[Al Arabiya Latest] Two Sudan rebel leaders arrived in The Hague on Wednesday after surrendering to appear before the International Criminal Court on war crimes charges, the court said.
"Both suspects will stay at the location assigned to them by the court until their first appearance before the chamber" on Thursday morning.
The men face three counts of war crimes allegedly committed in an attack on the Haskanita military base in north Darfur on Sept. 29, 2007, which claimed 12 African Union peacekeepers. The attack was allegedly carried out by fighters of the Sudanese Liberation Army-Unity under the command of Jerbo, and splinter forces of the Justice and Equality Movement led by Banda.
"It is alleged that the attackers, numbering approximately 1,000, were armed with anti-aircraft guns, artillery guns and rocket propelled grenade launchers," said the court statement. "During and after the attack, they allegedly destroyed AMIS communications installations, dormitories, vehicles and other materials and appropriated AMIS property, including refrigerators, computers, cellular phones, military boots and uniforms, 17 vehicles, fuel, ammunition and money."
A pre-trial chamber had found there were reasonable grounds to believe that Band and Jerbo were criminally responsible for murder, an intentional attack on peacekeepers, and pillaging, said the statement.
Summonses for the men to appear were issued under seal in August last year. Arrest warrants were not considered necessary.
This case is the fourth before the ICC involving alleged war crimes in Darfur.
The ICC has turned down a prosecution bid to prosecute fellow rebel chief Bahar Idriss Abu Garda over the Haskanita attack, finding insufficient evidence to link him to the killings.
The United Nations says more than 300,000 people have been killed since the Darfur conflict broke out in 2003, when minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated Sudanese government for a greater share of resources and power. The Sudanese government puts the death toll at 10,000.
This article starring:
Abdullah Banda Abakaer Nourain
Ahmed Haroun
Ali Kosheib
Bahar Idriss Abu Garda
Omar al-Bashir
Saleh Mohammed Jerbo Jamus
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
"Both suspects will stay at the location assigned to them by the court until their first appearance before the chamber"
You're joking, right? they're to be tried for murder and executed, and you're expecting them to go voluntarily to their Death.
Either you're a blind Optimist, or a fool.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/17/2010 13:54 Comments ||
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#2
it is the Hague redneck jim so I would go with fool
Posted by: chris ||
06/17/2010 13:59 Comments ||
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A man judged to be a threat to national security has decided to break his strict bail conditions so he can speak out about the difficulty of his life under virtual house arrest. Hussain Saleh Hussain Alsamamara, a Jordanian living in London, has been filmed over the past six months by two independent film-makers who then passed the material to the BBC's Newsnight programme.
The government says Mr Alsamamara is a committed Islamist extremist and a danger to Britain. Almost all of the evidence against him is thought to be intelligence material which neither he nor his lawyers have seen.
Mr Alsamamara arrived in Britain in 2001 and claimed asylum. That claim was rejected and in 2004 he was arrested by police and imprisoned, pending deportation to Jordan. The Jordanian intelligence department has told the British government it wants to question him in relation to alleged contact with the former leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, and over claims that he underwent paramilitary training in Afghanistan. Mr Alsamamara denies any links with terrorism and says he faces torture if he is returned.
So what is the nature of the evidence against Mr Alsamamara? Very little is in the public domain but some indications are given in a document published in 2007 by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC). Back then, SIAC dismissed his appeal against deportation, largely on the basis of secret intelligence which was excluded from Mr Alsamamara and his lawyers.
However, SIAC's judgment does refer to two open strands of evidence. Police found two CDs in a rack on his bedroom floor when they searched his house in 2004. The contents were discussed in closed sessions so we cannot be sure what was on these CDs, but it is likely to be propaganda material. Mr Alsamamara denies any knowledge of these CDs.
Police also found a will in an envelope on a notice-board. SIAC said it was written in "lurid terms". It includes references to "jihad" and records his wish "to slaughter" members of the Jordanian government and the police. Mr Alsamamara does not deny writing this will but argues it simply quotes from the Qur'an and the hadiths, and it reflects his natural hatred of the Jordanian authorities who tortured him in the past.
SIAC disagreed, stating: "This is the will of an Islamist extremist... it is a declaration by an Islamist extremist that he wishes, if possible, to meet his fate in fighting the enemies of Islam."
Newsnight showed the wording to an imam and expert, Dr Usama Hasan. He knows the jihadi mindset, having volunteered as a young man to fight with the Afghan mujahideen. Now he works to counter radicalisation in the UK. Dr Hasan told Newsnight: "This is someone who is clearly inspired by jihadi ideas, what I would call al-Qaeda ideas, and is very passionate about the jihad, going as far as to regard the Muslim governments and police and armies as legitimate targets... not a normal will at all."
#1
Sorry, the headline is a bit misleading. He's a Jordanian terror suspect under house arrest in the UK. I realized that as I was hitting the "submit" button.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Interpol said Tuesday it has arrested a Lebanese national suspected of funneling money to the Shiite armed group Hezbollah in Paraguay in the tri-border area with Argentina and Brazil.
Moussa Hamdan, 38, was arrested in Ciudad del Este, part of the Triple Frontier, a region the United States has repeatedly cited as being exploited by armed groups that "finance terrorist activities."
Local media, citing local security officials, said Hamdan was financing Hezbollah, which fought a devastating 2006 war with Israel and is blacklisted as a terror group by Washington.
The Interpol chief in Paraguay, Jose Chena, said justice officials would decide within about six weeks whether to extradite Hamdan to the United States, where an arrest warrant has been issued against him.
A cosmopolitan area and significant tourist spot, the Triple Frontier is also considered a major spot for smuggling and other organized crime. Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina deny their shared region is a hotbed for terror financing.
The three countries have refused to cooperate in the production of Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow's latest project in a film tentatively titled "Triple Frontier" over concerns the movie could damage their countries' reputation with tourists.
A significant Arab population lives in the region, with a big presence in Ciudad del Este.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2010 00:00 ||
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Babelfish with a hat tip to Nota Roja for the article
A Mexican Naval Infantry convoy was attacked by armed suspects in Acapulco, Guerreo Wednesday morning, say Mexican news accounts. That's pretty frisky for gang activity ...
Dumb, though. Read on to discover how dumb.
The convoy was attacked near the intersection of Gabriel Carballo and James Cook at about 0550 hrs by an unknown number of unidentified arm suspects.
No one was reported hurt in the attack.
Dumb move #1. If you're actually going to attack professionals, at least damage them badly enough that they can't retaliate.
After the attack, elements of the Mexican Navy apparently followed the attackers to a residence they say was a safe house where the attackers took refuge and where they found a vehicle and two assault rifles.
See?
The Marines then went to another address where they found 2,158 weapon cartridges of different calibers and 26 magazines for different arms. The Marines then went to a location in Costa Azul where they were attacked from the interior of a residence.
Dumb move #2. Houses are not generally designed to be defensible against pros.
After the confrontation ended, the Marines seized four AK-47 rifles and arrested two individuals.
Q.E.D.
Five of the suspects hijacked a taxi cab to escape pursuit injuring the driver in the process.
Fleeing was probably wise at this point.
Two more suspects were arrested later in the day.
Five vehicles in all were seized by the Mexican Naval Infantry. Additionally, six assault rifles, one submachine gun and two fragmentary and one smoke hand grenades were seized.
The area that was attacked had a number of private naval schools and a day care. Two buildings were hit by stray bullets in the initial encounter.
#2
In Acapulco many years ago the Mexican Navy guys used to clear the beach of drug dealers every evening at sundown. They were a seriously mean-looking bunch of sailors. Dressed in spotless white uniforms, every one of them had a Colt auto in 38 Super strapped to their side, a really hefty club in their off hand, an absolutely blank, totally unsmiling game face on.
The druggies would just get a glimpse of the Navy coming down the beach and would vanish inland muy pronto, sometimes in such a rush that they would leave . . . . stuff behind.
When the anti-drug sweep was finished, up would pull a spotless Navy truck driven by another mean looking sailor. They'd all pile in and depart for another beach.
Maybe they all looked that mean because they were in the Mexican Navy, maybe because they were serious military, maybe because they were born that way. Anyway, the whole operation was impressive to a much, much younger Canuckistan sniper.
Babelfish with a hat tip to Nota Roja for additional details<
Four Nuevo Laredo police agents and a fifth former police officer were abducted and later found murdered near Nuevo Laredo, Nuevo Leon, according to Mexican press reports.
The dead are:
Roberto Rodriguez, 42
Jose Velez, 30
Reyna Reyes 32
Roberto Escobedo, 43
Dulce Lira, 48
Reports indicate the police were abducted early Wednesday morning from their station and transported to the Cosmópolis de Apodaca district where they were murdered. One of the victims were beheaded and three had "narcomessages" written on poster board nailed to their thorax. Police did not release what the messages were.
All the victims were tortured and shot to death. The scene was near the US-Mexican border near the intersection of calles Diego DÃaz and 10 de Agosto.
Twenty one people were killed in ongoing drug and gang related violence in northern Mexican states, including a dead Juarez police captain, six members of a drug rehab center, two police in Santiago, Nuevo Leon and two Juarez detention center employees.
Mexican news reports say 17 people died in Juarez alone Wednesday.
A man was shot to death near his home in Juarez Tuesday, say Mexican news accounts. Jose Javier Valenzuela Arellano, of 24, was shot in his Ford Explorer shortly after arriving at his home near the intersection of calles FortÃn de la Soledad and Oaxaca in the Morelos III district of Juarez.
Investigators found several spent cartridge casings for a .40 caliber weapon at the scene.
An unidentified man was shot to death and another two were wounded in a shooting Tuesday in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, say Mexican news reports.
The victim was aboard his Chevrolet Avalanche when he was killed, while the two wounded were passersby riding in their Ford Windstar near the intersection of Avenida Miguel de Cervantes and 45th in the Paseos de Chihuahua district of Chihuahua.
An employee at a Juarez municipal detention facility was shot to death and another was wounded in a shooting Wednesday morning, say Mexican press accounts.
Watchman Miguel Parada, 35, was found dead at the scene while Commander of the Guard Javier RenterÃa, 35, was taken to a nearby medical facility in critical condition. The two were shot on Calle Hacienda de Bustillos in the Las Haciendas district aboard a Ford Explorer which displayed gunshot holes, broken glass and open doors.
A Juarez municipal police captain was shot to death along with another unidentified man as they were leaving a convenience store Wednesday morning in Juarez, according to Mexican news accounts.
Oscar Monrreal Lopez, a captain of the Distrito Aldama district was aboard a Chrevrolet Trailblazer leaving a Rapiditos store on Avenida Juan Gabriel when they were blocked by armed suspects riding aboard a Ford SUV. Witnesses say the men who emerged from the SUV were blond and had a south American accent.
The suspects blocked traffic and executed their victims. The crime scene was also in front of an office of the ProcuradurÃa de Justicia del Estado, a Chihuahua state attorney generals office. Police agents in the area did not attempt to pursue the attackers.
Six unidentified inmates at a Juarez drug rehabilitation center were shot to death Wednesday before noon, say Mexican press reports. The shooting took place in front of a seafood store, La Pasadita on Avenida Jilotepec. Four men and two women were shot to death. A young toddler was also in the line of fire but escaped harm, and is presumed to be the child of two of the victims.
The victims were just just around the corner from their drug rehab center on Calle Piña when they were attacked.
A Juarez undertaker was shot to death in front of his business Wednesday, say Mexican press accounts. Carlos Covarrubias, 54, proprietor of Funeraria Covarrubias, died at the scene near the intersection of calles Felipe Ãngeles and Nicoläs Hermosillo while aboard his Chevrolet Suburban he used as a hearse.
Investigators at the scene found 12 spent cartridge casings from a .40 caliber weapon.
A man was shot to death in front of his home by two armed assailants in Hermosillo, Sonora, Tuesday night, according to Mexican press accounts. Eduardo Briseño Quijada, 59, was killed at his home in the Campanario residential district. According to witnesses two men walked up to Briseño Quijada at about 2000 hrs as he arrived at his home and shot him several times with a 9mm weapon. The suspects then fled aboard a Ford sedan. Police were unable to locate the suspects following the shooting.
Briseño Quijada was a truck sales proprietor.
The severed head of a man reported missing since early June was discovered by the man's wife Tuesday night in Hermosillo, Sonora, say Mexican press reports. Cristian Ivän Guzmän Dennis, de 29, was reported missing June 8th by his wife, JazmÃn Carrillo de Guzmän, 20, at their residence on calle Montura in the El Rodeo district of Hermosillo.
Mrs. Guzmän said she left her home for an hour when on her return she found a skull wrapped in a plastic bag near the entrance to the residence's garage. The victim was identified by dental records. Police have yet to locate the rest of the victim's body.
Two Santigo police officers were ambushed Wednesday afternoon, according to Mexican news accounts. Juan Venancio Galindo, 30, and Romän Figueroa, 32, were shot to death while travelling on a state highway south of Monterrey, Nuevo Leon at about Km. Marker 248. Reports say they were followed by armed suspects aboard a Ford pickup truck who fired on the police. The victims attempted but failed to escape the attack.
Four unidentified workers were shot to death Wednesday evening in Juarez, according to Mexican news reports.
Witnesses say armed suspects aboard two Chevrolet Tahoe SUVs burst into an automobile electrical shop near the intersection of calles Puerto de Palos and Puerto Habana in the Tierra Nueva district. The killers claimed two victims. Later, the suspects went to a nearby auto alarm shop and shot two others.
One unidentified man was shot to death and two others were wounded in Juarez Wednesday afternoon, say Mexican news accounts. The attack which took place near the intersection of calles Mesa Central and Custodia de la Republica in the Fray GarcÃa de San Francisco district when the three victims were riding aboard their Ford Explorer and were attacked by armed suspects.
Investigators at the scene found at least 20 spent cartridges casings from AK-47 assault rifles.
#1
Agency: Mexican Army Covered Up Kid's Deaths MEXICO CITY - Mexican soldiers shot two children in April in their family's vehicle, and apparently altered the crime scene to try to blame the deaths on drug cartel gunmen, Mexico's National Human Rights Commission said Wednesday.
The conclusions of the governmental commission represent one of the strongest condemnations to date of the Mexican army.
#2
Mexican Invaders Fired Upon, 1 wounded This happened west of Rio Rico, AZ, about 12 miles due north of the border, last Friday. SANTA CRUZ COUNTY - Investigators say two people with high-powered rifles and dressed in camouflage opened fire on a group of illegal border crossers. The suspects are still at large. The local sheriff says the suspects were probably after drugs. But he fears the shooters might have been United States citizens simply hunting illegal border crossers. That's really a big concern for us," he says. One of many big concerns
#3
Arizona Officials: Pinal County sheriff's deputy shootout not a hoax Nearly seven weeks after a Pinal County sheriff's deputy was wounded in a dramatic shootout with suspected drug smugglers in the desert south of Maricopa, questions and suspicions still linger. Some media and outside law-enforcement agents have suggested that the April 30 shooting - exactly one week after Gov. Jan Brewer signed Senate Bill 1070 - may have been a hoax timed perfectly in the debate over illegal immigration and cartel bloodshed. Pinal County officials, though, say they have no doubt the incident occurred just as Deputy Louie Puroll described. On Wednesday, sheriff's officials released copies of their investigative report to squelch ongoing suggestions of fabrication.
#4
It's 1913 all over again. Memo to Meh-hee-co: Finish your revolution this time and stop using the US as your safety valve. Instead of coming to Estadio Unidos, the pissed off, dispossessed and angry need to do what everyone else has done and toss off their oppressors.
Oh, wait... Meh-hee-co has no private gun ownership, does it?
#5
Actually, under Article 10 of the Mexican Constitution does permit private gun ownership inside ones home, subject to federal law, which is very restrictive.
Mexican gun laws are what US gun laws would look like were the left to have their way.
A 45-year-old Arlington woman who has had past run-ins with counterterrorism agents has pleaded guilty to federal charges after police found three pipe bombs in a pickup she was driving.
Kimberly Al-Homsi and Yasinul Ansari, her 18-year-old accomplice, both entered pleas before U.S. District Judge John McBryde in Fort Worth. They admitted to one count each of possession of an unregistered firearm, in this case homemade pipe bombs found in the truck in February.
Pics of the two perps here. You may need to scrub your retinas afterwards ...
They could each receive up to 10 years and a $250,000 fine when sentenced Sept. 24.
Plea papers filed after a Friday court hearing offer no clues as to why Al-Homsi and Ansari, one of her son's friends, spent early February buying pipes and gunpowder at Arlington hardware and sporting goods stores and assembling bombs in her apartment bedroom.
No clue at all as to why 'Kim' and 'Yaz' would buy up kaboom materials, huh? Anybody bother to check out their local preferred house of worship?
The afternoon of Feb. 13, a motorist called 911 to report that someone in a pickup had pointed a weapon at him on West Abram Street in Arlington. Police found the truck and tried to pull it over, but the driver did not stop. The pursuit ended in Fort Worth after the truck carrying the pair hit ice at Rosedale Street near Loop 820.
Police found a toy gun inside, in addition to three pipe bombs in a bag.
Kim and Yaz are lucky to be alive. Pointing a gun at people in Texas is a good way to get shot up, either by locals or the police.
Al-Homsi told federal agents that she and Ansari made the bombs in the bedroom of the North Arlington apartment using synthetic black powder, road flare material and match heads.
When authorities searched the apartment at Hunters Point apartments on Ruger Drive in Arlington, they found week-old receipts from Pep Boys auto parts store and Academy Sports and Outdoors.
Al-Homsi's history of provocative behavior has attracted the attention of not only local media, but also police and federal counterterrorism agents.
She first made headlines days before Christmas in 2005 when she waved a fake grenade at a motorist on Central Expressway in Dallas. She was charged with a bomb hoax and received probation.
That obviously didn't educate her much ...
On Feb. 25, 2007, Al-Homsi and a friend, Aisha Abdul-Rahman Hamad, were spotted at Dallas Love Field walking back and forth, apparently pacing off distances. When confronted, the women told officials they were looking for the Frontiers of Flight museum.
Two days later, they were at the airport again. Al-Homsi was sitting on the hood of a car looking through binoculars at airplanes. The women refused to let police search their car, authorities say.
On July 4, 2007, the pair was questioned after reportedly driving near the runways at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
About two weeks later, Al-Homsi called 911 to report that Hamad was threatening her with a knife. After a six-hour standoff, Arlington police arrested Hamad but also jailed Al-Homsi for possession of a homemade gun, black powder, shotgun shells and putty.
In interviews with reporters, Al-Homsi has claimed to have dual American and Syrian citizenship, as well as overseas weapons training.
So we could potentially deport her to Syria, no?
She also claimed to have known Wadih el Hage, the former Arlington tire dealer convicted of being a personal aide to Osama bin Laden.
Authorities say she has no terrorist ties.
Oh no, none at all, she dreamed up the whole pipe bomb thing without anyone planting a thought in her head ...
Friends say she was born in the U.S., and had a father in the military. She is believed to have converted to Islam in college in Arizona, and eventually moved to Arlington. Her husband's family is from Syria,
That shaven-headed harridan has a husband? Why then did the police describe her and that 18-year old lunk she was arrested with as a couple?
which she has visited, friends say, they insist that she is not a danger.
Unless she's handling pipe bombs ...
This article starring:
Aisha Abdul-Rahman Hamad
Kimberly Al-Homsi
Wadih el Hage
Yasinul Ansari
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
A 45-year-old Arlington woman
Man, them's been a rough 45 years....
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
06/17/2010 5:20 Comments ||
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#8
When someone says: "Pics of the two perps here. You may need to scrub your retinas afterwards ...", there is a compulsion to click...hard to resist. There isn't enough booze to erase these images. The only other mistake I can think of making today other than getting out of bed was watching the BP hearing witchhunt (Congressional peacocking, getting face time, playing to cameras, etc.) or whatever the hell you call it.
About 3,500 acres of southern Arizona have been closed off to U.S. citizens due to increased violence at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The closed off area includes part of the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge that stretches along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu told Fox News that violence against law enforcement officers and U.S. citizens has increased in the past four months, forcing officers on an 80 mile stretch of Arizona land north of the Mexico border off-limits to Americans.
The refuge had been adversely affected by the increase in drug smugglers, illegal activity and surveillance, which made it dangerous for Americans to visit.
"The situation in this zone has reached a point where continued public use of the area is not prudent," said refuge manager Mitch Ellis.
"It's literally out of control," said Babeu. "We stood with Senator McCain and literally demanded support for 3,000 soldiers to be deployed to Arizona to get this under control and finally secure our border with Mexico. "
U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials have warned visitors in Arizona to beware of heavily armed drug smugglers and human traffickers.
"We need support from the federal government. It's their job to secure the border and they haven't done it," said Babeu. "In fact, President Obama suspended the construction of the fence and it's just simply outrageous."
Signs have been posted warning Americans not to cross into the closed off territory south of Interstate 8. Babeu said the signs are not enough -- he said Arizona needs more resources to help scale back the violence caused by the drug cartels.
"We need action. It's shameful that we, as the most powerful nation on Earth, ... can't even secure our own border and protect our own families."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2010 00:00 ||
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#4
Some notes: the total size of the refuge is 118,000 acres. Despite the expense, there are now calls for the governor to put AZ National Guard down there, as well as erecting tent jails in the desert.
This could work even if ICE refuses to take AZ illegals, because they can be held there up to a year before trial for trespassing, then held there for another several months after conviction. Otherwise, AZ will fly them to Mexico City, 1400 miles away from the border.
Pakistan's Punjab province government gave about $1m (£674,000) last year to institutions linked to a charity on a UN terror blacklist, it has emerged.
The charity, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, denies accusations that it is a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group.
Punjab officials say the funds were humanitarian in nature and were not given directly to the charity.
It was just for the Widows Ammunition Fund ...
Jamaat-ud-Dawa and four senior Lashkar-e-Taiba leaders were added to a UN sanctions list in December 2008. They were accused of having links to al-Qaeda and the Taliban. The move by the UN Security Council came shortly after attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay), for which Lashkar-e-Taiba was blamed.
It is the first time that the authorities in Pakistan have formally admitted allocating money to institutions linked to Jamaat-ud-Dawa, BBC correspondents say.
The government has long been under international pressure to crack down on militants or groups suspected of supporting them. There was no immediate response from the government in Islamabad.
News that schools and hospitals run by Jamaat-ud-Dawa have received Pakistan state help is unlikely to go down well with the Indian or US governments.
Funding details came to light when the Punjab provincial government published spending figures for 2009-10.
"At least 80 million rupees [$940,000] have been allocated for the institutions [linked to Jamaat-ud-Dawa] during the current fiscal year," Rana Sanaullah, a senior Punjab minister, told the BBC.
However, he maintained that the institutions - which include two schools and a hospital - were no longer attached to Jamaat-ud-Dawa.
"The government has taken control of the schools and appointed an administrator to run each of them."
He said the UN had been notified as the issue was a humanitarian one.
"There was a boys' school with 400 students, a girls' high school with 350 students and a hospital which addressed the needs of the entire area in question.
"If we had closed down the institutions it would have proved counter-productive. It would have aggravated the sentiments of the people and made them sympathise with [Jamaat-ud-]Dawa."
When asked why the Punjab government had allotted money in the budget for institutions it managed, a spokesman for Jamaat-ud-Dawa, Hafiz Abdur Rehman, said: "The truth is that we are ourselves astonished at this."
He said the institutions in question were now being managed by the charity.
"When restrictions were initially imposed upon us, the Punjab government did appoint an administrator but it was neither liked nor accepted by our people. By the grace of God, now everything is running exactly the way it was running under the Jamaat's system."
Jamaat-ud-Dawa has frequently denied accusations that some of its schools are used as militant training camps. Its leader is Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, who set up Lashkar-e-Taiba, one of most feared groups fighting against Indian rule in part of the disputed territory of Kashmir.
After it was banned in Pakistan in 2002, the organisation divided itself into Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Lashkar-e-Taiba, correspondents say. Jamaat-ud-Dawa now works as an Islamic charity all over Pakistan. It played a major role in relief efforts following the Kashmir earthquake in 2005.
Pakistan arrested Lashkar-e-Taiba's senior leaders after the Mumbai attacks. But most of them, including Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, were later freed on appeal.
This article starring:
Hafiz Mohammad Saeed
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2010 00:00 ||
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#2
From Halfway to Freedom by Margaret Bourke-White, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1949.
In the weeks to come I was to hear the Quaid-i-Azam's thesis echoed by government officials throughout Pakistan. "Surely America will build up our army," they would say to me. "Surely America will give us loans to keep Russia from walking in." But when I asked whether there were any signs of Russian infiltration, they would reply almost sadly, as though sorry not to be able to make more of the argument. "No, Russia has shown no signs of being interested in Pakistan."
This hope of tapping the U. S. Treasury was voiced so persistently that one wondered whether the purpose was to bolster the world against Bolshevism or to bolster Pakistan's own uncertain position as a new political entity. Actually, I think, it was more nearly related to the even more significant bankruptcy of ideas in the new Muslim state -- a nation drawing its spurious warmth from the embers of an antique religious fanaticism, fanned into a new blaze.
Jinnah's most frequently used technique in the struggle for his new nation had been the playing of opponent against opponent. Evidently this technique was now to be extended into foreign policy. ....
Posted by: john frum ||
06/17/2010 6:05 Comments ||
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#3
They were accused of having links to al-Qaeda and the Taliban
The Taliban aren't on the terrorist blacklist, either.
[Dawn] Pakistani attack helicopters and heavy artillery on Wednesday killed 38 militants in a tribal district on the Afghan border where commanders had said the Taliban were purged, officials said. The fierce fighting also left 10 paramilitary soldiers dead, they said.
Pakistani troops have been fighting in Bajaur since August 2008, trying to smash Taliban and Al-Qaeda hideouts, but there are indications that militants are trying to make yet another comeback.
Commanders claimed victory in February 2009 but violence returned when the military switched attention to fighting the Taliban in South Waziristan and Swat, elsewhere in the northwest. Troops mounted another offensive in Bajaur earlier this year and declared the terrain again free of Taliban in March.
But Wednesday, troops swung into action in Ghaundu and Samsai villages about 14 kilometres (nine miles) southwest of Khar, the main town in Bajaur.
Local administration official Tahir Khan said helicopter gunships and long range artillery opened fire following intelligence reports that some Taliban militants had again infiltrated from neighbouring Mohmand district.
"At least 38 militants were killed and 10 soldiers were martyred," Bajaur administration chief Zakir Hussain Afridi told reporters as he showed 18 bodies of militants in the presence of local forces commanders. The security forces destroyed two Taliban hideouts and arrested 23 militants during the clashes, he added.
Officials said Taliban had issued pamphlets warning their comrades not to surrender or accept government job offers. Posters have also been pasted in markets and at the gates to mosques, local administration chief Adalat Khan told AFP.
"The move appears to be a Taliban effort to terrorise people and say they are still present in the area," he said.
Local residents quoted the Pahstu-language poster as warning: "We would ask people, who fell prey to government propaganda, to repent for their sin, otherwise we will take action against them."
The government fixed June 30 as a deadline for militants to surrender their arms in return for jobs on the local police force, officials said. Failure to surrender would see their homes destroyed, they added.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2010 00:00 ||
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The Afghan Taliban says it has captured dozens of Pakistani soldiers after attacking their checkpoint in a cross-border raid. Pakistani security sources confirm some troops are missing.
The Taliban says it is holding up to 40 Pakistani troops after its raid in the Mohmand tribal area on Monday.
Afghan officials said eight soldiers had been handed over to the Pakistani consulate in Jalalabad, but Pakistan's army said it had no knowledge of this.
Checkpoint 'over-run'
The BBC's M Ilyas Khan says that while attacks by the Taliban on border check posts are relatively routine, it is unusual for Pakistani soldiers to be held by the militants in Afghanistan.
A Taliban spokesman told the BBC that it was in fact holding Pakistani troops on both sides of the border after Monday's attack. It said 30 soldiers were being held in Afghanistan and 10 in Pakistan.
The Taliban says it captured the soldiers after over-running the checkpoint.
Local officials in the Mohmand area confirmed to the BBC that about 40 soldiers were unaccounted for. Pakistani security sources said on Monday an undisclosed number of troops were missing.
An Afghan army commander in Jalalabad told the BBC that 10 Pakistani soldiers had been handed over to the Pakistani consulate, although the Pakistani army said it was not aware of this.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
"The Frontier Corps troops disappeared from the Mohmand tribal region" - from different article but sounds like the same event. I guess it wasn't Ahmad Fife's day to be issued the bullet.
Member link probably will not work, but here's the text in it's entirety
A commander of Iranian Kurdish rebel group Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) confirmed to STRATFOR on June 16 that Iran has deployed a large number of troops to its northwestern border triangle where the Turkish, Iraqi and Iranian borders meet. The source estimates that "thousands" of Iranian forces have been deployed, with the number of troops having increased on a daily basis over the past 10 days. Iranian forces can be spotted in the Kurdish villages of Xnra, Tapai Kurdina and Bardu Naz, where they have set up an outpost on the Iraqi side of the border. The Iranian forces are reportedly armed with heavy weapons and have helicopter support.
Iran has increased its military presence in this region many times before in cracking down on Kurdish militants, but this latest deployment, which appears to be larger than usual, is notable for two reasons. First, Iran has made clear through private channels that, following the U.S.-led push for new U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran, it would find a way to improve its negotiating position relative to the United States, with Iraq as its focus of operations. Second, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander publicly attributed the deployment to an alleged U.S. and Israeli military presence in the region as opposed to a response to the Kurdish militant threat. According to sources in the region, U.S. forces were seen recently in the Kurdish border villages doing limited reconstruction work. There have also been allegations that a small number of Israeli special forces are operating in the area to collect intelligence on Iran.
This particular border juncture has long been an active region for a number of players in the area. Farther south along the border, in what appeared to be an Iranian-provoked incident, Iranian troops and Iraqi border guards got into a gunfight May 13, raising speculation that Iran was making a show of force in Iraq similar to its brief military occupation of an Iraqi oil well in southern Maysan province in December 2009. (Rational Actor Bias)
Iran may have the intent of escalating border tensions with Iraq to capture the attention of the United States through this latest deployment (Rational Actor Bias),
but it remains unclear how far the Iranians intend to go.
#2
I've read elsewhere that Iran and Turkey are now coordinating efforts, and we have an article below about Turkish troops crossing into Kurdish Iraq and bombing villages. Thank you, President Obama.
#3
Some discreet laser painting and an orbiting B-52 or two with a full bomb loads could go a very long way to terminate this threat and see the Iranians running for thier border.
Turkish soldiers on Wednesday crossed into northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish rebels for the first time in two years and bombed targets across the border, killing four militants, the army said.
The cross-border operation came in response to an attack by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on border guards near the Iraqi frontier, the latest in a series of bloody assaults by the rebels.
The attack on the base in the southeastern province of Sirnak at 1:00 a.m. (2200 GMT) triggered a clash lasting several hours in which a Turkish soldier was killed, the army said in a statement on its website.
Turkish commandos and special forces then followed the rebels after they fled into northern Iraq "after their unsuccessful attack", it added.
"Four terrorists were killed in clashes at the border and two to three kilometres" (1.2 to 1.8 miles) inside Iraqi territory, the army statement said.
The Turkish soldiers "are still continuing a sweep of the region," it added.
Turkish fighter jets also bombed a group of rebels as well as mortar and anti-aircraft gun positions detected deeper inside northern Iraq, successfully hitting the targets, the statement added.
The NTV news channel reported that 600 to 800 soldiers were taking part in the ground incursion.
The pro-Kurdish Firat news agency -- considered by Turkey to be a PKK mouthpiece -- said on its website that the rebels had confirmed a Turkish incursion of about two to three kilometres inside Iraq.
The agency also cited the rebels as saying that the Turkish army had suffered heavy losses in the attack on the border guards, but did not give a figure.
Ercan Citlioglu, an expert on terrorism and outlawed groups, said it appeared to be more of a short-term operation with the troops returning home after achieving their aims, rather than a large-scale lengthy incursion.
But he told the NTV news channel it was a "message" to Iraqi Kurds to take measures against the PKK, and also to the rebels that they would face consequences from attacking Turkish targets.
#3
"I wonder what the difference between a rebel and a militant is."
That's easy, gorb - anyone attacking the Jooooooos is a militant.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
06/17/2010 12:08 Comments ||
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#4
So Turkey crosses into Iraq to attack Kurds and Iran crosses into Iraq to attack Kurds - anyone see a little collusion here?
Posted by: Andy Climp5889 ||
06/17/2010 13:28 Comments ||
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#5
So Obama gave them a finger and it looks like they are going to try to take the whole hand. I wonder if Obama is starting to understand why his predecessors never "thought" of doing things his way.
Two villagers were shot dead and two soldiers were injured by a bomb in the insurgent-plagued southern province of Pattani on Thursday morning, reports said. Attackers armed with AK-47 and M-16 rifles opened fire at Gorya Hayee, 27, as he was on his way home in Pattani's Saiburi district. He was shot four times in the back and died on the spot.
In a separate incident, two gunmen on motorcycle shot 48-year-old Januwae Buesa while he was drinking tea at a stall in Mayor district. He was hit by four bullets from a handgun and died on the way to hospital. Later in the morning, two soldiers were wounded by a bomb explosion as they were escorting teachers in Thung Yang Daeng district.
A leading rights group called on Thai authorities Thursday to investigate the death in military custody of a 25-year-old suspected terrorist insurgent in the country's troubled southern region. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Sulaiman Naesa -- who was found hanged at the Ingkhayuth army camp on May 30 -- died in "suspicious circumstances" and family members had reported seeing "visible signs of torture" on his body.
Sulaiman was accused of involvement in 14 terrorist insurgent attacks on civilians and security forces, mostly in the Sai Buri district of Pattani province, army personnel told the rights group. He is thought to have been arrested on May 22 and held without charge under emergency powers, which are used to combat a bloody jihad insurgency that has raged in the Muslim-majority south for six years.
"Thai soldiers are fighting a difficult separatist insurgency in the south, but that is no excuse for the brutal treatment of suspects in custody," said Elaine Pearson of HRW. "Sulaiman's death raises concerns that soldiers are once again using torture and other illegal methods against detainees."
Pearson said efforts to prosecute troops for mistreatment of detainees would help calm tensions in the region, where insurgents are believed to use claims of army abuse to justify attacks on civilians.
[Straits Times] A GLOBAL maritime watchdog Wednesday warned of increasing pirate attacks in the south of the South China Sea following six incidents in as many days in waters off Indonesia.
Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's (IMB) piracy monitoring centre said the latest attack brought to 14 the number in the area so far this year. On Wednesday a Singapore-flagged container ship was boarded by six armed pirates who stole cash and property.
'The attacks that began on June 10 are concentrated in an area near Indonesia's Anambas, Natuna and Mangkai islands,' he told AFP. 'We have issued alerts on the area in the past and have again informed the Indonesian authorities, asking for an increase in patrols. The attacks go down following an increase in patrols but they slowly creep up again once patrols are reduced.'
Mr Choong said a Malaysian-registered tanker was boarded on June 10 in the area while a South Korean cargo vessel was attacked the same day.
A Cypriot container ship was boarded on June 12, a Chinese-flagged tanker was attacked on June 13 and a Singapore-registered tanker was robbed on June 15, he added.
'The pirates usually attack in the hours of darkness and they target the ship's safe, property and personal belongings,' Mr Choong added. 'Unlike Somalian pirates, the ones in the region abort their attempts when they are spotted so we advise all vessels to ensure they are vigilant to prevent such boardings.'
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Pirates in that region have generally gone after money and personal belongings, and easily-removed ship items that can be resold.
In the past, it's been fishermen who decided to do piracy on the side. Considering the recent attempt to revive a defunct Islamic group in Indonesia, that wouldn't be a given this time around.
Iran's Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi says the country has foiled a plot by the terrorist Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) to carry out bomb attacks in Tehran.
Moslehi added that two MKO teams were arrested before they could carry out any operation.
"The terrorist groups planned to carry out bomb attacks in some squares in Tehran," he stated.
Iran's intelligence minister said that the arrested terrorists had received necessary training in the MKO camp in Iraq.
"They planned to terrorize innocent citizens in some important and sensitive districts of Tehran," Moslehi added.
He said that the terrorists planned to set police cars and motorcycles on fire in the next stages of their plot.
Moslehi also accused Britain, France and Sweden of backing the terrorist group.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/17/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Sweden?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
06/17/2010 14:31 Comments ||
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#2
Those treacherous Swedes have been secretly plotting a death blow against Iran since Gustavus Adolphus. They're so sneaky and patient.
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Iran's Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi says the country has foiled a plot by the terrorist Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) to carry out bomb attacks in Tehran. 
