| July 19, 2006
North halts inter-Korean reunions
/
Dozens die in fresh Lebanon raids
This is bbc world. I'm matt frye in washington. 300 are dead
in Lebanon after Israel rains its fire on what it says is a
Hezbollah target.
>> The country has been torn to shreds.
>>> Lebanon says half a million are displaced by the violence as
eight agencies warn of humanitarian catastrophe
>>> I'm mike embley in washington-- in london. We have a special
report on Hezbollah. And a moral boundary too far says president
bush, using his veto for the first time on stem cell research.
>> Welcome. The Lebanese prime minister has appealed for an
immediate appeal for the end of the Hezbollah and guerrilla movement
saying his country is being destroyed saying more than 300 people
have been killed and half a million others displaced in the week of
of Israeli attacks. First tonight our correspondent jim muir reports
from of of tair in southern Lebanon. All
>> All parts of Lebanon have been hit but nowhere battered like
the south where, despite everything, Hezbollah continues to fire
rockets into Israel. The biggest towne in the border zone, tair has
taken its share of punishment. P this story was reduced to eight. At
least 20 people died. Carol anmani was staying this the towne's
christian border thinking it would be safer. They didn't find it
easy trying to get nine-month-old melody home and out of harm's way.
>> We're stuck and depending on the good will of the family we
are staying with. We're doing the best we can.
>> Reporter: This greek catholic cathedral has been overrun by
refugees seeking sanctuary by Israel's wrong. Well south of Lebanon,
people have fled the region villages through the hills. What's soerd
many p now is that Israel may be left with an even more free hand to
punish them further. Chaotic scenes and of evacuations. We came here
and we get over here and it's an absolute mess. Really
disappointing.
>> Reporter: So dashed hopes, another night in the combat zone
with nowhere to stay. Anxiety and uncertainty lie as head for those
lucky enough to be leaving. Those who remain face something much
worse. The evacuation of thousands in way route. P gavin hewitt
witnessed some of the day's key events therement
>> Reporter: For british passport holders today, it was a
comforting site, landing close by, raf chinooks. They brought in
troops to help with the evacuation. This is turning out to be a
major operation but among those stranded in a dangerous city, there
was still a lot of frustration.
>> Everybody is getting stressed
the Israelis have spared Beirut yesterday. This morning they were
back. Here they struck at a truck and container depo. Everything
around was destroyed, trees sledded. Tlooed slooeded. This was an
attempt to prevent Hezbollah from moving rockets but it was adjacent
to a residential neighbourhood: Mid-morning, one of the richest
neighbourhoods in the city came under fire. We were taking cover in
a basement garage when an Israeli missile landed 50 metres away. We
have taken shelter in the garage. These people don't have any
connection with Hezbollah at all. They're christians and this is the
first time the Israelis have bombed their area. Undergroundwe saw
the terror of
neighbourhood not attacked before. "I'm ver yraid of the
bombings" this woman told us. "This is the first time I've heard
them. Eye want to leave here. No ship will be coming to evacuate
her. When we left the garage, we discovered the Israeli target was a
drilling rig from a truck. From the air it may have looked like a
moscow launcher. Less than half a mile away, groups of people with
foreign passports were gathering on the streets waiting to be
evaluated, these were australians. Another day in Beirut. Well,
bbc's ben brown is also there and a short time ago i asked him how
the people left behind in Lebanon were faring.
>> I think the foreign nationals still here are pretty petrified
to be honest, matt, and desperate to get out. It has been eight days
of of pretty much constant Israeli bombardment bombardment. The
sooner they can get out, the better. Hundreds of thousands are on
the move. The gone anywhere they think is safer. They've left the
south of Lebanon where the bombardment is the most ferocious. That's
where some foreign nationals are still trappedtrapped. The problem
is they dote dare use the roads to get to Beirut which is where the
ships and ferries are leaving from.
>> Reporter: Are ordinary Lebanese blaming Hezbollah for the
plight or the Israeli armenty?
>> Both. In public they tend to blame the Israelis. The Israelis
are being totally disproportionate with this bombing campaign. Okay,
they say to Israeli two Israeli soldiers were captured bring but
does that merit the eight-day bombardment they've had destroying
Lebanon's infrastructure. They said they wanted to knock Lebanon's
infrastructure back 20 years.
>>> My colleague with the latest from Beirut but now to mike and
developments across the border in Israel.
>>> When the crisis erupted eight days ago, Israel was trying to
capture the soldiers but now they want to eradicate the threat from
Hezbollah once and for all changing the rules of the game in the
region
quick reaction is the only way to win this. The conflict today
claim the lives of two Israeli soldiers during a battle with
Hezbollah government. Nine injured were air lifted to hospital. They
continue to pound Lebanon from the air, land and sea. Beirut lies
less than 100 miles up the road behind me but for now, Israel's
military commanders say there are no plans send any troops across
the border as a land invasion force. So the plan is to continue
hitting what they believe are Hezbollah targets and the united
states is giving Israel the time to do what it says it needs to do.
Today the european union head of foreign policy policy javier solana
met and was told they will not stop. But he is pushing for an end of
the fighting and an international force along the Israeli-Lebanese
border. It has to be a force with a mandate that has to be much more
robust than exists tod aay it has to be of a different dimension
with a different mandate. For now there is the question as to
whether the force alone can hit Hezbollah. Israel says they're
fighting for their people and modern democratic values against the
forces of Israel. This is looking like the latest battleground in
what the west calls the war on terror. It may have started with the
capture of the Israeli saudis but for Israel, it is much more than
that and it is the Hezbollah fighters and syria and iran. Western
allies agree they've given Israel the diplomatic room to keep going
and this is why. Israel, like the americans believe that an axis of
evil of terrorists and their sponsors runs across middle east from
hamas in gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and syria and iraq and iran.
Israelis under attack want to hit back hard. They like their
leader's message and this is a chan to score a clear-cut victory in
the war on terror.
>> We cannot allow ourselves to be in a situation that condones
the process of Hezbollah over there as a power. That should be
uprooted.
>> Reporter: But on this side of the border in Lebanon, the flaws
in Israel's military strategy are showing. As Israel does massive
damage to infrastructure that doesn't have an obvious military use
and as more Lebanese civilians are killed even the americans won't
want to provide diplomatic cover indefinitely. Even after weeks of
fighting, it is not clear that Hezbollah has even been damaged. It
is clear the organization is still standing. Far away from the white
house in washington, they're saying and this is a quote, that a
cease-fire that attack with an in tact terrorist structure would be
unacceptable. That suggests a long war. In the 15 minutes we have
been working here, we have been approached five times by Hezbollah
security patrols. That suggests that here in the southern suburbs of
Beirut, their infrastructure is very much in tact. Jeremy bowen, bbc
news, Beirut.
>>> Still to come on this programme, george bush puts his mark on
the row over stem cell research by using the first veto of of his
presidency.
>> Business news from new york and tanya becket.
>> The shares of search engine yahoo fell dramatically on
wednesday. The company said it is delaying the launch of its new
search system. Google comes out with its figures on thursday. Google
has a 44% share the search engine on wednesday inflation pressure in
the U.S. Could ease in the coming months. But nike kept the door
open for the august meeting
>> In the absence of of significant unforeseen developments, the
economy should continue to expand at a solid and sustainable pace
and core inflation should decline at its recent level over the
medium term
>> It wasn't just the comments driving up the market but earnings
news as companies continue to report second quarter ruts. After the
bell it wasn't good. Intel, the world's largest chip maker posted a
sharply lower second quarter market
taking a look at dow jones, 1 by the close at 11,011. The nasdaq
gains seven points to close at 2080 and the markets look and decide
it was a good day.
>> You're watching bbc world. Our main headlines.
>> 00 are dead as Israel continues to attack what it says are
Hezbollah targets. President bush says tonight no plans to spend
american money on embryonic stem cell research. He did it by using
his veto. Earlier I went along to the white house.
>> Babies and toddlers in the east room of the white house. What
is going on they would not be alive today if the embryos from which
they came were used for medical research.
>> These boys and girls are not spare parts. They remind us
(applause) he remind us of what is lost when embryos are destroyed
in the name of research. They remind us that we begin our lives as a
small collection of of cells and they remind us that in our zeal for
new treatments and cures, America must never abandon our fundamental
morals.
>> Reporter: But if one-year-old tray grows up with diabetes or
parkinson's and if stem cell research could muster a cure,
>> Most people agree eggs fertilized in a dish through in vitro
fertilization and which will be discarded do not have the same moral
standing as a 12-year-old child with juvenile diabetes
>> So the president has used his precious veto to torpedo a law
in congress including many republicans and the marmots of the
public. To him it is a matter of of faith. To the rest, it is a
principle of common sense.
>>> Our correspondent has been following the debate and joins me
now. Thanks for coming. The question on my mind is why has bush done
this?
>> I suppose he didn't have a choice. What you can't accuse the
president of is being inconsistent of in had issue. His first
televised address on this was on stem cell research. He has time and
again said he would veto this bill. He couldn't do anything else. It
does have the support of those on his base, the evangelical
supporters, the head of the southern Baptist convention tonight 80%
of the from vengeance side had to do this.
>> It has divided the republican party. Nancy Reagan is against
it. So why did he risk dividing his party in an election year?
>> That's a good question. He and his supporters have made the
calculation that this will play well in mid-term elections as we
look ahead to november but it's not as clear-cut as you point out.
It does divide the party even those with staunch staunchly
anti-abortion. They've supported the bill. It is not clear how it
will play out but president bush believed he had to follow through
with his threat
>> Is it possible that in some of key constituencies. This kind
policy, you lose of election or
>> It hopes it can win them. But there is a very close race from
the senate in which the republican candidates opposition could be
decisive. It is not a clear-cut issue but one that will play a
number of states as you suggest.
>> Thank you very much for coming. And still to come on this
programme. Rescuers trying to find survivors under needs a collapsed
building. We get this report from seoul
>> Reporter: The smiles wearing thin at the latest rounds of
interkorean talks. After two days, the north koreans walked out
warning of disastrous disastrous consequences. The head of the
country's red cross has announced a suspension of of talks and any
further meetings of divided families. Reunions have been one of the
symbols of improved relation over the the years. Thousands of of
south koreans have been allowed brief heavily controlled family
members family meetings with family meetings they have not seen
since the war several years ago years ago. They like to shut off
their population from the outside world and is now cutting off these
contacts as well and blaming the south from for criticizing
humanitarian issues. North korea has been kunting on the south for
half a million tonne rice this year but the badly needed aid was
suspended because of the launch of the seven ballistic missiles this
month. The south is warning against an over reaction to the missile
tests. Talks on the north must not be used to isolate or put more
pressure on north koreakorea, warned the foreign minister. South
korea worries that tough singses could provoke a violent reaction
from its northern abe. Even maybe the test of a nuclear weapon if
the north is pushed into a corner. Charles scanlon, bbc news, seoul.
>> Nigeria's main commercial centre are working to free 100
people trapped in a collapsed building. 20 have been killed and 50
injured. They've heard trapped people crying out for help. Others
have been calling on mobile phones. No heavy lifting equipment.
People are using their bare hands to reach those inside. Poland's
new leader has won a vote of confidence that will confirm him as
prime minister. His conservative coalition the prime minister's
brother is the polish president. Now a reminder of our main story.
Lebanon's prime minister said more than 300 people have been killed
and 1,000 yoird in eight days of of military operations by Israel.
The united nations and the red cross have confirmed the that half a
million people are now displaced. That's all we have time for. I'm
matt frye in washington. Matt embley in london. Thanks for being
with us. |
