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Tahir Yuldashev confirmed titzup
Today's Headlines
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Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 10/03/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Encore - Mary Leta Dorothy Slaton aka Dorothy Lamour



Aloha Oe

Cards on the Table

Daily Gam Shot

Whimsical Wahine

Something More Comfortable

Nightie Night

Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 10/03/2009 4:18 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Netherlands defends deadly airstrike in Afghanistan
The Dutch military defends a decision to order an air strike in southern Afghanistan that resulted in the loss of dozens of civilian lives, pinning the blame on Taliban.

14 people, including, six children and three women were killed in the strike on Wednesday.

The Dutch defense ministry said on Thursday that the F-16 bomber had been called in to provide air support to NATO troops fighting Taliban insurgents in Helmand province.

Dutch military chief of staff Peter van Uhm, speaking in Kabul, defended the lethal airstrike saying the Dutch pilot observed all regulations. He also reiterated that the responsibility for the civilian casualties lied with the Taliban insurgents, not with NATO forces in the insurgency-hit country.
That has needed to be said for a very long time. But then, the Dutch can be very, very plain speakers. Hence the old-fashioned Dutch uncle.
The indiscriminate air strikes by US-led forces has so far killed hundreds of civilians in the country.
"Indiscriminate"? A bit of IranPressTV propaganda, that.
A fair bit, indeed ...
Many Afghan civilians also fall victim to Taliban-led insurgency across the conflict-torn country.
You don't say?
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) "recorded 1,500 civilian casualties between January and August, with August being the deadliest month since the beginning of 2009," according to its statement issued on September 25.

More than 1,500 civilians have been killed in the first six months of 2009, which shows a 24 percent increase compared with the same period last year, according to the latest UN report.
This number no doubt includes the hundreds of civilians who were actually either Taliban or "Taliban"-gangsters.
Or camp-followers ...
Nearly a quarter of civilian deaths have been blamed on US-led airstrikes across the war-torn country over the past months.

The raids have drawn condemnation form the Afghan government and public. The developments also come as evidences of friction have emerged between the Kabul government and Washington over the increasing number of civilian causalities over the past years.

The deadly air raids come at a time when the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has said that investigators are studying evidence of alleged crimes against humanity in Afghanistan.
By al-Qaeda? The Taliban? No, no, we all know who the ICC will go after ...
Despite the presence of over 100,000 troops in the war-torn country, Afghanistan is witnessing the highest level of violence since the 2001 US invasion of the impoverished country.

A security map by the London-based International Council on Security and Development (ICOS) has recently showed a deepening security crisis with substantial Taliban activity in at least 97 percent of the war-ravaged country.

The top US general in Afghanistan, Stanley McChrystal, has expressed serious concerns over the growing Taliban insurgency in the war-ravaged country. McChrystal, the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, told military and defense experts Thursday at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London that the situation was serious and time was running out. "The situation is serious and I choose that word very, very carefully."

The insurgency has skyrocketed in southern and eastern Afghanistan where the Taliban has stepped up attacks against the coalition troops with roadside bombs and ambushes.
Posted by: Fred || 10/03/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Why didn't the Germans in 1944 think of grabbing a few hostages so the Allies would quit shooting at them?
Posted by: ed || 10/03/2009 16:47 Comments || Top||

#2  I think Dresden kinda puts the kibosh to that idea/
Posted by: Pappy || 10/03/2009 21:44 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Somali pirates hijack Spanish vessel, crew
[Iran Press TV Latest] After a month of calm, Somali pirates hijack a Spanish fishing vessel with 36 crew members in the Indian Ocean, the EU anti-piracy mission says.

During early hours of Friday, the 35-meter Spanish tuna fishing vessel, Alakrana, was hijacked some 360 nautical miles off the east coast of Somalia, European Union's Operation Atalanta said in a statement on Friday.

A Press TV correspondent quoted the statement as saying that the pirates are heading the Alakrana towards Somali waters.

Andrew Mwangura, the East Africa Coordinator of Seafarers Assistance Program, who monitors maritime activities in the region also confirmed the hijacking, saying the crew consists of 16 Spaniards, eight Indonesians, four Ghanaians, three Senegalese, two from the Ivory Coast, two from Madagascar and one from the Seychelles.

Piracy along the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, is common place.

Dozens of multinational warships are currently patrolling the waters under a UN mandate to deter pirate attacks but the sea gangs sometimes carry out attacks right under the watchful eyes of international fleets.
Posted by: Fred || 10/03/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Pirates


Over 145 killed in September in Somalia
[Iran Press TV Latest] Clashes between rival factions have resulted in the death of over 145 people and the injury of 280 more in various parts of war-torn Somalia last month, the UN reported.

The deaths have occurred mainly in Kismayo and Mogadishu in September alone, said UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic, a Press TV correspondent reported late on Friday.

Mahecic said civilians are bearing the brunt of the deadly civil conflict mostly in the south central region of the country, resulting in massive displacement of civilians in the last two months.

But the rate of displacement within Somalia has diminished over the last two months when compared to the months of May and June 2009, the spokesman said, and added that the 17,000 figure is still high for September alone, including 11,000 from the capital.

Rebel forces comprising of al-Shabaab and Hizbul Islam launched a major offensive on May 7 against the embattled UN-backed transition government, which controls little more than a few blocks of Mogadishu.

However the two rebel groups have also been engaged in deadly infighting in recent days over the control of the southern port city of Kismayo, where more than 30 people have been reportedly killed.

Somalia has been without an effective central government since 1991 and, almost half of its population, 3.8 million people, is in dire need of humanitarian food aid for survival.
Posted by: Fred || 10/03/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Africa North
High-ranking Tizi-Ouzou terrorist killed in security action
[Maghrebia] Algerian security services killed two terrorists in Draa El Mizan, including a high-ranking adjutant to a regional al-Qaeda brigade chief, Tout sur l'Algerie reported on Thursday (October 1st). Mamou Abderrahmane, 30, was a deputy to Benani, the emir of an al-Qaeda brigade operating in southern Tizi-Ouzou province.
Posted by: Fred || 10/03/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Africa Subsaharan
Top Nigerian militant leaders disarm under amnesty
Posted by: Anonymoose || 10/03/2009 19:19 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
UAE ejects Lebanese for refusing to spy on Hezbollah
A number of Lebanese nationals, recently deported from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), say their expulsion was a result of their refusal to spy on fellow compatriots and Hezbollah.

"Dozens among us were summoned by the security services in the UAE before being expelled and were asked to spy on fellow Lebanese in the Emirates as well as Hezbollah members or face deportation," AFP quoted Hassan Alayan, a spokesman for the deported group.

Palestinians from the Gaza Strip have also been forced to leave the UAE in recent months for security reasons, he said at a Thursday press conference in Beirut.

The deportees, mostly businessmen with major investments in the Emirates, said they were summoned by the UAE authorities and were given about two weeks to leave the country.

The group said, given the lack of action by the Lebanese and UAE officials, they intend to take legal action and ask for compensation against the 'inhuman, illegal and uncivilized' move.

The mostly Shia deportees, said the expulsions began after the electoral victory of Lebanon's Saudi- and Western-backed coalition in the June 7 election over the Hezbollah-led opposition.

A foreign ministry official in Beirut said the UAE ambassador, who has been summoned several times over the issue, had so far given no clear explanation, but cited diplomatic sources as denying any connection between the expulsions and the religion of those involved.

Hezbollah urged the Lebanese government to quickly address what it described as 'clear injustice', and the serious financial losses inflicted upon the Lebanese families.

Leading Lebanese Shia cleric Seyyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah has called on UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan to take 'a quick initiative to rescue hundreds of Lebanese families', affected by the expulsions.
Posted by: Fred || 10/03/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  Makes sense. If Iran was planning aggression against either the UAE or Israel, or both, they would activate Hezbollah and the Gaza Shiites to cut up rough. Knowing about this quickly would allow the UAE to activate its forces to be ready for an Iranian attack.

And the UAE would also likely tip off other powers interested in the situation. Just knowing about a sneak attack can often thwart it.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 10/03/2009 0:41 Comments || Top||


Houthis 'down' Yemeni warplane in Saada
The Houthi fighters say they have shot down a Yemeni army aircraft which was bombarding their positions in the mountainous northwestern province of Saada.

The military aircraft, a Russian-built MiG fighter jet, was reportedly brought down Friday morning by anti-aircraft fire in the al-Sha'af district of Saada province. The aviator aboard the warplane has meanwhile been identified as Shamsan Mohamed Abdou Muflih.

Surrounded by the Yemeni Army and regularly bombarded by military warplanes and helicopters, Saada remains cut from the rest of the country and is faced with a pressing shortage of food.
Posted by: Fred || 10/03/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I was going to say "Yemen has a warplane?" But Fred kinda beat me to it...
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) || 10/03/2009 2:44 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
New Biplobi bad guy shoots through to the great beyond
An alleged top-ranking extremist was killed in a so-called gun battle with the police early on Saturday, police said.
"He will be missed!"
"He will?"
"Well, I'll miss him!"
"I'm sure you will, Mother Sarder."

Abu Sayeed Sarder alias Ranga Sayeed, 45, a leader of the banned New Biplobi Communist Party (red flag) 'red flag', was the latest casualty in the ongoing crackdown on outlawed extremists in the country's south and south-western districts.
"Greetings, New Biplobi comrades!"
"Greetings, Your Enormity!"

Superintendent of police of Khulna Mohammad Shamsuddin told bdnews24.com, tipped-off that a gang of terrorists had assembled for a secret meeting at Aamvita High School ground, a special team of police raided the spot.
"Hark! My spider sense is tingling!"
"Where's my shutter gun?"
"Where'dja put the round of bullet, dammit?"

"The miscreants opened fire on the police and the law-enforcers retaliated, ensuing a gun battle," Shamsuddin said.
"Ready on the left?"
"Ready!"
"Ready on the right?"
"Ready!"
"Fire!"
[BANG! BANG! BANGETY BANG!]
"Aaaaiiiieeee!"
[thud]

Sayeed was found shot after the gun battle,
"What's this?"
"Looks like a corpse, sir!"
"Got him right behind the ear! Good shootin', Sergeant Sergeant Rafiq!"

while his accomplices fled the scene after a while,
"Hey! Where'd they go?"
"Where'd who go?"

the SP added. He was taken to Dumuria health complex, where the duty doctor declared him dead.
"He's dead, Jim!"
Police retrieved a shotgun and three round bullets from the spot.
"A shotgun, is it?"
"Yessir. And three rounds of bullet!"
"What caliber?"
".22, .32, and... ummm... .42, I think."

He faced one murder, one extortion, and one explosives case while many complaints were filed against him with the police, Shamsuddin added.
"He war a bad 'un, he war!"
"My baby! He's... he's... he's titzup! I'll never hear his snarl again!"

State minister for home Shamsul Islam Tuku said the militants have been asked to surrender or the drive against them would be intensified further.
"Youse guyz better surrender, or youse'll get the same!"
Human-rights organisations have been urging the government to stop such 'extra judicial killings'.
"Tut tut!"
"Yeah! Tut!"

A total of 97 people died in "shootouts" and in custody of law-enforcing agencies until Sep 30 from Jan 1 this year, said independent human-rights watchdog Odhikar said last Thursday. Home minister Sahara Khatun, however, claimed that no extra-judicial killings were being committed by the law-enforcers.
"No, no! Certainly not!"
Posted by: ryuge || 10/03/2009 02:54 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Any effect on the spontaneous-boomer rate?
Posted by: mojo || 10/03/2009 3:31 Comments || Top||

#2  I bow, I bow to the master.
Posted by: Steve White || 10/03/2009 10:17 Comments || Top||

#3  Just another tragic victim of Biplobi Disorder.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 10/03/2009 14:28 Comments || Top||

#4  Fred does indeed reign, Steve.
Posted by: lotp || 10/03/2009 17:39 Comments || Top||

#5  "Tut." Oh dear.
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/03/2009 18:02 Comments || Top||

#6  Thing, go to your room.
Posted by: Pappy || 10/03/2009 18:14 Comments || Top||


Indian Taiba leader taken on remand
[Bangla Daily Star] Detained Lashkar-e-Taiba leader Indian national Emadullah alias Mahbub was taken on a four-day remand yesterday for quizzing by the Detective Branch of police.

Assistant Commissioner Sanwar Hossain of DB, who led the drive to nab the Taiba leader, said Mahbub was produced before the Metropolitan Magistrate's Court seeking a remand for seven days but the court granted a four-day remand.

"We sought the remand for quizzing Emadullah to know whether any Bangladeshi people involved in their militant activities," Sanwar said.

Emadullah, who has been staying in the country since last three years was arrested from the city's Gabtoli on Wednesday night following confessional statements of two other top leaders and Indian nationals--Mufti Obaidullah alias Zafar and Maulana Monsur alias Habibullah who were arrested here in July.

A nephew of detained Monsur, Emadullah is a resident of Padmapukur village under Bagda Police Station of Uttar Chobbish Pargana district of West Bengal in India.

Earlier on Thursday DB officials said Emadullah became the Bangladesh chapter chief of Pakistan-based militant organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba and Harkatul Zihadia Islamia Azadia and Indian militant outfit Asif Reza Commando Force after the arrest of Obaidullah and Habibullah.
Posted by: Fred || 10/03/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba


India-Pakistan
27 pro-Taliban militants killed in Khyber
[Iran Press TV Latest] Pakistani forces kill 27 pro-Taliban militants in the lawless northwest Khyber district and inflict heavy damage on them, an official said.

Frontier Corps spokesman Major Fazal-ur-Rehman said that attack helicopters shelled pro-Taliban militants' training centers on Friday in the Tirrah valley of Khyber. He added that heavy artillery was also used to pound militant positions.

Rehman said two commanders were among the 27 dead, adding, "Two hideouts, three caves and 19 vehicles, including an explosive-laden vehicle, were destroyed."

Pakistan launched a major offensive against the militants in Khyber on September 1 and has killed dozens of insurgents since then.
Posted by: Fred || 10/03/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar-e-Islami


Maoists kill 16 villagers in eastern India
[Dawn] Suspected Maoist rebels killed 16 villagers in eastern India, tying them up and then shooting them over an apparent land dispute, police and local residents said Friday.

Deputy Superintendent Ajay Pandey told AFP that more than 50 armed rebels raided the village in Bihar state on Thursday night and singled out the members of three families.

'They woke them up, tied their hands and legs and gunned them down,' Pandey said, adding that five children were among the 16 killed.

The deadly attack was the result of a land dispute between two groups in Amausi Village, located about 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of the state capital Patna.

'The Maoists were used by one group to kill the other to gain control over the agricultural land,' he said.

India's Maoist insurgency, which started as a peasant uprising in 1967, has spread to 20 of the country's 29 states and claimed more than 600 lives so far this year.

The rebels say they are fighting for the rights of neglected tribespeople and landless farmers, but officials accuse them of using intimidation and extortion to secure the cooperation of impoverished villagers.

State police said they had so far arrested one man in connection with the case. 'We have arrested one farmer and are interrogating him to nab the others involved,' Anand Shankar, the state's director general of police, told AFP.

'We will track all of the perpetrators of this heinous crime. The incident has triggered panic among residents of Bihar,' he said.

Ranjit Singh, a villager who survived Thursday's attack, said there was local anger at the authorities' alleged failure to heed several warnings that such an attack was imminent.

Singh said the Maoists had ordered a group of villagers to stop planting crops on a piece of disputed land four months ago.

'We had informed the local administration about the threat, but they ignored our complaint,' he told AFP by telephone.

An eye-witness to the attack, Raj Kumar, said he ran out of his house after being woken by the sound of gunfire.

'I hid behind a tree and saw people being shot dead,' he said. Local villagers refused to open their doors in the morning for fear of more violence, Kumar said.

Last month Prime Minister Manmohan Singh rebuked regional police chiefs for failing to stem the Maoist insurgency, which he described as the greatest threat to India's internal security.

Little is known about the Maoist movement's shadowy leadership based in the dense forests of central India's Chhattisgarh state, or the number of cadres, which is variously estimated at between 10,000 and 20,000.

The rebels have grown more brazen in recent years. In 2007, they assassinated a federal MP and engineered a mass prison break for 300 of their jailed fighters.

Last year saw a series of attacks, including the sinking of a boat carrying elite commandos, while in April this year the rebels briefly held an entire train with 300 passengers hostage.

'I would like to say frankly that we have not achieved as much success as we would have liked in containing this menace,' Singh told the police chiefs in September.

The Indian government recently launched a grisly newspaper campaign to discredit the Maoists, running graphic photographs of the rebels' victims.
Posted by: Fred || 10/03/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wonder if the Indian government sent any congratulations to Beijing on the 60th Anniversary of communist rule in China.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 10/03/2009 13:09 Comments || Top||


27 extremists killed in Tirah
[Geo News] At least 27 militants including two important commanders have been killed in a security forces operation in Tirah Valley, Geo News reported Friday. According to the FC sources, at least two hideouts, three tunnels and 19 vehicles used by the extremists, have been destroyed in the action.
Posted by: Fred || 10/03/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


16 militants arrested in Bajaur
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Security forces claimed to have arrested 16 militants in search operations carried out in various parts of Bajaur Agency on Friday.

Official sources said the security forces continued search operations for the second consecutive day on Friday in Doda, Matak and Charmang areas in Nawagai Tehsil, arresting 12 suspected militants.

The hideouts of the militants were targeted in the areas. The security forces backed by the volunteers of the Qaumi Lashkar arrested four militants in a raid in Khar, headquarters of Bajaur Agency.

The identity of the arrested militants could not be ascertained as they were shifted to an undisclosed location for interrogation.Two bomb explosions took place in Umari and Sadeeqabad areas in Khar, which caused no loss of life or property. The political authorities ordered inquiry into the incident.
Posted by: Fred || 10/03/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Uzbek militants name Yaldashev's successor
[Dawn] The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan has named a hitherto unknown militant, Usman Jan, as its new 'commander' in place of Qari Tahir Yaldashev, who has reportedly been killed in a drone attack in South Waziristan last month, according to credible sources.

Nevertheless, outlawed militant outfit Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan has categorically denied the killing of Yaldashev in the drone attack.

'Qari Tahir Yaldashev is alive and safe. Reports about his death in a drone attack are baseless,' Qari Hussain, a spokesman for TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud, told Dawn from an unspecified place on phone on Friday.

Officials, however, insisted that Yaldashev had died of injuries he had received in a drone attack at a house in Kani Garam area of South Waziristan on Aug 27.

They claimed that two missiles fired from the pilotless US plane had also killed four of Yaldashev's companions.

According to a report prepared by intelligence officials, Yaldashev had lost one leg and one arm in the attack and he was rushed to a private hospital in Zhob district of Balochistan where he died on Oct 1. It is yet not known as to where he was buried.
Posted by: Fred || 10/03/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan


Taliban deny Yuldachev's death in US drone attack
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Taliban commander Qari Hussain on Friday denied reports that Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) leader Tahir Yuldachev was killed in a US drone attack in South Waziristan in August.

Talking to reporters from an undisclosed location, he said there was no truth in these reports as Tahir Yuldachev was alive. He didn't elaborate or promise any evidence to back up his claim.

Qari Hussain, known as master trainer of suicide bombers, is a cousin of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)'s new head Hakimullah Mahsud, who replaced Baitullah Mahsud following the latter's death in a US missile strike in South Waziristan on August 5.

Earlier, Pakistani security agencies officials were quoted as saying by at least two foreign media organizations that Tahir Yuldachev, known as Qari Farooq in Afghanistan and Pakistan, had died in a US drone attack in South Waziristan on August 27. They claimed the information regarding his death was provided to them by sources within the militants.

Meanwhile, official and tribal sources in South Waziristan were quoted as saying that Tahir Yuldachev and Pakistani Taliban commander Noor Islam were indeed injured in a US drone attack on August 27 but it wasn't possible to confirm the death of the IMU leader. These sources pointed out that Noor Islam had recovered from his injuries but no kinformation was available about Tahir Yuldachev's death.

It may be added that a former bodyguard of Tahir Yuldachev had phoned the Radio Liberty in Prague a few days ago to claim that the IMU leader had died in a US drone attack. Speaking in Uzbeki from somewhere in Pakistan, the man said one Abdur Rahman had been appointed as the new IMU head.
Posted by: Fred || 10/03/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan


Hakimullah just might be titz-up
WASHINGTON, Oct 2 (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence agencies believe the newly named leader of the Taliban in Pakistan, Hakimullah Mehsud, might have been killed in a firefight with a rival faction weeks ago, officials said on Friday.

Militants tapped Hakimullah to replace the group's previous leader, Baitullah Mehsud, who was killed by a missile fired from a CIA-piloted drone aircraft in his South Waziristan stronghold on the Afghan border on Aug. 5.

Hakimullah's death, which officials said has yet to be confirmed definitively, would be another setback for a group that has mostly been fighting against Pakistani security forces but also sends militants to join the battle against U.S. and NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan.

"We're pretty clear that we think he's dead," a U.S. defense official said of Hakimullah.

A counterterrorism official said: "While there's no final confirmation of his death, it's a distinct possibility."

The officials, who spoke about the intelligence on condition of anonymity, said Hakimullah was believed to have been shot weeks ago during a clash with a rival group in South Waziristan.

U.S. intelligence agencies are still reviewing information to make a final call on his death.

Washington believes the Taliban has been weakened by infighting between factions vying to take command since Baitullah Mehsud's death.

"The point is there is a succession crisis going on," the defense official said, adding there were other contenders to lead the movement. "There's a variety of factions within the Mehsud tribe."
Posted by: Steve White || 10/03/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Hakimullah's death, which officials said has yet to be confirmed definitively

Whassamatta, can't find enough pieces to identify?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 10/03/2009 11:49 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Iraq foils Qaeda suicide bomber prison break bid
[Al Arabiya Latest] A would-be al-Qaeda suicide car bomber who planned to detonate his payload to help comrades escape from an Iraqi prison was foiled after a tip-off about the attack, security forces said on Friday.

The man confessed to planning to blow himself up outside a prison in Hilla, the capital of Babil province, when he was apprehended at his house 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of the city, an Iraqi army official told AFP.

"Our forces arrested a suicide bomber from al-Qaeda, while he was preparing a car bomb for an operation near the main prison in the centre of Hilla," he said.

Violence in Babil, an ethnically mixed province south of Baghdad, is rare compared to cities such as Mosul and Baghdad.

The prison has about 300 inmates, including members of al-Qaeda, and the army raided the house on Thursday night after a tip-off.

"He confessed that he is a member of al-Qaeda and was planning to commit a suicide attack near the prison to facilitate the escape of al-Qaeda prisoners," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Elsewhere on Friday, a former Iraqi army captain and a barber were killed in separate shootings as they walked to work in Diyala province, police said.

Security forces in the western city of Ramadi, meanwhile, said they had arrested 13 men wanted for carrying out attacks on civilians, soldiers and police across Anbar, Iraq's largest province.

Violent deaths in Iraq dropped by more than half in September compared to the previous month, official figures showed on Thursday, with 203 people killed across the country.

The figures were markedly lower than the 456 people who died as a result of violence in August.

September's death toll was the lowest since May, when a total of 155 people were killed.

Posted by: Fred || 10/03/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq


U.S. soldier dies in mortar attack in Iraq
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The U.S. military says an American soldier has been killed in a mortar attack at Baghdad’s Camp Liberty, the first U.S. casualty in October, the U.S. army said on Friday.

“A Multi-National Corps-Iraq Soldier was killed in an indirect fire attack on Camp Liberty on Thursday (Oct. 1),” the U.S. army said in a statement received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency. “The incident is currently under investigation,” it added.

The death raises to 4,348 the number of U.S. soldiers who have been killed since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003, including 128 in 2009.
Posted by: Steve White || 10/03/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Islamist groups say they launched two projectiles
Ma'an -- Two Salafi movements in the Gaza Strip claimed responsibility for firing separate homemade projectiles toward the western Negev in southern Israel on Friday.

In a telephone call, a spokesman purporting to represent Jund Ansar Allah and Al-Jaysh Al-Muqades said the attacks came "in response to the [Israeli] occupation's crimes."

Meanwhile, Israeli sources confirmed that two projectiles indeed landed in Sha'ar Hanegev without causing injury or damage.
Posted by: Fred || 10/03/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Gaza: Body of tortured man found cuffed in Ash-Shuja'iyya dump
Ma'an -- The body of a bound man, said to be in his thirties, was found at a dump site east of Gaza City on Friday, medics confirmed.

Head of Ambulance and Emergency Services Muawiyah Hassanein said there were signs of torture on the body, found east of Gaza city on Friday in the Ash-Shuja'iyya neighborhood.

Police said they had opened an investigation into the case.
Posted by: Fred || 10/03/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under: Hamas

#1  I don't care.
Posted by: Dicki Goldstone || 10/03/2009 9:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Was he a US Census worker?
Posted by: A_Rovian_Disciple || 10/03/2009 23:42 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Noordin's aide surrenders
A CLOSE aide of slain Malaysian terror leader Noordin Mohammed Top has handed himself in to Indonesian authorities, police said Saturday. National police spokesman Nanan Soekarna said in a text message Aris Ma'ruf, 23, surrendered to police in the Central Java district of Temanggung late Friday after months on the run.
"Please don't kill me!"
'After interrogation, he was brought to the Central Java police headquarters to be handed over to the Central Java head of Special Detachment 88,' he said, referring to Indonesia's crack US and Australia-backed anti-terror squad.

Mr Soekarna did not say if Ma'ruf would be charged with any crime. Under Indonesian law, a person detained in connection with terrorism can be held for seven days before being declared a suspect.

International Crisis Group analyst Sidney Jones said Ma'ruf had been an acolyte of Noordin, 41, who had helped hide him from police during his six-year manhunt.

Noordin, who was killed in a bloody raid by the police last month in Central Java, is believed to have masterminded the July suicide bombing of Jakarta's JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels that left seven people dead. The 41-year old Malaysian national was also blamed for a 2003 attack on the Marriott that killed 12 people, as well as the 2004 bombing of the Australian embassy in Jakarta and 2005 attacks on tourist restaurants on the holiday island of Bali.

Noordin, a former accountant, led a violent splinter faction of the radical Jemaah Islamiyah network that he once dubbed 'Al-Qaeda in the Malay Archipelago'. His body was buried with full Muslim rites in the Malaysian state of Johor on Friday.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 10/03/2009 16:59 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This should result in some good intel.
Posted by: tipover || 10/03/2009 21:15 Comments || Top||


Police officer, civilian killed in Thai south
Suspected Islamic terrorists militants have shot dead two men, including a police officer, in the restive Thai south, police said Saturday.

A 55-year-old sub-lieutenant, who worked at a police station in Pattani province, was killed on Friday in a drive-by shooting as he left a mosque after prayers, they said. Also in Pattani, a 51-year-old Buddhist man was shot dead in another drive-by shooting earlier Friday.
Posted by: ryuge || 10/03/2009 02:24 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
US lawmakers OK fuel sanctions on Iran
US lawmakers have approved legislation to punish companies exporting gasoline to Iran, in a move to mount pressure on the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program.

The Thursday action by the US House of Representatives would even bar foreign companies exporting gasoline to Iran from delivering crude oil to the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Reuters reported.

The sanctions were included in an energy and water programs spending bill.

Senators Jon Kyl and Susan Collins had sponsored the provisions included in the final version of the compromise spending bill, which is expected to be signed into law shortly.

"This provision sends a message to companies that put profits over security -- you can do business in our USD 13 trillion economy or Iran's USD 250 billion economy," Kyl and Collins said.

The sanctions would have no immediate effect on companies selling fuel to Iran, as the US petroleum reserve is just 2 million barrels short of its 727 million barrel capacity, which will be reached by January.

The latest development in the fuel feud comes while Iran has declared that fuel sanctions will not have any effect on the country, since Tehran will manage to meet its need for gasoline through other means.
Posted by: Fred || 10/03/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  They are clearly not familiar with the word, fungible.
Posted by: phil_b || 10/03/2009 6:58 Comments || Top||

#2  We gotta look like we're doing something.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 10/03/2009 9:38 Comments || Top||

#3  Harumph, Harumph, Harumph.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 10/03/2009 16:00 Comments || Top||

#4  I think you mean Mmm, Mmm, Mmm
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 10/03/2009 17:13 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
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Sat 2009-10-03
  Tahir Yuldashev confirmed titzup
Fri 2009-10-02
  20 Palestinian prisoners freed after Shalit video released
Thu 2009-10-01
  Third drone strike in past 24 hours
Wed 2009-09-30
  Al Shabaab rebels declare war on rivals
Tue 2009-09-29
  US missile strikes kill eight
Mon 2009-09-28
  Ismail Khan Survives Suicide Boomer
Sun 2009-09-27
  Twin suicide kabooms kill 23 in Peshawar, Bannu
Sat 2009-09-26
  Iraqi forces catch five Qaeda jailbreakers
Fri 2009-09-25
  US drone attack kills 10 in Pakistan
Thu 2009-09-24
  Qaida-linked inmates break out of Iraq prison
Wed 2009-09-23
  Ahmadinejad to present UN with 'solution' to world crises
Tue 2009-09-22
  Al-Shabaab proclaim allegiance to bin Laden
Mon 2009-09-21
  Hafiz Saeed under 'house arrest', was Pak army's iftar guest
Sun 2009-09-20
  AQ Khan blows the whistle on Pakistan
Sat 2009-09-19
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