Fundamentalist Islamic leaders in Saudi Arabia are telling militants intent on fighting "infidels" to join the insurgency in Iraq instead of taking up Osama bin Laden's call to oust the Saudi royal family at home, say Saudi dissidents who monitor theological edicts coming out of the kingdom. Iraq as a battleground offers the solution to a quandary facing the Saudi clerics who have to both placate the kingdom's rulers and keep their radical base happy. "If they preach that there ought to be absolutely no jihad, they would lose credibility and support among their followers. So what they do is preach jihad - not in Saudi Arabia, but in Iraq," said Abdul-Aziz Khamis, a Saudi human rights activist in London. "To them, Iraq is the answer to their dilemma."
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 gave the Saudi government the opportunity to send men there to wage holy war against communism, supported by the United States. It also opened the field for the Saudi regime to spread a rigid form of Sunni Islam known as Wahhabism. The royal Al Saud family adheres to it, as do Saudi-born bin Laden and his followers. Today, Iraq, more than anywhere else in the world, is where the future of political Islam is being shaped. It has become a free-for-all for extremists and anti-American movements. Although there are reports that Saudis are among suicide bombers in Iraq, the most radical al-Qaida group isn't heeding the clerics' advice to give up the fight against the kingdom. In the latest strike in Riyadh, the "al-Qaida in the Arabian peninsula" group claimed responsibility for a Dec. 29 attack in which five suicide bombers blew up two vehicles outside the Interior Ministry, wounding 17 police officers. The group said the intended targets were the interior minister, Prince Nayef bin Abdel Aziz Al Saud, and his son. In the weeks before the bombings, bin Laden issued a statement calling on his followers to focus attacks on the kingdom. Bin Laden accuses the West of seeking to destroy Islam and criticizes the Saudi royal family for its allegiance to the United States.
The al-Qaida branch operating in Saudi Arabia, known as the Jihadis, has been behind a string of bombings and shooting attacks in the kingdom that began in May 2003, killing dozens of foreigners where they live and work. Last June it kidnapped American contractor Paul Johnson and posted three photos on the Internet showing his body and severed head. Following another series of attacks last May, several Saudi clerics promised the government not to wage jihad, or holy war, inside Saudi Arabia and to refrain from recruiting activists from the Jihadis group, say Saudi dissidents. Two of them, Salman al-Odeh and Safar al-Hawali, even agreed to fight the Jihadis, although they agree with their ideas, said Khamis. "Al-Hawali and al-Salman still believe in the principles of jihad. But now they link it with the authority of the ruler," said Khamis. "Al-Hawali finances and supports people who go to Iraq to fight there, but he is against fighting on Saudi soil."
In Iraq, the Ansar al-Sunnah Army - a group that follows Wahhabism, claimed responsibility for a Dec. 21 suicide bombing at a U.S. base in Mosul, Iraq, that purportedly involved a young Saudi. The bombing killed 22 people, mostly American troops, and was one of the worst attacks since the war started in March 2003. While Ansar al-Sunnah indicated the bomber was Iraqi, the London-based Saudi Asharq Al-Awsat daily identified him as Ahmed Saeid Ahmed al-Ghamdi, a 20-year-old Saudi medical student from Riyadh. Iraqi and U.S. authorities have said Saudis are among foreign fighters who have gone to Iraq, although the insurgency is mostly run by local Sunnis and disaffected Iraqis. Saudi authorities have been trying to smash the persistent al-Qaida branch for some years. The founding leaders are in jail in Saudi Arabia and some of their successors have been killed. "Bin Laden gave Wahhabism glory," said Hamza al-Hassan, a Saudi dissident in London, who noted the al-Qaida leader was inspired by his radicals beliefs to fight in Afghanistan. "Wahhabism produces an extremist version every 10 years, and each new one is more extreme than the previous one, making the previous ones seem like moderates," added al-Hassan. The Jihadis, now the most extreme al-Qaida group in Saudi Arabia, believe in global holy war. The government claims they were imported, but Khamis said they were homegrown.
In the 1980s, the late Sheik Abdul-Aziz bin Baz, the grand mufti of Saudi Arabia, issued a fatwa, or religious edict, during the Afghan war urging Muslims to fight infidel Soviet occupiers on Islamic soil. Today, this fatwa applies to Iraq, say dissidents Khamis and al-Hassan. Saudi clerics such as Al-Odeh and al-Hawali have issued several fatwas saying jihad is legitimate in Iraq. Al-Hawali also opposes beheading foreign hostages for political reasons, even though he supports it from a religious point of view, said Khamis. Al-Odeh was among 26 clerics who called for jihad in Iraq last year. Saleh al-Owfi, believed to be al-Qaida's leader in Saudi Arabia, claimed in a Web site statement that al-Hawali had asked him not to fight at home but to go to Iraq, and that he would arrange for him to go there, says Khamis. But al-Owfi replied that everyone should fight on his own turf.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/24/2005 3:33:32 PM ||
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Once Condi gets the abuse and delaying tactics advice and consent from the Senate and is conformed as Sec of State, she needs to talk to the Saudis and let them know that they need to SH*T or get off the pot with respect to their funding of terrorism and dealing with the cannon fodder exports to Iraq.
The Saudis also need to be put on notice that any of their princes flying into the US or within the US will get the air traffic controller on duty, be they male or female. If we have to respect their sennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnsibilities in Saudi, the obligation goes both ways, otherwise, FOAD and go home.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/24/2005 16:15 Comments ||
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Agree in general, but in this case we should applaud the dispatch of their nut cases to Iraq for rapid execution, a fate they would not suffer in the Magic Kingdom even if they were surrounded.
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/24/2005 16:32 Comments ||
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Looks like the Jihad jungle drum beat is reaching a feverish pitch.
Let's invite them all to the Jihadi Roach Motel.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/24/2005 17:08 Comments ||
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I swear to goodness I've seen a pic or two over the years when Condi was wearing a small gold CROSS around her neck. I wonder...does she have the coviction of her beliefs to throw that in the face of the bastards that run the Kingdom specificlly while physically in the KSA?
Posted by: Mark Z. ||
01/24/2005 19:36 Comments ||
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conviction of her beliefs? I'd call it an affirmation of who she is. She'll do it
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/24/2005 20:07 Comments ||
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Schadenfreude again. These next four years are going to be delicious! For us, anyway...
Anyone who can successfully run Stanford should have no problem putting a few superior-type diplomatic corp-ers firmly in their place -- ours and theirs. She's probably chuckling very quietly to herself in the night in anticipation. I know I am. ;-D
Kuwait, facing an increase in militant violence, is hunting between eight to 10 Saudis and Kuwaitis suspected of links to al-Qaeda and a local anti-US network. "Among the Kuwaitis and Saudis being sought by state security are three individuals who have been wanted since the summer as part of a network that trained and sent youths to Iraq to fight US-led forces," the source told Reuters. Adel Al-Shimmari, Khaled Al-Dosari and Ahmad Al-Mutairi have been sought by the authorities since August for indoctrinating youths in radical Islam and facilitating their entrance to Iraq, the source said.
Cue the Family Affair theme. Dosaris and Mutairis are almost as common in the Wonderful World of Terror as the al-Ghamdis.
They are also leading suspects in two deadly clashes between police and gunmen in the state earlier this month, blamed on Muslim militants believed to be sympathetic to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. The source identified a fourth suspect as 29-year-old Kuwaiti national Amer Al-Enezi.
"All the men being sought have links to hostile activity in either Afghanistan or Iraq," the source said. Kuwait has boosted security and cracked down on Islamists opposed to the US military presence. Police have seized weapons and munitions in a series of hauls and have so far detained up to 25 suspected militants for questioning. Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef, whose country has been battling al-Qaeda linked violence for nearly two years, has been quoted as saying that the attacks in Kuwait were an extension of events in Saudi Arabia and were "from the same source".
Posted by: Fred ||
01/24/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Hopefully the Dosaris aren't related to Dorsai or something like that...
Posted by: Phil Fraering ||
01/24/2005 1:21 Comments ||
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The Unspeakable in hot pursuit of the Inedible?
Securitymen have intensified efforts to track down accomplices of militants involved in the twin shoot-outs in Maidan Hawally and Umm Al-Haiman. The securitymen were said to have combed Andalus, Jaber Al-Ali and Riqqa and are said to be on high alert in Ahmadi and Jahra for people either having relations or belonging to terrorist groups. However, these persons are described as "not dangerous." The police said they will only raid houses after obtaining warrants from the public prosecution.
At least until the Bad Guyz start shooting...
In another development two suspects were arrested in separate incidents in South Surra by the police. One was arrested driving a green Maxima car and the other was arrested near a Kuwait Finance House branch for possessing a revolver, reports Al Anba. Sources told the daily another suspect was arrested in a jeep in Al-Qurain. They said police are now tracking down suspected vehicles and arresting the drivers. They added that car rental offices are cooperating with the police by providing information on their customers. Meanwhile, a member of the family whose house was used by militants in Jaber Al-Ali says the family will file a lawsuit against the tenants for using the house for other purposes and storing explosives thereby endangering the lives of neighbors in violation of the lease contract.
Good idea. Take 'em to court, by Gum!
A brother-in-law of the landlady, a widow of a martyr who is currently in Makkah performing the Haj, said the house was hired by 'an office' and the family had no idea about the persons who hired the house. The owner of the office is also in Makkah for the Haj. Police have since handed over the house to the owner. Meanwhile, a half brother of Hammad Al-Enezi who was killed during the Umm Al-Haiman shoot-out told Al-Anba he will not receive the remains of his brother for burial because of the shame he brought on the family and tribe.
Oooh. Some of them do feel shame like we do...
Khaled Al-Enezi said he had lost contact with his brother for many years and the family was granted Saudi citizenship two months ago. Another brother of the deceased, identified as Farhan, aware of his brother's radical ideas, informed Saudi security authorities of his absence from home. Hammad, at the time, was believed to have left Saudi and crossed the border into Kuwait but it was not known whether Saudi officials alerted their Kuwaiti counterparts about the presence of Hammad in the country. Khaled, a former military official, said he is proud of his participation in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war and Kuwait's liberation war in 1991 but abhors his brother's actions.
Sounds like Khaled's only offense is having a nutbag for a brother...
Police have arrested a GCC youth, whose identity has been withheld for security reasons, for allegedly driving among a US military convoy on the Sixth Ring Road, reports Al-Rai Al-Aam daily. It has been reported the suspect believed to have links with terrorists ignored police warnings to pull over and instead crashed into a police patrol escorting the convoy. During interrogations it was discovered the man was driving under the influence of drugs.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/24/2005 10:18:10 PM ||
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Links with terrorists and driving while drugged? Not a good day to be him, I think.
A number of men of thought and preachers agreed in one voice to fight those who promote radical ideas which lead to a confrontation between security authorities and promoters of radicalism. Such incidents were recently witnessed in Maidan Hawalli and Umm Al-Haiman. While condemning the terrorists acts in the country, Dr Mohammad Al-Tabtabaei, Dean of the Faculty of Sharia and Islamic Studies, said Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) had warned those who terrify and threaten the lives of Muslims. He added scholars and media men must work hand-in-hand to fight these 'alien' ideas. Dr Jamaan Al-Harbash, of the same faculty, preachers Badr Al-Hajraf and Nazem Al-Misbah also condemned these acts. The daily quoting these persons compared radicals to 'idiots' who misrepresent the basic principles of Islam which forbid killing of innocent people.
They called upon the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs to play a vital role by launching awareness campaigns. Mohammed Baqer Al-Mahri, secretary-general of the Congregation of Shiite Ulema in Kuwait, said radical ideas were the fruits of the school curricula. He said the Minister of Education caves in to pressures from certain quarters to adopt these ideas. Al-Mahri said some textbooks implant radical ideas in the minds of students. Dr Hmoud Al-Khattab, an education expert was recently quoted as saying Islamic studies textbooks, particularly those used by the fourth year elementary schools encourage extremism, reports Al-Seyassah daily. As an example, Dr Khattab cited a lesson which urges schoolboys to offer money and weapons to 'Mujahedeen'.
Dr Khattab stressed on the part played by some influential personalities in the Ministry of Education who brainwash the schoolboys by implanting radical thoughts in their minds either directly or indirectly. He added these persons belong to the Social Reform Society in Kuwait whose members adopt the ideas of the 'Muslim Brotherhood' group of Egypt which strongly believes in Jihad inside and outside the country. He was also quoted as saying Dr Rasheed Al-Hamad, Minister of Education and Higher Education, is not in a position to 'confront' these persons who spare no efforts to impose their ideology on school curricula. He pointed out the schoolboys are hypnotized and are left with no choice but to accept the teachings and believe in what the teachers say as facts.
Naming names. You don't usually see that. It must be time for another attempt to bump off Jarallah.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/24/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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A British terror suspect captured and held by British forces in Iraq could be brought back to London to face trial, it has emerged. The man, named in reports as Mohamed Ali Abdul Razaq, 48, is being held at a detention facility near Basra. He was seized by British forces in November, reportedly during an SAS raid in Baghdad. It has been claimed that Razaq is suspected of funding and aiding Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian fugitive who heads al Qaida in Iraq and leads the terror group which beheaded British engineer Ken Bigley.
Razaq, said to be a former professional basketball player and father of six, was born in Iraq but fled Saddam Hussein's regime in 1991. He came to Britain as a refugee, and was reportedly given citizenship in 2000. After living in London, he returned to Iraq following the fall of Saddam's regime. Reports claimed he could be brought back to Britain to face treason charges at the Old Bailey. However, it is understood that no decisions have yet been taken on how Razaq will be dealt with. The Ministry of Defence confirmed that a "UK Iraqi national" was being held at a Divisional Temporary Detention Facility (DTDF) at its Shaibah base near Basra. "He is being interned as an imperative threat to security and not because he has been accused of any criminal offences," the spokesman said. Under a United Nations Security Council resolution, Coalition forces in Iraq are entitled to use "all necessary means" to deter terrorism and are able to intern those who pose a threat to security.
Posted by: tipper ||
01/24/2005 10:26:05 AM ||
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He came to Britain as a refugee, and was reportedly given citizenship in 2000. After living in London, he returned to Iraq following the fall of Saddamâs regime.
About time we considered refugees' status more carefully methinks. Treason still have the death penalty over here?
Posted by: Howard UK ||
01/24/2005 11:13 Comments ||
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Two suspected members of the Al Qaeda network alleged to have planned a suicide attack in Iraq were arrested in Germany yesterday, the German Federal Attorney said here. Police in the western city of Mainz, where US President George W. Bush and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder are due to meet in February, arrested a 29-year-old Iraqi identified only as Ibrahim Mohamed K., said Attorney-General Kay Nehm.
Ibrahim Mohamed K. was strongly suspected of belonging to Al Qaeda, and was believed to have attended a training camp and had been in touch with Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden before the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, Germany's top law officer told reporters. A second man, identified as Yasser Abu S. and described as a stateless person aged 31, was arrested in the former West German capital Bonn.
Nehm said Ibrahim Mohamed K. was understood to have settled in Germany in September 2002 in order to assemble financial and logistical support for Al Qaeda. With the aim of executing a suicide attack in Iraq, he had allegedly recruited Yasser Abu S., born in Libya but described as a stateless person, said Nehm whose federal department has charge of investigation into "terrorist" offences in Germany.
Nehm said Ibrahim K. had also allegedly planned to get a hold of 48 grammes of highly enriched uranium from a group in Luxembourg. Investigations were continuing, the attorney general said.Â
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/24/2005 1:29:58 AM ||
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TWENTY-three terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay tried to hang or strangle themselves in co-ordinated actions in August 2003, it emerged today. The prisoners sought to "disrupt camp operations and challenge a new group of security guards" at the US detention site in Cuba, the US military said. Lieutenant-Colonel Jim Marshall, a spokesman for the US Southern Command (Southcom) in Miami, described the incidents as "simultaneous attempts at hanging or strangulation". He said the "self-injurious" actions by 23 detainees were conducted between August 18 and 26, 2003, and that 10 of them occured on August 22.
He said two of the incidents were listed as "suicide attempts", but there had been no successful attempts at suicide at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. About 550 suspects in the US "war on terror" are held at the US military enclave on Cuba's southeastern tip. The US military and the Justice Department are conducting separate investigations into allegations of prisoner abuse at the base.
#9
There's something that needs to be looked at here. If the attempts were indeed "coordinated", that means that prisoners are somehow communicating between themselves.
#10
They're jihadis. "You wanna kill yourself" is probably a gesture involving a single finger, and answering in the affirmative is accomplished by doing nothing.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
01/24/2005 21:56 Comments ||
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"Mass hanging bid at Guantanamo Bay"
I bid $1650 a head in lots larger than ten. That's for a turn-key job, lumber for the scaffold, suitable rope, enthusiastic and willing hangmen (U of Florida students on summer-break), everything but disposal of the carcasses.
Hell, we'll even do that if it just involves heaving them off the dock for the sharks.
#12
Why not just leave a map pointing toward the Cuban side and 'forget' to lock the gates. If the US minefield doesn't get 'em, the Cuban one (and the Cuban guards) would. Allan's will if they make it.
#13
Of course they're communicating -- prisoners always find a way, and they are in those open cages, and speak a language the jailers don't understand.
I had an intriguing thought on reading this article, though: oxygen deprivation short of final asphyxiation results in brain damage, the amount of damage depending on how long oxygen was withheld. Almost makes me feel sorry for the nasty idjits, but that is how that cause/effect thingy works...
A Sydney-based terror suspect, who jumped bail and fled Australia on a false passport, appeared before a Lebanese military tribunal Wednesday to face charges of planning terrorist attacks and forging official documents. Jordanian-Australian Saleh Jamal, 29, testified alongside Lebanese-Australian, Haithem Melhem, 28, from Dinniyeh, and Australian Zuheir Mohammed Issa, both accused of assisting Jamal. Jamal was arrested on May 8, 2004 at Beirut International Airport on his way to Paris by Lebanese secret services, acting upon information provided by Australian authorities. The suspect was traveling on a false Australian passport, under the name of "Ahmad Kak." Although the precise nature of the terrorist attacks he is accused of having planned to perpetrate in Lebanon and Syria remains unclear, Jamal has admitted to meeting with the Sunni extremist group Usbat al-Ansar (Band of Partisans) during his stay in Lebanon.
Usbat al-Ansar is reported folded into Jund al-Sham, which is now supposed to be nearly defunct, although there are apparently enough of them left for today's shoot-em-up...
Usbat al-Ansar, which operates out of the Ein el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in South Lebanon - a no-go area for local authorities - is composed primarily of Palestinians associated with Osama Bin Laden. The group's area of operations has so far been limited to Lebanon, with a series of attacks conducted in the 1990s here.
The Lebanese seem to be using Fatah to keep them in check...
Flanked by an assistant lawyer and a translator, a defiant Jamal denied the terrorist conspiracy charges against him, changed previous statements made under interrogation and displayed an irreverent attitude toward the President of the Court, General Safi al-Din, on more than one occasion. Having previously testified to having been brought to Ain al-Hilweh by Issa, Jamal retracted his statement under interrogation Wednesday, after Issa denied any involvement in the matter before the President of the Court. "You told the court last time that Issa brought you to the camp," Safi al-Din said. "I lied," said Jamal. "So if he didn't take you there, who did?" Din asked. "A NASA spaceship," replied Jamal.
He'll look nice with a neck that's three feet long, won't he?
According to the military tribunal's investigative report, Jamal previously admitted during interrogation that he had received military training for three weeks in Ain al-Hilweh, before leaving the camp for Syria to deliver "a package" for Isbat al-Ansar. Jamal's Syria visit coincides with the time of a terrorist attack that took place in Damascus in late April 2004, when a shoot-out occurred between Syrian security forces and unknown assailants. Jamal rejects any involvement in the incident, claiming he only performed a service for one of Isbat al-Ansar's camp leaders, Abu Tarek, in exchange for refuge. Upon returning to the camp, he claims he had a disagreement with Abu Tarek, and therefore decided to go to Europe. In court on Wednesday, Jamal insisted that he was desperate and solely working on trying to find shelter somewhere in Lebanon.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/24/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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How come no outcry like there was for Mr. Hicks? I guess only America is evil when it holds Australian terrs.
At least two people including a child were wounded during clashes between rival groups in Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp.
"One false move and the kid [BLAM!] gets it!"
According to witnesses and Palestinian security sources, fighters from late Palestinian President Yasir Arafat's Fatah faction traded fire with supporters of an Islamist group that has often feuded with Fatah in the camp and relatives of a member of that group. A Palestinian child and a man in a part of the camp away from the scene of the fighting were injured by stray fire, Palestinian security and medical sources said on Sunday. The fighting was the most recent in a tedious long string of skirmishes between Islamist factions and mainstream Palestinian groups led by Fatah that have effective control of the camp, which Lebanese forces dare do not enter. The Ein el-Hilweh camp near the southern port city of Sidon is the largest of a dozen in Lebanon where some 350,000 Palestinians are registered among the refugees displaced after the creation of the Jewish state in 1948. The camp is a sensitive issue in Lebanon where authorities fear that the Palestinian refugees could threaten the delicate sectarian balance of power in the country.
At least two people were wounded Sunday in clashes between members of the Palestinian mainstream Fatah faction and Islamic extremists in Lebanon's largest refugee camp, officials said. Fatah guerrillas battled members of Jund al-Sham, a small, radical Palestinian group based at the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon. It was not clear what triggered the fighting, in which heavy machine-guns and shells were used, but tensions had been simmering for months. Palestinian officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Fatah military officials were storming houses of Jund al-Sham members in an attempt to crack down on the group. At least two Fatah members were wounded, they said.
Jund al-Sham is a little-known Sunni Muslim fundamentalist group that emerged in Ein el-Hilweh last year. Its estimated 50 members, who brand Christians and Shiite Muslims as "infidels," have had tense relations with Fatah supporters. The group's former leader, Mohammed Ahmed Sharkiyeh, resigned last October, citing health reasons, but Palestinian officials at the time said Fatah's threats to liquidate Jund al-Sham were behind the resignation. His resignation followed clashes between Jund al-Sham gunmen and Fatah guerrillas in the camp in which at least two people were killed and several wounded.
The fighting started around 3 p.m., when an armed group wearing Jund al-Sham masks broke into the house of Fatah military chief captain Lino, who lives in the Safouri quarter, and started shooting at his guards. As the conflict developed, the two groups used B.7 missiles, automatic weapons and hand grenades. Palestinian sources said the fighting came as a response to a previous dispute that occurred during the day between a member of Fatah movement and members of Jund al-Sham. The initial dispute resulted in the arrest of Wissam Ahmed - thought to be a Jund al-Sham member - by some of Lino's supporters. The fighting's soon spread throughout the camp, prompting many citizens there to flee to Sidon. The National and Islamic Forces issued a statement calling for a cease-fire and citizens took to the streets demonstrating against the fighting.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/24/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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Bin Laden is keeping his promise! Just last week he threatened to waste Fatah over a killing at that camp of his agent. I had posted his threat here (from debka) with the popcorn image. It appears he is not wasting his time -- so enjoy the corn! A beer would be nice to go with it!
January 24, 2005: In Iraq, military intelligence specialists have been eagerly investigating how police in the United States investigate, and identify criminal gangs back home. That's because the enemy in Iraq typically belongs to a criminal, or terrorist group, that operates like a gang. There are cultural differences, and dealing with these quirks causes the most problems. On the positive side, there is a large industry in the United States that supplies special software to police departments, for handling investigations. This stuff is basically database software with formats and analysis abilities tweaked to assist police investigations. These programs have been revolutionizing detective work over the last two decades. It took a few months, after the invasion, for the intel people in Iraq to become aware of this software, and they were helped greatly by reservists who were police commanders or detectives in their civilian jobs.
It was discovered that the "gangs of Iraq" operated in a similar fashion to ethnic gangs (including Arab ones) in the United States and Europe. Thus genealogical software came in handy, as did new cell phone tracking and bugging software and equipment. Regular (land-line) phones are unreliable in Iraq, and the new cell phones services are more popular. Even when they discovered how easy it was to track cell phones, many Iraqi gangsters and anti-government fighters refused to give them up. The genealogy software is useful in tracking the relations between family members in gangs. Many gangs are basically family based, with many distant cousins coming together because of family loyalty.
Terrorist attacks are treated like serial criminals. This type of criminal behavior is most widely known when it is murder. But there are many kinds of serial crime, and U.S. intel specialists found that attacks on Iraqi police and U.S. troops was, in most cases, just another serial crime. The perpetrators would often follow a pattern, one that the software could pick out. One thing leads to another, and arrests often result. DNA analysis and all the tools you see on CSI, are brought to bear. It's no accident that the 4th Infantry Division captured Saddam Hussein. The 4th Infantry is the most high tech outfit in the army, with more geeks per battalion than any other combat organization.
Financial auditing and tracking assets also proved useful. Much of the violence in Iraq is financed by billions of dollars Saddam and his cronies stole. Over a billion dollars of that money, in U.S. currency, was discovered right after Saddam fell. There is a parallel effort to create Arabic interfaces for a lot of this software, so the Iraqi police can use it as well. There are a lot of new electronic tools being put to use. Cheap video cameras, especially those equipped with software that can identify some of what the camera sees, have been very useful. Many of these cameras have night-vision capability, and have caught a lot of the bad guys sneaking around, in what they thought was under the cover of darkness. These cameras have proved useful at checkpoints, providing a record of what went on, and a way to quickly refute charges that civilians were abused when they were stopped.
The computerized intel records also make it easier to get replacement troops up to speed quickly. This process begins before the new intel units arrive, as copies of databases can be transmitted back to the United States, and video conferences or chat room sessions held to discuss the data, and the current situation in Iraq. Thus the intelligence effort continues relentlessly, even with the American troops being replaced every year.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/24/2005 9:08:31 AM ||
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AH HAH! [dislocates arm, patting myself on back]
I've been saying all along that the Tikrit thugocracy and its spawn were a criminal enterprise and not government. If the United States operated this way, Robert "Klucker" Byrd and Ted "Swim For It" Kennedy would be related by blood, rather than just having been sired by the same master vampire. BTW, just where is Buffy when you need her?
#2
I have long felt it would be a major breakthrough when Iraq stopped having the feel of a military campaign, and evolved into something like a big episode of "Cops". The psychology is completely different, as are the techniques. Eventually, the smarter criminals will realize that there is a lot more money to be made in "money", than there is in violence. In other words, smuggling consumer goods instead of weapons; drugs, gambling and prostitution instead of kidnapping and murder, etc.
#3
The real story in Iraq now is the contest between democrats and fascist gangs. This isn't civil war, this is the suppression of fascist criminals intent on strangling democracy in its crib.
#4
This is what would have happened had the federal German government had the strength to go after the brownshirts in the 1920's (instead of having their treasury looted paying reparations to the French).
#5
This is what would have happened had the federal German government had the strength to go after the brownshirts in the 1920's (instead of having their treasury looted paying reparations to the French).
#6
This is what would have happened had the federal German government had the strength to go after the brownshirts in the 1920's (instead of having their treasury looted paying reparations to the French).
SUPPORTERS of Iraq's most wanted man, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, have executed an Egyptian and two Iraqi drivers on a street in broad daylight, according to videos shown on a website.
A first grisly video showed a man identified as Ibrahim Mohammed Ismail, born in 1966, on his knees, handcuffed and blindfolded on a street before a masked man shot him in the head.
Mr Ismail was shown earlier saying he worked for a Kuwaiti company identified as Al-Shallahi, which provides US forces with drinking water, and urging his compatriots not to come to Iraq or work for the Americans.
"Despite all the warnings from the mujahedeen ... these apostates continue to help the occupier shed the blood of those who refuse to submit," the militants, identifying themselves as members of al-Zarqawi's Al-Qaeda Group in the Land of Two Rivers, said in a statement after the execution.
A second video showed the execution of two Iraqis.
The first was identified as Ali Hussein Jassim Mohammed al-Zubeidi, a resident of Sadr City, a Shiite district of Baghdad, who worked for a Lebanese company which supplies American troops in Ramadi.
The second Iraqi was named as Ahmad Alwan Hussein al-Mahmudawi, a colleague with the same company.
The pair said they were paid $US150 ($195) a month, compared with average public sector monthly salaries of between $5 and $10 during the final decade of ousted president Saddam Hussein's rule under international sanctions.
"We advise those working for the Americans to stop doing so. Don't come to Ramadi, the city of the mujahedeen, otherwise you will be killed," the two men could be heard saying.
They were then taken to a road, probably in the Sunni Muslim stronghold of Ramadi, blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs, and beheaded in public.
Al-Zarqawi, a Sunni extremist who has a $US25 million bounty on his head, called in an audiotape attributed to him on Sunday for an all-out war on the January 30 elections set to be won by members of Iraq's Shiite majority.
In the audiotape, the voice said the polls were a "wicked trap aimed at putting the Rafidha (a derogatory term for Shiites) in the seat of power.
"Four million Rafidhi have been brought in from Iran to take part in the elections so that they realize their aim of taking most seats in the pagan assembly," the voice said.
Also on Sunday, his group claimed in an Internet statement to have killed a leading member of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's party.
Posted by: tipper ||
01/24/2005 8:37:09 AM ||
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The pair said they were paid $US150 ($195) a month, compared with average public sector monthly salaries of between $5 and $10 during the final decade of ousted president Saddam Husseinâs rule under international sanctions.
"We advise those working for the Americans to stop doing so. Donât come to Ramadi, the city of the mujahedeen, otherwise you will be killed," the two men could be heard saying.
That's good pay. Are they trying to recruit or to discourage? Either way, they are recruiting. Jeeze, some of these guys will agree to blow themselves up for a not-so-hot lump sum.
Choices, choices these Iraqi's must make - take the lump sum from the Jihadi's or annunities with reduced risk from the Americans.
#8
2b, right on. We should be advertising that. Hell, pay them $195.00 a month, and a $25,000.00 life insurance policy. Make the mujahedeen compete. I'm sure we can beat them in a capitalist game.
#10
What are the police and army guys paid? That's their competition, and the lines are much longer to join the good guys. Not to mention that for the IP and the ING death is possible... but not certain.
I find it interestng that just prior to both their election and ours - there was a rumor of capture (OBL for USA, Zarqawi for Iraq), then a tape released and then.... I guess we'll have to wait and see how it plays out.
IRAQ said today the arrest of two lieutenants of Islamic extremist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, one of whom was said to be plotting election day attacks and was implicated in the 2003 bombing of the UN Baghdad headquarters. "Iraqi security forces arrested January 15 Sami Mohammad Said al-Jaf, also known as Abu Omar al-Kurdi, who was one of Zarqawi's deputies," the government said in a statement. "Abu Omar al-Kurdi was responsible for 32 attacks including the (August 2003) car bombing" of the UN headquarters in Baghdad that killed more 20 people including UN representative in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. Kurdi was planning attacks on polling stations in Baghdad for election day, the statement said. A second man identified as Hassan Hamad Abdullah Mohsen al-Duleimi who was in charge of "propaganda" for Zarqawi, was arrested on January 14.
Posted by: tipper ||
01/24/2005 8:32:40 AM ||
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hmmmm - seems like we're rolling up his command structure. That would be easier to do if he was already in custody, no?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/24/2005 10:02 Comments ||
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#2
maybe Frank. Or maybe we're just getting better overall, getting more tips from locals, conducting lots of raids, getting assistance from Iraqi forces, etc. I think that this is the announcement that the Interior Minister hinted at when we invoked the 48 hour rule - this is the substitute for getting Zarq, not the fruit of getting Zarq. Id be happy to be wrong though.
#4
Hassan Hamad Abdullah Mohsen al-Duleimi..... was arrested on January 14.
..arrested January 15 Sami Mohammad Said al-Jaf, also known as Abu Omar al-Kurdi
Had them in the jug for a week before announcing it, eh? Nice, Zarq will be wondering what they're saying, forcing him to move and change some plans.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/24/2005 12:32 Comments ||
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We give them free dentistry, too? When word gets out, they'll be beating down the doors to surrender themselves :-P
With the trail of Osama bin Laden gone cold, the U.S. State Department is revving up a new publicity blitz to remind Afghans and Pakistanis of the $25 million bounty for al-Qaeda's chief. Bin Laden is still thought to be hiding somewhere along the 1,640-mile, mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border, but intelligence officials in Kabul and Islamabad say there has been no trace of him for the past 20 months. By the end of February, the White House is expected to double the sum on bin Laden's head, to $50 million, acting on legislation passed in November by Congress.
State Department ads began appearing this month in Jang, a widely circulated Pakistani newspaper, offering rewards for bin Laden, his lieutenant Ayman al-Zawahiri, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar and 11 other suspected terrorists. The ads have elicited an average of 12 responses a day, and will be followed by an advertising barrage on regional radio and TV stations in the borderlands and cities where al-Qaeda's chief might be hiding, according to the State Department. snip
Those of you with a little time on your hands may find the US$50mil. reward a nice little addition to your retirement fund.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/24/2005 2:53:28 AM ||
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#1
If it was my call I would reduce the reward.
Increasing the award gives a propaganda victory to bin Landen. Also if we cut the award, a potential agent might think, "gee I better turn him in now before they lower the reward again"
#3
I agree with mhw's take on this. I was disappointed to see the reward increase. This is a bad call on someone's part. I think it has propaganda value for the bad guyz. If you can't be induced to forward info to the appropriate authorities on OBL for $25M, then $50M isn't going to work either.
Posted by: Mark Z. ||
01/24/2005 10:55 Comments ||
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EFL. The whole article is worth reading Al-Zarqaa Sent the Most Youths to Wage Jihad in Iraq
According to the inquiry, "Al-Zarqaa, located near the Al-Ruseifah Palestinian refugee camp, is the capital of the Salafi Jihad movement in Jordan, and the place from which it emerged. Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi grew up in one of its neighborhoods, and from there set out for the Jihad in Afghanistan, and then for the Jihad in Iraq." Likewise, the cities of Al-Zarqaa, Al-Ruseifah, and Al-Salt are "the Jordanian cities that sent the most youths to fight in Iraq⊠The well-known Al-Zarqaa residents who were killed in Iraq were supporters of Al-Zarqawi, Abd Al-Hadi Daghlas, Yassin Jarrad, and Yazan Nabil Jarada. This is in addition to the dozens [from Al-Zarqaa] who were martyred before, in Afghanistan."
Al-Zarqaa Residents Figure Prominently at Herat Camp, Afghanistan
"It appears that it was at the Herat camp [in Afghanistan] that Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi became the field commander of the groups [of Jihad fighters]. This is also the camp that the Jihad fighters from Al-Zarqaa have mentioned repeatedly throughout the history of their movement. Anyone who follows the Salafi Jihad stream agrees that the Herat camp in Afghanistan is a major episode in the building of Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi's organization in Iraq today. Al-Zarqawi founded this organization in 1999, when he went to Afghanistan. The nucleus of the camp consisted mostly of those from the city of Al-Zarqaa, such as Abd Al-Hadi Daghlas, a Palestinian who was recently killed in Iraq; Khaled Al-Arouri, currently being held in Iran; and Yassin Jarrad, the father of Al-Zarqawi's second wife and the one who, according to the Jihad fighters in Al-Zarqaa, carried out the [September 2003] suicide attack that caused the death of Muhammad Bakr Al-Hakim and the deaths of dozens of Iraqis in the city of Najaf.
Al-Zarqawi's Organization: Made Up of Extremist Palestinian Sheikhs Who Emigrated from Kuwait to Jordan
The inquiry noted that following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and the 1991 Gulf War, 250,000 Palestinians emigrated from Kuwait to Jordan. This phenomenon was called "those who returned from Kuwait." The inquiry stated: "According to calculations by Jordanian experts and researchers, some 160,000 of these displaced persons came only to Al-Zarqaa. The experts noticed a connection between their return and the flourishing of the Salafi Jihad trend in Jordan, particularly in Al-Zarqaa." According to the inquiry, the phenomenon of "the returnees from Kuwait" was perceived by many in Jordan as "a turning point in social change." The Jordan Center for Research at the University of Jordan conducted a survey on the matter and found that beginning in 1993, "the youth [in Jordan] became more conservative than the youth of preceding generations, and a large percentage of them supported polygamy and gave priority to educating boys rather than educating girls."
Among the returnees from Kuwait were "a number of people belonging to the Jihad stream, and at their head Sheikh Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi, [whose real name is] Issam Muhammad Taher Al-Burqawi. [He is] a Palestinian who lived in Kuwait, who later became the spiritual teacher of this stream in Jordan, and in 1989 became Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi's teacher. "[Al-Maqdisi] went from Kuwait to Afghanistan with the Palestinian sheikh Omar Mahmoud Abu Omar, known by the nickname Abu Qatadah. When Al-Maqdisi returned to Kuwait and then to Jordan, Abu Qatadah found refuge in London. [But] these two figures became the main source of authority of the Salafi Jihad ideology in JordanâŠAlso among the returnees from Kuwait was Abu Anas Al-Shami, the jurisprudence authority of Al-Zarqawi's organization, who was killed several months ago in Baghdad, as well as Abu Qutaybah, senior military official in the Al-Qa'ida organizationâŠThese and others, with Abu Mus'ab [Al-Zarqawi] at their head, constituted the nucleus of the Salafi Jihad movement. They met in the mid-1990s at one of the mosques in the Ma'ssoum neighborhood in the city of Al-Zarqaa."
Working Together: Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi and Al-Zarqawi
The inquiry also examined the relationship between Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi, currently behind bars in Jordan, and Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi: "Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi arrived in Jordan as an immigrant from Kuwait in 1991. At that time, he was known only amongst the Salafi Jihad circles, particularly among a few hundred Jordanians who had heard about him or met him in Afghanistan where he had gone [to wage] Jihad. The Afghan Palestinians and Jordanians among them Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi constituted the nucleus of the stream that Al-Maqdisi had begun to organize. The Jordanian Jihadis spoke of this period as 'the beginning of the Da'wa [Islamic propagation],' and they described Al-Maqdisi's rounds starting from his home in the Al-Ruseifah camp next to Al-Zarqaa. He would visit their homes in the various Jordanian cities, usually joined by Abu Mus'ab Al-ZarqawiâŠ.According to the inquiry, after Jordan signed the peace agreement with Israel in 1994, "the Salafi Jihad movement was being nourished by a new wellspringâŠThe most prominent of the clandestine organizations established in Jordan was perhaps the Bayat Al-Imam organization, founded by Al-Maqdisi and Al-Zarqawi. Some time after the establishment of [this organization], the Jordanian security apparatuses uncovered weapons and explosives in the possession of Al-Maqdisi and Al-Zarqawi, and both were imprisoned until 1999. During the period of their incarceration, the two managed to organize a not inconsiderable number of activists⊠In their activity among the prisoners, the two relied on Abu Mus'ab's strong-arm tactics and his familiarity with the world of the criminals amongst whom he had lived in his youth.
The inquiry related that "[a man called] Abu Othman said that Abu Muhammad [Al-Maqdisi]'s personality was kind and good, and non-confrontational, while Abu Mus'ab [Al-Zarqawi] showed strength and toughness in the prison. Abu Othman added that the tribal personality of Abu Mus'ab [Al-Zarqawi] made it possible for him to obtain oaths of allegiance from others within the prison, and that he was confrontational. The youths surrounding him in prison were actual Jihad fighters, and thus they rejected the command of Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi, preferring Abu Mus'ab [Al-Zarqawi] because of his strength and determination. They thought that if [Al-Zarqawi] was [their] imam, Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi would have spare time for engaging in independent judicial ruling [ Ijtihad ] and [religious] study."
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
01/24/2005 1:20:38 AM ||
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Sheikh Abu Muhammad Al-Maqdisi, [whose real name is] Issam Muhammad Taher Al-Burqawi. [He is] a Palestinian who lived in Kuwait, who later became the spiritual teacher of this stream in Jordan, and in 1989 became Abu Mus'ab Al-Zarqawi's teacher.
I'm confused. Where was Zarqawi that he met Maqdisi in 1989? Maqdisi didn't go to Jordan until 1991.
And a stupid question, no doubt, but the article doesn't say, and I don't know.... why did all of those Palestinians extremists go to Kuwait in the first place and why did they leave Kuwait after the Gulf war? And why Jordan?
#3
I'm not sure why the extremists congregated in Kuwait specifically, but all the Pals were kicked out of Kuwait after the Gulf War because they were a little too enthusiastic in their support of Saddam.
Jordan has a Palestinian majority so there was never really anywhere else they could go.
Posted by: Paul Moloney ||
01/24/2005 7:40 Comments ||
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#5
I suppose that they hated the American infidels more than they hated secular Sadaam....but it seems odd that they would cheer Sadaam against Kuwait ....being they were so devout and all.
#6
Saddam was paying large sums of money to the families of suicide bombers ($10-25,000 per), and had a pet colony of Palestinians in Baghdad -- subsidized housing, subsidized schooling, subsidized jobs... he bought Palestinian support, fair and square. And post-invasion, the Iraqis kicked them out just as quickly as the Kuwaitis had after Gulf War I. The poor dears lived for a while in an open soccer stadium until they could figure out how to get themselves to wherever they went next.
Query: Does anybody know where they went after being kicked out of Iraq?
#10
Saddam being a pragmatist had no purpose for the Palestinians any longer. He had enough problems with sanctions, no fly zones, Kurdish and Shite uprisings and Iranian eastern pressure and the Syrian and Jordanian western movements to deal with "humanitarian" issues. I believe he sent them packing to the Jordanian border. His end game there is to creat instability for the Hashemites by infusing all of these radicalized Palestinians. If the US was depending on Jordan as a launch point for Gulf War II then the Kingdom would have to deal with internal instability.
#11
The Paleos have been abused terribly for decades by their Arab "brothers," and are brainwashed from birth to think it's all the Jooos' Israel's fault.
Local coverage of the coming Iraqi Election. This is a new site which you enter by selecting English or Arabic. The information is straight from the voting disticts. Good to bookmark for the next few days.
Posted by: TomAnon ||
01/24/2005 00:00:00 AM ||
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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.
Iraq as a battleground offers the solution to a quandary facing the Saudi clerics who have to both placate the kingdom's rulers and keep their radical base happy. "If they preach that there ought to be absolutely no jihad, they would lose credibility and support among their followers. So what they do is preach jihad - not in Saudi Arabia, but in Iraq," said 
Kuwait, facing an increase in militant violence, is hunting between eight to 10 Saudis and Kuwaitis suspected of links to al-Qaeda and a local anti-US network. "Among the Kuwaitis and Saudis being sought by state security are three individuals who have been wanted since the summer as part of a network that trained and sent youths to Iraq to fight US-led forces," the source told Reuters. 
In another development two suspects were arrested in separate incidents in South Surra by the police. One was arrested driving a green Maxima car and the other was arrested near a Kuwait Finance House branch for possessing a revolver, reports Al Anba. Sources told the daily another suspect was arrested in a jeep in Al-Qurain. They said police are now tracking down suspected vehicles and arresting the drivers. They added that car rental offices are cooperating with the police by providing information on their customers. Meanwhile, a member of the family whose house was used by militants in Jaber Al-Ali says the family will file a lawsuit against the tenants for using the house for other purposes and storing explosives thereby endangering the lives of neighbors in violation of the lease contract. 
A number of men of thought and preachers agreed in one voice to fight those who promote radical ideas which lead to a confrontation between security authorities and promoters of radicalism. Such incidents were recently witnessed in 
TWENTY-three terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay tried to hang or strangle themselves in co-ordinated actions in August 2003, it emerged today. The prisoners sought to "disrupt camp operations and challenge a new group of security guards" at the US detention site in Cuba, the US military said. Lieutenant-Colonel Jim Marshall, a spokesman for the US Southern Command (Southcom) in Miami, described the incidents as "simultaneous attempts at hanging or strangulation". He said the "self-injurious" actions by 23 detainees were conducted between August 18 and 26, 2003, and that 10 of them occured on August 22.
A Sydney-based terror suspect, who jumped bail and fled Australia on a false passport, appeared before a Lebanese military tribunal Wednesday to face charges of planning terrorist attacks and forging official documents. Jordanian-Australian 
At least two people including a child were wounded during clashes between rival groups in Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp.
IRAQ said today the arrest of two lieutenants of Islamic extremist 
With the trail of Osama bin Laden gone cold, the U.S. State Department is revving up a new publicity blitz to remind Afghans and Pakistanis of the $25 million bounty for al-Qaeda's chief. Bin Laden is still thought to be hiding somewhere along the 1,640-mile, mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border, but intelligence officials in Kabul and Islamabad say there has been no trace of him for the past 20 months. By the end of February, the White House is expected to double the sum on bin Laden's head, to $50 million, acting on legislation passed in November by Congress. 
Al-Zarqaa Sent the Most Youths to Wage Jihad in Iraq
