the situation between Israel and the Palestinians.
Regarding Israel's accusation of President Arafat and the Palestinian
security agencies of practicing and protecting what it calls terrorism, The
General Intelligence director said that there are no grounds or evidence for
these new-old accusations, noting that the Israeli Government and army are
practicing state terrorism in its ugliest form through aerial and naval
bombardment, and encircling, starving and killing the unarmed Palestinian
people.
Major General Al-Hindi termed the cease-fire alleged by Sharon as a big lie
that Sharon is trying to peddle as if the world cannot hear or see what is
going on. He said that since his alleged declaration of a cease-fire Sharon
has intensified Israeli incursions into and attacks on the Palestinian areas
more than at any time before, as evidenced in 96 crimes of killing and
violations. He said that Sharon now feels he is facing a predicament before
world public opinion and is looking for tricks to deceive the world public.
Discussing Israel's overt and covert threats to President Arafat, Al-Hindi
stressed that the dangers threatening Arafat have not ceased since 1965.
These threats, he said, are not new to a leader who embodies the hopes,
aspirations and suffering of the entire people. He said every Palestinian is
a Yasir Arafat and Israel deludes itself if it believes that by removing
Arafat it can ensure its security and stability. He stressed that Israel's
attempts to create alternative Palestinian leaderships will prove their
failure and futility, as they did in the past.
Al-Hindi said that the domestic situation in the areas under the control of
the Palestinian Authority is more cohesive and solid than at any time
before. He said Israel's attempts to sow divisions and seditions through
rumors and lies are exposed to the Palestinian people, who are well aware of
the Israeli goals behind the psychological war being launched along with the
bestial aggression against them for eight months.
--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
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Subject: [bprlist] Faisal al-Husseini, top PLO official for Jerusalem dies in Kuwait
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 09:16:44 -0400
--------
Standard-bearer of Palestinian resistance dies in Kuwait
KUWAIT CITY, May 31 (AFP) - Faisal al-Husseini, the top PLO official for
Jerusalem and a standard-bearer of decades of Palestinian resistance to
Israel, died in Kuwait on Thursday of a massive heart attack at the age of 60.
"Husseini has passed away," a Palestinian official told AFP.
He had arrived in Kuwait only on Tuesday as the first senior Palestinian
official to visit the emirate in 11 years. He received a frosty welcome from
Kuwaitis who have not forgiven the Palestinians for their perceived support for
Iraq during the Gulf War.
In the Palestinian territories, his death was announced solemnly on the
official Voice of Palestine radio and Palestinian television as three days of
mourning were declared.
Crowds gathered at Husseini's office, the unofficial Palestinian headquarters
called Orient House in occupied east Jerusalem, where loudspeakers
broadcast verses from the Muslim holy book, the Koran.
Husseini, born in Baghdad in 1940, was the descendant of a long line of
legendary Palestinian leaders. His father died in the 1948 war which saw the
birth of Israel.
A pragmatic politician, he came to Jerusalem in 1964, and rose to become
one of the most prominent members of the Palestine Liberation Organisation
and the mainstream Fatah movement of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
In monumental struggles with Israeli authorities battling to reduce the
Palestinian presence in Jerusalem he was repeatedly arrested and jailed,
particularly during the first intifada or Palestinian uprising, from 1987 to 1993,
but refused to yield.
Husseini's body was to be flown later Thursday from Kuwait to Amman in
Jordan. It will be buried Friday next to his father beside the Al-Aqsa mosque
in east Jerusalem following a major funeral, Palestinian officials said.
Kuwait had allocated a special government chartered plane to fly the body
and members of Husseini's delegation to Amman, the official KUNA news
agency said.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was due in Amman from Brussels late
Thursday to escort Husseini's body back to Ramallah, the Palestinian capital
on the West Bank Friday ahead of the funeral.
Kuwait's Criminal Investigation Department and forensic experts examined
the body before removing it from a hotel in Farwaniya, 20 kilometres (12
miles) south of Kuwait City, where the conference was being staged.
"Doctors said he died at 2 a.m Thursday (2300 GMT Wednesday) in his
sleep. But it was found out only at 7.30 a.m. when his bodyguard went to
wake him up," a hotel official told AFP.
The organisers of a conference against normalisation of ties with Israel in
which Husseini was to take part said the Palestinian official had died of a
"massive heart attack" early in the morning.
Kuwaiti newspapers printed before his death appeared Thursday with highly
hostile stories about Husseini's visit. Al-Anbaa, a daily opposed to relations
with the Palestinians, said in a front page headline "MPs to Husseini: You
are not welcome, go back."
Al-Watan highlighted the rejection of Kuwaiti members of parliament of a
proposed visit by Arafat to Kuwait.
However Kuwait's parliamentary speaker Jassem al-Khorafi said after
attending the opening session of the conference that he "was deeply
saddened by the death of Husseini."
Relations between Kuwait and the Palestinians have remained frozen since
the emirate accused Arafat of backing Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in 1990.
Husseini held talks Wednesday with Kuwait's State Minister for Foreign
Affairs Sheikh Mohammad al-Sabah and the parliamentary committee for
foreign affairs to try to restore relations.
Kuwaiti members of parliament, however, warned him that Arafat remained
"persona non grata" in the emirate and branded Husseini's visit "shameful".
"We welcome neither Arafat nor any member of the authority in our country,"
former speaker and MP Ahmad al-Saadun said.
Copyright 2001 by Agence France-Presse
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Subject: [bprlist] Weapon-scanner raises constitutional concern
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 09:18:30 -0400
--------
Weapon-scanner raises constitutional concern
By KELLY HEARN, UPI Technology Writer
BOULDER, Colo., May 30 (UPI) -- A federal agency is developing a radar-like
device that uses electromagnetic waves to peer through clothing and detect
concealed weapons from up to 15 meters (50 feet) away.
News of the planned system comes amid national angst over domestic
terrorism
while adding a new dimension to the debate over the constitutionality of
high-tech policing practices.
Government sources said they hope to have a working prototype of the device
by year's end. The apparatus could one day be mounted on police vehicles
and
driven through unruly crowds to spot individuals carrying guns, knives and
perhaps even plastic explosives.
Engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Boulder,
Colo., office are developing the technology with funding from the National
Institute of Justice and the Federal Aviation Administration. NIST is a
non-regulatory federal agency.
The technology is based upon a radar-like apparatus that illuminates groups
of people with low-level electromagnetic waves that penetrate clothing but
reflect off objects concealed beneath them. The reflected energy is
collected, focused onto a detector array and ultimately transformed into an
image that is displayed on a policeman's laptop, said sources at NIST.
However, "When does a technology-based search constitute a search for
constitutional purposes? How do you evaluate the level of intrusiveness?"
posed James Dempsey of the Center for Democracy and Technology, a
Washington-based privacy group.
Dempsey said U.S. courts have held that airport metal detectors do not
violate the Fourth Amendment about unreasonable search and seizure in part
because such searches are overt and minimally intrusive, and because
individuals have a choice not to board an airplane.
"In this case, your right to be in the street, and particularly your right
to protest, is more significant than the right to get on a jet plane.
Furthermore, the use of this device is not overt and there is no warning of
it. Already, there are two strikes against it," he told United Press
International.
"My concern is over the way we think about these technological tools," said
Kristian Miccio, professor of law from Western State University College of
Law in Fullerton, Calif. "I fear we will put the concept of unruly crowds
and crime on the back burner while putting the technologies to enhance law
enforcement on the front burner.
"In our fear of crime and terrorism, we are giving up so many freedoms we
haven't thought about," she continued in a telephone interview with UPI. "We
have to decide what kind of culture and society we want to live in, that is,
what are we willing to sacrifice in a war on crime."
The system uses a high-powered, commercially available power source that
operates at 95 gigahertz in a pulsed mode. NIST engineers said that such a
power range would not impact human health or cause stoppages in
pacemakers.
"What we are doing is more along the lines of radar," said Erich Grossman, a
NIST researcher on the project. "We illuminate an area with high frequency
radiation or three-millimeter-wavelength millimeter waves. That allows us to
see details but anything finer than three millimeters we won't see."
While millimeter waves do not penetrate deep into human tissue, the device
could conceivably detect, say, a metal plate near the surface of an
individual's skin, said Grossman. But, he said, the system produces images
of objects rather simply detecting them, which would allow officers to
discriminate between benign objects and weapons.
Grossman said the device is more powerful than airport metal detectors.
"That's because our system doesn't require a cooperative subject," he said.
"In other words, it's not a portal-based system where a subject has to
cooperatively walk through a particular area. That is not intent of this
program."
He said the device could operate in two modes. It can image an area two
meters in diameter, which could cover one or two people. If the system
detects a hotspot on a particular individual, the operator can zoom in more
closely.
Experts said legal considerations regarding such a device are analogous to
those involved in a case currently pending before the Supreme Court.
Police in 1992 arrested an Oregon man after authorities used a high-tech
device to sense invisible heat waves emanating from his home. Police
subsequently obtained a search warrant and found a marijuana growing
operation. The suspect, Kyllo, claimed the search violated the Fourth
Amendment prohibition against unreasonable search and seizure.
"Like the Kyllo case, here is another technology that raises what is
currently a major issue under the Fourth Amendment," said Dempsey.
"There are many things to consider -- such as how intrusive is this search?
Is it like taking a person's clothes off? Can the police see a person's body
or do they only get an image of the weapon? Those are factual questions that
make a difference in how it is assessed from a privacy standpoint," he said.
When asked if officers would be able to see a detailed image of a human
body, Grossman said that in theory engineers could incorporate a digital
camera into the device, allowing the millimeter image to be superimposed
over an optical image. Such a move would let officers see a person's body in
detail.
"In a practical system you could certainly do that, but we are not planning
to do that with the prototype," Grossman said.
Officials at the National Institute of Justice and the Federal Aviation
Administration said they could not provide comment by press time.
The agencies have funded the project to the tune of $200,000 a year for
about three years, said Grossman.
http://kevxml.infospace.com/info/kevxml?kcfg=upi-
article&sin=200105301945420
004716&otmpl=/upi/story.htm&qcat=science&rn=21732&qk=10&passdate=0
5/30/2001
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Subject: [bprlist] Community-wide Solidarity Rally for Israel - NYC - Sunday, June 3rd
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 13:43:50 -0400
--------
Community-wide Solidarity Rally for Israel - NYC - Sunday, June 3rd -11 a.m.
Israeli UN Mission Second Avenue (Between 42nd & 43rd Street, Manhattan)
A community-wide solidarity rally for Israel featuring synagogues and
organizations in the tri-state area will take place on Sunday, June 3rd at
11:00am in front of the Israeli Mission to the United Nations, 800 Second
Avenue, between 42nd and 43rd Streets in Manhattan.
At this time of great challenge to the people and state of Israel, we are
urging you to join as one and to tell our brothers and sisters in Israel
that they are not alone. Please join with rabbis, synagogues, and Jewish
groups in the tri-state area as we express our solidarity with the people
and the State of Israel at this tumultuous time.
We are with you - you are not alone!
www.ou.org
--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
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===
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] NewsScan items (5/31/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 13:48:26 -0400
--------
INTERNET "WAITING FOR ITS CHERNOBYL," SAYS SECURITY EXPERT
Internet security experts such as Peter G. Neumann of SRI International and
Bruce Schneier of Counterpane Internet Security believe that security on
the Internet is very poor. Schneier characterizes the Internet as "just too
complex to be secure," and Neumann predicts: "The Internet is waiting for
its Chernobyl, and I don't think we will be waiting much longer; we are
running too close to the edge." In the process of compiling material for a
New Yorker magazine article on Internet security issues, journalist Michael
Specter hung out with network "crackers" in Amsterdam and observed them
take over the Los Angeles Police Department computer system, steal
passwords from a university in Korea, and break into his own Web site. He
also received a lesson in creating viruses and produced one that erased all
the data on one of his computers. (New Yorker 28 May 2001)
IDENTITY THEFT
Identity theft is an increasing problem in the Information Age, and
brokerage companies sometimes unwittingly sell dossiers to people using
fake credit card and posing as other people. In one scam, thieves used an
e-mail account and a stolen credit card number to purchase reports
containing Social Security numbers, employment information and driving
records, and were able to use this information to plunder bank accounts.
One victim of identity theft said: "What has taken me a lifetime to build
-- my trust, my integrity and my identity -- has been tainted. I don't know
if I'm dealing with a 14-year-old messing around with a computer or if I'm
dealing with organized crime." The Social Security Administration's
inspector general says the power of the Social Security number makes it a
valuable asset subject to limitless abuse, and calls that misuse has
developed into "a national crisis." (Washington Post 31 May 2001)
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A77996-2001May25.html
MICROSOFT OFFERS NEW VERSION OF ITS OFFICE SOFTWARE
Microsoft today is announcing Office XP, sixth version of the software it
introduced ten years, and which now has been integrated with the Internet
for interactive information retrieval and collaboration. For example, a
word processing feature called "Smart Tags" will allow documents to link
automatically to Internet databases, and Microsoft Word will be able to
recognize an address, a parcel shipping number, or a flight number, etc.,
and look up further information about it. Some of these retrieval functions
will be free from company Web sites but others (such as legal searches in
the Lexis-Nexis database) will cost money. (New York Times 31 May 2001)
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/31/technology/31SOFT.html
"NewsScan" <newsscan@newsscan.com>
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Subject: [bprlist] Critters kindle military curiosity
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 13:52:48 -0400
--------
Critters kindle military curiosity
Source: InTech
Publication date: 2001-05-01
Arrival time: 2001-05-31
Coming to a plant floor near you: wasp-emulating sniffers, sea
cucumber-based smart materials, and brain-controlled robots.
If military research now under way is successful, plant engineers may
soon detect airborne chemicals using sensors that emulate wasps,
surveil hazardous areas using trained moths, and perform delicate or
dangerous work using brain-- controlled robots.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) was established
in 1958 in response to the Soviet launching of Sputnik; its missions
are to assure that the U.S. maintains a worldwide lead in military
technology and to prevent technological surprise from America's
enemies-a portfolio of extraordinary breadth. The agency led
development of the Internet to give the nation distributed, survivable
communications in the event of nuclear attack; is developing
technology that will make the Bionic Man seem Lilliputian compared
with the next generation of infantry; and is now engaged in biological
research that may place the strengths of a broad range of fauna at
engineers' disposal.
Insect-emulating chemical sensors
Parasitic wasps (Micropletis croceipes) can detect a wide variety of
volatile chemical compounds and use them to locate food and hosts.
They can even, according to DARPA, "learn to respond to and locate
different compounds or blends of compounds produced when the hosts are
feeding on different species or varieties of plants. Thus, their
ability to learn different chemical cues is highly developed."
A DARPA-funded research project now under way aims to identify the
mechanism that governs wasps' detection and response to olfactory
information and apply it to sensors used to detect explosives, toxic
chemicals, and other materials that emit volatile chemicals. The end
result could be sensors that are orders of magnitude more sensitive
than any now available and that, further, could learn and adjust their
response as circumstances change.
Other research projects use honeybees as subjects because they are
especially sensitive to trace metals, radionuclides, and a broad
spectrum of organic chemicals used in agriculture and industry. DARPA
contemplates training bees to locate targets using associative
learning techniques, tracking individual bees to toxin sources, and
mounting sensors on bees to improve their environmental data
collection. An entomologist and a hive could soon replace the small
army of consultants that modern plants now use to stay on the right
side of environmental management agencies.
DARPA has something for plant security, too: a research program that's
looking into "mate finding, host finding, alarm, and aggregation
behaviors . . . with a particular emphasis on blood- feeding arthropod
vectors of disease and insects of nuisance or bioirritant value."
Think and do
Researchers have established that for every unique activity, there is
unique electrical activity in the brain. Further, they have
successfully recorded that electrical activity and translated it into
digital signals used to control a robot. DARPA proposes to develop
this technology for battlefield use, allowing intelligent robots to
replace soldiers for some missions, utilizing "electrode-based
interfaces between brain and computer to directly control loco- moting
robotic devices using brain activity."
It shouldn't take long for technology such as this to catch on. After
all, robots don't get sick, don't come in late, don't get bored, and
can be sent into environments where humans won't or shouldn't go.
Further, they'll work under intelligent direction, accepting and
processing commands in real time. Engineers could use the robots to
weld in confined spaces, for example, and then check the welds
afterward.
The technology might be used to create biological scouts or workers,
too. A project at MIT is developing technology for controlling live
rodents using computers.
Released on a battlefield, they'll send home information about troop
deployments and weaponry; on the shop floor, RoboRat will retrieve
tools from hard to reach places and inspect pipe galleries for leaks.
Similarly a DARPA-funded project at the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign looks forward to "the ability to plug into
neurological pathways to gain efficient control of insects." Imagine
the fun you could have with a joystick and a Madagascar cockroach.
Wild Kingdom
The gecko has admirers, too. A team of researchers at IS Robotics and
the University of California at Berkeley is developing a system for
robots that emulates the gecko's ability to scoot up vertical walls at
speeds up to 1 meter per second. "Prototypes," according to the
research synopsis, "will be constructed that employ as much of the
biological principles as necessary in order to create a platform that
can walk or run vertically and hold at a position for an appropriate
length of time." Engineers might use them in the plant for difficult
maintenance operations or delivering materials to workstations.
The lamprey and the lobster are the inspiration for another group of
researchers. A team at Northeastern University in Boston is developing
robots based on the lamprey's snakelike undulating motion and the
lobsters eight-legged perambulations. DARPA wants them "developed with
the operational concept of using them for mine location and
detection." But the robots could, of course, be fitted with sensors
that would allow them to enter vats or wastewater lagoons and return
with comprehensive, three-dimensional reports of chemical composition.
Certain species of beetle lay their eggs in burnt tree bark and have a
highly developed sensitivity to infrared radiation; they can detect a
forest fire at a distance of uD to 80 kilometers (50 miles) away.
Researchers hope that, by studying the beetle's sensory system, they
can build and deploy comparably sensitive infrared sensors. If they're
success- ful, plant engineers will control temperature- sensitive
processes with near-perfect accuracy.
The connective tissues of sea cucumbers, an animal's (not vegetable)
closely related to starfish and sea urchins, are able to rapidly and
reversibly change stiffness. Researchers at the University of New
Mexico plan to harness that capability to "develop novel synthetic
materials with dynamically controlled stiffness." The end result will
be "artificial skins" that may show up on plant floors as anything
from protective clothing to packaging materials.
Modeling contaminant spread
Worried that Washington might become the scene of a biological warfare
release during the inauguration of George W. Bush, DARPA used its
Encompass software program to model epidemiological indicators of
illness during the swearing in. Working with local hospital emergency
rooms, health departments, and paraderoute aid stations during several
days preceding and following the ceremonies, non-accident-- related
medical symptoms were collected and logged in to the system in near
real time.
"Encompass picked out a sudden spike in fevers at some military
clinics," said Dr. Kurt Henry, the Encompass program manager. "We
immediately issued a public health alert to participating civilian
medical centers to see whether there was a larger pattern."
Analysis determined that the fevers were consistent with seasonal flu
patterns. The software is com- mercially available now, and engineers
and hygienists in industrial environments can use it to identify areas
with abnormally distributed symptoms of illness.
Copyright Instrument Society of America May 2001
Publication date: 2001-05-01
© 2001, YellowBrix, Inc.
http://newsreal.yellowbrix.com/pages/newsreal/Story.nsp?story_id=21169604
&ID=new
sreal&scategory=Internet
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Subject: [bprlist] Ha'aretz: U.S. administration has reservations about transferral of funds
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 18:51:06 -0400
--------
Ha'aretz: U.S. administration has reservations about transferral of promised
funds to Israel - does not want to anger Arabs
By Aluf Benn, Ha'aretz Service 31 May 2001
The U.S. administration is expressing reservations regarding a special $800
million military aid package promised to Israel. The grant was promised at
the end of former president Bill Clinton's term of office. Standing behind
the opposition to grant the package is the assessment of the State
Department's Middle East division that granting the military aid package at
the present time, while Israel is engaged in a violent confrontation with
the Palestinians, would cause the United States grave political damage in
the Arab world.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is interested in receiving the aid package so as
to relieve the budgetary constraint on the Defense Ministry, but the chances
of receiving it are slim. During meetings with President George W. Bush and
Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington, President Moshe Katsav
raised
the issue. They tried to evade the topic and the Israelis left the meetings
with the feeling that the aid would not be transferred to the Israel Defense
Forces in the near future.
The special package was promised to Israel last year in compensation for the
IDF withdrawal from southern Lebanon and for the development of a program
against missiles fired from Iran and Iraq. The Clinton administration
submitted the aid request to the previous Congress. The aid package was to
have been spread out over the course of two years, with $450 million given
at one point and then later an additional $350 million. Congress requested
that discussion on the matter be postponed until after the presidential
elections.
Another request for aid is currently being formulated in Israel. This
package is to assist in the difficult security situation that Israel
currently finds itself in, as well as the developing threats posed by Iraq
and Iran, who on Thursday tested its new surface-to-surface missile.
--------------------------------------------
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=== Weekend News Today
Lead: faith
Source: Volcano World
Thu May 31,2001 -- Volcano Sheveluch in Kamchatka, Russia...Last
Updated: May 29, 2001
On 21 May, an ash cloud rose to ~35,000-40,000 ft ASL. A large thermal
anomaly was observed in satellite images of the volcano. On 22 May, the
volcano again erupted producing a mushroom- shaped ash column to a
height of about 33,000 ft. ASL. On 24 May, a gas and steam plume rose
1200 m above the dome. Seismic activity remains above background levels.
AIDS jumping at alarming rates in gays & bisexuals
Weekend News Today
Lead: faith
Source: Yahoo News/AP
Thu May 31,2001 -- Social worker Anthony McWilliams says he sees it
every day - a new generation of gays and bisexuals numb from years of
endless AIDS statistics and warnings about the epidemic. ``It becomes blah,
blah, blah - noise to them,'' said McWilliams, a counselor for AID Atlanta.
``It's just not getting through to them. They need to hear it a new way.'' Just 2
decades after the discovery of AIDS, a new government survey suggests gay
men and bisexuals too young to remember the disease's explosive first
years are contracting it at alarming rates. For blacks in that group, the
figures are staggering: 1 in 7 becomes HIV-positive each year - roughly the
same infection rate currently found among adults in South Africa.
Left unchecked, the infection rates could lead to a resurgence in the AIDS
epidemic after years of progress to try and control it. AIDS prevention groups
called the figures extremely disturbing, saying the country needs to devise
new ways to reach young adults at risk. The study included nearly 3,000 gay
and bisexual men who were tested anonymously for HIV from 1998 to 2000
in Baltimore, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Seattle.
A CDC study earlier this year found HIV infections disturbingly common in
large U.S. cities among gay men of all races in their 20s. And a San
Francisco study found the rate of new HIV infections among gay and
bisexual men in that city nearly tripled from 1997 to 1999. The government's
effort to contain HIV/AIDS may be cursed by its own success, CDC analysts
said. ``There's all these posters around that say you can climb mountains
and do whatever with HIV and AIDS. There's not enough messages about the
price you have to pay,'' he said.
Israel moves reinforcements into Shaba Farms on Lebanese border
Weekend News Today
Lead: Kelly
Source: DPA/Ha'aretz
Thu May 31,2001 -- Israel has moved reinforcements into the disputed Shaba
Farms sector of the Israeli-Lebanese border, Lebanese security sources said
Thursday. Long columns of tanks and armored personnel carriers were seen
rolling into the area all day Wednesday, the sources said. The Israelis have
been buttressing their defenses in that part of the border for the last two
weeks in anticipation of attacks by the militant Hezbollah organization to
mark the first anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon.
U.S. upset over Syrian cooperation with Iraq
Weekend News Today
Lead: Kelly
Source: Middle East Newsline
Thu May 31,2001 -- The United States has quietly relayed warnings to Syria
to end its growing cooperation with Iraq. A senior U.S. official said
Washington is upset with the Syrian decision to open its borders with Iraq.
U.S. diplomatic sources said this could mark a major setback for the Bush
administration's plans to impose so-called smart sanctions on the regime of
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Washington has sought the help of Iraq's
neighbors to ensure that military or dual-use items are not smuggled to Iraq.
Over the last two months, U.S. officials have met with leaders of Jordan,
Syria and Turkey and quietly passed messages to Iran.
Sharon meets Vatican delegation
Weekend News Today
Lead: Kelly
Source: Jerusalem Post
Thu May 31,2001 -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met a special delegation
from Pope John Paul II in Tel Aviv earlier this afternoon. The delegates
handed Sharon a letter from the Pope in which the latter called on Sharon to
work towards an end to the violence and acts of hatred in the region. The
delegation will hand a similar letter to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser
Arafat tomorrow in Ramallah. Sharon asked the delegation to transfer a
demand on his behalf to Arafat that the PA leader halt terrorism, violence and
incitement immediately and implement the Mitchell report.
Sharansky: 'If violence doesn't end, we'll go to war'
Weekend News Today
Lead: Kelly
Source: Jerusalem Post
Thu May 31,2001 -- The current unilateral cease-fire cannot continue
indefinitely, and if Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat does not
take this opportunity to stop the violence, Israel's next step will likely be to
go to war to wipe out the military and terror infrastructure in the PA, Housing
Minister Natan Sharansky told The Jerusalem Post yesterday.
Israel president urged U.S. to cut ties with Arafat
Weekend News Today
Lead: Weekend Staff
Source: Washington Post
Thu May 31,2001 -- Israel's president Moshe Katsav urged the United States
and other nations to suspend relations with Yasser Arafat's Palestinian
Authority if Arafat fails to put an end to terrorist attacks against the Jewish
state. He warned that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will not hold his fire if
Palestinian attacks continue. "A few days, not more," Katsav said of the
unilateral Israeli cease-fire.
Syria wants Russian multiple-warhead missiles
Weekend News Today
Lead: Weekend Staff
Source: Middle East News Line
Thu May 31,2001 -- Middle East News Line reported that Syria has
expressed interest in the purchase of a Russian multiple-warhead missile.
The Iskander-E has a range of 280 kilometers and can carry multiple 480-
kilogram warheads, with each warhead containing 54 bomblets. Russian
defense officials said the system can foil any anti-missile defense effort of
Israel or the United States.
Arafat's possible first visit to the Temple Mount area
Weekend News Today
Lead: Weekend Staff
Source: Jerusalem Post
Thu May 31,2001 -- It is unclear whether Palestinian Authority Chairman
Yasser Arafat will attend the burial on the Temple Mount, known to Arabs as
al-Haram al-Sharif. If Arafat does attend Husseini's funeral, this would mark
the Palestinian leader's first visit to the Temple Mount area since the 1967
Six Day War.
http://216.219.160.226/cgi-
bin/readnews.cgi?day=01_05_31&item=#991347239
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========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Harpazo.net news items (5/31/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 19:01:09 -0400
--------
Katsav to Ask Bush to Fix Cease-Fire 'Target Date'
President Moshe Katsav plans to ask US President George W. Bush today
to fix a "target date" for implementation of an Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire.
Katsav - who said yesterday he was carrying messages from Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon but declined to disclose their content - insisted the request for a
US-proclaimed cease-fire date was not a formal demand from the Israeli
government, but that he was making the plea on behalf of Israel. Jerusalem
Post
Netanyahu: Swift Military Decision Must Be Reached
Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims that Israel must
completely change its military policy towards the Palestinian Authority. In an
interview to Channel Two's news program Wednesday evening, Netanyahu
said that Israel must move beyond its policy of response after acts of
terrorism to a policy of quick decisions.
"The Israel Defense Forces can easily defeat the Palestinian Authority," said
Netanyahu. "It must be made clear to PA Chairman Yasser Arafat that if he
continues his policy of terrorism, we will bring about the collapse of this
corrupt, terrorist regime, and we have the power to do so.
"We can attack the PA infrastructure, the radio and television broadcasting
authority, the communication and transportation systems, and their weapon
and gasoline arsenal. These are not acts against civilians, but rather against
authority. The minute that Arafat almost collapses, he stops the terrorism,"
Netanyahu said. He went on to say that the situation in Israel has become
intolerable, that people are scared to leave their homes.
The former prime minister claimed that his policy would receive wide support
from both the left and right-wing, and that the unity government had been
established for that reason.
Netanyahu said that he recognizes the fact that actions of this nature would
necessitate explanatory committees in the United States and Europe, for
which he offered his services. "If explanations are necessary in Washington,
I am ready. If it is necessary to explain in Europe, I am ready. If an
international and political effort is needed, I am prepared to enlist
immediately," he said, noting that he is not seeking a role in the government.
Sources in the Likud said that Netanyahu's offer is not unrelated to the
internal struggle within the party, ahead of the party conference and possible
leadership contest between Netanyahu and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon .
Ha'aretz
Al-Assad Gets A Message From Putin
The Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday received a message from
the Russian President Vladimir Putin. It was conveyed by the Russian envoy
Yegveny Primakov; about the tense situation in the region which threatens of
increasing tension because of the Israeli practices.
The visit of the former Russian Prime Minister as a special Russian envoy
comes amid a remarkable activity for Russia in the region; expressed by the
Russian foreign ministry by declaring that it is delegating a special envoy to
the Middle East next week; at a time when the chairman of the Palestinian
Authority Yasser Arafat is visiting Moscow.
During his meeting with Primakov the Syrian President called on the ME
peace process cosponsors; the US and Russia to maintain an active role;
according to international legitimacy resolutions and the Madrid's term of
reference.
Following the meeting Primakov said that President al-Assad " precisely
assesses the grave risks in the region;" but he gave no details on that.
As the Syrian official news agency SANA said that President al-Assad
received a message from Putin pertains to " the situation in the Middle East
and bilateral relations;" Primakov noted that " view points were identical in
the regard."
Recently in Moscow; the Syrian defence minister signed several cooperation
agreements with Russia including military ones.
However; Primakov's visit to Damascus in which he arrived from Amman
coincided with the mission carried out by the US envoy William Burns to
Damascus and also after several days from the visit made by the Israeli
foreign minister to Moscow.
According to the Russian embassy in Damascus; Primakov will visit today
(Wednesday) the tomb of the late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad in al-
Qurdaha. Later Primakov will head for Egypt and then to Libya and Tunisia
and news reports he will also visit Lebanon.
An analyst in Damascus said that Putin is trying to revive the role Moscow
used to play in the region as a strategic ally for several Arab states before
the collapse of the former Soviet Union. Arabic News
Washington Links Smart Sanctions to Collaboration From Jordan, Syria and
Turkey
A US governmental source has stated that the US and Britain will strongly
push forward during the few coming days at the UN to pass the British draft
resolution to amend the sanctions against Iraq despite the Russian and
Chinese reservations and objections. The US source stressed that his
government is ready to join a fruitful and constructive dialogue with the two
countries.
The American officials see that one of the keys for the success of the new
decision; in case it is adopted; will be at the hands of the three neighbours of
Iraq, namely Turkey, Jordan and Syria, the three countries which have trade
arrangements with Iraq out of the frame of the sanctions.
Iraq had threatened to boycott the three countries if they would collaborate
with the new sanctions system or to halt all its oil production if the UN
Security Council will impose the new sanctions.
The American source has not hid its regret because Moscow has proposed
an alternative decision ( against the British one) that would practically lead to
the renewal of the oil-for-food program for an additional six months.
However, the discussions at the UN are concentrating now on the text of a
British proposal and on a list of embargoed materials to be imported by Iraq.
This list is proposed by the US and is considered by the US as items for (
dual use for military and civilian use), including computers, military
equipment and other items like telecommunication means, big transport
vehicles, mineral exploration equipment and a long list of other stuffs. Arabic
News
Syria's Assad Holds Talks With Jordanian Minister
Syrian President Bashar Assad stressed during talks Wednesday with the
Jordanian Foreign Minister Abd al-Illah al-Hatib the need to reactivate Arab
solidarity and intensify inter-Arab contacts, a presidential spokesman said.
He said the talks between Assad and al-Hatib, who arrived unannounced
earlier in the day, also covered bilateral issues. He said Hatib delivered a
message to Assad from Jordan's King Abdullah II. "The talks dealt with the
situation in the region and the necessity of reactivating Arab solidarity and
intensifying Arab contacts," the spokesman said.
Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara, who held separate talks with Hatib
following the meeting with Assad, declined to comment on Damascus'
position regarding a Jordanian-Egyptian initiative to end violence in the West
Bank and Gaza Strip and resume the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.
"Syria supports any initiative which is based on United Nations resolutions
and the terms of reference of the Arab-Israeli peace conference [which
opened in Madrid in 1991]," Shara said. Ha'aretz
http://www.harpazo.net/news.html
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] China suspected in port deal
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 19:04:16 -0400
--------
May 31, 2001
China suspected in port deal
By David R. Sands
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
China has clinched a deal to develop a major deep-sea
commercial port in western Pakistan, giving Beijing a
potential staging ground to exert influence along some of the
world´s busiest shipping lanes flowing into and out of the
Persian Gulf.
The long-discussed project to
create a major shipping station in
the Pakistani coastal town of
Gwadar opens a new front in the
simmering rivalry between India
and Pakistan and is the latest move
by Beijing to project power
throughout South Asia through a
greatly expanded naval presence.
Islamabad and Beijing have
both denied Pakistani press
reports that a secret understanding
has been reached to allow Chinese
naval vessels to dock at the port, which is expected to be
completed in about six years. But both sides have talked
openly of increasing "economic strategic ties" and the heavy
Chinese involvement in the $1 billion deal is a prime example.
"Beijing has a history of piggybacking military cooperation
onto commercial ventures," said Richard Fisher, an Asian
specialist at the Jamestown Foundation. "From what we
know now, this is a commercial deal, but it can easily set the
stage for military cooperation in the future."
China, which lacks a blue water port in the region, is also
continuing its extensive aid to improve Pakistan´s road
networks. Indian military analysts fear that the combination of
the vastly improved Gwadar site and reliable overland links
could give China a well-equipped staging ground on India´s
western flank.
China´s role at Gwadar echoes similar concerns voiced
when a Hong Kong firm with close ties to China´s communist
leadership won the leases to two ports near both ends of the
Panama Canal in 1997. Clinton and Bush administration
officials have said they have seen no interference by China in
the operation of the canal, but a U.S. intelligence report in
October 1999 called the leases "a potential threat" to U.S.
interests.
The Gwadar site also heightens the intense jockeying
already under way among India, China and Pakistan for
influence in the region.
Pakistan staged naval exercises with Bangladesh in the
Bay of Bengal on India´s east coast last month, followed
almost immediately by a precedent-setting port call by three
Pakistani naval vessels to the secretive military regime in
Burma.
The Texas-based private intelligence service Stratfor
recently noted that Islamabad "is looking toward naval
cooperation with India´s eastern neighbors to gain something
it has not had since East Pakistan became Bangladesh -- the
ability to flank India."
A Pakistan Ministry of Defense source said of Gwadar:
"The decision is a landmark as a tactical deterrent to the
mighty Indian naval establishment in the Arabian Sea and the
Indian Ocean."
New Delhi has begun its own "Look to the East"
campaign, cultivating better ties with Vietnam and Burma,
while seeking its own flanking maneuver against Pakistan with
improved relations with Iran and Israel.
The United States has also made a pronounced shift
toward India, even as Pakistan´s military and commercial ties
to China have strengthened.
The Washington Times in February reported that a CIA
analysis has concluded Beijing continues to send
"substantial"
assistance to Pakistan for its ballistic missile program, and
U.S. experts say they cannot rule out Chinese aid for
Pakistan´s nuclear missile program as well.
China has clashed repeatedly with the United States over
Taiwan and with Southeast Asian nations over territorial
claims in the South China Sea.
In addition, Beijing has recently been courting dissident
elements in Indonesia and island governments throughout the
South Pacific, a direct challenge to the long-standing U.S.
and Australian naval presence in the area.
The Gwadar deal was formally announced during an
extremely cordial four-day visit earlier this month by Chinese
Prime Minister Zhu Rongji to Pakistan, a visit that produced a
number of bilateral deals to increase cooperation in trade, rail
transport and tourism.
Pakistani Chief Executive Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who
seized power in an October 1999 coup condemned by the
United States, said: "I am confident that [the Zhu visit] will
send out a strong signal to everyone of the continuing strength
and durability of the multifaceted relationship between
Pakistan and China."
Just days after Mr. Zhu left, two Chinese naval vessels
were received with high honors in Karachi, Pakistan, to
celebrate 50 years of friendly relations between the two
nations. Rear Adm. Zhang Yan, deputy commander of the
North Sea China Fleet, met with top officers of the Pakistan
navy and attended a dinner at the Pakistan Maritime
Museum.
A backwater fishing village with an airport but primitive
road connections, Gwadar barely rates a mention in Pakistani
tour guides. Plans to build a deep-sea port in the excellent
and well-guarded harbor have foundered a number of times,
most recently when an accord between Pakistan and
Singapore announced in 1995 fell through.
According to Pakistani press reports and the official
Chinese Xinhua news agency, the Gwadar "megaproject"
includes a deep-sea port and land connections to Karachi to
the east and Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, to the
northwest.
In addition, a new dam will be built to ensure adequate
water supplies to support an increased population and
industrial activity.
Pakistani military planners have long recognized the
commercial and military significance of the site, which is near
the mouth of the Gulf of Oman about 50 miles from
Pakistan´s border with Iran. The port of Karachi currently
handles about 98 percent of the country´s shipping and
Pakistani military planners were stunned by the ease with
which Indian forces bottled up the Pakistan navy in Karachi
during a 1999 standoff over Kashmir.
Bhashyam Kasturi, writing in the September 1999 issue
of the journal Strategic Affairs, noted that the commercial and
military development of Gwadar would give the Pakistan
navy the "capability to potentially choke the movement of oil
and other trade" and move Pakistani naval assets farther
away from Indian attack.
"A single Agost 90B submarine operating out of Gwadar,
armed with Exocet anti-ship missiles, could be an effective
sea-denial platform in the Straits of Hormuz," Mr. Kasturi
wrote.
Indian officials privately say they are very aware of the
Chinese activity both in Gwadar and on India´s eastern flank
in the Bay of Bengal, both of which give Beijing the potential
to influence and even choke off maritime trading routes
critical to India and to the flow of oil and other goods
throughout the Pacific Rim.
The Gwadar project has remained a commercial venture,
at least on paper, so the Indian government has not publicly
aired its concerns about last month´s accords.
But "India needs to carefully analyze whether China´s
action of increasing its presence in the Bay of Bengal through
close links with [Burma] and its decision to help Pakistan with
[Gwadar] are merely defensive or whether they are designed
to assert a military presence encircling India," according to a
recent analysis in the trade publication Alexander´s Oil and
Gas Connections.
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20010531-50444965.htm
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Sharon is scared, Jews lambs to slaughter
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 19:13:55 -0400
--------
May 31, 2001 11:30 (Israel time)
Slain settler's sister: Sharon is scared, Jews lambs to slaughter
By Nadav Shragai, Ha'aretz Correspondent and Ha'aretz Service
The sister of a slain West Bank settlement security official, speaking after a
stormy meeting overnight with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon , said Thursday
that past international criticism had made the Israeli leader frightened of
unleashing his military might, and that Jews both in the settlements and
within Israel proper had become "lambs to the slaughter."
Sharon heard scathing criticism of his policy of relative restraint during the
meeting with settlers overnight.
Anat Cohen, sister of Gilad Zar, killed this week in a Palestinian ambush,
told a Tel Aviv radio program: "This restraint, and this 'timing' that Arik
Sharon is waiting for (to rescind his limited unilateral cease-fire) is an excuse
that stems from fear, excuses for fear caused by (Sharon's having been
found indirectly responsible for the 1982 Chistian militia massacre of
Palestinian refugees in the Lebanese camps of) Sabra and Chatilla, and all
the nonsense, and all those who jumped all over him - he's scared.
"He doesn't know that our people wants to wage war and is not prepared to
go like lambs to the slaughter." But she added that in the present situation,
"We are like lambs to the slaughter. We are like lambs to the slaughter not
only on the highways of Judea and Samaria. We are also like lambs to the
slaughter in Netanya's mall."
© copyright 2001 Ha'aretz. All Rights Reserved
http://www2.haaretz.co.il/breaking-news/Intifada/365167.stm
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Sharon will try to maintain cease-fire until his return from Europe
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 19:25:41 -0400
--------
Ha'aretz: Sharon will try to maintain cease-fire until his return from
Europe - Peres says settlement freeze not problem
By Aluf Benn, Natan Gutman, and Daniel Sobelman, Ha'aretz
Correspondents
Ha'aretz (bulletin) 31 May 2001
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will depart for Europe on Monday where he will
meet with the leaders of Germany, France, and the European Union. Sharon
will try to convince the European leaders that there is no relation between
the Jewish settlements and the ongoing violence in the territories. Before
his departure for Europe, Sharon will meet Sunday in Jerusalem with German
Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, one of Israel's staunchest supporters in
Europe.
The success of the trip to Europe is important to Sharon, who will try to
maintain the cease-fire he declared until his return from Europe, so as to
recruit support for the Israeli side. Sharon will tell his European hosts
that Israel has not used excessive force in response to terror attacks, but
rather has used justified response in light of the Palestinian violence.
He will stress that Israel has accepted the Mitchell report in its entirety.
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres made similar remarks when he spoke
Thursday to
his Belgian, British, and Turkish counterparts. Peres also said that the
clause in the Mitchell report regarding a freeze on settlement building, as
a confidence and security building measure, will not be an obstacle in
implementing the report.
--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] (Fwd) Israeli Public Opinion Regarding Palestinian Violence
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 31 May 2001 21:29:46 -0400
--------
------- Forwarded message follows -------
From: "MEMRI" <memri@memri.org>
Subject: Israeli Public Opinion Regarding Palestinian Violence
Date sent: Thu, 31 May 2001 19:02:44 -0400
Special Dispatch - Israel
June 1, 2001
No. 223
Israeli Public Opinion Regarding Palestinian Violence, PM
Sharon's Policies, and Settlements
The main findings of three recent polls conducted in Israel
demonstrated that the majority of Israelis show
determination in face of the ongoing violence, support of
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's policies regarding the
Al-Aqsa Intifada, and revealed, for the first time,
sympathetic views towards the settlers. Professor Ephraim
Yaar and Dr. Tamar Hermann of the Tami Steinmetz Center at
Tel-Aviv University conducted the first poll, while the
second poll was conducted by Dr. Mina Tzemach of the Dahaf
Institute and the results were published in Yediot Ahronot
on May 22, 2001. The third poll was carried out by the
Gallup Organization and published in Ma'ariv on May 25,
2001. Following are the main findings of the three polls:
The Tami Steinmetz Center Findings:
On the question of "How satisfied, or dissatisfied are you
with the Sharon government's handling of the Palestinian
issue?" A 52% majority of Israelis polled responded that
they are very or fairly satisfied, 38% were very or fairly
dissatisfied and 10% did not know. When considering only
Jewish responses, support increased to 60%. 43% of those
polled believed that "government policy reflects the
correct balance between a tough and yielding stance."(1)
Almost one third of Israelis polled considered the current
policies "too yielding," while 16% of Israelis (and less
than 10% of Israeli Jews) polled considered their
government's policies too hard-line.(2)
In addition, this poll showed almost no difference between
the opinions of those who are traditional Labor voters and
those who are traditional Likud voters: 59% of those who
voted Labor during the 1999 elections claimed that they are
satisfied with Sharon's policies, while 64% of those who
voted Likud in 1999 claimed they are satisfied. Even among
those who voted for Meretz, the Israeli political party
most associated with the peace movement, 41% said they are
satisfied with the government's policies.
On the question of whether the Palestinian population
supports the use of violence against Israel, "a large
majority of the Israeli public (73%) feels that the greater
part of the Palestinians support violence."(3) However,
the events of the Al-Aqsa Intifada have not damaged the
willingness of the Israeli public to continue searching for
those elements within Palestinian society that aspire for
peace. The study revealed that a 56% majority of the
Israeli public supports meetings "between 'ordinary'
Israelis and Palestinians, for instance in a school
related, professional, or commercial and cultural relations
contexts," in order to advance mutual understanding and the
possibility for peace between the two sides.(4)
The Dahaf Institute's Findings:
Dr. Tzemach's poll also found support of the Sharon
government's policies regarding the Palestinians, and an
overwhelming public willingness to persevere. The poll
asked the public about the Israeli Air Force bombing of
Palestinian targets, which is considered the most forceful
to date against Palestinian violence. On the question of
whether the bombing of Palestinian targets using F-16
fighter jets was a proper retaliatory measure for the
suicide bombing in Netanya, an overwhelming majority of 62%
responded positively.
With regards to the mood of the general public, 69% of
Israelis polled said they feel "extremely worried" about
the state of affairs, and 61% believe that this situation
is likely to escalate to war in the near future.(5)
However, despite this dire state of public mood, 79% of
Israelis stated that "the Israeli public has the ability to
persevere until a resolution that is acceptable to them is
reached."(6)
The Gallup Organization's Findings:
According to Ma'ariv commentator Moshe Tzazna, who reported
on the Gallup Organization's poll, "the murderous terror
attacks against the settlers, the daily shooting events
directed at them, the Palestinian incitement, and the
settlers restraint in the face of this state of affairs,
created - maybe for the first time since the settlement
activity began - a view that is different from what has
been the [negative] consensus [held by the general Israeli
public] so far."(7) Tzazna believes that the reason for
this sudden expression of sympathy towards the settlers is
that "the terror attacks turned the State of Israel, as a
whole, into a terror stricken target...the entire county is
now the front in the fight against terror."(8)
According to this poll, a sizable minority of 49% of
Israelis believe the settlements are an obstacle for peace,
41% see the settlements as a Zionist enterprise, and 10% do
not know. Regarding the feeling that the general Israeli
public holds toward the settlers, 76% held positive or
neutral feelings.
(1) Peace Index - April 2001. Ephraim Yaar and Tamar
Hermann, The Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research, Tel
Aviv University.
(2) Ibid.
(3) Ibid.
(4) Ibid.
(5) Dr. Mina Tzemach and the Dahaf Polling Institute.
Yediot Ahronot, May 22, 2001.
(6) Ibid.
(7) Gallup Poll. Ma'ariv, May 25, 2001.
(8) Ibid.
************************
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an
independent, non-profit organization that translates and
analyzes the media of the Middle East. Copies of articles
and documents cited, as well as background information, are
available on request.
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)
P.O. Box 27837, Washington, DC 20038-7837
Phone: (202) 955-9070
Fax: (202) 955-9077
E-Mail: memri@memri.org
www.memri.org
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