KUWAIT CITY, 16 August 2005 â A Pakistani man has been detained in Kuwait over alleged links with a failed heroin smuggling operation and is being questioned about possible links with terrorist networks, a security source said yesterday. Ali Mir Ahmed, 23, who worked as a hairdresser in Kuwait Cityâs northwestern suburb of Al-Jahraa has been detained over the shipment seized late Saturday, said the source which did not wish to be identified.
A drug-running Pakistani hairdresser, I smell made-for-TV movie
It said the authorities nabbed the heroin with a market value of $200 million that was smuggled inside a shipment of 88 carpets to Kuwait airport.
Ah, that would be yesterdays bust
The authorities found with Ahmed documents showing the hand-made carpets were shipped to him from inside Afghanistan. The source said âthere is cooperation and an exchange of information with specific countries, namely Afghanistan and Pakistanâ over the busted shipment. âThe Pakistani man has been detained and is being questioned as the shipment was under his name. He has not yet confessed about any terrorist party behind the shipment. This will be known after the investigation,â it said.
On Sunday, police Col. Ahmed Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah said Kuwaiti authorities had nabbed a drug smuggling operation which aimed to sneak one ton of drugs into Kuwait and other Gulf countries by hiding them inside carpets. âIt is the biggest and most bizarre seizure (of drugs) in the Middle East ... and it could be an operation meant to fund terrorist movements,â he told a press conference.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/16/2005 11:28 ||
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Dang...there's a lot terrific jokes in this story.
SANAA, 16 August 2005 â A Yemeni security court yesterday began the trial of 34 suspected supporters of slain preacher Hussein Badruddin Al-Houthi but the judge quickly adjourned the session after the defendants chanted anti-government slogans drowning out court proceedings. âDeath to America, Death to Israel,â the defendants shouted in unison before loudly reciting the Qurâan, drowning out all court proceedings. âWe reject this trial as the government that is prosecuting us is our enemy.â Before the ruckus erupted, the prosecutor had charged the Yemenis with belonging to a subversive armed group.
Chief prosecutor Saeed Al-Aqel accused the defendants of a spate of attacks on soldiers and military vehicles in the capital in recent months, in which one officer was killed and 27 other people wounded.
âThey were also planning to attack the intelligence services building, an army barracks and the airport as well as the (state) television. They had prepared the arms, ammunition and rockets for these attacks,â he charged. The group â which includes a woman, a 15-year-old and an army officer â was also charged with launching grenade attacks in the capital Sanaa and of planning to assassinate politicians and army officers.
Security was tight around the courthouse as 28 of the accused were brought into the dock. The six other defendants were being tried in absentia. A 20-year-old woman suspect who has been released on bail as she is pregnant also did not attend the hearing. The trial is scheduled to resume on Aug. 22.
Prosecutors say the defendants are members of the âBelieving Youthâ group established by Hussein Al-Houthi who launched a three-month insurgency in the northern Yemeni province of Saada, 250 km north of Sanaa, last year. More than 400 insurgents and troops were killed in the fighting. The government blamed his father, Badruddin Al-Houthi, for a new round of fighting that erupted in March and in which 170 rebels and security forces were killed. The elder Houthi has since accepted an amnesty and agreed to stop fighting. But the government has arrested scores of supporters after a spate of grenade attacks in Sanaa this year.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/16/2005 11:26 ||
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JEDDAH, 16 August 2005 â Security forces raided 157 houses and apprehended 904 people in Jeddah early yesterday morning.
This may have been the raid JUS reorted on yesterday
According to the Jeddah police, 18 of the detainees are suspected criminals while the others are overstayers and their accomplices. Eleven security and government departments took part in the crackdown, which was led by Brig. Gen. Misfer Al-Zuhami, the head of Jeddah police. The city has witnessed a large number of security crackdowns in the past year in which thousands of overstayers have been apprehended.
In the latest operation, security forces raided Al-Sharafia and Al-Rabwah districts. The raids began just after midnight on Sunday and continued until dawn. Among the illegals caught in the raid were a gang of car thieves and one of forgers. The police also raided houses of prostitution and unlicensed clothing factories.
In Sharafia, police raided what appeared to be at most a two-bedroom apartment and were surprised to find a medium-sized high-tech clothing factory. âYou wouldnât realize that a small place like that (pointing to the apartment) could hold such a large, profitable, sophisticated business,â a policeman at the scene said to Arab News. He added that the building had been renovated to accommodate the machinery needed for the illegal business.
Since the police began their crackdown several months ago, overstayers have become more adept at selecting their hideaways; most of them now have two exits. Other hideaways have secret passages that take you to larger rooms with numbers of people living in them. One police officer who found a secret hideaway said, âA cat led me in.â
Abu Manea, a 70-year-old Saudi resident of Al-Rabwah, said, âWe are happy that the police are cracking down on our area; the raids will clean it of crime that has affected our children.â He went on to explain, âWe have complained a number of times to the authorities and to the landlords. Each time we go to the landlords, we find there is a foreigner legally working in the Kingdom with all the legal documents. The problem is that that person provides housing for illegal overstayers.â
Residents in the districts, both Saudis and expatriates have helped police in pinpointing suspicious individuals and houses in the neighborhood.
No "militants", just overstayers and a couple of sweatshops. Nothing to see here, move along
Posted by: Steve ||
08/16/2005 11:20 ||
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The police also raided houses of prostitution ...
Prositutes in the islamic holy land? Who would have thunk it.
I second that. I lived in Jeddah from Dec. 6 1991 to January 18, 1992 and again from July 6, 1992 to December 11, 1992.
I don't recall the gay clubs though we heard rumors but the call girls most certainly were there. Saudia City, the giant complex for Saudia Airline's employees -- mucho flight attendants, 99 % female, many Lebanese girls -- lived there. Always a long line of Saudi cars with male occupants (no femme driving) waiting outside gate to Saudia City, especially when international flights arrived in droves.
#5
Mr. Wife explained that he never went into the coffee houses in Saudi Arabia because he wouldn't have been safe sitting down (or something like that). He never mentioned anything about the stewardesses, though, except that they were lovely girls. On the other hand, he tried not to stay there more than two weeks at a time -- he really disliked the country -- so he may not have known about their outside interests... or thought I wouldn't be interested in that piece of information. ;-)
President Vladimir Putin took off from Moscow for a supersonic flight in a cruise-missile carrying Tupolev-160 bomber jet, the latest in the Russian leader's action-packed public appearances.
After a health check, Putin donned a flight suit and took the commander's position in the strategic bomber, which was piloted by Major General Anatoly Zhikharev, with a colonel and a lieutenant colonel in charge of navigation, Russian media reported.
The Tu-160 flew west from Moscow's Chkalovsky military airport toward the region of Nizhny Novgorod, where it was due to break the sound barrier, before slowing to make a test firing of cruise missiles over a range, Interfax news agency said.
Putin was then to witness a mid-air refuelling before returning, with a final thrill of flying at the aircraft's lowest allowed height of 200 metres (656 feet) at a blistering 900 kilometres an hour (560 miles an hour), Interfax said.
A second Tu-160, with a lieutenant general at the controls, was accompanying the president's plane.
Putin was earlier attending the MAKS 2005 aerospace fair at Moscow's Zhukovsky aerodrome.
He has made strengthening the country's troubled armed forces a keystone of his two terms in office and is well known for his morale-boosting appearances in military roles.
In 2000, while still acting president, Putin landed a Su-27 fighter in Chechnya, where Russian forces were mounting a fierce bombing and shelling campaign against the rebel-held capital city Grozny. In 2000 and 2004, Putin also took trips on navy submarine.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/16/2005 17:33 ||
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Afghanistan's foreign minister is expected to discuss the rules of engagement for Australian troops heading to his homeland when he meets members of the federal government.
Abdullah Abdullah is due to arrive in Canberra on Wednesday and, with Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, will open Afghanistan's new embassy in the national capital on Thursday.
The government announced last month it would send 150 special forces troops to Afghanistan by September in a $100 million deployment to counter increasing violence from rebel forces.
It also is considering sending a 200-strong provincial reconstruction team to the war-damaged country next year, although a final decision has not been made.
Mr Downer said he would discuss the troop deployment with Dr Abdullah.
"We'll obviously talk a good deal about the troops and, you know, the rules of engagement and all those status of forces issues and so on," he told reporters.
"That will be a big part of the discussions, and more broadly about the political environment in Afghanistan, what with the parliamentary elections coming up next month."
Posted by: Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World ||
08/16/2005 04:18 ||
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#1
Afghanistan's foreign minister is expected to discuss the rules of engagement for Australian troops...
ROE
1. Kill the bad guys.
2. If they're dead, refer to rule 1.
3. We ain't got no stinking American Civil Liberties Union. Now bugger off.
#2
1) Absolutely NO Kylie Minogue concerts.
2) Kangaroo jerky must be clearly labled as such.
3) Cannibalism is frowned upon. We've heard stories about you guys.
4) We're also wise about those 32/55 gallon drums Foster's Lager cans marked "POL".
5) Speak English. You cannot conceive of the pain we experience when you try to speak Pushtun with those gawdawful accents of yours.
#3
It would be funny if teh same way that we have "Muslims from XXX discuss religion with Christians" we had firefights with "Us Marines discuss rules of engaments with Islamists at XXX"
A MAN accused of lying to ASIO about his alleged links with French terrorist suspect Willy Brigitte has appeared in a Sydney court. Abdul Rakid Hasan, 35, is charged with two counts of making misleading statements under ASIO questioning in 2003. Hasan helped Brigitte, whom he knew as "Jamal", to find accommodation in south-western Sydney three times, according to an Australian Federal Police (AFP) statement tendered to Downing Centre Local Court today. Brigitte was deported to France in 2003.
Hasan had 23 telephone conversations with Brigitte between June 12 and September 29, 2003, at his workplace, the Indo-Malay Halal Butchery in Lakemba, the AFP statement said. But Hasan said when he was questioned under an ASIO warrant in November 2003 that he had spoken to "Jamal" about three times during that period, the statement said. The court heard that Hasan also denied arranging accommodation for Jamal or giving him assistance in Sydney between May and October 2003. "The statement was misleading because Hasan knew that he had helped arrange accommodation at three different premises in Sydney, and had given assistance to Jamal during that period," tendered documents said.
Posted by: Oztralian [AKA] God Save The World ||
08/16/2005 04:22 ||
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Luai Sakra, a Syrian national, was captured as he was preparing for an attack to target Israeli cruse liners. Reports claim that Sakra had information about the al-Qaeda leader, Osama bin Laden, and the triple London attacks on July 7.
Ladin, reportedly, asked Sakra âWas it our people?â and Sakra responded, âYes, it is the job of our Pakistani ladsâ.â According to reports on the London attacks that took place two weeks later Sakra told Ladin: âI am not familiar with the second attack. It may not be a known group.â
Sakra told Turkish police he sent many people to the United States (US), Britain, Egypt, Syria and Algeria for terrorist activity. Turkish security officials warned the security units of those countries about the threat. Furthermore, Sakraâs non-observance of the daily prayers and his drinking habits are tied to the new interpretation of the Salafi tradition.
Sakra, who made interesting comments on recent international terrorist activity, said he fought at Fallujah alongside Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of the Tawhid and Jihad group operating in Iraq under al-Qaeda aegis.
Sakra said: âAt one moment during the clashes, there were 10 US soldiers on the roof of the house, in which we were hiding and yet none of them noticed us. I killed 10 US soldiers with my bare hands. I came out of the Fallujah inferno alive. That who can come out alive from Falujah can come out alive from anywhere. I will come out alive from here as well.â Sakra who assumed a mysterious personality during the police interrogation confessed that the US Central Intelligence Agency, Syrian al-Mukhabarat, and the Turkish National Security Organization wanted to employ him as an intelligence agent. Security officials noted that whatever Sakra might tell during his trial could be very important, considering his obscure relations. âIf during his trial, Sakra tells half of the information we heard from him, al-Qaedaâs real face will emerge. But what he has said so far has more to do about a formation permeated by secret services rather than the terror organization of al-Qaeda.â
Sakra, who confessed that he talked with bin Laden both face to face and via a courier very often, said he gave information to Laden about the London attacks. Sakra remarked: âLaden asked me âwho organized the attacks in London?â I sent the information about the topic to him with a messenger.â
Police department authorities confirmed what Sakra told was true, considering the structure of al-Qaeda.
The authorities evaluated the information that Sakra gave: âAl-Qaeda organizes attacks sometimes without even reporting it to Bin Laden. For al-Qaeda is not structured like a terrorist organization. The militants have the operational initiative. There are groups organizing activities in the name of al-Qaeda. The second attack in London was organized by a group, which took initiative. Even Laden may not know about it.â
When police told Sakra, he could pray if he wanted while under custody, Sakra replied âI do not pray and I drink alcohol.â Sakraâs comments were interpreted as a new evaluation of Selefism.
According information recorded after a fire in an al-Qaeda cell house in Antalya, al-Qaeda was preparing a suicide attack on Israeli cruse ships.
The local police was dispatched to an apartment al-Qaeda rented because of a strong chemical odor. Following these developments, the police had found about a ton of explosives, all of which were filled with chemicals used for making detergents.
There were also six false Turkish passports in the apartment. One of the passports had the photo of Sakra, who had been wanted by Besiktas Judiciary Court for being the planner of the double attacks in Istanbul on November 15 and 20. Sakra was believed to have financed the attacks and also provided the bombing equipment for the attackers.
The Intelligence department took over control and started to look for people who had been moving with Sakra.
Sakra was arrested in Diyarbakir Airport on 6 August 2005, right before he was going to Istanbul for a new facelift. The other Syrian, Hamed Obysi, who escaped from Antalya was detained at Cilvegozu Boarder Gate. Both suspects were arrested and sentenced to prison.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/16/2005 16:31 ||
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Sakra said: âAt one moment during the clashes, there were 10 US soldiers on the roof of the house, in which we were hiding and yet none of them noticed us. I killed 10 US soldiers with my bare hands. I came out of the Fallujah inferno alive. That who can come out alive from Falujah can come out alive from anywhere. I will come out alive from here as well.â
What a stud or a thug suffering from delusions of grandeur. He's got me thinking John Wayne at the Alamo (Fallujah)
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/16/2005 16:53 Comments ||
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#2
The guy sounds like he's a bit off. Munchausen syndrome, probably more than a little schizo.
#3
Once they used the pliers and he realized that they'd ease up if he talked, he hasn't stopped talking. Unfortunately, he had to start making stuff up. Tomorrow he will be bragging about his lunch with Dubya and Tony.
HAMBURG, Germany (AP) - Lawyers for a Moroccan charged with aiding the Sept. 11 hijackers argued Monday that convicting their client despite the United States' refusal to allow key al-Qaida suspects to testify in his trial would hand a victory to Osama bin Laden.
Perhaps it's because I don't understand the German legal system that I think that statement makes no sense.
Mounir el Motassadeq is charged in Germany with more than 3,000 counts of accessory to murder and membership in a terrorist organization. Prosecutors maintain he helped pay tuition and bills for members to the so-called Hamburg al-Qaida cell, allowing them to live as students as they plotted the attacks. Last week, authorities demanded he receive the maximum sentence of 15 years.
His lawyer, Ladislav Anisic, criticized the lack of direct testimony from witnesses including Ramzi Binalshibh, a key Sept. 11 suspect in U.S. custody. Anisic said that summaries of interrogations provided by U.S. officials may have been "filtered" or obtained under torture and urged the court to give his client the benefit of the doubt. "Don't let Osama bin Laden win by neglecting the principles of the state of law," Anisic said, as the yearlong trial drew toward a close.
"Instead, let him win by blowing stuff up!"
El Motassadeq, 31, acknowledges that he was close to the three suicide hijackers who lived in the north German city, but maintains he did not know about their plans to attack the World Trade Center in New York in 2001.
"No, no, certainly not!"
He was convicted in 2003 of the same charges, but the verdict was thrown out last year and a retrial ordered after an appeals court ruled el Motassadeq was unfairly denied testimony from al-Qaida suspects in U.S. custody. The court is expected to deliver its verdict on Friday, and Anisic said he would appeal any conviction.
According to statements provided for the retrial by the U.S. Justice Department, Binalshibh said he and suicide pilots Mohamed Atta, Marwan al-Shehhi and Ziad Jarrah alone comprised the Hamburg cell. Prosecutors say Binalshibh, who was detained in Pakistan on the first anniversary of the attacks, probably lied to protect coconspirators.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/16/2005 00:15 ||
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Germany and Germans no longer are particiapnts in the ant-fascist struggle against al-Qaida and it's supporters. Merkel supports Gerhard's stance on no threat of military action against the Mad Mullahs as of yesterday. The terrorist will walk and continue to be on the dole in Germany.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/16/2005 5:23 Comments ||
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#5
All this arsing about does is get the average Joe thinking that the courts are not going to be the ones to sort out this mess. It makes any kind of backlash against innocents more likely and much more dangerous if/when it does happen.
It takes a looong time before people turn their backs on the courts, but with palavers like this going on (and it's the same in the UK), they will.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/16/2005 6:18 Comments ||
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#6
Treating these Fascists as regular criminals doesn't work. The law courts of most countries have shown that they willfully don't get what is at stake. The welfare state is incapable of defending it's self it instead supports the lifestyle of these Fascists so they can spread their poison without having to provide their own support. The Welfare State happily provide a lawyer to defend them when they violate the law.
I'm anything but happy about Merkel's statement re Iran but it's a campaign strategic one.
Schroeder won the last elections on exactly two issues: Iraq/Bush bashing and the floods.
It's a rainy summer but no floods expected until September.
Schroeder started the Iran thing but he won't get far with it if the opposition says, war is no option.
After the elections, this was, of course, "taken out of context" and was meant to read: "War is not an option at this point".
But yes, I'm not optimistic enough to see a change of opinion in the German public very soon. This will have to come gradually, and will - unfortunately - be sped up by shit happening.
The problem with Motassedeq is that he wouldn't fare any worse at a regular U.S. courts that upholds the current legal standards for "regular criminal cases".
Thee is a reason you don't submit suspected terrorists to the regular U.S. legal system.
If the court cannot prove that Motassedeq knew about the plans, it's in dubio pro reo. Would not be different in the U.S.
This article behind registration wall...registration process remarkably e-z.
Key points:
⢠Italy has arrested 141 suspected Islamic militants, with more to follow
⢠32,000 questioned after introduction of new anti-terrorist laws last month
⢠Still unknown what action against terrorism Britain is to take
Key quote
"We remain worried. It would be absolutely foolish for me or anybody else to say that we have eliminated the risk. We have not. There is no particular intelligence that we are addressing, but we are working on the basis that the people who organised these attacks could proceed with other attacks as well." - CHARLES CLARKE, (UK) HOME SECRETARY
Story in full: ITALIAN security forces have arrested more than 100 suspected Islamic militants and plan to expel hundreds more in Europe's most sweeping counter-terrorism operation, officials revealed yesterday. The decisive Italian action immediately turned a renewed spotlight on Britain's security operation in the wake of the London attacks, which has been criticised for lacking focus and direction. While Italy has speedily enacted new anti-terror laws, the British government is still consulting on new rules. In the meantime, a number of ad hoc government measures - including charging extremist preachers with treason and "rebranding" British Muslims - have been floated then embarrassingly buried.
As Italian security chiefs released their assessment that the country faces a serious threat of terrorist attacks, the British government said it "remained worried" about more attacks following two bomb attacks in London last month. In all, 141 people have been arrested, most of them in a series of raids in the 48 hours between 12 August and 13 August. In total, Italian police, intelligence and customs agents have questioned more than 32,000 people during the swoop.
The focus of attention was internet cafes, call centres, money transfer bureaus and halal butchers as well as other focal points of Italy's Muslim community.
Two people were held for being in possession of false documents under tough new anti-terrorist laws brought in last month. Others were held for a number of minor offences. The Ministry of the Interior said none of those arrested had actually been charged with terrorist activity. The Italian parliament earlier this month passed legislation that has drawn criticism from civil liberties groups. The new laws make it easier to detain people for suspected terrorism and give police greater power to control internet sites and tap telephone calls. Announcing details of the nationwide sweep, Giuseppe Pisanu, the Italian interior minister, said the country faces an "elevated terrorist threat" in following the attacks on London and Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt last month. Mr Pisanu also described how security had been increased around more than 13,000 so-called "sensitive targets" mainly airports, train stations, ports but also including museums, art galleries, embassies and places where large crowds gather.
Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary, yesterday said the investigation into the London attacks - dubbed "the biggest murder inquiry in British history" by police - is a vital part of preventing more attacks. "We remain worried," said Mr Clarke after meeting senior police officers at Scotland Yard. "It would be absolutely foolish for me or anybody else to say that we have eliminated the risk. We have not. There is no particular intelligence that we are addressing, but we are working on the basis that the people who organised these attacks could proceed with other attacks as well." Despite that threat, Mr Clarke admitted he could not say when ten Islamic preachers accused of promoting extremist values would be expelled from Britain as all are appealing against the move.
Sigh.
Even the case of the one alleged radical to be barred from Britain, Omar Bakri, has been marred by government indecision. Just days before the government move to prevent him from re-entering Britain, John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, appeared to rule out such a move.
#1
Figure this out folk. We are going to have to fight this on our and and against the will of the majority of our own people most likely.
We can't wait or depend on others before we do what needs to be done. Our political leadership is failing us. When the supporters and fellow travelers of the Islamo-Fascists use our own law couts and media against us we fight with a disadvantage. One we need to abandon.
#2
I hate to say it, working in London and all, but it's going to take a lot more than 50 deaths on the tube before British politicians & society at large wake up to threat from within and decide to do away with the frills of a civilised society - such as the Human Rights Act / immigration law. God, even the Italians are ahead of us in the game. 'Sigh' indeed.
Posted by: Howard UK ||
08/16/2005 5:31 Comments ||
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#3
When are we going to realize that a simple, credible threat of mass Muzzy expulsion would have those at risk of being thrown out running like scalded dogs toward any LEO they could find the nanosecond they heard ANY rumor about Muzzy violence. We THINK their old homes are hellholes. They KNOW it--and the vast majority damn sure don't want to go back there under any circumstances, much less a forced deportation stripped of assets. Run 'em in just one country; the rest will get the message in a BIG hurry.
Posted by: mac ||
08/16/2005 5:39 Comments ||
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#4
Remember after 9/11 when all adult Muslim males from certain countries were required to register? There was a series of articles about how entire families that were in the U.S. illegally fled to Canada or back home. As I recall, they were camped out at Canadian border crossings for days, waiting to go across. NPR did long reports about how unfair it was that these good, but illegal, citizens were being forced to abandon everything. And other reports about how many of those who did go to register discovered themselves to be illegal, and were arrested by the INS upon handing in their paperwork, to languish in INS prisons for months and years, unknown to the outside world or their families.
It occurs to me to wonder how many potential attacks and Al Qaeda cells were disrupted by this. And, how many others decided to move from active to tacit support, or even non-support.
#5
When are we going to realize that a simple, credible threat of mass Muzzy expulsion would have those at risk of being thrown out running like scalded dogs toward any LEO they could find the nanosecond they heard ANY rumor about Muzzy violence.
There is no evidence of that.
I'm beginning to think it would have the opposite effect, in fact.
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
08/16/2005 7:43 Comments ||
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#6
Seafarious:
Try www.bugmenot.com to overcome compulsory registration porcesses.
Ummm, is there any chance these guys will be deported via Greek airliners that occasionally lose cabin pressure?
#8
Seafarious, if you use Firefox, there's a BugMeNot extension you can install that will automatically "handle" registrations with just a right-click and a BugMeNot click. Extremely handy.
The myth of the moderate Muslim has yet to be substantiated. I personally don't believe in it; I think the vast majority of Muslims quietly rejoice in the terror. We have nothing to lose by making them realize that mass expulsion is a real and dire danger. If they prove to be afraid of it, then we get a large number of informers who will blow the whistle on the jihadis at the drop of a hat. If they don't, and we do deport them, they're gone and the terror threat from Muzzy fanatics becomes exponentially less dangerous.
It's a win-win situation for the West. Look at where these people came from. What they know and respect is force. They mistake kindness for weakness. We in the West need to make certain they understand they are here only on sufferance and that their permission to stay is absolutely and definitively contingent on the peaceful behavior of ALL their coreligionists. They would understand this--that's how it's done in Muzzy countries, as you well know. These folks play by Hama Rules; deportation is a kiss on the cheek compared to that.
Posted by: mac ||
08/16/2005 22:02 Comments ||
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Italian police have arrested 141 people in raids at Islamic gathering places across the country, but the country remains at an "elevated risk" for a terrorist attack, the government said Monday. Police sweeps recently, including raids across Italy on Friday and Saturday, brought the arrests of 141 people, the Interior Ministry said. Two of those arrests were for possession of false documents under a new law stepping up anti-terrorism crackdowns after the London transit attacks last month. The ministry said others were arrested for suspected robberies or thefts and other "common crimes" but that none of the suspects had immediately been linked to terrorism.
Targeted in the raids were "Islamic gathering places: call centers, Internet Points, Islamic butcher shops and money transfer business," the ministry statement said. Authorities ordered 701 people to leave the country because they were clandestine immigrants or otherwise found to be lacking proper papers, the ministry said. Italian news reports last week said that several Muslims had been expelled in a crackdown on suspected extremists.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2005 00:00 ||
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LOS ANGELES â A Pakistani national has been arrested in a terrorism investigation into a possible plot to attack the Israeli Consulate, California National Guard facilities and other targets, officials said Tuesday.
Hammad Riaz Samana, 21, was taken into custody on Aug. 2 and has been detained in Los Angeles, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons. A quick search of "Hammad Samana" only reveals a member of the Southern California Cricket Association.
His arrest came after investigators discovered a potential target list at the home of Levar Haney Washington, who has been implicated in a series of gas station robberies in Los Angeles County, according to a law enforcement official who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the investigation.
The list included three National Guard facilities in the Los Angeles area, as well as the Israeli Consulate and a couple of synagogues.
Washington, 25, was arrested July 5 for investigation of robbery. Also arrested was Gregory Vernon Patterson, 21.
Both men have pleaded not guilty to the charges in Torrance Superior Court.
It was unclear what connection, if any, Samana had to Washington and Patterson. Cathy Viray, an FBI spokeswoman, declined to comment, saying the investigation by federal and local agencies was ongoing.
It was not immediately known whether Samana had retained legal counsel.
A Pakistani national has been arrested in a terrorism investigation into a possible plot to attack the Israeli Consulate, California National Guard facilities and other targets, officials said Tuesday.
Hammad Riaz Samana, 21, was taken into custody on Aug. 2 and has been detained in Los Angeles, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
His arrest came after investigators discovered a potential target list at the home of Levar Haney Washington, who has been implicated in a series of gas station robberies in Los Angeles County, according to a law enforcement official who asked to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the investigation.
The list included three National Guard facilities in the Los Angeles area, as well as the Israeli Consulate and a couple of synagogues.
Washington, 25, Angeles was arrested July 5 for investigation of robbery. Also arrested was Gregory Vernon Patterson, 21.
Both men have pleaded not guilty to the charges in Torrance Superior Court.
It was unclear what connection, if any, Samana had to Washington and Patterson. Cathy Viray, an
FBI spokeswoman, declined to comment, saying the investigation by federal and local agencies was ongoing.
It was not immediately known whether Samana had retained legal counsel.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/16/2005 17:45 ||
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SAN FRANCISCO - Shabbir Ahmed, a key figure in the government's ongoing terrorism investigation in Lodi, agreed Monday to be deported to his native Pakistan rather than fight charges that he overstayed his visa.
Ahmed, 39, was denied bond last week by U.S. Immigration Judge Anthony S. Murry, who declared the former Lodi imam a flight risk and a danger to the community. During that four-hour hearing, an FBI agent's testimony linked Ahmed to a plot to recruit and train anti-American terrorists in the San Joaquin County community. In contrast, Monday's hastily called hearing in Murry's San Francisco courtroom lasted less than five minutes. Without comment, Ahmed agreed to deportation rather than face months in custody while his immigration case is decided. He has been held in Sacramento County jail since his arrest June 6.
After the hearing Monday, government lawyers claimed Ahmed's pending deportation as a victory in the war against terrorism. Ronald E. Le Fevre, chief counsel for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Francisco, described deportation as a tool "to prevent foreign nationals from using this country as a haven for activities that could put the United States at risk." "In this instance," Le Fevre continued, "we collectively determined that the best course of action was to use our immigration authorities to remove an individual who is in this country illegally and has been found to pose a threat."
But Ahmed's lawyer said the fact that U.S. officials are permitting his client to leave the United States is an indication that the case against him is weak. Ahmed held a religious visa, which expired last fall. He denies participating in the complicated chain of events outlined by government agents and has not been charged criminally. "That he is being allowed to leave shows he is innocent. He loves this country, and he loves the American people. He is leaving with a heavy heart," said the lawyer, Saad Ahmad, who met with reporters after the hearing. After the Aug. 9 bond hearing, the lawyer said, Ahmed realized that he could no longer make a life for himself in America: "The terrorism allegations were baseless, but even so, he felt life as he knew it here was over."
Ahmed is the third Pakistani in the Lodi case to choose to be deported. Two others - Ahmed's mentor, Muhammed Adil Khan, and Khan's son Mohammad Hassan Adil - agreed last month to be deported. They left for Pakistan on Monday morning, according to lawyer Ahmad, who also represented them. Though no terrorism-related criminal charges were filed against Ahmed or Adil Khan, government investigators described them as recruiters for the jihad - the holy war against enemies of Islam.
In a scenario outlined at the bond hearing last week, FBI agent Gary Schaaf testified that he believes Ahmed came to Lodi in 2002 to help Adil Khan set up a Muslim school. The school, Schaaf said, would be "similar to madrassahs (or Islamic seminaries) in Pakistan, during which students would be spotted and assessed and maybe eventually be ready to commit acts of violence in the U.S." The FBI agent said two Pakistani Americans - Lodi ice cream vendor Umer Hayat, 47, and his son Hamid, 22 - told agents about the plot. The Hayats, who are charged with making false statements to the FBI about their alleged involvement in an al-Qaida training camp in Pakistan, are in custody in Sacramento County. The Hayats, whose arrest triggered the Lodi investigation, now deny any terrorist involvement.
The news that Ahmed will be deported distressed Basim Elkarra, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Sacramento Valley. He questioned the legitimacy of the entire federal investigation in Lodi. "Unfortunately for Muslims in America these days, you're guilty until proven innocent," Elkarra said. "You can label someone a threat to society without providing the proper evidence. We're concerned especially that the older imam (Adil Khan) was driven out. He was a pioneer in interfaith work. "The government is sending the wrong message to the Muslim community. If these guys were connected to al-Qaida, then lock them up. File criminal charges against them and lock them up. But don't make reckless charges and ruin people's lives without evidence."
U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott, who is prosecuting the case against the Hayats, defended the deportations as legitimate and necessary. "The overarching goal in anti-terrorism efforts is to detect, disrupt and prevent potential terrorist activities," Scott said. "It is our considered judgment that this goal is best served in the investigation of Muhammed Adil Khan and Shabbir Ahmed by their deportations to Pakistan, and resulting restrictions on their ability to ever return to the United States. "Whatever they may have planned in Lodi was never allowed to take hold. Our citizens are safer as a result of Khan and Ahmed no longer being on U.S. soil."
Ahmed will remain in custody until he leaves for Pakistan, where he will rejoin his wife and three daughters at their home in Islamabad, his lawyer said.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/16/2005 11:39 ||
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I hope their photographs and fingerprints have been forwarded to all Mexican Border Patrol agents...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/16/2005 14:13 Comments ||
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When he arrives, he will be serenated by Koran Kashmir Revival singing the refrain:
#3
After the hearing Monday, government lawyers claimed Ahmed's pending deportation as a victory in the war against terrorism.
Wrong. These lawyers are just playing CYA, which is not surprising considering they are lawyers.
Taking the easy way out by kicking him out of the country is not a "victory"; locking him up takes him out of the picture instead of giving him a chance to get back into the terror networks.
Not only that, but letting him go will once again send the message that the West is weak and that their so-called laws can be manipulated. Bank on that.
Posted by: Chris W. ||
08/16/2005 20:11 Comments ||
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So Ahmed gives up one of his flunkies and he gets a Get Out of Gitmo Free Card and free airfare to Lahore. How lazy of the feds. Deportation is a loss of a valuable source of information and his Pakistani sponsors will be debriefed about the mistakes his cell made. He should be incarcerated forever, interrogated to find his leadership, and then eliminate them very publicly.
Posted by: ed ||
08/16/2005 20:46 Comments ||
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#5
This is why the war on terror can't be left up to law enforcement and government lawyers. They "plea bargained" him instead of nailing him to the wall and going to trial. Either this guy is guilty or he isn't. Deporting him for overstaying his visa, that will learn him, not. When we are done with the fascists we need to go after the lawyers. They are just a slightly smaller threat to our liberty.
Two men recently arrested on suspicion of committing armed robberies in Torrance and Fullerton were Muslim converts who are now suspected of planning a variety of jihad-inspired terror attacks around Los Angeles, including one scheduled for September 11, 2005, KFI NEWS has learned.
Gregory Vernon Patterson, 21, and Levar Haney Washington, 25, planned to shoot up a military recruiting station in Santa Monica and at least one other civilian target, a high-ranking federal law enforcement source confirmed recently. âThe intent was to kill everyone at the target, including civilians,â the source said.
Both men have been in jail since July 5 when they were arrested by Torrance police, suspected in at least two armed robberies, according to authorities. âThey [detectives] discovered some items during their investigation that led them to contact the FBI, and the FBI has since taken over the investigation,â Torrance police spokesman Lt. Rod Irvine said Monday. âWe do have one of our investigators as part of the joint terrorism task force, and so he is currently working with the FBI,â Irvine said.
Both men have been charged with ten counts of robbery and are due back in court August 23rd for a hearing in Torrance Superior Court, according to Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorneys office. A search of Washingtonâs West 27th St. apartment turned up Jihadi literature, military equipment, knives, maps of Southern California, news stories on Muslimsâ efforts to recruit young African American men for the holy war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a target list, according to the source and other news reports.
FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said Monday the case was being investigated by the Joint Terrorism Task Force but declined further comment. The federal source continued: Washington and Patterson planned to drive a van to the recruiting station at 2020 Santa Monica Blvd. in the city of Santa Monica and planned to attack the place with rifles while dressed in camouflage clothing and ski masks (the military relocated the recruiting offices from this address in June, 2005).
Washington claimed he and Patterson were members of Jamaâat al Islam, and claimed the group was the largest Muslim extremist organization inside California prisons, according to the source and other news reports. Washington was paroled to Orange County on November 11, 2004 after serving part of a six year sentence for second-degree attempted robbery, according to California Dept. of Corrections records. Patterson had recently purchased a rifle and was arrested during the requisite waiting period, a local law enforcement source said Monday.
Patterson's lawyer, Winston McKesson, told KFI Monday he has not been provided with any new information from the federal government. "Once the investigation is complete, the evidence will show my client had no involvement in any violent actions against this country," McKesson said.
"My son has never done anything wrong," Patterson's mother told the Long Beach Press Telegram last month. "All they told us is he was picked up for robbery and they brought in the FBI because they suspected some terrorism." She said her son had recently converted to Islam.
Washington's lawyer Jerome Haig told the Press Telegram: "I don't know anyting about it. All I know is the FBI agents want to talk to my client."
Posted by: ed ||
08/16/2005 10:49 ||
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Sounds like some guys on their [cue Depeche Mode] own personal jihad
Not so sure it's just personal: Washington claimed he and Patterson were members of Jamaâat al Islam, and claimed the group was the largest Muslim extremist organization inside California prisons
Posted by: leader of the pack ||
08/16/2005 12:08 Comments ||
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Not so sure it's just personal: Washington claimed he and Patterson were members of Jamaâat al Islam, and claimed the group was the largest Muslim extremist organization inside California prisons
We need prison reform in the counrty. Take all the violent offenders and dump them on some island some where and let them fend for them selves. Pitcarin sounds good. Maybe if they had to spend all of their time just feeding themselves it might help. The non violent first timers might be able to be saved but any violent offenders get to go to the island and nobody gets voted off.
#9
Re: "their own personal jihad" - points taken. I was referring more to the execution and planning than the inspiration (also a lame attempt at humor). Not to minimize the risk of JaI-type groups, but from what I've read, it doesn't sound so much like an organized-from-above situation as inspired-from-above, although there could very well be more to it than is apparent. It strikes me more like the El-Al shootup at LAX or the DC-area sniper case than a 3/11 or 7/7.
Personally, I think this is the type of terrorism we're going to see more of here than the highly organized 9/11 scenarios. And, I agree that the
recruitment problem in our prisons must be cleaned up.
There, have I qualified my statement enough, or should I tap dance some more?
#10
I used to think the island-for-murderers answer was the best, but I'm beginning to lean toward dropping them into the Darien jungle in Panama, instead. In their birthday suits.
The Darien is one of the few remaining "unspoiled" jungles in the world, full of nasty creatures ranging from little flies that drive you mad to fer-de-lance, one of the most poisonous snakes in the world, to the Darien natives, who still practice head-hunting and cannibalism. There's also all kinds of nasty poisonous plants to deal with, plus about 800 inches of rain a year.
If anybody survived, you'd know about it by the green color of their skin - resulting in coming in contact with some of the vegetation there.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/16/2005 14:21 Comments ||
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This could be a harbinger of things to go boom on 9/11-2005. In addition to LA, Chicago, D.C., and NYC are high on the "hit" parade.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/16/2005 14:27 Comments ||
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All Things Considered/NPR reported tonight that these guys were linked to a pakistani and planned attacks on the Israeli consulate in LA among other targets.
Posted by: leader of the pack ||
08/16/2005 18:30 Comments ||
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Terrorists looking to move millions of dollars out of the United States to fund global strikes have resorted to a kaleidoscope of new schemes aimed at hiding illicit cash, but one of the nation's top terrorism investigators says law-enforcement authorities are up to the challenge. Marcy Forman, who supervisors 6,000 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at 156 field and 52 foreign offices as head of the agency's Office of Investigations, said newly created law-enforcement partnerships are "choking off the money supply that will choke off the terrorists."
Those same partnerships, Ms. Forman said during an interview at her ICE headquarters office, also are working to target criminal syndicates, including alien and drug smugglers, violent street gangs, arms dealers and money launderers. Those partnerships, she said, are a key component of "Operation Cornerstone," ICE's flagship initiative aimed at safeguarding the U.S. economy by targeting the schemes terrorists and criminals use to divert and store illicit cash. "Terrorist and criminal organizations are constantly looking for new ways to hide the illicit profits they make from their illegal ventures, so it is important for us to be able to adapt and adjust to respond to that environment," she said.
While millions of dollars in illegally obtained cash is being routed through phony financial institutions, smuggling operations and fraudulent commodity trading, Ms. Forman said, "there is always a financial component" that authorities, working with the private sector, can target. "Our goal is to dismantle these criminal organizations and eliminate systemic vulnerabilities before they can exploit them for their own purposes," Ms. Forman said.
The veteran of 25 years of law enforcement is no stranger to the challenge of tracking down illicit cash and the criminals who hide it. Before the creation of ICE in 2003 as the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, she led "Operation Green Quest," a multiagency financial-crimes task force headed by the U.S. Customs Service. During a 19-month period, Green Quest seized more than $35 million in illicit profits in an initiative designed to freeze accounts, seize assets and bring charges against those funding terrorism. Under her new venture, Operation Cornerstone, Ms. Forman said, ICE has expanded its working partnership with federal, state and local law-enforcement authorities and with the financial and trade sectors to identify and eliminate vulnerabilities. During fiscal 2004, the Office of Investigations conducted 7,670 financial probes, seized $202 million in illicit profits, made 1,368 arrests and obtained 895 criminal indictments. It also met with 20,600 private-sector representatives to share information on financial and trade investigations.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2005 00:00 ||
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Good on ya, Marcy, I'm glad you're focused - but this misses the larger point: where does the cash come from in the first (& 2nd & 3rd...) place? The problem is simple. The solution is simple. Even the debate about the steps to take are simple common sense choices, if you keep the fools out. The still prevailing mindset, afflicted with entrenched PCism, is the real problem.
CHICAGO (AP) - A man admitted Monday that he falsely told federal agents his relatives were linked to Osama Bin Laden's terrorist network and were plotting to blow up the Sears Tower and other landmarks. Abdul Rauf Noormohamed pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of making false statements to federal agents. He faces up to five years in prison.
Marion is lovely this time of year.
Authorities say Noormohamed made 10 phone calls to state and federal officials between late 2003 and early 2004, falsely saying that ``terrorists'' were planning to detonate bombs at such landmarks as the Sears Tower, Soldier Field, City Hall and O'Hare International Airport. The caller never gave his name, but the final call was taped by the FBI, and agents said people accused by the caller recognized the voice as Noormohamed's.
FBI agents said he named five relatives and two others as members of bin Laden's al-Qaida network and the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization because he had been quarreling with them. Noormohamed was arrested in January 2004 at O'Hare while preparing to board a plane for Egypt.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/16/2005 00:00 ||
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U.S.-backed offensives have disrupted terrorism training by the Jemaah Islamiyah group, prompting the al-Qaida affiliate to constantly change camps and delaying the arrival of a batch of Indonesian recruits, a Philippine government report said.
That training began in 1998, mostly in the southern strongholds of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, according to the report seen Tuesday by The Associated Press.
Last year, though, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front began pressuring the foreign trainers to move away, apparently to avoid sporadic government anti-terrorist offensives.
"The holding of training courses by the JI at this time, even in far-flung or swampy areas, would almost be improbable owing to government offensive threat," the report said.
Western nations have been concerned about the training in the Mindanao region, which helped buffer the loss of terrorist camps in Afghanistan.
The U.S. military has been providing anti-terrorist training and weapons to Philippine troops. It also has conducted covert surveillance missions across Mindanao, military officials say.
If the military offensives ease, the terrorist training could resume, the report said, citing the presence of about 25 Indonesian militants in the south.
Jemaah Islamiyah has been blamed for deadly bombings across Southeast Asia, including the 2002 Bali nightclub attacks that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists. The MILF, currently holding peace talks with the Philippine government, repeatedly has denied military reports linking it to the Indonesian-based group.
The MILF's late founder, Hashim Salamat, forged an agreement in the mid-1990s with Indonesian friends, leading Jemaah Islamiyah to set up a training camp in Mindanao, principally for new Indonesian recruits, the report said.
"They were allowed to set up training camps under MILF protection, replicating the Afghan camp system ... transferring deadly skills to a new generation of operatives," the report said.
Jemaah Islamiyah militants designed an 18-month "cadetship training program" for 17-18 Indonesian recruits at a time, the report said.
The first batch attended a camp called Hudeibah starting in mid-1998 and ending in February 2000, the report said. Abu Bakar Bashir, the alleged spiritual head of the Jemaah Islamiyah who has been jailed for his role in the Bali bombings, attended the graduation ceremony, the report said.
Riduan Isamuddin, also known as Hambali, and fellow militant Ali Ghufron, known as Mukhlas, were among the Indonesian instructors, the report said. Both are in custody and face charges for deadly terror attacks.
The next batch of Indonesian recruits arrived in 2000, but their training was disrupted by a major military offensive on the MILF's main camp, Abubakar, forcing them to transfer to the Muaskar Jabal Quba camp on Mt. Kararao.
A third group arrived in August 2002, completing its training in February 2003, the report said.
A fourth group had not arrived because of military assaults, the report said, citing information from arrested Indonesian militants.
Members of the extremist Abu Sayyaf group and the MILF, as well as recruits from Malaysia and Singapore, also underwent training, but it was disrupted by assaults, it said.
An arrested Jemaah Islamiyah trainer, known as Rohmat, said three Indonesian militants trained about 60 Abu Sayyaf rebels on southern Jolo island in March 2003 "but they were constantly on the run to avoid government forces," the report said.
Half of the rebels and the Indonesians shifted the training site to nearby Zamboanga del Norte province.
In November, the MILF asked Abu Sayyaf trainees and their Indonesian instructors to seek a new training site amid intensifying offensives, the report said.
The MILF has been under pressure to prove it does not coddle terrorists, with military officials saying some of its commanders maintain links with Jemaah Islamiyah and the Abu Sayyaf.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/16/2005 16:43 ||
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Indonesian police are working together with their Philippine counterparts to hunt down two Indonesian members of the al-Qaeda linked Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) militant group who are believed to be undergoing military training at Camp Hubaidiyah in the autonomous Muslim region of Mindanao, in the southern Philippines.
The two alleged Indonesian members of JI - blamed for the notorious 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali which killed 202 people, as well as other attacks - were identified as Ahmad and Abu Nida. The two had escaped from Indonesia to the Philippines, an Indonesian police spokesman said.
The information was obtained from Abdullah Sonata, a suspect currently being questioned by Indonesian police over his involvement in the 2003 blast outside the Australian embassy in which nine people died - also blamed on JI - said the police spokesman.
Based on the information from Sonata, Umar Patek - one of terrorists allegedly behind the deadly Bali blasts and currently residing in the Philippines - was recruiting more JI members, the police spokesman said.
The newly recruited members are currently undergoing military training at the radical Islamist Abu Sayyaf guerilla group's training camp in Mindanao, due to a lack of skilled human resources within the JI regional terror group. The US believes Abu Sayyaf is also linked to al-Qaeda.
At the request of Patek, Abdullah sent several JI members, including Faiz Saifuddin, Nasir and Dedy Rusdiana, to the Philippines last December. However, the three were immediately arrested by the Philippine authorities.
Hearing the news of the arrests, Abdullah later sent JI members Maulana Musa and Salman, but they were also arrested in Tawau, Malaysia, when trying to leave for the Philippines. "They're still being detained by the Malaysian authorities," the police spokesman said.
Last June, Abdullah sent Ahmad and Abu Nida and they managed to get to the Philippines. "Now, we are trying to trace their whereabouts. "We're working together with the Philippines police and we are exchanging information to prevent any unwanted incident, such as further bomb attacks," the police spokesman added. Abdullah himself was arrested in July along with another 14 terrorist suspects in various places in Indonesia, including Surakarta in Central Java, and Jakarta.
In a further development, the Philippines police announced on Monday that they have killed a senior terrorist suspect believed to be Patek. However, Indonesia's foreign affairs minister Hassan Wirajuda and national police chief General Sutanto could not confirm this.
Patek had been reported to have been killed by the Philippine authorities early in January 2005, but they failed to come up with proof of identity.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/16/2005 16:40 ||
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U.S.-backed offensives have disrupted terrorism training by the Jemaah Islamiyah group, prompting the al-Qaida affiliate to constantly change camps and delaying the arrival of a batch of Indonesian recruits, a Philippine government report said. Everybody's got recruiting problems...
That training began in 1998, mostly in the southern strongholds of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, according to the report seen Tuesday by The Associated Press.
Last year, though, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front began pressuring the foreign trainers to move away, Beat it, ya furriners!
apparently to avoid sporadic government anti-terrorist offensives.
"The holding of training courses by the JI at this time, even in far-flung or swampy areas, would almost be improbable owing to government offensive threat," the report said. /grain of salt. I'll believe it when there are no more JI attacks for, say, infinity.
Syrian police arrested about 35 Syrian Kurds in a northern town near Aleppo after they assaulted policemen dispersing members of a banned separatist faction, a rights activist said on Tuesday.
Ammar Qurabi of the Arab Organisation of Human Rights in Syria (AOHRS) said a crowd rioted on Monday after police prevented them from holding a celebration to mark the 25th anniversary of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
"About 35 people were arrested after hurling stones at the police and damaging property and vehicles in Ain al-Arab," Qurabi told Reuters. "The police did not use firearms, but they used tear gas after the violence started."
Qurabi said the violence subsided after the arrests.
"AOHRS condemns the use of violence by any entity ... emphasises the importance of national unity and urges self restraint," his rights group said in a statement.
In June, Syria sentenced three members of the PKK to jail after convicting them of seeking secession.
Damascus banned the PKK after a standoff with Turkey over the group's activities in 1998.
Syria and Turkey came to the brink of military confrontation before Damascus met a Turkish request to expel PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. Ankara had repeatedly complained that Syria was backing PKK rebels fighting in southeast Turkey.
The two neighbours have improved ties in recent years. Both worry that Kurdish autonomy in northern Iraq could strengthen separatist aspirations among their own Kurdish minorities.
Several banned Kurdish political groups in Syria, which has an estimated two million Kurds, demand the right to teach their language and citizenship for about 200,000 stateless Kurds.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran said Tuesday it has arrested anti-government separatists allegedly linked to British intelligence, accusing them of involvement in violent protests and a recent spate of deadly bombings.
A statement on state-run TV did not specify how many people had been detained nor reveal their nationalities, but said they were arrested in the southwestern Khuzestan, an oil-rich province that borders British-controlled southern Iraq.
The announcement came just days after an Iranian official accused Washington and London of stoking unrest among the country's Arab and Kurdish ethnic minorities. "The agents arrested have confessed to belonging to separatist opposition groups and having links with foreign, especially British, intelligence services," a TV announcer said, quoting a government statement. British Embassy officials in Tehran could not be reached immediately for comment, and the arrests could not be immediately confirmed with Iranian officials. The statement added that Intelligence Ministry forces had identified and arrested "all those involved in recent bombings and unrest in Khuzestan." It did not say when the arrests took place.
In June, four bomb blasts rocked Khuzestan's capital, Ahvaz, killing eight people and injuring many more. The bombings were the deadliest in Iran in more than a decade, and seriously damaged government buildings.
Ahvaz was also the site of two days of violent protests during April, triggered by false rumors of an alleged plan to decrease the proportion of Arabs in the area. Officials at the time confirmed one death, but opposition groups said more than 20 demonstrators had been killed while some 250 were arrested.
On Sunday, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi suggested that the United States and Britain were encouraging unrest among the Arabs and Kurds in northwestern and southwestern Iran, but he offered little evidence. "According to some information, the Americans intervened in northwestern Iran. This is not acceptable at all," Asefi told a news conference. "We will voice our objection in this regard soon."
Over the past month, the unrest also has rocked several Kurdish towns in northwestern Iran including Mahabad. Clashes with police and arrests led to more protests, and the government closed down two newspapers and detained journalists and activists. Security forces were also said to be among an unspecified number of those hurt and killed. The Kurdish opposition group PEJAK, which in Kurdish stands for the "Party of Free Life of Kurdistan," has called on Kurds in western Iran to begin civil disobedience. Iranian security forces have clashed with the group in recent weeks, and officials have vowed to confront the "terrorist" group.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/16/2005 09:54 ||
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Hummmm, Eggs and rocks yesterday now arresting folks with links to British Intel. Starting to agree with a poster yesterday (who?) who urged immediate evacuation of the British Embassy.
Afghanistan's Baghran Valley, once home to Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, will receive more than $2 million in U.S. reconstruction funds over the next six months.
The area will receive $2.4 million in an effort to bring peace, prosperity and security to the region once known as a bastion of Taliban ideology. Projects include reconstruction of the area's most prominent Mosque, a new high school, road repair, and equipping the local police force with motorcycles.
Officials announced the projects during a recent groundbreaking ceremony.
"The people of this valley have asked for our help, and we're delivering," provincial reconstruction team commander U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jim Hogberg said during the ceremony.
About 30 members of his reconstruction team accompanied Hogberg. He also congratulated the Afghan people for supporting their own peaceful future and reminded them of the importance of voting in upcoming elections.
The provincial governor's chief of staff and numerous dignitaries from throughout the province attended the ceremony. Afghan and U.S. officials distributed newspapers and free radios to the crowd.
As the provisional reconstruction team announced the projects, former Taliban leader Rais Bagharni, a participant in the government of Afghanistan's reconciliation program, announced his intent to run in September's parliamentary elections.
"Reconstruction is my jihad," Bagharni said, adding that he was committed to helping the PRTs with reconstruction efforts in the area.
One of the area's most visible projects is paving a 700-meter road through the town's center, which will give the people living in the area easier access to the shopping district.
In another nearby ceremony recently, Kandahar province Gov. Assa Dullah Khalid; U.S. Army Lt. Col. Bert Ges, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 319th Field Artillery Regiment; and U.S. Army Lt. Col. Robbie Ball, commander of the Kandahar provincial reconstruction team, cut the ribbon on a bridge spanning the Tarnak River. The bridge cost nearly $300,000 and took almost two years to complete. The bridge links the Baghran Valley with nearby major centers of commerce, which will improve the overall economy of the area.
The projects, which will use contracted Afghan construction firms, are expected to take anywhere from three to six months to complete, officials said. Nothing kills insurgency like busy hands making good money.
#1
I'd agree to the extent that it is an insurgency, that the fighters (and their silent supporters) are natives. Many of them are, and this will probably help a lot. But some of them are not natives, and don't care about local prosperity, or even will try to destroy it.
I'm not saying that we shouldn't do this. It is a good thing. I'm just saying this alone won't kill the fighting.
#2
bullets, well aimed, kill the fighters, and nothing makes people fight back like losing what they've gained and their livelihood. Right plan, support these people, arm some, and have an SOS helpline available for quick kickass response
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/16/2005 19:57 Comments ||
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#4
Projects include reconstruction of the area's most prominent Mosque, a new high school, road repair, and equipping the local police force with motorcycles.
Just wondering, Is the $2.4 million U.N. money?.
Has our State dept. ever specifically funded the reconstruction of Christian churchs? ie, Kosovo for instance?
Jackal, I'd gladly join The Old Hog Brigade.
Posted by: Red Dog ||
08/16/2005 23:07 Comments ||
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Task Force Baghdad soldiers thwarted three car bomb attacks within five hours in southern Baghdad, Iraq, on Aug. 13.
Soldiers on patrol at 6:20 a.m. discovered a blue truck with a dead body inside it parked near an intersection in southern Baghdad. The back of the vehicle appeared to be packed with explosives.
The patrol secured the site and called in a team of explosives experts, who verified there were munitions in the back of the truck. The team safely detonated the car bomb.
Less than three hours later, another Task Force Baghdad unit working in southern Baghdad found bombs on both sides of a major highway.
The soldiers cordoned off the area and called in explosives experts to dispose of the bombs. While the explosives team was examining the bombs, a vehicle sped toward the outer perimeter of the cordon around the bomb site. The soldiers shouted and waved for the car to stop. After the soldiers fired warning shots, the driver stopped about 400 yards away and the car exploded.
When the explosives team on site inspected the car, they determined it had contained four mortar rounds and had detonated prematurely, killing the suicide bomber.
Just after 11 a.m., a third Task Force Baghdad patrol in the same area found a parked car with explosives in the front seat. Within minutes, the soldiers had secured the area and an explosive ordnance disposal team was at the scene to investigate.
The team found a bomb in the front door of the car and more munitions hidden in the trunk.
The explosives experts safely detonated the car bomb.
"Our soldiers continue to work hard, which is evident by these significant finds. We are making great strides in defeating the terrorists here. We are making a difference," Army Command Sgt. Maj. Grady Gayton, 1st Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment, 48th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, said.
Soldiers from Task Force Baghdad captured terror suspects and discovered weapons caches during a series of pre-dawn combat operations in the capital city Aug. 13.
Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment, conducted the largest operation at 4 a.m. The soldiers cordoned off a number of suspected terrorist safe houses and searched house to house. The unit detained 10 suspects thought to be involved in terrorist activities in southern Baghdad.
Later in the day, coalition forces, acting on tips by Iraqi citizens, found two weapons caches in northwest and southeast Baghdad.
Soldiers from the 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, found the first cache at around 4 p.m. in southeast Baghdad. The cache contained rocket-propelled grenades and two launchers, as well as 16 mortar rounds and a launcher. An explosives ordnance disposal team safely destroyed the munitions.
Just before 11 p.m., soldiers from B Company, 1st Battalion, 115th Infantry Regiment, responding to another Iraqi citizen's tip, found five boxes of anti-aircraft ammunition hidden in northwest Baghdad.
Task Force Baghdad soldiers also thwarted attacks and captured suspects Aug. 12. Three separate combat operations in northern and southern Baghdad resulted in the capture of six terror suspects and the seizure of a car bomb before terrorists could use it.
The largest operation of the morning occurred at 3:20 a.m. in northern Baghdad. Task Force Baghdad soldiers manning an observation post were fired upon by terrorists hiding in a house about 100 yards from the soldiers' position.
The soldiers returned fire and surrounded houses in the area. Within six minutes, the patrol secured the site, searched two of the five houses in the area, and found spent shell casings in one of the homes. When the soldiers searched the other three homes they found an AK-47 assault rifle that was still warm and more shell casings. The unit took three suspects from the homes into custody for questioning.
In other combat operations, terrorists fired on coalition forces patrolling in southern Baghdad at 6:15 p.m. The soldiers fired back and moved to cordon off the house the shots were coming from. In 10 minutes, the patrol had the house surrounded. Fifteen minutes later, the soldiers moved into the house, detained the three attackers, and seized an AK-47.
Two hours later, three men standing near a parked car fired on another coalition unit in southern Baghdad.
The soldiers returned fire and the terrorists fled. The soldiers found blocks of plastic explosives inside the car the men staged the attack from, with wires running to the trunk of the car. A team of explosives experts safely detonated the car bomb.
On Aug. 11, Iraqi and U.S. soldiers squelched a terrorist attack on a combined patrol base in southwest Baghdad by capturing six of the attackers and taking their weapons. The attack began just after 7:50 p.m., when terrorists fired five rocket-propelled-grenade rounds at the patrol base. The attackers then fired rifles sporadically at the base for about 10 minutes.
The Iraqi and U.S. soldiers organized a patrol and set out toward the origin of the attack. Within minutes, the combined patrol came upon a group of people gathered around three vehicles a short distance from where the attack began. When the soldiers investigated, they discovered the cars' engines were warm. They also found two RPGs and three rifles with ammunition hidden nearby. The combined patrol took six people at the site into custody.
"We have been making a definite impact in our area of operations", said Army Lt. Col. Steve McCorkle, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry, 48th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.
In other combat operations Aug. 11, Task Force Baghdad soldiers in the Aamel district of central Baghdad found a parked vehicle thought to have been involved in an earlier attack against coalition forces. The vehicle had bullet holes in the windshield and the same license plate number as the car seen in the earlier attack.
As the soldiers watched the car from a distance, a man tried to enter the vehicle. They captured and took him into custody for questioning.
Iraqi police made another arrest in central Baghdad shortly before midnight Aug. 11 when they detained a man with a black bag containing what the police thought was TNT. When the police questioned the man, he admitted he had planned to place a bomb somewhere in the area. Task Force Baghdad explosives experts were called to the scene to dispose of the bomb and take the suspect into custody for questioning.
The thirteen men, seven whom were arrested last month in the city of Sale, less than a kilometer from Rabat, are suspected of having contacts with an Algerian Islamist group, a senior government source said on Tuesday, reported Reuters.
The source, who required being anonymous, told Reuters they are suspected of plotting attacks in Morocco with the help of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), the main Islamist group still fighting Algerian authorities in a 13-year insurgency
The other six were arrested in Algeria earlier, on suspicion of undergoing training with GSPC militants, and were handed over to the Moroccan authorities, the source said.
The same source added that "An examining magistrate of Rabat's appeal court will start interrogating the 13 in September to confirm charges against them under the anti-terrorism law."
Legal sources added that the suspects, whose ages range from 18 to 30, face charges of criminal conspiracy and attempts to undermine state security and to perpetrate terrorist attacks. If guilty, they will face up to 30 years in jail.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
08/16/2005 16:49 ||
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Less than three hours later, another Task Force Baghdad unit working in southern Baghdad found bombs on both sides of a major highway.
The soldiers cordoned off the area and called in explosives experts to dispose of the bombs. While the explosives team was examining the bombs, a vehicle sped toward the outer perimeter of the cordon around the bomb site. The soldiers shouted and waved for the car to stop. After the soldiers fired warning shots, the driver stopped about 400 yards away and the car exploded. Perhaps a stray slug? Oh, well!
When the explosives team on site inspected the car, they determined it had contained four mortar rounds and had detonated prematurely, killing the suicide bomber.
More at link. AP apparently can't use this info....
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/16/2005 12:43 ||
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#1
Good for you, Bobby. I meant to post this yesterday, with snarky comments, but the crush of business made me forget. A little excitement in the IZ last night, as apparently two 122-mm rockets made their appearance. I heard the whoosh of one travelling overhead and saw the flash at impact; the other apparently didn't leave a crater that anyone's found yet. I prefer to interpret the display as celebratory fire in honor of Iraqis sitting around and hashing out differences peacefully ....
#2
Verlaine--Feel free to send me your APO and a wish list if you need some goodies sent over. I have a few things stashed away for care packages, but my friends and relatives that were over there are all stateside now.
Posted by: Dar ||
08/16/2005 14:49 Comments ||
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#3
Verlaine - what kind of reading material do you (or others) like? I've got some paperback mysteries I've finished with - be glad to send them along. Anything else you all need?
Send me an e-mail too when you respond to Dar - my "care package" receiver is back stateside so I'm free to fund another. Might as well be a Rantburger. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/16/2005 15:27 Comments ||
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#4
Mikey Moore's probably grieving the most right about now. Driver was probably just driving to a kite flying festival.
Al Qaida has deployed bombs laced with toxins in an attempt to increase the lethality of attacks in Iraq, coalition military sources said.
On Aug. 9, the U.S.-led coalition found a suspected chemicals factory in Mosul with 1,500 gallons of chemicals.
A statement by the Multi-National Force said the facility was used to develop the bombs mixed with toxins. The statement said Sunni insurgents succeeded in employing roadside bombs that contained toxic chemicals.
The MNF said coalition forces learned of the facility from suspected insurgents. The statement said the investigation would continue.
Meanwhile, U.S. military sources said Iraq has killed a senior aide of Al Qaida network leader Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi.
The sources said Mohammed Saleh Sultan was killed in an ambush in Mosul on Aug. 12. The military said on Monday that Sultan, known as Abu Zubeir, was a leading operative in Al Qaida in Iraq.
Sultan was said to have held several senior positions in Al Qaida and was accused of directing the bombing attack of an Iraqi police station in Mosul in July in which five policemen were killed. Officials said he was wearing a suicide belt filled with metal pellets when he was killed.
Officials said Iraqi and U.S. forces have been particularly effective against Al Zarqawi cells in northern Iraq. They said that since June 2005 at least two Mosul cell commanders were killed.
"Abu Zubeir's death, as well as recent captures of terrorists in northern Iraq, is making a difference in coalition and Iraqi security forces efforts to disrupt terrorists operating in this part of the country," Col. Bill Buckner, a coalition spokesman, said.
In a letter written to Al Zarqawi and discovered in a raid on an Al Qaida safe house on July 27, an operative complained of the declining quality of the leadership. The letter, by somebody named Abu Zayd, also reported the mistreatment of foreign fighters.
Posted by: Captain America ||
08/16/2005 13:42 ||
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#1
Hajji is hurting up north. Go thee all of ye and regularly check Michael Yon's blog for the latest in the exploits of one of our fine Army units in Mosul. Perhaps the nitwits up north should look for solace to American media and politics, and even some blogs, where panic and non-starting ideas are in constant supply. Geez. The % of war-supporters making no sense is approaching that of war opponents (95%).
(Including what you'd do if you were in charge, which I've been meaning to ask about for the last week).
Posted by: Phil ||
08/16/2005 16:00 Comments ||
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#3
Speaking of making no sense, the idea of putting toxins in an IED is problematic.
1. There is a good chance you'll contaminate the IED factory.
2. You have a good chance of disabling the IED workers.
3. The heat of the explosion makes a lot of toxins less toxic.
#4
Possibly the bomb makers are attempting to imitate the success of the Palestinians, who lace their suicide bombs with rat poison (an anti-coagulant), so that those injured by shrapnel in the explosion subsequently bleed to death regardless of the seriousness of the injury.
Two suspected outlaws killed in crossfire with RAB in Pabna
Pabna, Aug 15:âTwo suspected leaders of an outlawed party were killed in a shootout between RAB and their associates near Mougachi bazar in Mohonpur upazila of Rajshahi district early on Monday, says UNB. They are Firoz Mollik, 35, and Bablu Kha, 32, hailed from Faridpur upazila of Pabna district.
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) sources said that, acting on a secret information, the two leaders of Purbo Banglar Communist Party (ML- Lal Potaka) were arrested from Baroipara area in Kaliakoir upazila of Gazipur district on Sunday night.
"Evening Firoz, Bablu. Beautiful night, ain't it. How about you come with us to the station for a little talk? Help him up, Private, I can't hear him with his face in the dirt like that."
âThey were taken to Rajshahi RAB headquarters for interrogation where they gave a lot of information about their associates,â said one official of the elite force.
Between bouts of sobbing in pain
Following their confessions, the two were being taken to Manda upazila of Nogaon district at 00:15am in hunt for their party-men.
O-dark fifteen is a wonderful time to look for a party
Near Mougachi bazar on the way, their associates opened fire, forcing the RAB members to fire back, said the RAB sources.
"It's the RAB! We're doomed! Open fire!"
âAs Bablu and Firoz tried to flee during the gunfight, they were hit by bullets.
"Ouchouchouch........rosebud!"
When they were taken to Mohonpur upazila health complex, doctors there declared them dead,â says the official version of the encounter.
"They're dead, Jim"
RAB seized one shutter gun, one bullet, 66 bottles of phensidyl, and two sharp weapons from the scene.
Just the thing for a night on the town in old Nogaon
Firoz and Bablu were wanted in about 20 cases, including eight murders, sources here said.
Give or take a few false charges
Murder bid Youth waiting to fly for S Arabia escaped
A young man brought in Dhaka on false promise of sending to Saudi Arabia narrowly escaped being slaughtered by a manpower agent in a city hotel early on Monday, says UNB. Police said Sumon, 20, son of Kader Mia of Pakuria village in Moulvibazar district, was rescued by the staff of Ali International Hotel at Uttara from the clutches of his kin-turned-manpower-agent Azad.
So he was related to the guy who wanted to slit his throat? How charming
âAzad received Tk 2 lakh with a promise to send Sumon to Saudi Arabia on August 13 and brought him to Dhaka,â his family said. This morning, the manpower agent allegedly tried to slaughter Sumon in a room of the hotel at one stage of scuffles created over delays in flight.
I'd had my flights delayed lots of times and have yet to kill anyone over it. Oh, I've thought about it, but....
âHearing cries for help, hotel staff rushed in and rescued Sumon with his half-slit neck. They also held Azad red-handed,â says a firsthand account of the incident.
That would be the blood...
Sumon was rushed to a local clinic and then shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Azad was handed over to police.
Ahmadiyya woman hurt in cocktail blast
Aug 15: A middle-aged woman of Ahmadiyya sect suffered severe wounds in a cocktail blast at her house in the town early in the morning today.
Ok, I've drunk a few Depth Charges in my day, but none of them have wounded me. It just felt like it the next day.
Police said Hossena Begum of Bhadogarh was going to the latrine close to her house at about 6:00am when the cocktail exploded.
Well, yeah, that's happened to me...
Police rushed to the spot and recovered two other live cocktails from the yard of the house.
"Keep back, that drink may go off at any time!"
Hossena Begum was rushed to the local hospital.
3 absconders arrested in Chittagong
Aug 15: Police arrested four persons including three absconders in the port city. Kotwali thana police arrested one terrorist named Md Gafur (35) from KC Dey Road with the help of the local people. Police also recovered one Legar Gun (LG) and one round of cartridge.
We really need a copy of "Guns of Bangladesh".
Police said Md Gafur is involved in snatching. Besides, Panchlaish thana police arrested one absconder convict named as Nurul Afsar (35) from East Suabil area under Fatickchari thana yesterday. Khulsi thana police and Bandar thana police arrested two absconders named Md Abul Kalam (40) and Md Delwar Hossain (35) yesterday
Posted by: Steve ||
08/16/2005 10:34 ||
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KABUL, Afghanistan - A helicopter belonging to the NATO-led international security force crashed in western Afghanistan Tuesday, killing 17 Spanish troops, officials said.
A second helicopter also made an emergency landing and an unspecified number of troops on board were believed to be injured, said Maj. Andrew Elmes, a spokeswoman for the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul.
He said the cause of the crash and the emergency landing â both in the desert south of the western city of Herat â were believed to be mechanical failures. He did not elaborate.
#2
An International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) spokesperson in Kabul confirmed on Tuesday that Spanish soldiers are amongst those killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan. Up to 17 Spanish members of the NATO-led international security force in Afghanistan are believed to be dead. The crash happened at 1300 (0900 GMT), 22 kilometres (14 miles) south of the western regional province of Herat.
A second helicopter also made an emergency landing according to Major Andy Elmes, a spokesperson for ISAF in Kabul. "The number of killed and wounded is not clear, although we understand that Spanish soldiers were amongst those killed. A rescue operation was launched immediately and is ongoing, moving wounded to the ISAF military hospital in Herat" Elmes said at a media briefing. He said the cause of the crash and the emergency landing were believed to be mechanical failure. He did not elaborate.
Afghan army commander Abdul Wahab Walizada, whose troops are providing security in the area, said the two choppers came too close while flying and the rotor blade of one hit the other.
"The second helicopter landed heavily. There are survivors from that helicopter," said Maj. Elmes. He said both choppers were on a training mission to support legislative elections next month.
Posted by: Steve ||
08/16/2005 11:20 Comments ||
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Peace upon them and their families. And our thanks.
If it had to happen, though, better during a practice run when there were fewer people around.
KHARTOUM, 16 August 2005 â Sudanese authorities have lifted a curfew imposed two weeks ago to stop the capitalâs worst violence in decades, which killed at least 111 people, Interior Ministry officials said yesterday. âWe have lifted the curfew,â the ministry official said. âThere will be no checkpoints, but the forces will still be out on the streets.â
News of the sudden death of former southern rebel leader and newly sworn-in First Vice President John Garang two weeks ago sparked riots in Khartoumâs central commercial streets and suburbs. Tit-for-tat violence followed, polarizing the capitalâs northern and southern communities. But Khartoum has remained largely peaceful over the past week.
Meanwhile, about 13,000 refugees have been made homeless by floods in Sudanâs troubled Darfur region, in the worst rains for half a century, a government official said yesterday. El-Fatih Abdel Aziz, the governmentâs manager of Abou Shouk camp in North Darfur, told Reuters the heaviest rains seen in decades had damaged a dam built to prevent flooding in the camp next to the stateâs main town, El-Fasher. âThis dam... was damaged because of the heavy rain at night, and after that half of the camp was flooded,â he told Reuters from Darfur. âThe government intervened and gave every family blankets and corn.â
He added non-governmental organizations working in the camp were to meet to decide whether to transfer the 13,000 displaced to another camp. Abou Shouk, just outside El-Fasher, houses about 50,000 Darfuris.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/16/2005 00:13 ||
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A bomb exploded on a railway track in Balochistan on Monday, damaging a portion of the railroad, but causing no injuries, police said. The explosion blew up nearly a metre of the track near a railway station in Mach, a Railways Police official Naeem Kakar said. No trains were disrupted and Kakar said the damaged line would be repaired before any train is scheduled to travel over it. No one claimed responsibility, but authorities have blamed local tribesmen for bombings targeting railroads in Balochistan in the past.
Assailants also fired rockets at a paramilitary post and nine homemade bombs exploded in separate attacks in the province on Sunday, injuring two people, police said. Five of the blasts occurred in Quetta, including one bomb that was strapped to a bicycle, Quetta police official Pervez Zahoor said. The bicycle bomb exploded near a power grid station operated by the Water and Power Development Authority in the Sariab Road neighbourhood. A policeman and an employee at the power station were injured, Zahoor said. Both men only suffered minor injuries. Earlier on Sunday, another bomb exploded in a western residential neighbourhood in Quetta, shattering the windows of several homes, Zahoor said.
Four other explosions occurred in two towns, but there were no reports of injuries. Two blasts occurred in Mach. One was in a garbage bin near the townâs railway station and the other close to a wall of a police station, shattering the police stationâs windows, Mach police official Muhammad Khan Marri said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2005 00:00 ||
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Afghan authorities in Kunar province, close to Mohmand and Bajaur agencies in Pakistan's tribal areas, have ordered Pakistanis to leave the province as the Afghan parliamentary elections near. Many Pakistanis from Mohmand and Bajaur agencies work in the timber industry in Kunar.
"We are but simple â though well-armed â woodsmen, sirrah!"
Pakistanis returning from Asadabad, capital of Kunar province, told Daily Times they had been told through loudspeakers to leave to leave the province in two days.
"Attention! Attention! Pack your shit and get out!"
"That is all"
They complained that they had been unable to bring back their belongings with them because of the short deadline. They said Pakistanis were being harassed and arrested in Kunar.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Sounds like a step in the right direction to me. Faster, please.
Posted by: mac ||
08/16/2005 5:40 Comments ||
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Now that should only leave the Uzbeks, Tajis, Kyrgis, Kashmiris, Waziris, all all the endless assortment of scattered tribal trash... get out! get out now! Hmmmm... where did everybody go? Well.. I do guess that one vote really does count and its me! me! me! Allahu Akhbar!
LADAH: A rocket exploded in a field near an Independence Day celebration in South Waziristan Agency on Sunday, but no one was hurt, an official said. The rocket was fired from nearby hills and slammed into the field in Shakai Valley, where more than 1,000 people had gathered to mark Independence Day, said Wisal Muhammad, a government administrator. Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack, which came about 30 minutes before Lt Gen. Safdar Hussain â Peshawar corps commander %â arrived at the ceremony, Muhammad said.
"Mahmoud! There's mebbe a thousand people down there! They're eatin' ice cream and some of 'em's tellin' jokes!"
"They must be killed! Get me my rocket!"
"Hek will be so proud of you, Mahmoud!"
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2005 00:00 ||
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A Canadian man pursuing a business venture in Iraq has been abducted and killed, Prime Minister Paul Martin said Monday. He urged Canadians in Iraq to leave, saying "the situation remains volatile and the government of Canada cannot provide consular assistance to Canadian citizens in distress." Martin identified the victim as Zaid Meerwali, who also held Iraqi citizenship.
"Canada vehemently condemns this barbaric crime, and remains committed to working both bilaterally and multilaterally to help build a prosperous and peaceful democracy in Iraq," Martin said in a statement. There was no immediate word from Canadian or Iraqi officials on any suspects in the case, but hundreds of foreigners and Iraqis have been seized by insurgents fighting to drive U.S.-led forces out of the country. Canada has not contributed troops to the coalition forces in Iraq, and opposed the U.S.-led invasion and occupation of the country.
Fat lot of good it did him, ain't it, Paul?
Fortunately, they "remain committed to working both bilaterally and multilaterally to help build a prosperous and peaceful democracy in Iraq". Imagine how they'd be if they were against that.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
The leadership of Canada is willfully absent in the war against Fascisism. Don't assume you will get our protection when you offer aid and support to the Islamo-Fascists buy goving them generous welfare assistance and refuge stastus so they are free to spread their hate on this continent.
#2
Yeah, 'cause they're coming here by the planes-full each and every day. Pleeeeease.
Posted by: Rafael ||
08/16/2005 3:40 Comments ||
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Don't worry Rafael, I did the numbers a while back, a single 747 per hour, 24x7 will repatriate 1.5 million in 6 months ;)
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/16/2005 5:22 Comments ||
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A Canadian man pursuing a business venture in Iraq has been abducted and killed, Prime Minister Paul Martin said Monday.
Sounds like a capitalist. As if the Canadian government would protect one of those even if it had the ability.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
08/16/2005 8:58 Comments ||
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#5
the problem with Canada and many European countries is that an influential - and probably majority - portion of their population no longer stand FOR things, only against them.
It leaves a hollow center, which cannot hold when pushed against by such as Islamicism.
Posted by: leader of the pack ||
08/16/2005 9:00 Comments ||
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#6
from Google "in February 2002, 23-year-old Mukhtar Mai, a resident of the remote southern Punjabi
village of Meerwali, was allegedly gang-raped on the orders of a tribal ... "
Wondered where I had seen that name before.
Posted by: john ||
08/16/2005 11:38 Comments ||
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#7
just as a reminder, there are currently canadian forces present in Afghanistan.
#8
And you point is Liberalhawk? Canada and 99.9% of Canadians are against fighting religious fascism, hence they are not fighting in Iraq and they will not truly stand up to Iran even when Iran murders one of their citizens. The NATO troops they have in Afganistan are wonderful but they are too few and are doing nation building.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Monday set Jan. 21 as the date for long-overdue legislative elections in what senior officials said was an attempt to give militants a strong incentive not to disrupt Israel's Gaza withdrawal. Abbas' main political rival, Hamas, will compete in national elections for the first time, and is expected to make a strong showing. With an election date set, Hamas is less likely to do anything that could harm its popular support, including attacks on Israeli troops that would trigger a large-scale Israeli offensive in Gaza. Both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority are trying to claim credit for Israel's Gaza pullout, which began Monday, as thousands of Israeli troops distributed eviction notices in Gaza settlements.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2005 00:00 ||
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An emergency court heard testimony from three witnesses in the case of two Egyptians on trial for their alleged involvement in last year's bombings at Sinai peninsula resorts that killed 34 people. Capt. Ahmed Heikal told the Supreme Emergency State Security Court in Ismailiya on Sunday that state security officials had received information from secret sources that the two defendants, Mohammed Gayez Sabbah and Mohammed Abdullah Rabaa, helped prepare the explosives used in the bombings and plan the attacks. Heikal said devices used for preparing explosives, including a washing machine timer, were found with the defendants when they were arrested.
Washing machine timer? Perchance were there any freelance film makers in the area doing a documentary?
Manaa Gamaan, a guard at one of the bombed resorts, told the court that he saw two unidentified people in a white Peugeot approaching the al-Badeya tourist compound in Ras Shitan, where he works. He saw the car being parked about 50 yards away from the resort and then heard an explosion in a nearby hotel where his brother works. He ran toward the explosion when he heard another explosion at his own resort.
Defense lawyer Sayed Fathi claimed the investigations and arrest reports were fabricated and said Gamaan's testimony was coached. Fathi argued that Sunday's hearing proved the case against the defendants "is fabricated and shows the deteriorating level Egyptian security policies have reached." The defendants, who have pleaded innocent, are the first to stand trial in the Oct. 7 car bombings in and around the Red Sea resort town of Taba on the Israeli-Egyptian border, a spot popular with Israeli vacationers. At least 11 Israelis were among the dead and 100 were injured. A wing of the Taba Hilton Hotel was destroyed. A third suspect, Mohamed Ahmed Saleh Flayfil, who was being tried in the case in absentia, was killed in a shootout with police earlier this month.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/16/2005 00:00 ||
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The Palestinian Authority has demanded that Israel free all Palestinian prisoners originally from the Gaza Strip after completing its pullout from the occupied territory. "The Palestinian Authority officially asked Israel to release 650 prisoners from the Gaza Strip who were arrested by the Israeli army during the years of the occupation," Palestinian prisoner affairs minister Sufian Abu Zaydeh told AFP on Monday.
"Given that Israel is bringing to an end its occupation of the Gaza Strip, it must release all prisoners being detained from this region," he added.
Do they have to be alive?
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/16/2005 00:00 ||
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#1
Perhaps they should release them somewhere like Zimbabwe.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/16/2005 0:28 Comments ||
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#3
why doesn't this surprise me.
They will keep pushing and wanting not being satisfied with any of it.
What's this about dead or alive hmmmmm
Posted by: Jan ||
08/16/2005 1:22 Comments ||
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#4
Their 'logic' is quite something isn't it?
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
08/16/2005 6:07 Comments ||
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#5
Penis Durbin has agreed to oversee the prisoner release. Any prisoner released that goes to Iraq to kill U.S. troops, gets an autographed copy of Harry Potter.
#9
The Palestinian Authority has demanded that Israel free all Palestinian prisoners originally from the Gaza Strip after completing its pullout from the occupied territory.
And the stream of demands runs anew.
If history is any indication, more will come, especially if this demand is met.
Abbas said, as Israel launched its pullout from the Gaza Strip, that the move was insufficient and he called for an end to occupation of other territories too. âThe Israeli withdrawal that has begun today is an important and historic step that shouldnât only happen in Gaza but also the West Rank and the rest of the land reaching to the 1949 borders,â he told the Palestinian government-controlled Wafa News Agency.
What do they think they'll ask for after they get that?
#11
TU - they've already asked for it - or rather, DEMANDED it. They want the "entire" territory of "Palestine" - I.E., all of Israel. Oh, and they want all the Jews dead.
I hope the pullout from Gaza is just a preliminary to Israel napalming the entire damned place about a dozen times, then moving back in. "Palestine" was supposed to be the land for the Jews, while "TransJordan" was supposed to be the home of the Arabs. There is no distinctive "Palestinian people". Not that we have to worry - the paleostain strain will eventually do something to deserve being wiped out, and the world will finally get disgusted enough with them to do so. I just hope there are members of the Tribe of David left alive when it happens.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/16/2005 14:38 Comments ||
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#12
OP,
"the paleostain strain"
Kind of like the mutation that you see below.
#13
Don't forget, Old Patriot, 2/3rds of the Tribe has lived outside of the Land since the Babylonian Conquest in 586 B.C.E. Which is why the Hebrew of Israel is based on the pure language of the Iraqi Jews, rather than that of the European Jews who lead the Zionist movement.
On the other hand, should the world consent to the destruction of Israel, I forsee the Diaspora Jews becoming much less patient with the nonsense their cultures and governments accept as normal.
#14
Can someone explain to me why the Israeli govt. is handing Gaza over to the Paleos? And why the international community is applauding it? Is there some greater strategy at work? Because it seems like a giant "kick me" sign on the backs of the Iraelis--and I'm sure Hamas will oblige.
#16
Funny you should ask, ex - I'm reading a StratFor analysis of precisely that issue at this very moment - with an eye on RB, heh. Perhaps the wonderful soul who shared it with me via email will post it so you can see if it makes sense. I'm only about halfway through it, so far.
#17
hmmmm- is this it? thanks to my Alaskan friend?
The Gaza Withdrawal and Israel's Permanent Dilemma
By George Friedman
Israel has begun its withdrawal from Gaza. As with all other territorial withdrawals by Israel, such as that from the Sinai or from Lebanon, the decision is controversial within the Jewish state. It represents the second withdrawal from land occupied in the 1967 war, and the second from land that houses significant numbers of anti-Israeli fighters. Since these fighters will not be placated by the Israeli withdrawal -- given that there is no obvious agreement of land for an enforceable peace -- the decision by the Israelis to withdraw from Gaza would appear odd.
In order to understand what is driving Israeli policy, it is necessary to consider Israeli geopolitical reality in some detail.
Israel's founders, taken together, had four motives for founding the state.
1. To protect the Jews from a hostile world by creating a Jewish homeland.
2. To create a socialist (not communist) Jewish state.
3. To resurrect the Jewish nation in order to re-assert Jewish identity in history.
4. To create a nation based on Jewish religiosity and law rather than Jewish nationality alone.
The idea of safety, socialism, identity and religiosity overlapped to some extent and were mutually exclusive in other ways. But each of these tendencies became a fault line in Israeli life. Did Israel exist simply so that Jews would be safe -- was Israel simply another nation among many? Was Israel to be a socialist nation, as the Labor Party once envisioned? Was it to be a vehicle for resurrecting Jewish identity, as the Revisionists wanted? Was it to be a land governed by the Rabbinate? It could not be all of these things. Thus, these were ultimately contradictory visions tied together by a single certainty: none of these visions were possible without a Jewish state. All arguments in Israel devolve to these principles, but all share a common reality -- the need for the physical protection of Israel.
In order for there to be a Jewish state, it must be governed by Jews. If it is also to be a democratic state, as was envisioned by all but a few of the fourth (religiosity) strand of logic, then it must be a state that is demographically Jewish.
This poses the first geopolitical dilemma for Israel: Whatever the historical, moral or religious arguments, the fact was that at the beginning of the 20th century, the land identified as the Jewish homeland -- Palestine -- was inhabited overwhelmingly by Arabs. A Jewish and democratic state could be achieved only by a demographic transformation. Either more Jews would have to come to Palestine, or Arabs would have to leave, or a combination of the two would have to occur. The Holocaust caused Jews who otherwise would have stayed in Europe to come to Palestine. The subsequent creation of the state of Israel caused Arabs to leave, and Jews living in Arab countries to come to Israel.
However, this demographic shift was incomplete, leaving Israel with two strategic problems. First, a large number of Arabs, albeit a minority, continued to live in Israel. Second, the Arab states surrounding Israel -- which perceived the state as an alien entity thrust into their midst -- viewed themselves as being in a state of war with Israel. Ultimately, Israel's problem was that dealing with the external threat inevitably compounded the internal threat.
Israel's Strategic Disadvantage
Israel was at a tremendous strategic disadvantage. First, it was vastly outnumbered in the simplest sense: There were many more Arabs who regarded themselves as being in a state of war with Israel than there were Jews in Israel. Second, Israel had extremely long borders that were difficult to protect. Third, the Israelis lacked strategic depth. If all of their neighbors -- Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon -- were joined by the forces of more distant Arab and Islamic states, Israel would find it difficult to resist. And if all of these forces attacked simultaneously in a coordinated strike, Israel would find it impossible to resist.
Even if the Arabs did not carry out a brilliant stroke, cutting Israel in half on a Jerusalem-Tel Aviv line (a distance of perhaps 20 miles), Israel would still lose an extended war with the Arabs. If the Arabs could force a war of attrition on Israel, in which they could impose an attrition rate of perhaps 1 percent per day of forces on the forward edge of the battle area, Israel would not be able to hold for more than a few months at best. In the 20th century, an attrition rate of that level, in a battle space the size of Israel, would be modest. Israel's effective forces rarely numbered more than 250,000 men -- the other 250,000 were older reserves with inferior equipment. Extended attritional warfare was not an option for Israel.
Thus, in order for Israel to survive, three conditions were necessary:
1. The Arabs must never unite into a single, effective force.
2. Israel must choose the time, place and sequence of any war.
3. Israel must never face both a war and an internal uprising of Arabs simultaneously.
Israel's strategy was to use diplomacy to prevent the three main adversaries -- Egypt, Jordan and Syria -- from simultaneously choosing to launch a war. From its founding, Israel always maintained a policy of splitting the front-line states. This was not particularly difficult, given the deep animosities among the Arabs. For example, Israel always maintained a special relationship with Jordan, which had unsatisfactory relations with its own neighbors. Early on, Israel worked to serve as the guarantor of the Jordanian regime's survival. Later, after the Camp David Accords split Egypt off from the Arab coalition, Israel had neutralized two out of three of its potential adversaries. The dynamics of Arab geopolitics and the skill of Israeli diplomacy achieved an outcome that is rarely appreciated. From its founding, Israel managed to prevent simultaneous warfare with its neighbors except at a time and place of its own choosing. It had to maintain a military force capable of taking the initiative in order to have a diplomatic strategy.
But throughout most of its history, Israel had a fundamental challenge in achieving this preeminence.
Israel's Geopolitical Problem
The state's military preeminence had to be measured against the possibility of diplomatic failure. Israel had to assume that all front-line states would become hostile to it, and that it would have to launch a preemptive strike against them all. If this were the case, Israel had this dilemma: Its national industrial base was insufficient to provide it with the technological wherewithal to maintain its military superiority. It was not simply a question of money --all the money in the world could not change the demographics -- but also that Israel lacked the manpower to produce all of the weapons it needed to have and also to field an army. Therefore, Israel could survive only if it had a patron that possessed such an industrial base. Israel had to make itself useful to another country.
Israel's first patron was the Soviet Union, through its European satellites. Its second patron was France, which saw Israel as an ally during a time when Paris was trying to hold onto its interests in an increasingly hostile Arab world. Its third patron -- but not until 1967 -- was the United States, which saw Israel as a counterweight to pro-Soviet Egypt and Syria, as well as a useful base of operations in the eastern Mediterranean.
In 1967, Israel -- fearing a coordinated strike by the Arabs and also seeking to rationalize its defensive lines and create strategic depth -- launched an air and land attack against its neighbors. Rather than risk a coordinated attack, Israel launched a sequential attack -- first against Egypt, then Jordan, then Syria.
The success of the 1967 war gave rise to Israel's current geopolitical crisis.
Following the war, Israel had to balance three interests:
1. It now occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which contained large, hostile populations of Arabs. A full, peripheral war combined with an uprising in these regions would cut Israeli lines of supply and communication and risk Israel's defeat.
2. Israel was now dependent on the United States for its industrial base. But American interests and Israeli interests were not identical. The United States had interests in the Arab world, and had no interest in Israel crushing Palestinian opposition or expelling Palestinians from Israel. Retaining the industrial base and ruthlessly dealing with the Palestinians became incompatible needs.
3. Israel had to continue manipulating the balance of power among Arab states in order to prevent a full peripheral war. That, in turn, meant that it was further constrained in dealing with the Palestinian question by force.
Israeli geopolitics created the worst condition of all: Given the second and third considerations, Israel could not crush the Palestinians; but given its need for strategic depth and coherent borders, it could not abandon the occupied territories. It therefore had to continually constrain the Palestinians without any possibility of final victory. It had to be ruthless, which would enflame the Palestinians, but it could never be ruthless enough to effectively suppress them.
The Impermanence of Diplomacy
Israel has managed to maintain the diplomatic game it began in 1948: The Arabs remain deeply split. It has managed to retain its relationship with the United States, even with the end of the Cold War. Given the decline of the conventional threat, Israel's dependency on the United States has actually dwindled. For the moment, the situation is contained.
However -- and this is the key problem for Israel -- the diplomatic solution is inherently impermanent. It requires constant manipulation, and the possibility of failure is built in. For example, an Islamist rising in Egypt could rapidly generate shifts that Israel could not contain. Moreover, political changes in the United States could end American patronage, without the certainty of another patron emerging. These things are not likely to occur, but they are not inconceivable. Given enough time, anything is possible.
Israel's advantage is diplomatic and cultural. Its ability to split the Arabs, a diplomatic force, is coupled with its technological superiority, a cultural force. But both of these can change. The Arabs might unite, and they might accelerate their technological and military sophistication. Israel's superiority can change, but its inferiority is fixed: Geography and demography put it in an unchangeably vulnerable position relative to the Arabs.
The potential threats to Israel are:
1. A united and effective anti-Israeli coalition among the Arabs.
2. The loss of its technological superiority and, therefore, the loss of military initiative.
3. The need to fight a full peripheral war while dealing with an intifada within its borders.
4. The loss of the United States as patron and the failure to find an alternative.
5. A sudden, unexpected nuclear strike on its populated heartland.
Therefore, it follows that Israel has three options.
The first is to hope for the best. This has been Israel's position since 1967. The second is to move from conventional deterrence to nuclear deterrence. Israel already possesses this capability, but the value of nuclear weapons is in their deterrent capability, not in their employment. You can't deal with an intifada or with close-in conventional war with nuclear weapons -- not given the short distances involved in Israel. The third option is to reduce the possibility of disaster as far as possible by increasing the tensions in the Arab world, reducing the incentive for cultural change among the Arabs, eliminating the threat of intifada in time of war, and reducing the probability that the United States will find it in its interests to break with Israel
Hence, the withdrawal from Gaza. As a base for terrorism, Gaza poses a security threat to Israel. But the true threat from Gaza, and even more the West Bank, lies in the fact that they create a dynamic that decreases Israel's diplomatic effectiveness, risks creating Arab unity, increases the impetus for military modernization and places stress on Israel's relationship with the United States. The terrorist threat is painful. The alternative risks long-term catastrophe.
Some of the original reasons for Israel's founding, such as the desire for a socialist state, are now irrelevant to Israeli politics. And revisionism, like socialism, is a movement of the past. Modern Israel is divided into three camps:
1. Those who believe that the survival of Israel depends on disengaging from a process that enrages without crushing the Palestinians, even if it opens the door to terrorism.
2. Those who regard the threat of terrorism as real and immediate, and regard the longer-term strategic threats as theoretical and abstract.
3. Those who have a religious commitment to holding all territories.
The second and third factions are in alliance but, at the moment, it is the first faction that appears to be the majority. It is not surprising that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is leading this faction. As a military man, Sharon has a clear understanding of Israel's vulnerabilities. It is clearly his judgment that the long-term threat to Israel comes from the collapse of its strategic position, rather than from terrorism. He has clearly decided to accept the reality of terrorist attacks, within limits, in order to pursue a broader strategic initiative.
Israel has managed to balance the occupation of a hostile population with splitting Arab nation states since 1967. Sharon's judgment is that, given the current dynamics of the Muslim world, pursuing the same strategy for another generation would be both too costly and too risky. The position of his critics is that the immediate risks of disengagement increase the immediate danger to Israel without solving the long-term problem. If Sharon is right, then there is room for maneuver. But if his critics, including Benjamin Netanyahu, are right, Israel is locked down to an insoluble problem.
That is the real debate.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/16/2005 20:22 Comments ||
Top||
#18
Wow, Frank. After having it explained in detail like that, it's obvious. Though not so obvious that I saw it before...
#19
I was quoting the article .com mentioned...I have a slightly different take. I don't presume to preach "truth" in such a difficult situation. I grieve for all
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/16/2005 21:50 Comments ||
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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.
A MAN accused of lying to ASIO about his alleged links with French terrorist suspect 
HAMBURG, Germany (AP) - Lawyers for a Moroccan charged with aiding the Sept. 11 hijackers argued Monday that convicting their client despite the United States' refusal to allow key al-Qaida suspects to testify in his trial would hand a victory to Osama bin Laden.
Italian police have arrested 141 people in raids at Islamic gathering places across the country, but the country remains at an "elevated risk" for a terrorist attack, the government said Monday. Police sweeps recently, including raids across Italy on Friday and Saturday, brought the arrests of 141 people, the Interior Ministry said. Two of those arrests were for possession of false documents under a new law stepping up anti-terrorism crackdowns after the London transit attacks last month. The ministry said others were arrested for suspected robberies or thefts and other "common crimes" but that none of the suspects had immediately been linked to terrorism.
Terrorists looking to move millions of dollars out of the United States to fund global strikes have resorted to a kaleidoscope of new schemes aimed at hiding illicit cash, but one of the nation's top terrorism investigators says law-enforcement authorities are up to the challenge. Marcy Forman, who supervisors 6,000 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at 156 field and 52 foreign offices as head of the agency's Office of Investigations, said newly created law-enforcement partnerships are "choking off the money supply that will choke off the terrorists." 
CHICAGO (AP) - A man admitted Monday that he falsely told federal agents his relatives were linked to Osama Bin Laden's terrorist network and were plotting to blow up the Sears Tower and other landmarks. Abdul Rauf Noormohamed pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of making false statements to federal agents. He faces up to five years in prison.
Two suspected outlaws killed in crossfire with RAB in Pabna
A bomb exploded on a railway track in Balochistan on Monday, damaging a portion of the railroad, but causing no injuries, police said. The explosion blew up nearly a metre of the track near a railway station in Mach, a Railways Police official Naeem Kakar said. No trains were disrupted and Kakar said the damaged line would be repaired before any train is scheduled to travel over it. No one claimed responsibility, but authorities have blamed local tribesmen for bombings targeting railroads in Balochistan in the past.
LADAH: A rocket exploded in a field near an Independence Day celebration in South Waziristan Agency on Sunday, but no one was hurt, an official said. The rocket was fired from nearby hills and slammed into the field in Shakai Valley, where more than 1,000 people had gathered to mark Independence Day, said Wisal Muhammad, a government administrator. Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack, which came about 30 minutes before Lt Gen. Safdar Hussain â Peshawar corps commander %â arrived at the ceremony, Muhammad said. 
A Canadian man pursuing a business venture in Iraq has been abducted and killed, Prime Minister Paul Martin said Monday. He urged Canadians in Iraq to leave, saying "the situation remains volatile and the government of Canada cannot provide consular assistance to Canadian citizens in distress." Martin identified the victim as Zaid Meerwali, who also held Iraqi citizenship.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas on Monday set Jan. 21 as the date for long-overdue legislative elections in what senior officials said was an attempt to give militants a strong incentive not to disrupt Israel's Gaza withdrawal. Abbas' main political rival, Hamas, will compete in national elections for the first time, and is expected to make a strong showing. With an election date set, Hamas is less likely to do anything that could harm its popular support, including attacks on Israeli troops that would trigger a large-scale Israeli offensive in Gaza. Both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority are trying to claim credit for Israel's Gaza pullout, which began Monday, as thousands of Israeli troops distributed eviction notices in Gaza settlements.
An emergency court heard testimony from three witnesses in the case of two Egyptians on trial for their alleged involvement in last year's bombings at Sinai peninsula resorts that killed 34 people. Capt. Ahmed Heikal told the Supreme Emergency State Security Court in Ismailiya on Sunday that state security officials had received information from secret sources that the two defendants, Mohammed Gayez Sabbah and Mohammed Abdullah Rabaa, helped prepare the explosives used in the bombings and plan the attacks. Heikal said devices used for preparing explosives, including a washing machine timer, were found with the defendants when they were arrested. 
