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Last Update: September 30, 2001 |
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Showdown looms after Taliban admission Kabul - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban was poised on Monday for a showdown with the world's most modern army after admitting to holding the world's most wanted man at a secret location and showing no sign of handing him over. The position of the Taliban, and its spiritual leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, has never looked more perilous with only one diplomatic ally remaining, signs of dissent growing, the opposition nipping at their frontlines and Washington insisting that they surrender Osama bin Laden. In a sign of the Taliban's apparent realisation of the danger, Omar took the unusual step of speaking to his people on Sunday over his Voice of Shariat Radio and warning ex-King Mohammad Zahir Shah not to meddle in Afghanistan's affairs. "Forget Afghanistan, you won't be able to solve the issue of Afghanistan in your lifetime," the reclusive Taliban leader said in the broadcast. "How dare you think you can return to Afghanistan backed by the US. How are you going to rule the country? How can you think of such things?" The former king, deposed by his cousin in 1973, met members of the US Congress in Italy on Sunday and a delegation from Afghanistan's main anti-Taliban force, the Northern Alliance, to see if it can strike a co-operation deal with the royalist faction. For the first time since the suicide hijacking attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, the Taliban revealed on Sunday it did indeed have Bin Laden in its hands. This confirmation increased pressure on Kabul to surrender him to avoid threatened US strikes. Previously, the Taliban had said that the Saudi-born millionaire was missing. "Osama is in Afghanistan, but he is at an unknown place for his safety and security," the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, told reporters in Islamabad. "Only security people know of his whereabouts... Bin Laden is under our control." But Zaeef said Bin Laden had not responded to a request from clerics and from Omar to leave at his own leisure. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf told CNN on Sunday hopes were dim the Taliban would hand over Bin Laden. "We haven't been able to succeed in moderating their views on surrendering Osama bin Laden," said Musharraf, who has sent two abortive missions to Omar to try to convince him to surrender Bin Laden. Musharraf, who has thrown his weight behind the US decision to wage war on terrorism, was cautious in giving details of US military operations in the region but did not rule out a future US presence. Pakistan, which helped to create the Taliban and has backed them during their five years of rule, is now the only country to recognise the puritanical Islamic movement as the government of Afghanistan. Even as the Taliban revealed that they held Bin Laden, signs of dissent appeared in areas under their control with authorities saying that they had already arrested six people for distributing "pro-American" pamphlets calling for the return of Zahir Shah. The opposition Northern Alliance forces reported a rash of desertions by Taliban fighters, who they said were being beaten back in the north of the embattled country. * Washington/Islamabad - US warned Taliban it would drive them from power if they did not turn over Bin Laden. * Washington - US forces massed in the Gulf region, while Americans were warned by US Attorney-General John Ashcroft that they face "substantial risks" of further attacks. * Tokyo - US aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk steamed out of its home port near Tokyo to support the US military response, US Navy said. * Teheran - An Iranian navy commander said 41 US and British warships had arrived in the Gulf and the Sea of Oman and Iran was watching closely for any sign of a an attack on Afghanistan, the official IRNA news agency said. * Islamabad - The Taliban said it was hiding Bin Laden in a secret location for his own safety. * Dushanbe - The foreign minister of Afghanistan's anti-Taliban forces said he thought a US-led strike on the hardline movement would be unleashed within days, and urged Washington to shun half-measures. * United Nations - The General Assembly formally launched a search for a long-term strategy against terrorism today in a new phase of the world body's response to hijack attacks on the US. * New York - Officials decreased by more than 400 the number of people reported missing in the World Trade Centre, bringing the total number of dead or missing to fewer than 6 000. * "Americans too cowardly to attack" * Bin Laden's SA connection Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ]  Kytie Koekblik ColumnKytie Koekblik Washington D.C. - Oeps Kytie is hierdie week in ‘n bad mood. Ek dink ek het al geskryf in verskillende grade van hartseer, in grade van happiness, tong in die kies, en gelukkige fases. Vandag is ek sommer net moerig. Eerstens is ek die laaste tyd so homesick dis sommer ridiculous… So ‘n gevoel hier in my binnekant dat ek sommer enige tyd in trane gaan uitbars as ek aan my lieflike ou hondjies dink. EK het net gisteraand gedroom hoe ek in my ou huis in Kuilsrivier aankom en die twee brakkies wou my nie vir ‘n oomblik alleen wou los nie. En ek le met die ou goedjies in my arm en dink daaraan dat ek net twee maande terug in die mooiste Suid-Afrika was en ek wonder, maar hoekom is ek in my OU HUIS? My laaste besoek was mos in Blouberg…En toe besef ek dit is net ‘n droom. Dis verskriklik. Dis soos ‘n soort benoudheid wat jou soms in jou slaap beetpak wanneer jy skielik besef jy’s aan die droom. Tydens die droom is jy vir ‘n paar oomblikke die gelukkigste mens op aarde, en jy’s omring deur mense uit die verlede sien en miskien is mense wat dood is weer lewendig en als is bekend en dan kom die ontdekking. En dan weet jy, e-mail,. Briewe, foon-oproepe en drome is een en dieselfde ding, dit daai physical proximity wat ‘n verskil maak. Om nie oor die foon met jou vriende te kan praat nie, maar om hulle ‘n drukkie te kan gee. Om jou ma en pa vas te hou, om die lyfies van die hondjies warm teen jou te voel. Dis is wanneer jy dan wakker word met ‘n nuwe dag en daar is net kussings in jou lee bed waar jy gedink het twee hondjies warm teen jou le en slaap. Maar nou ja, HOME is nie altyd die plek waar ek wil wees nie. Soms kan ek nie die mentaliteit van mense in Suid-Afrika verstaan nie. Ek het hierdie week skoon siek geword toe ek hoor die letter K is in ‘n wit vrou van George ingekerf omdat sy glo ‘n (ek-gaan-dit-nie-hier-skryf-nie-)boetie is. Die vrou het dit gewaag om teen die konserwatiewe norme van haar gemeenskap in te gaan en daarom is sy aangerand.Dit klink vir my soos iets uit ‘n Ku Klux Klan movie oor wit rasisste. Ja, hulle is nog met ons al wil ons soms anders glo. Ek is disgusted en skaam en ek wil nie teruggaan na ‘n plek waar mense nie soos mense optree nie en waar mense mekaar nie soos mense behandel nie. En almal in daai land is in elk geval skuldig in verskillende grade, aan onmenslikheid. Net soos die hierdie plek, hierdie Verenigde State van Amerika. Hierdie behandel mense mekaar soos objekte met pryse opgeplak. Genoeg daaroor. Die rede vir my bad moods?? Ek dink nie ek het al OOIT so iets publiek gemaak nie. Ek dink Kytie is about om te skryf oor iets waaroor ek nog nooit geskryf het nie. En dit is oor my private lewe. Ja ek weet ek skryf baie keer oor die verlede en ‘n Suid-Afrika in my kop en my nuwe lewe in DC maar ek skryf nooit oor daai goed wat so naby aan jou hart en traankliere sit nie. Soos crushes/liefdes/affairs etc. Ek het ‘n bek vol te se oor American men. Die exceptions op die rule is maar min en skaars soos hoendertande. So een goeie Woensdag aand iewers in Maart vanjaar sit ek met ‘n american date in ‘n coffeeshop en iemand butt in en se, Kom jy van die Kaap af? Die aksent wat toe maak dat ek ‘n buddie ontmoet. Hy - kom ons noem hom Mr S - is al 15 jaar in die States en is ‘n Cape Town boytjie. Ek wil eintlik niks meer oor hom se nie, behalwe dat Kytie dalk ‘n Crush het. En dat ek dink dit is ‘n baie belaglike soort crush, want Mr S sit in California. En Kytie hettie geld vir eers een ou visit nie en behalwe dat ons ‘n SA in common het is die tyd verkeerd en die plek verkeerd en wat ek en Mr S wil he is twee verskillende dinge want ons kom uit twee verskillende Suid-Afrikas en twee verskillende Amerikas en twee verskillende age- groups en verskillende taalgroepe en kultuurgroepe en al wat ons regtig in common het is Tafelberg. Dis die dat Kytie moerig en hartseer is, want Mr S ken ek nou al vir ‘n paar maande via e-mail en hy was hierdie week in Washington vir besigheid en nou’s hy weg en whatever ookal. Naweek blues vir my… Kytie K. Kytie Koekblik would like you to respond to her tongue-in-cheek running commentary on suburban life in America in this editorial. Fresh off the boat, she is ready to explore and experiment with American bath plugs and to drive on the other side of the road. You can contact her here. © RSA-Overseas & Matheson Communications [ Top ] Mbeki arrives in Japan Tokyo - President Thabo Mbeki arrived in Japan on Monday on a three-day state visit that includes talks with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Mbeki arrived at Tokyo's Narita international airport on a government plane, accompanied by several ministers including those of foreign affairs and trade, a Japanese foreign ministry official said. The president is scheduled to hold talks with Koizumi later in the day, and the two leaders are expected to discuss the New African Initiative, the rescue plan drafted by African countries to help the continent. He will meet Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko at the Imperial Palace on Tuesday, the ministry official said. The visit is aimed at boosting trade and bilateral ties, South African officials said last week. Total trade last year amounted to $3,5-billion (about R31,5-billion). Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ] SA new school system 'failing to teach basics' South Africa's controversial new school system is failing to teach children the basics of education. Researchers have found that pupils who have been taught for the past five years according to the outcomes-based system are not getting basic education in "the three Rs" - reading, writing and arithmetic. This is the disturbing conclusion reached by the highly regarded Johannesburg-based Holman Institute for Educational and Psychological Evaluation and Research. The institute is conducting standards tests involving about 6 000 children at private and state schools countrywide, including the Western Cape. Institute director Louise Holman said that preliminary reports from its researchers confirmed the institute's earlier conclusions that children: * were not reading; * had good vocabularies but could not express themselves in writing; and * were weak in basic arithmetic. Western Cape education minister Helen Zille has confirmed that many Western Cape Grade 3 children do not have the basic numeracy ability to further their primary school education, especially in disadvantaged schools. The outcomes-based education system has been introduced gradually in South African schools over the last five years. Originally known as Curriculum 2000, it has since been adapted into Curriculum 2005. Earlier this year, the national department of education circulated further amendments for public comment, saying the newest version would come into use in 2004. National Education Minister Kader Asmal, announcing the revision, said it would ensure that no person who left school after Grade 9 "will be unable to read, write, count and think on a high level". But Zille said that a departmental study in the Western Cape showed that Grade 4 pupils had an average numeracy mark of 37,9 percent, which "might have been the highest nationwide but fell far below international standards". This means that children who have passed through OBE-oriented grades may already have suffered irremedial educational loss. For example, the institute found in earlier OBE standards tests that children did badly in arithmetic tests. "A child was asked to divide three by two and he came up with 100 000," said Holman. "It was obvious that the value of numbers meant nothing to him EOBE discourages rote learning and drilling, but multiplication tables should be learned by heart and calculator dependency avoided. "If this does not happen, there will ultimately be a negative effect on matric maths and science..." However, a Cape Town teacher who has studied the proposed revision to Curriculum 2005 said it contained no suggestion that multiplication tables, for instance, should be "learned by heart". On the contrary, when Asmal announced the revision he described the practice of learning by heart as "a scourge of our educational system". The institute also found that children were reading less than before the new OBE system was introduced and that they could not express themselves in written sentences, said Holman. The OBE instruction that "children should find their own answers" should not be misinterpreted, she said. "They should not have to re-invent existing knowledge. Rather, they should find answers in books. They should be told: 'Look it up'." Researchers found that in the junior grades, "the children's vocabulary is better (than before OBE was introduced), but they cannot handle written sentences. Written comprehension, reading and the ability to extract information is weak". The institute detected a widening gap between "good and weaker learners" in the upper grades, although the gap between good and weaker schools was reducing. In other areas, the institute found that the curriculum emphasised the South African perspective and neglected the rest of the world. The institute was critical of the OBE method of classroom evaluation of pupils by teachers, with promotion based on competence instead of exams and marks. "People mistakenly think that OBE is group work. In fact, it is only one teaching method, and must be supplemented with work enabling children to retain their identity and strive for individual achievement. Academic excellence must be rewarded and reinforced, otherwise it will disappear." However, the institute's conclusions were not entirely negative. Holman said that on the whole the provision of resources, textbooks and teacher training was improving. Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ]  Nel's KitchenRagel Nel Ragel Nel Washington D.C. - Usually I’m not a fan of mass e-mailings at all - with the exception of this great RSA-Overseas newsletter, of course! But this week, I received something really delightful that I would like to share with all of you. I apologize if you’ve seen it before (which is precisely why I’m not a fan of this type of mass mailing thing in the first place. All chain letter e-mails have a remarkable tendency to zip around the globe in no time, and every time it happens to be in the D.C. area, it ends up paying yet another visit to my in box!), but you’ll have to tolerate it this time, because this is MY column, and I have to fill it with words - many, many, elusive words - week after week after week and this will make my job much easier. Sorry. Got a little carried away there. But really, it WILL make my job easier. Apart from that, it is also really quite sweet, especially if you are a fan of dogs (yes, the four legged kind. This isn’t the time to talk about my disastrous choices of previous boyfriends!). So my intentions are really perfectly pure, as always. Seriously though, in the past weeks since the attacks in the United States, many news programmes have spent time profiling the different rescue workers assisting in Washington and New York City, including the K-9 squads. Just like their human colleagues, the rescue dogs have worked hard in the rubble at both the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. One morning this week, one of the rescue workers appeared on an early morning television show with his partner: an exhausted black Labrador that was curled up, and fast asleep, at his feet. Oblivious to all the lights, cameras and action in that New York television studio. The young man explained how the dogs are just as sensitive as the humans, and how they become just as depressed during the daunting rescue (but long since turned recovery) operations as their human handlers. Later, on the same day that I saw that television interview, I received this e-mail. Really people, how we can learn from animals! I don’t know who wrote it (unfortunately! I would really like to give the guy or girl credit and a bone shaped trophy for his/her eloquence and observation.), because like most of these forward-ad-infinitum e-mails, its origins becomes a mystery after a while. (If anyone happens to know who the real author is, please let me know too?) So, in light of what happened in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington D.C. last month - and whether you’ve been directly affected by it or not - now is as good a time as any to adopt a new philosophy to - and way of - life. Here's to dogs! Enjoy. Another Dog Story. If a dog was the teacher, you would learn stuff like: - When loved ones come home, always run to greet them. - Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride. - Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure ecstasy. - When it's in your best interest, practice obedience. - Let others know when they've invaded your territory. - Take naps. Stretch before rising. - Run, romp, and play daily. - Thrive on attention and let people touch you. - Avoid biting when a simple growl will do. - On warm days, stop to lie on your back on the grass. - On hot days, drink lots of water and lie under a shady tree. - When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body. - No matter how often you're scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout... run right back and make friends. - Delight in the simple joy of a long walk. - Eat with gusto and enthusiasm. Stop when you have had enough. - Be loyal. - Never pretend to be something you're not. - If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it. - When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them gently. © RSA-Overseas [ Top ] US terror victim Rowe to be buried in Cape The body of Nick Rowe, one of the South Africans who died when two hijacked airliners slammed into the twin towers of the World Trade Centre earlier this month, arrived in Cape Town on Thursday. Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ronnie Mamoepa said even though Rowe's family was in Johannesburg, he would be buried in Cape Town. Rowe's family had asked that details of the funeral not be made public. Mamoepa said Rowe's father accompanied his son's body back to South Africa. Rowe was making a presentation to employees of Canter Fitzgerald at Windows of the World, a restaurant on the 106th floor of the World Trade Centre, when the terror attack took place on September 11. His body was found under the rubble 11 days later. Mamoepa said five of the seven South Africans who appeared to be missing after the tragedy were alive and accounted for and had contacted their homes to report their safety. Thanks to IOL.co.za [ Top ] |
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