(SomaliNet) The Ethiopian forces in the Somalia capital Mogadishu on Saturday handed un- specified number of Somali prisoners to the Hawiye clan elders in return of receiving the dead bodies of three soldiers belonged to their army who was killed in yesterdays street gun battle.
Mohamed Hassan Haad, the Hawiye spokesman confirmed to the reporters that they had handed the bodies of three Ethiopian soldiers while the Ethiopian freed a number of Somali detainees. He declined to mention the number of the freed prisoners. Mr. Haad said the move came when the Ethiopian army demanded requested to get the bodies.
Meanwhile, the bodies of three Somali men including a staff for Horn Afrik Radio and TV were found near Ifka Halane intersection in Yaqshid district, north of Mogadishu. They were supposed to be killed by the Ethiopian forces stationed inside the former soccer stadium Mogadishu.
On Saturday, the Ethiopian troops raided villages near Horn Afrik station where they had kidnapped two of the villagers and one of the Horn Afrik security guards. Mohamed Hussein, 56, a Horn Afrik staff was among the bodies discarded. He was the third Horn Afrik member killed this year alone.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri said a Libyan Islamist group had joined the militant organisation and he urged mujahideen in North Africa to topple the leaders of Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. "Honourable members of the Fighting Islamic Group in Libya announce that they are joining the al Qaeda group to continue the march of their brothers," Zawahri said in a recording posted on the Internet on Saturday.
The Libyan group would be the second militant organisation to join al Qaeda this year after Algeria's armed GSPC said in January it had won approval from Osama bin Laden to rename itself Al Qaeda Organisation in the Islamic Maghreb.
The Algerian-based network has claimed responsibility for a series of recent suicide attacks. Bombs in Morocco and gunfights in Tunisia also raised fears al Qaeda may be expanding in north African Maghreb states, potential launch pads for attacks on European targets. "Your good sons are gathering (in the Maghreb) under Islam and jihad's banner against America, France, Spain and their people ... O nation of jihad, support your sons so that we defeat our enemies and rid our homeland of their slaves," said Zawahri, naming leaders of Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.
The Fighting Islamic Group first announced its presence in 1995, vowing to overthrow Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and launching a violent campaign in the OPEC oil exporting nation. Security analysts say it is a loose organisation that has many followers in Western countries, especially Britain. But it split last year after some members renounced violence in exchange for a government amnesty.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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King Abdullah was surprised during his two-day state visit to Britain last week by the barrage of criticism directed at the Saudi kingdom. Officials were in considerable shock, one former British diplomat said.
Y'don't think the "Star Wars" theme music might have tipped them off?
Back home the king is regarded as a modest reformer who has cracked down on home-grown terrorism and loosened a few relatively minor restrictions on his subjects personal freedom.
To anyone with eyes in his head, they've been busy playing both ends against the middle, maintaining a foreign policy grounded in arrogance and large amounts of cash while using both government and non-government affiliated organizations to push their religion down the throats of the rest of the world.
With oil prices surging, Saudi Arabia is growing in prosperity and embracing some modern trappings. Bibles and crucifixes are still banned, but internet access is spreading and there are plans for Mile High Tower, the worlds tallest skyscraper, in Jeddah.
The internet is a weapon to be used by the global jihadists. But if we win in the end, it will largely be because that weapon cuts both ways.
As a key ally of the West, the king had every reason to expect a warm welcome.
"Yeah. Those dumbassed infidels ain't noticed a thing!"
Yet wealthy Saudis remain the chief financiers of worldwide terror networks.
No! Reeeeeeeally?
If I could somehow snap my fingers and cut off the funding from one country, it would be Saudi Arabia, said Stuart Levey, the US Treasury official in charge of tracking terror financing.
That's where the biggest pot of money funds the biggest herd of holy men.
Extremist clerics provide a stream of recruits to some of the worlds nastiest trouble spots.
And they do it on King Abdullah's petrodollar.
An analysis by NBC News suggested that the Saudis make up 55% of foreign fighters in Iraq. They are also among the most uncompromising and militant.
That's because they've been raised in that fundo crap since they were eggs.
Half the foreign fighters held by the US at Camp Cropper near Baghdad are Saudis. They are kept in yellow jumpsuits in a separate, windowless compound after they attempted to impose sharia on the other detainees and preached an extreme form of Wahhabist Islam.
Islam on its own is merely unpleasant to the rest of the world. Salafism preys on everyone, whether religious or not, to include other Muslims.
In recent months, Saudi religious scholars have caused consternation in Iraq and Iran by issuing fatwas calling for the destruction of the great Shiite shrines in Najaf and Karbala in Iraq, some of which have already been bombed. And while prominent members of the ruling al-Saud dynasty regularly express their abhorrence of terrorism, leading figures within the kingdom who advocate extremism are tolerated.
Even revered.
Sheikh Saleh al-Luhaidan, the chief justice, who oversees terrorist trials, was recorded on tape in a mosque in 2004, encouraging young men to fight in Iraq. Entering Iraq has become risky now, he cautioned. It requires avoiding those evil satellites and those drone aircraft, which own every corner of the skies over Iraq. If someone knows that he is capable of entering Iraq in order to join the fight, and if his intention is to raise up the word of God, then he is free to do so.
So here we have a member of the Soddy government encouraging young Soddies to run away to fight us infidels. He's doing so in a state-funded mosque, and his pay check is from the state. But, really, it's not a matter of state policy. I'm not sure my mind is limber enough to envelop that idea.
The Bush administration is split over how to deal with the Saudi threat, with the State Department warning against pressure that might lead the royal family to fall and be replaced by more dangerous extremists. The urban legend is that George Bush and Dick Cheney are close to the Saudis because of oil and their past ties with them, but theyre pretty disillusioned with them, said Stephen Schwartz, of the Centre for Islamic Pluralism in Washington. The problem is that the Saudis have been part of American policy for so long that its not easy to work out a solution.
The problem is also that they're at the heart of Islam, and many of our allies in the war on terror are in fact Muslim. We are at war with Salafism, but Salafism is the state religion of Soddy Arabia. Intricately intertwined are the worms in that can.
According to Levey, not one person identified by America or the United Nations as a terrorist financier has been prosecuted by Saudi authorities.
Kind of obvious they won't be, too.
A fortnight ago exasperated US Treasury officials named three Saudi citizens as terrorist financiers. In order to deter other would-be donors, it is important to hold these terrorists publicly accountable, Levey said. All three had worked in the Philippines, where they are alleged to have helped to finance the Abu Sayyaf group, an Al-Qaeda affiliate. One, Muhammad Sughayr, was said to be the main link between Abu Sayyaf and wealthy Gulf donors. Sughayr was arrested in the Philippines in 2005 and swiftly deported to Saudi Arabia after pressure from the Saudi embassy in Manila. There is no evidence that he was prosecuted on his return home.
Prosecutions are for those who engage in terrorism within Soddy Arabia. Despite the number of Soddy policemen and national guard killed in those operations, we've yet to see anyone's head chopped off.
This year the Saudis arrested 10 people thought to be terrorist financiers, but the excitement faded when their defence lawyers claimed that they were political dissidents and human rights groups took up their cause.
Matthew Levitt, a former intelligence analyst at the US Treasury and counter-terrorism expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, believes the Saudis could do more. He said: It is important for the Saudis to hold people publicly accountable. Key financiers have built up considerable personal wealth and are loath to put that at risk. There is some evidence that individuals who have been outed have curtailed their financial activities.
Best take a look at the activities of their relatives, then. And if they haven't picked up the ball, check the financial records of mosque associates.
In the past the Saudis openly supported Islamic militants. Osama Bin Laden was originally treated as a favourite son of the regime and feted as a hero for fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan. Huge charitable organisations such as the International Islamic Relief Organisation and the al-Haramain Foundation accused in American court documents of having links to extremist groups flourished, sometimes with patronage from senior Saudi royals.
The 1991 Gulf war was a wake-up call for the Saudis. Bin Laden began making vitriolic attacks on the Saudi royal family for cooperating with the US and demanded the expulsion of foreign troops from Arabia. His citizenship was revoked in 1994. The 1996 attack on the Khobar Towers in Dhahran, which killed 19 US servicemen and one Saudi, was a warning that he could strike within the kingdom.
The tool used in that particular attack was Soddy Hezbollah, if I remember correctly, which kinda proves my contention that all Islamic terrorism is one -- the terrorism part is more important than the Islamic part.
As long as foreigners were the principal targets, the Saudis turned a blind eye to terror. Even the September 11 attacks of 2001, in which 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudis, could not shake their complacency. Despite promises to crack down on radical imams, Saudi mosques continued to preach hatred of America.
Assassination attempts against security officials caused some of the royals to fear for their own safety. In May 2004 Islamic terrorists struck two oil industry installations and a foreigners housing compound in Khobar, taking 50 hostages and killing 22 of them. The Saudi authorities began to cooperate more with the FBI, clamp down on extremist charities, monitor mosques and keep a watchful eye on fighters returning from Iraq.
Only last month Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul-Aziz al-Sheikh, the kingdoms leading cleric, criticised gullible Saudis for becoming convenient knights for whoever wants to exploit their zeal, even to the point of turning them into walking bombs. And last week in London, King Abdullah warned young British Muslims not to become involved with extremists.
Yet the Saudis ambivalence towards terrorism has not gone away. Money for foreign fighters and terror groups still pours out of the kingdom, but it now tends to be carried in cash by couriers rather than sent through the wires, where it can be stopped and identified more easily. A National Commission for Relief and Charity Work Abroad, a nongovernmental organisation that was intended to regulate private aid abroad to guard against terrorist financing, has still not been created three years after it was trumpeted by the Saudi embassy in Washington.
Hundreds of Islamic militants have been arrested but many have been released after undergoing reeducation programmes led by Muslim clerics.
And to date not one head has been chopped off.
According to the daily Alwatan, the interior ministry has given 115m riyals (£14.7m) to detainees and their families to help them to repay debts, to assist families with health care and housing, to pay for weddings and to buy a car on their release. The most needy prisoners families receive 2,000-3,000 riyals (£286 to £384) a month. Ali Saad Al-Mussa, a lecturer at King Khaled University in Abha, protested: Im afraid that holding [extremist] views leads to earning a prize or, worse, a steady income.
Former detainees from the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba are also benefiting. To celebrate the Muslim holiday of Eid, 55 prisoners were temporarily released last month and given the equivalent of £1,300 each to spend with their families.
School textbooks still teach the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a notorious antiSemitic forgery, and preach hatred towards Christians, Jews and other religions, including Shiite Muslims, who are considered heretics.
The Soddies (and other Muslims worldwide) seem to have swallowed whole the story of the Protocols. We can see on a near daily basis the evidence that they've "countered" them by developing their own Protocols, which I've been referring to for a number of years now as the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Islam. This as yet theoretical document lays out the plan for Muslims to subvert the world and take it over, instituting shariah and subjugating all other religions. The structure it creates features a "lower house", which would be the Supreme Council of Global Jihad or its successor. I discount the Supreme Council as the controller of all jihad simply based on its size. My guess is that the "upper house" lies entirely within Soddy Arabia and consists of princes and holy men, and that there's a "politiburo" that does the actual thinking and planning. Try as we might, we have distressingly few details from open source on these entities. Even the Supreme Council was only briefly visible but then disappeared, taking its web page with it.
In frustration, Arlen Specter, the Republican senator for Pennsylvania, introduced the Saudi Arabia Accountability Act 10 days ago, calling for strong encouragement of the Saudi government to end its support for institutions that fund, train, incite, encourage or in any other way aid and abet terrorism. The act, however, is expected to die when it reaches the Senate foreign relations committee: the Bush administration is counting on Saudi Arabia to help stabilise Iraq, curtail Irans nuclear and regional ambitions and give a push to the Israeli and Palestinian peace process at a conference due to be held this month in Annapolis, Maryland. Do we really want to take on the Saudis at the moment? asks Bronson. Weve got enough problems as it is.
This article starring:
Ali al-Ahmed, director of the Washington-based Institute for Gulf Affairs
Ali Saad Al-Mussa, a lecturer at King Khaled University
Arlen Specter
GRAND MUFTI SHEIKH ABDUL AZIZ AL SHEIKH
Learned Elders of Islam
Matthew Levitt, a former intelligence analyst at the US Treasury
MUHAMAD SUGHAIR
Abu Sayyaf
Protocols of the Elders of Zion
Rachel Bronson, the author of Thicker than Oil: Americas Uneasy Partnership with Saudi Arabia
SHEIKH SALEH AL LUHAIDAN
Learned Elders of Islam
Stephen Schwartz, of the Centre for Islamic Pluralism
Stuart Levey
Abu Sayyaf
al-Haramain Foundation
International Islamic Relief Organisation
National Commission for Relief and Charity Work Abroad
Posted by: tipper ||
11/04/2007 05:17 ||
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#1
I don't think enough people appreciate that if we jam a big enough branch between the spokes, the wheel stops turning and the hub is frozen in place...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/04/2007 7:39 Comments ||
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#2
Points for the British officials who were willing to point out the obvious. The shock musta been from the expectation that the usual suspects would roll over and take it graciously. That's the behavior of the American government when it comes to the death and destruction wrought upon its citizens by the illegals from places like Mexico. Treat visiting Mexican officials like fellow rulers of the unwashed masses long lost family, rather than the people responsible for dumping their unskilled, uneducated, unwanted upon American, in order to resist reform and retain power.
#3
Condi told me they were a valuable ally in WoT.
Posted by: George II ||
11/04/2007 13:12 Comments ||
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#4
Saudi influence in Pakistan is enough to show what a dangerous world these wahabbist are creating!!!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
11/04/2007 13:15 Comments ||
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#5
They are kept in yellow jumpsuits in a separate, windowless compound after they attempted to impose sharia on the other detainees and preached an extreme form of Wahhabist Islam.
Yet another good reason to hold all suspected and convicted terrorists in solitary confinement.
Sheikh Saleh al-Luhaidan, the chief justice, who oversees terrorist trials, was recorded on tape in a mosque in 2004, encouraging young men to fight in Iraq. Entering Iraq has become risky now, he cautioned. It requires avoiding those evil satellites and those drone aircraft, which own every corner of the skies over Iraq. If someone knows that he is capable of entering Iraq in order to join the fight, and if his intention is to raise up the word of God, then he is free to do so.
Isn't it kind of odd to hear a the chief justice of a country that relies quite heavily upon American military technology decry its effectiveness in thwarting terrorism? What that tells me is Saudi Arabia would like nothing better than to turn that same technology directly against America. Due to perennial Muslim incompetence they are in no position to use their American supplied arms to do so. Instead, they send their young extremists to fly fully loaded passenger jet airliners into our occupied skyscrapers.
Can there really be any doubt that if they had nuclear weapons we might have already been attacked with one?
So here we have a member of the Soddy government encouraging young Soddies to run away to fight us infidels. He's doing so in a state-funded mosque, and his pay check is from the state. But, really, it's not a matter of state policy. I'm not sure my mind is limber enough to envelop that idea.
This is nothing more or less than a formal declaration of war by the Saudi government and it should be treated exactly as that. In typical Islamic fashion, the Saudis want all the perks of being an honest player on the world stage whileat the same exact timeconducting its own subversive terrorist agenda. This is taqiyya writ large and epitomizes the Saudi'sand general Muslim population'ssense of entitlement.
The current instability in Pakistan places it in priority of intervention directly behind Iran. After those two snake pits, it is Saudi Arabia that must be taken to task. None of this evil is going to stop until the House of Saud is smashed relentlessly and finally. If this requires destroying the shrines at Mecca and Medina, I no longer oppose such a notion. I have railed against it in the past, but Islam is of such an overwhelmingly evil nature that its time on earth has run out.
#6
The tool used in that particular attack was Soddy Hezbollah, if I remember correctly, which kinda proves my contention that all Islamic terrorism is one -- the terrorism part is more important than the Islamic part.
I also meant to comment on this as it was one of Fred's most important observations. Many people still dispute the monolithic character of Islam. The fundamentally evil nature of terrorismand how it is almost universally embraced by the Islamic worldmakes Muslims collectively responsible for it. By permitting this one underlying theme of violent predation upon innocents to permeate their creed, they universally forfeit any legitimacy in the eyes of the outside world.
Saudi King Abdullah is scheduled to visit German Chancellor Angela Merkel next week to hold talks on international and Middle East issues.
The Saudi King will be arriving in Germany at midday on Wednesday and will meet Merkel at the chancellery in Berlin, the German government said on Friday. Middle East developments will be on the agenda and the leaders will also discuss bilateral relations, government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said. The king's visit to Germany is part of his European tour that already has taken him to Britain, where he discussed terrorism and the Middle East peace process with Gordon Brown.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Is that the disguise he used to get out of Britain unnoticed? Now I see why he wears the shades. A hijab would have been a nice touch, though.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/04/2007 14:04 Comments ||
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#6
Hope the Bundeswehr plays the Imperial March
That little ditty needs to follow this Islamic scumbag around like an annoying chihuahua snapping at his heels everywhere he goes. I applaud Queen Elizabeth for using yet another state occasion to publicly slap Islam and the House of Saud. The rest of this world needs to follow her cue.
Yemen said on Saturday it had recovered the bodies of 40 Somalis who drowned after being forced overboard by traffickers in the Gulf of Aden. A further 78 people rescued from the water were receiving medical treatment in hospitals, a security official said in a statement released on the Yemeni defence ministry website. "They will undergo treatment before being handed over to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees," said Ahmed al-Muqdashi, head of security for the southern province of Abyan, adding that the search for the bodies took three days and two people were still unaccounted for.
The UNHCR estimates that more than 20,000 people have made the perilous crossing of the Gulf of Aden to Yemen this year, with at least 439 deaths and another 489 people missing.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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The British headquarters suffered from a lack of good quality officers
Lack of planning put Britain and the US, as occupying powers, in "breach" of the Geneva Convention
Lack of planning resulted in delays before essential reconstruction could begin
Not enough funding was requested by senior commanders or approved by the Treasury
British commanders were forced to work to an ideologically driven US timetable
Restrictive operational security meant that few people in Government were involved in planning.
The report also says that the main focus of US commanders was the stabilisation of Baghdad and that they were "unresponsive" to the concerns of their British counter-parts for the worsening situation in southern Iraq.
As if they would have listened to us. Right-o, old chap.
One officer wrote that the Britain was committed to an ideologically driven US timetable, adding: "The train was on Grand Central station, and was leaving at a time which we did not control."
A sad moment. I suspect this may be Britain's last appearance as a positive player on the world stage. Should she ever again have the will, she won't have the means. And the Argies know it.
#1
Was at a NATO technology meeting on unmanned vehicles a couple months ago. Brit researchers briefed some interesting work on UAV design. The way they got it funded / okay'd was to pretend it was for environmental monitoring, since if they'd said it was for defense uses it would not have been approved.
#2
Excellent point on "officer quality" I'd say. Land Forces are still reeling from Powell and Kekewich's thrashing at Mefeking and Kimberley. Oh sorry, wrong insurgent conflict.
(RFE/RL) -- In the two years since the raids on police and security facilities in Nalchik, the capital of the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic, the North Caucasus resistance has not launched a single major attack that has made world headlines. At least seven prominent resistance commanders have been killed since June 2006, including Abdul-Khalim Sadullayev, Aslan Maskhadov's successor as president of the Chechen Republic Ichkeria (ChRI), and radical field commander Shamil Basayev.
Russian and pro-Moscow Chechen politicians claim that those losses have broken the back of the resistance and reduced its total strength to a few hundred men who will be killed or apprehended within months. Resistance websites, however, paint a very different picture, chronicling almost daily strikes against Russian military and security personnel and alleging a continued steady influx of recruits to swell the resistance ranks.
In late September 2006, Doku Umarov, who succeeded Sadullayev as president and resistance commander in June 2006, divided the North Caucasus into six areas of responsibility, or "fronts," some further subdivided into sectors, and each headed by its own amir who reports to Umarov personally. The intensity and nature of resistance activity since then has differed from republic to republic.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
Abdul-Khalim Sadullayev
Chechnya
Akhmed Zakayev
Chechnya
Alla Dudayeva
Chechnya
Amir Muslim
Chechnya
Amir Seyfullah
Chechnya
Anzor Astemirov
Chechnya
Aslan Maskhadov
Chechnya
Doku Umarov
Chechnya
Isa Munayev
Chechnya
Isa Umarov
Chechnya
Jokhar Dudayev
Khattab
Chechnya
Movladi Udugov
Chechnya
Musa Mukozhev
Chechnya
Rappani Khalilov
Chechnya
RFE/RL journalist Andrei Babitsky
Shamil Basayev
Chechnya
Suleiman Imurzayev
Chechnya
Sultan Arsayev
Chechnya
Sultan Khadisov
Chechnya
Tahir Batayev
Chechnya
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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In less than three weeks, her fellow Australians are set to oust John Howard, their conservative-minded prime minister of 11œ years, and replace him with Kevin Rudd, the Labour leader.
A man of ferocious intellect, but with such boyish features and a fringe so feathery that satirists have nicknamed him Tintin, Mr Rudd seems to be almost home and dry, even though the general election campaign is barely at the halfway point.
Mr Howard's defeat would mean the departure from office of the last of US President George W Bush's original, staunch allies on Iraq, and the withdrawal of Australia's 550 combat troops stationed around Baghdad both factors that are encouraging voters to desert him for Labour.
Egypt and Turkey signed on Saturday a memo for a bilateral framework strategic dialogue, the first in the history of the two countries' relations. Egyptian Foreign Minister, Ahmed Abul-Gheit, signed the framework memo with his Turkish counterpart, Ali Babacan, on the sidelines of the wide-scale meeting of the Iraq neighbor countries held in Istanbul.
The two countries concluded the framework realizing their joint responsibility for working together to support peace, stability and development in the Middle East and East of the Mediterranean, Abul-Gheit told a joint press conference with Babacan. He added that the Egyptian-Turkish strategic dialogue would cover a range of issues of top priority to both countries such as the region's hot issues, countering terrorism, extremism and combating the spread of weapons of mass destruction. This also includes working together at the multiparty level to conclude solutions to the regional and international problems as well as encouraging regional parties to handle the issues of "regional nature."
For his part, Babacan told the conference that the memo covered political, economic and cultural cooperation providing for setting up mechanisms for strategic dialogue between the two countries at the level of the Foreign Ministers.
It was agreed to hold annual meetings between the Foreign Ministers and senior officials for consultations on the key issues on the international scene.
Title gives a fresh slant, doncha think? Poll Finds Americans Pessimistic, Want Change
War, Economy, Politics Sour Views of Nation's Direction
One year out from the 2008 election, Americans are deeply pessimistic and eager for a change in direction from the agenda and priorities of President Bush, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Concern about the economy, the war in Iraq and growing dissatisfaction with the political environment in Washington all contribute to the lowest public assessment of the direction of the country in more than a decade. Just 24 percent think the nation is on the right track, and three-quarters said they want the next president to chart a course that is different than that pursued by Bush.
Overwhelmingly, Democrats want a new direction, but so do three-quarters of independents and even half of Republicans. Sixty percent of all Americans said they feel strongly that such a change is needed after two terms of the Bush presidency.
Dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq remains a primary drag on public opinion, and Americans are increasingly downcast about the state of the economy. More than six in 10 called the war not worth fighting, ...
... there's the current meme, right on schedule ...
... and nearly two-thirds gave the national economy negative marks. The outlook going forward is also bleak: About seven in 10 see a recession as likely over the next year.
Despite low unemployment, rising median wages, a decent stock market, good corporate profits and plenty of consumer spending. I've always thought that Americans can't ever be happy about the economy, no matter how god it is, and this is more proof.
The overall landscape tilts in the direction of the Democrats, but there is evidence in the new poll -- matched in conversations with political strategists in both parties and follow-up interviews with survey participants -- that the coming battle for the White House is shaping up to be another hard-fought, highly negative and closely decided contest. Much more at link. A few nuggets:
At this stage, three issues dominate the electoral landscape, with the war in Iraq at the top of the list. Nearly half of all adults, 45 percent, cited Iraq as the most or second-most important issue in their choice for president. About three in 10 cited the economy and jobs (29 percent) or health care (27 percent). All other issues are in the single digits.
Immigration is cited by 12% of Republicans, 10% of independents, and 3% of Dhimmicrats. There's your wedge issue right there.
Still, strategists on both sides foresee another close election. "The biggest dynamic is that people want change from the policies of the Bush administration," said Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton's chief strategist. But he added that "it's not a clear path" to victory for the Democrats, noting that no Democratic nominee has won 50 percent of the general-election vote since Jimmy Carter in 1976.
The Post-ABC poll was conducted by telephone Oct. 29 to Nov. 1 among a random sample of 1,131 adults, and includes additional interviews with randomly selected African Americans for a total of 203 black respondents. The results from the full poll have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/04/2007 07:13 ||
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#1
One-fifth of respondents were black? It would be a lot more honest if one-fifth were Mexican. The black vote is too monolithic to give an honest response, but the Mexican vote tends to swing.
WaPo needs to change the subject since the 'defeat' in Iraq won't arrive as promised in time for next years election. "Democrats want a new direction". No kidding. They've played a losing hand, I'm sure they and their sycophants in the media are desperate about changing the subject.
#3
I said this yesterday - continued success will remove Iraq as a campaign issue come next November. Time to start beating the drums about something new. But what? The economy is a traditional issue, but unfortunately unemployment is low, the national debt is declining, and except for a crappy housing market and the entire state of Michigan, things aren't so bad. Not to worry! A steady stream of bad news and media oh noes! will work on public perception. Just like it did for Iraq.
#6
Considering the area the 'poll' was taken in, and the blatantly unsubstantiated claim of +-3% error, the rampant handwringing pessimism 'reported' can be traced to the WaPo/NBC ownership and the DNC.
#7
That's more than double the actual percentage of blacks in the American population at large, although it's about right for the state of Maryland or in the Post's local circulation area in general. Was this a *local* or a *national* poll? I can't see anywhere where it indicates that it's local, but I can't imagine what other reason they'd have for oversampling like that.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/04/2007 12:46 Comments ||
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#8
I can't imagine what other reason they'd have for oversampling like that.
Other than trying to get the result they want?
Numbers are convincing; all the more so if they have a decimal point. People seldom ask where did these numbers come from and what do they mean.
#9
110% of the respondents agreed with the WaPo's opinion
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/04/2007 13:07 Comments ||
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#10
The overriding MSM meme is that unless Democrats control Congress and the White House, any poll which indicates dissatisfaction with the state of the country will be played up.
If Hillary is elected and Pelosi and Reid get an iron grip, we will be hearing a slew of stories about economic resurgence and military gains in Iraq.
Posted by: Agar, Conquistador of the Voles007 ||
11/04/2007 14:26 Comments ||
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#11
If Hillary is elected and Pelosi and Reid get an iron grip, we will be hearing a slew of stories about economic resurgence and military gains in Iraq.
Most likely, but I find it hard to believe that at that point anyone will believe anything Hillary says. She vaccilates on every issue, doesn't have a position on anything, and flip-flops on everything.
In a recent meeting, DHS policy official Richard C. Barth told state officials to expect Real ID's price tag to fall by "billions of dollars" as DHS eases previous demands that the new licenses be renewed every five years, that expensive, tamper-resistant materials be used to create the ID cards, and that each state develop its own document verification systems, those officials said.
The ACLU and conservative libertarian groups that oppose Real ID view it as a de facto national ID with Orwellian implications. Eight states have passed legislation to opt out of the program, nine others have passed resolutions in opposition, and more will consider doing so this winter.
In 2005, Congress passed legislation mandating Real ID to standardize information that must be included on licenses, including a digital photograph, a signature and machine-readable features such as a bar code. Under the law, states also must verify applicants' citizenship status, check identity documents such as birth certificates, and cross-check information with other states and with Social Security, immigration and State Department databases. The new licenses must include features to thwart forgery and fraud, and drivers born after 1935 will have to present birth certificates or passports to obtain them.
Supporters noted that all but one of the Sept. 11 hijackers acquired, legitimately or by fraud, IDs that allowed them to board planes, rent cars and move through the country.
Congress approved $40 million in grants to states to cover some of the expenses this year. By comparison, the National Governors Association wants $1 billion next year as a down payment for states' start-up costs.
#2
This is just the governors digging into the sugar bowl.
Illinois licenses already have all these things. The Sec. of State already checks these documents. There's no expense at our end, and I need a new license every eight years anyway.
And any state that can't do a proper ID at a reasonable price should be required to out-source it to Halliburton. That would wake people up.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/04/2007 9:32 Comments ||
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#3
If a national ID was tamper-resistant it'll make it harder for those illegal aliens to vote. Can't have that!
#4
I just renewed my license in PA. Very interesting procedure where you can renew on line and pay by VISA (Get the $ up front). Then they mail a voucher to the address on the license or the corrected address for the new license. You take the voucher to the Driver's License Agent (NOT Dmv) and they prepare a new license with digital photo, compare to the old license and send you on your way. Of course there's no assurance you could pass the driver's test, but you passed it 40 years ago.
#5
#2 This is just the governors digging into the sugar bowl. Illinois licenses already have all these things. The Sec. of State already checks these documents. There's no expense at our end, and I need a new license every eight years anyway.
CIA Director Michael V. Hayden revealed this week, in defending agency interrogations of terrorists, that more than 70 percent of the intelligence used in a recent national estimate came from questioning captured terrorists. "The last six years have shown us that the best sources of information on terrorists and their plans are the terrorists themselves," Mr. Hayden said in a speech Tuesday in Chicago.
Calling the intelligence "simply irreplaceable," he also noted that the elicited information "is the sole reason we have rendition, detention and interrogation programs."
Fewer than 100 of the most hardened captured terrorists have been put through interrogation since 2002. "Of those, less than a third have required any special methods of questioning," Mr. Hayden said.
And only three have been waterboarded. Puts the issue in a new perspective.
The CIA director said the National Intelligence Estimate confirmed that the danger of another major al Qaeda attack against the U.S. is real. Al Qaeda aims "to execute a spectacular attack that would cause mass casualties, massive destruction and economic harm," he said.
Mr. Hayden noted that the estimate was less certain about one key element of al Qaeda plans: the presence of group operatives inside the U.S.
The CIA director's comments are a tacit admission that the agency continues to have a difficult time planting spies inside or close to al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.
#1
The CIA director's comments are a tacit admission that the agency continues to have a difficult time planting spies inside or close to al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.
Tacit admission, or blinding flash of the obvious? I'd venture al Qaeda hasn't penetrated JSOC just yet either. If Mike Hayden said, you can take it to the bank.
#2
Besoeker,
Don't be so sure. Remember there was an Egyptian who was a language teacher at Ft. Bragg that turned out to work for AQ (this was before 9/11).
The best intelligence we tend to get (this was true in the Cold War too) is when insiders "come in from the cold". See "Agent Solo" during the Cold War.
This requires patience and a good deal of luck. This seems to have happened in Iraq, but not in Pak land.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
11/04/2007 13:27 Comments ||
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THE US Government is considering closing a war-on-terror detention centre at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and granting its detainees substantially greater rights, The New York Times has reported. Citing unnamed officials involved in the discussions, the newspaper said the plan also called for possibly moving most of the detainees to the US.
One proposal that is being discussed would overhaul the procedure for determining whether detainees are properly held by granting them legal representation at detention hearings and by giving federal judges, not military officers, the power to decide whether suspects should be held, the report said.
The move would be necessary in the event of the Guantanamo detention centre's closure because, as some officials now say, moving the detainees to US soil would require giving them enhanced protections, the paper said. "If you were to bring them to the United States, there is a recognition that for policy reasons you would need even more robust procedures than those currently at Guantanamo," The Times quoted one senior official as saying.
Currently, the military alone has the power to decide which foreign terrorism suspects should be held and for how long.
Yet some officials say that enhancing detainees' rights could also help the administration strategically, by undercutting a case brought by suspects at Guantanamo that is now before the Supreme Court, the report noted. Any comment I'd make would appear to be shooting the messenger, but then again, she may already be dead.
Better solution: move them to Bagram. Or Anbar. Or Ice Station Zebra. Don't move them to US soil.
#1
Terrorists and captives from failed states deserve the special treatment that the Gitmo arrangement allowed. I have always thought Gonzales' reasoning was sound on the issue.
#2
If Hillary is elected, before she takes office, Gitmo should be closed, all the prisoners transferred to US detention, and an ACLU legal team should be provided to each one. One week before she takes office.
#3
German American terrorists attempted to commit sabotage rather than mass killings of civilians on American soil during WWII, and failed. FDR executed them anyway, and told the Supreme Court that he would have them killed no matter what the Federal appeals verdicts turned out to be. I can't believe we are having to go through this kind of flak just to keep on holding a bunch of terrorists.
#2
Small boats mostly represent an idiot threat. I gather that in restricted waters on the US coast, the Navy has to regularly chase off dumbasses who think they can go anywhere they want.
#3
In San Diego Bay, the Navy has floating boom "fences" around the Pacific Fleet at 32nd street, the Carrier berths at North Island, and the Sub base at Ballast Point...anyone approaching is shooed away by a .50 cal-carrying patrol boat
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/04/2007 8:55 Comments ||
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LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - An influential Pakistani Islamist opposition leader on Sunday called for a nationwide protest against President Pervez Musharraf, urging people to come onto the streets to overthrow the country's military leader.
"People will now come on the street and will throw out the military dictator," said Qazi Hussain Ahmed, the leader of an alliance of Islamist parties and fierce critic of Musharraf.
Ahmed, who heads the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) alliance, made the call while addressing a congregation of 20,000 people near the eastern city of Lahore a day after General Musharraf proclaimed emergency rule to combat spiralling Islamist militancy and interference by judges.
Ahmed, whose own Jamaat-i-Islami party has historic ties with Eygpt's Muslim Brotherhood, said the anti-government campaign would be launched along with religious scholars and lawyers.
Pakistani lawyers also announced a countrywide strike on Monday as the government blacked out private television channels for several hours and arrested scores of opposition leaders and political activists to stifle an outcry against emergency rule and suspension of the constitution.
"I condemn the ban on television channels and arrest of political workers. I condemn the emergency and proclamation of provisional constitutional order," Ahmed said.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/04/2007 09:58 ||
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#1
Think about it, what if the Supreme court had the power to nullify elections here, there'd be justices swinging from lampposts, he's just nullifying the attempted Judicial overthrow of HIS government,
Elections be damned, WE DECIDE (Supremes)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/04/2007 13:40 Comments ||
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Chief Minister NWFP Shamsul Mulk Saturday said that the government would call a grand jirga of elders of Malakand Division to discuss and evolve a consensual strategy for amicable settlement of the Swat imbroglio in order to pre-empt its spill over to other districts.
Talking to reporters after addressing a jirga of Upper Dir District here at Frontier House, the Chief Minister said, he would convene the grand jirga after completing district level jirgas of Malakand Division, which comprises of seven districts. He said he held a number of jirgas with the elders of Swat District and Malakand Agency and a jirga of notables from Upper Dir District are also calling on him. The jirga members were apprised of the ticklish situation in Swat and sought their cooperation and assistance forehand to stop its spill over to their district which was too close to Swat.
Similarly, he said, he would also meet the elders from Shangla, Buner, Dir Lower districts to apprise them about the situation on ground and their responsibilities in this critical hour. He said people of Malakand are law abiding citizens and have an earnest desire for peace in their districts.
To a question about implementation of Nifaz e Shariat in Malakand Division, Shamsul Mulk said, the Shari Nizam Adl Ordinance was already enforced in the division in 1999 but it was not properly delivering. He said we will look into the loopholes that marred its effective implementation in Malakand Division. He reiterated that prime responsibility of his caretaker setup was to ensure strict implementation on laws of the land.
Responding to another query, he said, the NWFP government has taken certain measures to establish governments writ in the affected areas of Swat district. He said, there would be no need even to use the police force against the miscreants if the social and political figures played their role in the maintenance of public order. He said the elders of Dir upper district have held out categorical assurance to him that they would not allow the miscreants to make their presence in their district. The jirga members were informed in detail about their responsibilities and importance in the maintenance of public order in their area. Dir Upper District, he said, was vulnerable to the miscreants because of its location.
This article starring:
Chief Minister NWFP Shamsul Mulk
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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The combined opposition on Saturday slammed President General Pervez Musharraf for declaring a state of emergency in the country and holding the Constitution in abeyance, and vowed to resist the unconstitutional move taken by him to prolong his rule.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Information Secretary Ahsan Iqbal denounced the imposition of emergency as high treason by the president and said it had been declared to stop the Supreme Court from annulling Musharrafs presidency.
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) leader Liaquat Baloch also denounced the proclamation of emergency and the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO), saying the move was destructive for the country. He said the president had taken the step to clip the judiciarys powers. Tehrik-e-Insaaf Chairman Imran Khan said the declaration of emergency would not help the country fight terrorism, but would push it towards a situation similar to civil war. He said the president had committed treason and usurped the rights of 160 million people for his personal gain.
He appealed to the public to come out onto the streets to defy a military dictators unconstitutional act. He urged political forces to forget their differences and rise as one against Musharraf. Babar Awan of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) strongly criticised President Musharraf for declaring emergency in the country and termed it an extra-constitutional move. It is martial law in the garb of emergency, which has abrogated the Constitution, he said.
This article starring:
Ahsan Iqbal
Babar Awan of the Pakistan Peoples Party
LIAQUAT BALOCH
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Tehrik-e-Insaaf Chairman Imran Khan
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
Again, this is Punjabis vs Waziris, Pashtos, Balochis, and jihadis, with Sindhis sitting it out. That is GOOD. Get out the popcorn.
#2
There have been almost daily suicide and planted bombings throughout Pakistan. The final straw was the killing of Pakistan Air Force personnel (they led the 1999 coup) in Sargodha, Punjab. Punjabis will support further oppression of Waziris, if not Pashtos and Baluchis. MQM and PPP politicos won't be unhappy with the move against the jihadis. The MQM has long advocated outlawing the Jamaat-i-Islami.
(Xinhua) -- Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf said in a national address that Pakistan was on the verge of destabilization and he could not allow his country to commit suicide. Musharraf urged people to understand the criticality of situation inside and outside Pakistan. "Inaction at this moment means suicide and we could not allow Pakistan to commit suicide", Musharraf said.
Musharraf pointed out that Pakistan underwent three phases of transition to democracy with the first one from 1999 to 2002 and the second one from 2002 to 2007. Pakistan will complete its third phase of transition in just a few months, Musharraf said, adding that he had pledged to shed the uniform and become a civilian President if elected. Pakistan is doing well in terms of democracy and improvement of civil rights and human rights, Musharraf said and stressed that western countries should not impose their standards of democracy and human rights on Pakistan because those standards were established through centuries.
Musharraf on Saturday declared a state of emergency in the country and issued a provisional constitutional order (PCO), citing the ascendancy in the activities of extremists and incidents of terrorist attacks, and the abuse of the judiciary in the country. Under the PCO, the Constitution of Pakistan has been put in abeyance. But the National Assembly, Senate and the provincial assemblies of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan will remain functional. The Prime Minister and his cabinet, Chief Ministers and provincial cabinets and the governors and all those in the service of Pakistan will also continue performing their duties.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
"Musharraf says not to allow Pakistan to commit suicide"
Dunno, Mushy, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea...
#2
Just put a stake through their collective hearts when they're done, that's all I ask ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/04/2007 1:05 Comments ||
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#3
If they hold "democratic" elections like Condo and "W" want, the muzzrats and mullahs will probably win. I believe that is the "suicide" he is referring to. The same type of "democracy" was birthed by the US and Great Britian in Zimbabwe. Suicide for them was somewhat prolonged, 25 years or so. Pakland has the bomb, we cannot forget that. Some subdivisions just ain't ready to go munisaple.
#7
Secure their nukes and destroy their nuclear capability, then pull the plug and let them go down the drain. And you will see the Kashmir problem go away.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/04/2007 13:03 Comments ||
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#8
Hate to say it Perv but Pakiland has been committing suicide for some time now and on your watch.
#9
Musharraf says not to allow Pakistan to commit suicide
A curious objection in light of how Islam simply adores suicide.
I'm with AP. Grab the nukes, bust up their nasty toys and disconnect the patient from life support. Then we should dismember the cadaver and donate its organs to neighboring countries. It's time to make an example of Pakistan for the Muslim world, as in "We've got your 'Islamic purity', right here!"
#11
What's worse, committing suicide or begging someone else to put you out of your misery? This seems to be the existential dilemma of too much of the Islamic world today.
Pakistani police arrested several lawyers opposed to President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday, a former judge said. Earlier, Musharraf imposed emergency rule citing rising militancy and interference by the judiciary. "We have confirmed reports of several lawyers' arrests in Quetta and Karachi and we have asked many others to go underground because police are conducting raids," Tariq Mehmud, a former judge who stood up to Musharraf when he took power in a bloodless coup in 1999, told Reuters.
Mehmud was part of the legal team led by Supreme Court Bar Association president Aitzaz Ahsan, who was detained earlier in Islamabad, that opposed Musharraf's bid for re-election last month while he was still army chief. "We have called an emergency meeting tomorrow to chalk out a plan, although we are going to boycott courts all over Pakistan on Monday," Mehmud said.
Musharraf's decision to impose emergency rule came as he awaited a Supreme Court ruling on whether he was eligible to run for re-election last month while still army chief.
This article starring:
Aitzaz Ahsan
Tariq Mehmud
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Senior advocate Ahmad Raza Kasuri, who is in New York as a member of Pakistan delegation to the United Nations General Assembly, on Saturday welcomed the imposition of state of emergency, saying it was in the interest of stability of the country. President Gen, Pervez Musharraf was exercising restraint all through the last six months because he was keen and honest to usher in complete civilian democracy in the country, but forces hostile to democracy and those who were planning to destabilize the country were active in placing impediments and obstacles in the culmination of a democratic order, he said in a statement.
Kasuri said judicial activism was a welcome development, but such a course without judicial restraint could be fatal for the stability of the country.
The courts, he said, have a bounded responsibility towards the stability of the state, and any instability caused by judicial activism could result in serious consequences. The president has taken this initiative in the interest of the country, good governance and to tackle the growing acts of terrorism in the country, Kasuri added.
This article starring:
Ahmad Raza Kasuri
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) on Friday claimed to have started negotiations between the government and Maulana Fazlullah to settle the Swat issue without any further bloodshed. The JUI-F demanded of the government to enforce Shariah in Swat Valley and said it would ensure peace in the area.
The JUI-F demanded of the government to enforce Shariah in Swat Valley and said it would ensure peace in the area.
The religio-political party on Friday sent a four-point formula to the government for resolving the conflict that claimed dozens of lives during the past few days and had brought life to a standstill in the northern Frontier districts. "We have started mediation between Maulana Fazlullah and the government, through the governor NWFP, to find an amicable solution of the Swat issue," Senator Gul Naseeb Khan, the provincial chief of the JUI-F as well as Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) told newsmen after a meeting of the party's provincial Shoora.
He added that the JUI-F had sent a four-point formula to the NWFP Governor Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai for settling the Swat problem without the use of force. The JUI-F, he continued, through its four-point formula, had asked the government to "ensure ceasefire in Swat, enforce Shariah in the valley, constitute Shariah benches and withdraw cases against militant commander Maulana Fazlullah and his associates".
The JUI-F leader observed that use of force was no solution to the problem of Swat and urged to settle the issue through dialogue. "We have also asked to empower the 14-member Jirga that had been constituted during an all parties meeting in Chakdarra the other day," Gul Naseeb Khan said.
This article starring:
GUL NASIB KHAN
JUI-F
MAULANA FAZLULLAH
TNSM
NWFP Governor Ali Muhammad Jan Aurakzai
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Opposition politician and former cricketer Imran Khan said on Saturday that President Pervez Musharraf has committed treason and should face the death penalty for declaring a state of emergency.
Fox News sez Imran's in jug now.
Khan, a World Cup-winning Pakistan cricket captain, also called on the Pakistani people to resist Musharrafs move and not to recognise the new chief justice appointed by the military ruler. He has committed high treason by negating the orders of the Supreme Court which bars him from taking any unconstitutional steps and by sending in troops after the Supreme Court decision, Khan told AFP. He is punishable by death. He added: I urge every Pakistani not to recognise this phoney and collaborator chief justice. I urge the people, lawyers, civil society to resist this move by Musharraf. I urge lawyers to boycott the court proceedings.
Iran's top diplomat in Argentina says the U.S. and Israel are pressuring Interpol to put a handful of his countrymen on the international police agency's most-wanted list for the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center here. The lead prosecutor in Argentina's worst terror attack, however, says the case is not a political matter. He is calling for Interpol to take action at the 186-nation agency's general assembly that opens Monday in Marrakech, Morocco.
"Iran has been permanently trying to politicize this," prosecutor Alberto Nisman said before flying to Marrakech. "We are going to Morocco with our truth and we are going to explain why these persons are being sought, as simple as that," Nisman said.
There have been no convictions 13 years after an explosives-laden van leveled the seven-story Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, killing 85 people. Argentine prosecutors allege Iranian officials orchestrated the bombing and entrusted the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah to carry it out. They say they have sufficient evidence for Interpol member nations to approve "red notices" for six suspects five Iranians and one Lebanese.
A red notice means a suspect is wanted for possible extradition. While it does not force countries to arrest or extradite suspects, people with red-notice status appear on Interpol's equivalent of a most-wanted list.
In Marrakech, Interpol is expected to outline to delegates arguments from both Argentina and Iran. If a simple majority decides in Argentina's favor, the notices will be issued. Iran has asked that the issue be delayed until next year, a request expected to be voted on first.
Victims' relatives have complained for years that the investigation was bungled. Amid allegations he paid a key witness, the investigating judge on the case was removed and later impeached. Now Argentine officials and Jewish community leaders hope Interpol can give a boost to the country's beleaguered justice system.
The case poses one of the toughest challenges for the international police liaison group based in Lyon, France, which mostly deals with routine police requests. "The case has created a lot of tension between Argentina and Iran," said Francois Nicoullaud, France's ambassador to Tehran from 2001 to 2005.
Mohsen Baharvand, Iran's top diplomat in Argentina, blames Washington and its allies mainly Israel for the tension. "They try to bother Iran for many reasons," Baharvand told The Associated Press. "They try to politicize the technical organizations in every corner of the world against Iran."
Iran's constitution doesn't allow citizens to be sent abroad in such cases, the diplomat said. Instead, Iranian officials have proposed that Argentina agree to legal and judicial cooperation that would let Tehran share information on the case. "There is no reason for us to fear providing information because we are sure Iranians have not engaged in this" attack, he said. Argentina has turned down the proposal.
Interpol's executive committee decided in March to issue red notices a decision put on hold by Iranian appeal for former Iranian intelligence chief Ali Fallahian; Mohsen Rabbani, former cultural attache at the Iranian Embassy in Buenos Aires; former diplomat Ahmad Reza Asghari; Mohsen Rezaei, former leader of the elite Revolutionary Guards; Ahmad Vahidi, a general in the Revolutionary Guards; and Lebanese Hezbollah militant Imad Moughnieh, one of the world's most sought-after terror suspects. Moughnieh is wanted for his alleged role in the kidnapping of Westerners in Lebanon in the 1980s, and suicide attacks on the U.S. Embassy and a U.S. Marine base in Lebanon that killed more than 260 Americans. His whereabouts are unknown.
Interpol denied Argentina's request for red notices for former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani, as well as the country's former foreign minister and ambassador to Buenos Aires.
In an interview with AP, Sozdar Avesta spokesman for the PKK says that his organization will retaliate against any Turkish military operation. "We are fighting for the liberation of the Kurdish people; we are fighting for our identity, language, our legitimate rights™ and self-determination,'' Avesta said.
The Turkish government has threatened to send troops into Iraq to chase the insurgent fighters, after a series of deadly clashes between the PKK and Turkish military in Turkey in recent months.
Avesta rejected the idea of laying down arms and seeking a political settlement with Turkey and said , "Working to obtain rights under dictatorships without resorting to arms is a difficult and impossible matter''.
He defended the PKK's assaults on Turkish forces, saying Ankara had a history of ``detention and genocide campaigns against the Kurds. Thus the PKK took up arms to defend itself.'' The remarks came as officials from Iraq and the United States are meeting in Istanbul to try to stop cross-border attacks by PKK forces against military forces in Turkey's heavily-Kurdish southeast.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#1
I support Kurds, but the PKK is out of friends. The sight of dead Turkish soldiers on TV, has solidified the hard line.
ISTANBUL - Military options remain on the table in the crisis over Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Saturday after Iraq announced new steps to curb the separatists. There are various methods in the struggle against terrorism -- political dialogue, diplomacy... and military instruments, Babacan told a joint press conference with Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari. All instruments remain on the table for Turkey, he said. Whether they will be used or not, or when they will be used, is a matter of strategy.
A senior Turkish government official said Ankara does not see any new element in the measures that Iraq said it enacted Saturday against the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The PKK uses bases in northern Iraq for attacks on Turkish targets across the border. The parties maintain their positions, the official added, referring to Turkey, Iraq and the United States.
Iraqi officials said Saturday they were setting up new checkpoints in northern Iraq to try to restrict the movement of PKK rebels and cut their logistical supplies. The Iraqi Kurdish authorities, accused by Ankara of harbouring and even aiding the PKK, began to shut down the offices of a PKK-linked political party.
Ankara wants the Iraqi authorities to urgently crack down on and close PKK camps in the mountains of northern Iraq and arrest and extradite the groups leaders. But Zebari, himself a Kurd, insisted that it was difficult indeed to capture the PKK leaders. Those people are armed and up in the mountains, he said. But he added that the Iraqi authorities would issue a look-out list for people wanted by the Turkish government.
He stressed that the measures envisaged by Iraq would help restore confidence between Baghdad and Ankara and might pave the way for joint military action against the PKK in the future. I would not discount anything in the future but that depends on first agreeing on this jointly... We need to restore the confidence that has been shaken between us in order to be able to work together, he said. At the moment we are talking about some achievable measures to enhance confidence between us and Turkey.
There will be actions taken by the Iraqi government and the regional authorities in northern Iraq, he said. The Iraqis are very serious on cooperating and giving active support in combatting the PKK, he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Iraq said on Saturday it was ready to hunt down and arrest Kurdish guerrilla leaders responsible for cross-border raids into Turkey in an effort to avert a major incursion by the Turkish military.
Major powers and countries in the region, meeting in Istanbul to discuss Iraqi security, are seeking to ease tensions on the Turkish-Iraqi border that could escalate into a bigger regional crisis.
Turkey wants leaders of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) arrested and seeks the closure of camps in northern Iraq which they use as bases for cross-border attacks in their 23-year-old campaign for a homeland in southeast Turkey.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki met Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul as diplomatic efforts between Turkey, Iraq and the United States intensified. "The prime minister renewed the willingness of the Iraqi government to take steps to isolate the terrorist PKK, prevent any help reaching its members, chase and arrest them, and put them in front of the Iraqi judiciary because of their terrorist activities," Maliki's office said in a statement.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari told a news conference his country did not rule out carrying out military action jointly with Turkey against the PKK.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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A small group of Kurdish lawmakers traveled to northern Iraq on Saturday to try to win the release of eight Turkish soldiers captured by Kurdish rebels in an ambush two weeks ago.
The rebel group has signaled the soldiers could be released soon. The capture of the soldiers and the killing of 12 others in an Oct. 21 ambush within Turkish territory near the Iraqi border has been a key factor in the mounting pressure on Turkey's government to stage a cross-border offensive to fight Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq. The lawmakers from Turkey's Democratic Society Party will propose "initiatives" for the release of the soldiers, said party spokesman Kemal Avci in a telephone interview.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Iraqi MP Saleh Al-Mutlak called on Saturday for the restructuring of the political process, amending the constitution, reinstating the former Iraqi army and halting the change of demographic structure. Al-Mutlak, who heads the National Dialogue Front,
from RB archives, a Sunni group that controls 11 of 275 seats in the Iraqi legislature. They have gone through periods of withdrawing from gov't, but it appears they return when negotiations satisfactorily satisfy their constituents. Most recently, they pulled out in June and returned in September; at least one MP was killed by a bomb near their offices.
said in a letter to a conference in Istanbul of Iraq's neighbors and major powers that Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki's government should be given a certain timetable to improve the situation in Iraq.
The MP called for the restructuring the political process to enable the Iraqi citizen express views for the sake of Iraq. He called for stopping what he called the "shattering and division of Iraq" specially when it comes to imposing federalism. Al-Mutlak called for clearing the political and security authorities from Shia infidels corrupt people.
Speaker of Parliament of northern Iraq semi-autonomous of Kurdistan Adnan Al-Mufti said Saturday Iraqi Shiite leader Ayatollah Ali Sistani favored the peaceful option to the military one in solving the Turkish-PKK standoff. Al-Mufti made the remarks after visiting Al-Sistani in Al-Najaf city. He was accompanied by deputy speakers of Iraqi parliament Khaled Al-Attiyah and Aref Tifur.
The three lawmakers arrived in Al-Najaf Saturday morning to discuss the crisis in northern Iraq with the Shiite leader.
"The visit aimed to show our appreciation for the efforts of Grand Ayatollah in maintaining the unity of Iraqi people and the development of the political process," Al-Mufti pointed out. "We asserted to Al-Sistani the readiness of Kurdistan government to play its role in warding off the imminent Turkish military operation against northern Iraq. The Shiite leader asserted the importance of putting the peaceful solution to the crisis first," according to the Kurd leader.
"Resort to military action will only complicate the crisis in northern Iraq," Al-Mufti quoted Al-Sistani as saying during the meeting. "The meeting probed also the role of the Iraqi parliament including all political forces in solving the Turkish-PKK standoff," he added.
The foreign ministers of Iraq's neighbors started Saturday in Istanbul, Turkey, an expanded meeting involving U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss the progress of the political process in Iraq as well as the military escalation between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels.
Ma'an Hamas leaders unanimously support dialogue with the rival Fatah movement, a prominent Hamas politician said Saturday. Palestinian Legislative Council member Khalil Al Hayya, who represents Gaza City, said he welcomed Friday's meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and three Hamas officials in Ramallah.
Abbas and the Hamas leaders attended Friday prayer together before discussing security issues in the Palestinian presidential compound, the Muqata. Al Hayya said he hoped the meeting would mark the beginning of a process of dialogue that will eventually heal the divisions that have marred Palestinian politics since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in June.
Al Hayya also asked that Fatah cease harassment of Hamas members and their families. The Fatah-dominated Palestinian authority has arrested Hamas activists and broken up Hamas demonstrations in the West Bank. Hamas, for it's part, has also suppressed Fatah activity, sometimes violently, in the Gaza Strip.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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The Palestinian Authority demands that Washington make an effort to achieve a document that would stand up to the Palestinian people's expectations and would help make the upcoming peace conference scheduled to take place at Annapolis, Maryland a success, Israel Radio reported Saturday evening.
The Palestinian demand was announced by PA President Mahmoud Abbas's spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh following a meeting in Ramallah between Abbas and the United States' Assistant Secretary of State David Welsh.
According to Rudaineh, Abbas told Welsh that the Palestinians were working to implement the first stage of the 'Road Map' and asked that Israel, too, would take measures to implement its own Road Map obligations.
In a meeting in Jericho with top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, Welsh expressed readiness on the side of the US to oversee that the first stage of the Road Map is implemented, if the sides agree to it.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad on urged Israel to agree to a deadline for peace talks and make "bold moves" ahead of the conference, including the release of 2,000 of more than 12,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.
Israel has rejected demands for a timetable, and US officials have also been cool to the idea, but Fayad told The Associated Press in an interview that a deadline is essential for restoring credibility to more than a decade of failed peace efforts.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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#3
The PA DEMANDS? Yeah, we will get right on it. Here, have some back pocket money to keep you occupied for a while.
When one is on the dole, the dolee cannot make demands of the doler, unless the doler is an idiot.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/04/2007 13:07 Comments ||
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#4
Fayad needs to have a bullet pumped into his head along with every single other shitbag goon who comes forward with these ridiculous demands. Only those in a position of power are permitted to insist upon any conditions. Doing so from a position of weaknessmuch like an aggressive chihuahuais not only just plain ridiculous but also rather insulting and should be punished at all times.
Thinking laterally here - why not let all 12,000 out, but make sure they're shunted back into Gaza? The Israelis don't have to feed them, they're not going to get back into Israel, and the Paleos get another 12,000 homicidal nutters running around loose (such an embarrassment of riches!)
I don't see a downside to this.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
11/04/2007 18:20 Comments ||
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#6
Tony - maybe, but a covert "some have been 'switched'" campaign would make that better.. watch the rabid eat their own :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/04/2007 18:28 Comments ||
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#7
Ya see Frank, that's why you do this better than me, you add a finesse that I just keep missing! ;)
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
11/04/2007 18:35 Comments ||
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Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
11/04/2007 18:48 Comments ||
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#10
My mind was wandering a couple minutes ago, and a thought came to me: I realized I've been sick and tired of the f*cking Palestinians and their bullshit for forty years now. Forty years. And it's the same damn crap from 'em every damn year. Not one damn thing has changed since Arafart and his henchmen started hijacking planes back in the 60's.
Posted by: Dave D. ||
11/04/2007 18:55 Comments ||
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#11
Not one damn thing has changed since Arafart and his henchmen started hijacking planes back in the 60's.
One thing has changed. Now they get even more money. This farce must end.
(Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels have appointed a new political wing leader following the killing of its current political leader S. P. Thamilselvan by an air attack of the government troops on Friday, said a local news paper on Saturday. The Daily Mirror reported that Police Chief P. Nadeshan of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was appointed as the new political head of the organization Friday evening.
Thamilsevan, the longtime public face of the LTTE, was killed in the northern district of Killinochchi along with another five rebel leaders as MiG-27 and Kfir jets pounded a gathering location. With LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran rarely seen publicly in recent years, Tamilselvan had become the rebels' link to the outside world. A pro-LTTE website reported that Nadeshan will continue to be in charge of the LTTE police in addition to his new role as the organization's political wing leader.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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An Iranian proposal for troops from Iran, Syria and other Arab states to replace U.S. forces in Iraq was swiftly rejected and ridiculed yesterday at a high-level gathering of Iraq's neighbors and world powers.
As top diplomats from two dozen countries and international organizations took turns to discuss how to improve Iraq's security, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki suggested that a coalition from neighboring Arab states take over from U.S. forces, conference participants said.
"The Iranian delegation distinguished itself again today with the most extraordinary proposal," said David Satterfield, the State Department's top coordinator on Iraq, who accompanied Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the Istanbul meeting.
Ryan C. Crocker, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, who also attended the session, said Mr. Mottaki specifically identified Iran and Syria as potential troop contributors. Mr. Crocker called the Iranian idea a "fantasy" that should not be "dignified" with a response. Mr. Crocker said he expects to hold more talks on Iraq's security with Iranian diplomats in Baghdad in the near future, following two unproductive rounds earlier this year.
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal offered the most forceful rejection of Mr. Mottaki's proposal, saying it would do nothing to stabilize Iraq, diplomats said. They noted that no one voiced support for the idea, and it was not clear whether it had at least Syria's backing.
(Xinhua) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated on Saturday that his country's nuclear issue is already "closed", the official IRNA news agency reported. "Sooner, the fact that we said the nuclear issue has been closed from our point of view will become clear to all," Ahmadinejad told reporters on the sidelines of the 44th meeting of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU).
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner warned Syria Friday that the international community could not "remain indifferent" to the current political vacuum in Lebanon. "We have made it very clear to Syria ... that a political vacuum in Lebanon could destabilize the entire region and would not be in Syria's interest," Kouchner said following talks in Istanbul with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem. Their meeting on the sidelines of a conference on Iraqi security marked the first high-level contact between the two countries since the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005.
Former French president Jacques Chirac suspended high-level talks with Syria after his friend Hariri was killed in Beirut. An initial UN inquiry implicated Damascus.
Lebanon's ruling coalition has accused Damascus of being behind the killing of Lebanese MP Antoine Ghanem in a car bomb in a Beirut suburb in September, a charge rejected by the Syrians. Friday's talks on the sidelines of an international conference on Iraq in Istanbul came after Kouchner canceled a September meeting in New York in response to the assassination of a Lebanese anti-Syrian MP.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday warned against diplomatic moves to solve Lebanon's serious political crisis by compromising with the country's pro-Syrian opposition. "I think there is a lot of talk right now about compromise," she told journalists on a plane taking her to Ankara for talks with Turkish leaders on Kurdish rebels. "There are a lot of discussions going on. That is fine," she added before a stopover in Ireland.
"But any candidate for president or any president needs to be committed to Lebanon's sovereignty and independence, needs to be committed to resolutions that Lebanon has signed on to ... and needs to be committed to carrying on the tribunal."
Rice was referring to the international UN-backed tribunal that was set up to prosecute those behind the murder of Rafiq Hariri, a five-time prime minister who was killed along with 22 others in a massive Beirut explosion in February 2005.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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The prestigious German weekly Der Spiegel reports, in an incidental manner, that the two IDF soldiers who have been held captive by Hezbollah for 16 months are dead. The article is a feature essay on the unnamed German mediator in the talks between Israel and Hezbollah for the release of the two soldiers. The article mentions that the two soldiers, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, are no longer alive. The paper says that Israeli officials are also of this opinion.
Unlike Gilad Shalitan IDF soldier who was kidnapped by the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza two weeks before Regev and Goldwassernot a single sign of life has been heard from the latter two since the day they were captured. The Red Thingy Cross has not been permitted to visit them, nor have any letters been received from them.
The kidnappers of Shalit, on the other hand, released an audio tape of the voice of their captive this past June, marking the first anniversary of his capture. Shalits parents and a high-ranking defense official confirmed that the tape was authentic.
Another sign that the two are not alive is that rumors of prisoner exchanges have always specified hundreds of imprisoned terrorists in exchange for Shalit, but a much smaller price for Regev and Goldwasser. The official Egyptian daily Al-Ahram reported a handful of Lebanese prisoners as the price in August 2006; this number has rarely climbed to more than the nearly 30 held by Israel. More recent reports state that the price was to be an Iranian murderer imprisoned in Germany.
The talks between Israel and Hezbollah currently focus, Der Spiegel reports, on Hezbollahs demand that Israel release Lebanese murderer Samir Kuntar. In 1979, Kuntar brutally murdered Danny Haran in front of his four-year-old daughter, and then killed her by smashing her head with his rifle butt. Another daughter, aged 2, died when her mother covered her mouth to prevent her from crying out and revealing their hiding place. An Israeli policeman was also killed in the attack.
Hezbollah terrorist chieftain Hassan Nasrallah has vowed to attain the release of Kuntar, while for Israel, Kuntar is the epitome of a terrorist with blood on his hands that Israel has pledged never to release.
Also on the table in exchange for the two IDF captives are four Hezbollah fighters currently held by Israel.
Israel still demands information on the fate of felled Israeli navigator Ron Arad, who was captured in Lebanon in 1986 and from whom very little has ever been heard. Last week, Hezbollah provided to Israel a letter written by Ron to his wife Tami shortly after his capture. Tami later confirmed that the letter was genuine, based on his handwriting and the nicknames he used.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
I thought Hezb. announced they were transfered to Iran?
#4
As I have said before; It doesnt matter if Regev and Goldwasser were shitting golden eggs on an houly basis, their Islamic captors could not, in any way, prevent themselves from slitting the throats of these poor schmucks any more that they might prevent the sun from rising in the East.
#5
If I were Israel I would release Kunter after I had impanted a homing beacon in him. Release him and when he celebrates with Nasrallah let about 4, 2000lb jdams rain on them.... just an idea.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/04/2007 9:49 Comments ||
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#7
Israel should take whatever the usual exchange rate for prisoner releases has been, 200-500 or whatever they've done in the past. Tell the paleo's, "Produce them in 1 week and we'll give you these guys. Failure to produce them alive in 1 week, and we dump their bodies in Gaza."
I still think the way to deal with these types of terrorists is by getting hold of their membership lists and killing everyone on it. Then you kill everyone that gives them money or support.
Make supporting terrorists have a price and it will go away.
#8
Make supporting terrorists have a price and it will go away.
Which is why any success in the current Global War on Terrorism must track all the way back to Saudi Arabia. Anything short of that will represent failure.
#9
This Kunter sounds like the sort of person thing that needs to die very painfully and in extreme terror - eked out over a considerable time. Stick a flesh-eating worm in its head, let it feast for a few days and then send it back in the style daryllq suggests.
Posted by: Tony (UK) ||
11/04/2007 18:32 Comments ||
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Abu Abbas, the former head of a Palestinian terrorist group who was captured in Iraq on April 15, is infamous for masterminding the 1985 hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro. But there are probably few who remember why Abbas's terrorists held the ship and its 400-plus passengers hostage for two days. It was to gain the release of a Lebanese terrorist named Samir Kuntar, who is locked up in an Israeli prison for life. Kuntar's name is all but unknown to the world. But I know it well. Because almost a quarter of a century ago, Kuntar murdered my family.
It was a murder of unimaginable cruelty, crueler even than the murder of Leon Klinghoffer, the American tourist who was shot on the Achille Lauro and dumped overboard in his wheelchair. Kuntar's mission against my family, which never made world headlines, was also masterminded by Abu Abbas. And my wish now is that this terrorist leader should be prosecuted in the United States, so that the world may know of all his terrorist acts, not the least of which is what he did to my family on April 22, 1979.
It had been a peaceful Sabbath day. My husband, Danny, and I had picnicked with our little girls, Einat, 4, and Yael, 2, on the beach not far from our home in Nahariya, a city on the northern coast of Israel, about six miles south of the Lebanese border. Around midnight, we were asleep in our apartment when four terrorists, sent by Abu Abbas from Lebanon, landed in a rubber boat on the beach two blocks away. Gunfire and exploding grenades awakened us as the terrorists burst into our building. They had already killed a police officer. As they charged up to the floor above ours, I opened the door to our apartment. In the moment before the hall light went off, they turned and saw me. As they moved on, our neighbor from the upper floor came running down the stairs. I grabbed her and pushed her inside our apartment and slammed the door.
Outside, we could hear the men storming about. Desperately, we sought to hide. Danny helped our neighbor climb into a crawl space above our bedroom; I went in behind her with Yael in my arms. Then Danny grabbed Einat and was dashing out the front door to take refuge in an underground shelter when the terrorists came crashing into our flat. They held Danny and Einat while they searched for me and Yael, knowing there were more people in the apartment. I will never forget the joy and the hatred in their voices as they swaggered about hunting for us, firing their guns and throwing grenades. I knew that if Yael cried out, the terrorists would toss a grenade into the crawl space and we would be killed. So I kept my hand over her mouth, hoping she could breathe. As I lay there, I remembered my mother telling me how she had hidden from the Nazis during the Holocaust. "This is just like what happened to my mother," I thought.
As police began to arrive, the terrorists took Danny and Einat down to the beach. There, according to eyewitnesses, one of them shot Danny in front of Einat so that his death would be the last sight she would ever see. Then he smashed my little girl's skull in against a rock with his rifle butt. That terrorist was Samir Kuntar.
By the time we were rescued from the crawl space, hours later, Yael, too, was dead. In trying to save all our lives, I had smothered her.
The next day, Abu Abbas announced from Beirut that the terrorist attack in Nahariya had been carried out "to protest the signing of the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty" at Camp David the previous year. Abbas seems to have a gift for charming journalists, but imagine the character of a man who protests an act of peace by committing an act of slaughter.
Two of Abbas's terrorists had been killed by police on the beach. The other two were captured, convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Despite my protests, one was released in a prisoner exchange for Israeli POWs several months before the Achille Lauro hijacking. Abu Abbas was determined to find a way to free Kuntar as well. So he engineered the hijacking of the Achille Lauro off the coast of Egypt and demanded the release of 50 Arab terrorists from Israeli jails. The only one of those prisoners actually named was Samir Kuntar. The plight of hundreds held hostage on a cruise ship for two days at sea lent itself to massive international media coverage. The attack on Nahariya, by contrast, had taken less than an hour in the middle of the night. So what happened then was hardly noticed outside of Israel.
One hears the terrorists and their excusers say that they are driven to kill out of desperation. But there is always a choice. Even when you have suffered, you can choose whether to kill and ruin another's life, or whether to go on and rebuild. Even after my family was murdered, I never dreamed of taking revenge on any Arab. But I am determined that Samir Kuntar should never be released from prison. In 1984, I had to fight my own government not to release him as part of an exchange for several Israeli soldiers who were POWs in Lebanon. I understood, of course, that the families of those POWs would gladly have agreed to the release of an Arab terrorist to get their sons back. But I told Yitzhak Rabin, then defense minister, that the blood of my family was as red as that of the POWs. Israel had always taken a position of refusing to negotiate with terrorists. If they were going to make an exception, let it be for a terrorist who was not as cruel as Kuntar. "Your job is not to be emotional," I told Rabin, "but to act rationally." And he did.
So Kuntar remains in prison. I have been shocked to learn that he has married an Israeli Arab woman who is an activist on behalf of terrorist prisoners. As the wife of a prisoner, she gets a monthly stipend from the government. I'm not too happy about that.
In recent years, Abu Abbas started telling journalists that he had renounced terrorism and that killing Leon Klinghoffer had been a mistake. But he has never said that killing my family was a mistake. He was a terrorist once, and a terrorist, I believe, he remains. Why else did he spend these last years, as the Israeli press has reported, free as a bird in Baghdad, passing rewards of $25,000 from Saddam Hussein to families of Palestinian suicide bombers? More than words, that kind of cash prize, which is a fortune to poor families, was a way of urging more suicide bombers. The fortunate thing about Abbas's attaching himself to Hussein is that it set him up for capture.
Some say that Italy should have first crack at Abbas. It had already convicted him of the Achille Lauro hijacking in absentia in 1986. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi now wants Abbas handed over so that he can begin serving his life sentence. But it's also true that in 1985, the Italians had Abbas in their hands after U.S. fighter jets forced his plane to land in Sicily. And yet they let him go. So while I trust Berlusconi, who knows if a future Italian government might not again wash its hands of Abbas?
In 1995, Rabin, then our prime minister, asked me to join him on his trip to the White House, where he was to sign a peace agreement with Yasser Arafat, which I supported. I believe that he wanted me to represent all Israeli victims of terrorism. Rabin dreaded shaking hands with Arafat, knowing that those hands were bloody. At first, I agreed to make the trip, but at the last minute, I declined. As prime minister, Rabin had to shake hands with Arafat for political reasons. As a private person, I did not. So I stayed here.
Now I am ready and willing to come to the United States to testify against Abu Abbas if he is tried for terrorism. The daughters of Leon Klinghoffer have said they are ready to do the same. Unlike Klinghoffer, Danny, Einat and Yael were not American citizens. But Klinghoffer was killed on an Italian ship in Abbas's attempt to free the killer of my family in Israel. We are all connected by the international web of terrorism woven by Abbas. Let the truth come out in a new and public trial. And let it be in the United States, the leader in the struggle against terrorism.
Ma'an The government of Syria has reassured the Palestinian Authority that it will not question the legitimacy of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the Ramallah-based Palestinian news agency Sama reported Saturday.
On Wednesday Islamic Jihad announced the postponement of an 'alternative conference' originally planned to take place in the Syrian capital of Damascus parallel to the international peace conference in Annapolis, in the US state of Maryland. President Abbas sent a delegation to Damascus to request the postponement of the alternative meeting.
Sama quoted Syrian government sources who stressed that they support unity among Palestinian factions. The officials said they "welcomed" the visit from Abbas' presidential delegation.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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Syria on Saturday slammed what it said was US meddling in the upcoming Lebanese presidential elections, accusing it of hindering dialogue between the Lebanese. "The immoral and blunt US interference in Lebanon's internal affairs has been clearly demonstrated," said an editorial in the state-run Tishrin daily, which reflects government thinking. "Condoleezza Rice speaks about Lebanon as if it is an American state," Tishrin said, referring to comments made by the US secretary of state on her flight to Europe Thursday, in which she laid down strong conditions that she said the US and Lebanon's European backers demand in the upcoming election.
Rice said Lebanon's next president must be committed to constitutional order, support UN Security Council resolutions protecting the country's sovereignty and commit to seeing through a tribunal for the suspects in the 2005 killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/04/2007 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri said a Libyan Islamist group had joined the militant organisation and he urged mujahideen in North Africa to topple the leaders of Libya, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco. "Honourable members of the Fighting Islamic Group in Libya announce that they are joining the al Qaeda group to continue the march of their brothers," Zawahri said in a recording posted on the Internet on Saturday.
King Abdullah was surprised during his two-day state visit to Britain last week by the barrage of criticism directed at the Saudi kingdom. Officials were in considerable shock, one former British diplomat said. 
Saudi King Abdullah is scheduled to visit German Chancellor Angela Merkel next week to hold talks on international and Middle East issues. 
Yemen said on Saturday it had recovered the bodies of 40 Somalis who drowned after being forced overboard by traffickers in the Gulf of Aden. A further 78 people rescued from the water were receiving medical treatment in hospitals, a security official said in a statement released on the Yemeni defence ministry website. "They will undergo treatment before being handed over to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees," said Ahmed al-Muqdashi, head of security for the southern province of Abyan, adding that the search for the bodies took three days and two people were still unaccounted for.
(RFE/RL) -- In the two years since the raids on police and security facilities in Nalchik, the capital of the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic, the North Caucasus resistance has not launched a single major attack that has made world headlines. At least seven prominent resistance commanders have been killed since June 2006, including 
THE US Government is considering closing a war-on-terror detention centre at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and granting its detainees substantially greater rights, The New York Times has reported. Citing unnamed officials involved in the discussions, the newspaper said the plan also called for possibly moving most of the detainees to the US.
The combined opposition on Saturday slammed President General Pervez Musharraf for declaring a state of emergency in the country and holding the Constitution in abeyance, and vowed to resist the unconstitutional move taken by him to prolong his rule.
(Xinhua) -- Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf said in a national address that Pakistan was on the verge of destabilization and he could not allow his country to commit suicide. Musharraf urged people to understand the criticality of situation inside and outside Pakistan. "Inaction at this moment means suicide and we could not allow Pakistan to commit suicide", Musharraf said. 
Pakistani police arrested several lawyers opposed to President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday, a former judge said. Earlier, Musharraf imposed emergency rule citing rising militancy and interference by the judiciary. "We have confirmed reports of several lawyers' arrests in Quetta and Karachi and we have asked many others to go underground because police are conducting raids," 
The 
Iraq said on Saturday it was ready to hunt down and arrest Kurdish guerrilla leaders responsible for cross-border raids into Turkey in an effort to avert a major incursion by the Turkish military.
(Xinhua) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated on Saturday that his country's nuclear issue is already "closed", the official IRNA news agency reported. "Sooner, the fact that we said the nuclear issue has been closed from our point of view will become clear to all," Ahmadinejad told reporters on the sidelines of the 44th meeting of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU).
Syria on Saturday slammed what it said was US meddling in the upcoming Lebanese presidential elections, accusing it of hindering dialogue between the Lebanese. "The immoral and blunt US interference in Lebanon's internal affairs has been clearly demonstrated," said an editorial in the state-run Tishrin daily, which reflects government thinking. "Condoleezza Rice speaks about Lebanon as if it is an American state," Tishrin said, referring to comments made by the US secretary of state on her flight to Europe Thursday, in which she laid down strong conditions that she said the US and Lebanon's European backers demand in the upcoming election. 
