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Executions doubled in '01, report finds
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Los Angeles Times
GENEVA -- The number of known executions around the world doubled last year, with China accounting for 80% of that total during its crackdown on crime, Amnesty International said Tuesday.
In its annual report on the death penalty, the human rights group said at least 3,048 people were executed in 31 countries last year.
That includes 2,468 executions in China. From April to July 2001, China executed at least 1,781 people during its national "strike hard" campaign against crime. Four countries--China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the [an error occurred while processing this directive]
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Hypocrisy: Iran daily believes oppressors, tyrants cannot last
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IRNA
Tehran -- `Kayhan International' on Wednesday warned
that arrogant countries, tyrants and those who trample on the rights
of others in the hope of intimidating the rest of the world into
submission are actually creating an "anti-thesis" within themselves
which, in all probability, could help eradicate oppression per se.
It said trants and world oppressors could actually be "paper
tigers," nefarious but excruciatingly vulnerable and incredibly
fragile.
It recalled the belligerent accusations of US President George W.
Bush naming countries such as Iran "an axis of evil," adding that
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Tensions reported rising near Iranian border
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Associated Press
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Rival Afghan factions are massing fighters in Nimroz province along Afghanistan (news - web sites)'s border with Iran, the Afghan Islamic Press reported Wednesday.
Forces opposed to Gov. Abdul Karim Brohi have seized Guldana and its nearby areas, the Pakistan-based agency reported. The governor have sent 500 fresh fighters to strengthen his position near the area, the agency said.
Guldana is important because it controls a key trade route and that whoever controls the area can collect [an error occurred while processing this directive]
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U.S. fears 2nd front in Mideast conflict
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The Washington Post
Israel, Hezbollah Clash on Northern Border
The Bush administration is increasingly concerned about a possible second front in the Middle East conflict opening along Israel's northern border with Lebanon. In the latest of a series of exchanges over the past two weeks, Israel launched airstrikes yesterday against a southern Lebanese village in response to rocket attacks on a disputed frontier area by the militant group Hezbollah.
In an unusually direct and high-level diplomatic warning, Vice President Cheney telephoned Syrian President Bashar Assad on Monday to say that the border situation could spiral out of control in the region's current volatile atmosphere and undermine already-fragile U.S. peace efforts, an administration source said.
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Aridi meets Hamdan, reiterates right to free Shebaa farms
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The Daily Star
Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said Monday that Lebanon adhered to its right to liberate the Shebaa Farms and to free Lebanese captives held in Israeli prisons, adding that the government continuously coordinated with the resistance.
However, Aridi said: “We do not approve any (military) action if it is not within the framework of the Lebanese resistance, because any uncalculated move would not yield the anticipated results or help Lebanon or the Palestinians.” Aridi, who made the comments after talks with Hamas’ Lebanon representative, Osama Hamdan, said he held Washington responsible for Israeli aggression and atrocities in the Palestinian territories.
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Police, protesters clash in Bahrain
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The New York Times
MANAMA, Bahrain -- Police clashed Wednesday with several hundred high school students trying to march to the U.S. Embassy in Bahrain. Many were treated for tear gas inhalation as protests that have swept the Arab world are turning increasingly violent.
Doctors at the nearby Salmaniya Medical Complex said they treated about 300 protesters. Some were hurt by rubber bullets fired by police, but most were suffering from tear gas. There were no serious injuries.
Some doctors staged their own small protest in support of the demonstrators, marching in the hospital compound chanting, ``Death to America!'' and ``Death to Israel!''
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Poppy harvest begins in Southern Afghanistan despite government eradication plan
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The Associated Press
ESSAZAI KILI, Afghanistan -- Some poppy farmers in Afghanistan's biggest opium-producing region have started harvesting this year's crop early in hopes of finishing before the government moves to destroy their narcotic-bearing plants.
"We're in a hurry. We're afraid the government will come and eradicate our fields," village chief Mohammed Agha said Tuesday. His workers were slitting the green poppy bulbs and collecting the milky opium resin 10 days ahead of harvest time.
The accelerated efforts of Agha and his laborers signal how difficult it will be for the weak Afghan [an error occurred while processing this directive]
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Saudi newspaper poll finds 60 percent of Saudis hate the United States
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Associated Press
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - A Saudi newspaper published a poll Monday that found that 60 percent of Saudis hate the United States, the kingdom's close ally, mostly because of its policy toward the Palestinians.
The poll in the Al Watan daily, owned by the royal family, questioned 2,000 Saudi men and women from 15 Saudi cities a few days before Israel's incursion into the West Bank on March 29. The poll did not give a margin of error.
Responding to a question, "Do you hate the West in general?" 49 percent of Saudis said yes, 30 percent said no and 21 percent said they don't care.
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