Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

28 April 2004

TERRORISM

• Stung by a regional court’s refusal to approve his swift expulsion of a radical Muslim preacher last week, Dominique de Villepin said Tuesday that France would have to consider curbing some legal rights to fight the threat posed by terrorists. He told the National Assembly that the March 11 train bombings in Madrid had underlined the need for tighter security throughout Europe and that if courts stood in the way of deporting foreigners who threatened public order, then France would have to change its laws. (The International Herald Tribune 28/04/04)
  
  
• Syria was shattered last night when a group of attackers set off bombs and opened fire in two districts of Damascus. Four people were killed after a “terrorist band” was confronted by security forces in the diplomatic quarter, where a former UN building was badly damaged by fire and many other buildings were hit by bullets and grenades during prolonged fighting. Syria’s ambassador to Washington, Imad Moustapha, blamed “unidentified terrorists” for the violence. The official news agency Sana reported that following the clash with police, “the situation is totally under control.” (The Independent 28/04/04)
  
  
• A statement attributed to an al-Qaida leader who is Saudi Arabia’s most wanted man yesterday warned that the terrorist group intended to launch “fierce” attacks against Jews, Americans and western interests in the Middle East. The statement by Abdulaziz al-Muqrin was broadcast over the internet. He denied that al-Qaida was behind a suicide bombing in Riyadh last week that killed five, but applauded it as a punishment for the Saudi regime. (The Guardian 28/04/04)

IRAQ

• Far from limited to a small group of “dead-enders” and Saddam “thugs” as Pentagon officials claim, the armed opposition to the U.S. occupation in Iraq has reached the point where some experts say it threatens to become a full-fledged nationalist insurgency. Bolstered by former Iraqi military and security personnel, today’s insurgents are at the least conducting increasingly sophisticated coordinated attacks. In addition, they have built networks to recruit fighters, make weapons, and funnel funds from Iraqi businesses and charitable groups, military experts say. Perhaps most important, insurgents are now motivated primarily by nationalism and Islam, rather than by loyalty to Saddam Hussein. (The Christian Science Monitor 28/04/04)
  
  
• The new Iraqi flag received a mixed response yesterday, with many Baghdadis saying it reminded them of Israel’s. Depicting a crescent, representing Islam, above two blue lines, for the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and another stripe in yellow, the colour of the Kurdish minority, the flag is supposed to show the unity of the new Iraq. Its white background is meant to symbolise peace. The new flag was unveiled after a competition set up by the Iraqi Governing Council. But many Iraqis were far from pleased with it. “Anyway, why are the politicians interested only in flags when they should be solving the problems of security and basic services?” many Iraqis said. (The Daily Telegraph 28/04/04)

IRAN

• Iran may be running a covert military nuclear program parallel to the peaceful one it has opened to international scrutiny in efforts to dispel suspicions it has weapons ambitions, U.S. officials said Tuesday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said new intelligence on Iran’s nuclear activities was strengthening suspicions of two programs - one that inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency have access to and another, run by the military and geared toward making nuclear weapons. “We are beginning to see indications that there is a parallel military program,” one of the officials told The Associated Press. The source cautioned that the “limited evidence” was not enough to draw firm conclusions. Alireza Jafarzadeh, a former spokesman for Iran’s exiled opposition National Council of Resistance, said “between 350 and 400 nuclear physicists” are involved in the weapons program. Another official spoke of “explicit concerns” of that the military is controlling nuclear programs aimed at making weapons. (The Washington Times 28/04/04)