BRITAIN

BRITAIN
The Times, London, Nov. 8: The 40-year sentence imposed yesterday on Dhiren Barot, the Muslim convert who masterminded plans for mass murder on a horrendous scale, is one of the longest terms handed down for non-capital offenses. It reflects not only the gravity of the appalling acts that this senior al-Qaida operative was planning, his callous glee at the scale of death and injury and his cunning in elaborating plans to maim and terrify thousands of people in Britain and America; it is also a clear message to other fanatics abusing the name of Islam that a democracy will take whatever measures are needed to protect itself from such evil.
Sadism
The threat posed by Barot is hard to envisage. ... His expertise and professionalism in surveying the nine London hotels, three stations, synagogues, banks and Underground lines targeted for destruction is matched only by his sadism in contemplating how he could increase the panic and human suffering caused by exploding gas cylinders, napalm, nails and a radiation bomb.
It is vital, however, that the threat posed by such men is understood. Had it not been for a determined effort by this newspaper, together with the BBC and The Associated Press, no detail of what Barot was planning or of his sentence could have been made public.
Such gagging would have been utterly unacceptable. Ruthless, religiously inspired terrorism is the greatest danger this country faces. ... The Barot case underlines the character of terrorism, its international tentacles, chameleon adaptability and ability to exploit Western fads and weaknesses. It should, and will, make more urgent the need to penetrate and disarm the mindset that kills in the name of a deity. It is a threat that no democratic society can ignore.
FINLAND
Aamulehti, Tampere, Nov. 6: The most essential question is clear. Iraq's former dictator Saddam Hussein deserves strict punishment for the cruel treatment of his own country's citizens. The verdict and sentence were expected. The Shiite Muslims, who were placed in a tight spot during the rule of Saddam -- who mostly represented the Sunnis -- were mostly satisfied by Saddam's death sentence. ...
The massacre of Dujail would be sufficient grounds for such a harsh sentence ... and if this were not enough for some, Saddam is being accused in another court of killing 50,000 Kurds in northern Iraq in 1987-88. Even though Saddam deserved to stand trial, the court case which just ended was not totally faultless.
Long-term martyr
And, from a European perspective, one might ask whether a death sentence was a politically wise solution even if it fulfills the demands of Iraqi law. Hanging could turn Saddam into a long-term martyr whose memory might fuel his kindred spirits to renewed acts of terrorism in Iraq and abroad. In this sense, ostracizing him into a prison for the rest of his life might have been a politically more expedient sentence.
NIGERIA
This Day, Lagos, Nov. 5: Frank Nweke Jr. put it in its proper but grim perspective when he said it has been his unpleasant duty as minister of information to announce four fatal plane crashes in just one year. Of course, the minister was referring to ADC's flight 053, which took off from the Nnamdi Azikiwe airport, Abuja, and crashed only five kilometers later at Iddo village, killing some 96 passengers on board, with only seven survivors.
Perpetual mourning
As it were, Nigeria has become something of a nation in perpetual mourning. And as with previous crashes, the government has started to make the motions all over again. The operating license of the ADC airline has been promptly seized, the minister of aviation made to swap offices with his culture counterpart, and the president has promised to get to the bottom of this particular air disaster, ostensibly with a view to averting future ones. For all they are worth, these are knee-jerk responses without any significant impact on the frequency of plane crashes.
On the whole, we believe the government is looking in the wrong direction for solution. In the final analysis, the problem in the aviation industry is a failure of transportation policy.