Outside Sudan, Mr Bin Laden is not regarded with quite such high esteem. The Egyptian press claims he brought hundreds of former Arab fighters back to Sudan from Afghanistan, while the Western embassy circuit in Khartoum has suggested that some of the ''Afghans'' whom this Saudi entrepreneur flew to Sudan are now busy training for further jihad wars in Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt. Mr Bin Laden is well aware of this. ''The rubbish of the media and the embassies,'' he calls it. ''I am a construction engineer and an agriculturalist. If I had training camps here in Sudan, I couldn't possibly do this job.''
And ''this job'' is certainly an ambitious one: a brand-new highway stretching all the way from Khartoum to Port Sudan, a distance of 1,200km (745 miles) on the old road, now shortened to 800km by the new Bin Laden route that will turn the coastal run from the capital into a mere day's journey. Into a country that is despised by Saudi Arabia for its support of Saddam Hussein in the Gulf war almost as much as it is condemned by the United States, Mr Bin Laden has brought the very construction equipment that he used only five years ago to build the guerrilla trails of Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/20/2002 09:05 pm ||
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A U.S. Special Operations base in eastern Afghanistan came under attack by rockets and small arms fire, prompting the U.S. forces to respond, according to military spokesman Col. Roger King. "Hokay, you guys. Get in position for the big attack on the infidels..."
No U.S. forces were injured in Friday's attack. "Mahmoud, help set up the rocket launcher..."
The enemy forces launched six 107-mm rockets toward the base in Lwara -- southwest of Khowst â but overshot their target. King said the nearest rocket landed 250 meters from the installation. "Dammit, Achmed! I told you to bring your glasses!"
"'At's my only pair. I dint want them to get busted!"
The U.S. forces responded with mortars, small arms fire and close air support. Two Air Force A-10 "tank busters" attacked a ridgeline east of the installation, where the attackers were believed to be located. "Incoming!"
The A-10s dropped four bombs and fired 500 rounds of cannon fire. The battle lasted for nearly two hours, King said. "Holy CAMEL shit!"
Patrols are scanning the area trying to determine the extent of causalities on the enemy side, King said. "Achmed! Is he dead?"
"All the pieces of him I could find are..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/20/2002 01:13 pm ||
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Gunmen wearing burqas fired shots and threw grenades at a vegetable market where Afghan soldiers were shopping on Friday, injuring two soldiers and sending other shoppers scrambling for safety, witnesses said. The two attackers, disguised in the head-to-toe veils used by Afghan women, pulled up to the market in Kandahar in a car driven by another man. Witnesses said the assailants were both men. Never would have happened on a warm day in New Joisey. That's the difference between Merkins and Afghans. They get all worked up over naked thighs and rounded bosoms; we get all worked up over people shooting up markets.
After the assault, people surrounded the car, grabbed the driver and turned him over to police, but the two gunmen got away. "Duh! I was s'posed to drive the getaway car, but they ain't come back yet... Oh. Hello. Were you indignant citizens looking for me?"
The reason for the attack and the identities of the assailants was not immediately clear. Oooh! Oooh! Ask me! The reason for the attack was to kill people. The identities of the assailants: they were Bad Guys...
The two soldiers were being treated at a Kandahar hospital, and both were in serious condition, said Mohammad Shasi, another soldier who had gone to the hospital to check on the injured. Witnesses said another four or five people were injured but had not been taken to the hospital. Apparently the ladiesRu-Mahmoud gunnies were shooting at the soldiers and, of course, hit everybody else in sight as well...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/20/2002 01:48 pm ||
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A senior hard-line Iranian cleric said Friday that Qatar was guilty of "treason" against Muslims for providing the United States with an air base that could be used to attack Iraq. Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said in his Friday sermon that Qatar, just across the Persian Gulf from Iran, had helped America to "impose its hegemony" on the oil-rich region by allowing the U.S. military access to its al-Udeid air base. "America is going to use the soil of a Muslim country to kill the Iraqi people, spread its overall domination over Iraq and from there throughout the region," Jannati said. "Qatar is committing treason against all Muslims." Uhhh... Iraq is a secular state. And Iraqi Shiites are (somewhat) on our side...
Jannati heads the powerful Guardian Council, which approves candidates for elections, reviews parliamentary acts and has often been accused of thwarting the reform program of Iranian President Mohammad Khatami. "Gimme that o-o-o-o-old time religion...!"
On Wednesday, the head of the U.S. Central Command, Gen. Tommy Franks, discussed military cooperation with Qatar's emir, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who also holds the defense portfolio in his Cabinet. "We're thinking of kicking the snot out of the Iraqis again. Wouldja mind?"
"Lemme think. No. More tea?"
Core staff of the central command, responsible for U.S. military operations in the Gulf and Central Asia, will be shifted from their Florida headquarters to the al-Udeid air base in November for training exercise while the Pentagon considers establishing a permanent command center there. They could also set it up on a ship â the Navy's at least as cooperative as the Qataris â but this way the Saudis get slapped. It rubs in the fact that we don't need their scrotty airbase...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/20/2002 02:17 pm ||
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Acting Foreign Minister Mahamoud Ali said several hundred American troops have been stationed at Le Monier barracks for about five months and that Djibouti has been cooperating in the U.S.-led war against terrorism. Djibouti's so poor, they can't even get terrorists to come there...
As an American helicopter hovered overhead, several young men said Thursday they welcomed U.S. forces in Djibouti a day after the Pentagon said it had sent 800 troops to the tiny but strategically important nation in the Horn of Africa. The young men sitting in the shade chewing a semi-narcotic leaf known as khat said they've seen U.S. forces in town since April, particularly at the small airport. "Wow, man! Lookit the helicopter! Maw! Bring the kids and lookit this here thang!"
"I'm happy they're here. There are no problems in Djibouti, the security is very good," said Abdurahman Moussa Soultan. "I don't like al-Qaida ... they have no intelligence." He isn't talking about regular enemy situation reports...
Others said they hoped the U.S. presence would mean jobs in this poor country which relies on port fees and foreign aid for survival. They've got nothing to export, and no money to import anything, so nobody ever comes there. The port fees don't amount to much...
"For us it's good because we can make conversation with them and maybe have some jobs when more of them come," said Mohamed Said Ali. "We like to have Americans here." "'Course, since this is one of the most boring places on earth, we like to have most anybody stop by and see us. Relieves the tedium, y'know..."
The foreign minister said the U.S. troops have been training "in preparation for the next few months." Wonder what they're gonna be doing...?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/20/2002 01:26 pm ||
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Police released and then re-arrested Mohammed Abacha after he had spent three years in jail awaiting trial on charges of corruption and money laundering. The move led to a protest yesterday by thousands of the family's supporters. They all work in the e-mail industry...
The authorities gave no clear reason either for the release on bond or the re-arrest of Abacha, son of General Sani Abacha, who was Nigeria's military ruler from 1993 until his death in 1998. Yeah. I know all about him. There's all this money, sittin' in a Swiss bank account, see? And they need my help to spring it, and they'll cut me in...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/20/2002 01:53 pm ||
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#1
no, that was Laurent Kabila's son..
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2002 16:54 Comments ||
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Both of you lugs are wrong. That's Sani Abacha's wife, Madame Abacha. Why, I got such a pitiful email from the lady just the other day, begging me to help her spirit an ungodly sum of money out of the country...
Posted by: Joe ||
09/20/2002 18:34 Comments ||
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U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell called his German counterpart Joschka Fischer Friday, September 20, 2002, to express Washington's "outrage" over reported comments, now denied, by a senior German Minister that compared President George W. Bush's methods to those of Adolf Hitler. "What the hell are you boneheads THINKING?"
"The secretary called Foreign Minister Fischer this morning to express outrage with the statements that were reported," deputy State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP). "Or were you thinking?"
He did not elaborate on the conversation and declined to comment on German Justice Minister Herta Daeubler-Gmelin's flatus denial that she had said Bush's tactics on Iraq were similar to Hitler's. "I never said that! What I really meant was, uhhhh... something else."
A senior U.S. official told AFP that Washington "said all we intend to" on the matter, noting that White House spokesman Ari Fleischer twice described Daeubler-Gmelin's reported remarks as "outrageous and inexplicable." "Wanna hear it again?"
Earlier Friday in Berlin, Daeubler-Gmelin denied having made the comments, reported by a German regional newspaper Thursday, September 19, and said she would never try to harm German-U.S. relations. "No, no! U.S.-German relations are very important to me. Not as important as having my cat's teeth cleaned, of course, but important..."
Grilled by reporters for more than an hour, the Minister admitted using the words "Adolf" and "Nazi" but said the newspaper misquoted her. "The videotape was wrong, too..."
Daeubler-Gmelin said she used the words in a discussion about using war as a diversionary tactic to draw attention away from domestic problems, but that she clearly explained after the remark that she had not intended to compare Bush with a "criminal." "Of course not. I intended to paint him as a criminal in his own right..."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/20/2002 12:29 pm ||
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#1
Not only is this stupid, it is factually incorrect.
Hitler never used a war to divert attention from domestic problems(neither does Bush, by the way).He had the support of a VAST MAJORITY OF THE GERMAN PEOPLE well before the war.How soon they forget...
Posted by: El Id ||
09/20/2002 20:02 Comments ||
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German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder apologized in a letter to President Bush Friday for the offense caused by reports that his justice minister had compared Bush's methods to Hitler's. Schroeder told Bush: "I want to let you know how much I regret the fact that alleged comments by the German justice minister have given an impression that has offended you." That's good manners...
He said he had accepted Daeubler-Gmelin's denial and added, according to a German text provided by his office: "Let me assure you that there is no place at my cabinet table for anyone who makes a connection between the American president and such a criminal." Ummm... The paper stands by its story. The witnesses stand by their story. Maybe she should consider a new career in the food service industry?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/20/2002 01:34 pm ||
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Portuguese police have arrested Abu Salem, an alleged terrorism mastermind and Mafia boss who is one of India's most wanted men, an Indian embassy official said Friday. "Hooplah!"
Salem is accused by Indian police of being involved in the country's worst bombing attack, which killed 257 people in Bombay in 1993, as well as a string of murder and extortion cases. Authorities believed the bombings were retaliation for the deaths of hundreds of Muslims in riots some months earlier. Salem was arrested Wednesday on a charge of possessing forged documents, he said. Salem was with his second wife, Monica Bedi, at the time of his arrest. Another one courtesy of Steve, who asks: "Is there any of these guys who don't have forged documents?" These guys put assumed names on their birth certificates, buddy!
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/20/2002 02:22 pm ||
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#1
I wonder if he will testify to what lead up to the Bombay serial blasts...when the ISI gave training to Indian Muslim mafia members in the art of bomb making, even going so far as to provide them with explosives and Pakistani passports, and after killing 257 innocent people let them have a safe haven in Pakistan.
Just the other month, a Pakistani reporter wrote that Dawood Ibrahim, the Don behind the bombings, was living in Karachi in a huge mansion, and loaning out his men to the ISI for various operations. Of course after writing this, the reporter got paid a little visit from the ISI, and showed up a few days later, covered in bruises and retracting his story before fleeing the country.
Posted by: Paul ||
09/20/2002 20:54 Comments ||
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Five more suspects were arrested Thursday by Pakistani police working with FBI investigators, Associated Press reports. Among those arrested was the owner of a soft drinks and ice cream shop in Karachi, identified only as Masood, who allegedly stored weapons and sheltered members of al-Almi, a senior police official said Thursday, speaking on condition of anonymity. "Y'want sprinkles on that?"
"Yeah. What kind ya got?"
"5.56mm, 7.62mm, 12.7mm and 14.5mm. What's yer pleasure?"
Four suspected associates of Masood were taken into custody in the overnight raids on their homes in three Karachi neighborhoods.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/20/2002 01:18 pm ||
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Egyptian police on Thursday, September 19, arrested 19 members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood in the Cairo region, including a leader of the movement, sources close to the security services said. Rashad Bayumi, a Cairo University science faculty professor and member of the Brotherhood leadership, was among those rounded up, along with a number of doctors, engineers and students, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said. "We need an Islamic state, cuz that'd be kewl, and we could be in charge!..."
On September 4, police arrested 15 members of the Muslim Brotherhood in southern Egypt for attempting to "revive" the banned Islamic organization. The Brotherhood calls for the establishment of an Islamic state in Egypt, but rejects the use of violence. They said, piously...
Some of its activities are tolerated and 17 "independent" candidates backed by the Muslim Brotherhood won seats in Egypt's 454-member parliament in 2000. However, their support on the streets is generally thought to be higher. The Ikhwani are international in scope. Even though they "renounce" violence, they have a deep and abiding fondness for those who don't. One can also be a Muslim Brother and a member of another group with violent tastes, like Lashkar e-Taiba, or al-Qaeda. It's kind of like Islamic Freemasonry. With guns.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/20/2002 12:35 pm ||
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Israeli forces have destroyed all buildings in Yasser Arafat's Ramallah compound that immediately surround the Palestinian leader's main office. Leaves them a good field of fire for when the next boomer goes off...
On Friday, the day after a deadly suicide bomb attack in Tel Aviv, Israel Defense Forces continued to occupy the West Bank compound and were looking to arrest Palestinians they have labeled as terrorists. Arafat was unharmed, Palestinian officials said, and Israeli officials said he was not a target. FoxNews was saying last night that eight of the 19 named had given themselves up...
"No one is going to kill Arafat, no one is going to expel Arafat," said Alon Pinkas, Israel's consul general in New York. Damn. Why not?
A leaflet faxed to news organizations Friday said Izzedin al Qassam, the military wing of Hamas, claimed responsibility for the suicide attack.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/20/2002 12:54 pm ||
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Why stop there? Just level the rest of it. I mean, maybe Yasser wants a new fireplace? Help him out.
#2
If I recall correctly, this is the third time they've cornered him in Ramallah. Why bother if they just let him go after getting a good long international pity party? I think they may have something more in mind this time.
Posted by: Mark Byron ||
09/20/2002 15:18 Comments ||
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Like making a long dirt trench/moat with razor wire around it (as reported tonight on Fox)?
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2002 17:20 Comments ||
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Indonesia's Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said that the government has acknowledged the plan to arrest Omar Al-Faruq, a âterrorist' suspect who was arrested in West Java, on June 5, 2002 and handed over to the US three days later, and the arrest itself. The arrest was carried out by Indonesian intelligence after conducting an investigation into the matter. That's gonna wad the Islamist underwear...
Yudhoyono said that in regards to the âwar against terrorism', an international cooperation, including exchanging intelligence information between Indonesia and Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Australia, Europe and US, has been established. He added that the US has played an important role in supplying information on terrorism activities in Indonesia. However, the government would respond the information properly according to the Indonesian law. Wouldn't want to cheese off anybody important. Like the vice president.
Yudhoyono added that police have carried out investigations on Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, Omar Al-Faruq, Abu Daud and others. And finally did something about one of them...
The government would not arrest or carry out legal process on these people before verifying the information from foreign intelligence agencies. "Therefore, the Indonesian people should be more relaxed on this matter. The state will not be hasty to take legal action against people without proper investigation," said Yudhoyono. "Then, if it's okay with them, we'll arrest them for a few days and let them go."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/20/2002 12:28 pm ||
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Singaporean Muslim activist Zulfikar Mohamad Shariff urged the Singapore government to be more sensitive in dealing with Islamic-related issues and to avoid taking extreme actions deemed insulting to the Muslims in the republic. Extreme actions like arresting them when they form terrorist groups, he means.
He said the arrests of 21 Muslims under Internal Security Act (ISA) on Monday while the community was still reeling from the tudung (headscarf) and restriction on Islamic education controversy had created more unrest. "The arrests puts the community on the defensive. It makes certain sections of the community feel it is necessary to repair the image of Islam. It is a good time for the government to act magnanimous." "Repairing the image of Islam" could, in some people's minds, be accomplished by acting like good citizens. I don't think that's what he has in mind...
Zulfikar fled to Melbourne, Australia in July alleging that the Singapore government was out to persecute him for his beliefs. They wouldn't let him cut anybody's head off?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/20/2002 12:28 pm ||
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The Abu Sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom group has asked the military to stop their operation and give time to talk about the release of the remaining 7 hostages still in their custody. But the military refused saying that it is a ploy of the kidnappers in order to escape. The Abu Sayyaf is demanding for 5 million pesos of ransom money for the release of their hostages namely Jehovah's Witnesses' Cleofe Montulo, Florida Montulo, Emily Mantic, Norie Bendijo, and Indonesians Muntu Winowatan, Jul Kipli and Pieter Lerrich. In rejecting the call, the Philippines defence secretary Angelo Reyes was quoted as saying that negotiation is nothing but tactic to delay. Unless they wipe out each and every one of the Abu Sayyaf thugs, they're going to keep coming back and doing the very same thing, over and over and over again...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
09/20/2002 12:28 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.
