Wednesday, September 12, 2001 Jumada II 24 1422 AH
ARMAGEDDON! US rocked by terror strikes
Washington may seek delay in Doha WTO talks
ARMAGEDDON! US rocked by terror strikes
*Thousands feared killed
* All flights cancelled
*Financial markets closed
One of the towers of the World Trade Center collapses after the attack yesterday
NEW
YORK: Terrorists manning a suicide squadron of hijacked airliners struck at the
economic and military heart of the United States yesterday, reducing the World
Trade Center to rubble, punching a hole in the Pentagon and leaving the worlds
superpower reeling.
No death toll was immediately available from the worst terrorist assault in history beyond 266 people reported killed in four planes. But the media and some officials speculated it could rise into the thousands.
No group claimed responsibility for the air strikes, but a US official said Islamist leader Osama bin Laden was suspected of being involved.
Preliminary indications suggest that individuals associated with bin Laden or his al-Qaeda network may be involved in these attacks, said the official, who asked not to be named.
The audacious attacks left the once-impregnable country feeling under siege, shocked by images of the trade centers landmark twin towers here collapsing in plumes of smoke and flames sprouting from the Pentagon, the symbol of American military might outside of Washington, DC.
Offices in New York and Washington were evacuated, leaving the streets of the two major US cities eerily calm. Federal authorities closed all US airports in an unprecedented move, financial markets shut down and even the national pastime of baseball called it a day.
Freedom itself was attacked this morning by a faceless coward. And freedom will be defended, President George W Bush said. Make no mistake: The United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts.
But the US government appeared clearly shaken by the bloody blow at its midsection that forced the evacuation of the White House, the State Department and other government buildings.
Bush, who was touring the southern states of Florida and Louisiana, was literally up in the air aboard Air Force One in the aftermath of the attacks, and eventually flew to a secluded air force base in the midwestern state of Nebraska.
The president made two statements to try to reassure Americans that all was under control but announced no concrete steps other than to place US forces on high alert status worldwide.
Vice-President Dick Cheney and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld were nowhere to be seen. US Secretary of State Colin Powell was rushing back home from a tour of Latin America.
And nobody was available to answer the question: How could the worlds most advanced military power allow four co-ordinated airline hijackings that sent death planes screaming to its very core.
The attacks sent tremors across the globe, as well. Stock markets plunged, oil and gold prices soared and currencies were thrown into turmoil as world leaders, both friends and foes of the United States, rose in a chorus to condemn the carnage.
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder called the assaults a declaration of war against the entire civilized world.
Two commercial airliners slammed 18 minutes apart into the 410-meter-plus twin towers of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan shortly before 9:00 am (1300 GMT), sending flames and smoke bursting from the upper floors and showering debris to the streets.
Terrified passersby ran for their lives and office workers jumped from upper floors during the first attack just after the morning rush hour, witnesses said.
About 90 minutes after the first plane struck, the south tower of the World Trade Center collapsed completely; the north tower, with television cameras still transmitting live pictures, disappeared from the New York skyline in a huge puff of smoke less than 30 minutes later.
A third plane rocked the five-sided Pentagon, triggering two explosions in the west side of the US Department of Defence in suburban Washington. A fourth airliner crashed in the northeast state of Pennsylvania.
American Airlines said in a statement it had lost two planes with a total of 156 people aboard in tragic incidents this morning; United Airlines said it too had lost two planes with a total of 110 people.
Speaking on Fox television, Jim Moran, a Democratic member of the US House of Representatives, said authorities were expecting a death toll for New York alone of 10,000.
An ashen-faced New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said no official figure for the number of dead were expected before today, but added that it will be more than any of us can bear.
The Saudi-born Osama bin-Laden was already on the FBIs 10 most wanted list on charges of masterminding the 1998 bomb attacks against the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar Es Salaam that claimed 224 lives.
Bin Laden has been stripped of his nationality and is living in Afghanistan as a guest of the ruling Taliban militia.
But the Taliban immediately denied, through its ambassador in Pakistan, any role by Bin Laden, saying: Osama is only a person.
In Gaza City, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was among the first to condemn the attacks as a crime against humanity and offer to help Washington to find the culprits.
But at the Ain al-Helweh and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon, dozens of Palestinian refugees fired assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades into the air with joy at news of the attacks. AFP
HE the Foreign Minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al-Thani, yesterday expressed Qatars condemnation of the terrorist attacks on the United States and sympathy of HH the Emir, the government and people with the United States government and its friendly people.
Qatar extended its condolences to the families of the victims.
HE Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim said: These events are extremely dangerous due to their serious repercussions on world peace and security.
He stressed the firm stand of Qatar on condemning terrorism of all forms and whatever its source.
He said that an urgent meeting was held with the charge daffaires of the United States embassy in Doha yesterday evening and the stand of Qatar was expressed to him on these regrettable events.
He also said the meeting was held in order to get acquainted with the current developments in this respect.
Other Gulf Arab states and Iran also condemned the terrorist attacks, offering sympathy to the people of the US. Iraq remained silent.
In Baghdad, late in the evening, there was still no reaction to the attacks from the authorities in Iraq, which is deeply hostile to Washington.
Saudi Arabia condemns the regrettable and inhumane explosions and attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, a Saudi official said, quoted by the SPA news agency.
The kingdom strongly deplores such acts, which contradict all religious values and civilised, humanitarian concepts, he said.
It extends its condolences to the families of the victims, President George W Bush and the American people, the official said.
The Kuwaiti cabinet said: Kuwait, which rejects all forms of terrorism, condemns these terrorist acts and expresses its deep sympathy to the people of the United States.
In Abu Dhabi, UAE Information Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan strongly condemned these savage attacks, adding that such horrible criminal acts need an extensive international campaign to eradicate all forms of terrorism.
Omans foreign ministry said the sultanate showed total solidarity with the United States over these terrorist acts, whose perpetrators will absolutely be punished.
A Yemeni government spokesman said in a statement that Yemen strongly denounces these terrorist acts and renews its condemnation of terrorism, which threatens security and stability in the world. QNA, AFP
Washington may seek delay in Doha WTO talks
GENEVA: The ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) scheduled in Qatar in November could be a casualty of the attacks on key US sites in New York and Washington, diplomats feared yesterday.
The diplomat, who asked not to be named, said many countries, especially the US, would be reluctant to go ahead with the gathering, set for Doha from November 9-13 and may seek a delay.
A European trade diplomat said he had heard many colleagues speculating on a postponement of the Doha conference after news of the attacks reached Geneva in the afternoon.
It is inevitable that we will be wondering whether we can really proceed as planned, said another envoy.
There was no comment from US trade officials, all visibly shocked as they emerged from a WTO meeting on Chinas admission to the 142-member body during which they learned of the attacks.
One Latin American envoy said Washington would prefer to avoid panicky measures which would suggest it was abandoning political and commercial goals in the face of terrorism.
But other diplomats, also shaken by the carnage, said it seemed a good possibility that US leaders might want a delay. Reuters
KABUL: Explosions and anti-aircraft fire rocked Afghanistans capital Kabul early today.
Seven or eight large explosions were heard close to the city followed by what sounded like anti-aircraft fire and Taliban militia jets taking off from the main airport.
In Washington an official denied that the US was in any way connected to the blasts. AFP
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