Some international aid agency personnel are joining warlords in stealing and remarketing vast amounts of donated wheat and other rations destined for Afghanistan, according to UN officials. Because of pilfering, some food shipments have dwindled by more than half on their long journey from donors to the hungry, more than 20 aid officials and villagers said in interviews. ''In reality, there is a big loss of food,'' said Atiq Ullah Muhmond, a program officer for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees. ''There is a lot of corruption. It's the NGOs,'' or nongovernmental organizations; ''it's people with guns. We are trying to minimize it, but we can't stop it. We have no other alternative; we haven't had the international staff recently to oversee what is going on.'' No doubt Chomsky and company will get right on this. Sounds like some sort of silent genocide by NGOs.
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01/08/2002 ||
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U.S. forces operating in the Khost region captured 14 al-Qaida fighters without resistance, including two thought to be senior figures. The two were taken to the Marine base at Kandahar airport for interrogation, along with cell phones and laptops found with them. No telling what happened to the others. It probably wasn't pleasant. Welcome to your shipping container, boys.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/08/2002 ||
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In Kandahar, a heavily armed al-Qaida fighter blew himself up rather than be captured as he tried to escape from a hospital where he and six comrades have taken over a ward. Mohammad Rasool jumped from the second-story window at Mir Wais Hospital, found himself surrounded by guards and detonated a grenade, killing himself. The al-Qaida fighters in the hospital have held off guards for weeks by threatening to kill themselves if approached. Goodbye, Mohammad. It wasn't pleasant knowing you. Give our regards to your 72-year-old virgin.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/08/2002 ||
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Three former ministers from Afghanistan's Taliban government have surrendered to authorities in Kandahar. âAmong those who surrendered were former minister of defence Mullah Ubai Dullah, minister of justice Mullah Turabi and minister of mines and industry, Mullah Saadudin,â a spokesman said. Separately, an Afghan tribal commander said the head of the Taliban's information department and one of their senior spokesmen, Abdul Hayee Motmain, had been detained and handed over to US forces. Did any of them bring any of the money they stole when they left town?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/08/2002 ||
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Washington Post runs a front-page article on how the mullahs looted the country as the going got tough. They hauled the money away in sacks, five and six million dollars at a time, totaling around $100 million. That's a lot of protection money. And a nice little retirement fund when Mullah Omar turns up in Monaco or Biarritz with a shave and a bath and a new wifelet or two.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/08/2002 ||
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Faced with a difficult October 2002 general elections scenario, the Pakistan Muslim League is trying to unify and merge smaller factions into its fold. Daily Jang says that the move is at the intigation of the military government in order to contain the Pakistan People's Party in the coming polls. Golly. What a surprise. Some things are just too predictable. That produces the counterforce to pull Musharraf back toward the fundos, which means more pressure to support the gunnies in Kashmir. It'll be interesting to see what kind of coalition actually grows up.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/08/2002 ||
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Two Jordanians and a Palestinian were arrested in a northern Indian town for allegedly carrying fake passports, according to police who said they were questioning them over suspected links to the militant Hamas group. The three were arrested by Indian intelligence police in Lucknow on charges of tampering with their passports and visa fraud. Wonder who's financing their travels through the mysterious East?
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01/08/2002 ||
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Thousands of men from Punjab villages near the border with Pakistan streamed into an army recruitment center to volunteer for the Indian army. The seven-day recruitment drive is aimed at Sikhs, who are famous for their bravery in wartime and have historically made up a large proportion of the 1.2 million force. That's the bad part about being an Islamic state: you're limited in your choice of tough guys.
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01/08/2002 ||
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A senior leader of the Pakistan Muslim League said that action against Pakistani groups will have no impact on the Kashmir freedom struggle. Muhammad Ejaz-ul Haq said he that Kashmir's "freedom struggle," being indigenous, would be unaffected by Pakistani government measures. The senior PML vice-president said, "Killing of over 80 thousand Kashmiri people during the armed struggle was a testimony to the fact that it [the movement] was indigenous and Pakistan was extending only moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiris. You saw reports of Egyptians, Palestinians and people from other countries being killed in Afghanistan but no such instance could be traced in Kashmir." On the other hand, there are lots of Pakistani dead, and the planning and money boys aren't necessarily the same as the trigger boys.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/08/2002 ||
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The Jammu Mukti Morcha has urged the Indian government to end the menace of terrorism once and for all by launching a war against Pakistan. ââA war with Pakistan would be cheaper than being bogged down continuously in counter-insurgency operations,ââ JMM chief Virender Gupta said. Army personnel have remained deployed throughout Jammu and Kashmir for over a decade to counter terrorism, and over 35,000 people killed. He does have a point. Which makes more sense, fighting a war and losing 35,000 people or not fighting a war and losing the same numbers over a longer period, but with the prospect of losing more?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/08/2002 ||
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"When we heard what happened with the twin towers on the radio, we were very, very sorry," emphasizes the local imam in the Somaili village of El Wak, Sheikh Ali Abdi Mohammad. "We like America very much, and we invite you to like us too. Anyway, Islam cannot allow for any killing. That is not what I preach." Al Ittihad was expelled from the village more than two years ago by a coalition of local tribes and the Ethiopians. "Those days are gone" says District Commissioner Yussuf Haji Osman. "We did not welcome them then, we would not do so now." Amazing what a good bombing campaign can do somewhere else. We remember how well you liked us when we were delivering groceries ten years ago, and then thanked us by dragging our boys' bodies through the streets. We remember.
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01/08/2002 ||
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A diplomatic storm is brewing between Britain and Iran, over Tehran's refusal to accept the appointment of David Reddaway as the new British ambassador to Iran. According to the daily Jomhuri Islami, Iran has stated that Reddaway, who is the director of public services in the British Foreign Office, "is a Jew, who is an MI6 agent." In response, Britain is threatening to downgrade diplomatic ties if Reddaway is not acknowledged by Tehran. Oh, a little outright racism never hurt anyone's diplomatic relations. Sure hope the Brits don't roll over on this one - it'll mean Britannia's spine is entirely gone.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/08/2002 ||
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Daily Jang reports Syria is willing to come on board with the US. President Bashar al-Assad said after a meeting with a visiting US congressional delegation that "Syria is willing to cooperate with any country in the struggle against terrorism." Assad urged the United States to "take advantage Syria's successful experiences," apparently referring to the bloody repression of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria at the end of the 1970s and in the early 1980s. The Brotherhood, which had been accused of carrying out terror attacks in Syria, was dissolved, its members jailed or forced into exile. Make friends with them in this case and then get to work on them to wedge them out from under Iran's wing. And as an added bonus, they'd be happy to see Iraq beaten up.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/08/2002 ||
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Syria appears to be taking steps to allow a degree of secular opposition, while excluding the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood. Eight Nasserist, Arab nationalist and Communist parties have been allowed to set up offices and publish their own newspapers, and they have been given access to campuses. Well, this is a good time to do it. Opening up political discussion across a narrow (but still wider) spectrum will let some of the pressure for change off the regime and might even lead to a two-party system - though not anytime soon and without any wide disparity between philosophies. Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood people aren't looking as good as they did a few months ago. People running around hollering "jihad" look a lot more like insular, brutal yokels than daring freedom fighters.
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01/08/2002 ||
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Malaysia's main opposition party, the Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) gave the Singapore Straits Times seven days to publicly apologize over an article allegedly linking the party with the Al-Qaeda terrorist network. Describing the article which appeared on Jan 4 as defamatory and libelous, party Secretary General Nasharudin Mat Isa said Pas' lawyers would file a suit against the writer, publisher and printer of the newspaper if they failed to apologize before the deadline. The article stated that Al-Qaeda has established political ties with PAS and military links with Kumpulan Mujahideen Malaysia. Nasharudin added that PAS, as an Islamic party, abhorred violence. Well, taking them to court is better than bombing their offices. Very unusual for fundos. And we've seen how the fundos engage in non-violent fist shaking, gun-totin', and bombing campaigns. Oh, and let us not forget the Philippine fundos' cute habit of kidnaping people and cutting off their heads.
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01/08/2002 ||
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Leaders of Muslim groups in Indonesia, including two of the country's largest, said the arrest of militants in Singapore and Malaysia was part of a United States-led conspiracy against Islam. Nadhlatul Ulama (NU) and Muhammadiyah, together with the Indonesian Ulema Council, outfits operating on the fringe and some legislators, criticized the detentions. The comments suggest that it might be difficult for the Malaysian authorities to gain access to two Indonesians identified as "directing figures" of the detained militants. These are Indonesian Mujahiddin Council Head Abu Bakar Bashir alias Abdus Samad, and preacher Hambali alias Nurjaman Riduan Isamuddin -- both of whom are said to be in Solo, central Java. Din Syamsuddin, secretary general of the Indonesian Ulema Council, the nation's top Islamic authority, said that since the Sept 11 attacks on America, Washington and its allies appeared to be "finding fault" with Islam. Our dead and maimed, and our seeming offense with their gunmen and mad bombers are just a pretext. The real reason for the American war against terror is that we don't like them. Never have, never will. If it was Lutheran nut jobs grabbing their AKs at every turn and rushing out to indulge in "armed struggle" by killing people indiscriminately we'd be doing nothing about it. Everybody knows that.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/08/2002 ||
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In Kosovo, a booby-trapped grenade strapped to the front door of a bakery killed a Serbian man in Kamenica, igniting fresh concerns over brewing ethnic violence in the region. United Nations police said they have no suspects in the death of the 35-year-old owner of Zeka Bakery. Investigators from 66th Military Police Company, along with U.N. and local authorities, combed through the rubble in search of clues. Could be they didn't like his pies, more likely they didn't like his nationality. Still way too many hard boys running around Kosovo.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/08/2002 ||
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At least two-dozen people were killed in continuing violence in Chechnya, where Russian forces are conducting a manhunt for rebels. 12 Chechen rebels were killed Monday, the Orthodox Christmas, in Argun. One of the dead was identified as a Chechen commander, Magomed Gutsuiyev. Russian federal forces have encircled Argun since Saturday, allowing only women, children and the eldery to move in and out of the city. Some 40 people have been brought in for questioning. Sounds like some sort of profiling. No doubt they should be severely censured. An e-mail campaign will surely follow.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/08/2002 ||
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Philippine army troops clashed with Muslim rebels, killing at least 11 guerrillas believed to support a renegade former governor. The fighting in a mountainous area straddling three towns in Sulu wounded at least four soldiers, the officials said. Soldiers also recovered firearms left by the guerrillas, who were being pursued by troops. Abu Sayyaf rebels were with followers of Nur Misuari, a former governor of an autonomous Muslim region now accused of ordering attacks on government troops to disrupt November elections. Yeah. If I can't be governor, ain't nobody gonna be governor. So take that, you Infidels!
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/08/2002 ||
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Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad has threatened to intensify its activities: "Our target now will be the Indian Air Force, Indian Navy besides Indian Army and paramilitary forces," JeM chief in Jammu and Kashmir Abu Hijrat said. "The crackdown by Pakistani government on the JeM and Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) will not make any difference as far as jehadi organisations are concerned." Dunno if you guys want to do that. They're a lot better armed than women and children and your other usual targets.
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01/08/2002 ||
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A three-member suicide squad made an abortive bid to storm the Indian Army's Brigade Headquarters at Kupwara in north Kashmir triggering an exchange of fire that left two snuffies and a soldier dead. The heavily-armed gunnies in combat fatigues drove a stolen car to the main gate of the camp masquerading as security personnel. But they were intercepted by troops manning the traffic check-point near the main gate. One of the militants got off the vehicle and opened fire as the other two attempted to sneak into the camp. Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the strike. One of the deaders was from Pak-occupied Kashmir, the other was a Pak.
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01/08/2002 ||
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Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Indian leaders exchanged views on the war against terrorism - a priority for both nations as they fight militant groups accused of deadly attacks on their soil. "The world is not divided between East and West," Peres said after meeting with Home Minister L.K. Advani. "The world has a new division now, the countries that harbour terrorism and the countries that fight terrorism." Beginning of a new logical world alignment. It'll be interesting to see who's on which side ten years from now. Being against terrorism is, of course, a sure sign of being a Zionist conspirator. Vajpayee will probably be discovered by the Pak or Saudi press to be secretly Jewish, or at least on the payroll of International Zionism.
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01/08/2002 ||
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Saudi Minister of Education Muhammad Al-Rasheed denied the Saudi school curriculum would be overhauled in the wake of criticisms from Western countries. "Our curriculum is based on well-established principles, determined by our needs and the requirements of our society," Al-Rasheed said. "No one has the right to interfere in our (internal) issues or dictate to us what he wants," the minister said. Saudi Arabia has reacted angrily to Western claims that the religious-orientated education system in the Kingdom breeds extremists and needs to be changed. Go ahead. Keep cranking out those majors in religious studies and ordnance. There's nothing to worry about. Actually, they're making changes, but they won't link it to 9-11 or OBL, just saving a little face while preserving a little self.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/08/2002 ||
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US troops are set to pursue enemy leaders into Pakistan as fears grow that Osama bin Laden and some of his key lieutenants have escaped over the border. General Tommy Franks, commander of US forces in Afghanistan, said Pakistan had agreed that US troops can cross the border to work alongside Pakistani troops attempting to follow al-Qaeda terrorists and Taliban fighters. "We could contact [Pakistan] and say, all right, we are observing people and we are going to follow them into Pakistan," he said in an interview. Wonder how long they've been working to set that up? Big concession from the Paks, but something that should have been worked out a month ago.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
01/08/2002 ||
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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.
