Saudis arrest top militant Fares Al-Zahrani, one of the most wanted militants in Saudi Arabia, was arrested by security forces tonight in the south of the kingdom, Al-Arabiya television news channel said. The Dubai-based and Saudi-owned station said Zahrani, 27, surrendered to security forces "without putting up any resistance" in a park in the Abha region after a chase of several hours. He was not armed. Zahrani is one of the top suspects on a 26-strong most-wanted list issued by Saudi authorities last December, of whom 12 remained at large prior to news of his capture. The other militants on the list, suspected of links to the Al-Qaeda extremist network, have been killed in clashes with security forces or surrendered to authorities.
Some 2,000 troops backed by helicopters and artillery battled followers of an anti-U.S. leader in Yemen's northern mountains Thursday in a new offensive aimed at putting down a six-week rebellion. Fighting in the past two days killed 50 soldiers and rebels. The offensive targets supporters of Hussein Badr Eddin al-Houti, a Shiite Muslim regarded by the government as an outlaw, whose forces are holed up in the Jabal Maraan mountains outside the town of Sa'dah, 125 miles northwest of the capital, San'a. Long-simmering tension between the government and al-Houti, who leads an armed group called the Believing Youth, erupted into conflict June 21 when security forces tried to arrest his supporters in Sa'dah. More than 500 soldiers and rebels have been killed since the conflict began.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh, whose government has supported the U.S.-led war on terrorism and has received American military assistance, ordered a temporary halt to military operations against al-Houti's forces to give mediators a chance. But the fighting continued. Heavy artillery, tanks, helicopter gunships and fighter jets are backing Yemeni troops in the campaign launched late Tuesday, and the government also has recruited armed tribesmen from elsewhere to fight al-Houti's followers, government officials said on condition of anonymity. "We've been ordered to end the standoff once and for all," an official said Thursday.
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Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
08/05/2004 6:54:45 PM ||
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Yemen's army has launched a major offensive in the country's northern mountains to quell a six-week rebellion, which in the past two days alone has killed 50 soldiers and rebels. Government officials and tribal chiefs said Thursday more than 2,000 Yemeni troops have been deployed against supporters of Hussein Badr Eddin al-Houti, a Shiite Muslim whom the government regards as an outlaw. Long-simmering tension between the government and al-Houti erupted into armed conflict on June 21 when security forces tried to arrest his supporters in Sa'dah, a city about 124 miles northwest of the capital San'a.
Last month President Ali Abdullah Saleh ordered a temporary halt to military operations against al-Houti's forces, who are holed up in the Jabal Maraan mountains outside Sa'dah, to give mediators a chance. But the fighting continued.
Government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said heavy artillery, tanks, helicopter gunships and fighter jets have been backing Yemeni troops. The government has also recruited armed tribesmen from outside the area to fight al-Houti's followers.
Have Guns, Will Travel
"We've been ordered to end the standoff once and for all," an official said Thursday, as the fighting went on.
About time.
Tribal elders said the fighting had killed about 50 people and wounded dozens since the offensive began late Tuesday. The elders, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said most of the casualties were soldiers, who have since been evacuated to hospitals in San'a. The elders said, however, that attempts were still being made to mediate an end to the dispute, although many past attempts have failed.
Yemen's government is offering a $55,000 reward for the capture of al-Houti, who is accused of sedition, attacking government buildings and security forces, forming an illegal armed group and inciting people not to pay taxes.
Wanted, Dead or Alive
His group is also said to encourage anti-American sentiment through mosque speeches and demonstrations. In a statement posted on an Internet site Thursday, a previously unknown Islamist group claiming links to al Qaeda expressed solidarity with al-Houti and condemned Yemen's government because "they opened the country of Muslims to the crusader forces."
The group gave its name as Tawhid wa al-Hijra, which means Monotheism and Flight — a reference to the departure of Islam's 7th century prophet, Muhammad, to Mecca with his followers and going to Medina to escape persecution.
You can run, but you can't hide
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/05/2004 1:05:24 PM ||
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From MEMRI The recent issue of Sawt al-Jihad (Voice of Jihad) ... published an article titled "A Letter to the Wife of the Slain Pagan Paul Johnson from the Wife of One of the Martyrs." .... The anonymous letter is attributed to the wife of one of the terrorists killed by the Saudi Security forces. The following are excerpts from the letter:
The Blood of Your Husband is the Blood of a Dog because He is an Idolatrous Infidel. ... he was one of the greatest criminals indeed, although he is not considered that according to your standards, you infidels. ... the blood of a Muslim is for us more precious than the Ka'ba , but the blood of your husband is the blood of a dog because he is an idolatrous infidel. The Corpse of Your Husband shall be followed by Mountains of Corpses.
.... How can you claim innocence for your husband, Allah's curse on him, while you have been hearing the warnings of the Mujahideen calling you to leave our country that is forbidden for you? You however shut your ears and went obstinately with your wrongdoing. This is your penalty. May you shed tears mixed with blood, just as we wept blood because of your airplanes and your troops. .... I find solace in the fact that the Mujahideen were able to reach their target with precision, and they killed your husband by slaughtering him. By Allah, on that day I rejoiced a lot because the real terrorist was killed having been gorged with the blood of our Muslim children. We Hate You, Infidels, and We Loathe You to the Bone. I don't know whether you know that we hate you, infidels, and we loathe you to the bone. ...
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
08/05/2004 12:07:38 AM ||
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#4
I can't wait to see this on ABC/NBC/CBS/CNN/....
Can't you?
This should be posted in every newspaper nationwide and broadcast on every network. Unfortunately it will be ignored by the media who keep lying that Islam is a Religion of Peace....
#5
The letter claims to be written by the wife of one of the terrorists, but it was signed by "By the Mother of the Martyr". Did he marry his own mother?
#12
Sounds kinda like my ex-wife when we got divorced.....Not alot of middle ground. It is a good letter, though, if it is seriously read. You can see clearly how they are wired, or miswired, to be precise. Nothing to salvage here.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/05/2004 15:37 Comments ||
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#13
Oh come on, she's just pissed that her husband preferred 72 grapes virgins to her loving embrace...
#14
Just occured to me,since she is so pleased to have a martyred husband/son(wichever)she should be positivly ecstatic to have her whole family wiped-out.
#15
#5 The letter claims to be written by the wife of one of the terrorists, but it was signed by "By the Mother of the Martyr". Did he marry his own mother?
Well we have been refering to them as Motherfuckers
#16
Dang, that jihadi husband of hers may or may not have gotten his 72 raisins.... but he sure got away from one God awful biatch!
Posted by: DanNY ||
08/05/2004 21:43 Comments ||
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#17
I have no idea why this woman is holding back in her letter. I think she should really express what she feels.
CF:
Islam is not the religion of "peace" it is the religion of "piece". As in we will blow you along with ourselves to pieces if you don't convert posthaste!!! Everyone is just taking what they say out of context...
Do women martyrs get 72 virgin chippendale dancers? Inquiring minds want to know.
Police in Britain are holding a senior al-Qaeda operative who was allegedly planning an attack on London's main Heathrow Airport, major newspapers reported today. In a front-page article, The Times said the man was arrested after a tip-off from Pakistani intelligence, which claimed he was getting orders directly from Osama bin Laden "as head of al-Qaeda operations in Britain." It cited unidentified Pakistani officials as saying that details about Heathrow, the world's busiest international airport, were found in the computer of a suspected al-Qaeda member arrested last month in Pakistan, Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan.
And this guy was the other end of that conversation...
According to The Times, Mr. Khan had visited Britain at least six times in recent years and had disclosed after his arrest that the chief of al-Qaeda operations in Britain went by the code name "Bilal."
"Officials insist that Mr. Khan was in 'direct contact' with Bilal over the Heathrow mission," the report said. "But only Bilal knew the identities of others in the U.K. who would be used in the Heathrow operation." The Times said its Pakistani intelligence source would not divulge details of any timetable or method of a Heathrow attack. The Daily Telegraph, in a broadly similar front-page report, said the suspect in Britain used the alias Abu Eisa al-Hindi. "He was planning some sort of attack in Britain and his capture is a good signal that intelligence obtained from al-Qaeda operatives here [in Pakistan] is producing results," the paper quoted a Pakistani official as saying. It added that police would not say whether the man was among the 12 suspects in custody after their arrest Tuesday in anti-terrorism raids in London and other parts of England.
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Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/05/2004 9:23:46 AM ||
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#1
Completely innocent - according to friends/family/Muslim Council of Britain
Posted by: Howard UK ||
08/05/2004 9:36 Comments ||
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"There is mounting evidence that the powers under the terrorism act are being used disproportionately against members of the Muslim community," said the report by the all-party Joint Committee on Human Rights.
This is just a theory of mine, but could that be because terrorists seem to be "disproportionately' members of the Muslim community?
#4
Are you being funny Mr 5996 if that is your real name? We have had seperate but equal clavens for years up in the Great State of West!
(phlem)
Virginia.
A key Al Qaeda figure who had access to the surveillance data that led authorities to increase the terror alert level was among those arrested in raids in Britain on Tuesday, according to a senior US national security official. He said the arrests were made on information obtained after the arrests of Al Qaeda suspects in Pakistan. The official described the arrest of Eisa al-Hindi, an Al Qaeda leader in Britain, as the initial unraveling of a network of Al Qaeda members thought to have been actively planning attacks in the United States and elsewhere.
And all this while we've been expecting somebody named Smith or Ciccolini or Sanchez or Svensson or Wong or Mukkerjee. Just goes to show how wrong you can be...
Hindi, according to the official, had access to the detailed surveillance of the five financial institutions in Washington, New Jersey, and New York that was stored in the computer of a suspect apprehended earlier in Pakistan. Other Al Qaeda operatives outside Britain also had access to the information, the official said. Investigators think there may be a link between Hindi and other recent intelligence that has raised serious concerns among counterterrorism officials in Washington.
Holmes! How do you do it?
Hindi was among 13 men, ages 19 to 32, arrested in raids late Tuesday in London, the nearby towns of Watford and Luton, and Blackburn in northwestern England. One man was freed yesterday without charge.
"G'wan! Get outta here, kid! Don't lemme see you hangin' around that mosque again!"
The others were being questioned at a London police station ''on suspicion of being concerned in the commission, preparation, or instigation of acts of terrorism," police said, according to the Associated Press.
A senior al-Qa'eda suspect who was allegedly plotting an attack in Britain is being held by Scotland Yard after a series of arrests. A dozen men, mainly British-born but of Asian origin, were still being questioned last night. The suspect, who uses the alias Abu Eisa Al Hindi and is believed to be a "senior al-Qa'eda man", was detained after information was received from Pakistani intelligence agencies. A Pakistani official said: "He was planning some sort of attack in Britain and his capture is a good signal that intelligence obtained from al-Qa'eda operatives here is producing results."
Something about an attack on Heathrow, I believe...
Scotland Yard would not say whether Abu Eisa was among those arrested during an operation on Tuesday, when 13 men were detained in a series of raids around the country, or had been held earlier. Police believe he is a key player in al-Qa'eda's European operation and security sources praised the role of Pakistan intelligence in his capture. It also emerged that an al-Qa'eda computer expert arrested in Pakistan last month was planning an attack on Heathrow airport.
Seems like everyone's doing it lately, doesn't it?
Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan, alias Abu Talha, was seized in Lahore with a computer containing information "treasure" providing "deep insights" into al-Qa'eda operations. [snippety-snip] I would like to add the following comment from the end of the article:
The latest arrests angered Muslim leaders. They said that, of the 600 or so people arrested under anti-terrorism laws, fewer than 100 had been charged. Inayat Bunglawala, of the Muslim Council of Great Britain, said: "There is growing bitterness in the Muslim community." There has been the usual outrage from senior spokesnmen from the muslim community. They don't seem to understand that they can't have Abu Hamza preaching the destruction of the west at Finsbury Park Mosque and not be subject to massive scrutiny from the security forces at the same time. What a bunch of pricks. Check the Islamic Human Rights Commission's on-line survey of British Muslims. Relatively innocuous in the main, however, I noticed the following:
If you were the Prime Minister of Britain, what would you do for British Muslims? (Please tick one, some or all)
I would give them their own province where they could practice their religious values conveniently without impediment
I would give them the right to effectively get involved in the whole social and political structure, without any distinction between Muslim and non-Muslim
I would give them representation in the political, social and economical spheres in proportion to their population in Britain
The Muslim community has been discriminated against in different aspects of British life. I would allocate more funds to fight this discrimination
To all Brits: you saw it here first - expect this to become their rallying cry over the coming years as the WoT intensifies. The Muslim Caliphate of Bradistan (ie. Bradfod, Yorks.). Yours with fear and loathing...
Posted by: Howard UK ||
08/05/2004 8:05:03 AM ||
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You want your own province? Fine. Have it, then, and STAY THERE. But no, the preaching and the piousness and and the seething and the hand grenades always come creeping, seeping over the border into your neighbors' province and suddenly there is "unrest" and "separatists" and "activists", then "militants" and "plotting" and "the deaths of innocent bystanders", which inevitably leads to "unfair racist scrutiny from the government". STFU already and stop minding everybody else's business.
#5
GIVE them their own province. Let's set aside 50 square miles in the middle of the Sahara (if we have to take it from someone else, hey, what the heck - we're good for it). Fence it in with 30-foot high chain-link fence, electrify it (we can probably use solar power - not much rain or cloud-cover in the Sahara, and we could use a nuke reactor as back-up - who's going to complain?), and DROP THEM IN BY HELICOPTER. No gates out. No ladders over the top. Make sure the fence goes down 60-70 feet underground, with lots of motion-sensors.
If they want to eat, they will either have to ask Allah to provide, or they will have to grow food. If they want to dress themselves, they will either have to ask Allah to provide, or have to grow plant fibers to weave into clothing, or raise fur- or fleece-bearing animals to provide hair for spinning and weaving. If they want water, they'll have to ask Allah to provide it, or dig wells for it. We'll see how well they do...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/05/2004 16:05 Comments ||
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#6
They want a province? How about a little place called al-Guantanamo? Ocean views, brand new facilities. What more could they ask for?
Posted by: Tibor ||
08/05/2004 18:11 Comments ||
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Turkey's military announced the firing of 12 officers Thursday, and Turkish news media said most were dismissed under suspicion of sympathizing with Islamic groups. The military, which has staged three coups since 1960 and is a powerful defender of Turkey's secular system, has sacked hundreds of officers since 1996 for suspected ties to Islamic activists or Kurdish groups. A statement released by the military said only that 12 officers it did not identify were dismissed for "undisciplined" behavior. But private NTV television and other news reports said most had suspected links to Islamic groups. The military also announced the naming of Gen. Yasar Buyukanit to head Turkey's land forces and Gen. Fevzi Turkeri to head the paramilitary police, replacing generals who are retiring this summer. Buyukanit's appointment puts him in line to become the next chief of staff, when Gen. Hilmi Ozkok retires in 2006.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/05/2004 9:05:00 AM ||
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#2
Interestingâ¦.everyone always talks about how Turkeyâs military will âstep inâ if Turkish politicians âgo too farâ, but this is the first time Iâve ever read anything that made me think that maybe thatâs still as true today as it was previously. Just cause it used to be that way doesnât mean itâs still the same; just look at US under Clinton v/s Bush.
It would be interesting to know the philosophies of these generals. Are they going to escalate tensions between US to settle old Kurd scores and go for the oil, or are they going to really reign in the Islamists in their midst?
Posted by: B ||
08/05/2004 12:54 Comments ||
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Via Ace; EFL.
WELLSVILLE, N.Y. - Federal agents searched several locations in New York and New Jersey on Thursday for evidence in the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks, the FBI said. It was not immediately known what prompted the search, or exactly what investigators were looking for. The search by the FBI and Postal Inspection Service focused on locations in Wellsville and Newark, N.J. Oops. Guess that "person of interest" baloney missed the point..
#1
Since I lived just over the hill, literally, from Wellsville for twelve years, this caught my eye. I wonder which of the lovable hillbillies I know is involved? Wellsville has some industry, and is a bedroom community for the liberal arts Alfred University and SUNY College of Technology at Alfred.
Over 30 FBI agents friom Buffalo, Maryland and Pennsylvania closed down two streets in Wellsville because of what they call an "anthrax investigation incident." They are searching the Pearl Street home of a Wellsville resident and his old apartment on Maple Avenue. Agents have removed boxes and bags from the apartment and were searching through the resident's home with white glove. More updates to follow on www.wellsvilledaily.com.
#8
They're after Dr. Kenneth Berry, former head E/R doc at Wellsville's Hospital, and founder of a group called Preempt. This group does not appear to be currently active, but in the late 1990's it trained first responders to WMD incidents and advocated mass innoculations of American civilians for anthrax.
Clint Van Zandt, former FBI profiler, speculated at a conference that I attended that the anthrax murderer was a man who felt his warnings about the dangers to the United States had been ignored. The anthrax mailings were in the nature of a demonstration project.
Federal agents arrested a Chicago man Thursday on charges of plotting to use a fertilizer truck bomb to blow up a federal courthouse, but said he never actually had dangerous materials to make a bomb. Prosecutors said Gale William Mettles, 66, was arrested with a pickup truck and 1,500 pounds of fertilizer that he allegedly thought was volatile ammonium nitrate. 1500 lbs of chicken shit ain't gonna cut it, Gale
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/05/2004 2:16:56 PM ||
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Nettles was working alone, U.S. District Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said. The other people involved-- including those who delivered the non-dangerous fertilizer to Nettles on Wednesday-- were cooperating witnesses and federal agents, he said.
They really did sell him a load.
"He had a rational plan to build a bomb. We weren't going to wait to see if it would work," Fitzgerald said. Authorities said Nettles targeted the Dirksen federal building in downtown Chicago, which houses federal criminal and civil courts and the U.S. attorney's office.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/05/2004 14:39 Comments ||
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#2
The Unibummer.
Posted by: john ||
08/05/2004 15:30 Comments ||
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EFL:
Two leaders of a mosque in Albany, N.Y., were arrested on charges stemming from an alleged plot to purchase a shoulder-fired missile that would be used to assassinate the Pakistani ambassador in New York, according to court papers filed Thursday. The men have ties to a group called Ansar al-Islam, which has been linked to al-Qaida, according to two federal law enforcement authorities speaking on condition of anonymity. U.S. officials have said that Ansar's members are thought to be affiliated with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant whose network is blamed for attacks on U.S. forces and their allies in Iraq.
That's a fairly mushy statement of fact. Zarqawi and Ansar are one — we've accepted that as a given for quite a while now. Surely the officials must have had some other reason to preserve their anonymity than to avoid having somebody come back and argue that statement with them? For that matter, the writer could have looked it up and avoided having to bring them into it at all...
The arrests came as FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agents executed search warrants at the Masjid As-Salam mosque and two Albany-area residences late Wednesday and early Thursday. The men were identified as Yassin Aref, 34, the imam of the mosque, and Mohammed Hossain, 49, one of the mosque's founders. Hossain also owns the Little Italy Pizzeria in Albany, court documents said.
He moonlights as somebody named Giuseppe?
A Justice Department news conference with Deputy Attorney General James Comey and an FBI official was scheduled in Washington to discuss the case. According to law enforcement officials, the two are being charged with providing material support to terrorism by participating in a conspiracy to help someone they believed was a terrorist purchase a shoulder-fired missile. The person was in fact a convicted felon working undercover for the government to reduce his prison sentence.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/05/2004 12:34:47 PM ||
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The men were identified as Yassin Aref, 34, the imam of the mosque, and Mohammed Hossain, 49, one of the mosque's founders. Hossain also owns the Little Italy Pizzeria in Albany, court documents said.
Yo Mo, I'll have the large double sausage and Canadian bacon pizza. And don't skimp on the pig lard crust.
Posted by: ed ||
08/05/2004 13:13 Comments ||
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So, one of the most influential clerics at the mosque wants to kill on American soil. Time for a background check of every single person who attends that mosque. The imam's message reached the mosque's entire flock and tainted exactly how many minds thereof?
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Two people have reportedly been arrested after federal agents and police raid a Muslim mosque in Albany early Thursday morning. CBS News reports two men were taken into custody after armed officers sealed off a block in a busy business district for several hours. A home across the street from the storefront mosque was also raided. Authorities are declining to immediately discuss the raid at the Masjid As-Salam mosque. An FBI spokesman said a press conference is tentatively set for Thursday afternoon in Washington. Some mosque members held morning prayers on a nearby sidewalk because they aren't being allowed inside the building.
Fox News is reporting that two members of the mosque were trying to obtain a missile. Must be getting ready for Holy days. Developing..
UPDATE:WASHINGTON - Two leaders of a mosque in Albany, N.Y., were arrested on charges stemming from an alleged plot to help a man they thought was a terrorist purchase a shoulder-fired missile, federal authorities said Thursday. The men have ties to a group called Ansar al-Islam, which has been linked to the al-Qaida terror network, according to two federal law enforcement authorities speaking on condition of anonymity.
That'd be Zarqawi...
The two arrests came as FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other agents executed search warrants at the Masjid As-Salam mosque and two Albany-area residences, officials said. The men were identified as Yassin Aref, 34, the imam of the mosque, and 49-year-old Mohammed Hoosain, one of the mosque's founders.
Holy men dealing in weapons? I'm shocked! Shocked, I tell you!
According to law enforcement officials, the two are being charged with providing material support to terrorism by participating in a conspiracy to help an individual they believed was a terrorist purchase a shoulder-fired missile. The individual was in fact working undercover for the government and no missile ever changed hands. Aref and Hoosain were allegedly involved in money-laundering aspects of the plot, the officials said. The investigation has been going on for a year and is not related to the Bush administration's decision earlier this week to raise the terror alert level for certain financial sector buildings in New York and Washington, the officials said. More details about the case were expected to be released later Thursday by the Justice Department in Washington.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/05/2004 8:07:26 AM ||
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You infidel bastards. How dare you persecute such peace loving folk?
Posted by: Howard UK ||
08/05/2004 8:19 Comments ||
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#2
storefront moskkk? What is that, a 7-11?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/05/2004 8:28 Comments ||
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#3
Did they use search dogs? How about search pigs (I hear that they are much more sensitive)?
#5
people have reportedly been arrested after federal agents and police raid a Muslim mosque
As opposed to a Jewish mosque, or Mormon mosque.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/05/2004 9:10 Comments ||
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#6
I just saw a pic of the outside of the mosKKK. It reads "House of Peace". Fu@k these Raghads.
Welcome to Islam's House Of Peaceâ¢! This week we are running a blue light special on shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles for use against unarmed civilian flights. Peace be upon you.
Clearly this is a religion of peace, and not a religion of piss.
#9
"alleged plot to help a man they thought was a terrorist purchase a shoulder-fired missile." Infidels! Can't you tell he was getting prepared for what they thought was a wedding? This man of peace and his disciple were duped by that fascists Bush Clique and now there will be a void in our daily prayers. If I had anyplace better to go I would leave this country and go back to my beloved native land where we can conduct proper wedding celebratory fire (missiles and mortars). May Allah infest your armpits with ten-thousand fleas! Fatima says hi to all of you too.
Posted by: Achmed Ibn Said Al-Sucka ||
08/05/2004 12:19 Comments ||
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#10
Reaction by domestic muslims will consist of seething by Islamic leaders, and a collective shrug from their congregations. I hold no hope for Islam surviving in its present form. Clearly, if we are to survive, it cannot.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
08/05/2004 12:20 Comments ||
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#13
Yeah, what's a mosque without some shoulder fired firepower. Weddings, funerals,... I see a lack of cultural sensitivity here.
Oh, well. At least this puts them right up at the front of the "victim" line.
#15
Once, just once I'd love to hear the reactions of the congregation. Are they outraged at how they were betrayed by their leaders? Or are they pissed that these guys were caught?
#18
wow hes got one of them tommy cooper hats there :) . Nice to see theres been a big terrorzoid grabbing bananza around the world the last few days. Keep your eyes peeled guys these fuckers have invaded our society. I say shut down these mosques as they are nothing but jihadi regional headquaters. Are there not plans like in WW2 when America locked up all the Japanese - can we not do that with all Mussies and filter them back into society as and when need be? Have the Mussies said were picking on them again yet? Anyway hi everyone aagin, i'm getting back into this ranting thing :)
Posted by: Shep UK ||
08/05/2004 15:42 Comments ||
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#19
Fine Rant Shep, sound more.... uhmmmmm rational. :)
EFL
A Virgin Atlantic Airways flight bound for London from San Francisco International Airport was canceled Monday night after suspicious behavior by several passengers was reported to authorities. Virgin's Flight 20, scheduled to leave at 4:30 p.m., was barred from departing "based on suspicious activity by some passengers,'' said Nico Melendez, a spokesman for the federal Transportation Security Administration. The FBI later took charge of the case, according to a San Francisco police spokesman.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/05/2004 11:22:14 PM ||
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That's a classic, kind of like anti-chunnel groups declaring that "French rats and French police" would use the channel tunnel to make their way onto British soil.
A man pleaded not guilty Monday to knowingly attempting to board a plane with a loaded handgun, folding knife, and 10 syringes in his carry-on bag. Ali Reza Khatami, 65, was arrested June 24 when the .38-caliber pistol and 3.5-inch knife were found during a security screening, Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Staples said. He had been preparing to board a United Airlines flight to Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. Defense attorney Ben Wasserman said at Khatami's bail hearing last month that his client had forgotten he was carrying the weapons. He said his client was on his way to Virginia to sell some property.
Khatami told authorities he had planned to put the gun and knife in his bag to take them to a safe in his garage, but didn't remember. Then he planned to leave them at his son's house, he said, but he was in such a rush that he forgot again. Staples said Khatami was a danger because he had given inconsistent statements to investigators. Staples said the gun had been packed into an oven mitt, which he described as "essentially a low-tech silencer." Magistrate Judge Marc Goldman agreed to release Khatami on $100,000 bail, saying he was not convinced that Khatami intended to take the weapons on the plane. The case is set for trial before U.S. District Judge James Selna on Sept. 7. A gun in an oven mit and ten syringes. WTF?
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/05/2004 11:26:52 PM ||
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the Al-Sopranos?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/05/2004 8:30 Comments ||
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#2
Oh, that gun, knife, and ten syringes. Silly me. Can I go now?
Posted by: A. R. Khatami ||
08/05/2004 12:40 Comments ||
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#3
Doesn't everyone take an oven mit along when they fly in an airplane?
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
08/05/2004 22:49 Comments ||
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BAGHDAD — The U.S. military, backed by Iraqi forces, has launched its first major operation along the border with Syria. U.S. officials said Operation Phantom Linebacker has mobilized thousands of U.S. and Iraqi soldiers as well as armored combat vehicles, unmanned air vehicles and helicopters in an effort to stem the flow of insurgents, funds and weapons from Syria into Iraq.
The officials said the operation came in wake of a determination that the Sunni insurgency, including support for Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi, was coming mainly from Saddam Hussein loyalists who have fled to Syria. The operation began on Aug. 2 and included the Iraqi Border Police and Iraqi National Guard, Middle East Newsline reported. "Our first priority will be on the Syrian border," Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, said, "because we think that's where the former regime leadership and money went, in that direction, and it's coming back in from that direction."
Officials said the operation was the largest by the United States to stop weapons from Syria. Earlier missions involved mainly fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft in pursuit of Sunni insurgents along the more than 500 kilometer Iraqi-Syrian border.
The U.S. Army has not announced Operation Phantom Linebacker. But the military said two marines died in fighting in the Anbar province during "security and stability operations" along the Syrian border. No other details were provided.
Officials said Syrian officials have provided passports and official documents to Sunni insurgents in exchange for hefty bribes. They said the insurgents have also bribed Iraqi security forces deployed along the border.
Operation Phantom Linebacker, which has included the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, has also deployed UAVs as well as U.S. satellites to track the insurgency route. Officials said the first line of operations was being conducted by Iraqi security forces, with U.S. troops providing intelligence and support. The U.S.-led operation came in wake of several warnings by Baghdad to both Iran and Syria to stem the flow of fighters, weapons and funding to the insurgency in Iraq. Senior Iraqi officials have been more critical of Iran than Syria, accusing the latter of seeking to undermine the new interim government in Baghdad.
On Wednesday, an Iraqi government delegation discussed border security cooperation with Iran. The delegation was said to have been in Teheran for a week and discussed border security and Iranian interference in Iraq. Officials said the current operation along the Syrian border could press Iran to launch measures to stem the flow of insurgents into Iraq. They said Saddam loyalists have established a network in Syria to train and fund insurgents to fight the U.S.-led coalition and Iraqi government. The loyalists were said to have fueled the insurgency in such Sunni Triangle cities as Faluja, Ramadi and Samara.
In July, Iraq and Syria signed an agreement for border security. But even as the agreement was announced Iraqi officials expressed doubt whether the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad would honor the accord.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
08/05/2004 6:51:14 PM ||
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Cxl the last word from the header and we got something going..
#2
In July, Iraq and Syria signed an agreement for border security. But even as the agreement was announced Iraqi officials expressed doubt whether the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad would honor the accord.
Al Qaeda planned suicide attacks on Karachi airport and an airbase used by Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf while a cell in Britain planned an attack on London's Heathrow airport, according to Pakistani intelligence sources.
They say Al Qaeda suspect Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian, who was arrested almost two weeks ago, told interrogators of the plans for suicide attacks inside Pakistan.
And maps of Heathrow and the names of some of 12 suspected al Qaeda operatives arrested in the past two days in Britain were found on a computer belonging to another suspect, Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan.
The sources say this week's crackdown in Britain was based on the information.
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
08/05/2004 6:40:48 PM ||
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Summary: Individual Islamists may appear law-abiding and reasonable, but they are part of a totalitarian movement, and as such, all must be considered potential killers.
[www.CapitalismMagazine.com]
In 2002, the spokesman for FBI director Robert Mueller memorably described the American Muslim Council (AMC) as the "the most mainstream Muslim group in the United States." A year later, the Catholic bishops called the AMC "the premier, mainstream Muslim group in Washington."
Its founder and long-time chief, Abdurahman Alamoudi, was a Washington fixture. He had many meetings with both Clintons in the White House and once joined George W. Bush at a prayer service dedicated to victims of the 9/11 attacks. Alamoudi arranged a Ramadan fast-breaking dinner for congressional leaders. He six times lectured abroad for the State Department and founded an organization to provide Muslim chaplains for the Department of Defense. One of his former AMC employees, Faisal Gill, serves as policy director at the Department of Homeland Security's intelligence division.
In brief, as the Washington Post describes him, Alamoudi was "a pillar of the local Muslim community."
But the one-time high-flyer last week signed a plea agreement with the American government admitting his multiple crimes in return for a reduced sentence. His confession makes for startling reading.
Alamoudi acknowledges having obtained money from the Libyan government and other foreign sources, "unlawfully, knowingly, and willfully falsified, concealed and covered up by a trick, scheme and device." He transmitted these funds to the United States, "outside of the knowledge of the United States government and without attracting the attention of law enforcement and regulatory authorities."
In doing so, he engaged in illegal financial transactions and filed false tax returns. He lied about his overseas travels, his interest in a Swiss bank account, his affiliation with a Specially Designated Terrorist (the Hamas leader, Mousa Abu Marzook), and his membership in terrorist-related organizations.
Of particular note are admissions by Alamoudi that he:
Was summoned by Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi to two meetings and as a result of these Alamoudi helped organize the assassination of Saudi crown prince Abdullah. (The plot was foiled.)
Transported money from Libya to Saudi Arabia to the United States, where he deposited it in the American Muslim Foundation, one of his non-profits.
Omitted on his American citizenship application his connections to many radical organizations: the United Association for Studies and Research, Marzook Legal Fund, Mercy International, American Task Force for Bosnia, Fiqh Council of North America, Muslims for a Better America, Eritrean Liberation Front/People's Liberation Force, and Council for the National Interest Foundation.
Then there is the fact that Alamoudi's Palm Pilot, seized at the time of his arrest, contained contact information for seven men designated as global terrorists by U.S. authorities. Also, law enforcement found an unsigned Arabic-language document in Alamoudi's office with ideas for Hamas to undertake "operations against the Israelis to delay the peace process." And Alamoudi has at least indirect links to Osama bin Laden through the Taibah International Aid Association, an American non-profit where he served along with Abdullah A. bin Laden, Osama's nephew.
For his crimes, Alamoudi's punishment can include serving up to 23 years in prison, forfeiting US$1Πmillion received from the Libyans, paying six year's worth of back taxes plus penalties, and having his U.S. citizenship revoked. Alamoudi could also be removed from the country and not allowed back in. (But the agreement defers decision on Alamoudi's expulsion until after his prison term ends, suggesting that he is singing like a bird.)
Alamoudi is hardly the only high-profile, seemingly non-violent leader of an Islamist organization to associate with terrorists. At the Council on American-Islamic Relations, five staffers and board members have been accused or convicted of terrorism-related charges and the same has happened with leaders of the Islamic Center of Greater Cleveland, Holy Land Foundation, Benevolence International Foundation, and the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom.
The Alamoudi story points to the urgent need that the FBI, White House, Congress, State Department, Pentagon, and Homeland Security -- as well as other institutions, public and private, throughout the West -- not continue guilelessly to assume that smooth-talking Islamists are free of criminal, extremist, or terrorist ties. Or, as I put it in late 2001: "Individual Islamists may appear law-abiding and reasonable, but they are part of a totalitarian movement, and as such, all must be considered potential killers."
Militant Islam is the enemy; even its slickest adherents need to be viewed as such.
First published in the New York Sun
Posted by: Mark Espinola ||
08/05/2004 6:27:10 PM ||
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Then there is the fact that Alamoudiâs Palm Pilot, seized at the time of his arrest, contained contact information for seven men designated as global terrorists by U.S. authorities.
Boy howdy, for being from the culture that is so obviously superior to all others, these Islamists sure seem to experience great difficulty in comprehending how to securely use electronic technology.
Good. Let their stone age mentality continue conflicting with any ability to competently harness modern computational devices. They deserve it ... along with painfully slow deaths.
#2
He six times lectured abroad for the State Department and founded an organization to provide Muslim chaplains for the Department of Defense. One of his former AMC employees, Faisal Gill, serves as policy director at the Department of Homeland Securityâs intelligence division.
Yikes! These guys better be "de-briefed," pronto!
Posted by: rex ||
08/05/2004 20:54 Comments ||
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The autographed picture of Osama on his office wall should've been a dead giveaway.
"To Abdu. Don't ever change. Binny"
A South African citizen has been arrested in Mexico for alleged involvement in al-Qaeda-linked terrorist activities, South African media reported on Thursday, prompting further speculation about al-Qaeda presence in the country. The man, so far unidentified, was carrying a South African passport and a mobile phone that had been used to make calls to South Africa when he was nabbed in Mexico near the US border on Tuesday, said local newspaper Thisday. However, the South African government has yet confirmed if the man is genuine South African citizen or foreign national holding South African travel documentation.
I'll take phoney documents for $200, Alex.
Another newspaper, The Star, quoted a governmental official as saying that the 29-year-old with a Muslim name was arrested because the Mexican authorities believed his travel documents were not in order.
They'd have to be pretty bad for a Mexican cop to notice
If proved to be a South African, he would be the fourth South African citizen arrested overseas for alleged link with al-Qaeda in three weeks, said the newspaper. Two South African men, Feroz Ganchi and Zubair Ismail, were arrested as terrorist suspects in Pakistan last month. And a South African woman, Farida Goolam Mahomed Ahmed, was arrested in Texas,the United States, on July 19 on illegal immigration charges.
They are still checking to see if she is who she says she is.
The South African government, through its diplomatic missions in Mexico, the United States and Pakistan, is trying to gain access to the arrested people. But the efforts have up to now unsuccessful. The cabinet and the country intelligence heads on Wednesday refuted media reports that South Africa is a target of terrorist attack.
De Nile also runs through South Africa.
Reports from Pakistan alleged that the two men being held there had confessed to a terror plot to attack tourist sites in Johannesburg.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/05/2004 8:20:24 AM ||
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#2
Give me your tired, hungry and poor; your Jihadis with bombs strapped to their chests.
Posted by: ed ||
08/05/2004 9:49 Comments ||
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The S African Government is going to have to wait until the Mexicans get there shot at some bribe money.
Cost me twenty bucks to get out of the back of a Mexican police car once. Got arrested while trying to keep from being robbed. It was pretty funny as the price for my release was negotiated from $50 down.
From Khilafah, crediting The Guardian
A British woman whose husband has been imprisoned in Egypt for nine years has spoken for the first time of her belief that he was tortured and blackmailed into making a false confession to a terrorist attack. Sharon Mahmoud and their four children, who live in London, have not seen Akram Mahmoud el-Sherif since he was seized by Egyptian security officers in a pre-dawn raid on the family's flat in Alexandria during December 1995. ...
"My husband is supposed to have been released on parole by now but they have lost his file," said Mrs Mahmoud, who is 44 and originally from Cornwall. "He had gone back to Egypt with two of our children, Hannah and Islam, simply because he wanted to open a cafe. I was to join them at the end of the month. But the security police came in the early hours one morning armed with guns and broke into our flat in Alexandria. They took toys and videos but left our two children with neighbours.
"Akram was taken to the state security detention centre in the centre of Cairo where he was deprived of food and sleep. He was electrocuted on his legs and private parts and they kept asking if he was a terrorist. They whipped him and urinated on him. In the end they got a confession by saying that if he didn't sign a blank sheet of paper Hannah and Islam, who were then aged eight and six, would have a road accident. He served six years in solitary confinement, without daylight and without exercise. He was often beaten by guards. ...." .....
The Egyptian authorities maintain Mr Mahmoud participated in a plot organised by the Jihad Group to destroy the old bazaar in central Cairo. ....
Posted by: Mike Sylwester ||
08/05/2004 11:48:37 PM ||
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If all the other 50 cal gunners were using as much ammo as this guy did, I wonder just hom many rounds were expended.
12 dead and 20 something wounded. It was always amazed me how few bullets actually hit home in a fire fight. I would have thought that the Iraqi KIA would have been near Mogedishu levels, based on the account.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
08/05/2004 22:46 Comments ||
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who was the idjit-designer that put the ammo on the exterior of the vehicle as described?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/05/2004 23:06 Comments ||
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From You Big Mouth, you:
FORWARD OPERATING BASE TIGER, Afghanistan — Frustrated that Taliban fighters were making themselves scarce, cavalry commander Capt. Brian Peterson ordered his psychological operations detachment to find a way to get the enemy onto the battlefield. Their solution: shame. The soldiers drove into the mountainous region of southern Afghanistan near Tarin Kowt, a known Taliban stronghold, and blared through Humvee-mounted loudspeakers a simple message. "Take off your burqas," Afghan interpreters shouted, referring to the head-to-toe powder blue shrouds Taliban leaders once forced all women in the country to wear. "Come out and fight us like men."
Peterson, commander of the 25th Infantry Division's Hawaii-based 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment's Apache Troop, had heard of Special Forces units using similar schoolyard tactics to dishonor local insurgents into a fight and figured it couldn't hurt to try. He knew Taliban fighters were out there. Local villagers were being threatened to stay away from U.N. voter registration efforts for the country's Oct. 9 presidential elections. It didn't take long to get an answer to Peterson's cantankerous call to arms. Within hours, an angry ambush was unleashed, a heavy fusillade of automatic weapons fire raining down from two sides as his patrol moved through a steep valley. "The bullets were zinging within a few inches of my head, I could actually feel their heat," said .50-caliber machine gunner Spc. Michael Plummer, 25, from Klamath Falls, Ore. He was astounded. After four months in Afghanistan, this was Apache Troop's first contact with the enemy. "I couldn't believe they were actually shooting at us," said Plummer.
Pushing his patrol of Humvees through the ambush kill zone, Peterson turned his men around and charged back into the fray. "We weren't going to run from those punks," said Peterson. "We chased them up the mountain." After a 45-minute gunfight, four Afghan guerrillas lay dead and another four were captured. None of Peterson's men were injured. "We're pretty sure we got more, but they carry their dead away," said Peterson. It's hard to tell how many escaped, he said, adding "they can run, but they'll only die tired."
#1
Great line. It's up there with "We shoot them down like the morons they are". How refreshing to have military leaders who are completely unapologetic about the nature of their work. Happy hunting!
#3
*sigh* This gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside. I loved the 'take off your burqas and fight like men' line. Then followed by 'None of Peterson's men were injured'. Very proud of these guys.
#5
LOL. Love it. Especially the 'Take off your burqas'.
Posted by: Kathy K ||
08/05/2004 18:16 Comments ||
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#6
Michael Moore, take off your mega burqua!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/05/2004 18:36 Comments ||
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#7
Put it back on!!! Put it back on!!!!!
Posted by: Mark E. ||
08/05/2004 19:31 Comments ||
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I am so proud of all of you. I don't know if you are aware of all the support you have back here at home, but it is huge! (aside from idiots, it's election time) I will continue to pray for all of you and your families while you are out there protecting all of us. Thank you.
Six hostages in Iraq were free yesterday, four of them after an Iraqi tribal chief in the Fallujah region staged a raid on the house where they were being held. The chief, Ibrahim Jassam, said he learned that four Jordanians were being held in a house at Fallujah's edge and organized about 100 armed men from his tribe to free them Tuesday night. The hostage-takers, who had called themselves "Mujahideen of Iraq, the Group of Death," fled the raid. The Jordanians were abducted eight days ago on a highway near Fallujah. Ahmad Abu-Jaafar, one of the freed men, said, "The kidnappers have nothing to do with the resistance" movement against the U.S. presence in Iraq. Jassam, the tribal leader, called the militants "terrorists, who are not from Fallujah."
"They're from, um, elsewhere. Somewhere. Not here."
Former hostage Mohammed Khleifat described being blindfolded by the kidnappers and moved to a different house every two days. "We couldn't eat the food they gave us. The four of us got sick from the food and the water," he said.
"Raman noodles again? Uggh!"
Still, Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ali al-Ayed said the men are all in "good health." Without elaborating, Al-Ayed said the kidnappers had made several demands. "We haven't met any of them," he said.
The demands or the kidnappers?
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/05/2004 12:00:35 PM ||
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I have a sneaking suspicion about this but it may be good news.
These guys were working for a Jordanian company right? The company, like most in Iraq, probably have loads of money at stake in Iraq, right? So it occurred to me that there is a third option for dealing with the terrorists other than giving in or else having your employees get slaughtered and that is pay someone else to find and free them.
Sounds plausible doesn't it? Isn't this something that the smart company would do? Could it be that some brilliant mofo somewhere has finally stumbled on this idea? Even better, could this canny sheik have contacted the company and offered to do the job for some generous reward?
Even if this didn't actually occur, I say this idea should be actively explored by the companies involved in Iraq. I'm sure there are drawbacks but I'm just as sure they could be dealt with too.
SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - Muslim terrorists militants killed nine Indian troopers in an attack on a paramilitary camp in divided Kashmir, just hours before India and Pakistan, which both claim the region, began a round of peace talks.
Wednesday night's attack on the heavily guarded camp in an upscale residential district of Srinagar, the capital of Indian Kashmir, came just as the soldiers were sitting down to dinner, police said. One terrorist militant was killed inside the compound after exchanging sporadic fire with soldiers through the night. The whereabouts of the other terrorists rebels was not known.
"They lobbed grenades and fired with automatic weapons. It was a suicide attack," a police officer said. The dead included a paramilitary officer. Nine soldiers were wounded in the gun battle, police added.
Authorities said they expected a rise in separatist violence ahead of India's Independence Day anniversary on August 15. "They (terrorists) (militants) are trying to step up violence before Independence Day. We have taken precautionary measures," said Gopal Sharma, Jammu and Kashmir's police chief.
Don't take "precautionary measures." Find the terrorists and kill them.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/05/2004 11:53:21 AM ||
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Israel is to reopen the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza on Friday after a 19-day closure that has stranded Palestinians, reports say. Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian sources said that there was a "very high chance" the border would reopen.
The Israeli army has said the border has been closed for security reasons. Many of the estimated 2,000 people stranded have been relying on tents and humanitarian supplies from the Egyptian Red Sword of Islam Crescent. "There have been security assessments and there is a very high chance that it will reopen tomorrow," an Israeli military source told AFP news agency.
Reuters quoted an Egyptian official as saying: "Israel told the Egyptian side that they will reopen it from 8.30am [0530 GMT] and for eight hours straight." And a Palestinian security source told AFP that "the Israelis have informed us that they will reopen it tomorrow".
Earlier, Egypt had urged the United Nations to intervene to help those suffering at the border. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit had "sent an urgent message to Kofi Annan", officials said. The official also said that the minister had spoken to the Israeli ambassador to strongly demand that Israel "abide by its responsibilities" regarding the stranded Palestinians.
No mention of whether the minister demanded the Paleos to abide by their responsibilities.
Israel said the Palestinian Authority had exacerbated the problem by rejecting its offer to use a small alternative route via Israeli territory.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/05/2004 11:47:04 AM ||
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Looks like Egypt is getting worried it may end up having these "stranded" Palestinians as citizens for life. First Jordan rejects them, now Egypt...hmmm, it does not seem that Palestinians are too popular with their Arab brothers when the going gets rough.
Also, it sounds like the Palestinians had another route available to get back to their homes, but they rec'd "orders" not to use it: Israel said the Palestinian Authority had exacerbated the problem by rejecting its offer to use a small alternative route via Israeli territory.
Posted by: rex ||
08/05/2004 12:19 Comments ||
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Rex---The Paleos have not made themselves welcome. Look at Black September. King Hussein of Jordan killed and drove out Paleo forces when they tried to overthrow him. They just destabalize everything everywhere they go. They are useful to the arabs as a dagger to the underbelly of Israel and that's it.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/05/2004 15:42 Comments ||
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#4
They are useful to the arabs as a dagger to the underbelly of Israel and that's it.
Let's say the Arabs actually manage to push the Jews "into the sea." I wonder if the Palestinians might then realize that their entire use to the remaining Arab world would cease as of that moment. Absolutely nobody welcomes them with open arms anywhere, well, except for the Noble Prize committee.
Insurgents loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr downed a U.S. helicopter during fierce clashes today in the holy city of Najaf, and the wounded crew was evacuated. Also today, a suicide car bombing killed five people and wounded 27 at a police station south of Baghdad, the Interior Ministry said.
The fighting in Najaf began early in the morning when al-Sadr's Mahdi Army attacked a police station on Revolution of 1920 Square with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and Kalashnikov rifles. Najaf's governor, Adnan al-Zurufi, told the Al-Jazeera satellite channel that the U.S. Marines intervened "to help the policemen protect the police stations and the city." Al-Zurufi said armed militias attacked the police station at about 1:50 a.m. and two people had been killed so far. During the battle, a UH-1 helicopter was hit and crashed. The crew was hurt and evacuated to safety. The Najaf fighting, the fiercest in weeks, threatens a fragile cease-fire between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi and U.S. authorities. Al-Zurufi warned of "very bad consequences" if the militiamen did not disarm and leave the holy city.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/05/2004 9:36:39 AM ||
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Will somebody finally take "Tater" out back for crying out loud?
Federal troops and police continued to suffer casualties in Chechnya, losing four men in rebel raids and land mine explosions over the past day, an official with the region's Kremlin-backed government said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, American troops continue to get the job done in Iraq with far fewer casualties. Vlad's eventually going to wonder why this is so ...
Two of the soldiers died and another serviceman was wounded when a military vehicle hit a rebel land mine near the town of Vedeno late Tuesday, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Also Tuesday, a federal serviceman and an officer in the Chechen government's police force were killed in a clash with rebels near Vedeno, the official said.
Two Chechen policemen were wounded and two rebels were killed in the skirmish, he added.
Two soldiers were wounded in the explosion of a rebel-laid land mine they were trying to defuse Tuesday near the federal military base of Khankala, located on the outskirts of Grozny.
Federal artillery on Wednesday shelled suspected rebel bases in Chechnya's southern mountains, a routine barrage that has failed to weaken resistance.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/05/2004 10:03:44 AM ||
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Two Pakistani villagers were killed as security forces exchanged fire with al Qaeda linked militants in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, doctors and residents said on Thursday. Pakistani artillery pounded mountains overnight near Shakai, located around 30 miles northwest of South Waziristan's main town of Wana, residents said. "There was heavy artillery fire all night," a resident said. The military appeared to be targeting militants hiding in mountains, he said.
Wounded villagers brought to a state-run hospital in Wana said two people had been killed during the fighting, doctors and residents said. The militants are mostly armed with rocket launchers and light weapons. Usually they carry out hit-and-run attacks on military posts, prompting fierce responses from the army. The government has fined tribesmen and forced their businesses and shops to close in efforts to make them hand over foreigners, including Arabs, Chechens, and Uzbeks living in their midst. The government says around 600 foreigners were hiding in the area. Tribal sympathizers call them holy warriors and guests.
In a separate incident, militants attacked a military convoy in Khamrung region of neighboring North Waziristan, killing a soldier and wounding two others including an army colonel. The attack occurred on Wednesday evening, a security official said on the condition of anonymity. The area is located around 45 miles south of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan. Foreign militants and their local supporters have intensified their attacks on security forces in response to the army crackdown on their hide-outs.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/05/2004 9:31:45 AM ||
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Hayyat's announcement followed news that at least six Al Qaeda suspects, including a Syrian, have been arrested in separate raids in recent days. Three of the suspects -- two Pakistanis and a foreigner -- were arrested on a road near the eastern city of Lahore, and five grenades and two AK-47 rifles were found in their sports utility vehicle, a high-ranking intelligence official told The Associated Press. Another detainee is a policeman, Raja Waqar, assigned to the office of Punjab province's top politician; he is suspected of passing Al Qaeda linked groups information on the whereabouts of top government officials, Lahore police chief Tariq Salim Dogar told The Associated Press.
"The previous record of the policeman shows that he has been involved in jihadi activities and had links with Al Qaeda. We have initiated a probe to find out how he managed to get posted to such a sensitive place," Dogar said.
Maybe because it was part of the job description?
A fifth suspect, arrested Sunday at a bus station in a town near Lahore, identified himself as Juma Ibrahim, a Syrian, said district police chief Aslam Ghauri. He said Ibrahim was turned over to Pakistan's spy agency. Another man was arrested trying to board a plane in Lahore with questionable documents, said a government official who gave no further details. It was not immediately clear if any of the six militants described by Pakistani officials included the two senior Al Qaeda men that Hayyat said were wanted by the United States.
It doesn't seem to be, at least under those names.
Several of the detainees were believed to be linked to other Al Qaeda suspects in custody, including a computer expert identified as Mohammad Naeem Noor Khan who was arrested July 13. An intelligence official in the capital, Islamabad, said Arochi led police to a network of Al Qaeda operatives and that several as-yet-undisclosed arrests have been made. He would not confirm any direct link between Arochi and the arrest of Khan, the computer expert, but said Arochi has been made available to U.S. intelligence agents. A senior intelligence official told The Associated Press that Ghailani spent time in the tribal area of South Waziristan before traveling in recent weeks to Gujrat. Al Qaeda "facilitators" arranged for him to hide in several local houses, said the official, who asked that his name not be used. Officials also believe Ghailani was hiding for a while in the southern port city of Karachi, home to a number of local extremist groups as well as Al Qaeda, and in Lahore. Raja Munawar Hussain, the police chief in Gujrat, told AP that a front man who leased a car and opened a bank account for Ghailani also was arrested.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/05/2004 9:16:37 AM ||
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Militiamen loyal to Shi'ite Muslim radical leader Moqtada al-Sadr have declared holy war against British forces based in Iraq's main southern city of Basra. The declaration came after four of their comrades were arrested. "We will wage jihad and war against the foreign troops, not against police and Iraqi forces," said Sheikh Saad al-Basri, al-Sadr's representative in the largely Shi'ite city. "However, if Iraqi personnel fight on the side of the occupiers, we will strike them harshly."
[snippety-snip]
Fix bayonets...
Posted by: Howard UK ||
08/05/2004 9:05:02 AM ||
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#1
Does this mean the Home Guard can get involved? I suspect they could resolve the issue before football season starts.
Posted by: Mr. Davis ||
08/05/2004 9:14 Comments ||
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Season starts this Saturday.. that'll have to be one quick jihad.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
08/05/2004 9:15 Comments ||
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#3
Ok, does this mean we're finally gonna take this worthless POS out? Fingers crossed...
Insurgents loyal to radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr downed a U.S. helicopter during fierce clashes Thursday in the holy city of Najaf, and the wounded crew was evacuated. The fighting in Najaf began early in the morning when al-Sadr's Mahdi Army attacked a police station on Revolution of 1920 Square with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and Kalashnikov rifles. Najaf's governor, Adnan al-Zurufi, told the Al-Jazeera satellite channel that the U.S. Marines intervened "to help the policemen protect the police stations and the city." Al-Zurufi said armed militias attacked the police station at about 1:50 a.m. and two people had been killed so far. During the battle, a UH-1 helicopter was hit and crashed. The crew was hurt and evacuated to safety. The Najaf fighting, the fiercest in weeks, threatens a fragile cease-fire between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi and U.S. authorities. Al-Zurufi warned of "very bad consequences" if the militiamen did not disarm and leave the holy city.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
08/05/2004 7:48:03 AM ||
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#4
i'm with you mike. This bullshit has gone on long enough. We need too stop this playing too their religion based shit of hurting their holy shrines and such.blow it up i have yet too see a middle easter n city that is not a holy site.
#5
Time to fry us up some taters! Enough of this shit, send in the Marines and wipe them out. We canât let this @$$#01& continue to draw breath and hope he will play nice. He was given enough chances to disarm and live peaceable. Burn in hell tater!
#6
"W" wants to do something about this quagmire, but he also wants to be re-elected; thus the 'hand tied' approach. We all will have to wait until the elections, when the American people will bring clarity to these issues. Until then, the Pentagon's actions are considered "expendable" in the field!
#8
Too bad we can't rig a drone controlled helo to do a flyover, take a hit, and then dive into one of their shrines. It would be a nice cause and effect lesson for the Shi'ites and place the blame squarely on Sadr. This maggot has been depleting the world's oxygen supply for waaaaay too long.
EFL
For months Afghan and American officials have complained that even while Pakistan cooperates in the fight against Al Qaeda, militant Islamic groups there are training fighters and sending them into Afghanistan to attack American and Afghan forces. Pakistani officials have rejected the allegations, saying they are unaware of any such training camps.
"Yeah! We asked an' everything!"
Now the Afghan government has produced a young Pakistani, captured fighting with the Taliban in southern Afghanistan three months ago, whose story would seem to back its complaints about Pakistan. The prisoner, who gave his name as Muhammad Sohail, is a 17-year-old from the Pakistani port city of Karachi, held by the Afghan authorities in Kabul. In an interview in late July, in front of several prison guards, he said Pakistan was allowing militant groups to train and organize insurgents to fight in Afghanistan. Mr. Sohail said he hoped that granting the interview would increase his chances of being freed.
"And if not, maybe you could just stop beating me so regularly?"
Mr. Sohail described his recruitment through his local mosque by a group listed by the United States as having terrorist links, his military training in a camp not far from the capital, Islamabad, and his dispatch with several other Pakistanis to Afghanistan. He did not give all the details that intelligence officials said they gleaned from him in interrogations, but he talked easily about his party and its leaders, and said they had high-level support from within the establishment.
We guessed that. The question we still have is whether it's government policy or MMA policy...
The Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency that abuts Afghanistan lies in the west of the Peshawar valley. The area, always conservative, is now experiencing a bigger dose of literalist Islam. A tribesman, Haji Namdar, who recently returned from Saudi Arabia, is running a Taliban-style system here to enforce Islam. Local sources say he is working with members of the Bhar Kambarkhel tribe but his influence is also spreading to other parts of the area. The 34-year-old tribesman is the supreme leader of the Amr Bilmaroof Wa Nahi Anilmunkar (Vice and Virtue) organisation. The movement was launched in the inaccessible Tirrah Valley, inhabited by the Afridis, in April 2003. By October its reach extended to the Kajhori area of Bara tehsil. By last December it had begun its 'illegal' FM radio transmission programme aimed at educating women in accordance with the strictest interpretation of the Islamic tenets. Like the Taliban's Mullah Mohammad Omar, Namdar's word is also final. "We aim to ensure peace and security and to enforce the Islamic code," a member of the organisation told TFT via telephone from Kajhori. Initially, people welcomed the organisation's commitment to curbing lawlessness. It offered an alternative to an incompetent administration. Yet there is evidence that the tide of popular support is slowly turning. As one tribesman put it: "The organisation is effectively mirroring what the Taliban did in Afghanistan. It wins public support by addressing the security deficit and then it focuses on introducing a more rigid form of Islam." Former federal minister Malik Waris Khan also echoes this view. He told TFT that people were beginning to worry about the organisation's increasing focus on religion. "If this organisation is not checked today, it may well prove dangerous tomorrow," he said. Waris Khan is also stumped by the government's response to the organisation's activities. Like others, he, too, thinks the government's silence implies acceptance of the organisation's practices, including barring local tribal journalists from reporting the activities of the organisation.
Through its 'illegal' radio station, the organisation broadcasts strict interpretations of the sharia. "Everyone is obliged to adhere to them. Any show of reservation or questioning is immediately branded as defiance, a crime which runs the risk of severe punishment," a Bar Kambarkhel tribesman told TFT. The tribesman also said that the organisation's interpretation of Islam and the strict enforcement of this exegesis could lead to sectarian clashes because the people of Kajhori practice different strands of Islam. "Anyone not espousing the views of Namdar is denounced as munafek [hypocrite] and an open war is declared against him." Others agree with this assessment and say this could result in a backlash.
TFT spoke with one youth who had fallen prey to the organisation's punishment scheme for defying its 'rules'. Seventeen-year-old Saleh Muhammad was shot in the spinal cord on April 19 of this year for failing to stop at a checkpoint manned by the organisation's security forces. "They paralysed me and now I have to spend the rest of my life like this," he said simply. Another tribesman, 25-year-old Zar Muhammad was also targeted by the organisation's security forces for the same crime. The organisation has also banned the use of CDs, VCRs and TVs in Kahjori areas. Punishments, including a 10-day incarceration period or a Rs 500 fine, are administered to those who do not pray five times a day. The ameer of the organisation has discretionary powers to impose the two punishments simultaneously. And those who do not observe the blanket ban on music may face a fine of Rs 10,000 or face indefinite imprisonment. Surprisingly, the FATA security chief Brig (retd) Mehmood Shah says the government has no objection to organisations that "help it [the government] improve law and order in the tribal areas." Talking to TFT he said the political administration had informed him about the existence of Amr Bilmaroof Wa Nahi Anilmunkar. However, Shah added that the government did not permit such organisations to run private prisons, make arbitrary arrests or set up FM radio stations.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
08/05/2004 7:32:39 AM ||
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#1
Rs 500 fine, are administered to those who do not pray five times a day.
I've often wondered if you get on a roll and lay down like 50 prayers in one day, can you take comp time?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
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Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
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