The Quadrangle

Issue date: 11/17/04 Section: News

Prisoners Released, Terrorism Questioned in Afghanistan
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has defended his Cabinet's decision to release about 200 prisoners. The prisoners are from the United States-driven Afghan War, and all will be released, even though some could be terrorists.
According to the president, the prisoners were being held in Afghan jails without trial. "We decided for humanitarian reasons to release them all. The majority of those people were people that went back to their homes and have resumed their lives as citizens of [Afghanistan]. The two or three who have made those statements will be considered terrorists, and if they come across us again, we'll arrest them and put them in jail again."
The statements he referred to were made by a couple of prisoners once they were released. They threatened to fight back against Afghanistan.
"In my opinion, and also in the opinion of many, many Afghans, events in Afghanistan has proven that terrorism has no place here, that it's defeated, that it's gone," Karzai continued.
The kidnapping of three U.N. workers in late October has been the only of terrorism in Afghanistan of late. The militants holding the workers have threatened to kill them unless the U.N. left Afghanistan. Karzai said they are trying to have them released safely, but he cannot go into details. (CNN.com)


Yasser Araft Ill, Days are Numbered
Palestinians officials have been making funeral and burial plans for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who is extremely sick in Percy Military Hospital in Paris.
According to senior Palestinian sources, the option of making funeral plans escalated when a Palestinian Islamic cleric was flown in to be beside Arafat for what potential could be his final days.
Taissir Day Tamimi visited Arafat for about an hour, and afterward stated that he is in critical condition and he would pray for his recovery. He also claimed to see Arafat move his shoulder while the cleric read the Koran. According to sources in Ramallah, Tamimi is needed to be present for an official Islamic declaration of death. The declaration would be issued out of respect and would prevent questions that could arise from his death.
Arafat, who is now 75, suffered a brain hemorrhage, causing him to be hospitalized since October 29, and he is still in a deep coma.
After an Israel security meeting, it was revealed that Arafat would be buried in his Ramallah compound located in the West Bank. Egyptian officials want the funeral to be in Cairo to give Arab leaders the opportunity to gather and give their respects before the burial. (CNN.com)

French Evacuated, Still Violence in the Ivory Coast
The French and the United Nations are working together to evacuate French citizens from the Ivory Coast. The citizens are in the middle of anti-foreigner riots.
The plan is to evacuate between 4,000 and 8,000 of the 14,000 French citizens.
Francois Guenon, French Embassy spokesman, said, "It is on a voluntary basis. We are not going to evacuate all of our French citizens because they are too many. We are evaluating the number of those wanting to leave and we have between 4,000 to 8,000 French who have expressed a wish to leave whether temporarily or for good."
Evacuations started on Wednesday, November 10. Along with the French citizens to be evacuated there are another 1,600 foreigners that are waiting to be flown out. On Tuesday November 9, South African President Thabo Mbeki flew to try and end the violence. By then French troops wounded 600 and killed at least 20.
The violence started when Ivory Coast airplanes killed nine Frenchmen and an American in an air raid on the north. The acts against French citizens started once the French launched a retaliation attack. French leaders are holding President Laurent Gbagbo personally responsible for the initial attacks that killed the foreigners. (CNN.com)

Possible Terrorists Trapped, Exchange Gunfire with Police
In The Hague, Netherlands, Dutch police are in the middle of a face-off with potential terrorist suspects. The suspects are in a house, possibly with hostages.
Han Moraal, Huage Chief Prosecutor said that the house was raided because of their "continuing investigation into terrorism". During the raid, three officers were injured by a hand grenade. According to Police Chief Gerard Bouwman, the suspects were still inside the building and they had swapped gunfire with police.
Sylvia Cordia, a neighbor from the other side of the street, said there were several explosions. "I saw one policeman crumble to the ground and another was dragged away to safety. There were several people in the house, and I heard a man yelling, 'I'll chop your head off' and profanities," she said. She added that the supposed terrorists yelled threats at the police when they were asked to surrender.
Several streets have been blocked. Even though Mayor Wim Deetman said that they are trying to end the situations peacefully through negotiators, there are police in riot gear, SWAT teams, fire engines, and ambulances around the house.
It is unknown if this situation is linked to the killing of Theo van Gogh, a filmmaker and alleged Islamic radical. He had received death threats because of his latest movie about how Islamic women were treated. Since he was killed over a week ago, there have been over a dozen arson attacks against churches and mosques, one school bombed and another school burned down. (CNN.com)

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