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Maulvi Omar nabbed
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 1: WoT Operations
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Uh, I think she's got wood.
Posted by: ed || 08/18/2009 0:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Avert your eyes while I check.
Posted by: gorb || 08/18/2009 1:19 Comments || Top||


#4  Nice wholesome look. Much better than the pop tarts of today.
Posted by: JohnQC || 08/18/2009 11:34 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Rebels launch attack on UN compound in Somalia
[Al Arabiya Latest] Suspected Islamist insurgents stormed a United Nations compound overnight in southern Somalia, witnesses said on Monday, but U.N. guards fought back and killed three of the attackers in a gun battle.

One U.N. official in Wajid, 70 km (miles) northwest of Baidoa, said about 10 heavily armed men attacked them overnight. The compound is used for storing humanitarian aid. "After several minutes shooting our security guards repulsed the attackers and killed three of them," the U.N. official told Reuters.

One of the U.N. security guards was injured, he added. Another U.N. official said nine aid workers staying in Wajid had been evacuated to Nairobi in neighboring Kenya.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Arabia
Dozens killed in Yemen clashes
Yemeni security forces have killed a rebel leader in renewed clashes in the north of the country, in which dozens of troops and rebels also died, government sources said on Monday.

Hussein Kamza, who led rebels in the northern Amran province loyal to Abdul-Malik al-Houthi of the Houthi tribal group, was killed during fighting on Sunday, a government official told Reuters. Clashes continued on Monday, mainly in Saada province in the north of the country, where al-Houthi has his headquarters, officials said. Saada is also where the rebels kidnapped 15 local aid workers last week, according to the province's governor.

Fighting between Yemeni troops backed by fighter aircraft and rebels has killed dozens on both sides since the government launched a wide offensive against the rebels earlier this month after weeks of skirmishes. Yemen on Thursday announced conditions for a ceasefire to end its offensive, but the rebels rejected the truce offer and denied holding any kidnapped civilians.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Britain
UK charity sues govt over rendition of two men
[Al Arabiya Latest] A London-based legal charity is suing the British government over the rendition of terror suspects from Iraq to Afghanistan, it said Monday.

Reprieve wants to force ministers to identify two men who were arrested by British forces in Iraq in 2004 before being handed over to the United States and taken to Bagram air base in Afghanistan.

This would allow Reprieve to try and secure a court hearing on their behalf to determine whether or not their detention is legal.

The charity says it believes the two men may be Pakistanis named Salah el Din from Baluchistan and Saifullah from Punjab, but this information is not enough to identify them fully or track down their families.

The charity's solicitors, Leigh Day and Co, said in a letter to Defense Secretary Bob Ainsworth that the pair "may well have been tortured or subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment."

Britain admitted in February it had captured the pair in Iraq and handed them over to U.S. agents, who transferred them to Afghanistan for interrogation.

U.S. custody
Then defense secretary John Hutton told the House of Commons the men were members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant group blamed by India for last year's terror attacks on Mumbai which killed over 165 people.

"Imagine, if you will, that a criminal was to apologize for taking part in a kidnap, but then refuse to name his victims, or to help secure their freedom -- we would hardly accept the apology as being sincere," Reprieve's director Clive Stafford Smith said.

He added there was an "urgent moral, as well as legal, duty to repair the damage," which he said had been caused.

The Ministry of Defense said it was considering the case, adding: "These individuals are in the custody of the U.S. government."

"We have no reason to believe that Reprieve's unsubstantiated allegations about their welfare are accurate."

"The U.S. has assured us the detainees are held in a humane, safe and secure environment within the detention facility, which meets international standards for the care and custody of detained persons."
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba

#1  "Go sod off."
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/18/2009 10:40 Comments || Top||

#2  BTW, you can see that the British Govt's. testicle retrieval operation isn't going so well.
Posted by: GirlThursday || 08/18/2009 13:57 Comments || Top||

#3  They used the hollow plastic prosthetic ones, I suspect.
Posted by: lotp || 08/18/2009 18:54 Comments || Top||

#4  Aren't those kept in a vault in the Tower of London, GirlThursday? ;-)
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/18/2009 21:50 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Suicide bomber kills 20 in Ingushetia
A suicide bomber rammed a truckload of explosives into the local police headquarters in Russia's Ingushetia region on Monday killing 20 people, the deadliest attack in the North Caucasus region since 2005.

A truck exploded at the gates of the main police station in Nazran, Ingushetia's largest city, as police officers lined up at the start of their day. The number of wounded has risen to 118 people, Interfax reported, citing the emergencies ministry. A police spokesman previously said 74 had been wounded. Thick smoke billowed from the remains of the police station and firemen fought flames near the mangled gate of the compound.

Dozens of people sifted through rubble and wrecked cars were scattered around a 4-metre wide crater. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev offered his condolences and ordered his interior minister to take additional measures to ensure security in the region, which borders Chechnya. "This is a big blow to the Kremlin," said Tatyana Lokshina, an activist with Human Rights Watch who travels regularly to the region. "The number of attacks has been growing for a while, but I can't remember one as brazen as this."

The attack was the bloodiest in Ingushetia since 92 people were killed when Chechen rebels took over the centre of Nazran in 2004. It was the biggest death toll from an attack in the North Caucasus since a similar attack on Nalchik in 2005 in the nearby Kabardino-Balkaria region. Relatives crowded around a hand-written list of the dead at a local hospital and the authorities declared three days of mourning.

There were different estimates of the size of the bomb, but a source in the local prosecutor's office said it was equivalent to one tonne of TNT. "The bomb could be heard throughout the city," said resident Timur Akiyev. Residents were evacuated from a neighbouring apartment block, whose windows were shattered by the blast. Ingushetia has been plagued by violence in recent months. Locals say the insurgency in Ingushetia has been fuelled by a mix of desperate poverty, radicalism and heavy handed actions by the local security services.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Chechen Republic of Ichkeria

#1  Looks like it's time for the Cheka FSB to bulk purchase train tickets to Siberia.
Posted by: ed || 08/18/2009 0:37 Comments || Top||

#2  IIRC WAFF > ARTIC claims that, by this new attack, the JIHADIS have all but wipes out small country INGUSHETIA'S POLICE FORCE, which in turn infers that INGUSHETIA'S ARMED CONTABAULARY [read, ARMY] is also all but effec wiped out.

* CHIN MIL FORUM > RELATED > INGUSH'S PREZ SCENTS THAT THE USA, BRITAIN, + ISRAEL are behind this latest attack, as tended to destabilize the North Caucasus in favor of the US-Allies = agz RUSSIA + CENTRAL ASIA.

IOW, the US-ALLIES are indir ATTACKING INGUSH = MOTHER RUSSIA = CENASIA.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 08/18/2009 2:26 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
72 Virgins Agree: Baitullah Mehsud is Dead
From AP, so here are highlights. Note in the article the alternate spelling of Maulvi Omar as Maulvi Umar.

Maulvi Omar acknowledged death of Baitullah Mehsud in the recent U.S. missile strike.

Mualvi Omar captured with two henchmen while driving Monday night through the village of Khawazeo in the Mohmand tribal region toward South Waziristan. Local tribal elders told the army of his whereabouts.

The previous day, militant commander Qari Saifullah, another close Mehsud aide, was arrested undergoing treatment in a private hospital in Islamabad after being wounded in an American missile strike.

Picked up with Qari Saifullah was his younger brother and aide, Zaid Ikram, wanted for involvement in the 2004 bomb attack on Islamabad's Marriott hotel.
Posted by: Frozen Al || 08/18/2009 12:53 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Do they all need cigarettes now?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 08/18/2009 14:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Nope the virgins are saying "im a crack whore who should have made my skeezy boyfriend wear a condom"
Posted by: GirlThursday || 08/18/2009 14:20 Comments || Top||

#3  The old expression is that Mehsud is now "Punchin' chunks", which meant shoveling coal into the furnaces of Hell.

He's punchin' chunks.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 08/18/2009 14:41 Comments || Top||

#4  Ala PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUMS > wid MEHSUD's repor "death", there are new calls for the USA to begin targeting MULLAH OMAR [Afghan Taliban].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 08/18/2009 20:48 Comments || Top||


Top Taliban spokesman Maulvi Omar detained
Yale had better hurry up if they are going to offer him a scholarship.
PAKISTANI security forces have captured top Taliban spokesman Maulvi Omar, weeks after the reported death of his boss, feared warlord Baitullah Mehsud, military officials said today. The bearded and heavy-set Omar, a leading spokesman for the militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was arrested by a local militia yesterday in the northwest tribal district of Mohmand, officials said.

"A very, very important militant has been arrested," said Major Fazal Ur Rehman, head of the military's media cell, declining to give the militant's identity ahead of a news conference in Mohmand.

But government, military and security officials confirmed the detainee was Omar, and photos of the militant in detention were widely circulated.

Omar - a former perfume seller who joined Taliban ranks as a fighter in 2004 - was a close aide of Mehsud, who Washington has accused of being "a key al-Qaeda facilitator" in Pakistan's tribal areas along the Afghan border.

Javed Ali Khan, a local government official in Mohmand, said a tribal militia picked up Omar and two associates as they travelled in a car late Monday and handed them over to security forces.

Residents and officials in the area said the TTP spokesman's real name was Sayed Mohammad, and Maulvi Omar was his guerrilla name.

Believed to be about 40 years old, Omar rose to become the insurgents' spokesman in 2007 - the same year Mehsud took over as top Taliban commander after one-legged former Guantanamo Bay prisoner Abdullah Mehsud was killed. Omar frequently called reporters to claim responsibility for a string of deadly assaults.

Attacks linked to militants have killed more than 2,000 people around Pakistan in the past two years, and most have been blamed on TTP.

Mehsud was reported killed earlier this month in a US drone missile strike in South Waziristan. Islamabad has stopped short of confirming his death, but officials say TTP is plagued with infighting over his succession. The Taliban has denied this and says its leader is simply "a bit sick," but has provided no evidence that he is still alive.
Posted by: tipper || 08/18/2009 04:26 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "I'm getting better!"
Posted by: gromky || 08/18/2009 7:54 Comments || Top||

#2  I guess this further confirms Mehsud is dead?
Posted by: liberal hawk || 08/18/2009 9:38 Comments || Top||

#3  We want the severed head ...
Posted by: Steve White || 08/18/2009 10:54 Comments || Top||


Pakistan: Suicide bombing kills at least six in northwest
[ADN Kronos] At least six people were killed in a suicide bombing in a town outside Pakistan's northwestern city of Peshawar, police said.

A bomber drove a truck into a fuel station and detonated explosives early on Monday, killing six people and wounding eight others in the Shabqadar area of Charsadda district, near Peshawar, police officer Shafiullah Khan said. Khan said the dead included the children of a woman filling her car with fuel when the truck exploded. No one claimed immediate responsibility for the attack.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


16 extremists surrender to security forces in Swat
[Geo News] Sixteen extremists surrendered to security forces in Swat on Monday while 2 security men succumbed to injuries after sustaining wounds in a suicide attack last night. According to Swat Media Centre, 16 extremists surrendered to security forces in Ghaki Bandi area. Security forces arrested an extremist commander who was clad in Burqa.
"clad in Burqa." I've been waiting for that to happen. At some point the burga and probably the niqab will be banned worldwide as a security risk.
It said no relaxation in curfew was allowed today for Mingora, Fazaghat and Charbagh, while in Matta, Khwazakhela, Darshakhila and Bedra curfew was eased from 7am to 6pm.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Recruiter of suicide bombers for Taliban apprehended
[Geo News] Saifullah, an important and right hand commander of Baitullah Mehsud and his accomplice has been apprehended in Islamabad.
I believe this might be Qari Saifullah, which is maybe the same guy as Qari Saifullah Akhtar.
According to sources Saifullah came under predator strike in South Waziristan, sustaining serious injuries on shoulder and back.
Qari Saifullah Akhtar would be important enough to merit his own drone strike.
His wounds could not be cured due to lack of medical facilities in South Waziristan, so he was brought to Islamabad in a highly secret move.
Pray for sepsis...
Commander Saifullah was arrested from a house in Baharakaho area while raids are being conducted to arrest his associates.
"Come out witcher hands up, Saifullah!"
"You'll never [wheeze!] take me [gasp!] alive [grunt!], coppers! [thud!]"
"Mahmoud! Go in and get him! And bring the stretcher guys!"

Sources said, Saifullah who hailed from Burewala was assigned the task of recruiting suicide bombers besides running a terror network in Southern Punjab. The accused had been involved in executing major terror activities in the country including the bomb blasts in Dera Ghazi Khan. Police has also arrested Saifullah's accomplice Zahid from the jurisdiction of Secretariat Police Station. Both the accused are associated with Qari Hamza Group a wing of the banned Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, police said. They have been shifted to unknown location for investigation.
This article starring:
Harkat-ul-Mujahideen
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  Well that didn't work. dailytimes.com.pk sez: The official said Qari Saifullah, who was found injured and is being treated at a hospital,
Posted by: ed || 08/18/2009 0:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Love the photo. lulz
Posted by: Mizzou Mafia || 08/18/2009 3:28 Comments || Top||

#3  The pakistanis really seem quite serious.
Posted by: liberal hawk || 08/18/2009 9:41 Comments || Top||

#4  The pakistanis really seem quite serious.

Funny how being targeted causes that sort of thing.
Posted by: Pappy || 08/18/2009 9:50 Comments || Top||


Predictable riots after Ali Shar Hyderi bumped off
[Geo News] The slain leader of outlawed Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan who was killed earlier today has been laid to rest near the mazar of his father Shaheed Muhammad Waris in Khairpur.
[Pat-pat-pat]
"There! That oughta do it!"
"Didja remember the garlic?"
"Of course I remembered the garlic!"
"And the stake?"
"Soon as he was in the hole!"
"The silver bullet?"
"14 of 'em! He's salted down for good!"

Partial strike was observed in various districts of the province while incidents of violence and arson were also reported from few areas including Khairpur in rection to the killing of a banned sectarian outfit's leader Allama Ali Shar Hyderi. Hyderi, chief of outlawed Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, was killed with one of his associates as was ambushed by unknown killers, late Sunday night, near Pir-j-Goth, Kingri taluka of the Khairpur district.

He was returning to his hometown Khairpur from a ceremony in Pir Jo Goth when he came under attack. The miscreants sprayed bullets on his vehicle killing him and his assistant Imtiaz Ahmed on the spot.

Six others were also injured in the attack. In return fireby Hyderi's guards an attacker was also killed who was later identified as Oshaq Ali Jagerani Baloch. The security has been tightened throughout the Sukkur region after the incident in the wake of possible reaction, he added.

On Monday morning when the news of Allama's killing broke out, enraged crowds of his followers came on streets in various areas/districts, including Sukkur, Khairpur, Ghotki, Shikarpur, Jaccababad, Thull, Pano Akil, Kashmore, Tangwani, Kandhkot, Nousheroferoze, Faiz Gunj, Pacca Chang, Sobho Dero, Thari Mirwah, Nara and others, and hurled stones on the vehicles in the Khairpur, Pir-jo Goth and other areas. They also chanted slogans and forced the shopkeepers to close their businesses while the trains schedule was also affected.

In Sukkur, enraged people blocked the roads and set tyres on fire. Protests have also been reported from some other areas of the Faiz Gunj taluka of the Khairpur.

Meanwhile, security has been tightened throughout the province and Rangers have also been summoned in sensitive cities/areas for patrolling and assisting the police in maintaining law and order.

Haideri's funeral will be held at 5.00 pm at Jamia-e-Hyderi Luqman premises.
This article starring:
Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan
Ali Shar HyderiSipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan
Imtiaz AhmedSipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan

#1  Now there's a crowd worthy of an air burst or ten.
Posted by: ed || 08/18/2009 0:46 Comments || Top||

#2  "Hyderi, chief of outlawed Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, was killed with one of his associates as was ambushed by unknown killers, late Sunday night, near Pir-j-Goth, Kingri taluka of the Khairpur district."

unknown killers. ??? A. Rivals within SeS. B. Some other militant group C. Govt agents ???
Posted by: liberal hawk || 08/18/2009 9:40 Comments || Top||

#3  D. Common footpads, all unknowing of their victim's identity?

Good catch, liberal hawk.
Posted by: trailing wife || 08/18/2009 13:23 Comments || Top||

#4  Haideri's funeral will be held at 5.00 pm at Jamia-e-Hyderi Luqman premises.

Has anyone heard of a string of unexplained explosions among the procession? If not, an opportunity wasted...
Posted by: Old Patriot || 08/18/2009 14:09 Comments || Top||


Chief of Millat-e-Islamia killed after gunmen ambushed his car
The leader of a banned militant group in Pakistan was shot dead on Monday in an apparent sectarian attack, police and party officials said. Ali Sher Haideri, chief of the Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan, was returning home in Khairpur, 240 km (150 miles) northeast of the southern city of Karachi, after a public gathering when gunmen ambushed his car, police said. "He was killed along with one of his companions who was driving the car, while one of the six attackers was also killed when his guards returned fire," Pir Muhammad Shah, chief of police in Khairpur, told Reuters by telephone.

Militancy and unrest
Millat-e-Islamia, or Nation of Islam, was formed in 2002 by members of the notorious Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), a Sunni Muslim organization that was for years involved in tit-for-tat killings with Shiite militants. The government banned the SSP along with several other militant groups in 2002 after joining the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism following the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. The Millat-e-Islamia was officially banned in 2003 though it has continued to operate.
Millat-e-Islamia was a pretty transparent false nose and moustache operation, so obvious in fact that Perv went ahead and banned it.
Mohammad Ahmed Ludhianvi, president of the party, blamed Shiites for Haideri's killing. "The attackers were none other than Shiites," Ludhianvi told Reuters.

Shiites account for about 20 percent of Pakistan's population. Ordinary members of the sects generally live in harmony despite the long history of violence between militants.
Except for periodic Sunni pogroms, of course, when ordinary paid rioters run amok through Shiite (or another targetted minority) neighborhoods killing, burning and pillaging. Rage Boy needs to keep busy between photo ops.
In the meantime, up to 24 militants were reported killed Monday in air strikes and clashes in Pakistan's northwest, where six civilians were also killed by a car bomb at a petrol station, officials said.
"Fill 'er up! No, I don't need the oil checked."
Two children were among the dead in the blast in northwest Charsadda town, police said, which came after a lull in the past month of bombings blamed on Taliban militants avenging a punishing offensive against them.

Pakistan's military claims to have cleared northwest Swat district of Taliban fighters after launching a push in late April to dislodge extremists bent of imposing a harsh brand of Islamic law in the verdant valley. Sporadic outbreaks of fighting continue, but the government has urged the 1.9 million civilians uprooted by the conflict to return home.
This article starring:
Millat-e-Islamia Pakistan
Ali Sher HaideriMillat-e-Islamia Pakistan
Mohammad Ahmed LudhianviMillat-e-Islamia Pakistan
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan


Iraq
Iraq May Hold Vote On U.S. Withdrawal
U.S. troops could be forced by Iraqi voters to withdraw a year ahead of schedule under a referendum the Iraqi government backed Monday, creating a potential complication for American commanders concerned about rising violence in the country's north.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's move appeared to disregard the wishes of the U.S. government, which has quietly lobbied against the plebiscite. American officials fear it could lead to the annulment of an agreement allowing U.S. troops to stay until the end of 2011, and instead force them out by the start of that year.

The Maliki government's announcement came on the day that the top U.S. general in Iraq proposed a plan to deploy troops to disputed areas in the restive north, a clear indication that the military sees a continuing need for U.S. forces even if Iraqis no longer want them here.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Sherry || 08/18/2009 11:58 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Maliki government's announcement came on the day that the top U.S. general in Iraq proposed a plan to deploy troops to disputed areas in the restive north.

What an amazing coincidence.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/18/2009 13:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Mutants.
Posted by: GirlThursday || 08/18/2009 14:23 Comments || Top||

#3  All that US equipment, including a huge US military airport north of Baghdad, all just sitting there. And with a belligerent Iran, willing and able to finish off Sunni remnants in Iraq. Just call it successful nation-building, and leave. That is leave, with enormous logistical resource problems, and the memory of nearly 4000 war dead and the reality of caring for tens of thousands more wounded. Then there is the matter of weighing debt incidence v assets.

Lesson: when one conducts a factor analysis, don't leave out major factors. And never use national energy to drive elite rhetoric.

Posted by: Sheger McGurque5408 || 08/18/2009 15:02 Comments || Top||

#4  Lesson: when one conducts a factor analysis, don't leave out major factors. And never use national energy to drive elite rhetoric.

If I may add yet another lesson. "Nation Building"... quite similar to losing one's bladder in dark suit. You get a nice warm feeling, but no one notices.
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/18/2009 15:37 Comments || Top||

#5  Two points:

1) we said originally that we'd stay until the Iraqis told us that they could carry the ball. That time is approaching. Why be upset?

2) the Iraqis may want us out for any number of reasons including weariness and national pride, but they may also be thinking that Bambi is going to pull the rug from under them. Can't blame them for wanting to get ahead of the game.
Posted by: Steve White || 08/18/2009 18:31 Comments || Top||

#6  Well, Maliki seems to want us out. But then he's Shiite. And bombings in the north are mainly hitting Sunnis.
Posted by: lotp || 08/18/2009 19:20 Comments || Top||

#7  What will Bambi do if the Iraqis vote that they want us to stay?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 08/18/2009 19:48 Comments || Top||

#8  I thought the US already held a vote on Iraq withdrawl late last year?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 08/18/2009 19:59 Comments || Top||

#9  gee... i thought that vote was about flushing national sovereignty down the drain
Posted by: abu do you love || 08/18/2009 23:04 Comments || Top||


Car bomb kills 5 in Baghdad
A car bomb explosion near a convoy of US troops and Iraqi police outside the capital Baghdad has killed at least five people and wounded 38 others, police say. The attack came on Monday narrowly missing the joint patrol on a highway near the town of Tajji on Baghdad's northern outskirts, local police Lieutenant Sarmed Sami told AFP. No Iraqi police or US soldiers were injured in the attack, he said.

In another incident in Baghdad, six people were killed and another 18 were wounded when two bombs exploded simultaneously, one inside and another outside a restaurant in Jadidah, an eastern neighborhood of Baghdad.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Five convicted of treason spared from execution
Ma'an -- A Palestinian military court in the West Bank city of Hebron convicted five men of treason on Monday, sentencing them all to seven years in prison.

Three of the defendants: FG, 29, MG, 27, and TT, 41, were found guilty of treason under Article 131, paragraph 1 of the PLO Revolutionary Penal Code of 1979, which carries a death sentence. Their identities were withheld. The three are from Khirbet Al-Arroub, north of Hebron.

Citing their relatively young age, and the fact that two of them are married, the court reduced the sentences of the three to seven years in prison, under Article 118, paragraph 1 of the same law. Another two men, AG, 43, and TM, 29, were convicted of spying. As in the other three cases, they were sentenced only to seven years in prisons.

Human rights groups say that the Revolutionary Penal code is unconstitutional in the Palestinian Authority.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority


Egyptian policeman shot by Israeli soldiers near Eilat
Ma'an/Agencies - An Egyptian border guard was shot by an Israeli soldier along the two countries' border early on Monday morning, the Hebrew-language newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported the same day.

Israel's military said an inquiry into the incident showed that the soldier had seen a "suspicious person" some 20 kilometers north of Eilat and fired in the air, the paper said. But the "suspicious person" ended up being an Egyptian policeman, who fired back. Soldiers then opened fire toward the cop, who sustained moderate to serious wounds, according to the newspaper. The report added that Israeli and Egyptian forces were cooperating in the investigation.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Southeast Asia
Govt rejects remission proposals for eight convicted terrorists
The government has refused to cut the sentences of eight terrorists currently behind bars at Sragen prison in Central Java for not fulfilling certain requirements.

Head of the prison, Waluyo Martodiredjo, did not elaborate on what those requirements were or what special policies the government had applied to these convicted terrorists.

Waluyo said one of inmates had been involved in a fire which destroyed the Anatambua market while the other was linked to first bombing of the JW Marriot hotel in 2003. "The other six prisoners were implicated for possession of explosive materials in Yogyakarta," Waluyo said.

He said the convicts were now serving sentences ranging from six to 18 years. "We have placed them in specific prisons with tight security," he told Antara state news agency.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Jemaah Islamiyah


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
After daily shutdown, Iran police quell protests
[Iran Press TV Latest] After Iranian authorities shut down an opposition-led daily, clashes erupt between security forces and protestors in Tehran.

Our correspondent reported that Iranian police dispersed pro-opposition supporters gathered near the office of Etemad-e-Melli (National Trust) daily belonging to leading opposition figure Mehdi Karroubi.

According to media reports, police forces used tear gas and arrested demonstrators during renewed protests on Monday.

All gatherings have been banned in a crackdown on mass protests that erupted after the disputed election of 12 June.

Karroubi became the target of criticism after he made controversial allegations that post-vote detainees had been sexually assaulted by their jailers.

"A number of detainees have said that some female detainees have been raped savagely... teenagers held in detention have also been savagely raped," Karroubi said, adding that they were suffering from depression and serious physical injuries after the alleged assaults.

Following a storm of controversy over the issue of jail rape, an investigating judge at the Civil Servants Prosecution Office, which handles press cases, said that the popular newspaper had been ordered shut until further notice for what has been described as "publishing unlawful and criminal material."
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Iran shuts down Karroubi's paper
Iranian authorities temporarily shut down the newspaper of Mehdi Karoubi, a leading reformist and opponent of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Karoubi's party said in a post on its website Monday. Etemad-e Melli was shut down late on Sunday on the orders of the Tehran prosecutor's office, the website said. The party's name is also Etemad-e Melli (National Trust.) The newspaper was not published on Monday.

Karoubi's son, Hossein, was quoted as saying, "Last night a representative of the prosecutor's office came to the Etemad-e Melli printing house and announced the temporary shutdown of the daily." There was no immediate comment from the judiciary.

The ISNA news agency said the daily was closed because it planned to publish a statement on its frontpage on Monday. It said Karoubi planned to respond to "insults" against him by his hardline opponents and say he would not be not silenced.

Tehran prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi told the semi-official Mehr news agency that the paper was not banned but did not hit the newsstands because of "technical problems." "The reason for the paper not being published is due to problems at the printing house and the paper was not banned," Mortazavi said.

However, Esmail Gherami Moghaddam, spokesman for Karoubi's political party, also called Etemad-e-Melli, insisted that the paper had been banned. "Since the prosecution said it is a temporary ban we hope that we will be able to see the paper go to print tomorrow," he was quoted as saying by the ILNA news agency.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


If you've got it...
Please don't forget to kick in. The hosting fund's into negative numbers now. Paypal and Amazon both mid-page, right-hand side.
Posted by: Fred || 08/18/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I gave up on Pay Pal so long ago I can't remeber why. Amazon works fine, but only seem to be able to donate $10.00.

What if I only wanted to give $9.99?
Posted by: Bobby || 08/17/2009 6:37 Comments || Top||

#2  $9.99 will buy you a Time magazine subscription.

$10.00 - or a Paypal donation of your choice - helps keep Rantburg online.

Hmmm ... Time/MSM or Rantburg??? Tough choice.

Of course Rantburg causes the netnuts to gnash their teeth, thereby increasing demand for dental services and hence stimulating the economy. A win-win!!
Posted by: lotp || 08/17/2009 7:01 Comments || Top||

#3  will hit the paypal when I get back hme, Fred
Posted by: Frank G on the road || 08/17/2009 7:47 Comments || Top||

#4  Amazon's set up for a suggested amount. I have no idea why. I set it at $10 because it's the price of a fairly cheap lunch. Nothing to stop anyone from hitting it 11 or 12 times...
Posted by: Fred || 08/17/2009 8:06 Comments || Top||

#5  I hit it and then I hit it again. Both times it took me to some kind of a Bizzaro Rantburg. Oh well. It's still a better deal than the local rag.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 08/17/2009 11:38 Comments || Top||

#6  That's OK, Fred, but the last time I chose my own destiny, so to speak, and it was more than $9.99.

I'll be back.
Posted by: Bobby || 08/17/2009 12:32 Comments || Top||

#7  Done, but each time an another commenter makes a demeaning remark about me, I want 10 cents back (5 if it's only about the overall quality of my attempts at being droll). I have a screen cap, you won't get away from that.
Posted by: anonymous5089 || 08/17/2009 12:57 Comments || Top||

#8  Done via Paypal. All my insults are directed at anonymous5088 so Fred gets to keep every dime.
Posted by: ed || 08/17/2009 13:15 Comments || Top||

#9  I got the bizarro burg, too. Thought it was this incontinent computer.
Posted by: Grunter || 08/17/2009 13:50 Comments || Top||

#10  [Mike Sylwester has been pooplisted.]
Posted by: Mike Sylwester || 08/18/2009 9:29 Comments || Top||

#11  Kicked in, with much thanks to Fred and all the moderators.
Posted by: Ptah || 08/18/2009 18:05 Comments || Top||

#12  You feel no tingle from my modest jingle but there tis anyway.
Thank you Fred.

Whatever foreign shores my feet must tread
My hopes for thee are not yet dead.
Thy freedom's sun may for a while be set,
- But not for ever, God does not forget.
Deneys Reitz
Posted by: Besoeker || 08/18/2009 18:42 Comments || Top||

#13  So sorry, Fred - meant to send a check this last pay period but got distracted by a phone call and forgot. Will put it in the mail tomorrow morning.

Wish it could be more, but my hours are way back from last year (but at least I've got a job so far).
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 08/18/2009 19:21 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
53[untagged]
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3Govt of Pakistan
2TTP
2Palestinian Authority
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1Hamas
1Iraqi Insurgency
1Jemaah Islamiyah
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1al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
1al-Shabaab

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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.
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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2009-08-18
  Maulvi Omar nabbed
Mon 2009-08-17
  Maulvi Nazir one with the ages
Sun 2009-08-16
  Iran chooses hardliner to head judiciary. Wotta surprise.
Sat 2009-08-15
  Eight killed, 80 injured in Hamas, radicals clashes
Fri 2009-08-14
  Missing cargo ship found near Cape Verde
Thu 2009-08-13
  Seven Pak preachers gunned down in Puntland mosque
Wed 2009-08-12
  Georgia Man Guilty In Terrorism Trial
Tue 2009-08-11
  Kuwait arrests al-Qaida linked group
Mon 2009-08-10
  Tests say Noordin Mohammad Top's not the dead guy
Sun 2009-08-09
  Surprise! Abbas reelected Fatah chief
Sat 2009-08-08
  Noordin Mohammad Top reported titzup
Fri 2009-08-07
  Fat Lady sings for Baitullah
Thu 2009-08-06
  Bill Clinton springs journalists from NKor
Wed 2009-08-05
  Ansar al-Islam Number 2 nabbed in Mosul
Tue 2009-08-04
  Failed Coup Attempt In Qatar


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