A cease-fire collapsed and U.S. airstrikes resumed pounding al-Qaeda Tora Bora mountain bases after enemy forces set new terms for their surrender and missed a deadline to disarm. Sporadic bursts of heavy machine gun firefrom eastern alliance forces, echoed through the area -- less than 24 hours after the truce took effect. Witnesses said 60 men, who appeared to be American personnel, were seen near the front line Wednesday. They were wearing Afghan shawls and floppy caps known as pacoles, but were carrying what the witnesses said were U.S.-made weapons and backpacks. An alliance subcommander said 40 British special operations troops also were fighting in the valley. Â Â Â Â Â Afghan Islamic Press said the al-Qaida troops, mainly Arabs, were demanding that diplomats from their home nations be present along with a U.N. representative. They also wanted to be handed over to the United Nations. The report estimated the size of the force at 1,000 men from Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Yemen, Iraq and Chechnya. And they wanted their Moms there, too. And Johnny Cochran. And twenty minutes alone with Mariah Carey.
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12/12/2001 ||
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Troops garrisoned in Aliabad village on the road from Baghlan fought a brief action against bandits in which one, a man named Ayeed, probable ex-Taliban was killed. The troops returned the money the bandits had stolen and hung Ayeed's corpse from the barrel of a tank, beneath the green, white and black flag of the Northern Alliance and an 8-by-11-inch photograph of the late Gen. Ahmed Shah Massoud. And a wonderful time was had by all, except Ayeed. But that's all the more fodder for the Red Cross and Amnesty International in their relentless search for atrocities.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/12/2001 ||
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Hafiz Majid, former righthand man of Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, was holding out in Sperwan, about 35 km from Kandahar, seeking guarantees he would not be killed. "They are still there," one commander said. "We sent a few tribal elders to talk to them and Hafiz Majid asked them to give some assurance or a letter from Hamid Karzai that no one would do anything to him." Majid kept many of his vehicles and arms after Kandahar's "surrender" and was leading an unknown number of men barricaded in Sperwan and Kandahar's Chinese Hospital. "Even if (Majid) surrenders, he won't be forgiven. Somebody will kill him," said the commander. "There are civilian patients inside the hospital."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/12/2001 ||
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Anti-Taliban tribal forces have launched a campaign to kill non-Afghan fighters in Kandahar and other parts of southern Afghanistan. Over 400 non-Afghan Taliban, mainly Arabs, had been trapped and massacred by tribal militias in and around Kandahar since the Taliban surrendered Kandahar, Hilmand and Zabul. "A large number of dead bodies of Arab Taliban were found in various parts of Kandahar region," travellers reaching Pakistan said. "No tribal group is sparing the Arab Taliban," Amanullah, one of the witnesses, told newsmen. People living in areas close to the Kandahar Airport had buried bodies of 21 Arab fighters the other day, he said, adding that they had been killed by the forces loyal to the governor of Kandahar.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/12/2001 ||
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Johnny Jihad has told U.S. intelligence that al Qaeda plans to launch a "Phase II" biological attack against the United States to coincide with the end of Ramadan. The third phase of al Qaeda's war would lead to destruction of the entire United States, he told interrogators. Rantburg suspects that Johnny knows just about as much about OBL's plans as Rantburg knows about Tony Blair's. On the other hand, if something does happen, they're gonna wring him so dry, if Johnny ever does come marching home again he's gonna be inside-out.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/12/2001 ||
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Australia is negotiating with the United States over the fate of 26-year-old David Hicks, captured with al Qaeda forces. The US has indicated it would hand over Hicks, a former poultry chicken plucker and recent convert to Islam, only if it was satisfied he would be dealt with severely. Among the potential charges are treason, which in Australia carries a maximum life prison sentence. Legal experts said he could also face murder charges in the US if a link to the September 11 terrorist attacks was alleged. After being caught by Northern Alliance forces three days ago, Hicks has been in the custody of US troops and undergoing interrogation. His capture comes less than a fortnight after Jihad Johnny Walker was discovered fighting with Taliban forces.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/12/2001 ||
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Former president Burhanuddin Rabbani has promised to stick with his pledge to step aside when power is transferred in 10 days. Rabbani has been the de facto leader since the Northern Alliance rolled into Kabul. He said he is happy to hand over power to Hamid Karzai, who has been appointed interim prime minister, but that he disagreed strongly with the makeup of the 29-member Cabinet.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/12/2001 ||
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Two Arab men were indicted in New Orleans for what New York officials yesterday called the "most outrageous" attempt to capitalize on the World Trade Center tragedy to date. Jihad Razzaq tried to cash in his wife's $100,000 life-insurance policy when in fact she had left the United States for her native Jordan. The 54-year-old man apparently told New York Life that his wife was shopping at the World Trade Center site when the buildings crumbled. Red flags were raised when he said she had taken a taxi there from New Orleans.
Would you hand me a tissue, please?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/12/2001 ||
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The mother of Zacarias Moussaoui whom officials there believe may have been preparing to join one of the hijacking teams, said her son was protesting his innocence. "Zacarias has warned me in a letter that they are going to fabricate evidence and produce witnesses against him," his mother Aicha told the French daily Le Parisien, saying she received his letter some weeks ago. If I was an attempted bloody-handed mass murderer and a disgrace by any civilized standard, I wouldn't admit it to my Mom, either.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/12/2001 ||
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A 28-year-old Iranian bridegroom licked honey from his bride's finger during their marriage ceremony and choked to death on one of her false nails. The groom died on the spot in the northwestern city of Qazvin while the bride was rushed to hospital after fainting from shock. It is the custom for Iranian couples lick honey from each other's fingers when they get married so that their life together starts sweetly.
Damn. Every time that happens to me, it just flat ruins my day.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/12/2001 ||
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Iran's hard-line judiciary ordered the closure of more than 50 newspapers "for the sake of God." Abbas-Ali Alizadeh, head of the judiciary administration in Tehran, said the closures were a service to the nation. "One of our greatest glories is closure of offending newspapers. Based on our assessments, by doing this, we have done the greatest service to the people... When you do a job for the sake of God, defeat is meaningless,'' Alizadeh said. The newspaper closures began after hard-liners lost control of the Majlis, or parliament, in elections last year. The hard-liners are locked in a power struggle with more liberal supporters of President Mohammad Khatami. Khatami's allies also continue to be jailed and harassed by the hard-liners, who control unelected key institutions, including the judiciary and police.
When asked for a comment, God said they were nuts and suggested they go to Hell.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/12/2001 ||
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Sources claimed that five US officers had visited another Somaili rebel group and discussed a number of potential targets. Warlords from the Rahanwein Resistance Army (RRA)  a faction opposed to the country's fledgling government  identified a training camp for militants close to the border with Kenya, run by the Somali group, al-Itihad al-Islamiya. The US officers were, according to the sources, accompanied by four Ethiopian officers. Hmmm. This is one of a continuing series of reports on Somalia... And the Rangers certainly want to go back for a nice visit.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/12/2001 ||
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A US delegation, led by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ryan Crocker, is in northern Iraq as part of a "longstanding series of consultations by US officials with Iraqi Kurdish leaders". Oh, gosh! How to choose? Everything on the menu looks so good!
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/12/2001 ||
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Israeli helicopter gunships attacked a Palestinian refugee camp in retaliation for mortar fire on nearby settlements. Four Palestinian militiamen were killed and 20 bystanders wounded in the airstrike. Later, five Israeli tanks drove into the center of Jenin, triggering a firefight with hundreds of Palestinian activists. Fourteen Jenin residents were wounded by Israeli fire before the tanks left.
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12/12/2001 ||
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Palestinian and Lebanese groups said the European Union showed bias toward Israel when it called for the dismantling of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The European demand is "a continuation of the deception of the hateful West," said Ramadan Abdullah Shallah, leader of the Syrian-based militant Islamic Jihad group. Ahmed Jibril, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, said the Palestinian uprising would continue and would resist all "maneuvers against it." Sheikh Naim Kassem, deputy secretary-general of the Lebanese Hizbullah, said describing Hamas and Islamic Jihad as terrorist groups showed "complete bias toward Israel." Of course, it might have had something to do with the rat poison, or the unrelenting wave of suicide bombers every time someone mentions "peace." Or maybe it was the combination of the two. Wonder how long until a few Euro targets are blown?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/12/2001 ||
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In response to the attack near Emmanuel, IAF F-16 warplanes have begun bombing targets across the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israeli fighter jets fired two missiles at a Fatah command building in Palestinian Authority-controlled Nablus. The IAF is also targeting Force 17 commander centers in the northern and southern Gaza Strip, and Israel Television reported jet fighters also seeing flying over Ramallah and Kalkilya. Electricity was cut in Ramallah to make targeting harder, and Chairman-for-Life Yasser Arafat remained in his mostly evacuated headquarters with only a few bodyguards.
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12/12/2001 ||
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Israel will sever ties with Arafat and launch widescale military operations in cities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The decision was reached in a security cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv after Palestinian gunmen killed 10 Israelis in an ambush of a bus near Emmanuel. The cabinet decided Arafat was "directly responsible for the series of terror attacks and has therefore decided ... (that) Yasser Arafat is no longer relevant to the State of Israel and there will be no more contact with him." Goodbye, Yasser. They are cutting the Gordian knot.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/12/2001 ||
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The military wing of Hamas claimed to have dealt a blow to Israeli morale by planting poisonous chemicals on the bombs its activists have detonated in recent weeks. Israel's Health Ministry revealed that nails and bolts packed into explosives detonated by a Hamas suicide bomber Dec. 1 in a Jerusalem pedestrian mall had been dipped into rat poison. On its Web site, Izzedine al-Qassam claimed its militants now had a new weapon that had created "a situation of fear in the Zionist security services." They've also produced an almost uncontrollable urge to kill them like dogs for using such filthy tactics, but we won't dwell on that.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/12/2001 ||
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The chairman of the Jewish Defense League and a follower have been arrested on suspicion of plotting to blow up a Los Angeles mosque and the office of Arab American Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. Irv Rubin, 56, and a member of the group, Earl Krugel, 59, both of Los Angeles, were arrested after the last component of the bomb - explosive powder - was delivered to Krugel's home. Other bomb components and weapons were seized at Krugel's home.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/12/2001 ||
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Germany banned the Cologne-based "Islamic State" and 19 related groups, with a total of 1,100 members, making the first use of a new measure that allows the government to outlaw religious groups with possible links to terrorism. After the announcement, authorities carried out an estimated 200 searches in seven German states. Investigators have announced no direct links between the group and the Sept. 11 attacks, but have said members traveled to Afghanistan to meet with Osama bin Laden supporters in 1996 or 1997. The group, led by Turkish-born Muhammed Metin Kaplan, openly calls for the overthrow of secular governments and their replacement with Islamic ones, but German authorities had been unable to act against it because of strict laws protecting religious groups. Kaplan is believed to have a fortune worth millions. Nonetheless, he claimed social benefits in Cologne for many years until 2m Deutschmarks ($1.2m) in cash was found in his flat.
Guess their constitution isn't a suicide pact, either. Money just seems to stick to some preachers, doesn't it? Mullah Omar did well by himself, too.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/12/2001 ||
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Two Pakistani nuclear scientists have reportedly admitted to "briefing" Osama bin Laden on nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. They, however, insist the discussions were "academic" and no material or plans were presented. Sultan Bashiruddin Mahmud and Abdul Majid, came up with the admission when confronted with "compelling evidence" on their meetings with bin Laden in Kabul in August.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/12/2001 ||
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Fatah's Al-Aksa Martyr's Brigades claimed responsibility for a terror attack on a Dan public bus outside in Emmanuel. Ten people were killed in the attack. Responsibility was also claimed by Hamas.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/12/2001 ||
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Hussein Aideed, co-chairman of the Somali Reconciliation and Restoration Council (SSRC) and an opponent of Somalia's transitional government, said fighters forced out of Afghanistan by the U.S. offensive wanted to set up a Taliban-style Islamic administration in the Horn of Africa state. "The al Itihad and the al Qaeda terrorists who escaped from Afghanistan are already trickling back into Somalia," he said during on a visit to the Ethiopian capital. "These groups have unlimited funds which they receive from Islamic non-governmental organizations and Arab states which they are using to woo poverty-stricken Somalis to their side." Aideed said without elaborating that 57 "terrorist leaders" had recently entered the country, and had concealed weapons.
Ooooh. And when we go in after them, the Left will be able to scream about "racism." How long after military action begins until we hear that if Somalis were white we wouldn't be there?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/12/2001 ||
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The British government it was investigating reports that 18 Britons who fought with the Taliban in Afghanistan had sought asylum in Pakistan. News media reported that the men, believed to be mainly of South Asian origin, requested asylum after returning to Pakistan from Afghanistan because they feared arrest in Britain. Abu Ibrahim, a spokesman for the Afghan al Mujahedin group, told news media that the 18 had expressed fears they could be charged under Britain's tough new Terrorist Act. News media also said another 50 Britons who fought in Afghanistan had already returned to Britain.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
12/12/2001 ||
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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.
