New Yorkers
brace for terror attacks
An
increasing number of New Yorkers seem to have
taken authorities' warning of a possible
terror attack more seriously by making various
preparations.
Many have
followed the authorities' advice and stocked
up water, food and other supplies. To the many
here, not since the months after Sept. 11,
2001, has the threat of terrorism seemed so
real.
At National
Wholesale Liquidator in Queens, a staff
member, who only identified himself as Tom,
said Wednesday that more people have come
during the past days to buy water, food and
other supplies. "People seem to take the
warning rather seriously and they want to get
prepared."
Local media
reported that duct tape, plastic wrap, battery
and flashlights are in short supply in some
stores while water and food sell extremely
well in all the five boroughs of the city.
The Homeland
Security Department warned Monday that every
house should be stocked with three days' worth
of water and food, and that families should
have duct tape and plastic sheeting to seal a
room in case of a strike with chemical,
biological or nuclear weapons.
According to
experts, there is no homemade protection
against radioactivity, but plastic-sealed
windows will offer temporary shelter against a
chemical or biological attack.
Many New
Yorkers would rather play it safe and adopt a
better-than-nothing attitude, hoping that
makeshift measures could create at least a
relatively safe environment for a few hours
until rescue comes.
At Home Depot
in 48 street, Queens, an elderly man bought
three thick duct tapes. He said he needed the
tape to seal the windows. "Terror attacks
or not, tapes and plastic wraps are good for
keeping the cold air out."
Others,
however, choose to go one step further and
equip themselves with survival gear once fit
only for soldiers and police officers.
Richard Geist,
33, a manager at Uncle Sam's Army Navy
Outfitters, carries a British gas mask
everywhere he goes. "The mask is good for
24 hours," Geist said, "but all it's
really going to do is give you that 20 seconds
to get out," he was quoted as saying.
Lori Schiaffino,
owner of Details International, a Manhattan
security consulting firm, said that since the
nation's alert level went up to orange, she
has been swamped with calls from panicked New
Yorkers, from East Hampton, Long Island, to
Manhattan.
In many cases,
she has helped families create a safe room,
equipped with a portable air filtration
system, duct tape, plastic and satellite
phones.
"We are
really focused on practical awareness,"
said Schiaffino.
A poll taken
over the weekend showed that 48 percent of
Americans are worried that someone in their
family will be a victim of a terror attack,
nearly the same as Sept. 11, terror attack on
New York and Washington.
IAEA refers
DPRK nuclear issue to UN
The
United Nations nuclear watchdog agency, the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on
Wednesday referred the nuclear issue of the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)
to the UN Security Council.
The IAEA
declared the DPRK in violation of UN nuclear
safeguards provisions in a resolution passed
later in the day at its headquarters in
Vienna.
The resolution,
which was also distributed here, was passed in
a vote of 31 to 4 in a meeting of the
35-nation IAEA Board of Governors, according
to the Office of UN Secretary-General's
Spokesman.
The board
passed the resolution after discussing a
report by its Director General Mohammed
ElBaradei on the nuclear crisis in the Korean
Peninsula.
The IAEA, based
on ElBaradei's report, declared that "the
DPRK is in further noncompliance with its
obligations under its Safeguards Agreement
with the agency," the resolution said.
The
IAEA expressed "deep concern that the
DPRK has not undertaken to cooperate urgently
and fully with the agency," and over its
inability "to verify that there has been
no diversion of nuclear material subject to
safeguards to nuclear weapons or other nuclear
explosive devices."
The IAEA
decided to report "through the
director-general, the DPRK's noncompliance and
the agency's inability to verify non-diversion
of nuclear material subject to safeguards, to
all members of the agency and to the Security
Council ...," the resolution said.
The IAEA called
on the DPRK to remedy urgently its
noncompliance with its Safeguards Agreement by
taking all steps deemed necessary by the
agency.
Meanwhile, the
IAEA stressed its desire for "a peaceful
resolution of the DPRK nuclear issue and its
support for diplomatic means to that
end."
The United
Nations Security Council is due to meet on
Feb. 18 on the nuclear issue of the DPRK, a
diplomat here confirmed Tuesday.
The DPRK
announced its withdrawal from the
Nonproliferation Treaty last month, but in the
meantime stressed it has no intention to
develop nuclear weapons. It also warned that
any decision to impose sanctions on the
country would be viewed as a "declaration
of war."
Turkey's
Human Shield group protests possible war on
Iraq
An
anti-war group known as the "
Human Shield" arrived in the Turkish city
of Adana on Wednesday,
where the United States military base is
located.
The group,
which includes 50 foreigners and 26 Turks, had
departed from Aksaray, about 240 kilometers
south of Ankara, the
semi-official Anatolia News Agency reported.
Cihan Keskek, a
member of the group, said they aimed to
prevent
a possible US operation against Iraq.
The Human
Shield group later went to Incirlik hamlet,
but
security forces did not allow members to enter
the hamlet.
Responding to
the ban, group member Saban Dayanan said:
"We
condemn Adana governor's office because of its
attitude. We call
everybody to act together against all kinds of
obstacles." He
added that they were setting off for Iraq to
give a message to the
world.
The Adana deputy of the Republican People's
Party (CHP),
Tacidar Seyhan, said these actions staged to
prevent a possible
war against Iraq showed the sensitivity of the
Turkish people.
Fatma Unsal Bostan, a member of the Justice
and Development
Party (AK Party) Board of Founders, who also
left for Baghdad with
the Human Shield group, said the AK Party
wants and would support
peace till the very end.
The Human
Shield group will stay in Iskenderun township,
in
Hatay province, for a day and then go to the
Cilvegozu border gate
to enter Iraq.
Time to use
force has not been reached: New Zealand PM
The New
Zealand government doesn't support seeking a
second UN resolution authorizing the use of
force against Iraq at this time because the
diplomatic process has not been exhausted,
Prime Minister Helen Clark said.
Questioned in
Parliament Wednesday on the government's
policy, Clark said that New Zealand, as a UN
member, is obliged to uphold resolutions of
the Security Council.
"The
government does not believe the use of force
is justified at this time," she said.
"The use
of force to uphold UN resolutions is very much
a last resort, and that point has not been
reached."
Clark said the
rule of international law depends on members
of the United Nations accepting the outcomes
of the democratic processes established to
make decisions.
"It is
certainly debatable whether Iraq right now
presents a clear and present danger," she
said.
"It is
becoming increasingly clear that the
inspectors still believe they can usefully
carry on with their work in line with UN
resolutions."
Clark said that
if force to be used against Iraq, New Zealand
support for that force would have to be
sanctioned by a second Security Council
resolution.
"However,
the government does not support seeking a
resolution to use force at this time because
the diplomatic process has not been
exhausted," she said.
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