Foreign Desk
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WESTERN EUROPE
QAEDA SUSPECT REFUSES TO GIVE EVIDENCE
HAMBURG, Germany – An Al Qaeda suspect refused to give evidence yesterday at the trial of a Moroccan man accused of helping the September 11 hijackers.
Mamoun Darkazanli, a Syrian-German businessman, was awaiting extradition to Spain, where he is accused of being a key Al Qaeda figure and giving the group logistical and financial support. He appears in a 1999 wedding video with the three suicide pilots who lived and studied in Hamburg – Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi, and Ziad Jarrah.
During a brief appearance at the retrial of Mounir el Motassadeq, Mr. Darkazanli made use of his right to refuse testimony while under criminal investigation. “I’m not going to answer any questions,” he told the Hamburg state court.
Mr. el Motassadeq is charged with more than 3,000 counts of accessory to murder and membership in a terrorist organization. He has acknowledged knowing the Hamburg-based hijackers, but says he was unaware of their plot.
The 30-year-old was convicted and sentenced to the maximum 15 years in prison in February 2003.
In March, an appeals court overturned the conviction and ordered a retrial, ruling that he was unfairly denied evidence from Al Qaeda suspects in American custody. The retrial opened in August.
– Associated Press
BRAZIL, U.N. NEAR DEAL ON URANIUM
VIENNA, Austria – The U.N. atomic watchdog agency has tentatively agreed to a deal with Brazil that allows inspectors only a partial view of sensitive fuel enrichment technology but satisfies concerns that the country’s nuclear programs are peaceful, diplomats said yesterday.
Brazil has refused for months to allow U.N. inspectors to see the enriching centrifuges at its plant in Resende, 60 miles northwest of Rio de Janeiro, claiming plant’s advanced technology could be stolen by other countries if outsiders were allowed to view it.
The International Atomic Energy Agency wants to make sure that uranium being processed through centrifuges at Resende is neither enriched to weapons grade levels nor diverted to other sites.
Diplomats, familiar with the dispute between Brazil and the IAEA, said the compromise appeared to satisfy concerns on both sides. Brazil’s Science and Technology Ministry said yesterday it won’t have any official comment until it hears directly from the agency.
Diplomats said last month that agreement was near, but the agency had been waiting to speak with experts who recently returned from a tour of the plant. A Western diplomat said yesterday that a deal was likely now that those experts had found that the plant was viable.
– Associated Press
NORTH AFRICA
U.N. ENVOY: STRONG INDICATION OF WAR CRIMES IN DARFUR
There are strong indications of war crimes “on a large and systematic scale” in Darfur and violence is worsening in the western Sudanese region where 2 million people have now been affected by the conflict, the top U.N. envoy to Sudan said yesterday.
Jan Pronk, in a report to the U.N. Security Council, accused Sudan’s government of failing to “end impunity” and bring the perpetrators of widespread killings, rapes, looting, and village burnings to justice.
“There are strong indications that war crimes and crimes against humanity have occurred in Darfur on a large and systematic scale,” Mr. Pronk said.
The violence in Darfur began in February 2003 when two black African rebel groups took up arms over alleged unjust treatment by the Sudanese government and ethnic Arab countrymen. Pro-government militias called Janjaweed reacted by unleashing attacks on villages.
The Bush administration says the Janjaweed are largely responsible for an ethnic cleansing campaign. America and the United Nations are urging the government to curb the militias, but the government denies backing the Janjaweed and blames the rebels. The conflict has killed at least 70,000 people.
– Associated Press
SOUTHEAST ASIA
SCHOOLS CLOSE IN THAILAND IN FEAR OF VIOLENCE
BANGKOK, Thailand – Violence in Thailand’s Muslim-dominated south forced hundreds of schools to close yesterday, while two lawmakers scuffled in Parliament over the government’s handling of a riot in the region last week that left 85 people dead.
Warnings that Muslim insurgents may try to abduct Buddhist teachers and students prompted most schools in the country’s three southernmost provinces of Narathiwat, Yala, and Pattani to shut until at least Monday, education officials said.
The closed schools were in the countryside, where they cannot easily be protected. Schools in urban areas mostly remained open.
The school closings came a day after a Buddhist community leader in Narathiwat was beheaded. A note by his head said the killing was revenge for the deaths of 85 Muslim demonstrators last week in Narathiwat’s Tak Bai district.
Meanwhile, two senators scuffled in Parliament during a debate over the government’s handling of the October 25 riot, which has drawn harsh criticism at home and abroad. Seven people were killed when police opened fire on the crowd and another 78 were suffocated in military custody after being stacked on top of each other in trucks taking them to detention centers.
– Associated Press
MIDDLE EAST
BIN LADEN ACCUSES BUSH OF LEADING U.S. INTO QUAGMIRE
CAIRO, Egypt – Terror mastermind Osama bin Laden claimed in new video footage broadcast yesterday that President Bush ignored warnings against invading Iraq because he was dazzled by the country’s “black gold” and ended up leading America into a quagmire.
The full video, portions of which were broadcast Friday, was posted on a Web site used by Islamic groups yesterday. The tape show the author of the September 11 attacks accusing Mr. Bush of acting out of what he calls “private” interests – and allusion to his oil business past.
Mr. Bush ignored the warnings because “the darkness of the black gold blurred his vision and insight, and he gave priority to private interests over the public interests of America,” Mr. bin Laden says in the portions of the tape that the Arab network Al Jazeera did not broadcast Friday.
“The war went ahead. The death toll rose. The American economy bled, and Bush became embroiled in the swamps of Iraq that threaten his future,” Mr. bin Laden said.
Accusing America of oppressing and killing Arabs, Mr. bin Laden asks: “Is defending oneself and punishing the aggressor objectionable as terrorism? If it is, then it is unavoidable for us.” Al Jazeera, which is based in Qatar, published a transcript of the full tape on its Web site on Monday. The transcript matches the video posted on the Islamic Web site.
– Associated Press