22A = THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WORLD NEWS
MONDAY, AUGUST 19, 2002
Afghanistan enjoys Independence Day amid violent threats
The Associated Press
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Giant tents rose from dusty lots and colored lights were hung across busy intersections yesterday in a flurry of last-minute preparations for Independence Day as police fanned across the city amid a heightened threat of violence.
Today marks Afghanistan's 83rd anniversary of the end of British colonial rule. It will be the first time Kandahar, the former Taliban stronghold and the country's second largest city, has celebrated Independence Day in more than two decades. In Kabul, the Taliban revived Independence Day celebrations in 2000.
"We are organizing the celebration to show people that we have succeeded in our goal. This is a sign that there is no al-Qaida, no Taliban in Kandahar. We want to show Afghanistan and the world that this region is the safest region," said Mayor Abdullah Popal.
Late last week, police had issued a warning that the celebrations could be targeted for attacks by members of the Taliban or fundamentalist Muslim group Hizb-e-Islami headed by warlord Gulbuddin Helmatyar.
Leaders in the capital of Kabul announced the cancelation of their main military parade last week, citing financial reasons. However, security concerns have been paramount with the recent assassination of the country's vice president and the discovery of a would-be car bomber.
Popal said Kandahar never considered killing the celebration, but it has tightened up security. Police have been meticulously searching all cars heading into the city, trisking passengers for ammunition and weapons. Checkpoints have been set up throughout Kandahar.
"Nobody can completely stop these incidents, but we are ready." he said.
On Sunday, city workers were busystringing up colored lights across dusty intersections. Black, red and green national flags flew from the city's main gates, already plastered with pictures of President Hamid Karzai and former king Zaher Shah.
Popal said Governor Gul Agha Sherzal, who was putting in personal funds to help finance the celebration, was considering whether to extend the three days of celebration by another two days.
The mayor said he expects tens of thousands of people will turn out, many coming from the countryside to join in the festivities.
Ailing pope mentions his death at Mass
The Associated Press
KRAKOW, Poland — In a tearful farewell Mass in his beloved Krakow, Pope John Paul II told more than 2 million Poles on yesterday that he would like to return one day — but "this is entirely in God's hands."
The alling, 82 year-old pope, brushing aside any notion he might step down while making his ninth papal trip to his home land, grew weaker during the three-hour service until adoring throngs raised his spirits by chanting his name.
The Polish pilgrimage has been both a trip down memory lane for the pope — who visited his old house, the quarry where he labored during the Nazi occupation and his family's graves — and an opportunity to underline Poland's deeply Catholic traditions as it moves to join heavily secular Western Europe.
"God bless you," he said to applause from the vast throng filling the Blonia meadows. Then, choosing his words carefully, he said, "I would like to add 'until next time' but this is entirely in God's hands."
Most of all, the pilgrimage has emphasized Poland's extraordinary bond with its favorite son — the first Polish pope, who successfully challenged communism.
"You are great. We love you. Stay with us," the crowd shouted.
"I say, you are telling me to desert Rome!" John Paul responded with tears in his eyes.
Many in the crowd, fearing it would be the noppe's last visit, were teary-eyed, too.
The crowd was the biggest for a papal Mass since 4 million people attended a 1995 service in Manila, Philippines. Previous record crowds in Poland have numbered around 1 million since John Paul began returning to his homeland after assuming the papacy in 1978.
John Paul looked uncomfortable sitting on the altar in green robes as temperatures reached the low 80s. His hands trembled and he often slurred his words, symptoms of Parkinson's disease, during the long ceremony that included the beatification of four Poles — three priests and a nun.
One of those beatified was an archbishop of Warsaw, Zyumant Szeszegy
Felinski, who was deported to Russia in 1863 by Warsaw's then-czarist rulers as punishment for his loyalty to the Vatican. He remained in exile for 20 years and never was allowed to regain his position in Warsaw before dying in 1895.
John Paul warned Poles of dangers posed when man "puts himself in God's place" — referring to genetic engineering and euthanasia — and by encroachments on traditional church teaching.
"When the noisy propaganda of liberalism, of freedom without truth or responsibility, grows stronger in our country, too, the shepherds of the church cannot fail to proclaim the one fall-proof philosophy of freedom, which is the truth of the cross of Christ," the pope said.
The message reaches a nation increasingly soured on a capitalist system that has created social and economic disparities, and plays into growing sentiments among conservative Catholics that political decisions made on issues such as abortion in order to integrate Poland with Western Europe will spoil their country.
The crowd responded to his homily with calls of "Thank you."
In the hours before the Mass, the arriving Polish faithful overflowed the sprawling Blonia meadows.
Many pilgrims traveled hours in small parish groups on hoses and trains for the Mass, carrying food and bed rolls to catch a few hours of sleep after arriving in the early morning hours. Some strummed guitars and played drums, creating a festival atmosphere as they streamed passed vendors grilling meats and selling stools, hats and papal souvenirs.
Arriving for the Mass, John Paul circled the crowd in his "popemobile" as pilgrims song choruses of "Poland loves you, Krakow loves you," a song written for a planned Mass at Blonia in 1999 that the pope canceled because he had the flu.
"I have constantly tears in my eyes today. I'm afraid I'll cry when I see him passing. It's such a distinction from God that the pope is Polish," said Magda Fidej, 52, from Krakow.
John Paul's four-day visit ends today when he visits a sanctuary 27 miles outside Krakow. He is scheduled to depart for Rome in the early evening.
Asia monsoon season leaves thousands dead
The Associated Press
PATNA, India — Deadly snakes slithered in floodwaters as 24 people in eastern India died from bites, drowning or being crushed by crumbling houses as rain and raging floods wreaked havoc in South Asia, officials said Sunday.
The latest deaths in India's Bihar state mean 935 people in Bangladesh, India and Nepal have died since the monsoon season began in June. About 23 million people in the neighboring nations have been displaced.
In China, the death toll from summer storms approached 1,000 as torrential rain trigger landslides and floods, particularly in the central and southern provinces.
The India deaths, which occurred over the past three days in far-flung areas, raise the toll in Bihar to 300.
"We have received some delayed reports of deaths. These include drowning, snake bites and house collapse," said Manoranjan, an undersecretary at the Bibar state's Relief and Rehabilitation Department.
Rains continued there Sunday, flooding major rivers, he said. In the worst areas, army helicopters dropped food packets to marooned villages.
Nearly 16 million people have been displaced by flooding in Bihar, where 338,000 houses have collapsed, officials said.
Weather officials have forecast more rains in India next week.
Nepal has suffered the highest death toll
at 424. But the government said the weather has improved in the past few days, and there have been no new reports of damage or casualties.
Across the border in Bangladesh, more than 2,000 displaced people gathered late Saturday outside a government office at Galandba town, 120 miles north of the capital Dhaka, demanding food or work.
Meanwhile, swollen rivers swamped new villages and displaced another 10,000 people, relief officials said Sunday. The monsoon floods, the country's worst in four years, have killed 157 people and displaced or stranded nearly 7 million in this delta nation of 130 million people.
Floods are common in Bangladesh, which
has nearly 250 rivers, most of them shared by neighboring India and Nepal. The rivers originate in the Himalayas and run across India before draining into the Bay of Bengal.
Two rounds of floods caused by heavy rains already have inundated one-third of Bangladesh. But the rivers that receded last week started rising again.
In the third round of floods, nearly 10,000 people were left homeless Saturday in Patuakhalkii and Pabna districts.
The Flood Forecasting and Warning Center in Dhaka warned conditions are likely to deteriorate next week because of expected rains.
The rivers in the country's three basins continued rising Sunday, the center said. But the water levels are still below the flood peak.
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