By empty (9/16/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has spoken against double standards in the definition of terrorism. \"We believe that there should be not only the same definition of terrorism for everybody but we should also mean the same things when we talk about it,\" Putin said at a press conference in Astana in reply to a question from Interfax on Thursday. \"Bin Laden has twice offered a truce to Europe in exchange for withdrawal of troops from Iraq, but nobody has entered into negotiations with him, because the methods and means he chooses make it impossible to maintain dialogue with him,\" he said.

By empty (9/16/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

The Council of the CIS chiefs of state has adopted a statement on fighting international terrorism, which expresses full solidarity with Russia in this cause. The chiefs of state said they are convinced that \"only consolidating the efforts of all of civilized humankind in fighting international terrorism will make it possible to oppose the spread of this evil that has become one of the principal threats to international security and stability today.\" Although specific work is being done within the CIS to combine efforts in countering terrorism, \"the latest events showed that this was not enough.

By empty (9/16/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)

A rocket has landed near a school in south-eastern Afghanistan just before President Hamid Karzai was to land in a helicopter, officials say. The rocket struck about 1.5km (a mile) from the school in Gardez province as President Karzai was to land at a nearby airbase.