"Two Brinks trucks were at ground zero on Wednesday to start hauling away the $200 million in gold and silver that the Bank of Nova Scotia had stored in a vault under the trade center.
A team of 30 firefighters and police officers are helping to move the metals, a task that can be measured practically down to the flake but that has been rounded off at 379,036 ounces of gold and 29,942,619 ounces of silver ."
Unknown to most people at the time, $650 million in gold and silver was being kept in a special vault four floors beneath Four World Trade Center.
An article in the TimesOnline gives the following rundown of precious metals that were being stored in the WTC vault belonging to Comex.
Comex metals trading - 3,800 gold bars weighing 12 tonnes and worth more than $100 million
Comex clients - 800,000 ounces of gold with a value of about $220 million
Comex clients - 102 million ounces of silver, worth $430 million
Bank of Nova Scotia - $200 million of gold
A NATION CHALLENGED: THE VAULT
A NATION CHALLENGED: THE VAULT; Below Ground Zero, Silver and Gold
By JIM DWYER
Published: November 1, 2001
About two weeks ago, a security team spotted scorch marks on a basement doorway below 4 World Trade Center, on the east side of the ruined complex, according to officials.
Even in a place of mass devastation and death, those scorch marks got fast attention. They had not been noticed by a patrol team a few hours earlier, and behind the damaged -- but intact -- door were nearly a thousand tons of gold and silver. To security officials, it looked as if someone had tried to break in.
Within hours, a video surveillance system was installed to keep at least an electronic eye on the precious metals until their custodian, the Bank of Nova Scotia, had a chance to remove them. That work began this week.
A team of 30 firefighters and police officers are helping to move the metals, a task that can be measured practically down to the flake but that has been rounded off at 379,036 ounces of gold and 29,942,619 ounces of silver.
As layers of debris are peeled away, recovery workers are opening gangways to intact portions of a 16-acre basement that was largely unseen but was a place of spectacular scope in its own right. Just the basement area of the World Trade Center enclosed twice as much space as the entire Empire State Building.
Nearly a quarter of a mile below the spectacular vistas from the towers was their upside-down attic dropping 70 feet below the ground, a strange world with enough room for fortunes in gold and silver, for Godiva chocolates, assault weapons, old furniture, bricks of cocaine, phony taxicabs and Central Intelligence Agency files. With so many people still lost, the owners of this stuff have maintained a discreet silence during the recovery operations. But that doesn't mean they're not interested.
Beneath the Customs House -- 6 World Trade Center -- was an armada of government vehicles, including dozens owned by the Secret Service, in a fenced-off area. Within that area was a garage where a single armored limousine was parked under the tightest security.
The limousine was so long that it needed straight-line access to the street, because it could not clear tight corners in the basement.
That car had been used to carry heads of state visiting the city, said Tony Ball, a spokesman for the Secret Service. (The president's limousines are stored in Washington and flown everywhere he visits.)
In the 1993 trade center bombing, an armored Secret Service limousine was parked about 100 feet from a truck bomb. Although the bomb crashed through five stories of concrete and the concussion destroyed cars all over that floor, the Secret Service limousine ''did not even have a broken windshield,'' according to a government official on the scene that day. The condition of the limousine after September's attack was not known yesterday. ''We haven't gotten anything back yet,'' Mr. Ball said.
Asked about reports that his agency also kept what looked like ordinary taxis and telephone company trucks in the basement, Mr. Ball laughed. ''What I would say is that it is not unusual for law enforcement agencies to have these kinds of things,'' he said.
Besides the Secret Service, the building named for the United States Customs Service also housed an office of the C.I.A.
That building is now partly collapsed, with a rubble pit 30 feet deep. Somewhere in there are drugs, weapons and contraband seized by the Customs Service at the region's airports. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms also lost two evidence vaults, according to a spokesman for that agency, Joseph Green. They have not yet been recovered.
''There could be several hundred weapons -- somewhere between 200 and 400, ranging from small-caliber semiautomatic pistols to assault rifles,'' Mr. Green said, adding that a few of the guns had been found. Agents plan to be on the scene when the remains of the building are demolished sometime in the next two weeks, he said.
''After that, we'll be working at the landfill to search for any important items that are still missing.''
For people who have seen the surface destruction, either in pictures or in person, it may be hard to imagine that anything is intact below ground. But engineers and recovery officials say that large parts of the underground perimeter are undamaged, even though the buildings above them are partly collapsed.
One area is below 4 World Trade Center, where more than two decades ago, Swiss Bank built a huge vault and storage area. The vault was reached from the Swiss Bank offices by a private elevator.
To reach the vaults, armored trucks would drive through what had once been the tunnels for the Hudson and Manhattan railroad, the predecessor of the PATH system. These tunnels had run as far east as Church Street, but were not needed when the trade center was built and the PATH terminal was set closer to the river.
The western stubs of the original tunnels, ringed with cast iron, were converted into roadways. These roads ran directly to a roll-down door in front of the Swiss Bank vault area. Inside was a loading dock.
By the time of the 1993 bombing, Swiss Bank no longer was using the vault, and shortly afterward, the bank relocated its remaining operations.
The next tenant of the vault space was the Bank of Nova Scotia, which estimated the value of the metals at $200 million.
''We are in the process of relocating the contents of our vault at World Trade Center building No. 4 to another secure location, because authorities need to demolish the building,'' Pam Agnew, a spokeswoman for the bank, said yesterday by phone from Toronto.
Some of the metal is owned by the bank, and some by its customers, she said. She declined to say where the metals were being taken.
''The contents remain safe and intact,'' Ms. Agnew said. ''The contents are fully insured. We're working very closely with local authorities to ensure a safe and secure relocation effort.
''The removal of the contents was not a priority for us because we've always known it was safe and secure,'' Ms. Agnew said.
Asked about what appeared to be an attempted break-in two weeks ago, Ms. Agnew said that she was unaware of it. Later, she called to reiterate that the metals were safe: ''It would be factually incorrect to say there had been any attempt to steal the contents of our vault.''
However, a government official involved in the recovery efforts said that there had clearly been an attempt within the last two weeks to enter the vault area. ''It looked like they used a blowtorch, a crowbar,'' said the official, who spoke on the condition that neither his name nor his position be identified. ''The Port Authority police began periodic patrols, and then a closed-circuit television system was put in.''
The bank also engaged Kroll Inc., a security business based in New York, to supervise the relocation of the gold and silver, a process that began this week, The Daily News reported yesterday.
Michael Cherkasky, the president of Kroll, declined to comment on his company's involvement.
Anyone trying to make off with the gold would not be able to run very fast: each ingot weighs 70 pounds.
Photo: Two Brinks trucks were at ground zero yesterday to start hauling away the $200 million in gold and silver that the Bank of Nova Scotia had stored in a vault under the trade center. (Richard Drew/Associated Press)(pg. B11)
Correction: November 7, 2001, Wednesday An article on Thursday about property of the C.I.A. and the Secret Service buried at the World Trade Center site misstated the nearby location of the two agencies' former offices. While the agencies stored vehicles beneath the Custom House, at 6 World Trade Center, their offices were in No. 7.
| Thanksgiving at Ground Zero Delta Farm Press, Nov 19 2001 Every now and then, Americans are reminded of the true meaning of Thanksgiving. For Guy Taylor, it began the morning of Sept. 11, as he sat at his desk at the New York Board of Trade at Four World Trade Center. |
Taylor heard a sound, which started as a loud hum and quickly grew in intensity. Soon "it sounded like a jet plane was coming down the hall," said the Clarksdale, Miss., native and current director of public relations for NYBOT.
Moments later a thunderous explosion literally rippled the skin on Taylor’s arms. Taylor, a bachelor whose parents own farmland around Clarksdale, rushed to the window facing Church Street.
"It looked like it was snowing," Taylor said of the millions of pieces of paper and debris descending upon the street.
Taylor’s first thoughts were that a jetliner had strayed off course or that terrorists had launched a missile from a boat in New York Harbor.
He did know that whatever happened was close, scant feet from NYBOT facilities, which house several commodity exchanges (including the New York Cotton Exchange). Within moments of the blast, Mark Fichtel, NYBOT president, ran from office to office telling everyone in no uncertain terms, "Get out of the building!"
Taylor obliged, leaving behind his cell phone, laptop computer, a blue suit coat and perhaps a more innocent view of life. He headed toward the stairs for the eight-story descent to the street.
At the ground floor, the building’s security force had formed a human barricade in front of all exit doors. "I think they were afraid something was going to fall on us if we went outside," Taylor said.
But the security officers’ precaution soon gave way to reason and the resolve of the crowd as Taylor and others quickly shuffled through the revolving doors to the street.
Taylor didn’t turn around to measure the carnage at the World Trade Center (and did not want to speak of the terrible things that others saw there). He just ran, thinking any missile might have contained deadly nerve gas or another chemical agent.
As Taylor scrambled across Church Street, he instinctively grabbed a piece of paper floating by. It was a news release from a public relations office in the doomed tower, probably written by someone who held a job similar to his. He saved it.
He ran past a bus that had crashed into a lamp pole on Church Street and a taxi cab abandoned in the middle of the street with its doors open and windows blown out.
Clear of the blast site, Taylor’s first thought was to let loved ones know he was alive, but the lines were six-deep at pay telephones. When he saw a group of businessmen collecting their breaths on a street corner, he asked to borrow a cell phone. Taylor called everyone he could as news media helicopters gathered overhead.
Taylor’s dismay deepened when he learned that two hijacked jet planes had been flown into the twin towers at the WTC and suspected that more attacks may be imminent. He was surprised to see a lone taxi in the street, fully operational and waiting for a fare. "I got in and told him to head north, but to avoid the Empire State Building and the United Nations."
He arrived home safely, but nonetheless stunned at how an ordinary Manhattan morning had turned so deadly, so quickly and so close to home.
Taylor also knew that his life’s priorities had changed. "I realized how important my family and God were to me," he said.
Taylor and the nearly 2,000 other NYBOT employees had little time to grieve for friends and colleagues lost in the attack. Millions of people, as well as a number of competing exchanges, were waiting to see how NYBOT, which handles $300 billion in total contract value annually, would respond to the calamity. Most were hoping for the best, a handful undoubtedly wishing for the worst.
So Taylor and his co-workers dealt with the tragedy the only way they knew — they went back to work.
"We had a three-phase plan," Taylor said. "One, we wanted to get into our backup facility in Long Island City, Queens, and get it operational as quickly as possible."
Some staffers wasted no time at all. "People who barely escaped the WTC with their lives went directly to the backup facility in Queens and started setting up because they knew that’s what they needed to do."
By then, it was obvious that the NYBOT facility at the WTC had been severely damaged by the collapsing towers. In fact, the facade of the building was all that was standing. Later, a demolition ball brought it down.
Unknown to most people at the time, $650 million in gold and silver was being kept in a special vault four floors beneath Four World Trade Center. The gold and silver were recently recovered.
Over the next few days, Taylor and Fichtel appeared on numerous television shows and radio programs, talking about the exchange’s efforts to resume normal operations.
"We probably could have been up and running by Thursday (Sept. 13)," said Charles Falk, NYBOT chairman. "But there were problems with some of our clearing members."
Instead, NYBOT waited and held a mock trading session at the new facility on Saturday, Sept. 15, to work out any kinks.
"We really didn’t have a lot of time to try to trade," Taylor said of the mock session. "It was more of an orientation. It was very emotional for everybody. It was the first time we had seen each other since the attack. I saw a lot of guys hugging."
Taylor said that the new phone system in the facility was not quite able to handle the volume of calls that morning which "crashed the system."
"We called Mayor Giuliani and he had an army transport plane from Texas bring in a new switch," Taylor said.
The first day of real trading commenced on Monday, Sept. 17. A month later, futures and options trading at the new facility had reached seasonally normal and even higher levels, according to Taylor.
The cost of moving into the new space was estimated at $2.5 million to $3 million.
In phase two, NYBOT plans to expand the dimensions of the current building, which is one-fourth the size of the WTC facility, and return to more-normal operating hours. The WTC facility had 13 pits that supported four- to five-hour daily trading schedules. Each commodity at the backup facility currently trades on two pits for one and a half hours a day.
That expansion is now under way.
The last phase is for NYBOT to move into a permanent facility as soon as possible. And there is good reason. NYBOT reports that at least one foreign exchange has indicated that it will try to take advantage of the current emergency by attempting to transfer NYBOT’s role as world price-setter in coffee, sugar, cocoa, cotton and orange juice to its own financial center.
NYBOT estimates the cost of a new facility, plus the cost of expanding the backup facility, at around $142 million. While NYBOT had insurance for certain elements of the loss at WTC, the policy does not come close to covering the full cost of establishing a new permanent facility and of outfitting temporary facilities.
Taylor noted that NYBOT is seeking financial assistance from local, state and federal governments as it rebuilds.
By November, the terror of Sept. 11 had still not subsided for Taylor, who says he has had very little rest. "Things aren’t the same anymore, not just for me, but for the country."
And the anthrax scare, especially since exposures have been reported in New York, "is keeping everyone on edge. Our mail is scanned and the guy who delivers mail wears gloves and a mask and is prepared on what to keep an eye out for."
Taylor planned a family reunion in October with his parents, Walter and Word, who have homes in both Oxford, Miss., and Gulfport, Miss., sister Missie and brothers Will, Buddy and Clint.
The family also planned to be together this Thanksgiving. Certainly, the gathering will have special meaning.
"Our family has been through a lot recently," he said. "It’s tough to hear my family members explain their feelings, that they were trying to deal with the fact that I might be gone."
What’s he going to do when he sees his family for the first time since Sept. 11? "I’m going to be overwhelmed by the sense of gratitude and thankfulness," he said. "But I’m not really sure how it’s going to hit me. I think it’s going to sweep me away."
Workers clearing rubble in a service tunnel underneath one of the collapsed World Trade Centre buildings found themselves surrounded by more than 100 armed FBI and secret service personnel, who had been tipped off by the owners where the gold was buried.
The collapsed buildings contained a number of vaults and strongrooms, but the police were not saying who owned the gold.
The Comex metals trading division of the New York Mercantile Exchange kept 3,800 gold bars — weighing 12 tonnes and worth more than $100 million (£70 million) — in vaults in the building’s basement. Comex also held almost 800,000 ounces of gold there on behalf of others with a value of about $220 million. It also held more than 102 million ounces of silver, worth $430 million.
The Bank of Nova Scotia, which kept gold in the Comex vault, reported $200 million of gold lost in the wreckage. Comex also held precious metals for Chase Manhattan Bank, the Bank of New York and Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking.
The vaults higher up the towers became burial chambers on September 11 as some workers tried in vain to protect themselves from the fire and smoke by taking refuge inside them.
The gold, which was discovered on Tuesday, was being transported through the basement of the building on the morning of September 11. Recovery workers reached a service tunnel and discovered a ten-wheel lorry and a number of cars which had been crushed by falling steel.
A temporary ramp was built to gain access to the tunnel and a small bulldozer was used to break through a wall. Then a team of police and firefighters arrived to put the gold into an armoured bullion lorry. Other workers were told to make themselves scarce. “If I tried to go down there they would have shot me,” one said.
Eight years ago, when the World Trade Centre was bombed by terrorists, more than $1 billion in gold was being kept in the basement vaults, the property of the Kuwaiti Government. The vaults withstood the blast.
At first police believed the terrorist attack was an attempted gold robbery. Since then the amount of gold kept under the World Trade Centre has been a carefully guarded secret.
WTC Attack - Some Serious Questions
News Analysis by J.J. Johnson 11.01.01
With all the conspiracy theories floating around, a recent article has been published that might make even the most sheepish sheeple begin to scratch their heads. There clearly is more going on than someone is telling us. An article from the New York Daily news is frightening -- once you begin to look at the evidence. Let's go over this in detail, giving the government the complete benefit of the doubt. If any one has more information on this, please let us know.
(Analysis in blue)
Cache of Gold Found at WTC Two truckloads
retrieved through a tunnel in rubble
By GREG GITTRICH, THOMAS ZAMBITO and LEO STANDORA
Daily News Staff Writers URL Link to Complete Story Here
Workers at Ground Zero unearthed last night a buried treasure of gold, hidden for weeks under the ruins of the World Trade Center.
As a small army of federal agents with shotguns and automatic rifles stood guard, city cops and firefighters packed two Brink's armored trucks with the lode, sources said.
This is not a shocker, as it was rumored that as much as $160 Billion in bullion was stored under the Trade Center. Let's read on.
The sources said the gold was found in a delivery tunnel under 5 World Trade Center.
Ok -- stop right here: Why would gold be in a tunnel? Maybe someone was trying to get it out on September 11. Completely explainable.
"They are taking gold out of there right now," one source said last night. "They've brought in extra cops."
It wasn't immediately clear how much gold was recovered last night - or exactly how much was buried under the complex after the Sept. 11 attacks.
We heard up to $160 Billion - so it's not a big secrect.
The Toronto-based Bank of Nova Scotia has said its vault under 4 World Trade Center alone held more than $200 million in gold and silver. Bank spokeswoman Pam Agnew didn't immediately know if any of that gold was found last night.
Other companies are believed to have lost untold gold and valuables in the disaster.
For the last couple of days, construction workers - directed by the feds - had been clearing a delivery tunnel that runs under the complex.
So the feds apparently knew exactly where it was. We can assume someone told them (?)
Officials finally got to the gold through that tunnel yesterday, after workers hauled out a 10-wheel truck, several crushed cars and mounds of debris.
No bodies were recovered during the operation.
Huh?? Let's get this straight so far: $200 Million in gold; found in a tunnel; there were NO bodies found near the gold and the Feds knew it was there. Like, there wasn't anyone guarding that gold? Or there was, but they bailed out before the second tower collapsed? On foot??
As workers inched closer to the gold yesterday, authorities began restricting access to the north side of Ground Zero and FBI and Secret Service agents joined cops and firefighters at the site.
Meaning, they knew EXACTLY where that gold was.
"If I tried to go down there, they would have shot me," said a construction worker shooed away from the tunnel.
A handful of heavy-machinery operators and other workers, under the watchful eyes of more than 100 armed officers, built and graded a ramp into the delivery tunnel.
A small bulldozer knocked down a wall inside the tunnel, and a Brink's armored truck drove in just before sunset.
It came out about 7 p.m. with the first load of gold, sources said. A second truck entered the tunnel a short time later and also was loaded with gold before leaving.
A handful of construction workers were held over from the day shift, which ends at 7 p.m., to help.
"They sent most of us on our merry way," said one worker.
Alright, take a look at Ground Zero. Notice where Building #5 is sitting. Also notice how close the federal building is to Building #5 (right across the street). According the report, the gold may have been moved from the Bank of Nova Scotia, whose vault was under Trade Center Building #4, adjacent to the first tower that collapsed. It was clearly being moved AWAY from the South Tower.
This leads to the question: did someone suspect building #4 would be so damaged (from a collapse) that it was imperative to move the gold immediately? Since the South Tower collapsed first and there were tons of debris in the tunnel, it is amazing NO bodies were found there guarding the gold. There clearly was more going on than a human rescue operation on September 11.
NationalBriefs
New pleas, new deals for Snoop
OBERLIN, Ohio — A lawyer for rapper Snoop Dogg, aka Calvin Broadus, appeared in an Ohio court to plead innocence for his client for charges of marijuana and drug paraphernalia possession charges. Both charges carry a maximum sentence of $250 and 30 days in jail. Dogg was cited Oct. 17 during a traffic stop.
Highway patrolmen pulled over his “Puff Puff Pass 2001” tour bus for speeding. Drug sniffing dogs found six bags of marijuana in the cargo hold. The lawyer, Jay Milano, said that Dogg is an easy target and that his busses are sometimes pulled over just because they are Dogg’s. The pretrial hearing is set for Dec. 11.
Dogg and his label, Doggy Style Records, has left Master P’s label No Limit and has signed on with MCA records. Dogg said that he has nothing against Master P or his label but he left because he felt that P’s distributor, Priority Records, was making too much profit off of his albums. Dogg had been with No Limit and Priority Records for three years.
In other music news, Blink 182 will appear on Mad TV Nov. 24 in a skit that is a parody of “Leave it to Beaver.” They will not be performing. Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins is reuniting with the now-defunct band’s former drummer and two other musicians to form a new band called Zwan. They will perform four times in Southern California in November.
— Reuters, Associated Press, Rolling Stone
Terrorists may target Calif. bridges
LOS ANGELES — Gov. Gray Davis announced Thursday that “credible evidence” has been received that major suspension bridges on the West Coast could be the targets of terrorist attacks during rush hour. Six incidents have been planned between Nov. 2 and 9, an FBI statement said.
Davis said possible targets included the Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge, both in the San Francisco Bay, the Vincent Thomas Bridge at the Port of Los Angeles, and the Coronado Bridge in San Diego. Security in the area has been increased, including efforts by the National Guard, U.S. Coast Guard and the California Highway Patrol.
This is only the second credible bomb threat in the state out of hundreds that have been received. The first said that Los Angeles movie studios would be targeted. A Justice Department spokeswoman said that they are working to verify the information.
Also on Thursday, Davis announced the appointment of George Vinson, 57, to the post of state security officer. Vinson will advise Davis on anti-terrorism strategies and be a liaison to the federal Office of Homeland Security. Vinson is a 23-year FBI veteran.
— Associated Press
Treasure found in World Trade Center rubble
NEW YORK — Over $230 million in gold and silver was recovered from a delivery tunnel beneath 5 World Trade Center Wednesday. Canada’s Bank of Nova Scotia stored over $200 million in gold and silver in their vaults under the building. They are still unsure how much of the recovered metal was theirs. It is believed that there were other valuables stored in the vaults but there is no information on how much of it has been lost or recovered in the disaster.
Officials finally reached the trove Tuesday after removing a 10-wheel truck and several cars that had been crushed by the debris. No bodies were recovered. More than 100 armed officers watched the workers. The contents of the vaults had to be removed because authorities need to demolish the building.
— Reuters and New York Daily News
Anthrax found in Midwest
WASHINGTON — Mail facilities in Kansas City, Mo., and Indianapolis are closed and being cleaned up after traces of anthrax were found in them. Workers at the facilities are being treated with antibiotics; none have reported illness so far.
The Indiana office received mail from the Trenton, N.J., postal facility that has been shut down due to mail containing anthrax.
In Kansas City, traces of anthrax were found in two wastebaskets. The source of the anthrax is believed to be a shipment of 7,000 pieces of mail that came from the contaminated Brentwood facility. The center received the shipment on Oct. 19; it was isolated and shrink-wrapped Oct. 22 after anthrax was found at the Brentwood site.
The Post Office is planning on conducting tests at 200 postal facilities. Tests have been completed at 64 locations. Results for 39 returned clear, 17 have not been returned yet and eight tested positive and have been closed.
— Associated Press
InternationalBriefs
Middle East
JERUSALEM — Israeli forces have targeted and killed four wanted Palestinian militants in two days in what they refer to as a war on terrorism. The men were on a most wanted list that contains the names of people whom the Israeli government says are the command structure of Hamas militants that are blamed for suicide bombings that killed 36 this summer. Ten of the listed have been killed.
Israel says that the killings are necessary because the militants were planning more attacks, and they were on a list of suspects that the Palestinian Authority have refused to arrest. Palestinians say that the assassination policy only feeds violence and that it will only create more militants. Western nations, including the United States, have condemned the targeted killings and warn that they will only continue the cycle of violence and create more anger. Israeli leaders say that the Palestinians were given the opportunity to avoid the deaths by arresting the men themselves and that there is a marked decrease in activity after the “actions.”
Sixty Palestinians have been killed in the past year during strikes against people the Israeli government blames for attacks on civilians.
— Associated Press
Caribbean
HAVANA — Six men went on trial Thursday for their alleged role in supplying the boat that sank in November 1999 while carrying Elian Gonzalez and 13 other migrants. Ten people drowned during the incident, including the mother of Gonzalez; three, including Gonzalez, survived. The men were charged with “illegal departure” and could face three to seven years in prison if convicted.
Family members of the suspects claim that the men thought that the boat they were constructing, transporting, repairing and hiding was intended for fishing and that they are being targeted for political reasons because authorities seldom press “illegal departure” charges against those trying to leave Cuba. Cuban officials have not commented on the case.
The trial started only after five of the six men went on a hunger strike for nearly a week. They demanded that they be released or that the court proceedings begin.
— Reuters
United Nations
UNITED NATIONS — Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council was urged by an Afghan woman, identified only as Jamila, to ensure the inclusion of women in any peace negotiations for Afghanistan. The speech occurred on the first anniversary of a U.N. resolution that committed governments to include women at peace tables and also protect them from the abuses of war. Jamila was joined by women from Kosovo and East Timor. They urged the United Nations to keep their promises.
She told the Council even though women are second-class citizens under Taliban rule, they still have a voice and can be effective leaders. She said that for the last 20 years, the leadership of men has brought only pain and suffering. She wants an acceptable government for the people of Afghanistan and one that will honor equal rights for women.
The Council reaffirmed its support for a larger role for women in decision-making in regard to conflict prevention and resolution.
Females represent 54 percent of the Afghan population. In the 1960s and 1970s Afghan women served as government ministers and were included in loya jirga, a traditional grand council of elders.
— Associated Press
Briefs compiled from various news services by Mustang Daily contributor Anne Guilford.
New pleas, new deals for Snoop
OBERLIN, Ohio — A lawyer for rapper Snoop Dogg, aka Calvin Broadus, appeared in an Ohio court to plead innocence for his client for charges of marijuana and drug paraphernalia possession charges. Both charges carry a maximum sentence of $250 and 30 days in jail. Dogg was cited Oct. 17 during a traffic stop.
Highway patrolmen pulled over his “Puff Puff Pass 2001” tour bus for speeding. Drug sniffing dogs found six bags of marijuana in the cargo hold. The lawyer, Jay Milano, said that Dogg is an easy target and that his busses are sometimes pulled over just because they are Dogg’s. The pretrial hearing is set for Dec. 11.
Dogg and his label, Doggy Style Records, has left Master P’s label No Limit and has signed on with MCA records. Dogg said that he has nothing against Master P or his label but he left because he felt that P’s distributor, Priority Records, was making too much profit off of his albums. Dogg had been with No Limit and Priority Records for three years.
In other music news, Blink 182 will appear on Mad TV Nov. 24 in a skit that is a parody of “Leave it to Beaver.” They will not be performing. Billy Corgan from Smashing Pumpkins is reuniting with the now-defunct band’s former drummer and two other musicians to form a new band called Zwan. They will perform four times in Southern California in November.
— Reuters, Associated Press, Rolling Stone
Terrorists may target Calif. bridges
LOS ANGELES — Gov. Gray Davis announced Thursday that “credible evidence” has been received that major suspension bridges on the West Coast could be the targets of terrorist attacks during rush hour. Six incidents have been planned between Nov. 2 and 9, an FBI statement said.
Davis said possible targets included the Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge, both in the San Francisco Bay, the Vincent Thomas Bridge at the Port of Los Angeles, and the Coronado Bridge in San Diego. Security in the area has been increased, including efforts by the National Guard, U.S. Coast Guard and the California Highway Patrol.
This is only the second credible bomb threat in the state out of hundreds that have been received. The first said that Los Angeles movie studios would be targeted. A Justice Department spokeswoman said that they are working to verify the information.
Also on Thursday, Davis announced the appointment of George Vinson, 57, to the post of state security officer. Vinson will advise Davis on anti-terrorism strategies and be a liaison to the federal Office of Homeland Security. Vinson is a 23-year FBI veteran.
— Associated Press
Treasure found in World Trade Center rubble
NEW YORK — Over $230 million in gold and silver was recovered from a delivery tunnel beneath 5 World Trade Center Wednesday. Canada’s Bank of Nova Scotia stored over $200 million in gold and silver in their vaults under the building. They are still unsure how much of the recovered metal was theirs. It is believed that there were other valuables stored in the vaults but there is no information on how much of it has been lost or recovered in the disaster.
Officials finally reached the trove Tuesday after removing a 10-wheel truck and several cars that had been crushed by the debris. No bodies were recovered. More than 100 armed officers watched the workers. The contents of the vaults had to be removed because authorities need to demolish the building.
— Reuters and New York Daily News
Anthrax found in Midwest
WASHINGTON — Mail facilities in Kansas City, Mo., and Indianapolis are closed and being cleaned up after traces of anthrax were found in them. Workers at the facilities are being treated with antibiotics; none have reported illness so far.
The Indiana office received mail from the Trenton, N.J., postal facility that has been shut down due to mail containing anthrax.
In Kansas City, traces of anthrax were found in two wastebaskets. The source of the anthrax is believed to be a shipment of 7,000 pieces of mail that came from the contaminated Brentwood facility. The center received the shipment on Oct. 19; it was isolated and shrink-wrapped Oct. 22 after anthrax was found at the Brentwood site.
The Post Office is planning on conducting tests at 200 postal facilities. Tests have been completed at 64 locations. Results for 39 returned clear, 17 have not been returned yet and eight tested positive and have been closed.
— Associated Press
InternationalBriefs
Middle East
JERUSALEM — Israeli forces have targeted and killed four wanted Palestinian militants in two days in what they refer to as a war on terrorism. The men were on a most wanted list that contains the names of people whom the Israeli government says are the command structure of Hamas militants that are blamed for suicide bombings that killed 36 this summer. Ten of the listed have been killed.
Israel says that the killings are necessary because the militants were planning more attacks, and they were on a list of suspects that the Palestinian Authority have refused to arrest. Palestinians say that the assassination policy only feeds violence and that it will only create more militants. Western nations, including the United States, have condemned the targeted killings and warn that they will only continue the cycle of violence and create more anger. Israeli leaders say that the Palestinians were given the opportunity to avoid the deaths by arresting the men themselves and that there is a marked decrease in activity after the “actions.”
Sixty Palestinians have been killed in the past year during strikes against people the Israeli government blames for attacks on civilians.
— Associated Press
Caribbean
HAVANA — Six men went on trial Thursday for their alleged role in supplying the boat that sank in November 1999 while carrying Elian Gonzalez and 13 other migrants. Ten people drowned during the incident, including the mother of Gonzalez; three, including Gonzalez, survived. The men were charged with “illegal departure” and could face three to seven years in prison if convicted.
Family members of the suspects claim that the men thought that the boat they were constructing, transporting, repairing and hiding was intended for fishing and that they are being targeted for political reasons because authorities seldom press “illegal departure” charges against those trying to leave Cuba. Cuban officials have not commented on the case.
The trial started only after five of the six men went on a hunger strike for nearly a week. They demanded that they be released or that the court proceedings begin.
— Reuters
United Nations
UNITED NATIONS — Wednesday, the U.N. Security Council was urged by an Afghan woman, identified only as Jamila, to ensure the inclusion of women in any peace negotiations for Afghanistan. The speech occurred on the first anniversary of a U.N. resolution that committed governments to include women at peace tables and also protect them from the abuses of war. Jamila was joined by women from Kosovo and East Timor. They urged the United Nations to keep their promises.
She told the Council even though women are second-class citizens under Taliban rule, they still have a voice and can be effective leaders. She said that for the last 20 years, the leadership of men has brought only pain and suffering. She wants an acceptable government for the people of Afghanistan and one that will honor equal rights for women.
The Council reaffirmed its support for a larger role for women in decision-making in regard to conflict prevention and resolution.
Females represent 54 percent of the Afghan population. In the 1960s and 1970s Afghan women served as government ministers and were included in loya jirga, a traditional grand council of elders.
— Associated Press
Briefs compiled from various news services by Mustang Daily contributor Anne Guilford.
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