The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.62/No.35           October 5, 1998 
 
 
In Brief  
Washington levels further accusations of `terrorism'
The U.S. government has conjured up more "suspects" supposedly linked to the bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Comoros Islands citizen Haroun Fazil has been accused in absentia of 12 counts of murder, conspiracy to murder, and use of weapons of mass destruction. U.S. officials presented no hard evidence against him, only accusations of being a "very active member" or a "major player" in al Qaeda, an organization that Saudi businessman Osama bin Laden - who Washington claims was responsible for the bombings - reportedly leads. FBI agents and local cops in Comoros Islands raided two houses and questioned his wife.

Police arrested Texas resident Wadih el Hage, who they claim served as bin Laden's secretary, and are holding him without bond. In addition, German cops detained Mahmduh Mahmud Salim in Bavaria September 16. Salim faces probable extradition to the United States. Dubbed a "top lieutenant" of bin Laden by the big-business press, Salim was seized by "special antiterrorist police" with no evidence of criminal intent, admitted Bavarian state interior minister Guenter Beckstein. The only basis for the arrest was a demand by Washington to arrest him. Salim says that he is innocent.

Israeli settler kills Palestinian
An Israeli settler in West Bank opened fire with M-16 rifles on a group of Palestinian teenagers returning home from school September 17, killing one youth and injuring another. The settler surrendered to the cops, claiming he was retaliating for stones thrown at his car. But witnesses insisted that the shooting was unprovoked. "There was no stone throwing and no need for shooting," said high school student Hassan al-Qadi. "They were shooting randomly." The gunman, Avshalom Ladani, is being allowed to stay in a Jerusalem hostel with his family while Israeli authorities decide whether to pursue formal charges against him.

More layoffs in Indonesia
Rini Soewandi, president-director at PT Astra International - Indonesia's largest automobile producer - said she would lay off nearly a fourth of the company's 100,000-plus employees in "restructuring moves." Anticipating workers' reaction, Soewandi called for "law and order." Protests and food riots spread across the island nation in the first two weeks of September. The price for basic foods like rice has more than doubled since July, as the government pushes through more austerity measures, including cutting price subsidies. According to the government's food minister, at least 17 million Indonesians suffer from food shortages. In the large industrial city of Medan, 6,000 cab drivers are on strike.

Ecuador's currency is devalued
The central bank of Ecuador was forced to devalue the national currency, the sucre, nearly 11 percent September 14. Export prices of oil, bananas, and shrimp - primarily to Asian buyers - have fizzled. Oil sales generated 30 percent of Ecuador's export profits in 1997.

Claiming the government needs to respond to the currency meltdown, newly elected president Jamil Mahuad plans to cut government subsidies on electricity, natural gas, and oil - a $500 million annual expense. Mahuad will also cut funds to public services. At the same time, he promised a public- relief package averaging $16.40 a month to "shelter" poor families.

Senate fails to override veto of ban on abortion procedure
Opponents of a woman's right to choose narrowly failed to muster enough votes in the U.S. Senate to overturn President William Clinton's veto of a proposed ban on a type of late- term abortion procedure. The 64-to-36 vote taken was three shy of the two-thirds majority necessary to override a presidential veto.

Black women face much higher maternal death rate than whites
According to a study announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention September 3, between 18 and 22 Black women died from complications with pregnancy or childbirth for each 100,000 live births - almost four times the rate for women who are white. The rates remained essentially the same over the course of the study, conducted from 1982 to 1996. More than half of these deaths were caused by excess bleeding, infection, pregnancy-induced high blood pressure, or irregular pregnancies - problems that can usually be prevented or treated with early diagnosis.

Basque fighters call cease-fire
The organization Basque Homeland and Freedom (ETA), which is fighting for independence of the Basque Country from Spain and France, announced an open-ended cease-fire September 16. A four-page statement issued by the ETA reads, "Taking into account the situation of the Basque Country, as well as present opportunity and longing for freedom, Euskadi Ta Askatasuna [ETA] announces an indefinite, complete cessation of military operations." ETA reserved the right to retaliate against aggression and did not disarm. "We would not be entering into this new situation" without the continued fight from Basque people, the statement said. Spanish authorities, who have framed-up, jailed, and murdered supporters of Basque independence for decades, reacted cooly to the nationalist initiative. Prime Minister José María Aznar said, "After 39 years of terrorist activity, we cannot give ETA the benefit of the doubt." Meanwhile, on September 19, 23 political parties, labor unions, and others called for unconditional multilateral talks with the ETA.

UN backs Algerian dictatorship
A United Nations "fact-finding team" visited Algeria last summer and issued a report September 16 blaming "Islamic radicals" for most of the killing taking place in that country and calling for the "world's sympathy" for the government there. The report spoke in general terms about "excesses" against civilians that the government has carried out. Amnesty International called the report a "whitewash" of that government's abuses, pointing out that the so-called fact finders made no effort to meet with the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) or anyone else Algerian rulers consider "security risks."

In 1992 the FIS was poised to win elections by a landslide. The vote was canceled after a military coup. The FIS was then officially dissolved and many of its leaders were jailed or killed. As the Algerian people began protesting the coup, the army turned on them setting off a civil war that resulted in the deaths of more than 75,000 people. While the Algerian government blames a splinter group of the FIS for most of the killings, mounting evidence points to the ruling class there as the creators of death squads.

Moscow issues rubles to pay debt
The Russian government began issuing billions of rubles in loans to its all banks September 18 in an effort to pay debts, setting aside dire warnings of hyperinflation by U.S. and other officials. New Russian prime minister Yevgeny Primakov's regime will allow Russian banks to repay the loans with bonds that were frozen when that country devalued its currency August 17. But foreign investors' bonds remain frozen and can't be used to repay loans. Some of these bankers sent Primakov a letter protesting unequal treatment. According to the plan, after all the loans have been distributed, those banks that cannot repay them, go under. Meanwhile, as the ruble continues to fall, the value of foreign-owned treasury bonds in Russia has plummeted from $11 billion in mid-August to $5 billion.

-BRIAN TAYLOR

 
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home