AMY GOODMAN: You are listening to The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.

The 22-member League of Arab States is being threatened with illegal eviction from the Manhattan offices it has occupied for the last 30 years. According to a lawsuit filed earlier this week, the landlord asked the Arab League to leave its Midtown headquarters about a week after the September 11th attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. The landlord claimed that other tenants in the building were worried that the group, which has observer status at the United Nations and has diplomatic immunity, would attract trouble. Now, after letting the issue lie for several months, the landlord is saying the Arab League must either foot the bill for new security measures that were put in place after September 11th, or else it must clear out of the premises within the week. The cost of the bill is $79,000. However, the chief official of the Arab League, Ambassador Hussain Hassouna of Egypt, has said the group’s lease is valid and it has no intention of leaving.

The Arab League was formed in 1945, at the suggestion of Egypt, to strengthen ties among the member states and win independence for all Arabs still under foreign rule. Today it represents more than 200 million people.

We’re joined on the phone right now by Ambassador Clovis Maksoud, the former Arab League ambassador to the United Nations. He joins us from Washington.

Welcome to The War and Peace Report, Ambassador Maksoud. Ambassador Maksoud, are you there? Sounds like he’s getting the — Ambassador Maksoud?

CLOVIS MAKSOUD: Yes, I can hear you.

AMY GOODMAN: It’s good to have you with us.

CLOVIS MAKSOUD: Thank you.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you talk about what exactly has been said to the Arab League about why they have to move?

CLOVIS MAKSOUD: Well, first of all, the Sage company must have told them that they are concerned about the presence because it might attract attention. This is more or less giving license to all the hate groups to invite them to attack any Arab institution or organization in the Manhattan area. This is unfair. It is discriminatory. It is a violation.

And I’m glad to see that the court yesterday made an injunction, because — made an injunction to stop the pending judgment from the court next sometime in the new year. On the other hand, the lease has still 'til 2003. As a matter of fact, I did sign the lease in 1983. And therefore, I think that this is not only illegal, it's discriminatory. And it is, let us say, politically incorrect. I mean, the Arab League is an institution of intergovernmental organizations. It has status in the United Nations. And I think that the headquarters agreement between the United States and the United Nations guarantees and ensures that within at least 20 miles, the United Nations is supposed to be protective and shielding all the diplomatic missions from any kind of adjudication.

And secondly, and it’s not only the Arab League in that building, it is also the United Arab — United Arab Emirates Mission, and both are being threatened to be evicted by the Sage company. And I think that the court has taken a correct decision in establishing an injunction and that I am sure that the outcome of the — whatever case might emerge in the aftermath of the first — of the beginning of the year would uphold the decision of the court, that they are entitled to remain until the end of the lease.

And as far as the insurances are concerned, I am sure that there is a reasonable invitation for the — to share in some part of the — but not to render the amount, like around $80,000, which is totally unreasonable. That should not be — this must be the responsibility of the Sage company, and not of the participants and not of those who are renting from it.

AMY GOODMAN: And where are the Arab League offices in Manhattan?

CLOVIS MAKSOUD: They are in 747 3rd Avenue.

AMY GOODMAN: Somewhat near the United Nations, where a lot of the offices are.

CLOVIS MAKSOUD: Yes, there, where all the offices are there, yes.

AMY GOODMAN: Are you facing pressure? I mean, you’re the former ambassador of the Arab League to the United Nations. But are you, the Arab League, facing pressure in other ways right now? I mean, the word we have out of the Pentagon that has been floated around is that Afghanistan is just the beginning. I think it was Rumsfeld or the president himself who talked about the year 2002 will be a war year, that Iraq could be the next target, as if it hasn’t been already a target for the last 10 years. What kind of pressure is the Arab League under?

CLOVIS MAKSOUD: Well, first of all, the Arab League, as you know, is the coordinating instrumentality of all the Arab states. Its headquarters is in Cairo. The secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, was the former foreign minister of Egypt. He’s now the new secretary general. And they are — necessarily would want to protect all the national interests of the Arab states, including Iraq, Kuwait, others.

The Arab League has condemned the attack on Manhattan in very strong terms. And there are many of the Arab states who are cooperating in the struggle against terrorism.

Of course, there has been always, throughout, at least when I was there, some, you know, crackpots sometimes try to threaten and make hate phone calls. But this is part of the game, I guess. But I don’t think there is any kind of threats on the mission itself. One cannot rule in 100% out, but I think that there is reasonable — and the United States government and the U.N. — U.S. Mission in the United Nations are aware of the implications of any kind of threat, even to those countries like Cuba or others who are not on very good terms with the United States. It is responsibility of the United States, as the headquarters of the United Nations and as the custodian of international legal treaties with the United Nations, is aware that these kind of pressures should not exist on the diplomatic missions. However, the Arab League itself, naturally, many countries in the Arab states are facing all sorts of political pressures, the Israeli and the Palestinian situation, the Iraq, etc. All these are things that have to be handled diplomatically. And I think that they are being handled diplomatically to the extent that nobody would try to provoke and damage a growing understanding between the United States and the Arab world. Of course, there will always remain certain differences, which have to be handled by the Arab League, and I think that’s what’s being done.

AMY GOODMAN: We’re talking to Ambassador Clovis Maksoud. He is currently a professor of international relations and director of the Center for the Global South at American University in Washington, D.C. He, before that, was a journalist and is an author. He was the senior editor at Al-Ahram and chief editor of Al-Nahar weekly in the 1960s and ’70s. I wanted to ask about the latest videotape of Osama bin Laden talking about what happened on September 11th as the “blessed terror,” and Al Jazeera says that they will be running the full, more than half an hour tape that apparently was mailed to them in Qatar from Pakistan today, sometime today. You have the U.S. press not airing the videotape, as they did the first one. And you have Al Jazeera being bombed by the U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and then arrested was one of the reporters when he went to cover the Putin-Bush summit in Texas. Can you talk about the U.S. approach to the bin Laden videotapes and what you think should be done with them?

CLOVIS MAKSOUD: Well, I think that I saw just one small part of the tape this morning on Al Jazeera. And I think that, you know, this whole idea now is being blown out of proportion. He’s trying to repeat redundancies and trying to generate some sort of sympathy, which does not anymore exist. He cannot be the spokesman of Islam, when we have seen how the people in Afghanistan have welcomed the new developments. It was such a wonderful sight to see some of the women in Afghanistan assuming cabinet status, after having been marginalized and suppressed for the last five years.

I mean, the Muslim community cannot be judged by a fringe group, which perhaps at one time resonated with the negativities and so forth of bin Laden because of the deep frustrations that were felt in many instances. But, however, this does not mean that there is a sort of identification, either in the Arab world and, I suppose, also in the Muslim world. What there is is that he’s trying to hijack the grievances and act as if he’s articulating them, when 99% of the population realize that however deep their grievances and frustrations are in the Arab and Muslim world, they have to be addressed in a much more rational, organized, systematic and communicative manner.

There is a distinction between genuine grievances that remain unaddressed and hate. And when he elevates the notion of terrorist acts, that some are better, like the one they did in Manhattan and Washington and the other — and in Kenya, that, I think, is absolutely an indication of the dethronement of rationality. And I think that the people, in general, when they realize that there is at the end of the tunnel certain outcomes that are justice, that leads to justice and peace, as it has done to some extent, not yet totally, in Afghanistan, I think that people realize that nobody can hijack their grievances for terrorist objectives.

AMY GOODMAN: And what about people here in the United States, the continued campaign right now against young, particularly Middle Eastern men between the ages of something like 18 and 33, the FBI, Justice Department now involved in the questioning of around 5,000 young people, not clear how many people are being detained, now it is believed more than 500 people?

CLOVIS MAKSOUD: Well, I think that the United States, which is a nation of law and order, and nobody’s above the law, but, however, I think this dragnet is unfair to many, many, 95% of the people who have been inquired. It has a deep psychological impact, although from a — on the surface, it says that you don’t have to attribute. But, I mean, people realize, especially at that age, that they’re vulnerable, and therefore they have to respond to the FBI inquiries. And I think that this has created a great deal of anxiety in the Arab and Muslim American communities and among those who are residing here, especially that some of the people, some of the students — I mean, I know from my own experience some of the students had to leave, because their parents abroad were so worried about them. And the Arab students said they would like to stay, in the same manner as there has been evidence —

AMY GOODMAN: At American University, have they given over the names of the Middle Eastern students?

CLOVIS MAKSOUD: There has been around 30 to 40 students who have left, have left the country.

AMY GOODMAN: And has the university been working with the government? This has been the case in a number of universities. But there’s also been protests.

CLOVIS MAKSOUD: There hasn’t been many students in the university here who have been subject to — who have been called on to, you know, give their opinions or anything. I don’t think so.

AMY GOODMAN: And what do you recommend to students if they are approached by the FBI?

CLOVIS MAKSOUD: Well, I mean, in one instance if somebody asked for my opinion, I said, “Go ahead and just answer what you know.” I mean, although — I mean, foreign students, for example, or those who don’t have any citizenship cannot not respond as such, because they — on a prima facie case, they would be sort of suspected [inaudible] —

AMY GOODMAN: But, apparently, among the questions are “Give us the names and phone numbers” —

CLOVIS MAKSOUD: Yeah.

AMY GOODMAN: — “of friends and family,” which might concern some people.

CLOVIS MAKSOUD: Yeah, it does. This is a veritable deep concern, but I think that the ADC, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, has informed the community and the Arab Americans and the Muslim Americans of their rights. And I think that this has began to subside because there has been unfair — unfair practices and also certain harassment.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, Dr. Maksoud, I want to thank you very much for being with us. Sorry, we are out of time.

CLOVIS MAKSOUD: That’s OK.

AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Clovis Maksoud is former Arab League ambassador to the United Nations, now teaches at American University and runs the Center for the Global South. You are listening to The War and Peace Report, which was produced by Lizzy Ratner, Kris Abrams, Brad Simpson, Miranda Kennedy. Anthony Sloan is our music maestro and engineer. We are broadcasting from Downtown Community Television, hope to be back with Jon Alpert tomorrow in our journey to Afghanistan. Free Speech TV, we’re on channel 9415 of DISH Network. Manhattan Neighborhood Network, we thank them, as well, as well as public access stations around the country. In exile from the embattled studios of WBAI, the studios of the banned and the fired, the studios of our listeners, I’m Amy Goodman. Thanks for listening.

[End of Hour 1]

AMY GOODMAN: From Ground Zero Radio, this is Democracy Now! in Exile.

DANNY GLOVER: Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government’s policy, especially in time of war.

AMY GOODMAN: Actor Danny Glover, breaking the sound barrier. As he comes under attack for criticizing military tribunals and the death penalty, we’ll hear from a group of courageous artists who have come together to speak out for peace, Danny Glover, Susan Sarandon, Eve Ensler, Sonia Sanchez, among others. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.

New questions have been raised about the fate and whereabouts of Osama bin Laden, after his face appeared on Qatar television yesterday. The Al Jazeera station ran a preview of yet another videotape of Osama bin Laden, which will run by the network in its entirety today. Dressed in green military fatigues, a pale and gaunt bin Laden said he was speaking, quote, “three months after the blessed attack against the international infidels and its leaders, the United States, and two months after the beginning of the vicious aggression against Islam,” unquote. Several people, including Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf, have speculated that Osama bin Laden may have been killed in the U.S. bombing of the caves. Others believe he may have slipped away, possibly crossing the border into Pakistan. Still others say he may still be in Afghanistan. The U.S. War Department said it’s not immediately sure what to make of the videotape showing bin Laden alive possibly as recently as two weeks ago. As for the former Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar, Afghanistan’s new interim president, Hamid Karzai, says he believes that Omar is still in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, in separate news, Karzai has declared his support for U.S.-led coalition troops to continue to hunt al-Qaeda leaders and bring them to trial. Karzai’s government, which met for the second time yesterday, is pushing to put a multinational army in place as soon as possible. Afghanistan currently has no official army. Afghan officials insist it’s unlikely that the Afghan government would lose tolerance for the continuing U.S. military presence, which includes B-52 bombers and other warplanes in the skies and U.S. marines and special forces on the ground. But Afghan officials shed little light over continuing questions of U.S. warplanes’ destruction of a convoy of cars last week in the eastern province of Paktia. U.S. military officials say those killed were al-Qaeda members, but there are persistent reports from local people that the dead were tribal leaders on their way to the new government of Afghanistan’s inaugural ceremony. This follows, by weeks, the attack on the new leader Hamid Karzai’s headquarters just an hour or two before he was named the head of the interim government in Bonn, Germany.

As soldiers mass along the border with Pakistan, India has dismissed steps Pakistan has taken to clamp down on two radical groups that India blames for the attack on the Indian Parliament earlier this month. Indian officials have accused Pakistan of giving financial and logistical support to the groups, both based in Pakistan. And the U.S. has added the two groups to the State Department’s list of terrorists, prompting Pakistani authorities to freeze the group’s assets and arrest one of their founders.

War fever keeps rising in India. For the first time in its 54 years as an independent nation, the Army has canceled the Army Day parades that were to be held in cities across India on January 15th. Instead, the guns, the tanks, the thousands of troops will be deployed along India’s more than 2,000-mile-long border with Pakistan. Meanwhile, Secretary of State General Colin Powell has telephoned leaders in India and Pakistan. He’s been urging them to calm the tensions that have continued to mount since the attack on India’s Parliament that left at least 14 people dead.

According to remarks made by NATO’s secretary general this week, NATO might support military action against Iraq. Buoyed by the military success in Afghanistan, there is a growing chorus of American officials now advocating Saddam Hussein to be the next target. Others say that action against Iraq could be dangerous, if only because it may break up the so-called international coalition against terrorism forged after the September 11th attacks.

The chief prosecutor of the United Nations war crimes tribunal in The Hague has said she’s convinced there’s now evidence of the former Yugoslav leader Slobodan Milošević to be convicted of genocide. Carla Del Ponte, the chief prosecutor, renewed her call for Slobodan Milošević to face trial on charges of war crimes in Kosovo, Bosnia and Croatia at the same time, an idea recently rejected by tribunal judges.

The head of a London mosque confirmed today that the man who threatened to blow up a passenger plane with explosives hidden in his shoe is a small-time British criminal who converted to Islam in prison and was later lured to radical action. Abdul Haqq Baker, chair of the Brixton Mosque and Islamic Cultural Center in South London, identified the suspect as a man who took the name Abdel Rahim when he began worshiping there in late 1995, after serving time for minor offenses. The passport he used to board the plane on Saturday identified him as Richard Reid. Though the Brixton Mosque has regularly condemned violence, today’s development marked the second time that people linked to international terror have been traced back to it. Zacarias Moussaoui , the alleged 20th hijacker, and the only man charged in the U.S. with conspiring in the September 11th attacks, attended services there in the late 1990s.

[break]

AMY GOODMAN: “Busload of Faith,” Lou Reed, here on The War and Peace Report. As we broadcast just blocks from the first ground zero — Afghanistan is the second — still outside the firehouse, where we have our studios in the garret, is an Army Humvee. Soldiers, National Guard, police continue to stop vehicles or other people in this area as they walk down closer to ground zero. I’m Amy Goodman.