Relatives of a suspected Islamic militant ringleader arrested during deadly clashes in the capital publicly distanced themselves from him Tuesday, saying he and his cohorts should be relegated "to the dustbin of history." Amer al-Enezi was identified as the key figure among six alleged militants arrested after firefights that erupted during raids of suspected hideouts in the capital. Five suspects and a bystander were killed.
A previously unknown group, the Brigades of Martyr Abdulaziz al-Moqrin, promised to carry on its fight against the Kuwaiti government and the United States despite al-Enezi's arrest, according to a statement that surfaced Tuesday on a Web site known for posting Islamic militant content.
"Don't think even the thought that we are finished following the arrest of Sheik Amer Khlaif al-Enezi, God grant him freedom. We have only begun," the group said, addressing Kuwaiti state security. "God willing, the raids will include you. You will regret it, you pigs of Al Sabah (the ruling family in Kuwait), you servants of the Americans," said the statement, also warning of attacks on U.S. troops based in the country, a close ally of Washington.
The brigades were named after Abdelaziz al-Moqrin, the former head of al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia who was killed in a police shootout last year. There was no way to verify the statement's authenticity.
Al-Enezi's father, Khlaif al-Enezi, and scores of other relatives signed a statement denouncing him. The statement, published in Kuwaiti newspapers Tuesday, described the suspects as a "gang that lost the way and was lured by the devil." A brother of Amer, Nasser Khlaif al-Enezi, died in a gunbattle Sunday that also killed a policeman and a bystander dead. "May God be our witness, we have no relation with their deeds, and may they go to the dustbin of history for what they have committed," the statement said. The relatives said they join all other Kuwaitis and the government in trying to "safeguard the stability of dear and just Kuwait."
Public denunciations from the relatives of militants arrested, killed or wanted by governments in the region are not uncommon, particularly in Saudi Arabia, which has faced a far deadlier campaign of violence than Kuwait. In Saudi Arabia, the denounciations are a significant part of Saudi Arabia's official efforts to steer youths away from militancy.
The government has provided little information on al-Enezi. A resident of the tribal city of al-Jahra told The Associated Press that he appeared to be in his 30s and used to preach at a local mosque, exhorting young men to attack Americans, Kuwaiti security forces and even moderate Muslim clerics. The resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said al-Enezi was fired from the mosque at least six months ago. Sheik Nawwaf Al Ahmed Al Sabah, Kuwait's interior minister, said the suspects targeted Monday were part of "an organized terror group," but he said their aims and their backers would only be revealed by further investigation. Sheik Salem Al Ali Al Sabah, the head of Kuwait's National Guard, has previously linked some local militants to al-Qaida.
The militants' Web statement appealed to Kuwaitis to stay away from places where "infidel soldiers" congregate and said any loss of innocent lives would be the fault of the Kuwaiti government for allying itself with the United States and allowing U.S. bases in the country. "God knows we didn't come to fight you or terrorize you, but to fight the infidel soldiers who are occupying your land," the statement said.
Monday's raid was the fourth in three weeks and reflected a new sense of urgency in the battle to crush Islamic extremists in Kuwait. About 30 Kuwaiti and Saudi suspects have been arrested since Jan. 10. After Monday's raid, Kuwait's prime minister, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, called for the "removal of this cancer before it spreads," the state-owned Kuwait News Agency reported.
The government crackdown began when the father of a Muslim extremist told police his son had befriended a group of militants and disappeared. The son, Fawwaz al-Otaibi, was killed Jan. 10 when authorities tried to arrest him as he returned a rented car that the U.S. Embassy said he had planned to use to attack Westerners. Several accomplices fled in another car. Ensuing raids targeted al-Otaibi's accomplices, authorities said.
This article starring:
ABDELAZIZ AL MOQRIN
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
AMER AL ENEZI
Brigades of Martyr Abdulaziz al-Moqrin
FAWWAZ AL OTAIBI
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
NASER KHLAIF AL ENEZI
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
SHEIK AMER KHLAIF AL ENEZI
Brigades of Martyr Abdulaziz al-Moqrin
Posted by: Steve ||
02/01/2005 10:17:00 AM ||
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Concern is mounting among U.S. intelligence officials and diplomats that al-Qaida-related groups may be preparing terrorist attacks on Persian Gulf bases that support American military forces operating in Iraq.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said unknown individuals have been conducting surveillance of U.S. military and diplomatic facilities in Qatar, the Persian Gulf state that houses the forward headquarters of the U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In nearby Kuwait, meanwhile, government security forces engaged in deadly clashes Monday with armed militants, the second such incident in two days and the fourth in January. On Friday, the State Department issued a travel advisory for U.S. citizens in Kuwait, warning that terrorists might try to attack housing complexes used by Westerners.
Increased security at official U.S. government installations might force would-be terrorists to seek "softer" targets, such as public transportation, residential areas and restaurants, the advisory said.
No similar travel advisory has been issued for Qatar, but military facilities have been on high alert there for some time. Spokespeople for the Kuwaiti and Qatari embassies in Washington weren't immediately available for comment.
U.S. officials wouldn't discuss the concerns on the record, citing the sensitivity of the issue. They said intelligence suggesting a possible attack, while thought credible, doesn't point to a specific time or place for an attack, they said.
Intelligence on terrorist threats isn't always followed by an attack. In November, for example, the State Department warned of a possible attack on hotels in Qatar's capital, Doha, but later rescinded the warning.
Suspicious activity around U.S. facilities in Qatar has been going on for more than a year. One Pentagon official said no increased activity had been detected, though others said recent intelligence had raised the level of alarm.
From the viewpoint of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network and its various affiliates, an attack on U.S. Persian Gulf military bases could destabilize Gulf states that cooperate with the United States and underscore many Arabs' opposition to the U.S. military presence in the region.
It would also likely drive up world oil prices.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/01/2005 12:43:47 AM ||
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#1
The sea lane choke points should be on guard, particularly since Oman has seen much infiltration of late. Visions of the Cole come to mind.
#2
Debka (www.debka.com) has an article about this today, which paints all this as a sophisticated and well organized effort. If there is any truth to that, then one has to wonder about the state or pseudo-state sponsorship behind it. Such efforts would take deep pockets and sophisticated organizational cover. I sure hope our side is working on a plan for putting an end to the root sponsorship, otherwise we are faced with stamping out the fires in many places for many years to come.
Posted by: DO ||
02/01/2005 9:57 Comments ||
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#3
Putting an end to the root sponsorship is under way -- but realize it is probably going to take 5-10 years to complete. That's just realistic, no matter who's in the White House and what their policies. Of course, it could take a lot longer - or fail entirely - with the wrong people there. But 5-10 years with the right people and policies.
They are patient and determined. We need to be even more so.
Police burst into suspected terrorist hideouts throughout a tranquil suburb, arresting a reputed terror boss and setting off a ferocious gunbattle that killed at least four of his followers and a bystander in Kuwait's worst-ever fight with militants. Monday's raid - the fourth in three weeks - reflected a new sense of urgency in the battle to crush Islamic extremists deeply opposed to the presence of US forces in this oil-rich emirate. Kuwait's prime minister, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, called for the "uprooting of this phenomenon and the removal of this cancer before it spreads," Faisal al-Hajji, the acting information minister, told the state-owned Kuwait News Agency on Monday.
In Monday's raid, which Interior Ministry spokesman Lt. Col. Adel al-Hashshash called a "spectacular success," police arrested six suspected militants, including alleged ringleader Amer Khlaif al-Enezi. The government said four militants and a bystander were killed, but Kuwait TV reported Monday night that one of the arrested militants, who was wounded in the fighting, had died. The government provided little information on al-Enezi, but a resident of the tribal city of al-Jahra told The Associated Press that he used to preach at a local mosque, exhorting young men to attack Americans, Kuwaiti security forces and even moderate Muslim clerics. The resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the preacher, in his 30s, was fired more than six months ago.
The interior minister, Sheik Nawwaf Al Ahmed Al Sabah, said the suspects targeted Monday were part of "an organized terror group," but said their aims and their backers would only be revealed by investigations. Sheik Salem Al Ali Al Sabah, the head of Kuwait's National Guard, has previously linked some local militants to al-Qaida. The fighting early Monday began when police chased militants from scattered hideouts in Mubarak Al Kabir, a middle-class residential neighborhood south of Kuwait City, according to a police statement. The fighters took refuge in a house and a gunbattle broke out, police said. Kuwait TV footage showed the house's windows shattered and its walls pocked with holes. Bodies lay face down on the roof in pools of blood and a helicopter hovered ahead. A bearded man lay on his back, hands tied and shivering. Guns and ammunition clips were scattered on a staircase.
This article starring:
AMER KHLAIF AL ENEZI
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/01/2005 12:42:32 AM ||
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One soldier and two tribesmen were killed in a gun battle in Yemen's eastern oil-rich province of Marib yesterday, security and tribal sources said. The sources said the firefight erupted after soldiers tried to disarm a group of tribesmen from the powerful Al Jalal clan at a military checkpoint.
"Hey! Youse can't do dat! We be from the powerful Al Jalal clan!"
Security officials said unknown attackers fired two rocket- propelled grenade rounds into the headquarters of the provincial security compound after the clash. No one was injured in the attack. Fatal clashes are common in Yemen, a largely tribal society where men carry firearms publicly and tribes often settle disputes with guns. Around 1,500 people are killed as a result of tribal violence in the country every year.
Faster, please.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/01/2005 12:24:06 AM ||
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Kuwaiti security forces fought their biggest battle yet with terrorists yesterday, killing four including a Saudi and arresting their leader and five others, the Interior Ministry and state TV said. One Kuwaiti civilian was also killed in the gunbattle that raged for nine hours in Al-Qurain district, also known as Mubarak Al-Kabir, about 25 km south of the capital, the ministry said in a statement. Three policemen and three of the arrested suspects were wounded in the gunfight that started at dawn after security forces backed by armored vehicles stormed a house where the suspects had taken refuge. "Security forces... have liquidated a group of terrorists who had taken refuge in a number of locations in Mubarak Al-Kabir district where they started shooting at security men who hunted them," the statement said.
Security sources and witnesses said policemen fought in the streets with the militants who ignored repeated calls through loudspeakers to surrender. State television said one of those killed was a Saudi national while security sources said two others were Bidoon [Bedouin], or stateless Arabs. It was the second time in a fortnight that a Saudi citizen had been killed in a clash with Kuwaiti security forces. Another was killed in a gunbattle with police in Umm Al-Haiman on Jan. 15. The house stormed by security forces is attached to a mosque and belongs to the mosque's preacher who was away on leave.
Convenient, wasn't it? It's rare that the holy men stay around for the shootouts...
The house was badly damaged by heavy police gunfire before it was stormed. One of those arrested was Amer Khlaif Al-Enezi, a former mosque preacher and the alleged leader of militants. His brother Nasser was killed in a gunfight with police on Sunday, the Interior Ministry said. That clash near Kuwait City left a police officer, a suspect and a Bahraini civilian dead, and five others wounded.
This article starring:
AMER KHLAIF AL ENEZI
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Posted by: Fred ||
02/01/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Liquidated. That has a nice ring to it. Keep up the good work.
Posted by: SPOD ||
02/01/2005 1:40 Comments ||
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#2
"Liquidated"
But they never actually turn them into liquid. Disappointing.
I've never really thought it was that important to die with my boots on, but when the time comes, hopefully I'll be wearing pants. Having your heinie hanging out is so undignified...
A fierce hourlong battle between police and suspected terrorists holed up in a residential building Sunday left a most-wanted fundamentalist, one policeman and a Bahraini resident dead, the government said. It was the third shootout this month between security forces and suspected militants in Kuwait, a major US ally that has been battling fundamentalists who oppose the presence of the American military here. Four policemen were injured in the shooting and two suspects were arrested, according to a statement by the Interior Ministry and an official who spoke on customary condition of anonymity. The official identified the killed suspect as Nasser Klaif al-Enezi, a fundamentalist high on Kuwait's most-wanted list. He declined to name the suspects in custody but said they were being interrogated.
"Ready to go to work, Boss!"
"Good! And might I say that your moustachios are particularly dashing today, Mustafa!"
"Awwww! T'anks, Boss!"
"And is that a new truncheon?"
"Yeah, Boss! I bought it special for the occasion!"
Special forces in armored vehicles and state security police with faces covered in black masks stormed the six-story building Sunday morning after blocking the way to the neighborhood in Salmiyah, a suburb of Kuwait City where many foreigners live. "Expect this (to happen again). We will chase these criminals until we get them all," Interior Minister Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmed Al Sabah told reporters after visiting the injured policemen at the hospital. He said the four men were in stable condition.
He said he would never be captured alive. True to his prediction Nasser Khalaf Al-Enezi, believed to have killed two securitymen in the first shootout between Islamic militants and security forces in the country that occurred in Maidan Hawally last month, died evading capture Sunday in Salmiya.
"You'll never take me alive, coppers!"
"Hokay! [BANG! BANG! BANGETY BANG!]"
"Ow! Ow! Hey! Stop that! You're hurting me!... Aaaaaiiiieeee! Rosebud!"
Mohammed Saeed, an Egyptian security guard of Al-Raed Security Co, who was on duty at Zawiya Towers Sunday morning said he was standing by a pool in the compound when he saw three men, armed to the teeth, jumping over a rear wall and entering the compound. "I confronted them and they told me they were securitymen. They showed me their IDs and two of them asked for access to the sixth floor. I saw a police vehicle also parking in front of the building and snipers coming out and taking positions behind the vehicle. I then saw four other police vehicles parked on the empty streets and snipers coming out with heavy weapons. In no time the firing began. The police were shooting from my building and from across the street at the other building while a helicopter was hovering overhead. At the same time I saw fire being returned from that building while some of the police frantically called out from loudspeakers on the militants to surrender. 'Give yourselves up,' they shouted."Mohammed said the shooting continued for more than one and half hours and he heard screams of pain from the house where the militants were holed up. He later saw the police carrying three wounded men into an ambulance that sped away.Mohammed said the police used guns mounted on armored carriers and he also believes they used gas bombs to incapacitate the militants.
The scary part of this story? Fred's graphic is exactly how this guy imagined himself to look like in real life...
Including the curly blond hair?
This article starring:
NASER KHALAF AL ENEZI
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Posted by: Fred ||
02/01/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
Guess the Kuwaiti's have that "surrounded" thing figured out.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/01/2005 8:32 Comments ||
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#2
maybe cause the Kuwaitis actually WANT to win this thing.
KUWAIT CITY: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry recently sealed three money exchange offices in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh and Hassawi for their involvement in money laundering operations, reports Al-Anba daily quoting a reliable government source. The same source said the offices violated the rules and regulations by not informing authorities the names of persons who had transferred KD 3,000 and above to persons outside the country. One of the offices is said to have transferred $3 million to Syria over a three-month period in addition to other transfers worth thousands of Kuwaiti dinars to GCC states, especially to Saudi Arabia.
This is interesting. We seldom see this kind of story. We can only hope that there are lots more of them...
A security source disclosed suspected Islamist militants belonging to the 'Al-Mutlaa Cell' who are in custody of police have admitted to receiving money from a neighbouring country.
That'd be Soddy Arabia, I'd guess...
The source added the money which has been transferred may be used by the al-Zarqawi terrorist group in Iraq to launch terrorist attacks. Interrogations also revealed more than $250,000 had been distributed to some of the arrested Islamist suspects and others who are still at large. In another development, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Labour said some charity societies such as the Islamic Heritage Revival Society, the Social Reform Society, the Abdullah Al-Nouri Charity Society and Al-Najat Society are known to violate rules and regulations of charity work in the country. A ministry source said these charity societies use kiosks to collect money, used clothes and electrical appliances without obtaining permission from the ministry and move the kiosks from place to place, to escape inspection. The source also pointed out these societies violate the labour law by employing illegal persons.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/01/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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AN Egyptian terror suspect, held by Britain for three years without trial because he was said to be the leader of an al-Qaeda linked militant group, has been released from prison, the government said today. The Department for Constitutional Affairs confirmed the decision but could give no further details about the conditions of his release. The detainee, known only as "C", was one of 17 men held by Britain under now discredited anti-terror laws which allowed the indefinite detention of foreigners without trial if they were suspected of being involved in terrorism.
The decision to free him comes just days after Britain detailed plans to overhaul its anti-terror laws after the UK's highest court, the Law Lords, ruled emergency powers adopted in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, violated basic rights. Yesterday, Britain announced it would free Palestinian terror suspect Mahmoud Abu Rideh on bail. The government arrested "C" in December 2001, saying he was the British leader of Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ), which it said had merged with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network. Egypt sentenced him in absentia to 15 years in jail for trying to recruit Egyptian army officers to the EIJ, according to British court documents. Civil rights group Liberty said he was released from a maximum security prison late yesterday.
Posted by: tipper ||
02/01/2005 9:09:26 AM ||
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A Palestinian man, one of 11 foreign terror suspects held by Britain without trial under now-discredited emergency laws, has been granted bail, the government said yesterday. Mahmoud Abu Rideh was arrested more than three years ago after Britain accused him of having links to Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden and of raising funds for terror operations. "We will not seek to oppose bail for Mr. Rideh but we will argue that the conditions imposed must be appropriate to address the threat that he poses," a Home Office (Interior Ministry) spokesman said.
Rideh will not be freed until the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC), which reviews detainees' cases, has agreed what those conditions should be, the spokesman added. Yesterday's verdict come just days after Britain announced plans to overhaul its anti-terrorism laws, which give police powers to jail foreigners without trial indefinitely if they are suspected of being involved in terrorism. It followed a ruling last year by the UK's highest court, the Law Lords, that those powers, adopted in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, violated basic rights. Rideh, who was born in Jordan to stateless Palestinian parents, arrived in Britain in 1995 and was given refugee status three years later, according to court documents. He was arrested in December 2001 with then-Home Secretary David Blunkett stating he was "an active supporter of various terrorist groups, including those with links to Osama Bin Laden's terrorist network". He is currently being held at Broadmoor Hospital near London, a top security unit which houses some of Britain's most dangerous mentally ill criminals.
This article starring:
MAHMUD ABU RIDEH
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred ||
02/01/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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#1
He is currently being held at Broadmoor Hospital near London, a top security unit which houses some of Britainâs most dangerous mentally ill criminals.
Oh yeah, this guy has bail material written all over him.
#2
Coming to a council estate near you... I say bind him to the bricing post and give him a sound thrashing.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
02/01/2005 6:34 Comments ||
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#3
His Dear Old was on TV last night. Doesn't speak a word of English. Mighty pissed off she was, presumably because with her Angry Young banged up she has had to go and collect the benefits herself. There'll be some ululating chez Abu Rideh tonight.
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) - Rebels firing homemade rockets attacked a military post in southwestern Colombia on Tuesday, killing at least 9 soldiers and wounding about 20, the navy said. Government forces in river gunboats, a "Phantom" fixed-wing gunship and helicopters were pursuing the rebels of the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, who attacked the Colombian marine post in Iscuande county, the navy said in a statement.
The attack came amid a government offensive, called Plan Patriot, deep into the rebel's jungle hideouts in southern Colombia, more than 150 miles from the site of Tuesday's attack. Despite blows suffered by the rebels in the campaign, the attack suggested they retain the capability of striking in diverse points of this Andean nation. FARC rebels used large gas cylinders converted into rockets to attack the Marine outpost, the statement said. The outpost is located near where the Iscuande River empties into the Pacific Ocean.
"Preliminary information indicates that, lamentably, nine soldiers were killed and about 20 were wounded and are being treated at a village clinic," the statement said. The troops are so-called campesino marines, or peasant marines, who are natives of the area where they are stationed and who receive three months of military training. The deployment of thousands of campesino troops in Colombia to protect their own villages and farms from the rebels is a major component of hardline President Alvaro Uribe's strategy to bring Colombia's 40-year-old insurgency to its knees.
The attack occurred in Narino state, which hugs the Pacific Ocean and the Ecuadorean border and which is a major cocaine-producing center. Colombian counternarcotics troops were assisting in the pursuit of the rebels, the navy said. The United States has poured in about $3 billion in mostly military aid to Colombia since 2000 to combat the rebels, and cocaine and heroin production in Colombia, whose profits fuel the war. U.S. Special Forces have trained Colombian counternarcotics troops.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/01/2005 10:10:07 AM ||
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Police in Chechnya have solved the murder of Vedeno district mufti Shukhman Madagov committed in August 2003.
A source at the press center of the Russian Interior Ministry in the North Caucasus said Yakub Bediyev and Islam Tukhashev were responsible. Earlier the two men were sentenced to 18 and 20 years in jail respectively for killings of civilians in Dagestan and Chechnya.
In prison they confessed to another crime, committed against the spiritual Moslem leader of the Vedeno district. In their testimony they said they had been members of Khusein Gakayev's gang at that time. Its members shot the mufti for his opposition to Wahhabism and support for the authorities in their efforts to restore life in the republic to normal. Several Arab mercenaries were members of the group then, including Abu al-Walid. He would later be killed by Russian troops.
Police in the Achkhoi-Martan district have detained two members of illegal armed groups. One of the detainees, a resident of the village of Novyi Sharoi, is suspected of two bomb attacks staged on the highway Rostov-Baku, a source at the headquarters of the federal forces in the North Caucasus region told Tass. Another one is wanted by law enforcers for setting up a criminal gang and for abduction.
A 24-year-old local resident has defected from a gang subordinate to notorious warlord Shamil Basayev to give himself up to the police. He volunteered to cooperate with the authorities and named other gang members. He also disclosed the details of a number of crimes staged by his gang, the source at the headquarters said.
This article starring:
ABU AL WALID
Chechnya
ISLAM TUKHASHEV
Chechnya
KHUSEIN GAKAIEV
Chechnya
SHAMIL BASAIEV
Chechnya
YAKUB BEDIYEV
Chechnya
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/01/2005 12:48:20 AM ||
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A criminal case has been initiated on the kidnapping of relatives of Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov, said the Regional Operative Staff for the North Counterterrorist Operation in the North Caucasus. According to the staff, on January 26 the regional police branch office got an application from Aslan Maskhadov brother's wife Kameta Maskhadova, residing in Pervomaiskoe, the Grozny district. "It says that on December 3, 2004 unidentified camouflaged persons with automatic weapons and speaking the Chechen language forcibly drove her husband Lema Maskhadov, 56, from his house in an unknown direction," the interviewee said.
On the same day, at about 20:00, Moscow time, a group of 10 to 15 unidentified and camouflaged persons, also speaking Chechen and having automatic weapons, abducted Aslan's another brother, Lecha Maskhadov, 68, from house 16 on Sovkhoznaya street in Grozny, he went on to say. Then, at 11:20, Moscow time, on December 28, 2004, up to 15 unidentified camouflaged persons with automatic weapons and speaking the Chechen language forcibly drove in an unknown direction Aslan's nephew Movladi Maskhadov, 34, from a place near the Neftyanik market in Grozny. "On these facts, the Prosecutor's Office of Grozny's Staropromyslovsky district has initiated the criminal case. Investigation is underway to establish the location of the abducted persons and detain those involved in the crime," the Regional Operative Staff said.
This article starring:
ASLAN MASKHADOV
Chechnya
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/01/2005 12:47:18 AM ||
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The murder of Mufti Shukhman Madagov of Chechnya's Vedeno district has been solved, the Russian Interior Ministry's local press center told Interfax on Monday. "An investigation revealed that Shukhman Madagov was killed by an active member of illegal armed formations named Bediyev and other militants on August 29. Bediyev confessed to committing this crime," a press center spokesman said. An examination is being made to establish if Bediyev was involved in other crimes.
Police discovered five militant bases during sweep operations in a forest near the village of Dyshne-Vedeno, the spokesman said. The bases contained food, sleeping bags, winter camouflage uniforms, three grenade launcher rounds and four grenades. The bases were destroyed an operation was launched to find the militants.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/01/2005 12:46:19 AM ||
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An attack in Chechnya that killed at least nine pro-Moscow police last week was a suicide bombing, a rebel statement said on Monday in the first such claim of responsibility since the Beslan school siege in September. Local media reports said last Friday's attack was caused by a radio-controlled bomb, but a rebel statement posted on the Internet said a single suicide bomber had attacked a column of local troops in a mined car. "He crashed into the column of cars at full speed, destroying three cars and their crews. The fighter was martyred," said the statement.
The rebels have also used conventional guerrilla tactics, both inside Chechnya and in neighbouring areas of Russia. Four times this month Russian troops have stormed buildings where militants were holed up. Russian security services link the mainly Muslim Chechen guerrillas to al Qaeda, which also uses suicide bombings. The Chechens deny any formal link.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/01/2005 12:45:35 AM ||
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Spanish police arrested a family of four on Tuesday suspected of links to the March 11 Madrid train bombings and a militant Islamic group, the Interior Ministry said. Police also issued an international arrest warrant for Youssef Belhadj, who they suspect may have appeared on a videotape claiming responsibility for the Madrid attacks and describing himself as the spokesman of al-Qaeda in Europe.
The Moroccan-born Moussaten family -- 20-year-old half brothers Brahim and Mohamed , their father Allal and Mohamed's 42-year-old mother Safia Belhadj -- were seized in the Madrid suburb of Leganes, the ministry said in a statement. It was not immediately clear if Belhadj and the detained mother are related. The family may have formed part of the Salafist-linked Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group and were allegedly connected with group leaders detained in swoops in Belgium, France and Spain in 2004, the statement added. It was also in touch with two men wanted in connection with the March bombings, which killed 191, and may have helped them escape after seven other suspects blew themselves up in a Leganes apartment after a police siege, the statement said. Police were searching the family home and did not rule out further arrests. Youssef Belhadj, who Spain wants extradited, was born in Morocco but currently lives in Belgium, where he was arrested last March but then released.
So he's on the run, somewhere. Nice going, Belgium.
He may also be connected to the Moussaten family, the statement said. More than 100 suspected Islamic militants have been arrested in Spain since the March attacks, although many have been released for lack of evidence.
This article starring:
ALAL MUSATEN
Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group
BRAHIM MUSATEN
Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group
MOHAMED MUSATEN
Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group
SAFIA BELHADJ
Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group
YUSEF BELHADJ
al-Qaeda in Europe
YUSEF BELHADJ
Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group
Posted by: Steve ||
02/01/2005 10:24:26 AM ||
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So he's on the run, somewhere. Nice going, Belgium
The FBI last year quietly nabbed a Saudi military official who had ties to Al Qaeda - just after he finished training in this country with the U.S. Air Force, the Daily News has learned. The Saudi allegedly had knowledge of Al Qaeda safe houses and plans in the kingdom, intelligence sources said.
FBI agents stopped and quizzed the suspect and his family at a U.S. airport as they were leaving the country. The military man was allowed to return to Saudi Arabia, where he was detained and interrogated further, sources said.
As a result, arrests of other Al Qaeda operatives were made overseas, sources said.
"An Al Qaeda sympathizer who was in the Saudi military was here in training," said a senior U.S. official briefed on the case. "There were some significant rollups because of this."
The FBI discovered the man's ties to Al Qaeda and brought in Air Force Office of Special Investigations agents because he had attended one of the service's schools, the sources said.
Saudi Embassy officials in Washington did not return calls seeking comment yesterday.
The incident was disclosed in an OSI publication in a year-end column written by the group's commander, Air Force Brig. Gen. Eric Patterson. "We spearheaded a successful anti-terrorism operation with the FBI, which identified an active Al Qaeda sympathizer who attended training at an Air Force technical school," Patterson wrote in Global Reliance magazine, a bimonthly read by OSI agents.
"We have since established a process to screen and monitor activities of foreign students to focus on early discovery of other possible penetrations. In addition to capturing that Al Qaeda member in the United States, 51 others were arrested overseas," Patterson wrote.
Other sources expressed skepticism that the number eventually collared was as many as Patterson claimed.
An OSI spokesman wouldn't say what type of Air Force training the Saudi officer got, but confirmed that an identified Al Qaeda sympathizer "was sent back to the host nation."
"Saudi Arabia continues to be the single biggest producer and fund-raiser of terror," said Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn, Queens) after learning of the case from a News reporter. "When will we learn?"
#1
Another side benefit of the Vast Eductional/Government industrial complex, stuff schools with as many "students" as possible, not worry though about status,illegal or otherwise.
oh well, at least they caught one!
Posted by: give us your tired.your homici.... ||
02/01/2005 16:24 Comments ||
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#2
KSA is the money and enabler for AQ. It is a state policy to enable these clown. When will this government get a clue?
Posted by: SPOD ||
02/01/2005 17:04 Comments ||
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A US federal judge ruled that military tribunals for international terror suspects at the Guantanamo Bay Naval base are unconstitutional, leaving in doubt the fate of hundreds of detainees at the US-run detention center in Cuba.
After considering court appeals filed by 11 "enemy combatants" held at the facility, "the court concludes that the petitioners have stated valid claims under the Fifth Amendment to the United State Constitution," Judge Joyce Hens Green wrote in her ruling, adding that the detentions "violate the petitioners rights to due process of law."
The Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution states that no one under US jurisdiction can be "be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."
The court also found that some of the detainees, are in fact, covered by the Geneva Conventions.
"The court holds that at least some of the petitioners have stated valid claims under the third Geneva Convention," according to a declassifed version of the federal ruling which was posted Monday on the court's website.
Green ruled that US officials withheld from detainees access to evidence used against them, and that the US government has tended to rely on statements obtained by torture. She also determined that the government's definition of "enemy combatant" was vague and overly broad.
Suspects captured in the US-led war on terrorism, most of whom were taken prisoner in Afghanistan after US-led forces toppled the Taliban regime, or Pakistan, are being held as illegal combatants without Geneva Convention protections.
Detainees at Guantanamo were taken into custody beginning in early 2002, with some imprisoned now for nearly three years, while others were captured as recently as September of last year.
"Although many of these individuals may never have been close to an actual battlefield and may never have raised conventional arms against the United States or its allies, the military nonetheless has deemed them detainable as 'enemy combatants' based on conclusions that they have ties to the Al-Qaeda terror network or other terrorist organizations," the court document said.
The US government has maintained that it is allowed to detain suspects it designates to be enemy combatants until the "war on terror" ends, which is to say indefinitely. If prosecuted and convicted, enemy combatants would receive fixed terms of incarceration.
In a statement after the ruling, attorneys for the detainees called Monday's court decision a "smashing defeat for the Bush administration" and "a momentous victory for the rule of law, for human rights, and for our democracy."
"Now it's time for this administration to act. We're calling on the White House to cease its tactics," the attorneys said.
Posted by: tipper ||
02/01/2005 2:20:49 AM ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
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#1
This ruling conflicts with an equal and opposite ruling from a different federal judge, which almost certainly means that it is put on hold pending appeal.
#2
The Geneva convention applies because they are part of Al-Qaeda? So where, oh stupid and foolish judge, did Binny sign the Geneva convention?
And you might want to ask Nick Berg and the thousands of other innocent victims who were deliberately targetted and murdered what they think abou it.
I maintain that we *cant* apply the Geneva convention to terrorists because doing so would remove any incentive for anyone else to abide by it.
The main reason for abiding by the Geneva Convention is to insure your people are treated as well. Give them a pass and the convention isn't worth the paper its signed on.
#6
I assume she is a Clinton appointment? I recommend the government ignore this dingbat and appeal.
The court system in this country is ill suited to fight the war on terror. These âlawyerâ who pursue these cases do this for a living. They went to school so they can destroy the US using our own laws. They do nothing else. They pursue court cases that eat up money and court time that will further their own usually communist or radical socialist agenda. Our country is a nation of laws but there are just to many lawyers. Most of them are up to no good. I consider all of them dangerous enemies of our personal liberty and well being until they prove otherwise.
Posted by: SPOD ||
02/01/2005 9:38 Comments ||
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which is the declaration of war. Combatants are held till the war is over. BTW no treaty was approved to end WWI, Congress just repealed the declaration of war to end hostilities.
#8
The Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution states that no one under US jurisdiction can be "be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."
Funny, and all this time I thought the Constitution applied to U.S. citizens, not just anyone under U.S. "jurisdiction." Another, seemingly obvious question is, if these guys never set foot on U.S. soil, are not U.S. citizens, are not part of a foreign national army, then HOW IN THE WORLD can the US Constitution (much less the Geneva Conventions) apply to them? But, what do I know, I'm just a dumb redneck red-stater, who actually thought the laws mean what they say.
Posted by: BA ||
02/01/2005 10:09 Comments ||
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#9
BA, that would be probably the case if there were no lawyers. Unfortunately, they hatch all the time.
#11
I think that since the judge doesn't think the tribunals are "legal" maybe the gitmo crowd can go live with him? This is all LLL crap, because we have have NEVER extended the fifth amendment to unlawful combatants in any conflict. There really ought to be a way to recall judges that make shit up on the bench.
#13
HOW IN THE WORLD can the US Constitution (much less the Geneva Conventions) apply to them?
Well I'm not a constitutional lawyer, but isn't the Bill of Rights meant to restrict the powers of the government? And isn't the government composed of citizens?
So when the Bill of Rights says "No person shall be held...etc, etc" isn't that correctly interpreted as "WE FORBID YOU, O GOVERNMENT OF OURS, TO HOLD ANY PERSON...etc, etc"?
If you had meant it to say "No citizen" rather than "No person" then you should have said "No citizen" in the first place. Because "no person" seems to me to be both specific and concise in applying to all people, whether citizens or not -- the same way it applies to people of all colors, people of both genders, people regardless of age, it makes sense to also apply to people regardless of citizenship.
#14
This "judgement" is pretty damned stupid, but not much of a surprise. The U.S. government, by not moving more swiftly to get the tribunals going, practically invited court challenges.
#16
"Lord have mercy. Aris is back, explaining our Constitution to us."
Seems like you needed it.
But if it makes you feel better I've used the same arguments about what the Bill of Rights means that I've been taught in Rantburg by Rantburgers, especially about the Bill of Rights applies to the *government* (in order to restrict it, rather than "give" rights to people that they already have by their nature) and also about how "specific and concise" the document is.
You will no longer be able to claim your constitution as "specific" or "clear" if the word "person" is used to mean "citizen" instead.
Deal. If Rantburg teaches me something, I'm not obliged to apply it only in the cases that Rantburgers would like.
#17
Bill of Rights, Amendment V:
"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger..."
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.billofrights.html
There you go -- we'll hold them until the end of the WOT. Shouldn't last more than a hundred years or so.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/01/2005 12:53 Comments ||
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#18
Seems like you needed it.
So Aris has determined that releasing armed terrorists are what we need?
How's about, Greek Boy, we decide we no longer need you breathing and posting to Rantburg. Fair enough?
#19
Thanks, Tom, what an "enlightening" expose to the Constitution and Bill of Rights. As long as the war's on, all bets are off for the jihadis we capture, eh?
Posted by: BA ||
02/01/2005 13:16 Comments ||
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#20
So Aris has determined that releasing armed terrorists are what we need?
I think that what you need is start knowing what your own constitution says. And if you don't like what it says, then you should change it according to the process set forth therein.
How's about, Greek Boy, we decide we no longer need you breathing and posting to Rantburg. Fair enough? Do you agree this is something you "need?"
Why, badanov, you are so macho and Christian and stuff! I'd swoon before your manly man's presence if I wasn't tremendously amused by your ravings instead! :D
As a sidenote I wonder if impled threats falls under "ad hominem" or they are in a category of their very own. :-)
Anyway, unless your other name is Fred, not yours to judge whether I should post here.
Tom> As long as it's conceded that "person" does indeed mean "person" and not just white personcitizen, I don't much care whether you'll use other elements of that amendment to call Guantanamo prisons constitutional.
Stop with the "we" unless there are multiple personalities in there. You only speak for yourself.
And I'm sure you've decided what I "need" already. Too bad (for you) you've no more power in this forum than I do, namely the one to make posts. This ofcourse had been annoying enough by itself when some other people had decided that I "needed" to be stalked, harassed, trolled, etc. But c'est la vie.
Typically, Aris is cherry picking the questions he will answer
Yes. Some questions are beneath contempt and undeserving of answers. But as I've done you the favour to reply, why don't you answer me this question instead: "Does person mean person, or does it mean citizen? And if it meant citizen, why didn't it say 'citizen' in the first place?"
#24
Oh, dear sweet God, there goes the bandwidth again....
Look, Aris, we have this thing called "judge shopping". You look for a judge that is more than likely sympathetic to your cause. That doesn't mean it is going to be upheld on appeal.
More than likely, the government will appeal this to a higher court, then they'll appeal...until it gets to the Supreme Court. This is just part of the game. Nothing has been resolved.
The only thing the defendants' lawyers are trying to do is make sure they are covered by the Constitution, not by the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Constitutional rights are far more broad than those that military personnel serve under.....which, I am sure, you will discover once you enlist.
The judge hasn't resolved a damn thing by saying they are covered somewhat by the Geneva Convention. That would make them regular prisoners of war.....covered by the UCMJ if I am correct. Tom's quote from the 5th Amendment also backs that up.
This isn't a case of debating whether these guys broke into a liquor store and committed an armed robbery. These are individuals fighting against the United States. It's just one of the first rounds in determining if they are "combatants" or "individuals covered by the Constitution".
#25
Actually as I remember from my old public school 'history' class (for what thats worth).... at the time the consitution was initially written 'person' did not include the slaves of the southern states.
Having said that I dont think the consitution applies to enemy combatants (legal or illegal) taken on foeign soil - that is a far, far, reach especially if the geneva convention does not apply.
#26
CF is right, Aris. Person back then meant different things than it does now. And, as Tom's quote shows, it does NOT apply to those brought up during times of war (which this is) by our military.
Posted by: BA ||
02/01/2005 15:11 Comments ||
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#27
This totally ingnores any secret "Presidental Findings" that maybe in force. Findings can involve interesting marshall law based narrow rulings....
Anybody know how many obf these are still in force?
Anybody know who wrote the oldest one still in force? I am betting either Lincoln or Wilson.
#28
I know someone down there right now who says that 99% of the detainees that he has come in contact with are the most disgusting examples of riffraff imaginable. Murderous, violent and utterly depraved.
Tom is exactly right - they have no protection under the US constitution. If some bleeding heart asshat Judge sees it otherwise - well thats the way the ball bounces, until that decision gets over turned.
Personally, in the WoT, I wouldn't take prisoners. No quarter offered - none given.
You know nothing of America or Americans Aris.
#29
Please don't feed the troll. Don't feed him and he will starve or go away.
It much easier than arguments with a person who can never admit they are incorrect, have their heads up their ass or, lack the life experience to even know the difference between their head and their butt.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/01/2005 16:07 Comments ||
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#31
Those who get their miracles second hand should STFU and listen, not talk. Endlessly. Pointlessly. Drunkenly. Foolishly. "Meeeeeee! It's all about meeeeeee!"
"I find that, as a rule, when a thing is a wonder to us it is not because of what we see in it, but because of what others have seen in it. We get almost all our wonders at second hand... By and by you sober down, and then you perceive that you have been drunk on the smell of somebody else's cork."
-Twain, Following the Equator
#32
CF and BA, as I've indicated in #20, I am quite well aware that once upon a time you'd had "person" mean "white person", denying humanity and personhood from slaves.
It's yours to decide whether you want to use such a logic again, this time denying humanity and personhood from all non-citizens. With a little bit of effort I'm sure you can also deny humanity and personhood from everyone who didn't vote for Bush.
#33
Sike, you are yourself a constructed non-person with a fake trollish name -- judging from examples of your type I am guessing you have probably been posting in this forum with atleast two other names. .com's "Meeee!" babble identifies him likewise with the non-person "It's all about me" who trolled several threads a while back.
And you are talking about the futility of arguing with me? Those who are too big a bunch of intellectual cowards to even attempt to hold a consistent identity? Those who unlike me, *don't* ever talk about the issue or back their words with anything other than ad hominems?
That's kinda rich about the ad hominems....coming from a guy who seemingly couldn't stop calling people "idiots" on Saturday.....
And, yes, Aris, we all feel like non-citizens of the US don't count. No one but our own citizens have humanity and personhood. We proved it this weekend with a little election in Iraq, brought to you courtesy of the Americans, Brits, Aussies, Poles, Italians, and other members of the coalition of the willing.
#35
Aris - That's kinda rich about the ad hominems....coming from a guy who seemingly couldn't stop calling people "idiots" on Saturday.....
I didn't use "idiot" as an argument (that'd be the ad hominem fallacy), I used it as an insult.
Remove the insult and my post remains my post, and complete with arguments. Remove the personal attacks from .com's or Sike's posts, and you've managed a 100% reduction in content.
That's a bit of a difference.
and, yes, Aris, we all feel like non-citizens of the US don't count. No one but our own citizens have humanity and personhood.
I know you don't believe that, which is exactly why I'm trying to make you people understand what is actually implied by a claim that "No person" actually means "No citizen".
If you actually believed in the non-personhood of non-US citizens there'd be no point in pointing the implication out or the connection with slavery era arguments.
#37
See my point, Desert Blondie? I dare you to try to find any hint of an argument in .com's posts in this thread. Just mockery and insult. Content: 0%
#41
Aris, I ain't the playground monitor here, so don't even think of dragging me into that.
It doesn't matter one damn bit about what "person" meant during the slavery era. We left that era behind a long time ago. We have also determined that "person" means females, too, which it didn't back then. And other non-whites. Case closed.
We can debate what the founders' meant by "person" forever, and it adds nothing to the current discussion, which is, do these evil-minded blood-thirsty killers (or killer wannabes) deserve Constitutional protection, protection under the Geneva Convention, or the UCMJ? Their citizenship has very little to do with it (see John Walker Lindh if you don't believe me...he was looking at UCMJ punishment, and he's a citizen).
(note to .com -- I already have that shirt, can I trade it for some other valuable prize? Just kidding.... ;) )
#54
and it adds nothing to the current discussion, which is, do these evil-minded blood-thirsty killers (or killer wannabes) deserve Constitutional protection, protection under the Geneva Convention, or the UCMJ?
I think that besides asking about whether they "deserve" it, you should also ask whether they have it -- regardless of what they "deserve".
badanov, you've still not replied to the question, even though you whined multiple times about not me answering yours -- hypocrite.
#58
me me me me me
boo boo boo boo bee
me me me me me
ma ma ma ma meee
half wits in the night
Posted by: abu Frank S ||
02/01/2005 20:08 Comments ||
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#59
Damn fine answer Bad!
Is it hot in here or is it meeeeeeeeeee?
Posted by: FireBall Roberts ||
02/01/2005 20:10 Comments ||
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#60
hypocrite? there's a bonus big drink right there - tip up everybdy!
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/01/2005 20:16 Comments ||
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#61
"Does person mean person, or does it mean citizen? And if it meant citizen, why didn't it say 'citizen' in the first place?"
sweet bejeebus! goddamer ima guesn im only one heren looker up em dicshenary:
per·son ( P ) Pronunciation Key (pûrsn)
n.
1. A living human. Often used in combination: chairperson; spokesperson; salesperson.
2.An individual of specified character: a person of importance.
3.The composite of characteristics that make up an individual personality; the self.
4.The living body of a human: searched the prisoner's person.
5.Physique and general appearance.
6.Law. A human or organization with legal rights and duties.
7.Christianity. Any of the three separate individualities of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as distinguished from the essence of the Godhead that unites them.
8.Grammar.
Any of three groups of pronoun forms with corresponding verb inflections that distinguish the speaker (first person), the individual addressed (second person), and the individual or thing spoken of (third person).
Any of the different forms or inflections expressing these distinctions.
9.A character or role, as in a play; a guise: âWell, in her person, I say I will not have youâ (Shakespeare).
#63
*nods* I ought to have remember that actual argument about a topic is anathema for most conservatives, same as thinking and facts are. No idea that needs to use more than the lizard-brain is allowed.
Drink away, fucktards. When you've destroyed all remaining brain-cells you'll have evaded the need for even the pretense at the eeeevil burden of thought.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/01/2005 20:32 Comments ||
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#65
Oooooh, Aris is pissssed with you guys. He's my buddy today -- we actually agreed on something (#23). That's why he's not charging me with stalking and obsession today. Yet.
Posted by: Tom ||
02/01/2005 20:32 Comments ||
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#66
fine! buyer you own goddam dicshenary nex time then!
I can't cover every eventuality, but I guess we will have to monitor this thread to gather together all his tendencies for the enhanced Aris: The Drinking Game rules
Posted by: Tom ||
02/01/2005 20:49 Comments ||
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#74
Muck - oh so true - you are a good-hearted sage for the times - I was late to realize that, and for that, I apologize
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/01/2005 20:52 Comments ||
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#75
Oh, damn, I step away for a moment and see what happens?
So...now that Aris confused what I meant about the word "deserve", as in, under what rules should we handle these guys, and then stalked off, does that mean I gotta provide the Sauza for everyone?
Thank God Albertsons has it on sale.....
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/01/2005 21:09 Comments ||
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#77
The judge is wrong.
The Constitution holds for all persons (now that Mucky so graciously defined the term) within the territories governed by the government of the U.S.A. at the time, ie Guam and Puerto Rico and suchlike as well as the 50 states. However, the Constitution does not hold in the Dar al somethingorother where a war is going on, or in other countries, where their own laws hold sway or, often enough, on Army bases (yes, all the other services, too. Give me a break here!).
In the case of the GITMO prisoners, they were captured a) on the battlefield but not in uniform, b) by other governments and turned over to the Armed Forces for sequestering, or c) while planning, attempting or subsequent to a terrorist event. Only those who are captured on a battlefield while in official uniform are subject to the Geneva Conventions, that is to be sequestered until the war is over, then repatriated; the G.C. specifically repudiates those who skulk around in civilian dress and hide themselves amongst the civilian population -- they can be treated as spies and summarily killed upon capture, or otherwise become the property of their captors.
The argument could be made that GITMO is U.S. territory, but the persons imprisoned there are in no way proper soldiers captured in battle, nor are they arrested for breaking American law on American territory who would be subject to American courts.
Just one person's opinion, for what its worth. Hope you find it helpful, Aris.
#78
these assholes have perpetrated crimes of war by not adhering to the Geneva accords. Kill.Them.Now*
or as soon as we're done wringing anything useful from them.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/01/2005 21:36 Comments ||
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#79
I heard about this today on Boortz. Apparently the judge tried to connect the dots that since Gitmo is considered sovereign U.S. territory (as any overseas base is) that somehow these jihadis rate constitutional protection as they are being held on U.S. territory, (if they rate the constitution then geneva usually follows suit). I think she's dead wrong but that was her reasoning (or lack there of).
The humanitarian catastrophe caused by the 26 December tsunami has led to an outpouring of humanitarian aid and support from some unlikely quarters. While media attention has focused on how the relief efforts will affect the Indonesian armed forces (TNI) counter-insurgency campaign against the Acehnese separatist movement, GAM, the real security issue is how militant Islamist organizations and charities, especially the Indonesian Mujahideen Council (MMI), the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), the Laskar Mujahideen and the Medical Emergency Relief Charity (MER-C), and a handful of others are taking advantage of the situation.
With the exception of the FPI, all of the above-mentioned organizations are linked to Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), a regional affiliate of al-Qaida, which has been responsible for three major terrorist attacks in Indonesia since the Bali bombing in October 2002. Moreover, all four organizations were involved in fomenting the sectarian conflict in the Malukus and Central Sulawesi, from 1999-2001, which left more than 9'000 people dead. On 4 January, the MMI dispatched the first group of 77 volunteers to Aceh, from their Jogyakarta based headquarters as part of a 206-man contingent. The MMI is an overt civil society organization that was founded in August 2000 by the alleged spiritual chief of Jemaah Islamiyah, Abu Bakar Baasyir. Many of its senior leadership positions were held by members of JI or their kin. For example, MMI leaders Mohammad Iqbal Abdurrahman (a.k.a. Abu Jibril) and Agus Dwikarna were not only members of JI's shura, but also heads of the two paramilitary organizations, the Laskar Mujahideen and the Laskar Jundullah, established by JI to engage in sectarian conflict in 1999-2001.
The Laskar Mujahideen is inextricably linked to JI and al-Qaida. Founded in January 2000 by Jibril and JI's operational chief Hambali, the organization fielded roughly 500 armed combatants. They were armed by JI operatives in the southern Philippines, and were equipped with high-speed motor boats. Laskar Mujahideen operatives worked closely with al-Qaida operatives, such as Omar al-Faruq and the jihadist filmmaker Reda Seyam. Malaysian authorities detained Jibril in June 2001 and deported him to Indonesia in the summer of 2004, where he was detained on immigration offenses but quietly acquitted and released last October. Indonesian authorities asserted that they did not have enough evidence to link Jibril to any terrorist attacks, and downplayed his involvement with Laskar Mujahideen. (The US Treasury had placed Jibril on their list of specially Designated Global Terrorists.)
Since 2001, with Jibril's arrest and the crackdown against JI members, the Laskar Mujahideen (and its fraternal organization the Laskar Jundullah) has gone completely underground. Although it was thought to be behind some of the sporadic violence in the Malukus that resumed in 2004, most Indonesian police and intelligence officials interviewed by this author assume the group had disbanded. Yet the Laskar Mujahideen dispatched some 250 persons to Aceh, over 50 of whom were ferried aboard Indonesian military planes. They established four base camps in the province, including one outside the airport, adjacent to the camps of other domestic and international relief organizations, beneath a sign that reads, "Islamic Law Enforcement". Unlike the MMI, which is more concerned with providing "spiritual guidance" and restoring "infrastructure in places of religious duties," the Laskar Mujahideen has been involved in relief work, including the distribution of aid and the burial of corpses. The MMI and Laskar Mujahideen have been joined by a small Indonesian charity that was previously an important executor agency for Saudi funding. The Medical Emergency Relief Charity (MER-C) was established on 14 August 1999 in response to sectarian strife. They now have 12 offices in Indonesia, concentrated in the regions most directly affected by sectarian violence (Sulawesi, Malukus and Kalimintan). In 2000-2001, MER-C produced two well-publicized jihadi videos for fund-raising purposes. While MER-C members were not implicated in directly supporting Laskar Jundullah and Laskar Mujahideen paramilitary operations in the Malukus and Central Sulawesi, to the degree that another Indonesian charity KOMPAK was, its one-sided approach to the Malukus conflict, as well as the actions of some individual members, inevitably raised suspicions. MER-C's operations abroad, particularly in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan, have also raised some concerns. Indeed, the MER-C website states that they operate in the tribal areas of Pakistan with the support and permission of the Taliban. This is not to cast aspersions on what MER-C has been able to accomplish in Aceh. According to a separate English language website, they have used donations to buy medicine and basic foodstuffs as well as rent tractors and bulldozers to clear rubble and distribute food. The
FPI, founded by the fiery cleric Habib Rizieq in August 1998, has also taken a high profile position in Aceh. The group, best known for destroying bars, night-clubs, massage parlors and discos, dispatched 250 activists to Aceh and promised to send an additional 800. "FPI is not only an organization that destroys bars and discos in major Java cities, it has a humanitarian side as well that the media is not happy to expose," asserted Hilmy Bakar Alascaty, the head of the FPI's contingent in Aceh. Alascaty stated that the military had provided the group with air transport and that Vice-President Jusuf Kalla had arranged for FPI members to travel on a government-chartered plane. He announced that in addition to providing aid and burying corpses, his group would ensure that foreign soldiers did not violate Islamic law.
Interestingly, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, the seemingly ubiquitous Pan-Islamic organization, is also on the ground in Aceh. The hardline Wahhabi organization, Hidayatullah, does not yet have a presence in Aceh, but they are raising money for mosque reconstruction through their website and other media organs. The central questions, of course, revolve around the possible ulterior motives of these Islamic organizations. Broadly speaking, and aside from a genuine desire to assist fellow countrymen and Muslims, these organizations are motivated by four objectives. The first is extensive press and media attention. It is particularly instructive that in the April 2004 parliamentary election, the party that had the most spectacular gains was the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), which increased its share of the vote from under 2 per cent in 1999 to almost 8 per cent. While there is a debate over the degree to which the PKS has downplayed its Islamist goals, all acknowledge that the party's popularity was in large part due to their anti-corruption stance and high-profile charitable relief work. Indeed, the PKS has dispatched almost 1'000 cadres to Aceh, one of the largest contingents thus far. Their previous work in the sectarian conflicts of Poso, Sulawesi and the Malukus, confirmed in them the belief that humanitarian aid is a very effective way to win the hearts and minds of an afflicted community and garner support for their political program.
Secondly, these groups are dedicated to cleansing Indonesia of western influence. From their posturing and rhetoric, it is apparent than none believe the Americans or Australians are motivated by sheer altruism, but have an ulterior motive. It should be noted that even the PKS has called on foreign troops to be in the restive province for no more than a month. Thirdly, these groups see the disaster as an opportunity to proselytize. Several groups, such as the MMI, indicated that their primary goal was to provide "spiritual guidance" to victims and assist in the reconstruction of mosques. With 400'000 refugees and mosques at the center of rural community relief efforts, the potential for influence is great. Fourthly, these organizations all seek to provide relief and assistance in order to discredit the corrupt, secular regime that they seek to replace. The slow and haphazard response of the Indonesian government's relief efforts confirms their belief that the government is unable and unwilling to truly serve the needs of the Muslim community.
The Indonesian government has shown little concern about the motives of these organizations. It was only after international donor organizations raised the alarm that the TNI expelled 19 MMI members from Aceh. There are many possible explanations as to why the TNI assisted their movement to Aceh; with the role of the so-called "green generals" or the machinations of army Chief General Ryamizard Ryacudu, who is engaged in a pitched political battle with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, amongst the favorites. Ironically, the Acehnese separatist organization GAM has raised the sharpest concern about their presence. While the radical groups have supported Shari'ah law and other concessions that GAM has wrought from the government, they do not support their secessionist insurgency. To that end, it is likely that the TNI will not divert its resources to these groups and will instead focus on resuming the war against GAM. What is the implication for the US? The most pressing issue is the legal ramifications of the TNI's assistance to the militants. In addition to transport, they have provided tents and equipment. Under the terms of the Lehey Amendment, the TNI is to sever relations with all militia groups. This is acutely consequential as many in the US Executive Branch seek to use the humanitarian crisis as a cover for lifting congressional restrictions on bilateral military relations. How the US deals with this sensitive issue will likely have a significant impact on the dynamics of Islamic militancy in Indonesia.
This article starring:
ABU BAKAR BAASYIR
Jemaah Islamiyah
ABU JIBRIL
Indonesian Mujahideen Council
ABU JIBRIL
Laskar Mujahideen
AGUS DWIKARNA
Indonesian Mujahideen Council
AGUS DWIKARNA
Laskar Jundullah
HABIB RIZIEQ
Islamic Defenders Front
HAMBALI
Laskar Mujahideen
HILMY BAKAR ALASCATY
Islamic Defenders Front
MOHAMAD IQBAL ABDURRAHMAN
Indonesian Mujahideen Council
MOHAMAD IQBAL ABDURRAHMAN
Laskar Mujahideen
OMAR AL FARUQ
al-Qaeda
REDA SEYAM
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/01/2005 12:51:09 AM ||
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AUTHORITIES are hunting 23 Jemaah Islamiyah members believed hiding in central Mindanao, after discounting their threat to the country. The Philippine National Police isn't worried about the JI operatives -- all Indonesians -- since they are "stranded" in the country and are practically incapable of launching terrorist attacks, according to PNP intelligence director Robert Delfin. "They receive no funding, so how can they move?" Delfin said in an interview with reporters. "Right now, they're more concerned with hiding from both the police and the military than attacking."
The military had earlier pegged the number of JI members in Mindanao at 40. Police could not explain, however, how the number went down to 23. What is clear is the terrorists are holed up on Mt. Kararaw, at the boundary of the provinces of Maguindanao and Lanao, which is considered a stronghold of the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Delfin said the 23 operatives had lost contact with their leaders in Indonesia following the arrest of key JI leaders. Among these were Zulkifli, who was arrested in Malaysia several months ago, and Taufek Refke, the group's alleged finance officer, who was caught in Mindanao early last year. The arrests cut the flow of funds from Indonesia to the JI cell in Mindanao, Delfin said.
The JI, the Southeast Asia-based affiliate of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terrorist network, maintains a "mantique" or cluster of operations that includes Malaysia and Indonesia, its country of origin. Mindanao is part of the cluster, being primarily a training ground for prospective bombers, intelligence officials said. In December 2003, at least 10 JI bombers reportedly graduated from training facilities in MILF territories. The MILF has denied the allegation.
If the 23 Indonesian terrorists were planning an attack, Delfin said, they could only do so "in coordination with local terrorists."
"They're dependent on their local contacts," he said, referring to the Abu Sayyaf terror group and renegade MILF members. Tracker teams from the PNP Intelligence Group and the Armed Forces of the Philippines are now conducting separate operations to arrest the 23 Indonesians, Delfin said. "They're scattered, that's why the military is bombing them," he added.
On Friday, officials said five Islamic militants, including at least one JI member, were believed killed in a military air strike on their hideout in a Maguindanao marshland the previous day. Army spokesperson Col. Franklin del Prado said among those believed to have been in the area were Abu Sayyaf chief Khadaffy Janjalani and at least three Indonesian JI members, including Dulmatin, who allegedly played a key role in the Bali bombings. Dulmatin was believed killed in the raid.
This article starring:
DULMATIN
Jemaah Islamiyah
KHADAFY JANJALANI
Abu Sayyaf
TAUFEK REFKE
Jemaah Islamiyah
ZULKIFLI
Jemaah Islamiyah
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/01/2005 12:40:20 AM ||
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Five people were killed on Tuesday in a gunbattle between Egyptian police and a group of Bedouin suspected of helping the men who bombed three tourist resorts in Sinai in October, police sources said. Three policeman, one of the suspects and a bystander were killed in the clash, which is still going on near the Sinai town of Ras Sudr, 150 kilometres east of Cairo, they said. Police have sealed off an area in the hills near Ras Sudr after receiving information that two of the four bombers were hiding there, they said.
At least 34 people — Egyptians, Israelis, Russians and Italians — were killed in the three bombings, which appeared to target east Sinai resorts frequented by Israelis. Police have said the other two bombers were killed by their own bomb. Police said in October they had arrested five men, all Sinai Bedouin, as accomplices in the bombings.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/01/2005 10:39:23 PM ||
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Picture of the guy at the link.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi militants claimed in a Web statement Tuesday to have taken an American soldier hostage and threatened to behead him in 72 hours unless the Americans release Iraqi prisoners.
The posting, on a Web site that frequently carried militants' statements, included a photo of what appeared to be an American soldier in desert fatigues seated with his hands tied behind his back.
A gun barrel was pointed at his head, and he is seated in front of a black banner emblazoned with the Islamic profession of faith, "There is no god but God and Muhammad is His prophet."
A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, Marine Sgt. Salju K. Thomas, said he had no information on the claim but "we are currently looking into it."
A statement posted with the picture suggested the group was holding other soldiers.
"Our mujahadeen heroes of Iraq (news - web sites)'s Jihadi Battalion were able to capture American military man John Adam after killing a number of his comrades and capturing the rest," said the statement, signed by the "Mujahedeen Brigades."
"God willing, we will behead him if our female and male prisoners are not released from U.S. prisons within the maximum period of 72 hours from the time this statement has been released," the statement said.
The claim, carried on the Web site ansarnet.ws, could not be verified.
More than 180 foreigners have been kidnapped in the past year. At least 10 of them, including three American civilians, remain in the hands of their kidnappers.
The only American soldier known to have been taken hostage is Pfc. Keith M. Maupin, 20, of Batavia, Ohio, who was shown in a video in April being held by militants. Another video aired in June showed what purported to be Maupin's slaying, but the picture was too unclear to confirm it was him and the military still lists him as missing.
#17
They're lucky they didn't try to capture the GI Joe w/Kung Fu grip!
Posted by: Stephen ||
02/01/2005 16:58 Comments ||
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#18
If President Bush wishes to organize a rescue mission, I'll gladly donate my Six Million Dollar Man doll. It has a bionic grip, bionic vision, and there are tool compartments in the legs.
If reports are true and the terrorists have murdererd one of our dolls, we must stand firm. We will destroy ten of their dolls. We will smash their rock-em-sock-em robots. And we will leave the lids of their Play-dough until it grows dry and flaky!
#26
CNN reports that the doll is Dragon Models USA's "Special Ops Cody". Could they have given him a whiter name? Maybe Special Ops Logan, or something?
#29
This is serious folks. A true hostage situation in the making. Latest intelligence reports the teenage jihadis are demanding a hostage exchange (NSFW). Reports say they are holding out for the post bomb belt model (definitely NSFW) since they can relate to it better.
Posted by: ed ||
02/01/2005 17:56 Comments ||
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#30
Cody's wife pleads with Zarqawi for safe return.
"He is anatomically correct. Don't hurt anything!"
My cousin who is a bit older than me managed to save most of his old toys from childhood; he still has all those original GI Joe toys; he has the model of Frendship 7 gemini capsule with Joe as an astronaut; Joe as WWII soldier, Joe as WWI soldier, etc. I think the Orbiter capsule and the GI Joe Jeep and Footlocker were the most interesting, but he has lots of them I have never seen. Wotta nerd! ;-)
Posted by: Mark E. ||
02/01/2005 18:48 Comments ||
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#34
This made my day. I have a history of hoaxing the media, crop-circles and that sort of thing, but I would never have attempted something this lame.
It amazes even me to see how gullible they really are.
Besides AP; CNN, Al-Guardian, Das Independent and several local outlets ran with the story. Better yet, posters at DU and other LLL cesspools are STILL defending its authenticity, complete with now-hilarious pontifications about the exploitation of African-Americans and all that.
It is wonderful to see the Institutional Media Culture, the Beast, collapsing before our very eyes. Better yet, most of its legions of slaves are blissfully unaware of this and remain as arrogant and pompous as ever. This means that the Beast will take them all with it as it goes down.
The torpedoed ship is fully submerged and headed for the bottom, and the rats haven't even thought about jumping overboard.
#37
Mark E - I had the footlocker AND the jeep (sadly lost to the ages) - the jeep had a spinner springmetal thing under the hood to make noise when you rolled it...
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/01/2005 19:14 Comments ||
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#38
Anyone have a "Cody"?
Lots of fun to be had with him now...
climbing the Eiffel Tower, beheading bin Laden...
#39
Many thanks, .com, and belated thanks for your wonderful remarks in response to my "bet the ranch" opinion piece the other night.
Btw, I suspect that this originated not with jihadis but with some anti-idiotarian hoaxer who has even less respect for the MSM than I do.
How is that possible, some may ask?
Well, I've long thought that the institutional media were a depraved whorehouse, but I never thought they were especially stupid. I have been proven wrong.
#40
FWIW, my 14-year-old nephew (whose real GI father just returned from Iraq) now claims that he originated this, posing the pics and posting to the jihad website.
He's smart and he has the Cody action figure, but I still think he's pulling my leg.
#42
Does anyone know enough Arabic to tell whether or not the banner in the baqckground really says "There is no god but God and Muhammad is His prophet." ? Perhaps it says "The AP is a bunch or Arab Terrorist Tools."
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/01/2005 20:12 Comments ||
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#43
"Mattel sucks"
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/01/2005 20:17 Comments ||
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Unfortunately my brothers and I, being too old to play with GI Joes anymore but too young to realize they might be worth anything, gave all our stuff to my sister's kids to play with. And we had a bunch of stuff. She promptly turned around and sold it all.
Check the picture at the link. It sure looks like Joe. Perhaps they're demanding a ransom from Mattel.
Iraqi militants claimed in a Web statement Tuesday to have taken an American soldier hostage and threatened to behead him in 72 hours unless the Americans release Iraqi prisoners. The U.S. military said it was investigating, but the claim's authenticity could not be immediately confirmed. The posting, on a Web site that frequently carried militants' statements, included a photo of what that statement said was an American soldier, wearing desert fatigues and seated on a concrete floor with his hands tied behind his back. The figure in the photo appeared stiff and expressionless, and the photo's authenticity could not be confirmed. A gun barrel was pointed at his head, and behind him on the wall is a black banner emblazoned with the Islamic profession of faith, "There is no god but God and Muhammad is His prophet." A U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, Marine Sgt. Salju K. Thomas, said he had no information on the claim but "we are currently looking into it."
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/01/2005 4:01:51 PM ||
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#1
Also, the feet tend to come off if you don't remove the boots carefully.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/01/2005 16:24 Comments ||
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#3
This is a job for Team America - World Police!
Posted by: Steve ||
02/01/2005 16:42 Comments ||
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#4
I hear that the Ann Coulter doll is in protective custudy. Team America is being dispatched to Paris to deal with these heathens! America #uCk Yeah!
#5
I wonder if Bush can work this into SOTU. It would be great to get the world laughing at these guys after their failure to do anything about the elections.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
02/01/2005 17:04 Comments ||
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#6
DECAPITATE G.I. JOE?
Hat Tip Drudge for the image...
All it proves is that Al-Qaeda shops at Wal-Mart or Target... And Zarqawi (as Paul Hogan would say) was behind the door when the brains were handed out!
#9
There will be more Islamic imans condemning the terrorists for violating quranic and hadith verses on graven images then there were imans condemning the terrorists for terrorizing.
Abu'l-Hayyaj al-Asadi told that 'Ali (b. Abu Talib) said to him: Should I not send you on the same mission as Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) sent me? Do not leave an image without obliterating it, or a high grave without leveling It. This hadith has been reported by Habib with the same chain of transmitters and he said: (Do not leave) a picture without obliterating it.
Book 024, Number 5258:
A'isha reported that Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) entered (my apartment) and I had hung (on the door of my apartment) a thin curtain having pictures on it. The colour of his face underwent a change. He then took hold of that curtain and tore it and then said: The most grievous torment for the people on the Day of Resurrection would be for those who try to imitate Allah in the act of creation.
Book 024, Number 5261:
A'isha reported: Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) visited me. and I had a shelf with a thin cloth curtain hanging over it and on which there were portraits. No sooner did he see it than he tore it and the colour of his face underwent a change and he said: A'isha, the most grievous torment from the Hand of Allah on the Day of Resurrection would be for those who imitate (Allah) in the act of His creation. A'isha said: We tore it into pieces and made a cushion or two cushions out of that.
The U.S. military said Tuesday that no American soldiers have been reported missing in Iraq after a Web statement claimed that an American soldier had been taken hostage.
The authenticity of the statement and photo could not be verified, and Staff Sgt. Nick Minecci of the U.S. military's press office in Baghdad said "no units have reported anyone missing."
The posting, on a Web site that frequently carries militants' statements, included a photo of what that statement said was an American soldier, wearing desert fatigues and seated on a concrete floor with his hands tied behind his back.
But questions were raised about the authenticity of a photo purporting to show a hostage with a gun to his head. The figure in the photo appeared stiff and expressionless.
Liam Cusack, of the toy manufacturer Dragon Models USA, inc., said the image of the soldier portrayed in the photo bore a striking resemblance to a military action figure made by the company.
EFL
The Palestinian Authority on Tuesday told Israel it had arrested the Palestinian man who opened fire in the southern Gaza Strip the day before, possibly hitting a 10-year-old Palestinian schoolgirl. How much press will this story get, compared to the original version in which Israel is identified as the culprit?
*crickets chirping*
PA security forces had confiscated the man's weapon. The PA did not, however, specify whether the arrested man was suspected of having shot Nuran Dib. She was killed in Rafah under still undetermined circumstances, and Hamas, on the assumption that the girl was killed by Israel Defense Forces gunfire, retaliated with a barrage of mortar shells into Gush Katif.
Hamas hard boyz have been going nutz, not being able to play with their weapons...
The IDF said the girl was likely shot by Palestinian pilgrims' shooting into the air upon returning from the Hajj, but Hamas said she was shot dead by IDF fire. The 4 P.M. Rafah shooting killed Dib, who was struck in the head by a bullet. A second child, a 7-year-old girl, was hit in the shoulder. Both girls were at the UNRWA school at the time, and since the school is directly opposite and about 500 meters from the IDF's Termit outpost on the Philadelphi corridor, the immediate assumption on the Palestinian side was that troops had fired. But an IDF inquiry found that no Israeli troops in the area had fired their weapons and suspicions fell on Palestinians who were firing guns in celebration of heir successful pilgrimage to Mecca, as stray bullets fired in the air could have landed on the Rafah schoolyard where the girls were playing. Palestinian Authority forces evaded an Israeli offer to conduct a joint inquiry.
"Those Zionists always lie...not like us in Hamas!"
"According to our examination, the girl apparently was not shot by Israeli army gunfire," the military spokesman's office said. But Hamas was not interested in explanations about trajectories and soon after the girl's burial, mortars began landing in Gush Katif. The attacks continued on Tuesday, when Palestinians fired mortar shells at Gaza Strip settlements. Two people suffered from shock after five shells hit settlements and damaged several vehicles. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the Palestinian police "will pretend to exert every possible effort to stop such firing."
But Hamas threatened further retaliation "if the crimes continue." The military took that to mean the militant group was trying to set a pattern of retaliation for perceived Israeli acts of violence, within the framework of a cease-fire, security officials said. Palestinian militant groups warned in a statement they would resume attacks against Israel in light of what they consider to be an ongoing policy of incursions by the IDF into Palestinian territory, Israel Radio reported Tuesday. The statement was issued jointly by eight groups, including the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. If Abbas doesn't get rid of them, he will never succeed.
Who sez he wants to succeed?
IDF Intelligence: Hamas part of 'axis of evil'
The quiet in Gaza and the West Bank largely depends on the will of Hamas leaders, who form part of a regional "axis of evil" that opposes regional calm, the head of Military Intelligence said Tuesday. "Everything can cause a break in the calm," Major General Aharon Ze'evi told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Ze'evi said Abbas had agreed to let Hamas leaders hold onto their weapons during cease-fire talks, adding that Hamas and Hezbollah are working together to dash any such halt of attacks. "The axis of evil - which includes the Hezbollah, Hamas and Al-Qaida organizations supported by Iran - adamantly opposes calm, and Hamas and Hezbollah are working together to destroy the cease-fire," he said. Ze'evi added that Palestinians were talking only about establishing "calm," rather than a more stable cease-fire or hudna (temporary truce). As I understand "hudna," it means "period of quiet for the purpose of rearming."
Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal (who lives in Beirut): "There is a talk about pacification," Mashaal said, referring to a truce. "But it is a conditional pacification whereby the (Israeli) occupation must abide by specific conditions. The most important of which is the cessation of all kinds of aggression, invasion, assassination, killings and the release of all Palestinian prisoners."
"If the (Israeli) enemy abides by these conditions, we, in Hamas, and other resistance forces in general, are ready to deal positively with the issue of pacification or temporary truce," Mashaal told the London-based newspaper, which did not say when and where the interview was conducted.
A bomb has exploded in the south-western city of Quetta in the Pakistani province of Balochistan, killing one man, police say. Reports say the victim was carrying the bomb on a motorbike when it accidentally exploded. The motorcycle bomb went off in a market in Quetta.
"Gimme some o' that kohl rabi, and some o' them tomatoes. And are those bombs fresh?"
"The man who died in the blast was taking the bomb to some area for terrorist activity, but the bomb exploded and he died instantly," Quetta's senior police official, Hamid Shekel said, the Associated Press news agency reports. Another officer said the dead man had been involved "in previous bomb attacks in Quetta".
A few hours earlier a bomb exploded near a passing passenger train in the city, injuring four railway workers. The army has said it will establish three new garrisons in Balochistan to deal with a growing security problem. The earlier attack took place as the Zaffar Express train was leaving the city. Reports say the bomb was triggered by remote control. Quetta has been the scene of a number of bomb attacks in recent months. An explosion in December killed 11 people. A new militant group calling itself the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for some of the attacks.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/01/2005 9:58:16 AM ||
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TERROR mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was arrested but FREED by bungling Iraqi cops, it was claimed yesterday. The al-Qaeda executioner, who beheaded Brit hostage Ken Bigley, was rounded up in Fallujah. But police failed to recognise the thug, who has a £13.5million price on his head after plotting car bombings and kidnappings. The blunder was alleged by a bomber working for Zarqawi who was arrested in Baghdad.
This article starring:
ABU MUSAB AL ZARQAWI
al-Qaeda in Iraq
Posted by: Bulldog ||
02/01/2005 9:28:51 AM ||
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#1
D'oh!
(/head slap)
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/01/2005 9:45 Comments ||
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#2
His network is collapsing. He is making mistakes. It will not be long before we capture him.
#3
An Iraqi minister (Al Rubbaie?) said on Sunday that they are two days behind Zarqawi and closing fast. Let's all pray they get the murdering thug.
Posted by: Tibor ||
02/01/2005 11:15 Comments ||
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#4
Dan Darling pointed out in his Winds of Change roundup that Zarqawi is most definitely N-O-T looking forward to his next courier with correspondence from Binny...
Two interpol experts in city to probe Aug 21 carnage
Two members of the Interpol arrived in the city yesterday to start fresh investigation into the August 21 grenade attacks on an Awami League rally in Dhaka, which killed 23 people including the party leader Ivy Rahman and maimed scores of others. The two international police organisation members — Marc Beaucheman of the United States and Heiroshi Sumi of Japan flew in by a Thai Airways flight yesterday noon. Officials of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) received the Interpol members at the ZIA.
The international police organisation members are now in the city as per their earlier schedule and they would not have anything to do with the Habiganj grenade attack on January 27, official sources said. Later, they met with members of the CID and discussed progress of the investigation of the deadly grenade attacks on August 21. They will prepare an assessment report on the findings through probe into the carnage.
Local leader of PBCP killed in 'crossfire'Jan 31: A regional leader of an outlawed party was killed in a shootout between his accomplices and police near Dolipur sluice gate in Chatmohor upazila early today (Monday).
Police said they arrested Abdul Awal (32), regional leader of outlawed Purba Banglar Communist Party, from Dikshir beel in the upazila on Sunday morning. They said he was wanted in a number of murder and other criminal cases. As per his confession, police took him near the sluice gate on a mission to recover the firearms.
"OK, the guns are buried near the sluice gate in a remote part of town. As soon as it get's really dark and all the witnesses are asleep, I'll take you there."
When police along with Abdul Awal reached the spot at about 2.15am, his sidekicks opened fire on them forcing them to fire back.
"Sidekicks" this time, must have used up all the "cohorts" and "accomplices".
Keepin' their supply of "cadres" in reserve...
At one stage Awal was hit in the crossfire and died on the spot. Five policemen including Officer-in-Charge AB Siddiqui sustained severe injuries during the shootout. Police also recovered three firearms and ammunition from the spot.
Sramik League leader beaten to death
Jan 31: A union—level leader of Sramik League (SL) was beaten to death allegedly by his relatives near his house at village Formaishkhana under Digholia upazila of Khulna district last night. Two sons of the victim were also beaten and injured by the attackers.
Sounds like one hell of a family get-together.
The deceased was identified as Badsha Shaikh (50), vice-president of Digholia sadar union unit of JSL.
According to sources, Badsha Shaikh and his two sons were severely beaten with sticks by a group of four to five men near his house at about 11 pm Sunday. All the three were rushed to Khulna Medical College Hospital where Badsha Shaikh succumbed to injuries early today (Monday). His two sons, Kalu and Alam, are under treatment at the hospital. Sources said, the incident came as a sequel to an old conflict among the relatives over one marriage affair.
Cocktail burst near Sheraton, Bangla Academy
A cocktail was burst in front of Hotel Sheraton at 7 pm yesterday but none was injured, police said. It is suspected that troublemakers hurled cocktail while passing by the hotel to create panic.
"Look out, he's got a martini! Duck!"
SAARC leaders coming to Dhaka for the February 6-7 summit will be staying in Hotel Sheraton. Another cocktail was lobbed at Bangla Academy where a month long book fair begins today (Tuesday). Police said it did not burst but panic spread at the fair. Security measures were tightened at the book fair.
2 outlaws die in 'crossfire'
Two leaders of underground outfits were killed in 'crossfire' between their accomplices and police in Jhenidah and Pabna early yesterday.
Our Magura correspondent reported that Abdul Karim alias 'Tiger Madhu', a regional leader of Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) Janajuddho faction, died in a shootout between his accomplices and police at Zianagar village under Jhenidah Sadar upazila at about 4:00am. Acting on a tip-off, a police team from Jhenidah Sadar Police Station cordoned off a bush at the village where Karim was reportedly holding a secret meeting with his accomplices.
That's a new twist, normally they take them into custody before they "accidentaly" get shot
Sensing the presence of the police team, the outlaws fired on the law enforcers, forcing them to retaliate.
"It's the law! Get um, boys!"
During the shootout, the PBCP leader was shot and died on the spot, while his accomplices fled the scene.
Funny how that works, ain't it?
Police recovered the body from the bush. They also recovered a pipe gun and 12 bullets. Police said Abdul Karim was wanted in 18 criminal cases including eight for murder.
In Pabna, a regional leader of Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) was killed in a shootout between his accomplices and police near Dolipur sluice gate in Chatmohor upazila, according to the UNB. Police said they arrested Abdul Awal, 32, a regional leader of PBCP, at Dikshir beel (water body) in the upazila Sunday morning.
Him we read about already
Bombs hurled near SQC's house
Some unidentified miscreants hurled two bombs near Dhanmondi residence of Salauddin Quader Chowdhury in the city yesterday. According to police, some unidentified criminals hurled two bombs, one in front of house no 22 and another in front of house no 23 at Road no 10/A Dhanmondi near house no 28 belonging to Salauddin Quader Chowdhury at around 3.30pm yesterday. It was learnt from another source that the miscreants hurled the bombs targeting the residence of Salauddin Quader Chowdhury.
There's a whole lot of bomb hurling going on in Bangladesh
Posted by: Steve ||
02/01/2005 8:52:45 AM ||
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#1
Cocktail burst near Sheraton, Bangla Academy
We were lucky this time. It could've been a beverage...
Iraqi security forces detained more than 200 suspected insurgents, including four Arab foreigners, in a crackdown that helped reduce attacks during Sunday's election, the interior minister said today.
''What happened yesterday was the result of the security plans put in place by the Interior Ministry and Iraq's security forces for the election,'' Falah al-Naqib told reporters.
He said 129 suspects had been rounded up near Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown in the Sunni region north of Baghdad, out of a total of 202 detained nationwide. The detainees included two Saudis, an Egyptian and a Yemeni, he said.
He said Iraqi security forces had also killed four insurgents in shootouts on polling day.
US and Iraqi security forces enforced draconian measures for the election, shutting down Iraq's borders and airspace, banning civilian vehicles, imposing a dusk-to-dawn curfew and putting tens of thousands of security men on the streets.
Suicide bombs and mortar attacks, mostly in Baghdad, killed 35 people, but failed to prevent millions of Iraqis from going to the polls in the first multi-party election in decades.
In the week before the election, the government announced the arrest of several senior aides to al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, suggesting it was making inroads against the group that had sworn to turn polling day into a bloodbath.
However, some government officials cast doubt on the importance of the arrests, suggesting the announcements were designed to generate pre-election publicity.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/01/2005 12:38:32 AM ||
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The world has heard the sound of the African oil boom. So has al-Qaeda. The continent has more than 75.4 billion barrels of proven reserves, edging toward 10 percent of the world's total. Five large producers - Nigeria, Libya, Algeria, Egypt and Angola -top the list of African oil exporting countries. Lesser producers, such as Chad, are also in the mix. Sub-Sahara Africa supplies as much oil to the United States as Saudi Arabia. Al-Qaeda sees Africa as a prize well worth going after. It is a graveyard of failed states, of corrupt governments whose power seldom goes much beyond capital city shantytowns and of areas of Muslim radicalism. The problems of the region are opportunities for Al-Qaeda.
At the same time, al-Qaeda strategic moves in Africa serve its larger purpose of attacking Western economies. In 2002, Ubeid al-Qurashi, a pseudonym of an Osama bin Laden lieutenant, wrote an article saying that Western economies cannot stand high oil prices. One way to strike fear into the West, he wrote, is by repeated attacks on oil installations or on tankers. After the attack on the French tanker Limburg, in October 2002, the al-Qaeda political bureau described the attack as not merely an attack on a tanker. Rather, al-Qaeda said, it was an attack against international transport lines and an attack on the West' s commercial lifeline, petroleum. Terror and attacks on Western economies are one part of al-Qaeda ' s grand plan. A second part counts on the vulnerabilities in the continent that will allow al-Qaeda to establish radical Islamism in one state after another. Nigeria is a case in point. The tenth largest producer in the world, 95 percent of Nigeria's foreign exchange comes from oil. It has close to 25 billion barrels of proven reserves, and major explorations are underway for more.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
UBEID AL QURASHI
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/01/2005 12:33:59 AM ||
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#2
If the African thugs feel threatened, they're not gonna wait for the UN to come to their rescue. They've forgotten more about terror than al-Qaeda ever knew, and they're not shy about killing a few thousand innocents to get their point across.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/01/2005 8:28 Comments ||
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#3
That's right, Steve. Africa is a big place; look at the troubles the US and USSR had trying to "manage" their proxies during the Cold War. African Tin-pot Dictators⢠are out for themselves and don't want al-Qaeda f*cking things up for them - there's money to be stolen!
#5
Kinda blows the entire "it's because we're in Muslim territory" argument to bits, though, doesn't it? Do you think we'll hear an aplogoy from Teddy or John "I'm a Vietnam Veteran" Kerry? Me, either.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/01/2005 14:40 Comments ||
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Al Qaeda vowed to pursue "holy war" in Iraq on Monday after failing to wreck elections, and Prime Minister Iyad Allawi urged rival ethnic and religious groups to unite after the first multi-party vote in 50 years.
Al-Qaeda Islamist militants denounced the historic elections on Sunday as an "American game" but leaders around the world hailed the vote as an unexpected success, regardless of whether they had supported or opposed the US-led war in 2003.
War opponents France, Germany and Russia all hailed Iraqis' bravery in voting and, in a sign of warming transatlantic ties, pledged to back US efforts to restore stability.
But the al Qaeda group in Iraq, whose leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had threatened voters with death in a bid to wreck the election, said it would pursue its war against US-led occupying forces and Iraqis working with them.
"We in the al Qaeda Organization for Holy War in Iraq will continue the jihad until the banner of Islam flutters over Iraq," said the statement posted on an Islamist Web site.
A videotape on Monday purported to show insurgents from another militant group downing a British military plane with a missile near Baghdad in a crash that killed 10 people on Sunday -- Britain's worst single death toll in Iraq.
The video, aired by an Arabic TV channel and issued by the 1920 Revolution Brigades, showed an explosion then smoldering debris of what looked like a plane, including an engine, on the ground and filmed at close range in a large field.
Analysts said the wreckage on the video looked authentic but the first part -- shots of a button being pressed and a rocket streaking off skyward -- was less convincing.
In a televised speech, Allawi warned Iraqis violence had not ended just because the election had exceeded expectations and he urged rival factions to forge unity:
"The whole world is watching us. As we worked together yesterday to finish dictatorship, let us work together toward a bright future -- Sunnis and Shi'ites, Muslims and Christians, Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen."
Allawi, who could be reappointed, is keen to build popular support after a poll in which election officials estimate 8 million Iraqis voted, confounding predictions many would be scared away by insurgent threats of a bloodbath.
Yet while the election day onslaught of suicide bombers and mortars was less bloody than expected, violence persisted.
On Monday, three US Marines were killed in action south of Baghdad, the US military said, and US guards shot dead four detainees during a riot at a military prison in southern Iraq.
The riot raged for 45 minutes, with six other detainees wounded by guards or other inmates, before the Americans opened fire to quell the disturbance, a military spokesman said.
Millions of Iraqis cast ballots on Sunday but the numbers appeared low in Sunni Arab areas where insurgents are strongest -- highlighting the communal rifts facing a new government.
Shi'ites, about 60 percent of the population, are expected win the most votes and officials in the Shi'ite-led coalition, the United Iraqi Alliance, have claimed a degree of victory. Shi'ite leaders quickly declared they would bring the Sunni minority, dominant under Saddam, into the fold.
President Bush also encouraged Iraq's leaders to ensure minority Sunni Arabs are in the political process, and the White House brushed aside Democratic calls for a timetable for US troops to begin withdrawing.
Bush is to talk about Iraq in his State of the Union address on Wednesday night but was not expected to announce a withdrawal plan, instead emphasizing the need over the next year to train and equip Iraqi forces to allow for an American pullout.
"Timetables sometimes can send a message to terrorists that all they have to do is wait and coordinate attacks around that timetable," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
02/01/2005 12:32:00 AM ||
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#1
Cripes, all the good news is filled with carefully placed Fnords.
#2
I would be shocked if Abu Musab al-Zarqawi allowed himself to be captured alive! He's no Saddam, and I'm sure unless the US captures him during a sleeping session, he's going to go out like Saddam's boys! I just hope we get enough of him to prove to the arab street that We Got Him!
#3
Why do we have to prove anything? Once he's been silent -- and his boyz embarrassingly ineffective -- long enough, no one will admit to ever having cared about him. He declared war on democracy in Iraq, and lost. His paymasters must not be at all pleased with him right now.
#5
Preferrably to another plane of existence. Heard that sheitans use peeled red hot chilli peppers as condoms and the white raisins are actually dehydrated tapeworms.
#7
smn, What makes you think Zack is a fighter or any braver than Saddam? Because he bravely sawed the head off of a few hogtied and scared innocent civilians and can order some poor fools to go kill themselves?
I hope we do capture him and he embarases himself on video. He might go down in a 'blaze of glory' like Saddam's sons or he might come out weeping and crying from some spiderhole.
ISLAMABAD: Prominent local religious leader of the city, Ghazi Abdul Rasheed, on Monday narrowly escaped when unidentified persons made an attempt on his life near Kaghan Road while he was heading towards Jamia Faridia, an islamic seminary, to deliver a sermon, police told Daily Times. According to details, Ghazi was going to the seminary in Sector E-7 after morning prayers at Lal Mosque when an unidentified car, which had been tailing him from Lal Mosque, crept alongside Ghazi's car. The occupants of the other car were reportedly about to open fire when a vehicle coming from the opposite direction drew their attention. Ghazi, who was carrying a weapon himself, opened fire at the assailants, who managed to escape from the scene.
I guess it's a cultural thing. I can't imagine Father McGuire or Rabbi Katz packing heat on the way to give a sermon...
This article starring:
GHAZI ABDUL RASHID
Learned Elders of Islam
Posted by: Fred ||
02/01/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
...I don't know...Holy Name parish in Cleveland was pretty tough, at the very least I can see them carrying .38s.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/01/2005 7:08 Comments ||
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#2
"Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition"
Posted by: Steve ||
02/01/2005 8:21 Comments ||
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#3
Father Marty Hoehn, winner of two Silver Stars in combat while serving as a chaplain.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Police burst into suspected terrorist hideouts throughout a tranquil suburb, arresting a reputed terror boss and setting off a ferocious gunbattle that killed at least four of his followers and a bystander in Kuwait's worst-ever fight with militants. Monday's raid - the fourth in three weeks - reflected a new sense of urgency in the battle to crush Islamic extremists deeply opposed to the presence of US forces in this oil-rich emirate. Kuwait's prime minister, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, called for the "uprooting of this phenomenon and the removal of this cancer before it spreads," Faisal al-Hajji, the acting information minister, told the state-owned Kuwait News Agency on Monday.
One soldier and two tribesmen were killed in a gun battle in Yemen's eastern oil-rich province of Marib yesterday, security and tribal sources said. The sources said the firefight erupted after soldiers tried to disarm a group of tribesmen from the powerful Al Jalal clan at a military checkpoint. 
Kuwaiti security forces fought their biggest battle yet with terrorists yesterday, killing four including a Saudi and arresting their leader and five others, the Interior Ministry and state TV said. One Kuwaiti civilian was also killed in the gunbattle that raged for nine hours in 
A fierce hourlong battle between police and suspected terrorists holed up in a residential building Sunday left a most-wanted fundamentalist, one policeman and a Bahraini resident dead, the government said. It was the third shootout this month between security forces and suspected militants in Kuwait, a major US ally that has been battling fundamentalists who oppose the presence of the American military here. Four policemen were injured in the shooting and two suspects were arrested, according to a statement by the Interior Ministry and an official who spoke on customary condition of anonymity. The official identified the killed suspect as 
KUWAIT CITY: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry recently sealed three money exchange offices in Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh and Hassawi for their involvement in money laundering operations, reports Al-Anba daily quoting a reliable government source. The same source said the offices violated the rules and regulations by not informing authorities the names of persons who had transferred KD 3,000 and above to persons outside the country. One of the offices is said to have transferred $3 million to Syria over a three-month period in addition to other transfers worth thousands of Kuwaiti dinars to GCC states, especially to Saudi Arabia. 
AN Egyptian terror suspect, held by Britain for three years without trial because he was said to be the leader of an al-Qaeda linked militant group, has been released from prison, the government said today. The Department for Constitutional Affairs confirmed the decision but could give no further details about the conditions of his release. The detainee, known only as "C", was one of 17 men held by Britain under now discredited anti-terror laws which allowed the indefinite detention of foreigners without trial if they were suspected of being involved in terrorism.
A Palestinian man, one of 11 foreign terror suspects held by Britain without trial under now-discredited emergency laws, has been granted bail, the government said yesterday. 
A criminal case has been initiated on the kidnapping of relatives of Chechen separatist leader 
The murder of Mufti Shukhman Madagov of Chechnya's Vedeno district has been solved, the Russian Interior Ministry's local press center told Interfax on Monday. "An investigation revealed that Shukhman Madagov was killed by an active member of illegal armed formations named Bediyev and other militants on August 29. Bediyev confessed to committing this crime," a press center spokesman said. An examination is being made to establish if Bediyev was involved in other crimes.
An attack in Chechnya that killed at least nine pro-Moscow police last week was a suicide bombing, a rebel statement said on Monday in the first such claim of responsibility since the Beslan school siege in September. Local media reports said last Friday's attack was caused by a radio-controlled bomb, but a rebel statement posted on the Internet said a single suicide bomber had attacked a column of local troops in a mined car. "He crashed into the column of cars at full speed, destroying three cars and their crews. The fighter was martyred," said the statement.
Spanish police arrested a family of four on Tuesday suspected of links to the March 11 Madrid train bombings and a militant Islamic group, the Interior Ministry said. Police also issued an international arrest warrant for 
A US federal judge ruled that military tribunals for international terror suspects at the Guantanamo Bay Naval base are unconstitutional, leaving in doubt the fate of hundreds of detainees at the US-run detention center in Cuba.
The motorcycle bomb went off in a market in Quetta. 
TERROR mastermind 
The world has heard the sound of the African oil boom. So has al-Qaeda. The continent has more than 75.4 billion barrels of proven reserves, edging toward 10 percent of the world's total. Five large producers - Nigeria, Libya, Algeria, Egypt and Angola -top the list of African oil exporting countries. Lesser producers, such as Chad, are also in the mix. Sub-Sahara Africa supplies as much oil to the United States as Saudi Arabia. Al-Qaeda sees Africa as a prize well worth going after. It is a graveyard of failed states, of corrupt governments whose power seldom goes much beyond capital city shantytowns and of areas of Muslim radicalism. The problems of the region are opportunities for Al-Qaeda.
ISLAMABAD: Prominent local religious leader of the city, 
