World War 3 Report ISSUE: #. 30. April 21, 2002

national | miscellaneous | news report Thursday April 25, 2002 03:17 by Bill Weinberg - World War 3 Report ww3report at hotmail dot com

The World War 3 Report is a vigilant, independent sentry of truth in the War on Terrorism from New York-based radical journalist Bill Weinberg †

ISSUE: #. 30. April 21, 2002

SPECIAL REPORT: VENEZUELA & THE GLOBAL ENERGY WARS

By Bill Weinberg
with David Bloom, Special Correspondent

THE PALESTINE FRONT
1. What Happened in Jenin?
2. Israel Bars UN Human Rights Chief
3. UN Human Rights Commissoin Blasts Israel
4. Human Rights Groups: Mass Detainments Illegal
5. Israel Re-Opens Desert Detainment Camp
6. Human Rights Watch: IDF Coerces Civilians
7. "Defensive Shield" Not Over Yet
8. Ramallah Radio Ransacked
9. Bethlehem Stand-Off Enters Third Week
10. Widespread Destruction in Bethlehem
11. Clueless Tourists Provide Comic Relief
12. Violence in Gaza
13. Bush: Sharon "Man of Peace"
14. Sharon: I Won't Evacuate Settlements
15. Zeevi Killers in Ramallah?
16. Tanzim Chief Barghouti Arrested
17. IDF Claims: Arms From Iran, Iraq Uncovered in Ramallah
18. US Wants Israel to "Get Rid" of Arafat?
19. Arafat Condemns Terrorism; Bush Oblivious
20. Endorsements and Praise for Suicide Bombers
21. Protests Follow Powell
22. Powell Sends Surrogate to Jenin
23. Foreign Military Intervention Seen
24. S&P's Downgrades Israel's Economic Outlook
25. Pro-Israel Rally in Washington
26. Pro-Palestine Rally in Washington

ELSEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
1. Al-Qaeda Linked to Tunisian Synagogue Blast
2. More US Troops to Yemen
3. Kristof Does Yemen; Approves of Police State, Disses Food

GLIMMERS OF HOPE
1. Muslim-Jewish Peace Vigils Persist in Jerusalem
2. Arab-Jewish Comedy Team Stands Up for Peace

THE AFGHANISTAN FRONT
1. Return of the King
2. Warlords Jockey for Loya Jirga
3. Survivors of "Operation Anaconda" Demand Compensation
4. US Bombs Canadians
5. US/UK in New Offensive Against Taliban/al-Qaeda
6. More US Troops Killed
7. Green Beret Shot in Kandahar
8. Acid Attack on Woman Teacher in Kandahar
9. More Strife in Khost
10. More Strife in Wardak
11. US Drug Czar Sees Long Opium War in Afghanistan
12. UN Running Out of Money for Refugee Repatriation
13. Archaeologists Launch Cultural Salvage Mission
14. Amnesty International Blasts US on Detainees
15. US Opposes New Provision on Convention Against Torture

THE PHILIPPINE FRONT
1. More US Troops to Mindanao
2. Terror Blast in Mindanao
3. FBI: Abu Sayyaf Funds al-Qaeda

THE ANDEAN FRONT
1. Venezuela: Anatomy of the Coup D'Etat
2. Instant Counter-Coup
3. US, IMF Hail Coup Attempt
4. Was White House Pulling Strings?
5. NYT: White House Officials Met with Coup Plotters
6. Petro-Oligarchs Pissed at Chavez
7. More Bombs in Colombia

WATCHING THE SHADOWS
1. Powell Pawn of Petro-Oligarchs

NEW YORK CITY
1. Idiot Politicians Exploit 9-11
2. Demographics on 9-11 Victims Released
3. Indicted Attorney Lynne Stewart Speaks Out on Case

THE PALESTINE FRONT

1. WHAT HAPPENED IN JENIN? As Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) troops began to
withdraw from Jenin, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to send a
fact-finding mission to look into what happened at the devastated Palestinian
refugee camp. But following heavy diplomatic pressure from the US and Israel, the
resolution does not describe the mission as an investigation. As camp residents
are starting to retrieve bodies from the ruins, Israeli authorities insist there
was "no massacre." (BBC, April 20) Palestinians claim up to 500 residents were
killed in Jenin, while Israel puts the death toll at about 50 Palestinians and 23
Israeli soldiers. (CNN, April 19)

Writes reporter Phil Reeves on the scene in Jenin: "A residential area roughly
160,000 square yards about a third of a mile wide has been reduced to dust.
Rubble has been shoveled by bulldozers into 30ft piles. The sweet and ghastly
reek of rotting human bodies is everywhere, evidence that it is a human tomb. The
people, who spent days hiding in basements crowded into single rooms as the
rockets pounded in, say there are hundreds of corpses, entombed beneath the dust,
under a field of debris, criss-crossed with tank and bulldozer treadmarks...
Around the central ruins, there are many hundreds of half-wrecked homes. Much of
the camp--once home to 15,000 Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war--is falling
down. Every wall is speckled and torn with bullet holes and shrapnel, testimony
of the awesome, random firepower of Cobra and Apache helicopters that hovered
over the camp... Every other building bears the giant, charred, impact mark of a
helicopter missile. Last night there were still many families and weeping
children still living amid the ruins, cut off from the humanitarian aid." While
Jenin remains a "closed military zone," ringed by Merkava tanks, Red Cross
ambulences are finally being allowed in. They had been barred for a week, "in
violation of the Geneva Convention."(UK lndependent, April 16)

After touring Jenin, UN special Middle East envoy Terje Larsen said the scene was
"horrifying beyond belief," that the most heavily destroyed area "looks like
there's been an earthquake here," and is permeated with the "stench of death."
Reported Larsen: "I saw people using their bare hands to dig out the body of a
12-year-old boy. More than 2,000 people have been left without a roof over their
heads and there is an acute lack of water and food in the camp and town."
(Haaretz, April 18)

But Brig.-Gen. Eyal Shlein, commander of the troops in the Jenin area, claimed
the area where the buildings were destroyed occupies only a 10th of the camp, a
radius of 70 by 100 meters. He also claimed all the destroyed buildings were
booby-trapped or used as fortified positions to attack Israeli soldiers. Local
Palestinian authorities claim that 80 bodies have been recovered. Israel says 25
have been recovered, and only three of them civilians. Most of the bodies were
booby-trapped, said IDF sources. (Jerusalem Post, April 19)

There is controversy over possible IDF removal of bodies to an "enemy's cemetery"
at a remote location in the Jordan Valley (see WW3 REPORT #29). In an April 18
press release, the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights & the
Environment cites numerous eye-witness accounts of IDF trucks removing bodies
from Jenin. A petition to Israel's high court by Knesset member Mohammed Barakeh
demanding a halt to removal of bodies from Jenin was denied April 14.

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres invited UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to
send a fact-finding mission to look into Jenin. "Should the secretary-general
send someone to look into the facts of what happened in Jenin and elsewhere, it
would be welcome," said a Peres spokesperon. (CNN, April 19) [top]

2. ISRAEL BARS U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS CHIEF UN human rights chief Mary Robinson human
rights chief repeatedly urged Israel to allow her travel to the country for a
delayed fact-finding mission on the conflict, citing "growing concerns over
recent events in Jenin." Israeli authorities refused to approve the planned
five-day visit by Robinson, who was to travel with former Spanish Prime Minister
Felipe Gonzalez and South African independence leader Cyril Ramaphosa. Finally,
Robinson's office announced that the mission had been cancelled because it "will
not be facilitated by the Israeli authorities." (AFP, April 19) [top]

3. U.N. HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION BLASTS ISRAEL The UN Commission on Human Rights
in Geneva condemned Israel for "acts of mass killings" and "gross violations" of
humanitarian law April 15. The resolution was approved by 40 votes in favor and
five against. The UK and Germany voted against but six other European Union
states, including France, Belgium, Spain, Portgal, Sweden and Austria, voted for.
Germany's UN ambassador, Walter Lewalter, said Berlin voted against because the
resolution contained no condemnation of terrorism. (AFP, ADP, April 15) The
resolution also invoked a 1982 UN resolution affirming the legitimacy of "all
available means, including armed struggle" by nations resisting occupation.
(Jerusalem Post, April 19) [top]

4. HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS: MASS DETAINMENTS ILLEGAL Israel's High Court of Justice
gave Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government 15 days to respond to a petition by
human rights organizations protesting the mass detention of Palestinian
civilians. The court instructed the Israeli government to prove that its policy
of indiscriminate arrests does not violate international law. According to
figures presented by the government at the hearing, the IDF detained 5,600
Palestinians during Operation Defensive Shiled, and has released 3,900. Under a
provisional military order signed by Maj.-Gen. Yitzhak Eitan on April 5,
detainees may be held for 18 days before being brought to a judge and are
prohibited from consulting a lawyer. Attorney Leila Margalit of the Association
for Civil Rights in Israel wrote that the order "is illegal because it
contradicts the basic principles of constitutional law, which is binding on IDF
operations in the territories." (Jerusalem Post, April 19) [top]

5. ISREAL RE-OPENS DESERT DETAINMENT CAMP Israel has re-opened the harsh
detainment camp at Ketziot in the Negev Desert to hold captives from the West
Bank. Ketziot held thousands of Palestinians in the first Intifada (uprising)
from 1987-93, and was closed six years ago. Prisoners were overcrowded and
exposed to searing heat in the summer and bone-chilling cold in the winter. The
IDF says 387 of the thousands detained in Desert Shield are known "terrorist
suspects." (Daily News, April 17) [top]

6. HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: IDF COERCES CIVILIANS Human Rights Watch released an
emergency report, "In a Dark Hour: The Use of Civilians During IDF Arrest
Operations," documenting how the Israeli Defense Forces have taken civilians at
gunpoint to open suspicious packages, knock on suspects' doors, and search the
houses of "wanted" Palestinians in military operations. The report is based on
in-depth investigations into four separate IDF arrest raids in late 2001 and
early 2002, and claims the practice continues today in "Operation Defensive
Shield." Journalists, doctors, and other civilians have reported being coerced at
gunpoint to assist soldiers during the most recent IDF incursions into the West
Bank. The report is on-line. [top]

7. "DEFENSIVE SHIELD" NOT OVER YET While the IDF has pulled out of Jenin, the
camp remains surrounded. Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said troops would
also be withdrawing from occupied West Bank towns. But anticipating future
fighting, Ben-Eliezer said he prefers to call the withdrawal a "redeployment":
"The Palestinians have not responded to the demands of US Secretary of State
Colin Powell to halt the terrorism and, in practice, they are not prepared to
enter into the Tenet and Mitchell plans... Therefore I said 'redeployment' and
not 'withdrawal.'" (Jerusalem Post, April 19) On the 21st, Sharon declared an end
to "this stage" of Defensive Shield, ordering troops out of Nablus and Ramallah,
except for the ring around Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's compound. "We
have finished this stage of the operation called Defensive Shield," Sharon told
reporters. "We have achieved very profound results but the struggle against
terrorism continues. However this time, it will work according to a different
method." This is apparently a reference to establishing military "buffer zones"
around Palestinian-controlled areas. Sharon also promised that Israel would not
relinquish control of Joseph's Tomb in Nablus, where ultra-Orthodox protestors
barricaded themselves the night of the 20th, ahead of the IDF's withdrawal from
the area. Sharon said he would demand Israeli control of the holy site once talks
with the Palestinians resumed. (Haaretz, April 21) [top]

8. RAMALLAH RADIO RANSACKED Daoud Kuttab, director of the Institute of Modern
Media at Jerusalem's al-Quds University, described in a New York Times op-ed
piece April 6 how the Institute's al-Quds Educational Television station in
Ramallah was ransacked by IDF troops. The studio and offices were broken into,
equipment destroyed and two staffers arrested. [top]

9. BETHLEHEM STAND-OFF ENTERS THIRD WEEK As the Church of the Nativity standoff
between Israeli forces and armed Palestinians entered its third week, Bethlehem's
mayor Hana Nasser said he would ask Pope John Paul II to come to the holy city
and seek a solution. "If we cannot reach a reasonable agreement that could
guarantee and and protect those inside the church, I have no other choice but to
invite the holy father...in order to save the mother of churches, the Church of
the Nativity," Nasser said. About 200 armed Palestinians dashed into the church
on April 2, and it was quickly surrounded by Israeli troops. Leaders of Catholic,
Orthodox and evangelical churches in Jerusalem proposed a solution to visiting US
Secretary of State Colin Powell, urging a three-day Israeli withdrawal from the
city to allow the men inside to lay down their weapons and go home. Israel
insists the armed men must either face trial in Israel or accept exile. Israel
has pledged not to storm the 1,400-year-old church, but there has been periodic
gunfire exchanges over the course of the siege, and the Greek Orthodox section of
the compound caught fire. (AP, April 18) Palestinians in the church cancelled
face-to-face negotiations with Israeli and US officials after the Israelis
refused to allow European Union reps to observe the meeting. (Haaretz, April 18)

On April 21, five Palestinians in the church surrendered to IDF troops, but
Israeli authorities said they were not among the men wanted for arrest. Raising
memories of Waco, the IDF also claimed several Palestinian youth are being held
by gunmen in the basement of the church. The claim is based on the testinomy of
20-year-old Palestinian Tair Manassra, who was shot in the leg--likely by an IDF
sniper--when he ventured outside the church to pick herbs, and said several
Palestinian youths in the basement were running out of food. In a special address
in Rome, the Pope asked for prayers so that both sides could find "the courage of
peace." "May Israelis and Palestinians learn to live together and may the Holy
Land finally return to being a sacred land and a land of peace," the pontiff
said. (Haaretz, April 21) [top]

10. WIDESPREAD DESTRUCTION IN BETHLEHEM The siege of Bethlehem comes just after a
$250 million renovation project of the ancient city was completed, funded by
foreign aid agencies and aimed at drawing tourists--especially for the 2000
Millennium celebrations, which brought Pope John Paul II and numerous heads of
state to the town of 30,000. Now much of the town is in much worse shape than
before the project. Reported the Washington Post April 14: "Israeli tanks have
turned historic Madbassah Square into rubble, three years after it was renovated
at a cost of $2 million. Fires and explosives have ruined a 300-year-old
pilgrims' hostel with soaring arches that took two years to refurbish. A
once-sparkling new artists' colony, recently completed for $600,000, has been
ransacked and defaced... [A]rmored personnel carriers rumble through the narrow
and deserted streets of the Old City daily, ripping up sidewalks, sideswiping
stone pillars and banging into storefronts with centuries-old facades."

The extent of the destruction is difficult to measure because residents are
confined to their homes under night-and-day curfew, allowed out only for three
hours every few days to buy food and medicine. Journalists are also tightly
restricted, and forbidden from going anywhere near the Church of the Nativity and
other sections of the Old City. But the Post writes that "a survey of winding
streets west of the Nativity church revealed few buildings left unscarred. Broken
glass and piles of rubble were underfoot everywhere, the wreckage of blackened
automobiles littered the alleyways, and the acrid smell of burning plastic mixed
in the air with the stench of rotting garbage that hadn't been picked up for
almost two weeks. At Bethlehem University, on a hill overlooking the Old City,
the heavy masonry walls of classrooms and office buildings have been pockmarked
by artillery fire. Even the library didn't escape the shelling."

"To me, it's wanton destruction," Brother Joe Loewenstein, a Franciscan friar and
a former president of the university, told the Post. "I don't think there is any
window that hasn't been broken. Every single car in sight has been damaged beyond
repair. It's heartbreaking. I go home and cry for these people." [top]

11. CLUELESS TOURISTS PROVIDE COMIC RELIEF Wrote Haaretz from Bethlehem's
besieged Church of the Nativity April 18: "Two Japanese tourists, eager to visit
the church, were so engrossed in their guide book Wednesday they did not notice
they had wandered into the scene of a siege. It was only when news photographers
in flak jackets and helmets spotted the oblivious couple and pointed out the
bullet-pocked buildings and military hardware around them that they decided to
call off their trip to the Christian shrine. 'We have been on the road for the
last six months and we did not watch television or read the newspapers,' a
bemused Yuji Makano told one photographer, after being informed of recent
developments." [top]

12. VIOLENCE IN GAZA On April 19, Israeli forces killed five Palestinians in
confrontations in Gaza, and a Palestinian bomber blew himself up in an attack on
an Israeli military checkpoint. A day later, an Israeli border officer was shot
to death by a Palestinian gunman in the Gaza Strip before being gunned down
himself by return fire from an Israeli tank. The al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade, a
militia linked to Arafat's Fatah movement, claimed responsibility. Hundreds of
chanting Palestinians marched in a Gaza City funeral procession for two of those
killed, reportedly Islamic Jihad militants. (AP, April 20) [top]

13. BUSH: SHARON "MAN OF PEACE" President George Bush weighed in on Operation
Defensive Shield April 19, stating: "I do believe Ariel Sharon is a man of peace.
I think he wants, I'm confident he wants Israel to be able to exist at peace with
its neighbors. I mean, he's told that to us here in the Oval Office. He has
embraced the notion of two states living side by side." Bush said he was
satisfied that Sharon was acting in good faith. "He gave me a timetable, and he
met the timetable" for beginning withdrawal from re-occupied towns. He also said
"Mr. Arafat did condemn terrorism, and now we will hold him to account." (CNN,
April 19; Haaretz, April 20) A few hours later, Arafat, in a telephone interview
with Tunisian TV, called Sharon "bloodthirsty" and said "his history is known.
His hands are stained in blood." (CNN, April 19) [top]

14. SHARON: I WON'T EVACUATE SETTLEMENTS Ariel Sharon told his weekly cabinet
meeting April 21 that no government headed by him would evacuate Jewish
settlements on the West Bank. Banging on the table, Sharon said he would not even
discuss evacuating the settlements until the elections, set for October 2003, or
even beyond should he be elected for a second term. The statement came in
response to a TV report that top IDF officers are in favor of evacuating isolated
settlements. (Haaretz, April 21) [top]

15. ZEEVI KILLERS IN RAMALLAH? In his statement, President Bush said he
understood why Israel was keeping troops in Bethlehem and in Ramallah, where the
suspects in last year's assassination of ex- tourism minister Rehavam Zeevi are
believed to be in the compound with Arafat. "These people are accused of killing
a cabinet official of the Israel government," Bush said. "I can understand why
the prime minister wants them brought to justice. They should be brought to
justice if they killed a man in cold blood." (Haaretz, April 20) Sharon rejected
an offer by Arafat to try the suspected killers of the far-right Zeevi in a
Palestinian court. (Reuters, April 20) [top]

16. TANZIM CHIEF BARGHOUTI ARRESTED April 15 the IDF announced the arrest in
Ramallah of Marwan Barghouti, the Fatah politician and Palestinian Legis-lative
Council representative who turned Tanzim from a civil guard into a West Bank
militia that organized suicide bombings. Israeli authorities say they will
consider whether Barghouti will stand trial or be deported. (Haartez, Jerusalem
Post, April 16) [top]

17. IDF CLAIMS: ARMS FROM IRAN, IRAQ UNCOVERED IN RAMALLAH Weapons uncovered in
Operation Defensive Shield include Soviet-made RPG rocket-launchers that were
modified by Iraq, and Iranian-made RPG models, IDF sources said. The sources said
the weaponry was probably smuggled into the territories in Arafat's helicopters,
which have now been damaged and grounded by the IDF. (Haaretz, April 18) [top]

18. U.S. WANTS ISRAEL TO "GET RID" OF ARAFAT? Bush administration officials who
met recently with former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu asked why Israel is
not "getting rid" of Arafat, Netanyahu told Ariel Sharon in a meeting April 18.
While in the US, Netanyahu met with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice,
Vice President Dick Cheney, and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Netanyahu
updated Sharon on his recent mission to bolster US support for Israel. (Jerusalem
Post, April 19) [top]

19. ARAFAT CONDEMNS TERRORISM; BUSH OBLIVIOUS On April 7, AP reported that
President Bush said Arafat "needs to speak clearly, in Arabic, to the people of
that region and condemn terrorist activities. At the very minimum, he ought to at
least say something." But Daoud Kuttab for the Electronic Intifada compiled a
number of quotes from Arafat and other Palestinian leaders condemning terrorism
in Arabic. On March 28, after the Passover suicide attack in Netanya, an Arafat
speech broadcast on Palestinian TV in Arabic stated: "On this occasion, I would
like once again to reiterate our condemnation of yesterday's operation in
Netanya, in which a number of innocent Israeli civilians were killed and wounded.
This operation constitutes a deviation from our policy and a violation of our
national and human values..." [top]

20. ENDORSEMENTS AND PRAISE FOR SUICIDE BOMBERS Palestinian president Yasser
Arafat's wife Suha Arafat endorsed suicide bombing attacks in a London-based
Arabic magazine, al-Majallah. According to the New York Times, she told the
magazine if she had a son, there would be "no greater honor" than to sacrifice
him for the Palestinian cause. "Would you expect me and my children to be less
patriotic and more eager to live than my country men and their father and leader
who is seeking martydom?" Suha Arafat, who has no son, is currently living with
her daughter in Paris. (NYT, April 15) Four Palestinian mothers have lost their
daughters in suicide bombing attacks this year (see WW3 REPORT #29). Four more
almost lost theirs in foiled attacks, two this past week. (Haaretz, April 19)

The Saudi ambassador to Britian, Ghazi Algosaibi, a well-known poet in the Arab
world, wrote a poem published in the London-based Al-Hayat praising Ayat
al-Akras, who blew herself and two Israelis up in a Jerusalem supermarket on
March 29: "Tell Ayat, the bride of loftiness... She embraced death with a
smile... Doors of heaven are opened for her" (AP, April 15)

Two prominent Islamic clerics have also endorsed suicide bombings. Mohammed Sayed
Tantawi, the most prominent religious scholar at al-Ahzar University in Cairo,
called "martydom operations" the "highest form of jihad operations" and that such
attacks were "an Islamic commandment until the people of Palestine regain their
land and cause the cruel Israeli aggression to retreat." (NYT, April 15) (see WW3
REPORT #26) According to the Times, Egypt's new mufti, its highest religious
authority, declared that "the solution to the Israeli terror" lies in suicide
attacks "that strike horror into the hearts of the enemies of Allah. The Islamic
countries, peoples and rulers alike, must support these martyrdom attacks." (NYT,
April 15) Last year, a ruling by the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia "declared
suicide to be against Islam" (AP, April 15)

One Christian cleric has also endorsed suicide bombing. According to well-known
Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci, Greek Catholic bishop Hilarion Capucci
recently spoke at a rally in Italy where he "thank[ed] in the name of God the
kamikazes who massacred Jews in pizzarias and supermarkets, calling them martyrs
who go to their deaths as if to a party." (Panorama, Rome, April 15) Capucci was
arrested in 1974 for smuggling explosives for Palestinian militants, and released
only after intervention by the Pope, who promised Capucci would not take part in
political activity again. (Jerusalem Post, May 25, 2000) Fallaci's article has
caused an uproar in Italy, where leaders of the Green and Communist parties
accused her of impugning the Catholic church for letting Capucci appear at the
rally. Said Communist Party parliamentary leader Franco Girodano: "The words are
shameful beacuse they feed hate between religions." But others have defended
Fallaci, including defense minister Antonio Martino. "I believe she has grounds
[for the article]," he said. (AFP, April 12) (David Bloom) [top]

21. PROTESTS FOLLOW POWELL Secretary of State Colin Powell moved on from Israel
after having visited the scene of a suicide bombing that killed six Israelis in
Jerusalem--but not Jenin, the site of far greater carnage. Powell's arrival in
Beirut was met by thousands of protesters, who burned US and Israeli flags.
Demonstrations also followed him to Damascus, where over 300 students held a
sit-in outside the UN offices. (AP, April 15) At a Cairo protest, a university
student was reported killed and over 100 injured as police opened fire with
buckshot, tear gas and water cannons. (NYT, April 10) [top]

22. POWELL SENDS SURROGATE TO JENIN Colin Powell did send Assistant Secretary of
State for Near Eastern Affairs William J. Burns to visit Jenin after the
Secretary himself had already left Israel/Palestine. Burns called the scene at
Jenin a "terrible human tragedy," but refrained from explicitly criticizing
Israel, or commenting on Israeli claims that what happened at the camp was a
"battle" and not a "massacre." (NYT, April 21) [top]

23. FOREIGN MILITARY INTERVENTION SEEN Writes commentator Aluf Benn in the April
18 Haaretz: "Operation Defensive Shield has fomented a deep change in the
political debate in Israel and redrawn the demarcation lines between left and
right, which had become blurred in the decade of the Oslo accords and the brutal
clash with the Palestinians. The right is now urging that Israel retake control
of the territories, while the left is pushing for an enforced settlement with the
aid of an international force. Occupation or internationalization: These are the
parameters within which the public discourse will henceforth be conducted in
Israel." Benn argues that there is "no longer any prospect of reaching an
agreement with the Palestinians. Not a permanent settlement, not an interim
agreement, not even a temporary cease-fire." [top]

24. S&P's DOWNGRADES ISRAEL'S ECONOMIC OUTLOOK The international credit ratings
agency Standard & Poor's has lowered its outlook for Israel from stable to
negative as a result of the continuing conflict and fiscal deficits. "Although
the emerging global recovery is expected to provide some relief later this year,
we rule out a substantial rebound in Israel's economic activity in 2002, due to
the persistence of the highly volatile and tense security situation," said S&P's
credit analyst Konrad Reuss. Israel's credit rating remained unchanged. (Haaretz,
April 13) [top]

25. PRO-ISRAEL RALLY IN WASHINGTON An April 15 Washington DC rally organized by
American Jewish organizations in support of Israel drew a crowd of 100,000 to the
steps of the Capitol. The message from the various speakers consistently hit the
same note: that Israel's current military action in the West Bank is justified
and part of the same War on Terrorism being waged by the US. "Israel and the
United States are fighting the same battle, the same enemy," former right-wing
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the rally to big applause. "The
only way to defeat this enemy is to destroy it." Saying that the War on Terrorism
now stretches from Afghanistan to what he called "Arafatistan," Netanyahu said
"Arafat is like bin Laden with better PR." Among the day's other speakers were
Congressmen Richard Gephardt and Dick Armey, New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani (who
also received big applause), and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz--who,
despite his hawkish credentials, was booed by the crowd when he said, "We know
the Israelis are not the only ones suffering. Innocent Palestinians are suffering
and dying in great numbers as well. It is critical that we recognize and
acknowledge that fact." Mention of Ariel Sharon brought cheers from the crowd,
and chants of "No more Arafat." Perhaps the day's most extreme message came from
Janet Parshall, a Christian evangelist radio host and head of the National
Religious Broadcasters Association. "We will never give up the Golan," she said
"We will never divide Jerusalem. And we will call Yasser Arafat what Yasser
Arafat is: a terrorist." (JTA, April 15, and WW3 REPORT Special Correspondent on
the scene) [top]

26. PRO-PALESTINE RALLY IN WASHINGTON 75,000 demonstrators converged in
Washington on April 20 for the largest pro-Palestinian rally ever in the US,
according to the DC police (Washington Post, April 21). Anti-globalization
protesters in town for the IMF meeting mixed with Arab and Muslim demonstrators
bused in from around the country. Pro-peace placards could be seen, often with
Hebrew and Arabic lettering on the same sign. "The only territory Israel doesn't
occupy is the moral high ground" read one. One from a Jewish peace group read,
"We did not survive Auschwitz to bury Jenin." Some signs pictured an Israeli flag
with a blue swastika in place of the Star of David, or Israeli prime minister
Ariel Sharon depicted as Hitler. Chants of "long live Palestine" and "free, free
Palestine" could be heard. Palestinian activists led cadenced chants in Arabic
from truck-mounted loudspeakers, much like demonstrations in the West Bank or
Gaza, followed by chants in English. At one point, the speakers blared "long live
Intifada," a chant taken up by marchers of all backgrounds. At a rally in front
of the White House before the march, a variety of speakers exhorted the US to end
aid to Israel. In addition to Muslim, labor, and church leaders, speakers
representing Jewish groups spoke out in support of Palestinian rights. The rally
was simulcast by C-SPAN radio.

The demonstration was organized by International ANSWER , (AP, April 19), a group
associated with the International Action Center (IAC), which itself is a front
organization for the cultish neo-Stalinist Workers World Party (WWP).
IAC/ANSWER's unlikely frontman is former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark, who
was a featured speaker at the event. The demonstration was initially intended to
protest the US campaign in Afghanistan, and was originally called by the April
20th Mobilization, a coalition of anti-war groups (National Youth & Student Peace
Coalition, NYC Labor Against the War, War Resisters League, Colombia Solidarity
Committee, Nicaragua Network), who actually maintained their own separate stage
near the Washington Monument, MC'd by Amy Goodman of Pacifica Radio. But ANSWER,
after securing an agreement from the A20 Mobilization to coordinate the two
events (see "Unity Statement"), launched the most aggressive and visible
publicity, at least in the NYC area. Well-financed and tightly run, IAC/ANSWER
provided marchers with its own mass-produced placards, and also organized buses
from New York. For more on ANSWER's attempts to manipulate the mobilization in
Washington, see Liza Featherstone's article in The Nation.

The IAC and Ramsey Clark support former Serbian strongman Slobodon Milosovic, now
on trial for war crimes, including genocide, by the International Tribunal for
War Crimes in the Hague. Shortly after Milosevic's arrival in the Hague, Ramsey
Clark offered to defend him, and now serves as his legal advisor (AP, Nov. 24).
(See The Mysterious Ramsey Clark: Stalinist Dupe or Ruling Class Spook?" by Manny
Goldstein in The Shadow) (David Bloom with Bill Weinberg) [top]

Sounds of the protest, with interviews

Audio Interview with two Palestinian-American women at the protest

ELSEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

1. AL-QAEDA LINKED TO TUNISIAN SYNAGOGUE BLAST A group with the same name as one
linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network claimed responsibility for the April
11 explosion at Tunisian synagogue that killed 15 people. In front-page reports
April 17, the London-based pan-Arab dailies al-Quds al-Arabi and al-Hayat said
they had received a claim of responsibility from a group calling itself the
"Islamic Army for the Liberation of the Holy Sites"--the same name used by a
group claiming credit for the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Kenya and
Tanzania. The 1998 claim called bin Laden a "source of inspiration" and referred
to him as the "warrior sheik." Tunisia's government described the April 13
explosion of a gas-laden truck at the Ghriba synagogue on the resort island of
Djerba as a "tragic accident." (See WW3 REPORT #29) But German federal
prosecutors, involved because 10 of the dead were German tourists, said April 17
they believed it was an act of terrorism, and that police had arrested a person
in Germany believed to have been in contact with those involved.

Al-Hayat said the statement was received in its Islamabad office by fax without
reference to the originating phone number. Al-Hayat said the statement was in
Arabic and on stationery with al-Qaeda's logo. The statement read: "The martyrdom
operation is a response to Israeli crimes against the sons of the Palestinian
people... The martyrdom operation is a retaliation to the [Arab] governments
refusal to allow their peoples to join Jihad against the Jews."

Al-Quds said it received the statement along with a will said to have been left
by the truck driver, identified as Nizar bin Mohammed Nawar and by the nom de
guerre Seiful Dinn el-Tunisi, or "Sword of the Faith, the Tunisian." Nawar was
quoted as calling on his parents, brothers and sister to contribute to holy war
"with their souls and money." The will was dated July 5, 2000. (Jerusalem Post,
April 17)

Two days later, German Interior Minister Otto Schily announced he will visit
Tunisia with German Federal Prosecutor Kay Nehm to discuss new evidence the
incident was a terrorist attack with Tunisian authroties. (Jersualem Post, April
19) [top]

2. MORE U.S. TROOPS TO YEMEN Pentagon officials told NBC News April 19 over 60 US
Special Operations forces will soon arrive in Yemen to train Yemeni forces in
"counter-terrorism tactics" for hunting down suspected al-Qaeda militants. (See
WW3 REPORT #23) But anti-US protests broke out in Sanaa, the capital, that same
day. Police fired in the air and used tear gas and clubs to prevent about 5,000
pro-Palestinian protesters from reaching the U.S. Embassy, witnesses said. The
protests follow an April 12 bomb attack in the same district as the embassy (see
WW3 REPORT #29). The New York Times reported April 10 that 300,000 marched in
support of Palestine in Sanaa, and one protestor was killed in the port city of
Aden. [top]

3. KRISTOF DOES YEMEN; APPROVES OF POLICE STATE, DISSES FOOD Security measures
don't seem to be lacking in Yemen. Freedom-hating New York Times columnist
Nicholas D. Kristof couldn't resist throwing in a fatuous adjective worthy of
tourist-guidebook exoticism as he applauded the regime's efficient police state:
"It was reassuring to find myself almost arrested as I arrived in this magical
country." Lest anyone accuse him of undue cultural sensitivity, Kristof described
the lunch he was served as "brown gobs and green gook" when he visited with
Sheikh Othman Mujali al-Fayid, member of parliament and traditional tribal
leader, who warned him, "People do not accept foreign powers in Yemen. We don't
want anyone involved in our business." (NYT, March 15) [top]

GLIMMERS OF HOPE

1. MUSLIM-JEWISH PEACE VIGILS PERSIST IN JERUSALEM The premier issue of
Brooklyn's Judeo-hipster Heeb magazine, "the New Jew Review," (winter 2002)
reports in its "Radical Rabbinics" column on the Old City Peace Vigil, a weekly
interfaith gathering at a plaza overlooking the Temple Mount/al-Aksa Mosque. The
vigils, which attract both long-haired rabbis and Muslim faithful, include
drumming, singing and dancing as well as prayer and silent meditation. "People
speak of their hopes and nightmares," says NJ-born student Devorah Brous who
co-founded the vigil a year and a half ago. "It has a different dynamic each
week." Another founder, Haj Ibrahim Ahmad Abu el-Hawa, from a small village near
the Mount of Olives, says, "There are three religions but only one God. We need
love, and we need to pass that love to one another." The Vigil also organizes
efforts to paint over the racist graffiti which has become common in Jerusalem
("Death to the Arabs," "Revenge"). But the authorities are not happy with these
good-hearted peaceniks. A recent gathering was broken up by police, who claimed
it was a political demonstration and needed a permit. Most Muslim-Jewish dialogue
groups have fallen apart, and the peace movement is "in shambles." [top]

2. ARAB-JEWISH COMEDY TEAM STANDS UP FOR PEACE Ahmed Ahmed, an Egyptian-American
stand-up comic from California, and Bob Alper, a rabbi from Vermont, have teamed
up for a comedy act they are taking to synagogues and Jewish community centers
around the East Coast. Ahmed became a comedian riffing on the Arab-American
experience after frustrations trying to pursue an acting career in Hollywood. "I
found myself typecast as as a terrorist, a cab-driver, sleazy Arab princes,
7-Eleven owners and stuff like that." His biggest role was "Terrorist No. 4" in
the 1996 Kurt Russell thriller "Executive Decision." Says Alper, who recruited
Ahmed for the project: "While I'm not a ful-time practicing rabbi anymore, in a
way I really think I am with what I'm doing--going around the world and making
people laugh has a very strong spiritual component to it... I know laughter is
healing. My feeling, from the Jewish perspective, is that when the Jewish people
in the audience see an Arab-American and can laugh with him and see that he's a
sweet and decent human being, it's very helpful. Humor bridges cultures."
(Newsday, April 12) [top]

THE AFGHANISTAN FRONT

1. RETURN OF THE KING Former Afghan king Zahir Shah returned to Kabul from Rome
April 18 amid tight security after 29 years in exile. Delegations from all over
Afghanistan--holding flowers and pictures of the former king--greeted him at the
airport as a newly-trained Afghan honour guard stood at attention. He was
escorted home from Italy by Afghanistan's interim leader Hamid Karzai and six
government ministers. But in a sign of political sensitivities surrounding his
return, there was no announcement of it on radio or TV, and no flags or welcoming
banners in the city streets. A joint Afghan-Italian security force will be
guarding him during his stay, aimed at convening a Loya Jirga, or tribal summit,
set for June to establish a permanent government for Afghanistan. Powerful
members of the government--especially those from the Northern Alliance--are wary
of his return, fearing it could provide a rallying point for their opponents.
Meanwhile, some southern Pashtun groups are calling for a return to monarchy.
(BBC, April 18) [top]

2. WARLORDS JOCKEY FOR LOYA JIRGA Rory Carroll writes in the UK Observer April 14
that Afghanistan's warlords are playing a bloody game to consolidate their local
rule and weaken rivals in advance of Loya Jirga, or tribal summit set for June to
establish a permanent government. "There are still a lot of different groups
trying to make trouble. I think most of them are hold-outs from the Taliban and
al-Qaeda, plus small groups linked to [Gulbuddin] Hekmatyar," said Agriculture
Minister Saeed Hussein Anwari. The ultra-fundamentalist Hekmatyar has ostensibly
agreed to recognize the interim regime (see WW3 REPORT #25), but is now said to
back Taliban/al-Qaeda efforts destabilize the new government. Hekmatyar's
location is unknown. Meanwhile, according to a confidential UN document, the
interim authorities are jailing and intimidating their own political rivals to
smear them as "terrorists" and destabilize preparations for the Loya Jirga. The
memo was written by the UN's chief negotiator, Michael Semple, and addressed to
the organization's senior political officers in Kabul, Anders Fange and Karl
Fischer. [top]

3. SURVIVORS OF "OPERATION ANACONDA" DEMAND COMPENSATION Every morning, a
procession of local residents whose homes or loved ones were destroyed in the
US-led Operation Anaconda (see WW3 REPORT #24) gathers at the gates of the
governor's compound in Gardez, demanding compensation. "They are so angry, angry
at the Americans," said Gen. Sahib Jan Loodin Alozai, deputy governor of Paktia
province, who processes the complaints. "They blame the Americans for all their
troubles." Some petitioners claim US airstrikes killed their relatives or
destroyed their homes. Farmers complain that US troops blocked access to their
fields, ruining their spring planting season. People on the street glare and
curse at passing American reporters. A Canadian reporter was seriously wounded
last month by a grenade tossed into her vehicle just outside town. (LAT, April
14) [top]

4. U.S. BOMBS CANADIANS An US F-16 pilot near Kandahar apparently mistook
Canadian soldiers for enemy forces and dropped a 500-pound bomb, killing four and
wounding eight, Pentagon officials said. As an investigation begins, a key
question was why the US forces didn't know the Canadians were training in the
area. Canadian Defense Minister Art Eggleton, who called the deaths shocking,
said one of the injured had life-threatening wounds and the other seven were in
stable condition. (AP, April 18) [top]

5. U.S./U.K. IN NEW OFFENSIVE AGAINST TALIBAN/AL-QAEDA US-led forces have
launched their first major combat operation in a month against Taliban/al-Qaeda
forces. The new offensive involves US, British and Afghan troops, marking the
Afghan war combat debut for Britain's elite force of Royal Marines, trained to
operate in mountains that rise over 10,000 feet. At Bagram air base near Kabul,
British spokesman Lt. Col. Paul Harradine said "They're going to sweep through,
destroy any al-Qaida and Taliban that are there and then deny the group control
of that area." Authorities did not give a location for the fighting. [top]

6. MORE U.S. TROOPS KILLED At least four US troops were killed and several are
injured or missing following a mishap while blowing up unexploded rockets outside
Kandahar. "It doesn't appear to be hostile fire--it is related to ordinance,"
said spokesman Lt. Col. Dave Lapan. This brings the number of US fatalities in
the Afghanistan campaign to 36. (BBC, April 15) [top]

7. GREEN BERET SHOT IN KANDAHAR A US Special Forces soldier was wounded April 17
in what military sources called a "hit-and-run attack" in downtown Kandahar. Maj.
A.C. Roper told reporters at the US base in Kandahar the soldier was on patrol
when he was shot in the face by an unknown assailant and was taken to the base,
where he is in stable condition. "We're under a constant threat here, not only on
the air base but also in the city," Roper said. "There are elements of al-Qaeda
and non-Afghan Taliban forces that don't want us here. They don't like the
progress that we've made, but we're here to accomplish the mission, and we will
not be deterred." (CNN, April 17) [top]

8. ACID ATTACK ON WOMAN TEACHER IN KANDAHAR An woman teacher in Kandahar was the
target of an acid-attack following a leaflet campaign in the former Taliban
stronghold, according to a city official. An assailant threw acid on the teacher
as she walked home from school, and tried to flee before being apprehended,
Commander Dost Mohammad told Reuters. The hand-written pamphlets warned men not
to send their daughters to school or their women to work. Mohammad said he did
not know how badly the woman was hurt, but said Kandahar authorities had arrested
37 suspects named by the detained man and found more acid. "Five of them were
wearing the Afghan military uniform," he said. Leaflets were also found warning
residents not to collaborate with foreign troops. Read the leaflet: "The American
forces will leave the country sooner or later, but you will remain here. People
helping Afghan security forces are being marked." (Reuters, April 17) [top]

9. MORE STRIFE IN KHOST At least three people were killed and two injured when an
explosion rocked the main bazaar in Khost April 18, the Afghan Islamic Press
reported. The blast occurred within 100 feet of the city's military hospital, the
Pakistan-based news service reported, quoting witnesses. It was the third blast
in Khost since the fall of the Taliban regime last year. US troops are also
stationed in Khost and there have been at least three rocket attacks against
them, the report said. (AFP, April 18) [top]

10. MORE STRIFE IN WARDAK Fighting has erupted between the forces of rival
warlords in Wardak province, Afghan Islamic Press reported. Nine were killed and
12 wounded as the forces of interim regime loyalist Commander Muzaffaruddin and
rival Ghulam Rohani Nangali fought around Maidan Shahr, the provincial capital,
30 miles west of Kabul. Rockets and artillery were used in overnight fighting
April 13. (Reuters, April 13) [top]

11. U.S. DRUG CZAR SEES LONG OPIUM WAR IN AFGHANISTAN Tribal leaders and
commanders from Helmand, Paktia and Nangahar provinces demanded "leniency" in
implementing the new opium-eradication policy, fearing resistance from farmers.
When the eradication program began April 8, protests by opium farmers turned
bloody (see WW3 REPORT #29). The CIA estimates Afghanistan supplied 70% of the
world's opium before the Taliban cracked down in 2000, and US officials fear a
return to those levels if the spring harvest is not eradicated. Pakistan's NNI
news service calls the opium face-off the "most serious chalenge so far" for
interim leader Hamid Karzai: "Karzai needs to curb opium production to win the
backing of the international community, but doing so would undercut his position
at home, where local warlords still rule much of the country." (NNI, April 13)
Meanwhile, White House Drug Czar John Walters told the Washington Times, "We can
not allow Afghanistan again to become a haven for illicit money, a haven for
terrorism." He said that crushing the Afghan opium trade would be a long
struggle, contingent on a US-allied regime remaining in control. "It will require
staying power perhaps as long as two to three years, but banning opium production
has got to be a priority," he said. (Frontier Post, April 17) [top]

12. U.N. RUNNING OUT OF MONEY FOR REFUGEE REPATRIATION UN High Commissioner for
Refugees Ruud Lubbers urgently appealed for funds for the $271 million program to
repatriate Afghan refugees. Over 267,000 refugees have returned from Pakistan
since the program was launched March 1. Another 5,000 have returned from Iran
under a similar program launched in April. Lubbers warned the programs would not
be able to continue unless international donors come through with promised aid.
(UNHCR press release, April 17) The programs offer returning refugees an
assistance package including both food and non-food items, as well as a small
cash grant. (IRIN, April 17) [top]

13. ARCHAEOLOGISTS LAUNCH CULTURAL SALVAGE MISSION Shortly before the Taliban
issued orders to blow up the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan in March 2001, a squad
systematically ransacked Kabul's National Museum, working from noon to night to
smash every "idolatrous" relic--including priceless Greco-Buddhist statuary from
the Kushan dynasty. More relics had been pirated for sale on the international
market as Mujahedeen factions fought for Kabul in the mid-1990s, but much had
been sent to the Switzerland's Afghanistan Museum for safekeeping ahead of the
Taliban take-over. The UN Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) designated the Switzerland museum as Afghanistan's respository in exile,
and authorities are consideriung if it is now safe to return the relics. Nancy
Hatch Dupree of the Society for the Preservation of Afghanistan's Cultural
Heritage says "It is too early to ask for the return of objects, but certianly
not too early to talk about it." Meanwhile, UNESCO has dispatched teams of
archaeologists to Afghanistan to assess the damage to sites in Kabul, Bamiyan and
Herat, as well as the 12th-century minaret at Jam and the ancient city of Balkh.
The most ambitious project is inteirm leader Hamid Karzai's proposal for
rebuilding the Bamiyan Buddhas. (NYT, April 15) [top]

14. AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL BLASTS U.S. ON DETAINEES Amnesty International has
attacked the US for its treatment of prisoners held in Afghanistan and Guantanamo
Bay Naval base in Cuba. Said the statement: "The US government has refused to
grant any of the detainees in Afghanistan or Guantanamo Bay prisoner of war
status, or to bring any disputed cases before a competent tribunal as requested
under the Geneva Conventions... The United States' pick-and-choose approach to
the Geneva Conventions is unacceptable, as is its failure to respect fundamental
international human rights standards." Among other charges, Amnesty said
Washington holds prisoners in conditions that could amount to cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment and has refused to grant them access to legal counsel. The US
is holding 300 Taliban/al-Qaeda suspects at its Camp X-Ray prison in Guantanamo
Bay, and more than 200 others at US facilities in Afghanistan. Amnesty said it
would renew its bid to gain access to the detainees, as its initial request was
not acknowledged by US officials. (Reuters, April 15) [top]

15. U.S. OPPOSES NEW PROVISION ON CONVENTION AGAINST TORTURE The US is aligned
with some of its worst enemies in opposing efforts to strengthen an international
treaty that bans torture, diplomatic sources say. Washington finds itself on the
same side as Cuba, Libya and Syria in trying to block a proposal before the UN
Human Rights Commission in Geneva aimed at giving more teeth to the Convention
Against Torture. US diplomats insist they do not oppose strengthening the 1987
convention, but say they disagree with the international prison-inspection
program proposed by Latin American and European nations. "It's pretty scandalous
that some states claiming to defend human rights are blocking this," said Mark
Thomson of the Geneva-based Association to Prevent Torture. "If they succeed,
it's really putting a spanner in the works in terms of implementing the
convention in a meaningful way." (Christian Science Monitor, April 19) [top]

THE PHILIPPINE FRONT

1. MORE U.S. TROOPS TO MINDANAO Philippine President Gloria Arroyo sanctioned
deployment of hundreds more US troops for the country's restive southern region
of Mindanao. Several hundred US troops are already stationed on the island of
Basilan assisting Philippine forces against the Abu Sayyaf rebels, allegedly
linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network (see WW3 REPORT #26). Arroyo said
some 300 military engineers will join the 660 US troops helping to hunt down Abu
Sayyaf militants, who are holding a US missionary couple and a Filipina nurse
hostage. The US forces provide training for local troops but are barred from
fighting except in self-defense. Another 2,700 US troops are due to arrive to
take part in the second phase of the "Balikatan" joint exercise in the northern
island of Luzon next week, including amphibious operations and night-flying
skills. There were daily protests when the exercises began in January, and
officials stressed that the US forces will not be involved in combat. (BBC, April
19) [top]

2. TERROR BLAST IN MINDANAO A bomb blast killed 14 people and wounded 55 others
outside a department store in the southern Philippine city of General Santos.
Minutes after the mall blast, a second explosion went off about one kilometer
away in a residential part the city. Police arrested two men in connection with
the blasts, and charged them with possession of handguns and grenades. A call to
a local radio station claimed responsibility for the mall blast in the name of
Abu Sayyaf. (CNN, April 21) [top]

3. FBI: ABU SAYYAF FUNDS AL-QAEDA Abu Sayyaf guerrillas have been channeling
ransom money to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network, said Philippine
Justice Secretary Hernando Perez, citing US FBI sources. Perez said Philippine
authorities are working to track the funds with the assistance of the FBI, which
alerted the government to the Abu Sayyaf-al-Qaeda financial link. "That is what
the FBI is telling us," Perez told reporters. "The volume of money is apparently
significant. We were told that perhaps money already in the hands of terrorists
here is going toward bin Laden. And I am referring to the Abu Sayyaf." The group
is believed to have collected over $20 million in ransom from kidnapping dozens
of locals and foreign tourists since 2000. (Financial Times, April 2) [top]

THE ANDEAN FRONT

1. VENEZUELA: ANATOMY OF THE COUP D'ETAT Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
returned to power April 14 after his civilian and military supporters overturned
a two-day attempted coup d'etat. (AP, April 14) The week leading up to the April
11 coup was marked by heated conflicts between Chavez supporters and opponents.
On April 4, middle and upper-level managers began a strike at the state-owned oil
company, Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), to protest Chavez's replacement of the
board of directors. On April 6, Venezuelan Workers Confederation (CTV) president
Carlos Ortega and Chamber of Commerce Federation (FEDECAMARAS) president Pedro
Carmona jointly announced a 24-hour strike for April 9 to support the PDVSA
strike. The unions that represent PDVSA workers were divided on the strike.

PDVSA's sales of 2.43 million barrels/day provide 80% of Venezuela's hard
currency income and establish the nation as the world's fourth-largest
producer--and third-largest supplier to the US, after Canada and Saudi Arabia.

In his weekly radio program April 7, Chavez announced the firing of seven PDVSA
managers and the forced retirement of 12 others, and urged an end to the strike.
He also announced a 20% increase in the minimum wage for public-sector workers,
to take effect May 1, and called on Venezuela's private sector to match the
public-sector increase. Chavez refused to negotiate with the CTV, saying the
union's leadership is "illegitimate and does not represent the workers of the
country." (Miami Herald, April 8; AFP, April 8, 9)

The April 9 strike-which Chavez's opponents said was widely observed and which
the government called a failure-was extended to April 10 and then extended
indefinitely. On April 10, National Guard Maj. Gen. Rafael Damiani accused Chavez
of responsibility for violence against a group of strikers outside a PDVSA
facility in Caracas that day. Earlier that day, army Gen. Nestor Gonzalez accused
Chavez of lying about his government's support for Colombian leftist guerillas.
Gonzalez claimed Chavez had him transferred from a command position near the
Colombian border to an administrative post because his troops had been fighitng
Colombian rebels who entered Venezuelan territory. (AFP, EFE April 11)

On April 11, shooting broke out as a group of some 200,000 anti-Chavez
demonstrators confronted about 5,000 Chavez supporters outside the presidential
palace in Caracas. At least 13 were killed--mostly Chavez supporters--and some
150 wounded. The opposition-controlled media portrayed Chavez and his supporters
as exclusively responsible for the violence. Chavez responded by ordering
temporary suspension of private TV stations he accused of carrying out a
"defamation campaign" and inciting violence. (AFP, April 12)

One witness told New York's Weekly News Update on the Americas the gunfire came
from snipers in surrounding buildings, city police and Chavez supporters. The
city police are under the control of Caracas mayor Alfredo Pena, a Chavez
opponent. The snipers were said to be members of an extreme opposition group
called Bandera Roja. The Sweden-based e-newsletter Vientos del Sur
(pagina.de/visur) confirmed that the snipers were from Bandera Roja, an
ultra-left group working with the right opposition. (VISUR, April 13)

Army commander Brig. Gen. Efrain Vasquez and nine high-ranking military
officers-including Gonzalez and Damiani-responded by demanding Chavez resign.
FEDECAMARAS president Carmona offered to head a transition government that would
call new elections as soon as Chavez left. (AFP, April 12) Early on April 12
Carmona announced he was assuming the presidency because Chavez had resigned.
Carmona quickly dissolved the National Assembly and dismissed the Supreme Court.
Carmona insisted Chavez was "in custody, not arrested," and that soon the ousted
president would travel "according to his wishes, outside the country."
Anti-Ch‡vez demonstrators attacked the Cuban embassy, believing that Chavez's
vice president, Lt. Diosdado Cabello, was hiding there. (El Nuevo Herald, Miami,
April 13)

On April 12, Chavez's daughter, Maria Gabriela Chavez, confirmed that her father
was being detained. She told Cuban TV she had spoken with him that morning and he
told her to "let the world know that at no moment did he resign, and at no moment
has he signed a decree dismissing Vice President Cabello." (La Jornada, Mexico,
April 13) [top]

2. INSTANT COUNTER-COUP On April 13, tens of thousands took to the streets of
Caracas and other Venezuelan cities in a popular uprising to demand Chavez's
return. The slums spontaneously mobilized, and hundreds gathered outside the
presidential palace in downtown Caracas, defying police tear gas, water cannons
and rubber bullets to chant "Chavez will be back!" and "Democracy, not
dictatorship!" (AP, April 13) Some Chavez supporters seized control of the state
TV station. More violence and repression ensued, with at least 9 more killed.
(BBC, April 14)

On the afternoon of April 13, commanders at Maracay air base rebelled against the
coup leaders and proclaimed their loyalty to Chavez. Gen. Vasquez announced that
the armed forces would support Carmona's government only if 12 points were
respected, including reestablishment of the legally elected powers-of-state. The
National Assembly then reconvened and swore in Cabello as president; Carmona
resigned and was promptly arrested, along with other coup leaders. At 1:45 a.m.
on April 14, Chavez headed by helicopter from the Venezuelan island of Orchila in
the Caribbean, where he had been detained, to Caracas to reclaim the presidency.
Before noon on April 14, Chavez returned to the presidential palace and appeared
in public, cheered by thousands of supporters. (La Jornada, CNN, AP, EFE, April
14)

The New York Times reported: "Bleary-eyed from emotion and exhaustion, Chavez
walked into a throng of supporters like a war hero." "What I feel is a people
full of love," he said. "This is one of the biggest days in history... I say
thank you, God." In a nationally televised speech just before dawn, Chavez
described the uprising that brought him back to power as a "counter-revolution to
a counter-revolution." (NYT, April 14)

Both Gen. Vasquez and co-plotter Gen. Ramirez Poveda are graduates of the US Army
School of the Americas (SOA)--renamed last year as the Western Hemisphere
Institute of Security Cooperation (WHISC). Vasquez attended the school, in Fort
Benning, Georgia, in 1988, taking a course in "Command and General Staff Officer
Training." Ramirez took a course called "Auto Maintenance Officer Training" in
1972, when the school was located in Panama. (SOA Watch, April 12) [top]

3. U.S., IMF HAIL COUP ATTEMPT Although the US stopped short of recognizing the
de facto government that briefly replaced Chavez, White House spokesperson Ari
Fleischer refused to protest Chavez's overthrow or even to describe the events as
a coup. "We know that the action encouraged by the Chavez government provoked
this crisis," he told reporters on April 12. (New York Times, La Jornada, April
13)

A New York Times editorial April 13 called Chavez "a ruinous demagogue" who
"courted Fidel Castro and Saddam Hussein." With his "resignation...Venezuelan
democracy is no longer threatened by a would-be dictator... Washington has a
strong stake in Venezuela's recovery. Caracas now provides 15% of American oil
imports, and with sounder policies could provide more..." (NYT April, 13)

IMF spokesperson Thomas Dawson said April 12, "We stand ready to assist the new
administration in whatever matter they find suitable." (Xinhua, April, 13)

About eight hours after Chavez was removed from power, Merrill Lynch, the largest
US brokerage firm, upgraded its assessment of Venezuela. "With a change in the
government, the odds are very favorable for an improvement in the economic and
political situation," the firm announced. (La Jornada, April, 13)

Chavez's "demise as a political leader likely means a power vacuum and declining
influence for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries," the Miami
Herald's Gregg Fields wrote before Chavez's return to power. "For the United
States, it looks like a win-win: Lower oil prices, and the departure of a Western
hemisphere leader who never missed a chance to annoy Washington." Chavez had
pushed OPEC to reduce production, forcing up oil prices. (MH, April 14)
International oil prices fell about 6% on April 12, when it seemed Chavez was out
of the way. (NYT, April 13) They immediately rose again as the coup failed,
jumping 75 cents in one day to $24.22. (CBS News, April 15)

Latin American governments were less supportive of the coup. At a special OAS
summit in Costa Rica called to address the crisis, Mexican President Vicente Fox
said Mexico "will abstain from either recognizing or not recognizing the new
government in Venezuela and will limit itself to continuing diplomatic relations
with that government." Cuba's government condemned the "coup mafia" and called
for the "immediate return" of Chavez. But Colombian foreign minister Clemencia
Forero Ucros described de facto Venezuelan President Carmona as a "great friend"
of Colombia, adding, "We expect to have the best relations with the interim
government." (MH, April 13) [top]

4. WAS WHITE HOUSE PULLING STRINGS? An April 13 New York Times editorial insisted
the attempted "removal" of Chavez (the Times never called it a "coup") "was a
purely Venezuelan affair." But an April 14 analysis piece said while there "is so
far no evidence that the United States covertly undermined Mr. Ch‡vez...the open
White House embrace of his overthrow will not be lost on Latin American leaders
who dare thumb their noses at the United States, as did Mr. Ch‡vez." The article
no