Al-Ahram Weekly | International |

		Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 11 - 17 January 2001 Issue No.516
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

A hard sell
THE TOUGHEST jobs are always terribly underpaid. This week, Judge Leonard B Sand was interviewing for just such a position: a seat on the jury in the trial of four men accused of helping to orchestrate the deadly twin bombings of two US embassies more than two years ago. More than 1,500 people will be screened for the dubious honour of weighing the case against four alleged associates of Saudi dissident and US enemy Osama bin Laden, believed to be hiding out in Afghanistan under the protection of the Taliban.
Blasts at US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on 7 August 1998 killed 224 people and wounded thousands. New York prosecutors were already investigating bin Laden and his organisation in relation to other terrorist acts against the US and Americans abroad. The trial could last as long as a year, but Judge Sand refused a request from one of the defence lawyers to increase the fee paid to jurors by law: $40 per day.
Denial syndrome
A UN TEAM waiting to investigate the effect of radioactive depleted uranium (DU) in NATO missiles used in the bombings of Bosnia and Kosovo waited a year and a half for geographical data from NATO, according to the team's leader, Pekka Haavisto. Tests finally conducted in villages that were heavily bombarded showed elevated radiation levels, fanning the fear spreading through Europe about what is now being called Balkan war syndrome. Numerous countries whose soldiers served in Bosnia and Serbia have ordered sweeping tests of veterans amid increasing reports of cancer in Balkan veterans.
But NATO and Pentagon spokesmen have stood firm in their conviction that uranium-tipped ammunition -- considered the most effective in penetrating tanks -- is not hazardous to people or the environment. Britain has also held back from ordering any tests, sparking anger and even panic. The World Health Organisation has said it found no increase in cancer cases in Kosovo, but to date 16 former peacekeepers have died of leukemia, and many more have complained of symptoms similar to what in now know as Gulf War Syndrome.
TV revolution
NOT SINCE the 1989 Velvet Revolution has Prague's Wenceslas Square seen so many angry Czechs. An estimated 100,000 people turned out last Wednesday to protest the 20 December appointment of Jiri Hodac as director of Czech Television, sparked by claims that the appointment was politically motivated. Hodac has been painted as loyal to the Civic Democrats, one of the Czech Republic's main parties and a parliamentary power alongside the ruling Social Democrats.
In the aftermath of the announcement, Czech Television staff immediately revolted, and Hodac responded with swift dismissals. Rebel staffers then sequestered themselves in the studio and have been trying to broadcast their own their news programming, now backed by a vast majority of Czech Television employees and popular and prominent figures, including Czech President Vaclav Havel. The embattled Hodac provided the next twist in the tale on Thursday; collapsing in apparent exhaustion, he was rushed to Prague's Motol Hospital for treatment. The embittered director was nonetheless well enough to state, through a spokesperson, that he has no intention of following a call by the parliament's upper chamber to resign.
Thai loves Thaksin
EARLY results in the first general elections held under Thailand's new constitution put the opposition Thai Rak Thai (Thais love Thais) party in position to usurp the ruling Democrat Party with what would be the first outright majority in the country's history. A win for Thai Rak Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra is a win for the country's business elite. Thaksin, top-dog in the country's telecommunications sector, served as deputy prime minister in 1997 -- a stint which could end up costing him the country's top post.
An anti-corruption watch-dog set up under the new constitution claims that Thaksin deliberately misrepresented his assets. A decision by the Constitutional Court to uphold the ruling would bar Thaksin from taking office. The unofficial prime minister-elect has said that he will not form his cabinet until election results are official, which could drag on for weeks as allegations of vote-buying and fraud are dealt with under the new constitution's strict anti-corruption laws. Thaksin has indicated that he intends to form a coalition that will hold a solid parliamentary majority. Chuan Leekpai, the country's longest-serving prime minister under civilian rule, has already resigned himself to heading the opposition.
Compiled by Nyier Abdou

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