Reading the Middle Eastern And South Asian Press

By Sandip Roy, Pacific News Service. Posted March 28, 2002.

Ed's Note: This roundup assembles from regional news sources a collage of headlines and viewpoints that have gone missing in action in the U.S. press.

Putin Bombed Apartment, Not Chechens

Did the Russian security service under President Putin mastermind an apartment complex bombing in 1999 and blame it on Chechen insurgents? That's the explosive allegation made by media mogul Boris Berezovsky, a former Putin ally currently in exile. Berezovsky showed a clip from his documentary film "Assassination in Russia," which features testimonies from a former state security agent and a British explosives expert. He alleged that after the bombing, Putin used the ensuing wave of nationalism to ride to power. Berezovsky's film is creating a media frenzy in Russia. --Al-Ahram Weekly, Cairo, Egypt

Saddam Hussein, Prolific Author?

Is Saddam Hussein a novelist? The Iraqi News Agency announced that the author of two "anonymous" books previously released in Iraq was set to produce two more books in 2002. Many Iraqis think that Hussein wrote the two earlier books. They include a novel, "Zaibaba and the King," about a monarch who falls in love with a poor married woman. The woman is raped and killed on Jan. 17, the anniversary of Iraq's withdrawal from Kuwait. Many Iraqis believe no one other than Hussein would dare refer to that date. --Albawaba.com, Amman, Jordan

India Won't Use Anti-Terror Law Against Train Attackers

The government of the Indian state of Gujarat decided not to invoke India's new anti-terrorism ordinance against 28 people arrested in connection with burning a train carrying Hindu pilgrims in Godhra, saying that existing provisions under the Indian Penal Code were enough for prosecution. The government had come under fire for invoking the ordinance against those who had attacked the Hindus, but not for the 600 people named in the retaliatory attacks against Muslims in the days that followed. Those people were booked under other laws. --Rediff.com, Mumbai, India

Device in Afghan Cave Belonged to Soldier Killed in Somalia

American troops searching an Afghan cave found a global positioning receiver that may have belonged to a U.S. soldier killed in Somalia in 1993. The Pentagon said the receiver belonged to Master Sgt. Gary Gordon, who was posthumously given a Medal of Honor. The Pentagon has long suspected that Osama bin Laden was behind the attacks on American troops in Somalia in 1993. However, the device could have been stolen in Somalia and sold to al Qaeda on the black market. --Oman Observer, Muscat, Oman

Bombers Who Kill Children Declared Martyrs

Egypt's top cleric has said Palestinian suicide bombers are martyrs even if their attacks on Jewish settlements end up killing women and children. Sheikh Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, grand sheikh of Cairo's al-Azhar Mosque, added that suicide bombers should not intentionally blow themselves up "among the weak," because this was against Islamic law and incompatible with manhood. But if they end up killing men, women and children in a settlement where there are "aggressors," they are still martyrs because they cannot "differentiate" between all the people there. --Albwaba.com, Amman, Jordan


FBI Chief Sought to Interrogate Malaysian Suspect

An official spokesman in the Malaysian police said that FBI Director Robert S. Mueller wanted to interrogate former Malaysian policeman Yazid Sufaat, who is suspected to have met with two of the Sept. 11 hijackers. The FBI believes Sufaat might have helped create a terrorist network in Malaysia and southeastern Asia in cooperation with Osama bin Laden. However, the United States has not officially demanded the extradition of Sufaat, who has been jailed for over two years on charges pertaining to internal security. --Al Jazeera Television, Doha, Qatar

U.S. Asks Pakistan to Extradite Terror Suspects

The United States has asked Pakistan either to hand over to India 20 terrorists wanted by New Delhi, or try them in Pakistan. Harry Thomas, director in charge of South Asia at President Bush's National Security Council, told Indian community leaders that Washington's highest priority is to keep India and Pakistan from going to war, because "it will be devastating for the global campaign against terrorism." --Times of India, New Delhi, India

Philippine Congress Increasingly Upset Over U.S. Troops

Congressmen from the Philippines are becoming more alarmed and vocal about the growing number of U.S. troops coming into the country. Congressman Apolinario Lozada said the Philippines is becoming a "staging ground for other countries." House Minority Leader Carlos Padilla said that two months of American troops had not brought about any release of hostages, and expressed alarm that the Americans might be more interested in setting up a base for U.S. operations in Mindanao. President Arroyo dismissed the protesters as anti-American. --Gulf News, Dubai, UAE

Co-Pilot Sacked for Wearing Hijab

A co-pilot working for Shorouq Airlines was sacked for wearing the hijab -- an Islamic headdress -- and has taken her employers to court. Nireen Samir simply wants to cover her hair under her co-pilot's cap, but the airlines fired her because she "altered the uniform," according to Sharouq's board chairman. He said if Samir applied Islamic Sharia laws to her workplace, she would not be able to fly with a male pilot. He said that even if she won her case, she would be given an administrative job. Shorouq Airlines is jointly owned by EgyptAir and Kuwait Airlines. --Al-Ahram Weekly, Cairo, Egypt

Saudi Govt. Workers Need King's OK to Marry Foreigners

The Saudi Council of Ministers has passed a new law barring a list of top civil servants and security officials from marrying foreigners without permission from the king. The daily Al-Watan said the list includes ministers, judges, Cabinet employees, diplomats, administrative staff in the foreign ministry and chairmen of boards of private companies. The restrictions will also apply to Saudis studying overseas. --Arab News, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Sandip Roy is associate editor at Pacific News Service and host of "Upfront" -- a weekly radio program on KALW-FM San Francisco.

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