Posted on 12/04/2003 7:01:18 PM PST by USF
Bolivia Detains 16 Muslims on Terror Tipoff -Agency Thu December 4, 2003 09:08 PM ET
LA PAZ, Bolivia (Reuters) - Bolivia's state news agency said authorities in La Paz detained 16 Muslims on Thursday after a tip-off from French police that some of them were planning to hijack a plane and attack targets in the United States. No independent confirmation was immediately available of the report from the ABI agency, which is regarded as a mouthpiece of the Bolivian government.
It quoted Interior Minister Alfonso Ferrufino as saying most of those arrested were Bangladeshis and that they were detained at Viru Viru airport near the southern Bolivian city of Santa Cruz on Thursday morning.
"(Ferrufino) said that the tip-off from French police said that the 16 Muslims were planning to hijack a plane en route from La Paz via Santa Cruz to Buenos Aires to attack targets in the United States," the news agency report said.
State Prosecutor Jaime Solis, who is overseeing the case, said nine of the detainees would be deported -- he did not say to where. Several other detainees had already been released.
"According to French police, there is information that four of the nine have supposed connections to terrorism," Solis was quoted as saying.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Bolivia police arrest 16 suspected Bangladeshi terrorists
Bolivian police have arrested 16 Bangladeshis carrying false documents on suspicion they might be linked to terrorist groups.
Interior Minister Alfonso Ferrufino says the 16 were arrrested at the airport in Santa Cruz in eastern Bolivia as part of a joint operation with French intelligence officers.
Mr Ferrufino would not comment on reports the men were planning to hijack an airliner bound from Santa Cruz to Buenos Aires, saying "that was the version that came from the French police."
05/12/2003 12:25:05 | ABC Radio Australia News
Speaking of weird items :
From Reuters Alertnet:
18 Nov 2003 21:18:10 GMT
Chavez raises hackles with "Bolivian beach" comment
By Fiona Ortiz
SANTIAGO, Chile, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Chile on Tuesday recalled its ambassador in Caracas after Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez voiced support for land-locked Bolivia's quest for access to the Pacific Ocean, a sore point between Chile and Bolivia for 125 years.
Chavez said at a forum over the weekend in Bolivia that it was not fair that the country had no coast and some day he would like to visit a Bolivian beach.
Bolivia lost its outlet to the sea to neighboring Chile in the War of the Pacific in 1879. Chile says the issue is closed permanently and there is no room for modifying the 19th century treaty defining the borders between Bolivia, Chile and Peru.
The recall of the ambassador "is a signal regarding expressions (Chavez) should not have made. We as a country take care of our own bilateral affairs and we don't like third parties getting involved," Chilean Foreign Minister Soledad Alvear told a news conference in Santiago.
Chile also had a chilly response last week when U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, on a visit to the region, said he was open to a mediating role if Bolivia and Chile were to talk about sea access. Chile said there was nothing to negotiate.
Venezuela said on Tuesday it was pushing for a friendly solution to Bolivia's problem.
"Evidently to be able to bathe in the waters of the Pacific (in Bolivia) there would have to be a negotiated solution between the two sides, and that is our profound wish, born of our profound brotherhood with Chile," Venezuelan Foreign Minister Roy Chaderton said at a press conference in Caracas.
BOLIVIA BLIND SPOT
Political analysts said that while Chavez had overstepped boundaries by referring more than once to Bolivia's nonexistent coastline, Chile has a nationalistic blind spot over Bolivia.
Patricio Navia, adjunct professor at the New York University center for Latin American Studies, said it would cost Chile nothing, and help it to gain stature in the region if it gave Bolivia access to the ocean letting it fly a flag in an unused port in northern Chile.
"Chile wants to refer back to that treaty from the late nineteenth century without realizing that even treaties can be amended or new treaties can be signed to adapt to new realities and needs," Navia said. "They have this 19th century vision that neighbors are potential enemies instead of allies."
Bolivian resentment over territorial issues with Chile was a major factor during weeks of violent protests that ended in the resignation of former Bolivian President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada last month.
Some 80 people died during demonstrations rejecting Sanchez de Lozada's economic policies and his plan to export Bolivian natural gas through a Chilean port to Mexico and the United States. Due to historic animosity between the two nations, Bolivians rejected any Chilean involvement in the deal.
Bolivia and Chile broke off diplomatic relations 25 years ago and do not have embassies in each other's countries, just consulates. In recent years there has been tentative talk of a bilateral free trade negotiation between the two countries but no progress has been made.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.