Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

3 August 2004

TERRORISM

• According to The Daily Telegraph, Al Qaeda plans to attack targets in Britain and America have been found on computer disks in Pakistan. Reportedly, precise intelligence indicates that Al Qaeda has been plotting to attack banks and other key buildings in Washington and New York. Pakistani officials, adds the daily, said the same intelligence source also spoke of threats to unspecified targets in Britain. Five American targets, including the New York stock exchange and the Washington headquarters of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have been methodically surveyed, says the paper. The government in London, notes the article, was accused of holding back information. Security in major American cities has been dramatically stepped up yesterday and deploring the contrast between American and British reaction to the announced threats, David Davis, the shadow home secretary, said the British public needed more information. “We find it very worrying that the Americans seem to be at a much more advanced stage than us in contingency planning and police presence…they also share much more information with their public than our government. Mr. Blair needs to spell out the exact threat so that we are in a clear position as to where we stand,” he is quoted saying. The British threat assessment, which remains high, has not changed and police patrols in the City of London have not been increased, argues the daily. The government has declined to adopt the publicly accessible color-coded threat alert system in use in America because it believes it causes unnecessary alarm and disruption, reports the paper in conclusion.

IRAQ

• Although expressing dismay, the Philippine government has accepted the report that the Philippines have been expelled from the Coalition of the Willing in Iraq, writes the Philippine daily, Makati City Tanod. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, adds the paper, was reported as saying that the Philippines are no longer considered a member of the coalition after it withdrew its 51-man humanitarian mission in Iraq in exchange for the life of a Filipino worker. Deputy presidential spokesman Ricardo Saludo reportedly said that the reason used by Mr. Powell was somewhat shallow, but, he commented: “It is up to them (the U.S.) if that is their view now.” Meanwhile, continues the daily, Senator Mar Roxas expressed his opposition to the proposal to ban Australian products from entering the country, which came after negative comments made by some Australian officials regarding Manila’s withdrawal from Iraq. According to the current chairman of the Senate committee on trade and industry, the suggested trade sanctions should be studied thoroughly because, if they are carried out, the prices of milk, beef and wheat would definitely increase if no other suppliers are found. He explained that 95 percent of the milk consumed by Filipinos is from Australia and New Zealand and a large portion of the beef and wheat as well comes from Australia.

SUDAN

• The Guardian writes that Sudan’s armed forces, yesterday, described the UN resolution on the Darfur region as “a declaration of war” and warned that any foreign intervention in the area would be fought “on land, sea and air.” Furthermore, comments the daily, tension was raised by the armed forces spokesman’s General Muhammad Bashir Suleiman, who spoke of a jihad against the “enemies of Sudan.” The UN resolution on Darfur, points out the paper, gave the Sudanese government 30 days to disarm the predominantly Arab Janjaweed militias responsible for the ongoing campaign of murder, rape and arson, which has driven more than a million people from their homes. The Sudanese government, reports the article, is critical of the resolution and it said it prefers to stick to a deal signed with the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, last month, which allows Sudan 90 days to disarm the militias. General Suleiman called on the Sudanese media to prepare the country for “an unconventional warfare,” saying: “We will not welcome the Americans with flowers or white flags.” The paper also highlights the confusion generated by the double meaning of the word Janjaweed, which both refers to criminals but is also the name given to the government-backed paramilitary groups responsible for the violence in the country. In a similar article, the International Herald Tribune reports that the Arab league, which has already complained about suggestions to send western troops to Sudan, said Arab foreign ministers would hold an emergency meeting in Cairo on Sunday at Sudan’s request to discuss the situation in Darfur.