The Mercury News Posted on Thu, Apr. 03, 2003 Associated Press

RIVERSIDE, Calif. - A man who allegedly expressed anti-American sentiments after crashing through a military base barricade was arrested Wednesday on charges of damaging government property.

Authorities said Eid Elwirelwir, a 26-year-old a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Venezuela, drove his car through a coiled-wire barricade at March Air Force Base on March 31. The car then crashed into a locked chain-link fence blocking entrance to the base. He was not injured.

Elwirelwir was initially arrested by Marine Corps sentries guarding the gate. At that time, he expressed numerous anti-American sentiments and said he believed he had been oppressed by the United States because he is Muslim, the FBI said in a criminal complaint.

On Wednesday, members of the FBI's joint terrorism task force went to Elwirelwir's Riverside home and took him into custody without incident. He remained in the custody of federal agents after an initial court appearance.

March Air Force Base is in Riverside County about 70 miles east of Los Angeles.

The Miami Herald Posted on Wed, Apr. 02, 2003 BY MARIKA LYNCH Knight Ridder Newspapers

MIAMI - (KRT) - As bombs drop around journalists in Iraq, the following statistic may be of little comfort: 19 journalists died last year on the job, the lowest number since the Committee to Protect Journalists began counting in 1985.

The group, which issues its annual report on press attacks this week, believes a brief respite in global conflicts was the main cause for the decrease.

Most reporters were targeted directly for their work, such as Daniel Pearl, The Wall Street Journal reporter kidnapped in Pakistan, accused by his captors of being an Israeli spy and later beheaded. His death made newsrooms reevaluate safety, and send reporters to more training, the report says.

Reporters also began to see themselves differently in hostile environments, where they increasingly understand that they may not always be perceived as neutral observers, said Joel Simon, CPJ's acting director.

As global politics changed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, so did the threats to journalists, the group said. In Israel and Russia, the governments used the cover of national security'' to keep reporters from covering stories. Also, leaders in Eritrea, Russia and Zimbabwe have in instances labeled journalists critical of the regimes as terrorists,'' the group said.

One of the greatest threats in 2002 was prison time. Over the past two years, the number of jailed journalists rose 68 percent, to include 136 people. China was the world's worst offender, with 39 behind bars, trailed by Eritrea and Nepal. But using the law to attack journalists is also a potent force in Panama, where nearly half of the media's workforce is under criminal libel or slander charges.

In the Americas, the roughest places for journalists continued to be Cuba and Colombia.

Independent Cuban journalists continued to be harassed and jailed, and the country's most important independent journalists association was forced to suspend classes after its offices were blocked by the government. Cubans passed around Encuentro de la Cultura Cubana, an increasingly popular but banned quarterly magazine produced by exiles in Spain, even though the government has branded it a ``political operation of the U.S. government.''

In Colombia, where reporters are harassed by both leftist guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries, the violence inhibited reporters from providing the analysis and context needed to characterize the changing war, the committee found. Three journalists died there in 2002 alone.

In Venezuela, as the country grew more deeply divided after a brief, failed coup to oust President Hugo Chavez and an extended general strike, the media played a more activist role. In fact, the committee found that the ``press abandoned any show of neutrality and became a full-fledged political opposition.''

That ``put a lot of journalists in the middle of the battle, and made it risky for journalists and press freedom,'' said Carlos Lauria, the Americas program coordinator for CPJ.

The report is available on the group's Internet site, www.cpj.org.

<a href=icnorthwales.icnetwork.co.uk>Source Mar 28 2003 By Hugo Duncan In Spain   A SPANISH judge was last night questioning two men arrested in connection with the murder of North Wales couple Tony and Linda O'Malley.

The pair, known only as Jorge RS and Jose Antonio UG, were taken handcuffed and in separate squad cars from Valencia Police HQ to the Palace of Justice complex, a mile away.

The Venezuelans, believed to be brothers-in-law and aged 53 and 38, were being quizzed about the disappearance and death of the Llangollen couple.

They vanished mysteriously while house-hunting for a holiday home on the Costa Blanca last September.

The legal interrogation of the two men was held behind closed doors at Valencia' s central court building.

Two other judges, one at Benidorm, where the couple had been staying before they disappeared, and Alcoy, where police claim they were killed, will also quiz the suspects. The process is expected to continue for several days.

The suspects were taken from a door at the back of the station and pushed into the back of the cars.

Jorge RS was heavily built with swept back, wavy hair and a puffy face. He kept his head bowed as he was led to the car. His younger accomplice, Jose Antonio, turned to hide his face.

It is thought Tony, 42, and his wife Linda, 55, were lured to a villa in Alcoy, in the mountains above Benidorm, where they were held in a cellar for up to two weeks before being killed - probably shot - and buried.

The men and their wives, all thought to be from Venezuela, were arrested on Tuesday at a flat in El Saler - 30 minutes from Valencia.

Documents linking them to the O'Malleys, including passports and a car registration plate, along with a gun, were in the hands of the Valencian judge last night.

Neighbours of the suspects were coming to terms with the horrifying tale last night.

Filipe Guardiola and Ana Gomez, live on the fourth floor of the Az Bola De Puchol, three floors below number 25 where the suspects were arrested.

Filipe, 22, said he thought the wives, who were bailed by police in Valencia, had returned to the flat although yesterday it was deserted.

Filipe said: "We heard the men were renting buildings and then putting them up for sale. When people came to look at the house they checked out if they had any money.

"We were very surprised when the police turned up. I have met one of the women and she seemed very nice, very normal. Everyone here is talking about it."

The majority of the flats are owned by Spaniards but yesterday the 14-storey block was almost deserted.

Filipe said only some of the flats were used outside the summer months.

The block, one of five in the immediate area, is a few hundred yards from the sea and has a private swimming pool.

Filipe said: "I met one of the men once. He seemed ok.

"I think he was in telecommunications - he had a lot of computers."

He said four police cars, two from Interpol and two Spanish, took one of the men away on Tuesday morning and the other that afternoon.

He said: "I didn't know what it was for but then Ana's mum phoned and said it was about the missing British people. We couldn't believe it."

The bodies of the British couple were found buried under the cement floor of the villa which lies inland from the booming resort of Benidorm on Spain's south east coast.

It is thought they were kept prisoner while Mr O'Malley was taken frequently to cash points and forced to make major withdrawals.

They are thought to have met the men after reading a for sale advert for the villa in the Costa Blanca News, an English language weekly published in Benidorm.

The villa was not owned by the men but hired with the intent of defrauding would-be buyers, accord-ing to police.

Benidorm was in a state of shock last night as the full horror of the kidnapping and horrific murders sank in amongst locals and ex-pats.

"People just can't believe that something so horrific could happen here. They are talking of little else," said a Spanish receptionist at the popular Hotel Rio Park.

Danny Collins, the news editor of the English language weekly newspaper, the Costa Blanca News, said: "We know there are property scams. They go on all the time. But this is something else.

"To do these things to people and then kill them for 20 grand or so - it's bestial."

One estate agent in the town said: "The news is just getting around. People are horrified, absolutely shocked.

"But I don't think it will affect Britons buying property. This was just an awful, one-off incident. I think people will be sensible enough to realise that."

One of the last people to see Mr and Mrs O'Malley before they disappeared was property dealer Joanne Miles who has since returned to Britain and says she has become a close friend of Tony O'Malley's brother Bernard.

Speaking from her Manchester home she said: "Bernard is very wobbly. He had mentally prepared himself for news of something like this but it has hit him a lot harder than he expected."

<a href=iccheshireonline.icnetwork.co.uk>Daily PostDaily Post  Article Mar 28 2003 By Hugo Duncan Daily Post Staff, In Valencia   THE men accused of killing North Wales couple Tony and Linda O'Malley have been questioned by a Spanish judge.

The pair, known only as Jorge RS and Jose Antonio UG, were taken from Valencia Police Station to a city court late last night.

The Venezuelans, aged 53 and 38, were handcuffed and taken in separate police cars to answer questions relating to the disappearance and death of Mr O'Malley, originally from Widnes, and his Liverpool-born wife.

The couple, who lived at Llangollen, North Wales, had been house hunting on the Costa Blanca when they were kidnapped and shot last September.

The two men are alleged to have lured the couple to a home in Alcoy, in the mountains above Benidorm, where they held them in a cellar for two weeks before killing them.

The men and each of their wives, all thought to be from Venezuela, were arrested on Tuesday as Spanish police discovered the bodies of 42 year old Tony and his 55 year old wife Linda.

They were buried in a cellar at the house they had hoped to buy.

The suspects were arrested at a flat in El Suler 30 minutes from Valencia.

Documents linking them to the O'Malleys, including passports and a car registration plate, along with a gun thought to be the murder weapon were in the hands of the Valencian judge last night.

Neighbours of the suspects were coming to terms with the horrifying tale last night.

Filipe Guardiola and Ana Gomez live in number 13 on the fourth floor of the Az Bola De Puchol, three floors below number 25 where the suspects were arrested.

Filipe, 22, said he thought the wives, who were bailed by police in Valencia, had returned to the flat. Yesterday the flat was deserted.

Filipe said: "We heard the men were renting buildings and then putting them up for sale. When people came to look at the house they checked out if they had any money.

"We heard they took this couple hostage and walked them to the bank, took their money, and then killed them and buried them in the cellar.

"We were very surprised when the police turned up. I have met one of the women and she seemed very nice, very normal.

"Everyone here is talking about it." The majority of the flats are owned by Spaniards, but yesterday the 14 sto-rey block was almost deserted.

Filipe said only about 10pc of the flats were used outside the summer months.

The block, one of five in the immediate area, is a few hundred yards from the sea and has a private swimming pool.

Filipe said: "I met one of the men once. He seemed OK.

"I think he was in telecommunications - he had a lot of computers."

He said four police cars, two from Interpol and two Spanish, took one of the men away on Tuesday morning and the other that afternoon.

He said: "I didn't know what it was for, but then Ana's mum phoned and said it was about the missing British people. We couldn't believe it."

The Nation (Nairobi) March 27, 2003 Posted to the web March 27, 2003 Nation Reporter Nairobi

Many countries have cut the free flow of news and arrested journalists. The war on terrorism is being used to curb press freedom around the world, an international media watchdog has said.

In addition, some 54 journalists were killed and press freedom violations recorded in 176 countries and territories, the International Press Institute's (IPI) World Press Freedom Review 2002 said.

In the first full year after the September 11 attacks, the war on terrorism continues to affect freedom of the press.

Across the globe, governments have used the war to justify their own short-term interests, said the report. While some additional security measures have been legitimate, many countries have enacted restrictive laws, reduced the free flow of information, arrested journalists, closed media outlets and suppressed dissenters, all in the name of terrorism.

With 10 journalists killed in Europe, press freedom is under pressure, particularly in eastern Europe where governments victimise the media.

Almost every country in Europe has introduced new anti-terrorism laws after September 11 and a number have inhibited the media's work, it said.

In Russia, where eight journalists were killed, a new draft law seeks to regulate the media during an attack by terrorists.

In Asia, with 13 journalists murdered, the governments of Indonesia and the Philippines have proposed new anti-terrorism measures while, in Malaysia, the war on terrorism undermined efforts to repeal the notorious Internal Security Act.

After securing the favour of the United States in the war on terrorism, countries such as Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan suppress the media with impunity. Terrorists and security forces in Nepal also targeted the media this year, but there were improvements in Sri Lanka.

Fuelled by conflict in Palestine and Israel, seven journalists were killed in the Middle East and North Africa, where countries routinely stifle dissent and free speech. In Iran, the struggle between conservatives and reformers has led to the closure of publications and harsh prison terms for journalists.

The Americas is still the most dangerous region in the world with 22 journalists killed, 15 of them by left and right-wing terrorists in Colombia.

In the United States, growing surveillance and enforcement powers to combat terrorism have raised fears over the balance struck between security and liberty, while Venezuela and other Latin American countries contain groups united in their hatred of the media.

A deepening recession and taxation problems also concern the media in the Americas. In Canada, worries exist that powerful media owners are exercising ultimate editorial control.

Although no journalists were killed in the Australasian and Oceanic region, the influence of traditional kings and local politicians is ever present. The media are often prevented from reporting critically and even excluded from some territories.