By Phil Reeves in Jerusalem @ Friday, 22 February 2002
Palestinians say that last month, a Palestinian man, Nasar Salim Rantisi, was shot in the leg and bled to death at the checkpoint, near Ramallah, when soldiers denied him medical care. Jihad Yaghi, 23, said this week the soldiers at Ein Ariq tried to force him to crouch and creep beneath a waist-high wire, stretched across the road before allowing him to pass. “They humiliate us,” he said. “I am very happy about the attack.”
Israeli army checkpoints, universally loathed by the Arabs of the West Bank and Gaza as the cause of daily humiliation and economic misery, are at the top of the target list of Palestinian armed groups.
Two days after guerrillas delivered a shattering setback to the Israeli army by killing six soldiers at a West Bank checkpoint, another gunman struck yesterday, serving notice once again that the militias are concentrating attacks on Israel’s presence inside the occupied territories. The gunman wounded two soldiers at a checkpoint near Tulkarm and was shot dead, the Israeli army said. A second Palestinian guerrilla escaped in a car.
(Reuters) – Pakistani authorities blocked a vital supply route for NATO troops fighting in Afghanistan on Thursday after the killing of three soldiers in two NATO cross-border incursions, officials said. Trucks and fuel tankers for foreign forces in Afghanistan were stopped at the Torkham border post in the Khyber tribal region near the city of Peshawar, hours after the raid. “Yes, the NATO supplies have been stopped. It has been done locally,” a senior security official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Aircraft from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) initially crossed the border in the Kurram region briefly while targeting suspected insurgents who were firing on a coalition base from a position inside Afghanistan, an ISAF statement said. They were then fired on by people in Pakistan, and crossed the border again to target that group. “Operating in self-defence, the ISAF aircraft entered into Pakistani airspace, killing several armed individuals,” the statement said. The statement did not say if ISAF thought those killed were border guards and when asked for clarification, an ISAF spokeswoman said both sides still were investigating the incident. “This is the third incident of its kind during the past week,” the Pakistani military said in a statement. Three soldiers were wounded, it said. Pentagon spokesman Colonel David Lapan declined to elaborate on the details of the incident but said a Pakistani statement said “their forces used rifle fire at the helicopters as a warning.” “You fire at helicopter in a combat zone, they usually take that as hostile and return fire,” he said.
CRUCIAL ALLY
Pakistan is a crucial ally for the United States in its efforts to stabilise Afghanistan, but analysts say border incursions and disruptions in NATO supplies underline growing tensions in the relationship.
About half of all cargo for NATO forces in Afghanistan travels through Pakistan, most of it via two main border crossings: Chaman and Torkham, the Pentagon said.
Another third flows into Afghanistan through the northern distribution network across Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Sensitive gear like ammunition, weapons and critical equipment is flown in, the Pentagon said.Lapan said the Torkham border crossing closure had had “no immediate impact” on NATO resupply but its possible effect would depend on how long it remained shut. He said NATO has a variety of supply routes into Afghanistan, including others in Pakistan that remained open. “We are in discussions with the Pakistani government and hope that we can resolve the issue,” Lapan said. The border row occurred as CIA chief Leon Panetta began a previously scheduled visit to Pakistan for talks with top military and political figures. Panetta met President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, army chief General Ashfaq Kayani and the head of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency, Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha.
Gilani expressed “profound concern” over increasing drone strikes and violations of Pakistan’s airspace by NATO forces, he said in a statement. Citing reports by Western security officials about foiling a militant plot to stage coordinated attacks in Europe, Gilani pledged Pakistan’s help to thwart such plans if given “credible information in advance.”
Panetta welcomed Pakistan’s help in the fight against militants and said the U.S. government would look into its ally’s complaints about border violations. A senior intelligence official said border incursions into Pakistan were a “red line” and could lead to a “total snapping of relations.” Neither country could afford that, the official said, so it would be a disaster if further incursions took place.
“But we’ll live with that or we’ll die with that,” he said. “We’re in a state of war. We’ve lost more than 30,000 people since 2001. What more can we lose? Another 100,000? These incursions are not something we can tolerate.” Pakistan has said it would consider “response options” if NATO forces continued to violate its sovereignty. Washington has stepped up missile strikes by unmanned drone planes in Pakistan’s northwest, carrying out 21 in September, the highest for a month since it began such attacks in 2008. Also Thursday, a video purporting to show Pakistani troops in the northwestern Swat region summarily executing a group of bound and blindfolded young men appeared on the Internet. The military is investigating, the intelligence official said, although he believed it was likely a forgery by the Pakistani Taliban, distributed as propaganda. (Additional reporting by Chris Allbritton, Javed Hussain and Kamran Haider; Editing by Ron Popeski, Philip Barbara and Bill Trott.
Yonatan Shapira, a member of left-wing group Combatants for Peace, said he was treated “brutally” by Israeli soldiers when the ship was intercepted some 20 miles (30km) off the coast of Gaza on Tuesday. “After they boarded, I was standing with my hands around Reuven Moskowitz, the 82-year-old holocaust survivor,” he told BBC News. “We were trying to protect each other and singing: ‘We shall overcome.’ “The Israeli navy captain came closer and pulled out his Taser gun and said: ‘If you don’t let go… it will hurt.’ “We continued to hug and he shot me twice on my right shoulder. It was painful, but not as bad as the third shot.
British photo-journalist Vish Vishvanath confirmed that Mr Shapira had been hit by the stun gun. After his deportation to London, Mr Vishvanath said he had been “almost strip-searched” by Israeli special forces, who confiscated all his equipment.
He said the activists put up “a lot of resistance”, but that no violence was used.
Activists freed
The Irene, dubbed the Jewish Boat for Peace, was carrying what the activists called a symbolic amount of medicine, a water purifying kit and toys. The Israeli army diverted the boat to the port of Ashdod and said the gifts would be screened and transferred overland to Gaza. All five Israeli activists were questioned and released without charge. Three of the four foreign nationals were deported late on Tuesday. The fourth, a German nurse, would be deported in the next few days, organisers said. Israel and neighbouring Egypt shut down Gaza’s border crossings when an Israeli soldier was captured in June 2006, and tightened the blockade further when the Islamist Hamas movement gained control of Gaza a year later.
Israel began allowing consumer goods into Gaza after its May raid on a Turkish aid ship sparked international outrage. Nine activists were killed when Israeli commandos intercepted the ship in international waters. But it still blocks all exports from the territory, imposes a complete naval blockade, and severely restricts the movement of people. Israel says the naval blockade is required to stop arms being smuggled to Hamas, but critics and humanitarian groups say this amounts to collective punishment of the territory’s 1.5 million people.
The report, which was released last week estimated that the interception on the high Mavi Marmara Sea, a ship belonging to the fleet, was “clearly illegal.” The three members of the mission believe that there is enough evidence to bring criminal prosecutions. They regret that the Israeli government has refused to cooperate with the mission. According to Judge Hudson-Phillips, no weapons have been seized on ships in the fleet with the exception of a few slingshots. When it appeared that Israeli forces were planning to board the Mavi Marmara, a very small group of passengers were armed with sticks and iron railings ripped from the ship, “he said. There is no evidence that shots were fired in the direction of Mavi Marmara ships carrying Israeli military said the judge.
In contrast, “the Israeli military fired live ammunition against the passengers of Mavi Marmara, killing nine of them and wounding over 50 others, six of the deceased were victims of summary executions, two were shot after have been seriously injured and then they could not defend itself, “said Judge Hudson-Phillips. The Mission Council of Human Rights has also found that Israeli forces, after seizing control of the Mavi Marmara handcuffed almost all the passengers and made to kneel for hours. When they have landed at the port of Ashdod, they tried to get them to sign confessions that they had entered Israel illegally. Those who refused to sign or give their fingerprints have been beaten. The mission, headed by Justice K. Hudson-Phillips, a former judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, interviewed over 100 witnesses in Geneva, London, Istanbul and Amman. The Mission also has two other members: Desmond de Silva, a former prosecutor at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, and Shanthi Dairiam, former member of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has criticized a pair of NATO airstrikes on its territory that killed over 50 militants, saying they were a violation of its sovereignty. U.S. officials have said they have an agreement that allows aircraft to cross a few miles (kilometers) into Pakistani airspace if they are in hot pursuit of a target. But Pakistan denied Monday such an agreement exists. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press release Monday that the mandate of foreign troops in Afghanistan ends at the Afghan border. Pakistan said that unless corrective measures are implemented, it will have to “consider response options.” The airstrikes occurred Saturday in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal area after militants attacked a small Afghan security post near the border. ISLAMABAD (AP) — NATO helicopters based in Afghanistan carried out at least two airstrikes in Pakistan that killed more than 50 militants after the insurgents attacked a small Afghan security outpost near the border, spokesmen said Monday. NATO justified the strikes based on “the right of self-defense.” Pakistan is sensitive about attacks on its territory, but U.S. officials have said they have an agreement that allows aircraft to cross a few miles into Pakistani airspace if they are in hot pursuit of a target.
The first strike took place Saturday after insurgents based in Pakistan attacked an Afghan outpost in Khost province, which is located right across the border from Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal area, said U.S. Capt. Ryan Donald, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. “The ISAF helicopters did cross into Pakistan territory to engage the insurgents,” said Donald. “ISAF maintains the right to self-defense, and that’s why they crossed the Pakistan border.” The strike killed 49 militants, said U.S. Maj. Michael Johnson, another ISAF spokesman. The second attack occurred when helicopters returned to the border area and were attacked by insurgents based in Pakistan, said Donald. “The helicopters returned to the scene and they received direct small arms fire and, once again operating in self-defense, they engaged the insurgents,” said Donald. The strike killed at least four militants, said Johnson.
The tribal area where the strikes took place is largely controlled by militants who regularly carry out attacks against NATO troops in Afghanistan. The U.S. rarely uses manned aircraft to carry out strikes in North Waziristan and instead relies on drone attacks that American officials refuse to acknowledge publicly. Pakistani intelligence officials said two NATO helicopters carried out a third strike inside Pakistani territory on Monday morning, killing five militants and wounding nine others. The strike occurred in the village of Mata Sanger in the Kurram tribal area, which is directly across the border from the Afghan provinces of Paktia and Nangarhar, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. Donald, the NATO spokesman, said officials were still investigating and could not confirm or deny reports of the attack in Kurram.The Pakistani military could not be reached to comment on the NATO attacks.
The church acknowledges some Scientologists choose to sever communications with family members who leave. The church says it is a fundamental human right to cease communication with someone. It adds disconnection is used against expelled members and those who attack the church. During our investigation in 2007, black SUVs with tinted windows appeared to be following our team as we carried out interviews. A mystery man who we suspected was from the church also appeared to be keeping tabs on us at breakfast in our LA hotel each morning.
At the time, I put my suspicions of being under surveillance to Tommy Davis. He responded: “I don’t know what you’re talking about. It seems to me you’re getting a bit paranoid.” Mike Rinder has since given me a different answer. “Was I being paranoid?” I asked him when we met again. “No, you were being followed. No doubt whatsoever,” he told me. Mike said he should know as it was he and Tommy Davis who were doing some of the covert surveillance. Mike said he and Tommy were reporting back on our movements to David Miscavige’s office every few minutes or so. Through its UK lawyers, the firm Carter-Ruck, the church deny spying on us and reject Mike Rinder’s version of events dating back to 2007.
4TheRecord 