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Showing posts from 2004

Aid workers in Iraq stung by hatred of West

International aid workers, whose pacifist-tinged neutrality once protected them from harm while they worked in combat zones, now find themselves as hated by militants in Iraq as the American soldiers there. The militants target them as missionaries for a Western-style culture that they consider a threat to Islamic traditions, and ordinary Iraqis fear the presence of a foreign aid worker in their midst will attract the next suicide bomber.

Different peas in an Iraqi pod

WASHINGTON - Humanitarian aid groups blame the Pentagon for "blurring the lines" between their staff and US-led coalition troops, which has resulted in an unprecedented number of aid workers being targeted by terrorists in Iraq.

Twenty years on, Bhopal scars remain

WASHINGTON - On the eve of the 20th anniversary of India's deadly Bhopal gas disaster, a leading human-rights group has lambasted the Indian government and Dow Chemical Co for failing to ensure that the survivors of the tragedy received adequate compensation and medical assistance.

Uncle Sam's man

WASHINGTON - As Afghans prepare for their first presidential elections on October 9, President Hamid Karzai, a Pashtun, is being challenged by over a dozen factional leaders, but most Afghans and international officials expect him to win.

Woman seeks top Afghan post

Armed with chutzpah and the determination to "heal Afghanistan," Masooda Jalal is taking on the might of Afghan warlords in the Oct. 9 presidential elections. "The people of Afghanistan are fed up with constant wars and want a fresh start," the lone female candidate told The Washington Times in a phone interview from her home in Kabul.

Saudis fall further from US grace

WASHINGTON - On a September morning just over three years ago, as hijackers piloted airplanes into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania, few would have guessed the catastrophic consequences for Saudi Arabia.

Gandhi in Palestine: Grandson of all battles

WASHINGTON - Drawing on the success of the first intifada of the late 1980s, Palestinian groups are launching hunger strikes and mass rallies across Israel in an effort to protest Israeli oppression peacefully.

Indian Americans: The Lobbyists

Both Democrats and Republicans are listening up like never before. Indian Americans, who are politically visible and able fundraisers, are likely to play an important role in November election.

Vote bodes shift in New Delhi

Last month's change of government in New Delhi and the appointment of a straight-talking external affairs minister could portend the beginning of tense times in U.S.-Indian relations.

Afghans lament a loss of attention

Homa Naderi worries that Afghanistan's 15 minutes in the spotlight are up. "We were forgotten as soon as the first bombs were dropped on Iraq," said the young Afghan American whose family moved to Pennsylvania when she was one year old.

'Hardline' charity begins in the donation box

WASHINGTON - For the second time in less than two years, an in-depth recent report has been released providing in detail links between charities based in the West and militant Hindu organizations in India.

From Brain Drain to "Brain Circulation"

With good employers, attractive working conditions, improved telecommunications and the entrepreneurial climate in India today, young professionals are moving back-and strengthening business ties in the process. Chetan Raghavan is ecstatic. He's landed an "awesome" job. An enviable pay package, a company car and a posh three-bedroom apartment are just some of the perks. But what this California resident is more excited about is the prospect of soon being surrounded by family and friends. He's moving to Bangalore.

India caught in Washington's political mangle

WASHINGTON - President George W Bush's intention of building a "strategic partnership" with India runs the risk of being consistently undermined by Washington's powerful non-proliferation faction.

Indian Americans on Capitol Hill

One of the most exciting and grueling jobs a young person interested in politics can have is an aide in the office of a member of the U.S. Congress. There, at the nerve center of U.S. politics, the work rarely lets up.