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Tony Serra – whose clients have included the Unabomber and members of California’s medical marijuana lobby — was most recently hired to represent Sara Jane Olson, the Minnesota housewife tracked down after a quarter-century to face charges of involvement in the Symbionese Liberation Army, the guerrilla group that kidnapped Patty Hearst. Ms Olson, accused of planting bombs under police cars in Los Angeles, originally pleaded guilty on Mr Serra’s recommendation, only to change her mind because she felt she had been browbeaten into the decision.When a hearing was recently held on the matter, Mr Serra startled everyone by failing to show up. And he startled more with his excuse: he felt he was going to miss his plane down to LA because of “bad karma”, he said in a missive to the court, so he crawled back into bed.He has not been heard from since. There was a rumour that he might defend John Walker, the young American from nearby Marin County who fought for the Taliban. It doesn’t seem likely, though – Mr Serra isn’t returning calls.. More than a dozen Israeli tanks rolled into Beit Hamoun in northern Gaza yesterday. Four Palestinians, including a 12-year-old boy and a police officer, were killed.

The Israeli military said its forces came under fire and shot back. The military said the man, carrying grenades, attempted to cut a fence and enter the settlement, but was shot dead by soldiers.The fresh violence came as Washington recalled for consultations its special envoy to the Middle East, Anthony Zinni, who, during three weeks in the region, had failed to kickstart ceasefire talks.Earlier yesterday, however, the US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution which condemned terror acts and called for an end to the violence in the Middle East.The resolution also said the Palestinian Authority, which Ariel Sharon’s Israeli government has declared “irrelevant”, was essential to any peace process. The US ambassador to the UN, John Negroponte, argued that the measure, sponsored by Arab states, was aimed at isolating Israel politically.. Pakistan warned India yesterday not to launch attacks across its border on suspected terrorist camps as tension mounted between the two countries over the devastating assault on India’s parliament. The Indian Prime Minister, meanwhile, said Delhi had “reached the limits” of its tolerance. Speculation was growing that the five terrorists, who all died, might have planned to take MPs hostage after they were found to be carrying dried food, ropes and mobile phones.The dangerous deterioration in relations between India and Pakistan, both nuclear powers, brought nearer the prospect of air strikes on Lashkar-e-Taiba bases in the disputed territory of Kashmir. At the same time Pakistan is reinforcing its border with Afghanistan to head off al-Qa’ida fighters making a last stand at Tora Bora, only a few miles from the frontier.

President Pervez Musharraf, facing a crisis on both flanks, warned India against “adventurism” as pressure mounted in New Delhi for India to exercise its right to fight terrorism.Speaking in Calcutta, the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, retorted “We cannot tolerate such attacks any more. We have reached the limits of our tolerance.” He urged the international community to put pressure on Pakistan, and hinted that previous reluctance to make attacks across the Line of Control in Kashmir might be a thing of the past.While condemning the attack on the Indian parliament, General Musharraf said: “I’d like to warn against any precipitous action by the Indian government against Pakistan This would lead to very serious repercussions. It must not be done.” But he also hinted at a possible way out “We want to make sure this is a terrorist attack and if anyone is involved in Pakistan.”India accuses Pakistan of backing Lashkar-e-Taiba in a proxy war in the troubled Kashmir region, although Islamabad says it gives only moral support to the group. The Indians have given Pakistan an ultimatum to shut down Lashkar and another Kashmiri separatist group linked to al-Qa’ida, Jaish-e-Mohammad, demanding that their assets be frozen and their leaders arrested.The Islamabad government has indicated willingness to look at the evidence for Indian claims that Lashkar carried out the attack on parliament, although a crackdown on a group regarded by most Pakistanis as heroes and freedom fighters would be politically difficult.A Western diplomat said military strikes across the Line of Control in Kashmir were not thought likely, despite intense pressure within India to give the military free reign. “Whether India will be able to resist pressure to strike if there is another major terrorist attack is another matter,” he said.. By Raymond Whitaker

By Raymond Whitaker
It was a pitch-dark, freezing night in south-western Afghanistan, and we had spent two hours listening to the inmates of Makaki camp tell harrowing stories of deprivation, banditry and loss of their loved ones in war.

But Emma Nicholson was not finished.Brushing aside nervous suggestions from her escorts that it was dangerous to linger after dark, Baroness Nicholson insisted on visiting a nearby village, also named Makaki, where she spoke to men as well as their womenfolk “My suspicions were confirmed,” she said “Things are as bad here as in the camp. Mothers told me that their families have had no form of medical care for 25 years. It is not surprising that they were painfully thin and weakened by disease.”Anyone would be daunted at the thought of trying to bring normality in Afghanistan. More children die before their first birthday than anywhere else.