Wed, Oct 10, 2001 page4

• Air strikes spark demonstrations across the world

  Criticism Across Europe, people held mostly small, peaceful anti-war rallies while in Pakistan thousands burned buildings, fought police and demanded holy war

  • AP
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  European nations gave wholehearted support Monday to the start of US-British attacks on Afghanistan's Taliban rulers and Osama bin Laden's network, but the strikes sparked protests and sharp criticism across the Islamic world.

  In Europe, NATO and the EU underlined their backing for the military effort, while Russia and other nations expressed backing or understanding.

  

  A girl carries a banner in London.

  PHOTO:AP

  "There is no lack of enthusiasm for this campaign," NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson said after the alliance agreed to send five AWACS early-warning planes and crews to the US to free up US surveillance aircraft for use against bin Laden's network.

  But the attack drew criticism in Iran, Sudan, Lebanon and Malaysia, among other countries, and protests in Muslim nations from Egypt to Indonesia.

  In Pakistan, thousands of supporters of the Taliban burned buildings, battled police and demanded holy war against America on Monday. Two UN offices were among the targets. One person was killed and 26 were hurt in the southwestern city of Quetta, a doctor said.

  Two Palestinians, aged 13 and 21, were killed and 45 injured in Gaza City, where Palestinian police opened fire on students at the Islamic University protesting the US-led military strikes. It was the worst internal fighting in several years.

  European protests

  Across Europe, people held mostly small, peaceful anti-war demonstrations. In Brussels, NATO's base, about 300 mostly left-wing protesters waved red flags and what appeared to be out-of-date Gulf War posters proclaiming "No war for oil" outside the US Embassy.

  In Greece, more than 2,000 anti-globalization activists and leftists marched on the US Embassy in Athens. Hundreds of riot police surrounded the building, while demonstrators chanted "Americans, murderers of the peoples" and "Bush, you are the terrorist."

  Demonstrations also took place in Stockholm and Helsinki, while German left-wing and far-right parties held peace marches in Berlin Monday evening. Other protests were planned in Spain and Britain.

  In Istanbul, Turkey -- NATO's only Muslim member -- members of a small leftist party held an anti-US protest while about 400 Muslim worshippers chanted anti-American slogans at the end of afternoon prayers.

  The US European Command, based in Stuttgart, Germany, said it was stepping up security at all its installations to the second-highest alert level, known as Charlie, at all its installations "as a prudent step."

  "US forces in cooperation with the host nation and local officials are taking all the necessary steps to ensure the security of its families and facilities," it said in a statement.

  Meanwhile, the EU's foreign ministers said in a statement that bin Laden, the chief suspect behind the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington, his al-Qaeda movement and the Taliban regime that sheltered him "are now facing the consequences of their action."

  Meeting in Luxemburg, they appealed to the UN to install a broad-based government in Kabul. Italy and Spain expressed their readiness for an increased military role, joining France and Germany.

  Underlying theme

  But across the Mideast, many people accused the US of applying a double standard by seeking to punish those responsible for terror strikes on US soil while ignoring what they say is another kind of terror -- Israeli actions against Palestinians.

  Jordan, a moderate voice in the Mideast, said in an official statement that it "supports the international efforts to combat terrorism, but stresses the necessity of refraining from inflicting human losses upon the innocent civilians in Afghanistan."

  Jordan also called for dealing "with the primary reasons which are causing frustration in our region and this means a just solution to the Palestinian problem."

  King Abdullah and visiting Syrian President Bashar Assad stressed that "Arabs and their causes should not be held responsible for the terrorist attacks in the United States."

  "The Arabs are asking, what about terrorism? Does it apply to Israel?" said the Lebanese information minister, Ghazi Aridi. "It is the right of Arabs and Muslims to raise the subject."

  In Washington, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer acknowledged that protests were likely to continue, but said the US government would work with allied countries in a way that "promotes stability and security" and takes into account the "different needs of different coalition partners or different governments."

  Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, asserted that America's "real objective ... was domination and expansionism."

  Khamenei added that Israel has "every day for decades committed terrorist acts. Why has the United States not shown any reaction to this Zionist terrorism?"

  Sudan's government, which also is listed by the US State Department as a sponsor of terrorism, condemned "this war on Afghan land because it won't be a viable means for fighting violence and we don't see that it could be fair and that it won't touch the innocent Afghan people."

  Sudanese students took the streets in Khartoum and shouted, "Long live bin Laden!" and "Down with America!" Across Egypt, students protested in peaceful and generally small gatherings.

  Islamic militant violence

  Hundreds of Islamic militants protested outside the US Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia -- the world's most populous Muslim nation -- amid new threats against Westerners living there.

  In the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, hundreds of people marched in protest, shouting anti-America slogans and burning effigies of President George W. Bush. There were no reports of violence and the demonstrators dispersed peacefully.

  Back in Europe, Macedonia's President Boris Trajkovski expressed "complete and unqualified support" for the attack.

  The prime minister of Bosnia, itself torn apart along ethnic lines by a brutal civil war, expressed support for the "selective air strikes."

  "But we regret the fact that it had to come to this because the Taliban did not want to communicate," said Zlatko Lagumdzija, a Bosnian Muslim. "We are worried about the humanitarian catastrophe that threatens not only Afghanistan but the neighboring countries too."

  Russian President Vladimir Putin said the strikes on Afghanistan were justified following the killing of thousands in the Sept. 11 attacks, asserting that the terrorists "did not expect such a unity of humanity before the common enemy."

  Communist Cuba, however, said the military action was "a cure worse than the disease."
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