From: imnet2@max.u.washington.edu
Subject: ISLAMIC WORLD NEWS (1st)
Organization: 
Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1992 17:16:13 GMT

***************************** NEWS UPDATE *******************************
 
The BCCI scandal

Ultimately even "Wonder Woman" ( actress Lynda Carter) could not save
her lawyer-husband, Robert Altman, and his law partner Clark Clifford, from
being indicted on fraud charges in the never-ending Bank of Credit and
Commerce International (BCCI) scandal.
Clark Clifford, a well-known Washington lawyer and former US defence
secretary, was charged with federal as well as state offenses, together
with Robert Altman, in the New York Supreme Court on July 29.
Both men pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In a joint statement issued on July 29, the two men called the indictments
"a cruel and unjust abuse of prosecutorial power."
The statement further added: "The prosecutors have no credible direct
evidence of any wrongdoing by us. There are no smoking guns. We
understand the prosecution's case is based entirely on circumstantial
evidence."
The two men had acted as lawyers for BCCI and as advisors for a Middle
Eastern group that acquired control of the Washington-based First American
Bankshares Inc. The charges allege that the two men knew that the Middle
East group was merely a front for BCCI. Both Clifford and Altman have
denied any knowledge of this.
The Middle East connection is digging up more and more Saudi names despite
the fact that BCCI's majority shareholder is the government of Abu Dhabi,
the tiny Persian-Gulf shaikhdom, ruled by Shaikh Zayd bin Sultan
al-Nahyan.
On July 27, Shaikh Kamal Adham, the former chief of Saudi intelligence,
flew from Cairo to New York and entered a plea-bargain in return for
immunity from prosecution.
He admitted to violating US banking laws and agreed to pay a $105 million
fine.
He also agreed to answer all of the prosecution's questions relating
to the internal mechanisms of the BCCI. But according to Plato Cacheris,
Kamal Adham's New York lawyer, his client may have little knowledge of
the inner workings of the intricate web of BCCI's operations.
BCCI offices were raided simultaneously in London, New York and several
other European and North American cities in June 1991. They were sealed
amid charges that the bank was involved in laundering drugs money.
Since then, a near witch-hunt has been going on to try to stick all kinds
of allegations to BCCI operations.
Some have already proven false. For instance, the Canadian operations
were accused of all kinds of wrong-doing but ultimately nothing
came up. Yet, the bank's branches were sealed and nobody would do
business with it any more.
The drugs-laundering charge was also designed to link the bank in the
public's mind with underworld activities. While no evidence has so far
surfaced about money-laundering, it has been quietly dropped because it has
raised numerous other questions.
BCCI was accused of laundering about $4 billion annually in drugs money
but US magazines have admitted that money-laundering is an $85 billion
per year business. The question immediately arose: who was laundering the
rest of the $81 billion?
Clearly, American and European banks were involved in that part of the
seedy business even if BCCI was actually laundering the alleged $4 billion
sum.
Since the matter has progressed, the drugs aspect has been quietly dropped.
In the latest series of charges, Ghaith Pharaon, a Saudi businessman, and
Sayed Jawhary, his accountant, have also been indicted.
Pharaon is a close relative of king Fahd and Kamal Adham's sister, Iffat,
was the late king Faisal's favourite wife. Kamal had served as chief of
Saudi intelligence from 1965 to 1979. He was also instrumental in
brokering Egyptian-Israeli  contacts leading to the "peace treaty".
There are other Saudi links too.
Earlier this month, Shaikh Khalid bin Mahfouz, chief operating officer
of the National Commerical Bank (NCB) of Saudi Arabia, was also indicted
on fraud charges in New York. Shaikh Khalid, considered Fahd's personal
banker, resigned his position after threats from the Manahattan district
attorney, Henry Morgenthau, to freeze his family's assets in New
York.
When charges against Shaikh Khalid first came to light on July 2, the
Saudi monarch, Fahd, is reported to have called Charles Freeman,
the American ambassador in Riyadh, to express his deep concern. Fahd asked
the ambassador to get the American government to issue a statement
attesting that the criminal case was an isolated incident, and that it
had nothing to do with the stability and honesty of the Saudi banking
system.
Freeman brushed aside the plea by claiming that such a statement was
impossible to make during a criminal investigation.
In America, which is popularly called "the land of crime and criminals",
such shady deals are part of everyday life. Well-known crooks like Richard
Nixon, the former president, were pardoned through a presidential pardon
from his successor, Gerald Ford. In more recent days, colonel Oliver
North, the adventurer involved in the Contra arms and money scandal, was
let go after Ronald Reagan, the former president praised him.
For Fahd, used to fixing up everything with money, Freeman's answer must
have come as a rude shock. Fahd must have believed that the Americans
were his friends.
Perhaps he has failed to learn or refuses to learn from the experiences
of earlier friends of America such as the shah of Iran and Ferdinand Marcos
of the Philippines.
The Saudis may soon discover a few more shocking facts.
The BCCI affair is far from over yet.

ALGERIA
A six-member commission formed to investigate the June 29 assassination of
Muhammad Boudiaf, head of the Algerian High State Council, has charged 
the government with "blamesworthy and criminal instances of negligence."
The Algerian daily, "La Nation" echoed a similar sentiment in an editorial
on July 27 saying that the assassination was the result of "complicity
at the highest level of decision-making."
The regime has not come clean about the violent death of its front man.
It was general Larbi Belkhair, the interior minister whose jurisdiction
such matters are, who stated that the gunman had acted alone.
Yet, on July 26, the military junta arrested the commanders of the
presidential guard and special forces and eight others in connection with
the assassination.
The Algerian State radio also reported the detention of 26 people on
unspecified charges in Djelfa, south of Algiers, on July 26. Clearly,
resistance to the military junta's oppressive rule is continuing and
more and more people are joining it.
Further, it would appear that members within the ruling circle were
responsible for Boudiaf's assassination. Speculation has centred on
why they may have wanted to remove him.
The most plausible answer is that he was beginning to probe into areas
that the real power wielders did not want him to see.

KUWAIT
Kuwait's national council endorsed another repressive law on July 28,
giving police wide powers to search people's homes for alleged illegal
weapons hoarded since the Iraqi invasion of August 1990.
There is growing resentment among a segment of the population over the
way matters have, and are being handled in Kuwait. Those people who
could not flee during the Iraqi invasion and occupation, charge that while
they bore the brunt of the occupation, the rich languished in five-star
hotels and discoes in Europe and Egypt!
Since the defeat of the Iraqi army, the so-called royal family, the rich
and the hangers-on have returned to resume their rapacious lifestyle.
The rest of the people have been left to fend for themselves.
The regime has also gone back on promises to initiate reform or to
give the people a say in the administration of the country.
The latest decree giving the police greater powers is designed to pre-empt
any dissent that might erupt as a result of the failure of the
regime to live up to its promises.

OCCUPIED KASHMIR
The Indian military occupation forces have intensified their search and
arrest operations in Kashmir, especially Srinagar, the capital.
The reason for the increased brutality is that the occupation forces
have, as a tactical move, removed the bunkers that scarred the streets
every 10 to 15 yards. Now fortified bunkers have been established at
main intersections.
These are manned by 25 to 30 men instead of the 5 or 6 soldiers that used to
be in the smaller bunkers.
The removal of many bunkers was necessitated by the fact that the
occupation forces have been trying to project an image of a semblance of
normalcy in the State which has been in insurrection
for nearly three years.
With fewer bunkers in the street, the army is again losing control of the
situation -- hence the increased raids on homes in search of the mujahideen.
Over the last few weeks, the Indian government has also tried to make
claims that the situation was settling down and that resistance activity
was dying down.
In response the mujahideen have also intensified their activities.
Thus, the Indian hopes of lulling the people back into complacency have
been dashed.
Anti-Indian feelings among the people continue to be very strong. The
increased brutality is not likely to subdue them. In fact, if past experience
is any guide, the greater the oppression, the stronger the reaction of the
people to resist it.
*******COURTESY OF CRESCENT INTERNATIONAL, The newsmagazine of the global  
         Islamic  movement. Phone # (416) 474-9292, Fax (416) 474-9293****
**************************************************************************

EVENT SCAN ###############################################################

               BOSNIA; HOPING FOR THE BEST!
By Zafar Bangash

With the Serbs occupying two-thirds of Bosnia, there is little territory
left under the control of the Muslim majority in their own State.
Even the capital, Sarajevo, is under threat of partition by
the Serbs.
The Croats' declaration of independence, made by Mate Boban, an arms dealer,
was also welcomed by the Serbs in Bosnia, reinforcing suspicions
about Serb-Croat collusion to carve-up Bosnia. The hope that the
ceasefire around the airport would be gradually extended to other parts
of Bosnia as well was dashed with the Croats' announcement.
The Serbs stopped shelling the airport on June 30 but the amount of
supplies getting through are not nearly enough even for the
city's 400,000 shell-shocked residents.
In the rest of Bosnia-Hercegovina, life for the Muslims is
infinitely worse. When asked by a western correspondent how he felt
about the relief supplies at last coming in, a Sarajevo resident replied:
`We thank you for the help but we can feed ourselves. Our concern
is the daily  [Serbian] shelling of our city. If we had guns, we
 could defend our lives.'
Why can't the Bosnians be protected from Serbian attacks?
Western editorial writers have hinted that few if any western interests
are threatened. American officials, too, including George Bush, have
ruled out direct military intervention in the `Balkan quagmire', echoing
Bismarck's remark that the Balkans `were not worth the bones of a
single Promeranian grenadier'. Such admissions, however, have at least
unmasked the west's hypocritical rantings about rescuing Kuwait.
Clearly, no principle was involved; only the west's need for
Kuwaiti oil.
But the west bears direct responsibility for Bosnia's plight in more
ways than one. Last December the European Community (EC) insisted that
the republics of the former Yugoslav State must hold a referendum
before recognition would be granted. Slovenia and Croatia were recognized
by the EC on January 15. Bosnia-Hercegovina, which had held multiparty
elections in December 1990, also opted for independence, getting
the motion duly endorsed by the Bosnian parliament on October 16, 1991.
This, however, was considered inadequate by the EC.
Bosnia then held a referendum on February 28-29 in which the Bosnians
and Croats, comprising the overwhelming majority of the republic's
population, voted for independence. The Serbian minority boycotted
the vote, vowing instead to join Serbian-inhabited areas in Bosnia
with Serbia.
The Serbians' threats were augmented by the redeployment of the Yugoslav
army from Croatia to Bosnia in January. Made up largely of Serbs,
the army's redeployment was facilitated by a UN-brokered ceasefire
in Croatia where the Serbs had been on a rampage for more than seven months.
The Serbs had refused to accept a ceasefire during this time until they
had occupied those parts of Croatia where the Serbs live.
At the time of the ceasefire, they were left in effective control of
one-third of Croatian territory and could now withdraw their forces to
resume their expansionist drive in Bosnia.
Nearly 200,000 Serbian troops - irregulars as well as units of the
Yugoslav army - are involved in the destruction of Bosnia.
These have now been joined by the estimated 30,000 Croat forces backed
by the government of Croatia, attacking Bosnian positions in Hercegovina.
The Croats' declaration of independence, though not unexpected,
was another blow to the teetering Bosnia State. Last month president
Alija Izzetbegovic entered into a strategic alliance with Croatia in hopes of 
reducing some of the pressure being exerted by the Serbs. The alliance was
forced by Boban who held up desperately needed supplies from getting
through to the Bosnian Territorial Defence Forces from areas under his
control. Despite the overwhelming odds against them, the Bosnians have
given an admirable account of their fighting ability. The Croats' move
may prove just too much for them.
The role of the external players is equally revealing. Notwithstanding
French president Francois Mitterand's highly-publicized visit to Sarajevo
on June 28, the French are in reality sympathetic to the Serbian cause.
So are the British, Russians and Americans.
It is the old line-up of the second world war with Italy to boot,
which was then aligned with Germany. It is interesting to note that the
British had backed the Serbian chetniks (fascists) led by general
Draza Mihailovic until the end of 1943.
They stopped their support of the chetniks only because the latter
refused to fight against the Germans, considering the Muslims and Croats
as their real enemies.
After the second world war, Yugoslavia was maintained as a buffer State
between the west and the Soviet Union. It was propped up
by massive aid from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the
World Bank.
Before its disintegration, Yugoslavia had an external debt of US$24 billion.
During the late seventies and early eighties, the Americans also invested
heavily in Yugoslavia, thanks to the manipulative tactics of then
US secretary of State Henry Kissinger and his associates.
Any drastic action against Serbia would affect these investments, hence
the reluctance to undertake any serious action to curb Serbian
atrocities.
Even more compelling than all of these is the Islamic factor.
Although well over half the Bosnian population is Muslim, Bosnian leaders
have gone out of their way to assure the west that they do not wish
to establish an Islamic State. In fact, several representatives of
the Bosnian government have emphasized this point so much that it has
disappointed many Muslims around the world. The west, however, 
is not convinced; not because it does not believe what the Bosnian
leaders are saying but because they are looking far into
the future.
A State of the Muslims in the heart of Europe may lead, in the distant
future, to the possibility, however remote, of an Islamic State emerging
there. The west wants to preclude that possibility altogether, hence
its tacit approval of destruction of Bosnia-Hercegovina.
Even if its territorial integrity were somehow maintained - a big if -
the damage wrought on the republic is designed to ensure that it will
not be able to stand on its feet for decades to come.
This helps explain why the Serbs have received no more than wrist-slapping
for their murderous attacks in Bosnia-Hercegovina. In fact,
the complete disappearance of the Muslim republic appears to be
the west's ultimate objective in the Balkans.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
              Ben Ali's Campaign; What's next?

By Ahmed E. Souaiaia

     After a  series of  massive demonstrations  led by  the
Islamic Movement  in Tunisia  in 1987, the regime was forced
to retire  the Godfather  of secularism  in the  Arab world,
Habib Bourguiba,  who was replaced by his prime minister and
interior  minister   Ben  Ali.   The   cosmetic   operations
undertaken by  Zin Al-Abidin  Ben Ali  brought some hope for
the Tunisian  people who  have been  deprived from the basic
needs and  fundamental rights  as  human  beings.  But  what
happened was  nothing more  than a change of horses meant to
slow down  the growing  popularity of  the Islamic movement.
About five  years after  that change,  the regime of Ben Ali
set up  a long term plan to isolate Muslims and alienate the
people of  Tunisia. This  action had become evident when the
Annahda  Movement   rejected  an  offer  by  the  government
suggesting a  coalition with  the leading party in the April
1988 elections. What was more humiliating and threatening at
the same  time for  the regime was the high results achieved
by independent  candidates supported by the Islamic movement
who had  collected nearly half of the votes in the South and
the North  West of the country. Since then, Ben Ali has been
using all  means to  eradicate a movement well rooted in the
people. The  wave of  repression and  aggression against the
Islamic Front  for Salvation  in Algeria  has  given  him  a
golden opportunity  to  finish  his  job  in  the  dark.  He
synchronized his  motion with  the military junta of Algeria
in a desperate attempt to achieve the impossible.

     From some exclusive reports from Tunisia, we will focus
on what  Ben Ali  has added  to previous ways and methods of
oppression. In  September 1991,  the government claimed that
it has  discovered an "attempt" to assassinate the president
and some  of his  aides. More  than 300  police and military
officers were  arrested  and  about  10,000  civilians  were
detained. Despite  the seriousness  of this kind of charges,
none of  the arrested  were put on trial until two weeks ago
(i.e. after the trial of the leaders of the FIS in Algeria).
A week  before the  scheduled court  hearings, the  security
forces swept  all cities and villages arresting more people.
In El  Kef, for  example, Abdul  Rauf Fudaili,  a person who
never associated  himself with  violence or  disturbance was
picked up  from his house. His mother, a helpless widow, and
his older  brother looked  every where  for him - hospitals,
friends, and  police stations  - without  any positive news.
After fifteen  days, they  received a  call  from  a  public
security  department   stating  that  their  son  was  being
questioned and  he would  be released  as soon  as they were
done with him. When his mother asked to see him, her request
was denied.

     In Djandouba,  an Economist  who had  just finished his
Ph.d. in  a Western  University ended  in jail  although all
those who  know him confirm that he never was a supporter of
the Annahda  or any other party. "The only charge", said one
of his  friends who requested not to be identified, "is that
he goes to the mosque to perform his regular prayers."  "I'm
afraid  the   country  will  be  devided  into  two  groups:
'Mussalin' (devotees)  and those  who are not" he added in a
voice of despair and anguish.
     
     Reports, even  from independent sources, have indicated
that detainees  were and  still  are  being  tortured.  Last
November, a  prisoner from Al-Kreeb ( a small village in the
North west of Tunisia) was tortured to death, after a report
by a  local Human  rights group  was published,  the  regime
admitted the  charges and reacted by firing the officers who
killed him.  In a  similar event, two years ago, police came
to the  family of the prisoners and told them that their son
had escaped.  A day  later, his  body was  dicovered and the
police claimed  to have  found him  dead near  a mountain. A
doctor who  examined the  body declared  that the victim was
tortured to death and that burns were found on some areas of
his skin.

     During the lastest round of hearings, all the detainees
who appeared so far, including the Head of the Shura Council
of Annahda Movement - the spokesperson Ali La'ridh, Al-Habib
Al-louz, Dr.  Ben Salem  and other  leading members  -  have
stated that  they've been tortured, harassed and intimidated
since they being arrested a year ago.
     
     Besides the physical horror, Ben Ali's regime has added
a new  dimension: psychological  terror.  In  order  to  get
information, the  prisoners  were  shown  video  tape  clips
featuring their  wives and  their  daughters  with  security
officers in  the bedrooms.  At the  same  time,  they  bring
teenagers girls to the cells of the prisoners and show these
edited clips to their families.

     On the public level, universities were transformed into
places  of  entertainment.  The  pro-government  groups  are
funded to  arrange dirty programs and invite well publicized
"singers" to  promote a  type of  "mass culture"  to put the
supposed class  of intellectuals  into hypnosis. The musical
groups who  used to  advocate what  was known  as "committed
songs" are  banned from  appearing on  campuses and cultural
centers. Imported  programs are dominating the TV screen. In
addition to  that is  the improved  reception of  Channel A2
from France  (which resembles  MTV of  the US) which permits
every house  to receive  a clearer  picture. Two  more state
controlled radios were built: one in Al-Kef and the other in
Gafsa (two  states well  known of  their support  to Annahda
Movement).   A    program   of    `deculturalization'    and
`Westernization' has  become easily noticeable especially in
elementary and  high schools.  Children are attending school
in strange  clothes and  funny hair  colors,  whereas  girls
wearing Hijab are sent back home!

     In short,  Tunisian Generals  and their  masters  think
that an  imported culture  may eventually  achieve what they
failed to  do so  far with  all  the  means  of  oppression,
intimidation and degradation. They fail to see that Islam is
reaching out  and challenging  these ways  of life  - in the
West itself  - and  there will  not be  any way to stop that
spread once  Islam comes back to them, but this time as part
of the  European success  and pride.  The  Arab  regimes  in
general are betting on a dead horse.  They failed to see and
recognize this  factor as  a reality.  The rebirth of Muslim
'huwyah' in  the former  communist Soviet Union, the revival
of Islam in Eastern and Southern Europe, the spread of Islam
as the  fastest growing  religion in  the  West,  the  clear
victories of  Islamic parties  wherever they  are allowed to
participate in  electoral processes in the Arab countries...
all these  prove beyond any reasonable doubt that the Global
Islamic Movement is the only political, economic, and social
power that  enjoys a  popular mandate.  Maybe more blood and
tears are  needed to  water this  tree, but  let  them  rest
assured that  the doomsday  of the  forces of  arrogance and
exploitation is very near.
##########################################################################
*------- Note to contributors and readers:  
   ****Islam, as a universal Religion, forbids any sorts of racial 
bigotry; country names are to be used for and understood as a mere designation
of the geographical locations. Criticisms are for that particular system
or power structure and NOT the people. 
__________
For subscription, send e-mail to <imnet2@max.u.washington.edu>. addresses
are confidential. 
This program is updated twice a week. All rights revert to the Union, articles
could be forwarded or published provided stating this source as a foot note.
----------
PRODUCTION:
THE INTERNATIONAL MUSLIM STUDENTS UNION, P.O.BOX 85720, SEATTLE, WA. 98105
PHONE #: (206) 685-3309 ******************************************************
############################## END ############################################