The Iraqi government has massed troops at the border with Kurdish areas ahead of a "new aggression" against the towns of Suleimaniya and Erbil, the opposition Iraqi National Congress (INC) said on Friday. "The dictatorial regime in Baghdad has over the past three days despatched large troop contingents, backed up by tanks and heavy artillery, to areas adjacent to Iraqi Kurdistan," the INC said in a statement. Iraqi Kurdistan is a Western-protected Kurdish enclave that was established in northern Iraq in 1991. The statement said the troops had occupied "offensive positions" in the provinces of Erbil and Kirkuk, "ahead of a new aggression against the towns Suleimaniya and Erbil". The latter is ruled by Jalal Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the former by Massoud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the parties who share control of the enclave. We know there's something significant here. Sammy coldly miscalculates his every move. And Binny bumped off Masood before 9-11, didn't he?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/10/2002 05:45 pm ||
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Pakistani police sought three men who bought a car used in this week's suicide bombing. Police said Friday the men purchased the car from a dealer in central Karachi Tuesday, a day before the blast outside the Sheraton Hotel which killed 11 French nationals and three Pakistanis. Security officials claimed a breakthrough as they revealed they had traced the origin of a 1976 Toyota Corolla used in the bombing to the Majeed Autos dealership in central Karachi. They said three men, apparently Pakistanis aged in their 20s, had paid more than 100,000 rupees (1,670 dollars) for the car which had a market value of only around 75,000. The men then push-started the vehicle instead of waiting for the dealers' mechanics to replace the flat battery. Given the time-tested, proven ineptitude of the Keystone Pak Kops, and the inimical nature of the ISI, they may or may not ever find the perpetrators, and if they do find perpetrators they may or may not be the right ones. Luckily, they have the able assistance of the renowned international detective, Inspector Camembert, direct from France...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/10/2002 02:55 pm ||
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Security Advisor to the Gujarat Chief Minister, KPS Gill, said his "action plan" to deal with the continuing violence was ready and no culprit, be it VHP or Bajrang Dal activists, would be spared. Oooh. I like this guy already, even if he does wear a turban...
Gill said his action plan, which would be "individual specific and not community specific", would be implemented in a day or so and irrespective of the culprit's political and party affiliations, action would be taken against them. "No one responsible for the killings will be spared," he said, adding that lack of reliable intelligence inputs was the main reason for the situation getting out of hand. Sure hope his car insurance is paid up if he's gonna go after real Bad Guys, rather than thump one community or the other...
Refusing to comment on the allegation of connivance of the law enforcers and the state machinery with the rioters, Gill said one of his priorities would be to overhaul the intelligence gathering machinery. "The situation today is that we are not getting authentic information about those responsible for criminal acts and that is proving a major handicap in dealing with the situation," he said. Meaning ideology and community have been driving the responses, not cracking down on actual perps...
Stating that presumptions of a Muslim being responsible for the killing of a Hindu and vice-versa was also a reason that had hampered investigations, he said: "We have to identify the culprits and then deal with them." Hmmm... Interesting point. Now, why would a Muslim kill a Muslim, and a Hindu a Hindu when the two communities are rioting against each other? Y'think there could be some, uh... personal or, ummmm... business motives involved in some of the killings? And that the riots may have given them cover? Didn't Suman Palit note that "The existing religous divide provides excellent cover for what is really an economic jihad"? Looks like Gill may think so, too. And I wonder why the Gujarat Bigs don't like having him around...?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/10/2002 06:06 pm ||
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The BJP on Friday criticised Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh for not sending commandos to Gujarat as sought by former Punjab police chief KPS Gill. But some BJP leaders are not too happy that Gill directly sought the commandos without routing his request through the Centre. They said Gill did not do the right thing in speaking directly to Punjab DGP GS Bhullar. Yasss... Didn't go through channels, y'know? Would the request have been spiked by the bureaucracy? Who could think such a thing?
The BJP leaders said Gill's decision to seek Punjab commandos would further lower the morale of the Gujarat policemen. Yassss. They've been inept and ineffectual, with the rioting going into its third month, but we wouldn't want to lower their morale by bringing in other men with no axes to grind who might get the job done.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/10/2002 06:11 pm ||
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The implications of Karachi's suicide bombing on the country's tourism were discussed at a meeting of Ad-hoc Public Accounts Committee in Islamabad on Thursday, which noted that already there was a marked decline in tourist arrivals, with foreign tour operators incessantly citing security concerns. "Gosh, Herb. I just can't decide. Should I go snorkling in the Caymans this year, or should I go to Pakistan and have my head cut off?"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/10/2002 06:17 pm ||
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The Pakistan Muslim League (N) on Thursday issued a white paper challenging the constitutional and legal grounds of holding the presidential referendum for securing a fresh term of five years , and pointing to irregularities allegedly committed during the polling. Keep sour-graping. Don't worry about putting together a platform for the October elections...
The opposition PML demanded setting up of a commission, headed by a retired chief justice and comprising at least five retired judges of the Supreme Court, to investigate into the charges of irregularities. Good idea. Form a committee...
PML (N) Central Vice President Ahsan Iqbal was speaking at a press conference here on Thursday. He said there were some unconfirmed reports that 17 party members would soon succumb to the government pressure to join the pro-Musharraf faction of the League, i.e., the Quaid-i-Azam group. Perv's making a few inroads, is he? Heh heh.
Senior Vice President Syed Zafar Ali Shah and Central Information Secretary Siddiqul Farooq were also present at the press conference. Another central leader Shahid Khaqqan Abbasi was also supposed to be at the press conference but he did not turn up, giving rise to speculations of further erosion in the party ranks. Like, he joined another party? Didn't want to be seen with the PML(N) riff-raff? Didn't want to be tarred with the same corruption brush?
Iqbal, releasing the white paper, went on to say that international and national media had used the epithets like "sham democracy" and "rigged democracy" to describe the elections. The paper was primarily based on media report and having very little original input by the party. Meaning they can't think of anything to do except bitch. Very funny.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/10/2002 06:29 pm ||
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The Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), Balochistan, has strongly condemned the killing of French and Pakistani citizens in a bomb blast in Karachi and termed it a proof of the government's weakness. No one with an affiliation with any ARD group, of course, had anything to do with it...
A meeting of the provincial committee of the alliance held here on Wednesday, with former Senator Tahir Bizenjo in the chair, also expressed deep concern and sorrow over the killing of religious scholar Dr Ghulam Murtaza Malik in Lahore and many doctors in Karachi at the hands of terrorists. And no one associated with Qazi had anything to do with them, either.
The meeting observed that all the law enforcement agencies and secret services failed to trace the culprits involved in these acts of terrorism. Is he viewing with alarm, or is he crowing in triumph?
Describing their occurrence as an administrative failure, the meeting observed that such a situation was very alarming for the country which could worsen if appropriate steps were not taken. These steps, of course, starting with Perv's resignation. Does the outline become clear yet?
The ARD's provincial committee criticized the military government, claiming the people had rejected the policies of Gen Musharraf through boycott of the referendum on the call of opposition political forces. Yep. Another offensive opened in this war. Hope Perv realizes what's going on. It's sure clear from here...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/10/2002 06:37 pm ||
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Maulana Ehsanul Haq Farooqi, a banned Sipah-i-Sahaba leader and the Jamia Masjid Farooqi prayer leader, was arrested for delivering a speech against Gen Pervez Musharraf in Wadala Sindhian village, Daska. Satrah police have sent him to the Sialkot district jail after registering a case against him under section 16 MPO. Wonder if this is an isolated case or if it's the start of a trend? If it's the start of a trend, is it a trend of arresting anyone speaking against Perv, or is it a trend of arresting people who're inciting to riot?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/10/2002 06:45 pm ||
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The police in a crackdown against the activists of religious parties in Dadu district arrested 24 activists of different parties on Thursday. A police party of Dadu town raided the houses of the senior vice president of a banned organization, Syed Fida Hussain Shah, the provincial deputy secretary of another banned organization, Najamuddin Mujahid, and arrested them. The police also arrested ten more activists of the two organizations in Dadu town. Interesting. Usually they name the organizations. Here they didn't...
Khairpur Nathan Shah police arrested twelve activists ofthe JUI, including Abdul Aziz Khaskheli and Maulana Abu Bakar Chandio. And I'd imagine the JUI activists belong to JUI (F), Fazlur Rehman's group. The very bunch that's threatening civil war. Maybe it is a real crackdown...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/10/2002 06:57 pm ||
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A number of Lebanese groups and organizations on Thursday decided to create a popular movement in support of Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. In a statement issued after a meeting on Thursday, the founding body of the Gathering of Popular and Social Bodies announced that it was launching a new movement to be called the National and Popular Movement and expected to be âfavorable to the prince.â The meeting took place at the premises of the Gathering of Islamic Bodies in Tariq al-Jadideh. That's interesting. Wonder if this is a political movement, a social movement, a religious movement, or a movement to create and organization whose Bigs can live out of the prince's wallet?
The prince, who holds Lebanese citizenship and whose grandfather, Riad Solh, was one of the countryâs prominent prime ministers, recently created controversy when he blamed the economic crisis on poor handling of the economy. Many of Prime Minister Rafik Haririâs supporters saw this as a direct criticism of Haririâs performance and voiced their opposition to the princeâs viewpoints.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/10/2002 07:25 pm ||
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Israel's siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity ended as the 123 Palestinians who had been holed up inside for 38 days left one by one after a deal was cut to evacuate them. Ten peace activists who had slipped into the church last week to serve as human shields initially refused to leave Friday, but eventually walked out. I hope sincerely that the Israelis are busy beating them at this very moment. No, my tongue is not in my cheek.
With the end to the siege, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said in Rome that the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Bethlehem is now a "question of hours or days." Then Yasser can start rebuilding his offensive infrastructure.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat hailed the lifting of the siege as "a very important step". "Finally, after all the fighting and the Israeli army's hesitation about pursuing its crimes in this holy place, this is a very important step," Arafat told journalists in Ramallah. "We hope that they (the Israelis) will continue their withdrawal from Bethlehem." Bet he does. Terrible the way those Israeli gunnies and thugs invaded somebody else's church and... Oh. It wasn't them.
The first Palestinians to leave the church were 13 militants on Israel's most-wanted list and described as "terrorists" who were sent into exile. They were taken to Ben Gurion airport and flown out on a British military transport to Cyprus, from where they will eventually be sent to various European countries. Last-minute snags over where they would go had delayed the end to the standoff, but Cyprus announced late Thursday it would host them until that could be sorted out. First they had to find countries where the leadership was stupid enough or could be cajoled into taking them. It was kind of embarrassing when Italy said, thanks, but no thanks, but given enough Europressure couple with State Department pressure they finally agreed to take three. Mr Solana said Spain would like three, thank you. Our friend and ally, Mr Chretien, raised his hand and said, "Ooooh! Ooooh! We'll take one!" The others have been deposited here and there in Europe, where they'll probably set up local al-Aqsa cells and start a Eurofada.
They were followed by 26 more Palestinian militants, considered less dangerous by Israel, who were to be sent to the Gaza Strip. There they received a heros' welcome. Next week, while the IDF's taking Gaza apart, they can catch them again. It's getting boring now.
A Palestinian official in Ramallah said the men would not be imprisoned abroad but have humanitarian status during a temporary exile. An European diplomat from Madrid told AFP the men would not be treated as prisoners. Forsooth and Fort Smith! Why would they be treated as prisoners? The very idea, treating crazed killers as prisoners.
It had been previously reported that the 26 would be jailed in Gaza, but within minutes of their arrival a Palestinian security official said they would be neither tried nor jailed. "They have arrived in part of Palestine and they are free in their homeland," Colonel Salem Dardonah told reporters at the Erez crossing point from Israel. "They will not be held, not even for an hour, nor will they be judged." Yeah. No matter what kind of promises were made to spring them.
Under the terms of the final agreement, the last to leave the church were the 10 foreign pacifists, members of the International Solidarity Movement. They had initially refused to budge, saying they wanted to speak to a lawyer, an army spokesman told AFP. When they walked out, they were arrested by Israeli police. According to Israeli authorities, they could possibly be charged with "entering a closed military zone" and could be expelled from the country. Yeah, the stairs are real slippery at the calaboose. They should probably do something about that...
That stand-off initially prevented US ballistics experts from entering the basilica to collect weapons left by the Palestinians, the army said. But by afternoon, the Americans had begun to recover the firearms, mainly Kalashnikov and M-16 assault rifles, an Israeli military spokesman said. "Nope. No Bad Guys there. Just put-upon civilians." Kristen Schurr, a member of the New York-based group Direct Action for Justice in Palestine, is a Peace Activistâ¢, so we can believe her.
Pope John Paul II's special envoy to the Middle East, French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, welcomed the end of the tense month-long standoff. He called the ending of the siege "a great piece of news" and a "first step" along the difficult but necessary path toward "a fair and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians," according to the Italian news agency Ansa. ...he said, applying fresh lipstick in anticipation of his next date with Yasser.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/10/2002 03:31 pm ||
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The Israeli army has delayed the launch of an offensive in the Gaza Strip, having lost the element of surprise, Israeli public television said Friday. According to security sources quoted in the report, the operation has been suspended but significant forces remained deployed around the Gaza Strip. The army had readied for strikes on the Gaza Strip, the bastion of Islamic radicals Hamas, after Tuesday's kamikaze blast near Tel Aviv that left 17 dead and 55 injured. That means they're going to lose the momentum on this strike. I imagine the State Department's talked them out of it to let Yasser reform the PLO (snort!) So nothing will happen until the next couple dozen are killed or maimed by a boomer. A one-two punch would have been much more effective.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/10/2002 05:36 pm ||
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From Yasser's statement at a meeting of the PA/PLO leadership on May 4th:
âOur deterrence will be based on the political and diplomatic support of our Arab brothers and friends around the world who will stand with us to exercise the maximum pressure to prevent the recurrence of the use of force or occupation by the Israelis. "We're gonna count on the Arabs to protect us. If it hadn't been for them, I coulda been killed."
"We need to call for moderation as a part of our strategy to strengthen the peace camp profiting from the new popular Israeli awareness that security cannot be achieved through the use of force. "So let's knock off with the boomers for awhile. Please? That'll give us a chance to do a little 'divide and conquer' on the Israeli public."
"We need to call on all peace loving peoples around the world to come to our support and join this campaign hoping that we will be hastening a change in the Israeli public opinion and consequently weakening the radical forces in that society. "If we can keep the Euros on board, the Jews might not whack us again. That'd be bad because next time they'll probably kill me."
âFinally, the opportunity offered now and the risk we will entail if we were to leave the arena open to radicals on our side requires that we should take in our hands as a responsible leadership the security situation so there will not be any action being taken by anyone without being approved as a necessary measure to insure the common interests. "Those Hamas idiots really have to check with me before they send somebody out to explode. Really. I mean, those guys were right outside my door, and they had live ammunition!"
"We ought to exercise a cohesive and strong leadership during this period which implies a choice between peace and war. "'Cause I don't want to get killed next time."
âWe cannot allow the sentiment of the street to drive us. Our duty toward our people and our friends force us to show a strong will to lead." "We've started this mess, and the rubes bought it. Now we've got to get it under control before I get killed."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/10/2002 08:02 pm ||
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An explosion rocked the center of the southern Israeli city of Beersheba Friday, wounding at least three people, security sources and ambulance workers said. Israel Radio cited witnesses as saying the blast near a bank office may have been caused by a bomb or a hand grenade. It reported that police arrested one suspect and were hunting another. Security sources said three people were slightly wounded. Yasser doesn't have a real tight handle on this yet, does he?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/10/2002 08:27 pm ||
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Senior Russian officials vowed to hunt down the perpetrators of a bombing that killed at least 41 people at a Victory Day parade in the southern republic of Dagestan, bordering Chechnya. President Vladimir Putin's envoy to the North Caucasus told a nation stunned by Thursday's carnage in Kaspiysk that the culprits would be brought to justice. "Right now we are not going to talk about a Chechen link, I am going to speak only about the established facts," Putin's envoy, Viktor Kazantsev, told Russia's NTV television. "But let me say that the people who ordered and those who carried out this attack cannot be regarded as human, and we are going to find them and arrest them." Being arrested by Russian intel guys who don't regard them as human will not be a pleasant experience. And if they run, the Russians will come after them, regardless of where they are. Even if they're in Mecca.
Putin blamed "Nazi-like scum" and terrorists, the usual Kremlin codeword for Muslim separatist rebels in Chechnya, for Thursday's landmine attack on a military parade marking the 57th anniversary of Russia's victory in World War II. Seventeen children were among those killed in the blast, which also injured up to 130 people, many of whom were in critical condition in hospital Friday, Dagestan's representative at the Kremlin, Ramazan Magomedov, told Moscow's Echo radio. Whaddya mean, "codeword"? It's an accurate description, except when the word used is "bandits," which also fits some occasions. It takes terrorists and Nazi-like scum to be capable of a crime like this. "Rebels" carry out military operations. This wasn't a military operation.
The head of Russia's intelligence services (FSB, ex-KGB), Nikolai Patrushev said that FSB agents had arrested an unspecified number of suspects in Dagestan. The suspects might lead investigators "to the mastermind behind this criminal act" which "may be linked to events in Chechnya," Patrushev said before flying back to Moscow to brief the Russian leader. The Russers know, just off the tops of their heads, that the changes are better than 90 percent that the attacks were by Chechen thugs. This might be the opening of a campaign by Khattab's successor, or by the Basayev's force if he's absorbed Khattab's troops. It's doubtful there's another force that just happens to be next door to the Chechens using the same sort of tactics.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/10/2002 02:53 pm ||
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A British court ruled that Amar Makhlulif, a suspected al-Qaeda activist accused of plotting to blow up Los Angeles airport at the end of 1999 can be extradited to the United States. Lawyers acting for the US government also told the court that Algerian-born Makhlulif, 37, had been a "key recruiter" for al-Qaeda and had sent activists to terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. It is the first time that British courts have allowed a terrorist suspect to be extradited to the United States in relation to September 11 attacks of last year. The decision needs the approval of Home Secretary David Blunkett before any extradition moves can be carried out. Makhlulif, also known as Abu Doha or the "Doctor", was remanded in custody. They'll try and point to the likelihood of the death penalty for this goober to block his extradition. That'll be tedious, but shouldn't be insurmountable. Good thing he's not in France.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/10/2002 03:00 pm ||
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Nepal's government unleashed fresh attacks on a Maoist rebel stronghold in the west of the kingdom after flatly rejecting the guerrillas offer of a one-month ceasefire. The rebels, battered by an eight-day blitz that officials say has left at least 850 of the ultra-leftists dead, said they would observe a one-month ceasefire from May 15, expressing hope "the country can take a new political turn." Looks like they might have them on the ropes...
But Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, speaking in New York late Thursday, said he had no faith in promises by the rebels, who in November broke a four-month ceasefire initiated by the premier and resumed their armed campaign with a new ferocity. "Unless they lay down arms and denounce violence, we can't trust them," Deuba, attending a UN special session on children, told CNN. "They are killing innocent people. They betrayed, they boycotted the peace talks six months ago." Ummm... Yep. That's a good reason not to trust them. This is actually a surprising turn in this ugly little war. For a long time it looked like the Maoists were getting the upper hand. Don't know if the government forces lucked into it, or if they're that good, but this looks like it's been a pretty effective campaign, even in a war notable for its highbody counts.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/10/2002 03:52 pm ||
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On Thursday, four members of the Hizbul Mujahideen's central command council decided to distance themselves from Islamabad by joining commander Abdul Majid Dar, who was expelled from the outfit. Shamsher Khan, Majid Jehangir, Riaz Gilani Rasool and Khalid Saifullah - the four CCC members - met at a secret location and threw in their lot with Majid Dar. "He claimed all the Hizb cadres and commanders had full faith in the leadership of Syed Salahuddin, the supreme commander." Maybe not that full. Or all the cadres.
Sources say these leaders have been frustrated by the way the ISI has manipulated Hizb supremo Syed Salahuddin, who is based in Rawalpindi. Some of them even want to come overground and contest elections in J&K. "People are saying that they have had enough of leaders living in air-conditioned comfort in Islamabad and Muzaffarabad. They said they want peace," a diplomat said. Like to get a little air-conditioning themselves, huh? Sure hope their cars don't explode or something.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/10/2002 05:25 pm ||
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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.
