British Hostage In Iraq May Have Been 'sold' To Zarqawi Group
LONDON, Sept 25 (AFP) - A senior Anglican clergyman with many years' experience in Iraq believes British hostage Kenneth Bigley was "sold" by the men who seized him to the hardline Tawhid wal Jihad (Unity and Holy War) organisation, The Times newspaper reported Saturday.
In an interview, Canon Andrew White -- who was involved in the rescue of four Western hostages in Iraq last June -- suggested that Bigley's chances were bleak, nine days after he was snatched along with two US colleagues who have since been executed.
His best hope for freedom, said White, would be a direct appeal from a senior Sunni Muslim cleric who enjoys respect in the Sunni Triangle, where it is believed he is being held.
White told The Times that Bigley was probably sold by the men who snatched him to Tawhid wal Jihad -- led by Abu Mussab Zarqawi, who has suspected links with Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network -- for 250,000 dollars (203,700 euros).
The Times did not explain how White -- director of the Iraqi Center for Dialogue, Reconciliation and Peace, and a former peace envoy for the former archbishop of Canterbury George Carey -- arrived at that figure.
"The reality is that once these people (hostages) are with the Al-Qaeda groups, it is too late," White was quoted as saying upon his return Friday from Washington where he briefed US officials on Iraq's unrelenting hostage-takings.
"Nobody knows where Zarqawi is. Those who are closest to him will not reveal anything. In the hostage-taking process, you have to move really quickly. The first 48 hours are crucial."
While an appeal from a senior Sunni Muslim cleric would help, White said many such figures -- including a handful thought to be capable of reaching Zarqawi -- have fled Iraq for nearby states such as Jordan and Syria.
If Bigley is still alive, White said, he has likely become a pawn in an ordeal that could drag on for weeks before he is set free.
"The method would be to get the local religious leaders to talk to him (Zarqawi)," he said.
"They would have to say to Zarqawi, 'You need to help us. What you are doing weakens the broader Sunni cause, but you are in a position to empower us'," he said.
"We need to find exactly the right Sunni leader, but even then we are not dealing with rationality. It's a case of stroking the kidnappers' ego."
He said British diplomats working for Bigley's release were "the best I have encountered," and that Prime Minister Tony Blair's policy of refusing concessions was correct.
But he warned that Tawhid wal Jihad was probably holding out for more than the release of female prisoners from US-run prisons in Iraq, of which US officials say there are only two, both weapons scientists.
Its real aim, White told The Times, is to cause "total and utter havoc".
"This is a real attempt to destabilise the restoration of Iraq, to remove the American presence, to try to restore Islamic rule," he said.
http://www.turkishpress.com/turkishpress/news.asp?ID=28444
UN nuclear agency calls for fight against 'nuclear terrorism'
VIENNA (AFP) Sep 24, 2004
The United Nations atomic agency called on Friday for greater international cooperation in the face of potential terrorist attacks using nuclear or radiological weapons.
The 137-nation International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted a resolution calling for joint efforts to improve border security in order to prevent the illegal trafficking of nuclear materials.
The text called on "all member states to continue to provide political, financial and technical support... to improve nuclear and radiological security and prevent nuclear and radiological terrorism".
It came in response to growing fears that extremist groups could use nuclear materials to build a "dirty bomb" -- a device that would spew radioactive debris over a city, making parts of it uninhabitable for years.
IAEA records point to a dramatic rise in the smuggling of radiological substances, the raw material for a dirty bomb, and the United States claims that the Al-Qaeda extremist network is seeking to acquire such weapons.
The IAEA resolution urged member states to provide the agency's nuclear security fund with the necessary political and financial support.
It also welcomed the agency's initiative to assist states in planning future nuclear security activities and encouraged it to prepare an annual report charting progress in the field.
The resolution, passed shortly before the end of an IAEA conference in Vienna, follows others adopted by the agency since the September 11 attacks against the United States in 2001.
http://www.spacewar.com/2004/040924191923.u8vgn8dq.html