US Accuses Venezuela Over Attack

The US has accused city officials of the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, of complicity in an attack on the car of US Ambassador William Brownfied. The ambassador's convoy was pelted with eggs, onions and tomatoes and chased by motorbikes for some miles by supporters of President Hugo Chavez.

US Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns said the attack had been condoned by the city government.

The BBC's Greg Morbasch in Caracas said Mr Brownfield is accustomed to verbal abuse from supporters of the president but this latest incident is the first time he and his team have had objects thrown at them.

Mr Brownfield - who was visiting a low-income neighbourhood in Caracas to donate baseball equipment to underprivileged children - had recently stated he was concerned for his safety.

The US under secretary of state told Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez that if such an incident happens again there would be severe diplomatic consequences, department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

Mr Burns said the attack was a violation of the Vienna Convention and that the action was clearly condoned by the local government, the spokesman said.

US Embassy spokesman Brian Penn said the Venezuelan police escorting the convoy did not intervene to stop the incident.

"The motorcyclists were throwing things at us for at least 10 minutes, and the police did nothing... It was serious," he said.

Mr Penn claimed the incident was organised by the mayor's office in Caracas, which has denied any involvement in the incident.

"No official authorised by the mayor's office participated," Luis Martinez, a spokesman for Mayor Juan Barreto, told AP.

Officials said the incident was organised by local residents who wanted Mr Brownfield to leave the area.

Relations between the US and Venezuela have been strained for some time, and Mr Brownfield has faced protests at recent appearances.

The American embassy has also asked the Venezuelan government to improve security for the ambassador, saying it is legally bound to do so.

President Chavez has been at loggerheads with Washington, accusing the Bush administration of orchestrating assassination and coup attempts in order to get at Venezuela's vast oil reserves, our correspondent says.

But US officials say Mr Chavez is causing instability in the region with his fiery anti-Bush rhetoric and autocratic style of leadership.

* Hakim Mamad Ali Diab Fattah : Venezuelan of Arab descent. He had been the subject of international surveillance because he had taken lessons at two New Jersey flight schools attended by Hani Hanjour, who crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.
The FBI had arrested Fattah in the US after discovering that he also had talked about blowing up an airliner and had used forged identity documents. Information about him was requested from Venezuela's internal security service, Direccion de Inteligencia Seguridad y Prevencion (DISIP). But little was forthcoming other than psychiatric records showing that he was a diagnosed schizophrenic who had failed to attend therapy for more than a year. He was returned to Venezuela on March 8, 2002.
----- "Terror Threat from Venezuela: Al Queda Involved," by Martin Arostegui, Militares Democraticos, December 27, 2002

* Nasser Mohammed al-Din : A powerful entrepreneur and a close personal friend of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, at whose home in Margarita the Venezuelan president stays on his frequent visits to the resort island, which is also a favored venue for his private meetings with Castro.
Margarita Island appears to be the center of an extensive terrorist financial network stretching throughout the Caribbean to Panama and the Cayman Islands, where three Afghanis traveling on false Pakistani passports were caught entering from Cuba with $200,000 in cash in August 2001.
According to British colonial authorities, efforts to launder the money through Cayman banks also involved a group of Arab businessmen.
-------- "Terror Threat from Venezuela: Al Queda Involved," by Martin Arostegui, Militares Democraticos, December 27, 2002

Chavez is president for life. He will not leave voluntarily.

If he confronts us too directly, he will find himself in the cell next to Noriega. If he doesn't, he will live a long life in Miraflores and die of old age there. If you like him, you are in luck. He will be president until your grandkids are grown.

Unless one of his henchmen take him out, which is entirely possible. But it won't be us.

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