Hamas Interior Minister Said Siam, killed in an Israeli airstrike Thursday, was one of the Islamic militant group's top five leaders in Gaza and a key figure in its violent takeover of the territory in 2007.
The 50-year-old Siam was in his brother's house in a Gaza City suburb when an Israeli warplane dropped a huge bomb, flattening the building and leaving a deep crater in the sandy ground. Siam's brother and the brother's family were also killed. Hamas TV showed footage of Siam's body, wrapped in a bloodied white shroud.
Siam was the second of Hamas' top five to be assassinated during Israel's 20-day-old offensive, aimed at halting Hamas rocket fire on southern Israel. The offensive has killed nearly 1,100 Palestinians and 13 Israelis, but Hamas has yet to agree to an Egyptian cease-fire offer.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
And now he can become a key figure in the scandal surrounding the shortage of virgins.
#2
Born in 1959 in Gaza's Shati refugee camp, he worked as a math and science teacher at local United Nations-run schools. He joined Hamas in the 1980s, one of its earliest members. Siam quickly assumed leadership of the local teacher's union.
UN employee, union hack, Hamas terrorist.
It's the Gaza hat trick...
Now I know we're doing something wrong!
The top U.N. official in Afghanistan said U.S. President-elect Barack Obama should resist calls to change strategy in Afghanistan, urging him instead to focus on implementing the one already being pursued.
Kai Eide said that the incoming U.S. administration "has a unique opportunity to gather strength, gather energy .... and build on the trends we have seen" toward building the Afghan security forces and propping up the country's economy. "My appeal is not grand strategy discussion, my appeal is concrete implementation effort," Eide told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday inside the U.N. compound in Kabul.
Obama has pledged to withdraw American troops from Iraq and deploy more to Afghanistan, where Taliban and al-Qaida linked militants have made a comeback in recent years.
U.S. Vice President-elect Joe Biden, who toured the region this week, said that "things are going to get tougher in Afghanistan before they're going to get better."
Insurgent attacks in Afghanistan increased in 2008 over the previous year and some 6,400 people -- mostly militants -- died last year as a result of the insurgency.
The deteriorating situation in Afghanistan has forced the U.S. to plan to rush as many as 30,000 more troops to the central Asian country this year. They will be joining some 32,000 U.S. troops already there who serve alongside 32,000 other NATO-led and coalition troops -- the highest number since the U.S.-led invasion that ousted the Taliban from power in 2001.
Obama has said Afghanistan is one of his top priorities, but his incoming team have not yet disclosed a concrete plan.
Eide, the Norwegian diplomat who has been heading the U.N. mission in Afghanistan for the last nine months, warned against any major change in direction. "Our problem is not that we need a new strategy. ... What happens very often is that we agree on something, we do not implement it and we say something must therefore be wrong with the strategy," Eide said. "That is not the case. The problem is in the implementation."
Eide said that there have been major improvements in two important sectors -- building of local security forces and the economy. "Every month we are getting better at handling the security situation," he said. "There is a greater momentum in building the key parts of the economy."
Staying the course and implementing the priorities set up at an international conference over six months ago must remain the goal, Eide said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military said one of its Black Hawk helicopters crashed near Kabul Friday, but there were no deaths reported and no enemy activity was involved. All seven people on the helicopter survived and are "safe and secure," the military said in a statement. The helicopter was on its way to perform a medical evacuation. The statement does not say what caused the accident.
Authorities detained an opposition leader who urged Sudan's president to surrender to the International Criminal Court to face charges of genocide in Darfur, his son said Thursday.
Security agents came to the family home just before midnight Wednesday and asked Hassan Turabi to come with them, said his son, Siddique Turabi. An aide to Turabi, Bashir Adam Rahma, was also taken in for questioning, the son said.
"The security officer, very politely, asked him to come with them," Siddique Turabi told The Associated Press. "I think this is related to my father's comments about the International Criminal Court."
Turabi, Sudan's leading fundamentalist Islamic ideologue, had said President Omar al-Bashir should give himself up to The Hague, Netherlands-based court to save Sudan from internal strife.
The international court prosecutor has asked for an arrest warrant for al-Bashir. A decision is expected soon.
Turabi's comments were a first in Sudan, where no one has openly suggested al-Bashir surrender, even though some former rivals have said the president should "deal" with the court's accusations.
The government does not recognize the court or any charges against al-Bashir.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
That's... unexpected. Has Turabi joined the Fadlist trend or something?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
01/16/2009 11:51 Comments ||
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The Home Office has quietly adopted a new plan to allow police across Britain routinely to hack into people's personal computers without a warrant.
The move, which follows a decision by the European Union's council of ministers in Brussels, has angered civil liberties groups and opposition MPs. They described it as a sinister extension of the surveillance state which drives "a coach and horses" through privacy laws.
The hacking is known as "remote searching". It allows police or MI5 officers who may be hundreds of miles away to examine covertly the hard drive of someone's PC at his home, office or hotel room.
Material gathered in this way includes the content of all e-mails, web-browsing habits and instant messaging.
Under the Brussels edict, police across the EU have been given the green light to expand the implementation of a rarely used power involving warrantless intrusive surveillance of private property. The strategy will allow French, German and other EU forces to ask British officers to hack into someone's UK computer and pass over any material gleaned.
A remote search can be granted if a senior officer says he "believes" that it is "proportionate" and necessary to prevent or detect serious crime -- defined as any offence attracting a jail sentence of more than three years. How long till this comes to American shores?
this just brings the practice out of the shadows. in the us, warrants are issued to that do this already
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
01/16/2009 16:19 Comments ||
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#3
fyi, this does explain quite a few of the 'features' of windows.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
01/16/2009 16:21 Comments ||
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#4
This is equivalent to sneaking in while the homeowner is away and rifling through his bureau drawers looking for [heh] whatever. That's next. For the good of the community, of course.
New definition of "reasonable", as applied to unreasonable search and seizure: "We have our reasons."
#5
Unplug the computer when not using it. Disable the NIC or turn off the wireless router when not using the internet. Put up a firewall. Store all sensitive information on portable drives and unplug them from the computer when not being used.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/16/2009 16:42 Comments ||
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#6
a decision by the European Union's council of ministers in Brussels
With the unintended consequence of allowing police or MI5 officers to violate computers and laws in other countries too and to plant files as well as snoop.
#8
You also have to watch for keystroke loggers. With Windows, anyway, these can be installed remotely. With Linux, unless you are pretty lax (i.e. operate as root on a non-hardened system with no firewall, or use a wireless LAN), they would have to be installed physically. Put telltales across your keyboard enclosure and watch out for extra parts installed between the keyboard cable and the motherboard.
Then there's TEMPEST. You can check Wikipedia, but if you need to know about it, you probably already do. It's quite hard to be truly safe using a computer.
An alleged al-Qaeda terrorist said to be connected to Osama bin Laden has been freed to take regular walks in a park to stop him developing a fear of open spaces. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is claimed to have once been a senior al-Qaeda instructor and one of the world's most wanted terrorists.
He was arrested in connection with separate plots to blow up Los Angeles airport and the Christmas market in Strasbourg and is said to have "direct links to Osama bin Laden and other senior al-Qaeda figures". The government says he is a "leading organiser and facilitator of terrorist activity" and is trying to have him deported to his native Algeria but the Telegraph revealed last year that he was to be released on bail and put under a 24-hour curfew.
His bail conditions, similar to a control order, have now been varied to allow him twice weekly walks, for one hour, in a local park in a south coast town and go to a cafe, accompanied by one of four named supporters who have been given security clearance by MI5. The man's legal team claimed he was suffering from high blood pressure and was in danger of becoming agoraphobic - scared of open spaces - as he had not been outside often enough.
The Security Service objected to the proposal but a judge at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) ruled against them. Mr Justice Mitting told a hearing in central London, attended by the alleged terrorist: "I do not need to be reminded that this appellant is one of the greatest concerns of the Security Service and the commission."
He admitted there was a "great risk to national security and a modest risk of absconding" and said the man had "not disavowed his previous beliefs" but he said he was allowing the walks "out of consideration for humanity and appropriate consideration for the health of the appellant". He said the conditions under which the man was living were "the most draconian" ever imposed by SIAC, which also ordered the release on bail last year of the radical preacher Abu Qatada, said to be Osama bin Laden's "right hand man in Europe".
A legal order bans this newspaper from naming the town where he is living but we can reveal that he has a room in a house normally rented out to students. His landlord, a local councillor, told The Daily Telegraph: "I have let rooms for people at the university for many years and a friend rang and asked if I could take in an asylum seeker for a few months. It so happened that I had a room vacant so I said yes. He's just another student as far as I'm concerned."
SIAC has said there are "credible grounds" for believing the allegations against the man, referred to as "U", and said he was a "significant risk to national security". Now 45, he arrived in Britain from France in 1994 and claimed asylum but allegedly spent the late 1990s with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan. He was arrested in February 2001 at Heathrow trying to board a flight to Saudi Arabia on a false passport. It is claimed U met bin Laden at the Khalden training camp in Afghanistan which he is said to have helped run. He admits attending the training camp and meeting Ahmed Ressam, now in jail for the Los Angeles plot, but denies being part of any conspiracy.
#2
Kufr, "U" needs unsupervised prayer time at a mosque. At least long enough to slip out the back tunnel.
Posted by: ed ||
01/16/2009 10:24 Comments ||
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#3
And just when does the van with doors open, slide to a stop where he and his "Trusted adviser' can jump aboard?
What Idiots.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
01/16/2009 14:55 Comments ||
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#4
Oh, for crying out loud, I live on the South Coast and no-one is going to say where this shoe-throwing son-of-a-bitch is? Huh? What's, uh, the deal? This is the Scottish Maffia at work, deconstructing and having a one-up on the English for some battle they whupped their arse at long ago. The amount of shoe-throwers we have here who maintain non-integration whilst waiting for British passports makes me worried for the folks who let this happen. Not only will they have to answer to Tranzi-law, they will have to answer to English people.
One may presume Britain to be a past glory, and that would be right, but as a tribe the English are not finished.
The Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, congratulated Trooper Mark Donaldson as he became the first Australian in almost forty years to be awarded the Victoria Cross, Australias highest military honour.
The Victoria Cross is only presented to those who have displayed the most conspicuous acts of gallantry in action. There are only ten surviving recipients in the world today.
Trooper Donaldsons actions under fire in Afghanistan resulted in ensuring the safety of other members of the combine Australian, Afghan and US forces, and ultimately saved the life of a coalition interpreter. He displayed exceptional courage in face of extreme danger.
Tradition holds that even the most senior military officers salute a Victoria Cross recipient, as a sign of respect for their act of gallantry.
Air Chief Marshal Houston said it would be his honour to salute Trooper Donaldson.
#1
Trooper Donaldson was serving with the SAS in Oruzgan province in Afghanistan on September 2 last year when his unit was hit by an ambush, wounding nine Australians.
During a prolonged and effective enemy ambush on numerous occasions he deliberately drew the enemys fire in order to allow wounded soldiers to be moved to safety. As the battle raged around him he saw that a coalition force interpreter was lying motionless on exposed ground. With complete disregard for his own safety, on his initiative and alone, Trooper Donaldson ran back 80 metres across exposed ground to rescue the interpreter and carry him back to vehicle. Trooper Donaldson then rejoined his patrol and continued to engage the enemy while remaining exposed to heavy enemy fire.
He was awarded the Victoria Cross for most conspicuous acts of gallantry in a circumstance of great peril, according to the citation. The citation said he "displayed exceptional courage in circumstances of great peril" and saved the life of the interpreter.
A half-hour long film about a Muslim sniper who is killing American soldiers in Iraq is being shown in Bosnia, reports Bosnian Muslim television. The film is shown in central Bosnia where concentration of radical Islamists is the greatest, reports Bosnian government TV station.
The film is about a mysterious Muslim named Juba who is using a sniper to kill an American soldier once every day. The sniper has been doing this for several years now and each soldier is hit with one bullet in the forehead, the movie shows. Bosnian TV news show 60 Minutes reports that the mysterious sniper has killed several hundred Americans so far. After each killing, the sniper leaves one shell and a message in Arabic that says Whats taken by blood cannot be brought back without blood.
The DVD also says that Bosnian Muslim Jihad veterans from the notorious Bosnian Muslim Army unit El Mujaheed are also volunteers among the Jihadists in Iraq that are killing the Americans. During the Bosnian civil war in the 1990s, United States blamed and then bombed the Bosnian Serbs who were targets of massacres by the El Mujahedeen units and other Bosnian Muslim government forces.
The film about Juba is also sold as a DVD in Bosnia, and is narrated in the so-called Bosnian language, reports Bosnian TV. Parts of the movie are also available on the Bosnian Muslim religious site islamika.net where it shares space along with Islamic hutbas, or teachings.
Some analysts say that the purpose of the movie is to be used to recruit Bosnian Muslims into al Qaeda. These analysts say that Bosnian Muslims are especially prized by al-Qaeda leadership because of their European features that can blend into Western society much more easily and be less noticeable during Islamic terrorist planning.
Bosnian TV says that there are increasing number of visits by Wahabis from Austria and Germany into central Bosnia where the film is being shown.
#4
The site did seem a little, errr, partisan, ed. Maybe I should have put the Morton Salt image up or put it on Opinions. It does seem that this video probably exists though . . . I guess. I'll be more careful about Serbianna in the future.
#5
There is a listing for Mr. Juba in Thugberg. According to Fred's link, The Jawa Report, Mr. Juba is a conglomerate of a number of snipers who met their various ends in Iraq between 2005 and 2007. Rather pathetic that the Bosnians who are so excited about his career do not know this.
JUBA, THE BAGHDAD SNIPER
Islamic Army in Iraq
Deceased Button Man
Probably a conglomerate of several Iraqi snipers.
#6
ryuge, the propaganda video does exist. The man, apparently, does not. Just search the name in Thugburg for background next time... but I think the news that this propaganda video is circulating Bosnia is useful information despite the biased source. After all, most of the information Fred posts comes from Pakistani sources, Iranian sources, China's Xinhua news agency, etc, none exactly fair and balanced.
Under questioning from Sen. Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Eric Holder, the attorney-general nominee, said waterboarding is torture.
"I agree with you, Mr. Chairman, waterboarding is torture," Holder said in what amounts to a dramatic reversal of the Justice Department's policy under President Bush.
Holder also rejected the argument made by Bush administration officials that the president's power in an a national emergency overrode constitutional restrictions. "No one is above the law," Holder said.
Leahy also questioned Holder's view on the Second Amendment, specificially whether the right to bear arms is an individual, not a collective, right. The Supreme Court ruled as such in a recent case striking down the District of Columbia's handgun ban.
"The Supreme Court has spoken," Holder said. "That is now the law of the land."
#2
Anyone With A Clue: Having to deal with nitwits like Holder or Leahy in public life is torture.
Oh, and BTW, the argument made by Bush administration officials that the president's power in an a national emergency overrode constitutional restrictions is classic (everyday) distortion. Such an "argument" was never advanced, of course. The president's inherent constitutional duties and powers WRT national security were cited, so far successfully, as justification for a very few narrowly targeted actions.
But what are facts and logic in the degraded, delusional wasteland once known as America?
#7
Waterboarding is not torture. Listening to the blatherings, deliberations, and posturing of Congress is torture. Listening to Yoko Ono sing is torture.
#8
Listening to or having my life on earth impacted by the likes of Reid, Pelois, Franks, Biden, Obama and his cadre of Chicago and Hollywoodistan donks, all fall into my personal definition of torture.
Zubair Ahmed, 29, and Khaleel Ahmed, 28, both residents of Chicago, pleaded guilty today in the Northern District of Ohio to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists in connection with their efforts to travel abroad in order to murder or maim U.S. military forces in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Zubair Ahmed and his cousin Khaleel Ahmed each pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge James G. Carr in Toledo, Ohio, to a one-count, superseding information charging them with conspiracy to provide material support and resources, including the defendants themselves as personnel, to terrorists in violation of Title 18, U.S.C. Section 2339A. At sentencing, each defendant faces a statutory maximum of 15 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, followed by three years of supervised release.
The criminal conspiracy involving Zubair and Khaleel Ahmed began no later than April 1, 2004, and continued until their arrests on Feb. 21, 2007. As part of the conspiracy, the defendants made preparations to travel overseas in order to engage in acts that would result in the murder or maiming of U.S. military forces in either Iraq or Afghanistan. On or about May 21, 2004, the defendants traveled to Cairo, Egypt, with the intent of engaging in acts that would result in the murder or maiming of U.S. military forces in Iraq or Afghanistan. After their return from Egypt, on or about July 4, 2004, Zubair and Khaleel Ahmed discussed, sought and received instruction on firearms from another individual in Cleveland. The defendants also sought and discussed training in counter-surveillance techniques and sniper rifles with this individual. Specifically, defendant Zubair Ahmed discussed his desire to learn how to use and move with a .50-caliber machine gun.
As part of the conspiracy, the defendants also communicated with each other using code words and in a foreign language to disguise their preparations and plans to engage in acts abroad that would result in the murder or maiming of U.S. military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Furthermore, Zubair and Khaleel Ahmed researched the purchase of firearms, methods of obtaining firearms instruction (including at least one visit to a firing range) and methods of obtaining instruction in gunsmithing. In addition, the defendants collected and distributed videos of attacks on U.S. military forces overseas, manuals on military tactics and military manuals on weaponry.
"Today's guilty pleas should send a strong message to individuals who would use this country as a platform to plot attacks against U.S. military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Matthew Olsen, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for National Security. "This case also underscores the need for continued vigilance in identifying and dismantling extremist plots that develop within our nation."
Thousands of Pakistani schoolgoing children are growing up learning that the Urdu equivalent of the letter A stands for Allah, B for bandook (gun) and J for jihad. Though not officially prescribed for pre-schoolers, books printed by Iqra Publishers are being used in several regular schools and madrassas across Pakistan.
The three examples of Allah, bandook and jihad are not the only ones which sound like a "blueprint for a religious fascist state". The Urdu letter for the T sound stands for takrao (collide), K for khunjar (dagger), H for hijab (veil) and Z for zunoob (sins) - which includes watching television, playing musical instruments and flying kites.
According to the National Bureau of Curriculum and Textbooks, Class 5 children are expected to "acknowledge and identify forces that may be working against Pakistan", "make speeches on jihad and shahadat (martyrdom)", "understand Hindu-Muslim differences and the resultant need for Pakistan", "India's evil designs about Pakistan" and "demonstrate by actions a belief in the fear of Allah", said a report in Newsline magazine.
(AKI) - Pakistan deployed additional troops on the border with India since the Mumbai terror attacks, but New Delhi has not responded in the same way, India's army chief said on Wednesday. "The aspect of some (Pakistani) troops coming towards the east ... we are aware. That has happened," General Deepak Kapoor said.
"They have come to the eastern border of Pakistan with India."
Pakistan's military has consistently denied a troop buildup on the Indian border since the attacks on India's financial capital in November.
However, it did admit that it had transferred a "limited number" of soldiers from the Afghan border as tensions rose with India after the attacks.
An intense political exchange between the country's leaders since the attacks has added to the tension as India, increasingly frustrated with what it sees as Pakistan's failure to take action, has tried to increase international diplomatic pressure on Pakistan.
A senior Indian official also confirmed on Wednesday troops movement on the Pakistani side, but added New Delhi had been careful not to respond.
Kapoor said though India was not provoked and would not indulge in provoking war hysteria, its armed forces were in a state of full preparedness.
India has blamed Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e- Toiba for the November attack on Mumbai that left 164 people dead and is demanding that the government in Islamabad extradite those involved.
The two countries have fought three wars since independence in 1947. The Paks have lost every one of them.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"we were concerned with the buildup of forces, til we realized they were Pakistani troops"
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/16/2009 8:28 Comments ||
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Federal Government has finalized names of three officials in connection with formation of a high level commission to investigate Mumbai attacks. The commission headed by the Additional Director General FIA, Javed Iqbal, comprises Khalid Qureshi and Liaquat Ali Khan as its members. According to sources, the option of sending the commission to India would also be considered if such need arises. Indian authorities will be consulted to send the team to visit the crime scene. The scope of the functioning and authority of the high level commission has been defined. CommitteeÂ's members would be allowed to exchange information directly with Indian investigation agencies so that the process of investigation could be completed at the earliest. Secretary Interior Syed Kamal Shah confirmed that committee would submit the report to the interior ministry as soon as possible. The report will then be presented to Prime Minister.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2009 00:00 ||
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Chief operational commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LT) Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, arrested on December 10 by the Pakistani authorities in the wake of the Mumbai attacks, is furious at the Jamaat-ud-Daawa (JuD) leadership's decision to publicly disown him in his hour of trial instead of trying to bail him out.
According to circles close to the Pakistani authorities, involved in grilling Lakhvi to ascertain whether the LT is actually involved in the Mumbai mayhem, the commander is extremely hurt by a recent statement from a JuD spokesman that both the arrested Lashkar leaders Zakiur Rehman and Zarar Shah never had any link with either Hafiz Mohammad Saeed or the JuD.
In a bid to shield Saeed, JuD spokesman Abdullah Muntazir told the Times of India on January 9, 2008: "In any case, Lakhvi and Zarar, the two men India is talking about, were never associated with the JuD, which has always been into charity work only."
It had been conveyed by Hafiz Saeed himself in the wake of the Mumbai terror strikes, the spokesman said, adding there were elements in the Pakistan government that wanted to target religious organisations. Circles close to Hafiz Saeed say there was nothing new in the JuD spokesman's stance as its leadership had repeatedly denied any link with them.
But a former LT office-bearer -- now a part of the JuD -- confirmed on condition of anonymity that Lakhvi was extremely upset over the U-turn taken by his former close associates and complains they had abandoned him at a time when he desperately needed their backing.
Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, alias Abu Waheed Irshad Ahmad, comes from the Okara district of the Punjab province. Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone Mumbai attacker caught alive by the Indian authorities, belongs to the same area.
Born on December 30, 1960 to the lower middle class family of Hafiz Azizur Rehman in Chak No. 18 of Rinala Khurd in Okara, Lakhvi is considered to be a close associate of Hafiz Saeed and has been named by Ajmal Kasab as his trainer as well as the planner of the Mumbai carnage. While Pakistan has already turned down an Indian demand for Lakhvi's extradition despite American pressure, the JuD has deemed it fit to disown him.
In 1988, Abu Abdur Rahman Sareehi, a Saudi national and allegedly a close associate of Osama bin Laden, founded in Afghanistan's eastern province of Kunar an organisation which recruited Afghan youths and Pakistanis from the Bajaur Agency to fight Soviet occupation troops in the Central Asian country.
Sareehi, the brother-in-law of Zaki Lakhvi, is believed to have contributed a hefty amount of Rs10 million to the construction of the Muridke headquarters of the Lashkar-i-Taiba, called the Markaz Daawa Wal Irshad, way back in 1988. The organisation flourished in Kunar and Bajaur areas as thousands of youths from Pakistan belonging to the Deobandi Salafi school of thought instantly joined its camps set up in Afghan provinces of Kunar and Paktia, both of which had a sizable number of Ahle Hadith (Wahabi) followers of Islam, besides hundreds of Saudis and Afghans.
International media reports say Zaki Lakhvi was one of the main trainers at the Kunar camp of anti-Soviet militants. As the Lashkar had joined the Afghan jihad at a time it was winding down, the group did not play a major part in the fight against the Soviet forces, which pulled out in 1989.
However, the participation of the Lashkar cadres in the Afghan jihad helped its leaders, particularly Hafiz Saeed and Zaki Lakhvi, win the trust of the Pakistani establishment. The insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, beginning in 1989, came at an appropriate time to provide an active battleground for the Lashkar fighters when its leadership was made to divert its attention from Afghanistan and devote itself to the jihad in Kashmir, where it gained fame.
As Lakhvi was subsequently made the supreme commander of the military operations in Jammu and Kashmir, his prime responsibility was to identify young men and indoctrinate them in jihad.
In an April 1999 interview to an English daily from Muzzaffarabad, Lakhvi said: "We are extending our Mujahideen networks across India and preparing the Muslims of India against India. When they are ready, it will be the start of the break-up of India." A few months later, at the three-day annual congregation of the LT held at its Muridke headquarters, 30 kilometres from Lahore, Lakhvi justified the launching of fidayeen missions in Jammu and Kashmir.
He continued: "Following Pakistani withdrawal from the Kargil heights and the Nawaz-Clinton statement in Washington, it was important to boost the morale of the Kashmiri people... These fidayeen missions have been initiated to teach India a lesson as they were celebrating Pakistani withdrawal from Kargil. And let me tell you very clearly that our next target would be New Delhi." Incidentally, the Indian parliament was attacked later on December 13, 2001.
Subsequently, the US State Department declared the Lashkar a terrorist outfit, followed by a similar decision by the Musharraf regime. The LT later renamed itself as Jamaat-ud-Daawa (JuD) in a bid to separate its military actions in Kashmir from its religious undertakings in Pakistan. While stepping down as the Lashkar ameer at a press conference in Lahore on December 23, 2001, Hafiz Saeed appointed Maulana Abdul Wahid Kashmiri as his successor. But Lakhvi was retained as the supreme operational commander of the LT.
However, differences soon erupted between Saeed and Lakhvi over distribution of the organisation's assets, prompting the latter to revolt against Saeed and launch his own splinter group with the name of Khairun Naas (KuN). Their animosity grew to the extent that some of the Zaki-led rebel group members -- largely consisting of LT fighters -- reportedly took oath to assassinate Hafiz Saeed.
According to Saeed's aides, he first came under fire from Zaki when he decided to launch JuD and separated the LT infrastructure from the Jamaat. Lakhvi, being the chief operational commander of the LT, disapproved of the decision, saying it was meant to put the JuD in control of all the funds collected locally and abroad. He was of the view that as heavy donations were being collected in the name of the Kashmir jihad from all over Pakistan as well as abroad, the JuD leadership had no right to the money because it was only a preaching organisation.
Sources close to Lakhvi revealed many of the dissident aides to Saeed were basically annoyed at his second marriage with a fallen mujahid's 28-year-old widow. Saeed was 58 at the time of his marriage and had justified his act by saying the wedding was only meant to provide shelter to the widow of the fighter, who had lost his life in Jammu and Kashmir and had left behind two kids.
However, a year later, Saeed and Lakhvi were made to mend fences and the two were the best of friends at the time of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. But Zaki Lakhvi had already moved the LT headquarters from Muridke to Muzaffarabad by then. In July 2006, the Indian authorities alleged that Azam Cheema, a LT operative accused of being the ring leader in the 2006 bombing of the Mumbai rail network [that killed over 200 people] was trained and sent to the Indian port city by Lakhvi.
The Mumbai police commissioner then claimed that an arrested militant, Abu Anas, has confessed to being the bodyguard of Lakhvi. In May 2008, the US Treasury Department announced freezing the assets of four LT leaders including Lakhvi. In October, 2007, Lakhvi's 20-year-old son Mohammad Qasim was reportedly killed in an encounter with the security forces at the Gamaroo village in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipora area.
In the aftermath of the Mumbai attacks, the Indian authorities alleged Zaki Lakhvi, usually based in Muzaffarabad, had moved to Karachi in August 2008, the port city from where LT militants set off, so he could direct operations. The sole survivor of the Mumbai attacks, Ajmal Kasab, apparently told police Lakhvi had helped indoctrinate all the attackers.
On December 3, 2008, India finally named him as one of four major planners behind the Mumbai terror attacks. And that he had allegedly offered to pay the Kasab family Rs150,000 for his participation in the assaults. On December 7, 2008, the Pakistani security forces arrested Lakhvi after raiding the JuD headquarters in Muzaffarabad.
The Indian dossier handed over to Pakistan on January 5 includes transcription of intercepted telephonic conversation between the Mumbai attackers and Lakhvi. However, circles close to the arrested LT chief operational commander reject the Indian dossier as a pack of lies and insist Lakhvi has nothing to do with the Mumbai strikes.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2009 00:00 ||
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Pakistan has deployed additional troops along the border with India since the Mumbai attacks, but India has not responded in a similar manner, the Indian army chief said on Wednesday.
"The aspect of some (Pakistani) troops coming towards the east ... we are aware. That has happened," General Deepak Kapoor told reporters. "They have come to the eastern border of Pakistan with India."
Pakistan's military has denied any build-up of forces on the Indian border and said it moved a "limited number" of soldiers off the Afghan border "for defensive measures" as tensions rose with India after the Mumbai attacks.
Kapoor said India had kept all options open, including the option of fighting in the wake of Mumbai attacks but there was no need to create hysteria. "There is a larger amount of tension after 26/11. Because we feel that the perpetrators of 26/11 came from Pakistan. In view of that, we in India are keeping all options open," he said. The options were "diplomatic, economic, or as a last resort, a fighting option," he said, adding, there was "no need to create any kind of hysteria"
Referring to the use of military option as a last resort, Gen Kapoor said it depended on the political leadership to decide. "Our political leadership has said war is not an option. But all options are open. The situation remains at that stage," he said.
A senior Indian official also confirmed on Wednesday "some" troops movement on the Pakistan side, but added New Delhi had been careful not to respond in a similar fashion. Kapoor said though India was not provoked and would not indulge in whipping up war hysteria, its armed forces were in a state of full preparedness.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2009 00:00 ||
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[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
This dude's ready to open a can of woop-arse.
I wouldn't recommend needlessly annoying India for a while.
#3
i wish they would do this, this would get rid of ALOT of their militants , cave dwellers , goat rapers and just plain scum and before anyone says anythin about their past wars i have a feeling India is better equipped this time around and would garner alot of support
WASHINGTON Despite five years of training and equipping, the Iraqi military is still heavily dependent on U.S. operational support.
A Defense Department report said less than 10 percent of Iraq Army battalions were capable of planning and executing counter-insurgency operations. The rest of the army combat battalions required anywhere from partial to significant support from the U.S. military and its coalition partners.
"There remains a critical reliance on coalition rotary wing assets and other enablers such as intelligence and close air and logistics support during operations," the Pentagon report, titled "Measuring Stability and Security in Iraq," said.
The report, dated Jan. 9, presented a graph that showed that 17 out of 181 Iraq Army combat battalions were capable of "planning, executing and sustaining COIN [counter-insurgency] operations" as of Oct. 20, 2008. Another 99 battalions were deemed capable of planning, executing and sustaining such operations with "Iraqi or coalition support and enablers."
#1
Old news. Logistics and Support functions aren't showy but nothing works without them. This will take time (and probably breaking some corrupt fingers).
#5
You don't grow a competent NCO corps in a couple of years. When you don't have a culture that allows authority to be defused to lower levels, it's a much longer evolution if one happens at all [see USSR Russia].
#6
From what I have heard from the units coming back is the company to battalion sized units are very, very effective. Planning, supplying and operating anything bigger is still beyond them at this time. They are getting better and have pulled off some brigade size operations with only a little help, but they still have a long way to go in the coordination of large units.
RAMALLAH - It's quiet in Ramallah. At the northern entrance to the city, not far from the mall, a new fountain spouts water. Next to it lies a sign in English: "Gaza under fire." But it seems the Gaza Strip has never been so far away. Tel Aviv, meanwhile, feels closer than ever. Almost every day at 1 P.M., a demonstration leaves Manara Square in the city center, expressing support for the residents of the Gaza Strip. The number of participants has declined, however, on a daily basis, and on Wednesday the demonstration was called off for a lack of protesters.
Hee hee hee.
More at the link.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/16/2009 18:18 ||
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[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The first thing that needs to be negotiated is the size of the negotiating table, then the height of the negotiating chairs, then the pattern of the negotiating china.
Posted by: ed ||
01/16/2009 15:29 Comments ||
Top||
#4
WAFF > HAMAS is reportedly refusing to accept the ceasefire conditions wid Israel???
Also, WORLDTRIBUNE > OBAMA DILEMMA:IRAN AND NORTH KOREA MAY ARM TERRORISTS WITH NUKES + IRAN: THE MILITARY OPTION AGZ IRAN MAY END WITH THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said a deal signed with Israel would help prevent smuggling of arms into Gaza and ultimately would contribute towards a "durable ceasefire."
Rice signed a memorandum of understanding with Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni who said both the US and Israel had agreed on a series of steps to stop Hamas from rearming.
"The steps that we and other members of the international community can take will contribute to a durable ceasefire," said Rice.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Top Israeli diplomats headed for Egypt and the United States on Friday in what appeared to be a final push toward a cease-fire to end Israel's punishing Gaza offensive against Hamas militants.
In the West Bank, United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon urged Israel to immediately stop its three-week-old war, meant to halt militant rocket fire on southern Israel from Gaza. "I strongly urge Israeli leadership and government to declare a cease-fire unilaterally," he said from Ramallah, the seat of the West Bank government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas' fierce rival. "It's time to think about a unilateral cease-fire from the Israeli government." Pinhead.
An Israeli government response was not immediately available. Good. Let's hope it stays that way.
Ban is on a weeklong trip to the region meant to promote a truce after both sides ignored a U.N. resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire. Get a clue, Ban.
Some 1,100 Palestinians have been killed since the war began on Dec. 27, including 346 children, according to the U.N. and Gaza health officials. Thirteen Israelis have been killed, four by rocket fire, according to the military.
A day after Israeli forces killed a senior Hamas official and shelled a U.N. compound, the Israeli military kept up its pressure on Hamas. Before dawn Friday, Israeli aircraft struck about 40 targets all over Gaza, the military said. An official statement said targets included smuggling tunnels along the Egyptian border, a rocket launcher ready for firing and a mosque that housed a tunnel entrance and was also used to store arms.
Later, Palestinian medical officials reported an 11-year-old girl was killed in a shelling in northern Gaza and witnesses reported an air strike on a Gaza City mosque as people were headed there for Friday prayers. The Israeli military declined to comment.
Militant rockets, meanwhile, struck five times in southern Israel, causing no injuries, the military said.
Chief Israeli negotiator Amos Gilad arrived in Cairo on Friday for his second visit in two days to seek clarifications and express Israeli views about the latest Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire.
And after midnight, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni left for Washington, where she was expected to sign a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. over ways to stop arms smuggling to Hamas. Before leaving, she made it clear that halting arms smuggling was a crucial part of any truce deal. "Israel is going to retain its right to defend itself anyway, also when it comes to the smuggling of weapons, not only to rockets being fired at Israel," she said.
The Bush administration was racing in its final days to negotiate a deal on American support for mediation efforts under which the U.S. would give technical support and expertise to prevent Hamas from rearming, said U.S. and Israeli diplomats. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.
Israel wants a total end to Hamas' rocket launches into Israel and an arms embargo on Gaza's militant rulers.
Hamas has demanded an immediate Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the opening of blockaded border crossings. "These are our demands and we don't accept any political movement that does not accept them," the movement's top political leader, Khaled Mashaal, said in a televised address from his headquarters in Damascus, Syria.
Intense Israeli military activity in Gaza on Thursday exacted a steep price from Hamas when Interior Minister Said Siam was killed in an airstrike. Siam was the commander of Hamas security forces and was widely feared in Gaza. A small crowd of mourners buried Siam in Gaza City on Friday. His white-shrouded body was draped in a green Hamas flag and some of the people who carried it chanted, "Greetings from Hamas!" One man fired an assault rifle in the area in a traditional salute.
Siam was seen as a main architect of the violent Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, when Hamas fighters expelled forces loyal to Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. He was the highest Hamas official killed in the offensive.
"We are talking about a key person in terms of logistics in the field, and also in the political sense," said Bassem Zbeidy, a Hamas expert in the West Bank. He called Siam's death a "huge loss for Hamas," but said the movement is easily capable of generating new leaders, often more radical than their predecessors.
Israel infuriated the U.N. Thursday when it shelled the world body's headquarters in Gaza City, where hundreds of Gazans were seeking cover from the fighting among food and supplies meant for refugees. The destruction added to what aid groups say is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and ratcheted up tensions between Israel and the international community even as diplomats indicated progress in cease-fire talks.
The U.N. compound, made up of workshops and warehouses as well as offices, was struck about a half-dozen times over a roughly two-hour period while more than 700 civilians were sheltering there, said John Ging, head of Gaza operations for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency.
Olmert said Hamas militants opened fire from the U.N. compound. "It is absolutely true that we were attacked from that place, but the consequences are very sad and we apologize for it," he said. The military said it was still investigating. I'll say. The place is still standing. Next time, perhaps. How 'bout using one of them white-phosphorous/napalm cluster bomb munitions next time.
The Israeli military took about a dozen foreign reporters on a rare foray into the Gaza Strip Thursday, a day when a bombardment killed the Hamas security chief and an Israel shell landed on the United Nations headquarters there.
But the journalists saw none of the action. Their 30-minute drive from an army base near the border took them to an unpopulated area where a commander arrived in a tank, gave a statement and answered a few questions. They saw no troops, no combat.
If Israel's 2006 war with Lebanon was a media free-for-all, its offensive against Hamas militants in Gaza has been a model of media control. That's your just desserts for when you don't report the truth, whether intentionally, or by allowing yourself to be misled.
Journalists are barred from freely entering the war zone. They are granted only limited access even when embedded with Israeli troops, which is rare. And military interviews, few and far between, have been tightly controlled.
The military also has closed off large sections of southern Israel to reporters and a number of journalists who have gone into those areas have been arrested. Photographers have had their disks erased.
The military has explained its restrictions in southern Israel by noting large concentrations of forces there. Israeli officials, addressing the larger issue of banning reporters from Gaza, have said that journalists would be in danger if they entered. Also, they say that many journalists would relay the views of Hamas without checking their facts, leading to a distorted picture of the conflict admitting that banning reporters is a policy matter, not security. Note to reporters: The Israeli government is speaking the truth. Please return the favor and maybe they'll let you play next time.
Media outlets have criticized Israel's tactics for severely inhibiting the free flow of information from the Israeli assault on Hamas militants in Gaza, a story that has captured world attention as Israeli forces penetrated civilian areas and the Palestinian death toll rises to 1,088, according to Palestinian health officials. Thirteen Israelis have been killed.
The Foreign Press Association, representing journalists covering Israel and the Palestinian territories, petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court and won limited access to Gaza which had been blocked more than a month before the Israeli offensive began, a period of relative tranquility.
But the army has not complied with the ruling to the satisfaction of the FPA, which rejects the miltary's claim that allowing groups of reporters into Gaza briefly under strict supervision is compliance. Drop them off near the UN building why don't you?
"It is not just the journalists. They are keeping a lid on broad information that is important in terms of being able to fight the war they want to fight," said Gad Wolfsfeld, a communications professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, noting that soldiers are banned from taking their cell phones into battle. Kinda makes me wonder how WWII was fought when they didn't have cell phones.
"I think the conclusion from the last war was, right or wrong, the less said, the better, and the less filmed, the better. Worked pretty well for the Turkey Shoot in Kuwait. I'll bet they don't try that again.
Wolfsfeld said the move seems to be helping Israel control the message, but he noted the tactic has backfired in the past. I'm starting to wonder if Wolfsfeld is the guy who coined the idea of a "proportional" response. Words are cheap. And seem to screw up people's ideas of the reality of what they are asking for.
During the 2002 invasion of the West Bank town of Jenin, media barred from the area relied on Palestinian accounts reporting that some 500 people had been massacred. When U.N. officials were later granted access to the site, it was revealed the number of dead was closer to 50. More like the media tried to blackmail Israel into opening up by threatening to use their unimpeachable Gaza news sources - and got their bluff called and a$$es handed to them in a very expert manner by the IDF.
The Israeli army even cited Jenin in 2005 when it gave free access to its withdrawal from Gaza.
But then came the Lebanon war of 2006. Not only did foreign reporters roam freely, but soldiers called in their complaints about inadequate training and equipment to Israeli television. Foreign media who could access the zone from Lebanon anyway were granted free movement and easy access even to the upper echelon of the military.
By contrast, the government even tightly controlled an interview it set up with a fighter pilot earlier this week, handlers instructing the pilot not to answer certain questions as authorities sought to illustrate how the military avoids civilian casualties. The fifth column would be only too happy to give away other's lives for a chance for a Poolitzer prize.
Friction between the government and the media heightened Thursday after Israeli attacks in Gaza struck two high-rise buildings housing international media, injuring two journalists in a Palestinian media center two floors above the offices of Reuters news agency. Were they hosting a Hamass social there or something?
Bullets also flew into the office of The Associated Press in another building several hundred yards away, entering a room where two staffers were working. No one was injured.
The Foreign Press Association has demanded a halt to the kind of attacks that hit the buildings, saying the Israeli military was "severely violating basic principles of respect for press freedom." And the press is severely violating basic principals of honesty that are supposed to come with that that very same press freedom. It is no longer journalism. It is sensationalism that preys on people's ignorance and distorted perceptions that has been carefully crafted by years of journalistic dishonesty.
The organization called the attacks and other restrictions "unconscionable breaches" and demanded a formal apology. Clueless fuc&s.
The Army in a statement said that it only targets buildings or locations "from which fire on (Israeli) troops or civilians emanates," saying the Hamas terrorist organization that the 20-day old offensive is targeting "deliberately and cynically operates from within civilian areas." And I'll bet they have footage and evidence to prove it. Or do they suppose the IDF leadership lays awake at night figuring up which innocent civilians to blow up next?
Both The Associated Press and Reuters had provided the military with the coordinates and address of the office. And Hamass has them too, apparently.
"The military knows what it is, and where it is, and have assured us it is not a target," said Julian Rake, Reuters deputy bureau chief in Jerusalem. No, the target was the terrorists you were hosting. Figure it out.
But Rake said his staffers and other journalists in the building were certain that "at no stage" did militants fire from inside the building. Splitting hairs. They were probably firing mortars from behind the dumpster right outside your walls. Which, coincidentally, is probably why your building is still standing.
#3
"If I had my choice I would kill every reporter in the world but I am sure we would be getting reports from hell before breakfast."
-- William Tecumseh Sherman
"Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster"
-- Ditto
(AKI) - As clashes continue in the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon that Israeli Defense Forces troops shelled the UNRWA compound due to militant fire coming from the building.
"We do not want this event to happen again, and I do not know if you know, but Hamas attacked from within the UNRWA compound during the humanitarian cease-fire," Olmert said.
Olmert made the claims after Defence Minister Ehud Barak apologised earlier on Thursday calling the strike against the UN compound a "grave mistake".
"Today, the UN compound in Gaza has been shelled again," said Ban Ki-Moon.
"I conveyed my strong protest and outrage to the Defense Minister and to the Foreign Minister, and demanded a full explanation."
As clashes raged in the Gaza Strip for the 20th day, Palestinian militants launched rockets into the Israeli city of Beersheva, wounding five people, including a seven-year-old boy. Israeli media reports say one of the rockets hit a car.
Palestinian militants have launched at least 24 rockets at Israel, some landing in the city of Gedera, Ashdod and Sderot.
The 192-member UN General Assembly was holding an emergency session on Thursday to discuss the Gaza situation and press for a ceasefire.
"Too many UN buildings, schools and hospitals have been hit," said the president of the GA, Miguel D'Escoto.
"The violations of international law inherent in the Gaza assault have been well documented: collective punishment, disproportionate military force. Attacks on civilian targets, including homes, mosques, universities, schools."
"We have remained too passive as the carnage continues," said D'Escoto.
Palestinian medical officials say the death toll in Gaza has risen to nearly 1,100 while 5,027 have been injured since the offensive began on 27 December.
Thirteen Israelis have been killed. Ten of them soldiers and three civilians have died from Palestinian militants' rockets launched from Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"I conveyed my strong protest and outrage to the Defense Minister and to the Foreign Minister, and demanded a full explanation."
What part of Defense Forces troops shelled the UNRWA compound due to militant fire coming from the building don't you understand?
Leaders of the six Gulf monarchies began an emergency meeting in Riyadh on Thursday on the Gaza crisis amid differences over how to respond to the Israeli onslaught.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2009 00:00 ||
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[3 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Complain that you can't get a proper kosher salami sandwich nowadays.
(AKI) - Members of the European Parliament on Thursday called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, an end to Israel's military action and a halt to rocket attacks by Hamas. The move came as fighting intensified in the war-torn territory and Israeli Defense Forces extended their penetration of Gaza City.
MEPs are calling for a truce that could include the dispatching of a multinational presence. They also urged the Israeli authorities to allow media access to Gaza and a full resumption of adequate humanitarian aid.
"MEPs express their shock at the suffering of the civilian population in Gaza and deplore that civilian and UN targets have been hit during the attacks," said the resolution.
The resolution calls on Israel to fulfil its obligations under international law and international humanitarian law.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2009 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
"Members of the European Parliament on Thursday called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip"
Let's move the paleos to Europe and let them start lobbing rockets at YOU, boys. Then we'll see how interested you are kissing Ham-Ass' ass.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/16/2009 0:34 Comments ||
Top||
#6
No no, I didn't say that they'd totally lose it on them, I said they'd lose it. Big difference. As in lose their minds, not blow their cool and kick much ass.
The Hamas chief, Khaled Mashaal, says the resistance movement is hours away from defeating the Israeli aggressors in the Gaza Strip "With patience victory will be ours in a few hours .... We are now nearing the final stages," said Mashaal. Expecting the ceasefire thingy to kick in, are you?
He said that "unprecedented" resistance has prevented Israel from achieving its goal of advancing deep into Gaza, adding that Israel is trying to cover up its failure by inflicting as many civilian casualties as possible in the final moments of the battle. "They kill the families of resistance fighters so as to force them to surrender," he continued.
Since the beginning of the Israeli offensive against Gaza on Dec. 27, more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 4,700 others have been injured. Tel Aviv says only 12 soldiers have been killed in the military operations it launched against the densely-populated strip to end Hamas rocket attacks on southern Israel. Hamas rocket fire has killed three settlers. "This is not a battle against Hamas as the enemy would like to portray. It is against all the forces and factions of the resistance in Palestine and against our nation," said Mashaal.
The Hamas chief said that before engaging in talks, Israel would have to end its military campaign in Gaza and pull out its troops, lift the 18-month siege it imposed on the strip and open the Rafah crossing.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2009 00:00 ||
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[4 views]
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#1
one can not read this without thinking of the black knight
#4
Actually you have to look on it from their point of view. Damage to Gaza: 1.4 billion. Costs to Israel, probably more than that. This why they sure of eventual victory.
The Palestinian Hamas has pledged to wreak an awful revenge on Israel for killing the movement's interior minister, Saeed Siyam. "His blood will not have been shed in vain. We will respond with actions and not words," said the armed wing of Hamas in a statement on Thursday.
Saeed Siyam, was killed Thursday afternoon in an Israeli air strike on his brother's home in al-Sheikh Ridwan district in Beit Lahiyah. Siam's brother Ayad and his son were also killed in the strike. Palestinian sources reported that 20 other people were injured in the attack.
Siyam, 50, is the most senior Hamas figure assassinated in Operation Cast Lead so far. He is also considered the most senior Hamas figure killed by Israel since the assassination of Dr. Abdel Aziz al-Rantisi in 2004.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2009 00:00 ||
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[4 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
It's a good ol' fashioned paleo car swarm without the car...or much else, really.
#2
Loud mouth A-holes till the very end. Just like the bully in junior high that never had to actually fight anyone because he'd been held back 3 years and was twice the size of everyone else.
Like Beavis and Butthead said, "the fatter they are, the fatter they fall, dude".
COLOMBO -- Sri Lankan armed forces have surrounded a shrinking number of Tamil Tiger rebels in the northeastern part of the country in a bid to crush the separatist movement and end Asia's longest-running civil war.
On Thursday, the army built on recent advances, taking control of a makeshift airstrip used by Tamil Tiger aircraft in recent bombing raids. The military also captured a village about 12 miles from the remaining rebel stronghold Mullaittivu, said Brig. V.U.B. Nanayakkara, a spokesman for the Sri Lankan military.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or LTTE -- the force that has been fighting more than a quarter-century for a separate Tamil state -- now appeared confined to a 230-square-mile wedge just below the Jaffna peninsula. The army is trying to overcome an estimated 1,600 or so remaining Tiger fighters, the spokesman said, compared with about 15,000 in 2006, when peace talks collapsed. "It won't take much more time," he said.
Although the end of a conventional military campaign is within sight, few expect the fighting to stop completely, and many observers continue to call for a political as well as a military solution.
The Tamil Tigers retreat doesn't appear to have ended their ability to carry out guerrilla attacks to advance political goals. Late last month, a suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber killed eight people at a market outside the capital of Colombo.
Critics of the government say its fixation on armed force has alienated many Tamils, making it increasingly difficult to resolve the conflict. "The military is capturing territory it has lost, but the government isn't coming up with a political solution," said Rajavarothiam Sampanthan, a Sri Lankan politician who leads a group of pro-Tamil Tiger parliamentarians.
Easier to have a political solution once you've got the military solution. See Germany, June, 1945 ...
Sri Lankan leaders argue that a military victory against the rebels must precede a lasting peace. On Thursday, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa promised to restore democracy in newly controlled areas and assuage grievances of Tamils, who complain of being abused and marginalized by the country's ethnic majority, the Sinhalese.
"We are not against the Tamil people. We are against terrorists," the president told a group of journalists. "We must understand that this country belongs to the Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims and all communities, who have equal rights as citizens of this country, and we will work to safeguard these rights."
The Sri Lankan military campaign, however, has coincided with brutal attacks against government critics. Last week, unidentified armed men shot dead Lasantha Wickramatunga, a newspaper editor known for his critical exposés of the government. Assailants also attacked a private television station, detonating explosives in a studio. A foreign ministry official said the government is investigating the attacks.
The fighting in northern Sri Lanka has displaced hundreds of thousands of the Tamil minority, about 18% of the country's population.
The Tamil Tigers also have come under fire for their abuse of their minority -- who speak their own language and are mostly Hindu. The rebels recruit children to fight, bomb civilian targets and kill political opponents -- including Tamils, according to Human Rights Watch. The U.S. is among the foreign governments that have declared the LTTE a terrorist organization, but it has also urged a political solution to the conflict.
In recent weeks, the government's military campaign has made big strides. Troops captured Kilinochchi, an administrative center for the Tamil Tigers, and seized Elephant Pass, a key point of access to the Jaffna Peninsula. The army is trying to lure away the remnants of the Tamil Tiger leadership, Brig. Nanayakkara said. The rebels are offered safety and a livelihood. About 50 have surrendered and been sent to rehabilitation camps, he said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/16/2009 00:00 ||
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[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
git em boys
Posted by: aurthur clark ||
01/16/2009 0:37 Comments ||
Top||
#4
wipe them out where there has too be no negotiations take for example Israel crippling hezbollah and hamas only too later have too do the same shit as before
A top Israeli envoy delivered his country's stance on a cease-fire agreement in Gaza to Egyptian mediators in Cairo trying to seal a truce on Thursday. The Iranian president said the fighting showed Israel's continued existence in the region is "not feasible."
The development came as the U.N. secretary-general pressed Israel and Gulf leaders gathered in Saudi Arabia to discuss the conflict.
The diplomatic push gained momentum despite competing agendas among Arab and Islamic governments, which are openly disagreeing about how to resolve -- or even discuss -- the conflict between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/16/2009 00:00 ||
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[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
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.
The Home Office has quietly adopted a new plan to allow police across Britain routinely to hack into people's personal computers without a warrant.
An alleged al-Qaeda terrorist said to be connected to Osama bin Laden has been freed to take regular walks in a park to stop him developing a fear of open spaces. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is claimed to have once been a senior al-Qaeda instructor and one of the world's most wanted terrorists. 
Zubair Ahmed, 29, and Khaleel Ahmed, 28, both residents of Chicago, pleaded guilty today in the Northern District of Ohio to conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists in connection with their efforts to travel abroad in order to murder or maim U.S. military forces in Iraq or Afghanistan. 
Thousands of Pakistani schoolgoing children are growing up learning that the Urdu equivalent of the letter A stands for Allah, B for bandook (gun) and J for jihad. Though not officially prescribed for pre-schoolers, books printed by Iqra Publishers are being used in several regular schools and madrassas across Pakistan. 
WASHINGTON Despite five years of training and equipping, the Iraqi military is still heavily dependent on U.S. operational support.
RAMALLAH - It's quiet in Ramallah. At the northern entrance to the city, not far from the mall, a new fountain spouts water. Next to it lies a sign in English: "Gaza under fire." But it seems the Gaza Strip has never been so far away. Tel Aviv, meanwhile, feels closer than ever. Almost every day at 1 P.M., a demonstration leaves Manara Square in the city center, expressing support for the residents of the Gaza Strip. The number of participants has declined, however, on a daily basis, and on Wednesday the demonstration was called off for a lack of protesters.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Top Israeli diplomats headed for Egypt and the United States on Friday in what appeared to be a final push toward a cease-fire to end Israel's punishing Gaza offensive against Hamas militants.
(AKI) - Members of the European Parliament on Thursday called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, an end to Israel's military action and a halt to rocket attacks by Hamas. The move came as fighting intensified in the war-torn territory and Israeli Defense Forces extended their penetration of Gaza City.
The Hamas chief, Khaled Mashaal, says the resistance movement is hours away from defeating the Israeli aggressors in the Gaza Strip "With patience victory will be ours in a few hours .... We are now nearing the final stages," said Mashaal.
The Palestinian Hamas has pledged to wreak an awful revenge on Israel for killing the movement's interior minister, Saeed Siyam. "His blood will not have been shed in vain. We will respond with actions and not words," said the armed wing of Hamas in a statement on Thursday.
COLOMBO -- Sri Lankan armed forces have surrounded a shrinking number of Tamil Tiger rebels in the northeastern part of the country in a bid to crush the separatist movement and end Asia's longest-running civil war.
A top Israeli envoy delivered his country's stance on a cease-fire agreement in Gaza to Egyptian mediators in Cairo trying to seal a truce on Thursday. The Iranian president said the fighting showed Israel's continued existence in the region is "not feasible."
