America strikes notebook

Compiled from Times wires

© St. Petersburg Times,
published October 21, 2001

Saudis arrest bin Laden supporters

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi authorities have detained a number of people suspected of backing Osama bin Laden and have kept others from joining him in Afghanistan, the interior minister said Saturday.

None is connected with the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, Prince Nayef said.

He also warned that the kingdom will side with any Arab country that might become a target in the U.S.-led antiterror campaign.

It is the first time Saudi Arabia has announced arrests of bin Laden supporters since the attacks in New York and Washington. The prince did not specify how many were arrested.

Hussein accuses U.S. of terrorism

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Saddam Hussein accused the United States of 11 years of terrorism against Iraq, and the government newspaper claimed Saturday that the U.S. government organized the global anthrax scare to gain support for its war on terror.

Hussein's comments came in what the official Iraqi News Agency said was a response to a letter from an American who asked him to try to improve Iraqi-U.S. relations in order to solve disputes and fight terrorism.

"Do you know that your administration has been promoting terrorism against us, calling for ending our regime by force and allocating funds for this purpose?" the agency quoted Hussein as saying.

Gorbachev weighs in on coalition

MOSCOW -- The U.S.-led international coalition against terror must become a coalition for a new and fair world order if it is to succeed, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev said in an interview published Saturday.

"If the fight against terrorism is reduced to force actions, the world will eventually lose," Gorbachev told Rossiiskaya Gazeta. "If it becomes part of joint efforts to build a just world order, everybody shall win, including those who today are not supporting the U.S. actions and the coalition."

He urged politicians to remember the notions of solidarity and said developing nations must be helped to overcome poverty.

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