WON'T
GET FOOLED AGAIN [till the next boo-boo]
Click
here for the BigO homepage
The Zaoboa website, March 7, 2004
WHY IS THE TRUTH ALWAYS OUT THERE AND NOT IN THE ENGLISH PRESS?
The above report said that a 15-year-old $ingapore student
jumped to his death from the sixth floor of a Housing Board flat at Pasir Ris
St 11 on March 5 around 4.45 pm. It was reported that the Secondary Three student
was worried that he might be expelled from school after being warned by a woman
Accounting teacher of being involved with one of his female classmates.
The two students had arrived at school at 3 pm that day and the boy was caught
holding the girl's hand by one of the male teachers. The Accounting teacher
was informed and later gave them a stern warning and asked for the parents to
be in school at 6 pm for counselling. The boy's request not to inform his parents
was rejected by the Accounting teacher.
The boy then rushed out of the school. His girlfriend tried to follow but was
held back by the teacher. Two other classmates went after him, and one of them
found him sitting on the sixth floor parapet wall with both legs hanging out.
She tried to talk him out of it but to no avail, and watched him jump down to
his death.
Visit http://www.zaobao.com/sp/sp006_070304.html
for the article (in Chinese).
+ + + + +
OVER AND OVER AGAIN
The nation-builder press, March 4, 2004
In the above report, Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid
Albar said: "The whole thing is over already." He was referring to US accusations
that a Malaysian permanent resident Bukary Syed Abu Tahir was manufacturing
nuclear bomb components with a Malaysian company directly linked to PM Abdullah
Badawi's son, Kamaluddin.
Although Malaysian police have published a report that confirms Mr Tahir was
sending the parts to Libya, the police did not arrest him. Tahir is a Sri Lankan
citizen married to a Malaysian.
The nation-builder press, March 8, 2004
In the above report, Malaysia used the Internal Security
Act to arrest six Indonesians they claimed were "terrorists." And people who
make nuclear bombs are not?
Read
more by clicking on the banner or visit http://www.bigo.com.sg/fooled/tahir.html
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MALAYSIA'S ROAD TO REFORMASI
When Malaysia named
names and charged VIPs and even a minister for corruption, it came almost at
the same time US intelligence agents were getting ready to announce a key Malaysian
link in the secret nuclear network operated by a Pakistani scientist. Over the
past week, PM Abdullah Badawi’s only son, Kamaluddin, found out that a
company he controlled was named by US intelligence as the manufacturer of centrifuge
parts for the nuclear black market. Below is how the revelation came about:
WHAT U.S. PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH SAID
These are the exact
words used by President George W Bush when he answered questions after a speech
at the National Defense University, Feb 11, 2004:
"To increase their profits, Khan [Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer
Khan] and his associates used a factory in Malaysia
to manufacture key parts for centrifuges [used for enriching uranium
for nuclear bombs]."
President Bush clearly identified the link man in Malaysia:
"Khan’s deputy — a man named BSA Tahir
— ran SMB computers, a business in Dubai. Tahir used that computer
company as a front for the proliferation activities of the A Q Khan network.
Tahir acted as both the network’s chief financial officer and money launderer.
He was also its shipping agent, using his computer firm as cover for the movement
of centrifuge parts to various clients. Tahir directed
the Malaysia facility to produce these parts based on Pakistani designs,
and then ordered the facility to ship the components to Dubai. Tahir also arranged
for parts acquired by other European procurement agents to transit through Dubai
for shipment to other customers."
President Bush did not let up on pinpointing the Malaysian connection:
"Mr Tahir is in Malaysia, where authorities
are investigating his activities. Malaysian authorities
have assured us that the factory the network used is no longer producing centrifuge
parts. Other members of the network remain at large…As a result
of our penetration of the network, American and the
British intelligence identified the shipment of advanced centrifuge parts manufactured
at the Malaysian facility. We followed the shipment of these parts
to Dubai, and watched as they were transferred to the BBC China, a German-owned
ship. After the ship passed through the Suez Canal, bound for Libya, it was
stopped…"
Briefly, President Bush has
- fingered Bukary Syed Abu Tahir, a Sri Lankan staying in Kuala Lumpur, as a
deputy of Pakistani nuclear scientist AQ Khan.
- Tahir is said to be Khan’s chief financial officer and the coordinator
of the manufacture and distribution of various components that can make a nuclear
bomb.
- The name of the alleged factory, Scomi Precision Engineering Sdn Bhd, was
found on the boxes that contained the centrifuge parts found on the BBC China,
a German-owned cargo ship.
- Scomi is a company based in Malaysia and part of the Scomi Group. The man
who owns the controlling stake in Scomi Group is Mr Kamaludin Abdullah, the
35-year-old son of PM Abdullah Badawi.
The reaction in Malaysia was like this: Scomi has admitted making the parts
but have said they were unaware of its final destination. They thought the parts
were to be used for oil and gas industries. A company in $ingapore who supplied
parts to Scomi have made the same plea of ignorance.
On Feb 20, 2004, Malaysian police, after denying for two weeks any wrongdoing
in Malaysia, released a report that agreed with President Bush that indeed Tahir
"had known that the centrifuge components manufactured by Scomi Precise
Engineering (Scope) were destined for use in Libya's uranium enrichment programme".
However,
no one in Malaysia has been arrested.
Here are three ironies
worth noting:
- President
Bush is the same man who compiled a thick dossier of "evidence" that
Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. The "evidence" was claimed to
be detailed and accurate. Those weapons have not been found nine months after
the war ended.
- Malaysia used the Internal Security Act against Malaysians whom US intelligence
claimed were part of a terror network called the Jemaah Islamiah [JI]. Many
allegations have been made against the detainees but none of the charges and
claims have been proven in court. However, about 90 Malaysians remain in detention.
- The US has now uncovered a nuclear proliferation ring within Pakistan, a key
ally in the US-led war against Iraq. The US invaded Iraq because they said Iraq
had weapons of mass destruction. But they didn’t. Instead their ally, Pakistan,
had a secret ring selling nuclear secrets. The president
of Pakistan has decided to pardon the alleged ring leader, Prof AQ Khan,
the country’s leading nuclear scientist.
This is our fave clip of the ISA detentions so far:
The nation-builder press, Jan 28, 2004.
Yazid Sufaat was arrested in December 2001, about the same time $ingapore
began arresting $ingaporeans alleged to be members of JI. In the above report,
US and Malaysian security officials after two years now claim Yazid was the
man running Osama Bin Laden’s "chemical and biological weapons program".
These claims remain unproven.
When asked
if the US were interested in interrogating Yazid, this is what the Malaysian
Foreign Minister Syd Hamid Albar said: "We are always ready to cooperate
with any quarter in helping combat international terrorism."
Ninety Malaysians are under ISA detention for being
alleged members of JI but Bukary Syed Abu Tahir, an alleged member of a nuclear
proliferation ring, remains free while Pakistan has pardoned the alleged nuclear
ringleader Prof AQ Khan. What’s going on?
More here:
Police: Tahir knew Scope's parts destined for Libya
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/2004022000114144.php
Probe Scope independently call from DAP, PAS
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/2004022100114158.php
Read Yazid’s story here
http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/200204130015245.php
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Spread The Word #304, Feb 2, 2004.
25 $INGAPORE STUDENTS FINED FOR MUSIC DOWNLOADS
It wasn't one girl after all. On Feb 2, 2004 we reported that
one $ingaporean was fined $4,000 for downloading music from Kazaa. But a Feb
18, 2004 report in the nation-builder press said 25 students
have been caught and fined by their university "in the past six months".
The report said the music companies did not catch the students but that National
University of Singapore fined 20 students $200 each while Nanyang Technological
University caught and fined five students.
This was revealed in the report: "Copyright owners complained
to NTU and NUS after they tracked down the computers involved in the illegal
swops." It was not explained how the music companies managed to detect music
downloads in students computers. It was also not explained why the $ingapore
courts were not used to charge the students if music downloads are illegal or
how a university is empowered to fine its students for breaking a country's
law. In the US, some universities challenged the music companies in court.
It became illegal for $ingaporeans to download music when the US and $ingapore
Free Trade Agreement became law on Jan 1, 2004. $ingapore now has to obey US
copyright laws. Previously, there had been no attempts to penalise $ingaporeans
who downloaded music from the internet. Only vendors of pirated CDs and porno
VCDS had previously been arrested by the police and charged in court.
University students in $ingapore now know "they can't be anonymous in cyberspace".
The report added: "A 22-year-old engineering student at NTU, who
spoke on condition he wasn't named, said: 'Now I know my identity can
be tracked, I'll remove the Kazaa program from my computer and stop sharing
files over the network.'"
"Imagine, $ingapore universities are now policeman and
judge for the music companies. We do not recall $ingapore universities ever
policing the misuse of pirated computer software in students' computers. What
police activities are $ingapore universities planning next?"
- The young, restless and cynical Mirror Of Opinion, Feb 18, 2004.
+ + + + +
This is what Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said: "The United States
did not go into Iraq to destroy Islam. It is not in Iraq to hit out at a Muslim
country. It is clear to everyone, unless that person wears
blinkers, that this is a war to remove the weapons of mass destruction from
Saddam Hussein."
This is what former US chief weapons hunter David Kay said: "I
don't think they [weapons of mass destruction] existed."
"It is clear to everyone, unless that person wears blinkers,
that the Iraq war was NEVER about weapons of mass destruction or Saddam Hussein."
- The young, restless and cynical Mirror Of Opinion, Jan
25 2004.
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$INGAPOREANS WHO SPOKE AGAINST IRAQ WAR I
Time magazine, Mar 24, 2003.
When Time magazine went searching for thinking Muslims, they headed to Kuala
Lumpur. In Time's March 24, 2003 issue, they interviewed five, including lawyer
and activist Latheefa Koya. Here's what she told Time magazine:
"There's paranoia against Muslims. My two female cousins,
who are sisters, staged a peace protest in front of the US embassy in Singapore.
Though they were just collecting signatures, they were detained and interrogated.
And then, their computers were taken away, and one husband was asked why he
had so much Islamic reading material at home.
"These people are Muslims, the women wear the Muslim head scarf, but they are
innocent. Can they be charged for inciting peace?"
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$INGAPOREANS WHO SPOKE AGAINST IRAQ WAR II
Seventeen months ago, on Sept 3, 2002, four Muslim groups in $ingapore asked
the PAP government not to support any US-led war on Iraq. The four groups were:
- the Singapore Islamic Scholars and Religious Teachers' Association (Pergas)
- Perdaus, a volunteer-welfare group
- the Muhammadiyah Association which runs religious classes, welfare homes and
care centres for the elderly
- Centre for Contemporary Islamic Studies
Specifically, the groups asked the government "to oppose, or at least abstain
from supporting, any possible collective attacks on Iraq."
They said: "We support the view that all lives are precious whether they are
Iraqis, Americans or Israelis. Unfortunately, in any attack, the innocent suffer
and die at the expense of the guilty party."
Ustaz Zhulkeflee Haji Ismail, manager of Pergas, explained that they had made
their views to "fulfil their role of guiding the public." This is what they
got for their effort...
The nation-builder press, Sept 5, 2002. Dr Yaacob Ibrahim has said nothing
since the war started and no weapons of mass destruction were found.
The nation-builder press, Sept 5, 2002. Ms Irene Ng is a PAP MP and deputy
chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Foreign Affairs. Ms Ng
has said nothing since the war started and no weapons of mass destruction were
found.
GOOD FOR NOTHING
When responding to the Muslim group's appeal, PAP MP Mr Zainudin Nordin (Bishan-Toa
Payoh GRC) said: "I believe that going into Iraq is a security issue for the
US. It is not a religious issue." Mr Zainuddin has said nothing since the war
started and no weapons of mass destruction were found.
FEB 25, 2004: 298 DAYS... AND
STILL NO WMD* FOUND IN IRAQ.
* Weapons of Mass Destruction
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SEPT 11 SUSPECT
GETS ANOTHER TWO YEARS ISA DETENTION
A former Malaysian army officer with alleged links to the Sept 11 hijackers
has been ordered detained for a further two years under the Internal Security
Act [ISA], reported AFP, Jan 29 2004.
Yazid Sufaat, a US-trained biochemist has been in detention since his arrest
in November 2001 when he returned from Afghanistan. His wife, Sejahratul Dursina
alias Chomel Mohamed, who was also detained under the ISA, had been freed June
12, 2002.
The Malaysian authorities are accusing her husband Yazid of ordering four tonnes
of ammonium nitrate in October 2000. Both Malaysia and Singapore are claiming
that four tonnes of ammonium nitrate were meant for terrorist attacks.
Malaysian Special Branch accused him of buying the ammonium nitrate "to be made
into bombs in the jihad or holy war against Christians in Ambon". But Yazid
has said "it was purely business where he sold the chemical to an Indonesian
engineer who was running a quarry in Jawa Barat and had obtained a RM8,000-profit
from the deal". The $ingapore claim is that four tonnes of ammonium nitrate
was meant for $ingapore targets.
The Abolish ISA Movement in a statement condemned the extension of Yazid's ISA
detention, and called for him to be put on trial immediately or to be released
unconditionally. "It is mind boggling that after making such specific allegations,
the government decides not to put him on trial on those allegations but to continue
his detention under ISA," it said.
Here is the latest press clipping on Yazid Sufaat:
The nation-builder press, Jan 28, 2004.
The report said: "An al-Qaeda program to develop chemical and biological weapons
was in the early 'conceptual stages' when it was cut short by the US-led invasion
of Afghanistan..." The report said US and Malaysian security officials believe
Yazid Sufaat ran the program. No where in this latest report is there any mention
of the four tonnes of ammonium nitrate he was originally accused of supplying.
Ammonium nitrate is used as a fertilizer like bullshit.
Read Yazid's story here http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/200204130015245.php
BUT NO DETENTION HERE
The nation-builder press, Feb 6, 2004.
On Jan 29, 2004, Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi signed detention orders extending
for a further two years, the jailing of Yazid Sufaat [see above] without the
benefit of a trial. In the above report, nine days later, the same US intelligence
agency that fingered Yazid Sufaat also pointed their fingers at a company that
the PM's only son has a controlling stake in, the Scomi Group. US intelligence
accused Scomi of being "the supplier of alleged centrifuge parts" which were
bound for Libya's nuclear weapons program. PM Badawi's son, Mr Kamaludin Abdullah,
owns a controlling stake in Scomi. No one in Scomi has been arrested.
The nation-builder press, Feb 7, 2004.
The above report says a $ingapore company, Bikar Metal Asia Pte Ltd, supplied
the raw materials to Scomi. The report was run as a sidebar in the nation-builder
press's Asia section.
THAT
OTHER SEPT 11 SUSPECT
Time magazine, Feb 2, 2004.
On trial in Hamburg, Germany, was Abdelghani Mzoudi, also accused of helping
the terrorists who carried out the Sept 11 attacks. Mzoudi is a former roommate
of Mohamed Atta who was accused of providing support to the suicide pilots.
In the Feb 2, 2004 issue of Time it was reported that prosecuters introduced
a surprise witness, six weeks into the trial. The "star witness" is a self-proclaimed
Iranian intelligence agent known as Hamid Reza Zakeri, who told the court that
Mzoudi handled logistics for the three hijackers based in Hamburg before the
strikes.
This is what Time magazine also reported: "As far as the intelligence community
is concerned, this new witness is absolutely not credible. After questioning
him, it's clear to us that nothing he says is believable." The source of this
quote is attributed to a "high-ranking German intelligence official".
Mzoudi was acquitted Feb 5, 2004.
Meanwhile in $ingapore....
WHAT
IT COULD HAVE BEEN
The nation-builder press, Jan 15, 2004.
There are now 37 Singaporeans locked up under the Internal Security Act. Another
12 are under "restriction orders". Another 30, "marginally involved in JI activities"
according to a nation-builder report Jan 15, 2004, have been warned to cease
their links with terrorist groups. None have been charged in court for any crime.
No one has ever asked to hear their side of the story.
Imagine if ALL had been detained under the ISA. Then $ingapore
would have to explain how a small country with no history of terrorist activities
can suddenly have 79 detained for terrorism within two years. Malaysia
is holding around 90 suspected Islamic militants, many of them allegedly members
of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah.
According to the U.S. State Department, which issues an annual survey of human
rights conditions around the globe, the ISA has been applied sparingly over
recent years. "No one was detained under the ISA from 1989 through to the end
of 1996. Two persons were detained in 1997, and four in 1998, all for alleged
espionage. Of these six, two remained in detention at the end of 1998. There
were no reports of any new detentions under the ISA during [1999]," the 2000
survey said.
AFTER SEPT 11, GENERAL LEE SAID THIS
The nation-builder press, Sept 23 2001.
It has never been explained why it was initially broadcasted that $ingapore
was free of Osama links. Now we have 79 people who are allegedly involved in
some kind of "terrorist activity" linked to al-Qaeda.
SINGAPORE ENGINEER DOWN
"A $ingapore Technologies Aerospace engineer was killed after two US Marine
Corps helicopters collided at the Paya Lebar Air Base July 17 2002. Flying debris
from the collision struck the lower torso of Mr Mohamed Ruslan Radin, 41, who
was in the hanger about 75 m away. He died in hospital..." - The nation-builder
press, July 17 2002.
"The only reported Singaporean victim of post Sept 11
was an innocent bystander in a military airbase here."
- The "accident-prone" Mirror of Opinion, July 17 2002.
$ingapore was accused Jan 16, 2004 by Amnesty International of having the highest
rate of state executions in the world.
In a scathing report, the human rights watchdog says more than 400 prisoners
have been hanged in Singapore since 1991 - three times as many, compared to
its total population, as Saudi Arabia [the No. 2 executioner] and almost seven
times as many as China.
Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong told the BBC in a recent interview that between
70 and 80 people had been executed last year. When queried about why he did
not know the precise number, he said: "I've got more important things to worry
about."
Two days later, Mr Goh's office retracted that statement and said the number
of executions between January and September last year was 10.
Read the Amnesty Report here: $INGAPORE - The death penalty: A hidden toll of
executions
http://web.amnesty.org/library/print/ENGASA360012004
UNDER LOCK AND KEY TILL
DEC 2005
$ingapore's
original 13 ISA detainees were arrested between Dec 9 and Dec 24 2001. They
have been jailed without trial for TWO YEARS. Of
the 13 suspects, the only one to have admitted involvement in an Al-Qaeda plot
to bomb the US Embassy in $ingapore is Mohamed Nazir. Nazir is also the only
one who is represented by a lawyer. No one is asking the $ingapore government
to substantiate its claim in court. Neither have any applied for Habeas corpus.
It was reported Jan 15, 2004, that the 13 ISA detainees have had their detention
extended for two more years. They have to wait till Dec 2005 to find out whether
their detention will be further extended.
Lawyers start no detention without trial campaign in Malaysia
http://www.bigomagazine.com/thisweek/reformasi.html
