7 March 2001

1. - BBC - "US court upholds terror ban":

WASHINGTON / by Paul Reynolds

The US Supreme Court has rejected an appeal against a ban on support for organisations designated as terrorist by the US Government.

The case was brought by supporters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), who said it violated rights to free speech.
The Supreme Court refused to consider the case, which in practice means that it rejected the appeal.

In doing so, it made no comment.

Prison sentences

The case had its origin in a plea by supporters of the Tamil Tigers and the PKK against the 1996 anti-terrorism act.
This allows the US secretary of state to designate as a "foreign terrorist organisation" any group considered to be a threat to the United States or its citizens.

Anyone giving material support like money or weapons to such a group is liable to get 10 years in prison.

A judge in Los Angeles upheld the law, or most of it.

He rejected arguments that it violated rights to free speech, and this ruling was supported by the Appeals Court.

The court said that there was no constitutional right to facilitate terrorism by giving terrorists "weapons and explosives with which to carry out their grisly missions".

Too vague

However, the Appeals Court also agreed with the lower court judge that two parts of the act, which seek to ban the provision of personnel and training, were too vague, and the Supreme Court has also accepted this opinion.

In their argument to the Supreme Court, the opponents of the act said that the law created guilt by association.

The Justice Department countered that people remained free to make expressions of solidarity with the causes.

The US law is similar to one just introduced in the UK under which the Tamil Tigers are also banned as a terrorist organisation.

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2. - Kurdish Observer - "A radical reform is absolutely necessary":

Duran Kalkan, member of PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) Council of Leaders, stated that an approach to "get rid of the problem causing the recent crisis in Turkey by violence" was tried to be put in use.

NEWS CENTER

Speaking at the COZUM (Solution) program in Medya TV, Duran Kalkan emphasized that there were reliable information about an operation to be executed against the guerilla forces with PUK (Kurdistan Patriotic Unity) on March, 20. Kalkan said the words to the effect: "News has arrived that military forces will enter into Soran, Ranya, Carkurna and Botan, and Talabani is making war plans in Turkish headquarters in Carkurna. It is said that a PUK delegation of 15 persons is in Turkey. These are steps to lead to the collapse. There is such a negative situation."

Not sufficient

Stating that there were some developments showing a change in the ruling classes in Turkey and the most concrete sign of it was appointment Kemal Dervis to the number one office of economy, Kalkan added, "This means a re-organization yielding to demands of USA. It is arguable whether the appointments and such would be sufficient. For it to be adequate is very difficult. The changes will be much bigger. Now we have reached to such a point that until Turkey makes a radical reform it will not overcome such crisis."

It remains as only a wish

Kalkan, having emphasized that a reformist group like President of the Republic Sezer were continuously stressing on the necessity of the re-structure, Kalkan added, "But for some reason or other this always remains as only a wish. For example high state officials say this must done, yet there are contrary practices. This shows that within the state there are different opinions. There is an inner struggle. Some improvements are expressed, but nevertheless war barons are effective on the state structure."

"HADEP must have been a problem-solving force"

Kalkan said on the political parties that they were in a position of extremely backward and incapable of finding solutions, adding "There are no healthy approaches, plans and projects. It is striking that a party like CHP (Republican People's Party) which has founded the republic, is experiencing a crisis as the Republic is in a deep crisis. If it is indeed a founder party, it should be capable of finding a solution." Calling attention that the same thing was relevant for HADEP (People's Democracy Party), Duran Kalkan said the following: "What does HADEP offer in relation with this collapse, the war? As a section is making preparations for war, what is doing in order to avoid the war, to find a democratic solution. It is not right for HADEP to stay behind. A partial repression is immediately effective on it."

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3. - Kurdish Observer - "Let Bairam be a means to peace":

PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) Leaders Council wished that Kurban Bairam, a religious fest, be a means to peace and democracy. The Council called attention to the fact that Kurds were still under the domination of Islamic states.

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PKK Leaders Council released a statement for Kurban Bairam. The statement having a heading called "To Kurdish and Islamic Community" emphasized that it was meaningful that the Bairam was observed just before Newroz (beginning of spring, an important day for Kurds).

The Council pointed out that Kurds were under domination of so-called Islamic states, stressing that, a hand Kurds were extending was still not responded by Islamic states. The statement added: "Muslim peoples and states have been incapable of solving the internal and external problems. The most important of these grave problems is that Kurdish and Palestinian peoples are doomed to a life they do not deserve. It is pity that these two brave peoples are under the domination of not only foreign states but fellow peoples and states. Kurdish people is waiting a reply for peace from Islamic community. We believe in that Kurban Bairam will be a means to peace and democracy."

The Council made a special call to Turkey and PUK (Kurdistan Patriotic Unity) as follows: "We call for all forces including the Turkish Republic and PUK to solve the problems with dialogue."

PJA wished for peace and brotherhood

Partiya Jina Azad, Free Women's Party (PJA) Party Assembly released a statement for Kurban Bairam, saying, "We congratulate Kurban Bairam of all our patriotic people and Middle Eastern peoples, we wish for bairam to be a means to peace, brotherhood, equality and freedom." The statement emphasized that there were new annihilation policies on Middle Eastern peoples, adding, "It is well known that at wars the ones who are most hurt and damaged are women. Thanks to Bairam, we repeat our call to unite all our forces as Kurdish and Middle Eastern women."

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4. - Turkish Daily News - "Iraq complains about Turkey to Arab League":

Iraq asks the Arab League to appeal to Turkey to prevent American and British warplanes from using Turkish airbase Incirlik

ANKARA

Despite Ankara's efforts for better relations with Iraq, Baghdad has asked the Arab League to put pressure on Turkey to stop American and British warplanes from using the Incirlik base to bomb Iraq. Ankara has recently upgraded its diplomatic relations with Iraq by sending Mehmet Akat as ambassador to Baghdad despite the United States clearly displaying displeasure over the decision. The U.S. State Department previously stated that they regretted the Turkish government's decision to upgrade diplomatic relations and asked Turkey to use its leverage on Iraq to make Baghdad comply with UN resolutions.

The U.S. bombing of Iraq last week by warplanes which took off from Incirlik airbase has created another rift between Ankara and Iraq. The Associated Press reported that Iraq on Saturday had appealed to the Arab League to intervene with the Turkish government and demand it to stop allowing U.S. and British warplanes to fly from Turkish territory over Iraqi skies, the official Iraqi News Agency reported.

In a letter to the Arab League secretary-general, acting Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz asked Esmat Abdel-Meguid to demand the Turkish government to "stop its military logistical support for the American and British forces." He said the support makes Turkey a "soul partner in the aggression against Iraq and totally responsible under international law for these acts that inflict damage on the Iraqi people." American and British warplanes have been flying from the southern Turkish base of Incirlik to patrol skies over northern Iraq since April 1991. The United States has said the northern no-fly zone was imposed to protect Kurds who live in the area from the Baghdad government. Iraq has been challenging the planes since December 1998, saying allied warplanes violate its sovereignty and international law.

"Iraq condemns these acts of aggression. It reserves the right to defend itself and protect its security ... and to demand Turkey to compensate for all damage as a result of these acts," the news agency quoted the letter as saying.

Iraq claims allied strikes have killed more than 300 people and injured more than 800. The United States maintains that it targets only military sites and discounts Iraqi casualty figures.

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5. - UPI - "Analysis: Saddam a new Saladin?":

WASHINGTON

Saddam Hussein is now toying with the idea of becoming a new Saladin. His mission: Liberate Palestine. He has invited Yasser Arafat and his Palestinian Authority to relocate in Baghdad. The sweetener: $1 billion (including $10,000 to the family of each Palestinian killed in the Intifada).
Saddam didn't have to remind Arafat it was Ariel Sharon's invasion of Lebanon in 1982 that forced him out of Beirut the following year. At that time, Arafat and the Palestine Liberation Organization relocated out of harm's way at the other end of the Mediterranean in Tunis.

Saddam is now arguing that Sharon will continue to squeeze and starve Arafat and his Palestinian government into submission. The Israeli powers that be are openly discussing the possibility of reoccupying the former occupied territories ceded to the Palestinian Authority.

So, Saddam tells Arafat, the better part of valor would be to move out now -- to Baghdad this time -- rather than wait for Sharon's sledgehammer. At best, Arafat would have to cope with Sharon's "salami tactics." Arafat is under mounting pressure from the Israeli siege that has bottled up the West Bank and Gaza and deprived Palestinians of their day jobs in Israel. Arafat wasn't able to pay his civil servants for two consecutive months.

Saddam claims to have 1 million "volunteers" signed up for the campaign to liberate Palestine. Neighboring Jordan, a country that gets all its oil from Iraq, and whose population is 65 percent Palestinian, is sandwiched between Iraq and Israel.

During the Gulf War in 1991, Jordan remained neutral while Arafat sided openly with Saddam Hussein. In recent days, Saddam has moved thousands of Iraqi troops with vehicles and artillery close to the Jordanian border. This is precisely what the late Egyptian dictator Gamal Abdel Nasser did in May 1967 as he rattled his sword and moved some 100,000 troops into the Sinai desert.

Nasser had no intention of invading Israel, but Israel pre-empted him on June 5 and destroyed some 450 Egyptian warplanes on the ground in a few minutes. A rerun of the 1967 scenario must have crossed Sharon's mind. He would then re-emerge as a military hero who cleaned Saddam's clock and finished the 1991 Gulf War with the Iraqi dictator's demise.

The Iraqi dictator presumably believes that in another regional conflict, the Arab streets would side with him and that Arab governments could not afford to stay on the fence. He also knows Israel could duplicate its 1967 feat of a Six-Day War that defeated three Arab countries simultaneously -- Egypt, Syria and Jordan. But the Arabs have a knack for metamorphosis. They have turned defeat into victory and trounced heroes into superheroes.

Arafat would have much to lose in such a regional war scenario. To begin with, he would be through as a Palestinian leader. Saddam, like Gamal Abdel Nasser, before him would inherit the mantle. Arafat has also been promised $1 billion from the Arab Gulf states (so far only $400,000 has been received). If he moved his administration to Baghdad, he would presumably lose that financial pledge in exchange for a still more dubious one from Saddam.

The stakes are enormous and hardliners on both sides are playing with the fire of a potential regional war.

The anti-Saddam sanctions have virtually collapsed. Iraqi Airways is flying again. International delegations from Asia, Europe, Latin America and Africa land at the capital's Saddam International Airport daily. Reservations at Baghdad's Rashid Hotel -- where visitors have to walk on a mosaic of former President Bush's portrait -- are hard to come by as Western businessmen flock to the trough.

Much of Iraq's 2 million oil barrels per day escapes the United Nation's oil-for-food program whereby revenues are paid into U.N.-controlled accounts for approved food purchases. Thousands of tanker trucks move through Turkey; low-slung oil barges escape U.S. Navy radar detection and physical interdiction as they hug the Iranian coastline inside territorial waters; and 300,000 barrels a day move from Kirkurk to the Syrian port at Banyas through a refurbished pipeline that is not under U.N. supervision.

Secretary of State Colin Powell, on his recent trip to the Mideast, conceded to his Arab interlocutors the obvious -- economic sanctions have been overtaken by events. They hurt the Iraqi people but not the regime and its business acolytes. Instead, Powell proselytized for a strengthening of military sanctions to ensure that Saddam could not proceed with his ambitions to develop weapons of mass destruction.

Powell's new focus is on blocking smuggled oil through Syria, Jordan, Turkey and the Gulf ports to cut off the funds that Saddam now spends surreptitiously on weapons. The United States also wants to tighten border controls to block weapons materials. But Iraq borders six countries and military contraband traffic would be difficult to interdict. It would also require Iraq's neighbors to do more than talk the talk. So far, only Kuwait is willing to walk the walk.

Some strong voices on the right -- such as Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle, a Bush defense adviser during last year's campaign -- have said that the Iraqi National Congress, an umbrella group for Iraqi dissidents and exiles, has a shot at unseating Saddam.

In early February, the administration released $4 million for INC. That's barely walking-around money for INC. Meanwhile, Saddam is almost back to his pre-Gulf War prestige in the Arab world. And moderate Arab leaders are loath to challenge their own pro-Saddam masses. Besides, even the moderates hold the United States responsible for Israel's policies in the occupied territories.

The Iraqi Saladin analogy and a holy war against Israel are not as fanciful as they sound.

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6.- BBC - "Greece and Turkey's screen friendship":

Relations are improviing between Greece and Turkey

A Turkish film festival is being held in the Greek capital, Athens, in an attempt to strengthen cultural links between the two countries.

But organisers have been called "traitors" by some Greeks opposing ties with Turkey.
Relations between the two nations froze after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, halting close co-operation in the film industry.

The relationship has thawed in recent years, and a Greek film festival was staged in Istanbul in September 2000.

Ten films were selected to be shown in the week-long festival, which ends on Thursday (8 March).

Co-operation

Among them is the first Greco-Turkish co-production in recent years, The Boatman, which tells the story of a love affair between a Turkish fisherman and a Greek singer.

Each film shown represents a different type of Turkish film - from mainstream blockbuster to romance to political.

The cinema which is hosting the event, the Trianon, was attacked by Greek ultra-nationalists on Friday 2 March. They sprayed graffiti accusing the organisers of being "traitors" and smashed windows.

The cinema is now under police guard.

Despite the protests, the event was "made possible by the improvement in relations between the two countries," according to one of the Greek organisers, Babis Aktoglu.

Cultural identity

It would also encourage future joint projects, he said. Three more joint Greek and Turkish productions are now under way.

Mr Aktoglu added that the common cultural identity of the two peoples made more such projects possible.

The film festival has been organised by the Greek Film Centre and Turkish distributors Gunigi Films, and has been supported by both the Turkish and Greek ministries of culture.
Relations between the two countries began to improve when both countries sent help to the other following respective earthquakes in 1999.

Greek film festivals will also be held in New York, Frankfurt, Australia and Republic of the Congo later this year.