April 09, 2002
Hundreds of Palestinian Dead in Jenin
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres disputed Palestinian claims of a massacre at refugee camps in the West Bank town of Jenin. Over 100 Palestinians died in Jenin today, but Peres says Israeli troops faced fierce resistance from Palestinian militants holed up in a small pocket in the Jenin refugee camp. The Palestinian Authority has compared the casualties in Jenin to the massacre by Israeli-allied Lebanese Christian militia of hundreds of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatilah refugee camps near Beirut during Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Free Speech Radio News Correspondent was in Jenin along-side the Israeli Army and joins us now.
Powell to Cairo
US secretary of state Colin Powell says he will meet with the besieged Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat later this week and once again called on Israel to halt its offensive against the Palestinians. Powell was speaking in Cairo after meetings with Egyptian leaders before heading to Spain and Jordan. International condemnation seems to have little impact on Israeli authorities who say their military campaign against the Palestinians will continue. The Israeli army has also called up fresh reservists in response to an escalating wave of clashes with guerrilla fighters along the border with Lebanon. With more on international efforts to end the bloodshed, Sputnik Kilombi in Paris.
Earth First v. FBI
It is day two of the jury selection in the long awaited trial for California Earth First leader Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney vs. the FBI and Oakland Police Department. The lawsuit, which took eleven years to come to trial, challenges the FBI’s handling of the 1990 car bomb attack which severely injured California Earth First leader, Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney as they drove down an Oakland highway. The suit charges the FBI and Oakland Police department of violating their basic constitutional rights, false arrest and conducting a smear campaign characterizing the two environmental activists as “terrorists.” In the twelve years since the attack, the bombing remains unsolved and in 1997 Judi Bari died of breast cancer. Kata Mester has more from the federal courthouse in Oakland.
Ashcroft Rounds Lawyer Into Jail
A lawyer who represented Muslim Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahamn was arrested and her lawyer said she was apparently accused of harboring terrorists. Deepa Fernandes reports.
Rabih Haddad: Detainee Hearings Must Be Open
Last week, courts in two states handed down important rulings for imprisoned Muslim cleric Rabiyah Haddad and Global Relief, the charity Haddad co-founded in 1992. Haddad has been jailed without charges since December 14, the same day federal officials raided and seized the assets of Global Relief, the nation’s second largest Muslim charity, alleging that the group had ties to terrorism. Since December 14, Haddad has faced three closed hearings but last week a Detroit Federal Judge ruled that the media and public had been improperly barred from the hearings. Chris Geovanis reports from the Chicago Independent Media Center.
