------- Index of Articles

NUCLEAR
Special report: George Bush's America
Duratek Reports $12.5 Million Loss
Taiwan Holds War Games Ahead of U.S. Arms Decision
Taiwan Faces Divide Over Possible U.S. Radar Deal
'The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm'
France makes pledge for Lithuanian nuke closure
Russian-U.S. relations have gotten off to a rocky start
Russia Wants Warmer U.S. Relations
Labor Dept. To Aid Bomb Plant Workers
Ca. power crisis sparks fresh look at nuke power
Earth Day Editorial
Nuclear risks and rewards

MILITARY
Taiwanese not worried about U.S. delay on destroyers
Dozens of Colombians Reported Massacred
Colombian rebels free 34 oil workers
Seriously Ill Join Marijuana Buyers' Clubs for Medicine
Nightclubs Hire Ambulances for Overdoses, Skipping 911
Connecticut Judge to Decide if Skakel Case Goes to Trial
Go figure
Bush Says Iran, Libya Sanctions to Stay
Cuba is condemned by rights agency
Missile security
Pentagon lying about Israeli missile sales to China

OTHER
Bush Will Sign Treaty Curtailing Lethal Chemicals
Bush to sign world treaty that forbids 12 toxic chemicals
The new administration's environmental actions
Bush´s image
Humpback whale frolics off Greece
CANADA AND THE SUMMITS OF THE AMERICAS
Bush's Job at Quebec Talks: Push Case for Free Trade
Why we need Cuba at table in Canada
President set for debut on world stage
Free trade by 2005
Days Before Arrest, Suspected Spy Sought Job Outside F.B.I.
U.S.-China Collision Talks End With Need for More Talk
China detains American writer for suspected spying
Beijing refuses to give response on return of surveillance plane

ACTIVISTS
leaked FTAA investment chapter document
Ten arrested in Washington environmental protest
McCartney brings landmine campaign to Washington
Pacific environmentalists seek US goods boycott
THE MARCH CONTINUES, TENSIONS INCREASE IN THE CHAPARE


-------- NUCLEAR

-------- britain

Special report: George Bush's America

Friday April 20, 2001
The Guardian

During the late 50s, when fears of Soviet nuclear attack began to quicken, with a certain amount of encouragement from western governments, the US Air Force proposed a controversial counter-measure: a ballistic missile early warning system should be built, involving radar stations sited as close as possible to where the attack would supposedly be launched. In other words not in America at all, but on European soil.

Suitable locations needed to be near the sea, with an unobstructed view of the horizon. They had to be high up, with enough distance and difficult terrain between them and the shoreline to deter any raiding party landed by submarine. And they had to be in a country that was used to giving America what it wanted.

In 1959, the British government was asked if Prestwick, an existing US Air Force base south of Glasgow, could be expanded to take the new radar. But there was a problem: the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament was gaining momentum, and the radar's presence near a large left-wing city would draw protesters. Moreover, they would have a point; as the American magazine Aviation Week admitted, the radar "would make the area a prime target". The British said no to Prestwick. In 1960, the Americans tried again. This time, they suggested somewhere so bleak and remote that, they successfully argued, even the most determined peace campaigners would not want to linger: Fylingdales.

Up on this bald rust-brown moor above Whitby in north Yorkshire, late spring feels like midwinter. The wind is a blast of invisible ice cubes off the North Sea. There are few trees or walls to interrupt the lowering clouds or the records collected by meteorologists.

And for most of the time since 1963, when the radar station began functioning, it has peered down on the world from its ridgetop, at first as a set of giant pale spheres, more recently as a single grey pyramid, somewhere between Aztec temple and vast Toblerone chunk, without attracting much criticism.

There have been local complaints about mysterious malfunctions by car alarms and radios. There have been small peace marches and temporary protest camps, sporadic trespasses by campaigners against American bases, chilled figures with banners and leaflets beside the A169, the only road in this empty corner of England, with its no-stopping signs and bylaws forbidding meetings where "matters of public interest are discussed".

But Fylingdales has never become unacceptable to Britons in general. Until, perhaps, the past few months. Since George Bush took office as American president in January, a previously faint suspicion about his country's strategic intentions, at least in the minds of most non-Americans, has solidified into an alarming realisation. "Star Wars", or America's long-standing and erratically pursued dream of using space as a defensive barrier against missile assault, is now a "moral" and "constitutional" priority of the new administration, rather than a mere fantasy project dogged by technical failures.

Fylingdales and another American base in north Yorkshire, Menwith Hill near Harrogate, will very likely be central elements of this new anti-missile system. Long-range radars sited in Britain, as in the American early warning scheme of the late 1950s, will be ideally positioned, thanks to the curvature of the Earth, to spot rockets from Russia or China or the Middle East early in their trajectories.

But this time there will be significant differences. America intends to shoot down enemy missiles. Exactly who this enemy might be is no longer a matter of western consensus. And unlike during the cold war, the silent American compounds of perimeter fencing and aerials on British hilltops, with their American officers and orders from and direct links to American headquarters, may extend no protection to their host nation.

"I don't know anyone in the government, including the prime minister, who thinks it is a great idea," says a Labour minister who has negotiated with the Americans over National Missile Defense (NMD), as Star Wars has revealingly long been known in Washington. "There is deep opposition within the party. People think it's mad, and people think it's dangerous." And even worse than the American cruise missiles so contentiously deployed at Greenham Common, he adds, the British parts of NMD would require local planning permission and an extension of the bases in question. "You are going to get everybody from the Women's Institute to CND on your back if this thing is built." Yet, in the way of Anglo-American relations since the second world war, Britain is getting ready to agree. Officially, the Ministry of Defence maintains that no specific American proposals have been received. But the minister continues: "Obviously, America is our closest ally, and we would like to be helpful." He talks about "influencing" Washington into choosing "a version of NMD we can all live with".

On Menwith Hill, the results of this policy of incremental concessions may already be visible. Since last summer, a pair of smooth white globes have sprouted, mounted on white stalks like great button mushrooms, amid the older huts and domes of this long-established American listening station on the moors. These new structures are for tracking satellites. The current British line is that they are not "intended" to become part of an anti-missile system.

Lindis Percy and Anni Rainbow disagree. For the past five years, from a small terraced house a few miles south, with Gandhi's writings on civil disobedience on the shelves and their correspondence in determined piles, they have sought to expose the Americans' long-term plans for Menwith Hill. "We were up there last night," says Rainbow, who is in early middle age and uses a wheelchair. "Just looking around." Percy, who has the smiling calm of an activist who is always being arrested, adds: "As soon as we hear anything in the planning office, we will absolutely alert the world!"

Their Campaign for Accountability of American Bases has links with the campaigning television comedian Mark Thomas. Tony Benn gets their newsletter. They do not seem intimidated by the armed guards and exclusion zones around Menwith Hill: "We bring a lot of techniques that we learned at Greenham," Percy says.

But if the Americans' grand design is to be defeated, as they are sure it will be, then a broader range of people probably needs to be energised. There are a few signs of this happening. The CND website has recorded an increase in visitors since Bush took office. "I've taken calls from people who have said, 'I want to rejoin,'" says Nigel Chamberlain, who deals with inquiries about Star Wars. The North York Moors National Park Authority, which in theory at least can approve or reject any new construction at Fylingdales, will not comment in advance of any planning application, but says there is a general "incompatibility" between "military and national park activities".

Not that the people who live nearest the base have necessarily noticed, though. While Menwith Hill and its opponents are on the fringe of urban Yorkshire, with its protester networks and peace studies academics, Fylingdales is far to the north, in a more rural and conservative area. Since it was built, handfuls of local people have helped to staff it, while others have sent questioning journalists on their way with gruff statements of support for the Americans. When the original radar station was demolished in the 1980s, pieces of the spheres were eagerly collected by local residents.

Goathland is the only settlement near the new grey slab, a pretty straggle of a village on the other side of the A169. The nostalgic police series about Yorkshire in the early 1960s, Heartbeat, is filmed here; there is an immaculate little station for the local steam railway; the local shops, busy with tourists, have freshly painted period facades. You could say Goathland depends for its existence on maintaining certain illusions about an eternal, independent England. "People who think differently are not always keen to say so," says Jackie Fearnley, one of the village's few critics of Fylingdales.

She moved north from Suffolk a few years ago. Slightly unsuitable plants struggle in her front garden. She wears two oatmeal jumpers and a rainbow scarf as we sit in her living room. She speaks cautiously, at first, about opposing the radar station. "People are saying, 'Could there be another Greenham Common at Fylingdales?', but I don't think so." She looks resigned for a moment. "My children ask me now what Greenham Common was."

Instead, a few weeks after Bush took office, Fearnley drove down to Whitby on the coast and met up with three other people with experience of activism against GM food and nuclear weapons. They formed the Fylingdales Action Network, with the single aim of making any local contribution to Star Wars politically impossible. The group now has about 50 members, has held two meetings and one demonstration, and is very concerned not to seem too militant. There was considerable debate, at the start, as to whether the word "action" was too aggressive.

But the case the group makes against NMD (now being hastily renamed Ballistic Missile Defense, or plain Missile Defense as opposition swells in Europe) is a fundamental one. "How would the Americans feel," asks Fearnley, "if we put something in their national park?" She raises her quiet voice slightly: "This seems like yet another example of America wanting to have their wars fought away from their home territory."

The American embassy in London insists it is listening to such criticisms: "The concerns of our allies have to be taken into account." But in Whitby last week, at a meeting of Fearnley's fellow activists, the air was thick with suspicion of American intentions in general. The confrontation with China, the rejection of the Kyoto agreement on global warming, the international ambitions of American corporations - this was the pattern into which the eight mild, middle-class people in the borrowed living room fitted the likely expansion of Fylingdales. That Britain should remain one of Washington's "allies" at all was implicitly questioned in every polite sentence.

It is just possible that a prolonged public battle over Star Wars will finally end this unequal relationship. At the least, enough messy arrests on the North York moors could lead, ultimately, to the dismantling of America's many British bases. "If they were challenged, things would crumble rather fast," says Michael Codner of the Institute for Defence Studies. One day, "these things will seem to be rather extraordinary". Even after almost 40 years, Fylingdales and Menwith Hill do not appear on civilian maps.

Then again, America's current dominance of the world is extraordinary in itself. Near the end of the Whitby meeting, someone suggested that Star Wars was actually just the beginning of America's ambitions to dominate space. "They're going to harvest it," the young man in glasses said, looking small on the large white sofa. "Control its economics. Have absolute control of every moving object." A brief, doomy silence fell on the room before the talk returned to future protest tactics.

Afterwards, in the taxi back to Goathland, there were no lights for miles, and the moors rose black against the night sky. Then the road suddenly climbed and a great twinkling rectangle of orange lights appeared in the distance, with a pyramid of red lights at its centre. As it floated on the horizon for the rest of the journey, a thought occurred. Fylingdales is already much bigger than it appears in daylight.

-------- business

Duratek Reports $12.5 Million Loss
Radioactive Waste Buildup Blamed

By Sabrina Jones
Washington Post
Friday, April 20, 2001
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A39266-2001Apr19?language=printer

Duratek Inc. of Columbia said yesterday that it lost $12.5 million in the fourth quarter and $9.1 million in all of 2000, after reporting operating problems with its radioactive-waste processing facilities.

The company also said it revised its financial results for the first three quarters of last year and all of 1999. Duratek said the previously reported figures did not reflect a buildup of unprocessed waste.

Last month, the company postponed the release of its financial results to review its plants in Memphis and Oak Ridge, Tenn. The company said it incurred $14 million in unexpected overtime, waste-burial and transportation costs in the fourth quarter, after waste-storage space ran out at the Oak Ridge plant.

Duratek lost $12.5 million (95 cents per share) on $66.9 million in revenue for the quarter ended Dec. 31. That compares with a profit of $3.8 million (19 cents a share) on $51.5 million in revenue for the same period in 1999.

For all of 2000, Duratek lost $9.1 million (79 cents) on revenue of $229.8 million, compared with profit of $10.8 million (55 cents) on $176.4 million in revenue in 1999. The company said its operating problems will also hurt its results for the first quarter of 2001.

Duratek shares closed yesterday at $3.81, up 53 cents, on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

In a conference call yesterday, Duratek's chief executive, Robert E. Prince, said that the company has hired new accounting staff for its waste-processing plants and that the manager of the Bear Creek disposal plant in Oak Ridge has been replaced.

"This was a complex problem," Prince said. "Let there be no doubt that as a management team, I fully feel that we failed our shareholders, that this did not need to happen. . . . But the milk is spilled."

Robert F. Shawver, Duratek's chief financial officer, said the company last year started several new waste-processing programs. Complications arose when the start-up of the new processes was pushed back to last last year, leading to an accumulation of waste and high labor, shipping and burial costs, he said.

"The company ran into a condition when it had waste accumulating on site," Shawver said. "That had a negative impact on profitability in the fourth quarter in specific areas. . . . We believe the company is back on track, although these things did carry over into the first quarter."

The company said that because of its losses, it had to negotiate waivers and amendments to agreements with its banks. Duratek's $135 million credit line has been reduced to $125 million, the company said.

The company has scheduled another conference call with shareholders for 11 a.m. April 30 to discuss its financial future.

Prince said the company's other divisions performed well, and Duratek remains a leader in radioactive-waste disposal. He said the company plans to expand its operations overseas. Its clients include commercial nuclear power plants, the U.S. Department of Energy, universities, hospitals and laboratories.

"What I would like our shareholders to focus on is that we didn't lose the assets," Prince said. "We have the most complete set of tools to deal with customers' low-level radioactive waste issues of any company in the United States."

-------- china / taiwan

Taiwan Holds War Games Ahead of U.S. Arms Decision

Friday April 20
By Alice Hung
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010420/wl/taiwan_exercises_dc_1.html

PINGTUNG, Taiwan (Reuters) - Taiwan's military practiced how to repel a Chinese invasion Friday, just days ahead of a potentially explosive U.S. decision on which advanced weapons to sell to the island.

Two F-5E fighters armed with Taiwan-made missiles and Cobra helicopters carrying U.S.-made Hellfire missiles attacked floating targets in the Taiwan Strait, kicking off the annual ''Han Kuang'' (Chinese Glory) exercises involving 3,380 troops.

``I believe the impressive effect of these exercises will increase the confidence of our people about the ability of our armed forces to defend the country,'' drill Commander Chen Chin-sheng told reporters as all branches of the armed forces took part.

A fast patrol boat followed up the air attacks by firing anti-ship missiles at floating targets.

An armored battalion then simulated an attack on enemies hitting the beach, opening fire in a deafening roar as residents of the south Taiwan onion-growing town of Chechen crowded a nearby roadside to watch.

The annual exercises come at a sensitive time as Taiwan awaits a U.S. decision next week on its request for arms, including four destroyers with the missile-hunting Aegis radar system, submarines and an advanced Patriot missile defense system known as PAC-3.

While Taiwan's leaders have urged Washington to help defend their fledgling democracy by providing it with proper defenses, they avoided taking sides during the U.S.-China row over a downed spy plane. China considers Taiwan a renegade province.

U.S. Weaponry

Taiwan also used its newly developed Thunder 2000 multi-barreled rocket launcher in a live-fire drill for the first time.

Taiwan, which has cut its armed forces to 400,000, is counting on advanced weaponry to counter the threat from China's 2.5 million-strong People's Liberation Army -- the world's largest fighting force.

China has deployed an increasing number of missiles in coastal provinces facing Taiwan, and many of the anti-missile defenses on its shopping list reflect that threat.

President Chen Shui-bian, who alarmed Beijing with his election victory last year, has softened a pro-independence stand in the face of Chinese threats to attack Taiwan if the island declares independence or drags its feet on unification talks.

Beijing remains deeply suspicious of Chen and has refused to deal with his government.

Chen did not attend the anti-landing exercises that launched the military exercise, which traditionally last several weeks. He is scheduled to attend the commissioning of a batch of about 20 French-made Mirage fighters on May 10.

Taiwan analysts said Washington was unlikely to sell Taiwan the politically sensitive Aegis system as the United States shores up ties with China strained by the spy plane collision.

``I will not be surprised if we don't get the Aegis this year and it's not necessarily bad news for us,'' said National Chengchi University diplomacy professor Teng Chung-chian.

Teng said older U.S. Kidd-class destroyers, which the United States might supply, could go into immediate service, but the military may need eight years to launch Arleigh Burke class destroyers with the Aegis system.

Also on the island's shopping list are up to 70 Boeing AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopters, Harpoon anti-ship missiles, HARM anti-radiation missiles and eight to 12 Lockheed Martin P-3 maritime search and anti-submarine aircraft.

----

Taiwan Faces Divide Over Possible U.S. Radar Deal

By John Pomfret
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, April 20, 2001
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A36938-2001Apr19?language=printer

TAIPEI, Taiwan, April 18 -- As the Bush administration weighs a major arms sale to Taiwan, the Taiwanese government and private security experts here are divided over whether the controversial Aegis advanced radar system should be part of the package.

Foreign Minister Tien Hung-mao said in an interview that his government's quest to obtain the Aegis system has become "incredibly politicized" in Taiwan, indicating that although he supports buying the system, now might not be the time because of the potential cost to relations among Beijing, Washington and Taipei.

President Chen Shui-bian has made known he unreservedly supports the Aegis purchase. But within the Taiwanese armed forces, the debate has been fierce, sources said.

A former defense minister has opposed the purchase, saying the $3.2 billion price tag for four Arleigh Burke-class destroyers equipped with the radar would constitute a "money pit" that Taiwan cannot afford. There is no agreement within the navy itself, according to Taiwanese officials, with one side behind the Aegis purchase and another seeking submarines and anti-submarine warfare equipment instead.

"There is no unanimity in Taipei," said Andrew Yang, a leading Taiwan-based security analyst.

To Taiwan and China alike, the Aegis has great political significance because of its association with a U.S. plan for a regional missile defense system. Taiwan's politicians -- and officials in China -- would interpret any decision to sell the Aegis as a signal that the United States was moving toward integrating Taiwan into its security architecture in Asia. As a result, the Aegis is popular with Taiwan's politicians, but not necessarily with its military.

Taiwanese government officials said privately they fear that the confusion over how to proceed with Taiwan's defenses could tempt the Bush administration to reject certain weapons, including the Aegis. Taiwan, some Western officials have argued, is not only incapable of handling the Aegis technology, but it also does not really know whether it wants it.

According to reports from Washington, President Bush's security aides have recommended against the Aegis sale but have urged supplying Taiwan with other equipment, including older Kidd-class destroyers. Bush is scheduled to make a decision before the end of the month, a choice more politically charged than usual since the April 1 collision between a U.S. surveillance plane and a Chinese interceptor.

The controversy reflects a broader issue on this democratizing island of 23 million people.

For the past five decades, Taiwan's security was the purview of a small circle of Nationalist Party military officers who paid close attention to the United States. Not any longer. Starting with the election last year of Chen, Taiwan's first president from outside the Nationalist Party, security issues have become more public than at any time since the Nationalists fled here after losing the Chinese civil war to Mao Zedong's Communist forces in 1949.

Defense experts and advocates now hold opinions ranging from reunification with China, with the argument that Taiwan should do little to defend itself, to development of offensive weapons despite the risk of Beijing's wrath. Some of Taiwan's younger strategic thinkers are even urging the unthinkable, weakening the link between Taiwan's security and the United States.

Under a vague law, the United States has undertaken aiding Taiwan with its defense, but it is not clear whether the United States would dispatch troops to defend Taiwan against a Chinese onslaught.

Currently, a Taiwanese military delegation is in Washington with a wish list for weapons mainly for the navy. Taiwan's air force is still trying to absorb three recent acquisitions: American-built F-16 fighters, French-built Mirage 2000s and a Taiwanese-designed fighter.

But the wish list, Taiwanese sources said, reflects some of the strategic confusion within Taiwan. At the top of the list is the Aegis, a battlefield management system that can detect and track more than 100 missiles, aircraft or surface vessels at a time. Second are submarines and anti-submarine warfare equipment, led by the P-3 Orion submarine-tracking plane, Taiwanese military officers said.

Taiwan's fighting men generally back the purchase of submarines and anti-submarine warfare equipment. "The Aegis is too expensive and it implies an unnecessary reliance on the United States," said Yuan I, a young strategist based at the Institute of International Relations at National Chengchi University. "The submarines give us more flexibility."

Submarines can be used as offensive weapons, something Washington has banned Taiwan from acquiring in the past. The fact that Washington, after years of blunt rejection, is seriously considering the request this year is viewed as a breakthrough of sorts, a former U.S. military officer in the region said.

China claims that Taiwan is an inalienable part of its territory and has threatened to attack the island if it declares independence. An overwhelming majority of Taiwanese support continuation of the status quo -- no declaration of independence, but no moves toward unifying with China. The question for most people is how to maintain this status quo, or how to guarantee Taiwan's security in the face of China's modernizing military.

China says it opposes all U.S. weapons sales to Taiwan, but it has singled out the Aegis. As a battlefield management system, the Aegis would give Taiwan the ability to counter a Chinese attack and defend against Beijing's only strategic trump card, its 300 missiles just across the 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait. Beijing also opposes the Aegis because it is viewed in both China and Taiwan as a step toward closer military ties between Taiwan and the United States.

China for years has also strenuously opposed the sale of submarines to Taiwan. China has more than 20 submarines, which conduct exercises as far as Taiwan's east coast. Taiwan has only two operable vessels and two Guppy-class subs that are more than 50 years old.

-------- depleted uranium

'The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm':
Questioning U.S. Motives in the Persian Gulf War

New York Times
April 20, 2001
By DAVE KEHR
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/20/arts/20HIDD.html

It has been 11 years since Saddam Hussein sent his troops marching into Kuwait and 10 years since the United States and its allies announced a sudden cease-fire in the conflict that came to be known as the Persian Gulf war. Yet for a large number of Americans, the reasons behind the conflict remain unclear and its consequences obscure.

As its title suggests, "The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm," a documentary made on video by Gerard Ungerman and Audrey Brohy, is a frankly skeptical account of America's involvement in Iraq, from the C.I.A.'s early support of Mr. Hussein as a stabilizing force in the region to the war's untidy aftermath. The filmmakers say the conflict has left large portions of the country littered with radioactive spent rounds made from depleted uranium. One result has been a drastic increase in cancer among both Iraqi civilians and American soldiers who served in the conflict.

Mr. Ungerman and Ms. Brohy interview an impressive range of authorities, not all of them from the same end of the political spectrum. Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of what the Americans called Operation Desert Storm, is played against former Attorney General Ramsey Clark; the former head of the United Nations Iraq program, Denis Halliday, finds his opposite number in a State Department spokesman, David Welch.

The United States government is portrayed in the film as having deliberately exaggerated Mr. Hussein's threat to the oil-rich nations of the Persian Gulf, hoping to frighten one of them into allowing an American base to be established within its borders. Eventually Saudi Arabia granted permission. But the filmmakers are unable to find photographic proof of the 250,000 Iraqi troops said to have been poised at the Kuwaiti border. An investigative reporter, Jean Heller, interviewed by the filmmakers, says bluntly, "The administration lied to the Saudis to get the invitation to come in."

The film also contends that the mysteriously premature cease-fire was called to allow Mr. Hussein to put down a revolutionary movement that might have deprived the United States of its favorite boogeyman; that the United States government knowingly suppressed evidence that the depleted uranium rounds were toxic; and that the sanctions against Iraq have been allowed to outrun their purpose and have caused a health-care disaster among Iraqi citizens.

Though the filmmakers are not above using sentimental close-ups of sad-eyed children to underline their points, "The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm," which opens today at the Cinema Village, emerges as an uncommonly sober, well-researched film of its type.

Playing with "Hidden Wars" is "The F.L.I.R. Project," a 30-minute video directed by Michael McNulty, which reopens the question of the F.B.I.'s conduct in the Branch Davidian raid of 1993. Though the Justice Department denies that any weapons were fired on the Davidians to force them back into the burning buildings (and to probable death), Mr. McNulty makes the case that traces of gunfire are visible on the infrared images recorded on the scene by the F.B.I.'s forward-looking infrared radar, which can detect heat sources. Much of the argument delves into the technological minutiae memorably parodied by the "magic loogie" episode of "Seinfeld," but there is food for thought here as well.

THE HIDDEN WARS OF DESERT STORM

Written, produced and directed by Gerard Ungerman and Audrey Brohy; directors of photography, Mr. Ungerman and Ms. Brohy; edited by Jason Stelzel; music by Fritz Heede; released by Free-Will Productions. At the Cinema Village, 22 East 12th Street, Greenwich Village. Running time: 64 minutes; shown with a 30-minute short documentary, "The F.L.I.R. Project." These films are not rated.

WITH: Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, Ramsey Clark, Denis Halliday, Jean Heller and Scott Ritter; John Hurt (narrator).

-------- france

France makes pledge for Lithuanian nuke closure

LITHUANIA: April 20, 2001
REUTERS
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10565

VILNIUS - France pledged yesterday to donate 1.5 million euros ($1.33 million) for the closure of the first unit of Lithuania's Ignalina nuclear plant, the Lithuanian government said yesterday. The government's press office said in a statement the French offering to the Ignalina decommissioning support fund brings the pledge total from Western donors to 215 million euros ($189.9 million). France joins Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom in pledging to the fund.

Earlier this month Lithuania signed an agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the fund administrator, allowing Lithuania to start accessing funds for project-specific purposes related to the nuke's closure.

The European Union regards Ignalina as unsafe because it was built to the same design as Ukraine's disastrous Chernobyl plant, the scene of the world's largest civilian nuclear accident in 1986.

Lithuania decided to shut down the first of Ignalina's two reactors in 2005, and plans to make a decision on the second reactor in 2004.

The European Commission, however, urged European Union aspirant Lithuania to decide earlier if it wants to stay on course for fast-track EU entry.

Lithuania has said it wants to complete EU negotiations by the end of 2002 and enter the wealthy 15-member bloc by 2004.

Many in former-Soviet Lithuania have been reluctant to shut Ignalina, built on Moscow's orders in the 1980s, as it supplies more than 70 percent of the country's electricity and makes Lithuania one of the most nuclear-dependent countries in the world.

-------- missile defense

Russian-U.S. relations have gotten off to a rocky start

Atlanta Journal-Constitution
FRIDAY • April 20, 2001
http://www.accessatlanta.com/partners/ajc/epaper/editions/friday/news_a30e7742063f02980029.html

Moscow --- Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov today lamented that Russian-U.S. relations have gotten off to a rocky start under the new administration of President Bush.

In addition to sharp divisions over Washington's plans to develop a limited national missile defense system, Russia's nuclear energy and weapons deals with Iran and a recent spy scandal resulting in the tit-for-tat expulsions of 100 Russian and American diplomats have rocked bilateral relations.

''We would have liked to see a different start in relations with the new American administration,'' said Ivanov.

Ivanov said he would convey Moscow's desire for ''constructive dialogue'' when he travels to Washington next month for talks with Secretary of State Colin Powell.

-------- russia

Russia Wants Warmer U.S. Relations

Excite News
April 20, 2001
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer
http://news.excite.com/news/ap/010420/15/int-russia-us

MOSCOW (AP) - Russia wants to put bumpy relations with the United States back on track without abandoning its insistence that the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty be preserved, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Friday.

"We would have liked to see a different start in relations with the new American administration. But what has happened has happened, and we cannot reverse it," Ivanov said in a speech summing up the 10-year history of Russia's post-Soviet foreign policy.

Many analysts say Russian-American relations are at their lowest point since the 1991 Soviet collapse. Irritants include sharp divisions over Washington's plans to develop a limited national missile defense system, Russia's nuclear energy and weapons deals with Iran and a recent spy scandal resulting in the tit-for-tat expulsions of Russian and American diplomats.

The Kremlin has urged an early meeting between President Vladimir Putin and President Bush, but Washington has kept Moscow at arm's length. The two leaders aren't likely to meet until July, on the sidelines of a summit of the Group of Eight industrial nations in Genoa, Italy.

Ivanov said he would convey Moscow's desire to engage in "constructive dialogue" during his talks with Secretary of State Colin Powell scheduled for next month in Washington. "Confrontation isn't in our interests," he said.

"We are prepared not only to defend our approaches, but also to consider attentively the concerns, the well-founded concerns, which the American side may have," Ivanov said, apparently referring to Washington's worries about possible missile threats from such countries as North Korea and Iran.

"We are ready to jointly pinpoint and assess the existing or potential threats and work out countermeasures if necessary."

At the same time, Ivanov indicated that Moscow would stand its ground on missile defense.

"We must solve these problems without destroying the 1972 ABM treaty and, correspondingly, the entire system of disarmament and arms control agreements," Ivanov said, repeating a Russian proposal for a Europe-wide missile shield.

Without naming the United States, Ivanov said that "now, in the era of globalization, no country, no matter how powerful and influential, can direct world policy alone."

Ivanov underlined that Moscow's top foreign policy priority now was improving ties with Europe as well as with the former Soviet republics.

Russia has toned down its criticism of the United States while waiting to see what direction Washington will take, said Alexander Pikayev, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center.

But Pikayev said Russia's hopes to drive a wedge between the United States and Europe over missile defense are unrealistic.

"The Europeans fear worsening of the U.S.-Russian relations, but they also feel reluctant to meddle into the missile defense dispute. Instead of supporting Russia, they are likely to urge it to make concessions to the United States," Pikayev said.

On the Net:
Russian Foreign Ministry, http://www.mid.ru

-------- u.s. nuc facilities

Labor Dept. To Aid Bomb Plant Workers

Associated Press
Friday, April 20, 2001
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A38574-2001Apr19?language=printer

Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao confirmed that her agency will oversee a new compensation program for sick Cold War-era nuclear weapons workers but said Wednesday it will not meet a congressional deadline to accept applications.

Chao had wanted to shift control of the program to the Justice Department, which she said was better suited to oversee it. She changed her mind after criticism from lawmakers upset by Justice's running of a compensation program for former uranium miners and people who lived downwind of nuclear test blasts.

Chao also said her staff can't meet a July 31 deadline to begin taking applications, and she wants Congress to grant an extension.

The program approved last year by Congress offers lifetime medical care and $150,000 to ailing workers who were employed in the nuclear weapons complex, at factories that worked for the Energy Department, or at nuclear test sites in Alaska and Nevada.

The program is limited to those with cancer associated with radiation, silicosis or chronic beryllium disease.

The department set up a toll-free information number. [Note 2/27/06: This program has been transferred to the Department of Labor. The DOL toll free number for assistance with this program is 1-866-888-3322.]

----

Calif. power crisis sparks fresh look at nuke power

Excite News
April 20, 2001
By Vibeke Laroi
Reuters
http://news.excite.com/news/r/010420/14/utilities-nuclear?printstory=1

SAN FRANCISCO - The unthinkable is happening: California's power crisis is helping spark renewed interest in the nearly taboo subject of nuclear power, even in this environmentally conscious state.

"Investors are increasingly looking at nuclear as an attractive asset for utilities to own rather than a liability like before," James Asselstine, a managing director with Lehman Brothers, told Reuters at a recent nuclear conference here.

Utilities are lining up to extend the lives of their nuclear units, and some are assessing building new reactors.

"I think you could see an application to build a new nuclear power plant in the United States within the next five years," said Asseltine, who was invited to speak at a conference sponsored by the Washington D.C.-based industry group Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI).

The watchdog Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has not received a new plant application since the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear accident put a freeze on the industry.

In the past two decades, construction was halted on more than 40 nuclear units that had received NRC permission to build, and others were shut down after starting operations due to cost overruns and safety concerns, a NRC spokeswoman said.

The last construction permit issued by the NRC -- in 1973 -- was for the government-owned Tennessee Valley Authority's 1,170-megawatt Watts Bar facility in Spring City, Tenn., which began operating in 1996.

But the nuclear frost is now starting to thaw.

Nuclear experts expect most, if not all, of the nation's 103 nuclear units, which supply about 20 percent of U.S. energy needs, to extend their 40-year operating licenses by 20 years.

So far, the NRC says it has approved 20-year extensions for five nuclear units, has received applications to extend five more, and expects applications from about 33 additional ones.

CALIFORNIA -- A HARD NUT

Two top Silicon Valley leaders have even said quietly that California should take another look at nuclear power after a 1996 flawed deregulation law and supply crunch sent wholesale power prices skyrocketing, triggered rolling blackouts, and prompted the state's top utility to file for bankruptcy.

Scott McNealy, co-founder and chairman of Palo Alto-based high-tech giant Sun Microsystems, Inc. , lamented over the country's steep energy costs and California's almost daily power alerts declaring precariously low supplies.

"It's like a Third World nation out there in the Bay area," said McNealy, referring to the alerts in a speech to the National Press Club in Washington D.C. earlier this year.

"I'm going to do the politically incorrect thing and tell you the answer's going to be nuclear power."

Santa Clara-based Intel Corp. chief executive, Craig Barret, head of the world's No. 1 computer chip maker, has also said nuclear power is one of the answers to the states's energy crisis, although it's not politically correct.

California has only two nuclear plants, which account for nearly 15 percent of its energy needs. Although residents may have developed a greater appreciation for them after the power crisis, the Golden State will be a hard nut to crack.

"California is probably the worst place to build anything, not just a nuclear power plant," said Marvin Fertel, NEI senior vice president of business operations. And memories remain.

California's two-unit, 2,200-megawatt Diablo Canyon nuclear plant was redesigned twice: once after an earthquake fault was discovered near the site, and later when engineers read the blueprints backwards. The final bill for the plant exceeded projections by several billion dollars.

Then in 1989, residents of Sacramento County in California voted to close down a nuclear plant. The Rancho Seco plant was the first -- and only -- operating nuclear power station in the United States to be shut down as the result of a local referendum.

OPPORTUNITIES AND OBSTACLES

Experts say the first new nuclear plants will probably be built on existing sites in the Southeast or Midwest where nuclear opposition is less strong than places like California.

Advocates have always touted nuclear power as a source of abundant and relatively cheap fuel that is also "clean" because it does not produce any greenhouse gas emissions.

Now several recent changes are helping their cause.

Prices of other fuels are rising, prompting calls for diversifying fuel sources, and the industry has also improved its safety record and performance and cut production costs.

And a new, streamlined licensing process for future nuclear units ensures that all major design, safety, siting and other regulatory issues are resolved as early as possible -- before construction begins and billions of dollars are spent.

This is possible because the new NRC process uses standardized plant designs that are pre-approved, which means future nuclear plants will be almost fully designed when they are ordered, which should cut down the lead time between proposing and constructing a nuclear reactor.

"There is an air of optimism in the industry," Wes Taylor, president of generation at TXU Corp. , a leading energy services company based in Texas, told the NEI conference.

But he added: "The question of when a new power plant may be ordered is less easy to predict. More reforms are need before the barriers are entirely removed."

No new nuclear plants have been proposed since the reformed NRC licensing process was introduced in 1992, which means the new system still needs to be tested, nuclear experts say.

A solution to the U.S. nuclear waste storage problem still needs to be found and capital costs remain high, they add.

And of course, public confidence remains key.

"When it comes to nuclear power, not much has really changed. The problems of nuclear waste disposal, reactor safety and siting remain," said Carl Zichella, the California's regional staff director of the Sierra Club, vowing to fight "hammer and tongs" against any new nuclear plants.

"Nuclear is a technology that has had its day."

----

Earth Day Editorial

Fri, 20 Apr 2001 14:03:51 -0400
Scott D. Portzline - sportzline@home.com
The Harrisburg Patriot News

For three decades environmental concerns have become popularized because of events like Earth Day. Many people are afraid to call themselves environmentalists because of the recent trend to add the term "wacko."

There are some notable extremist schemes. To highlight extremism on both sides of the fence, I once prepared an oration entitled "A Whimsical Look at the Quacks, Quirks, and Quarks of Nuclear Plant Activism." Whether it was the nuclear expert who claimed to eat uranium to prove how safe it is, or the man who planned to disperse plutonium outside a nuclear plant to prove them dangerous, there is no shortage of people just begging a derogatory label.

Now, the "greenie weenies" (the latest moniker) are being blamed for California's energy woes. But that's not what the California government officials and utilities executives are saying. A spokesman for Reliant Energy's told reporters that assertions blaming environmentalists for holding back power production are "absolutely false."

Former Secretary of Energy, Bill Richardson, said he was "tired of excuses" when he found that utilities were witholding power from the grid. Additionally, wind generated electricity was throttled back during the shortages because of misguided contractual agreements drawn up by utility executives.

President Bush just slashed in half renewable energy programs despite promising to make it a fundamental concern of his administration. He's missing the perfect opportunity to jump start the mass production of modern wind turbines and solar panels currently used throughout the world. Ten percent of northeastern Pennsylvania will be powered by wind turbines one year from now. A concerted program would boost the economy by creating jobs, decrease pollution, and further diversify the US energy portfolio.

Politicians who look backwards for answers while modern technology has created simplified and cheap solutions are missing the mark. It brings to mind President Reagan's removal of the solar panels from the White House during his first week in office. It seemed to send a signal that "solar power is not welcome here."

There no longer exist any excuses for turning our backs on renewable technologies. It is the cleanest and most economical solution to our present and future needs. We ought to have the political will and leadership to accomplish this.

The nuclear industry was given a $100 billion dollar bailout to compete in a deregulated market. Unlike nuclear energy, solar and wind won't need a yearly $3 billion dollar subsidy, a federally funded catastrophic insurance, and a $20 billion dollar waste site which has only a fifty percent chance of ever opening.

Just last week, water was discovered in the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. The industry is taking a serious look at the "entombment option" which would turn existing nuclear plants into a dump by default. Some plants have sued the Department of Energy (DOE) and stopped paying into the decommissioning fund which could leave rate payers facing another huge bailout.

The latest pebble-bed reactor designs have no containment building to prevent catastrophic releases! They would use graphite as a moderator. The Windscale and Chernobyl accidents both involved burning graphite.

The DOE's proposed plan by Dr. Edward Teller (father of the hydrogen bomb) to curtail global warming is another example of extremism. It calls for dispersing one million tons of aluminum and sodium particles into the stratosphere to reflect one percent of insolation back into space. To replenish what falls to earth, an additional 200,000 tons must be added yearly at a cost of half a billion dollars. There is no mention of the health problems that this would create.

Participating in environmental matters need not be a "dirty secret." You can decide for yourself which ideas are extreme, but do so with some careful research. On this Earth Day, take some time to surf the web and see the Danish wind farm co-operatives, the newest fuel cell applications, advanced hybrid engines, battery parks, new efficiency standards or the increased power output of the latest solar panels. The future for energy is the brightest it has ever been, especially if we begin mass producing these technologies.

The power plants owned by California municipalities faithfully delivered electricity while other big utilities withheld power. Those municipalities experienced no blackouts or horrendous rate increases. We envision a day where citizen co-operatives will own the local power plants; plants which are cheap, clean and safe. It will be a substantive example of "power to the people" where utilities can no longer withhold power from the grid to command a higher price.

Scott D. Portzline Three Mile Island Alert

-------- south carolina

Nuclear risks and rewards

Savannah Morning News
Friday, April 20, 2001
http://www.savannahnow.com
http://www.savannahmorningnews.com/smn/stories/042001/OPEDone.shtml

TURNING SWORDS into plowshares is an attractive concept, especially when dealing with the remnants of Cold War weaponry. Harnessing the dangerous power that once armed the United States and the former Soviet Union and turning it into life-enhancing electricity is a welcome switch in priorities.

That goal, however, comes with some huge question marks, especially when the sword-beating will occur in Savannah's near-backyard.

More information and assurances are needed before the federal government gives the green light to use the Savannah River Site as a giant plutonium processing plant. For example, why not clean up what's already there before adding more hazardous waste to the site about 70 miles upriver from Savannah?

An armed and dangerous Soviet Union is now mostly a memory. What better use could there be for the stockpile of weapons that helped fuel the Cold War than to turn it into electricity to power homes and businesses?

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is trying to decide whether to construct a fuel fabrication facility at SRS to make nuclear-reactor fuel out of 36 tons of surplus plutonium. That fuel, in turn, would be used to create electricity for the Charlotte, N.C., area.

The economic benefits are obvious: more than 400 long-term jobs would be created. While those jobs would primarily help the Augusta and Aiken, S.C., area, the impact could be felt state-wide.

However, the new production plant would create about 4 million gallons of radioactive water over the 20 years it would operate. That's a lot of hot water, but it doesn't really compare to the 35 million gallons still in storage at SRS.

That's the real problem, and it affects the federal government's credibility. Although the government has spent years trying to clean up SRS, all that radioactive material is still there, and it doesn't appear to be going away.

Savannahians who fear a threat from radioactive material upriver are not talking about goblins hiding under their beds. In 1991, some radioactive tritium was released into the Savannah River from the site. As the contaminated water worked its way south, plants and mills along the river had to scramble for other water sources, both for processing and for drinking.

The potential impact would be greater if such a discharge were to occur today because the Savannah River supplies the City of Savannah with more water for domestic use than ever before.

The issue is largely one of trust. Before the NRC approves this new facility, it needs to assure the public that it has a handle on the radioactive waste that's already at SRS. Only then can it develop a way to deal with whatever by-products result from the fuel fabrication process.

By all means, turning nukes into electricity should be pursued. But the end doesn't justify any means. That includes making people who live and work along the Savannah River take unnecessary or unreasonable risks.


-------- MILITARY

-------- arms sales

Taiwanese not worried about U.S. delay on destroyers

The Washington Times www.washtimes.com
4/20/01
Marc Lerner THE WASHINGTON TIMES
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20010420-4513986.htm

TAIPEI, Taiwan - As President Bush nears a decision on the sale to Taiwan of navy destroyers equipped with sophisticated anti-missile radar systems, many people here are scaling back expectations.

"If we don´t get everything we want, I don´t think that means we´ve lost the U.S. as a friend," said Pony Lu, a saleswoman on her way to work. "But the weapons are important, they provide a sense of security."

Mr. Bush´s formal decision is expected next week, but everyone in Taiwan is aware of news reports that his advisers will recommend to defer a sale of the advanced radar system known as Aegis.

The Taiwan government wants to buy Aegis-equipped, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, with $1 billion price tags. But privately, officials are emphasizing that ties between Taipei and Washington shouldn´t be judged solely on the Aegis, a sea-based missile-defense system that in any case would not be delivered for almost 10 years.

Washington is required by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act to sell Taiwan weapons it needs for self-defense. China vehemently opposed the sale of the Aegis system, even before the April 1 midair collision of a Chinese jet and U.S. reconnaissance plane soured U.S.-Sino relations.

The Bush administration has reassured Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian that it will honor a long-standing agreement not to put weapons sales to Taiwan on the table in talks with Beijing.

Taiwan officials this week maintained a low profile as U.S. and Chinese negotiators began talks on the collision and Beijing´s detention of 24 U.S. fliers who made an emergency landing on Hainan island.

But a Foreign Ministry official, speaking a few days earlier, acknowledged that the incident and the arms sales are linked in the minds of many people.

"It´s inconceivable that the U.S. won´t have to consider reaction in the mainland, " said Lo Chih-chin, director of planning and research at the ministry. "We only hope the arms-sales issue is decided on its merit."

In addition to the Aegis, Taipei´s wish list includes submarines, PAC-3 Patriot anti-missile batteries and sophisticated communications equipment.

The upgrade in Taiwan´s weapons systems is necessary, say supporters of the sale, because China has been on a rapid military modernization drive, acquiring submarines, destroyers and warplanes - many purchased from a cash-strapped Russia - and targeting increasing numbers of ballistic missiles at Taiwan.

China "has increased its military spending at an amazing rate in recent years, " said Mr. Lo, the foreign ministry official. "If we don´t modernize, there will be an imbalance of forces by the year 2005."

Earlier this week, Lt. Gen. Sun Tao-yu, the vice minister of defense, complained that "the U.S. and China seem to be complicating the simple matter of arms sales to Taiwan. " Ambassador-at-large Lou I-cheng, speaking at a news conference with Gen. Sun, said that while Washington and Taipei agreed that the arms sales should not be linked to a resolution of the surveillance plane affair, "the reality seems to be quite the opposite."

"If Bush decides against selling Aegis, it won´t be a crushing blow, " said Yung Wei, a political science professor at National Chiao-Tung University. "As long as other systems are provided that meet Taiwan´s needs and demonstrate America´s commitment to Taiwan, people can´t be disappointed."

One option for the Bush administration is to provide Taiwan with Kidd-class destroyers equipped with an earlier generation of radar. The destroyers were built for the Shah of Iran, but he was toppled before they could be delivered. Nicknamed "Ayatollah-class, " the destroyers were used by the U.S. Navy before being retired. They could be ready for delivery within two years.

Taiwan´s navy chief was in Washington this month, lobbying for the sale of eight diesel-powered submarines, a move Beijing also opposes. Taiwan has four submarines, two of which are World War II-vintage Guppies that can´t descend below 150 feet.

Andrew Yang, chairman of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies, says it is not surprising that the Bush administration wants to think through the Aegis sale as it further refines its China policy, a front-burner issue after the plane collision that left a Chinese pilot dead.

"If they defer the sale, perhaps they approve it later, " Mr. Yang said. "They need to determine whether the Aegis will be good for stability in the region."

China opposes the Aegis sale because it sees the radar-equipped destroyers as a precursor to a possible missile shield for Taiwan and as part of a wider missile-defense system the United States favors.

Huang Yu-sen, a 68-year-old businessman, walking along a downtown street, said the Aegis is necessary. "Modern weapons from America are needed for our security, " said Mr. Huang, who praised Mr. Bush for taking a tough line with China.

The United States seems to be genuinely appreciated here, which isn´t surprising considering Washington´s 52 years of support for Taiwan. But that appreciation doesn´t translate into universal approval for multibillion-dollar arms purchases.

"Sure, Taiwan needs weapons, " said Ni Hang-sheng, 48, who owns a leather shop. "But American companies also make a lot of money from these sales."

The advanced weapons are intended to serve as a deterrent against China, which has threatened to invade Taiwan if it declares independence. In 1995 and 1996, Beijing test-fired missiles near Taiwan in an effort to intimidate voters and independence-minded politicians.

"What these advanced weapons do is give Taiwan the ability to extract an unacceptable price, should the mainland decide to invade, " said a Western observer.

Whatever decision comes from Washington, the basic relationship with Taiwan isn´t expected to change.

"People in Taiwan know that America has been friendly and supportive for the last half-century, " said Lee Kuo-hsiung, deputy director of the Institute of International Relations at National Chengchi University.

"Whatever the specifics of the arms sale, that won´t be lost."

-------- colombia

Dozens of Colombians Reported Massacred

New York Times
April 20, 2001
by Paramilitaries By JUAN FORERO
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/20/world/20COLO.html

BOGOTÁ, Colombia, April 19 - Dozens of people appear to have died in the biggest massacre here in months, killings by paramilitary forces that human rights advocates and some officials said today could have been avoided if their warnings had been heeded.

Four days of killing in hamlets in a remote area of Cauca Province left up to 100 dead, according to provincial officials briefed by village leaders who escaped. The human rights ombudsman put the count at 40. The exact number remained unclear because humanitarian agencies had not reached all the communities.

"It is possible that this is the worst massacre to take place in such a short period of time in the last few years," said Jorge Rojas, director of a rights group, Codhes.

The ombudsman, Eduardo Cifuentes, has called the attacks in the Naya River Valley a "massacre foretold" and said paramilitary murders in the region in May drove out thousands of people. That led to the creation of a commission that involves the Interior Ministry, Mr. Cifuentes's office and the United Nations.

"The population was a target," Mr. Cifuentes said. "The risks had been known."

On March 26, the commission predicted fierce fighting between the rebels and the paramilitaries. The army remained stationary outside the area even after the killings began on April 10, Mr. Cifuentes said, adding that army units began to enter the region last weekend.

He said he had announced the paramilitary incursion on April 11.

Another official, Fernando Medellín, said his agency, Solidarity, which helps refugees, reported as early as December that paramilitary groups would not let agency workers enter the region with supplies for villagers.

"They said that they were collaborators," Mr. Medellín reported, "and that delivering food to them was like taking food to the guerrillas."

A spokesman for the military, Luis Enrique Hernández, said that the army did not have specific knowledge of paramilitary plans and that army forces were stretched thin, unable to cover the hundreds of hamlets in danger of rebel and paramilitary attacks.

"There is not a place in the country that is not threatened, by both the paramilitaries or the rebels," Mr. Hernández said. "In this case, there was not the certain knowledge that it would happen there."

An estimated 3,000 refugees displaced by the violence were trying to learn when they could return home to bury relatives. Most, however, remained in shelters across two provinces because their safe passage home could not be guaranteed.

Danger and the isolation of the villages - some are 12 hours by foot from towns with paved roads - have thwarted humanitarian agencies, said a spokesman for the International Red Cross, Carlos Ríos.

Investigators from the attorney general's office helicoptered to some towns on Wednesday and said they counted 12 bodies. The group was unable to visit additional sites.

Servio Tulio Díaz, a spokesman for Gov. Floro Tunubala of Cauca, said authorities were worried that the paramilitary forces might try to hide the scale of the killing. "We have our concerns that there has been a coverup to hide how many have died," Mr. Díaz said.

The danger is expected to grow, officials said, because of an alliance between the two main rebel groups, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the National Liberation Army, that guerrilla leaders announced on Wednesday.

-----

Colombian rebels free 34 oil workers

USA Today
04/20/2001 - Updated 09:24 AM ET
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2001-04-20-colombia.htm

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - Colombia's second-largest guerrilla group freed 34 Colombians working at U.S-run oil field, ending a three-day kidnapping the rebels said was meant to protest government petroleum policies.

The mass release came hours after the insurgents, the 5,000-strong National Liberation Army, or ELN, announced they were walking away from on-again, off-again peace negotiations with the government.

Red Cross spokesman Carlos Rios said all of those freed were in good health and were being bused back to Cano Limon, the oil installation where they work for private companies serving Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum. He said there was no sign that ransoms had been paid.

In a statement read over the radio, an ELN commander calling himself William said the hostage-taking was political, the first shot in an "acute war that we are going to bring against the state armed forces and the petroleum companies that sponsor them."

Occidental was not immediately available for comment. The company had previously said only 27 people were being held hostage, and the reason for the discrepancy was unclear. Officials have said no foreigners were taken.

On Monday, ELN guerrillas posed as policemen and commandeered a convoy of buses carrying about 100 employees home after shifts at Cano Limon, Colombia's second largest oil field. The guerrillas freed most of the captives hours later.

In a separate communique read over the radio earlier Thursday, top ELN commander Pablo Beltran announced the "indefinite suspension" of talks aimed at ending his faction's role in a bloody 37-year conflict that claims 3,000 victims a year.

The group blamed the rupture of talks on a complaint shared by human rights groups that President Andres Pastrana's government is failing to stop attacks by right-wing paramilitaries.

"There have been repeated attacks by the enemies of the peace process," Beltran told Caracol radio. "Parts of the state military and police are involved. In the face of these attacks, there has been inaction on the part of the government."

Colombia's human rights ombudsman, Eduardo Cifuentes, said Thursday that he was "deeply disappointed" by Beltran's announcement.

"There exists on the part of the government an open and dedicated desire to initiate these negotiations," Cifuentes said. "We will have to overcome these adversities that block a peaceful end to this armed conflict."

The government has been trying to open peace talks since first meeting with ELN negotiators in Germany in August 1998.

Negotiations between Pastrana and the ELN to create a rebel safe haven in northern Colombia and hold peace talks there have been repeatedly scuttled due to civic protests, military operations and paramilitary attacks.

State officials are already negotiating with commanders from Colombia's largest guerrilla faction, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, as part of talks that began after Pastrana granted the rebels a demilitarized zone the size of Switzerland in southern Colombia.

Attending a trade summit in Colombia on Wednesday, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez offered to host talks with the ELN in his country. But Beltran said his group - which has met before with Colombian government representatives in Venezuela, Germany, and Switzerland - would not leave Colombia again for peace talks.

-------- drug war

Seriously Ill Join Marijuana Buyers' Clubs for Medicine

New York Times
April 20, 2001
By JENNY HOLLAND
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/20/nyregion/20MARI.html

On a fiercely rainy night in March, a small group of people ventured out and gathered in a coffee shop in Manhattan to break the law.

They all had an incurable disease. And they all believed that smoking marijuana helped them cope. These people, with illnesses ranging from AIDS to aggressive arthritis, meet weekly to buy marijuana in the relative safety of a club that they say is a lifeline.

Danny, a South American who is a member of the New York Medical Marijuana Patients' Cooperative, said that an AIDS medication he was taking made him feel "like I was eating metal."

Danny, who knew he was breaking the law and did not want his last name used, said he would regularly skip the medicine because of its side effects. But, he said, "When I started smoking those feelings started going away, and that's the main reason I like to smoke."

For those who turn to marijuana to alleviate the nausea that results from chemotherapy, the eye pressure from glaucoma and the weight loss from AIDS, there are several groups that buy and distribute the drug for patients. These marijuana clubs typically buy marijuana and sell it to patients who have registered with them.

For patients who would not know how else to obtain marijuana, the club is a welcome alternative to buying on the street.

The clubs said that having a list of members' names and illnesses could provide a measure of protection against charges that they were simply dealing drugs for profit.

But some opponents of drug use fear any legalized use of marijuana. Nicole Guide, who is H.I.V. positive, runs the Brooklyn-based charity Hope's Alive to supply AIDS medication to children in the Caribbean. Ms. Guide, a former drug addict, said that legalization would weaken the antidrug message aimed at adolescents. "Now they are going to say marijuana fixes everything," she said. "How can we as parents fight that? We can't."

New York has had a medical marijuana law since 1980, although it has never been fully carried out. So the people the law was intended to protect, those who do smoke marijuana to relieve a medical condition, have technically been committing a crime.

Assemblyman Richard N. Gottfried, a Manhattan Democrat, has written a bill that would effectively legalize marijuana for the sick. He said the federal government has approved the use of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in marijuana, in pill form.

"The idea that the drug laws are focused on whether you take your THC in a pill form from a major drug company or by inhaling makes no sense," he said. "Doctors are allowed to prescribe controlled substances for medical purposes, like morphine, codeine and Valium. Nobody thinks that undermines our antidrug message to young people."

Marijuana club organizers said the majority of their members in New York City were H.I.V. positive. No one was sure of how many clubs there were, but John Sheridan, a founding member of Cannabis Care, a state-registered lobby group, estimated that there were seven currently in the city.

Many of the people at the clubs have tried Marinol, the brand name of THC in pill form, without success. "Marinol's effects became unpredictable," said Mr. Sheridan, who has AIDS. "Sometimes nothing would happen. Sometimes I would suddenly get so hungry I would want to throw up."

Doctors have said that no pill worked for everyone. "The best way to deliver a drug directly into circulation is inhalation," said Dr. John S. Macdonald, medical director at St. Vincent Comprehensive Cancer Center in Manhattan. "The problem with inhaling something that is burning is that it can do significant damage to the lungs."

Groups that have dealt with substance abuse problems see the potential harm to be more than just physical. Joseph A. Califano Jr., the former secretary of Health, Education and Welfare who is president of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, said politicians did not know enough about marijuana as medicine to legislate on it. "Legalization of drugs would be a disaster for children," he said, "and that's what it would be about."

Howard Simon, a spokesman for the Partnership for a Drug Free America, said some medical marijuana supporters had ulterior motives. "The state-based referenda campaigns have been largely supported and funded by those in favor of decriminalization and/or legalization," he said.

Yet, Mr. Simon would not condemn the users of medical marijuana, leaving the decision to the medical community. "There are established processes in this country that tell us what is safe and effective medicine," he said. "Marijuana has not gone through those processes."

Mr. Sheridan said the movement to provide medical marijuana in the city was overly decentralized. "The fractious nature of New York politics, and its diversity, make for very odd bedfellows," he said. "Everything from left-wing hippies to right- wing rabbis - this is their drug of last resort."

Proof could be found at a meeting of the patients' cooperative last month.

"My politics are a little conservative; I like Giuliani," said Robert, who volunteered that he earns a six- figure salary at a job on Wall Street.

Another member, Alex, the son of a preacher from Queens, said: "As a whole, I'm not even sure I support legalization. We are about compassionate use for the sick."

Ann Northrop, an AIDS activist, said political stereotypes did not always apply when a person was faced with an illness. "It's all situational ethics," she said. "If someone you care about is in the situation of needing it, then you are likely to support them."

Some medical marijuana advocates also want to allow conditions like multiple sclerosis and epilepsy. Kenny Toglia, the director of the New York Medical Marijuana Patients' Cooperative, wanted to move the issue "away from a hippy stereotype and toward a medical, clinical debate."

But the stakes are high in New York, because the state has strict drug laws. "We are very oppressed here," Mr. Toglia said. "We are risking our skins."

Marijuana arrests in the city have soared in number - 39,145 in 1999 compared with 5,429 in 1990 - yet anecdotal evidence suggests that the police arrest medical marijuana buyers almost reluctantly.

Paula, who has AIDS and is a member of the patients' cooperative, was arrested after a weekly meeting was interrupted by a police raid in November. On the way to the precinct house, she said, one of the officers apologized to her. She said, "In the car they said: `Don't worry about it. We're gonna do some procedure and let you go.' "

That is not the official position. Detective Walter Burnes, a spokesman for the New York City Police Department, said: "We have a responsibility to enforce the law as it stands. Anybody who is caught with marijuana runs the risk of being summoned or arrested. That's our job."

Other city officials contacted about the issue were reluctant to talk about it. A spokesman for the Manhattan district attorney's office said each case was treated on its merits.

Even a brief brush with the law can have devastating consequences for someone with AIDS. One AIDS patient, who did not want to be identified, spent six days in custody after a fire in his apartment led to the discovery of marijuana plants. While in jail, he was not given enough methadone, which he uses to control peripheral neuropathy, a painful condition that causes a pins-and-needles sensation in the soles of the feet and the legs. He then had methadone-withdrawal seizures. The experience, he said, was like "going through hell."

Many users said the pleasure they got from the high was almost as important as marijuana's medical benefits. They said the drug's relaxing and euphoric properties could be a godsend to the seriously ill.

Mark, a freelance designer who has AIDS and attends meetings of the New York City Buyer's Club, another marijuana club, spoke of a friend who was near death. "For him smoking is very helpful in dealing with the issue of dying," Mark said. "It absolutely plays a therapeutic role."

Kevin, another member with AIDS, smokes to increase his appetite, but also because he felt it helped him deal with depression. "It really helps with the mental, emotional as well as the physical," he said. "It's a great leveler. It keeps you from losing your mind."

---

Nightclubs Hire Ambulances for Overdoses, Skipping 911

New York Times
April 20, 2001
By JENNIFER STEINHAUER
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/20/nyregion/20CLUB.html

Some Manhattan nightclubs have hired private ambulance companies to wait outside and to swiftly take revelers who overdose on drugs to hospital emergency rooms, bypassing the 911 system and the attention of the police.

The practice was noticed last fall by emergency room nurses at St. Vincent's in Manhattan when a large number of young people suffering from acute drug overdoses began showing up on weekend nights, usually transported by private ambulances. Often, the nurses said, the patients had not been given the proper care en route, and many were in such serious condition that they needed to be put on respirators.

Deputy Mayor Rudy Washington said last night that he was outraged by the practice, and that it was further proof that the clubs should be shut down.

"By using private ambulances, it makes it more difficult for us to keep track of how many people are going to the hospital and it keeps it difficult for the police to find out what is going on because they are never called with these companies," he said. "It is ludicrous. People are overdosing and the fact they put an ambulance outside a nightclub should be enough to establish that nightclub should be closed."

St. Vincent's officials said they notified the Manhattan district attorney's office about the numerous overdose patients arriving from nightclubs. The district attorney's office began an investigation into the drug activity at the clubs and whether the private ambulances were being used to circumvent the police, according to hospital officials.

Many of the club patrons, almost all around 19 years old, come from a dance club in Chelsea that the city has long tried to close down, contending that it serves as a drug marketplace. Last summer, a young medical student passed out on the dance floor of the club, Twilo, and was pronounced dead at St. Vincent's of a drug overdose.

Night nurses at St. Vincent's reported that most of the revelers arrived from the nightclubs unconscious, often half dressed and wet from being splashed with ice water in an attempt to sober them up, said Suzanne Pugh, nurse manager at the hospital.

Many had low body temperatures and were breathing very slowly, known side effects of a drug overdose, usually caused by Ecstasy or GHB, or gamma hydroxybutyrate, which is commonly known as a date rape drug.

Ms. Pugh said that she became concerned not only over the number of patients arriving in drug-induced stupors - four or five a weekend night, a 100 percent increase from the prior year - but about the care the private ambulance crews, mostly from MetroCare Ambulance, the state's largest private ambulance firm, were providing.

"The Police Department did not know what was going on," she said, adding that it did not appear that the patients had been attended to by paramedics, who are trained and equipped to give advanced life support. "The kids were not getting the level of care that 911 would have given. One kid was breathing four times a minute. If these kids were not young and in really good condition they would not have been able to sustain as they did."

Twilo and the Roxy, a club on West 18th Street, hired MetroCare in recent months, and several clubs have been clients for even longer, according to Robert Hirsch, director of MetroCare's sports and entertainment division. He denied that care was substandard, saying that while some of his clients contract for basic life support, which uses technicians and basic emergency equipment, Twilo and the Roxy both pay for advanced life support with paramedics, at a cost of about $225 an hour.

Mr. Hirsch said that if patients arrived needing life support, "I would need to see if we brought them in."

Nightclub executives say that their use of MetroCare is no different than that of sports teams or large concert arenas, which often hire private companies to keep an ambulance waiting during major events. They also acknowledge that the principal reason they need the ambulances is to deal with people on drugs.

"The main reason that we hired MetroCare is because of GHB," said Jason McCarthy, general manager of the Roxy. "Several clubs in the neighborhood have had people die in them because of GHB. And when people go down, 911 is useless. I do this to protect my clients who go into cardiac arrest."

A spokesman for the Fire Department, which oversees the city's Emergency Medical Service, denied that service is slow. "Our response times are the lowest they have been," said Deputy Fire Commissioner Frank Gribbon, citing an average of less than six minutes.

Twilo is the subject of a lawsuit by two young patrons who allege that club employees tried to hide them from an E.M.S. crew last summer when they suffered drug overdoses.

"My clients were moved to isolated areas in the club and medical treatment was denied," said Gregory Longworth, a lawyer for the two club patrons, whom he did not identify. He said his clients were still undergoing medical care.

Twilo, a club built in a former warehouse at 530 West 27th Street, has attracted the ire of the city for more than two years. A lawsuit seeking to close the club was brought by the Police Department's Civil Enforcement Division in November 1998, which contended that the sale of drugs like Ecstasy created a public nuisance. So far its efforts have been unsuccessful.

No one at the district attorney's office would comment on its investigation into the club's use of private ambulance firms, but a St. Vincent's spokeswoman said that nurses there had been interviewed and were cooperating. Mr. Longworth said he has worked with assistant district attorneys in their investigation.

Twilo officials contend that the city has bullied them rather than help combat the rampant drug use.

"We are blamed for everything and we are never given the benefit of the doubt," said Peter R. Sullivan, the club's lawyer. "The reason we are still open is because we have been able to prove to the courts that we are the safest club in New York."

He added: "People who go out dancing are in more medical need today than they were 10 years ago because of the way that they entertain themselves. We have been asking the city for two years to work with us to make sure there are no illegal drug transactions in the club and they have refused. So we have had to create a state-of-the-art medical system of our own."

---

Connecticut Judge to Decide if Skakel Case Goes to Trial as Prosecution Rests

New York Times
April 20, 2001
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/20/nyregion/20SKAK.html

STAMFORD, Conn., April 19 - State prosecutors today wrapped up their efforts in court here to show that they have enough evidence to try Michael C. Skakel for the 1975 bludgeoning death of Martha Moxley. The judge said that he would consider the evidence overnight and issue a decision from the bench Friday morning.

For the case against Mr. Skakel to proceed to a jury, the prosecutors must convince Judge John F. Kavanewsky Jr. of State Superior Court that they have shown probable cause, a minimal legal threshold in Connecticut. Normally, such a hearing is routine. But unexpected developments in the Skakel case continued today.

On Wednesday, a prosecution witness who has said repeatedly that Mr. Skakel confessed to killing Miss Moxley admitted using heroin just an hour before testifying two years ago in front of the grand jury that eventually charged Mr. Skakel with murder. And today, the witness, Gregory Coleman, said that he was taken to a hospital after court Wednesday for methadone to treat his continuing addiction.

Mr. Coleman, who was a classmate of Mr. Skakel's in the 1970's at Elan School, a school for troubled youths in Maine, testified this morning that he last used heroin on Monday and that he was suffering from withdrawal in court on Wednesday.

"I wasn't feeling very well at all yesterday, as people might have been able to tell," Mr. Coleman said as his cross-examination by Michael Sherman, a defense lawyer, resumed today. Pressed about his drug use before a grand jury hearing in 1999, Mr. Coleman said that he had injected just one bag of heroin that day. Mr. Coleman said he was using 20 to 25 bags a day at the time and typically injected four to five bags each morning.

Today, while Mr. Coleman acknowledged numerous inconsistencies in his testimony over the years that he blamed on drug use and the lapse of time, he refused to back away from his testimony that Mr. Skakel confessed. He repeated his contention that Mr. Skakel had once told him: " `I am going to get away with murder. I am a Kennedy.'"

Mr. Skakel, a nephew of Ethel Kennedy's, is charged with murdering Miss Moxley, his 15-year-old friend and neighbor in Greenwich, Conn. Although he was also 15 at the time of her death, a juvenile court judge has ordered that Mr. Skakel, now 40, be tried as an adult. If convicted, he could face a sentence of life in prison.

Mr. Skakel scoffed openly as Mr. Coleman testified that he could not remember many details of the 1978 conversation in which he said Mr. Skakel confessed, but that he could remember the contents of Mr. Skakel's record collection, which Mr. Coleman said included the Grateful Dead and "a little Hendrix, too."

At that, Mr. Skakel's face turned red and he held a hand over his mouth to cover a wide smile.

After Mr. Coleman, another former classmate, John Higgins, testified that he also heard Mr. Skakel confess at Elan. Mr. Higgins said that Mr. Skakel, recalling the night of the killing, "described to me that he was in his garage going through golf clubs. At one point he was running through the woods, looking at pine trees and he didn't know what happened," Mr. Higgins said.

Investigators determined that Miss Moxley was beaten to death with a golf club from a set that had belonged to Mr. Skakel's mother. Miss Moxley's body was found under a large pine tree outside her home. "He related to me that he doesn't remember what happened after running in the woods," Mr. Higgins testified. "Later he found out there was a girl murdered."

Mr. Higgins added: "He eventually stated that `I must have done it' and eventually stated that `I did it.' " Under-cross examination, however, Mr. Higgins admitted that when first contacted by prosecutors he repeatedly denied having heard Mr. Skakel confess. He testified today that he had lied then to avoid becoming involved in the case.

The last witness, Andrew Pugh, a boyhood friend of Mr. Skakel's, testified that he had questioned Mr. Skakel about the Moxley slaying in the early 1990's. Mr. Skakel denied killing her, Mr. Pugh said, but admitted "a weird thing" - that on the night of the killing he had masturbated in the tree under which Miss Moxley's body was found the next day.

After today's hearing, Dorthy Moxley, the victim's mother, thanked the witnesses and urged others to contact prosecutors. "Anyone else from Elan who knows anything," she said, "How much we'd appreciate if they come forward."

---

Go figure

The Washington Times www.washtimes.com
4/20/01
Inside the Beltway
John McCaslin THE WASHINGTON TIMES
http://www.washtimes.com/national/inbeltway.htm

Longtime Washington congressional correspondent Jim Burns, of late with cnsnews.com, tells Inside the Beltway he attended Wednesday evening´s reception at the Cato Institute for NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

"I thought the funny thing about it was as you went into the building there was a sign on the lawn saying: 'KEEP OFF THE GRASS.´"

-------- iran

Bush Says Iran, Libya Sanctions to Stay
No Plan 'as of This Moment' to Lift Restrictions, Despite Panel's Draft Report

By Alan Sipress and Peter Behr
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, April 20, 2001; Page A20
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A37946-2001Apr19?language=printer

President Bush said yesterday he has no immediate plan to remove economic sanctions on Iran or Libya, although a White House task force has raised the possibility of lifting those restrictions as a way of increasing U.S. access to oil.

Bush said that his administration has been considering ways to ease the tight global market for petroleum but that it is premature for the United States to eliminate the sanctions on those two countries.

"In our energy review, we are looking at all opportunities to create more energy supply, to take the pressure off of price," he told reporters. "At the same time, I think it's important for the country to review all sanction policies to make sure they are effective. But I have no intention as of this moment [of] taking sanctions off countries like Iran and Libya."

His remarks came after The Washington Post and Reuters reported that an energy task force headed by Vice President Cheney has been working on a draft report calling for the United States to review economic restrictions on Iran, Libya and Iraq. An April 10 draft says that United Nations sanctions on Iraq and U.S. restrictions on energy investments in Libya and Iran "affect some of the most important existing and prospective petroleum producing countries in the world."

Bush's brief comments did not mention Iraqi sanctions. The administration is seeking international support for easing the economic embargo on Iraq while tightening the restrictions on Baghdad's ability to import military goods and materials for developing biological, chemical and nuclear weapons.

The president instead addressed Iran and Libya, which are at the center of a debate over whether Congress should renew the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) for another five years when it expires in August. The oil industry, which has been pressing for the restrictions to be lifted, redoubled its lobbying on Capitol Hill after a Scottish court in the Hague convicted a Libyan intelligence agent in January of involvement in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

But Bush indicated yesterday that Libya must take further steps required by the United Nations for sanctions to be lifted. "We've made it clear to the Libyans that the sanctions will remain until such time as they not only compensate for the bombing of the aircraft, but also admit their guilt and express remorse," he said.

The ILSA restrictions are meant to punish Libya and Iraq for sponsoring terrorism by penalizing countries that invest in their energy industries. U.S. firms are separately precluded from doing business there by presidential order.

Advocates of easing sanctions on Iran have cited the political liberalization there since ILSA was adopted in 1996, but Bush said a change in U.S. policy toward Tehran is not imminent. "As far as Iran goes, it's too early at this time in our relationships to really -- I mean, it's one thing to consider, it's another to act, to act on sanctions, and I don't intend to do that anytime soon," he said.

Advocates of easing the sanctions did not take Bush's comments as the final word on the matter. "We're not going to give up," said William Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, a leader of the anti-sanctions business lobbying effort.

He said Bush's phrase "as of this moment" leaves open the possibility of a change in position later. The administration may be trying to quell debate about sanctions in part because it does not want to create an issue in the Iranian presidential election scheduled for June. "Renewing the sanctions doesn't encourage moderate leadership there," he said.

ILSA supporters were not mollified by the president's comments. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), who has been a leading force behind maintaining sanctions on Libya, sent a letter to Cheney yesterday expressing concern that the administration might try to ease the restrictions.

"Doing so would have a far-reaching, negative impact on America's 12-year pursuit of justice for the 189 innocent Americans murdered in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103," Kennedy said. He added, "Although there is strong interest in the U.S. oil industry in investing in Libya, profits cannot take priority over justice."

The report that the task force draft calls for reconsidering sanctions provoked protests, in particular from the families of victims of the Lockerbie bombing.

-------- u.n.

Cuba is condemned by rights agency

The Washington Times www.washtimes.com
4/20/01
World Scene
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20010420-730375.htm

GENEVA -- A U.N. Human Rights Commission has criticized Cuba for its human rights record, acting on the same day that it refused to condemn China on the same grounds. A resolution condemning Cuba´s human rights record passed by a margin of 22-to-20 with 10 abstentions.

Czech Republic Deputy Foreign Minister Martin Palous, whose country proposed the resolution, said Cuba was exploiting fears of reported foreign "aggression" -- an apparent reference to the United States -- to "keep the status quo at any cost."

Meanwhile at Playa Giron, site of the failed bid by U.S.-trained exiles to overthrow President Fidel Castro, the president yesterday saluted the veterans and victims of Cuba´s Cold War triumph in 1961 at the Bay of Pigs.

Israel draws rebuke on Jewish settlements

GENEVA -- The U.N. Human Rights Commission voted 50-1 Wednesday to censure Israel for allowing Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories, with only the United States taking Israel´s side.

In the resolution censuring Israel, the commission expressed "grave concern" at "the expropriation of land, the demolition of houses, the confiscation of property the expulsion of Palestinians."

The measure was bitterly opposed by Israel, which is a nonvoting observer of the commission. Israeli Ambassador Yaakov Levy said settlements were a difficult issue that could be resolved only in Palestinian-Israeli negotiations and that the "one-sided" resolution prejudged the outcome of the talks.

-------- u.s.

Missile security

April 20, 2001
Inside the Ring
Bill Gertz and Rowan Scarborough
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20010420-87105756.htm

U.S. spy satellites recently detected increased security for Russia´s road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missiles. According to defense officials, the Russian military has assigned motorized infantry units to guard the nuclear-tipped SS-25 and SS-27 mobile missile brigades. Tracking the strategic missiles is a major mission of U.S. reconnaissance satellites. Officials said reports from Russia over the past several years have indicated that the troops in charge of the missiles are poorly paid and there are fears someone in the Strategic Rocket Forces might steal one of the single-warhead missiles and sell it on the black market. Several years ago, the CIA reported secretly within the U.S. government how one SS-25 team left their missile unguarded as they stopped in a village to get something to eat. The enhanced security for SS-25 and newly deployed SS-27 missiles is being viewed by Pentagon intelligence analysts as a sign Russia´s leaders are worried that organized crime groups or terrorists could steal one of the single-warhead long-range missiles. The SS-25 and SS-27 are the world´s only deployed road-mobile ICBMs and its garrisons are scattered throughout eastern and western Russia. China is also working on a road-mobile DF-31, which was flight tested twice last year.

Wang Wei´s fate U.S. intelligence agencies monitoring the Chinese military search effort for a missing pilot have picked up indications of what happened to Wang Wei. His F-8 fighter jet flew into the propeller of the U.S. Navy EP-3E surveillance plane April 1, sparking the recent international incident between the United States and China. Defense officials said intelligence reports on the search and rescue effort indicate the pilot successfully ejected after the collision over the South China Sea. But his parachute failed to open and he plummeted to his death. Initial Chinese press accounts reported that a parachute was seen shortly after the collision. China's government has lionized Mr. Wang as a hero and "revolutionary martyr." U.S. officials paint the picture of a reckless pilot who flew dangerously close to U.S. surveillance aircraft. China´s military recently called off what the Chinese press described as one of the most extensive search and rescue operations ever mounted by the Chinese military, involving scores of ships and aircraft and thousands of troops. One raw U.S. intelligence report based on sensitive information-gathering techniques had a perplexing twist on the entire affair. According to defense sources, the report stated that the entire episode was a Chinese military provocation designed to disrupt or frustrate U.S. electronic eavesdropping efforts. The report said Mr. Wang had volunteered to deliberately "bump" the U.S. EP-3E and then bail out and be rescued. Officials dismissed the report as far-fetched.

Personnel The Pentagon is close to picking its choice for the much-coveted Asia post within the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The leading contender for the job of deputy assistant defense secretary for East Asia is Peter Brookes, a North Korea specialist who recently worked for the House International Relations Committee, defense sources told us. Other major contenders include Pat Cronan of the U.S. Institute for Peace, Thor Ronay, a China specialist with the conservative Center for Security Policy, and William Triplett, an aide to Sen. Robert F. Bennett, Utah Republican. Another deputy assistant defense secretary candidate is said to be Danielle Pletka, who is vying for the Pentagon´s Near East and South Asia slot. Mrs. Pletka currently is a Middle East specialist for Sen. Jesse Helms, North Carolina Republican and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Warner´s plans Don't look for a John W. Warner-Donald H. Rumsfeld confrontation over big-decked carriers at least not yet. The Virginia Republican and Senate Armed Services chairman spoke to us from the "bowels of Virginia," as he put it, to say he has no plans to hold up Pentagon nominees as leverage against losing construction of large carriers. Senate sources this week have said Mr. Warner plans to hold up several key appointments until Defense Secretary Rumsfeld makes a decision on future carriers. Mr. Warner´s state is home to the nation´s only carrier builder, Newport News Shipbuilding. An ongoing Pentagon strategic review is examining whether the Navy should shift to smaller, stealthier ships. Asked about reports he may hold up a nomination or two, Mr. Warner said, "I can assure you that as chairman I would not let the committee use that type of leverage . That's not my tactic. We´re going to wait patiently until Rumsfeld completes his study and until he formally comes before the committee and tells us what are our goals." Mr. Warner said he recently discussed the review with Mr. Rumsfeld, who described speculation about scrapping large carriers as merely "rumors."

Navy Earth Day As the Navy fights to preserve the carrier battle group and at least a 300-ship fleet, sailors are being asked by the high command to reflect on another topic: Earth Day. The special occasion is not until Sunday, but the Navy already has celebrated by holding a ceremony this week at the downtown Navy Memorial. And, Adm. Vern Clark, chief of naval operations, sent a message to sailors earlier this month bragging at how environmentally correct the fleet has become. "Commands throughout the Navy will celebrate Navy Earth Day 2001 with shore, beach, river and neighborhood cleanups, tree plantings, habitat restoration efforts, environmental education programs for schools, fairs and many other events and projects," said Adm. Clark´s message. "As you plan your Navy Earth Day 2001 festivities, I urge you to partner with your local communities to spread the word about the Navy´s successes in preserving the world we share and our continuing commitment to environmental excellence." Adm. Clark said the theme for this year´s special day is "New Technology for a Clean Environment." "As Earth Day 2001 approaches, Navy personnel should reflect with pride on our Navy accomplishments in environmental stewardship," the message says. "After over three decades of policy evolution, education, and a significant investment of resources, our progress and performance have been impressive. None of our many accomplishments would have been possible without the caring, dedication and achievements of our military and civilian personnel and their families. As a result, today we are viewed as a leader in many areas of environmental stewardship." In response, one naval aviator commented: "Ever wonder what´s wrong with today´s Navy." Not to be outdone, the Air Force also has big plans for Earth Day. Top Air Force officials tomorrow will participate in a stream cleanup at Four Mile Run in Northern Virginia.

Intercepts • The last Vietnam prisoner of war on active duty is retiring. Vice Adm. Joseph S. Mobley, whose A-6 Intruder was shot down over North Vietnam, relinquished command April 12 as head of the Atlantic Fleet air forces. He was succeeded by Rear Adm. Michael Malone. • A retired Army officer has produced a dramatic pictures-to-music Web site, with commentary on what he considers today´s "political correct" armed forces. The title: "We Have Lost Our Way." As a picture of D-Day troops appears, a caption states, "An Army of One did not assault this beach." The Army's new campaign slogan, "An Army of One," has replaced the traditional slogan of "Be All You Can Be." A picture of American troops in the Pacific has this comment: "For him, 'consideration of others´ was keeping his troops alive while killing as many as possible." Consideration of Others is the Army-wide sensitivity training program. The web site is www.geocities.com/armyreadiness/.

----

Pentagon lying about Israeli missile sales to China

April 20, 2001
WorldNetDaily.com
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=22501

Even a political neophyte can tell there are stark superficial differences between the newly ordained Bush White House and the Clinton administration, in terms of public policy, domestic issues and national security priorities. Most changes thus far, in my opinion, have been positive.

But as they say, sometimes things just don't change, and in many ways there isn't a dime's worth of difference between similar aspects of the Clinton and Bush administration. At least, owing to George W's short time in office, not yet anyway.

Yesterday, The Advertiser, an Australian newspaper, ran a story under this headline: "US Angered by Israeli Missile Sale."

The crux of the story is this: Our Pentagon didn't know that back in the late 1980s, Israel sold sophisticated Python 3 air-to-air missiles to China, and that our Defense Department "just learned about this" after releasing a video of a Chinese fighter armed with Python 3s shadowing a U.S. spy flight near China in January.

To believe that, you'd have to believe that Pentagon officials have been scratching their heads since January, asking themselves, "Gee, fellas -- what kind of missile is that?" Furthermore, you'd have to believe the January video released by the Pentagon is the only one of its kind -- that our spy planes have never before nor since shot any video of escorting Chinese planes, even though we used to do this regularly with the Soviets throughout the Cold War.

The Advertiser reported that Pentagon officials are "angry" with Israel for selling those missiles to Beijing, and they wonder why they weren't told previously about the sale. In total, the story makes it sound as though Washington and the Pentagon didn't know anything about any of this until just a few months ago.

"The Israelis notified Washington of the sale of the Python 3 missiles to China only after the [April 1] collision [between a Chinese fighter and U.S. EP-3E surveillance plane], Rear Adm. Craig Quigley said," as quoted by the paper. Quigley went on to say, for good measure I suppose, that "Washington was opposed to the proliferation of such a capable weapons system."

"I think we would have preferred to know in advance [of the Israeli sale], but we didn't get that," Quigley said, as quoted by the Advertiser.

Well, to be blunt, this whole sad story is crap, from one end to the other. Here are the facts about the Pentagon, Israel, the Python missiles, and the involvement of U.S. contractors in the development, marketing and sales of those missiles.

According to a Newsline USA story on Thursday, quoting Jane's Defense Weekly and research published in 1997 by then-Heritage Foundation defense analyst Richard Fisher, "Defense and weapons analysts say a modified version of Israel's short-range Python 4 air-to-air missile [AAM] could end up in China in the near future because of a new international marketing effort being undertaken by a joint U.S.-Israeli team."

Lockheed Martin, the report said, along with Israel's Rafael -- the latter which originally developed the Python AAM -- have been involved in the development of the Python 4, a shorter-range but more lethal version of the original.

The report doesn't specifically link Lockheed to the development of the Python 3 missile, but there are other associations -- past and present -- that bear out the claim that both the Pentagon and Lockheed have known for years about the Python program, its capabilities and the missile's disposition (meaning, its sale by Israel to China).

For one thing, it is commonly known inside defense circles that Israel has flown Lockheed's F-16 fighter for more than 15 years and has long since incorporated the Python 3 and 4 models into its F-16 fighter fleet.

Lockheed would have had to have been involved in helping modify either the missile to fit the aircraft or vice-versa. Also, the firm would have to have had the blessing of the U.S. government because of the military technology transfers involved, even though Israel is an ally.

Also, according to a 1998 Orlando Sentinel newspaper story, part of the Python 4 deal marries Lockheed's involvement in the construction of some of the missiles and its components at the contractor's Orlando, Fla., plant with a requirement for the Pentagon to buy some Pythons for use aboard U.S. Air Force F-16s. That was the only way Rafael would agree to allow some of the missiles to be made in the U.S., the article said.

And, Fisher discovered four years ago that Rafael had already begun marketing the new Python 4 missile to communist China, among others.

Fisher, in his analysis, wrote that Israel had offered the missile to China "in a competition to provide China with an upgraded [helmet]-cued AAM [air-to-air missile]." He added, for comparison's sake, that the Python 4 is more lethal and sophisticated than current analogous U.S. AAMs, most notably the AIM-9 "Sidewinder," also used aboard U.S. and Israeli F-16s. In fact, the Python was developed from the AIM-9.

And here's the final intangible. Joint U.S.-Israeli military cooperation is historic, which makes the Pentagon's claim that it "didn't know" about Python's development and sales to foreign governments by Israel even less credible. That's like saying, "What? You mean Israel's an ally? When did that happen?"

Are you beginning to see the history of association here?

To be fair, Lockheed is not alone in these kinds of deals. Other U.S. defense contractors are also up to their eyeballs in joint projects with other nations. Sikorsky, for example, is in a joint helicopter development program with several other nations, including China, according to Defense Systems Daily.

The fact is, our government and the Pentagon knew about the Python 3 sales; it knows about the Python 4 sales; it knows about Lockheed's involvement and about the deals other U.S. contractors have made with other countries and other nations' defense contractors.

Yet officials lie to us about this stuff on a regular basis, like Quigley did the other day when he tried to make it sound as though this was the first anyone in the U.S. government had heard of the Israeli Python missile deal with China. Give us a break, admiral.

I don't know what should gall us more -- the fact that our government lies about this stuff so often, or the fact that it is so ambivalent about helping a true ally, Taiwan, rather than some of Taiwan's (and our) enemies, such as the People's Republic of China. Maybe if U.S. corporations were making more profits in the Middle East than China, we'd be hosing Israel instead of Taiwan.

I have no problem with our historic alliance with Israel and I believe wholeheartedly that Israel, and not the so-called Palestinians, are the true victims of Mideast violence.

But I tell you, I'm sick and tired of hypocritical foreign policy that is based more on what improves the corporate bottom line rather than what would genuinely improve the security, sanctity and prosperity of the American people as a whole.

This isn't a "Bush" or "Clinton" thing; both parties have dumped on Taiwan for much of the past decade, in deference to the all-important concept of "doing more business in China" - as if nine-tenths of the poor Chinese people can even afford to buy U.S. products (what little we make ourselves anymore) in the first place. It's ludicrous.

And then for our Pentagon to act as though it knows nothing about these efforts to enhance the strength and power of the one major country we are most likely to be fighting within 10 years is worse than hypocritical -- it's criminal.

If I didn't know any better, it almost seems as though somebody wants to strengthen China so we will have to fight them someday.

Jon E. Dougherty is a staff reporter and columnist for WorldNetDaily, and author of the special report, "Election 2000: How the Military Vote Was Suppressed."

-------- OTHER

-------- environment

Bush Will Sign Treaty Curtailing Lethal Chemicals

New York Times
April 20, 2001
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/20/world/20PREX.html

WASHINGTON, April 19 - President Bush said today that he would sign an international agreement negotiated during the Clinton administration to curtail and in some cases eliminate the production of 12 lethal chemicals known as "the dirty dozen." They include DDT, dioxin and PCB's, which have been linked with cancer, reproductive failure and birth defects.

The agreement has the backing of both environmentalists and the chemical industry and is expected to be approved by the the Senate and signed by 122 nations next month in Sweden. The treaty, formally titled the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, would go into effect four or five years after its final approval.

The chemicals have already been severely restricted in the United States. But Mr. Bush, in a Rose Garden ceremony today, emphasized the global nature of the threat they pose. "These chemicals respect no boundaries and can harm Americans even when released abroad," he said.

The 12 chemicals tend to accumulate in fatty tissue, and one recent study found that they have shown up in the breast milk of women who live in the Arctic. A report last year by the Pesticide Action Network said the chemicals appear in varying quantities in "virtually all food products" in a typical American diet.

The treaty, hammered out last year, calls for richer countries to provide $150 million a year for perhaps 10 years to developing countries to phase out their use of the chemicals and find alternatives.

There are no estimates for the treaty's total cost. Brooks Yeager, who negotiated the treaty for President Clinton and is now vice president of global affairs at the World Wildlife Fund, said the final costs would depend on inventories that have yet to be completed.

"There are potential significant costs to completing the implementation of this," he said. "Those costs relate to fairly complex things, like removal of stockpiles of, say, pesticides in Africa."

Environmental groups, which have been critical of Mr. Bush's overall direction on the environment, noted that the chemicals were already banned in the United States.

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Bush to sign world treaty that forbids 12 toxic chemicals

The Washington Times www.washtimes.com
Published 4/20/01
Donald Lambro
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20010420-93683944.htm

ANALYSIS

President Bush, in a move to reach out to his environmental critics that has angered his supporters, said yesterday that he will sign a global treaty worked out under the United Nations that calls for banning 12 toxic chemicals.

Mr. Bush, who has come under heavy critical fire from liberal environmental groups for his administraton´s decisions to overturn the previous Clinton administration´s 11th-hour regulations on environmental policy, said he will ask the Senate to ratify the Clinton-era treaty that calls for a phase-out of the 12 chemicals that include PCBs, dioxins and DDT.

But Mr. Bush´s announcement yesterday at a White House ceremony that he supports the treaty was seen by some of his conservative environmental supporters as a defensive political effort to appease his liberal critics who have begun a national TV ad campaign against his administration´s recent decisions.

"This treaty is an extremely dangerous move to demonize the use of chemicals around the world. These are chemicals that are largely not used anymore and every chemical in the world is at risk of going on this list," said Fred L. Smith Jr., president of the Competitive Enterprise Institute and a Bush environmental adviser.

Mr. Smith said that yesterday´s decision was in part due to fierce to the administration´s efforts to revoke Clinton administration actions that proposed stricter standards on the allowable amount of arsenic in water and carbon dioxide emissions. Mr. Bush and his top aides have come under growing criticism from some of his own environmental allies who say that some of his actions have become public relations disasters.

"They were on the right side of their earlier decisions but they have not had an understanding of how to explain their positons to the public at large," Mr. Smith said.

"They´ve gotten blasted by the liberal media across the board and then they panic. This treaty sounds like a very defensive move," he said.

In an attempt to overturn some of the Clinton administration´s environmental policies, the Bush administration has revoked or delayed a number of rules and regulations that President Clinton made in the final weeks of his tenure in office. But when it moved to stay a Clinton rule on lowering the parts per billion of arsenic traces in water and killed further regulation of power plant carbon dioxide emissions, both decisions did not play well in the public arena.

Days after announcing its decision on the arsenic ruling, the administration abandoned its position in the face of intense public criticism and said that it was going to study the problem and would come up with a new and lower standard within nine months.

The White House has been forced to shift into damage control in the past week, attempting to better explain its policy changes, but some of its advisers say those attempts have been badly executed. Arsenic occurs naturally in the soil and very tiny amounts are allowable in drinking water and getting rid of most or all of it is a very costly process costs that many municipalities cannot afford for little, if any, tangible public health benefits.

"They should have never said arsenic. They should have said affordable water," Mr. Smith said.

But that argument was not made very effectively, say administration supporters, and Mr. Bush has been paying a political price for what is essentially poor communication.

"His policy in the last few days has rang some bells and pressed some buzzers. It doesn´t sound good," said independent pollster John Zogby.

"We can debate how much arsenic is safe, but moms don´t want to hear about any arsenic in drinking water," Mr. Zogby said.

Mr. Zogby said that Mr. Bush´s election support was weak among suburbanites, parents, independents and "especially among mothers. These groups are particularly sensitive about the environment."

"You don´t want to see one part per billion. It did not sound good. He needs successes, not damage control. This sounds like damage control," he said.

"It´s caused some concern because his numbers have gone down among these centrist groups, particularly when he needed to have his numbers go up," Mr. Zogby said.

"It does sound like they are on the run because of the criticism they have been getting. They have not done a good job of communicating why the arsenic rule was not tightened," said Richard Stroup, an environmental analyst at the Political Economy Research Center in Bozeman, Mont.

"What people see is corporate America killing Americans with arsenic. The administration is in some ways making good decisions on the environment but they do not have the propensity to spin the way the Clinton administration did," Mr. Stroup said.

Mr. Bush won predictable praise from his liberal critics yesterday for his announcement on the chemical treaty.

"This is a victory for public health," said Rep. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, the ranking Democrat on the Energy and Commerce health subcommittee.

But Mr. Bush´s supporters on environmental policy said they were dismayed by his announcement.

"Until recently, I would give the administration an A but now I would drop it to a B plus because of today´s decision," Mr. Smith said.

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What people are saying about the new administration's environmental actions

USA Today
04/20/2001 - Updated 04:14 AM ET
Opinionline
http://us.f60.mail.yahoo.com/ym/login?.rand=cgf479j91uu7p

Bush policies may hurt environment

Jack Doyle in a column for the Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.: "On this year's Earth Day, America needs to strengthen its commitment to alternative energy and energy efficiency. Instead, the Bush administration is using a so-called energy crisis to roll back important environmental protections and international initiatives. Since assuming office, President Bush has reversed his position on regulating carbon dioxide from power plants and stated that the Kyoto global-warming treaty is not worth the effort. He has overturned or put on hold regulations protecting everything from drinking water to forest lands and nixed regulations on hard-rock mining. His budget cuts energy-efficiency programs, and his Department of Energy is calling for more coal mining, more oil drilling and more power plants and oil refineries. In short, more carbon and more environmental costs. ... Bush should recognize the connections between environmental health and economic growth."

Denver Rocky Mountain News in an editorial: "Confounding its critics among Democrats and environmentalists, the Bush administration in quick succession has endorsed two Clinton-era regulations that the president had ordered delayed for further review. One extends Environmental Protection Administration authority to construction and excavation in or near wetlands ... that might result in harmful discharges. The decision earned the immediate ire of a natural Bush constituency: builders and developers. The Bush administration also upheld regulations greatly expanding the number of businesses that must report toxic lead emissions from their operations. Again, some of Bush's business supporters protested. ... The decision to go ahead with the regulations shows that the Bush White House is not on automatic pilot and that the president may have a more open-minded view of federal regulation than his opponents give him credit for."

Robert Reno in a column for Newsday, Long Island, N.Y.: "Ordinary Americans are used to feeling like insignificant slobs next to such concentrations of power as, say, the oil lobby, the banking lobby or the National Rifle Association. But who ever guessed we had an arsenic lobby or that its power was so irresistible it could bully the Bush administration into watering down standards for permissible concentrations of that well-known poison in the nation's drinking water? ... (Bush's arsenic decision) is but a teacup in the sea change of environmental policy that has washed over Washington with the coming of the Bush administration. ... Ralph Nader was a moron for saying it didn't matter if his candidacy cost Al Gore the presidency. The dime's worth of difference Nader said didn't exist has already saved the nation's polluters billions in costs and may have cost future generations their ability to survive on this Earth. Way to go, Ralph."

The Atlanta Journal and Constitution in an editorial: "We are so tired of the peanut gallery describing every move that the Bush administration makes on energy policy as pro-business or anti-environment. Taxpayers ... are relieved to see such terms as 'sensible,' 'balanced' and 'affordable' returning to Washington's vocabulary."

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Bush´s image

The Washington Times www.washtimes.com
Published 4/20/01
Inside Politics
Greg Pierce
http://www.washtimes.com/national/inpolitics.htm

"Can you imagine what would have happened if then-Speaker Newt Gingrich had spoken out in favor of rolling back acceptable arsenic levels in drinking water or refused to budge on the size of a proposed tax cut?" political analyst Stuart Rothenberg writes.

"It´s entirely likely words such as extreme, inflexible and uncompromising would have come into play," Mr. Rothenberg said in Roll Call.

"And what if Gingrich had proposed cutting funds to train doctors at children´s hospitals or suggested cuts to community policing programs? How about barbaric, radical, out of touch?

"But while liberal and Democratic groups continue to complain about the administration´s priorities and President Bush´s agenda, the president has avoided becoming a media punching bag and retains a much warmer political image than many of his party colleagues ever attained.

"So far this Bush is more Teflon than flypaper."

Restoring rationality

"A defining aspect of George W. Bush´s administration will undoubtedly be his stance on the environment," Ronald Bailey writes in the Wall Street Journal.

"Already, his new and considered approach has caused environmentalist groups to join forces in declaring an all-out war on the president´s policies. With each passing day, the language and tone of these organizations becomes a bit more strident, and a bit more unhinged," said Mr. Bailey, a science correspondent for Reason magazine.

"Any fair-minded examination of Mr. Bush´s record would show that what the president has actually done since taking office is to roll back the most excessive, irrational and, in some cases, harmful environmental rules and regulations. An unprincipled Clinton administration allowed our country to cross that basic line between intelligent conservation of our natural resources to fanatical environmental fundamentalism. Mr. Bush is attempting to restore some rationality.

"Nowhere was this common-sense approach more obvious than on March 13, when Mr. Bush stepped back from the Kyoto Treaty.

"At his March 29 press conference, Mr. Bush declared: 'Ours is going to be an administration that makes decisions on science; what's realistic, common-sense decisions.´ That is just what is making the environmental lobbyists so angry."

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Humpback whale frolics off Greece

The Washington Times www.washtimes.com
Published 4/20/01
World Scene
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20010420-730375.htm

ATHENS -- The rare sight of a young humpback whale frolicking in the sea off southern Greece has specialists scrambling to document the visit of the wayward wanderer.

The endangered humpbacks are normally found in the open ocean. Only a few have been reported passing through the Strait of Gibraltar to enter the Mediterranean Sea.

The humpback, measuring about 35 feet, is estimated to be about 4 or 5 years old and appeared to be in good health, said marine biologist Emilia Drouga, who heads Delphis, the Greek Society for the Study and Protection of Dolphins and Whales.

-------- imf / world bank / ftaa

CANADA AND THE SUMMITS OF THE AMERICAS: A NATIONAL REPORT

americascanada.org
Summit of the Americas, 2001
The full report is 236 pages long.
http://www.americascanada.org/eventsummit/documents/nationalreport-e.pdf
http://www.americascanada.org/eventsummit/document/natreport-e.asp

This is Canada's first report on the Summits of the Americas process. It focusses primarily on the 1998 Santiago Plan of Action. References to mandates originating from the 1994 Miami Summit of the Americas are also included, as many of the commitments from Miami continue to be implemented. The report is divided into four sections that mirror the four main themes of the Santiago Plan of Action. These four themes are in turn broken down into 28 sub-themes, each with at least one corresponding action item. Throughout the report, action items are highlighted in bold type. Achievements described represent a summary of the work Canada has done in support of summit mandates and in related areas. This report is a resource document and each section may be read independently. Every effort has been made to provide information that is as accurate and complete as possible.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Canada's future is inextricably linked to that of our partners in the Americas - geographically, economically and politically. Together, we stand at a significant moment in our common history as we face the collective challenge of transforming the region's political, economic and social promise into a more prosperous, secure and freer future for all citizens.

In April 2001, the presidents and prime ministers of the 34 democratically elected governments of the Western Hemisphere will meet in Quebec City (Canada) at the Third Summit of the Americas to chart a common course for the new millennium. As chair of the Summit, Canada has played a leading role in developing the agenda and providing support for preparatory activities. These efforts represent a major undertaking requiring co-operation among federal, provincial/ territorial and municipal governments, as well as information sharing and consultation with the private sector, Indigenous peoples and civil society organizations.

The first two Summits of the Americas - held in Miami (United States) in 1994 and in Santiago (Chile) in 1998 - fostered comprehensive, practical co-operation on a range of issues of common concern. In Miami, leaders sought to strengthen hemispheric partnerships in order to encourage the advancement of mutual interests, including peace, democracy, prosperity and social justice. Their aim was to channel the momentum created by the convergence of democratic values and a new spirit of economic liberalization in the region into a plan of action with 23 initiatives grouped under the following themes:

Preserving and Strengthening the Community of Democracies in the Americas Promoting Prosperity Through Economic Integration and Free Trade Eradicating Poverty and Discrimination in the Hemisphere Guaranteeing Sustainable Development and Conserving the Natural Environment for Future Generations

Following the Miami Summit, the Summit Implementation Review Group (SIRG) was created to monitor and manage follow-up and implementation of Summit initiatives. Implementation of each of the 23 initiatives contained in the Miami Plan of Action was co-ordinated either by a specific country, a regional or international organization or a multilateral development bank.

Planning and preparation for the Second Summit of the Americas was carried out by the SIRG, and in 1998 leaders of the Americas met again in Santiago (Chile) to examine four key themes 1 :

Education: The Key to Progress Preserving and Strengthening Democracy, Justice and Human Rights Economic Integration and Free Trade Eradication of Poverty and Discrimination

At the Santiago Summit, leaders approved a plan of action containing 28 mandates under the aforementioned themes, which complement commitments endorsed at the First Summit of the Americas.

Since the Miami Summit in 1994, Canada has been active in translating Summit mandates into action at home and in the Hemisphere, and in monitoring implementation through the SIRG. Follow-up is critical to ensuring that the Summits are successful in advancing the hemispheric agenda and that progress made on commitments endorsed by leaders is monitored and reported.

Canada and the Summits of the Americas is an overview of efforts undertaken by Canada to support commitments made by leaders at previous summits. While the Report focusses primarily on the Santiago Plan of Action, references to mandates emanating from the 1994 Miami Summit of the Americas are also included as many of these commitments continue to be implemented. The report is divided into four sections and mirrors the four themes of the Santiago Plan of Action.

Education: The Key to Progress

Chapter I reviews progress achieved in improving access to quality education and training. Among other things, it examines fellowships and exchange programs; development and use of information and communications technologies in education, including distance education; educational statistics and quality evaluation; programs for vulnerable populations; education for the workplace; professionalization of teachers; and intercultural education.

The chapter describes how Canada facilitates access to higher education; incorporates marginalized groups into classrooms; develops standards for reading, writing, mathematics and science; offers training for greater integration into the workplace; and uses technology to link schools and communities to the rest of the Hemisphere. It shows how Canada's education system offers Canadians a brighter future and the opportunity to compete and succeed in a knowledge-based economy, and it illustrates the federal, provincial and territorial governments' commitment to ensuring that all Canadians have access to quality lifelong learning opportunities.

A number of strategies and initiatives for developing strong literacy skills and for improving access to education/training are examined. The chapter also highlights efforts made across Canada to integrate and maximize the participation of vulnerable groups including women, Aboriginal people, persons with disabilities, socio-economically disadvantaged Canadians, people facing cultural and/or linguistic barriers, and members of visible minorities.

Because quality education depends on the skills and knowledge of teachers, a number of teacher training programs are being created in Canada and internationally to ensure ongoing professional development. In Canada, these programs are helping to regulate the teaching profession; set professional standards and requirements; ensure consistent approaches to teaching; and promote competence in information and communications technology skills. In the Americas, programs focus on improving school governance, administrative management and the quality of basic education.

Preserving and Strengthening Democracy, Justice and Human Rights

Chapter II focusses on Canada's efforts to advance democracy, justice and human rights. It highlights programs and initiatives to promote and safeguard the rights of all Canadians, including the right to due process, protection from discrimination and freedom from exploitation. It also demonstrates the importance Canada attaches to the rule of law; transparency and openness; civil society participation in public issues; freedom of thought and expression; and the protection of vulnerable groups, including women and children.

Canada works hard at home, regionally and internationally and through multilateral institutions - including the United Nations (UN), the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Commonwealth - to promote and protect human rights; consolidate democratic values, practices and institutions; and strengthen the structures and systems that deal with the administration of justice.

This report examines the Government of Canada's adoption of domestic measures and its active participation in multilateral forums - including the UN, the G-8 and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development - to combat corruption; control and prevent the illicit consumption of and trafficking in drugs; prevent, fight and eliminate terrorism; and combat money laundering.

Canada's Drug Strategy was released in June 1998, setting out the principles of the government's commitment to addressing substance abuse domestically. The strategy aims to reduce the demand for drugs and drug-related mortality and morbidity; improve access to substance abuse information and interventions; restrict the supply of illicit drugs; reduce the profitability of illicit drug trafficking; and reduce the cost of substance abuse to Canadian society. To achieve these goals, the Strategy sets out a framework that recognizes the importance and interdependence of a number of components - research and knowledge development; knowledge dissemination; prevention programming; treatment and rehabilitation; legislation, enforcement and control; national co-ordination; and international co-operation.

Canada strongly supports international efforts to eliminate terrorism that are consistent with human rights, the rule of law and the protection of fundamental freedoms. Canada has signed 12 international counter-terrorism conventions - 10 of which have been ratified. A continuing review of domestic measures is underway to ensure compliance with UN and G-8 commitments.

Canada strongly supports international efforts to eliminate terrorism that are consistent with human rights, the rule of law and the protection of fundamental freedoms. Canada has signed 12 international counter-terrorism conventions - 10 of which have been ratified. A continuing review of domestic measures is underway to ensure compliance with UN and G-8 commitments.

Canada also works multilaterally through the UN and the OAS to identify appropriate counter-terrorist mechanisms. Within the UN system, Canada chaired the successful negotiation of the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombing and the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism. These conventions plus others form the basis of a strong international regime aimed at eliminating safe havens for terrorists. Because peace and security are vital for the well-being of people and of democratic institutions, the promotion of confidence and security-building measures in the Americas is one of Canada's key regional priorities. Canadian efforts in this regard include promoting regional dialogue with a view to strengthening the inter-American system, de-mining, promoting transparency in defence matters, increasing co-operation with UN peacekeeping efforts, strengthening multilateral disaster preparedness and response capacity, and addressing the special concerns of small island states.

Chapter II also highlights the Government of Canada's efforts to support and provide fair labour policies, laws, programs and assistance, including providing temporary income replacement for insured workers who become involuntarily unemployed; developing, administering and enforcing legislation and regulations related to wages, the workplace and working conditions; respecting and incorporating socially disadvantaged groups such as women, Aboriginal people, persons with disabilities and visible minorities; and providing accurate and timely labour market and career information.

Economic Integration and Free Trade

Chapter III describes Canada's commitment to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) as a principal means of stimulating economic growth and development in the Hemisphere through liberalized trade and investment. The chapter provides a general overview of Canadian efforts to support the Santiago Plan of Action mandates and looks at progress toward reaching an FTAA agreement.

Canada recognizes the special needs and circumstances affecting the integration of smaller economies into a Free Trade Area of the Americas and has been a strong supporter of the measures taken to support smaller states in the negotiations. Canada is an active participant in meetings of the FTAA Consultative Group on Smaller Economies, where issues such as technical assistance needs and the concept of special and differential treatment are raised. Canada has directed substantial resources to the region's vulnerable countries with a view to building their capacity to integrate themselves into the world trading system and participate fully in the FTAA process, thereby positioning these countries to reap the full benefits of a final agreement.

Canada believes that well-functioning financial markets are key to promoting growth and development and to reducing countries' vulnerability to crises. Consequently, it is working to strengthen, modernize and integrate financial markets across the Hemisphere and to implement universal standards and codes, especially in the area of financial supervision and regulation.

Chapter III describes how Canada is also working with its hemispheric partners on a number of other fronts - including science and technology, energy co-operation, climate change, telecommunications and transportation - all of which are related to and have an impact on the overall development and economic integration of the region.

Eradicating Poverty and Discrimination

Chapter IV describes what Canada has done to help eradicate poverty and discrimination.

Canada has legislation aimed at eliminating discrimination and violence against women and guaranteeing the rights of children, and the Government of Canada promotes various initiatives to improve the health and well-being of women and children. Multilaterally, Canada works actively at the United Nations and the OAS toward the elimination of violence against women and children, and through the International Labour Organization to support non-discrimination in employment and the elimination of child exploitation.

Since 1988, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Gender Equality Funds have supported international commitments made in the areas of poverty reduction, political participation, economic empowerment, violence, health and education, in the Americas. These funds have improved the living conditions of rural women; supported domestic violence programs; increased the political participation of women; helped train police and judicial officials; and provided health care and safe houses for victims of domestic violence.

Chapter IV highlights ways in which Canada's Official Development Assistance Program supports developing countries in order to reduce poverty and contribute to a more secure, equitable and prosperous world. Canada is responding to the development challenge in the Americas by supporting programs and projects that flow from the Miami and Santiago plans of action. Canadian activities aim to promote a politically stable, economically liberal and socially equitable region, free of environmental degradation. More recently the challenge has included humanitarian relief efforts around natural disasters - such as hurricanes Mitch and Georges and El Niño.

Since 1995, the Government of Canada has been reviewing its approach to addressing small business issues and concerns. In response to changes in the economic environment due to new information technologies, connectedness and an opening of trade, Canada has moved toward creating conditions that are supportive of employment-generating private sector growth. As a result, the Government of Canada relies on a wide range of policy levers, developed and implemented by a number of departments and agencies, to facilitate and encourage small business growth and development. Central to this approach is the recognition of the vital role that small businesses play in the Canadian economy.

In the Hemisphere, the Government of Canada has invested more than US$400 million to provide training, technical assistance and business development opportunities for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises in the Americas. These programs enhance the capacity of businesses, strengthen social and economic infrastructures, and ensure better quality production and products. The goal is to encourage the development of successful enterprises, which in turn helps to increase incomes for employees and employers.

The Government of Canada promotes respect for workers' rights and labour standards both at home and throughout the Americas. In 1999, for instance, Canada shared with the OAS the key developments and changes it has made over the past 10 years in labour legislation - mostly in the areas of employment standards, industrial relations and occupational safety and health.

Canada is working to improve the participation of Aboriginal people in Canadian society. In 1998, the Government of Canada launched Gathering Strength: Canada's Aboriginal Action Plan. Through the Plan, the federal government is promoting self-sufficiency and economic development; developing labour and training programs to help Aboriginal people prepare for, find and keep jobs; improving access to health care; and supporting Aboriginal education and language programs. Canada also plays a key role in promoting indigenous issues at the international level - bilaterally and multilaterally - through institutions such as the UN and OAS.

Conclusion

Since the First Summit of the Americas held in Miami, Canada has worked to address issues dealt with in the Summit mandates, both at home and in the Hemisphere. Canada is committed to monitoring the implementation of Summit plans of action and to reporting on their activities. While many efforts are already underway, new strategies have been and are being developed and pursued in response to the evolution of the Summit process.

Canada is proud of its achievements in working at home and in the Hemisphere and of the contribution that the Summit of the Americas process has made to improving the quality of life for Canadians and for the peoples of the Americas.

1 The issue of sustainable development - a 1994 Summit of the Americas agenda item - was addressed at a separate Summit on Sustainable Development, held in Santa Cruz (Bolivia) in December 1996.

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Bush's Job at Quebec Talks: Push Case for Free Trade

New York Times
April 20, 2001
By ANTHONY DePALMA
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/20/world/20SUMM.html

QUEBEC, April 19 - Even before he enters the gates of this historic walled city to attend the Summit of the Americas, President Bush faces major challenges to fulfilling his promise of using the forum to elevate the importance of relations with Latin America and breathe new life into American plans for a hemisphere- wide free trade deal.

The critical trade negotiating legislation that Mr. Bush pledged last summer to have well under way by now has not even been introduced in Congress.

And the administration's attempt to speed up the schedule for negotiating and setting up a vast Free Trade Area of the Americas was soundly defeated earlier this month, in part because of the objections of countries like Brazil that feel the United States is trying to dominate the region economically.

The conference, which begins Friday, is Mr. Bush's first big international meeting, and he has long portrayed it as a prominent stage on which he intends to open a new era of hemispheric harmony. Besides the impact it will have in the region, the summit meeting is also expected to have lasting repercussions on the administration's ability to pursue other goals.

The president's arrival in Quebec without the trade measures he had promised is sure to frustrate some of the 33 other leaders who have already waited six years for a sign of Washington's commitment to the hemispheric trade deal, said Peter Hakim, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, an academic forum. He added that Mr. Bush needed to send a clear signal that he was moving forward with his agenda despite the recent setbacks or risk deepening the "unhappiness, disappointment and sense of lost opportunity," already present in Latin America.

The region is eager to hear Mr. Bush's message. Carlos Echeverría, head of the Costa Rican delegation, said that while the conference was about far more than trade, gaining open access to the American market was of utmost importance to developing nations.

"We hope that the U.S. Congress is going to get a message from all this and give Mr. Bush what he needs to get the trade deal going," he said.

Thousands of people concerned about issues from human rights to the high cost of AIDS medicines in undeveloped countries have already gathered here. They are separated from the delegates by several miles of concrete barricades and chain link fencing.

Quebec itself became noticeably edgier this week after José Bové, the French sheep farmer who vandalized a McDonald's restaurant in France in an antiglobalization protest a few years ago, arrived here saying, "Even if some windows are going down on Saturday, that is not violence." And after authorities arrested six Canadian men headed for Quebec with smoke bombs, military stun grenades and other items that the police said were to be used to disrupt the meeting, shopkeepers began to board up their windows.

Mr. Bush and the other leaders are expected to discuss a wide range of issues, including health, education and Plan Colombia, under which the United States is providing $1.3 billion in mostly military aid to the government of Colombia to help resolve a guerrilla uprising and drug problem that are engulfing the nation.

The leaders of several Latin American countries are expected to try to buttonhole President Bush to express their concerns about the plan, which they fear could heighten the fighting and cause it to spill over Colombia's border to other nations.

A number of countries, led by Canada and Peru, are pushing hard for the adoption of a clear commitment to democracy in the region that will give a stronger policing role to the Organization of American States.

A point of contention is expected to be how narrowly delegates are willing to define the concept of a functioning democracy. Nations that veer from democratic principles would be prohibited from taking part in future summit meetings and regional trade associations.

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Why we need Cuba at table in Canada

USA Today
04/20/2001 - Updated 04:55 AM ET
http://www.usatoday.com/news/comment/columnists/neuharth/2001-04-20-neuharth.htm

President Bush and the heads of state of 34 of the 35 countries in this hemisphere are meeting in Canada this weekend. Their goal: Try to ensure an American free-trade zone from Alaska to Antarctica by 2005, to compete more effectively with Europe and Asia.

This is the third such summit since 1994. Each time, the U.S. has nixed attendance by Cuba's Fidel Castro. Despite that, every other major country in the Americas, and most in the world, now carry on normal economic and diplomatic relations with Cuba.

The USA has the most to lose if the top-to-toe American free-trade zone doesn't work. Nearly 40% of our exports currently go to other countries in this hemisphere.

In the next decade or two, these three blocs likely will call the economic shots around the world:

• The European Community, now led by Germany, Britain and France, but which ultimately will include Russia as a big player.

• The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, scheduled to take full effect in 2020. That includes the U.S., but China and Japan are keys.

• The Free Trade Area of the Americas. We clearly should dominate this, but we must overcome misguided opposition from labor and environmentalists, and we must get in step with the rest of the hemisphere, especially vis-à-vis Cuba.

Of course, Castro is a dictator. So were Mikhail Gorbachev and his predecessors in the USSR, and Deng Xiaoping and his forerunners in China. But we did business with them. Their people benefited, and so did we.

Every U.S. president since Dwight D. Eisenhower has tried unsuccessfully to castrate Castro. The best move Bush could make when he addresses the summit in Canada on Saturday morning is to announce that he would welcome, if not necessarily embrace, Castro at the table.

FEEDBACK

Other views on dealing with Cuba

"Doing business with a dictator for the benefit of unscrupulous multi-nationals and making us believe the people will benefit? Amazing! The best move for Bush is to embrace the victims, not Castro." - Ninoska Perez Castellon, spokesperson, Cuban American National Foundation

"The Europeans required democracy for entry into the European Union, and it worked; Spain and Portugal became democracies. Requiring democracy for entry into the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) is not only right, it's also going to work. Castro will soon be history, and a free Cuba will be part of the FTAA." - Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Fla.

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President set for debut on world stage

The Washington Times www.washtimes.com
Published 4/20/01
Bill Sammon THE WASHINGTON TIMES
http://www.washtimes.com/national/20010420-755376.htm

President Bush today begins the first major summit of his presidency, stepping onto the world stage with dozens of foreign leaders whose first impression of the new American president has been shaped by the China standoff.

The White House seemed relieved to have secured the release of 24 Americans before Mr. Bush´s three-day trip to Quebec for the Summit of the Americas. If the standoff had continued, it likely would have cast a shadow over the president´s first multinational summit and rekindled questions, first raised during the presidential campaign, about his foreign policy credentials.

"It probably reinforces what all of us who know him have said all along, which is that he is someone who is very much in control, that he is very capable of doing things in a low-key and effective fashion, that he´s not someone who believes that there has to be a lot of emotion around an issue in order to be working the issue effectively," National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice told The Washington Times.

But some Democrats still have doubts about Mr. Bush´s diplomatic competence.

"This is his first summit with his peers, and in life you get one chance to make a good first impression," said Democratic strategist Mary Anne Marsh. "It´ll be interesting to see which George Bush shows up.

"Will it be the compassionate conservative George Bush? The compassionate George Bush? Or the conservative George Bush?

"The opportunity that Bush has in front of all of his peers around the world is to try for the first time to put the whole package together," she concluded. "Now whether he can do that is another matter."

Miss Marsh warned that Mr. Bush should not "try to go in as the strong, tough-talking president who I think came out of the box too hard on China to begin with."

That would only serve to reinforce the impression reportedly held by the summit´s host, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, about Mr. Bush´s cowboy demeanor and ignorance about Canada, she said.

The Toronto Star reported earlier this month that Mr. Chretien remarked during a closed-door meeting with his political caucus that Mr. Bush didn´t know the location of Prince Edward Island, where farmers grow potatoes that are the subject of a trade dispute between Canada and the U.S. The prime minister also said Mr. Bush did not know the size of the Alberta tar sands, according to the paper.

Mr. Chretien later denied making the remarks and emphasized his deep respect for Mr. Bush. But the contretemps resurrected criticisms about Mr. Bush´s foreign policy experience.

White House officials believe Mr. Bush´s success at negotiating the release of 24 Americans who were held hostage in China for 12 days will help dispel that notion.

"I think the president was pleased that the matter was resolved, regardless of what next meeting he happened to have, whether it was an international meeting in Quebec, or whether it was a domestic meeting," White House press secretary Ari Fleischer told The Times.

"The president was pleased that he was able, through diplomacy, to bring the matter of our servicemen and women held against their will to an end," he added. "As for the meeting in Quebec, the president is looking forward to going there. This will be the largest multilateral meeting of his young presidency."

Mr. Fleischer pointed out that in the first three months of the administration, Mr. Bush has met with seven presidents of countries in Latin America.

"The president said during the campaign that he wanted to have a foreign policy that begins with our friends and our neighbors, and that´s exactly what he is doing as he prepares to head up to Quebec," he said.

The Bush administration has long maintained that the Clinton administration neglected diplomatic relationships in the Western hemisphere.

"One major difference is that today the United States has a president who is very focused on this hemisphere," Miss Rice said in a speech earlier this month. "This hemisphere is not an afterthought to President Bush."

Still, Mr. Bush has spent much of the past several weeks focused on the other hemisphere, thanks to the hostage standoff.

"The president, I think, was never distracted," Miss Rice said yesterday. "He was able to keep this within bounds, to continue to work the full agenda on foreign policy. I might just note that the day before the crew was released, he spent two hours with the king of Jordan, talking about very important problems."

The only other foreign trip Mr. Bush has taken was a one-day jaunt to Mexico, where he met with Mexican President Vicente Fox. Although this is his first trip to Canada as president, Mr. Bush has already met with Mr. Chretien at the White House.

But for most of the 34 heads of state and heads of government at this weekend´s summit, it will be their first chance to size up the new American president in person.

"Those leaders who have met him, like President Fox and Prime Minister Chretien, would not be surprised by his quiet and careful handling of this matter, which ultimately succeeded so well," Miss Rice said.

---

Free trade by 2005

The Washington Times www.washtimes.com
Published 4/20/01
Embassy Row
James Morrison
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20010420-68436069.htm

Chilean Ambassador Andres Bianchi is hoping that Summit of the Americas beginning today will lead to a free trade agreement in four years, even if some countries delay implementing all of its provisions.

Mr. Bianchi believes that compromise would allow flexibility for countries that have not yet made the economic reforms needed to compete throughout the Western Hemisphere.

"It means not all sections of the agreement would be in force immediately in the year 2005," he told a meeting of the Council on Foreign Relations this week.

"That, I think, would give some flexibility to countries that have different views and different interests on different topics.

"They could accept the whole package in 2005, knowing that implementation of the sections will not start exactly on the same day."

Other participants in the panel discussion on the Quebec City summit were worried about disruptions by anti-capitalist protesters, who want to attach strict labor and environmental standards to the trade deal.

Free-trade advocates say those demands could stifle the competitiveness of poor countries with cheap labor.

"The demonstrations are going to be a problem in terms of public perception of whether the summit is a success or not," said the Council´s Bruce Stokes.

Thomas McLarty III, President Clinton´s Latin America envoy, predicted that labor and environmentalists "will have to be accommodated in some measure" to achieve a Free Trade Agreement of the Americas.

Meanwhile the Cato Institute argued that the protesters are ignorant of the benefits of free trade for poor nations.

"Hurtling oneself against a police barricade in protest of free trade is great fun," said policy analyst Aaron Lukas. "But it is hardly a brave act for spoiled children of affluence to blindly rail against the instruments of their own prosperity."

Cato also released its annual "Economic Freedom of the World" report, which shows only four of the 34 nations that will be represented today and tomorrow have truly free markets.

They are the United States, Argentina, Bolivia and Canada.

-------- spying

Days Before Arrest, Suspected Spy Sought Job Outside F.B.I.

New York Times
April 20, 2001
By JAMES RISEN
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/20/national/20SPY.html

WASHINGTON, April 19 - Seeking a quick exit from the F.B.I. in the days before his February arrest on charges of spying for Moscow, Robert Philip Hanssen turned to a K.G.B. defector who was an old friend to help him start a career in the computer security business.

In late January, Mr. Hanssen began meeting with Viktor Sheymov, a former K.G.B. computer expert who defected to the United States in 1980 and who had recently founded a computer security company in the Washington area, Mr. Sheymov said in a series of interviews. Mr. Hanssen, who was already under investigation by the F.B.I., led a team of experts from the bureau to inspect technology offered by Mr. Sheymov's company, Invicta Networks, Mr. Sheymov and other Invicta officials said.

Mr. Hanssen told Mr. Sheymov that the bureau was interested in buying Invicta technology to help protect its computer network. The F.B.I. now says that Mr. Hanssen abused the bureau's network to collect classified information for Moscow and to try to detect whether he was being investigated.

After their first meeting on Jan. 30, Mr. Hanssen returned on Feb. 5; over lunch, Mr. Hanssen told Mr. Sheymov that he wanted to leave the F.B.I. for a job at Invicta, Mr. Sheymov recalled. Mr. Sheymov said he did not offer a job to Mr. Hanssen and fended off his inquiries.

In their first interviews about the matter since Mr. Hanssen's arrest on Feb. 18, Mr. Sheymov and other Invicta officials, including R. James Woolsey, the former C.I.A. director who is a member of Invicta's board, described how their startup company became enmeshed in the biggest espionage case in F.B.I. history.

In the process, they have provided insights into Mr. Hanssen's activities just before his arrest, which suggest that Mr. Hanssen was hurrying to leave the bureau, perhaps because he sensed that he had finally come under suspicion as a spy.

He and Mr. Sheymov had known each other since the late 1980's, when Mr. Hanssen was Mr. Sheymov's F.B.I. contact while the defector was a consultant to the National Security Agency, the government's supersecret eavesdropping and code-breaking unit. Over the years, the two became friendly, and their families would sometimes socialize.

But, the bureau says, Mr. Hanssen betrayed the relationship from the start. The F.B.I. affidavit about B - the alias it says Mr. Hanssen used while spying for the Russians - says: "In February 1988, B told the K.G.B. that he could read the Viktor Sheymov file because a special project relating to Sheymov was about to begin. At the time, Hanssen was reviewing the Sheymov file in preparation for his participation in upcoming intelligence community debriefings of Sheymov."

Throughout the espionage operation, "B reported on Sheymov's defection," the affidavit, which is filed in federal court as part of the government's case against Mr. Hanssen, states.

The two men had not seen one other for two or three years when they ran into each other last December, while Mr. Hanssen was the F.B.I. representative to the State Department's office of foreign missions. They discussed Mr. Sheymov's new company; Mr. Hanssen, who was about to return to F.B.I. headquarters for a job in information and computer management, said that the bureau might be interested in Invicta's computer security technology.

The F.B.I. says Mr. Hanssen was assigned the new job so he could be monitored more easily.

Once in his new post, Mr. Hanssen arranged for the team of computer experts to receive a briefing on Invicta's technology. For a startup like Invicta, the chance to win the F.B.I. as a client was a big opportunity.

Mr. Hanssen and the F.B.I. team were given a presentation about Invicta's security technology on Jan. 30 - the same day, by coincidence, the F.B.I. conducted a court-authorized search of Mr. Hanssen's car.

The F.B.I. team appeared interested in Invicta's technology, which provides a new system of guarding computer networks from both internal and external hackers and other security breaches, Mr. Sheymov said.

Still, Mr. Sheymov was surprised when Mr. Hanssen called a few days later for a meeting.

"It seemed like he was rushing, like he was trying to accelerate things," Mr. Sheymov said. "He was always the kind of guy who was laid back before. But now, he was pushing the timetable."

On Feb. 5 - the same day the F.B.I. searched Mr. Hanssen's office - Mr. Hanssen had lunch with Mr. Sheymov and another Invicta official. Mr. Sheymov assumed they would discuss the F.B.I.'s interest in his technology. But Mr. Hanssen stunned Mr. Sheymov by saying he wanted to work for Invicta.

"Our jaws dropped when he asked for a job," Mr. Sheymov said. "He said he wanted some kind of executive job and asked what kind of salaries we paid on the executive level."

It was an awkward situation, and Mr. Sheymov tried to defuse it. "This was a friend, someone working relatively high up in the F.B.I. and asking for a job," he said. "So you try to kind of play it in a considerate way.

"I was looking for an out. I said, "What kind of time frame do you have in mind?' He said, `Right now.' That put me in a bind."

Mr. Sheymov said he tried to make it clear there was no room for Mr. Hanssen at Invicta.

In its affidavit, the F.B.I. said Mr. Hanssen told colleagues he was weighing a job offer from Invicta as part of a plan to leave the bureau. According to the affidavit, Mr. Hanssen spoke of retiring this month.

On Feb. 16, Mr. Hanssen returned to Invicta a third time.

"He got up and drew on my blackboard and described our technology," Mr. Sheymov said. "He did it as well as I could."

Two days later, Mr. Hanssen was arrested. Mr. Sheymov was shocked to hear the news. "I thought it must have been a mistake," he said.

Mr. Sheymov said he did not know whether Mr. Hanssen intended to inform Russian intelligence about Invicta's technology. But as a former computer security expert for the K.G.B., Mr. Sheymov says he believes that his technology would be of great interest to Moscow. Invicta's system is scheduled for wide commercial availability in June, he said.

"The Russians are always interested in breakthrough technologies," Mr. Sheymov said. "And they would definitely be after this."

---

U.S.-China Collision Talks End With Need for More Talk

New York Times
April 20, 2001
By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/20/world/20CHIN.html

BEIJING, April 19 - After threatening to walk away, American negotiators ended two days of talks today over the April 1 air collision on a note of optimism.

"We've covered all of the items on the agenda and I found today's session to be very productive," said Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Peter Verga, the head of the American team.

But descriptions of the meetings by a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Zhang Qiyue - who called the talks "frank" - suggested that the two sides actually agreed on very little today, other than the need to talk again.

And Chinese officials displayed their resolve to hold the United States entirely responsible for the collision - which occurred in international waters off China's southern coast. They produced videotapes, charts and photos they said demonstrated a pattern of unsafe flying by American military pilots and "proved" that the American surveillance plane had rammed the Chinese jet.

The talks come during a particularly tense week in American-Chinese relations - a time when both sides, while acknowledging the need to get along, possess no reserve of good will to gloss over differences.

On Tuesday, United States immigration authorities in Guam released Zhang Hongbao, the leader of a banned Chinese spiritual group, pending his appeal for asylum. China has accused Mr. Zhang of rape and murder and wants him repatriated. Mr. Zhang had been in detention in Guam for more than a year after his arrest for trying to enter on a fake visa.

On Wednesday, at the annual session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, China managed to block a United States attempt to censure China's rights record.

Meanwhile, the Bush administration is debating what weapons it should sell to Taiwan, which China considers a breakaway province.

In a news conference this afternoon, Ms. Zhang of the Foreign Ministry said that, during today's talks in Beijing, each side continued to insist that the other was responsible for the collision, which resulted in the loss of the Chinese jet and its pilot and forced the American plane to make an emergency landing on Hainan island in China, where the craft remains.

And while both governments have said the talks should address ways to prevent a similar incident in the future, the two sides presented solutions that are mutually incompatible. China wants the United States to stop reconnaissance flights near its borders, which they consider threatening to national security even when conducted in international air space. The United States, which has rejected that option, wants to establish rules for encounters between military aircraft, such as how close an intercepting plane may fly.

"The talk is very frank and can help the two sides to better understand the position of the other," Ms. Zhang said. But she added that until the two sides could determine blame for the April 1 collision it would be "difficult to talk about other issues," like returning the spy plane.

The two delegations agreed to continue negotiations, but no date has been set.

The inconclusive results were no surprise and from the start this round of negotiations seemed more like a scouting trip than an endgame, particularly since the American delegation consisted of only mid-level officials.

China is extremely conscious of diplomatic protocol and any negotiation to resolve what the Chinese government has portrayed as an extremely serious incident - or to gain release of the damaged $80 million spy plane - would almost certainly have to involve a high-level envoy.

As it was, the talks nearly came to an abrupt halt after Wednesday's two-hour session, as Bush administration officials in Washington complained loudly that the Chinese were grandstanding.

Early this morning, the American Ambassador, Adm. Joseph W. Prueher made a dramatic trip to the Chinese Foreign Ministry to threaten that the American delegation would leave if the Chinese did not get down to business.

But by this afternoon, the theatrics were on the Chinese side: At a regularly scheduled Foreign Ministry news conference, Ms. Zhang showed journalists "some of the evidence" that officials had given the negotiators to persuade them that the American plane was the aggressor.

American officials have squarely placed blame for the collision on the dead Chinese pilot, Wang Wei.

But after the 24 American crew members returned to the United States, the Navy pilot, Lt. Shane Osborn, said that the Chinese jet had twice buzzed the much larger American turboprop plane, approaching its underside within 10 feet. On the third pass, Lieutenant Osborn said, the Chinese jet nicked the American plane's left propeller and nose, which sent the jet spiraling into the ocean.

American officials have produced videotapes of earlier close encounters with Mr. Wang's aircraft. On one occasion, they said, Mr. Wang was so near that American pilots could see the e-mail address he held up on a piece of paper.

But at today's news conference, the Chinese Foreign Ministry produced videotapes of its own, attempting to get its own spin on international airwaves.

In one Chinese tape of an encounter between American and Chinese military aircraft near China's coast, it was the American pilots who "engaged in dangerous maneuvers," Ms. Zhang said. The American plane appears to be quite close and a crew member can be seen taking a photograph.

And, for the first time, Chinese officials presented physical evidence from the downed American plane that they said had led them to conclude that the United States was the aggressor. Ms. Zhang noted, for example, that the damaged left propeller of the American plane had paint chips from the Chinese plane on its front, not its back. She said this "proved" that the American plane rammed the Chinese fighter, rather than the other way around.

Another Chinese American Held

WASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) - Chinese authorities have detained a Chinese-born American citizen in Guangzhou on suspicion of spying for Taiwan, the State Department said today.

The man, Wu Jianming, was detained on April 8, the State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, said.

The State Department also issued a warning to Americans, particularly those of Chinese descent, of the risks of traveling to China if they have criticized Chinese government policies or visited Taiwan.

---

China detains American writer for suspected spying

USA Today
04/20/2001 - Updated 08:56 AM ET
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2001-04-20-chinadetainee.htm

BEIJING (AP) - China has detained an American writer and former teacher, the U.S. embassy said Friday, the fifth Chinese-born intellectual with foreign ties to be held in a sweeping anti-espionage campaign. Wu Jianmin, a U.S. citizen, was detained April 8 and is suspected of espionage, the U.S. Embassy here said. Police informed embassy officials of Wu's detention on April 14, saying he was under investigation for spying on behalf of Taiwan.

Authorities suspect that Wu was involved in the publication of The Tiananmen Papers, a book about the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators, said Frank Lu, a former dissident who runs a human rights monitoring group in Hong Kong. The book, which depicts Chinese leaders at odds over how to handle the protests, is said to be based on Communist Party records smuggled out of China by a disaffected official.

The report comes one day after the U.S. State Department issued a warning to travelers linked to Taiwan or dissident writings. It in particular cautions Americans originally from China. Travel to Taiwan, which China regards as a rebel province, or involvement with Taiwan media organizations, "has apparently also been regarded as the equivalent of espionage," the warning said.

Wu, 46, is a former instructor at the Communist Party's Central Party School who left that job in 1986 to become a reporter, said Lu. Wu left for the United States in 1988.

After the 1989 student protests, a Taiwan publishing house produced a book written by Wu entitled: "Zhongnanhai has played all its trump cards," Lu said. Zhongnanhai is the Chinese name for the Communist Party leadership's residential and administrative compound in Beijing.

Further information on Wu, including where he lived in the United States, was not immediately available.

An official in the government's Foreign Affairs Office in Guangdong province confirmed Wu had been detained, but would provide no further information.

The U.S.-based editors of The Tiananmen Papers have said their Chinese sources were seeking to promote political reform through the disclosure of internal Communist Party debates. Chinese leaders, who seek to present an image of unity, have derided the book as a fabrication.

Earlier this week, more than 350 prominent China scholars warned that the crackdown threatened to set back thriving academic exchanges. They issued an open appeal to President Jiang Zemin to release the imprisoned scholars or at least to provide them fair legal protection.

Wu is the second U.S. citizen known to be detained recently in China. The other is Li Shaomin, an American citizen and business professor in Hong Kong who disappeared Feb. 25 after going to China to see a friend. His wife says he was picked up by security agents. Chinese authorities have not commented on that case.

Washington also has voiced concern over three other detentions:

- American University researcher and U.S. permanent resident Gao Zhan, who was detained Feb. 11 and faces espionage charges. Gao's husband and 5-year-old son, who is a U.S. citizen, were detained with her and held for 26 days before being released. Chinese officials failed to inform the U.S. Embassy of the son's detention as required by law.

- Tan Guangguang, a Chinese intellectual and permanent U.S. resident who has taught at top U.S. universities and worked for a U.S. medical group in Beijing, was detained in December.

- Xu Zerong, a historian who works in Hong Kong, was detained in August in Guangdong. Xu, a permanent resident of Hong Kong, reportedly had published articles containing sensitive information about Chinese support for communist insurgents in Malaysia in the 1950s.

---

Beijing refuses to give response on return of surveillance plane

The Washington Times www.washtimes.com
Published 4/20/01
Ben Barber THE WASHINGTON TIMES
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20010420-876380.htm

Chinese diplomats made no moves to return a damaged U.S. surveillance plane during "businesslike" meetings with U.S. officials in Beijing yesterday, but did listen to U.S. requests for a return of the plane, U.S. officials said.

In sharp contrast to a meeting Wednesday that a U.S. official described as "polemical, " yesterday´s meeting was "businesslike -- they dealt with all the topics that we wanted to deal with," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.

Chinese officials also showed the Americans videos and an animation that they claimed showed the U.S. plane was responsible for the April 1 collision with a Chinese jet fighter.

U.S. officials were skeptical that the animation, showing the U.S. propeller-driven plane veering sharply into the path of the Chinese jet, reflected what actually happened.

White House spokesman Ari White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said that despite some improvement in tone, the United States was still not satisfied with Chinese handling of the incident.

"The matter is not resolved," he said. "We still want the plane."

U.S. officials would not say whether the damaged U.S. plane had a black box on board that recorded its maneuvers and could verify U.S. claims that the American plane was heading straight ahead on automatic pilot when the collision took place.

The U.S. team headed by defense official Peter F. Verga proposed talks on avoiding future incidents and suggested such talks be held "within the structure of the Military Maritime Consultative Arrangement," said Mr. Boucher. The MMCA is a forum for regular talks between the two countries.

"The Chinese promised to pass that request to their superiors" along with requests for plans to get the U.S. plane examined by U.S. mechanics and then repaired or transported out of China and back to U.S. control," the spokesman said.

However, the next meeting of the MMCA, scheduled for April 23 in San Francisco, has been postponed since both countries need time to figure out their next moves, Mr. Boucher said.

The United States had threatened to cancel yesterday´s meeting in Beijing after the Chinese on Wednesday refused to discuss the U.S. demands for a return of the EP-3E surveillance plane, which made an emergency landing after its collision with the Chinese jet on April 1.

China detained 24 U.S. fliers aboard the U.S. plane for 11 days on Hainan island and still has the plane, which is crammed with high-tech surveillance, encryption and communications gear.

U.S. Ambassador to China Joseph Prueher visited the Foreign Ministry in Beijing yesterday morning. "At that meeting, we were told that the Chinese were prepared to address all the issues and that the EP-3E aircraft itself would be on the agenda for the meeting with the delegation, " said Mr. Boucher.

Since the Chinese have had possession of the plane, U.S. diplomats and officials have been instructed to boycott all Chinese diplomatic and social events, said a State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

Mr. Boucher said that at yesterday´s meeting "the tone, the substance, the topics discussed changed." He would not say why the tone changed or whether the Chinese were responding to U.S. threats to walk out of the talks.

U.S. officials must now prepare a document with an agenda for the MMCA meeting, listing the items that the United States seeks to discuss along with proposals to avoid future incidents.

Meanwhile, China is expected to respond through regular diplomatic channels to the U.S. request for the plane´s return.

China has said it is keeping the $80 million plane during its "investigation" of the April 1 incident, but it´s likely that they are studying the high-tech equipment on board.

U.S. officials have said that much of the top-secret codes and computer programs on board were deleted as the plane made a harrowing emergency descent and landed on Hainan some 30 minutes after the collision.

Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. Craig Quigley refused to say whether further U.S. reconnaissance flights have been scheduled or taken place since the April 1 incident.

"We have made no announcement on scheduling or any of the details of those flights, other than to say that we intend to continue to fly reconnaissance and surveillance flights around the world in international airspace, in accordance with international law, " he said yesterday.

He noted that the videos shown yesterday by the Chinese at the Beijing meeting included shots unrelated to the April 1 incident, showing "a Navy F-14 and Navy F/A-18s that were apparently shot from a Chinese aircraft out through the canopy."

He said the video did not show aggressive behavior such as flying too close, which U.S. officials say caused the April 1 collision.

Adm. Quigley did say yesterday´s meeting was positive.

"Today´s talks were very much worth doing and we were very pleased that all three of the agenda items were discussed, " he told reporters at the Pentagon briefing.

"There´s no definitive conclusions or agreements in hand, as of today, but it´s a start and it´s a good place to start."

-------- activists

leaked FTAA investment chapter document

Fri, 20 Apr 2001 'From: John Rushton <rushtoj@okstate.edu>

http://www.wtowatch.org/library/admin/uploadedfiles/FTAA__02_Report_on_Investment_Draft_Investment.htm

see also the press release from IATP:

http://www.iatp.org/foodsec/library/admin/uploadedfiles/FTAA_Negotiating_Chapter_Made_Public.htm

Note especially the inclusion of investor-to-state dispute settlement, ie, corporations can sue governments.

Article 15 INVESTOR-STATE DISPUTES

[1. For purposes of this Agreement, an investment dispute is a dispute between a Party and a national or company of the other Party arising out of or relating to investment agreement or alleged breach of any right conferred, created or recognized by this Treaty with respect to a covered investment.]

[2. Objective

Without prejudice to the rights and obligations of the Parties [under the Chapter on Dispute Settlement] [under Chapter XX (Dispute Settlement Procedures)] [Without prejudice to the provisions of the Negotiating Group On Dispute Settlement], this section establishes a mechanism for the settlement of investment disputes that assures both equal treatment among investors of the Parties in accordance with the principle of international reciprocity [as well as due exercise of the right to a hearing and defense within the legal process before an arbitration tribunal.] [, and due process before an impartial tribunal].]

[3. Claim by an Investor of a Party on Its Own Behalf or on Behalf of an Enterprise

1. An investor of a Party may, on its own behalf or on behalf of an enterprise of another Party [that is a juridical person] owned or controlled directly or indirectly by the investor, submit to arbitration under this section a claim on the grounds that [a Party] [the other Party, or an enterprise controlled directly or indirectly by that Party,] has breached an obligation [under section B of this Chapter] [under this section], [provided the claim made by the investor of a Party on its own behalf or on behalf of an enterprise is for loss or damage incurred by reason of, or arising out of, that breach] [always provided the investor or its investment has suffered loss or damage incurred by reason, or as a consequence of that breach.]

2. An investor may not make a claim under this section [on its own behalf or on behalf of an enterprise] if more than three [(3)] years have elapsed from the date on which the investor acquired, or should have acquired, knowledge of the alleged breach and the loss or damage incurred.

3. When an investor makes a claim on behalf of an enterprise [that is a juridical person] that the investor owns or controls directly or indirectly and, concurrently, a non-controlling investor in the enterprise makes a claim on its own behalf arising out of the same events [that gave rise to the claim being presented under this article and], [or] two or more claims are submitted [to arbitration by virtue of the same measure adopted by a Party], [to arbitration under the terms of the article "Submission of a claim to arbitration" ] the tribunal [established under article 15(14) on Consolidation] shall hear the claims together, unless the Tribunal finds that the legal interests of a disputing Party would be prejudiced.

4. An investment may not submit a claim to arbitration under this section].]

-----

Ten arrested in Washington environmental protest

USA: April 20, 2001
Story by Patrick Connole
REUTERS
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10570

WASHINGTON - Ten activists protesting Bush administration environmental policies were arrested at the headquarters of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency yesterday after chaining themselves to the building's entrance.

Among those arrested were John Passacantando, executive director of Greenpeace, and Randy Hayes, president of the Rainforest Action Network, the activist groups and the Federal Protective Services, the police for federal buildings, said.

A spokeswoman for Greenpeace said the 10 arrested activists would likely be released by police later yesterday.

EPA officials declined to comment on the incident.

Greenpeace said the EPA protest was part of its pre-Earth Day campaign to highlight what it considered to be President George W. Bush's anti-environmental agenda.

"We want this toxic Texan (Bush) to know that trashing 30 years of environmental gains, then making a few token green announcements for Earth Day is an unacceptable environmental agenda," Passacantando said in a statement.

Yesterday, Bush announced in a White House ceremony that the United States would sign a global treaty aimed at curbing toxic chemicals.

The event followed a move earlier this week to uphold rules from the administration of former President Bill Clinton requiring thousands more businesses to disclose potentially toxic lead emissions.

Bush and EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman have been under pressure from activists who think the new Republican White House acts as a front for anti-green, pro-industry policies on the environment.

Greenpeace listed Bush's decision to reverse a campaign pledge to limit carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, and a plan to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration and drilling as two of his major mistakes.

"The environmental community is shocked at how much damage one president can propose in less than 100 days," Passacantando said.

Greenpeace protesters last Friday scaled a water tower in Crawford, Texas, near where Bush was visiting his ranch, and unfurled a banner telling the president not to "mess with the Earth."

Sunday marks the 31st Earth Day, an event started in 1970 to focus international attention on the fate of the planet.

--------

McCartney brings landmine campaign to Washington

USA: April 20, 2001
REUTERS
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10566

WASHINGTON - Former Beatle Paul McCartney and his activist girlfriend Heather Mills brought their campaign against landmines to the U.S. government yesterday and said they found Secretary of State Colin Powell supportive, despite U.S. reservations about a worldwide ban.

"We had a really good meeting and Secretary Powell was very helpful. We basically explained to him our point of view, a lot of which he agreed with," McCartney told reporters.

"He was very supportive about this whole thing and there are reasons to be very hopeful for the future," he said.

Powell, who stood beside McCartney and Mills outside the State Department, said the United States had contributed $500 million to mine clearance programs over the last seven years, including money to Mills' Adopt-a-Landmine program.

U.S. officials say although the United States reserves the right to maintain landmines on the Korean peninsula, it is the biggest contributor to mine clearance programs.

Washington, citing the needs of its forces on the southern side of the border between the two Koreas, has refused to sign the 1997 Ottawa Convention banning anti-personnel landmines.

"We had a good meeting," Powell said. "We're proud of U.S. efforts to support the Adopt-a-Minefield program. We still have concerns about the convention that Paul and Heather are so supportive of but there are many areas in which to cooperate."

McCartney said he hoped to use the meeting with Powell to launch a campaign to increase awareness of the landmine problem around the world "to eventually get to a mine-free future."

Landmines, many of them left over from long-past wars, are thought to kill or maim 24,000 people a year. Anti-mine campaigners estimate that up to 100 million landmines lie buried around the world.

Hills said her campaign was trying to persuade governments with reservations about a total ban at least to shift toward smart mines, which self-destruct after some months.

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Pacific environmentalists seek US goods boycott

AUSTRALIA: April 20, 2001
Story by Michael Christie
REUTERS
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=10574

SYDNEY - South Pacific climate activists want a region-wide boycott of all U.S. goods to protest against President George W. Bush's decision to ditch the Kyoto protocol on global warming, a regional umbrella group said yesterday.

Stanley Simpson of the Fiji-based Pacific Concern Resource Centre (PCRC) said the plan was to stage a repeat of a regional consumer boycott of French products organised after Paris resumed nuclear tests on South Pacific atolls in the mid-1990s.

"We have to do something concrete to show our disapproval," Simpson told Reuters by telephone. "We will try to mobilise the Pacific as we did with the French nuclear testing."

South Pacific islands fear they are the frontline of the climate change battle and could be swamped by rising seas.

The South Pacific united behind a ban on French wine, cheese and other goods when Paris carried out four nuclear bomb tests between October 1995 and January 1996 in its Pacific territories.

Global environmental groups have not responded with calls for similar broad actions against U.S. companies following Bush's decision not to ratify the 1997 Kyoto pact.

Instead, activists are selectively targeting oil firms they hold responsible for Washington's change of heart over Kyoto.

SOUTH PACIFIC BATTLE FRONT

Under the deal reached in Japan, industrialised nations agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 5.2 percent from 1990 levels by 2012.

Greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide, arise from burning fossil fuels and are blamed by scientists for rising temperatures. Bush said Kyoto was harmful to the U.S. economy and impractical as it did not include developing nations like China.

Prime Minister Terepai Maoate of the Cook Islands, a nation of 20,000 people on 15 islands, associated to New Zealand, said this month he was very disappointed with the United States.

"The people who live in this region, across this vast expanse of sea, which holds our future, cannot accept the continued failures to acknowledge our concerns," Maoate said.

"We live with (the environment's) beauty, and we live with its threats. And we cannot escape the responsibility we have to protect it, nurture it and sustain it for future generations."

At an international Greens conference in the Australian capital Canberra last weekend, delegates voted unanimously to back a grassroots campaign against oil firms such as U.S. giant Exxon Mobil Corp. and France's TotalFinaElf.

Instead of a blanket boycott of U.S. goods, environmental watchdog Greenpeace has written to 100 top U.S. firms to canvass their views on Kyoto and the environment.

It will then decide whether selective action is needed. A blanket ban might hurt enterprises that are environmentally aware, said Greenpeace Australia media officer Samantha Magick.

But Simpson said boycotting the small amount of U.S. oil products consumed in the South Pacific would have little impact.

"We want it to be broader," he said, adding that discussions had begun between non governmental organisations in the region.

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THE MARCH CONTINUES, TENSIONS INCREASE IN THE CHAPARE

From: Ravi Khanna <oneworld@igc.org>
Fri, April 20, 2001
Prepared by the Andean Information Network

Yesterday, participants in the March for Life and Sovereignty, following differing routes, reached Patacamaya (101 kms from La Paz) without government intervention. They are expected to reach Ayo Ayo, 75 km from the capital, later today. The different columns of marchers and the group from the La Paz Yungas plan to meet in Achico Grande on Sunday. Human rights workers fear possible government intervention there to impede the marchers' access to La Paz on Monday, April 23.

LEGAL RECOURSES TO PROTECT MARCHERS REJECTED

In an attempt to protect marchers from further detentions and to respect their constitutional right to protest and march, human rights organization filed two Habeas Corpus requests.

An Oruro court rejected the petition filed by the Bolivian Permanent Human Rights Assembly (APDH). The court ruling rejected the request based on the claim that it was politically motivated.

The Human Rights Ombudsman's Office, led by Ana Maria Romero de Campero presented a similar Constitutional Recourse (amparo constitucional) in La Paz today. The court refused the petition cited that the march threatens the safety of the citizens of La Paz and the Bolivian government.

Even before the La Paz court decision, Minister of Government, Guillermo Fortun, stated that the government will not respect this request and will continue to intervene the march. This suggests a marked influence of the Bolivian Ministry of Government over the Bolivian judiciary.

Both court decisions are unconstitutional. Bolivian Security officials could interpret the court decisions as a green light to intervene in and detain marchers and protesters, in an undeclared state of emergency (estado de sitio), seriously weakening the Bolivian democracy. Furthermore, the rejection of these petitions creates a dangerous precedent threatening all citizens' right to any future peaceful protest.

Bolivian government officials have stated that if road blockades begin they will call a state of emergency.

HEIGHTENED TENSIONS IN THE CHAPARE

On Wednesday, April 18, shots were fired at the Isinuta Military Camp from a nearby hillside. Bolivian government officials denounced that a military eradication camp in Valle Hermoso, Parque Isiboro Secure was also fired upon. AIN has so far not been able to confirm this de nunciation.

At about 6 pm, the same day two military were shot in Sillarcito, near Eterazama. Richard Choque and Jose Jaime Revollo were returning from a high school civic event. Revollo was shot in the shoulder, and may suffer from lung damage. Choque was shot in the arm. Both are in stable condition.

This incident could give impetus to repression in the Chapare. General Remy Ramírez, current commander of the 7th division stated, "We have to respond with violence, we can't let them kill our soldiers."

At this time, combined security forces continuously patrol the Chapare region. Coca Grower Self-Defense committees are stationed at coca markets and other strategic areas. Coca Grower representatives state the road blockades in the region will most likely begin on or soon after April 25, depending on decisions made by the different social sectors involved in the March for Life and Sovereignty.

DIVERSE SOCIAL SECTORS

Different social sectors continue to express their discontent with the economic crisis (partially generated by the rapid coca eradication to meet U.S. anti-drug certification requirements) and the government's inability to meet the needs of its population.

Yesterday retired pensioners, primarily ex-miners, marched in Cochabamba to demand payment of the approximately 70 dollar monthly pension agreed to by the government last month. They have stated that if their demands are not met they will join the March for Life and Sovereignty.

Debtors groups continue to protest throughout the nation, as the current economic crisis has not allowed them to pay interest rates 20 % or higher and exorbitant fines for late payment. On Wednesday, in La Paz debtors protested angrily in front of La Paz banks. These groups also plan to join the march.

The Bolivian Workers' Union (COB) is in dialogue with the government. In spite of this they have expressed their support for the march. Health workers signed an agreement with the government on April 19.

The march from the La Paz Yungas continues. Some sectors of coca growers from the region, continue to negotiate with the government while others reject this possibility and support the march.

MALLKU

Internal divisions continue to plague the Bolivian campesino movement.

Felipe Quispe Huanca, El Mallku, leader of the Bolivian Campesino Confederation (CSUTCB) makes diverse statements to the press. On April 17, threatened to kick the K'aras, whites out, of the government and install an indigenous government. He has also threatened to lay siege to La Paz for 90 days.

Although he had consistently criticized the March for Life and Sovereignty, he expressed his public support for coca grower leader Evo Morales and the march yesterday. The CSUTCB had announced that it would begin blocking the highways on May 1st, but stated yesterday that the blockades may be postponed to until after the harvest season.

The CSUTCB continues to meet to determine new leadership and future measures. At this time its role in the social conflict is unpredictable.

SHOW OF SOLIDARITY IN NEW ZEALAND

The Water Pressure in Auckland is holding a solidarity action outside the Bolivian Consulate on Monday April 23.

The Andean Information Network is grateful for the messages of support we have received.

For further information please contact: paz@albatros.cnb.net or kledebur@albatros.cnb.net

Read more on events in Bolivia by visiting http://www.1worldcommunication.org

Ravi Khanna, Director 1world communication P. O. Box 2476 Amherst, MA 01004 Phone: 413-323-7629 Cell: 413-530-9640 Fax: 413-323-9348 E-mail: oneworld@igc.org Web-site: http://www.1worldcommunication.org Signup to join 1world list. Get updates and participate in discussions. Send a blank e-mail to: 1worldcommunication-subscribe@topica.com


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