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Jihad Spokesman for bin Laden praises Sept. 11 hijackers CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 of every Muslim if they haven’t got an excuse,” he said in the videotaped statement broadcast on the Arab television news sta tion Al-Jazeera. “The American interests are everywhere all over the world. Every Muslim has to play his real and true role to uphold his religion and his nation in fight ing, and jihad is a duty,” he said. If Muslims do not take up their duty, “it will be shameful,” Abu Ghaith said. “This battle is a decisive bat tle between atheism and faith,” he said. He praised the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington, saying the hijackers “did some thing good” and took the battle to the heart of America. “The Americans have opened a door that will never be closed,” Abu Ghaith said of the continu ing air raids on Afghanistan. “America must know that the battle will not leave its land un til Aiperica leaves our land, un til it stops supporting Israel, until it stops the blockade against Iraq.” That echoed bin Laden’s state ment on Sunday, which aimed to cast the fight as one that pits the West and Israel against the in terests of Muslims everywhere, particularly the Palestinians and Iraqis. An editorial staffer at Al Jazeera’s headquarters in Qatar, Ibrahim Hilal, said the channel received the tape at its bureau in Kabul, the Afghan capital, Tues day. Al-Jazeera did not say when the videotape was recorded. The station also broadcast bin Laden’s statement Sunday. Abu Ghaith wore a white tur ban, similar to that worn by Osama bin Laden, the chief sus pect in the Sept. 11 attacks. He was dressed in white robes and stood against a dark brown background. In closing his remarks, Abu Ghaith thanked god for the chance to wage holy war. “The land of Afghanistan and the mujehedeen are being sub jected to a full crusade with the objective of getting rid of the Is lamic nation. The nation must take up its response, and in the end I thank god for allowing us to start this jihad and ask God to give us victory in the face of our enemy and return them defeat ed.” Islamic fighters term them selves mujehedeen, and bands of them were responsible, with large amounts of military aid from the United States, in fight ing the Soviet Union to a stand still in Afghanistan. ATTACKS BRIEFS S.C. reservists called to fight GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) - More South Carolina reservists have been called up to help in the nation's battle against terrorism. The Army Reserve’s 310th Chemical Company from Greenville was activated for extended training and was to report to Fort McClellan, Ala., on Tuesday, said Capt. Chris McNair, spokesman for the 81st Regional Support Command. He said that while the unit . usually trains for two weeks each year, the training had been extended to a month this year because of the threat of terrorist reprisals . for U.S. air attacks in Afghanistan. Officials would not say exactly how many reservists there are in the 310th, but a family member of a reservist indicated it was around 30. On Tuesday, Lt. Col. Pete Brooks, a spokesman for the state Adjutant General's Office, also confirmed that 230 members of the Army National Guard have been called to active duty for protection and security assignments stateside. The 1st Battalion, 118th Infantry, Company A includes 100 Guard members Trom Moncks Comer, while the 1st Battalion, 118th Infantry, Company B unit is be ing called up from Summerville. Giuliani issues city 15 % budget cuts NEW YORK (AP)-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani ordered a 15 percent cut in spending by most city departments Tuesday, predicting the World Trade Center attack will cost $1 billion in revenue this fiscal year and 100,000 jobs. Separately, Gov. George Pataki said it will take $54 billion in federal money for New York to recover. He said NeW York is requesting $34 billion to rebuild lower Manhattan and $20 billion to reinvigorate New York's economy. Giuliani spared only the police and fire departments and school system from double-digit budget cuts. Those departments face a 2.5 percent cutback. A citywide hiring freeze went into effect after the Sept. 11 attack, he said. Despite the dire estimates, an upbeat Giuliani said the city is well-positioned to absorb the fiscal woes caused by the attack that turned the lower Manhattan financial district into a graveyard for some 5,000 victims. Congress has already approved $20 billion to help New York rebuild and recover, and the city has a $550 million reserve. IT HAPPENED NEWS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED ARAFAT CENSORS: Embarrassed by anti-U.S. protests, Yasser Arafat's government took two unprecedented steps Tuesday: it closed Gaza City's universities to silence Islamic militants and barred foreign reporters from the Gaza Strip to prevent coverage of the events. STATE BRIEFS Female cadet loses harassment case WASHINGTON (AP)-A former Citadel cadet who claimed she was harassed and had her clothes set on fire by male students who resented her presence on campus lost a Supreme Court appeal Tuesday. Jeanie Mentavlos alleged male upperclassmen circulated a doctored picture of her with male genitalia, kicked her repeatedly, entered her room uninvited and briefly set her sweatshirt ablaze. She was not injured. A federal appeals court threw out her case in May, and the Supreme Court did not comment in refusing to revive it. Former cadets John Justice Anderson and James Saleeby were not acting on behalf of the state during 1996 hazing incidents at the Charleston, S.C., military college, a three judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. Two convicted in man’s arson death MONCKS CORNER, S.C. (AP) — A woman and her husband have been sentenced to prison for setting a fire that killed her 75-year-old grandfather. Thomas “Billy” Dunn opened his home to his granddaughter, Monica Hodge, her husband, Michael, and their baby last year. A few months later, Dunn died from burns he suffered as he tried to rescue them from the fire they set. Michael Hodge, 31, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for murder, arson and conspiracy. Monica Hodge, 24, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for helping her husband kill her grandfather. Prosecutor Blair Jennings said the couple had been living with Dunn for several months when Monica Hodge began forging checks on Dunn’s bank account. Jennings said the Hodges hid the forgeries by intercepting Dunn’s bank statements. When they missed the mail in September, Dunn discovered the truth. Monica Hodge tried to poison him by putting drugs in his lemonade, Jennings said. When that didn’t work, the couple decided they would set fire to the mobile home. NATION BRIEFS Sprayed substance closes Metro stop TEMPLE HILLS, MD.(AP) A Metro subway station just outside Washington was closed Tuesday after an armed man sprayed a substance into the air from a pump-action bottle as he scuffled with police. Authorities apprehended the man and said they didn't believe it was a terrorist act. "It appears at this point to be an isolated incident," said Prince Georges County Police Chief John Farrell. Tests on the scene "do not indicate these are any biological agents at all," he said, although Farrell and other authorities cautioned that testing was still under way. Fire department hazardous-material teams in protective rubber suits responded after several people reported being sick. Authorities said some 35 passengers and employees of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority were isolated at the site with symptoms of nausea, headache and dry throat. All were being decontaminated there, authorities said. Officers said the man also dropped a jar of clear liquid, which spilled on the train and the subway platform. Defective bicycle rims recalled WASHINGTON (AP) - A Minnesota company is recalling about 500 bicycle rims because they can break and cause falls and injuries. Salsa Cycles, of Bloomington, Minn., has received six reports of rims failing during use, the Consumer Product Safety Commissions said Tuesday. No injuries have been reported. The recalled rims are the Salsa Alto models, which have a black anodized finish and are labeled "Salsa" and "Salsa Alto” in yellow, red and white. The rims, which are used on mountain bikes that have disc brakes, were sold individually or built into wheels with Shimano Deore or Deore XT hubs. Independent bicycle dealers sold these rims from January 2001 through August 2001 in built-up wheels for between $100 and $150. The rims cost $50 when sold individually. The safety commission said consumers should stop using the rims and return them to the store where purchased for a full refund or replacement. WORLD BRIEFS U.N. judge confirms Croatia indictment AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS (AP) - A U.N. judge confirmed another indictment against Slobodan Milosevic, charging the former Yugoslav leader with the murder of hundreds of civilians and the expulsion of 170.000 non-Serbs in Croatia, the tribunal said Tuesday. Judge Almiro Rodrigues of Portugal on Monday confirmed the indictment accusing Milosevic of 32 counts of persecution, torture, murder, plunder, unlawful imprisonment, destroying religious institutions and schools, and other “inhuman acts” in a Serb campaign of ethnic cleansing between August 1991 and June 1992. Milosevic was brought to The Hague in June to stand trial for alleged atrocities in Kosovo during the Serb crackdown on ethnic Kosovar Albanians in 1999, which was brought to an end by a NATO bombing campaign against Serb troops. Prosecutors have said they were working on a third indictment accusing the former Yugoslav president of war crimes in Bosnia. With the arrests of Milosevic and others, the tribunal is moving toward its goal of making policy makers answerable for the horrors committed against civilians during the decade-long breakup of Yugoslavia, when more than 200.000 people were killed. Rescue crews find last bodies in crash MILAN, ITALY (AP) -Rescue crews tried Tuesday to recover the last bodies trapped in the wreckage of a SAS airliner that collided with a business jet and a building a day earlier, killing 118 people in Italy’s worst aviation disaster. By Tuesday morning, 106 bodies had been found and 12 were trapped in the wreckage, said Alessandra Tripodi, spokeswoman for the Milan Prefect. Eight bodies were trapped inside the airliner, and the four others were of airport workers inside the building. Milan’s Linate airport, where the accident occurred Monday morning, was closed at least until 6 p.m. Tuesday, airport officials said. The SAS MD-87 bound for Copenhagen with 104 passengers, six crew members and a full tank of fuel was accelerating for takeoff on Linate’s only runway when the accident occurred. The Italian government said the accident was likely caused by “human error” compounded by poor visibility. 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