Eye on a crisis: Families of dead consider legal action as option

Our roundup of newspaper coverage of the crisis starts with the Australian which reports that families of Australians killed in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center are considering legal action.

Queensland lawyer Pat Nunan, whose Toowoomba-based firm Cleary & Lee specialises in international aviation and maritime disaster, said relatives of two victims had approached him about their legal rights.

He warned that though the United States Congress has established a victims' compensation fund, accepting a payment could rule out taking further legal action against airlines or airports.

The Age reports that the US has begun sending classified cables to its embassies abroad containing evidence to be shared with foreign governments, stating that Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network are behind last month's terrorist attacks.

The Washington Post reports that President George W. Bush has authorised Reagan National Airport to resume limited flights under the tightest security of any airport in the country, allowing the last big airport closed after the attacks to reopen within days.

The New York Times says that before the terror attacks, the US was set to announce a diplomatic initiative for the Middle East with a US role.

The US was ready to say it backed the establishment of a Palestinian state. The Bush Administration is now considering how to revive the plan.

Afghanistan's heroin production is the focus for the Miami Herald, which reports that some sources believe Government rulers may be selling off opium and heroin stockpiles to top up their war coffers. Lower prices for drugs could result in increased worldwide consumption.

British newspapers concentrate on a speech by Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Telegraph headlining it "Time's up for the Taleban" and the Mirror "Your time is up".

The Times talks to survivors of a massacre by Taleban forces in Afghanistan in August 1998, when 5000 men were tortured and killed.

Full coverage: Terror in America

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The fatal flights

Emergency telephone numbers:

United Airlines: 0168 1800 932 8555

American Airlines: 0168 1800 245 0999

NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade: 0800 872 111

US Embassy in Wellington (recorded info): 04 472 2068