New
Delhi, 05
July
2004
The
interest rates in USA were increased by a quarter percent but the
stock market fell 100 points and those who sold stock entered the
Bond market. The early hand over of Saddam Hussein to the Iraqi
Government was the talk of all analysts and what exactly it will
mean for the 160,000 US troops as Gen Casey took over from Gen
Sanchez in Baghdad. In USA the Coast Guard took a serious view of
the International Security At Sea Code and any ship not certified
was denied permission to enter US Ports as of 1July. A Bolivian
freighter was the first ship to be turned away from Miami. On
terrorism, a news item on Pakistan is appended and the bad news for
foreigners working in USA including Indians with H1 and equivalent
visas was that they will have to go back to their home countries to
get visas extended.
U.S.
Steps Up Airport Focus on Pakistan
By
Josh Meyer, Times Staff Writer
LOS
ANGELES TIMES, JULY 1, 2004
(All
travelers of Pakistani descent, including American citizens,
will
get extra scrutiny in an effort to intercept terrorist trainees.)
In
a sign of growing concern over Islamic militants' training camps in
Pakistan, the Department of Homeland Security has ordered its
inspectors at America's largest airports to scrutinize all travelers
of Pakistani descent — including U.S. citizens — in an effort to
catch terrorist trainees who might try to enter the United States,
officials said Wednesday.
In
its warning, which began circulating June 17, the Customs and Border
Protection agency requested intensified searches at checkpoints at
Los Angeles International Airport and at the main international
airports in New York, Washington, Chicago, Detroit and Newark, N.J.
In
particular, agents are being told to look for signs of injuries that
could have been received during paramilitary training — such as
rope burns, unusual bruises and scars.
A
Pakistani diplomat in Washington decried the warning as unwarranted
and said it could undermine relations between the U.S. and Pakistan.
A
Homeland Security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
confirmed that the warning had been issued, but said it was
confidential and described it as one of many such briefings given to
agents as part of the department's developing border enforcement
process. He said it was the first to address training camps in
Pakistan.
"We
don't have specific intelligence that indicates there is a mass
exodus of people from Pakistan training camps intent on coming here
to do attacks," he said. "It's more that there are
terrorist training camps there, as there are elsewhere around the
world, and we want to tell people to be on the lookout."
The
official said he could not discuss operational details, including
how the agents will try to ascertain whether a passenger is of
Pakistani origin. But he said the agents have been instructed to
take particular note of recent travelers to Pakistan and "to
look for other clues."
Most
of the camps in Pakistan are thought to be overseen by militants who
belong to fundamentalist Islamic organizations with links to Al
Qaeda, the official said. He added that they were probably less
sophisticated than the training operations that Al Qaeda oversaw in
Afghanistan before the U.S.-led military campaign to destroy them in
late 2001.
The
warning to customs agents was based on general concerns about
activity at such camps, and not on any specific information about a
planned attack, the official said.
The
warning cites information obtained during Pakistani military raids
near the border with Afghanistan. "It is reasonable to expect
that many of the individuals trained are destined to commit illegal
activities in the United States," the warning states.
Mohammed
Sadiq, deputy chief of mission at the Pakistani Embassy in
Washington, said the warning threatened to undermine the close
relationship between the two countries in the fight against
terrorism.
"It
is not only unfortunate, but based on ignorance," Sadiq said.
"Warnings like these … harm us a lot and they harm Pakistani
Americans and people from Pakistan who visit the United
States."
Even
before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, U.S. authorities and their
counterparts in India were closely monitoring such camps. They
contend that the camps have trained Islamic militants fighting along
with Pakistan against India in the contested area of Kashmir.
Last
month, the staff of the independent commission investigating the
Sept. 11 attacks concluded in a report that Pakistan's military and
intelligence services had worked closely with Al Qaeda and its
former supporters in Afghanistan, the Taliban, in training militants
and in other operational efforts.
And
though Pakistan is a key ally of the United States in its war on
terrorism, its troops have been unable to prevent Al Qaeda and
Taliban fugitives from sneaking into Pakistan and finding safe haven
in its mountainous tribal areas and cities. Several of Al Qaeda's
most senior operatives have been captured in Pakistan, including
Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah and Ramzi Binalshibh.
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