Taliban militia, holding an Indian engineer hostage in southern Afghanistan, on Saturday evening threatened to kill him if all Indians do not leave the country within 24 hours.
The threat has prompted the the government to intensify efforts to secure his early and safe release.
Hyderabad-based family of 41-year-old K Suryanarayan, who was abducted on Friday evening on Kandahar-Kabul highway in Hassan Kareiz district of Zabul, appealed the abductors to free him without any harm. His Afghan driver was also abducted.
A high-level meeting, chaired by Cabinet Secretary BK Chaturvedi, was held in New Delhi to review the evolving developments. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is also being briefed about the situation.
A father of three, Suryanarayan had gone to Afghanistan four months ago and was working with a Bahrain-based company 'Al Moayyad' which is engaged in a project for Afghan mobile phone service provider Roshan Telecom.
Issuing the threat, a man claiming to be the spokesman for Taliban called up a news agency and claimed that Suryanarayan was an "American spy".
"We warn all Indians working here to leave Afghanistan within 24 hours starting 6 pm (7 pm IST) today, otherwise we will kill him," the caller identifying himself as Qari Yousef Ahmadi was quoted saying. Ahmadi releases regular statements on behalf of Taliban.
Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said the government was in touch with the Afghan authorities and had intensified efforts to seek early and safe release of the hostage.
Saran asserted that India will "continue to fulfil its solemn commitments to Afghanistan's development", pointing out that "our presence in that country is to promote the welfare of the people" of that country.
He said Indians, working on various projects in Afghanistan, are making a contribution to the much-needed economic recovery and reconstruction of the friendly country and vast majority of people of that country had welcomed this.
India has also contacted the US-led International Security Force deployed in Zabul province where the abduction took place, the Foreign Secretary said.
"We are constantly monitoring the situation," he said, adding Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood was in constant touch with Afghan National Security Adviser and other senior officials besides the employers of Suryanarayan and the telecom company whose project is being executed.
"We would like to assure Suryanarayan's family that no stone is being left unturned to obtain his release. We share their pain and grief and their anxiety and will continue with our efforts using all the resources at hand," he said.
Shocked family members of Suryanarayan, who has two daughters and a son, appealed to the abductors to release him without harm. Suryanarayan's father Chandrashekar urged the government to take immediate steps for his safe release.
An official of Afghan mobile phone company Roshan, which had contracted 'Al Moayyad' to help expand its network across the volatile southern provinces, was quoted as saying by a news agency that his firm had no word on the Indian's fate.
Posted by: john ||
04/29/2006 11:12 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Taliban threatens to kill hostage, wants all Indians to leave Afghanistan
would you like spicy curry with that?
Maybe a few good object lessons for future Islamic kidnappers is needed. If the Indian Special Forces were to disappear the families of the kidnappers and the elders of those villages in the Afghani/Paki tribal areas it would serve as a deterrent.
A US soldier was injured on Friday while Afghan security forces arrested about a dozen suspected Taliban after a firefight in the southern Kandahar province. Separately, Taliban kidnapped an Indian technician and his driver in the same region. Police chief of the Kandahar province Rahmatullah Raufi said they were carrying out an anti-insurgents operation in the Panjwayee district of the province. The recent arrest was part of that operation.
Raufi said the Afghan police and military were assisted by the coalition forces in the operation. The arrested, he said, had been shifted for investigations to the coalition base. He said before the arrest, the militants presented some resistance and in exchange of fire, three Afghan soldiers were wounded, who had been shifted to hospital. He said the operation was still going on.
Meanwhile, one technician of an Indian communication company and his Afghan colleague went missing while traveling in the neighbouring Zabul province on Friday. As soon as the news about the mission of the two workers spread, Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi telephoned to news services and said the two people had been kidnapped by the fighters. Ahmadi said they were kidnapped while traveling on the Kabul-Kandahar Highway in the Zabul province. In the same province, one US soldier was injured when a military helicopter made emergency landing, said a statement release from US' Bagram base in Kabul. The statement said chopper made hard landing due to technical fault. It said the wounded soldier had been medically evacuated to a US medical facility, where his condition is satisfactory.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
Arms are still pouring into Sudan's embattled Darfur region in violation of a UN arms ban, UN experts said on Thursday. The arms come from neighboring countries as well as nations outside the African continent, the panel of four experts said. They urged the Security Council to strengthen the embargo and better enforce it.
Yaaasss, by gum, better enforcement, that's the ticket!
Their latest report mentioned by name only Chad as an arms source, but earlier reports have also cited Eritrea and Libya.
The council imposed an arms embargo on all non-government forces in Darfur in July 2004, to help end a civil war that has raged in the region since February 2003.
Which means the Janjaweed, as an extension of the government, has all the arms it needs.
The conflict has pitted Sudanese rebels against government forces and allied militias, who have killed tens of thousands and driven 2 million people from their homes into miserable camps in Sudan and neighboring Chad.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Shouldn't that read "Arab funded arms are stilling pouring into Sudan embattled Darfur region..."? Just saying that the press and UN should required to report the truth.
Posted by: SPoD ||
04/29/2006 5:56 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Why should they start telling the truth now?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/29/2006 8:07 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Arms are still pouring into Sudan's embattled Darfur region in violation of a UN arms ban
So what's the UN going to do about this violation of it's arms
embargo?
Ummmmmmmmmmmmm... ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... ummmmmmmmmmmm...
Yeah, that's what I thought...
#5
Well, if the UN doesn't care, why don't we join the party? We could probably find some folks in the area who are short of weapons, and maybe could use a bit of training too.
Posted by: James ||
04/29/2006 14:59 Comments ||
Top||
A Moroccan court on Friday postponed the trial of 19 Moroccans who face charges of involvement in an Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group that is blamed for the 2003 bombings in Casablanca. Hearings were not due to start again until June 16, to give some defendants time for medical exams, court officials said. Proceedings originally opened in September.
Prosecutors say the men formed an armed cell of Salafiya Jihadiya, a North African terrorist group that seeks to overthrow Morocco's monarchy and replace it with Islamic rule. The 19 suspects include six who were returned to Morocco recently by authorities in Algeria, which they entered secretly and where they are alleged to have undergone terrorist training with Algeria's GSPC, or Salafist Group for Call and Combat. The Moroccan investigation into those six men uncovered the existence of a large Salafiya Jihadiya cell in Sale, a city near Rabat widely reputed to be a center of militant Islam. The trial is due to take place in Sale. Three other bands of alleged Islamic terrorists have been apprehended in the past three months, a Justice Ministry official said.
Morocco has stepped up its counterterrorism measures following the five near-simultaneous terrorist attacks in Casablanca in May 2003 that killed 45 people, including 12 suicide bombers. Moroccan authorities blame the bombings on Salafiya Jihadiya, believed to be a general name or description of various militant groups, including the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
Apr 28: Two outlawed party leaders were killed in encounter between their cohorts and police in separate places of the district early today (Friday). The deceased were identified as Kabil Hossain alias Kabil, 32, regional leader of Purba Banglar Communist Party (Janajuddha) and Alauddin Alias Ala, regional leader of JSD Gono Bahini.
A commie and a commie look-alike. Why am I not surprised?
Police said they arrested Kabil, wanted in 16 cases including BNP leader Rasul Babu Khan murder, from Savar in Dhaka on Thursday.
"Mahmoud, how does the RAB do it when they arrest someone?"
"Umm, I think they say something like, 'Youse comin' wit us'."
Acting on his statement, ...
... Mahmoud being more than adquate with the pliers despite a lack of RAB training ...
... police took him near Gopalpur GK Canal Bridge in Mirpur upazila here for recovering hidden arms and ammunition.
From the secret lair, of course.
As soon as the police along with Kabil reached the spot at 4am, his cohorts opened fire on the law enforcers in a bid to snatch him.
Exactly on time, and there are the cohorts lying in wait.
Police then returned the fire, triggering a gun battle. Kabil was caught in the shootout and died on the spot, the sources said.
And miracles of miracles, he was the only one hit.
A shutter gun and 10 rounds of bullet were seized from the spot.
A shutter gun? Who broke into the RAB evidence locker?
Bonus Saturday
Police arrested Alauddin, wanted in twelve systems several cases, including murder from his village home at Kazipara in Doulatpur upazila on Thursday.
So not even his mother loved him.
According to his confession police took Alauddin to Piarpur union in the upazila for arresting his cohorts and recovering hidden arms.
Yet another secret lair ...
But as soon as they reached near the spot at about 3.30 am his accomplices opened fire, forcing the law enforcers to fire back.
Local coppers have no fire discipline, unfortunately, so you can guess what happens next ...
Alauddin was caught in the encounter while trying to flee and died on the spot.
"Don't let me be caught in ... [thunk] urp, rosebud!"
One pistol, 12 rounds of bullet and two sharp weapons were seized from the scene.
How many rounds of bullet came from the back of Alauddin's skull wasn't mentioned.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/29/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#2
TU, sounds more like a franchising operation to me. that way they can collect on RAB (TM) thingies, including the much sought after "round of bullet and matching shutter gun." All packaged in a display ready evidence case, of course.
#8
I picture a big sign at the entranceway just inside the doors.
(Arrow pointing right) To dining room, truth spoken here.
(Arrow pointing left) To dining room, Lies and distortions here. (Leads back outside to the back alley, one way door with a spring latch and a very long walk around to the front of the restaurant and parking lot)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/29/2006 18:44 Comments ||
Top||
A group of silly peace and goofy environment campaigners has banded together with a number of federal MPs to urge the Federal Government against supporting military action against Iran.
Friends of the Earth Australia spokesman John Hallam says Foreign Minister Alexander Downer should go one step further and rule out the use of military force. "If military action against Iran is not ruled out, then it will have an entirely perverse effect," he said. "It will guarantee positively that we get the very thing that we say we don't want, namely a bitterly hostile, nuclear-armed Iran."
As opposed to a bitterly hostile, broken Iran.
In a letter to Mr Downer, the group says the Federal Government needs to do everything in its power to discourage the US from any reckless course of action. "The possibility of military action and indeed, still the possibility of even a nuclear strike is very real," Mr Hallam said.
And he would know, inside sources, all that.
"That's not to say that it's going to happen and I hope and pray and trust that it won't but it's on the table and it shouldn't be on the table.
#1
Iranian dissident Nassir Rashidi has argued that what Iran wants is RECOGNITION, vv possession of nuke weapons. Glitch/SNAFU is, by Iran's overt support of radical groups around the ME + World, alleged "recognition" is not the only thing MadMoud and Iran's Mullahs want. THEY WANT EMPIRE, REGIONAL THEN GLOBAL,TOTALITARIAN, AND EMPIRE AT THE EXPENSE OF ALL OTHER MUSLIM INTERESTS OR NATIONS. Meanwhile, FREEREPUBLIC and WND.com quotes the Muslim reporter whom interveiwed Osama THAT IRAN HAD BOUGHT QUANTITIES OF SUITCASE NUKES FROM THE RUSSIAN MAFIAS/BLACK MARKET, THAT SAID NUKES WILL BE USED TO ATTACK AMERICA IFF IRAN IS ATTACKED, THAT MANY SAID NUKES MAY ALREADY HAD BEEN PRE-POSITIONED INSIDE AMERICA, AND THAT IRAN AND BIN LADEN MAY HAVE HINDREDS OF "SLEEPER AGENTS" vv PRO-AL QAEDA US-BASED/DOMESTIC RADICAL GROUPS-MOSQUES WAITING FOR ORDERS TO ATTACK. IOW, as said before Hillary and the Dems will be POTUSes becuz they weirdly and mysteriously survived GOP-caused/blamed new 9-11/s = Amer Hiroshimas, where Dubya, the GOP, and anti-Clinton/OWG Congress were felled in PC assassination attempts disguised as "decapitation strikes" or "massed terror strikes". OH, DUBYA, CAN WE HAVE A DRAFT NOW!?
#2
Would these people be willing to put their lives on the line, like they want the rest of us to do, by allowing islamic imperialists to arm with nuclear weapons. Would they pledge that in case Iran gets nuclear weapons that they and their families volunteer to have their heads chopped off? Seems the least they can do for sentencing millions to die in the coming nuclear fires.
Posted by: ed ||
04/29/2006 1:10 Comments ||
Top||
#3
I've got the solution: human shields. Your burkas are waiting.
Belgium has refused US advice to place armed guards at Belgian nuclear sites. Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell urged Belgium in 2004 to place armed guards at nuclear facilities. But the federal government rejected the advice in January this year after consulting with all involved authorities.
#1
Not good - Muslims were arrested in the Netherlands and Germany after asking university, industry, and government personages for nuclear tech secrets, including how to build "dirty bombs" [NBC] and how to deliver in secret.
#8
Hey, Moslems don't exterminate (as opposed to casual killings) useful dhimmis. These radioactive materials will be used on infidels who refuse to be domesticated*.
*IMO, Moslems' attitude to infidels is widely misunderstood. We're not human to them---we're animals: wild and dangerous (e.g. Great and Little Satans), or domesticated and useful.
The State Department on Friday announced the addition of the aliases Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD) and Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq (IKK) to the specially designated global terrorist (SDGT) group Lashkhar-e-Tayyiba (LET). The action "blocks all property, and interests in property, of JUD and IKK that are in the United States, or come within the United States, or come under the control of U.S. persons," the department announced. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice took the action in consultation with the U.S. Attorney General, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Department of Homeland Security.
LET is one of the three largest and best trained groups fighting in Kashmir against India, the department said. After the Secretary of State's designation of LET as a terrorist organization in 2001 and the Pakistani government's banning the group, LET renamed itself JUD in order to evade sanctions, the department said. JUD established IKK as a public welfare organization that it utilizes to collect funds and undertake other activities, the department said. LET has been sanctioned by the United Nations for its association with al-Qaeda.
Amidst escalating violence between the LTTE and Sri Lankan military, Scandinavian truce monitors said government forces had violated a ceasefire agreement by launching air strikes against Tamil Tigers and were also involved in "extra-judicial" killings of civilians.
"The air strikes that were conducted by the Sri Lankan government in Trincomalee district on Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) targets in Sampoor area on April 25 and 26, 2006 are a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement," a statement from the Scandinavian Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) said.
"We also fear that government security forces have, in the North and the East, been involved in extra-judicial killings of civilians. This conviction is based on our observation and inquiries on the ground," the SLMM said.
The Sri Lankan military launched strikes from the air, sea and land after a woman suicide bomber attempted to assassinate the army commander Sarath Fonseka on Tuesday, killing 11 people and injuring 30.
The military also claimed that the LTTE was firing at their camps in the Trincomalee area and that their bombardment was in response to that.
The truce monitors urged the government "to refrain from such operations as they can jeopardise the ceasefire further and will only add fuel to the conflict."
Posted by: john ||
04/29/2006 13:15 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
But suicide bombing by the Tigers is not?
Posted by: john ||
04/29/2006 13:19 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Both parties blew off their hinges a long time ago.
Nearly 200 CPI (Maoist) guerrillas virtually besieged Jandaha town, about 60 km from Patna, for a couple of hours, attacked a police station and made an abortive bid to loot a bank before retreating.
The naxalites descended on Jandaha in Vaishali district just past midnight and opened a barrage of fire at the police station prompting a retaliation by the policemen.
A group of naxalites then headed for Canara bank branch located in the main market and broke open the locks at the main gate after injuring a chowkidar, Vaishali Superintendent of Police Preeta Verma said from Jandaha.
She claimed the naxalites, however, could not not loot the money due to timely arrival of reinforcements and beat a retreat after nearly two hours of intermittent exchange of fire with the police.
Earlier, DIG (Tirhut range) Gupteshwar Pandey, who too rushed to the spot from Muzaffarpur, had said that the naxalites succeeded in looting the bank after injurying two guards.
The injured chowkidar has been rushed to Hajipur, headquarters of Vaishali district, for treatment.
The Maoist rebels used loudspeakers to warn the people against venturing out of their homes during the operation saying they had nothing against the public.
In an audacious operation, the Maoist rebels had raided the Jehanabad sub-jail and freed nearly 400 inmates, including a large number of their cadres on 13th November last year.
Posted by: john ||
04/29/2006 08:48 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Interesting.. 200 guerillas operating just 60 km from an Indian state capital
Posted by: john ||
04/29/2006 8:51 Comments ||
Top||
#2
The capital of the most lawless state in the country, though.
At least thirteen people have been killed while the fate of 37 others, who were among 52 people taken hostage by CPI(M) Naxalites on Tuesday in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, was still not known.
"We have recovered 13 bodies from near the Manikonta village of Erroabore police station, about 550 kms from the state capital," Dornapal police station sources told to a news agency by phone.
The outlawed Maoists had killed two persons yesterday, they said adding, 37 villagers who were kidnapped from the village from opposing naxalites were released.
"The released villagers are in a state of shock and are not (not) able to tell where they were and how they were treated," the sources said.
Senior officials have rushed to the spot as Chief Minister Raman Singh and many of his Ministers and top officials are in district headquarters in Dantewada in connection with a meeting of Bastar development authority.
About 60 villagers, who are staying in Dornapal relief camps, had gone to their Manikonta village to look after their belongings on 25th April.
The Maoists, who were present in the village, surrounded them and assaulted them, police said.
About three men and five women escaped and ran to nearby jungles and reached Dornapal relief camp and then informed the police.
These villagers were staying in government relief camps after naxal threat and were participating in peace campaign against the Maoists in Dantewada and Bijapur districts.
Posted by: john ||
04/29/2006 08:46 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Of course Human Rights Watch will say nothing about this.
Posted by: john ||
04/29/2006 8:52 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Of course not. Why jeopardise their fund-raising?
#3
Well, it is the weekend and the season's starting soon. Chances are they're very busy getting those primo rentals in the Hamptons nailed down and won't possibly have the time to make a statement on this.
Islamabad, April 29: Pakistan on Saturday test-fired a nuclear-capable, surface-to-surface ballistic missile with a range of 2,000 km, an official statement said.
"Pakistan today carried out a successful test fire of its long-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile Hatf VI (Shaheen II) with outstanding results," said the statement, issued by the military's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
It said the missile test had been conducted to validate additional technical parameters beyond those verified in the last test-firing in March 2005.
The Hatf VI is a two-stage solid fuel missile which can carry nuclear and conventional warheads with high accuracy, the statement said. An advanced version has a potential range of 2,500 km.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz witnessed the test, which took place at an undisclosed location.
Posted by: john ||
04/29/2006 07:44 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Solid fuel 'eh? Fellas are making big strides, must be the educational reform, or like John implies maybe it's a NORK test of a stonlen Chinee design.
From video stills, it seems they are still using sharp, pencil shaped nose cones - their reentry technology is quite primitive.
Compare this with the Indian Agni-2 nose
- carbon fibre ablative, blunt nose cone (for higher reentry speed) with fins and thrusters (for RV manuevering).
Posted by: john ||
04/29/2006 22:17 Comments ||
Top||
HYDERABAD: Police shot and killed nine Maoist rebels, including six women, when the guerrillas attacked a patrol in southern India, officials said on Friday. Police said it was the largest number of Maoist rebels killed in a single incident this year and said the dead may include some senior Maoist leaders.
The gun-battle took place in the forests of Kadapa district, 500 kilometers southeast of Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh state. "In the ensuing exchange of fire, which lasted an hour, nine Maoists were killed on the spot, while others managed to escape," senior police official Y Nagi Reddy said.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
PESHAWAR: A local court on Friday cancelled the bail applications of an Egyptian engineer and seven members of his family who were detained by an intelligence agency a year ago. The engineer had presented the applications to the court on April 18. The court also rejected the bail petitions of two Tajik boys Saeed Akbar, 14, alias Hussain and Khalid Maroof, 17. The boys were arrested by the Pakistan Army in October 2004 in South Waziristan from a Madrassa.
The court of judicial magistrate Malik Amjad Raheem took up the ten bail petitions of the Egypt and Tajikistan nationals. Their counsel, Fida Gul, stated that the intelligence agencies picked up the entire Egyptian family from their home situated in the Charsadda district of NWFP. Gul said that all the members of the family were taken away and they were not given a chance to present their legal documents of their stay in Pakistan. He said the two Tajik boys were underage and were staying in the tribal area for their religious education. He requested the court to accept the bail applications of the foreigners, as only then would they be able to prove their legal entry and stay in Pakistan.
The court turned down the bail applications including those of the women and children when the prosecution told the court that bail to foreigners was not allowed under the 14 Foreigners Act, 1946.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri again reiterated Pakistans stance, and said that it was not involved in insurgency in Afghanistan. In an interview with BBC on Friday, Kasuri rejected the Afghan governments allegations and termed them baseless stories, aimed at vitiating ties between the two countries. He said, We have strong commitment against terrorism and extremists and that commitment is in terms of the losses that we have suffered and there have been attempts on President Pervez Musharrafs life. He said there was no particular reason for Afghan President Karzai to give such irresponsible statements against Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
No reason to mame those statements about Pakistan except, it's true Mahmood.
Posted by: SPoD ||
04/29/2006 4:46 Comments ||
Top||
#2
I believe Mahmood. I also feel just like a king every time I eat Imperial margarine. How do you like my crown?
Police have arrested three members of the banned Harkatul Mujahedin al-Almi group, and seized three pistols and a hand grenade. The suspects included Khizar Jamal, who has Rs 500,000 bounty on his head, and his accomplices Mohammad Haris and Sharjeel, police said on Friday. The group was thought to be responsible for the June 2002 bombing outside US Consulate in Karachi which killed 12 Pakistanis.
Meanwhile, police have detained more than 50 people in a crackdown on Islamic extremists following the suicide bombing at a religious gathering earlier this month which killed 57 people, an official said. The detainees include hardline members of both Sunni and Shia radical groups, Sindh provincial government spokesman Salahuddin Haider said. Around 50 people from different Islamic groups have been detained, some of them for questioning in relation to the April 12 Nishtar Park attack, he said. Investigators are moving fast. They may have found some lead before they decided to round up suspects for questioning.
Karachi police chief Niaz Siddiqi said there had not been any arrests in connection with the bombing, but that many people were being questioned. Earlier, police announced the arrest of four members of the banned Hizbut Tahrir group for printing hate material. Authorities in Karachi seized pamphlets, sealed a printing press and arrested its owner, suspected group member Arshad Salim, police officer Mohammad Boota said. Three other group members, Shahid Mohammad Sheikh, Syed Munawar Saleh and Amir Ahmed, have also been detained, he said. They have been arrested under anti-terrorism act for printing material creating hatred against the state, he said. The group blames President Pervez Musharraf for victimising Islamic groups.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
QUETTA: Suspected tribal militants hijacked a bus with 26 passengers, headed from Chaman to Quetta, near the Pir Alizai forest area on Friday. Levies sources said that dozen of unidentified men blocked the main road and stopped the bus. They beat up the driver and drove away the bus to an unknown location.
Bus owner Abdul Waseh said he had no personal grudge or enmity with anyone, fearing that dacoits and Afghan refugees dwelling in Pir Alizai forest area had kidnapped the bus. Levies registered a first information report and a law enforcement agency is investigating the case.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
Just nine days before al-Qaida in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi released his latest video, a special operations raid killed five of his men, captured five others and apparently came within a couple of city blocks of nabbing Zarqawi himself.
Then, the day Zarqawis video debuted, special ops forces killed 12 more of his troops in a second raid in the same town.
The raids in Yusufiyah, 20 miles southwest of Baghdad in the heart of the Sunni Triangle, were the latest battles in a small, vicious war being waged largely in the shadows of the wider counterinsurgency effort.
It is a war fought by a secretive organization called Task Force 145, made up of some of the most elite U.S. troops, including Delta Force and SEAL Team 6. They have one goal: hunting down Zarqawi, Iraqs most wanted man, and destroying his al-Qaida in Iraq organization.
Zarqawis escape in Yusufiyah was not the first time special ops troops have nearly had him. In early 2005, they came so close they could see the Jordanians panicked face as he fled.
The first of the two Yusufiyah raids began at 2:15 a.m. April 16 when SEAL Team 6 operators and Army Rangers approached a terrorist safe house, a U.S. special operations source said.
A U.S. Central Command news release said coalition forces the usual shorthand for Task Force 145 elements were searching for a wanted al-Qaida associate.
When the U.S. troops arrived, the enemy opened fire with small arms. In the fight that followed, the special ops troops killed five terrorists, three of whom wore suicide belts, according to Central Command. Two of the suicide bombers were killed before either could detonate his vest, and the third detonated his body bomb, killing only himself and injuring no one else, the news release said.
A woman in the house also was killed. Three other women and a child were wounded and were medically evacuated to the 10th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad.
U.S. forces detained five other occupants, one of whom was wounded. One of the five was later confirmed as the wanted al-Qaida terrorist for whom the troops were searching, according to Central Command.
The terrorist, whose name is currently being withheld, was involved in the planning and execution of improvised explosive device attacks and allegedly was associated with al-Qaida foreign fighter operations, the command said. The other four suspects are being assessed for knowledge of and involvement in terrorist activity, the news release said.
Yusufiyah is Zarqawi country. Indeed, intelligence later suggested the terrorist kingpin was probably 1,000 meters away at the time of the raid, a special operations source said. Rest at link.
Posted by: ed ||
04/29/2006 07:16 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
At the rate that they kill these guys, how much longer can they hold out?
#5
But McChrystal wants more combat power, and has asked that a battalion task force of the 82nd Airborne Division be placed at TF 145s disposal, two special operations sources said.
Multi-National Forces-Iraq does not comment on proposed force deployments, Army Capt. Bill Roberts, an MNF-I spokesman, wrote in an e-mail response to questions from Military Times.
However, an Army colonel confirmed that MNF-I placed a request in mid-April for a three-battalion light-infantry task force, with communications, transportation, military police, medical, human intelligence and psychological operations enablers.
They want to turn the whole 82nd into spec ops support?
#6
ave when his vehicle came into view. He and his driver blew through a Delta roadblock before nearing a Ranger checkpoint. The Ranger M240B machine-gunner had Zarqawi in his sights and requested permission to fire, but the lieutenant in charge of the checkpoint did not give the OK because he did not have positive ID of the vehicles occupants, a TF 145 source said.
#7
Meanwhile, Zarqawi also hungers for more personnel. Al-Qaida is trying to get some other people to him through Iran some planners, some trainers, the special ops source said.
The Iranian government knows about this, and despite Zarqawis violence against fellow Shiites in Iraq, the Iranians have decided to allow the transit of al-Qaida personnel, the source said, calling it a marriage of convenience.
JSOC knew of insurgent training camps in both Syria and Iran that TF 145 could hit, the source said, but politics had kept the task force from launching cross-border missions.
#8
A couple of big thermobaric bombs on those training camps while they are training dropped without warning - say by steath, would leave little actionable evidence and could be denied or ignored.
#11
"...special operations raid killed five of his men, captured five others ... the day Zarqawis video debuted, special ops forces killed 12 more of his troops in a second raid in the same town."
"Ah shucks, we missed Zarky Boy again" is offset by the good news that our boys at least bagged 17 of Zarky's boys.
#12
'...did not give the OK because he did not have positive ID'
Combined with another current article on BBC regarding the Diyala/Baqubah battle(s):
"In one of Thursday's attacks, gunmen reportedly pulled up at a checkpoint posing as a wedding party in a convoy of vehicles, one of which was decorated with ribbons and flowers. They then sprayed the checkpoint with bullets"
show how effective the propaganda war has been for the AIF. We and our Iraqi trainees are so spooked by the threat of more bad PR (whether incidents are real tragedies or theatre) that they are hesitant to pull the trigger, resulting in escaped AQ leaders and dead IA soldiers.
#13
Top narrowly escapes, Zaqawai narrowly escapes, everyone narrowly escapes, including Saddam a few times. There are major holes in our intelligence community. Time to figure where the holes are. How hard is that given this much time? We know many self-righteous, self-important people in the CIA would be willing do do this.
Give different information to different people and see which info makes it to the enemy front lines. Then narrow it down to the specific individuals and then track how the information gets there. I'm sure they know how to do that and yet still the information gets out. Must be at a very, very high level which should narrow down the suspects a bit.
#16
A US Army or Marine division at normal or wartime strength, before during and after the Cold War, was always ascribed by analysts as the approxi equivalent of a NATO/Euro-CORPS or Soviet Ground Army(s).
Al Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri says hundreds of suicide bombers have "broken America's back" in three years of war in Iraq.
The statement has been made in a videotape posted on the Internet.
The video comes just days after the broadcast of an audio tape from Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and a rare video from the group's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
"Al Qaeda in Iraq alone has carried out 800 martyrdom operations in three years, besides the victories of the other mujahideen," Zawahri said.
"This is what has broken the back of America in Iraq."
Many thousands of Iraqis have been killed in a relentless insurgent campaign of suicide and car bombings that mostly target US soldiers and Iraq's fledgling security forces.
Nearly 2,400 American soldiers have died in Iraq since the US-led invasion in 2003, many by roadside bombs.
"America, Britain and their allies have achieved nothing but losses, disasters and misfortunes," the Egyptian Islamic militant leader said in the video.
Musharraf criticised
In the video, Zawahri also calls for the overthrow of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who has survived several Al Qaeda-inspired assassination attempts since allying himself with the US.
Pakistan has captured or killed hundreds of Al Qaeda members.
"The West, which claims to support democracy ... is encouraging Musharraf to stay in power by any means after he demonstrated his aptitude at killing Muslims," he said in the video, which carries English subtitles.
"I call on the Pakistani people to stand with Islam against the Zionist-crusader assault ... and topple this bribe-taking treacherous criminal."
Zawahri and bin Laden are believed to be hiding in restive tribal borders areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
"Musharraf is fanning the flames of civil war in Pakistan on behalf of America in Waziristan and Baluchistan," he said, referring to areas where the Pakistani Government has fought tribal forces with ties to Al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban.
"He is inviting the Pakistani Army to fight its own people and brothers and turn a blind eye to the Indian threat."
In his last Internet message in March, Zawahri called for attacks on the West, urging similar strikes as those against New York, London and Madrid.
#3
That's why Al-Qaeda's left Iraq -- nothing left to do. And that's why they're freaking out in Wazoostan. Hey, Al-Qaeda: read up on the Bar-Kochbar rebellion.
#4
ARTHUR: I command you as King of the Britons to stand aside!
BLACK KNIGHT: I move for no man.
ARTHUR: So be it!
[hah]
[parry thrust]
[ARTHUR chops the BLACK KNIGHT's left arm off]
ARTHUR: Now stand aside, worthy adversary.
BLACK KNIGHT: 'Tis but a scratch.
ARTHUR: A scratch? Your arm's off!
BLACK KNIGHT: No, it isn't.
ARTHUR: Well, what's that then?
BLACK KNIGHT: I've had worse.
ARTHUR: You liar!
BLACK KNIGHT: Come on you pansy!
[hah]
[parry thrust]
[ARTHUR chops the BLACK KNIGHT's right arm off]
ARTHUR: Victory is mine!
[kneeling]
We thank thee Lord, that in thy merc-
[hah]
BLACK KNIGHT: Come on then.
ARTHUR: What?
BLACK KNIGHT: Have at you!
ARTHUR: You are indeed brave, Sir knight, but the fight is mine.
BLACK KNIGHT: Oh, had enough, eh?
ARTHUR: Look, you stupid bastard, you've got no arms left.
BLACK KNIGHT: Yes I have.
ARTHUR: Look!
BLACK KNIGHT: Just a flesh wound.
[bang]
ARTHUR: Look, stop that.
BLACK KNIGHT: Chicken! Chicken!
ARTHUR: Look, I'll have your leg. Right!
[whop]
BLACK KNIGHT: Right, I'll do you for that!
ARTHUR: You'll what?
BLACK KNIGHT: Come 'ere!
ARTHUR: What are you going to do, bleed on me?
BLACK KNIGHT: I'm invincible!
ARTHUR: You're a loony.
BLACK KNIGHT: The Black Knight always triumphs!
Have at you! Come on then.
[whop]
[ARTHUR chops the BLACK KNIGHT's other leg off]
BLACK KNIGHT: All right; we'll call it a draw.
ARTHUR: Come, Patsy.
BLACK KNIGHT: Oh, oh, I see, running away then. You yellow
bastards! Come back here and take what's coming to you.
I'll bite your legs off!
#7
Hehe Penguin.
Brokeback Jihad: "Ayman got your back."
Posted by: ed ||
04/29/2006 10:57 Comments ||
Top||
#8
"America, Britain and their allies have achieved nothing but losses, disasters and misfortunes,"
Let's see... in late September 2001 (right after 9/11) the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped to about 8,200, the Taliban owned Afghanistan, and Saddam owned Iraq. Today the Dow is at 11,300, the remains of the Taliban is operating from mud huts along the border, and Saddam is on trial and facing a noose. Libya gave up nuke ambitions, Syria gave up Lebannon, and Gaza and Iran are setting themselves up as big targets. Quakin' in my boots, Zawari.
Al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri has lashed out at US President George W Bush accusing him of giving a "strong impetus" to India's nuclear programme while "doling out orders" to Pakistan.
In a video released on a Jihadist website, Zawahiri pointed to a visit by Bush in March to New Delhi during which he signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with India.
"He gives a strong impetus to the Indian nuclear programme, while doling out orders to Pakistan," the Al-Qaeda leader said on Friday.
Posted by: john ||
04/29/2006 12:23 Comments ||
Top||
#11
I'm wondering if maybe, just maybe, Z-man is being let 'escape' in ordr to let him lead 'coalition forces' to other (not-so) safe houses to finish the extermination of the pests, and then when the law of diminishing returns kicks in, it will ge Rosebud time for Z. just sayin, is all......
#13
Z-Man oughta run for President as a Democrat! He'd probably finish no worse than fourth in the primaries and maybe get shortlisted for the Veep slot.
#14
Well, he's definitely on message. A couple of appearances on the Bill Maher show and some background articles in the NYT and he's definitely in the running.
Posted by: Matt ||
04/29/2006 16:14 Comments ||
Top||
#15
He'd have to pin all his hopes on Iowa and New Hampshire, Z ain't gonna run well in South Carolina.
Two Iraqi civilians were injured in two separate bomb blasts in Northern Iraq Friday, a police source said. He told KUNA the first blast occured in Huwaija west of Kirkuk while the other took place on the highway between Kirkuk and Tikrit. Two civilians were injured in the bomb attacks, which targeted patrols of the multi-national forces and the Iraqi police.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
Multi-national forces in Iraq announced on Friday the killing of a major al-Qaeda leader in Samarra'a, northern Baghdad. In a statement by the multi-national forces released here, a copy of which was received by KUNA today, it indicated that joint US-Iraqi troops killed on Friday morning Hammadi Al-Nesani, a leader in al-Qaeda and a wanted person for the Iraqi government.
I never liked him anyway. I'm glad he's dead. Glad, I tells yez!
The statement added that based on accurate intelligence information, resulted in the killing of Al-Nesani and two of his associates in a hideout, after pursuit by joint forces in Al-Rasasi area, 15 kilometers northern Samarra'a.
And they deserved it, too, the bastards!
The statement cleared out that the storming operation also resulted in finding guns and explosives. According to the statement Al-Nesani is al-Qaeda group leader in Tikrit province, northern Baghdad.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/29/2006 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Al-Q's upper and middle management are really taking a beating this year. They should look into an executive training program, something like GE has. Maybe they could call in a consulting firm.
#2
Al Q is on the wrong side of the numbers to make up the kind of management attrition they've been going through post-invasion, Chutch Jomoque9164. It's my understanding, although of course I've never had to actually deal with such issues myself (for which we all pause a moment in gratitude), that under normal conditions it takes a bright young management type six months to learn his/her new assignment, and another six months to truly master the details and become competent enough to train subordinates. At the end of that first year he might be ready to train a replacement. Al Q's brightest were trained and in place around the world at the time of the 9/11 attacks. since then, they have been hounded, arrested, betrayed, wounded and killed -- all over the world -- at a steady pace. Many of their best are already gone, and the replacements often haven't had time to master their new assignments -- often enough without the benefit of proper training from superiours equally new to their responsibilities. Yes, there has been a surfeit of eager volunteers for jihad, but how many of those are not only appallingly ignorant for the tasks they wish to undertake, but mentally lacking as well (especially those coming across the border from Saudi Arabia, world capitol of the multiply self-related individual)?
BINANGUN, Indonesia : One of Southeast Asia's most wanted fugitives Noordin Mohammad Top narrowly escaped capture by Indonesian police in a raid that saw two of his top aides killed, police said. The elusive Malaysian-born militant, accused of masterminding a series of deadly terror attacks including the 2002 Bali bombing, was not at the house he had been frequenting in Central Java's sleepy Binangun village, they said. "We carried out a raid on a group we have been looking for. There was a shootout. Two people died in the shootout," national police chief Sutanto told reporters in remarks broadcast on ElShinta radio.
Dramatic footage broadcast on local ANTV showed dozens of black-clad elite police and snipers surrounding the blue-trimmed home shaded by banana palms and several small explosions detonating inside. A police-detonated blast blew out one of the wooden doors and police were seen dragging a shirtless man through a window and taking him out into the street. It was not clear whether he was one of two men detained in the raid.
Noordin was believed to have been a top recruiter for the Al-Qaeda linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) regional extremist network but analysts believe both he and his now-dead main accomplice Azahari Husin may have split off to form an even more radical group. He most recently evaded capture by police last November, days after Azahari was killed in a hail of gunfire by police at his East Java hideout in Batu. At the time, police swooped on a house where Noordin had reportedly stayed only a day earlier but found only documents and ammunition. The militant -- variously described by police as clean-shaven, bearded or moustachioed -- was also believed to have given police the slip by a matter of hours in the Central Java capital Semarang, just before Azahari was killed.
Police spokesman Bambang Kuncoko told reporters in Jakarta that an elite anti-terror unit and regular police surrounded the rented hideout, located about 400 kilometres (250 miles) south of the capital Jakarta, before dawn. About three hours later, at about 6:00 am (2300 GMT Friday), an exchange of fire broke out between police and those in the house, he said. "Police believed there were five people inside the house, but we later found only four. We had hoped that when the raid took place, Noordin M. Top would be there but it turned out he was not," Kuncoko said.
The two militants killed Saturday were identified by police as Abdul Hadi, alias Bambang, and Jabir, while the captured men were named as Solahuddin and Mustagfirin. The spokesman said Abdul Hadi was on the police's wanted list and had been a "right hand man" of both Noordin and Azahari. He said Hadi was "tasked with bomb-making and spreading terror." Sutanto, speaking to reporters at the site, said Hadi's work "was to recruit new candidates for suicide bombings."
Kuncoko said Jabir was also a top aide to the Malaysian pair and was involved in the 2004 bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta, which saw 11 bystanders killed. He was a cousin of JI member Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi, who was killed in a battle with Filipino troops in October 2003. Solahuddin meanwhile was a close confidant of Azahari and, along with Jabir, had conducted several bomb attacks, including on the Atrium Senen mall in Jakarta in August 2001, the spokesman said. Nobody was killed in that attack. He said the fourth man had also been involved in several attacks.
The men had rented the house for the past month, he added. National deputy police spokesman Anton Bahrul Alam told AFP that the hunt for Noordin was continuing. Police later erected a wall of plywood around the house, obstructing views from the road. Residents told AFP that the bodies had not yet been taken out of the house.
Eight fundamentalist Islamist organizations have received large sums of money in the last month from the Iranian intelligence services, as part of a project to strike U.S military and economic installations across the Middle East Asharq Al-Awsat has learned.
The plan, which also includes the carrying out of suicide operations targeting US and British interests in the region, as well as their Arab and Muslim allies, in case Iran is attacked, was drawn up by a number of experts in guerilla warfare and terrorist operations, and was revealed by a senior source in the Iranian armed forces' joint chief of staff headed by the veterinary doctor Hassan Firouzabadi.
The source added that the forces of the Revolutionary Guards al Quds Brigades, under Brigadier General Qassim Suleimani is responsible for coordinating and providing logistical support for the groups taking part in the execution of the plan, codenamed al Qiyamah the Islamic word for "Judgment Day".
The plan includes three steps, which Asharq al Awsat has examined in earlier reports. The source gave more details about how the plan will be implemented. He said, "Most of Irans visitors in the last four months, including the leaders of revolutionary groups in Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon, as well as the heads of Hezbollah cells in the Persian Gulf and Europe and North America were asked, when they met with the Iranian intelligence minister Gholamhossein Mohseni Ezhei and his aides: are you ready to defend the Islamic revolution and vilayat e faqih? If you agree to take part in the great jihad, what would you need to be ready for the great fight?"
Amongst the leaders who visited were the head of one of the Iraqi armed group who was very clear and honest. He said his men would transform Iraq into a hell for the Americans if Iran were attacked.
The source also said that the military training camps of the Guards were opened for the fighters of the Mehdi army in Iran to receive the necessary training. Iran had also increased its financial assistance to Moqtada al Sadr to more than 20 million dollars.
The same applied to Islamic Jihad in Palestine which has received large sums of money, large quantities of arms and military training for its cadres in Isfahan, including street fighting methods.
As for the Lebanese Hezbollah, several loads of arms have been sent to; they include rockets, explosives, and guided missiles. Hezbollah's arsenal includes more than 10 thousand rockets short-range rockets and missiles including types Fajr, Nour, Arash, Hadid.
An estimated 80 members underwent private training last year on how to carry out suicide operations from the air (through the use of kite planes) and undersea operations using submarines.
While denying that Hamas had joined the list of organizations ready to help Iran in its likely war with the U.S, the source indicated that the external success of the movement, which enjoys considerable Iranian support both financial and military, was strengthened following the latest visit by its leaders to Tehran. This was translated in the Palestinian masses support for Iran, against Israel and the United States.
According to Iran, the latest military plan includes:
1- A missile strike directly targeting the US bases in the Persian Gulf and Iraq , as soon as nuclear installations are hit.
2- Suicide operations in a number of Arab and Muslim countries against US embassies and missions and US military bases and economic and oil installations related to US and British companies. The campaign might also target the economic and military installations of countries allied with the United States.
3- Launch attacks by the Basij and the Revolutionary Guards and Iraqi fighters loyal to Iran against US and British forces in Iraq, from border regions in central and southern Iraq.
4- Hezbollah to launch hundreds of rockets against military and economic targets in Israel.
According to the source, in case the US military attacks continue, more than 50 Shehab-3 missiles will be targeted against Israel and the al Quads Brigades will give the go-ahead for more than 50 terrorists cells in Canada, the US and Europe to attack civil and industrial targets in these countries.
What about the last stage in the plan?
Here, the Iranian source hesitated before saying with worry; this stage might represent the beginning of a world war, given that extremists will seek to maximize civilian casualties by exploding germ and chemical bombs as well as dirty nuclear bombs across western and Arab cities. A little minnow in a big friggin' pond.
#2
I know the U.S. won't do this and I know it would kill many innocent, but I would like the U.S. to start at the Iran border and scorch earth everthing from border to border, then turn to the world and say anybody else want to see Judgement Day.
#5
OK, so here is a plan: we coordinate with Israel so that at H-Hour, the following are attacked and destroyed simultaneously:
1.) Israel destroys every known Hezbollah training camp, launching site, outpost, everything.
2) US attacks and destroys every anti air missile site; radar site; power plant; Basiji training camp, outpost or outhouse; naval installation; missile launch site; mullah hideout, presidential palace/outhouse, etc.
3) Iraqi and coalition forces take out every militia in Iraq controlled by or loyal to Iran, including al Sadr.
Yeah, it won't stop all counter attacks, but it sure will put a dent in Iran's ability to harm us.
#8
It's amazing that since '79 this piece of shite country has turned the world into a terrorist cesspool. Imagine the day when Iran is peaceful and many Palestinian groups no longer have a quick and easy supplier of weapons and cash. I hope we don't go alone.
#9
Here, the Iranian source hesitated before saying with worry; this stage might represent the beginning of a world war, given that extremists will seek to maximize civilian casualties by exploding germ and chemical bombs as well as dirty nuclear bombs across western and Arab cities.
Sounds like a direct threat to employ WMDs to me. Does anyone else hear this?
#10
Yes they are threatening to use WMDs. They don't care since they believe that their actions will bring about the end of the world and they'll all join Allah in paradise.
No rational conversation is possible.
They don't want to live. They want everybody to die.
So what do those who love life on Earth do? remember, no discussion is possible, and their highest purpose is to die while killing us. What shall we do? wait, or kill them before it's too late?
#11
Well, apparently what we do is make snarky videos, hate Bush, and wish really hard that nothing happens. That seems to be the oh-so-brilliant Left's plan, anyway.
#12
Only Mother Hillary and Girley Man =Men Gore, etal. can save us Fascist = Half-A-Commie, Rightist = Half-A-Leftie, Libertarianist Democratist = Regulatory Totalitarianist, Federalist = Centralist, Cops/Judges = Mafiosi, .............................@etc, defective Clintonian Amerikan Socialist pseudoCommie Male Brutes from ourselves. Surviving GOP-caused/blamed Amer Hiroshimas = Saving [SSSSHHHHH, Socialist] America from Fascist GOP-caused/blamed nuclear brinkmanship. AFTER ALL, WE MERE LOWLY MEN ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYTHING WRONG IN THE WORLD. ITS OUR FAULT WORLD SOCIALISM IS DYING BECUZ WOMEN, GOVTS, INSTITUTIONS, AND SOCIETY AT LARGE TELL US WE MERE MEN ARE NOT NEEDED FOR ANYTHING - you know, Universal, Genderless, Alternatist, Lefty Androgeny and Humanist Equalism.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are mentioned in the Bible in chapter six of the Book of Revelation, which predicts that they will ride during the Apocalypse. The four horsemen are traditionally named War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death
From the King James Version of the Bible, Revelation chapter 6, verses 1 to 8 :
1. And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2. And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
3. And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.
4. And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.
5. And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.
7. And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8. And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
The word used to describe the color of the 'pale' horse is the Greek word chloros or green. It is meant to convey the sickly green tinge of the deathly ill or recently dead.
Four sets of horses were also mentioned in The Book of Zechariah. The coincidence of the location of the passage, Chapter 6 verses 1-8
Of course with my background I would expect Ragnarok described briefly here
Iran there would map into dwellers of Muspell.
Thor and his hammer ...
Iran has refused to stop uranium enrichment after a UN report said it had done little or nothing to prove it was not developing nuclear weapons. Instead, it repeated a long-standing offer to let international inspectors make unannounced checks as long as the UN Security Council - invoked by the West several months ago to put pressure on Iran - dropped the case.
Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), delivered a report on Friday saying UN checks in Iran had been hampered and Tehran had rebuffed requests to stop making nuclear fuel.
Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, told state television that Iran wanted the Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions, to pass the case back down to the IAEA.
"If the case returns to the agency (IAEA) again, we will begin the section that concerns the Additional Protocol," Mr Saeedi said. The Additional Protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty allows short-notice inspections of nuclear facilities.
"The enrichment will continue. But ... we will continue implementing the Additional Protocol as a voluntary measure," Mr Saeedi added.
"If they change their decision and choose the wise path, and the case returns to the IAEA, we believe we can solve all the issues mentioned in ElBaradei's eight-page report very quickly."
Iran insists that it is merely using its sovereign right to enrich uranium at a low level to use as fuel in power stations - and not aiming for the highly enriched form that could power a warhead.
The major world powers say it must first prove, after years of conducting illicit nuclear research in secret, that it is not developing a nuclear bomb - and that it can only do this by suspending all nuclear enrichment.
'Unable to make progress'
Dr ElBaradei's report said the IAEA was "unable to make progress in its efforts to provide assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran".
"The existing gaps in knowledge continue to be a matter of concern," it added.
"Any progress in that regard requires full transparency and active cooperation by Iran. These transparency measures are not yet forthcoming."
Western diplomats at the United Nations in New York have said they plan to introduce a resolution to the Security Council within a week giving legal force to the Council's demands. The United States, backed by Britain and France, support limited sanctions but the other two veto-wielding permanent Council members, Russia and China, are more guarded. The foreign ministers of the five permanent members will meet, along with Germany, on May 9, the United States said on Friday.
An EU diplomat in Vienna dismissed Saeedi's suggestion of returning to the situation that existed before Western powers carried out their threat to go to the Security Council.
"The international community has made very clear what steps Iran is required to take: they are a full suspension of all enrichment-related activity and provision of transparency that is overdue and essential," he said.
But China's ambassador to the United Nations, Wang Guangya, told the the official Xinhua News Agency in New York on Friday that consideration of sanctions or military measures would not help to resolve the issue.
He said the international community and the Security Council must establish a "better means to defuse the current crisis".
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated that Iran would never give up its right to peaceful atomic technology.
"That is our red line, and we will never cross it," he said in the north-western city of Zanjan, according to state television.
#3
They hid their programs from the IAEA for years. Why would anyone believe that they would be completely honest and cooperative with the IAEA if given another chance? If they had nothing to hide except enrichment for peaceful purposes, they could have given the IAEA total access for the last month and calmed things down a tad. Their nuclear and missile programs need to be destroyed now and it needs to be done in a way that will deter the will to rebuild.
But China's ambassador to the United Nations, Wang Guangya, told the the official Xinhua News Agency in New York on Friday that consideration of sanctions or military measures would not help to resolve the issue.
For the third time this week, al-Qaeda has broadcast a message, this time from the so-called al-Qaeda second in command Ayman al-Zawahiri, aimed at Pakistan's US-friendly government.
In a video posted on the internet, Zawahiri on Friday called for Pakistanis to topple their president and praised insurgents in Iraq, according to Cable News Network.
Zawahiri, the right-hand man to al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, declared that al-Qaeda operatives in Iraq have carried out "800 martyrdom operations in three years," which has "broken the back of America in Iraq," according to CNN.
The connection to the Iraq branch of al-Qaeda, headed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has never been clear, but Zawahiri's words would seem to indicate cooperation.
The 15-minute speech, called a "message to the people of Pakistan," called for Pakistanis to overthrow Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who the terrorist leader says is leading a "Zionist-Crusader assault" on Muslims.
Zawahiri and bin Laden are believed to be hiding in the mountainous terrain between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The US-led international coalition that invaded Afghanistan has tried in vain for nearly five years to capture them.
Musharraf's government has supported the war on terrorism, and has captured some of the world's most wanted suspects.
Earlier this week, al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian leader of al-Qaeda terrorists in Iraq, appeared in a video message on an Islamic internet site vowing to continue the battle against the "crusaders". The message was clearly aimed at the long-awaited formation of a unity government in Baghdad, announced late last week.
Al-Zarqawi called Iraqi Sunnis working for the government or security forces "traitors".
Al-Zarqawi's extremist group has claimed responsibility for some of the worst suicide bombings, as well as a series of kidnappings and beheadings in the aftermath of the 2003 US-led war in Iraq.
In a videotape aired last Sunday, bin Laden charged that the West was waging a crusade against Islam by intervening in Sudan and boycotting the new Palestinian-elected Hamas government.
After an analysis of the recording, United States intelligence officials said they believed the bin-Laden recording was "authentic."
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 US soldier was injured on Friday while Afghan security forces arrested about a dozen suspected Taliban after a firefight in the southern Kandahar province. Separately, Taliban kidnapped an Indian technician and his driver in the same region. Police chief of the Kandahar province Rahmatullah Raufi said they were carrying out an anti-insurgents operation in the Panjwayee district of the province. The recent arrest was part of that operation.
Arms are still pouring into Sudan's embattled Darfur region in violation of a UN arms ban, UN experts said on Thursday. The arms come from neighboring countries as well as nations outside the African continent, the panel of four experts said. They urged the Security Council to strengthen the embargo and better enforce it. 
A Moroccan court on Friday postponed the trial of 19 Moroccans who face charges of involvement in an Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group that is blamed for the 2003 bombings in Casablanca. Hearings were not due to start again until June 16, to give some defendants time for medical exams, court officials said. Proceedings originally opened in September.
A group of 
Belgium has refused US advice to place armed guards at Belgian nuclear sites. Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell urged Belgium in 2004 to place armed guards at nuclear facilities. But the federal government rejected the advice in January this year after consulting with all involved authorities.
The State Department on Friday announced the addition of the aliases Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JUD) and Idara Khidmat-e-Khalq (IKK) to the specially designated global terrorist (SDGT) group Lashkhar-e-Tayyiba (LET). The action "blocks all property, and interests in property, of JUD and IKK that are in the United States, or come within the United States, or come under the control of U.S. persons," the department announced. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice took the action in consultation with the U.S. Attorney General, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Department of Homeland Security.
PESHAWAR: A local court on Friday cancelled the bail applications of an Egyptian engineer and seven members of his family who were detained by an intelligence agency a year ago. The engineer had presented the applications to the court on April 18. The court also rejected the bail petitions of two Tajik boys Saeed Akbar, 14, alias Hussain and Khalid Maroof, 17. The boys were arrested by the Pakistan Army in October 2004 in South Waziristan from a Madrassa.
Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri again reiterated Pakistans stance, and said that it was not involved in insurgency in Afghanistan. In an interview with BBC on Friday, Kasuri rejected the Afghan governments allegations and termed them baseless stories, aimed at vitiating ties between the two countries. He said, We have strong commitment against terrorism and extremists and that commitment is in terms of the losses that we have suffered and there have been attempts on President Pervez Musharrafs life. He said there was no particular reason for Afghan President Karzai to give such irresponsible statements against Pakistan.
Police have arrested three members of the banned Harkatul Mujahedin al-Almi group, and seized three pistols and a hand grenade. The suspects included Khizar Jamal, who has Rs 500,000 bounty on his head, and his accomplices Mohammad Haris and Sharjeel, police said on Friday. The group was thought to be responsible for the June 2002 bombing outside US Consulate in Karachi which killed 12 Pakistanis. 
QUETTA: Suspected tribal militants hijacked a bus with 26 passengers, headed from Chaman to Quetta, near the Pir Alizai forest area on Friday. Levies sources said that dozen of unidentified men blocked the main road and stopped the bus. They beat up the driver and drove away the bus to an unknown location.
Multi-national forces in Iraq announced on Friday the killing of a major al-Qaeda leader in Samarra'a, northern Baghdad. In a statement by the multi-national forces released here, a copy of which was received by KUNA today, it indicated that joint US-Iraqi troops killed on Friday morning Hammadi Al-Nesani, a leader in al-Qaeda and a wanted person for the Iraqi government.
BINANGUN, Indonesia : One of Southeast Asia's most wanted fugitives Noordin Mohammad Top narrowly escaped capture by Indonesian police in a raid that saw two of his top aides killed, police said. The elusive Malaysian-born militant, accused of masterminding a series of deadly terror attacks including the 2002 Bali bombing, was not at the house he had been frequenting in Central Java's sleepy Binangun village, they said. "We carried out a raid on a group we have been looking for. There was a shootout. Two people died in the shootout," national police chief Sutanto told reporters in remarks broadcast on ElShinta radio. 
Iran has refused to stop uranium enrichment after a UN report said it had done little or nothing to prove it was not developing nuclear weapons. Instead, it repeated a long-standing offer to let international inspectors make unannounced checks as long as the UN Security Council - invoked by the West several months ago to put pressure on Iran - dropped the case.
