United Nations: Bin Laden, al-Qaida, Taliban subject of new sanctions
The U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions Wednesday against Osama bin Laden, his al-Qaida terror network and remnants of the Taliban.
The resolution, adopted unanimously, requires all countries to impose an arms embargo and a travel ban on individuals and groups associated with them, while freezing their financial assets.
A U.S. official said the resolution will help accomplish the Bush administration goal of going after the Taliban and al-Qaida wherever they may be hiding and operating.
The new sanctions replace sanctions imposed on the Taliban in November 1999 to pressure the hard-line militia to hand over bin Laden for trial in the 1997 bombings of two U.S. embassies in east Africa.
New York City: Fund calls halt to donations
After collecting $425 million in four months, officials at The September 11th Fund called Wednesday for a halt on additional donations to the charity.
The fund has awarded grants totaling more than $160 million to those affected by the terrorist attacks, and now wants to concentrate on distributing its remaining money, said Franklin Thomas, chairman of the charity's board.
Fund members said the donations they have received combined with money from other groups and the government should meet the needs of victims, their families and others affected by the Sept. 11 attacks.
They are encouraging people to redirect their donations to other charities. Groups that required help before the attacks still are facing the same problems and need help, officials said.
Pakistan: Border tensions ease as Powell arrives in region
As U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived Wednesday in Islamabad in his effort to defuse the confrontation between India and Pakistan, Indian officials softened their tone in the crisis that has brought the nuclear rivals to the brink of war.
India's top security official, Home Minister Lal K. Advani, praised the speech Saturday of Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, in which Musharraf vowed to stop Islamic militants in Pakistan from launching attacks against the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir. Until Wednesday, Indian officials had been reserved in reacting to the speech.
Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh said India will give Musharraf more time before assessing his crackdown on militants, All-India Radio reported.
Powell conducted talks Wednesday with Musharraf and said the United States would not act as a mediator in the dispute over Kashmir, as Musharraf has requested.
New York City: Algerian sentenced in millennium bomb plot
An Algerian was sentenced Wednesday to 24 years in prison the maximum for his role in a plot to detonate a suitcase bomb at the Los Angeles airport amid the millennium celebrations.
Mokhtar Haouari, 32, who lives in Canada, was convicted last summer of federal charges he supplied fake IDs and cash to two others in the plot.
The plot was foiled when its mastermind, Ahmed Ressam, was arrested in Washington state in December 1999 while trying to enter from Canada in a car with a trunkful of explosives. Ressam had been trained in terrorist camps financed by Osama bin Laden, according to investigators.
No comments
Commenting is turned off for this story.