US-UK citizens cautioned News of Bin Laden's death taken with a ...

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US-UK citizens cautioned News of Bin Laden's death taken with a ...

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• Publié par: ycyzadom
• Nombre de lectures: 35
• Langue: English

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Gulf Daily News

Tuesday, 3rd May 2011

3

A BAHRAIN-based fam-

ily yesterday joined thou-

sands of people world-

wide in celebrating the

death of Al Qaeda leader

Osama bin Laden.

Rasila Savani’s brother-

in-law

Hasmukh

Parmar

was among more than 3,000

people killed in the terror

attack on the World Trade

Centre in US on September

11, 2001.

She said his wife Bharti

and the couple’s sons, then

aged 16 and 14, were still

trying

to

come to terms

with

their

loss,

nearly

10 years after

the tragedy.

“My sister,

Bharti

and

her elder son,

Shamir broke

the

news

to

me that shat-

tered our fam-

ily,” said Ms Savani.

“Those were testing times

for the family.

“But the news of Bin

Laden’s death has mentally

lifted us all and it’s a good

end as my nephews suffered

for years after the shocking

incident.”

By SANDEEP SINGH GREWAL

Bahrain family

celebrating...

BAHRAIN could cash in on the death

of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden,

according to a leading banker.

He said the announcement would

“liven up” the depressed US econ-

omy and in turn benefit countries

pegged to the dollar.

The official, who heads opera-

tions at a multinational bank based

in Bahrain, said Bin Laden’s death

was good news for the American

economy, which had been in the dol-

drums for some time.

“With this piece of news coming

in, it is the perfect opportunity for

the dollar to look up and the coun-

try’s economy to enliven at the same

time,” said the banker, who declined

to be named.

“This is also very good news for

dollar-pegged

currencies

like

the

Bahraini dinar, which would also see

good times ahead.”

The banker was speaking as the

dollar rose from a three-year low, oil

fell and world stocks showed gains.

European shares increased a third

of a per cent, while US and Japanese

stocks also rose following the news

of Bin Laden’s death.

“The timing is just perfect,” he

said.

“The US economy is in a bad

shape, the dollar is at its worst and

popularity ratings of the US presi-

dent at an all-time low this news is

good news for everyone and will be

welcomed by the world as a whole,

particularly the finance and banking

industry.”

The banker said the political situa-

tion in the Middle East has also been

and continued to be fluid.

“With the killing of Osama, this

is also a signal to the Hezbollah and

Al Qaeda operatives in the region,

who continue to cause severe dis-

ruptions, to be on their guard,” he

said.

“Never mind the lots of connota-

tions that are being drawn from the

announcement, it certainly is some-

thing to heartily welcome.”

Bahrain

Association

of

Banks

(BAB) chief executive Robert Ainey

said the rise of the dollar, which had

been a safe haven for many years,

would bring a lot of confidence back

to the US economy.

“The stock markets have been

doing fairly well in the last six

months but have been very restrained

as well,” he said.

“However, this development is an

indicator it will continue to do well.

“This surely is a development

that will signal the return of opti-

mism.”

Mr Ainey, an American, how-

ever, said the optimism was still not

across the board as several sectors,

particularly housing, had a long way

to go.

Kingdom ‘could cash in on killing of terrorist chief’

n

Mr Parmar

Mr Parmar lived in Warren,

New Jersey and worked as a

computer

systems

manager

at Cantor Fitzgerald on the

103rd floor of the World Trade

Centre. He was a Green Card

holder with a British passport.

Popularly known as Hash

among friends, he was famous

as a loving husband and father.

Ms Savani said Rishi was

only 14 when he lost his father

and the tragedy led to him suf-

fering from depression.

But yesterday, she said he

phoned her and spoke of his

happiness as news broke of Bin

Laden’s death in a compound

in Pakistan.

“He spoke with me after a

long time and was happy like

the rest of the family,” said Ms

Savani.

“As a child he could not

overcome the situation as his

father dropped him to school

and then went to work.”

According to Mr Parmar’s

profile published in the

New

York Times

on October 21,

2001,

he

was

a

basketball

coach to Rishi and taught his

eldest son Shamir to play the

guitar daily, amusing him with

songs of Jimi Hendrix and

Carlos Santana.

“Rishi used to feel depressed

whenever

September

approached as he missed his

father,” said Ms Savani.

“He was happy when he

called me and it is good to hear

from him.”

The death of the world’s

most-wanted man came just

months before the 10th anni-

versary of the September 11

attacks on the World Trade

Centre and Pentagon, orches-

trated by Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda

organisation.

US

President

Barack

Obama said a small team of

Americans killed Bin Laden

early on Sunday in the town

of Abbottabat, about 100km

(62 miles) north of the capital

Islamabad.

The US State Department

later issued a worldwide secu-

rity

alert

shortly

after

the

announcement of the terrorist

mastermind’s death in a mili-

tary operation.

There

was

no

official

announcement

by

Bahrain

authorities stating whether they

had raised the security level

following Bin Laden’s death.

In

2009,

Bahrain

police

arrested at least three men with

alleged links with Al Qaeda or

an affiliated organisation.

Authorities

seized

two

machine

guns,

a

pistol,

bul-

lets, knives

and

swords

from

the suspects. Interior Minister

Lieutanant

General

Shaikh

Rashid bin Abdulla Al Khalifa

said the cell members were plan-

ning terror acts in Bahrain and

other neighbouring countries.

[e-mail]

US-UK citizens cautioned

By MANDEEP SINGH

News of Bin Laden’s death taken with a pinch of salt

THERE was scepticism amongst

Bahrain residents yesterday after

news broke out that Osama bin

Laden had been killed by US troops.

The general consensus was that

the story had been made up to suit

certain agendas.

“It is totally false,” said a 39-year-

old

Bahraini

businessman

who

wanted to be known only as Adel.

“I don’t believe that he is dead

because if they wanted to take him,

they would have done so a long

time ago.

“If news reports saying that US

forces have known where he was

since last August are true, then why

didn’t they take him out then?”

“I believe it is fake news that has

been made up so we concentrate on

other things.”

British resident Stephanie Green

said the recent dubious reporting of

Bahrain’s unrest meant she had lost

faith in the media.

“Due to recent events and mixed-

up reporting, it is hard to believe the

news right now,” said the 24-year-

old personal assistant.

“With Bin Laden, people thought

he had died years ago.

“For it to be untrue wouldn’t be

that shocking.”

Also sceptical was Briton Jack

Taylor.

“One thought that I just couldn’t

shrug off was how Barack Obama

and

his

counterparts

such

as

Hillary

Clinton

could

condemn

the Bahrain government on how

they handled the recent situation in

Bahrain while they have gone out

and killed a man and celebrated

it to international media,” said the

20-year-old.

“But then I thought, is he really

By ALICIA DE HALDEVANG

dead?

“It’s the 21st century and

we haven’t seen a picture

yet.

“Troops are notoriously

known for taking pictures of

people they have attacked

or killed and yet we haven’t

seen anything.”

The magazine editor said

if reports were true it would

likely have a positive affect

on the world and Middle

East.

However,

salesman

Benson Samuel, 23, disa-

greed.

“I just saw the news on

Facebook and I feel odd

about it,” he said.

“Iraq and Afghanistan are

in such bad condition at the

moment, I don’t think this

news will have a positive

effect on the world, or on

the Middle East.

Bahraini

Noor

Ahmed

said she did not believe the

terrorist leader was dead

because of the nature of the

US military operation.

“They should have done

everything in their power

to capture him alive so he

would stand trial before the

world for crimes he com-

mitted

against

the

West,

Muslims

and

humanity,”

said the 23-year-old public

relations officer.

“Also, why bury him in

the sea?”

Others said they would

remain doubtful until evi-

dence of Bin Laden’s death

was shown.

“Most people believe that

he died around six years

ago and rumours have been

floating around since then

that he was killed or he died

of cancer,” said sales engi-

neer Bhusha Damle, 26.

“Unless they show clear

photographs of his face and

body, then I won’t believe

anything they say.”

His view was echoed by

Jahangwi Khan.

“I really believe that the

USA has fixed this news

for their convenience,” said

the information technology

administrator, 34.

n

Mr Samuel

n

Mr Taylor

AMERICAN and British citizens have been

urged to be on high alert, amid fears of pos-

sible retaliatory attacks following the death of

Osama bin Laden.

Both countries said they were stepping up

security at their embassies and warned of the

possibility

of

revenge

attacks

against

their

nationals.

The US Embassy in Bahrain warned its

citizens of potential anti-American violence in

a statement posted on its website yesterday,

a warning it said would remain in place until

August 1.

“Given the uncertainty and volatility of the

current situation, US citizens in areas where

recent events could cause anti-American vio-

lence are strongly urged to limit their travel

outside of their homes and hotels and avoid

mass gatherings and demonstrations,” it said.

It

also

said

US

government

facilities

worldwide would remain at a heightened

state of alert and urged its citizens to

enrol in the US State Department’s Smart

Traveller Enrolment Programme to receive

updated information on travel and security

issues.

Meanwhile,

the

British

Foreign

Office

warned Bin Laden’s death “may lead to an

increase in violence and terrorist activity”.

“The Foreign Secretary has asked all our

embassies and high commissions overseas to

review their security,” said a message posted

on the British Embassy’s website.

“We advise British nationals overseas to

monitor the media carefully for local reac-

tions, remain vigilant, exercise caution in all

public places and avoid demonstrations, large

crowds of people and public events.”

World on alert – Page 15