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> Mon., July. 31, 2006
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Beirut Residents Demonstrate and Destroy United Nations Headquarters
After Qana Massacre
Israeli Ambassador to United States Questioned About Attacks
Demonstrators March on Brooklyn Bridge Protesting US Support
for Israel
Southern Californians March Against Ongoing Attacks
Senate Set To Vote on Off-Shore Drilling Plan
Up to Two Million People Demonstrate Against Electoral Fraud
in Mexico City
Lebanese Community in Senegal Watches Conflict in Awe
FSRN Headlines
AFGHAN REGION TRANSFERRED TO NATO COMMAND
US-led coalition forces in southern Afghanistan handed over
regional command duties to NATO today. The transfer of power
comes amid renewed fighting from an increasingly powerful
Taliban insurgency in the south. NATO forces are already responsible
for security in the capital and in the north and west of the
country. NATO is slated to take over command duties in eastern
Afghanistan by the end of the year.
PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES NOT SUBJECT TO AIRSTRIKE CEASEFIRE
Although a 48-hour halt on airstrikes against Lebanon is in
effect, the Israeli army continues its attacks in the West
Bank and the Gaza Strip. Air strikes and shelling have killed
at least seven residents of the Gaza Strip over the last three
days and many others have sustained injuries. Manar Jibrin
reports.
An Israeli Apache helicopter today fired two missiles into
a governmental ministries compound in Sheikh Radwan in the
central Gaza Strip, causing structural damage. Two people
were injured in a separate missile attack on the two-storey
home in Al Sheikh Radwan area today Three Palestinians died
today of wounds they sustained a week earlier during the Israeli
invasion of areas in the Gaza Strip. A sixteen year old boy
was killed after sustaining shrapnel today by the Israeli
artillery fired at homes of Biet Hanoun east of the Gaza Strip.
Over one hundred Palestinians have been killed in Israeli
attacks in the past four weeks. Saturday, in the West Bank
city of Nablus an Israeli undercover unit backed by armored
vehicles invaded the city and killed two resistance fighters
of Al Quds Brigade, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who started a regional
tour met with Egyptian President Husni Mubarek on Friday during
which they discussed the situation in both Palestine and Lebanon.
SEATTLE SHOOTING
Five women were seriously wounded, and one woman was killed
when a man opened fire on a Jewish Federation community center
in downtown Seattle on Friday afternoon. Mark Taylor-Canfield
has more.
Naveed Afzal Haq, a 30 year old Palestinian man who grew
up in Richland, Washington, appeared before Seattle District
Judge Barbara Linde on Saturday and was charged with one count
of murder and five counts of attempted murder, after police
say he attacked a group of women at a Jewish Federation community
with a semi-automatic handgun. The judge set Haq's bail at
$50 million. Although law enforcement agencies are calling
Haq's actions a hate crime, Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowski
says they have found nothing to indicate that Naveed Haq had
any connections with organized terrorist groups. Haq told
police that he was angry about the situation in the Middle
East. He said he targeted the Jewish community center because
of Israel's foreign policy. Recently, Haq had legally purchased
two semi-automatic handguns. Police Chief Kerlikowski says
he had been cited by a Seattle Police officer for a traffic
violation just minutes before the shooting. The shooting has
resulted in calls by for more tolerance and understanding
among religious and ethnic communities in Seattle. Local Jewish
peace activists say a community gathering to discuss hate
crimes will be held later this week. Mayor Greg Nickles stated
at a press conference on Friday that the city is taking steps
to protect temples, synagogues and mosques in the city. This
is Mark Taylor-Canfield for Free Speech Radio News in Seattle.
PINOCHET QUESTIONED
This morning a Santiago Magistrate interrogated Chile's former
dictator Augusto Pinochet as a witness in the 1974 murder
of the former head of the Chilean Army. Jorge Garretón
reports from Santiago:
Judge Carlos Solis interviewed Pinochet as a witness, as
the judge tried to determine the responsibility the former
dictator had, or if the secret police acted alone, in the
1974 murder of his predecessor at helm of the Army, General
Carlos Prats. Prats, who left the Army weeks before the September
11, 1973 military coup, pressured by opponents inside the
Army, in an effort to prevent a military coup. Pinochet, who
was Prats closest confidant, took over and led the bloody
military coup. Prats was exiled to Argentina and was murdered
with his wife when the car they were riding in exploded on
a Buenos Aires street. Pinochet cannot be prosecuted in this
case because the Supreme Court denied last year the lifting
of his presidential immunity. The courts ruled in 2002 Pinochet
was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial. Pinochet who faces
a number of trials of human rights violations and money laundering,
today showed the judge a picture taken in Brazil at the time
of the murder, to try to prove his innocence. Judge Solis
says he will close the investigation this week and rule on
the charges of murder against the former head of the Secret
Police and eight other secret police agents. The former head
of the Secret Police - DINA - says Pinochet was the real head
of the DINA. For FSRN this is Jorge Garretón in Santiago.
MINIMUM WAGE AND THE ESTATE TAX
The U.S. House of Representatives has voted 230-180 to increase
the country's $5.15 an hour federal minimum wage by $2.10.
However, the bill has received criticism for including a measure
that would extend cuts to the Estate Tax for the wealthiest
Americans. The Senate may vote on the bill as early as next
week.
[top]
Beirut Residents Demonstrate and Destroy United
Nations Headquarters After Qana Massacre (4:27)
Israel called a 48-hour halt to its air offensive against
Lebanon as hostilities stretched to the 20th day. U.S. Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice is in the region, hoping to help
hammer out a cease-fire this week, although she has not set
a deadline. Reports from the southern Lebanese border indicate
that Israeli air attacks continue in an effort to support
Israeli ground troops caught up in fierce fighting with Hezbollah
guerrillas. And, ten years after Israeli forces massacred
100 civilians sheltered in a United Nations compound in the
southern Lebanese city of Qana, Israel is once again being
accused of war crimes there. Yesterday, Israeli war planes
fired two rounds of missiles into an abandoned house destroying
most of the building and killing more than 60 civilians sheltered
there. At least 37 of those killed were children with many
more women and elderly buried in the rubble. Thousands of
angry demonstrators took to the streets in downtown Beirut
hours after the discovery of the massacre - destroying the
United Nations headquarters. Jackson Allers has more from
Beirut.
[top]
Israeli Ambassador to United States Questioned About
Attacks (1:47)
Human Rights Watch is calling on UN Secretary General Kofi
Annan to formally investigate violations of international
law in connection to the Qana massacre, citing that Israel
has yet to present evidence that Hezbolla was at or near the
building that was attacked. Ryme Katkhouda caught up with
Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Daniel Ayalon
in Washington D.C. questioned him about the massive bombing.
[top]
Demonstrators March on Brooklyn Bridge Protesting
US Support for Israel (2:03)
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in New York City to march
over the Brooklyn Bridge protesting U.S. support for Israel.
Joshua Smith reports.
[top]
Southern Californians March Against Ongoing Attacks
(1:51)
On the West Coast, hundreds of Southern Californians also
marched against the ongoing attacks in Southern Lebanon. David
Perez was there and files this report.
[top]
Senate Set To Vote on Off-Shore Drilling Plan
(3:27)
The House approved a bill last month that would suspend
a 25-year-old oil and gas drilling moratorium in Pacific and
Atlantic coastal waters. Now the Senate is taking up a very
different version of that bill – one that conflicts
with the House version. The Senate bill would allow drilling
on only 8.3 million acres of Gulf waters, currently off limits
to energy development. FSRN’s Selina Musuta reports
on the debate from Washington, DC.
[top]
Up to Two Million People Demonstrate Against Electoral
Fraud in Mexico City (3:04)
Nearly a month after Mexico’s hotly-contested presidential
elections, the final outcome remains unresolved. The top two
candidates have both declared victory, with center-left candidate
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador leading massive mobilizations
to pressure election officials to conduct a ballot-by-ballot
recount. Vladimir Flores reports from Mexico City.
[top]
Lebanese Community in Senegal Watches Conflict in
Awe (3:01)
Malaysia may host an emergency summit of Islamic nations
to discuss the war in Lebanon. The Organization of Islamic
Conference talks, to be chaired by Malaysia, are likely to
add weight to calls for an immediate ceasefire between Israel
and the Hezbollah militia. Ndiaga Seck reports from Senegal,
the West African country with one of the largest Lebanese
communities.
[top]
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