26. oktober 2002

Bin Laden's Alleged Last Will Published A London based Arab news magazine published what it claims is Osama Bin Laden's last will, dated December 14, 2001. The editor does not claim knowledge of whether Bin Laden is dead or alive now, but points out that the will is written by a man who is dying or knowing he is about to die. Bin Laden has not been confirmed alive since then. Bin Laden's alleged will speaks of betrayal and cowardice among his allies, understood to be the Afghan taliban, and adminishes his children to stay out of Al Qaeda. This may prompt a leadership crisis in the international terrorist network. 10:48:23 PM    comment []

Bad luck again for Arsenal goalkeeper Seaman "It is hard to work out just what David Seaman must have done to deserve such miserably bad luck at the moment. Indeed, there must be a collection of broken mirrors, black cats and ladders just waiting to be walked under at the keeper's home." (ESPN Soccernet, after Seaman conceded an own goal and previously unbeaten Arsenal lost their 3rd consecutive game) Liverpool won 2-1 over Spurs, and United played 1-1 against Villa. Liverpool is now leading the Premier League by 4 points on Arsenal. 8:37:07 PM    comment []

Net Protests in Spain New Internet-related legislation, this time in Spain, has sparked protests and made a number of web providers discontinue their sites, Wired reports. A new law requires even the smallest websites which accept payment from users to meet a number of stringent rules, including registering as a business. Critics say smaller content providers are unable to even understand the complicated rules, and even less carrying the cost of complying. 9:02:23 AM    comment []

Moscow Hostage Crisis Over "Preliminary reports say that all the hostages have been freed and the leader of the Chechen rebels has been killed. The reports say that 20 bodies were being brought out of the theater building." (CNN) If the reports are correct, the Russian special forces have certainly developed impressive skills. From the early reports, it appears the hostage takers had started executing their prisoners, forcing the Russians' hands. As of now, we don't know how many hostages were killed or wounded. Update: The earliest reports were way optimistic. Around 140 people, 90 hostages among them, were killed in the assault. 6:07:20 AM    comment []

Objectives of the Moscow Terrorists The actions of the Chechen rebels holding ~600 hostages in the Moscow theater looks erratic and confusing. Their actions depend on their objectives, obviously. If the terrorists seriously is a suicide group intending to blow up the theatre with everybody inside unless Russia withdraws from Chechnya, this looks bad for the hostages indeed. Obviously, no such demand, or anything close to it, will be met. In such a case, the best, or least bad, option for Russian security forces would be to attempt a raid. Thus, if the terrorists are not really on a suicide operation, the terrorists need to have the Russian authorities think they are determined and serious, but not that they are so unpredictable they will blow up the building at any time.  So far, the operation looks very PR minded. They chose a very high profile target and got massive publicity. They have many foreigners hostage, and will not release them as first indicated. Thus they held the full attention of both national and international media. By releasing a few hostages piecemeal they keep media attention, and can do that for a long time. The best the terrorists can hope for now, except martyrdom, is to leave Moscow as free men. Most likely, they would be allowed to do that. In that case they have accomplished to humiliate Vladimir Putin and the Russian security forces, and to bring extra media attention to the war in Chechnya. Perhaps they think this is a good accomplishment. Chechen seperatists do not have a history of suicide operations, but given their alleged support from Al Queda, it is certainly not impossible that has now changed. A tragic ending for this siege will certainly not make the Russians less determined to solve the Chechen problem the hard way. And I doubt it will make the powerful nations in the west less likely to look the other way over Russia's human rights abuses. 2:10:12 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2002 Jan Haugland. Last update: 01.11.02; 00:17:34.