TWO brothers serving time in a New South Wales jail for a series of gang rapes have been bashed by eight other inmates, leaving one of them in a critical condition.
At 12.30pm (AEDT) yesterday a gang of eight prisoners at Goulburn jail attacked two of their fellow inmates in the prison yard, NSW Corrective Services said.
One of the bashed men, aged 26, sustained critical head injuries and was taken to Canberra Hospital where he remains in a stable condition, police said.
The other, a 28-year-old, was taken to Goulburn Base Hospital with arm injuries but has since been returned to the jail.
Authorities would not directly confirm the identities of the men but the Nine Network reported them to be the elder pair of four Pakistan-born brothers convicted in 2002 for a number of gang rapes, including that of Tegan Warner, who was 14 at the time.
The brothers, who were only to be identified in court by their initials, are serving between 10 and 28 years in prison.
It is just horrible........that these beasts were not killed outright. Congrats for a good effort, Oz-cons, and better luck next time.
#2
It is just horrible........that these beasts were not killed outright
I only wish that the one in critical condition spending all his life in a wheel chair and that being the lesser of his sequels.
Watch the wonderful movie "The Shawshank redemption" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111161/
and you will get a idea of what I have in mind (the scene where the wardens fall on the guy who has been raping Andy).
#6
My mistake. The Skaf gang is Lebanese. The Pakistani gang rapists that come immediately to mind were the 4 sons of a Pakistani doctor who couldn't wait even a week from getting off the boat before the rape spree began. Hope it's them. May the other 2 brothers get theirs.
Posted by: ed ||
02/09/2007 8:45 Comments ||
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#7
Hope there's no lasting brain damage. Else he won't get to fully enjoy his daily punkin'
Not sure it is the Skafs, but Bilal had been getting quite a bit of "therapy" from the others in Goulbourn Super Max in 2003.
#10
There is a world-wide rape-cult out there in need of having its face rearranged.
No, not "Face" about 3 feet lower. Preferably with vice grip pliers and hedge clippers.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/09/2007 11:00 Comments ||
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#11
Tegan Warner was one brave girl. It was a culture shock to these rapists when they came across a woman(14 years old at the time) who stood up for herself and a legal system that didn't require the testimony of four other men to convict them.
The Pentagon is ramping up its bombing campaign in Afghanistan as it plans a major offensive against the resurgent Taliban in the spring. Close-air-support missions flown by U.S. Air Force pilots increased nearly 80% in the first five weeks of 2007 compared with the same period last year, records show. Also, the Air Force plans to send in dozens more precision bomb-targeting systems that allow troops on the ground to call in airstrikes within a few hundred yards of their own position.
That technology, called ROVER (Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver), allows troops on the ground to share video with pilots in attack aircraft so they both see the target simultaneously, said Lt. Col. Greg Harbin, one of the lead officers on the Air Force ROVER program. He plans to deliver 50 systems to coalition forces in Afghanistan in March. Harbin said the ROVER system can prevent friendly fire incidents such as one in which a U.S. pilot mistakenly fired on a British convoy in Afghanistan, killing one British soldier. Other friendly-fire incidents include four Canadians being killed in 2002 and one Canadian killed last September.
The Air Force has loaned 12 ROVER systems to British troops.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said NATO allies agreed Thursday on an Afghan strategy that includes fighting the Taliban, developing the government and economy and training and equipping the Afghan army.
The Taliban gains strength each spring, Gates said. "It's important we knock that back," he added. He spoke to reporters after meeting in Seville with defense ministers from NATO countries.
Last month, President Bush asked Congress to spend $10 billion in Afghanistan over the next two years $8 billion to train and equip Afghan security forces and $2 billion to fund reconstruction projects. The Pentagon also announced Jan. 25 that 3,200 U.S. soldiers with the 10th Mountain Division will stay in Afghanistan four more months to bolster the force there.
There are about 21,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan: 13,000 of them work with NATO troops in the International Security Assistance Force; 8,000 train Afghan troops and mount counterterrorist operations.
Two NATO nations, Denmark and Lithuania, agreed Thursday to bolster their small contingents in Afghanistan. On the other hand Franz-Josef Jung, Germany's defense minister, questioned the need to send more troops to Afghanistan. "I do not think it is right to talk about more and more military means," Jung said. "When the Russians were in Afghanistan, they had 100,000 troops and didn't win." !!
Gates said some NATO nations lifted restrictions on how and where their troops are used. He did not provide specifics on the restrictions, also called caveats. The caveats placed on allied troops have stymied U.S. efforts to counter the Taliban insurgency. Some restrictions involve a refusal to fight in bad weather or in certain parts of the country.
Gen. James Jones, who heads the U.S. European Command, asked Germany last fall to send troops to southern Afghanistan to fight the Taliban, but Germany declined. NATO asked France, Turkey, Italy and Spain to send troops to the south, but they, too, declined. The countries said that they had committed troops to peacekeeping forces in Lebanon or that their own areas of responsibility in Afghanistan remained "restive," according to the CRS report. In contrast, the Netherlands had increased its fighting role despite the move's unpopularity with Dutch voters.
#4
More than anything else, I think this addresses the crying need NATO forces have for air support of US standards. It allows far more aircraft to perform CAS roles. And while it's nice to have a B-52 as air support, up until now it has kind of been a blunt weapon.
It's just nice to be able to whack the baddies when they are close enough to spit on, without worrying about where that bomb is going to go.
The German cabinet Wednesday approved the deployment of Tornado jets for surveillance operations with NATO forces fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. Tornado pilots would be authorized to provide intelligence for NATO attacks on Taliban formations, Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said. But they would not be allowed to use their bombs or missiles to carry out attacks, government sources told dpa. Parliament needs to approve the mission, which would signal a deepening military commitment by Germany in the region. But approval is considered a formality given the huge majority enjoyed by Chancellor Angela Merkel's government in the Bundestag. Deputies are scheduled to discuss the issue in March. Once the vote is taken the first Tornados could arrive in Afghanistan by early April. Government sources said about six Tornado reconnaissance planes would be operate across the entire country, taking aerial pictures of Tailban positions and passing the information on to other NATO partners who would carry out strikes against the Taliban.
#1
My old shop Chief used to say," Any military jet without bombs is just another unscheduled airline."
I tend to think of them as potential targets and will probably cost more defense assets than they can provide offense info. but at least it is a start, and maybe the Germans will take their balls off the mantle and realize they were made for a purpose.....
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/09/2007 5:33 Comments ||
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#5
Do us a favor, keep them at home. Germany and France are useless. Thet pretty much means most of Europe is useless. They are not our "friends", they are not partners, they are millstones. Since they can't be real help let them stay home and live in fear.
#6
The pilots will never have a sudden nerve twitch just as a finger happens to sweep past the bomb-release button? How very frustrating that will be for them. Still, with the German budget as strained as it's been, I s'pose they can't afford to replace expended ordinance.
#7
Green Baron soaring on solar power and a righteous air of superiority.
There are plenty of well armed F-15s, F-16s and A-10s in Germany.
Anyway, there are already too many western forces. The Afghans need to carry the fight or devolve again into civil war. Their choice. A small western force can ensure the Taliban and their Pakistani sponsors never again take over Afghanistan.
Posted by: ed ||
02/09/2007 7:17 Comments ||
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#8
Green Baron soaring on solar power and a righteous air of superiority.
#9
...We should have figured out long ago that at least where the continental European allies were concerned, they pretty much based their defense plans on doing nothing more than defending their homeland in the event of a Soviet invasion - and even then, most of them only did the bare minimum or even less. (One thoroughly unknown NATO scandal from the mid 70s on was that exactly ONE continental NATO army - Germany - had enough ammo on hand to last for 30 days of fighting. The others had far far less, and I was told that the average was 5-8 DAYS). When it became clear that the Soviets weren't coming across the inner German border, the continental allies gutted their militaries, probably beyond any reasonable hope of quick recovery. The NATO militaries now are a few token units that are nothing more than a fig leaf and allow our politicians to still say we're part of an alliance. If the truth were told - not likely, unfortunately - the demands for an American withdrawal from Europe would be overwhelming. These Allied 'contributions' will need American transport to get there, American logistics to bring in their parts and American fuel to burn.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/09/2007 11:41 Comments ||
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#10
Hey! That's Fred's plane in the pic, IIRC.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/09/2007 12:19 Comments ||
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#11
Fred flies, too? Is there nothing that man can't do? ;-)
#15
Ship: Did a 'Goodsearch' search via the Buno; got several hits. All pix showed this a/c in the dark paint and most of the duty stations listed were Pacific coast, but there were a few in Europe. Listed as a P2V-5 variant. Not as well versed in this a/c as I should be, but learning all the time (I think its due to a lack of a tailhook)
Spain will upgrade its contribution to the NATO-led force in Afghanistan with four unmanned spy aircraft and a plan to train the Afghan army. But it will not be sending more troops to the Central Asian nation. About 700 Spanish soldiers are stationed in Herat and Qala i Naw, in western Afghanistan, where they are working with other NATO forces on security and reconstruction tasks.
Defence minister Jose Antonio Alonso was hosting a two-day meeting of NATO defence ministers on Thursday when he made the announcement. The discussions will focus on military operations under way in Afghanistan and Kosovo. Alonso told reporters that he will take advantage of the gathering to meet with U.S. defense secretary Robert Gates, as well as with Russian defence minister Sergei Ivanov.
The minister expressed his confidence that by this summer the four unmanned aerial vehicles Spain will buy will be operating in Afghan territory.
He made clear that Spain will not increase its troop strength in Afghanistan because, just as in Lebanon, "the Spanish contribution is (already) very important and sufficient". The minister said during the alliance meeting in Seville, Spain will propose the implementation and financing of a plan to train the Afghan army so that it can progressively assume more security tasks within the country. Regarding the increase in the quality of the Spanish contingent, the minister expressed his confidence that by this summer the four unmanned aerial vehicles Spain will buy will be operating in Afghan territory.
On his meeting with Gates, Alonso said that he expected to confirm the "good state" of relations between Spain and the United States. He said that during their meeting he and Gates would review the situation in the world, adding that he does not plan to speak about specific matters between the two "allied and friendly" countries, who engage in bilateral dialogue when "disagreements" arise.
#1
"He made clear that Spain will not increase its troop strength in Afghanistan because, just as in Lebanon, 'the Spanish contribution is (already) very important and sufficient'. "
What he meant was:
" We are getting ready to bend over and spread our ankles. (Osama would like that)"
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
02/09/2007 10:17 Comments ||
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#2
The Spanish plan? surrender, fast
Posted by: Captain America ||
02/09/2007 14:57 Comments ||
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(SomaliNet) At least two persons have been seriously wounded in an ambush attack in Mogadishu, Somalia capital on Thursday. Unidentified gunmen have launched an ambush attack on Ethiopian military convoy that was passing the road of Tarabunka Square in south of Mogadishu. The attackers fired Rocket Propel Grenade at the convoy but missed the target and hit civilian Toyota pickup that was passing near the convoy.
The incident took place around 7:40 am local time, which terrified the nearby villagers, mostly internally displaced people. The Ethiopians responded with gunfire spread to the area but injured no one. They cordoned the area cutting off the road. Witnesses told Somalinet that water tanker that belongs to the Ethiopian forces was damaged by the RGP explosion. The attackers escaped unharmed.
The latest attack came hours after waves of artillery explosions rocked the capital killing five civilians and wounding ten others. The explosions resulted from guerilla-style attacks aimed at the positions of the allied forces of Somalia and Ethiopia.
The attacks following comments made by the deputy defense minister Salad Ali Jelle saying that his security forces have confiscated large quantity of weapons and explosives with their militiamen in a house located in Mogadishu suburb. Mr. Jelle said the detained men were among the elements that are responsible for the attacks against the interim government and its back up Ethiopian forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I wonder who's training them, the Pali's or did Hek sneak some boys down?
(SomaliNet) At least two people have been killed in armed confrontation that took place in Afgoie town, about 30km west of the Somalia capital Mogadishu on Thursday it is part of the violence
Hussein Ahmed, the deputy ruler of Afgoie town said the clashes came after local militia tried to forcefully enter the administration office but the government forces stopped and pushed them back.
rising in the war torn country Somalia. The latest fighting raged between interim government forces and local militiamen. One person died from the militia while the other was civilian. Hussein Ahmed, the deputy ruler of Afgoie town said the clashes came after local militia tried to forcefully enter the administration office but the government forces stopped and pushed them back.
Rival sides have exchanged heavy gunfire that rocked the town in several minutes. It is the first clashes that happened in Afgoie town, since the interim government backed the Ethiopian forces took control of the capital late December last year.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2007 00:00 ||
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A Paris court on Thursday heard evidence that French Muslim convert Willie Brigitte was sent to Australia to plot a terrorist attack on the orders of Pakistani extremists.
Brigitte, a 38-year-old from the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, is charged with conspiring to stage a terrorist attack at a Sydney nuclear plant in Australia in 2003. On the second day of the trial, judge Jacqueline Rebeyrotte said investigators had tracked a flurry of telephone calls between Brigitte and two Pakistani extremists in the days before he left for Australia.
Brigitte reportedly spoke to Sajid Mir, a Pakistan-based operative for the radical Lashkar-e-Taiba and Shahzad Ashraf, who has been arrested in Britain on terrorism charges. One of the men is said to have asked during a recorded telephone conversation How is our French connection project? in reference to Brigitte, the judge said. At the opening of the trial on Monday, Brigitte protested his innocence and said he had lost all faith in the French judiciary.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
All terrorist plots lead back to one country-PAKISTAN!!!!
Just imagine if you opened up tomorrows paper and saw a headline Anti-Americanism Helps Al-Qaeda. Would have to be the Washington Times, or the New York Post, right?
Well, The Daily Telegraph ran a story Thursday entitled Anti-Americanism in Europe Helps Al-Qaeda, and frankly, the American media along with the politicians they so revere could learn how a strong U.S. ally feels about slamming Uncle Sam in public:
Go to the link for the rest
Posted by: DanNY ||
02/09/2007 08:40 ||
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#1
The left wing whether US,UK or France are helping Al Qaeda!!!
#2
should be...
"Anti-Bush policy in Europe is helping America"
Posted by: Akce ||
02/09/2007 9:44 Comments ||
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#3
We've seen your kind of help and No Thanks. Europe can help themselves with their own muslim problem. Best the US part ways with that stinking Socialist Utopia at the English Channel. Bring the troops home and raise the tariffs.
Posted by: ed ||
02/09/2007 9:53 Comments ||
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#4
I'm afraid I don't understand Mr./Ms. Akce's point.
although of course, Muslim Anger is centered on the two that were released without being charged, not about the fact that these guys were going to kill a man by cutting his head off . . .
you'd think that if they're so frikkin proud of their religion-driven actions, they'd admit to it. cowards.
A sixth man has been charged under the terrorism act following last weeks raids in Birmingham.
Five men appeared in court today charged with terror offences.
One of the defendants, Parviz Khan, is accused of plotting to kidnap and kill a British soldier.
The other four, Amjad Mahmood, Mohammed Irfan, Zahoor Iqbal and Hamid Elasmar, also face offences under the Terrorism Act.
They were all arrested in anti-terror raids in Birmingham on January 31.
The defendants, who are in police custody, were transferred from Coventry to City of Westminster Magistrates' Court in a police convoy.
No applications for bail were made on behalf of Khan or Mahmood.
The five defendants were flanked by seven security guards as they filed into the dock.
Two of the men - including Khan - remained standing throughout the hearing.
Four were dressed in blue sweatshirts while one wore a stripy sweatshirt and woollen hat.
They listened intently throughout the hearing, which was heard before district judge Daphne Wickham.
Plenty of British muslim accusations of "police state," on this, not so much.
Five men arrested in Britain in connection with an alleged plot to kidnap and behead a Muslim soldier in an 'Iraq-style' video execution have been charged with terrorism offences, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Friday.
But only one of the suspects, named as Parviz Khan, 36, was charged specifically with plotting to kill a member of the British armed forces, Sue Hemming of the counter-terrorism division of the CPS told a news conference.
The other four men, aged between 31 and 43, were charged with various offences under the Terrorism Act. All are believed to be British-born Muslims of Pakistani origin.
Khan is accused of 'engaging in conduct to give effect to his intention to kidnap and kill a member of the British armed forces' between November 1 last year and the time of his arrest on January 31, 2007.
Three of the altogether nine men who were arrested in dawn raids in Birmingham, in the British Midlands, on January 31 have been released without charge, while another man remains in custody.
THIS is what the muslim community is in a later about, not the fact that credible terror threat was in their midst
The four men charged along with Khan were named as Mohammed Irfan, 30, Zahoor Iqbal, 29, Hamid Elasmar, 43, and Amjad Mahmood, 31.
They were due to appear before magistrates in London later Friday. Press reports said last week that the men were being held for planning to abduct a Muslim British soldier in Britain while on home leave from duty in Afghanistan and post his execution on the internet.
The intention behind the plot was to have been to put pressure on the British government to withdraw troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. so much for living in a democratic country, where the civilized use information and political campaigns to influence the government
The attack had been imminent, the reports suggested.
West Midlands police chief David Shaw said Friday that 4,500 items, including computers and mobile phones, had been confiscated during the search of 18 premises in Birmingham.
Shaw, clearly aware of the unease the arrests have caused among Birmingham's large Muslim community, stressed Friday that the investigating authorities had received 'fantastic support' from the local community. he had to say that. even if it is true, where are the media reports, then?
He blamed speculative media reporting for the 'damage' that had been done to relations between ethnic groups in the city.
But one of the three men freed, Abu Bakr, said police investigators had never explained to the men why they were held and there had been 'no mention' of a kidnap plot involving a soldier.
Bakr,who worked in an Islamist bookshop in Birmingham where he is also studying for a PhD in Political Islam, said the arrest would affect him 'for the rest of my life.' isn't ALL islam political these days?
His charge that Britain was a 'police state for Muslims' was rejected as 'categorically wrong' by the British government Thursday, which said that if the allegation was true, Bakr would not have been released or allowed to make his remarks on BBC television.
Meanwhile in London, police were holding radical Muslim Abu Izzadeen on suspicion of 'encouraging terrorism.'
The 31-year-old Jamaican who converted to Islam in 1994 is held in connection with a speech he gave in Birmingham last summer.
However, police stressed that his arrest in London Thursday was not connected with the case in Birmingham.
#1
4,500 items, including computers and mobile phones, had been confiscated
In related news British Muslims are franticly erasing phone records and computer hard drives, not realizing computer forensics are very good.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/09/2007 11:11 Comments ||
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#2
It sounds like the prosecutors are going for easy convictions rather than maximum, which I think is wise. Once the miscreants (such a wonderful word, and so useful!) are behind bars, and all 4500 pieces of evidence have been analyzed down to their constituent molecules, additional charges can go forward at leisure.
#6
I read a quote on another site that stuck in my mind.Change in the Islamic world needs be done through Education starting with Saudi Arabia-
'Ever since Sept.11 I've been sceptical not about Islam but about what we have been taught to believe is Islam. I believe Muslims must live in the world with all religions. They must be educated about other religions and learn to respect and take the good. Yes, unfortunately we were taught in school to fight the "infidels" like the prophet did almost 1,500 years ago, but because my father allowed us to think for ourselves at a young age, I chose not to believe everything I was taught. Of course everyone else blindly believed what they were taught in the name of Islam, not wanting to be branded an infidel themselves'.
Abeer Abuahmad, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
An us and them mentality is the crux of all the problems we have today!!!!
#7
Mods, is EG9608 for real? A true MMM in the heart of Soooodi? I have my doubts. I'll eat my hat if it is true, but he speaks English too well. Just my $.02.
Posted by: BA ||
02/09/2007 13:56 Comments ||
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#8
bzzzzt - note the quote marks - EG9608 was quoting someone else (!!!!)
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/09/2007 15:03 Comments ||
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#9
How American of me, Frank. I'm used to "double quotes" when actually quoting someone.
That said, is he from Sooodi or no? Inquiring minds and all. Medoubtsit.
Posted by: BA ||
02/09/2007 15:29 Comments ||
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#10
me too
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/09/2007 17:26 Comments ||
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#11
No treason charges? Why?
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
02/09/2007 18:11 Comments ||
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#12
my posting vanished, Why?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/09/2007 18:37 Comments ||
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#13
Now it's back, odd?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/09/2007 18:41 Comments ||
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Gunmen stopped a pickup truck full of illegal immigrants, shot some and took the rest captive Thursday in an attack that left at least three people dead and two wounded, authorities said.
Officials have not determined who the gunmen were but believe the driver, who was probably a smuggler, escaped along with a guide. They are still at large. At least two of the immigrants were Guatemalan, officials believe.
The men shot at least five people, three fatally, along a known smuggling corridor near Tucson, and forced several others in the group of nine or 10 immigrants to leave with them, Pima County sheriff's officials said. The victims are thought to be two men and a 15-year-old girl.
Another 15-year-old girl was later found with slight injuries, and another person, apparently uninjured, was found in the afternoon, officials said. Two men who were not injured were telling authorities what happened, officials said.
Investigators did not immediately know a motive for Thursday's attack, but gangs of bandits are known to roam border areas preying on illegal immigrants as they cross into the country. Feuding among smuggling organizations also is not uncommon, sometimes involving demands for ransoms from the immigrants relatives to gain their freedom.
The attack occurred on a dirt road near the Silverbell Mine, about 20 miles northwest of Tucson, said Rick Kastigar, the Pima County sheriff's criminal investigations chief.
Gunmen in a vehicle shot at the pickup and forced it to stop, killing one man and the teenager, authorities believe. Another man was fatally wounded, one woman was shot in her chest and suffered a neck injury, and a third man was shot in the hand and apparently lost several fingers.
The gunmen continued north and east, forcing several immigrants to go with them, officials said.
The man with the hand injury and the injured woman flagged down a rancher, who called authorities, officials said. Sheriff's officials found the third person dead along the road, and the two remaining wounded were taken to a hospital.
Authorities were trying to determine any link to a Jan. 27 confrontation about 40 miles to the north, possibly between human smugglers, that left one man dead and another wounded. In that incident, four men wearing camouflage uniforms and berets stopped a vehicle carrying illegal immigrants. The FBI will be on this like a duck on a June bug.
#4
Probably one coyote gang decided that another coyote gang was encroaching on their turf, and took care of the problem. Happens quite a lot out in the desert border zone, normally does not make it to the news however.
#7
In a zone where the local government don't bother to enforce its laws, don't be surprised if outlaws rule. Perhaps the next hot news items will be "highwayman" stopping traffic on I-10 and robbing/raping/killing miscellaneous travelers.
#10
Stop somebody on I-10 in Texas and your life is forfet.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/09/2007 10:50 Comments ||
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#11
There have always been banditos on the border to take advantage of the pollos, er, I should say migrants. Read Lines and Shadows by Joseph Wambaugh. The only news here is that AP reported it.
DEBKAfiles sources in Tehran and Kurdistan disclose that, last month, two Iranian QW-1 and SA-7 missile consignments reached Iraqi insurgents allied with al Qaeda and one, radical Shiite Moqtada Sadrs Shiite militia, the Mehdi Army. Israeli sources report the same anti-air weapons were delivered at about the same time to Hizballah units in Lebanon including the south.
Our military sources add that Irans arms industry has succeeded in replicating a quality version of the Chinese QW-1 and improved its electronics. It is 1.447meters long and packs 16.5 kilos of explosives. The IDF estimates that the first of these missiles used experimentally by Hizballah caused an Israeli helicopter to explode during take-off near the Litani River in the Lebanon War last summer.
Iranian markings have been erased from the equipment going into Iraq and Lebanon to suggest they were bought on the black market. Dated Soviet-era models of the SA-7 were indeed bought by Iran on Far East black markets and supplied to Iraqi insurgents and also pro-Tehran governors in western Afghanistan. Iran is preparing the ground for a Shiite insurgency against NATO forces there.
According to our sources, all three consignments to Iraq went through the North Iraqi Kurdistani town of Suleimaniya not far from the Iranian border. An Iranian clandestine center operates there like "the liaison center" the Americans raided in another Kurdish town, Irbil, last month. The Suleimaniya center operates with permission from Iraqi's Kurdish president Jalal Talabani.
They weapons were smuggled in concealed compartments of trucks transporting building materials and iron from Iran for a Kurdish building company. After unloading their legitimate freight, the trucks drove on south up to the regional border where Iraqi insurgents off-loaded the missiles to their vehicles and distributed them to their networks in Baqouba, Ramadi and Tikrit north of Baghdad and Hilla to the south.
In January, two-man teams of Iraqi insurgents and Hizballah operatives were trained in the use of the new weapons against American and Israeli helicopters as instructors for missile crews in Iraq and Lebanon. One crewman was taught to locate the target and help the second to aim. The training facilities were set up in Kermanshah and Qasr-e Shirin close to the Iraqi border.
Tehran is stepping up its provocations in reprisal for the US president George W. Bushs directive to US forces to capture or kill Iranian agents, Americas refusal to release the Revolutionary Guards officers captured in Irbil and finally by the seizure last week of an Iranian diplomat in Baghdad.
#3
Not quite sure why the Kurds would abet anti-American activities by the Iranians. In the long sad parade of Kurdish history, the US is the only country to ever, ever help the Kurds.
They seem to have an unusually good writer on press release duty today.
Iraqi Army, Cavalry take fight to the enemy...again
MOSUL, Iraq - Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 7th (2-7) Cavalry Regiment conducted a raid on several houses in the Al Wahda neighborhood in east Mosul Feb. 4, after receiving intelligence about specific high-priority targets.
Upon reaching the area near the Sabrine mosque, the Thunder element Soldiers dismounted and began searching their target area. As they reached the roof, they began taking small-arms fire from a group of insurgents. The insurgents also began lobbing grenades at the 2-7 Cavalry troops.
Regrouping back down the stairs, the "Garry Owen" troops encountered two near misses. In one instance, a grenade bounced off of two Cavalry Soldiers before exploding in the living room of the house. Thank you Jesus ('channeling' the soldiers).
In a second incident, Sgt. Konyaku Kaili, an infantryman with 2-7 Cavalry, was engaged by small-arms fire and received a round into the front SAPI plate of his body armor. The armor stopped the round, and he was not seriously injured.
During the engagement, one insurgent blew himself up with an explosive vest, and another was shot and killed when quick-reaction reinforcement troops arrived from the Iraqi army and 2-7 Cavalry, effectively sealing off the target area.
Simultaneously, five mortar rounds landed in the area and a large ammunition cache, that was stored in the house, sympathetically detonated Sweet!
due to the fire created by the insurgent attack.
Soldiers from the Iraqi Army swept in and cleared all of the remaining houses, detaining five males in a car who were headed through the blockade, into the fight. The detainees had individual weapons with them as well as rocket-propelled grenades and launchers.
All evidence was collected and detainees processed by the Iraqi Security Forces who were working on matching up the two killed insurgents with the descriptions of the high-priority targets.
#3
STRATEGYPAGE > Roughly 1/2 of all IEDS in Iraq are rendered safe, harmless, or disposed off? by US milfors. In general, insurgent IEDS are still wounding/kiling more Muslims than US soldiers.
Traffic accident leads Iraqi Army to massive weapons cache
MOSUL, Iraq - At approximately 12:30 a.m., Feb. 6, soldiers from the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division were on a routine patrol when they accidentally collided with a civilian vehicle. The vehicle's occupants immediately attempted to flee the scene, but were quickly apprehended by the IA soldiers. After tactical questioning, What's that? Sounds uncomfortable.
one of the two detainees told the IA where a huge weapons cache could be found.
Utilizing the newfound intelligence, the 2-2 IA conducted a raid on a house located behind a sheep market in the Nablis neighborhood of west Mosul. There they detained six suspected insurgents and, upon a thorough search, found a false wall in the house. Sounds like a thorough search!
It was behind this wall that a large stockpile of weapons was found, to include eight AK-47s, four RPK machine guns, six rocket-propelled grenade launchers, one SVD, one SKS, three PKCs, nine load bearing vests, nine ski masks, 4,000 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, 32 rocket-propelled grenade rounds, 10 fragmentation grenades, 130 mortar rounds (primarily 60, 81 and 82 mm), and a complex fully functional improvised explosive device.
Five of the detained suspects tested positive for plastic explosives and were remanded into custody with their confession statements from the IA questioning.
Additionally, the IA conducted a second raid the following night based on intelligence gained from the first, netting three more suspected anti-Iraqi forces.
The 2IA continues to aggressively patrol the neighborhoods of Mosul. Now they need to 'run into' somebody with info on those Strelas.
#2
Tactical Questioning being used and this week has been notable for the conspicuous absence of this Week's Crossfire Gazette. Could it be that the RAB is 'on assignment?'
Iraqi and US forces swept through Baghdad's Sunni district of Adhamiyah February 6 in a clearing operation that marked the start of the new Baghdad Security Plan.
IA Captures Death Squad Leader:
Iraqi Army (IA) Special Operations forces captured a suspected death squad leader February 1 during operations in southern Baghdad.
The death squad leader is allegedly responsible for carrying out kidnappings and murders against Iraqi civilians and ran a cell that consisted of more than 20 men.
The suspect and his group are implicated in setting-up illegal checkpoints in order to kidnap Iraqi civilians and murder them. The leader and his cell are also implicated in the kidnapping of three Iraqi civilians in December 2006 and burning them alive.
Truck Bomb Blast Kills Over 100 in Baghdads Rusafa Neighborhood:
A bomb encased in a large truck detonated in Baghdads Rusafa neighborhood, in the center of Baghdad the afternoon of February 3. The bomb targeted civilians at a busy intersection, killing 105 and wounding 251. Media reporting stated the attack was the worst single bombing since the US-led invasion began in 2003.
Newly Elected Iraqi Representative Accused of Terrorist Past:
Press reports say that Council of Representatives member Jamal Jafaar Mohammed al-Ibrahimi al-Basri is also Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who was sentenced to death by a Kuwaiti court in absentia for the 1983 bombings of the US and French embassies in Kuwait. Prime Minister Maliki has asked for all evidence against Jamal Mohammed be turned over to Iraqi authorities so he can face prosecution if necessary.
Iraq Prime Minister Urges Faster Start to Baghdad Security Plan:
Prime Minister Maliki complained February 6 that the Baghdad security operation was off to a slow start and warned that insurgents are taking advantage of the delay to kill as many people as possible.
Sadr Orders Mahdi Army not to Confront Coalition Forces:
The Chicago Tribune reports that, according to Sadrist and other Shiite officials, Muqtada al-Sadr has ordered his militia not to confront US forces and has endorsed negotiations aimed at easing the deployment of American troops in parts of the country loyal to him.
GOI to Host Regional Conference on Iraq Security:
The GOI has invited Syria, Iran, and other regional countries to Baghdad next month to discuss the security situation in Iraq. The talks will be the first of ten meetings to take place in Baghdad. The Arab League, Organization of Islamic Conference, and United Nations have also been asked to attend.
Electricity Overview
During the week of February 1-7 electricity availability averaged 6.1 hours per day in Baghdad and 9.4 hours nationwide. Electricity output for the week was 8% above the same period in 2005.
Trade and Investment Conference:
On February 1, USAID's Izdihar Private Sector Development Project and the American Chamber of Commerce of Iraq co-hosted the Trade and Investment Showcase: Successes of the Government of Iraq in Amman, sponsored by Microsoft.
Over 100 people representing businesses and government agencies attended the event, which focused on the new Iraqi investment law and the GOIs efforts to become a member of the World Trade Organization. GOI officials from the Ministries of Trade, Foreign Affairs, Industry and Minerals, and Planning made presentations.
IA and Marine Mission Captures 77 Detainees:
The Iraqi Army (IA) and US Marines concluded a mission that resulted in the capture of 77 detainees near Habbaniyah February 2.
The mission to detain members of murder and intimidation cells was a joint operation with Iraqi Forces and Marines of Regimental Combat Team 6, supported by local Iraqis focused on ridding their towns of insurgents. During the mission, soldiers of the 1st IA Division and Marines from the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment detained individuals suspected of coordinating insurgent attacks against Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition Forces. Several of the detainees were immediately identified as persons of special interest according to intelligence reports.
Iraqi Police in Ramadi Discover Large Weapons Cache:
Iraqi members of the Albu Obaid Iraqi Police station discovered one of the largest weapons caches in the last year while conducting patrols in eastern Ramadi February 3. The cache consisted of over 300 82mm mortar rounds, three 152mm artillery rounds, two bags of homemade explosives, two Katyusha 107mm rockets, in addition to other items that included a mortar base plate, a spool of copper wire used for detonating improvised explosive devices and various smaller caliber ammunition.
Iraqi Refugees Stage Sit-In Outside UNHCR Office in Damascus:
About 200 Iraqi refugees staged a sit-in outside the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Damascus to protest new residency limits for civilians and their families fleeing Iraq.
Secretary Rice Announces the Creation of a Task Force on Iraqi Refugees:
Secretary Rice announced the creation of a task force headed by Undersecretary Paula Dobriansky that will coordinate US assistance for Iraqi refugees and internally displaced persons, while simultaneously aiming to devise plans to help Iraqis who are at risk due to their work with the USG.
UN Envoy Calls on Iraqis to Display Strong Leadership to Quell Continued Violence:
UN Special Representative of the Secretary General for Iraq Ashraf Qazi called upon the Iraqi people to display the far-sighted leadership necessary to calm the countrys rising crisis. He condemned the recent increase of violence in Iraq this week and urged Iraqis to utilize fresh thinking.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees:
In a meeting with King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz and other Saudi officials in Riyadh over the weekend, UNHCR Anthony Guterres stressed the necessity of creating a stronger partnership between the UNHCR and the Muslim world.
Bosnia Approves Plan to Keep Troops in Iraq: Or did they mean Bulgaria?
Bulgaria approved an extension of its military mission in Iraq for another year. Bulgaria will send 155 soldiers to Iraq to replace 120 troops and 35 support personnel who are there now.
GOI Statement Against al-Jazeera: That's Government Of Iraq
The Iraqi National Media Center Director in the Cabinet Council Secretariat General issued a statement February 7 over the aggressive stance of al- Jazeera channel toward Iraqi people and its national government.
The statement read, in part, We, in the time where we condemn this hostile stance for this satellite channel, call upon the Iraqi peoples representatives at the parliament to take a strict and decisive stance against this channel and to use all lawful and possible legal actions to sue it in order to stop its antagonist trend.
Video Shows US Helicopter Crash:
A video running for more than three minutes was posted to an Islamist website February 4 showing an attack on a US Apache helicopter that was claimed by al-Qaida in Iraq.
The images are accompanied by verses from the Koran, religious chants and calls for jihad in the name of Shaykh Abu Omar al-Baghdadi, the head of a Sunni group linked to al-Qaida.
Shiite Leader Calls for Unity:
In his first public statement in months concerning Iraq, on February 3, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called for Muslim unity and an end to sectarian conflict.
Sistani noted that differences have existed between Shiites and Sunnis for centuries but should not be cause for bloodshed.
In an apparent referral to Abdullah bin Jabrain, Sistani also accused some unspecified individuals and groups of working to widen the division among Muslims. Jabrain is a key member of Saudi Arabias clerical establishment who joined other senior figures from the Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam to describe Shiites as the most vicious enemies of Muslims.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/09/2007 13:05 ||
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BAGHDAD, Iraq - A U.S. airstrike killed eight suspected terrorists and destroyed a building south of Baghdad, the U.S. military said Friday. The attack occurred Thursday night in Arab Jabour, a mostly Sunni Muslim suburb south of Baghdad.
American troops came under "heavy enemy fire during a raid targeting al-Qaida in Iraq terrorists and foreign fighter facilitators," the U.S. military said in a statement.
Coalition aircraft swooped in, dropping precision bombs on a building where eight suspects had barricaded themselves, the statement said. All eight were killed. No U.S. forces or Iraqi civilians were injured in the attack, the military said.
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/09/2007 06:12 ||
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#1
Whoops! Looks like this is a dupe, although Fred posted the military version, and mine is the Yahoo version, which had the aircraft "swooping".
Otherwise, Yahoo pretty much copied the military press release. But they added a touching Reuters photo, probably not re-touched, of a local guy touching the face of a dead teenager from a previous airstrike which reached out and touched seven children and 23 others.
No more posting for me, today!
Posted by: Bobby ||
02/09/2007 6:27 Comments ||
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#2
Those dumb terrorists brought rifles to a JDAM fight.
Posted by: ed ||
02/09/2007 7:03 Comments ||
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Maybe it will force the reporters to do something other than get a press release from Centcom and then read it on the air and act like they have done some real work. Didn't they formerly call this the news by "Rip N. Read"? They ripped the news off of the teletype and read it on the air.
#4
yep they changed the web page on and about the 30th. The info is there somewhere.
rant, mini
I'm not breaking news when I say that in general The DOD has dropped the information WOT ball big time.
Why the hell the DOD hasn't placed more importance on helping we [as in us], the pro America citizens, our Armed Forces personal and the pro America non-citizens to defend America and buoy up its standing against the relentless barrage by the MSM and the pro Jihadi anti-American forces in the world is a blindly stupid missed opportunity and crime.
There has to be mountains of gun camera footage, combat camera footage and other testimonials that can pass the OP-SEC test. If not then they better start today. better way late than never.
The TV pentagon channel thingy was designed by a committee of dull engineers. All PhDs mind you but if given the time would squeeze so much light out of our Sun that it would refuse to rise in the morning.
#5
Frustrates me too. OTOH, one traditional strength of our military is that they stay non-political as a group. Individual opinions, yes. But Vietnam was so politicized and the pre-emptive move into Iraq was so controversial they've gone overboard in the opposite direction.
Posted by: DOD observer ||
02/09/2007 9:39 Comments ||
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#6
The TV pentagon channel thingy was designed by a committee of dull engineers.
Not thinking out of the box. There are dozens if not hundreds of troops out there assembling YouTube type videos on off the shelf gear that are making vids and blogs that are raw but certainly better than the processed junk. It communicates with their generation. It's the old company clerk, if you could type, regardless of your assigned 'specialty' you became the clerk. The puzzle palace should have been scarffing up these kids and with some techs with polishing skills been generating the 'Big Story' via the media the young generation works with instead of trying to deal with the dead tree MSM. They just don't get it.
Coalition Forces conducted an air strike Thursday evening after receiving heavy enemy fire during a raid targeting al-Qaida in
Coalition aircraft dropped precision bombs on the building, resulting in its destruction and the deaths of the eight terrorists. No Coalition Forces or innocent Iraqis were injured during the air strike.
Iraq terrorists and foreign fighter facilitators.
While receiving enemy fire from several directions, ground forces called in for air support. Eight terrorists barricaded themselves inside one of the buildings and continued to fire at the ground forces. Coalition aircraft dropped precision bombs on the building, resulting in its destruction and the deaths of the eight terrorists. No Coalition Forces or innocent Iraqis were injured during the air strike. The operation was part of ongoing efforts to eliminate terrorists and disrupt their operations in the Arab Jabour area.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Soldiers of the 4th Iraqi Army Division removed another bomber from the streets of Iraq after capturing the suspected leader of an improvised explosive device cell during operations with Coalition advisers Feb. 6 near Taji, north of Baghdad. The suspect is believed responsible for coordinating and carrying out IED attacks against Iraqi Security Forces and Coalition Forces convoys in the area.
The man is alleged to have carried out an IED attack against a Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle in September which resulted in the death of one U.S. Soldier. He is also implicated in a more recent IED strike that killed three U.S. Soldiers Jan. 27.
The suspect is also believed to be involved in the abduction of innocent Iraqi civilians and using his residence as a place to interrogate and execute them. There was minimal damage done to the objective. There were no Iraqi civilians, Iraqi forces or Coalition Forces casualties.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
perhaps a Bradley, driven verrrrry slowly up his legs will get him to talk. Then kill him
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/09/2007 5:37 Comments ||
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Another success for the 4th Iraqi Army Division. It sounds like they're progressing nicely.
(KUNA) -- Coalition Forces killed an estimated 13 terrorists during an air strike Thursday targeting a senior foreign fighter facilitator northeast of Amiriya.
A Multi-National Force statement said intelligence reports indicated an individual associated with foreign fighter facilitation was in the targeted area. During the operation, Coalition Forces detained five suspected terrorists and found a cache including armor piercing ammunition, it said. Furthermore, it said information gained from the target area led Coalition Forces to two suspected foreign fighter safe houses where suspected terrorists were assembled. Coalition Forces observed the structures to confirm intelligence reports and engaged with precision guided munitions and rotary wing close air support, killing an estimated 13 terrorists.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2007 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- Iraqi police arrested Thursday eight suspects during a raid in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, said a police source. The source told Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) the eight arrestees, who possessed weapons, were suspected of involvement in terrorist operations. Meanwhile, Iraqi police managed to de-activate a booby-trapped car, said the source. The car was parked near a bridge in Kirkuk City. In Mosul, Iraqi police said that they found seven dead bodies in different parts of the city, noting the bodies were shot and tortured.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2007 00:00 ||
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(KUNA) -- Mortar shells killed three Iraqi children Thursday and injured at least 12 people in the Al-Mazraa village, west of Baghdad, said the US army here in a statement. A team from the Multinational Forces (MNF) rushed to the village to rescue wounded civilians, said the statement, noting the mortars were fired this morning by insurgents working in the area. Another 10 civilians were killed and 30 others were wounded yesterday when a car bomb exploded near a mosque south of Fallouja.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Another 10 civilians were killed and 30 others were wounded yesterday when a car bomb exploded near a mosque
I question the word "Civilians" as used here?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/09/2007 11:20 Comments ||
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(KUNA) -- Unidentified gunmen have Thursday shot dead two Iraqi policemen at the centre of Mosul, north of Iraq, Iraqi police said. A source at Mosul police told the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that unidentified gunmen in a car bearing no number plates had opened fire on two policemen dressed as civilians in the district of Al-Hadaa northern of Mosul. The two fell dead at the scene.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Gunmen burst into two houses belonging to a Sunni Muslim family northeast of Baghdad on Thursday, killing 14 relatives, police said.
The attack occurred around 1 p.m. local time in the village of Rufayaat, about 5 kilometers east of Balad. Balad is a majority Shi'ite town 80 kilometers northeast of the Iraqi capital, but it is surrounded by territory that is mainly populated by Sunnis.
At least 10 gunmen piled into two vehicles broke into the homes, then separated women and children from their male relatives. All 14 victims were men, ranging in age from 15 to 75, a police captain said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the matter.
US troops arrived at the scene afterward, and evacuated a wounded man to an American military hospital, the Iraqi captain said. The US military had no immediate comment.
In mid-October, at least 95 people died in a five-day sectarian slaughter in Balad. The Mahdi Army, a Shi'ite militia loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, was blamed for the killings. Militiamen torched businesses and forced hundreds of residents to flee their homes, in apparent retaliation for the beheading of 17 Shi'ite workers.
Tribal, religious and government officials later brokered a 20-day truce in the region of central Iraq, hoping to work through Sunni and Shi'ite grievances during the cooling off period, which ended in November 2006. During that time, US forces stepped up patrols in Balad, home to about 80,000 people.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2007 00:00 ||
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separated women and children from their male relatives. All 14 victims were men, ranging in age from 15 to 75
JERUSALEM - Israeli police stormed the grounds of Islam's third-holiest shrine Friday, firing stun grenades and tear gas to disperse thousands of Muslim worshippers who hurled stones, bottles and trash in an eruption of outrage over Israeli renovation work nearby. Much seething to commence, I guess. When are the Joooos gonna use real bullets for this sort of stuff?
The clash at the end of noon prayers came after days of mounting tensions over the work and raised concern that protests at the site could spread to the West Bank and Gaza, as they did at the start of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000. No serious injuries were reported. Kinda makes me wonder what the Grand Mufti was spewing at Friday papers. Things that make you go hhhuuuummmm.
About 200 police streamed on to the hilltop compound known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as the Temple Mount, to try to quell rioting over the repair work on a centuries-old ramp, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. Let the freakin' ramp fall in! Then you'll see real seething!
Clouds of tear gas rose up at the holy site and stun grenades set off sharp booms. A doctor treating some of the injured, Dr. Khalil el-Baba, said officers fired rubber bullets at protesters, but police denied that. "Manolo, get the Zionist Death Ray warmed up!"
Riot police with their helmet visors pulled down scuffled with Muslim worshippers, some of them middle-aged or elderly. Medics tended several injured people lying on the stone pavement. Jewish worshippers were evacuated from the Western Wall plaza at the foot of the compound. How come when you're rioting while Muslim™, it's "worship," as it is when you're a Joooo minding your own bidness at the Western Wall?
The situation grew especially volatile after some 150 protesters barricaded themselves inside the Al Aqsa mosque at the complex. "Manolo, how much longer does the Zionist Death Ray need to warm up?"
But police did not enter the mosque. The protesters began to leave about 90 minutes after they holed up inside the building, following negotiations between officers and Muslim representatives, negotiators said. Mistake #1: Police not entering that moskkk.
Three hours after the initial clash, however, police and demonstrators were still skirmishing in the narrow alleyways and on the rooftops of the Old City. Near Lion's Gate, police fired stun grenades after teenagers threw stones, iron bars and at least one firebomb at them, police said. The cobblestone walkways in the area were littered with rubble and vegetables thrown by protesters.
Even as the violence subsided, passions remained inflamed. Only the AP could write something so full of feeling and pass it off as fact.
"There is no justification for what they did today, and we think it was pre-orchestrated to bring fears to the spirits of the worshippers angry about the Israeli dig," said Adnan Husseini, chairman of the Waqf, the Muslim trust that oversees the shrine. Now if a Jooo had said that, I'd agree with the quote verbatim. But, the cog dis still abounds between seething, violence-prone Muslims who claim the Joooos can "bring fears" just 2 hours later.
Seventeen protesters and 19 police officers were slightly injured in the melee at the mosque, and 17 rioters were arrested, Rosenfeld said. More at link.
Posted by: BA ||
02/09/2007 12:35 ||
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(KUNA) -- A top military Hamas official was arrested in an Israeli army incursion in Ramallah Thursday, an Israeli army official told a radio station. Anwar Omair, a Tulkarem resident, was arrested in Ramallah. Omair was one of the Marj Al-Zuhoor deportees in the early nineties. The radio station reported that Omair was wanted in Israel since the 2002 Park Hotel attack in Natanya. Israeli forces arrested 26 Palestinians around the West Bank today.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2007 00:00 ||
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put him in with the Fatah boyz
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/09/2007 5:32 Comments ||
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Probably kept him from being killed in the civil war. Not that he'll be grateful, I expect.
Islamic Jihad operatives said they used an upgraded launcher to fire rockets at Israel on Thursday. The new launcher, developed by Islamic Jihad, can fire up to six rockets at a time, the group said. Previous launchers had been able to only fire single missiles. The group said it used the new launcher to send 10 of its homemade rockets toward the Sufa cargo crossing on the Israel-Gaza border.
The new launcher is part of an attempt by Islamic Jihad to increase its ability to strike Israel. In November the group developed a longer-range homemade rocket with double the reach of its predecessor, or 18- to 20 kilometers (11-12 miles).
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2007 00:00 ||
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toward the Sufa cargo crossing
This is relatively good news,
"Toward" Not Hitting
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/09/2007 11:28 Comments ||
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#2
toward the Sufa cargo crossing
This is relatively good news,
"Toward" Not Hitting
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/09/2007 11:29 Comments ||
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#3
Your "Submit" button is sticking again.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/09/2007 12:58 Comments ||
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#4
RJ: I applied some WD-40 to mine and it seems to be working just fine, fine, fine, fine.
Still have that annoying stutter, however.
An undercover Border Police unit arrested two senior Tanzim fugitives west of Jenin on Thursday evening. The two are suspected of setting explosives and perpetrating shooting attacks against Israelis. They were identified by Palestinians as Anas Toameh and Rabih Amar.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Saudi Arabia promised $1 billion in aid to the Palestinians after they agreed to the formation of a unity government, a senior Hamas official said Thursday. The Saudi pledge to provide massive financial aid to the Palestinians prompted Fatah and Hamas leaders to announce in Mecca on Thursday that they had finally struck a deal on a unity government.
"All we are say-ing, is give greed a chance..."
The two parties also agreed that the political platform of the unity government would not require Hamas to abide by previous agreements signed between the PLO and Israel, one of the three conditions the Quartet had set for granting the Hamas government legitimacy. Instead, the unity government has been asked to "honor" the agreements with Israel, as well as resolutions of the United Nations and Arab summits pertaining to the Israeli-Arab conflict.
Moreover, the Fatah-Hamas agreement does not require the unity government to explicitly recognize Israel's right to exist or Hamas to renounce violence, which was another of the Quartet's requirements. The two parties agreed to end internecine fighting and to work toward consolidating national unity. In a letter to Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas urged him to form a new government that would "abide by the higher interests of the Palestinians, preserve the achievements of the Palestinians and honor agreements signed by the PLO."
"Isn't it wonderful, Ismail. Can I call you Izzy? We just got $700 million dollars to kill Jooos! Yay us!"
Ahmed Yusef, political adviser to Haniyeh , said the Saudi money would be used in phases and would go to paying salaries of civil servants and funding various ministries and projects.
"And we believe the number mentioned was actually $701 million dollars. Perhaps our esteemed colleague Mahmoud the Weasel needs to get his eyes checked..."
"We highly appreciate the significant role that Saudi Arabia is playing regarding the Palestinian cause," he said. "The Saudis are playing a key role in exerting pressure on the Americans and Europeans to resume financial aid to the Palestinians and deal with the Hamas-led government."
With a billion of my petrodollars flowing into Paleoland, suddenly I fell no obligation to provide... anything.
The (Israeli) Prime Minister's Office Thursday evening had no comment on the agreement that Hamas and Fatah signed in Mecca, saying Israel would have to study its details before responding. "We hope and expect that Abbas will put together a government that will abide by the international principles," a source in the Prime Minister's Office said. The official refused to speculate what would happen if these principles were not included in the government's framework agreement. Even if they are part of unity government that accepts the Quartet principles the US government would continue to boycott Hamas ministers, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Jewish leaders in a closed door meeting Thursday afternoon. The Hamas ministers in the government would still belong to a terrorist organization and on that account the US administration would have no contact with them, Rice said, according to Jewish officials who spoke with The Jerusalem Post following the meeting.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I say make it vest over a period of 10 years. They might end up with $100 of it lining their pockets.
#4
As I said on numerous occasions. I, personally, cannot take any "war on terror" that doesn't start with the extermination of the Soody "royal family", seriously.
Considering the circumstances, unless the Saudis fork over cold hard cash any money transfer would still be considered a breach of US banking laws. Should be interesting to see how the US DoS squirms over this one.
#9
Moreover, the Fatah-Hamas agreement does not require the unity government to explicitly recognize Israel's right to exist or Hamas to renounce violence, which was another of the Quartet's requirements.
So, it's meet the new boss, same as the old boss, eh? Only, with the potential of $1 billion in Sooodi petro-dollars? So, Abbas and Hamas each get $500 million?
Posted by: BA ||
02/09/2007 11:25 Comments ||
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#10
Moreover, the Fatah-Hamas agreement does not require the unity government to explicitly recognize Israel's right to exist or Hamas to renounce violence, which was another of the Quartet's requirements.
So, it's meet the new boss, same as the old boss, eh? Only, with the potential of $1 billion in Sooodi petro-dollars? So, Abbas and Hamas each get $500 million?
Posted by: BA ||
02/09/2007 11:25 Comments ||
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Suspected Muslim insurgents beheaded a Buddhist rice mill owner Thursday in violence-wracked southern Thailand, police said. Assailants shot Juan Khaewthongprakham, the 72-year-old mill owner, before cutting off his head in the Kok Pho district of Pattani province, police Capt. Sutthisit Phetchom said.
Police were not able to find the head, and were using trained dogs to search for it, he said. Flyers left at the scene said that the beheading was retaliation for an attack the night before when unidentified assailants threw a grenade into a tea shop and injured three Muslim villagers. Some Muslims believe several attacks against Muslim villagers are carried out covertly by government security forces.
It was the second beheading this month in southern Thailand, where about 2,000 people have died in an Islamic separatist insurgency during the past three years. A Buddhist man who worked as an ice cream vendor was shot and beheaded on Feb. 1 by suspected Muslim insurgents in Pattani's Muang district.
Drive-by shootings and bombings occur almost daily in the three Muslim-majority provinces of Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani.
Buddhist civilians have been targeted by the insurgents in what is believed to be a tactic to drive them from the area and cause bad feelings between followers of the two religions. Buddhist monks have been beheaded, Buddhist teachers slain, and leaflets have been distributed around Buddhist villages telling residents to leave the Muslim-dominated region.
Leaflets left in mailboxes and motorcycle baskets in Pattani this week said: "We will give Thai Buddhists three days to leave our land. Otherwise, we will kill you and burn your houses...Thai Buddhists will never live peacefully. You will be killed cruelly." But Muslim citizens have also been slain especially those seen as collaborating with the government as have teachers, officials, soldiers and police.
Thailand's Queen Sirikit on Wednesday called for Thais especially those living in Bangkok, far from the violence to express their outrage and protest at the killing of innocent people by Muslim insurgents. "We should express our concern views via radio, television or letters to tell the insurgents to stop. Otherwise, people would think that our country is uncivilized as they can kill anyone anytime," she said.
#2
When I speak to the "War is not the Answer" crowd, I try to bring up the case of the Buddhists in Thailand. However the "War is not the Answer" types either say,
1. I've never heard of it or
2. Its the poverty
#3
This is a very good tactic and has work round the world. Slowly creat a hate toward the non Muslims in the community, blame them for everything that goes wrong, and then slowly kill them. One at a time and far enough apart not to creat outrage. Soon anyone with any sense and money will deem living there not worth the risk. Those that stay will be slowly eraticated. Soon the violent will be in total control, extermination and chaos will go wholesale, and all will be lost. This worked South Africa, Southern Philippines, Bosnia, Hitlers Germany, Indonesia, etc... and soon to be effective in France and Englad if they are not careful. The Thais have let this go to the point now if they send in the military the Muzzies will be "oppressed" by the Thais in the MSM/world view. The king of Thailand MUST get this solved and over with before Thailand fall the way of Indonesia and Malaysia.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
02/09/2007 14:04 Comments ||
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Tehran - A top Iranian cleric said on Friday the United States was within Iran's "firing range", a day after supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed to hit back at US interests worldwide if attacked.
Works both ways, Ali
"Americans have surrounded us but it works to our advantage. They are within our firing range in the east, west and elsewhere," Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati said in his Friday prayer sermon carried live on state radio.
General Custer had the same advantage
He was referring to the US military presence in neighbouring Iraq and Afghanistan as well as in the Gulf waters off southern Iran.
"Would you dare to violate Iranian borders? See what harm will be done to you then," said Jananti, who heads the hardline electoral watchdog the Guardians Council. Khamenei on Thursday warned that Iran would hit back at American interests worldwide if the United States attacked the Islamic republic to thwart its nuclear programme. In response to Khamenei's comments the White House said it has no plans to invade Iran, and downplayed the significance of reinforcing the US military presence in the Gulf region.
"Pay no attention to those carriers behind the curtain"
A commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said on Friday: "The entire Persian Gulf is within the Guards' missile range and if foreign forces are to carry out any operations they are the ones to be most hurt". "In the worst situations we are able to turn the region into a Sea Of Fire burning hell and take the possibility of using the Persian Gulf away from them forever," Rear Admiral Mohammad Ebrahim Dehghani said, quoted by semi-official Mehr news agency. His comments came after the Guards held a new round of war games in the strategic Gulf, where they test-fired land-to-sea missile with a range of 350km and a new Russian-made air defence missile .
Iran, which is under UN sanctions for its repeated defiance of the West over its nuclear programme, has repeatedly vowed it will not cave in to the key demand that it freeze uranium enrichment. Washington believes Tehran wants the bomb, an allegation firmly denied by the Islamic republic.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/09/2007 08:01 ||
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Link ||
[5 views]
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#1
The possibility of Persians losing the use of Persia forever is way higher than the possibility of the rest of the world losing the use of the Persian Gulf.
#6
Keep the squeeze on , the itchy trigger finger of the MM are just getting ever so more itchy . The only real question is , how much heat can they take before they panic and initiate first strike.
#7
Why is holy man Ali talking about the U.S. being in a "firing range"? It doesn't sound like he's interested in saving souls. He just wants to debate an empty chair. An empty soul debating with an empty chair.
#9
It doesn't sound like he's interested in saving souls.
When was the last time a Islamic holy man was interested in saving souls?
Just give the Iranians a shit eating grin and go back to stuffing as many and as much troops and equipment you can into the persian gulf.
#11
Old saying, "If the enemy is in range, SO ARE YOU.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/09/2007 11:34 Comments ||
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#12
I think the US should suggest to every mapmaker in the world as well as news agencies that it would be a good time to rename the Persian Gulf to the alternate Arabian Gulf. This would torque the Persians and uplift everyone else in the region (including non-persian Iranians) at very little cost.
I think the Administration should be very careful about using the term Iran, and instead should use Persian Dictators, or Persian occupiers and such that highlights the racial issues in Iran itself.
Sad that many who fled the Ayotollah call themselves Persians and the term would become a negative by this policy, but they'll get over it somehow.
#13
It would only take one ARCLIGHT strike - anywhere - to tone down this rhetoric. I'd recommend a flight of 12 (in three-ship cells), armed with 1000lb dumb bombs, dropped on a single target. Let the Iranians know exactly how much damage we can do WITHOUT nuking them back to the stone age. That's a lesson we consistently fail to bring home to these a$$holes, and it's biting us, badly. They have little fear of us. That needs to change, immediately. It's far better to be feared than to be treated with contempt.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/09/2007 11:43 Comments ||
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#14
I thought we decided it was the "Gulf of Rumsfeld"???
#16
Interesting point, rjshwarz. Way back in the dark ages when I held a paying job, one of the lab technicians I worked with was from Iran. One day we were were talking about the '79 Revolution that had led to his staying on in the US, and I kept referring to him as Persian, which was how the Jews I knew who'd fled there after '48 called themselves. I finally noticed that each time I said "Persian" he would say "Iranian" (I can be awfully slow, sometimes). So I asked, and he explained that Persia was ancient history, and they were all Iranians now.
But of course that isn't completely true, as you so deftly point out.
#17
As far as self-deceiving goes, I met an educated Lebanese, who asked (rhetorically, I guess), why the US spent most of its defense budget on Israel.
I assured him that the US spent maybe 1/10th of 1% of what it spends on the military, on Israel.
He refused to believe me. He *couldn't* believe me. He had seen what to him was the immense and powerful military of Israel and the destruction they could levy. For that to be just the tiniest fraction of what the US could do, was more than he could imagine.
It is essential to them that they imagine Israel as an artificial creation, impossible if not for vast sums pouring into it from the US. And *therefore*, everything that Israel does is directly the fault of the US.
Were it not for the US, the Israelis would be as dirt poor as the Palestinians, scraping a meager existence from the desert.
Actually, even if we removed our troops from the entire hemisphere, all of Iran would still be within our firing range. ICBMs, anyone? But given how accurate their equipment appears to be, the desert bits of Iraq appear to me to be more at risk than Coalition camps. But y'all keep talking big, and make the Arab world and Europe more and more nervous. Despite the contrary drive of anti-Americanism, they'll up taking our side out of reasonable self-interest.
#20
They are within our firing range in the east, west and elsewhere,....He was referring to the US military presence in neighbouring Iraq and Afghanistan as well as in the Gulf waters off southern Iran.
What if he is not referring to the Middle Eastern theater? They know fullwell what the US military is capable of but then suicidal nuts just think they will get the last laugh. By having terrorists in key locations, they could easily hit the mainland US and our interests worldwide. Iranian missile technology could have been shipped piecemeal sometime ago and be sitting in South America and elsewhere ready to go. That is the kind of terrorism that is extremely difficult to prevent and worries me most.
#21
Danielle, it's a mater of credibility. Since USA (Israel = same to Muzzies) insists on not harming civilians and even punishes its own soldiers for what Muslims consider normal perks of soldering, they just don't believe USA is capable of mass retaliation.
#23
Feb 11 is this coming Sunday and dammit if these A@@holes don't decide to do something that interferes with NASCAR. Now THAT is gonna piss off a whole sh!tload of rednecks (and other auto nuts).
#24
WHere I come from when someone gives you the phrase "hit me" or "I'm gonna kick your @ss" You are cleared hot to let them have it. Iran has dared us, pushed us, hit us, threatened us, and are frantically building the capability to deliver a thermonuclear device and detonate on us. Time is up for posturing, talking, and failed politics. We are at the time when we need to remove their nuclear weapons program and enter an era where they understand our capability at the personal level.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
02/09/2007 14:19 Comments ||
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#25
A top Iranian cleric said on Friday the United States was within Iran's "firing range"
Go ahead, you black-hat pussy. Man up and pull the trigger. You or anyone in your family will never live to use the money in the Swiss bank accounts.
#26
After the protest about naming it after Rumsfled, a living person, I suggest we back down and name it the Gulf of Infidels or the Gulf of Oil. Perhaps the Gulf of Dubai?
#29
I still like the idea of bombing Mecca (as per Tancredo).
To get that threat out to these jokers if they ever attack us. And follow through!
Any other sites that need to be leveled as well.
Posted by: Jan from work ||
02/09/2007 22:41 Comments ||
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Hizbullah acknowledged that a truck full of ammunition intercepted by authorities in an east Beirut suburb on Thursday belonged to the group and demanded the government immediately release the shipment. The seizure and the harshness of Hizbullah's demand added to already high tensions in an ongoing power struggle between the US-backed government and the Hizbullah-led opposition seeking to topple it.
Hizbullah's demand followed an announcement by Information Minister Ghazi Aridi that authorities had intercepted a truck full of ammunitions in a suburb east of Beirut on Thursday. The news came during a meeting of the Cabinet, which also discussed the overnight exchange of fire on the tense Israeli-Lebanese border. The shootout, which did not result in casualties, was the most serious clash since last summer's war between Hizbullah and Israel. "The preliminary information says the truck came from (eastern Lebanon's) Bekaa Valley," said Aridi, adding that an investigation was under way to determine the type of weapons and who they were intended for.
Witnesses described it as a six-wheel truck, stopped in the Hazmiyeh suburb. Some unconfirmed reports said it contained mainly machine guns and other light weapons. A security official later said the ammunition included 20 Grad rockets and 20 rocket launchers concealed in bags of straw. Under a UN resolution that ended this summer's Israel-Hizbullah war, the group is banned from rearming.
But the militants said in a statement Thursday that the government must abide by its own policy, proclaimed in 2005, to support the "resistance" in the south - which is Lebanese shorthand for the guerrilla.
Israel has accused Hizbullah of rearming and has said its air force would continue to monitor Lebanon to prevent weapons shipments to the group.
Only one similar incident took place during the summer war, when Hizbullah accused the army of seizing an ammunitions shipment. But Hizbullah is now talking from a position of strength, after its two ministers and four allies bolted out of the cabinet in November. The militants have since been leading protests and sit-ins to force Prime Minister Fuad Saniora to quit or give them and their allies more power.
In a statement faxed to The Associated Press, Hizbullah said Lebanese customs officials had seized a "truck carrying ammunition for the resistance from the Bekaa to the south." It said the 2005 government's policy statement clearly affirmed the right of the group to continue its efforts to free remaining occupied Lebanese territories and confront Israeli threats. "Consequently, the concerned authorities must return the truck and the ammunitions to the resistance," Hizbullah said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/09/2007 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[4 views]
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#1
ummmm......no
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/09/2007 5:41 Comments ||
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#2
It said the 2005 government's policy statement clearly affirmed the right of the group to continue its efforts to free remaining occupied Lebanese territories and confront Israeli threats. "Consequently, the concerned authorities must return the truck and the ammunitions to the resistance," Hizbullah said.
#3
Hizbullah acknowledged that a truck full of ammunition intercepted by authorities in an east Beirut suburb on Thursday belonged to the group and demanded the government immediately release the shipment.
If they do, they're damn idiots.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/09/2007 11:38 Comments ||
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#4
On second thought, make an addition, replace every third round with a reload, filled with dynamite, then "Release" the shipment, when the hezzies weapons start "Malfunctioning
(means exploding in their faces) maybe they'll put two and two together, but probably not.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/09/2007 11:43 Comments ||
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#5
Maybe South Beirut would be the ideal place for that lesson (mentioned in above article) to be "taught".
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/09/2007 11:45 Comments ||
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#6
That neat dynamite trick was used during WW2 by the various resistance groups, (I read History)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/09/2007 13:01 Comments ||
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The German cabinet Wednesday approved the deployment of Tornado jets for surveillance operations with NATO forces fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan. Tornado pilots would be authorized to provide intelligence for NATO attacks on Taliban formations, Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung said. But they would not be allowed to use their bombs or missiles to carry out attacks, government sources told dpa. Parliament needs to approve the mission, which would signal a deepening military commitment by Germany in the region. But approval is considered a formality given the huge majority enjoyed by Chancellor Angela Merkel's government in the Bundestag. Deputies are scheduled to discuss the issue in March. Once the vote is taken the first Tornados could arrive in Afghanistan by early April. Government sources said about six Tornado reconnaissance planes would be operate across the entire country, taking aerial pictures of Tailban positions and passing the information on to other NATO partners who would carry out strikes against the Taliban.
A Paris court on Thursday heard evidence that French Muslim convert Willie Brigitte was sent to Australia to plot a terrorist attack on the orders of Pakistani extremists.
Coalition Forces conducted an air strike Thursday evening after receiving heavy enemy fire during a raid targeting al-Qaida in 
(KUNA) -- Mortar shells killed three Iraqi children Thursday and injured at least 12 people in the Al-Mazraa village, west of Baghdad, said the US army here in a statement. A team from the Multinational Forces (MNF) rushed to the village to rescue wounded civilians, said the statement, noting the mortars were fired this morning by insurgents working in the area. Another 10 civilians were killed and 30 others were wounded yesterday when a car bomb exploded near a mosque south of Fallouja.
(KUNA) -- A top military Hamas official was arrested in an Israeli army incursion in Ramallah Thursday, an Israeli army official told a radio station. Anwar Omair, a Tulkarem resident, was arrested in Ramallah. Omair was one of the Marj Al-Zuhoor deportees in the early nineties. The radio station reported that Omair was wanted in Israel since the 2002 Park Hotel attack in Natanya. Israeli forces arrested 26 Palestinians around the West Bank today.
Saudi Arabia promised $1 billion in aid to the Palestinians after they agreed to the formation of a unity government, a senior Hamas official said Thursday. The Saudi pledge to provide massive financial aid to the Palestinians prompted Fatah and Hamas leaders to announce in Mecca on Thursday that they had finally struck a deal on a unity government. 
