>> KOREA UPDATE...POSTURE DISSONANCE? SEND JUSTIN?


http://www.theworld.org/latesteditions/20040203.shtml
North Korea report (4:30)
North Korea has agreed to a fresh round of multilateral talks on its nuclear program. The previous round ended badly last August after just three days. The World's Jeb Sharp reports.

North Korea intelligence interview (4:30)
The United States doesn't know precisely what's in North Korea's nuclear stores. There IS some intelligence available, but its reliability can be called into question in light of the debacle with Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Host Marco Werman speaks with Joel Wit, senior fellow with the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.


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U.S. military blames lap dances for declining military discipline
Special to World Tribune.com
EAST-ASIA-INTEL.COM
Tuesday, February 3, 2004
SEOUL - The U.S. military has asked South Korea to ban lap dancing and other lewd acts at local nightclubs near its bases, saying they negatively impact military discipline.
The officials said the military was taking similar steps at other bases in the United States and overseas against lap dancing.
The U.S. Army's 2nd Infantry Division, which has 15,000 troops near the border with North Korea, recently sent letters to the South Korean Special Tourist Association and local mayors urging a crack down on lap dancing clubs near barracks.
Describing "client-focused exotic dancing" as the principal cause of worsening military discipline, the military letter called for local club owners to "prohibit any physical contact between dancers and (U.S.) customers." South Korean lap dancing clubs are totally dependent on American customers because they are not allowed to take local clients.
U.S. officials declined to specify what they meant by worsening military discipline.
"We are following trends in the United States," Lt. Col. Chris Bailey, the 2nd Infantry Division's assistant chief of staff, told the Stars & Stripes newspaper. The U.S. Forces Korea has consulted mainland laws banning lap dancing, he said.
The more than 90 American installations throughout South Korea have long been a source of friction between residents living near the U.S. facilities, who complain of pollution, noise and traffic from the U.S. bases and occasional crimes by American troops.
Many crimes committed by U.S. servicemen involve nightclubs near their barracks. Amid an increasing number of American troops accused of crimes, their legal protection has become a sensitive issues for the two governments.
"The USFK will root out any practices that go contrary to a positive environment for U.S. soldiers, Korean residents and people of all nationalities," said Chae Yang-To, a spokesman for the 2nd Infantry Division.
The United States maintains 37,000 troops in South Korea to help defend it from a potential conflict with North Korea under a bilateral defense treaty signed after the 1950-1953 Korean War.

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More expulsions of Saudis expected
By LOU MARANO
WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- More expulsions from the United States of Saudis with diplomatic status are expected, a Middle East area expert who has closely been following developments, said Monday.
On Thursday State Department Spokesman Richard Boucher confirmed that 16 Saudi nationals who had been accredited to the embassy in Washington had been asked to leave. "We were able to determine that they were not, in fact, working as diplomats in the Saudi Embassy, but rather were teaching in Northern Virginia and therefore were not entitled to diplomatic status. Since they were on diplomatic visas, ... we had to tell them your visa status is no longer valid. We gave them till Feb. 22 to clean up their affairs and leave the country," Boucher said.
The place of instruction is the Institute of Islamic and Arabic Sciences in America in Fairfax, Va. Phones at the institute were not answered Monday. The institute's Web site says it was established in 1989 and is affiliated with al-Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
One of the "Frequently Asked Questions" is: "What kind of Islam does IIASA teach?" The answer, in part, is that the institute teaches Islam as it was revealed. "IIASA believes in teaching and presenting Islam in the best way peacefully and moderately. Unlike what some might think, there is no such thing as the 'Wahabi' teachings of Islam," the Web site said.
About 70 Saudis with diplomatic visas have left the United States since late 2003, published sources have reported.
Some have been involved with the Saudi defense attache's office, and others with the cultural attache's office, said the Middle East expert, who asked not to be identified.
"Saudi Arabia is giving cover to a whole bunch of preachers under diplomatic cover, including military cover," said the source, "and more expulsions are expected."
On Friday the Saudi government commented in three brief statements. The deputy chief of the Saudi diplomatic mission, Ambassador Ahmad bin Abdulaziz Kattan, said the institute was established for teaching the Arabic language "as well as for preaching the Islamic religion in America."
After Sept. 11, 2001, the ambassador said, the State Department "started to strictly implement the diplomatic systems." Therefore, "it was an impossible matter for the embassy to interfere or mediate as long as the work of the (institute's staff) was outside the building of the embassy in violation to the diplomatic norms."
Kattan made it clear that the departure of the instructors does not mean the institute will be closed or cease performing its mission.
"On the contrary, the institute will legally be turned into a charitable American foundation, and subsequently it will be possible for personnel of universities in the (Saudi) kingdom to obtain regular entry visas to the U.S. and to work at the Institute."
The ambassador said the expelled employees could return to the United States in the same capacity or visit the United States for any other purpose.
Copyright 2004 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.
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Belligerent Behavior by Saudi Traveler, Vague Answers Raised Inspector's Suspicions
By Mike Schneider Associated Press Writer
Published: Feb 2, 2004
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - The first thing that raised immigration inspector Jose Melendez-Perez's suspicions was that the visitor from Saudi Arabia did not have a return airplane ticket.
The second red flag was his body language - belligerent and defiant. He pointed his finger at Melendez-Perez's face during an interview Aug. 4, 2001 at the Orlando airport. Melendez-Perez refused entry to the man, who investigators now believe may have been the 20th Sept. 11 hijacker.
"I thought when this guy made the gestures, something was wrong," Melendez-Perez told reporters at a news conference Monday. "The look he gave me. His body language."
The Saudi man, identified by U.S. officials only as al-Qahtani, was placed on an airplane back to Saudi Arabia. He wound up in Afghanistan where he was captured by U.S. forces. He now is being held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
After the attacks, Melendez-Perez asked the airport to contact the FBI about the August interview and give the agency copies of the file. But he never heard from the FBI.
"I really can't answer why they didn't contact me," Melendez-Perez said. "I don't know if it's because the investigation was going in a different direction."
Special Agent Sara Oates declined to comment on why the FBI had not interviewed Melendez.
Melendez-Perez's actions earned him the praise of his supervisors and an invitation to testify before the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, which he did last week.
"He's the kind of officer who believes that 100 percent is the standard," said H. Denise Crawford, director of field operations for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Melendez-Perez spent an hour and a half interviewing al-Qahtani, who was sent to him because the inspector on the front line could not communicate with the traveler. Using an Arabic translator, Melendez-Perez asked his first question, "Why don't you have a return ticket?"
The well-groomed man was defiant, pointing his finger at Melendez-Perez, and answered that a friend was arriving in the United States a few days later and knew where he would be going.
"His body language was showing, like, 'I don't care,'" Melendez-Perez said. "This guy didn't show me any respect at all."
When Melendez-Perez asked the purpose of his trip, the man told him a vacation. But the answer didn't make sense to the inspector.
"Why are you coming in for vacation for six days and you're going to wait for someone who is coming over from overseas for three or four days to take you around?" Melendez-Perez said.
After the man refused to answer further questions under oath, Melendez-Perez decided to deny the man entry, but only after checking with supervisors because complaints had made supervisors wary of denying people entry.
The man became upset and said he wasn't going to purchase a return ticket.
"So we said, 'No problem, we'll pay for your plane ticket and tonight you'll spend in a detention facility,'" he said.
AP-ES-02-02-04 1754EST
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Saudi agents arrest 7 Al Qaida, may have foiled major attack
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Monday, February 2, 2004
ABU DHABI -- Saudi Arabia has recorded what could be a major success in foiling Al Qaida plans to launch an attack during the current Islamic pilgrimage to the kingdom.
Saudi authorities have arrested seven Al Qaida insurgents who were said to have been planning an imminent attack. The Interior Ministry said security forces also captured large amounts of weapons and explosives that suggested plans for a suicide strike.
The raids took place on late Thursday, the sources said, hours after six Saudi security agents were killed in a shootout with Al Qaida insurgents in Riyad. The shootout and the raids took place in the Al Siliye district in eastern Riyad, Middle East Newsline reported.
[Nearly 250 Muslim worshipers died in a hajj stampede Sunday during the annual stoning of Satan ritual in one of the deadliest tragedies at the notoriously perilous ceremony, AP reported. The stampede, during a peak event of the annual Muslim pilgrimage, or hajj, lasted about a half-hour, Saudi officials said. There were 244 dead and hundreds of other worshippers injured, some critically, Hajj Minister Iyad Madani said. "All precautions were taken to prevent such an incident, but this is God's will. Caution isn't stronger than fate," Madani said. Most of the victims were pilgrims from inside the Saudi kingdom and many were not authorized to participate, he said.]
Saudi security agents raided at least two suspected insurgency strongholds over the weekend in Riyad on the eve of the Id Al Adha holiday.
About 1.4 million pilgrims have flocked to Mecca, where the kingdom has deployed about 5,000 troops.
The ministry said authorities captured a car packed with explosives as well as 21 explosives belts in the weekend raids. In addition, security forces found such weapons as booby-trapped mobile phones, detonators, grenades, machine guns, AK-47 Kalashnikov rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and launchers.
Saudi security sources said the Al Qaida agents apparently had sought to enter a Western compound or sensitive facility in Riyad. The sources said the insurgents obtained military uniforms in an attempt to smuggle weapons past checkpoints and roadblocks.
On Jan. 12, the Interior Ministry said security forces had captured about 300 explosives belts and nearly 24 tons of explosive materials. At the time, security sources said the material was believed to have arrived from neighboring Yemen.

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Dozens injured in second stampede
From correspondents in Mina, Saudi Arabia
February 3, 2004
DOZENS of unconscious pilgrims were taken to hospital in the town of Mina near the Muslim holy city of Mecca today after being caught in another stampede during the stoning of the devil ritual, the Saudi health minister said.
Unlike yesterday's stampede in which 251 pilgrims were killed, there were no deaths this time, Hamad al-Mani told reporters.
"A stampede occurred this evening (local time) on the stoning bridge which caused a large number of pilgrims to fall to the ground," said Mani.
"But security officers intervened and stopped the flow of people onto the bridge, as they attended to the fallen pilgrims who were unconscious or breathless."
He said "dozens of pilgrims" were transported to Mina's General Hospital where they were treated and their "lives saved".
Since dawn, hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims have flocked to the 272-metre-long esplanade and the bridge above it to throw stones at three pillars representing the devil, in the last major ritual of the pilgrimage.
They were channelled by a wall of hundreds of security officers who prevented any of them from taking their bags or belongings onto the esplanade in an effort to avoid a repeat of yesterday's tragedy.
The high-risk ritual, which has resulted in similar deadly incidents in the past, is expected to continue until midnight (8am AEDT) today and to resume at dawn tomorrow for a final day.
Agence France-Presse

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2 Caught Placing Bomb Near Iraq Refinery
Iraqi Police Catch Two Men Placing a Roadside Bomb Near Baghdad's Main Oil Refinery, U.S. Says
The Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq Feb. 2 -- Iraqi police caught two men placing a roadside bomb Monday near the capital's main Doura oil refinery, a U.S. commander said.
The two men were believed to be an Iranian and an Afghan, but "we have to first develop that through interrogation and try and determine what that means," Brig. Gen. Martin Dempsey, commander of the 1st Armored Division, told a news conference
He did not elaborate.
With a refining capacity of 110,000 barrels of oil a day, Doura produces much of the gasoline, heating oil and cooking gas supplies for Baghdad. It also distributes crude oil used as fuel by two of the capital's four electric plants.
Dempsey, whose division is in charge of Baghdad, did not say how destructive the bomb could have been or how close it was to the main facility of the refinery.
Last month, guards at Doura seized a group of intruders and a subsequent search turned up more than 80 containers of explosives, suggesting a planned attack that could have crippled the facility.
Insurgents have attacked or tried to bomb oil pipelines in several other parts of the country in the past in a bid to cripple the country's main export.
Copyright 2004 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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>> FOGGY BOTTOM WATCH 1...

Counter-terror tops in State Dept. budget
WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 (UPI) -- The State Department's budget request for the next fiscal year will fund the war on terror and "vigorous" public diplomacy, documents released Monday said.
The FY 2005 request totals $8.552 billion out of a $2.4 trillion federal budget that shows increases for defense and homeland security.
The request provides $659 million in upgrades to the security of diplomatic personnel and facilities in the face of terrorism, and it adds 71 security staffers worldwide.
Another 183 positions overseas will be funded by $44 million, including staffing for U.S. embassies in Baghdad and Kabul.
The request provides $1.54 billion to support security-related construction projects, including the construction of new embassy compounds in eight countries.
Some $1.2 billion is allocated to 44 international organizations, including the United Nations.
The budget requests $309 million in direct appropriations for public diplomacy to influence foreign opinion and encourage support for U.S. foreign policy goals.
Copyright 2004 by United Press International.
All rights reserved.

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>> FOGGY BOTTOM WATCH 2...

U.S. denies it will compensate Libya for WMD
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Monday, February 2, 2004
The United States has rejected the precendent set by the Clinton administration on North Korea, and will not compensate Libya for the dismantling of its weapons of mass destruction program.
"No, we're not compensating nations for dismantling illicit nuclear weapons programs," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on Jan. 29. "And we're confident Libya understands that."
Boucher rejected an assertion by Seif Al Islam, the son of Libyan ruler Moammar Khaddafy, that the United States would compensate Tripoli for the cost of its nuclear program. Al Islam said Libya sought to use its nuclear program for such civilian purposes as desalinating water.
Last week, the United States flew Libyan centrifuge equipment along with guidance systems for extended-range Scud C and Scud D missiles to a nuclear facility in Tennessee. Officials said this would be the first of several shipments of Libyan WMD to the United States, Middle East Newsline reported.
The department said Libya has not made this a condition in the dismantling of Libya's nuclear weapons and other WMD programs.
U.S. officials said the Bush administration would not offer Libya the deal made with North Korea in 1994. At the time, the Clinton administration agreed to compensate Pyongyang for the halt in its nuclear weapons program by financing the purchase of two light water reactors. The agreement was never implemented.
"I speak of the policy of this administration," Boucher said.
Officials said the United States was discussing with Libya its participation in a project meant to reduce the risk of dismantling Tripoli's nuclear weapons program. This would include help to protect civilian nuclear facilities as well as the training of Libyan nuclear scientists so that they would not be recruited in such countries as Iran or Pakistan.