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Iran-Daily /POL/
Daily stresses the need to redefine terrorism
Tehran, Sept 26, IRNA -- The English-language `Tehran Times' in its
opinion column on Wednesday said that countries that want to achieve
success in a war against terrorism and win the support of other
nations will have "to redefine the concept of terrorism."
Amid massive U.S. preparations to stage a retaliatory strike
against suspects in the devastating attacks on its territory,
massive demostations are also being held in several Islamic
countries against the threatened unilateral U.S. military move
which undoubtedly would endanger the lives of innocent Afghans.
Ever since the September 11 deadly attacks on the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon, the United States has been insisting the
attacks were masterminded by Saudi-born dissident Osama Bin Laden even
when it has no hard evidence showing Bin Laden's complicity in the
attacks, the daily said.
Based on its choice of a suspect, "Washington has been planning
wide-ranging military operations against Afghanistan, forcing
thousands of innocent Afghans to flee their homes for fear of their
lives and (to) seek shelter in neighboring countries," it went on to
say.
It said planned unilateral military operations by the U.S. have
drawn angry reactions from the Islamic world and even reservations
from some U.S. allies for several reasons, to wit:
First, "Washington has not yet provided any strong evidence
implicating bin Laden in the attacks on New York and Washington.
Secondly, "even if there is concrete evidence to show bin Laden's
complicity, innocent Afghans should not pay for his wrongdoing.
Finally, "it is the responsibility of the United Nations to
investigate the case and inflict punishment on the culprits. Any
unilateral punitive action runs counter to the international law,"
argued the daily.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has said that Washington
would soon release evidence linking bin Laden to attacks. His
statement was echoed by British Foreign Affairs Secretary Jack Straw
who was in Iran this week.
Furthermore, The British foreign secretary, during his
`groundbreaking' visit to Tehran this week, said he was seeking
advice from Iranian leaders on (the planned military strike) on
Afghanistan, the daily wrote.
"Supposing there is enough evidence to implicate Bin Laden in the
attacks, it still seems that the U.S. and Brithish officials have not
grasped Iran's stance on the issue properly," it continued.
It said Iranian officials have made it clear that they condemn the
massacre of innocent civilians in Afghanistan and that the UN should
be the one to bring the real culprits to justice so that innocent
Afghans would be protected.
White House officials have also been saying that their military
campaign is aimed at fighting terrorism in over 60 countries, it
said.
However, "although terrorism is abhorred by the people throughout
the world and rooting out terrorism should be supported by all
countries in the world, the drawback of the U.S. campaign against
terrorism is that the U.S officials have no clear definition of
terrorism. In other words, they tend to equate the legitimate
resistance of some nations against froreign occupation with
terrorism," it pointed out.
It said the world knows very well that the Zionist regime has
been established on land belonging to the oppressed Palestinians.
Moreover, "In the years after its illegitimate inception,
the Zionist regime waged several wars against neighboring Arab
countries like Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, occupying and even
annexing their territories. The United Naitons Security Council has
issued several resolutions in the past several decades, condemning
Zionist aggressions and requiring this regime to pull out of the
occupied territoies unconditionally. However, enjoying Washington's
blind support, the Zionist regime has ignored all the UN
resolutions," it decried.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has considered it a religious duty
to express political and moral support for the Palestinians and
Lebanese people who have long suffered from the aggressive and
expansionist policies of the Zionist entity. However, the U.S
officials have often condemned Iran's support for the Lebanese and
Palestinians whom Washington, under the influence of the strong
Zionist lobby in the United States, views as terrorists!" stressed
the daily.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powel this week again accused Iran
of being a supporter of terrorism and demanded of it that it stop
being so if it wants to be a part of a U.S.-led anti-terror coalition.
In a similar move, the new U.S. ambassador to Beirut presented a
list of Palestinians and Lebanese freedom fighters to Lebanese Prime
Minister Rafiq Hariri for the latter to hand over as suspected
"terrorists."
However, "the Lebanese prime minister made it clear to the new
U.S. ambassador that Washington should differentiate between those
struggling against the occupiers for the liberation of their homeland
and the terrorists who target lives of innocent people for certain
objectives," wrote the daily.
Indeed, "if U.S. officials want to achieve success in their
campaign against terrorism and win the support of other nations in
this regard, first they will have to redefine the concept of
terrorism," the daily suggested.
MM/LS
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::irna 15:22