A prominent Taliban leader said Tuesday that the ousted Afghan regime has regrouped its forces, reappointed troop and regional leaders, preparing a guerrilla-like war against U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Veteran Afghan leader, Qary Galiludeen told IslamOnline that 'the organizational network among the movementâs members, both inside and outside Afghanistan, has been reactivated under the direct leadership of Mullah Mohammad Omar'. He's not that prominent. I've never heard of him, and Google's never heard of him...
«Mullah Omar is alive, leading Taliban forces personally from a safe place and he heads central meetings of Taliban». A regular Bonny Prince Charlie...
Galiludeen asserted that 'well-organized guerrilla war against U.S. troops and their Afghan allies will be intensified in the coming period'. Explaining the reasons to resort to the guerrilla war option, Galiludeen said: «Direct war, in this stage, will cost heavy civilian casualties. Once we receive anti-aircraft missiles, we will launch direct war against foreign troops on our soil». Civilian casualties, of course, count for nothing. The purpose of the civilian populace is to breed more jihadis.
«War planes are our problem in fighting U.S. forces. They cannot fight field battles, they rely on their advanced air force. Guerilla war will inflict heavy casualties on their forces. This will sure send them running out of our land», the Taliban leader added. Not spending much time running around rolling their eyes and waving guns, the U.S. forces have done away with the difference between ground war and air war. The military geniuses among the Talibs haven't figured that out yet. Hence they sit around telling each other, "Just you wait! Once we have some antiaircraft, by golly, we'll wax them infidels!"
Galiludeen pointed that some countries promised to support Taliban in its war against U.S. troops. We're really looking forward to finding out â or confirming â exactly which ones.
He also called on all Mujahideen (Islamic fighters) to unite behind Taliban in their war against the Americans, asserting that the movement decided not to allow 'any one else to work independently from Mullah Omar'. Megalomania's always been a problem with him...
«Guerrilla war against U.S. troops in Afghanistan is the first step on the path of defeating the Americans. All we need from our Muslim brothers is to help us by praying to Allah to bestow His Victory on us», Galiludeen said. «Jihad (holy war) will continue till Doomsday, we will never stop fighting U.S. troops that occupied the land of Islam». That's because Jihad's in their blood. They'll never stop until they're dead. In the process, they'll get their families dead and their homes ravaged.
Galiludeen is a well-known field commander with the Taliban, from Laghman province. He used to lead Taliban front forces in the several battles they have gone through. Pretty successful, too. That's how he got where he is today...
Meanwhile, reliable sources told IslamOnline that Taliban have regrouped and reorganized its forces, especially in Southern and South-Eastern Afghan provinces. Also a source, close to the movement, who refused to be named, said that 'organizations from neighboring countries supply Taliban with money and weapons, but in a cautious manner'. Golly. How many "neighboring countries" are there? Should I take off my shoes and socks? Probably not. I really only count one â there's no Talibactivity to speak of near the Iran border, and none next to the Uzbek border, and none next to the Kyrgyz border, and none next to the Turkmenistan border. Yes, if my mathematics are correct, that leaves... one country. Now, if we could only figure which organizations within that country are "cautiously" pumping money and weapons to the Afghan Bad Guys...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/23/2002 01:53 pm ||
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A rebel exploded when planting a mine in the Chechen capital of Grozny. According to republican law-enforcement bodies, last night, a man who is currently being identified was planting a home-made land-mine in Tukhachevskogo street. The bomb exploded as a result of undue handling. Anybody know where I can get a new sympathy meter? I think this one's busted...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/23/2002 09:07 am ||
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ROFL... I think I got one over here. Hang on.. (KLANK! CLUNK! KRASH!) Mutter #@!%*&! Mutter! Ah- sorry Freddy this one's busted! Mary Lu
Posted by: Mary Wehmeier ||
05/24/2002 1:11 Comments ||
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Two snuffies were killed on Thursday in Mesker-Urt town located in the Shali district of Chechnya. A special operation to arrest members of illegal armed formations was launched in the early hours Thursday. Two armed tough guys were found in an industrial zone of the town. They fiercely resisted the arrest and were killed. Translated, that means the coppers shot them to cat food...
At the scene, policemen found a Kalashnikov assault rifle, a foreign assault rifle, 16 different grenades and 80 rounds of ammunition. Another M16?
No casualties among servicemen or police officers have been reported. The rebels are currently being identified. Soon as they can piece the remains back together.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/23/2002 09:11 am ||
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Two militia members were convicted of plotting to blow up two propane tanks in a Sacramento suburb to try to topple the federal government. "Huh huh. He said 'topple.' Huh huh!" Beavis Kevin Patterson, 44, and Butthead Charles Kiles, 52, were found guilty Tuesday of conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction and conspiracy to use a destructive device. The attack never took place. "Weapon of mass destruction"? They were propane tanks, jugheads! Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) are by definition chemical, biological or nuclear.
It was the second trial for the former members of the San Joaquin County Militia on charges they intended to blow up the 12-million-gallon tanks in suburban Elk Grove. The first 12-member jury deadlocked six months ago, with 11 jurors voting for conviction. They probably meant "weapons of severe destruction" or "exceptionally powerful makeshift explosives."
Prosecutors contend Patterson and Kiles hoped to cause enough civil unrest to result in the toppling of the federal government. An' then they could be in charge, and they could, like, get chicks and stuff...
A third man, Donald Rudolph, founder and former commander of the militia, pleaded guilty in January 2001 to concealing his knowledge of the plot and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. Just as soon as the coppers quit hitting him.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/23/2002 08:58 am ||
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Can I say: These guys weren't rocket scientists?
;-) Mary Lu
Posted by: Mary Wehmeier ||
05/23/2002 14:17 Comments ||
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Actualy, the California legal code is more flexible on that point, Fred.
11417. (a) For the purposes of this article, the following terms have the following meanings:
(1) "Weapon of mass destruction" includes chemical warfare agents, weaponized biological or biologic warfare agents, nuclear agents, radiological agents, or the intentional release of industrial agents as a weapon.
Granted that last probably was intended to refer to, say, dumping bleach into a reservoir or whatnot. But I bet it's the loophole they drove this truck through.
#4
I'd guess it is. I tend to go with the military definition; I'd have to check my notes, but in all the tedious hours of CBR training I ever went through, nobody ever mentioned propane. I'd guess that the original intent would have to do with the intentional release of caustic or poisonous substances into water supplies, or dumping chlorine on a residential area from the air, which would kinda push it into the chemical category. But propane's not there, no matter how explosive it is. My back goes up at the beauzeaux who push to expand the meaning to anything they don't like, even if I don't like it, either.
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05/23/2002 15:56 Comments ||
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Dan, if you "dump bleach into a resivoir", all you'll do is kill a few fish. Care to guess what the city uses to disinfect your drinking water right now?
A man wounded two people with a shotgun at the New Orleans airport Wednesday, telling investigators that he fired because people made fun of his turban. The shotgun blast wounded an airline customer in the stomach and an airline employee in the hand. The gunman was tackled by bystanders in the ticket lobby of Louis Armstrong International Airport. Guess they should have stuck with making fun of his intellect...
The suspect was idenitifed as Patrick Gott, 43, of Pensacola, Fla. Gott was carrying a Quran and invoked the name of Allah. "Invoked" or "raved about"?
The sheriff said Gott told deputies he was in the terminal when people began making fun of his turban. He told investigators that he left the terminal, took a duffel bag with a shotgun out of his car, went back inside and fired. Well, that was a very Islamic thing to do. Guess we should count ourselves lucky he didn't behead anyone.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/23/2002 08:58 am ||
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Damn! There goes the ability to tell these nasty little limericks in line too! Didn't some silly SOB outside the airport see this stupid, card-carrying, turban wearing b@stard bringing the shotgun through the parking lot and INTO the airport? Or was the guard/cop/rentawantever sucking on cheetos at the other end of the building?
And we're supposed to think we're safe? And pilots can't carry guns onboard? Uh huh... Mary Lu
Posted by: Mary Wehmeier ||
05/23/2002 14:12 Comments ||
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Fred you aren't going to believe this.. but go over here and read the wonderful little email I got from American Airlines today. It's a real keeper. Mary Lu
Posted by: Mary Wehmeier ||
05/23/2002 18:55 Comments ||
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Authorities have received new information suggesting that the hijackers of Flight 93, the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, intended to slam the plane into the White House, government sources said Wednesday. The information is believed to have come from Abu Zubaydah, the senior al-Qaida terrorist leader now in U.S. custody. He is being interrogated by U.S. officials at an undisclosed location. We guessed that...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/23/2002 08:58 am ||
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Missile-carrying Indian naval warships steamed into the Arabian Sea, closer to Pakistan, as military tensions between the two South Asian nuclear neighbours soared. "We have moved five frontline ships of the eastern fleet to be cross-deployed to the western seaboard to augment the force levels," Naval spokesman Commander Rahul Gupta said. Highly-placed naval sources told AFP that four of the vessels are armed with missiles but the spokesman declined to elaborate on the redeployment, which comes in the middle of heightening military tensions between India and Pakistan. Notice that the Indians aren't jumping up and down, waving guns and threatening dire revenge. Usually the side that does that isn't the one that wins...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/23/2002 08:58 am ||
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Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Thursday expressed the Centre's willingness to consider the question of autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir. "We had not set aside the resolution on autonomy (passed by the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly) without giving it a thought. We were ready for talks. We are ready for talks even now", he said addressing a press conference at the end of his three-day visit to the state. He said that the Centre had asked state Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah as to what was coming in the way of rapid development of the state and whether any of the Constitutional provisions were becoming an obstacle in this regard when he had raised the autonomy issue. Vajpayee said he had expressed readiness to remove such obstacles. That would placate a good part of the internal jihadi movement, assuming they can ever be placated by anything. Pakland would still maintain their position that they want it all, all, damn you! But that position causes international yawns every time it's discussed.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/23/2002 12:28 pm ||
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A threat to pull out of the Indus Water Treaty is one of the options that India is considering to force Pakistan's hand if General Pervez Musharraf refuses to stop cross-border terrorism. "I think the Indian government is keeping this option in reserve," says Brahma Chellaney, Research Professor, Centre for Policy Research. "It could be used in the next series of actions if the need arises." He feels India is taking its time because "scrapping the Indus Water Treaty is an option that has to be chiselled into a weapon to squeeze Pakistan". This article was originally carried in Hindustan Times back in January, in the wake of the Parliament attacks, and it's on their front page again today. I'd imagine there's a reason for that. Suman's discussed this idea already, probably to better effect than I could. It's not as "glorious" an option as war, but it probably wouldn't have nuclear consequences. Implementing it would give the jihadis something else to jump up and down and holler about, and they could pretend they were just like Iraq, with starving babies and everything. So that's lots of international pity points, which aren't convertible into currency, versus the fact that Pak's economy's already in the toidy.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/23/2002 12:37 pm ||
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Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba is behind the killing of senior Hurriyat Conference leader Abdul Gani Lone, official Indian sources said. Quoting messages from across the border intercepted by security agencies, the sources said the intercepted conversation between one Abu Hadid operating in Srinagar and a control station of LET in Pakistan revealed it was Hadid who was responsible for the killing of 70-year-old Lone. So there we have it, assuming this isn't just a propaganda drop.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/23/2002 12:42 pm ||
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Sajad Ghani Lone, younger son of slain Hurriyat Conference leader Abdul Ghani Lone, was on Thursday nominated Chairman of Jammu and Kashmir People's Conference. Sajad will represent the People's Conference in the Hurriyat Conference, a 23-party separatist amalgam, secretary to the slain leader, Khalid Ahmad, told PTI. He said a supreme council of the party headed by Lone's elder son, Bilal Ghani Lone, was also formed. Other members of the council are Sajad Ghani Lone, Pir Hafizullah Makhdoomi (party general secretary), Sofi Ghulam Mohiuddin and advocate Sheikh Bashir Ali. Bilal Lone said the supreme council was the brain child of his late father. Well, as long as they keep it in the family...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/23/2002 12:49 pm ||
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Oh, I love that headline. I hope we end war and hunger and all sorts of ugliness. I hope to someday be 30 again, with my hair back and minus the spare tire. I hope to be handsome, witty, intelligent, a magnet to good-looking women... You get the drift. Hope in one hand, spit in the other, see which fills first.
The United States believes that the political will exists in Pakistan to stop terrorism and that Gen Pervez Musharraf is committed to removing extremism as an activity in Pakistan , but it also feels that it hasn't obtained the total results it wants on "cross-border infiltration". Ummm... No. Notquitetotal.
The US view was outlined by Ambassador Frank Taylor, the State Department's Coordinator for Terrorism, in reply to questions at a briefing to the foreign press on Tuesday afternoon following the release of the department's annual Patterns of Global Terrorism report. The questions reflected skepticism voiced in India and in the media here about the Musharraf government's determination to move against Pakistan-based militants. If you can't believe Perv, who can you believe?
Ambassador Taylor said the January 12 speech by President Musharraf and his commitment to move Pakistan away from extremist violence was a watershed. But like anything, it would take hard work to make it happen and could not happen overnight. Apparently it won't happen in six months, either...
"But we do believe that President Musharraf is a man of his word and is committed as a leader of Pakistan to challenge extremism and to remove it ... as an activity within Pakistan." If they held more funeral processions, that would let off some steam. But having a funeral implies somebody's dead, so that would have an adverse effect on the murder rate. Perhaps if they took up football hooliganism as a substitute...?
Mr Taylor said terrorism that indiscriminately killed innocent civilians "in the name of freedom fighters, or whatever you want to call it, is unacceptable anywhere in the world, be it New York, be it Kashmir, be it Tel Aviv, Jerusalem. We've also made it very clear to President Musharraf that it's very important, in lessening the tension (over Kashmir), that there be no infiltration across the line of control that had been a problem in the past. We've not gotten where we want to be." That certainly sounds like a stern talking-to. Obviously that's a tack that's beenveryeffective, too.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/23/2002 01:29 pm ||
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The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal decided to boycott the all-parties conference, convened by the army government in Islamabad on Wednesday, on the insistence of three leaders of the six-party alliance. Wonder who they may be?
Sources say Qazi Husain Ahmad (Jamaat-i-Islami), Maulana Fazlur Rahman (JUI) and Prof Sajid Mir (JAH) were opposed to attending the APC though the other leaders were of the opinion that the step would go against the interests of the MMA. Ah, it's the disloyal opposition...
The government, it was learnt, had been contacting Qazi Husain even before the APC organized by Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan on Sunday last, and offering him to have a one-on-one meeting with Gen Pervez Musharraf. But the Qazi refused for he believed that it would be an exercise in futility in the presence of basic differences between the two parties. Qazi wants to be khalif, and Perv wants to be president. That's a pretty basic difference.
Admitting that saying no to the government's APC was a difficult decision, Jamaat naib amir Liaquat Baloch said sometimes political parties had to take bitter decisions but the outcome of these decisions had been better for the nation. "Y'see, if there's war, and Pakistan gets waxed, then people might turn to us, because we weren't part of the bunch that lost the war. And if they don't, we'll shoot them."
He argued that had the anti-government parties attended the APC any disagreement on certain points could have resulted in a bitterness, thus spoiling the primary objective of the moot. He, however, emphasized that there was no difference in the "frequency" of politico-religious parties and the army over the defence of the country. Certainly not. They just don't want to be blamed for losing it if the war goes wrong. And they're banking on nobody noticing they were the ones who started it.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/23/2002 01:50 pm ||
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The five members of the Palestinians' Central Elections Committee submitted their resignations to Arafat after the Palestinian leader failed, despite repeated promises, to set a date for new elections, an official close to the panel said. There was no immediate comment from Arafat's office. Late Wednesday, Arafat met with the head of the elections committee, Mahmoud Abbas. When elections finally do take place, it might literally be over Yasser's dead body.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/23/2002 08:58 am ||
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A bomb attached to a tanker truck exploded Thursday at Israel's biggest fuel depot in what police said was likely a Palestinian terror attack. The blast ripped through the driver's cabin and sent fuel pouring onto the tarmac, but the fire was quickly extinguished and no one was hurt. The explosive charge had been planted on the underside of a tanker truck used for transporting diesel fuel. The tanker had just entered the depot to take on a load of fuel when the bomb went off and the vehicle caught fire, destroying the driver's cabin. This goes far toward proving my contention that what we're fighting against isn't a religion, or even a culture, but a mind set. The difference between the goobers that set this and Beavis and Butthead who were convicted in California isn't that one bunch wears dish towels and the other baseball caps (on backwards, of course). The difference is that this one went off and that one didn't. And that difference is purely accidental.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/23/2002 08:58 am ||
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"what we're fighting against isn't a religion, or even a culture, but a mind set."
Thanks. That's the phrase I needed (yes, I did credit you -- and linked!)
US President George W. Bush says he has never had respect for Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, because he has failed to lead his people adequately. "He's had a chance to lead. He had a chance to get a peace agreement with my predecessor. He's had chance after chance. And by failing to lead, he has really let the Palestinians down," Bush told reporters before leaving for Germany, the first stop on a tour of European capitals and Russia. "I say that with a lot of angst in my heart, because I am concerned about the plight of the Palestinian citizenry, poor and isolated and frustrated. Somebody said, has he earned your respect? I said, he never had my respect, because he let his people down. The role of a leader is to lead." This is not the first time he's said this. It's why he's trying to build some sort of bypass to Yasser and his closest thugs assistants. Whether you agree with the approach he's taking at the moment or not â and I don't, particularly â you've got to give him credit. Mr Bill never would have said such a thing, and saying it out loud is obviously part of the plan.
Ahmed Abdel-Rahman, a senior aide to Arafat, dismissed Bush's criticism as unhelpful and "unfair." "These remarks do not help the situation," he told Reuters. "They provide a cover for Israeli crimes and aggression." Ahmed? I think that sort of shift-the-blame nonsense is what Bush is talking about...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/23/2002 09:25 am ||
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Col. Jibril Rajoub, head of the Preventive Security Service in the West Bank, opposes the consolidation of the Palestinian Authority's security services into one agency, he said yesterday. Rajoub, who just returned from meetings in Egypt, said consolidation is "an Israeli dream." Oh, yeah. He's right. Put them all in one organization, and you can whack the upper crust and get them all at once. Better to leave them in umpteen different competing organizations with no control at all, and that way there'll always be a current reason to whack somebody. Anyway, it looks like Jibril hasn't been dumped, at least not yet, even if he did have to buy his own bus ticket back from Egypt.
Brig.-Gen. Amin Hindi, head of the General Intelligence Service in the Gaza Strip, told Al-Kuds newspaper yesterday he agrees the security services should be consolidated. Al-Hindi seems to be in the Erekat-Dahlan (Gaza Gang of Five) faction, for what that's worth...
Col. Muhammad Dahlan, head of the Preventive Security Service in the Gaza Strip, said earlier this week he has proposed to PA Chairman Yasser Arafat that the eight security services be consolidated into four, internal security, external security, the police, and the border guards. Looks like he might have the potentatedictator president's ear...
PA sources told the London based Al-Kuds al-Arabi that Arafat has decided to make some changes in the security services. They said Rajoub, Hindi, and Maj.-Gen. Ghazi Jabali, head of the PA Police, would be ignored in the new formation, while Brig.-Gen. Tewfik Tirawi, head of the General Intelligence Service in the West Bank, who stayed with Arafat during the siege of his Ramallah compound, will head the external security apparatus. So both Rajoub and al-Hindi are out, and Tirawi's in. Debka says he's the al-Aqsa Brigades' commander, which is less than comforting.
Dahlan's position is still unclear. Arafat proposed naming him deputy interior minister, responsible for the internal security service, but Dahlan refused and asked to be named grand vizier an adviser to Arafat. Just dump him in a job somewhere until his car blows up.
The sources said Salam Fayad, head of the Arab Bank, would succeed Muhammad Nashashibi as minister of finance. Saeb Erekat would be the minister of education if Hanan Ashrawi does not accept the position. Another of the Gang of Five. "Give him a salary and a post, but don't let him get in trouble. But if you can get Hanan, just shoot him instead." Erekat's the one who invented the Jenin massacre story.
Maher Masri will remain minister of economy and trade, Yasser Abed Rabbo minister of culture and information, and Nabil Shaath minister of planning and international cooperation. "Don't screw with them yet. I dunno how many guns they control..." Masri's a nonentity, somebody's cousin. Rabbo is notable for stating that "He's a liar. They're all liars!" Shaath is another of the Gang of Five.
Cabinet secretary Ahmed Abdel Rahman, Minister for Non-Governmental Organizations Hassan Asfour, resigned minister of parliamentary affairs Nabil Amr, Housing Minister Abdul Rahman Hamed, and Minister of Supplies Abu Ali Shaheen would have no post in the new cabinet. The press office is already working on their obituaries. Rahman is the thug who told the AP guy that they "couldn't guarantee his safety" if he kept filming the dancing, chanting lemmings Palestinian Street in the immediate wake of 9-11. Asfour should be out of the hospital now, but will probably soon be sleeping wid da fishes. Amr's already recognized the better part of valor and shown Yasser what his back looks like.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/23/2002 09:58 am ||
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A Palestinian radical group held a traditional funeral for three of its gunnies killed by Israeli tank fire. The three men were buried in a single tomb at the site where they died in Balata refugee camp on the edge of Nablus that still bore traces of blood. Amid cries for revenge, an estimated 5,000 mourners marched several kilometres in a funeral cortege for the men that paralysed the city. "Smash the head of the Zionists!," and "Revenge in French Hill!" shouted the crowd led by armed and masked Al-Aqsa militants, in a reference to a Jewish settlement in east Jerusalem. How touching. How dignified. When I go, I'd like to go like that, with 5,000 chanting, ululating lemmings mourners, ejaculating shooting their guns into the air to see me off. And instead of a wake, send out six or seven kiddies to blow up amidst my enemies, whoever they might be.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/23/2002 11:26 am ||
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A terrorist tried to enter a night club in Tel Aviv early Friday, but a security guard shot him. Tel Aviv police spokeswoman Shlomit Hertzberg said that contrary to first reports, there was no explosion of a car bomb. She said the attacker was shot by security guards at the night club. Israel Radio said the attacker was killed, and the bomb he was carrying went off. Oh, well. As long as he's dead. Can we have some of those guards for our airports, please?
Rescue service officials said one person was moderately wounded and another lightly wounded. Shaul Mizrahi, owner of a night club called "Barbie," told Israel Radio that no one else was hurt. Mizrahi said he heard a loud explosion, and police were searching the area for more explosives. And pieces of the boom boy.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/23/2002 06:03 pm ||
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A sick thought Fred-- We should start up the Boom/BombBoy Network. It could develop into a series like Star Wars. Eh? Mary Lu
Posted by: Mary Wehmeier ||
05/24/2002 5:15 Comments ||
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Kinda like the "Continuing Story of... Pigs in Spaaaace!"
Posted by: Fred ||
05/24/2002 7:22 Comments ||
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yeppers!
Posted by: Mary Wehmeier ||
05/24/2002 10:33 Comments ||
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Two Palestinians exiled in the deal to end the siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity vowed to return home someday despite Israel's insistence they will face arrest. Mamdouh al Wardian, 22, and Mohammed Muhanna, 21, were part of a group of 13 Palestinians exiled from Israel and distributed among six European Union nations and Cyprus as part of the accord that ended the standoff on May 10. Greece took two. "We are certain we will go back," Muhanna said, while Wardian added that EU negotiators had promised their exile would be temporary. "We insist on our right to return home." Sure hope the Mossad is preparing some attractively priced cars for them to rent about now...
The comments draw attention to the vague status of the militants in the EU, which has accepted to host them "on a temporary basis." Most countries have said they will grant the men one-year residence permits, but it is unclear what will happen after that time. Oh, they'll probably have skipped well before then...
Dressed casually and wearing black-and-white checkered Palestinian scarves around their necks, the two appeared for a press conference at the Palestinian Authority's diplomatic mission. The other 11 Palestinians, distributed Wednesday among Belgium, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Portugal and Cyprus, were swept off to secret locations, with some governments refusing to identify which individuals they were hosting. "We were not at all happy about the fact that we were forced to leave our country," Wardian said. "But we accepted it as a solution in order to contribute to the lifting of the siege of the church." Take comfort in the fact that the IDF wasn't happy to see you go...
Israel, which considers all 13 men to be terrorists, has said their exile is permanent and that they would be arrested if they ever attempted to return. The Israeli Defense Force identifies Muhanna as a member of the Palestinian intelligence service in Bethlehem, and Wardian as a senior member of the Islamic militant group Hamas. Wardian, who said he was "very surprised" to see his name on the list of those to be exiled, would not directly comment on whether he was a Hamas member. But he insisted he had been unarmed when about 200 Palestinians, including several dozen gunmen, ran into the church on April 2 to flee advancing Israeli troops. What happened? He dropped his gun? Was it one of those scenes like in the movies, when the bad guy runs out of bullets and throws his gun?
Muhanna said he worked as a bodyguard for the Palestinian Authority, and admitted he had been fighting on that day. "These boys don't consider themselves heroes, but they are not terrorists either," said Palestinian envoy to Athens Abdallah Abdallah. "They are patriots willing to defend the lives of their people and the freedom of their country." Jes' a coupla clean-cut country boys...
Speaking about the conditions under which they would stay in Greece, Abdallah said the state was responsible for their security, and that they would be granted residence and work permits. He said their families would be allowed to visit them, and added the two were free to leave the country if they wished, "but they will lose the hospitality of Greece if they do." All they've got to do is get on a plane. Boy, that agreement sure did a lot of good, didn't it?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/23/2002 06:20 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.
