PUTTING PUTIN ON SPOT? White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer revealed March 24 that President Bush had asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to look into the possible transfer of global positioning system (GPS) jamming technology to Iraq by Russian companies. "The issue that was raised in the phone call was the transfer from Russian companies to Iraqi authorities of this technology," said Fleischer. This is not just a past event, he said. "We are very concerned that there are reports of ongoing cooperation and support to Iraqi military forces being provided by a Russian company that produces GPS jamming equipment," he said, adding that Putin told Bush that he "would look into it."
MORE FOREIGN AID: Egypt, Israel and Jordan are looking for more foreign aid from the U.S. in the wake of the Iraq war. The office of Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced March 20 that U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice had promised Israel $9 billion in loan guarantees and $1 billion in military aid on top of the $2.7 billion in military and economic aid that Israel already gets from America. But State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said later the same day that no decision had yet been made on Israel's request. "We are looking at it. We are considering it," he said. Netanyahu may have provided the reason for the disagreement when he said on public radio, according to AFP, that the new aid is contingent on Israel's new economic austerity plan. "I showed the plan to Condoleezza Rice and she was very impressed, but said its implementation will be a condition for the granting of bank loan guarantees by her government," he said. The New York Times reported March 25 that the supplemental war budget that President Bush has submitted contains the $10 billion for Israel plus $2 billion in loan guarantees for Egypt as well as $300 million in grants, and $700 million for Jordan.
LACKAWANNA AL QAEDA: Three of the six al Qaeda terror cell suspects from Lackawanna, near Buffalo, have now pleaded guilty. Yahya Goba, 26 years old, entered a guilty plea on March 25 for "providing material resources to a foreign terrorist organization," reported AP. He will cooperate with federal prosecutors against the three defendants who have not yet been tried. In Goba's plea agreement, prosecutors revealed new facts about the case. They said the six were approached by two al Qaeda recruiters in New York. They then traveled to Afghanistan in May 2001. There they viewed a tape about the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole that included a suicide pitch from Osama bin Laden. Later, at an al Qaeda training camp they heard a speech from bin Laden in person. "Bin Laden spoke about the alliance of al Qaeda and the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, made anti-American and anti-Israeli statements, said that Americans must be driven out of Saudi Arabia, and said that there were 40 men willing to become martyrs for the cause," said prosecutors. Shafal Mosed, another of the Lackawanna Six, pleaded guilty last week also.
MEANWHILE IN DETROIT: On March 26, opening arguments began in the terrorism-related trial of four defendants in Detroit. The four-Farouk ali-Haimoud, Ahmed Hannan, Karim Koubriti and Abdel-Ilah Elmardoudi-are accused, according to the Washington Post, of conspiring to "obtain weapons, secure fake identification for religious zealots and blow up U.S. targets." "This is not a case about young Arab males coming to live the American dream," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard G. Convertino. Convertino told the court the men had surveillance tapes of Disneyland and Las Vegas. He also said a search of an apartment shared by three of them turned up forged passports, visas, Social Security cards, and photos and videotapes filled with what the Post called "hateful references to Christians and Jews." A day planner in the apartment "contained a sketch of a U.S. airbase in Turkey, notes regarding a military hospital in Jordan and a reference to a 'foreign minister.' Federal authorities believe the reference was to former U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen who cancelled a visit to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey in 2000 because of a tip that he might be attacked there.
INTERVIEWS: On March 24, AP reported that the FBI has "interviewed more than 5,000 Iraqis who live in the United States and has detained around 30 since war began with Iraq." The voluntary interviews help the FBI gather intelligence both about the Iraqi government and potential terrorist threats. FBI spokeswoman Charlene Sloan confirmed AP's 5,000 number-"That's roughly right," she said-to HUMAN EVENTS on March 26 but said AP was wrong on another point: No one has been detained, she said.
