Iranian Correspondent in New York Elaborates on Latest Developments in U.S.
Bijan Nobaveh Vatan said that there have been no reports of involvement of U.S. nationals in the terrorist attacks and all Western mass media are trying to divert and provoke public opinion against Arabs and Muslims for their alleged involvement.
The Western and U.S. mass media, under the Zionists' control, repeatedly broadcast a fake film of Palestinians in the occupied lands allegedly celebrating Tuesday's incidents, he told the TEHRAN TIMES in a telephone conversation.
The IRIB reporter said, "Unfortunately, there have been some attacks, even armed, on mosques in Dallas, Texas and New York, and also a supermarket in New York belonging to a Pakistani Muslim has been set on fire by people enraged with anti-Muslim feelings."
However, Muslims from different nationalities in different cities in the U.S. held gatherings on Friday to pray for the victims of the terrorist attack. President George W. Bush was also scheduled to attend the ceremonies. Ambassadors from most Muslim countries and different Islamic groups also participated in the ceremonies.
The CIA has announced that over 70 people have been arrested. Nobaveh said that U.S. officials have not announced whether any of them are U.S. citizens, but whenever an Arab or Muslim is arrested they raise a ballyhoo.
This has led to the creation of an anti-Arab and anti-Muslim atmosphere in the U.S., he said.
Regarding the latest reports on the number of victims, he said that officials in New York on Thursday ordered some 11,000 body bags to transfer the bodies of the victims. However, some 4,763 were reported missing by the mayor of the city.
He noted that it had originally been announced that eight planes had been hijacked. There have been no reports on the plane that the U.S. Air Force allegedly shot down in Pennsylvania, which was said to have had at least 45 passengers on board, and the crash site is off-limits to the media, he added.
According to the IRIB correspondent, it is said that the four unaccounted for planes have also been shot down by the U.S. Air Force, but there have been no reports on the fate of those planes and their passengers. Regarding the possibility of involvement of U.S. nationals and military experts in the attacks, he said it is certain that most of the people involved were trained in the U.S. for a long time and most probably they were U.S. citizens.
An AFP report from Cairo quoted the Cairo-based Arab Organization for Human Rights (AOHR) as saying on Friday it was concerned about "racist" reactions against Arab Americans and Muslims following the string of U.S. terror attacks.
These "aggressive actions against Arab Americans and Muslims... can be characterized as racist actions," the organization said in a statement faxed to AFP.
The official Syrian press denounced Thursday a growing tendency to blame Arabs and Muslims for the devastating terror attacks in the United States this week, saying it is being fueled by "Zionism."
"Who committed the attacks? Terrorists," government daily********** Ath-Thawra ******* said. "Then fingers are immediately pointed at Arabs and Islam, as if those who accuse us were already mobilized to do so."
"We as Arabs, Muslims and Christians, are not terrorists," the editorial added. "It is Zionism and Zionist organizations in the Western world who are making these false accusations against us."
The Arab League condemned Thursday Israel's "exploitation" of attacks in the United States to carry out its own brand of terrorism against the Palestinians.
The league "condemns the exploitation of these regrettable events by Israel, which is escalating its savage aggression against the Palestinian people, its invasion of Palestinian cities and the practice of terrorism against the Palestinian people."
Also, the Palestinian leaders said on Thursday that Israel is using the tragedy in the United States to step up its "war of attrition" against the Palestinians.
"Israel is exploiting the tragic circumstances in the United States to continue its escalation, which is leading the region ever deeper into violence and tensions," Nabil abu Rudeina, a top aide to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, told AFP.
"The Israeli government persists in its policy of aggression ... this is a war of attrition against the Palestinian people and their leaders," he added.
Also, Iran's Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said in a telephone conversation with his Austrian counterpart Benita-Maria Ferrero-Waldner on Thursday that Israel is trying to exploit the terrorist attacks in the U.S. for purely provocative purposes.
He said Israel's behavior in light of the complex regional Mid-East situation will have negative consequences in the minds of world Muslims and Muslim nations.
He reminded that all Muslim nations had condemned the terrorists attacks in New York and Washington.
The Iranian foreign minister said the international community should prevent Israel from post-facto exploitations that might only serve to further complicate the Mid-East situation.
The Austrian minister intimated to the Iranian foreign minister that her government was willing to main continual consultations with Iran on the regional situation.
Meanwhile, Syria's ruling party newspaper said Friday that this week's attacks on the United States and Israel's actions in the occupied Palestinian territories were "two sides of the same coin."
"The tragedy which the United States has experienced and which shocked the whole world and Israeli practices are two sides of the same coin which is called terrorism", ********Al-Baath******** daily said.
"The countries of the whole world and peace-loving forces must face up to this and eradicate it before it is too late."
*******Al-Baath******* said that "the current events in Palestine are a flagrant example of Israeli terrorism (...) and show that Israel is in the process of violating all human laws by practising state terrorism".
The paper also accused Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government of "orchestrating media campaigns accusing Arabs and Muslims (of the attacks on New York and Washington) in order to divert attention from its terrorist and barbarian acts against the Palestinians".
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad called Wednesday in a message of condolences to his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush for world cooperation to eradicate "terrorism in all its forms".
Meanwhile, the French ambassador to Israel on Friday said it would be wrong to compare Tuesday's terror strikes on the United States and a recent wave of bombings inside the Jewish state.
Ambassador Jacques Huntzinger said during an official reception in Bait-ul-Moqaddas on Thursday it would be "completely irresponsible" to compare them with the strikes on the United States because the context was different.
"Terror here is linked with a situation of conflict between Israel and the Palestinian people. It's not the same situation in the United States," Huntzinger, who was speaking in English, said in comments broadcast on Israel Radio.
However, Israeli President Moshe Katzav, who hosted the reception at which the comments were made, said the remarks gave "legitimacy, a green light to the continuation of the terror attacks (in the Middle East)".
One member of Parliament accused President George Bush of "scurrying off" into hiding while emergency services were risking their lives.
In the press, commentators say Bush should have returned to Washington from an engagement in Florida immediately afterwards, rather than allowing himself to be persuaded by aides to seek safety first.
"Where are you Mr. Bush?" asked ********The Guardian*********.
In an emergency debate in Parliament after Tuesday's attacks, Blair voiced his shock and determination to track down those responsible.
Dennis Skinner, a member of Blair's Labour Party, sparked cries of "shame" when he criticized the response of Bush.
A report from Skopje quoted NATO Secretary General George Robertson as saying Friday there would be no "mindless revenge" after this week's terror attacks in the United States, whose perpetrators he described as mad creatures.
The German Parliamentary Speaker Wolfgang Thierse on Friday cautioned the United States not to rush into military action that could spark a "spiral of violence".
"I very much hope that the military action of the United States, whose need for a counterstrike is understandable, will be very precise," Thierse, speaker of the Lower House of Parliament, told Berlin's Inforadio.
According to a report from Paris, international air travel to the United States resumed on Friday, but only North American carriers were at first allowed to fly.
The Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) cautiously allowed U.S. and Canadian carriers to return to the skies.
Most passengers were U.S. passengers stranded after flights were suspended following Tuesday's terrorists attacks.
At the meantime, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has requested a call-up of the reserves as the U.S. military prepares for a sustained campaign against terrorism in the wake of the suicide attacks in New York and Washington, Pentagon officials said Friday.
President George W. Bush has not made a decision yet on the request, which was made Thursday, but was expected to authorize the mobilization of around 40,000 troops or more as early as Friday, the officials said.
Meanwhile, the German Interior Ministry spokesman for the Southern State of Baden-Wuerttemberg said Friday that more than 700 Germans are officially listed missing in the terrorist attacks against the U.S.
Spokesmen for the federal government and the Foreign Ministry could not immediately confirm or deny the report by the German news agency DPA, which said that the list originated from the Foreign Ministry.
Meanwhile, a U.S. law enforcement official in Washington said all of those who were taken into custody on Thursday at John F. Kennedy and Laguardia airports had been released.
"Nobody's in custody in New York. It's been resolved," the official said without giving details.
The two black boxes from the jet airliner that crashed into the Pentagon on Tuesday were found Friday, the Pentagon announced. One of the black boxes has also been recovered from the Pennsylvania crash site.
U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney has been evacuated to Camp David, north of the capital as a precautionary measure.
U.S. authorities have confirmed exiled Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden is the chief suspect. They are seeking Pakistan's cooperation in dealing with bin Laden, who lives in neighboring Afghanistan. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf met top military officers Friday to consider a U.S. request for help in hunting down bin Laden, a government spokesman said.
In Germany, an airport employee questioned by police in connection with the attacks has been released, a spokesman for the Federal Prosecutor's Office said Friday.
Despite heavy rain, rescue and recovery efforts continue at the site where the World Trade Center (WTC) once stood in New York, and at the damaged Pentagon in Washington. More than 5,000 people have been declared dead or missing in preliminary tolls.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate Friday approved a 40 billion-dollar supplemental aid package to tend to the crisis wrought by the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
Bush has requested about $40 billion (44 billion euros) in emergency appropriations to deal with the crisis.
U.S. stock exchanges will remain closed for the remainder of the week and reopen Monday at 9:30 am (1330 GMT).
Four persons belonging to an Islamic movement were arrested in Brussels Thursday in connection with terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, police officials in Brussels said Friday.
A U.S. senator said on Friday there was no connection between 10 people detained at New York Airports on Thursday and the "networks" behind the deadly attacks on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon.
Countries around the world joined the United States in a day of mourning Friday as anxious relatives worldwide awaited news of loved ones still missing after devastating attacks.
President Bush designated Friday "a national day of prayers and remembrance," the White House said, while the Council of Europe called for the continents 800 million citizens to observe three minutes of silence.
White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer said Bush would attend a prayer service in Washington to honor the estimated thousands of victims of Tuesday's attacks.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Iran Partliciation Party (IIPP) on Thursday condemned the string of deadly terror attacks in the United States and called for a "global campaign" against terrorism.
Tuesday's attacks achieved the greatest disaster that terrorism could inflict on humanity, the IIPP said, expressing "its profound sympathy with the victims' families."
Around 200 young Tehranis held a silent, candle-lit gathering here Thursday to pay homage to the thousands of victims of the terror attacks in the United States.
Many of the young Iranians wore black shirts in a sign of mourning during the hour-long gathering.
Parisa, a participant in the gathering said: "We feel close to the victims' families, but there is nothing political about this, nor is this any form of support for the American government.
"This is a gesture towards the American people."