www.voanews.com Greg Flakus Caracas 14 Mar 2003, 06:15 UTC

In Venezuela, opponents of President Hugo Chavez continue their efforts to remove him from power, but the embattled leader appears stronger than ever after surviving a coup attempt nearly a year ago and a two-month general strike that ended in early February. Commercial life has returned to the city, but the underlying political conflict rages still.

Plaza Altamira in Caracas, which is almost empty now, has served as the headquarters of the anti-Chavez opposition VOA Photo - G. FlakusShops, restaurants, commercial centers and movie theaters are all open for business now and the almost daily protests that brought tens of thousands to the plazas have abated. The traffic on the streets of Caracas is almost as heavy as it was three months ago before the strike brought a halt to gasoline production.

But all is not well here. The rhetoric from both sides remains tough and the effort to resolve matters through peaceful dialogue has produced very little. Government negotiators did not show up for a round of talks promoted by the Organization of American States on Wednesday and opposition leaders say they see little government willingness to seek an end to the political crisis. Opposition representatives decry what they describe as "verbal violence" directed at them by President Chavez and his ministers.

Roy Chaderton MatosVenezuelan Foreign Minister Roy Chaderton says Chavez opponents are the ones promoting strife. He says that, instead of working to regain popular support, the opposition has tried to bring down the government through coup attempts and what he calls "terrorist methods." Mr. Chaderton also claims to have evidence that opposition figures here in Venezuela and in some other countries have plotted to kill the president.

Government spokesmen say the opposition efforts to oust Mr. Chavez through a popular uprising have failed. They note that the two-month strike ended without any concession from the government and that oil production is nearing normal levels in spite of the continuing strike by oil workers unions.

Striking oil workers in front of the oil company building in Caracas VOA Photo - G. FlakusPresident Chavez fired 16,000 of the striking workers and has replaced them with workers loyal to his government. Government officials say oil production, which fell to 150,000 barrels-a-day in December is now close to the 3.1 million barrels-a-day that was being produced before the strike. The government figures show production of 2.6 million barrels-a-day, but opponents say the level remains far below two million.

Ana Maria Ramirez, Former Venezuela oil company executive VOA Photo - G. FlakusAna Maria Ramirez, who worked with the state-owned oil company's shipping operations before the strike, says even if production is up, the deliveries will be slow.

She says no serious oil transport company will come to Venezuela these days because of the dangers present at Venezuelan ports. She says most companies will avoid the risk and go elsewhere. She also rejects government accusations that striking workers sabotaged facilities. She and other striking executives and workers blame any damage on the inexperienced and ill-trained personnel brought in by Mr. Chavez to operate the oil field equipment and port facilities.

Meanwhile gasoline shortages persist in much of the country in spite of imports of gasoline from Brazil. But government spokesmen say an oil company refinery is now back in operation and that the supply of gasoline will return to normal levels very soon.

www.sun-herald.com 03/14/03

NORTH PORT -- The rise in gas prices has led to troubled budgetary times for some local charities.

Dan Dunn, executive director of the All Faiths Food Bank said that his charitable organization, which drives supplies to churches and other nonprofit food pantries throughout Sarasota County, allotted $900 for fuel in February and spent $1,200.

Dunn said the spike in gas prices, exacerbated by the oil strike in Venezuela and the potential war with Iraq, has left the charity in the unenviable position of having to mount fund-raising efforts at a time of widespread economic downturn.

"In a budget crunch, you either increase revenue or cut services," Dunn said. "In our business, you can't cut services. We have to deliver food to hungry people."

Patsy French, spokeswoman for Goodwill Industries-Manasota said that charity spent $55,000 on fuel, including gasoline and diesel fuel, in 2002. Through February, she said the organization has seen a 20-percent rise in fuel costs compared to the first two months of 2002.

"If we're looking at that over a year, that could increase our prices by $10,000 to $12,000," French said. "That's a lot of program money."

French said at Goodwill, all programs and operational costs, such as fuel, are self-funded. Because of this, when more money goes to fuel costs, she said there is less funding for the organization's housing, educational and job training and placement programs. She said so far this year, donations are up six percent over the same time period last year, but the increase is not nearly enough to cover the rise in gas costs.

John Wrublevski, president of North Port's Friends In Service Here said gas costs have further aggravated that charitable organization's shortage of volunteer drivers. Wrublevski said FISH, which chauffeurs local residents who cannot drive themselves to doctor's appointments and grocery stores, has had to do some budget tightening to keep serving the community. He said the group has had to ask drivers to volunteer one day a week without any reimbursement, cut mileage reimbursement from 25 cents a mile to 15 cents a mile, and informed the residents the volunteers can only transport them to one doctor's appointment each week.

"The gas thing has presented a serious problem," Wrublevski said. "Right now, people are telling us that it costs them more for gas than we are paying them. We've lost a few drivers who say they can't afford this."

While Meals on Wheels volunteer drivers do not see any mileage or gas reimbursement, the directors of the Venice and North Port chapters said they have not seen fewer volunteers because of the rising gas costs. Norman Miller, executive director of the Venice Meals on Wheels said that chapter currently has 140 drivers. But Miller said the U.S. military build-up around Iraq, a portent of a war which could drive gas prices higher, is a cause of concern.

"If we have a war over there, we'll have a problem," he said.

Charities may be contacted at the following phone numbers:

North Port Goodwill (941) 423-0987 North Port FISH (941) 426-4114 All Faiths Food Bank (941) 379-6333 North Port Meals on Wheels (941) 426-4628 Venice Meals on Wheels (941) 488- 1889

You can e-mail Chris Curry at ccurry@sun-herald.com By CHRIS CURRY Staff Writer

www.chronwatch.com Posted by Cinnamon Stillwell Friday, March 1, 2003

''When war is forced upon us, we will see it through to victory. At this hour, members of our military are serving on the scattered battlefields of a new kind of war.  In Afghanistan and beyond, they’re on the trail of killers who brought death to the innocent and war to our country.  The war will go on until the terrorists who struck America are fully and finally defeated.''

President George. W. Bush ¨ ¨ ¨

     When the War on Terrorism began, President Bush warned America that this would be a war unlike any we’d fought before.  It would be a lengthy and monumental struggle, not only against terrorism, but the backward pull of Fundamentalist Islam.  Indeed, a battle between the ancient world and the West.

     This has been a difficult war for many Americans to grasp.  The battlefield stretches across the globe, from the skyscrapers of Manhattan, to the caves of Afghanistan, and from the resorts of Kenya, to discos in Bali.  Victories in such a war are often illusive and losses not incurred at home, less likely to have the impact they should.  The casualties of this war are both civilian and military, individuals and groups. Terrorist suspects are found in places as diverse as New York, Pakistan, and the cities of Europe.

     It would be much easier for Americans to follow and in turn to support this war, if our media presented it in more clear and focused manner.  If the front page of every newspaper simply featured a list of recent successes and losses, it would help put it all into perspective.  The purpose of the ''Report from the War on Terrorism'' is to fill this void. The information provided has been culled from various news sources and the report will be posted every other Friday.

2/28/03-3/13/03 Gunmen opens fire on U.S. Consulate in Karachi, 2/28/03:

Gunmen opened fire on a police post guarding the U.S. Consulate in Karachi overnight, killing two Pakistani policemen and injuring at least five others.  Police caught one of the assailants and confiscated a pistol after chasing the man through a nearby park in the southern port city.  The man was identified as an Afghan national.

9/11 hijackers’ remains identified, 2/28/03:

Forensic experts in New York have identified body parts belonging to two of the 10 hijackers who flew planes into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.  Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the New York Medical Examiner's Office, said the identifications had been made using DNA samples provided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The FBI had collected the DNA from tiny traces of skin on the steering wheels of vehicles hired by the hijackers and from hair samples recovered from their hotel rooms.

Indonesian police hand over Bashir, 2/28/03:

Indonesian police have handed over suspected terror group leader Abu Bakar Bashir to prosecutors in preparation for trial, as the Muslim cleric accused American ''infidels'' of orchestrating the case against him.  Bashir is expected to be charged with treason, which is punishable by life imprisonment, and with immigration offences.  Prosecutors have 14 days to decide what charges to bring.  Indonesian police and foreign governments say Bashir leads the Jemaah Islamiah regional terror network, which is blamed for the October 12 bombings on Bali that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

Suspected 9/11 Mastermind Caught, 3/1/03:

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks in the United States, was arrested in Pakistan.  Mohammed, who is on the FBI's most wanted list, was among three people arrested in Rawalpindi, near the Pakistani capital of Islamabad.  Al Qaeda's No. 3 official, whom an Al Jazeera reporter said admitted to having planned the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington, is also wanted for the bombing of a synagogue in Tunisia, the planned bombing of airplanes over the Pacific Ocean and other attacks.  The FBI bulletin said that in 2002 Mohammed met with Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen now in federal custody on charges that he planned to detonate a radiological ''dirty bomb'' in the United States.  Mohammed will be extradited to the United States, Pakistan said after his arrest.

Saudis allegedly funded Bali bombing, 3/3/03:

Washington-based Allan Gerson, who is leading a bid on behalf of September 11 victims to sue Saudi Arabian banks, charities and royal family members, said he had evidence to show Saudi Arabians gave money to terrorists in Europe who made trips to Bali.  Dr. Gerson said it was likely the European cells also helped fund the Bali attack, which killed about 190 people including 88 Australians.  Dr Gerson said he could not reveal too many details because his evidence had been uncovered through judicial co-operation with European nations.

Philippine airport blast kills at least 21, wounds 145, 3/4/03:

A bomb planted inside a backpack ripped through an airport terminal in Davao, in the southern Philippines, killing at least 21 people — including an American missionary — and injuring 145 in the nation's worst terrorist attack in three years.  The dead included an American missionary.  Three Americans — a Southern Baptist missionary and her two young children — were among the wounded.  The military suggested that the bombing was the work of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the country's largest Muslim guerrilla group.  The rebels denied any involvement.  No group has claimed responsibility.  Police later arrested several men in connection with the airport bombing.  Soon after the airport explosion, a home-made bomb went off outside a health center in the nearby town of Tagum, killing one person and wounding three.

Alleged 9/11 financier also caught, 3/4/03:

The raid that resulted in the capture of al-Qaeda operations chief Khalid Shaikh Mohammed also netted Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi, the alleged financier of the Sept. 11 attacks.  Al-Hawsawi, 34, is identified as a ''supporting conspirator'' in the indictment of accused terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person charged in the USA in the attacks.

The Saudi-born al-Hawsawi is said to have routed thousands of dollars to the Sept. 11 hijackers to fund the operation.  In the days before the attacks, hijackers allegedly wired more than $25,000 in excess money back to al-Hawsawi in the United Arab Emirates.  Along with Mohammed, al-Hawsawi and a third man, Ahmed Abdul Qadus, the CIA seized material on computer files, cellular telephones and documents that included the names of suspected terrorists.

Philippine terrorists claim link to Iraq, 3/4/03:

Islamist terrorists in the southern Philippines who have killed two American hostages in recent years say they are receiving money from Iraqis close to President Saddam Hussein.   Hamsiraji Sali, a local commander of the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf on the remote southern island of Basilan, says he is getting nearly $20,000 a year from supporters in Iraq.  ''It's so we would have something to spend on chemicals for bomb-making and for the movement of our people,'' Sali told a reporter this week, renewing earlier claims of support from Iraq.  The payments, while small, provide additional evidence of a link between Iraq and the Abu Sayyaf — a group with long-standing ties to al Qaeda and its global terror network.  The boast of an Iraqi connection was taken seriously after the expulsion of an Iraqi diplomat from Manila last week amid charges he had been in contact with the Abu Sayyaf by telephone.

Suicide bombing in Haifa, Israel kills 15, wounds 40, 3/5/03:

At least 15 people were killed and more than 40 wounded, some critically, in a suicide bombing yesterday afternoon at a main Egged bus line stop in central Haifa.  The 15 killed were mostly high school and college students, including a 14-year-old American girl.  The no. 37 bus route from Bat Galim near the port to Haifa University on the top of Mt. Carmel is widely used by students.  At around 2:15 P.M., a bomb went off in the crowded bus when it stopped on Moriah St., halfway up the mountain.

The killer, a Palestinian aged 20 from the West Bank town of Hebron, was identified as Mahmoud Hamdan Selim Kawasme, member of a big Hebron clan and kinsman of a former mayor.  A note found on his body praised to heaven the al Qaeda perpetrators of the September 11 atrocities in New York.  Israel imposed a complete closure on the West Bank following the attack.

Brooklyn mosque used to funnel funds to al-Qaeda, 3/5/03:

A prominent Yemeni cleric, Sheik Muhammad Ali Hassan al-Mouyad, apprehended in Germany on charges of financing terrorism used a Brooklyn mosque to help funnel millions of dollars to al-Qaeda and boasted that he had personally delivered $20 million to Osama bin Laden.  He was arrested along with his assistant Muhammad Moshen Yahya Zayed.  The arrests in Frankfurt, represent one of the most important terrorist financing cases that authorities have built since the 9/11 attacks.  Officials in Germany are considering a request from the U.S. to extradite the two men, which Yemen has opposed.

Documents suggest bin Laden alive, 3/6/03:

Documents seized in the arrest of alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed suggest Osama bin Laden is alive and that they were in recent contact, a senior Pakistani security official.  The official said Pakistani security forces had intensified operations in the southwestern province of Baluchistan since Mohammed's arrest after reports of an al Qaeda presence, but did not elaborate.  He did not give details on what the documents contained that suggested bin Laden was still alive, but said there were other indications the al Qaeda leader survived a massive U.S. bombing campaign against al Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan in late 2001.

Two of bin Laden’s sons may have been captured, 3/8/03:

The United States has refused to deny reports that two of Osama bin Laden's sons – including his heir apparent to the al-Qaeda terror network, have been captured in a gun battle with US troops.  The reports, confirmed on television by a Pakistani Government official, have intensified speculation that the US is closing in on the fugitive terrorist warlord.  The official said bin Laden's sons were shot in a fierce gunfight between al-Qaida fighters and US troops in Ribat, an area of Afghanistan near the borders with Iran and Pakistan.  It is believed Washington is incensed that the official may have spoken too early, with US special forces tracking bin Laden in tribal lands between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

U.S. forces just miss bin Laden, 3/9/03:

The hunt for al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and his cohorts continued with renewed vigour in the hills of Pakistan and Afghanistan yesterday.  As a flood of new leads came in, US forces captured seven guerillas preparing to bomb coalition forces near Bagram, Afghanistan.  And a former Taliban diplomat said bin Laden, was in the southern province of Nimroz just days before US forces launched an operation to arrest him last week.  Naseer Ahmed Roohi, a former diplomat in the fallen hardline government, said he had information from reliable sources bin Laden had been in the Siakoh mountain range straddling Afghanistan and Pakistan.  The latest operation has seen US and Pakistani squads closing in.  It follows information gleaned from the arrest of bin Laden's deputy Khalid Sheik Mohammed in Pakistan.

Terrorist funding comes from South America, 3/10/03:

Radical Islamic groups in the Middle East are getting between $300 million and $500 million a year from various criminal networks in Latin America, a top US military commander said.  General James T Hill, commander of the US Southern Command in Miami, said much of this money comes from drug trafficking, arms dealing and other illegal activities.  Southern Command oversees US military relations in Latin America.

Hill said the funds are sent abroad from several Latin American areas with large Middle Eastern populations, such as the ''triple frontier'' between Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil, and Margarita island off the coast of Venezuela.  ''The fastest-growing religion in Latin America today is Islam,'' Hill told The Miami Herald for its Sunday editions.  ''We think that there are between 3 and 6 million people of Middle Eastern descent in Latin America.  There are radical Islamic groups associated with that population that are using it to create lots of money for their organizations.''

Train bombing in India kills 10, wounds 65, 3/13/03:

A bomb ripped through a train at a suburban station in Mumbai, India, killing at least 10 people and injuring 65.  Police Commissioner Ranjit Sharma said 15 of those injured in the latest attack were in serious condition.  The bomb exploded on a local train at Mulund station as commuters were returning home from work.  The dead included eight women and two men, said senior government official Utpal Mukhopadhyay.  There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

It came on the 10th anniversary of a dozen simultaneous bomb explosions in the city.  The targets in the serial bombings included the Stock Exchange, offices of the national airline and the state passport office.  Those attacks, by suspected Muslim militants in retaliation for the destruction of a 16th-century mosque by Hindus, killed 257 people and wounded at least 1100.  ''We had increased security because we had information that some incident of this kind could happen around the anniversary. Unfortunately, it still happened,'' said Kripa Shankar Singh, home minister of Maharashtra state.

U.S. highlights Africa terror threat, 3/13/03:

The United States has warned citizens of possible new terrorist threats in East Africa from affiliates and sympathisers of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.  The statement renewed an existing January 4 alert and added seaports to a lengthy list of possible targets.  ''Supporters of al-Qaeda and other extremists are still active in East Africa,'' it said.  The department ''believes it is prudent to alert American citizens that such information is being received so American citizens can make an informed decision whether to travel to or remain in East Africa.''

abc.net.au Friday, 14 March  2003

A long dry period punctuated by three intense droughts probably played a major role in the mysterious collapse of Mayan civilisation in Mexico, according to a new study. The severe droughts, each lasting between three and nine years, may have the been the final straws for a civilisation already on the verge of collapse, says a report published today in the journal Science. "Between about 750 and 950 AD, the Maya experienced a demographic disaster as profound as any other in human history," said the report, by an international research team led by Dr Gerald Haug of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich. The Mayan were so successful that at their so-called Classic Maya peak, around 750 AD, the civilisation supported a population of between three and 13 million people, the researchers said. But then it progressively collapsed and by the early 9th century, many of its cities and towns had been permanently abandoned. The study details new evidence that the three droughts occurred around 810, 860, and 910 AD - corresponding to the three phases of Mayan collapse suggested by archaeological evidence. The researchers also found that a more subtle but long-term drying trend was ongoing during the collapse. The droughts may have been what specifically "pushed Mayan society over the edge," they said. The findings are based on an analysis of long-term climate records as revealed in pristine undisturbed sediments from the Cariaco Basin, off northern Venezuela. The distinctly layered sediments, washed out from land by rivers, show up as pairs of light and dark bands that correspond to annual wet and dry seasons. Within them, the team identified yearly variations in titanium levels, which reflect the amount of rainfall each year. They correlate well with palaeoclimate data obtained elsewhere from sources such as ice cores and tree rings. Until now, however, climate records from the time had not been precise enough to test the relationship between drought and the Maya's downfall during the 9th and 10th centuries, the report said. The Mayans began cultivating maize in the region about 2000 BC, using dryland farming techniques that depended on fallowing to rest the soil and needed relatively little labour. Like other Native Americans, they went on to develop sophisticated ways of intensively cultivating fertile soils associated with seasonal and permanent wetlands, on which multiple crops could be grown year after year. Living in the Yucatan lowlands of Mexico and depending mainly on an inconsistent rainfall cycle, the Maya developed labour-intense networks of raised fields as well as canals, reservoirs and other systems for storing and gravity-powered distribution of rainwater. The Mayans had abandoned their major cities once before - between about 150 and 250 AD - an incident that may also be due to drought. But their population constantly recovered, cities were reoccupied and their culture blossomed. "The control of artificial water reservoirs by Maya rulers may also have played a role in both the florescence and the collapse of Maya civilisation," the researchers wrote. Other scientists have suggested that drought may have undermined the institution of Mayan ruling class when existing ceremonies and technologies failed to provide sufficient water. The Mayans were an ancient people whose high civilisation flourished in what is today Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala. They created monuments as impressive as those in ancient Egypt, were proficient in mathematics and astronomy and invented a unique written language.

Bob Beale - ABC Science Online

More Info? Sun cycle may have affected the Maya, News in Science 23 May 2001 El Nino cycles ancient and peaking, News in Science 20 Nov 2002

www.chron.com March 13, 2003, 11:40PM Bloomberg Business News

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Oil companies may be gouging California drivers by manipulating gasoline supplies to cause record high prices, Gov. Gray Davis charged.

Recent "unexplained" surges in pump prices may be the result of a "deliberate withholding of supply" by the oil industry, Davis said in letters to the state's top energy and public utilities regulators.

"As we well know from past experience, many energy companies would rather use Enron-style tricks to fuel their bottom lines than to fuel California homes and businesses," Davis wrote.

Retail gasoline prices in California are the highest in the United States, reaching a statewide average of $2.127 a gallon for regular-grade fuel this week, AAA said.

Gasoline prices have risen during the past three months as a strike in Venezuela cut U.S. crude supplies and tensions escalated with Iraq. Crude oil futures reached $37.83 a barrel earlier this week, the highest since October 1990.

Davis requested that the California Energy Commission and Public Utilities Commission report back to him in 15 days and asked for a recommendation on whether any matter should be referred to the attorney general for investigation. The agencies didn't return calls seeking comment.

The nationwide average pump price is currently $1.708 a gallon, up 39 percent from a year ago and 1 cent below the record set in May 2001, the AAA said. The surge in gasoline prices may still be "unjustified" because there is no shortage of gasoline, the association said last month.

Energy companies "have no qualms about using world events, such as the Venezuelan oil strike and an unusually cold winter on the East Coast, to their advantage," Davis said. "In light of a possible war with Iraq, I hope that none of these companies are engaging in war profiteering or any other types of illegal activity."

The government and many analysts dispute allegations of market manipulation. The rise in gasoline prices largely reflects shrinking crude supplies, analysts said. Crude stocks have fallen near 28-year lows after a nationwide strike in Venezuela slashed shipments from the world's fifth-largest oil exporter.

The prospect that a U.S. war against Iraq may disrupt oil shipments from the Persian Gulf has also fueled a surge in the cost of oil.

Prices for gasoline and other petroleum products are near all-time highs in the United States because of the rise in global crude oil prices, not because of "price gouging," the U.S. Energy Department said in a report earlier this week.

"There is no evidence of price gouging at any level," the department's Energy Information Administration said in its This Week in Petroleum newsletter. Profit margins for refiners and distributors "are not unusually high."