By Associated Press
THURSDAY
Refugee crisis worsens on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border
More than 1,000 Afghans pounded on a giant steel border gate separating them from Pakistan on Sept. 19 in an effort to force it open and flee their country before an expected attack by U.S. forces trying to capture suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden.
Many had fled their homes in Kandahar, the headquarters of Afghanistan’s Taliban hard-line Islamic rulers, about 42 miles from Chaman.
“Everyone is very afraid in Kandahar. Most of the shops have closed,” said Mohammed Habibullah, a Pakistani construction worker who recently returned home from the city.
Kandahar is one of the locations that U.S. forces are expected to target if Taliban refuses to extradite bin Laden, who is accused of masterminding the Sept. 11 suicide hijackings.
Pakistan, already host to 2 million Afghan refugees — most of them living in squalid camps — virtually shut down its border with Afghanistan on Sept. 17 at America’s request.
The officials said 15,000 Afghan refugees entered Pakistan at Chaman in the week after the Sept. 11 attacks before the border outpost was closed.
SATURDAY
Korean Students of outlawed group protest possible U.S. retaliatory
Some 200 students holding pickets rallied near the U.S. military base in Seoul on Sept. 22 to protest a possible U.S. retaliatory strike.
“We oppose U.S. plans to wage a retaliation war!” protesters shouted, jabbing clenched fists into the sky.
Most of the protesters were members of the outlawed Hanchongnyon, South Korea’s largest student group. They carried dozens of banners and signs. One read: “Stop the dirty war!”
Hanchongnyon has demanded the withdrawal of the 37,000 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea as a deterrent against a possible North Korean invasion. The group is considered pro-North Korean.
Indonesian students hold anti-U.S. demonstrations
Dozens of Muslim students staged demonstrations in several Indonesian cities on Sept. 22 to protest a possible U.S. retaliation against Afghanistan for the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.
More than 200 students rallied outside the U.S. consulate in Indonesia’s second biggest city of Surabaya in East Java. They held banners that read “America is the great terrorist” and “Bush is the big boss of terrorists.”
In Palu, Central Sulawesi, around 70 students burned a U.S. flag while chanting “Muslim countries unite! Fight back U.S. terrorism!” They later dispersed.
SUNDAY
Taliban claims it can’t find bin Laden
Faced with U.S. demands to hand over Osama bin Laden, Afghanistan’s Taliban leadership claimed on Sept. 23 it has been unable to find the alleged terrorist mastermind to advise him to leave the country.
The Taliban’s ambassador to neighboring Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, said the militia’s chief, Mullah Mohammed Omar, had sent emissaries to inform bin Laden of a decision on Sept. 20 by Afghanistan’s Muslim clergy that he should leave the country voluntarily at a time of his choosing.
Zaeef said Taliban authorities had been searching for bin Laden for the past two days “but he has not been traced.”
In Washington, top U.S. officials suggested the claim was a crude attempt to evade responsibility for complying with U.S. demands.
Philippines is granting U.S. military planes access for anti-terror
The Philippines has been letting U.S. military planes refuel on its territory and use its air space as part of its contribution to the American-led response to the Sept. 11 terror attacks, an official said Sunday.
Three F-18 Hornet fighter jets from the U.S. military base in Kadena, Japan, refueled in the central province of Cebu on Sept. 20 before heading on to the Middle East, said Air Transport Office chief Adelberto Yap.
Other U.S. military planes have also been allowed to fly over the Philippines, he said, but he would not say how many. He said the close U.S. ally will provide other ground services for aircrafts that ferry troops and equipment.
“We’ll help them to the end. What are friends for?” Yap said.
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s administration has pledged full backing for Washington’s international campaign against terrorism.
Chinese hold vigil to mourn victims of U.S. attacks
About 100 residents of China’s capital gathered for a candlelight vigil on the night of Sept. 23 to mourn the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States.
Property developer Zhang Xin said she organized the gathering partly to show that many Chinese disagree with the view of some of their compatriots, who felt that the U.S. deserved to be attacked.
“Those sort of words deeply saddened us. We want to send another message that we are all shocked and mourn for the victims,” said Zhang, wearing a Chinese-style white silk tunic. White indicates mourning in Chinese culture.
China-U.S. relations have been roiled by the NATO bombing of China’s embassy in Yugoslavia in 1999 and a collision between a U.S. spy plane and Chinese fighter jet in April. Internet sites have been full of postings celebrating the blow to American prestige and even some official commentators have said the United States deserved no sympathy.
The government, however, offered its condolences to Washington and pledged to cooperate in fighting international terrorism.
Monday
Attacks in Kashmir have decreased as militants prepare to fight in Afghanistan
Militant attacks in India’s northern Jammu-Kashmir state have declined sharply in the last week as Islamic guerrilla groups prepared to leave the Himalayan region to fight in Afghanistan, a senior Indian defense official said Monday.
Militant camps in the northern reaches of Kashmir, which are under Pakistan control, were being dismantled, the senior official told The Associated Press. After Pakistan’s president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, announced his support to the United States, “there has been a lowering of incidents involving militants in Kashmir,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
In the first week of September, there were more than 40 guerrilla incidents in Jammu-Kashmir, he said.
In the two weeks since the terrorist strike on New York, and Washington’s decision to punish the perpetrators and those who harbor them, militant strikes in Jammu-Kashmir were reduced to 10, he said.
Pakistan says they are Kashmiris, in a freedom struggle to separate the mostly Muslim region from India. Both nations have claimed the region since independence from Britain in 1947 and fought two of their three wars over it.
United States lifts sanctions, signs debt agreement with Pakistan
On Monday, the United States went one step past the lifting of sanctions against South Asian countries when they signed an agreement to reschedule $379 million in bilateral debt in Pakistan.
Although the deal was drawn up before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, Washington was clearly using it to thank Pakistan for agreeing to supply U.S. forces with access to its land and air space if they attack Afghanistan in search of Osama bin Laden.
“We hope to send a strong signal of confidence in Pakistan’s management of the economy,” U.S. Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin said. “At this critical time, we expect our already strong trade relations to prosper.”
The developments come as Washington says it also is lifting sanctions against Pakistan and India imposed over the two countries’ nuclear programs. The move includes the resumption of military and economic assistance to Islamabad.
Pakistan’s assistance in a possible U.S. military attack on Afghanistan and bin Laden is considered key because it borders Afghanistan and has collected extensive information on that country’s Taliban rulers.
However, the Pakistani government’s support for Washington has stirred intense opposition at home from anti-U.S. Muslim militants.
India benefits less than Pakistan from the lifting of the sanctions on supply of military equipment, since New Delhi procured most of its defense requirements from the Soviet Union, and then Russia. Pakistan will now be able to get spare parts for its U.S.-made equipment.
On Monday, the government said the lifting of the sanctions was not a reward for its offer of military or other assistance to Washington after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.
“Such a view completely misses the essentials of India’s decades-long effort of building an international coalition against terrorism,’’ said Nirupama Rao, the external affairs ministry spokeswoman said.
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