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Livni asked to form a new government
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Page 1: WoT Operations
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Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The one on the right seems to be dragging her foot. Do you suppose that one of the others stepped on her toes? Ouch!
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 09/23/2008 1:01 Comments || Top||

#2 
The one on the right seems to be dragging her foot. Do you suppose that one of the others stepped on her toes? Ouch!

That's an ACT Richard of Oregon, It's called The,

ReHab Sisters
Posted by: Red Dawg || 09/23/2008 2:05 Comments || Top||

#3  Thanks for setting me straight, Red Dawg. I need that sometimes.
Posted by: Gomez Chinens1645 || 09/23/2008 15:36 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Somali rebels shell Mog, 30 dead
Islamist insurgents pounded Mogadishu on Monday in attacks that brought the death toll in the last 24 hours to at least 30 people, witnesses said. The Somali rebels attacked two bases of African Union (AU) peacekeepers, shelled the city's main airport and also struck government targets in the bustling Bakara market area.

Despite U.N. efforts to broker a peace deal, fighting has worsened this month in Somalia, where Islamists are battling the interim government and its Ethiopian military backers.

Merchants in Bakara market said they had counted 11 corpses from Monday's latest fighting. Shells also landed in the morning around Mogadishu airport, where a commercial flight defied a ban by the militant al Shabaab group to land.

Residents also said at least a dozen people had died in fighting on Sunday. "A missile hit a neighbor's house and killed 9 people in the same family," one resident, Farhiya Abdullahi, told Reuters of the worst incident.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Courts


Kenya deploys troops at border with Somalia
(SomaliNet) A border town official said Kenya has tightened security along the border with Somalia by deploying a large number of troops there. Hundreds of Kenyan security forces have been deployed along the border between Friday night and early on Saturday morning, Ahmed Mohamed Yusuf, popularly known as Burkuus, the chairman of Somalia's border town of Beled Hawo, said.

Mr. Burkuus said that this troop movement coincides with two days after when Somali bandits snatched a car from Kenyan border town of Elwaq and crossed with it into Somalia. Mr. Burkuus told APA on Saturday that Somali authorities in the region have succeeded to arrest the militia who robbed the car and were ready to hand it over to Kenyan authorities.

Kenya announced the closure of its border with Somalia in December 2006 to prevent Islamists who were defeated in Somalia from interring Kenya, but crossing has been permitted since.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Courts


Gunmen abduct German man in Northern Somalia
(SomaliNet) In the latest kidnapping of Westerners in Somalia, gunmen seized a German man from Puntland semiautonomous on Saturday beating him as he drove with his vehicle and his wife that was traveling with him when they were stopped by the abductors, officials said.

The incident occurred just in days, after a lull in such abductions in recent months in Puntland that are relatively calm compared with southern Somalia.

According to eyewitnesses, the man whose name was not identified and his local wife were taken to the east of the Bossaso town. "It is (clear) that they were kidnapped at gunpoint and driven away, their schedule was to come back to the hotel before 4:00PM in the afternoon and we don't have their whereabouts", official told Shabelle.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  WTF?! Wifey must be better looking than Imaan, no clitorectomy and kinky. I mean did they travel from Germany to visit the family? This knucklehead live in the portal to Hell(aka Somalia)? He went a long way to get his ass kicked, murdered by jihadis.
Posted by: Last Breath Farm Resident || 09/23/2008 18:35 Comments || Top||


Somali official gunned down in Baidoa
A Somali Transitional Federal Government official and two of his guards have been gunned down by four masked men in the town of Baidoa. Eyewitnesses told Press TV correspondent that the TFG official and his escorts were attacked on Monday by unidentified gunmen who then fled the scene taking the guards' weapons with them.

The small southwestern Somali town is quiet now, with markets and businesses shut down in the wake of the violence.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Courts


4 Sudanese men accused of killing U.S. aid worker and his driver
(SomaliNet) A court in Sudanese capital Khartoum heard on Sunday that four Sudanese men accused of killing a U.S. aid worker and his driver in a New Year's Eve attack were plotting to murder another foreigner when they were arrested.

According to press reports, the four are charged with murdering John Granville, a 33-year-old officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development, and his driver Abdelrahman Abbas Rahama, 39, in Khartoum in the early hours of Jan. 1.

Granville was the first U.S. government official to be killed in Khartoum in more than three decades in a crime that sent shockwaves through the capital's expatriate community.

The Sudanese court watched pre-recorded videos of the four admitting to their part on the crime, two of them saying they fired the fatal shots with a 9mm pistol and a Kalashnikov rifle. The four men had said in an earlier hearing that the video-taped confessions were made under police torture.

In the videoed statements, one of the defendants Abdel Basit al-Hajj Hassan, 29, said they had spotted Granville in a U.S. embassy vehicle, drove up alongside him and opened fire. "With the help of God we killed the American infidel," he said in the statement.

He said he fired six rounds with the Kalashnikov. "It all took 12 to 15 seconds.".

After the killing, the four took refuge in the northern town of Atbara, before returning to Khartoum to plan the killing of another foreigner, the court heard him say on the video.

Abdelrahim Ahmed Abdelrahim, police's chief investigator in the case, told the court officers arrested the men in Khartoum after tracing e-mails they sent to each other after the attack.

In earlier hearings, prosecuting lawyers said the men were religious extremists who had decided to attack foreigners in Sudan. The men had originally planned to attack Americans gathered at New Year's Eve parties in the capital. But after finding the venues either empty or heavily guarded they decided to target individuals driving home from celebrations.

A fifth man facing the same charge admitted in his video-taped statement supplying the four others with weapons, but denied knowing anything about their plans.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan


Spanish P3 heads for Somali waters
(SomaliNet) The Ministry of Defence said a Spanish military aircraft which will patrol the waters off the coast of Somalia to protect ships from pirates left on Saturday from Moron air base in Seville.

The ministry said in a news release that the P-3 Orion plane was accompanied by a Boeing 727 and a Hercules helicopter, carrying 90 personnel including crew.

According to a plan, the patrol operation will run for an initial three months, which could be extended depending on decisions taken on the international stage.

According to a Somali official, the move comes after French commandos on Tuesday freed two French tourists held for ransom on their yacht off the African country's coast. In April, crew members of a Spanish fishing boat were freed by pirates in the area after payment of a $1.2 million ransom.

The Orion will collect information on the movements of pirates to relay to a European Union task force formed on Monday to work against piracy off the Horn of Africa.

Gunmen from Somalia have hijacked more than 30 ships so far this year, making the strategic shipping lanes in the busy Gulf of Aden the most dangerous in the world.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  According to Zapatero doctrine it is an unarmed P3. Pirates are shaking in their boots.
Posted by: JFM || 09/23/2008 6:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Is Moron their BEST base?
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 09/23/2008 9:28 Comments || Top||

#3  What this whole pirate thing cries out for is a history lesson. I believe in WWII they were called Q-boats. Ships that were disquised as mild mannered merchant vessels yet when the German U-boats would pop up to shell them, portals would swing open and MANY artillery pieces would fire salvos at the offending vessel. Let's face it, a few "bee-hive" rounds not to mention HE vs whatever these scaliwags brought to the party would provide Davy Jones a few new souls......
Posted by: Everyday a Wildcat(KSU) || 09/23/2008 9:29 Comments || Top||

#4  You really want something in the air as well to figure out which is the pirate mother boat so you can go after that one too. Of course you'd want to keep quiet about your operations, so the rest of us might not notice for a while.
Posted by: James || 09/23/2008 11:23 Comments || Top||

#5  Update: the unarmed P3 has developed mechanical problems and is back to Spain.
Posted by: JFM || 09/23/2008 11:42 Comments || Top||

#6  What this whole pirate thing cries out for is a history lesson. I believe in WWII they were called Q-boats.

Yeh... that's been flogged here for years, and continues to get flogged every time one of these articles comes up.
Posted by: Pappy || 09/23/2008 13:45 Comments || Top||

#7  I still say sinking every vessel in a couple of Somali ports would have a salutary effect.
Posted by: mojo || 09/23/2008 13:58 Comments || Top||

#8  Wasn't yesterday "Talk Like A Pirate Day"? ARRRGH!
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 09/23/2008 14:24 Comments || Top||

#9  Usually flogged wit a 9-iron.
Posted by: .5MT || 09/23/2008 14:50 Comments || Top||

#10  I'm beginning to think the best we can do is have a carrier strike group work over one of the "Somali" ports for a couple of days. These are people that only respect the strongest horse. The US has failed miserably at showing how nasty it can be, and these continued snipes around the periphery are the result. Piracy is working like a charm for these idiots, and they're getting rich from it. The only thing that will stop it is to make it far too expensive to even try. The only way the West can do that is to take offensive action against their bases. Bomb one city back to the stone age, with maybe 5% of the population surviving, and there won't be a pirate in all of Somalia the next morning. Too many people think they'll be next. Anarchy is ugly. Whenever it raises its ugly head, it needs to find an axe imbedded in it.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 09/23/2008 14:58 Comments || Top||

#11  A P-3 would be a nice ride for pirate hunting. You've got your surface search radar and with an anti-shipping missile loadout, it would be a great way to spend a lazy afternoon looking for the mothership. Argh, indeed!
Posted by: SteveS || 09/23/2008 15:23 Comments || Top||


Somali pirates hijack another Greek ship
(SomaliNet) A maritime official said Somali pirates hijacked another Greek ship off the lawless Horn of Africa nation on Sunday in the latest of a wave of attacks.

Head of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme, Andrew Mwangura, said the MV Capt Stephanos had 17 Filipino crew, one Chinese and a Ukrainian on board. However, no other details were immediately available.

So far this year, heavily-armed pirates from Somalia have seized more that 30 vessels off the coast of their country, making its waters the most dangerous in the world.

Last Wednesday, Somali gunmen hijacked another Greek ship, the Centauri. The pirates are holding more than a dozen vessels and more than 200 crew members for ransom.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They sure like bunking up with the Greek sailors, don't they.
Posted by: Flaimble de Medici8209 || 09/23/2008 9:23 Comments || Top||

#2  You're gonna get Aris's knickers in a twist with that one.
Posted by: remoteman || 09/23/2008 12:38 Comments || Top||

#3  You're gonna get Aris's knickers in a twist with that one.

Not possible: too much K-Y outleakage....
Posted by: Ptah || 09/23/2008 13:43 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Egypt says tourists released by bandidos, all safe and sound
All 19 hostages seized on a safari in a remote desert border area of Egypt have been released and are safe, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said on Monday. "They have been released, all of them, safe and sound," he told reporters ahead of a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. The captives were released near the Libyan-Sudanese-Egyptian border, he added.

Masked kidnappers in Egypt have seized 19 hostages including German, Italian and Romanian tourists as well as Egyptians in a remote desert area near the Sudanese and Libyan borders, Egyptian officials said. Egyptian security sources said the kidnappers may have been from Sudan or Chad. The hostages were on a desert safari in southwestern Egypt when they were kidnapped.

The kidnapping was the first of foreign tourists in Egypt in living memory, although Islamic militants have hit the country's tourist industry in recent decades through bomb and shooting attacks that have killed hundreds. "This is an act of banditry not of terrorism," the tourism ministry said. Security sources said there was no indication militant Islamists were involved.

Egypt's army scoured the border area on Monday for signs of the tourists, who were believed to have been seized on Friday by four masked men while on a desert safari in a remote area where the borders of Egypt, Sudan and Libya meet. Tourism Minister Garrana said authorities learned of the kidnapping after a tour operator called his wife and told her he was being held hostage with the group. Egyptian state television said those held included an Egyptian border guard officer.

Militant Islamists launched a series of attacks on tourists in the Nile Valley in the 1990s. But the Gamaa al-Islamiya, or Islamist Group, halted attacks amid popular uproar after six of its members slaughtered dozens of foreign tourists at Queen Hatshepsut's temple in the southern town of Luxor in 1997.

The most recent attacks occurred between 2004 and 2006 in popular Red Sea resorts in the Sinai. In April 2006, 20 people were killed in bomb blasts in Dahab, 70 were killed in Sharm el-Sheikh in July 2005 and 34 people were killed in Taba in October 2004. In November 1997, 62 people including 58 foreign visitors were killed in an attack on a popular tourist site in the southern Nile resort of Luxor.

More and more foreign visitors are visiting the remote southwest of Egypt near its borders with Sudan and Libya to see priceless rock art preserved for millennia in one of the most-isolated reaches of the Sahara.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Egyptian Tourism Minister Zoheir Garana said the tour company that organized the trip was mediating negotiations with the kidnappers, who were demanding up to $6 million in ransom. He said the German government — not the Egyptian — was involved in the talks. Germany’s Foreign Ministry would not confirm, saying only that it has formed a “crisis team” on the abduction.
Posted by: Classer || 09/23/2008 2:28 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Yemen: Six 'Al-Qaeda cell members' arrested over US embassy attack
(AKI) - Police have arrested six members of an alleged Al-Qaeda cell that claimed last week's deadly attack against the United States embassy in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, according to a ministry of defence website.

Local Al-Qaeda commander, Abu al-Gheith al-Yemeni and head of the alleged cell is among the six people arrested in connection with the attack last Wednesday on the US embassy which killed 19 people, the website said.

The US State Department has said the embassy bombings bore "all the hallmarks" of an Al-Qaeda attack. The attack was the biggest militant operation in Yemen since the attacks on the French tanker Limburg in 2002 and the US warship Cole in 2000. In a message claiming the attack, the cell threatened attacks against Arab embassies in Yemen, the British embassy and British interests in the country.
This article starring:
Abu al-Gheith al-Yemenial-Qaeda in Yemen
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Yemen


Caribbean-Latin America
Charter yacht skipper murdered by pirates in Venezuela
MARIGOT--A well-known French charter boat skipper who operated his business from St. Martin for most of the year has been murdered by pirates in the province of La Guaraia, Venezuela, close to the capital of Caracas, Venezuelan authorities have reported.

St. Martin resident Philippe Leudière was shot by pirates some time during the night or early morning of September 14-15 while his Lagoon 410 catamaran Chrysalide was at anchor in the port of Caraballeda.

The Venezuelan Prosecutor's Office confirmed Leudière had died from four gunshot wounds following a raid on the boat by "several armed individuals." It was reported the pirates had escaped with an undetermined amount in bolivars and US dollars.

Leudière and his family had left St. Martin to go South, as many cruisers do in the summer to escape the hurricane season. He had been operating his charter business for four years and was based at Marina Fort Louis.

He leaves to mourn his wife Catherine and an 11-year-old son. A close friend said he had been chatting with Leudière on Skype only a week ago and the family had been very pleased to find "a quiet and agreeable anchorage."

According the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this is the fourth act of piracy against French nationals cruising in the region since the beginning of the year. Its travel advisory strongly cautions against cruising the coast of Venezuela or visiting the island of Margarita, because of an increase in attacks.

The management of Marina Fort Louis and many friends have extended their condolences to the family.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Another important job for the Russian navy. Hugo is so prescient.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 09/23/2008 8:13 Comments || Top||


Europe
Spain: 7 injured as car bomb explodes outside police station
(SomaliNet) A car bomb exploded outside a police station in town of Ondarroa in the Basque Country in northern Spain slightly injuring seven people on Sunday, police said.

A spokesman for the Basque Country police in Bilbao said three police officers were among those injured after the large bomb went off at about 4.30 a.m. (0230 GMT), and the other four were passers by.

None of those hurt was in serious condition, although the bomb badly damaged nearby buildings.

According to the spokesman, about two hours before the blast, another big car bomb exploded near the office of Caja Vital bank in the Basque Country capital of Vitoria, but no one was hurt.

Police had cordoned off the area in Vitoria before the first explosion, after receiving a warning call in the name of Basque rebels ETA but there was no call before the second blast.-
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Local tribes shot down U.S. spy drone
Updated at: 2350 PST, Tuesday, September 23, 2008

ANGOOR ADDA: Local tribes have shot down a U.S. drone here, according to Geo News.
Posted by: john frum || 09/23/2008 15:15 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I don't  have the link handy but a recent review established that nearly all US military UAV crashes have been due to human error rather than hostile fire.  Just something to keep in mind when you read accounts like this. 
Posted by: lotp || 09/23/2008 16:21 Comments || Top||

#2  If verified, it apparently would be the first time a pilotless aircraft was brought down over Pakistan and likely would add to tensions between Washington and Islamabad over recent American cross-border incursions into the country's lawless tribal regions.

The three officials said the aircraft was hit at the village of Jalal Khel in South Waziristan after circling the area for several hours. Wreckage was strewn on the ground, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/23/2008 17:00 Comments || Top||

#3  More...

"A pilotless spy plane, we believe it is US, crashed in Pakistani territory but it did not disintegrate. Tribesmen picked it up and then Pakistani security forces retrieved it," a senior Pakistani security official told AFP.

"No firing was heard in the area so there is no question of it being shot down," he said.

Residents however said that the plane was shot down. "The tribesmen fired at the drone and it fell out of the sky," one resident told AFP by telephone, asking not to be named for fear of reprisals.
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/23/2008 17:15 Comments || Top||

#4  I hope none of the nuclear fuel rods have begun to leak.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/23/2008 17:18 Comments || Top||

#5  Unlikely.
Posted by: Last Breath Farm Resident || 09/23/2008 17:57 Comments || Top||

#6  Not a drone, but Cargo. Time for a new religion in Pakistan. Cargo! Cargo!
Posted by: Chuck Simmins || 09/23/2008 22:10 Comments || Top||

#7  Not quite, Chuck. If this was a cargo cult then the savages would be making totems out of rock in the shape of Predators and praying to their moon gods to have the hellfire missiles return.
Posted by: Ho Chi Hupailing9508 || 09/23/2008 22:56 Comments || Top||


21 Foreigners Among Dead in Marriott Kaboom
Pakistani officials said Sunday that 21 foreigners, including two Americans stationed at the U.S. Embassy, were among the victims of a massive suicide truck bombing Saturday night that destroyed a luxury Marriott hotel in the capital.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani said the bomber's intended target was Gillani's official residence a block from the hotel, where newly elected President Asif Ali Zardari and other officials were gathered to break their daily Ramadan fast when the bomb exploded about 8 p.m. "The purpose was to destabilize democracy," Gillani said.

As rescue teams combed the still-smoldering five-story building, officials put the death toll at 53, with an unknown number of people unaccounted for. At least 266 people were injured. Most of the victims were hotel workers.

A spokesman for the Pentagon in Washington said Sunday that the two Americans killed in the blast were members of the U.S. defense forces assigned to the U.S. Embassy here. Their names were not released.

Pakistani officials said a contingent of 30 U.S. Marines was thought to be staying in the 290-room hotel.

A senior government security adviser, Rehman Malik, pointed the finger at Islamist militant groups based in South Waziristan, a volatile tribal area near the border with Afghanistan. These groups have vowed to retaliate against the government for stepped-up military raids and for a series of U.S. military incursions in pursuit of al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters.

"All roads lead to South Waziristan and Tehrik-e-Taliban," Malik said, referring to a militant group headed by Baitullah Mehsud, who has repeatedly vowed to attack the government after a truce with his forces collapsed last year.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  WAFF.com > WHATDOESITMEAN.com [Russia] > Russ altern news pundit claims that, as per Russ mil sources + analysts inlcud local witnesses, the Paki Marriott attack was carried out by INDIA to inetervene in the COVERT HANDOVER OF SUITCASE NUKES TO ISLAMIST MILITANTS PROXIES VEE PAKI GOVT, in order for the Militants to carry out US-ORDERED PDENIABLE ATTACKS ["False Flag"] AGZ WESTERN, etc. NATIONS. ARTIC > US MARINES WERE GUARDING THE SHIPMENT OF SUITCASE NUKES WHICH WERE SECRETLY DELIVERED TO THE MARRIOTT HOTEL???

Other - DEAD FOREIGNERS INCLUDES US CIA AGENTS???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 09/23/2008 0:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Joe,

I understand Judge Crater and Elvis were also seen in the vicinity.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 09/23/2008 8:15 Comments || Top||

#3  The presence of suitcase nukes would mean radiation should be detected. Maybe why FBI denied access.
Posted by: Danielle || 09/23/2008 10:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Joe, that sounds like something you'd read in Pravda.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 09/23/2008 13:14 Comments || Top||

#5  The DOD news show last night said that two of the Americans where DOD personnel (maybe Army). God Bless them and their families. Fedayeen - Rot in hell.
Posted by: GoldenShellback || 09/23/2008 15:43 Comments || Top||

#6  RE: JosephMendiola

Let me take a crack at the goofy tale on WHATDOESITMEAN.COM:

1. Burly US Marines off-load steel boxes from a US Embassy truck into the Hotel bypassing security just before the bomb attack.

2. Pakistan top leaders schedule a late evening Ramadan meal at the hotel, but change plans just before a truck bomber shows up.

3. Al Qaeda claims responsibility for the deed.

What Does It Really Mean?????

1. The steel boxes were filled with GIFTS$$$$$$$$$ from the US gov't to the new Pakistani leadership to allow us unfettered access to Pakistani Tribal regions and Al Qaeda's sanctuaries.

2. Pak security found out the deal was leaked to Al Qaeda, and pulled their people from the hotel meet. I wonder what happened to the gifts$$$$...??

Finally - WHATDOESMEAN.COM is a Russian site, and they talk about the steel boxes being suitcase nukes.

Is Putin and company trying to plant a cover story for something they've already done? That is to say giving suitcase nukes to Al Qaeda or Iran??

Any Thoughts??
Posted by: Angereger Black3145 || 09/23/2008 20:03 Comments || Top||


Shadowy group claims Pakistan hotel attack
A shadowy group calling itself "Fedayeen of Islam" has claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing of Islamabad's Marriott Hotel in a telephone call to Al Arabiya television, the channel said on Monday.

The Dubai-based station's correspondent in the Pakistani capital said he received a text message on his mobile phone showing a telephone number, which he called and then heard a recording in which the group admitted launching Saturday's attack. The speaker on the recording, who identified himself as Ahmad Shah Abdali, spoke in English "with a south Asian accent," he said.
The phone number belonged to no one, of course.
A suicide bomber rammed a truck packed with more than half a ton of explosives into the security gates of the luxury hotel, killing at least 60 people and wounding more than 260 in a massive fireball.

Al-Arabiya said Abdali listed several conditions for "halting attacks against US interests in Pakistan." These included "an end to cooperation" between Washington and Islamabad, "an end to operations (by the Pakistani military) in tribal areas," and the release of all militants held in US prisons. The speaker alleged that the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber while 250 US Marines and American and NATO officials were in the hotel.

Pakistan has blamed al-Qaeda militants and their Taliban allies based in Pakistan's tribal belt bordering Afghanistan for the attack. Pakistani investigators are hunting an al-Qaeda cell based in Islamabad that is believed to have carried out the bombing of the Marriott Hotel, security officials said Monday. Pakistan's president and prime minister were to have had dinner at the Islamabad Marriott hotel when it was bombed but the venue was changed at the last minute, the interior ministry said.

Investigators said they believed the attackers constructed the massive 600-kilo (1,300 pound) truck bomb at a safe house in the capital, since all lorries entering the heavily-guarded city are searched at checkpoints.

Dramatic footage of Saturday night's attack showed the attacker failed to get through a barrier when he crashed his explosives-laden truck into the hotel's security gates. At least 60 people were killed. It was likely, however, that the explosives were smuggled into Islamabad in small consignments from militant strongholds in the rugged tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, the official added. A Pakistani security official said the explosives used in the bombing were like those used in two other major militant attacks, including one on the Danish embassy in Islamabad in June.

One of al-Qaeda's leaders, Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, said that the Danish embassy attack, which killed six people, was "in revenge" for Danish newspaper caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed (ptui).
This article starring:
AHMED SHAH ABDALIFedayeen of Islam
MUSTAFA ABU AL YAZIDal-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  It was well over half a ton of explosives. How many groups in Pakistan could make and execute that big of a boom? 5? 50? more?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon || 09/23/2008 1:53 Comments || Top||

#2  How many groups in Pakistan could make and execute that big of a boom?

Of course, the one that comes immediately to mind is ISI.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 09/23/2008 13:15 Comments || Top||

#3  Another "shadowy group" - oh my!
Posted by: Last Breath Farm Resident || 09/23/2008 18:22 Comments || Top||


2 jawans, 4 militants killed in encounter
Four militants and two jawans were killed in a fierce gunfight that broke out on Sunday along the LoC in Poonch with security personnel foiling an attempt by ultras to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir. The Four militants were killed on Monday as firing resumed after a brief lull.

Two jawans, Naik Tape Ajo of Nagaland Regiment and Sepoy Chiba of One Assam Regiment, had died in the shootout.

The armed militants entered the Indian side "from Kabaristan post of Pakistan and were trapped by troops between Zeroline and border fencing along the LoC in Poonch district at 0830 hours yesterday", a senior army official said. The infiltration bid by militants was preceded by heavy firing from the Pakistani side on Indian positions along the LoC.

The encounter is taking place in a heavily mined area. "We cannot lift the bodies as militants might have laid a mine-field trap," an official source said.

Security forces have seized four AK rifles along with eight magazines and 72 bullets and some eatables and medicines from the site of the shootout, the source said.

Meanwhile, there was an exchange of fire between police and terrorists in Rai Nallah in Udhian area of Doda district yesterday but no one was hurt, the source said. The terrorists managed to escape but left behind one AK magazine, four bullets, seven detonators, a UBGL shell, a hand grenade, a wireless set, one antenna and a tape recorder along with a cassette.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Police-tribesmen clash kills 12
Twelve people, including six policemen, were killed in a shootout between the police and tribesmen in the Imam Bukhsh Jamali police precinct on Monday.

The shootout took place soon after the police and the head of the Jamali-Shahliyani tribe exchanged harsh words at a picket.

The killed policemen included SHO Muhabat Rind, SHO Qamar Rind, constables Ghulam Shabbir, Deedar Maitlo, Manthar Gopang and Sajjad Chandio. The tribesmen who died in the shootout were Akbar Shahliyani and his four bodyguards, Naseer Jamali, Nazir Ahmed, Fida Sheikh, Liaqat and an unidentified man. Large contingents of police from Shahdadkot, Larkana, Jacobabad and Shikarpur rushed to the scene.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Security forces operation continues in Bajaur
Security forces continued pounding Taliban hideouts in various areas of Bajaur Agency on Monday.

The forces backed by helicopter gunships, artilleries and armoured personnel carriers attacked suspected positions of Taliban however, no casualties were reported.
The forces backed by helicopter gunships, artilleries and armoured personnel carriers attacked suspected positions of Taliban at Rashakai, Tang Khata, Baicheena, Zarmandai, Saiwai and Kausar areas of Khar and Mamond tehsils, however, no casualties were reported.

The security forces also started an operation to search for and arrest Taliban in Glokas, Tang Khata, Rashakai, Khazana and Kairala and bombed various houses owned by Taliban militants. Meanwhile, a grand jirga of the Salarzai tribe set a three-day deadline for the Taliban and anti-state elements to leave the tehsil, warning them they would otherwise be shot at sight.

The elders of Mamond tehsil have also convened a grand jirga today (Tuesday) at Khar to announce their support to the security forces in the ongoing military operation to flush out Taliban from the agency.
This article starring:
Baicheena
Glokas
Kairala
Kausar
Khazana
Mamond tehsil
Rashakai
Saiwai
Tang Khata
Zarmandai
Salarzai tribe
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Police resume control of Pir Qila after clash with Taliban in Shabqadar
Police resumed control of Pir Qila area in Shabqadar tehsil of Charsaada after a clash with Taliban that killed a policeman and left 27 injured on Monday.

The clash started soon after a peace march, arranged by the district police and the local Amn (peace) Committees in Aranda area of Shabqabdar. The Taliban, who arrived from Michni area after the end of the peace march, took control of the Pir Qila Chowk.

Helicopter gunships targeted Taliban positions, as both sides used heavy weapons, including rocket launchers. Heavy contingents of police, the Frontier Constabulary and the Frontier Corps were moved to the area. By the evening, the Taliban withdrew and the Peshawar-Bajaur Highway was opened for traffic.

The police also arrested at least 10 suspected Taliban during the operation.

Taliban spokesman Dr Asad claimed that 20 policemen, including a deputy superintendent of police, were killed and five others were taken into custody.

The Shabqadar DSP said that nine Taliban were killed, while 13 were injured in the clash. Police sources said that five civilians also sustained injuries in the exchange of fire.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Tribal Lashkar to combat Shabqadar Taliban
Residents of Shabqadar on Monday formed a lashkar to counter the increasing influence of Taliban in the area. The lashkar would co-operate with police in combating militants. Hundreds of armed locals marched with police from Shabqadar Bazaar to Aranda Chowk. People from the Sarikh, Katozai, Mandozai, Battgram, Jehlar and Kot areas participated in the march. Charsadda District Police Officer (DPO) Waqif Khan and Charsadda Amn Committee Chairman Younas Katozai led the march. Addressing the participants of the march at Aranda, Katozai said criminals in the guise of Taliban wanted to create anarchy in Shabqadar. The elders of the area said those behind incidents of kidnapping for ransom and other acts offensive to Islam were abusing the name of Islam and would not be allowed to operate in the area. The DPO told the assembly that establishing peace in the area was impossible without the active co-operation of the locals. He said those who wanted to wage jihad should go to Afghanistan, Iraq and Kashmir instead of waging war on their countrymen. The locals told Daily Times they were fed up with the militants who have made their lives hell in the name of Islam, and wanted to get rid of them.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  I hope the natives continue to rebel against the Talibunnies!!!!
Posted by: Paul || 09/23/2008 9:58 Comments || Top||


Nine security personnel killed in Swat suicide attack
At least nine security personnel were killed on Monday in a suicide car-bomb attack on a checkpost in Swat, the military and security officials said. "Nine security personnel were killed and a couple more were slightly injured in a suicide attack," the military's media wing said. A suspected Taliban rammed his explosives-laden car into a small roadside checkpost in Madyan town in Swat, the official said.

Separately, unidentified men blew up the house of Kooza Bandai Nazim Sher Afzal Khan with explosives. However, no casualty was reported, according to Online.

Meanwhile, the Munda station house officer, a constable and three guards sustained minor injuries in a remote-controlled blast in Lower Dir. The security forces halted a search operation in Kooza Bandai after 12 days.

In Darra Adam Khel, the security forces killed three people and arrested 28 others during an operation against Taliban in Abbas Chowk and Sikha Khel. A security forces personnel was also killed while another was injured when their vehicle hit a landmine in Darra Adam Khel.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Investigators hunt Qaeda cell after blast
Investigators on Monday scrambled to track down an Islamabad-based Al Qaeda cell believed to have carried out the devastating bombing of the Marriott Hotel, security officials said.

Investigators said they believed the attackers constructed the massive 600-kilogramme truck bomb at a safe house in the capital, since most lorries entering the heavily guarded city are searched at checkpoints. "Our focus at the moment is to track down the network in Islamabad which must have facilitated the movement and construction of the bomb," a senior official involved in the investigation told AFP.

It was likely, however, that the explosives were smuggled into Islamabad in small consignments from militant strongholds in the Tribal Areas, the official added. Explosives used in the bombing were like those used in two other major militant attacks, including one on the Danish embassy in Islamabad in June.

"We are collecting evidence. The explosives were similar to those used in the Danish embassy, which was claimed by Al Qaeda, and the attack on the ISI camp in Rawalpindi last year," the official said.

The intelligence agencies and not the police would arrest the suspects, an intelligence official told Daily Times.

Forensic report: Sources privy to the developments said the forensic report was likely to be delayed as experts determine the nature of the explosives used in the attack, and that might create problems for the investigation team. The team might submit a report in two days however, they said.

US team: A three-member team of US experts visited the crime scene along with Pakistani investigators on Monday, and took photographs and collected samples.

Meanwhile, a team completed the search and rescue operation in the hotel and said the building was not likely to collapse.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda


Banned outfit using mosques to call for jihad in Peshawar
A banned outfit operating under a different name is 'giving calls for jihad' against the United States to worshippers at different mosques in posh areas of Peshawar, eyewitnesses told Daily Times on Monday.

"A young, bearded and long-haired activist of the Jamaatud Dawa stood up after the Fajr prayers and began calling for jihad against infidels," said a University of Peshawar professor after returning from the Madina Mosque.

Daily Times learnt that such extremists had begun operating in posh residential districts such as Hayatabad and University Town, and that they 'spoke for a long time' to underline the importance of jihad and support to the displaced people.

"Under what law can I stop them from doing so? There is no law, both governmental or Islamic."
"The extremists first speak about geopolitics, dangers to Pakistan from both eastern and western borders and then urge the importance of jihad," said Mumtaz Khan, a Hayatabad resident who came across one such extremist at Bilal Mosque.

A caretaker of one of the mosques confirmed that 'charity organisation' Jamaatud Dawa was using mosques to invite people for jihad. "Under what law can I stop them from doing so? There is no law, both governmental or Islamic," said the caretaker requesting anonymity. "These callers come at different prayer times and are peaceful and appear to be pro-Pakistan," he said.

The caretaker said the number of such extremists had increased recently with the US drone attacks in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba

#1  This is a problem in various Muslim countries. As soon as you introduce 'law' into the argument you head straight into the debate about the intersection between State, Koran and Sharia. Where does one start and the other stop.
See www.skynews.com/foreignmatters
Posted by: Tim Marshall || 09/23/2008 6:58 Comments || Top||

#2  I've read enough history to know that "Religious (Church) Law always is both arbitrary and unjust"

It matters NOT, just WHAT religion manages the "Church "Law""it's always the same, NOT GOOD, NOT FAIR, AND NOT "LAW".
(One set of rules for Thee, and another set for Me.)
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 09/23/2008 12:19 Comments || Top||

#3  Said same in Detroit, MI.
Posted by: Last Breath Farm Resident || 09/23/2008 18:44 Comments || Top||


Pak arrests 3 suspects in the Marriott hotel bombing
(PTI) Scrambling to track down militants responsible for the devastating suicide bombing of the Marriott hotel here, Pakistani security forces today arrested three men during an operation from Kharian city of the Punjab province. Among those arrested was Qari Muhammad Ali, imam of the main Jamia mosque in Kharian, Dawn News channel reported. There was also no official word on the arrests and no further details were available.

The security forces have launched a massive manhunt in the capital as well as adjoining provinces to trace militant cells responsible for the suicide bombing, which killed 53 people, including two US marines and the Czech Ambassador to the country.

As part of the drive, investigators are looking into the possibilities that the bombers constructed a 600-kg bomb in a safe house in the capital itself, as transporting such a heavy bomb load could not pass the numerous checks on the highway leading to the capital.

Reports said Pakistani authorities had launched a crackdown over the weekend on leaders and members of banned organisations. In another operation at Gujranwala in Punjab late last night, two alleged terrorists were arrested by security forces.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


'Zawahiri aide arrested, shifted to Islamabad'
Intelligence agencies have arrested a close aide of Al Qaeda's number two Ayman al-Zawahiri from Gujranwala and shifted him to Islamabad to investigate the Marriott Hotel suicide attack, Samaa TV reported on Monday. According to the channel, Mursaleen was arrested from a mosque in Gujranwala late on Sunday, where he was living under the name of Jamshed. The channel said Mursaleen was an important leader of the banned militant organisation Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, and his arrest carried a reward of Rs 50 million. He was also on the US Federal Bureau of Investigation's list of most wanted people, the channel added. According to the channel, Mursaleen masterminded several acts of terrorism, including attacks on former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf at Nishtar Park in Rawalpindi and Maulana Hassan Turrabi in Karachi.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  Ever wonder how quickly they can locate and arrest someone "after" the fact but do nothing preemptively?
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 09/23/2008 8:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Intelligence agencies have arrested a close aide of Al Qaeda’s number two Ayman al-Zawahiri from Gujranwala and shifted him to Islamabad to investigate the Marriott Hotel suicide attack...

Marriott Hotel suicide attack. Oh, and by the way ask him about Zawahiri whereabouts. We'd er, like to talk to him about a number of things.
Posted by: JohnQC || 09/23/2008 9:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Just making sure he's safe...
Posted by: imoyaro || 09/23/2008 11:50 Comments || Top||

#4  "Hey, Achmed, here for the weekly drop."

"Sorry, Abu, headquarters says we need to turn the Americans up sweet, and your number came up. Put 'er up."
Posted by: Mitch H. || 09/23/2008 16:25 Comments || Top||

#5  "Oh, and remember. The Americans may fake it, but they can't torture you. We know where your family lives, and we don't give a damn. You know nothing."
Posted by: Mitch H. || 09/23/2008 16:26 Comments || Top||

#6  They're putting him up at the Marriot, in the undamaged suites. His interrogators didn't like the conditions in Gujranwala, plus it was too far from home. Big discount: Excuse our mess while we're under renovation.
Posted by: Last Breath Farm Resident || 09/23/2008 18:51 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Marines in Iraq Issued Laser Weapons
They're blinding them with science.

U.S. Marines fighting in Iraq have been issued low-power laser weapons designed to temporarily blind enemy forces, the Washington Post reported Monday. "Dazzlers," as they're called, shoot green beams designed to "warn or temporarily incapacitate individuals," according to a Defense Science Board report extensively quoted in the Post's story.

The Geneva Conventions ban weapons meant to cause permanent blindness, but a Pentagon spokesman explained two years ago that "Dazzlers" didn't fall into that category. "They don't blind people," Army Lt. Col. Barry Venable told reporters. "It's like shining a big light in your eyes."

The Senate added more money for laser weapons to this year's defense authorization bill, approved last week, the Post reports. High-powered ray guns, such as the one Boeing is currently testing to blast missiles out of the sky, were included in the increase.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 09/23/2008 11:56 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  These things work very well. They are an excellent non-lethal device and the only one that has significant range (other than the very expensive Active Denial System and the dazzler has much greater range). These will actually save lives and seperate those whose intent is to do harm (GWB: evildoers) from the innocents.
Posted by: remoteman || 09/23/2008 12:46 Comments || Top||

#2  "Hey, these aren't the 1-megawatt pulse laser rifles we were promised!"
Posted by: mojo || 09/23/2008 12:55 Comments || Top||

#3  When Al Q gets them I suppose their dazzlers with shoot red beams.

Also I wonder if they will buzz.
Posted by: mhw || 09/23/2008 13:05 Comments || Top||

#4  This adds a new dimension to land warfare. Polarized goggles now necessary to function on the modern battlefield. You need earplugs to block the screamer devices, and thick clothing to block the microwave heat devices. The combat exoskeleton seems to be evolving naturally.
Posted by: gromky || 09/23/2008 13:31 Comments || Top||

#5  Gromky, thick clothing does nothing to stop the active denial system. You'll still be jumpin, only sweating more.
Posted by: remoteman || 09/23/2008 13:42 Comments || Top||

#6  This will be quickly discontinued, because it creates a bad precedent. Some years ago, a proposed aircraft device that scanned like the electron beam in a TV tube was quietly banned internationally, because anyone who looked at the aircraft would be instantly, and permanently blinded.

A weapon too dreadful to use, or even talk about.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 09/23/2008 13:42 Comments || Top||

#7  "A weapon too dreadful to use, or even talk about."

You mean like an IED or an EFP?
Posted by: MarkZ || 09/23/2008 13:58 Comments || Top||

#8  For an innocent a dazzle or temporary blindness is much better than a 50 cal through the windshield. I will admit the PR and anti-war types will probably go nuts. The lawyers have probably already vetted this or it would not have been fielded.
Posted by: tipover || 09/23/2008 14:00 Comments || Top||

#9  This laser dazzler is eye-safe. It does not permanently blind anyone. It has been vetted and approved.

The advantage of the green dazzler is that it is very visible evenduring daylight. Again, it is an excellent warning device that is not likely to be discontinued.
Posted by: remoteman || 09/23/2008 14:25 Comments || Top||

#10  Think about this:

The Geneva Convention bans weapons mean't to cause permanent blindness but allows weapons that can kill, or maim (VEID's, IED's) or cause massive casualties such as bombs.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 09/23/2008 14:29 Comments || Top||

#11  Why is this news? They outfitted the sharks with lazers years ago ...
Posted by: Adriane || 09/23/2008 14:52 Comments || Top||

#12  A weapon too dreadful to use, or even talk about.

LMAO!

It's called WAY OVER THE TOP Mooses.

:)
Posted by: Red Dawg || 09/23/2008 15:49 Comments || Top||

#13  Do they have a stun and vaporise like a Phasor on Star Trek. That would be usuful. "Halt! - oops wrong setting"
Posted by: Chief || 09/23/2008 15:51 Comments || Top||

#14  Just don't cross the streams. And #3 when they do they'll snap, crackle, and pop!
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 09/23/2008 16:18 Comments || Top||

#15  Red Dawg: not really. The major powers have lots of weapons they don't talk about and don't use, because they are not particularly hard to fabricate and could be very ugly if used by tin pot dictators or terrorists.

Do you think for a moment that Chavez would hesitate to use lasers to blind? Kim Jong Il? So the major powers are careful not to let such kooks get their hands on such toys or even mention them to them. Sure, they are open source, but they avoid talking about them.

Among the major powers it is also understood that while Geneva may be ineffective at banning them, their use will be regarded as an escalation, which could get ugly in a hurry. If one of our combat battalions suddenly goes blind after the fly by of a Russian aircraft, half the Russian navy might suddenly develop large, acute leaks in their hulls.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 09/23/2008 17:33 Comments || Top||

#16  Wouldn't an eyepatch at least protect one eye if these were suspected on the battlefield?

Sounds like the dazzle/temporary feature is the key. Anyone using versions with permanent effects is just opening the door to all sorts of unanticipated ugliness - not a good move.
Posted by: Halliburton - Asymmetrical Reply Division || 09/23/2008 19:17 Comments || Top||

#17  ROLF!
Posted by: Red Dawg || 09/23/2008 19:26 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Palestinians die in border tunnel blasts
AT least five Palestinians were killed and four others were wounded today when Egyptian forces blew up two smuggling tunnels beneath the Egyptian-Gaza border, medical workers and residents said.

Residents said the tunnels, used to bring goods from Egypt into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, collapsed when Egyptian soldiers detonated explosives in an attempt to curb smuggling. Egyptian officials were not immediately available for comment.
They were chortling too hard.
Many Gazans use tunnels to bypass an Israeli blockade that was tightened after Hamas Islamists seized the coastal strip last year. Israeli officials have said many of the tunnels are also used by militants to smuggle weapons from Egypt into Gaza.
Posted by: tipper || 09/23/2008 18:29 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Palestinians die in border tunnel blasts

Cause = Way too many generations of In'cest linked to BOOMBATAS.

one symnptom often noteticed before ultimate BANG UP is pour speling and bad boy grammer.

/bad joke on me
Posted by: Red Dawg || 09/23/2008 19:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Palestinians die in border tunnel blasts

AT least five Palestinians were killed and four others were wounded today when Egyptian forces blew up two smuggling tunnels beneath the Egyptian-Gaza border, medical workers and residents said.

Residents said the tunnels, used to bring goods from Egypt into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, collapsed when Egyptian soldiers detonated explosives in an attempt to curb smuggling

Sorry I Almost Forgot Their Eulogy...

REST IN HELL FOREVER A$$HOLES!

.
Posted by: Red Dawg || 09/23/2008 21:02 Comments || Top||

#3  Residents said the tunnels, used to bring goods from Egypt into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip

goods= guns and explosives, at least in paleo-speak
Posted by: Free Radical || 09/23/2008 21:22 Comments || Top||


IDF soldier blinded in one eye after Palestinian woman throws acid in his face
A soldier was lightly to moderately wounded on Monday, when a Palestinian woman threw acid in his face at the Hawara checkpoint near Nablus.

The terrorist was arrested by security forces, and the soldier was rushed into surgery because doctors fear he may have lost vision in one eye as a result of the attack.

IDF troops in the area have been on high alert since last week's infiltration of Yitzhar by a Palestinian militant, an incident which sparked a settler rampage in the nearby Palestinian village of Assira al-Kubliyeh.

During the infiltration last Saturday, a 9-year-old boy was lightly wounded when he was stabbed in the hand.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Palestinian sources identified the woman as 19-year-old Sanabil Braik, a student at An-Najah University in Nablus. Sanabil’s father, owner of a local TV station, was shocked at the news. He said that Sanabil “left home as usual at 7 a.m. on her way to university, and I am still surprised to hear what she did.”

Israeli security sources believe Sanabil is the same person who poured acid on an Israeli soldier at the checkpoint about two weeks ago. The soldier was lightly injured.
Posted by: Classer || 09/23/2008 2:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Ah ha! Evidently, the Paleos do not read the Geneva Conventions.
Posted by: Jack is Back! || 09/23/2008 14:30 Comments || Top||

#3  "The terrorist was arrested by security forces, .." I dunno, shouldn't that read - was shot dead by security forces?
Posted by: Last Breath Farm Resident || 09/23/2008 18:41 Comments || Top||

#4  #2: Ah ha! Evidently, the Paleos do not read the Geneva Conventions. Posted by: Jack is Back!

The Geneva Conventions are only for "civilized warfare", Jack. That requires the combattants come from a civilized society, and practice halfway-civilized religion and politics.
Posted by: Old Patriot || 09/23/2008 20:50 Comments || Top||


PA security forces raid West Bank office of Hamas legislator
Palestinian security forces raided the office of a Hamas legislator in the West Bank on Monday, in an ongoing crackdown against the Islamist group.

Samira al-Halayka of Hamas' Change and Reform bloc said security forces seized computers and documents and arrested her guard.

A security official in the West Bank city of Hebron said officers confiscated leaflets and other documents that he said incited violence against Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority.

Abbas has recently stepped up a campaign against Hamas Islamists in the West Bank city, arresting some 15 activists and closing down four organizations which Hamas said were purely charitable.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Jerusalem driver wounds 15 Israelis
Israel said 15 people were injured when a driver drove his car late on Monday into a group of people at a busy West Jerusalem intersection, wounding at least 15 people in what police described as a "terrorist" attack, before the Arab driver was shot dead, an Israeli police spokesman and medics said.

One of those struck by the car was seriously injured, a spokesman for the Magen David Adom ambulance service said of the incident at Kikar Tzahal which overlooks to the Old City of Jerusalem. "A man in a vehicle struck a number of people in Kikar Tzahal," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. "We can confirm it was a terrorist attack. The man was shot and killed."

It was not immediately clear who shot the driver. One Israeli television report said he was killed by a bystander. The area would have been busy on a warm evening with people going to the area's bars and restaurants in the heart of the Jewish western side of the city.

The attack revived memories of two previous incidents in Jerusalem this year when Palestinians driving construction vehicles have attacked Israelis.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The terrorist who rammed his BMW into a group of soldiers at a central Jerusalem thoroughfare late Monday, Qassem Mughrabi, 19, from Jebl Mukaber in east Jerusalem, was a member of Hamas, according to the Palestinian Ma'an news agency.

Mughrabi, a resident of the same village as the Mercaz Harav terrorist who killed eight in March, wounded fifteen people before being shot dead by an off-duty IDF officer. The assailant had no previous security record, police said Tuesday.

The 19-year-old had wanted to marry his cousin, and when she refused his offer, he decided to carry out a terror attack, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said.

On Monday night he left his east Jerusalem home with the car that his parents had bought him and which was to be his when he got his driver's license, and went on the rampage.

Jerusalem police chief Aharon Franco said Monday night that the attacker was shot dead "within seconds" by an off-duty IDF officer who was touring the city with his unit. He added that there was no intelligence information ahead of the attack, but noted that Jerusalem was under heavy security alert due to Ramadan.


And the obligatory...

The driver of the black BMW was identified as Qassem Mughrabi, 19. Mahmoud Mughrabi, 49, his father, said his son did not have a driving licence and apparently lost control of the car. "My son was murdered, they killed him. He did not carry out a terrorist attack. This was a car accident."
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/23/2008 9:10 Comments || Top||

#2  "My son was murdered, they killed him. He did not carry out a terrorist attack. This was a car accident."

And your auto insurance company is....?
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/23/2008 9:16 Comments || Top||

#3  Mutual of Gaza.
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/23/2008 9:18 Comments || Top||

#4  Who sponsors Weird Kingdom
Posted by: .5MT || 09/23/2008 14:55 Comments || Top||

#5  Sponsored by, The Mutual Of Gaza

Enjoy Our 83 Part 3 Hour Apiece Series

The Kingdom of Runtly Retarded Genes
Posted by: Red Dawg || 09/23/2008 19:03 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Father and son killed in southern Thailand, father beheaded
A father and a son on their way to gather forest produce were shot dead by insurgents, and the father was beheaded, in a presumed terrorist insurgent attack in Narathiwat. The gunmen beheaded the father, leaving it next to his body and took the dead man's two firearms.

The police teaming up with soldiers and local administration personnel investigated the crime scene, where the two villagers were ambushed, their bodies lying in the middle of the road. Prateep Sombat, 38, lay next to his 17-year-old son, Siripong, a 9th grade student. Some 35 M16 assault rifle shells and shotgun shells were scattered at the scene, and were collected as evidence.

The victims were believed to be going to collect forest fruits and herbs for selling, but were attacked before arriving at their intended destination by at least four terrorists insurgents.
Posted by: ryuge || 09/23/2008 05:33 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There's a lesson to be learned here about the terrorist tatics, wait, jump up, empty the magazine, rob the bodies, run away.

Cowardly, but effective.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 09/23/2008 12:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Cowardly scum
Posted by: nockeyes nilberforce || 09/23/2008 13:08 Comments || Top||


MILF used peace talks lull for recruiting
DATU PIANG, Philippines: Moro fighters in the southern Philippines trained foreign militants and recruited child soldiers while engaged in peace talks with the government, according to documents seen by AFP.

Military intelligence officials said they recovered training manuals and bomb-making paraphernalia from a Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) camp on southern Mindanao island last week.

Among the evidence were books with details on bomb making, evasion and attacks, as well as fake identification cards of foreign militants, some from the Middle East, the officials said.

“We are trying to determine who these people are but clearly it shows you that the MILF has never stopped taking in foreign militants into its camps on Mindanao,” one intelligence officer who did not want to be identified told AFP.

“While we have been talking peace to them the past five years, they used the lull in fighting to continue recruiting, and establishing connections to foreign militants,” the officer said. “The bomb making technology is obviously imported.” The MILF has for the past 40 years been fighting for a homeland for the minority Muslim community on Mindanao. Fresh violence erupted on the island last month when the group’s negotiations with the government were officially scrapped after 11 years.

One of the training manuals said MILF recruits were taught to have an “aggressive spirit” and the “will to close and kill or capture the enemy.” The lectures, written in a mix of English and Arabic, include military instructions on map reading and on assembling fuses and powerful homemade bombs using cigarette lighters. There were also step-by-step instructions on securing a given area using advanced grid systems, planting a bomb and maintaining a safe distance at the time of explosion.

“The purpose of combat-training is to mold you into a tough, self reliant fighting man, capable of performing effectively as a member of your team,” according to one of the instruction manuals. The army also retrieved pictures of what appear to be induction ceremonies for boys in their early teens being trained to join the MILF. The youngsters appear to be holding high-powered automatic rifles as they listen to an address by MILF commander Americal Umbra Kato.
Posted by: Classer || 09/23/2008 02:12 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  hudna
Posted by: Percy Whaviter2861 || 09/23/2008 13:53 Comments || Top||

#2 

Doh! They are only now figuring this out?

The MILF has been recruiting and rearming ever since they entered the alleged 'Peace Talks'.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 09/23/2008 14:33 Comments || Top||

#3  "youngsters appear to be holding high-powered automatic rifles" Don't they mean chicom AK's?
Posted by: Last Breath Farm Resident || 09/23/2008 18:18 Comments || Top||

#4  Typical MSM bullshit, the AK-47 is classed as a medium power weapon.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 09/23/2008 19:27 Comments || Top||

#5  A number of local Guam Filipinos I've talked to wold prob agree wid #2 CRAZYFOOL's post - while no one favors giving Filipino Muslims = MILF/MOROS independence or potent local autonomy, at the same time A MAJORITY DOUBT MANILA'S LONG TERM ABILITY WIDOUT US ASST. TO RESIST AND PREVENT A PARTITION OR BREAKUP OF THE PHILIPINES TO ISLAM WITHIN 10-15 YEARS [2018-2023/2025 r.o.]???

GUAM's PERCEIVED NEED FOR FOREIGN LABOR VEE THE MARINE RELOC FROM OKINAWA IS ONLY THE "TIP OF THE ICEBERG/BEGINNING" FOR GUAM AS PER POST-2010 INTERNATIONAL GEOPOL, ECON, + WARMING-INDUCED ENVIRO PRESSURES.

Many people, includ Guamanians, can of course take the easy route and leave ASIA-PACIFIC for the USA = AMERICAS, except for the fact that CHINA > has already declared 1/2 of CONUS-NORAM OR MORE AS FUTURE CHINESE TERRITORY + LIVING SPACE.

LEAVING "CHINA" [Guam-WESTPAC/Asia] for "CHINA" [CONUS-NORAM]!?

THE GOOD NEWS AFAIK IS THAT RADICAL ISLAM HASN'T FORMALLY DECLARED CONUS-NORAM AS FUTURE ISLAMIC TERRITORY FOR THEMSELVES - Y-E-T???

Or did they???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 09/23/2008 21:59 Comments || Top||


Sri Lanka
58 LTTE cadres, seven soldiers killed in Lanka clashes
(PTI) At least 58 Tamil Tigers and seven soldiers were killed in intensified clashes between security forces and LTTE cadres in Sri Lanka's restive northern region.

"It is confirmed through intercepted LTTE communication channels that at least 36 LTTE cadres were killed, injuring 18 others during fierce gun battles ensued between security forces and LTTE in the Kilinochchi front yesterday," the Defence Ministry said.

Quoting sources, the ministry said troops of 57th Division had confronted with LTTE militants in West of Akkarayankulam, East of Akkarayankulam, South of Kokavil and West of Mankulam areas in Kilinochchi yesterday.

Seven bodies of LTTE cadres killed in these clashes were uncovered along with few other military hardware, in subsequent search operations conducted in these areas, the ministry said.

"Seven army soldiers laid their lives for defending the motherland while 24 others sustained injuries during these clashes," the ministry said quoting reports.

At least one tiger rebel was gunned down and three others injured after troops captured two LTTE bunkers including two huts and a partially destroyed building located in Andankulam in North-east Welioya during a clash yesterday, the military said.

Later, two tiger militants were shot dead and as many injured in two separate incidents in Andankulam, it said, adding that two LTTE cadres were killed in Kilinochchi in clashes with the security forces yesterday.
Posted by: Fred || 09/23/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
more info on mysterious cargo of hijacked Iranian ship.
A tense standoff is underway in northeastern Somalia between pirates, Somali authorities, and Iran over a suspicious merchant vessel and its mysterious cargo. Hijacked late last month in the Gulf of Aden, the MV Iran Deyanat remains moored offshore in Somali waters and inaccessible for inspection. Its declared cargo consists of minerals and industrial products, however, Somali and regional officials directly involved in the negotiations over the ship and who spoke to The Long War Journal are convinced that it was heading to Eritrea to deliver small arms and chemical weapons to Somalia's Islamist insurgents.

The MV Iran Deyanat is owned and operated by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) - a state-owned company run by the Iranian military that was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of the Treasury on September 10, shortly after the ship's hijacking. According to the U.S. Government, the company regularly falsifies shipping documents in order to hide the identity of end users, uses generic terms to describe shipments to avoid the attention of shipping authorities, and employs the use of cover entities to circumvent United Nations sanctions to facilitate weapons proliferation for the Iranian Ministry of Defense.

The MV Iran Deyanat set sail from Nanjing, China, at the end of July and, according to its manifest, planned to travel to Rotterdam, where it would unload 42,500 tons of iron ore and "industrial products" purchased by a German client. Its arrival in the Gulf of Aden, Somali officials tell The Long War Journal, was suspiciously early. According to a publicly available status report on the IRISL Web site, the ship reached the Gulf on August 20 and was scheduled to reach the Suez Canal on August 27 - a seven day journey. "Depending on the speed of the ship," Puntland Minister of Ports Ahmed Siad Nur said in a phone interview on Saturday, "it should take between 4 and 5 days to reach Suez."
Posted by: 3dc || 09/23/2008 08:45 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I say we bag the ship. That's what we have special ops teams for. It could be anything, HEU, Ricin, VX, who knows.
Posted by: Flaimble de Medici8209 || 09/23/2008 9:21 Comments || Top||

#2  "Somalia pirates"... trained at NSWTC Coronado?
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/23/2008 9:28 Comments || Top||

#3  I'd never heard of insurgents wanting chemical weapons before. Seems like the kind of thing terrorists might want but insurgents?

If the ship set out from China isn't it strange the Chinese have had nothing to say so far? They must have clean hands or something on this one despite their support for Sudanese thugs nearby.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 09/23/2008 10:15 Comments || Top||

#4  China? Maybe it's their new baby formula?
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/23/2008 10:17 Comments || Top||

#5  where it would unload 42,500 tons of iron ore and "industrial products" purchased by a German client.

The German customer sounds interesting.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/23/2008 12:16 Comments || Top||

#6  I've only heard of one thing that can burn you and make your hair fall out just from opening the door and looking at it. It was a shipping container in the middle of Siberia that a couple of hunters found a few years ago. They opened the door to see what was in it and found white ceramic discs. Turned out to be very high level nuclear waste, dumped by a sky crane, in the middle of the Siberian forest. The hunters made it home, but died very shortly after, from similar symptoms; burns and hair loss.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 09/23/2008 12:18 Comments || Top||

#7  The Arc of the Covenant!
Posted by: rjschwarz || 09/23/2008 13:13 Comments || Top||

#8  Iran has the capability to make lots of dangerious WMDs, but most WMDs could be delivered in an aircraft for use later or sooner.

China has sophisticated chemical and bio engineering capability, they too wouldn't have to use an old Rust Bucket to deliver the Goods.

Bingo I likum tu's idea!

#4 China? Maybe it's their 42,500 tons of new baby milk formula?




Posted by: Red Dawg || 09/23/2008 13:54 Comments || Top||



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Mon 2008-09-22
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Sat 2008-09-20
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