| This thread has been locked, it will not receive new replies. |
|
Locked on 02/24/2004 11:47:52 AM PST by Admin Moderator, reason:
Thread 4. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1084291/posts |
Posted on 02/05/2004 8:31:17 PM PST by Mossad1967
Edited on 02/09/2004 3:20:18 PM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
SANAA, Yemen, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- A purported statement by al-Qaida in Yemen warned Saturday of a "major strike" soon in the United States.
The statement, distributed by the Yemeni Tagamoo Party for Reforms, said: "A major strike, a big event will take place in America soon," reminiscent of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Monday, February 16, 2004
PARIS — Investigators in Iraq are asking questions about how Saddam Hussein (search) ran the country's huge oil business and why certain countries treated the former Iraqi dictator better than others.
The Justice Ministry in Iraq's interim government recently uncovered documents about suspect oil deals in Saddam's regime, which collapsed in April after U.S. troops succeeded in taking Baghdad.
It reads like a "Who's Who" of the Friends of Saddam club. It's a list of 271 companies, politicians and organizations that allegedly benefited from the former Iraqi regime by getting large amounts of cut-rate oil that would earn kickbacks when sold by oil brokers.
"Instead of using the wealth to reconstruct Iraq — like building universities or highways — he just gave it as gifts to his followers," said Asim Jihad, a spokesman for the Iraqi Oil Ministry (search).
France is one of the countries favored most as the list documents 11 French recipients of oil allotments, including a businessman with ties to French President Jacques Chirac (search), a diplomat who served under Chirac when he was prime minister and a former French ambassador to the United Nations.
"It's pretty clear that Saddam Hussein thought he could influence the French," said Vincent Hugeux, an editor with L'Express Magazine.
The Franco-Iraqi Friendship Association (search) is another group allegedly getting bribes or rewards. Its chief denies getting oil allotments but does admit to getting commissions from French oil firms he helped in Baghdad.
"I served as an intermediary and in exchange for that got some benefits," said Gilles Munier, the secretary general of the Franco-Iraqi Friendship Association.
Many of those listed said they didn't get any oil allocations from Saddam. Those who did said it was within the legal framework of the U.N.-run Oil for Food (search ) program, which oversaw Iraq's oil sales and purchases of other items.
But analysts said the fact that people might have illicitly profited from the system raises concerns.
"Some of the payments are of a size and a profit margin which raises the questions why and to what purpose?" said Claude Hankes-Drielsma, an analyst with Roland Berger Strategy Consultants.
Hankes-Drielsma, who is a consultant to the Iraqi Governing Council, wants a U.N. investigation into the matter. And the U.S. Treasury Department says its also interested in finding out more about deals reached during the Saddam regime.
We must ask ourselves which rumor do we put stock in? That he 'is' in custody or being 'searched' for
Mon Feb 16,11:54 AM ET
By ANTHONY MITCHELL, Associated Press Writer
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - A clear terrorist threat still exists in East Africa, and greater military cooperation is needed to defeat it, a top U.S. general warned on Monday during a visit to Ethiopia.
Gen. John Abizaid, whose Central Command is responsible for Afghanistan, Iraq and East Africa, said closer "military and intelligence cooperation" was needed between East African governments to prevent extremist groups like al-Qaida from gaining an "ideological foothold" in the region.
"The threat is clear, but the threat can be deterred and can be defeated," he told journalists in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
"This terrorist threat knows no boundary, and when we operate only on a nation-state basis we will be unable to really get at the heart of the terrorist problem which is transnational."
Abizaid pointed out Somalia — which has had no central government since 1990 — as a potential trouble spot in the region.
"We know the terrorists gravitate toward ungoverned spaces, and these are areas where they look for the opportunities to gain recruits, establish safe-havens and move money," he said. "We certainly have indications to believe that people associated with these groups operate in and around areas such as Somalia."
Abizaid, who met with the Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, said his visit aimed to assess the capabilities of the region's forces for combating terrorism.
East Africa has already suffered four terrorist attacks, all either claimed by or blamed on Osama bin Laden's terror network. In August 1998, car bombs destroyed U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania; in October 2000, suicide bombers attacked the USS Cole while it was refueling in Yemen; and in November 2002, attackers tried to shoot down an Israeli airliner minutes before a car bomb destroyed a hotel on Kenya's coast.
Abizaid said the military situation in Iraq was "still difficult," especially in the Iraqi town of Fallujah. But he added that most of the country was stable enough for political activity to take place.
He said more time was needed to find weapons of mass destruction.
"It is clear that the hunt must continue," Abizaid said. "We all know this is a tough and a long fight in Iraq, it won't be over tomorrow and we intend to cooperate fully with Iraqi security institutions and help them help themselves."
The ulcerative eschar of cutaneous anthrax must be differentiated from other papular lesions that present with regional lymphadenopathy.
If the lesion is purulent and the regional lymph nodes are palpable, staphylococcal lymphadenitis is the most likely cause, although cutaneous anthrax lesions can be superinfected with pyogenic bacteria.
The initial symptoms of inhalational anthrax are nondescript or "flulike" and are similar to those of atypical pneumonia from other causes.
The prognosis is improved if early treatment is implemented, so that a high level of suspicion is necessary if there is a chance of exposure to anthrax. The cardiopulmonary collapse associated with a history of radiographic evidence of mediastinal widening in the late stages of inhalational anthrax must be differentiated from cardiovascular collapse with noninfectious causes, such as dissecting or ruptured aortic aneurysm and the superior vena cava syndrome.
Anthrax infection is unusual in that mediastinal changes can be detected early in the course of infection by chest radiography, although similar pictures can be seen in acute bacterial mediastinitis and fibrous mediastinitis due to Histoplasma capsulatum.
Less specific findings include pleural effusions and radiographic evidence of pulmonary edema. Silicosis, siderosis, alveolar proteinosis, and sarcoidosis are often alternative causes of chronic mediastinitis in patients with the relevant occupational history and previous chest radiographs demonstrating long-standing mediastinal widening.
When ingestion of contaminated meat is suspected, the symptoms of an acute abdomen should be considered as possible early signs of intestinal anthrax infection.
Hemorrhagic meningitis caused by anthrax must be distinguished from subarachnoid hemorrhage by computed tomography without contrast. To distinguish hemorrhagic meningitis caused by B. anthracis from that caused by other bacteria, Gram's staining and culture of cerebrospinal fluid should be performed.68 In addition to the above indictors, the clinician should consider anthrax if there is a history of contact with materials that may be contaminated with spores, such as infected farm animals and imported hides, or of travel to places where anthrax is endemic.
Because of the remote possibility of an anthrax aerosol attack, clinicians should be alert to any sudden deaths of previously healthy persons from undiagnosed disease and report them promptly to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other appropriate public health officials.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.