JEDDAH â As the Kingdomwide crackdown on Al-Qaeda and its sympathizers continues in the wake of the May 12 Riyadh bombings in which 25 people died, the Saudi authorities are extending their investigations further afield in their search for more information on Saudi terrorist suspects. There were major developments in Sudan, Iran and Pakistan yesterday in relation to both the Riyadh bombings and other terrorist arrests.
The Sudan nab ties in, does it? That does come as a surprise...
A high-level team of Saudi security experts arrived in Khartoum to aid in the investigation of 19 people, including 17 Saudis, recently arrested on suspicion of belonging to a terrorist network. The 19, who also included a Palestinian and a Sudanese, were captured as they were engaged in military training at a camp near Laqawa town in West Kordofan State, according to the London-based Al-Hayat daily.
Iranâs Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi also said yesterday that the suspected Al-Qaeda members in custody were arrested in Iran before the May 12 suicide attacks and could therefore not have been involved in the planning of the blasts, as suggested by US investigators. However, Kharrazi is still not saying which suspected members of Al-Qaeda were currently being held there, explaining that the detainees were still in the process of being identified.
"Yasss... They're decided who they want to be..."
Following the Riyadh blasts, in which seven US nationals died, fingers were pointed at Egyptian-born Saif Al-Adel, thought to have taken over as Al-Qaeda No. 3 from military operations chief Mohammad Atef, who was believed killed during the US attack on Afghanistan.
Pakistani authorities are meanwhile searching for two United Arab Emirates nationals suspected of involvement in the Riyadh bombings. The suspects were identified as Suleman Sayed and Khaled Rasheed, both in their 30s, who are believed to have flown to the southern Pakistani city of Karachi after the bombings.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/31/2003 10:06:41 AM ||
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JPost - Reg req'd
The thousands of protesters converging on this year's Group of Eight summit are an eclectic bunch with a grab-bag of issues and often divergent interestsâso much so that they openly clashed with Socialists sympathetic to their cause on Saturday. Who'd have thunk it? Anarchists having a tough time getting along with others
A group of about 350 protesters disrupted a meeting of France's Socialist Party, tossing rocks through the windows of a conference center and accusing the party of not being radical enough. The protesters scuffled with police who fired tear gas, dispersing the crowd. Should've just imported sticks and rocks, fenced the area off and let em at each other - I love this!
The violenceâthere were no injuries reported but windows were brokenâwas a vivid reminder of the divisions among G-8 critics, who espouse a wide range of causes including forgiving poor nation's debt, protecting the environment and stopping globalization. Shade grown coffee proponents not there? what about sweat-shop opponents? A grab-bag is right
There are disagreements over methods. Some like the Socialists are sober-minded activists, others are loud "revolution" seekers; most believe in peaceful demonstrations, but a small band of anarchists think angry and destructive protest is more effective. More fun to break things chanting mindless slogans
Protest leaders were quick to condemn Saturday's clash and denied their movement is riven with divisions. "The mass of people is united and it's just a very small group of people who want to break things just for the sake of breaking things," said Jacques Nikonoff, president of ATTAC France, a major protest organizer. "A handful of people cannot call into question the overall movement."
Oh, sure they can. That handful epitomizes the overall movement...
The thousands of protesters gathered at this working-class French suburb of Geneva, have found at least one common theme: They all insist the Group of Eight leadersâfrom the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Canada and Russiaâdon't speak for them or the world. "They are eightâwe are six billion" is on the lips of just about everybody in Annemasse, France's designated hub of protest about 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of the site of the three-day G-8 summit in picturesque Evian. Not in our names lol
On Saturday, nearly 2,000 activists marched through central Annemasse and went to closed service stations to cover gasoline pumps with plastic sheets that read, "G-8, you get on our nervesâthe world is not at your service," playing on double meaning of the French verb "pomper."
The Socialists were having their conference on Saturday as part of a "counter summit" in Annemasse to address issues critics say the G-8 is ignoring, such as the woes of immigrants and refugees in Europe, debt relief and African development. The counter summiteers were to deliver their conclusions to a top adviser to French President Jacques Chiracâthe G-8's hostâon Monday. After protesters attacked the conference hall where Socialists were having their forum, police with shields and gas masks fired tear gas to stop the violence. The demonstrators clashed with police later in the parking lot of a Quick fast-food restaurant, and police again hit them with tear gas, dispersing the crowd. There were no injuries reported, and police said there were no arrests. Socialists said they were angered and shocked by the violence, and insisted that rabble-rousers would not drive them from the anti-summit cause. "Our main battle is for democracy," said Kader Arif, the Socialists' specialist on globalization. "We will always have a place in the anti-globalization movement, and we're not giving up."
Illustrating the diversity among them, the demonstrators have set up two separate activist "villages" in Annemasse, and brightly colored tents and camping trailers dot the grassy Alpine valley on the edge of town. About 4,500 people had set up camp at the two sites by Friday, according to police, though that number was expected to rise by Sunday. One is the "intergalactic village"âa broad grouping of environmental, anti-nuclear or other social activists. The other is the "anti-capitalist, alternative, anti-war village," where access by journalists is tightly monitored. It has a grungier, more combative atmosphere. The demonstrations are expected to build up to Sunday, the opening day of the summit, when two sets of protesters are marching from this town and Geneva and will converge on the Franco-Swiss border. "Our aim is to blockade the summit," said a bearded Briton who called himself Malcolm, 25. greetings Malcolm, 25. What a strange name...While the leaders were to fly by helicopter to from the Geneva airport to the summit, Malcolm said he and his colleagues will try to block delegations and others from using the roads to get to Evian. "The idea is to establish a defensive cordon," he said. France has deployed thousands of riot police in the region to prevent any would-be agitators from sparking violence that marred such summits in the past. Many shopkeepers, bankers and restaurant proprietorsâand managers at a local McDonald's restaurantâhave closed for the weekend and covered their storefronts with large wooden boards.
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/31/2003 2:40:37 PM ||
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QUETTA: Pishin Scouts of the Frontier Corp have recovered a large cache of weapons including missiles and anti-aircraft guns from Aabtou Area near the Pak-Afghan border, a spokesman for the scouts said on Friday. Captain Ilyas said that the Pishin Scouts received a tip off about the smuggling of heavy artillery to be used for terrorism inside Pakistan. A raiding party reached the smugglerâs hideout and recovered eighteen 82mm bombs, seven RPG-7 bombs, short range missiles, 64 shells for a 30mm anti-aircraft gun, 240 shells of a 12.7mm anti-aircraft gun and around 200kgs of hashish.
"Hey, Mahmoud! We're goin' up to the lake this Friday to do some elk huntin'. Want to come along?"
"I dunno. Got any weed?"
"'Bout 200 kg."
"I'll get my turban..."
The spokesman said the smugglers escaped when they saw the raiding party, leaving the arms cache behind. He said the scouts had also seized 100kgs of hashish in another raid.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/31/2003 9:46:30 AM ||
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MULTAN: ATC Judge Abdul Qadir Shad on Friday acquitted 10 accused in a blasphemy case of Vehari after the prosecution failed to prove charges. Ghulam Farid of Dawat-e-Islami had a case registered in Vehari against the ten people under Sections 295-A and 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Act, alleging that they had torn posters pasted by his organisation.
"Yeah. Tearing down my party's posters has t'be blasphemy! An' terrorism, too!"
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/31/2003 9:40:47 AM ||
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Three U.S. soldiers were killed and six more injured in a traffic accident in northern Iraq, the military said Saturday. The statement said the soldiers were part of a unit attached to the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division, and that the accident occurred on the road between the cities of Mosul and Tikrit. It said they were traveling in a ``light-medium tactical vehicle,'' the military said. Two of the soldiers died at the scene, and one died while undergoing treatment at the 21st Combat Support Hospital, the military said. An investigation was under way Saturday. In a separate incident, two U.S. soldiers driving a supply vehicle Friday morning struck and killed an Iraqi child who was crossing the road. The accident occurred 20 miles north of Tallil in southern Iraq. It said the soldiers called for a helicopter to evacuate the child, who died before the aircraft arrived. The statement gave no further details. Deep condolences to the families of the soliders and the child.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/31/2003 12:42:14 PM ||
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American military police raided the new Iraqi police academy Saturday and detained 15 senior officers holding a secret meeting of Saddam HusseinBaath party, the US policing supremo Bernard Kerik said. "Fourteen people were arrested for taking part in an illegal activity and one for resisting arrest," said the former New York police commissioner. Those held included the dean of the academy, Major General Akram Abdul Razak, five brigadier generals, three colonels and a lieutenant colonel. Mr Kerik said the raid on the meeting had followed a tip-off to his office and was greeted with celebration by some 100 to 150 ordinary policemen gathered outside. He blamed intimidation by the Baath conspirators for the failure to uncover the underground sleeper cell sooner despite the tough crackdown on the Baath party it launched earlier this month. "There was huge applause by police officers. I think they knew this was going on but were afraid to come forward," he said. The head of the US-led administration in Iraq, Paul Bremer, set up Monday the Iraq De-Baathification Council to advise on his May 16 decision to bar former middle- and high-ranking Baathists from public service.
Some people just don't get it. Some people are determined not to get it.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/31/2003 8:50:12 AM ||
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A Cambodian court has issued an arrest warrant for an Egyptian believed connected to a radical Islamic group planning attacks in Phnom Penh. Chhay Sinarith, a deputy Phnom Penh police chief, named Rosha Yesser, 33, also known as Yasser Elsayed Mohamed, as being a fourth person involved in a local group of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militants. "If he is staying in Cambodia then authorities will find and arrest him," he said. "We will strongly fight against terrorists."
"You guys seen any Egyptians around here?"
"'Bout yay-tall, wears a turban, rolls his eyes a lot?"
"Yeah, that's him."
The warrant was issued as 47 people, from the Middle East and Africa, were deported after authorities claimed they had smashed a terrorist group linked to Al Qaeda. Two Thais and another Egyptian were arrested for being members of JI. Police say a local non-governmental organisation Om al-Qoura had used a Muslim religious school at Russey Chroy on the outskirts of the Cambodian capital to channel money from Al Qaeda to terrorists who trained here. The arrests and deportations came ahead of a scheduled visit to Cambodia by US Secretary of State Colin Powell for a regional meeting of foreign ministers to be held in mid-June.
If this guy's given this any thought at all, he's high-tailing it for the nearest border. The Cambodes are very nice people, most of the time, but there's a strain of viciousness that pops to the surface without warning. Often it's tied to xenophobia, and Egypt's about as xeno to Cambodia as you can get. If Mr. Holy Man gets jugged, they'll toss him in with the Cambode killers and thieves and treat him just like them — it gets mighty hot in Cambodia, just like in Egypt, and really, really sticky. And Cambodian food is really nasty stuff...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/31/2003 9:14:02 AM ||
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Reports from Burma say Opposition Leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been put under temporary arrest after a violent clash in the north of the country, in which four people were killed.
Poor Aung San seems to spend most of her life in jug...
The country's military regime says 17 senior members of her National League for Democracy were also taken into what it called "protective custody" along with their leader after the clashes. A military spokesman, Brigadier General Than Tun, says Suu Kyi is being held in a township about 560 kilometres north of the capital. He says she was taken into custody on Friday night after hundreds of her supporters clashed with opponents in the town. At the same time, officials have sealed the Opposition headquarters in Rangoon. Witnesses say security officials arrived at the NLD headquarters in the early afternoon and put a large padlock on the door and removed a party flag.
Burman's problem isn't terrorism, but generals. Once they're gone, and the opposition takes power, I think it would be a good idea not to promote anyone higher than colonel.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/31/2003 8:50:19 AM ||
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Hopefully nothing, but makes you think:
A senior U.S. official confirms that the government of Angola has reported a missing Boeing 727 aircraft. The plane apparently departed from Angola several days ago on a flight to Burkina Faso, but it never made it to its destination, and its whereabouts are unknown. Interesting difference between Africa and the West: we notice when flights disappear a lot faster than they do.
The official said there is "no evidence or information to suggest this is terrorist-related," and suggested "it is most likely criminal." According to this official, the plane was leased, and the people involved were behind in their payments. An early version of this story mentioned the repo angle.
U.S. law enforcement and the intelligence community are working with the Angolan government to help determine what happened to the plane. When asked if there had been any intelligence from the region suggesting any terrorist activity related to a plane, the official said, "Nothing I'm aware of." Except for this:
U.S. officials have recently expressed concern that al Qaeda could use aircraft to carry out a terrorist attack against U.S. interests overseas. Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security issued an advisory to the U.S. aviation community citing "recent reliable reports" indicating al Qaeda was in the final stages of planning an aerial suicide attack against the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan. According to a source who read the notice, it noted "al Qaeda's continuing fixation with their tiny little willies using explosive-laden small aircraft."
EFL to just the new stuff.
French combat troops are expected to fly into Congo's Ituri province next week with a UN mandate to secure the airport at Bunia and protect civilians from further massacres.
"Here, you people! Stop that!"
The UN security council authorised the French-led mission yesterday after several other countries agreed to take part following days of consultations in New York. Britain will not send combat troops, because it has so many forces deployed in Iraq and elsewhere, but it is likely to send a few dozen staff officers, either for clearing mines and digging wells, or for upgrading Bunia's airport, according to Whitehall officials. France will provide about half the 1,200-strong force. It refused to take on the mission alone after its actions in Rwanda in the mid-1990s, when it was correctly accused of aiding the genocide of hundreds of thousands of Tutsi civilians. Perhaps the Brit officers are the watchers?
Britain's contribution, although small, is considered important by UN officials as a way of pressing Uganda and Rwanda to support the mission. Yesterday's UN resolution called on all neighbouring states to cease arming the rival militias. The UN has 3,000 troops in other parts of Congo, a force too small to police the country. The troops for Bunia, authorised yesterday, will replace 700 Uruguayan observers, but are only a stopgap. Known as the interim emergency multinational force, their mandate lasts until the end of August when about 1,500 Bangladeshi troops are due to arrive. Everyone's thinking too small here.
"It's not enough but it's a good start," was the verdict of Steve Crawshaw, the London director of Human Rights Watch, which, with Amnesty International last week, issued a strongly worded letter calling on governments to protect civilians.
When are HRW and Amnesia International sending troops?
Amnesty welcomed the move. Patrick Smith, the editor of Africa Confidential, said the mission did not have a plan for demilitarising the area - which would involve providing cash, retraining and jobs: "It could also just be a band-aid operation or even be drawn into the hands of those who want to upset the peace agreement. There are reports that troops of the Kabila government in Kinshasa hope to ... take Bunia."
Demilitarizing the area could also include killing everybody waving a gun or a machete. But that would be the effective barbarous approach, wouldn't it? Forget I said it...
The poor state of Bunia's airport, meanwhile, will entail the mission taking days if not weeks to amass. The short runway has a thin layer of tar, which has to be relaid over the soil after almost every landing. Only a few flights can be made each day. Our army engineers could fix this pretty quick. Wonder if the Frenchies are taking engineers with them?
Like Britain, other EU countries are reluctant to send combat troops. Belgium is expected to send an army medical team. Imagine the panic in Congo if the Belgians offered to send combat troops.
Germany will give logistical support. South Africa, the main regional power with a professional army, has agreed to provide some combat units but is asking for financial and other help to airlift them into Bunia. Cha-ching.
Pakistan, Nigeria, Brazil, Denmark and Sweden have also offered to help. Britain agreed to join the mission under French leadership, at least with a small contingent, because the government wants to stiffen the spines of the French patch up its relations with Paris. Ride off on a joint unsuccessful mission. Yeah, that'll fix things up.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/31/2003 12:45:22 PM ||
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DAR ES SALAAM â Leaders of various Islamic organizations in Tanzania yesterday staged a rally here and expressed concern over what they described as âconsistent intimidationâ by authorities. âThere are many cases in which government authorities have been undermining the welfare of Muslims in Tanzania and the practice began shortly after the countryâs independence in 1960s,â said Musa Kundecha, who was described as leader of the organizations.
This is the standard "Poor, Put-upon Muslims" refrain...
Reading a prepared statement, Kundecha told hundreds of Muslims, who had gathered at Mtambani mosque grounds here, that Muslims were being discriminated against during selection for various education and employment opportunities. He said leaders of Islamic organizations in Tanzania were now drawing up a strategy to arrest the trend. âWe donât have ill feelings against other religions, but we must speak up our minds and correct this situation so that people of different creed get equal chances in our society,â Kundecha said.
When they say they don't have anything against other religions, expect explosions within the next month or two. Those will be piously deplored, "but we can understand what drove them to take desperate measures. We warned you. But it ain't us."
He cited the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which was enacted in November last year, saying the legislation was aimed at frustrating Muslims. âIn many occasions, Muslims were suspects of terrorist acts,â he said.
In many they were the perpetrators, weren't they? Blown up any embassies lately?
He criticized Tanzaniaâs immigration authorities, who recently expelled two officials of Islamic non-governmental organizations on allegations of violating immigration laws, pointing out the move was also calculated to undermine the welfare of Muslims. Kundecha said that the two organizations offered various social support to Muslims, especially on delivery of arms and ammunition education services. The department canceled the Tanzanian citizenship of Ahmed Said Abry, 47, who worked for the Dhinureyin Islamic Foundation in the central region of Iringa, and ordered him to leave the country.
"Get the hell out and stay out. What'dya think we are? Pakistan?"
Abry, who is originally from Yemen, and acquired Tanzanian citizenship in 1983 through naturalization, was accused of sheltering illegal immigrants. Tunisian Ramzi Mizaun Ben Fraj, alias Abu Hudhaif, 34, who was the director of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation based in the eastern coastal region of Tanga, also faces deportation after he was accused of lying to immigration officials about his nationality.
"Well, of course I'm a Samoan!"
"You don't look Samoan."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/31/2003 10:43:20 AM ||
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KHARTOUM â The Sudanese authorities have arrested a senior official who represents the troubled Darfur region for the leading opposition Umma Party, his family and party said Thursday. Adam Mussa Madibbu, an Umma political department member who is close to party leader Sadeq Al-Mahdi, was summoned Wednesday by the security services in Khartoum who then detained him for âtwo or three days,â his son Madibbu Adam Madibbu told AFP. The reasons for the arrest were not made clear, he added.
My guess is that they don't like him...
However, the younger Madibbu said his father told him the arrest may be linked to his comments at a recent meeting of various political parties from the Darfur region organized by ruling National Congress party officials. âMy father said he had expressed his opinion about finding a solution to the Darfur problem, arguing that the sons of Darfur should find such a solution,â said the younger Madibbu. An Umma Party official who asked not to be named agreed the elder Madibbu may have run into trouble for expressing his opinion at the meeting. The elder Madibbu, an architect, served as transport minister during a multiparty democratic government set up under prime minister Sadeq Al-Mahdi, who was overthrown in 1989.
Yep. Expressing an opinion's usually a good way to get yourself in trouble in Sudan...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/31/2003 10:30:25 AM ||
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A group calling itself the Sudan Liberation Army Movement has claimed a number of attacks in the Darfur region since it surfaced for the first time in February. But the government has refused to acknowledge any political motivation for unrest in the states of North, South and West Darfur, blaming it instead on âarmed criminal gangs and outlaws,â who it says are aided by tribes from neighboring Chad.
And that could be an accurate description...
Meanwhile, Sudan Liberation Movement rebels killed 500 Sudanese government troops and took 300 of them prisoner during fighting Thursday in western Sudanâs North Darfur State, a rebel leader said. âWe totally destroyed an infantry battalion moving in the area and we caused 500 deaths and took 300 prisoners during an ambush Thursday north of the city of Kutum,â SLM secretary-general Mani Arkoi Minawi told AFP.
If that's a true statement, Sudan's in trouble. Those aren't piddlin' casualties...
There was no immediate comment from the Sudanese government authorities and no way to independently verify the claim. The SLM forces destroyed seven four-wheel drive vehicles and three trucks, Minawi added.
That's in line with a much lower body count, unless most of those 800 traveling shoe-leather express...
âSudanese Minister of Education Ahmed Babikir Nahar contacted us two days ago to communicate to us the governmentâs will to negotiate,â Minawi said.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/31/2003 10:30:22 AM ||
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I could go for that...
Swaziland's absolute monarch has singled out women wearing trousers as the cause of the world's ills in a state radio sermon that also condemns human rights as an "abomination before God".
"Yeah. Only kings have rights..."
"The Bible says curse be unto a woman who wears pants, and those who wear their husband's clothes. That is why the world is in such a state today," King Mswati said. The Times of Swaziland reports the monarch, who reigns supreme in the landlocked country of 1 million where opposition parties are banned, went on to criticise the human rights movement. "What rights? God created people, and He gave them their roles in society," the King said. "You cannot change what God has created. This is an abomination before God."
"So just shut up and do as you're told..."
Women on the streets of capital Mbabane are not impressed. "The king says I am the cause of the world's problems because of my outfit," said Thob'sile Dlamini. "Never mind terrorism, government corruption, poverty and disease, it's me and my pants. I reject that." King Mswati is Africa's last absolute monarch.
Doesn't sound like he's that absolute. Good girl, Thob'sile!
He is currently married to nine wives, with a wedding pending for wife number 10, and has chosen an additional fiancee after reviewing videos of topless maidens performing a traditional Reed Dance ceremony.
I'll bet none of them were wearing pants, either...
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/31/2003 9:18:48 AM ||
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The United States' Deputy Defence Secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, has accused North Korea of having little regard for the security environment in north-east Asia. He was stating the obvious speaking in Singapore at a meeting of defence ministers from across Asia and the Pacific. At the conference Mr Wolfowitz said that Pyonyang's actions over the past year threatened regional and global security. Of particular concern he said is the growing potential for North Korea to use nuclear weapons, and the possibility it might sell its weapons technology and materials to the highest bidder.
That and their penchant for shrieking, bullying rhetoric would seem to make them a definite danger. Perhaps it's all talk, but what if it's not?
However despite what he called the immediate danger, Mr Wolfowitz said that a peaceful solution is possible. He rejected the idea of bilateral negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang. Elsewhere in his speech Paul Wolfowitz spoke of the continuing terrorist threat in Asia. It is this issue that will be the focus of attention for the remainder of the conference.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
05/31/2003 8:50:14 AM ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
